The dessert my husband always makes room for is the cannoli. If he just hears the word his eyes light up in anticipation of one of his most favorite treats. The chocolate cherry cannoli cups I made as a just-because dessert have now earned an equal space in his heart as compared to…
Author: expepicurean
Foolproof Hard-Boiled Eggs – An Experiment
The idea to do an experiment regarding hard boil eggs was actually posed by one of my readers. She wrote: “This past Thanksgiving my daughter’s boyfriend requested traditional deviled eggs be included as one of the appetizers. I have been buying brown, cage free eggs for the last year as I think they…
Skinny Chicken Tetrazzini
One of the comfort food and potluck staples I’ve come to enjoy is chicken tetrazzini. The creamy sauce is hard to resist, yet it is not easy on the waistline. But what is the best way to make this dish in a healthier manner? My friend Kim Van Dunk of Life in the Van was…
Simple Sriracha Hot Wings
Hot wings. The quintessential Super Bowl party food and often a favorite snack of the college crowds. Despite their popularity, I have shied away from making them for parties since I didn’t want to slave over a vat of oil. After some kitchen tinkering, my hot wing-free party spreads are now a thing…
Lentil Salad
Many people kick-off the new year with certain foods as a way to try to usher in good luck for the entire year. For example, lentils are thought to represent wealth for the new year. While I don’t make certain meals as talisman, I do think reinvigorating my healthy meal preparation by including lentils in…
Babaganoush
With January 1st comes a re-commitment to New Year’s resolutions, resolutions such as: (1) Eating healthier (2) Trying something new You can accomplish both with the babaganoush I made this week. Babaganoush is a an eggplant based dip with a variety of other spices depending on the origin of the recipe you use….
Holiday Antipasto Platter
In our family, a holiday meal is not complete without an antipasto platter. Growing up, both my husband and I looked forward to our respective family traditional platter – my family’s included black olives that were quickly devoured by all of the cousins, and my in-laws always had pepperoni or salame. Antipasto, or…
Kaniwa, Tomato, and Basil Salad
In my opinion, eating a gluten-free diet is getting easier and easier. Not only are there many more gluten-free breads and other goodies on the market, but I even stumbled upon another wheat-free side dish option to put into rotation – kaniwa. Kaniwa is a gluten-free “grain”, that like quinoa is actually an…
Candied Grapefruit Peels
As Christmas approaches, the urge to make all of my favorite holiday treats gets stronger and stronger. One of the things I always make is candied orange peels, which are swiftly devoured be me, my dad, and my friend Brooke. This year I thought I would try a different citrus fruit for my…
Ninja Panini
Ah, the perils of a food blogger. Sometimes a recipe sounds better in your head, and when you try to execute the idea, it is quickly derailed. Point in case – my ninja panini. Since Ninjas are trained in the art of stealth, I thought it would be a clever name for a…
Asparagus Frittata
This week my husband and I split the grocery shopping in preparation for our Thanksgiving meal. As you can imagine, we ended up with some overlap – in this case asparagus. This wouldn’t have been so bad, except our holiday guests have had to cancel at the last minute due to an everlasting…
Asian Salad with Ponzu Dressing
When life gets busy, it is often easiest to make the same, old staples for meals – things that are quick, or don’t take much thought to prepare. While I fall into this trap myself, I think we are cheating ourselves when we walk past ingredients in the grocery store just because we…
