A (Kind of) Spooky Halloween Meal

This Halloween, I was not really in the dress-up spirit. I normally come up with an original idea for a costume, but for some reason, this was not my year for good costume ideas. The impromptu snowstorm on Saturday didn't help matters. Instead of coming up with some half baked idea, I decided to channel my creativity into creating a Halloween themed meal. I decided on roasted and mashed butternut squash, crispy purple kale chips, and stuffed calamari with blueberry sauce.

Simple Ingredients, Unconventional Preparation

Some of the best meals can come from unconventional cooking and seasoning methods. The other night, I had some good ingredients for dinner, but I was a bit stuck on how to cook them. I bought a whole chicken, some brussel sprouts, a sweet potato, and an eggplant. I couldn't decide on how to prepare all of the elements of the dinner, so I decided to use some unexpected cooking methods and the result was delicious.

Snack Attack! Roasted Almonds

A really delicious and extremely easy snack is home roasted almonds. The other weekend, I was making a snack for a fun trip with my friends, and I realized I had a bag of raw almonds in my pantry. I decided to season and roast them. Almonds are a really healthy snack, and with a little bit of spice, they can be very delicious.

Move Over, Burger and Fries

I love a good burger and fries, but often times the fat and grease outweigh the deliciousness of a juicy beef burger and fried potatoes. Enter the turkey burger with roasted cauliflower. Turkey burgers can be tricky to make because they easily dry out, and you really can't undercook them because nobody wants to or should eat rare turkey meat. If done well, turkey burgers are a great alternative to beef.

Pork Chops, Brussel Sprouts, and Potatoes: Redux

Part of the difficulty in maintaining a food blog is coming up with original ideas for dishes. Some of my favorite ingredients have already been covered on the blog this summer: pork chops, brussel sprouts, and potatoes. The beauty of cooking is that you can take the same ingredients, cook them a different way, and have a totally different meal.

Asian Style Roasted and Steamed Fish

White fish and Asian flavors go very well together. I like to use soy sauce, sake, mirin, and other Asian seasonings on white fish because the fish absorbs the flavor really well and the light flavor of the meat lends itself to those salty flavors.

Crispy Chicken, Creamy Kale, Melty Mushrooms

Mixing and matching textures in a dish can bring the quality and experience of eating up to a new level. Chicken is a really great meat to play around with textures. The skin lends itself to crisping so well, and when done right, the skin can be a crispy compliment to the textures around it, both the sides of a dish and the meat itself.