FoodFash

Adventure Begins in the Kitchen

4th of July Muffins: Sour Cherry & Ricotta

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Forth of July Muffins

When I walked into World Market today, I was not thinking about muffins.  To be honest, I wasn’t thinking about much of anything.  The hope was to cruise through the aisles and find a dish or an ingredient that would inspire a recipe.  Thankfully, that’s exactly what happened.

Sour Cherry & Ricotta Muffin Batter

Inspiration started with a jar of sour cherries and a few mindless laps around the store. Sour cherry and ricotta ice cream, crumble, or tart – all things that came to mind before landing on sour cherry and ricotta muffins. And then I spotted the most adorable patriotic muffin outfits {can I call them that?} and my mind was as made up as it could be.

Sour Cherry & Ricotta Muffins

I used a Bob’s Red Mill gluten-free blueberry muffin recipe as my guide, replacing blueberries with sour cherries and adding ricotta, knowing the ricotta would give the gluten-free muffin some richness and moisture.  And what resulted was similar to a blueberry muffin, but a lot more fun.  The sour cherries provided a burst of tart worthy of a summertime holiday treat!

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Shrimp & Grits For 2

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Shrimp & Grits

I woke up over the weekend with a massive craving for homemade breakfast.  Homemade waffles to be exact.  But when I went into the kitchen, I realized I used up the last of the coconut milk and waffles just weren’t in the cards.  And it was freezing outside, so going to the store just wasn’t an option.

Lobster Stock and Grits

But what I did have was all of the ingredients for shrimp and grits {super odd, right?}.  So never having made shrimp and grits before, I mixed and stirred until I had myself a warm breakfast that was way more delish than I could have ever anticipated.  I posted a proud picture on Instagram and thought about one thing that would transform this already fab dish into something amazing – lobster stock.

Sauteed Shrimp

And I was right.  Lobster stock was a game changer.  The grits were creamy and complex without feeling heavy like restaurant grits {filled with milk and cheese} and they balanced perfectly with simple shrimp and eggs.

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Germinated Rice With Shrimp & Veggies

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Germinated Rice with Shrimp

I just can’t get enough of germinated rice lately.  It has such great flavor and chew that it barely needs any stuff to make it unbelievably tasty.  But even though it doesn’t need a ton of stuff, I needed a ton of stuff {veggies} after weeks and weeks of non-stop-ness.

Zucchini & Asparagus

I picked up my three favorite grain-mixin’ veggies {asparagus, zucchini, squash} and decided to let them all play a part in a single meal.  And then I added shrimp.  Lots and lots of shrimp.

Sauteed Shrimp

And what came together was a dish you could scoop into a big bowl a few nights in a row and still wish there was enough leftover the night after!

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Spaghetti Squash Shrimp Scampi

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Spaghetti Squash Shrimp Scampi

There’s something about organizing kitchen cabinets at home and presenting in front of a first-time crowd at work that put an extra pep in my step today.  I borderline skipped to Whole Foods this evening, enjoying the slightly crisp air and an even more crisp mind.

Shrimp

The last thing I wanted to do was fog everything up with a heavy dinner.  I wanted light and flavorful.  Seafood, fresh veggies, and herbs would do the trick.  Seafood, fresh veggies, and herbs… always do the trick.

Shrimp Scampi

Add music, breeze-filled windows, and quality time in the kitchen – it was the best weeknight I’ve had in quite some time.  I got to cooking to the tune of this album.

Spaghetti Squash Shrimp Scampi 2

And when it was all said and done, I was left with the exact dinner I had in mind sitting front of me, ready to photograph.  It was lovely.

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