Salad with Citrus Dressing

After months of eating winter food (aka basically meat and starch), my body finally got through to my brain and screamed "YOU NEED SOMETHING FRESH!!" Thanks to my Imperfect Produce deliveries, I had the inspiration to come up with this dressing and most of the ingredients for the salad. It was, of course, DELICIOUS! Using standard citrus is fine... I just had Cara Cara oranges and Meyer lemons, so that's what I used. Mix it up with whatever you have and/or like.

Citrus Dressing-

1/4 C. extra virgin olive oil
1/4 C. vegetable oil
2 t. orange zest
1/3 C. fresh orange juice (Cara Cara or blood orange, if available)
2 T. fresh lemon juice (Meyer lemon, if available)
2 T. fresh lime juice
2 T. honey
2 t. Dijon mustard
1/4 t. salt

Combine ingredients in jar with tight-fitting lid. Shake until emulsified.

Lightly toss greens of your choice with dressing, just to coat. Top with items of your choice, and drizzle with a little more dressing.

This particular salad contained-

baby spinach
arugula
roasted beets
avocado
diced pears
dried cranberries
goat cheese
candied walnuts (click HERE for recipe)

Want to learn more about Imperfect Produce? Click here to get $10 off your first delivery!

Baked Chicken Thighs With Creamy White Wine Tarragon Sauce

Yesterday, I got a flat tire. Fortunately, I was close enough to the house to get home safely. Unfortunately, I no longer had a way to pick up the pizza I was going to get for dinner, or go to the grocery store. Time to get creative with what I had.

This turned out so much better than I ever expected, and is definitely going into the "keeper" file!!

 3 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken thighs
onion powder
salt
pepper
1 T butter
1 C white wine
2 cans cream of mushroom soup
1 t dried tarragon
more pepper

Preheat oven to 350°. Season both sides of chicken with onion powder, salt, and pepper. Melt butter in large skillet over medium-high. Brown chicken (in batches, if needed); place in 9"x13" baking dish. Deglaze skillet with wine. Combine soup and seasonings in medium bowl. Add wine/pan drippings to soup; whisk until smooth. Pour evenly over chicken. Cover with foil and bake for 1 hour.

Imperfect Inspiration

I've been in a cooking slump lately. No time... no energy... but mainly, no inspiration. Then, a friend of mine posted about a service I'd never heard of before - Imperfect Produce. They source produce that would otherwise be wasted because it doesn't meet grocery store standards (or it's just surplus), and deliver it to your door for 30-50% less than retail prices.

I was intrigued.

I asked for her referral link and went to the site to see if they delivered in my area. Sure enough, they did. Reading through the site, I got more and more excited. I have to admit, I have not been great about keeping fresh produce in the kitchen lately, so I figured this would force me to use whatever came before it went bad. I signed up for one medium box of mixed fruit and veggies, delivered once a week. Our delivery day is Wednesdays, so I customized my box and waited.

It was torture.

Delivery day finally arrived. I was out of the house, but I received a text saying the driver was nearing my house. I start heading home. I get another text saying the box had been delivered. I start driving faster. I pull up to the house, dash to the porch, and grab my box with all the excitement of a kid on Christmas morning (even though I knew exactly what was in it... lol!).

Holy mackerel... isn't it beautiful???

The first meal I made was pork chops with wild mushroom, herbes de province, and marsala sauce, black truffle oil mashed potatoes, and buttered peas (because I forgot to grab asparagus when I was at the store). Absolutely heavenly. Items used from IP box- organic shitake mushrooms, Italian parsley, potatoes.

The next night, I made Meyer lemon chicken Piccata, roasted asparagus with gremolata, and parmesan angel hair pasta. Items used from IP box- Meyer lemons, Italian parsley.

Then, I really got on a roll and made crispy pork belly tacos...

If heaven were made of meat, this is what it would look like.

Crispy pork belly tacos with cabbage/apple slaw and avocado. IP box ingredients used- Pink Lady apple, avocado.

At some point, I plan to post the recipe for at least the pork belly tacos, but that will take more plotting and planning than I care to do right now (especially since the fonts and spacing on this post seem to have suddenly gone wonky... it's really grating on my OCD).
If you're like me and want to add more fresh produce and inspiration to your diet, check this company out! Also, please feel free to use my referral link below to get $10.00 off your order!

Click here for more information and $10.00 off!

Eggnog Cranberry Bread Pudding

As another holiday season comes to an end, I hope everyone has had wonderful times filled with family, fun, and lots of tasty food! Personally, I ended up with a rather obscene amount of eggnog and cranberry orange relish after all the other leftovers had been dispatched. What to do... what to do...

To be honest, I'm not at all sure what made me devise this recipe, but I'm sure glad I did! It's not terribly sweet, and I think even people who don't care for eggnog will enjoy it.

