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Heavenly Cheese Danish
The ultimate crowd-pleaser, my recipe for Heavenly Cheese Danish is an easy treat to be enjoyed for breakfast, dessert or any time of day. This recipe uses refrigerated crescent rolls in place of puff pastry, making the preparation easy and quick. The filling is a creamy and sweet cream cheese mixture, with a hint of fresh lemon juice and vanilla extract. Once out of the oven, golden and crispy on top and drizzled with glaze, you will be amazed at the finished danish that truly tastes better than a bakery. The texture is very light and has far more creamy filling than any pre-packaged danish you’d find in the stores. Make this ASAP for your family and friends – I guarantee you’ll be making your second one shortly after! 😉
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Vegetarian Moussaka
When my fiancé and I visited the magical island of Santorini about this time last summer, one of our most memorable meals on the island was at Nectar & Ambrosia Restaurant, where we enjoyed a rich Greek Moussaka. A traditional Greek Moussaka is made by layering eggplant with a spiced meat filling and topping it with a creamy, baked béchamel sauce. It is a rich and satisfying dish usually reserved for special Sunday night meals or celebration dinners. Our meal and experience at Nectar & Ambrosia, an exclusive spot with only 14 tables on the terrace and 8 tables inside,was an experience we will not soon forget.
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Chili Lime Sweet Potato Salad
A little healthier than traditional potato salad and a lot more flavorful, Chili Lime Sweet Potato Salad is an easy and fun side. You start out by roasting sweet potatoes in the oven until crisp and then toss them with a homemade dressing made of garlic, onion, fresh lime juice, cumin, chili powder and cilantro. When the warm sweet potatoes are tossed with the dressing, they become beautifully coated and all of the flavor absorbs into the potatoes. It’s a colorful and fresh dish (with a kick!) that I highly recommend adding to your summer cooking repertoire.
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Summer Tomato Cucumber Salad
For a great side or light lunch, try my healthy and refreshing Summer Tomato Cucumber Salad. This fresh and cool salad is made with sweet cherry tomatoes, crunchy cucumber and thinly sliced red onions and topped with crumbled feta, basil and a light red wine vinaigrette. Serve alone with crusty bread or alongside your favorite meal. Enjoy!
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Zucchini Chive Fritters
In the summer, there is always plenty of zucchini around, so what better way to make the most of it then cook up some Zucchini Chive Fritters. These sautéed veggie cakes are made with freshly grated zucchini, herbs, Greek yogurt, Parmesan cheese, and flour, and then finished with lemon slices, chopped fresh chives and more Greek yogurt for a tangy topping. The fritters make for a wonderful side dish or a light dinner accompanied by a Greek salad (recipe coming soon…). A perfect excuse to head on over to your farmer’s market this weekend…
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Orange Date Oat Bran Muffins
I had some extra dried dates around (see Pan-Latin Picadillo), so I decided to put them to good use by creating a healthy oat bran muffin recipe that features this delicious dried fruit. I love dates for a special reason. They remind me of my unforgettable trip to Istanbul last summer, where bazaars overflowed with hundreds of plump dried figs, apricots and dates around every corner of the city. For this recipe, I used oat bran and whole wheat flour as a base and Greek yogurt and applesauce as a substitute for oil. The finishing touch is the addition of freshly grated orange rind and, of course, chopped dried dates for a Middle Eastern-inspired health muffin.
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Pan-Latin Picadillo
It’s time to spice up your dinner routine and I’ve got the perfect recipe to turn up the heat. It’s a traditional Latin American dish called, “Picadillo.” Although there are many variations of Picadillo depending on the country the recipe is coming from, in general it is comprised of ground meat and a mix of local vegetables such as tomatoes, peppers and onions. To accompany the Picadillo, I wanted to prepare tostones – fried plantains – but in order to make them a little more healthy, I decided to bake them instead of fry. Once baked, they came out crispy and full of flavor. I highly recommended this method. Once everything was prepared and smells of fresh and fiery Latin American flavors filled the kitchen, I served the delicious blend of ground pork and veal over crispy baked plantains, or tostones, and a homemade smooth salsa, bursting with fragrant cilantro, tomatoes, onions and jalapeño.
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NYC: Brunch at Calliope
It was time for sunday brunch and this week my fiancé and I decided to forgo the usual mad rush to Peels, Five Points or Café Cluny and try out a chic new neigborhood bistro from Waverly Inn alum Eric Korsh and his wife, Ginevra Iverson, formerly of Prune, called Calliope. This impressive pedigree seriously got our hopes up – and it sure did deliver.
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Mediterranean Bow-Tie Pasta Salad
For a great summer side to accompany anything from a cookout to a gourmet meal, try my Mediterranean Bow-Tie Pasta Salad. Made with only oil and vinegar and no mayonaise, this salad has a lightness to it that tastes fresh and really allows the flavors to come through. It is prepared Mediterranean style with feta and kalamata olives, along with red bell pepper, chickpeas and green peas for extra texture and flavor. Enjoy!
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Perfect Key Lime Pie
Tart and creamy, my recipe for Perfect Key Lime Pie is the perfect finish to a summer meal. Key limes are native to the Florida Keys and luckily there are delicious bottled key lime juices out there that are just as good as squeezing fresh key limes by hand. My favorite is Nellie’s, one of the “originals” bottled right in sunny Key West, Florida. This pie has a crunchy homemade graham cracker crust, custardy key lime filling and fluffy whipped cream topping. Perfection!