Have you seen that funny meme about how adulthood is just taking everything you love and replacing it with cauliflower? It makes me laugh every time I see it because I feel like I have cauliflower’ed so many recipes – from cauliflower gnocchi to cauliflower mashed potatoes from cauliflower stir-fry to cauliflower stuffed peppers. You would think I would be done with it, but I have one more to add to the mix, this new recipe for cauliflower stuffed shells. The thing about cauliflower is that it can take on so many different flavors, and in this recipe it’s sautéed with lots of garlic before being folded into a ricotta cheese mixture. It gets totally hidden in garlic and cheese, in fact I served this to my family recently and no one knew the cauliflower was in there. So sneaky and so tasty – get the recipe below! read more

Even though I am loving every last second of the end of summer, I do get very excited about getting back into the steady routine of fall. Our weeks are a little more structured, and I definitely always think about the start of the school year as a reset-button on my habits and goals. With that reset-button comes a bit more intention about how I plan my days, and meal-planning at the beginning of the week always gets me started on the right foot! As I get back into the meal planning groove, I wanted to spice up my go-to dishes that I make ahead for a week of lunches (See some of my best meal planning tips in an older post). read more

I am lapping up every last drop of summer this week, which means spending lots of time outdoors. We have been plucking the most delicious end-of-summer veggies out of little container garden — the tomatoes are bountiful! And I’ve been scooping up sweet yellow squash and crisp green zucchini from our farm stand. To make the most of our ripe vegetables and our summer nights I have been using lots of shortcuts for speeding through making dinner. Less time in the kitchen = more time playing in the yard!  One of my best shortcut tricks is using al fresco Chicken Nights Faster Sausage. read more

A few weeks ago my mom and sister stayed the night and brought a recipe for a savory tomato pie recipe from Southern Living magazine. I was so excited to try it, since it made uses of the delicious seasonal tomatoes popping in my garden, and combined a buttermilk pie crust with a rich cheese filling. It came out amazing and it was so decadent and delicious, but the recipe took almost FOUR hours to make. Between prepping the dough, roasting the tomatoes, pre-baking the crust, and layering in resting times between each step, I had spent nearly the entire afternoon getting this darn tasty pie to the table. We sat around our patio table and discussed all of the things we loved about it, and I set out on a mission to make my own version that would down the prep time significantly! This version is my take on the southern classic and a perfect use for those sweet summer tomatoes; recipe below:
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Is there anything on this earth that tastes more like summer than a lobster roll? I think not! Hot or cold, I’ll take all of the lobster rolls I can get. My friends at Just Madras sent me an adorable package with a Lobster Roll tote bag, t-shirt, and perfectly preppy gingham napkins — it was the perfect excuse to make some lobster rolls for a summer picnic at the beach. I have my classic hot buttered lobster roll recipe in my cookbook, but realized I’ve never shared my cold lobster roll recipe here (until today!). This version gets tons of flavor from a healthy heap of fresh lemon thyme and chives. The herbs bring out so much flavor and brightness, and are a perfect compliment to the lobster meat. I made this version on small dinner rolls so guests can have them as a party snack (or gobble up a few of them alongside from potato chips!). Get the full recipe below: read more

My most-popular recipe in the last year (actually, maybe ever?) has been my sheet-pan cauliflower gnocchi with tomatoes, made with the cult-favorite Trader Joe’s Frozen Cauliflower Gnocchi. I was totally amazed by the response to this recipe, but I get why people like it: it’s healthy-ish, it’s fast and simple, and it’s made on one sheet pan so the clean-up is easy! I always stock up on the Trader Joe’s Frozen Cauliflower Gnocchi when I see it in stores, and decided to give my go-to recipe a facelift for the summer-season! This recipe is a spin on my original, but I added in summer veggies like squash and zucchini, tossed Italian sausage in the mix for some added flavor, and finished it off with a dollop of ricotta cheese (which melts over the warm gnocchi and acts as a sauce). It was a big hit all around our dinner table, and think this one will be a new favorite for the cauliflower gnocchi fans! Full recipe below:  read more

I have a new weeknight dinner staple that I have to share with you, and it takes about 20 minutes to make: Grilled Shrimp, Corn and Polenta. I’m all about speed on weeknights, and I recently started making instant polenta as a shortcut for fast meal prep. It only takes a few minutes to make once you have water boiling and it can take on so many great tastes based on what you mix into it. Another one of my hacks for quick dinners in the summer is grilling shrimp and corn; they’re both fast cookers and take on tons of flavor from the grill heat. I even prep the marinade  for the shrimp earlier in the day to get things moving quickly when I’m ready to assemble our meal. The creamy parmesan polenta and the fresh corn and tomatoes make for a perfect pairing with the grilled garlic shrimp — this one is getting added into my weekly rotation all summer long! Full recipe below: read more

We all seem to be in the same boat – whether we’re rushing home from a long day of work or juggling the toddler-witching hour – dinner can be a struggle! I have a handful of extra-speedy, low effort weeknight dinners that I keep in my back pocket for busy weeks. Sometimes they’re almost so simple that I forget to write them down and share them here, but those are the ones that people always end up loving the most. One of my staple ingredients that I always grab at the grocery store to have on hand are packages of al fresco Fully Cooked Chicken Sausage. read more

I am making plans for our vegetable garden this summer and just added all of the first farmer’s market dates to my calendar because I’m so excited for peak produce season! Once it’s spring and summer veggie time I’m so much more likely to get in my greens, whether it be grilling them up or tossing them in a bowl of pasta. This recipe is an easy weeknight-dinner version of the noodles-and-veggies classic: pasta primavera. I make quick work of it by tossing some of the vegetables (peas and asparagus) into the water to cook at the same time as the pasta, and sautéing everything else (like carrots, broccoli, squash and mushrooms) in one big pan where I make the sauce before tossing it all together. You can mix and match any of the vegetables in the recipe to customize it with your favorites, or use up leftovers in the fridge. To give it an extra fresh and bright flavor I’ve made this version with a lemon-basil twist. The citrusy zest, a final squeeze of lemon juice, and tons of fresh chopped basil really liven up the sauce and cut through the cream and parmesan that coats the fettuccini. Get the full recipe below! read more