Country Kitchen (in the city) healthy delicious meal inspiration for everyone
chickpea curry with harissa honey cumin bbq chicken
This meal has two intense flavor popping parts: chicken thighs with a harissa honey cumin bbq sauce and a chickpea (plus veggies) curry… and a little Basmati rice on the side to cool off the tongue. Let’s start with the sauce for the chicken: -A few spoonfuls of Harissa sauce (you can make it from […]
carrot liver dog treats
My spoiled little dog has been getting home cooked meals for a number of years now, but I just began dabbling in home cooked treats. Yes, from pictures alone these little cookies look good enough to eat, but don’t let the pretty pictures fool you. While they might be human grade ingredients these cookies are […]
brunch: polenta porridge breakfast bowl
Having company is the best… feeding them, while working all day, going out at night and juggling home life, sometimes calls for a bit more creativity, especially if you can’t just hop in your car and run to the supermarket. Shopping, for me, usually involves walking to the train, going into the city (about 20+ […]
country mustard chicken with buttered cumin carrots
The ingredients: – boneless skinless chicken thighs – Greek yogurt – grained Dijon mustard – lemon – ghee (or olive oil) – good quality salted butter (or butter and salt) – small organic carrots – cumin seed Marinating meats in Greek yogurt is a lickity-split way of tenderizing. This marinade consists of a few spoonfuls […]
new addiction: homemade pickles
The name of this site implies different things to each person, but you should know.. NO, I was not raised in the country, and YES, I live in the city. When I’m trying to grow strawberries on my fire escape (and they get infested with spiders) or planting herbs in tin cans, do I imaging […]
the 10 minute brunch
I am in serious need of groceries, but somehow I scraped together a medley of straggling ingredients for this 10 minute brunch… 5 minutes staring at the fridge, 5 minutes whipping it up. So what’s for brunch.. the very last of the arugula, some leftover pico from the taco platter, the last 2 eggs drizzled […]
veggie taco platter
This healthy and colorful Make It Yourself Veggie Taco Platter takes as long to cook as it does to cut (which is not really all that long). I served it with a side of antioxidant-packed Black Bean Soup. You will need: -one sliced green pepper -one medium onion (half julienned for the tacos, half chopped […]
black bean soup
This Black Bean soup, although hearty enough to be a meal in itself, was actually a side dish to my forthcoming veggie taco platter post! Ingredients (pictured above): – 1 1/2 cups of black beans – 1/2 chopped green pepper – 1 small yellow onion, chopped – 2 cloves chopped garlic – 1 teaspoon chili […]
breakfast: eating well is quick and easy
I am not a breakfast person. Brunch, yes, but breakfast, no. This could have something to do with the fact that when I was a child I was shipped off each morning to a private school that was two bus rides away. And each day, by the time I got to school, breakfast would make […]
red white and green green green pasta
I had a lovely weekend of hanging with friends, relaxing and cooking. After a quick breakfast and a day full of running around, Sunday’s mid-day meal was an light, fresh and early dinner – spinach fettuccine with fresh mozzarella, zucchini, roasted grape tomatoes and arugula. Here’s a rundown of how it came together: For ingredients: […]
brunch: veggie frittata
If I had to choose a favorite meal, it would be brunch! To me, brunch, more than any other meal, allows for the most creativity, resourcefulness and diversity. As far as ingredients are concerned brunch usually goes one of two ways in my house – It’s either envisioned on a bright sunny stroll through the […]
kimchi collards & polenta grits
Pictured above are the ingredients for the collard greens: a turnip, carrots, collard greens, vegetable base, garlic and kimchi. Oh… and if you have some red wine in the house, that helps too!! As a side note, Astor Wines has definitely dropped their prices since Trader Joe’s planted themselves up the street. This medium bodied […]
green-power dandelion soup
Being a one woman household either means sharing meals with good company, or eating the same ingredients (in different ways) for a few days in a row. The Mediterranean Chicken with Dandelion Greens Pastina I made the other day, became the Pastina and Asparagus work lunch (shown below), AND this healthy nutritious soup. Remember when […]
mediterranean chicken with dandelion green pastina
You might be familiar with dandelions growing rampant in your back yard, but did you know that those greens are packed with vitamins (A,C,E & more beta carotene that a carrot, just to name a few). They are also very bitter!! To cut some of the flavor-punch I blanched them briefly. Most sites will tell […]
cheese stuffed rigatoni with broccilini
This dinner is pretty much all in pictures. If you need some sauce help check out a past post here.
