Tapas

Whenever we have people over I always like to make couple small side dishes for people to pick on. As a good rule of thumb, anything sautéed with olive oil makes it to the table and disappears paired with a good bread and wine or beer.
In this picture I have starting from the left, roasted red peppers in a thick tomato sauce, shrimp with garlic, mushrooms with bacon, and mussels in a spicy red sauce.
I seriously can live off of eating just this type of small dishes with bread and wine or a beer, cheese and olives.

Spinach and avocado salad

Baby spinach leaves, shredded carrots, sliced onions, chick peas, and avocado dressed with olive oil and vinegar, salt and pepper.

Blueberry Scones

I fell in love with the blueberry scones I used to buy at Trader Joe's. They looked and tasted so natural and home-made that I decided to search for a recipe for me to start making them at home. They are quite easy to make and the whole thing is done pretty fast. I use a recipe that is similar to Martha Stewart's recipe, except I use milk instead of heavy cream.
They have been for a while my favorite breakfast and I make them quite often.

Italian sandwiches

I have always liked ham but since I've met Hungry Dad that I rarely buy it because he's not that crazy about it. This summer that changed.
On this last pregnancy I craved ham so much that I couldn't wait for the baby to be born just so I could eat as much ham as I wanted. And so I did - I've been buying a lot of ham and other cold cut meats and eat it on sandwiches.
I was never a sandwich kind of person - "too much bread and too messy to eat" I always thought - so it's no surprised that I have been living in this country for 12 years without knowing what an italian sandwich was. It was only this summer that I ate one at someone's house and loved the combination of all different cold cuts in one sandwich.
The Italian sandwiches that I have been making at home for myself have 1 slice of ham, 1 slice of turkey breast, 1 slice of bologna, 1 slice of salami, 1 slice of provolone cheese, 1 slice of a tomato and 2 cucumber pickles in between an english muffin with maionese. Yum!

A Fall lunch

Fall is here and the weather is cooling. Warmer and richer foods are now comforting and warm our hearts.
This weekend we had a friend coming to visit us from California. And for a lighter lunch I made a clam, mussels, and corn chowder. The soup was amazing and so much more interesting than to have a chowder with just corn or just clams. I should call it the Ménage-à-trois Chowder. It's rich and creamy, slightly sweet, very savory, and truly satisfying.
I served on the side shrimp with garlic, mushrooms, and a heirloom tomato salad. A beautifully simple lunch.

Swiss Chard

Swiss Chard is another powerful element. It is such a rich vegetable, high in vitamin A, K, and C, minerals, dietary fiber, and protein. Also, in some research studies it was proven to help regulate the blood sugar.
I like to cook it very simply in olive oil and garlic and particularly love the red chard and its vibrant color after it's cooked. I remember to have read somewhere that the color of the chard is also full of antioxidants and it's a great anti-inflammatory and detoxification support. Look it up, I'm not making this up!
With all the goodness aside, knowing me, I would cook it just because it's pretty and has a beautiful color. I think its strong taste goes perfectly with cooked quinoa.

Avocado salad

Avocados have been part of our daily menu for a long time. We simply can't get enough of them and they are so good for us and so filling, making any salad a meal.
I make all kinds of salads with avocados but I particularly like tomatoes with them.
Here's a sherry tomato, mozzarella, and avocado salad.

Elephant cookies

We are very fond of elephants around here. It was a very meaningful animal to a boy that is very close and special to us, whom sometimes comes to help us in our kitchen; and our older assistant's special friend that he takes everywhere is an elephant called Louie (actually, given to him by the special boy).
Louie has been going to school everyday with our older assistant and in his honor we baked Elephant cookies on the week older assistant was learning the letter "E" and took it to his class to share with all his classmates and school friends.
They are sugar cookies with colored glaze.

Chickpea salad

Chickpeas are so healthy and good for you. They are filling and I use them a lot as a great substitute to any other carbs.
To the organic chickpeas I added 1 can of tuna, 1 avocado, a touch of maionese, salt and pepper and a string of olive oil. Very simple and very yummy!

Lunch wheel

It has been way too long since I posted here mostly because of a lack of time, however, I have continued to take pictures of my food and have a big collection of food pictures on my computer by now. I will be uploading them on my spare time, hopefully a little more frequent now.

Hungry Dad works for many hours and it is more often than not that I eat by myself with the kids. Many times, when I have something already cooked for my older assistant (yes, we now have hired a new cook assistant in training!), I make something lighter for me to eat. Usually salads or soups and complements to have on the side.
Sometimes I get inspired by shapes and colors, rather than foods itself.
Here I have meat croquettes with tomato salad and green beans.