Fresh herbs make food flavors 'pop' if you ask me. I mean everything with fresh herbs in it just tastes better. The nice thing is that you can easily find fresh herbs in the grocery store now. Or, look for them at your local farmer’s market or grow them yourself. Then, take them home, wash, chop and toss into breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The nutritional payoff with fresh herbs is their antioxidants and pigments which strengthen the immune system and reduce inflammation in the body. Here are 3 recipes that are super delicious, easy, and their flavors 'pop' because of the simple … [Read more...] about Fresh Herbs Make Flavors Pop and 3 Recipes to Prove It
Banana-Carrot Quick Bread Recipe
The rich nutrition of carrots is a perfect compliment to the natural sweetness of a simple banana bread. This recipe can easily be doubled to make 2 loaves and it freezes beautifully. So, next time your bananas get super ripe, give it a try! Ingredients 2 tablespoons Butter 2 tablespoons Extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) 1/4 cup Applesauce, unsweetened 1/2 cup Sugar, white or brown 2 Eggs, large 1 cup Flour, white 1 cup Flour, whole wheat 1 teaspoon Baking … [Read more...] about Banana-Carrot Quick Bread Recipe
10 Tips for Using Spices and Herbs
Are you an herbs-and-spices kind of cook? With all the good news about how they boost the immune system and lower risk for chronic disease, you'll want to use herbs and spices in your kitchen everyday. But how? 10 Easy Tips for Using Spices and Herbs - Getting Started Get started for using more spices and herbs by tossing out your very old ones. If they've been in your pantry for >3 years, then out they go. Next, go to the grocery store and buy new ones, two per shopping trip. If you see a sale, then buy three. Little by little, you'll own an assortment of fresh and flavorful spices … [Read more...] about 10 Tips for Using Spices and Herbs
Read Your Recipe Carefully to Avoid 5 Common Recipe Mistakes
Even experienced cooks make mistakes. For me, there have been many like over-spicing a chili to the point it was not edible, leaving the sugar out of a quick bread, leaving the egg out of etc etc. You get my drift. If you want to 'nail' your recipe every time, try this simple strategy: Read your recipe carefully before you start making it. It will help you avoid common mistakes. Read Your Recipe Carefully It's super smart to take 10-15 minutes to read over your recipe every time you cook something for the first time. Even if you're cooking a recipe you've made before, take a few minutes … [Read more...] about Read Your Recipe Carefully to Avoid 5 Common Recipe Mistakes
10 Ways to Season Your Food with Extra Virgin Olive Oil
I find a bottle of extra virgin olive oil on nearly every cafe and restaurant table I visit in Spain - which is what I expected from the world's largest producer! What I didn't expect was that just about everything I eat these days, except for ice cream, tastes better when I season it with EVOO. It's a perfect time of year to get excited about using more EVOO because the 2019 harvest of olives and production of oil is about to begin in Mediterranean countries like Spain, Portugal, Greece, Italy, Turkey, and others. November, December, and January is the time to shake the olives down from … [Read more...] about 10 Ways to Season Your Food with Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Seedless Tangerines are ‘Mandarinas’ in Spain
The vitamin C in tangerine-mandarinas will help you stay well and their amazingly sweet flavor will keep them on your grocery list, week-after-week. If you're searching for the rockstars of the citrus world then tangerine-mandarinas are it. For a decade or longer, the demand for a kid-sized, seedless, tangy and sweet fruit has grown and grown. While living in Salamanca, Spain this fall, I've already started to buy seedless tangerine-mandarinas from grocery stores, the Central Market, and small shops that specialize in selling fresh fruits and vegetables. They are in nearly every shopper's bag … [Read more...] about Seedless Tangerines are ‘Mandarinas’ in Spain