One a scale of 1 to romantic… where do you fall?

I fall at the medium-low level… let’s call if a 4.6.  Go easy on the candle light, long stem roses, and limo rides (unless there’s a hot tub in back).  I don’t need jewelry, but diamonds are always nice (it’s a paradox, I dunno…).  Carriage rides?  Meh.  Horse rides?  Cooler.  Horse ride followed by margaritas?  Now you’re on to something.

I’m not the heart locket and stuffed animal type.  I’m more the Le Creuset and expensive chocolate type.

I also think large pots of warm rice and chicken are an 8.7 on the romantic scale.

This is a really lovely, one-pot dish, that starts with wine and saffron.

Many good things come from wine and saffron.

Olives, rice, and chicken.  That’s all we’re getting ourselves into.

In a pot together, magic romantic things happen.

Bubble and simmer.  Bubble and simmer.

Everything in the pot, and the rice soaks it all up.

There’s no way to dry the chicken, or otherwise futz up this dish.  If the rice gets burned and crunchy on the bottom… that’s totally the best part.

There are a few tricks… if you’re using a large pot, make sure that you move it around on the burner so that the simmer hits every part of the pan.  Fifteen minutes in the center of the pot.  Ten minutes on one side of the pot.  Ten minutes on the other side of the pot.  Sometimes pockets of rice can remain uncooked if the pan is too large.  Also.. don’t be afraid to add a touch more broth if your rice isn’t cooking up.  No worries.  Keep it easy.

 This Arroz con Pollo is a super classic, ultra-comforting dish.  Listen… if you’d like to claim that your mother makes a better Arroz con Pollo that I do… guess what?  You’re probably right.  This dish is good… really really good.  I just don’t want to do battle with your mother… that’s all I’m saying.

I’d love for you to make this dish for a special someone on, or near Valentine’s Day.  It’s comfort food that should be shared with love.  After dinner you can both stand around the pot with spoons and scrape the bottom of the pot for crunchy rice bits while you finish the bottle of wine.  That’s romance.  That’s friendship.  That’s just love.

This is total brain food.

If you think you know what I mean by that… think again.

This is the sort of dish that you can make seated at your kitchen counter, or at your the desk that you’ve cleared off, or sitting on the floor beside the coffee table.  This is the sort of dish that you sit, and make, and think with your brain… while you let your fingers do the working.

Taking the time to making these little pockets is the slightly more productive equivalent to standing in the kitchen with buttery crackers, peanut butter, and Lucky magazine.

Taking the time to make these little treats is also the equivalent to  listening to Van Morrison’s Veedon Fleece on repeat.  It’s just good for the brain.

If you don’t know… now ya know.

This is no time to celebrate fresh peas.  But! Frozen peas, brought to life with boiling water.  We’re good to go!

…I should tell you how many times a week I defrost peas and call them dinner.  It might make you worry about me.

Essentially, we making little ravioli pockets with pulverized peas.

We’ll mix the peas with lemon juice and zest, bread crumbs, garlic, shallots, parsley, and cheeeeeese!

This recipe is inspired by The Gourmet Cookbook…. my old standby.

The recipe combines pea ravioli with a lemon chicken broth… gorgeous!  Think about it… maybe this is your dinner style!

Here’s the thing that we need to talk about.

I made these ravioli pockets using pre-made wonton wrappers.  The kind of wrappers that are already perfectly portioned for fried wontons, boiled ravioli, or decadent Nutella pockets.

I know….  it seems like once you know how simple it is to make pasta… you’re not allowed to cheat with wonton squares.

But this is real life.  I don’t have a pasta roller.  And I have to desire to use a rolling pin and fight to make perfect little squares.

Wonton wrappers!!  You can find them in most groceries, in the refrigerated section.

Let’s just go with it.

Pea pesto is easily brought together in a food processor.  The toughest part about this step is, um… actually having a food processor.

I have this blender and mini food processor combo.  It has made me happy.  Boom.

Two edges of the ravioli square are moistened with water, using your finger.  Then the edges are formed into a triangle and pressed together.  Give it a good press.

