This is a great warm Autumn salad, especially when you want all of your veggies but don’t want to eat something cold on those chilly days. The warm roasted cauliflower, spiced chick peas and creamy tahini dressing really will warm up your Fall menu!
I love living in Italy and trying ALL the delicious food that is available here. However, you can take the girl out of California but you can’t take the California out of the girl. I am used to a multi-cultural cuisine and I still get a serious craving for food that is NOT Italian. Tonight I am craving Vietnamese Lemongrass Beef Salad!
I love the taste of Almond Roca and its so easy to make! I decided to whip up a batch for those moments when you just want something sweet but don’t want to commit to eating an entire dessert. I’ve made this Almond Roca three times since I have been here in Italy. One time it was to give away to friends in small gift bags and all of the girls loved it! Italian don’t really have this type of candy so it’s a real novelty!
I’m still trying to catch on to the true “Italian Style” of cooking and it often eludes me. I especially have been baffled on what to make as a “Secondi Piatti” or Second Course when I have people over for dinner. This Saturday morning I walked to my local grocery store around the corner and was amazed at the spectacular choices available and it dawned on me that I have been shopping at the wrong time! Saturday lunch is traditionally the biggest family meal of the week.
Italy has started to whisper her secrets to me, I am starting to peel back the layers of the onion and learn what it means to cook the Italian way. “Sto imparando, piano, piano” (I am learning, slowly, slowly)
I love Vietnamese food, and here in Italy is impossible to eat at a Vietnamese restaurant. So if I want to eat Vietnamese, I must make it. Fortunately I can find the ingredients pretty easily. So I pick up a package of celophane rice sheets and an array of vegetables in my shopping bag and head home to whip up my own Vietnamese Spring Rolls.
Whole wheat waffles are one of my favorite breakfasts. This summer we have celebrated each fruit on a Sunday morning under the cherry tree in the cool of the morning. We walk outside with our plate heaped high of crisp waffles while the scent of vanilla waifs through the air behind us.
Several months ago when I was up to my elbows in cherries, I came across a recipe that was mind blowing for me. It was for Noyaux (pronounced Noy-you). Noyaux is the French word meaning “stones” and is referring to the little kernel inside the pit of stone fruit such as cherry, peach and apricot.
While we were living in Corn Island, Nicaragua I got pretty desperate for any food from home. One day my niece mistakenly bought powdered milk while on a grocery shopping errand. It can be pretty crazy buying groceries in a third world island store. I thought “What am I going to do with all of this powdered milk?”
Homemade Cannoli
(You will need cannoli molds and pastry bags to make these, I ordered mine at Amazon.com and they were under $10 and arrived in a few days. You can fry the shells a few days before filling them so it’s a great “do-ahead” recipe and a real crowd pleaser!