work lunch: honey ham with smoked gouda
Here’s a sandwich I whipped up this morning to bring to work for lunch: Two slices of organic peasant rye bread, toasted with country mustard, honey ham, smoked Gouda, sliced radish, and mixed arugula salad greens. On the side..hearts of palm, grape tomatoes, olives and a Bosc pear. Eating well doesn’t always have to be […]
roasted beet, carrot, and tomato soup
I whipped up this jazzberry colored soup with ingredients I had in the house: -3 large beets -2 vine tomatoes -one carrot -one medium yellow onion -cumin (seeds and ground) -celery seeds -lemon thyme –vegetable base I started by roasting the beets. I cut off the tops of the beets, washed them, and them wrapped […]
countryside brunch: polenta and eggs
It’s no secret- lazy weekend mornings refresh my soul and I LOVE BRUNCH. I wake up, put on some coffee, walk and feed the dog, and then walk through the apartment tying open all the curtains letting the sun shine in. And if it’s gloomy out, I do the same nonetheless. Even though I find […]
polenta perfect dinner
Last night I turned simple pheasant-fare ingredients into a mouth-watering, upscale delight. Here’s a quick rundown of the meal. The sauce: olive oil, dried crushed red pepper flakes, 3 cloves crushed garlic, a large pinch of fresh rosemary & basil coarsely chopped, medium yellow onion half-chopped half-sliced into slivers, 28oz can organic chopped tomatoes. In […]
kitchen rescue: sick day soup
The only thing I want when I’m sick is soup. I make a huge pot and eat it until I’m well; breakfast, lunch, dinner: soup! Being under the weather makes it tough to procure ingredients, so sometimes you have to use whatever is in the house. Luckily, working with what I’ve got is an innate […]
brunch: the farmers market deception
One of my favorite warm weather weekend activities is going to the farmers market with someone special and then coming home and concocting brunch with our farm-fresh finds. So, okay, it’s still winter, the only one special is myself, I’m hungry.. and I deserve lovely food!! So here’s my scrape-together-whatever-looks-good-in-the-refrigerator into a delicious not-quite-farmers-market brunch. […]
spinach sun salad
Simple delicious organic salad of spinach, sun sprouts, heirloom tomato, radish and carrot. Basically, whatever greens and veggies I had in the house that day!! For dressing, there was a little mustard left in the jar so I used it as a shaker and added balsamic, lemon infused oil, and dash sesame oil to the […]
chinese snake bean stir fry
What’s for dinner? Chinese long bean stir fry with Enokitake mushrooms, water chestnuts and brown short grain rice. Pictured above is a photographic gathering of ingredients: Chinese snake beans cut into 3 inch pieces (substitute with string beans if you can’t procure this ingredient locally), Enokitake mushrooms, water chestnuts (not pictured), chopped garlic, chopped ginger, […]
another homemade dog food recipe
Today I’m going to give you another variation for gluten-free homemade dog food. For this recipe I used three simple ingredients: – hormone free boneless skinless chicken thighs – frozen mixed vegetables (no onions) – white rice (yes, he got Bismati rice because, while I do shop specifically for dog food ingredients, he sometimes has […]
farfalle with cannellini beans parsley and parmesan
This hand-me-down dinner is cheap, easy and tasty. It’s so easy, in fact, that it was made for me by someone who was trying to pass off the fact that they really couldn’t cook. Guess what, it worked!! A fail-prof dish. Gather and prepare the ingredients: Cannellini beans washed and strained (I used canned, […]
diy love: almond milk
Homemade almond milk is ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS and surprisingly simple. It’s way tastier than any boxed variety I’ve had to date. I found my inspiration on this terrific (dairy-free) site… but changed it up a bit for a creation of my own. Why? For one, I rarely use that much salt in anything. I’m also not […]
whole wheat naan veggie pizza
This yummy pizza can be quick and easy or a little more labor intensive, depending on #1. if you have sauce on hand and #2. how you want to veg it up. Being from an Italian-esque family, I always keep a little extra homemade marinara in the house, either in the refrigerator (if it was […]
breakfast tacos: huevos chipotle with greek yogurt
The first thing I noticed when I moved in to my new neighborhood last year was the complete lack of natural foods and organic produce at my local supermarkets. What I did find, however, was an assortment of Spanish and Polish goods. So while I now have to import healthy organic veggies, I have also […]
dinner becomes breakfast (or lunch)
Growing up with Hawaiian/Japanese neighbors you learn a bit about rice. For one, buy a rice cooker.. it’ll become your favorite kitchen aid!! Also, if you’re planning on consuming it the next day, it’s not necessary to refrigerate leftover rice until morning, simply leave it covered on the counter top. But what to do with […]
homemade dog food
Those who know me personally are often entertained by stories of my troublesome little dog. He wears diapers, jumps on counter tops, dumps the trash, opens doors, barks at everything and everyone… and is the biggest love in the world. They also know that I cook for my dog. Since I am often asked about […]
