Roma Tomato and Corn Salsa

This is an easy fix for something fresh that feels like it should be harder to make- it just isn't. To make this salsa you will need:

• 3 large roma striped tomatoes (yes, you can use regular roma tomatoes but I happened to get a beautiful batch of the striped variety at the local farm stand. 
• 1/2 of a 15 ounce can of black beans, rinsed 
• 2 ears of fresh corn 
• 1 small pepper, minced (I used a purple variety) 
• 10 leaves of fresh basil
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 3 cloves fresh garlic 
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika 
• salt and pepper to taste 
• olive oil 
• juice of one lime

Boil a pot of water and blanch the corn (once water has boiled) for 4 min. Take out of the water and let cool. 

Chop garlic tomatoes and pepper and put into medium sized bowl, stir. Add black beans and basil. Cut kernels off corn and add to bowl. Add spices and lime juice along with a drizzle of olive oil plus salt and pepper. Toss and try. Add more spice or salt if needed. Chill and bon appetit. Serve with tortillas and such. 

xoxo Renee

Strawberry Summer Margarita

I'm not a fan of sugar sweet fruity drinks- however when you want something cold, fruity and balanced with the earthiness of tequila and of course a salted rim, I can cotton to this drink!

• 2 ounces gold tequila 
• 1/2 ounce strawberry liquor (I used a strawberry liquor my husband infused from fresh strawberries and lemon peel (so good) but you can use any ol' strawberry liquor 
• 1/2 ounce triple sec 
• 1 ounce (typically juice of one) lime 
• coarse salt

Use the inside of the left over inverted lime (from juicing) and run it over the lip of the glass before dipping it into coarse salt. 

In a shaker put all liquid ingredients over ice, shake, then pour ice and liquid alike into glass. 

Enjoy, 

xoxo Renee

Not So Fancy KALE Chips

My friend Cindy recently said in so many words that even the simple ideas found on blogs can over-whelm those who don't consider themselves "cooks". So together we made something snack-able in my kitchen, that even she said was simple. To make these "chips" you will need the following:

• one bunch of kale (this works with every variety of kale) 
• olive oil (you can determine how much you will need depending on your kale) 
• salt, cayenne, cumin to taste

I know the ingredients seem broad as to how much but just follow the next few steps and you will do fine. 

Preheat your oven to 325. 

Wash your kale and pull out all of the ribs- you must do this if you want your chips to crisp up. If you leave the rib the water content from it will stem the kale instead. 

Thoroughly dry your kale and rip into bite sized pieces. You can drizzle two cookie sheets with olive oil- or- if you have a spray version you can use that. Spread your kale over the sheets without putting them pieces on top of one another, this two will help them crisp. 

Drizzle the top lightly with olive oil and salt, cayenne and cumin. You can certainly change up what kind of spices you put on top! You know how much spice you like so you can use a little or a lot. 

Place in the oven for up to 1/2 hour or until crisp. Don't let these get over-brown thus tasting strong and burnt. When in doubt just try one. 

Bon appetit

xoxo Renee 

Refreshing Watermelon, Raw Honey and Mint Skinny Smoothie

When I think of smoothies I tend to think of the ones glutted with yogurt and maybe protein powder that seem to make them more of a meal than a drink. My watermelon, honey and mint smoothie is a light and refreshing.
To Make you will need:

• one cup frozen chunks of watermelon (you prob won't find this in the store so you will have to take the task on of "chunking" and freezing your own
• 1/2 cup fresh blueberries (you may substitute any seasonal berry) 
• 1 generous tablespoon of raw honey
• 10 or so fresh mint leaves
• 1 cup or so coconut water 

You can add all ingredients to the blender minus the coconut water. Slowly add in the coconut water while blending. You need the addition of the blueberries to give the smoothie girth so you don't end up with watery chunks of watermelon in coconut water so don't skimp out on the berries. 

Enjoy!

-Renee 

Avocado Ranch Dressing

Ok, I kind of cheat on this recipe but for those that like it easy- this is more than easy. You can use a food processor, bullet, or blender.

