Healthier Eggplant Parmesan

Eggplant Parm can be a delicious dish in its full glory, but it can also be on the heavy side. Breaded and fried eggplant, greasy cheese, oily tomato sauce, in other words a calorie bomb.
However there are other and better ways to approach this Italian classic.

Easy Crispy Chicken

Crispy baked chicken with a juicy meat and a crisp flavorful skin. What’s not to love?
Especially when it’s made in the oven with no breading at all and the only ingredients you need are chicken, spices, and herbs (all pantry staples that you likely already have at home.)
Enters this incredible Easy Crispy Chicken also known as the most amazing oven baked chicken thighs.

Turmeric and Ginger Iced Tea

At this point we all know how good for you turmeric is — if you don’t just Google it, you'll be flooded with tons of information on this super spice.
We have also learned how to include turmeric in our recipes: rice, chicken, mashed sweet potatoes, soups, etc. Not to mention that turmeric latte (aka golden milk) has become one of our favorite drinks.
So it was only a matter of time before we would use turmeric in the quintessential summertime drink: iced tea.
Iced tea is cold, refreshing, and looks so pretty in a tall glass with lots of ice. With turmeric it becomes also super healthy.

(Vegan) Chickpea Shakshuka

Shakshuka is originally a North African dish but over the generations it's become a signature dish across the Middle East as a substantial breakfast or lunch fare.
In the recent years, Shakshuka is taking America and Europe by storm being billed as a healthy dish.
Shakshuka can be seen in so many shapes and forms and today we’re making a vegan version of it, with chickpeas in lieu of eggs.
I’m not sure whether we can still call this dish Shakshuka since there are no eggs, but truth to be told chickpeas work like a charm in this recipe.
I will go as far as saying that you won’t miss the eggs in this vegan version.

(Paleo) Broccoli Au Gratin

I know I said it over and over again but it doesn’t hurt to say it one more time: broccoli are a deal-breaker. Like beets in (almost) anything or asparagus. It’s nearly impossible to mention broccoli without at least someone in the room saying “ew”.
Which is the very reason why I like to procrastinate and share yet another recipe with broccoli today.
Because I want to show you guys that cruciferous vegetable is actually delicious if cooked the right way.
Enters (Paleo) Broccoli Au Gratin: broccoli topped with an amazing paleo bechamel sauce and baked to cheesy perfection. Delicious.

Pomegranate Glazed Turkey Meatballs

Ah meatballs. These little bites of heavenly meat are seriously one of my favorite things to whip up, especially when I have a recipe for clean meatballs that are easy to make and delish.
I don’t mean to discriminate against other food, but meatballs are seriously one of my favorite things.
Beef, chicken, turkey, pork, vegetarian, baked, fried, with sauce on top, glazed, etc. The combination of flavors can be endless.

Parmesan Zucchini Chips

Today I have a super simple recipe for you guys. One that I always come back to when in need of a snack and that my friends request time after time.
Even those who claim to dislike zucchini pop these little babies in their mouth as fast as humanly possible.
To be honest, even I don’t have self-control with these Parmesan Zucchini Chips, good thing they are ultra light and packed with goodness.

Greek Chicken Marinade

Let’s be real for a second, barbecue season is still a long way away.
This winter feels like it's lasting forever and spring is nowhere near.
To help beat the winter blues why don’t we pretend it’s grilling time already and make ourselves some delicious Greek Chicken?
Let’s act like the sun has come out to stay, temperatures are in the mid 70s, we’re sitting out on the back patio, we’re firing up the grill, and making some mouth-watering chicken. Okay?

Easy Rice and Mushroom Casserole

Our weather has been incredibly and ridiculously cold recently (although it seems like months) — a seemingly endless string of days of bone-chilling temperatures.
This type of weather makes me crave comfort-type food — something warm and filling.
In my opinion casseroles are the quintessential all-American belly-warming one-pan comfort food.
Hearty, nourishing, and simple to make, they can make nights a little easier by keeping dinner contained to just one pan.
No dishes to wash and heat of stove and oven to warm home naturally. Kinda like kill-2-birds-with-one-stone.

Broccoli and Potato Patties

Broccoli is a tough one because it’s one of those greens that not too many people like the taste of. I know a lot of people that eat it largely because they know it’s one of the healthiest food on the planet, but enjoying it as a food? Not really.
Personally I love broccoli. Pasta with broccoli is one of my fave ways to have pasta, and what about my Crock-Pot Broccoli and Beef? So delicious. Not to mention this casserole with broccoli and mushroom or this creamy soup that I make every so often.
Today I’m gonna show you that you can also make delicious veggie patties with broccoli.

4-Ingredient Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars

As a kid, I loved Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. They were my favorite. They trumped all other candy bars. No Twix, Snickers, Butterfinger or 3 Musketeers could rival the deliciousness of Reese’s cups.
I always hoarded them, keeping ‘em in the fridge to enjoy the perfect combination of chocolate and peanut butter throughout the year.
I mean, it’s indisputable that peanut butter’s favorite partner in crime is chocolate. Smooth chocolate enrobing a thick peanut butter center. There’s nothing better.

