I used to think that I got more use from my slow cooker in the winter. But with temperatures hitting 100 almost every day here in the Carolinas, I find myself reaching for my slow cooker several times a week. I love keeping my kitchen cool - and with just a bit of advance planning during the ...
Slow Cooker Recipes
Not Your Mom’s Stuffed Peppers
My school garden from 3rd to 12th grade produced a lot of peppers. In those days, we only grew green bell peppers - not the colorful yellow, orange, and red bell peppers, nor the exotic array of "hotter" pepper varieties I now find at the farmer's market. Although I have a great recipe for Baked ...
Healthy Breakfasts Made Simple
Happy New Year! A lot of us begin each new year with the very best of intentions. Have you ever resolved to lose weight or eat a more healthy diet? Three of the best resolutions to start your new year off right are to minimize refined sugar and red meat, and to maximize the amount of whole ...
Organic Butternut Squash Soup – Simple, Tasty, and Vegan!
It seems like every restaurant I go into these chilly winter days has butternut squash soup on its menu. Since many restaurants are still fairly meat-centric, it's a tempting alternative. But then I need to quiz the server about whether it is made with dairy . . . or chicken stock. It's ...
Sicilian Cauliflower Sausage Pasta
My last post extolled the virtues of Eastern European flavors, but today I'm writing about a dish that represents my Sicilian heritage. That's right - I'm a certified mongrel! My father's parents were immigrants from Hungary and my mom's folks came from Sicily. I often tell people that I'm ...
Sweet and Sour Cabbage with Kielbasa and Sweet Potato Pierogi
There's a chill in the air during my morning walks, which makes me think of the autumn comfort foods of my youth. Although my dad was Hungarian, my Italian mom didn't enjoy cooking Hungarian food. But growing up in Cleveland's inner-city, I went to public school with a lot of kids who were ...
Linguine with Sausage Ragu – an Easy Vegan Sunday Gravy that even a Carnivore will love!
One of my easiest and most satisfying recipes in the slow cooker is my vegan version of Sunday gravy - a well-loved staple in the home of every Italian family. I have a much more complicated version in Fool a Carnivore (check out Pasta with Bolognese Sauce on pages 39-40 of my book), but I wanted ...
Aduki Bean Sweet Potato Chili
Wow, it's been a long time since I found the time to blog! Our phenomenal annual scuba diving trip to Pirates Point Resort on Little Cayman followed by a business trip to Detroit really cut into my cooking (and blogging) time! When I return home from a trip, I'm always faced with a less than ...