Winter Squash Soup

This recipe came about entirely because of one afternoon spent studying in a Panera Bread in Minneapolis and my subsequent obsession with their Autumn Squash soup. If you didn't get a chance to try it, it's insanely delicious and seriously addictive. Since all good seasonal items eventually are discontinued, I played with my own recipe for Butternut Squash Soup until I was satisfied that I had created a close copycat version of the original. I'm happy to say it received a very enthusiastic approval from my family when I served it over the holidays, and I know your families will love it too.

Perfect Brown Rice Every Time

This is going to be one of those practical posts where we get back to the basics of cooking. When I was first learning how to cook, I cooked my rice in the microwave because it was the way my mom always did it, and predictably my rice boiled over into a starchy puddle of goop. Other people swore by their rice cookers as the secret to creating perfect rice, but truthfully no one really needs yet another unitasker appliance taking up precious real estate in their cupboards. In an interesting turn of events, my husband taught me the secret to cooking perfectly tender, fluffy brown rice every single time.  

Quinoa Pancakes with Coconut Walnut Syrup

Whether you know me personally or you only know me from this blog, you probably learned that breakfast is my favorite meal of the day, and the undisputed ruler of my breakfast table is the humble pancake. While they are delicious, unless you eat a pretty sizeable stack, they don't tend to have the "staying power" to get me through to lunch. Enter quinoa, my new secret satiety weapon.

Avocado Pear and Gorgonzola Salad

I know I've said this before, and I'm sure I will say it again about a different recipe, but this salad is absolutely amazing and I don't think I'm overstating my point. My go-to bag lunch is a salad, because it's easy to pull the ingredients together in my lunch bag, quickly chop toppings just before serving, and it helps me get in my veggie servings early in the day. And I could eat this salad every single day.

Herbed Flatbread

Sometime last spring I received a text message from a friend and fellow medical student asking if I could recreate a flatbread they tried at a restaurant in Minneapolis. Never one to decline a challenge, I tasted samples and spent some time in the kitchen trying to recreate the light, flaky texture and wonderful flavor of fresh herbs in this flatbread. After doing some research and several attempts later, I realized I was making this far too complicated and instead needed to approach this flatbread not as a yeast bread, but as a quick bread.

Moroccan Stuffed Squash

I just returned from a much needed mini-vacation from school and studying for boards. After several days of dining at some of the best restaurants in Minneapolis, I'm refreshed, inspired, and back in the kitchen with several new recipes to share in the coming weeks. Hopefully you have found a little time to test out some new recipes too. If they're one of mine, please post your comments - I love to hear from you! For now, here's a recipe that gets top ratings from the hubs.