You will need:

• one ripe avocado 
• 2 tablespoons plain greek yogurt 
• 1/4 cup ranch dressing (I use Drew's buttermilk ranch)
• teaspoon or so of olive oil, just enough to loosen the mixture 
• teaspoon of red wine vinegar, again just to loosen 
• salt and dried oregano to taste 

Put the avocado, yogurt and ranch with spices into the blender- drizzle in oil and vinegar to the mixture to loosen it up into a dressing. If you want to use this for a dip you could skip the oil and vinegar. It would be a great dip for raw cauliflower or carrots etc. 

Bon appetit

xoxo Renee

Classic Tomato Sauce with Lamb Sausage and Fresh Herbs

This is a basic sauce that I chose to make in a crock pot so it could slow cook during a 10-hour period of time, however, if you are home and can monitor a pot on low for several hours- that too- is an option.
To make this sauce

You will need:

• 2 large 32 ounce cans crushed tomatoes (with basil- I like Pastene) (You could also use homemade stewed or peeled tomatoes, it would take several pounds or so of fresh- around 6, stewed, peeled, salted and chopped)
• one package (5-6) lamb sausage, casing removed 
• 1 handful fresh parsley
• 1 handful fresh sage
• 1 handful fresh thyme 
• 1 tablespoon dried oregano (dried because it's the most potent- you could use three times the amount for fresh) 
• 2 back quarters of cheese rinds (I used 1,000 day Gouda- this really makes the sauce rich- aside from all that lamb fat) 
• 1 large dry chili 
• one medium yellow onion, minced
• 5 cloves of garlic, minced 
• olive oil

In a heavy bottomed pan, put a few tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat and add sausage. Break into pieces and start to brown- add onion and garlic until sausage has thoroughly browned and onion and garlic are translucent. Add oregano and dried chili. Put into a crock pot or keep in pan but reduce heat to low simmer. Add in tomatoes and fresh herbs as well as cheese rind. Cook on stove top up to six hours on extreme low OR in crock pot for up to ten hours on low. 

Top with Manchego (Spanish cheese and fresh basil) Put on top of spaghetti (I use GF spaghetti from Ronzoni - it has a nice blend of brown rice, corn and quinoa) 

Bon appetit 

xoxo Renee

Flat Iron Braised Pork with Fennel, Onions & Half Sweet Mashed Potatoes

Let's just start off by me saying: "I'm not a pork fan." That said, my husband likes variety in food and he's a meat eater sooooooo every once and a while I humor him. Went to a great butcher shop in Salem, NH and found some kind of pork I could say "yes" to. I happen to like flat iron steak, so when I saw a cut of flat iron pork marinated in Italian seasoning- I picked it up. Generally I make my own marinades so if you follow this recipe you can start by adding parsley, oregano, basil, salt, pepper, olive oil and a good vinegar to your flat iron cut over night- then use it the next day with recipe as follows...

You will need:

• one 2 lb or so flat iron (marinated) pork cut 
• 1/2 cup red wine 
• 1/2 balsamic good vinegar 
• 2 fennel bulbs, ends trimmed 
• 1 medium red onion 
• 2 garlic cloves, minced 
• 10 sun-dried tomatoes 
• 6 (or so) squash blossoms 
• 4 sprigs rosemary 
• 4 sprigs thyme
• 1 teaspoon paprika 
• salt & pepper to taste 
• 3-5 tablespoons olive oil 

_________________________________________

Half Sweet Mash: 

• 2 small sweet potato 
• 3 medium russet potato 
• 1/2 cup plain greek yogurt
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic salt 
• 1 teaspoon dried leeks 

I used a dutch oven to make this but you could certainly make use of a heavy bottomed pot or tangine. Preheat your oven to 375. 

On the stove top heat the range to high. Add 3 tablespoons of olive oil and place marinated pork and 8 sprigs of herbs into the hot pan. After 2-3 min turn over and heat 2 min more. You basically just want a good sear to seal in juices. 

Meanwhile, take your washed and trimmed fennel and onion and slice thinly. Once you have removed the pork and set aside- add a little more oil (about 2 tablespoons) to the hot pot. Add in the fennel, onion, dried tomatoes and garlic- cook down until nearly translucent. Add in the balsamic, red wine and paprika. Scrap down the dredges of the pot on bottom and add back in the pork- try to place it under the veggies to braise in the oven. Add salt and pepper to taste. Transfer the covered pot into the oven for 45 min. 

