at home with ann

A few weeks ago we went into Boston for the day. After chasing little people up, down, and around the Children's Museum, watching Colin climb up three stories on a jungle gym and James' excitement at a room filled with golf balls, we went to Flour Bakery for lunch.  I had the Roasted Sweet Potato sandwich, and it was amazing. I just checked the menu , and it looks like they don't offer it right now, but lucky for you I made a salad that's just as good.  The original sandwich was roasted sweet potato, apple, walnut pesto, blue cheese and kale on wheat bread.  I took some liberties, changed up some ingredients, and made it into a salad. Roasted Sweet Potato Salad Romaine and Kale, shredded Olive oil Sweet potato rounds, roasted Apple, sliced Avocado Roasted tomatoes Goat cheese Balsamic Vinegar Drizzle kale and romaine with olive oil Sweet potatoes - coat slices or cubes with olive oil and roast at 425 degrees for 30 minutes. Tomatoes - toss with olive o...

Yesterday we had an unseasonably warm day, and I couldn't be happier about it.  Sure, during the summer I complain about the humidity during a heat wave, and turn on the air conditioning upstairs for sleeping (it's for the baby ); but I'd take heat over cold any day.  This salad is the perfect combination of all the wonderful late summer food; sweet corn, crisp green beans, juicy tomatoes and fragrant basil.  It makes an excellent side dish, we ate it last night alongside broccoli quiche and roasted potatoes, and it is also a perfect light lunch.  Especially if, like me, you're planning to use up some random marshmallows and make rice crispy treats later.  Or, just be healthy.  Whichever. Green Bean, Corn and Tomato Salad modified from Self Salad Ingredients: 3-4 ears fresh corn, removed from cob 1 lb. green beans, blanched in boiling water and cut into bite size pieces 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved or quartered 1/2 jalapeno, seeded and minced 1...

Now that it's May and Jon's birthday and corresponding pie was last week, we are making an effort to eat a little cleaner.  Sadly, this means cutting down on our consumption of things like nightly dessert.  Thankfully it does not mean we are going to stop going out to ice cream, because that's an important Sunday evening tradition for us in the summer.  At least for me, and I'm fairly certain I can get Colin in my corner.  This doesn't have much to do with anything, aside from the fact that this salad is healthy, filling and delicious.  And won't leave you craving peanut butter cups.   I love salmon.  Love, love, love.  I always feel good after eating it, and it's so versatile.  Ina made this recipe originally with fresh tuna, but I never see that in the stores, and when I do it can be crazy expensive. I think this would also be good with any firm white fish.  Asian Style Salmon Salad inspired by Barefoot Contessa   Ingr...

This is a delicious dressing that is chock full of avocado, herbs, lemon juice and a topped off with a little olive oil.  All those healthy fats, your skin will glow!  I originally made it to go on chef salads, but also used it to top black bean burgers, and as a vegetable dip.  It's very versatile.  I also licked the spatula as I was transferring it out of the food processor, but that's not an official serving suggestion. Avocado Herb Dressing 1 large avocado 1/2 lemon, juiced 1 Tablespoon apple cider vinegar Handful each of basil and parsley (about 1/2 cup each) Kosher salt Black pepper Water, as needed In a food processor, combine avocaod, lemon juice, apple cider vinegar and herbs. Blend well until smooth. With the motor running, slowly add water until desired consistency. (More for a pourable dressing, less for a scoopable dip.  I did something in the middle, about 2 Tablespoons.) Season with salt and pepper to taste. This keeps in the frid...

For many years I thought I didn't like corn off the cob.  I'm not sure why, but I suspect it had something to do with canned corn at some point.  Last summer during the great CSA corn influx, when we were given 8 ears every two weeks for over a month, I gave it a try just to escape from under the sheer weight of corn piling up.  It's good!  And you don't need to follow it up with floss. Corn and Black Bean Salad is nothing new, in fact I've made a version of it before .  The variation this time was to grill the corn, though.  We had a grilled pork tenderloin this past weekend, and whenever Jon gets the grill fired up, I always have him toss on some sort of vegetable as well.   I love grilled vegetables, but I am scared of the grill because I think it's going to blow up in my face, and it seems silly to get the charcoal going just for a couple ears of corn.  All about the multi-tasking.  And not having things blow up in my face. To gr...