Oh… also.. my watch calls it 11:07.  Fyi.

After the pocket is well sealed, bring together the two far corners.  We’re going to glue them together…

With just a dab of water… the corners get pressed together.

These little ravioli cook up in boiling, salted water in about 2 minutes.  Top with spicy tomato sauce and you’re good for dinner!

A few helpful notes:

-  Ravioli will begin to stick together if filled and left to sit atop one another.  Lay them flat, separated by parchment paper, and refrigerate.

-  Ravioli can be spread in a single layer and frozen.  To enjoy, place in boiling water until they float and are warmed through.

-  Don’t have a fancy food processor?  I totally get it!  These ravioli can be made with store bought pesto… no problem!  Spruce pesto up with whole peas, chicken pieces, or bacon bits (not store-bought!)… use your imagination.  Enjoy the project!

-  Kids can help!  I think they can, at least.  Cats can not help.  That much has been determined.

-  Ravioli can also be filled with sweet treats.  I’m thinking Nutella.  If filled with chocolate hazelnut spread… consider pan frying until crisp.  Boiled Nutella would be weird.

-  Relax and enjoy making these.  Don’t worry about the fancy food processor or pasta roller that you might not have.  Cooking is all about making what you have work for you.  Let’s just chill and do.

Dear New Year,

Here’s the deal!  I like carrot sticks.  I’m going to keep eating those.  I like oatmeal cookies.  I’m going to continue to consider them a breakfast cookie.  I’ll drink green juices.  I’ll even like it.

Also… I’m going to continue to follow 3 people on Facebook that I don’t actually like.  It’s that ‘keep your enemies close’ thing.

I’m going to drink tea, but I’ll always love coffee more.

I’ll go to church.  I’ll volunteer… and I’ll try to be better all the time.  I’ll try most sincerely.  I’ll try to love more and text less.

I’m going to find a new bourbon to appreciate.  That should be bonkers fun.

I’m going to eat real dinners, unless eating cold cereal while reading Food and Wine magazine makes more sense.

That’s where this roasted beef sandwich comes in.  Gorgeous.  Glorious.  Blessed day!  This could be the answer to unanswered questions.  Slow cooking, good smelling, tender tender, sandwich goodness.

Alright New Year, I’m gonna getcha!

Love,

Joy

This might have been love at first sight.  Now I know what that’s like.  Thank you!

There is such beauty in the simplicity of this recipe.  Beef roast is combined with broth, lots of raw garlic, onion, fresh sage and fresh thyme.  I used a large Dutch oven… but a slow cooker (crock pot) also works well too!  Beef is slooooooow cooked to tender perfection.  This takes hoooouuuurrrsss.  You can do all sorts of things in the time it takes for this roast to simmer, cook, and make your home smell amazing.

Errands.  Emails.  Closet organizing.  Nail painting.  Cookbook browsing.  Facebook stalking… imagine the things you could do.

After cooking the meat is removed from the liquid and shredded with two forks.  It falls apart, really.  It is a perfect thing.

The roasted beef is matched with brioche buns and spicy horseradish mayonnaise.  Major delicious.  Major boy food.  Major family food.  Set it and forget it…. and then be amazed at what an amazing chef you are!

These photographs were taken with an iPhone using Instagram.  Keeping it simple.

My grandmother used to have a house dress, house hair, and house shoes.  She made no apologies for boiling her fresh vegetables half way to kingdom come.  She sat with her Bible at every spare moment.

I… well, I have a house sweater.  It’s big and grey with floppy sleeves and giant buttons.  It’s just a house sweater, unless of course I decide that it can handle a quick trip to the store or a quick meet with a friend.  It really should stay in the house, as beat up and unattractive as it is… but sometimes it’s just too warm and cozy to part with.  I don’t even want to talk about introducing the house sweater to someone that you’re dating.  That’s a whole other beast to tackle.