Meanwhile. scrub and wash the sweet and russet potatoes and cut into cubes, skins on. Put into a tall pot with cold water and salt and set on the stove to boil. Once fork tender- drain over sink and put back into hot pot. Add in yogurt, garlic salt and dried leeks. Use a hand mixer to blend together. If you need to add extra yogurt to smooth out the texture go ahead. You can salt and pepper if necessary. 

When the pork has cooked through and the veggies are braised - you can serve right over the mashed potatoes - Bon Appetit 

xoxo Renee  

White Lasagna with Chicken and Bitter Greens

This is a recipe I stole from Elizabeth! I have, however, put my own twist on it.
To make this white lasagna

You will need:

Layers

• One box gluten free brown rice lasagna noodles
• 2 cups whole milk ricotta
• 1 egg
• 2 large poached chicken breast*
• 4 cups shredded parmesan and mozzarella blended (you can choose how much of each - I do one to three)
• 6 cups of kale and bitter greens- chopped fine (you can find these baby greens in your "lettuce area" at the grocery store- ask your grocer- or you can substitute spinach) this is 50/50 with the kale and bitters
• 1 handful of fresh parsley, coarsely chopped   
• optional: 5 sun-dried tomatoes, julienned 

_______________________________________________________

Sauce

• 1/2 stick butter
• 1 med yellow onion, minced 
• 4 gloves of garlic, minced 
• 6 tablespoons flour of choice (I used GF sorghum flour) 
• 1 cup chicken broth 
• 1 1/2 cups cream 
• handful of fresh basil, oregano 
• salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 350. 

Put a large pot of salted water on to boil. 

In a small bowl whisk together the ricotta, egg, parsley, optional sun-dried tomato salt and pepper- set aside. 

In a med saucepan start the sauce by melting butter over med heat adding onions and after two min, garlic. Continue to cook down until translucent. Stir in flour with a whisk. Continue to whisk while adding broth and then cream. This should thicken up. Stir in the fresh herbs and set off heat. 

Add lasagna noodles to boiling water- cook until el dente at best- under if possible. 

Meanwhile, you should have washed greens set aside in a bowl- chopped, the ricotta mixture, your cooked chicken shredded or cubed - in a bowl, your cheese shredded and your sauce. 

Once your noodles are drained and rinsed you can begin assembling. 

Start by spreading the sauce at the bottom of a 9x13 glass pan and put three noodles side by side on top. You should be able to eventually (not all at once) do four noodle layers. Add ricotta, some greens, chicken, more sauce and cheese - another layer of noodle. Continue layering until you have NO INGREDIENTS left!! Top with cheese and bake for 30 minutes. 

If you don't want your cheese to burn- you can tent it with foil- or add the cheese on top for the last 5 min.

Bon appetit. 

xoxo- Renee 

*To poach your chicken breast you can put your chicken in a sauce pan with a cup of broth, five sprigs of thyme and salt to simmer for 40 min. or until cooked thru. You could also put it in a crock pot on med for an hour. This can be made up to a day ahead. 

Fresh Peach & Fig Scones

This recipe can easily be cut in half to make about a half 6 large scones. These are not the traditional "dry" scone you may be used to- which I happen it really like- but the 'ever so slightly muffin-like' texture works with the fresh figs and peach.

You will need:

• 3 1/2 cups mixture of sorghum and buckwheat flour (you can add more or less of either) 
• 1/2 cup brown sugar 
• 1 teaspoon baking powder 
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• dash of salt
• 2 sticks butter or oil/fat of choice
• 1/4 cup maple syrup or honey
• 3/4 buttermilk 
• 1/2 cream  
• 6 fresh figs quartered
• 1 med peach cut into small bite sized pieces

Preheat the oven to 400. 

Put all your dry ingredients into a food processor and pulse. Add butter in chunks and pulse lightly. Don't over mix- it's okay for it to be a little lumpy! 

Whisk together all wet ingredients in a large liquid measuring cup. (Hold on the fruit.)

