What a gorgeous sunny day in Chicago!

What better to do than lunch and shop on a crispy cool Spring day?!

Where better to go for both than Barney’s and Fred’s?!

A seat next to the window with a glorious view of the Gold Coast was the perfect way to enjoy this beet and goat cheese salad!

Fred’s is a cool upscale spot which features organic and local food as much as possible.

The atmosphere is pure Gold Coast; Comfortable luxury!

The salmon was wild caught, tender and juicy.

The spinach was perfectly cooked and flavorful.

This is a great combination.

I can eat salmon and spinach everyday!

The avocado and tomato salsa made this the absolutely perfect meal for me!

All my favorites on one plate with green onion, too!

Very fresh. Delicious!

My honey had the linguine with clams in a very light tomato sauce.

This dish was garlicky and spicy.

Absolutely fantastic!

We were both jockying between the two plates trying to decide which was better.

It was a tie.

We were so full!

But that did not stop us from completely cleaning our plates!

Of course, we walked around Michigan Avenue for a while.

I shopped, he tried to stop me from shopping, and so it went until we stumbled on Tavern on Rush……..

Spinach fettuccine with sauteed baby portobello mushrooms, pesto and shaved parmesan makes a great meatless, filling and nutritious meal.

Along with this beautiful salad of fresh yellow peppers and avocados our vegetarian meal satisfies everyone.

Annie’s Green Goddess dressing makes this salad heaven!

Boil spinach fettuccine, al dente.

Sautee the mushrooms with olive oil and garlic slices.

And mix in your favorites. I love basil pesto which I make myself.

I make it vegan and fresh!

Shaved parmesan and a drizzle of olive oil make this fantastic!

Super easy and so delicious!

Whole grain spinach spirals and red pepper are perfect paired with a creamy goat cheese sauce.

I roasted the pepper in the oven at 350 for about 20 minutes then chopped them and threw them into the boiling pasta water for abot 10 minutes.

This infused the flavor a bit and softened the peppers.

I started with about 2 tbsp. of butter, 2 cloves crushed garlic, 1/2 cup of half and half, and 1 cup of sour cream.

Let this simmer for a few minutes then add a half a cup or more to taste of soft goat cheese.

Drain the pasta and mix in the goat cheese with the red pepper and stir.

Add salt and pepper to taste.

This is a great meatless meal, nutritious and filling.
Enjoy!

Chilly outside and only soup and a sandwich will do!

I picked up these flowers at a local market and they completely set the tone for the weekend.

Even the colors inspired this Sunday’s menu.

Creamy baby lima bean and yukon gold potato soup with Kerrygold cheddar grilled cheese.

Fragrant rosemary and roasted garlic add to the rich creaminess of this meal.

Start by soaking the beans overnight.

Pour out the water and add fresh water for quick boiling.

When you’ve brought these beans to a boil pour out this water, as well.

For the final cooking add enough water to cover plus about 4 cups.

Add a large sweet onion and allow to cook until the onion is soft and translucent.

Meanwhile, roast a head of garlic in the oven at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes

When the onion is done remove and place in the food processer with the roasted garlic, about 2 Tbspn of dried rosemary, 1/4 cup of olive oil and 2 Tbspn flour.

Blend until creamy.

Add this to the boiling beans.

Add 2 Tbspn of vegetarian boullion and salt and pepper to taste.

Chop 5-6 Yukon Gold potatoes and ad to the soup and allow to cook on medium heat for 2 hours.

Grilled cheese is perfect with this soup!

This is the perfect winter meal for a lazy Sunday afternoon.

Enjoy!

Fried potatoes and cheese sauce!

This is a more grown-up version of a comfort food favorite.

The scallions and garlic parmesan sauce make these sophisticated and pleasing on many levels.

Creamy sauce, crunchy potaoes, and the fresh burst of flavor from the scallions.

Start by chopping small red skin potatoes in quarters.

Wrap in aluminum foil loosely.

Bake in a 350 degree oven for an hour or until soft.

Remove from oven and fry potatoes in a hot skillet with about 1/4 inch of oil and a large chunk of butter for flavor.

I added crushed red pepper flakes for a little heat!

Fry until crispy.

These came out a little lite. I would’ve like to cook them some more but my crowd was hungry!

While the potatoes are baking I made the cheese sauce.

I combined 1/2 cup shredded parmesan to about 1 1/2 cups half and half and about 5 cloves of crushed garlic.

Allow everything to come to a boil and remove from heat and pour over the potatoes and garnish with fresh scallions!

This is a new family favorite and a great side dish for any meal.

This kale soup is so simple, so delicious, so nutritious and so inexpensive that it would be just wrong not to share it!

This recipe comes from the Aunt of this guy; my “Cooking Buddy”.

The family comes from Albania and learning about a new cuisine has broadened my own cooking repetoire, especially when it comes to vegetables.

I have gained a new perspective on preparing and serving food and learned how to create complete meals from very simple ingredients.

The ingredients for this soup are: Kale, potato, onion, garlic and celery, olive oil and yogurt . With salt and pepper to taste.

We garnished with sheep milk feta cheese and fresh green onion.

A hearty wheat bread truly rounds out this meal.

I will make this a part of my regular rotation of dishes around here, to be sure.