Cabbage and Potato Pie

You know, sometimes you make something and you think "Oh man, what have I done?"
But then it exceeds your expectations and goes way better than you planned.
I just love that, don't you?
This Cabbage and Potato Pie do that to me.
I had an idea in mind for a vegan/vegetarian version of my Cottage Pie for a long time but never managed to make it.
Until I found this recipe on the Financial Times a couple of weeks ago.
I know that the Financial Times is not the first newspaper/magazine that comes to mind when in need of recipes, but truth to be told they have a great recipe section.

Curried Chickpeas

This recipe come from Joan’s on Third, a specialty food store and restaurant located in West Hollywood, Los Angeles. A great little place with a refreshing yet comfortable atmosphere and a great menu selection.
I am obsessed with the curried chickpeas at Joan's on Third. They are the best curried chickpeas ever. I’ve been there three times and every single time I’ve ordered them as part of the salad trio (a selection of three salads from their daily specials on the marketplace menu). But truth to be told I should order just the chickpeas because they're all I ever want to eat (well, that and the carrot cake.)
Luckily for me, I found the recipe on the LATimes and I was able to recreate it home — meaning that I don’t have to fly to LA if I get a curried chickpeas craving.

Crock-Pot Chicken Teriyaki

Chicken teriyaki is probably one of the most well known and liked Japanese dishes in the US and for sure one of the classic takeout recipes we all love.
Most people don’t think about making it at home because they either have a restaurant they love or because they buy teriyaki sauce like they buy ketchup.
But I do love making it from scratch.
In fact I have not one, not two, not three, but four different recipes for chicken teriyaki on this blog: Baked Honey-Teriyaki Chicken, Teriyaki Glazed Chicken Kebabs, Beer-Flavored Chicken Teriyaki, and Pineapple Teriyaki Glazed Chicken Skillet
And today I have a fifth.
*drumroll please*
Crock-Pot Chicken Teriyaki -> one word: uh-mazing.

The Best Maple Cinnamon Baked Apples

In my opinion baked apples are great treat on a cold evening or any other evening really and they make a healthier alternative to the usual dessert fare — a cookie, a brownie or a bit of chocolate.
My mom used to make them every so often during fall and winter when I was a child. I remember eating them hot from the oven with a scoop of vanilla ice-cream or some yogurt on top. Nothing fancy but so very delicious.

Mom’s Baked Turkey Meatballs

Growing up, my mom made the best meatballs in my opinion. I don’t know/remember if she took the recipe somewhere, tweaked an existing recipe or invented it from scratch (most likely is the former), and I’m not going to pretend these are super authentic Italian meatballs. But I grew up eating them and for that reason alone they hold a special place in my heart.
Mom would make these using either ground beef or ground turkey. I always preferred the turkey version — because I could actually taste the other ingredients in the meatball, not just the meat. But the beef version was also pretty spectacular.

Salt, Pepper & Paprika Potato Wedges

I’ve been making these spicy potato wedges for so long, I can’t even remember (most likely I was still in college.)
To be honest, I can’t believe that after all these years of blogging I haven’t told you about them yet, you should revolt or something. Just kidding, please don’t.
I don’t even remember if I found the recipe somewhere or someone told me about it or if I just experimented on my own.
It’s as simple as it gets: Potatoes cut into wedges, oil, salt, pepper, paprika, and garlic powder, pop in the oven, and voilà: awesomely crispy, packed-with-flavor, potato wedges.

(Vegan) Easy 3-Minute Brownie In A Mug

I’m gonna start this post by admitting that I already have a recipe for a chocolate brownie in a mug on this blog .
Which begs the question: do we need another one?
The answer is: yes, we do.
Let me tell you why.
First off, there’s no such thing as too many brownies— we can all agree on this one, am I right?
Secondly, this recipe is drastically different from the other one: it’s eggless, dairy-free, nut-free, vegan and not really paleo. But it’s still so very delicious, simple, quick, and easy to make.
So why not?

Baked Stuffed Tomatoes

I took a month off and went on a trip to France for the summer. I so needed it.
While I was traveling on the French Riviera I stopped in Nice for a couple of days.
What a gorgeous city, you could easily have stayed there a week — or 37 years, like the artist Matisse did.
Anyways, on a breezy summer evening in a small brasserie on the Promenade des Anglais, I tried some amazing tomates farcies à la viande hachée (i.e., tomatoes stuffed with ground beef.)
An amazingly simple dish but so fantastically delicious that the next day and the day after that I came back to the same brasserie to eat it again.

Apple-Mint Iced Tea

It’s been scorchy hot these past few days, so I’ve been drinking a lot of refreshing drinks.
Together with my Mint and Ginger Iced Green Tea this Apple-Mint Iced Tea has been at the top of my list.
Green tea tartness goes really well with the pungent and refreshing mint aroma and is perfectly counterbalanced by the apple juice sweetness.
Super simple to make, all-natural, good-for-you, and oh-so-yummy.