Small Plates
Small Plates
Deviled Eggs With Tapenade
I made these savory Deviled Eggs With Tapenade as an appetizer on Easter Sunday, but they would make a delicious treat any time of year. While the eggs were boiling, I made a batch of my Sexy Olive Tapenade. I didn't have a lemon on hand, so I substituted a squirt of...
Roasted Red Beet Hummus
Don't be intimidated by making hummus at home. It's actually quite easy, and it comes out so creamy and delicious. It takes only a few minutes including making your own tahini. You can adapt the flavors to your liking. For this recipe I wanted the beautiful color of...
Butter Bean Casserole With Tomato and Cheese
I recently saw a photo of a cast iron pan full of beans in a cheesy tomato sauce. It looked delicious but the picture has no recipe attached. So I went to my kitchen and created this dish with what I had on hand. This Butter Bean Casserole With Tomato and Cheese is...
Beet Apple Crostini With Arugula and Cheese
Crostini are easy to make and open to so many variations. Get creative in the kitchen. I made these Beet Apple Crostini with thin slices of red beets, honeycrisp apple, arugula, and Fontina cheese. I drizzled on top a dressing I made from orange juice, olive oil and...
Aubergine Caviar – French Eggplant Dip
I first had this tasty appetizer in a French restaurant in Los Angeles, California. They called it Aubergine Caviar, which I learned is an eggplant dip from the Mediterranean region of France. It's packed with flavor, but the recipe is very simple. Here is a fun fact...
Russian Dressing
Flavorful Russian dressing can be used on salads or as a condiment on sandwiches. You may recognize it as the spread used on Reuben sandwiches. Despite its name, it is actually an American concoction. According to lore, the original recipe contained caviar, which is...
Tartar Sauce
Tartar sauce is a condiment made of mayonnaise, pickles, and a few other ingredients. I like to make my tartar sauce with sweet pickle relish. But you can also use dill pickles and capers in you prefer. This sauce is a perfect complement to fish dishes. You’ll often...
Tortellini Antipasto Salad
This Tortellini Antipasto Salad is inspired by one created by Laura Vitale on her YouTube channel, Laura in the Kitchen. You can watch her video here. I didn't follow her instructions to a tee, but as she says in her video, experiment and use whatever ingredients and...
Dandelion Pistachio Pesto Sauce
Spring has sprung, and our local farm market is stocked with the fruits and vegetables of the season, including beautiful dandelion greens. We decided to make a dandelion pistachio pesto for spring. Classic pesto is usually made with basil and pine nuts. But you can...
Salad With Apples, White Beans, and Mackerel
We're dreaming of Spring and experimenting with salads. When building a salad we like to have a lettuce base, some vegetables or fruit, a protein source, and added flavors. This salad with apples, white beans, and mackerel was made from ingredients we had on hand. We...
Waldorf Chicken Salad
This chicken salad recipe was inspired by the Waldorf Salad from the Waldorf Hotel in New York City. The original Waldorf Salad was a simple recipe of chopped apples and celery dressed in mayonnaise. It was created by Oscar Tschirky, the maître d'hôtel of the Waldorf...
Vegetable Tartlets – Like Little Flowers
I was inspired to make these vegetable tartlets after making a ratatouille. They are not exactly the same, but share some similar techniques and ingredients. These vegetable tartlets came out so beautiful, like little flowers. They are perfect for a holiday or special...
Smoked Salmon Dip
On holidays like Christmas and Thanksgiving, my family usually eats dinner in the afternoon. This gives us plenty of time to digest so we can have coffee and dessert in the evening. We usually serve some type of dip before dinner while we are all catching up and...
Black Beans With Cherry Tomatoes
This is a super easy recipe for when you want to get a healthy side dish on the table in just a few minutes. My Black Beans with Cherry Tomatoes recipe takes about 15 minutes tops. Black beans are one of the healthiest beans you can eat. They are high in fiber,...
Italian Sushi Using Leftover Risotto
People often wonder what to do with leftover risotto. I'll write a post in the future outlining all of my ideas for leftover risotto. This one is too good to wait. I love to stuff vegetables with rice, beans, pasta, etc. I had the idea to create a fun, appetizer that...
About Us
The Mediterranean diet is all about gorgeous, seasonal food shared with family and friends. As Federico Fellini once said, “Life is a combination of magic and pasta.” So come join us for a little magic and lots of pasta.