And I would like to experiment with vegetable stock, which we didn’t use.

I had my doubts about the lack of broth but I was pleasantly surprised by how flavorful the soup was without the added boullion.

And considering that most boullions contain MSG, sugar, sodium and other unnatural and unneccesary processed ingredients, it is nice to know that I don’t need to have homemade stock handy or run out to pick up something at the store when I want to make this soup.

The other thing that I like about this soup is that the olive oil and yogurt are added at the end of cooking.

From a nutrition perspective this helps to maintain the health benefits and maximum flavor of the yogurt and the olive oil.

Method

The process begins by boiling 1 large yellow onion and about 5-6 cloves of garlic.

We’re garlic lovers around here so I tend to use twice what I recommend at times!

I had 2 large baking potatoes which I chopped and added to the boil.

I then cleaned and chopped 2 large heads of kale and added them to the boil. Curly Kale worked well but I would have preferred Lacinto Kale.

I then chopped 4-5 large celery stalks and added these to the boil, as well.

I cooked this mixture until everything became soft and wilted.

Now, I was supposed to drain the water and pour the veggies into the food processor but I didn’t know that, so I just pureed everything together.

The cooking water was included and amounted to about 2-3 cups.

I put the pureed mixture into a large pot and continued to cook at medium heat for about 15 minutes.

We then added about 1 cup of olive oil and about 1 to 2 cups of yogurt.

We served this with some crumbled sheep milk feta and freshly cut green onion.

Salt and pepper to taste.

This is so simple.

But don’t don’t be fooled.

This makes for an elegant, filling, nutritious, tasty, side dish or meal!

You can add nuts, dried fruits, mushrooms, wild rice, cheese, maple syrup, cinnamon, nutmeg; go sweet or savory for an outstanding, economical dish!

I like to mix cinnamon and garlic and even butter.

Simply cut into halves, pour on about 2 tablespoons of olive oil, crush 3-4 cloves of garlic and bake in a 400 degree oven for about an hour and a half or until tender.

Add salt and pepper to taste.

I wrap these completely in foil.
Serve this chopped in chunks or “smashed potato” style.

Although I am not a fan of “fake meat”; TVP, or any other ersatz animal products I must admit that Texurized Vegetable Protein works really well in this chili.

The secret to this amazing chili is the copious use of fresh cilantro! Added at the end of cooking to ensure fresh and intense flavor.

I also soaked the TVP in vegetable broth for and hour or so before adding it to the chili. This adds flavor to something which basically tastes like cardboard. The good thing is that it soaks up the flavors of everything around!

Ingredients:

1/4 cup olive oil
2 green peppers
1 red pepper
1 yellow pepper
1 sweet onion
5 cloves garlic
4-5 Tbspns chili powder
2 cups TVP soaked in broth or water then drained
1-1/2 cups fresh cilantro chopped
2 cans diced tomatoes
4 cans dark red kidney beans
Salt and pepper to taste

This recipe provided chili for a crowd. You can always adjust the amounts and vary the beans to include your favorites.

I also missed an opportunity to add fresh corn!

Method:

Soak the TVP in 2-4 cups of broth or water
Sautee the veggies in 1/4 of olive oil until soft
Add the tomatoes, beans, and TVP
Allow to cook for about an hour on medium heat and add the fresh cilantro
Allow to cook for about another hour then serve with cornbread or rice or anything you like!

Sauteeing the TVP with the veggies adds more flavor.

I don’t know why I’ve always been so intimidated by risotto.

Arborio rice seemed exotic and complicated.

Like most people I assumed that it meant hours standing at the stove; stirring, demanding an almost psychic sense to determine when it is ready.

Well it couldn’t be further from the truth.

This dish is fast and easy and virtually full proof.

I’d say that about 45 minutes is all that you need to have this dish prepared.

Ingredients:

2 cups risotto Arborio rice

8-10 cups water or vegetable stock

Method:

In a deep skillet toast the risotto in about 1/4 cup of olive oil.

Add 4 cups of liquid and allow to simmer slowly until most of the liquid is absorbed.

Then cup by cup add the remaining liquid as it is absobed by the rice while stirring.

Stirring brings out the starch and creates the creamy texture for which this rice is known.

In a seperate skillet sautee shrimp asparagus and scallops in butter and crushed garlic.

Add to the risotto and mix well.

You can add about 1/4 ohf heavy cream and parmesan cheese if desired.

Sliced peppers go well with eggplant dip which is light and garlicky!

I couln’t help but to end this meal with a little Dulce de Leche Cheesecake!

My friend Mark is great at finding work for me.

Especially recipes that he wants to try when I make them!

His latest find was Green Goddess Rice which he discovered on a cooking channel while on call at the hospital.

Ingredients

2 Avocados
3 Cups cooked rice
1/2 cup Olive oil
3 Cloves crushed Garlic
1 cup chopped Basil

That was all I got from him.

I cooked the rice

Processed the other ingredients while the rice was cooking then mixed everything together and served warm.

This is my new favorite way to eat rice!

I love avocados and basil.

I can also see making this with Cilantro which I will soon try and serve with spicy Jalepeno beans.

I served this dish with sheep feta, olives and fresh avocados.

Divine indeed!