Using both hands, I raise a kettlebell from the floor, bring it back through my legs, and then, with elbows locked, swing it in front of me to shoulder level, snapping my hips forward as I do. I hear my sternum pop with the effort. With a broken tail bone and coming off of a…
Author: Stormy
Highlighting Native Foods: Three Sisters Chorizo Casserole
Kabocha, a Japanese winter squash that can often be found at Asian grocery stores and sometimes at your local grocer’s, is beautiful, with creamy, deep-orange, and sweet meat. It is also my all-time favorite squash. I like them so much that within two days, I had bought two of these suckers at two separate…
Highlighting Native Foods: Savory Acorn Quinoa Muffins
There is always something new for me to discover at the market that caters to our city’s north Asian transplants and culinary fans. This time, it was acorn starch. Gluten-free and intriguing, I couldn’t resist grabbing a bag to experiment with. Koreans use acorn starch to make a jelly called dotormiuk. I had other plans…
Cocoa Iron Chef Night: Chicken Mole Poblano
Last week presented a new Iron Chef Night (ICN) challenge, and a good reason to finally make mole (pron: mo-lay), something I’ve shied away from for years because of a childhood memory. I don’t actually know if I ate mole that didn’t taste good or if the combination of flavors just sounded horrible to my…
Mouth-watering GF Bacon Cheddar Herb Muffins
My husband and I recently returned from a trip with friends. We got together for brunch to sort through the 5,500+ photos and video clips we’d taken between the 5 of us. Thank goodness for digital cameras. Actually, I remember when I moved to Venezuela in 1990 for a year, I took a lead bag…
Vibrant Pumpkin Steel Cut Oats
Pumpkin, when tart cherry is not in season, is probably my all time favorite pie filling. Both bring back childhood memories of family and happiness, the kind of memories that make any food taste just that much better than it would otherwise. As I grew up, I found other ways to use pumpkin, and learned…
Red Lentil Soup on a Cold Winter’s Day
When the weather changes as drastically as it does here in Utah, what I crave does as well. When the snow hits, I gravitate towards soup and other comfort foods, and rely on a strong dose of color and spice to make up for the lack of sun. Red lentil soup fits the bill. I…
Viva [Venezuelan] Vegan! Terry Hope Romero’s New Cookbook
Terry Hope Romero recently released her latest cookbook: Viva Vegan!: 200 Authentic and Fabulous Recipes for Latin Food Lovers. Thumbing through the index, I realized she must be Venezuelan. Sure, she includes recipes from all across Latin America, but I was immediately biased when I saw the words arepas, mechada, caraotas, and cachapas. Mmmm, cachapas…
Spaghetti Squash Gratin with Crimini Mushrooms
Like everyone else lately, I was looking for a recipe that that would turn spaghetti squash into something amazing. Not that it doesn’t have merit on it’s own – really, what other vegetable looks so cool when cooked? But, it is a pretty mild vegetable and I was looking for some kick. In the end,…
Coconut Brown Rice Pudding for Breakfast
When I was a kid, my favorite breakfast was a hot bowl of cream-of-wheat with milk and sugar and piles of Cheerios on top. What I liked the most were the texture combinations – hot and cold, chewy and crunchy, as well as the sweet earthy flavor of wheat and oats. It’s been many years…
Little Grand Canyon Half Marathon in the Swell
I love camping in the San Rafael Swell, so when I saw that a 1/2 marathon would be taking place there, I convinced some friends to run it with me. This event – called the Little Grand Canyon Half Marathon – was awesome. We camped in the San Rafael Swell near the race finish line,…
Managing the Costco Fruit Run Aftermath
I’m not sure what got into me last week, but I decided to buy fruit at Costco, not instead of at the local grocery store, but in addition to – and I did twice. Maybe it was the heat. Maybe it was the sudden appearance of summer (we had a long rainy spring). Or, maybe…
Gorgeous Key Lime Curd Tart with Berries
This week, in answer to my prayers about finding ways to use up fruit, Bon Appetit came in the mail, spreading good eats and cheer in the form of a Lime Tart with Blackberries and Blueberries. I modified the recipe to include raspberries instead of blueberries (since I don’t eat one type, but had cartons…
Adzuki Bean Rice Bowl with Miso Dressing
I’ve had a jar full of adzuki beans sitting in the cupboard for a long time. This is what happens when I buy things out of curiosity rather than with purpose. Even reading a book in which the beans were mentioned as an amazing super food did not spur me to action. Today, though, it…
