• Appetizers,  Featured,  Food Photography,  Gluten free,  Recipes,  Salads,  Side Dishes

    Salad art

    I’m thrilled by the inherent beauty in freshly picked herbs, shimmering with dew; cracked pomegranates with glowing crimson seeds; rustic french bread, steam billowing from an airy interior; and the list goes on—I could wax poetic about edible inspirations (did I borrow that from a fruit bouquet company tagline?) for hours. And capturing this beauty in a photo is almost as satisfying as devouring the finished product. So imagine my delight when I had the opportunity to pair up with May van Millingen—an artist who takes as much pride in documenting a plate of food, in all its fleeting glory, as I do—to work on a photo/illustration collaboration. I loved the…

  • Appetizers,  Entrees,  Recipes,  Salads,  Side Dishes

    Greens on greens on greens

    My garden is filling in nicely, and all this green has me inspired. This pasta salad is a little taste of spring—exploding with nutritional superstars. There are enough greens to make it healthy, but enough pasta and cheese to make it a treat. Dave devoured it, so you can trust that it’s delicious in spite of itself. Don’t skimp on the lemon—it brings the taste to the next level. Go green pasta salad You’ll need: 1 lb pasta 1 cup peas 3 cups baby arugula 12 stalks asparagus 12 large brussels sprouts 4 green onion stalks, chopped Juice from one whole lemon A block of pecorino or other hard italian…

  • moody lighting tutorial
    Appetizers,  Food Photography,  Gluten free,  Salads,  Side Dishes

    Getting in the mood

    One of my biggest blog goals for 2013 was to step up my photography. It’s one of my absolute favorite parts of food blogging—sometimes even more than the actual cooking—so it’s been a fun, exciting and inspiring journey. I’ve also been insatiable when it comes to finding new resources that can help me take my blog to the next level, and I love that there are so many great bloggers out there who share their secrets on photography, blog monetization, post layout inspiration, etc. I’ve been saving these tips on Pinterest, and plotting my own series of posts to pay it forward (stay tuned!). One of the many tutorial posts…

  • Featured,  Paleo,  Recipes,  Salads,  Side Dishes

    Eat your brussels sprouts (no really, they’re fantastic)

    Why brussels sprouts (and broccoli, for that matter) get a bad rap is beyond me. When prepared well, they’re a fantastic accompaniment to just about any meal. Also, it’s a fallacy that you have to add bacon to make them taste good. Of course, a little bacon never hurt anyone. Take it from my new fave paleo blogger and partner in crime, Nicole over at BaconIsHealthy.com. I digress. To prove to you all that brussels sprouts are amazing—and don’t need to be studded with pork fat to shine—I whipped up a recipe, and it couldn’t be simpler. Inspired by a delicious dish at my favorite lunch spot, I added parsley…

  • Salads

    Musings of an urban gardener

    February in frigid Chicago has me daydreaming about next season’s urban garden. Also, many of my indoor succulents are hanging on for dear life. I can’t wait to get them back outside and watch them explode in the warm, humid Chicago summer. Last year was fruitful … literally, if you count my teeny, tiny strawberries. I’m hoping it will be a successful potted perennial—and that this summer’s yield will be bigger than tic tacs. While I stare longingly at my snow covered pots, I’m dreaming about starting new seeds and running my hands through fragrant bunches of basil. Here are a few of the items on my list for this spring: Poppies.…

  • Appetizers,  Food Photography,  Recipes,  Salads

    Beet “Lasagna” (and a new camera lens)

    Beets are one of my recent obsessions. The taste, the color, the nutritional benefits—what’s not to love? Even the most thrown-together beet and goat cheese salads look fantastic, but I wanted to really up the ante to break in my new Sigma 70mm f2.8 EX DG Macro Lens. The result of some kitchen experimentation and a little consultation with the The Flavor Bible was my very own Beet “Lasagna”: delicious slices of roasted red and golden beets sandwiching creamy goat cheese, crushed walnuts, razor-thinly sliced shallots, topped with crisp micro greens and drizzled with blood orange balsamic vinaigrette. It looks beautiful, tastes better, and is easy as can be. And the new…