The Internet is a never-ending porthole into other people’s lives, to interesting recipes and ideas, and to funny videos that will knock “Charlie bit me!” out of the water (just kidding, that is the funniest, forever.)

Summer skies await me this weekend – here’s to getting outside + cooking, always

Some links around the web that inspired me this week:

* SouleMama’s Garden post…lusting after such a garden in this forever-drought
* I really, really want to make kombucha at home. Maybe I’ll try in the fall once we move (if we ever, ever move) and Jeff won’t be able to find it and ask what it is…
* This video had me laughing my face off, because let’s be real: onions are hard to master.
* I love zucchini, and Jeff does not. I think I have solved the problem. Or, rather, King Arthur Flour has (yet again!) I will make cookies…that solves everything, right? #butter4evah
* Do you guys read the Salt? I love it, and I love articles like this that teach us a little more every day about nutrition. Basically, let’s go back to eat food, mostly plants.
* This article about fresh v. processed food, and how they’re actually not opposites. It’s nice to bring some logic to these arguments and good food for thought when you’re planning out what you’re eating.

Unrelated but also:

* I think I am going to try an experiment to lower the amount of gluten I eat. Just to see what happens. I am starting small, and trying to cut it out of breakfast, which I think will be an easy place – right now I have bran flakes, blueberries, and yogurt nearly every day. I am going to switch to oatmeal, or eggs, or who knows what else. What do you guys think? What’s a filling breakfast that I can try?
* This weekend is Test Kitchen #2, and we’re kickin’ it paleo. Wish us luck!

Happy Weekend, you guys! What are you up to in the next two days?

You probably saw George’s post about our very first test kitchen. This recipe is one that I think I’ll be making again from that day. Forgive the photo because we were running around cooking and it was dark out. That’s the problem with dinner parties, am I right?

It was pretty easy, it was delicious, and it is nice to look at – all prerequisites for party appetizers, don’t you think?

Broccoli Rabe & Ricotta Crostini
Adapted from Saveur

Ingredients:

1 baguette, sliced
3?4 cup olive oil, plus more for garnish
6 cloves minced garlic
1 bunch broccoli rabe, rough chopped
generous pinch crushed red chile flakes
1 15 oz. can cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
2 cups ricotta
s/p

Directions:

1. Slice baguette and put pieces on a cookie sheet. Drizzle with olive oil on both sides. Put the oven on to 350 degrees.
2. Rough chop your broccoli rabe. Put on a pot of water to boil, and boil your broccoli rabe for 3-4 minutes, and then drain and let cool. Once it’s cool, squeeze the water out as best you can, and set aside.
3. Put your bread into the oven for about 20 minutes. Meanwhile, heat some olive oil, garlic, and chile flakes into a cast iron or pan over medium heat.
4. After about two minutes, add in your broccoli rabe, then a little salt and pepper. Cook for about five minutes, then add your beans in, heating through.
5. Pull out your bread, and spread with ricotta, then top with beans/broccoli rabe mixture. Do one last salt and pepper shake, then serve!

Hey guys, Ellen here! Otherwise known as paleo pasta, zoodles (which is much more fun to say!) are a simple substitute to regular pasta. They are made from zucchini and are a great way to get more vegetables into your diet. You can pair zoodles with no sugar added regular marinara sauce or a paleo vodka sauce (recipe below). You can always slice up zucchini with a regular knife but to make proper zoodles, we recommend investing in a spiral slicer like the one pictured here. We’ve made paleo pasta with and without a spiral slicer and the spiral slicer is able to cut the zucchini thinner and more evenly which helps with consistency while cooking. Plus, it’s more fun to eat too!

Ingredients:

3 zucchinis (feeds about 4)

Ingredients for marinara sauce:

1 jar no sugar added marinara sauce
Oregano
Garlic Salt
Pepper
Sundried tomatoes (optional)
mushrooms (optional)

Ingredients for “vodka” sauce:

1 jar no sugar added marinara sauce
1/2 can light or regular coconut milk
Oregano
Garlic Salt
Pepper
Sundried tomatoes (optional)
mushrooms (optional)

Directions for zoodles with marinara sauce:

1. Put zucchinis through zoodle maker and set aside
2. Add a light olive oil coating to a sauce pan and turn to medium heat
3. If adding mushrooms, add them in and sautee until lightly browned
4. Add jar of marinara sauce to pan
5. Add seasoning to taste
6. Bring sauce to a light simmer and add in zoodles. This will help them soften.
7. Add Sundried tomatoes
8. Simmer for 5-7 minutes or until zoodles appear softened.

