Side Dishes

Five-Spice Cranberry Sauce


Think of this Five-Spice Cranberry Sauce as regular cranberry sauce but with mega jazz hands! It has all of the notes your looking for in cranberry sauce: classic sweet and tart flavors, with everything amped up with a bit of Chinese Five-Spice powder to keep things interesting. Origin of The Recipe This is the recipe that started it all! I’ve…

Read More »
Close up photo of cheesy dinner rolls.

Homemade Cheddar Cheese-Stuffed Dinner Rolls


These Homemade Cheddar Cheese-Stuffed Dinner Rolls with Blackberry Honey Butter are about to become your new favorite thing to bake! The rolls themselves are light, fluffy, make-ahead and effortless. Basically, the stuff of dreams. They’re also flexible… If you don’t want to use cheddar, you could sub in white cheddar, gruyere, parmesan or any other combination thereof (you want the…

Read More »

Savory Pesto + Roasted Red Pepper Beer Buns


I have been playing with this recipe for Diamond of California for quite some time. I wanted to start with a dough that was nice and yeasty, full of life. I wanted it to be easy: a dough we could through together on a Wednesday, stash in the fridge and then come Friday or Saturday we could quickly roll it out…

Read More »

Savory Truffle Mustard Knots


{This post is sponsored by Maille} I hope you have lots of festive occasions coming up this month and if so, I have the perfect holiday appetizer to share with you. I use one of my favorite doughs as a base (it’s a brioche dough with eggs and butter and lots of richness) and then fold in Parmesan, fresh thyme…

Read More »

Strawberry Freekah Salad With Pistachio-Crusted Goat Cheese


Guys, you need to get on the freekah bandwagon. It’s delicious. I was skeptical. I mean REALLY skeptical. But it’s amazing. When it comes to salads, I need them loaded. I mean, I need every flipping bite teeming with taste and texture. We have that here. Right now. With this salad. We start with a base of freekah. Then we…

Read More »

Easy Peasy Labneh


The thought of making cheese never entered my mind. In fact, making this type of cheese (labneh) seems somewhat fraudulent…like it really isn’t cheese…but it is…and it’s so amazingly luscious and delicious you will never not (love a double negative) have it in your fridge. At all times. It’s true, I like to dazzle people with food. I like it to…

Read More »

Pomegranate + Burrata Salad


pomegranate + burrata salad { christmas eve } I love love love Christmas Eve. We always open one gift (pajamas), a tradition leftover from when I was a kid, and we always make pizza. Over the next week I’m going to share my Christmas Eve dinner with lots of recipes and tons of make-ahead tips. If you haven’t heard me…

Read More »

Fresh Fig + Toasted Pecan Fall Salad


fresh fig + toasted pecan fall salad{ ahhh } I can feel fall…it’s just a stone’s-through away. Things just sound different right now…maybe it’s the lack of fans blowing, AC’s humming and kids squealing down the street because they’re all blissfully back in school. It feels and sounds like the seasons are changing. Let’s not talk about the fact that the thermostat…

Read More »

{ ricotta salata + baby spinach + charred corn chilled buttermilk pasta }


ricotta salata + baby spinach charred corn chilled buttermilk pasta { a quickie } I really wanted to get this out to you because it must be savored as much as possible before cool weather hits. It’s perfect by itself, the crowning jewel of a hot summer’s eve, or as a dazzling sidekick to some roasted shrimp, BBQ chicken or grilled steak.…

Read More »

Bacon Cheddar Chive Petite Scones


Anytime I can throw bacon, cheese and onions in something, I will. I wanted to dabble in savory scones for quite some time but just hadn’t found the time or occasion. So when I had the opportunity to cater a large lunch recently, I knew my time had come. I didn’t put these bacon cheddar chive scones on the proposed…

Read More »

Southwestern Black Bean Quinoa Burgers + Secret Sauce + Sweet Potato Fries


southwestern black bean quinoa burgers + secret sauce + sweet potato fries I’m a feast or famine kinda girl, if you haven’t figured that out. When it comes to food the words balance and restraint don’t really come to mind. At all. Ever. The motto is a little more, ‘if it feels good, do it.’ While I certainly enjoy this way life,…

Read More »

{ new year’s eve dinner }


classic braised short ribs + cheesy sweet potato quinoa As we near the end of eating season, it would be easy to throw in the towel. To just say, enough is enough. And, if I’m being completely honest here, I’d be lying if I didn’t tell you that I’m getting pretty close to throwing in the towel. I’ve been eating…

Read More »

{ brussel sprout slaw }


brussel sprout slaw bacon + lemony garlicky dressing + parmesan This one is going to be a quickie…just wanted to share for those of you that haven’t yet picked all of your Thanksgiving sides. This one is perfect…it’s super easy and quick to put together and it’s kinda healthy. Kinda. { brussel sprout slaw } Serves 12 INGREDIENTS 1.25 pounds of thick-cut…

Read More »