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Polenta Sliders

July 8, 2014 by Kristin

Do you ever have one of those days that you feel like you squished multiple days into a single day? And you look back on your very first thing you knocked off your list and it seems like ages ago? Today was one of those days. It started with waking up in Florida, returning a rental car, and heading to the airport and ended with cleaning out cabinets in Austin, a mini trip to Fresh Plus, a 4-mile Shoal Creek trek with Skylar, and a fancy little dinner. The stuff that happened in between went something like work, work, work, wondering how I could be so homesick after 5 days at home, work.

When I was cleaning out the cabinets {homesick therapy}, I found a tube of polenta that served as inspiration for dinner. And then the thought progression continued like so: burgers -> arugula & spinach -> mushrooms & onions.

I put my oven to work by simultaneously sautéing, grill-panning, and broiling. And when everything was cooked to perfection, I assembled the mini towers of goodness and served to Skylar and Max.

I liked changing up a plain old meat/veggie combo with the texture of polenta. And I totally dug the addition of greens and sautéed veggies, but a classic topping of lettuce, tomato, pickle, and onion would be equally as delicious.

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Avocado, Almond & Basil Egg Salad

May 22, 2014 by Kristin

I have a difficult time eating food that has passed its sell by date. Partially because of a slight paranoia that I’ll get sick, but mostly because I don’t understand the concept. Why sell by and not eat by? How many days, exactly, does one have to eat by after a sell by? And an even more confusing, unrelated to this post, question – how many edible days follow the refrigeration of a refrigerate after opening food?

Luckily there’s an easy solution for the half-dozen eggs that are sitting in your fridge on their sell by date. Egg salad. Hard-boil your almost-bad eggs and let them hang out in your fridge {with shells on} for a couple of days until you have time to prep some super delish egg salad.

And then skip the mayo and reach for an avocado as your binder. I used almonds for texture and basil for flavor, but the traditional mix of onions and celery would totally do.

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Spaghetti Squash Shrimp Scampi

April 17, 2014 by Kristin

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.

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.

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.

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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Bucatini With Mushrooms & Asparagus

March 25, 2014 by Kristin

I contemplated a few dishes during my traffic-filled journey to the market this afternoon. No Recipes’ Parsley Pasta was on my mind. Eating Well’s Asparagus-Mushroom Mini Lasagnas was printed and tucked in my purse. And as I walked through the store, somewhere between the produce department and the noodle aisle, I decided to make a hybrid of the two.

I picked up a brown paper bag filled with semolina bucatini {the thickest noodle I had ever seen}, veggies, and parmesan. And then I rushed through the checkout line, excited to put all of these ingredients together, and even more excited to put an egg on it.

I haven’t yet mastered how to fully cook the whites of an egg and still keep the yolk extra sunny. But egg aesthetics aside, I thought it turned out beautifully. A veggie-filled, protein-topped, totally tasty dinner.

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