Squash and Black Bean Tacos

Hiatus. Population: 1. Population: Me. I've been on a bit of a hiatus lately.

There's this comedian - John Mulaney - he has this bit about how much easier it is to not do things than to do them. I don't even have a legitimate excuse for my hiatus. Other than, it was easier not to. Sure, I've been busy at work. And, I've been traveling a bit. And, the light in my new kitchen is less than inspiring. Buy beyond anything else, when I finally get home from the work, from the gym, make dinner, clean it up, take a shower and crawl in bed - it's easier to veg than to put thoughts into words.

Speaking of veg-ing, You can't know this because I haven't posted recently, but lately I haven't been eating a lot of meat lately. Bring on the veggies. Meet my first veggie tacos,

Look at all the goodies. Can you believe it only took one pan?

A perfect quick summer dinner. And, just really any reason to eat lots and lots of guacamole.

Ingredients
1/2 zucchini
1/2 summer squash
2 slices vidalia onion
2 sections red pepper
2 sections green pepper
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp taco seasoning (I used cumin,

3 corn tortillas
1/2 c black beans
chopped tomatoes
sliced radishes
feta (or other) cheese
guacamole
cilantro (would be yummy, but I didn't have any)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 450F. Line a baking sheet with foil. Cut squash into half moon rounds, 1-2 centimeters thick. Place in a bowl and toss with 1 Tbsp olive oil and 2 Tbsp taco seasoning. Place on baking sheet. 
2. Segment pepper and onions. Drizzle with olive oil, season with salt and pepper. Place on baking sheet. Bake in oven for 20 minutes, until peppers are charred and squash is soft.
3. Assemble tacos

Veggie Quinoa Breakfast Bowl

So, it's been a while. A long while. Not the longest while though. This combines all of my favorite things except maybe bread, pumpkin, peaches and nutella. So not all of my favorite things - but many of my favorite breakfast things - veggies, quinoa, cheese and crispy fried eggs. But, I blame Gilmore Girls for my absence. It's on Netflix now. It's not my fault. (ok maybe it is),

Apple Pie Stuffed Challah Bread

One of my favorite things ever - EVER - ever is to make bread from scratch. Quick bread, yeast bread, bread, bread, bread. And, one of my most favorite things is challah bread. And, anything apple stuffed. And, I bring you this brain child, apple stuffed challah bread. In a pretty, swirly circle inspired by Molly's recipe at Barney's.

Pretty, pretty. This bread whips up surprisingly quick - if you don't count the rise time. And as much as I love the braided version, it's so great not to have to think when making the bread. It's just one quick roll and one final rise.

Easy Pumpkin Donut Holes

It's not secret that I love donuts. That wasn't the most revolutionary sentence I've ever written. Regardless, it's the truth. And, it's this recipe that got me over my fear of deep frying and lead to these bad boys a few weeks ago. And now, for a fall twist on that fated recipe.

Pumpkin donuts. You heard me. I substituted some of that fat in the original recipe with pumpkin puree because it makes it healthier? Because I can. Because pumpkin. That's why.

This recipe is super easy and super quick. And, definitely something you can share or keep all to yourself. It's the perfect accompaniment to a crisp fall morning and a piping hot cup of coffee in your favorite mug.

For those who don't like pumpkin - I've met two of these people, they apparently exist - be warned this is the first of many. It's all fall recipes from here on out (another thing I should have posted with my first apple recipe a few weeks ago. But, seriously be prepared for carbs, pumpkin and apples. Because it's not basic, it's classic.

Apple Slab Pie

I'm so far behind. So so far behind. I have 23 draft recipes to share with you. Probably more than that since those don't even account for most of the food I have photos of. I don't even know how it happens. Yes, I do. Between work and commuting and pretending to have a social life sometimes blogging just falls off the radar. And once I stop blogging for a while, it's really hard to start again.

Tomato Pie

I think by now you probably know what some of my food preferences are. Largely, I'm way into breakfast, bread and dessert. I'm trying to be in to vegetables - particularly tomatoes. And, to be totally truthful, most of the time I'm choking those tomatoes down.

