I found a quick breakfast tip in a back issue of Self magazine the other day where a reader discussed whipping up a batch of mini frittatas for the week. I thought this was brilliant, and the recipe was something I could eat gluten free (and dairy free if I have to adjust my diet again this week). So I decided to make them. And they lived up to the hype: they are ridiculously easy to make and delicious. Bonus points.

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All you have to do is beat up some eggs, chop up your favorite veggies, divide into muffin cups and bake for 12 minutes or so. What could be easier? (OK, admittedly pouring a bowl of cereal is easier, but not as delicious, so there you go.)

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When they’re done (I waited until the egg seemed suitably cooked through but not super browned), you pop them out of the cups and onto a plate. I used a icing spatula, which I find to be the best way to pop things out of muffin cups.

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You can season with salt and pepper or with a little bit of salsa and sprinkle of cheese. Either way, it’s light and delicious. Perfect for any morning.

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Ridiculously Easy Take-and-Run Frittatas

• 6 eggs
• 1/2 onion, diced
• tomatoes, diced
• orange bell pepper, diced
• 2 kale leaves, finely chopped
• Basil, minced

1. Beat the eggs.
2. Dice all the vegetables.
3. Mix the vegetables into the eggs and divide evenly into 10 muffin cups coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle a little basil on top of each cup.
4. Bake at 375 degrees for about 11 minutes.
5. Serve with a sprinkle of salt and pepper, or a dollop of salsa and sprinkle of cheese.
6. Store in the fridge for breakfasts all week.

When I’m looking for a quick and easy pasta dish, I whip up a variation of this summer pasta and veggies. It’s a great and quick dinner idea that is flexible enough to work with what you have in the kitchen.

The main concept is warm pasta, olive oil and cheese. The cheese should be something like a soft cheddar. Mozzarella works too, although is softer and thus gooier. The olive oil and melting cheese make a light enough “sauce” that works well with the pasta. A dash of sea salt, and you’re all set.

The variation comes with veggies you have on hand. You can stop at the pasta, cheese and sea salt, or you can spice things up by sauteing up some veggies to stir in as well. Today I had onion, kale, red bell pepper and green beans on hand.

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What you’ll need:

• pasta of your choice (I’m using gluten free Ancient Harvest Quinoa Pasta)
• 3 leaves of kale, chopped
• small handful of green beans, cut into 1-inch bites
• small red pepper, chopped
• medium onion, chopped
• cheese, shredded
• olive oil
• sea salt

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First cook the pasta according to the box’s directions. Drain the pasta.

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Transfer the pasta back to the pan and pour a little olive oil to coat the pasta so it doesn’t stick to the pan.

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Next you’ll want to saute up some fresh veggies. Finely chop the red pepper and onion.

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Cut the green beans into 1-inch bites.

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Chop kale into bite size pieces.

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Grate the cheese (or cheeses) of your choice. I eyeball the amount. Depending on how cheesy you want it will determine how much you grate. Grate a handful, and then you can always add more depending on the results.

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Heat a small skillet with some olive oil. Once warm, toss in the onions and red peppers.

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Once the onions have started to turn golden, add the green beans.

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After about 5 minutes, add the kale. Cook until the kale softens.

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Add the grated cheese to the pasta in the pan. The heat of the pan and pasta will help melt the cheese down. Stir frequently to mix the pasta and cheese together.

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Toss the sauteed vegetables into the pot and mix thoroughly.

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And now sit down to enjoy this delicious meal! Season as desired.

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Summer Pasta & Veggies

• pasta of your choice (I’m using gluten free Ancient Harvest Quinoa Pasta)
• 3 leaves of kale, chopped
• small handful of green beans, cut into 1-inch bites
• small red pepper, chopped
• medium onion, chopped
• cheese, shredded
• olive oil
• sea salt

1. First cook the pasta according to the box’s directions. Drain the pasta.
2. Transfer the pasta back to the pan and pour a little olive oil to coat the pasta so it doesn’t stick to the pan.
3. Next you’ll want to saute up some fresh veggies. Finely chop the red pepper and onion.
4. Cut the green beans into 1-inch bites.
5. Chop kale into bite size pieces.
6. Grate the cheese (or cheeses) of your choice. I eyeball the amount. Depending on how cheesy you want it will determine how much you grate. Grate a handful, and then you can always add more depending on the results.
7. Toss the sauteed vegetables into the pot and mix thoroughly.
8. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Variations: Try other summer vegetables and seasonings to mix things up.