Transfer "dry"mixture with butter into a bowl and fold in the wet ingredients. Add your fruit. You can scoop these onto your cooking stone or lightly greased or parchment papered cookie sheet. Give them space, they will spread. You can choose to sprinkle the tops with raw sugar if you like but that is optional. 

Bake for 20-25 min in the center of oven. Bon appetit. 

xoxo -Renee

Ginger, Thyme and Lemon Peel Shortbread Cookies

These are shortbread cookies with personality. These have the classic butter flavor with a hint of lemon, ginger and thyme.
To make these cookies you will need:

• 1 cup butter (you can substitute up to half with coconut oil) 
• 1/3 cup turbanado raw sugar
• 5 cubes of crystallized ginger 
• zest of one whole lemon   
• 1 cup sorghum flour 
• 1 cup cashew flour 
• 5 sprigs of thyme 

Using a food processor put the sugar and ginger into the processor and pulse until fine. Add zest and pulse again. Add the butter and flours and pulse until this forms a dough. Add in the leaves of the sprigs of time mix in by hand. Put the dough into a piece of wax paper and shape into a tube. Refrigerate for one hour. 

Preheat the oven to 350. Cut the tube of dough into 1/4 inch cookies and place of two greased cookies. Place the cookies in the middle of the oven and bake for 12-14 min or until the edges are brown. 

Let rest and cool before moving to a cooling rack. 

Bon Appetit- xoxo Renee

Poached Peach & Fresh Fig with Honey atop Yogurt Panna Cotta

That's a mouthful- I know! But I feel like each of those yummy ingredients really stand out in this classic panna cotta dessert. You could substitute any fruit or sauce on top of this blank canvas dessert, so it's incredibly versatile. It's also a cinch to make. I put mine in cheap wine glasses almost knowing I would break one- and I did, but really any container will do from mason jars to ramekins to classic panna cotta molds.

You will need:

• 1 1/2 tsp unflavored gelatin 
• 1 1/4 heavy cream (or reg. cream) 
• 1/4 cup or more raw honey
• 1 vanilla bean 
• 1 1/2 cup plain whole fat Greek yogurt  

_______________________________________

topping:

• 1/4 honey (use local if possible) 
• 5 fresh mission figs (washed &quartered)
• 3 small peaches 
• 1/4 cup raw walnuts, crushed slightly (or other nut)
• salt to taste
• dash of nutmeg (optional)

Put the cream and honey into a sauce pan on med- low heat as well as the vanilla bean split and seeded. You can throw the vanilla bean in while you whisk the cream and honey together to add as much vanilla flavor as possible. Put the gelatin in about 1 tablespoon of cool water to soften and set aside. When the honey has dissolved and you can take the cream off the heat (3 min or so) you can add the gelatin. Add in the Greek yogurt and continue to whisk. Strain the entire mixture thru a sieve into a bowl or large cup with a lip for pouring -making sure the mixture is smooth. This will also discard the vanilla bean (you can try to squeeze out extra seeds if you are ambitious). Pour into jars, cups, molds, what-have-you  and cover- then put in refrigerator overnight (or at least 5 hours).
If you put into molds you can run hot water over the bottom to release them.

About 1/2 hour before you take the panna cotta from the fridge- begin your topping!

In a deep sauce pan put the peaches in with enough water to cover and heat over med heat. Let the peaches get to the point of bubbling to boil then strain out the water and put onto a cutting board to peel the skin off. Let cool for at least five mine. In the meantime put the same (still warm) pan on the stove and add in the honey and nuts along with salt and spice. Heat on very low. Peel peaches of their skin and slice- add to honey mixture. Add figs just to warm and take off the heat. This will be a nice warm against the cool of the panna cotta.
Take panna cotta out of the fridge and add warm topping. Serve and bon appetit!
xoxo Renee

Incredible, edible- truffled, deviled EGGS

Well, we may not like to admit loving those eggs stuffed with their own calorie filled insides are yummy and yet mixed with even more delicious calories are even better. Now, that we've faced this reality- let's eat.