Apple Cider Donuts

Let me tell you about my best friend. GUYS. This apple cider donut recipe. I can't even handle. It's kind of a project, but it's 100% worth it. I don't always fry things, but when I do - I don't even have an ending to that sentence.

Let's face it. We all have dreams of the perfect apple cider donut. Crispy on the outside, but moist (sorry) on the inside. It somehow managed to be both dense and light. And, cinnamon sugar crusted on the outside. But sadly, most of them are dry and cakey. Well, not these bad boys - courtesy of Smitten Kitchen.

Throwback Thursday: Caramel Apple Pie Cupcakes

Please ignore my recent hiatus. Oh my goodness. IT'SFINALLYFALL. I love fall. Fall is my favorite. Maybe. Ok, but I really, really like fall. And, with fall comes apple season! We're getting lots of apples and apple cider from the CSA, and I'm pulling out all the stops with the apple things this year. I figured to start things off, we'd throwback Thursday to a favorite, ridiculously complicated, but definitely worth it recipe - caramel apple pie cupcakes. More specifically, cinnamon cupcakes with apple pie filling, caramel swiss meringue icing and homemade caramel sauce. Yeahhhhhh.

Apples always remind me of my childhood. Growing up, we had a huge apple tree in our yard. My memories are filled with bags and bags of apples all the time. And so much apple pie and apple crisp.

Not Quite Chicken Pad Thai

I've recently become obsessed with pad thai. I have a great friend, who is currently very far away riding a motorcycle back home (please, get home safe!), who first introduced me to pad thai. We were getting carry out to take to a friend's house before a St. Patrick's Day party earlier this spring and couldn't decided what we wanted. He usually gets chicken pad thai and I get red curry with tofu and vegetables. But, we both got a little bored. So, we went halfises. Best choice ever.

Now, I order pad thai with tofu and vegetables at from our local thai restaurant. It feels so indulgent. It's sweet and tangy and savory. And with tofu and vegetables it's even a little healthy. I've been meaning for a long time to try my hand at pad thai, so I could have it whenever I want. But, there's usually a bit of a skirmish over who gets to cook, but I found an opening - so I grabbed it.

Throwback Thursday: Double Blueberry Muffins

I've said it before and I'll say it again. Blueberries haven't always been my favorite. I used to leave the sad little tin of sad little blueberries out of the blueberry muffin box mix. They freaked me out. Apparently at one point in time I loved them. And, I'm slowly but surely on my way back. I eat them raw, in oatmeal, folded into pancakes, added to lemony cheesecake cupcakes, as hand pies and my most favorite bumpy blueberry pie.

But, there's one recipe that will always be my first blueberry love. These double blueberry muffins are ah-may-zing. The muffin itself is dense and light all at the same time because of a perfect use of buttermilk. They're moist but not heavy. And, there's the perfect amount of blueberries. Double blueberries.

First, you fold in a few handfuls of fresh berries because duh. And, then, the secret - a dollop of blueberry preserves are nestled on top of the batter and topped with a little batter hat.

My real favorite part though comes at the end. Pour melted butter over top of the baked muffins and sprinkle with citrus zest that has been rubbed in sugar. The first time I used lemon, which is classic and delicious. But, this past time I used orange zest that had a very pleasant, bright zing.

Done. Recipe available here.

Mirabelle (Yellow) Plum Tart

Last year when we got these little yellow plums, known as Mirabelle) from the CSA we were completely confused and perplexed. The plums I've always seen have been a deep, dark reddish purple, and about twice the size of our vibrant yellow friends. So, we couldn't quite figure out what to do with them. But this year, I was prepared, sort of.

Zwetschgendatschi - Bavarian Plum Cake

After a very eventful, but fun wedding weekend, I'm very excited to bring you this recipe from the NPR website. Gesine describes this zwetschgendatschi (aka the most fun thing to say ever) - Bavarian plum cake - as the perfect bite of plum, and I couldn't agree more. The crust is like a big, crumbly, buttery sugar cookie - and the extra dough makes a delicious crumbly topping.

Strawberry Meringue Cake

Ugh. I know, I know I've posted way too many strawberry recipes lately (two versions of strawberry short cake [one and two]. Who do I think I am? Also, my strawberry muffins have really been hitting up Pinterest this week). What's the deal with all the strawberries?