• tomatoes
• corn
• squash
• zucchini
• mixed bell peppers
• carrots
• garlic
• basil

Last week, I made a delicious meal. It featured grilled herb & garlic chicken, roasted garlic & basil potatoes, and kale, corn & tomato saute. Here’s how I  made it.

Grilled Herb & Garlic Chicken

• 1/2 cup herb and garlic marinade
• 4 chicken breasts

1. Cut the chicken breasts into serving sizes (about the size of the palm of your hand). Place chicken breasts in a deep pan and pour marinade over chicken. Make sure chicken is covered by the marinade. Cover the dish and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
2. Once the chicken has marinated, preheat a George Foreman or rev up a grill.
3. Grill chicken until cooked through.

Roasted Garlic & Basil Potatoes

• 2 russet potatoes, cubed
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• Fresh basil, minced
• olive oil
• salt and pepper, to taste

1. Preheat oven to 400° F. Spray baking dish with nonstick spray. I bake mine in a toaster oven, because it’s smaller and easier to heat smaller servings.
2. Toss in potatoes, onions, garlic and basil. Toss olive oil until potatoes are coated. Season with salt and pepper.
3. Bake until potatoes begin to brown and are cooked through.

Kale, Corn & Tomato Saute

• 4 stalks of kale
• 1 corn cob
• 5 cherry tomatoes
• olive oil
• Dill

1. Microwave corn for 2 minutes. Cut corn off of the cob.
2. Chop kale into bite size pieces. Halve the cherry tomatoes.
3. Preheat the olive oil in saute pan. When hot, toss in corn, stirring occasionally, until corn starts to brown. Toss in kale, stirring to coat with oil and evenly saute. Cook until kale cooks down a bit, about 5-7 minutes. Add tomatoes and cook another minute or so.
4. Sprinkle with dill, if desired.

I met Stephanie Izard a few weekends ago because ChicagoMag.com was conducting a videoshoot on how to create a bbq. It took place for most of a morning, but was a really cool experience: not only to participate in a videoshoot, but also to see how one is put together.

Of course Izard was endearing, friendly and funny. She’s very personable and easy going. I enjoyed watching her chat up the host and the audience.

Because I’m a fangirl, and because I could, I asked Izard to pose with me in a picture. She was very courteous, even though it’s an awkward situation all around. (Check out my awesome elephant dress I got from Anthropologie recently!)

Overall, I had a great time.

So follow Izard @StephAndTheGoat to learn more about her new restaurant, cookbook and more.

Also watch the teaser video (see if you can spot me)., watch each video in the grilling series and check out the behind the scenes photos (see me on slide 34).

• Oysters with Horseradish Aioli and Pancetta
• Spicy Shrimp with Garlic Confit and Homemade Pita
• Broccoli with Crispy Onions and Bleu Cheese Cream
• Lamb-Stuffed Calamari with Crispy Shallots
• Citrus Bourbon Cocktail with Fresh Apricots and Vanilla

M and I celebrated Valentine’s day with a home-cooked meal. I was inspired by a meal on Worst Cooks in America: Red Pepper Spaetzle in Mustard Cream Sauce with Sausage from Chef Robert Irvine.

I had placed a beautiful table setting for the occasion.

I got to use my mad chopping skills, new knives and cutting board.

[action shot] Check out those knife skills!

I hope Chef Robert is proud. Shallots and thyme are pictured here.

I got to break out my food processor too.

Check out the color of that awesome mixture.

Although this is blurry, I fried up some chicken sausage. It smelled delicious.

The mustard sauce required a lot of ingredients. Here is [clockwise] shallots, thyme, cream, white wine and mustard.

The spaetzle was the hardest part. You had to work the batter through a large-holed colander. It turns out my dough was too thick. At first I thought I didn’t follow the recipe properly but I learned that the online recipe was not the same as the TV show version (there’s an extra egg and the instructions tell you to only use a certain amount of the red pepper mixture to fold in with the flour and other ingredients). I’ve made note of these for next time.

[action shot] Look at that spaetzle!

It took 20 to 30 minutes to make this much spaetzle so there was enough for the two of us. At some point, I started standing on a chair because my arms got tired of the process! LOL!

It was all worth it to dine on this yummy food.