Artichoke and Caramelized Onion Quiche
There are many ways to skin a cat, but only one way to get at the heart of an artichoke OK, no cat-skinning, just the need find an alternative way to deal with a tricky bulb. It’s Iron Chef night. This evening’s ingredient is the now in-season artichoke, a vegetable with which I have very…
Garlicky Pizzaliciousness – Creamy Paleo Garlic Sauce
For a long time, I’ve tried to figure out a good garlic sauce for pizza. Today, I finally came up with one which is a definite keeper. I love to throw some grilled chicken, bacon, artichoke hearts, pine nuts (when they are not outrageously expensive), and chopped sun-dried tomatoes on top of a garlic sauce…
Home-made Coffee Liqueur
On a trip to Mexico several years ago, I bought a large bottle of Kahlua coffee liqueur. When I came back, I was gifted another bottle. I don’t drink Kahlua often, so I found other uses for it and it became a favorite. So much so, that I now make coffee liqueur at home. A…
Clearing the Cupboards = Exotic Trail Mix
I was making a shopping list this morning and realized I had dribs and drabs of certain ingredients, and way too much of others (i.e., they’ve been sitting around for a while and need to be used). This is a common theme in my cooking life. I had about a ¼ cup each of hulled…
Buckwheat Noodles with Spring Veggies and Walnut Dressing
If you have not been to 101 Cookbooks, you must go. Now! Heidi, the author of this blog as well as the cookbook Super Natural Cooking, offers some seriously good eats. The recipe I have most enjoyed since she shared it last spring is Walnut Miso Noodles. It is something to be eaten in spring,…
Mulberry and Walnut Snack Bars
After making trail mix the other day, I decided to figure out what to do with the mulberries I had left. I ran across a blog called Afghan Cooking Unveiled that had a recipe for Afghan Mulberry and Walnut Power Bars. Very similar to a Lara or Think bar, these raw dried fruit and nut…
Simple GF Miso Soup for Camping and Backpacking
I was craving a steaming bowl of brothy soup today, but did not have the patience to make something from scratch. Instead, I grabbed a box of Whole Foods’ 365 brand miso soup out of the cupboard, some pre-sliced baby portobello mushrooms, leftover pork loin, a bundle of bean vermicelli, and then topped it with…
Risotto with Mushrooms – Drinky and Stinky Garlicky Goodness continued…
Today is the day – garlic fest! I’m excited to see what other garlic dishes make an appearance at dinner tonight, particularly for dessert. I’m sure it will be delicious, or, at the very least, an interesting experience. The second entrée we are making is a vegetarian, dairy-free, naturally gluten-free risotto. Sounds delicious when I…
13 Heads of Garlic and Some Strung-out (up?) Pork
Tomorrow is another Iron Chef night. The ingredient: garlic. I have no idea what the complete meal will entail, but, as it is our turn to host, we are preparing the entrée. With vegetarians and omnivores and food-sensitive folks in attendance, we opted for a garlic and parsley pork roulade with a balsamic glaze, and…
Bangers and Sweet Potato Masala Mash
My favorite spice shop is a hybrid of convenience store and Indian market located down the hill from the University of Utah. It seems to cater primarily to soda-loving, potato-log eating folks and homesick students. If you don’t fall into either of these categories, you’d hardly know what a gem of a store it is. …
GF/DF Karjalan piirakka (AKA Karelian rye pastry)
Today, I had a sudden craving for a Finnish rye pastry with rice porridge filling and egg butter (Munavoi) – which is exactly what it sounds like – on top. Karjalan piiraka, as it is known, is a simple, hearty, but delicious food from the Karelian region of Finland. I ate them frequently during dark…
La chia y la india
Last summer, I heard an interview with Christopher McDougall, the author of Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Super-athletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen. At the time, I was training for a half marathon and thought I’d try out the mid-foot running style I heard him describe. Probably not the best…
“Quick” Chile Walnut Hash (a la chiles en nogada)
The title may not inspire confidence, but the dish is delish, so bear with me. This recipe is inspired by traditional Mexican stuffed chiles with walnut sauce. I say inspired, because I offer up a version that is easier to prepare, but maintains the essence of the dish. In a nutshell, the difference between typical…