Bumpy Blueberry Pie

Let’s talk pie. Specifically, bumpy pie. I saw this recipe for bumpy cherry pie on Top With Cinnamon and thought, “Yep. This is happening.” But, as the CSA has been giving us boatloads of blueberries, peaches and plums, there’s been a moratorium on purchasing fruit from the grocery store. Thus, I bring you bumpy blueberry pie.

I was really hoping to get some cherries this (like we did last year) and may go on the hunt to see if any are leftover in our freezer. Because I’ve recently discovered that I actually like cherries (well, duh – you might say – red is my favorite artificial flavor) – and missed out on consuming the cherry galette that I made last year.

But, this year the CSA gave us blueberries from a different NJ farm (due to fruit shortages from the harsh winter/spring – aren’t they the nicest?). And, as I mentioned before – my family doesn’t have a history of being the biggest blueberry pie eaters. Well, my dad does. Just not the rest of us. So, this brings me to bumpy blueberry pie – an adaptation.

To be honest, I spent a Friday night baking this pie, instead of going out in Jersey City. Priorities. It didn’t end up being done until around 11 (and by done I mean out of the oven). You really should let the pie cool before cutting into it. Or you run the risk of all the berries falling out. Which you can see is clearly what happened to me. We’re not patient people, and I had promised my dad blueberry pie.

I wanted to try this recipe since the photos on Top with Cinnamon show a thicker, more cookie-like crust. Something that I thought would increase the crust:berry ratio. The pie was a success! It didn’t turn out quite like I expected – the crust was thinner and crunchier and the berries kept a lot of their shape and texture, but my mom and sister loved it. This pie is definitely worth turning on the oven in the middle of summer.

They both loved the almond base for the crust (this whole lack of food processor deal means I’m making good use of my mortar and pestle aka crushing almonds). Though I can’t compare it to a version with truly ground almonds, I quite like the texture that the not-quite completely ground almonds give the crust. My dad is still a traditional pie kind of guy, so I don’t think is the last blueberry pie you’ll see (and if you were wondering, the blueberry hand pies didn’t count as traditional pie either).

Next up, I want a pie with a cookie crust. Maybe a slab pie, because those have been on my list. But for now, I recommend warming the pie (I microwave, judge me) and then topping it with a nice scoop of vanilla ice cream. Perfection.

Also, next up: anyone have some good almond meal recipes? Apparently, we have some laying around the house and I’m looking for a good use. Be on the lookout for that adventure. And in the meantime, I’ll try to post something that’s not blueberry- or strawberry-related.

Recipe adapted from Top with Cinnamon

For the filling:

2 pints fresh blueberries

1 tsp. lemon zest

1 tsp. lemon juice

1/4 tsp. fresh nutmeg
1/4 c. sugar
1 tsp all purpose flour

For the pastry:1 1/3 c all purpose flour
6 tbsp granulated sugar
3/4 c ground almonds (I ground my own in a mortar & pestle)
1/4 tsp salt
6 tbsp unsalted butter, cubed
1 egg + 1 egg yolk
1/2 tsp almond extract (generous)

Directions:

1. Stir together filling and set aside
2. In a bowl, stir together the dry ingredients. Rub the butter in (I use a pastry cutter) and add the remainder of the wet ingredients
3. Divide the dough into two balls and chill in the freezer for at least 15 minutes or in the fridge for at least 4 hours
4. Preheat the oven to 350 F. Roll out one ball on a piece of lightly floured parchment paper using a lightly floured rolling pin until slightly larger than an 8-inch pie plate. Place the pie plate upside down (opening side down) in the center of the dough. Flip both the dough/paper and pie plate. Peel away so the pastry lines the pie plate.
5. Fill with blueberry mixture and roll out the second ball (keep this one in the freezer/fridge while you work with the first. I do not recommend rolling out at the same time as the first). Flip the parchment paper on top of the pie and peel away. Crimp the edges and bake 30-40ish minutes until golden brown. Top with sugar (if desired, I forgot and just used ice cream)