My friend Jackie is a great cook, and loves finding new recipes as much as I do.  Our Pinterest boards are full of them.  The other day she emailed me some links for chicken salad recipes, and while I didn't follow them exactly, I used the ideas and did my own thing.  They were both delicious, I highly recommend keeping these in mind next time you have a chicken salad hankering.  I know you can all make chicken salad, but these little changes kick things up a notch.  I started with a rotisserie chicken and cut all the meat off.  Split in half gave me about 2 cups of chicken for each recipe. Avocado Chicken Salad 2 cups shredded/cubed cooked chicken 1/2 avocado, cubed 1 cup grapes, halved 2 stalks celery, chopped 1/4 lemon, juiced salt and pepper Mayo, optional for extra creaminess Hummus Chicken Salad 2 cups shredded/cubed cooked chicken 1/2 cup hummus 1/2 avocado, cubed 1/4 bell pepper, chopped 2 stalks celery, chopped 1/4 lemon, ju...

You know I am a big fan of kale, although I admittedly mostly eat it in chip form.  Kale is crazy good for you, lots of vitamin K, A, and C, among others.  One of my friends sent me this recipe (I love when they do that!), and I was excited to try it with some of the giant bag of kale I picked this week.  I modified the original recipe a bit to add some more ingredients and make it into a meal (and consequently, no longer officially raw, if you care about that sort of thing). Kale, Tomato and Avocado Salad adapted from Happy Foody 1 bunch of curly kale (I filled up about half a salad spinner to serve 2 as a main course) 1 large tomato, chopped 1/2-1 avocado, chopped 1/2 can chickpeas, rinsed and drained 1-2 Tablespoons olive oil Juice of 1/2 lemon sea salt goat cheese, crumbled, for serving Rip kale leaves off stems and tear into bite size pieces. Mix in olive oil and lemon juice with your hands.  Really, use your hands.  The more it gets worked ...

I know you are all probably Mexican-fooded-out after yesterday (is that even possible?), but I'll share a few more ideas. At the recent request of one of my friends, I have been working on making queso dip that does not involve fluorescent, processed cheese.  Searching online led to a lot of dead ends with the dreaded velveeta, so I went with a very simple creamy cheese sauce with a kick. Easy  Queso Dip Ingredients: 4 oz. reduced fat cream cheese 1/4 cup milk 1/2 cup shredded cheese - I used a Mexican four cheese blend.  A cheddar jack mix would work as well. It's important to have some blend that includes an easy melting cheese, all cheddar will give it a grainy texture. 1/4 cup salsa - I used hot hot sauce, for topping In a saucepan over medium low heat, soften the cream cheese with a couple Tablespoons of milk. When mixture is melted and creamy, slowly add the cheese, stirring well. Add milk, one Tablespoon at a time, until desired consistency. Stir in...

I know you all know how to make salad.  I won't give you step by step pictures showing you how to cook chicken or chop tomatoes.  I will, however, tell you that this is an awesome salad, with a lot of flavor and variety.  It has a good amount of protein and healthy fat and will keep you full.  Also, you get to eat bacon. In the mix: Greens Chopped tomato Avocado Chicken - sauteed in olive oil with salt and pepper Bacon Hard Boiled Egg Blue Cheese A tip for cooking hard boiled eggs.  Put the uncooked eggs in a saucepan and cover with cold water by about an inch.  Bring to a boil, covered.  When boiling, allow to cook for 1 minute and then turn off the heat.  Set the timer for 15 minutes and leave them alone.  After 15 minutes, immerse the eggs in a bowl of ice water until cool - just a few minutes.  Peel under running water. This was definitely not a five minute lunch, but it was so good it was worth it!