Healthy Recipes

*Please disregard the last post that went out (wicked good lobster rolls) - it was a computer mishap!  I will be doing a lobster roll post this summer. Thanks! Sue

Creating salad dressings, dips, and spreads from scratch is one of the easiest ways to move to a healthier, whole-foods based diet. Of course, when I say healthy, I’m not counting calories. The picture above does note scream “eating light,” but it does offer one thing that bottled dressings do not - pronouncability. [click to continue…]

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Roast potatoes have been my nemesis in the kitchen for quite a while now. It’s a bit embarrassing to be bested by such a simple recipe, but I’ve gone round after round with roast potatoes that are too crispy, or don’t get crisp at all, or become glued to the baking sheet. It’s been quite disappointing. The good news is through all of this trial and error, I think I’ve identified the perfect roast potato (at least for my palate) and I have finally figured out how to make it happen. [click to continue…]

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Dear Boneless Chicken Breast,

I’m sorry. For the last couple of years I have been avoiding you, claiming a disdain for your simplicity and calling you flavorless. We had been friends for years and then one day I just dropped you. I thought I was moving onto better things, roasting whole chickens and braising chicken legs, but now I realize that I was wrong. [click to continue…]

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Usually I try to eschew bold claims, but this time I am going to go ahead and put it out there - these are the best turkey meatballs I have ever made. I’ve been working on this recipe since last fall when I posted the turkey meatball sub recipe (I was trying to beat out Quizno’s for flavor), and while I still think that recipe is a keeper, this new one definitely takes first place.

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There hasn’t been too much action in the feelgood eats kitchen the last couple of weeks, but only because something new has been heating up across town. The beauty pictured above is my new restaurant, “Bluebird Tavern,” and it is slated to open this summer - after we give it a bit of a facelift.

As you can imagine, my to-do list is never ending, and I’d probably be curled up in a ball somewhere if I wasn’t surrounded by a wonderful group of  friends and family. Together we are creating a very special place, the kind of restaurant that I’ve dreamed about for a long time. The vision is to take traditional pub grub and elevate it a bit, using fresh, seasonal, and local ingredients. We’re hoping to create a convivial and dynamic neighborhood restaurant that is not only a great place to grab a bite to eat, but also is active in the local community, a throwback to the traditional tavern environment that was once the center of town life. [click to continue…]

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Every Saturday morning I like to get up early (like 5 or 6am early), make a pot of coffee, snuggle up on the couch, and play a few Food Network shows that I recorded throughout the week. When it comes to Food Network programming, I’m a bit picky. I’ve got a few shows I enjoy and then a few that make me a bit crazy (sorry, Sandra). Right now my Saturday morning rotation consists of the Barefoot Contessa, Giada at Home, and Secrets of a Restaurant Chef. [click to continue…]

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A quick look at the upcoming events on my calendar revealed that I’ve got quite a few house guests visiting over the next few weekends. Another glance at my calendar and I realized that it was March - uh-oh. For those of you who have images of Vermont that includes rolling green hills, bright fall foliage, or blankets of glistening snow, visiting in March can be a very rude awakening. It’s muddy, icy, wet, and cold.

Now that I’ve worried Trish that our friends and family are going to be calling to cancel their plans because of my account of the dreary weather, I’ll share a trick that I’ve got up my sleeve to make sure that our guests wake-up happy: breakfast. [click to continue…]

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Lately I have been having fun surfing the bulk food section at my local market, where they’ve got a nice variety of alternative grains, raw and roasted nuts, dried fruits, and spices. In my experience the bulk food section usually offers great deals, especially for items on sale, and a quick scan for deals can send you home with something new to cook - which, in my case, was a bag of bulgur.

My previous experience with bulgur has been limited to  a spoonful of tabbouleh scooped up at a salad bar, so I had to do a bit of research to figure out what to do with my new acquisition. My go-to source to handle basic ingredient questions and find accessible recipes is Mark Bittman’s How to Cook Everything and the title is no joke; just about every ingredient, cooking method, and basic recipe is listed and clearly explained. Here’s a snippet from Bittman’s bulgur entry: [click to continue…]

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When I was at the market this morning I saw the first sign that spring is near: a big bunch of California asparagus. After a few months of nothing but root vegetables and hardy greens, the pleasant snap of asparagus had real appeal and they were almost tossed into my basket. However, I have this thing for waiting it out for local asparagus, and anything else seems a bit like cheating. Oh, and the $9 price tag on the bunch was also a helpful deterrent.

So, I trudged home in the ice and snow asparagus-less, feeling a bit down about the weather and hoping for warmer days. If there was a perfect pick-me-up to brighten my mood, this bstilla bil djaj, or chicken and onion pie, was it. It combines the classic cold-weather comfort of a chicken pot-pie with the enticing and bright flavors and aromas of Middle Eastern cooking. Where a chicken-pot pie will wrap you up tightly in a cozy wool blanket in front of a crackling fire, bstilla cranks the heat on high, turns the music up, and ignites a party. [click to continue…]

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