Tonight’s dinner brought to you by: VEGETABLES. Included on the plate is rainbow chard and onions simmered in chicken broth, and acorn and spaghetti squash. It was decided that acorn squash was better than spaghetti. However, I do want to try turning the spaghetti squash into “spaghetti” and see how that goes.

Doesn’t this look delicious? I know. It does. Wouldn’t you like to make one for yourself? You sure would! Here’s how you make Mini Apple Pie Cups.

First get out a few ramekins. Next take out your store-bought pie crust. I used a rolling pin to flatten it out a bit, just to get a bit more crust out of it. Cut it into quarters and put each quarter into a ramekin, being careful to push it into the dish without tearing it.

Next up, dice up one apple and split the pieces in between the four dishes.

You’ll want to sprinkle some cinnamon on top of the apples and splash a little lemon juice on the apples.

After that you  want to add a little slice of butter (not too much, just a tidbit) and sprinkle with a little bit of flour.

Once all of the ingredients have been added, fold the crust over the apples and create a top crust, pinching the crust together to close it.

I used a baking sheet to get all four ramekins in the oven at one time. You’ll want to bake the mini apple pie cups at 400ºF for about 15 to 20 minutes. Watch them carefully; you want the crust to be browned, but not burnt.

Once cooked through, top with a helping scoop of ice cream. I served mine right out of the oven so the heat of the cup would melt the ice cream a tad and create that awesome apple-crust-ice cream goodness where warm meets cold in the most delicious combination. Mmmmm, yum!

Ingredients:

• pie crust
• apples
• cinnamon
• lemon juice (or lemons, squeezed)
• flour
• butter

M and I made a traditional meal in honor of his heritage. It included fried plantains, black beans, rice with red and yellow peppers and steak a la milanesa. M really had a craving so we set out to recreate this dish. It turned out pretty well, although we didn’t document the process.  It was delicious.

The night before, I set the beans to soak.

The day of making, I first chopped up some ham. I didn’t have ham hocks so substituted the ham bits and the juices leftover from baking.

The ham went in the pot.

Then the water and bay leaves.

And the juices (that’s the weird orange jelly looking thing floating in the pot).

I chopped some onions.

And some carrots.

After the stock had boiled for two hours, I put it in a bowl to chill.

And drained the ham for later use. In the mean time, the onions and carrots were sauteed in olive oil.

I drained the white beans.

When the onion/carrot mixture was sauteed, I added the chilled stock and white beans to the pot. The mixture cooked for about two or three more hours until the mix was combined. I smushed the beans up per the recipe.

Here are the fruits of my labor.

Paired with a delicious salad and a glass of wine, dinner was served!

Ingredients

• 1 pound (2 cups dried) white beans – either Great Northern or canellini
• 8 cups water
• 3 or 4 ham hocks
• 1 cup carrots, chopped
• 1 cup celery, chopped
• 1 cup onion, chopped
• 2 bay leaves
• 3/4 teaspoon thyme
• Dash of hot sauce
• 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
• 1/4 cup fresh parsley, finely chopped
• Salt and pepper

Directions

Soak the white beans in cold water for several hours or overnight. Drain.

Put the ham hocks and/or chopped ham in a large pot and cover with 8 cups of water. Bring to a simmer and cook until hocks are starting to fall apart, cook for two to three hours. Added a handful of celery tops and the bay leaves to the stock as it simmers. Remove the hocks/chopped ham from the stock when they are done and let them cool. Remove meat from the bones and set aside. Strain the stock to remove celery and any meat bits left in the pot. Chill the stock if you want to skim the fat off the stock (I didn’t have to do this because I used the chopped meat, so you could skip this step).

Saute the carrots, celery and onions in 1/4 cup olive oil in a large pot until they are soft. Add stock, beans and thyme and simmer until beans are soft, usually about two to three hours. Mash the beans as the beans soften to thicken the soup. Season with salt and pepper and add vinegar and fresh parsley.

Tonight’s dinner featured Pioneer Woman’s meatballs and mashed potatoes, from her cookbook. Enough cannot be said about these meatballs. I thought my recipe was good; these are also amazing! The meatballs are mixed with quick oats and milk to create a moist, crumble-in-your-mouth effect. The mashed potatoes are creamy, yet substantial and reheat perfectly! I didn’t include cream cheese because I’m not a fan, but fans would probably love it with the addition. Go out and buy these ingredients right now so you can make this meal. You won’t regret it.