CREAMY CHICKEN AND ORZO

I love one-pot dishes and this is one of my favorites. It’s great cooking the orzo in with all of the other ingredients so that the flavors really meld with the pasta. It’s a great dish for company, or even for a mid-week quick dinner. And the leftovers are even better the next day. INGREDIENTS…

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BRAISED CABBAGE WITH BACON

Sauted onions and bacon in a bowl.

It’s always a feat to get certain members of my family to eat their greens. I use all kinds of trickery to sneak it into their diets. I put spinach in fruit smoothies and when desperate, I add bacon to my sautéed vegetables. Bacon can make anything taste better. I realize bacon isn’t a super…

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FRIED HAKE OVER COCONUT RICE WITH TURMERIC SAUCE

Crispy fish with rice and creamy sauce.

I’m not a huge fan of flaky white fish unless it’s fried. Originally I thought I’d try this in the airfryer—which you could do—but knew I’d like it better frying it in oil. It was worth the extra calories. I served it with some coconut rice that I had left over and I made a…

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FILO EGG PIE

Baked phyllo cheese pie with chives.

A friend of mine was having a brunch and asked if I could bring a quiche or some type of egg dish. Since quiche is so 1990s, I started to scour the internet to find something new and fun. I noticed a few videos of people using filo dough wrapped as fans to make a…

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WINTER CITRUS SALAD

Fresh mixed green salad with feta.

In an attempt to force some vegetables into me, my mom believed that salad was the key. But, it was always the same—iceberg lettuce, sliced cucumbers and tasteless supermarket tomatoes tossed with a dressing made from one of those Italian seasoning packets. It was not exactly a dish that I looked forward to. But, in…

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AIR FRIED CHICKEN THIGHS

Crispy chicken with fresh salad on plate.

After a recent party, I had a whole bunch of miscellaneous hors d’oeuvres left in the fridge. For those of you that follow my blog, you know I hate to waste food, so I came up with a simple way to use them in stuffed chicken thighs. You could use similar leftovers from your fridge…

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ROASTED VEGGIES

Roasted mixed vegetables in a bowl.

It’s easy to get bored with side dishes, particularly at this time of year. There are no local fresh tomatoes for a bright salad or piles of basil to turn into a pesto sauce. In the dead of winter, it’s all about the root vegetables. So here is a simple and very tasty recipe that…

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DRIED MUSHROOM SOUP

Bowl of soup with dried mushrooms nearby.

A chef friend of ours often generously gifts us with a mishmash of ingredients that he over ordered. The latest to hit our shelves is a big bag of dried mushrooms and some rice noodles. Do I hear soup? Here’s a tasty dish using Asian spices. INGREDIENTS (serves 4) 2 cups of thinly sliced dried…

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TURMERIC SHRIMP WITH SPINACH

Shrimp and spinach in a creamy sauce.

I love working with turmeric, even if it stains my fingers for the next couple of days. I love the color it adds to a dish, not to mention the flavor. For those of you that can’t get enough shrimp, this recipe is for you! INGREDIENTS (Serves 4) FOR MARINADE1 teaspoon ground turmeric 1 teaspoon…

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PASTA WITH PARMESAN MUSHROOM SAUCE

Creamy pasta dish garnished with parsley.

I know this is sacrilege, but I’m not a big fan of tomato based pasta sauces, mostly because they give me terrible heartburn. So, I’m always trying to think of new sauces to create. I was playing around with some ideas, and I thought I’d do a spinoff of an Alfredo sauce, but not quite…

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