My grandmother would support my house sweater.  She’d nod in quiet understanding.  She’d also love that I have her Bible on my nightstand, and I read and reread all the bits she underlined in red pen.  This salad?  She would not understand.  It’s entirely too fresh and crisp and… unboiled.  I suppose that’s the difference between her Tennessee blood and my California living.

Blood oranges are here and I couldn’t be happier.  Every orange is different.  The red tinting can be subtle or totally bonkers.  Beauty fruit.  I’m so into it!

I combined sweet blood oranges with creamy avocado, salty feta cheese, and crunchy sunflower seeds.

Spinach too.  Fully of flavor and health.  On the real.

This is the sort of salad that you can eat and feel like you’re indulging in a good life.  Not like you’re on a diet.  Not like you’re depriving yourself of peanut butter cups.  This salad is a treat in itself… and totally justify peanut butter cups for dessert.

This salad was inspired by a really lovely book.  Tender by Nigel Slater.  It’s like an encyclopedia for vegetables with gorgeous, simple, indulgent recipes for each vegetable.  I love the photographs and recipe lay outs.  Very laid back and personal, but beautifully intentional.  The man knows has a gorgeous respect for food.

Thanks sister!  Major gift!

This recipe is in paragraph form… that means take it easy and enjoy the process.  Just go with it.  Don’t have feta cheese?  Try goat cheese crumbles.  No sunflower seeds?  Toasted walnuts would be lovely.  No blood oranges?  Grapefruit is the way to go!

It seems as though… if you put biscuits on it… someone will profess their love to you.

It’s a strange phenomenon.  It’s totally true.

Put biscuits on it… people will fall in love with you on the quick.

We’re dealing in comfort food here.

It’s like a food hug.

Get into it!

Everything good starts with biscuits.

These biscuits are studded with black pepper and chopped chives.

Butter and buttermilk make these biscuits my go-to biscuit situation.

Nothing is more perfect.

Little bitty cremini mushrooms are the meaty element to this vegetarian dish.  They get caramelized with olive oil and butter and turn out robust and flavorful.  Simple food is good food.

Sliced carrots, diced sweet potatoes, and frozen peas.

We’re going to add dried thyme too.

Onions and garlic meet caramelized mushrooms and sweet potatoes.

We’re going to toss in flour and mushroom broth and make a thick gravy.

Gravy and biscuits.  I don’t know what more we could possibly want from life.

Have you ever been to St Louis, Missouri?

I think it might be a magic place… I think it might also be haunted.  Like, seriously.

I’m here visiting my dearheart Rachel.  The light here is like sun shining through milkglass.  There are piles of leaves everywhere.  The houses are HUGE! and beautifully bricked, and scary, and haunted, and regal.  There’s so much beauty and pride here.  And people say hello to one another when they walk down the street.

I’m staying in a house that has a claw foot tub and a lady ghost whose giant dragging skirt can occasionally be heard going down the stairs.  I haven’t heard it yet.  I had a preemptive conversation with the lady ghost explaining that when I get spooked, I also get screamy and punchy.

Beautiful and haunted, this place.

Yea… I’m a little scared

I need stew… like, right now!

I don’t put a lot of meat on my blog.

That’s because I have a tremendous appreciation for butter and sugar.

As Fall pulls into full swing, I find myself wanting to cook anything and everything in my dutch oven.

Soups.  Stews.  Things that have dumplings.

It’s time.

I paired sweet potato with stew beef to create a rich and flavorful stew.

There’s a splash of beer and Worcestershire sauce.  Carrots and onions, of course.  A good dose of tomato paste and beef broth.

It’s profoundly comforting.

This is a pot of food stuffs that is just begging to be shared.

This is a pot of food stuffs that may be best served in over-sized bowls, with couscous or rice, a blanket, a loved one, and a scary movie.

That sounds like a really good life.

Oh!  You should also know that I love mixing sweet potatoes in things.  Maybe you want to get into it too!

Black Bean and Sweet Potato Tacos relive summer just a little.

Sweet Potato and Kale Soup comfort town, major.

