This past Saturday, I made it out to the Little Italy Mercato here in San Diego. I scored big time with cipollini onions, heirloom tomatoes, swiss chard, fresh french baguette, goat’s milk feta… and the list goes on!

I’ve never tried cipollini onions before, but I’ve been dying to since I read how tasty they were after roasting them. But what recipe should I try?? Hm. This was tough, but when I came across Smitten Kitchen’s Roasted Tomatoes and Cipollinis I was hooked!

Wow! Really. WOW! I would like to eat this every night. I didn’t add white beans to mine, nor did I used the chopped basil. (It was in fact chopped and sitting on my cutting board, oops.) It was still so tasty!

Can’t wait to make this again… with the basil.

To accompany my roasted delights, I made my first batch of swiss chard. I used the Lemony Swiss Chard recipe from Martha. This was also quite good, and a lovely addition of color to the plate. It was different than I’d expected, but in a good way.

I could have photographed this swiss chard all day. It’s so lovely. So vibrant. So fresh. Straight from the farm.

If you haven’t found a local Farmers’ Market in your area yet, then get out and find one! It’s totally worth it.

I love cabbage. It’s cheap. It’s healthy. It’s versatile.

I’ve been making this recipe for months now. It’s so quick and easy. This has become one of my favorite ways to eat cabbage! Thanks, Martha Stewart Living Magazine, January 2010.

It’s such an elegant way to serve cabbage. Slice a few lemon wedges for guests to squeeze over the finished dish. Would be fabulous served with a whole roasted chicken. Maybe add another veggie side or a fresh spring salad. Yum!

You can find the recipe for Roasted Cabbage Wedges with Olive Oil and Lemon here.

The only addition I made to mine was to use McCormick’s Italian Herb Seasoning Grinder. It’s the perfect combination of seasonings for this lovely, mild vegetable.

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How will you be spending your holiday weekend? Are you making yummy food?

I’ll be spending the weekend with my family and trying out these recipes for Sunday Breakfast. Updates to follow!

Sticky Lemon Rolls with Lemon Cream Cheese Glaze

Zucchini and Green Chili Breakfast Casserole

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Happy Easter Easter/Passover Everyone! Have a great weekend…

I adore avocados! Don’t you? So creamy and fresh. I love them sliced with a dash of lime or lemon juice and a little salt & pepper. Simply delicious!

I also love them on a crostini. Here I’ve topped my crostinis with a little sour cream, homemade salsa verde, diced avocado and cilantro with a squeeze of lime juice. The flavors are so lovely together. The creaminess of the avocado and sour cream with the crunchy toasted baguette slice… heaven!

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Have a great spring weekend! I’ll be up to even more spring cleaning… so far, I’ve deep cleaned and organized the kitchen, rearranged and updated our bedroom and home office, and made two trips to drop off donations, maybe one more in our weekend outlook. Feels good to purge!

First off, let me apologize for disappearing for two weeks! Between visiting family and a quick trip to NYC last week, life got crazy. Ok, now back to the cauliflower!

This is a great, filling and healthy way to prepare cauliflower. My husband’s favorite!

Simply rinse and chop one head of cauliflower into bite size florets. Toss in a bit of olive oil. Season with salt, pepper and your favorite herbs/sprices. I use McCormick’s Italian Herb Seasoning Grinder. Season liberally. Roast in 400 degree oven for 20-25 minutes or until tender. You can shake the pan halfway through, but it’s not necessary.

One tasty variation is to add a jar of peeled whole garlic cloves. Drain and rinse thoroughly. Toss onto pan with prepared cauliflower. So yummy! I use 1 7.75 ounce jar of Bellino Garlic Cloves from my local grocery store.

Who else is THRILLED that Spring is finally here?!?!?

I had never made a pot pie before. As much as I love the comforting idea of a pot pie, it seems they have to be super fattening to be tasty. Not so! This healthier version is a nice comforting winter treat.

I’d come across a recipe in a recent Health magazine for a Chicken Pot Pie filled with leftover roasted root vegetables. Of course, I didn’t have what I needed. Not to mention, the chicken I prepared turned out to be bad (as in make-you-sick bad). At this point I was so frustrated and completely snowed in. We’d already walked to the grocery store a mile away… twice. I wasn’t about to trek out in two feet of snow…again!

Discouraged that my first pot pie would be less-than-perfect… I finished it anyway. I hate to waste food. To my complete surprise, this Yummy Veggie Pot Pie turned out to be absolute perfection! With every bite, I turned to my chef husband with such pride and satisfaction waiting for his stamp of approval. Even he loved it!

Yummy Veggie Pot Pie

WHAT I USED

1 sheet puff pastry, thawed, cut to fit dish(es) (I used about 1/3 of one sheet)
2 teaspoons unsalted butter
2 teaspoons olive oil
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 cups 1% Lactaid milk
2 – 3 sprigs fresh thyme
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 cup roasted zucchini, cut into small cubes
1 cup roasted parsnips, cut into small cubes
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
2 fresh sage leaves
1 large egg white, beaten

WHAT I DID

1. Place cubed zucchini and parsnips on baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and season with kosher salt & pepper. Bake at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes or until tender. Depends on size of your cubes. Once veggies are done, raise over temp to 425 degrees.

2. Meanwhile, cook butter and oil in medium saucepan over moderate heat. Add flour, cook 1 minute, whisking constantly. Continue whisking while adding milk in a slow stream; bring mixture to a simmer. Add thyme Simmer 5 minutes or until thickened.

3. Remove thyme sprigs. Stir in next 5 ingredients (through pepper). Spoon mixture into ovenproof dish. Take thawed puff pastry from fridge and cut piece to fit your dish. Work quickly, minimizing handling of pastry. Press pastry to outer edge of dish to seal. Place 2 sage leaves on top. Brush with egg white.

4. Bake pot pie on a baking sheet in center of oven for 17-19 minutes or until pastry is golden brown. Serve hot!

*Our puff pastry was a little underdone on the inside so you might bake a little longer, but keep an eye on it. You don’t want it to burn!

**I used a dish to yield 2 larger servings. I did not have individual dishes. This would make 3-4 1-cup servings if you have individual dishes.

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Is your mouth watering yet? Mine is! Can’t wait to make this again. Feel free to use any combination of veggies. This would be great with so many varieties. Winter squash might be nice. Mmm…

Happy Weekend everyone!