Directions for zoodles with vodka sauce:

1. Put zucchinis through zoodle maker and set aside
2. Add a light olive oil coating to a sauce pan and turn to medium heat
3. If adding mushrooms, add them in and sautee until lightly browned
4. Add half a jar of marinara sauce to pan.
5. Add 1/4 can of coconut milk to pan. Stir and lightly season
6. Add second half of tomato sauce to pan and second 1/4 of coconut milk
7. Re-season and stir
8. 4. Bring sauce to a light simmer and add in zoodles. This will help them soften.
9. Add Sundried tomatoes
10. Simmer for 5-7 minutes or until zoodles appear softened

This meal is easy to make and delicious! You can add turkey meatballs as well for added protein.

Hey chickens, Nikki here! It’s summertime in the city, my friends, which means it’s humid and it’s light out until almost nine, which I love.

I admit though, I do not love putting a toddler to bed when the sun’s still out.

I digress.

Anyway, in the summer in Chicago, the most important thing is to keep it easy.  There’s so much to do and while eating is always high on my list of things I want to spend my time on, what I do not want to spend my time on is slaving over a hot stove, sweating more than necessary.

Enter these pork chops. Anyone who knows me or my little family knows that we love pork chops. My husband JW and I basically lived on them the first couple years after we moved into together, and one of Theo’s first foods was actually a pork chop (yes, it was on the bone).

We like ‘em any way you’re making them, but we’ve got a smattering of herbs on our back porch, including the mighty sage and so I turned to this Bon Appetit recipe for inspiration. It’s been adapted, ever so slightly, below.

Serve with a rice/quinoa/grain of your choice, and add a salad, because it’s summer and it’s easy.

Enjoy, chickadees!

Ingredients

Servings: 2 (but so very easy to double for friends)

1/2 tablespoon olive oil
2 bone-in pork chops (thick ones are delicious, but thin ones work too- just cook them quicker, and I imagine boneless would do in a pinch)
4 sprigs sage
1 garlic clove, diced
1 small knob unsalted butter (aka the random amount left from who knows what)
s/p

Directions

1. Heat oil in a large cast iron over medium-high heat. Season pork chops all over with salt and pepper. Cook pork chops until bottom side is golden brown, about 2 minutes. Turn and cook on other side about 2 minute before turning again. Repeat this process, turning about every minute, until chops are deep golden brown and they’re cooked through (this is a little bit of a guessing game, but they’ll have clear juices, and chickens, they will smell done. Trust yourselves here).
2. Turn off the burner and add sage, garlic, and butter, smashing garlic into butter. Without burning yourself terribly, tilt the pan and spoon the juices on top of the pork chops. Transfer them to a cutting board and let rest at least 5 minutes, if you can wait that long.
3. Plate it up, and spoon any remaining juices on top of the pan. Enjoy with grains and a big salad!

Remember those thumbprint cookies that I made that ended up being hot mushed mashed potato consistency disaster?! Well, originally I made those cookies because I wanted to tell you guys about Just Jan’s. Their team sent me a handful of their spreads and jams, and I was floored – you guys they’re so good!

So I set out to make another dish that would showcase a couple of spreads, and I settled on these cheese and jam pastries.

I made these the same way that I make Spanakopita. Mainly I did it this way because I had phyllo dough in my freezer, let’s be real. But you could use regular pie dough, make your own dough, whatever floats your boat. I just love how flaky the phyllo is, and how it complements the gooeyness of the cheesey-jam. I’m making this sound really appealing, I know it.

Ingredients:

8 oz cream cheese, room temperature
1/4 cup sugar
2 eggs, divided into yolks/whites
1 stick butter (probably less, start with 1/2 stick)
6 oz jam (I used several kinds, any flavor will do!)
1 package phyllo dough

Directions:

1. Whip together cream cheese and sugar. Add egg yolks.
2. Take a layer of phyllo dough and lay out on a cutting board. Melting 2 tablespoons of butter at a time, used this to brush in between each layer of phyllo dough. Layer two or three layers, buttering between each one. I used three layers for this, but two would have done it, as long as you’re careful – phyllo is delicate!
3. Cut phyllo into about 1-inch thick strips – I ended up with four long strips per sheet, but it’ll depend on your phyllo.
5. Fill the top of each strip with about a teaspoon of cream cheese filling, and a teaspoon of jam. Then fold the phyllo down (like a flag) until it’s in a final triangle. Place on a cookie sheet and repeat with remaining phyllo strips, then repeat steps 3-5 until filling is gone, or you run out of phyllo.
6. Brush all triangles with egg white wash (two egg washes plus a tablespoon water), then stick in the oven for 25-30 minutes until golden brown.

These are great as a breakfast (not so healthful, but so delicious!) or as a sweeter appetizer – dealer’s choice. I hope that you find some Just Jan’s in your neighborhood and try this recipe with it (or just slather it on bread, like I often do!) What is your fave jam flavor? I used fig, strawberry, and tangerine for this, and I think I liked the fig the best!