Dad’s Perfect Sweet Potato Pie if you’re thinking of making pie for the holiday… this is IT!  my dad’s family recipe plus a bonus no-roll pie crust.  amazing!

Note:  It’s past midnight… and I’ve lost my mind raiding my chocolate drawer.

Second Note:  I have a chocolate drawer… it’s an occupational perk and hazard.

Third Note:  I used to have a chocolate drawer.  Just wrappers now.

Fourth Note:  Why does Kim Kardashian insist on making such a joke of her life?  It must be the money.  Right?  It’s gotta be the money.

… and now!  SALAD.

I know what you want.

It’s not Brussels Sprouts.

I know what you want… because what you want is what I want.

You want chocolate.  I know this because I’m eating chocolate, kinda right now.

Seriously though…  we have to play it cool.  We have to sit at the table until we finish our vegetables.

There’s salted caramel in our future.  There’s fried things.  There’s cocktails.  There’s all the buttery things you would expect from me.

Eyes on the prize.  Let’s just hush up and eat our pretty salad.

If we’re going to eat a salad, I insist that it be pretty and jeweled.

This is fennel.  It’s licorice crunch.

Sexy, jeweled, murder fruit.

Pomegranates are gorgeous… and they stain EVERYTHING.

Thinly sliced apples and slivered almonds.

YEA!  In a salad!

All of this goodness gets tossed with shaved, raw Brussels sprouts.  This salad was inspired by Cube restaurant in Los Angeles.  I think this preparation of Fall Brussels sprouts is divine, fresh, and super healthy.

I tossed this salad with fresh lemon juice, good olive oil, salt, and pepper.  Very simple.

Perhaps you want to try a Poppy Seed Vinaigrette, or a Green Goddess Dressing.

Eat up.  Prepare yourself for the caramel and cheesecake that’s about to happen here.

Apple Pomegranate Brussels Sprout Salad

makes 4 small or 2 large portions

inspired by Cube restaurant in Los Angeles

Print this Recipe!

about 1 pound of Brussels sprouts (I used about 20 sprouts)

1/2 cup fresh pomegranate seeds

1 small fennel bulb, sliced very thin

1 Fuji apple, sliced thin

handful of toasted slivered almonds

salt and pepper

lemon and olive oil

Rinse brussels sprouts of any dirt or grime.  Place on a cutting board horizontally, and slice thinny, creating little brussels sprout rounds and ribbons.  Place in a large bowl and set aside.

Wearing an apron, deseed pomegranate and gather about 1/2 cup of seeds.  Add to the brussels sprout bowl.

Add thinly sliced fennel and apple, as well as the slivered almonds.  Toss together using hands.  Add the juice of 1 lemon, a good drizzle of olive oil, and a healthy pinch of salt and coarsely ground pepper.  Toss together, let rest for about 20 minutes in the fridge so the lemon can slightly soften the sprouts.

Serve in generous portions.  Top with more pomegranates if you’re feeling fancy.  I’m always feeling fancy.[/printab

This is the soup I suggest you eat this weekend after you devour three doughnuts at breakfast, and before you eat tacos and french fries for dinner.

It has broccoli and raw cashews in it.  It’s the picture of health.

Nevermind how much butter I put on that bread.  Let’s focus on our health.  Health after doughnuts and before tacos and fries. French Fry tacos should be a thing.  Is that a thing?  It needs to be a thing.

This soup is gorgeously healthy.  It’s packed with bright green broccoli and cashews.

When raw cashews are soaked in water and blended with soupy ingredients, the nuts simulate cream.  It really is a remarkable fact.  Cashews blended with broccoli in this recipe makes a thick, flavorful and totally healthful soup.

The lemon adds some bright inspiration.  The vegan worcestershire sauce adds an earthy, animal-y roundness.  There’s spice from pepper and smoke from cumin.  Garlic and onions should be in everything… so obviously they’re in this soup.  Overall… it’s a health win.  Get at it!

Oh!  Ps .  I’m really into soup.