1 large loaf cheap French bread (you know... the kind that's mostly air...)
5 large eggs
2 C eggnog
1 C leftover cranberry orange relish
2 t vanilla
1 t cinnamon
1/2 t nutmeg
1/2 stick butter, melted

Tear French bread into bite-sized pieces and place in large mixing bowl. In a smaller bowl, whisk together eggs, eggnog, cranberry relish, vanilla, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Stir egg mixture into bread and let stand for about an hour. Place bread mixture in greased 2 1/2 qt baking dish; drizzle with melted butter. Bake uncovered at 350° for 45 minutes. Remove from oven and let stand for 10 minutes. Serve with additional cranberry relish, maple syrup, bourbon sauce, or whatever moves you.

I even had some for dessert!

Seared Ahi With Wasabi Mayo And Asian Slaw

Here in the Pacific Northwest, we are fortunate to have access to some of the freshest fish and produce around. I try to take advantage of that whenever possible! This does take a bit of prep work, but most of it can (and should) be done ahead of time, making this super-quick to actually get on the table.

Wasabi mayo-

1/2 C mayonnaise
2 t wasabi paste
1 t grated fresh ginger
1 T soy sauce
1/2 t sugar
Pinch salt

Mix all ingredients together. Taste and adjust seasoning. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.

Slaw-

2 T vegetable oil
2 T grated fresh ginger
2-3 cloves minced garlic
1 T brown sugar
2 1/2 T soy sauce
2 T mirin
1/2 t sesame oil
3 T rice wine vinegar
2 C thinly sliced napa cabbage
1 C thinly sliced green cabbage
1 grated large carrot
1/2 C thinly sliced red onion
1/2 C thinly sliced red bell pepper
1/2 C thinly sliced bok choy
1 C bean sprouts
1 C julienned snow peas
1/4 C sliced green onions

In a small saucepan, add oil, ginger, and garlic; saute until soft. Add brown sugar, soy sauce, and mirin. Simmer for 5 minutes and remove from heat. When cool, whisk in sesame oil and rice wine vinegar.

Mix all vegetables in a large bowl. Toss with dressing just before serving.


1 lb. fresh sushi-grade ahi steaks, about 3/4" thick
1/4 C soy sauce
1 T grated fresh ginger
1 t minced garlic
2 t wasabi paste
2 T vegetable oil
coarsly ground black pepper


In a baking dish large enough to fit ahi steaks flat, combine soy sauce, ginger, garlic, and wasabi; mix well. Coat all sides of fish and marinate for 7 minutes. Heat oil in a large non-stick pan until smoking. Remove fish from marinade, coat generously with pepper, and sear for 45 seconds on each side. Remove to plate and slice.

Serve sliced ahi over slaw, drizzled with wasabi mayo, with furikake seasoned rice on the side.

Cranberry Orange Cheese Spread

My husband's holiday favorite! Even if I have someone else bringing appetizers, I still make this. It's fast, easy, make-ahead, and most of all, delicious!

2-8oz. packages cream cheese, softened
juice of 1/2 lemon
1/2 t. Worcestershire sauce
few dashes hot sauce
pinch of kosher salt
8 oz. sharp cheddar, grated
2 T. orange marmalade
1/2 t. garam masala or curry powder
3/4 C. Craisins

Combine all ingredients except Craisins, mix thoroughly (I use my KitchenAid). Spread into shallow dish, top with Craisins (pressing in lightly), cover and chill for at least 2 hours. Serve with crackers.

*Note- I just discovered this stuff is brilliant on a leftover turkey sandwich!!

Most delicious vegetarian-friendly stuffing

My sister-in-law is vegetarian. Even though my Thanksgiving dinner has always been vegetarian-friendly, I have tried to come up with dishes that she can eat while also satisfying the rest of us carnivores. This year, I think I have come up with the ultimate stuffing recipe that EVERYONE loved. The guys were shocked when I said it was completely vegetarian!

1 large bag stuffing cubes with seasoning packet
1 small onion, chopped
2 large stalks celery, chopped
1 C chopped crimini mushrooms
2 T. butter
1 C cooked wild rice
1/2 C dried cranberries
1/2 C chopped pecans
1/2 large apple, diced (I peeled the apple because Brian doesn't like the peel, but you don't have to)
2 cans cream of mushroom soup
1 1/2 C vegetable broth
fresh ground black pepper to taste

Saute onion, celery, and mushrooms in butter until tender. In a LARGE mixing bowl, combine stuffing cubes, sauteed vegetables, wild rice, cranberries, pecans, and apple. In in a smaller mixing bowl, whisk together mushroom soup, vegetable broth, stuffing seasoning packet, and pepper. Combine soup mixture with stuffing; mix thoroughly and let stand for about an hour. Scoop stuffing into a large greased baking dish. Bake at 375° for 45 minutes.