Entries Tagged as 'Vegetarian'
Despite what my husband thinks, I do try to avoid foodie preciousness. I’m short on time, like everyone else, and I make liberal use of shortcuts in my cooking. I get that premade ingredients make cooking easier and more accessible. But there are some things that making from scratch is such a deeply ingrained habit that I wouldn’t think of buying them premade. For example: I never buy bottled salad dressing.
Salad dressing may not seem like a hill to die on, but homemade is so simple (once you know how), and it tastes so much cleaner. It’s free of the gums and sugars and preservatives you get in even high-end bottled dressing. And it’s pretty infinitely variable.
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Tags: Basics·French·salad·Salad Dressing·Scratch·Vegetarian
I make no pretenses that this is based on some autentico salsa especiale I tasted in a tiny cafe in Zihuatanejo. In fact, this recipe is based entirely on a pineapple I had in my refrigerator that was quickly getting a little too ripe (shopping with a 4 year old means you come home with lots of produce and few plans). But it makes use of the Mexican flavors and produce I find all over southern California — the sweet acidity of pineapple matched by savory onions, chiles and cilantro, all mellowed by avocado and enlivened with the crunch of jicama. (If you’ve never had jicama, it’s a great ingredient. Resembling a large pale brown turnip, it’s a juicy root vegetable that’s very faintly sweet and has a terrific crunch not unlike a water chestnut.)

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Tags: healthy·mexican·Vegetarian·weeknight

I’m a big believer in a decent breakfast. If I don’t eat one, I’m climbing the walls and eating whatever I’ve packed for lunch at 10 am. The Nuni gets to eat at preschool, but their idea of a proper breakfast (waffles, mini bagels, cold cereal) is not my idea of a proper breakfast. There should be protein! Fiber! Preferably a little fruit! A breakfast that can get you through to elevenses, at least. Eggs and toast are lovely, or a bowl of oatmeal with lots of milk, but they don’t really help the morning chaos. These oatmeal breakfast bars are the answer to that.
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Tags: breakfast·fruit·Oatmeal·Vegetarian