You will need:

• 8 hard boiled eggs
• 1/3 cup mayonnaise 
• 1 teaspoon truffle oil 
• 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard 
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 2 green onions minced 
• 6 sprigs of fresh thyme
• salt and pepper to taste 
• paprika to garnish

Shell your eggs. (If still hot run them under cold water first.) Cut around lengthwise keeping the yolk in tact. Put the yolk in a medium sized bowl with the remaining ingredients. Mix until blended.
Fill the empty whites with the yolk mixture and garnish with paprika. Yum, so rich, so incredible.
xoxo Renee

*Note these can be kept in fridge for serving up to a day ahead.

Squash Blossoms are food too!

So news flash: Squash blossoms are absolutely delicious for the eating. You can dry them and put them on your baked goods. You can throw them in your salad- lovely. Frying them is traditional but why shirk tradition?

For these ricotta stuffed squash blossoms you will need:

• 1 cup whole milk ricotta (I use the Trader Joe's brand) 
• 1 teaspoon or more capers chopped
• 6 (or so) sun-dried tomatoes julienned 
• 10 fresh basil leaves, fresh, julienned
• salt n pepper to taste
• 2 cups olive oil 

___________________________________

• 2 eggs 
• 1/2 cup sorghum flour 
• 1/4 cup cashew flour 
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• salt to taste

*Word to the wise: if you are picking these blossoms out of your own garden. Pick the male blossoms which will not jeopardize the growth of your squash the same as the female. If this confuses you- google it. 

In a small bowl combine all ingredients (above dividing line) except the oil. The tomato and caper are optional but trust me this adds a saltiness and robust flavor you will not get with plain ricotta. 

Heat your olive oil over med to med-high heat. 

Use a metal spoon to fill your blossoms with the ricotta mixture. Twist the open end shut. 

Whisk the two eggs in a small bowl. Put the flours and seasoning on the plate and mix with a fork to blend. 

Take the stuffed blossoms and dredge in egg mixture then flour mixture before placing in the oil to fry. You will need only one min or so per side. Place on a plate with paper towel to absorb excess oil. These flowers are salty enough inside- don't feel like it needs extra on the outside. Eat while hot, and bon appetit. 

xoxo Renee 

Too easy Watermelon pops

These pops require 2 ingredients:

• Watermelon- whole and seedless 
• Skewers- wooden or metal 

Cut watermelon width wise into large discs. Then cuts into fourths. Skewer, then put into a plastic bag and freeze. DONE
Bon appetit xoxo Renee

Berry Shortcake - don't hold the Coconut

This is switching up the idea you may have in your head of those dry, store bought biscuits or even the yellow concave cakes you get in the store to make strawberry shortcake- which by the way have nothing to do with shortcake.
These aren't shortcake either. Sorry, maybe next week. But they are pretty delish. They come out like soft pillow-y absorbent cookies- to hold all that good strawberry juice.

For the cookies you will need:

• 2 cups prepared coconut macaroons pulsed in food processor (If you want to use a mix of coconut flour and sweetened coconut- this should work fine- I rarely use something prepared but these work great- I prefer Jenny's as a rule
• 1/2 cup coconut flour
• 1/2 ground flax 
• 1/2 walnuts, raw
• 2 cubes crystallized ginger 
• 1 teaspoon baking powder 
• 1/4 teaspoon salt 

__________________________

• 2 eggs 
• 1/2 buttermilk (you can use yogurt, regular milk)
• 1/2 cup maple syrup 
• 1 teaspoon vanilla 

__________________________

For berries: 

• 1 1/2 cups strawberries, sliced 
• 1/2 blueberries (I used wild) 
• 1/2 lemon
• 1/4 coconut sugar

_________________________________

For whipped cream: 

• 1 cup heavy cream 
• 1/4 cup coconut (or other) sugar

Preheat oven to 350. 

Mix together washed berries with juice of half a lemon and coconut sugar- set aside. 

After you have pulsed the macaroons in the food processor you can add the rest of the dry ingredients and blend. Add in the liquid ingredients til just blended. Use an ice cream scoop to scoop out the "biscuit"  mixture onto greased cookie sheets (using coconut oil or similar). 

Bake for 10-12 min. 

Meanwhile, blend together heavy cream and sugar into whipped cream. 

Let cookies cool- then build berries and whipped cream on top. Bon appetit. xoxo Renee