Proof:

Broccoli Arugula Soup

Ginger and Lentil Soup

Curried Sweet Potato Soup

Vegan Cream of Mushroom Soup

I can and I will.

I can and I will.

That’s what I’ve been telling myself lately.  I can and I will… about everything.  I’ve also been saying YES to just about everything.  Do you know what can open up when you say Yes.. I can and I will?  Whoa.  Major.   Going to the gym?  Done.  Having an uncomfortable conversation you don’t want to have?  Done.  Offering a lady at the laundromat my laundry soap?  Done.  Paying that dang parking ticket.  Fine, done.  Helping a friend with a photo project.  Donedone.

I’m not looking for any sort of award.  I realize that this is all just everyday living… but it really is a lovely brainchange to think YES first… and I CAN second.  Really cool things can happen.  Like tacos… tacos can happen.

Amendment:  I think the only thing I’ll say no to right now is… seeing that 3D dolphin-without-a-tail movie.  I can’t handle it… mostly because it would probably make me cry.  Ugh.

I’m in love with these tacos.  I’ll eat them for days.  I made a lot.

I don’t want to share.  I really have to invoke that YES mantra.

These tacos have three essential elements.

This slaw is a simple mix of cabbage, onion, cilantro, and lime.  I secretly love that the purple cabbage bleeds.

These are the things that go into the black beans.  Lime, cumin, and onion.

I put them on a cutting board for you to see.

Roasted sweet potatoes round our this taco situation.  Sweet potatoes are roasted with olive oil, lime, and chili flakes.  Simple, bright, and spicy.

Ps.  Apparently I’m really into limes right now.  They’re everywhere!

Look at this!  I love when food is pretty!

These tacos are totally Autumn-y.  Orange, black and purple.  They’re full of flavor.  They’re earthy and bright.  I’m pretty sure I found my new favorite thing.

Oh!  Ps.  They’re totally cheap to make too.  Meat is expensive.  Potatoes and beans are totally cheap.

New Podcast is ready for your ears!  The Grass is Always Greener.  Dudes… it’s a good one!

I meant to make cake.  I meant to make whipped cream.  I meant to buy fresh raspberries.  I mean to smash the three things together into a large bowl and eat it all… and then I made salad.

Don’t yell.  We can not survive on doughnuts alone.

Let me tell you a little something about me… I do this weird thing wherein I eat one thing, all day.  That’s not to say that I eat one carrot all day.  No.  I eat carrots, and only carrots all day.  I don’t know why I do this.  Welcome to crazybrain.

So!  A few days ago when I made doughnuts…. I ate doughnuts all day.  Doughnuts and lime popsicles… because I was thirsty.  Clearly something is wrong with me.

I tell you all of this because it’s important you understand that salad is a good thing around these parts.  A salad recipe means that I’m eating salad all day. My thighs like those days.

Know what makes salad tolerable?  Doughnuts.

No… stop that.  Caramelized onions.

I’m pretty sure that caramelizing onions with a touch of balsamic vinegar is just like turning onions into candy.

Do you know what farro is?  It’s one of my favorites.  Farro is a type of wheat.  It’s boiled in salted water like pasta, then drained.  When cooked it’s puffed and tender, with a hint of al dente crunch.  I love this grain.  Hearty, wholesome and delicious.

I found farro is the bulk section at Whole Foods, but you can also order it online here.

It’s one of my favorite grains.  It’s popular in Italy.  Let’s make it popular here.

Oh!  If you’re not into farro, why not try Israeli Couscous?

Secret:  roasting cherry tomatoes on the vine makes them instantly more fancy and cool.

It is our mission in life to be fancy and cool.  Duh.

Yummy candy onions, fancy roasted tomatoes, hearty farro and fresh parsley.

Yes,  I put parsley in every savory dish I make.  It’s my thing.  It makes me feel chef-y.  It’s like Rachel Ray calling extra virgin olive oil EVOO.  Just give me this parsley thing and we’ll call it even.

Oh.  Ps.  Put fresh grated Parmesan Cheese on this salad.  It is a wonderful suggestion from me to you.