Lamb Burgers with Sauteed Onion and Garlicky Feta Sauce and Garlic- and Thyme-Tossed Fries are IN THE HOUSE!
It’s with a great deal of nostalgia that I present this recipe I created and photographed a couple of months ago. Because Lamb Burgers with Sauteed Onion and Garlicky Feta Sauce and Garlic- and Thyme-Tossed Fries are not literally in my house right now, as I work to heal a health issue that’s greatly restricted what I eat for the last month and counting. I don’t know when they’ll be allowed back in my house, but I’m hopeful it will be soon – and I’m more food obsessed than ever!
Lamb Burgers with Sauteed Onion and Garlicky Feta Sauce and Garlic- and Thyme-Tossed Fries are a good focus for my gastronomical obsessing. I mean, that luscious, dairy-filled sauce! Those flavorful red-meat burgers! Those herb-bedecked fries drenched in ketchup (I daydream about ketchup these days…no kidding)!
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I’m so, so excited by today’s recipe because it is inspired by a bomb meal I had this summer at KouZina, a restaurant here in the Detroit area. Say hello to Greek Bowls with Chicken and Spicy Roasted Red Pepper Feta Sauce!
I liken KouZina to a Greek Chipotle: you order at the counter, and one of the options is to create your own bowl. You select your rice (white or brown), your meat (chicken, gyro beef, or gyro lamb – or all three), your veggies, cheese, and sauce and plop down to eat the hell out of that glorious goodness! Visiting KouZina for the first time was a magical day for me (one that I highlighted on my other blog, 100 Places in the D).
After that day, as I was pleasantly haunted by the memory of how frickin’ delicious that meal was, I became intrigued with the idea of attempting to recreate the spicy feta sauce that my Greek bowl was doused with at Kouzina. For me it was the crowning jewel of the whole thing.
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Hello, all! It’s May, and it’s maybe almost summer here in Michigan, and summer means fresh, healthful salads like this Arugula and Quinoa Salad with Feta, Blueberries, and Pecans!
It’s been two weeks since I’ve last posted, and I’m glad to be back in the game! Life has been a little crazy lately, but when is it not in this day and age for most of us, really? I let myself fall out of the habit of recipe creation and felt The Resistance – that dreaded force that plagues so many of us creatives – looming larger and larger. The longer I waited to try a draft of a recipe, the more daunting a task it felt.
Last night, I finally coaxed myself into trying a first draft of a vegan dessert recipe I’ve wanted to attempt for weeks. The result: a resounding FAIL. Draft 2 would require some prep work; I’d need at least a day or two to get back at it. I was discouraged.
Finally I decided this morning that if I wanted to get a post up, anything would do, really. That’s the kind of thing I have to tell myself as a recovering perfectionist. Perfect is the enemy of the good, right? (Any recovering perfectionists with me on that?) So I got up early and dragged myself to the grocery store, intending to pick up a few things for a granola recipe I had in mind – until a more tantalizing idea hit.
What about a salad, with fresh blueberries . . . and pecans . . . and arugula – of course arugula. And some quinoa. And my lemon vinaigrette.
OK, NOW we’re talking!
Arugula and Quinoa Salad with Feta, Blueberries, and Pecans was born.
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Happy Monday, all! Today we have another recipe for a simple, flavorful salad. Drumroll please for: Strawberry Arugula Salad with Blood Orange Vinaigrette!
OK, so this salad sounds sups fancy because it has ingredients much more exotic than the stereotypical wah-wah iceburg salad with its watery leaves and cucumber and tomatoes and croutons and ranch. I mean, for one, it’s got a dressing that contains the juice of blood oranges.
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OK, can you BELIEVE that we are already into the THIRD week of the new year? Craziness!
What’s not craziness: this Arugula Quinoa Salad with Baked Pears and Meyer Lemon Vinaigrette! It is just plain lovely. But first, I can’t help but muse about the passage of time, and habits, and goals, because they are on my mind a lot lately during this quickly-ensuing January. Maybe they’ve been on your mind, too.
Time really does fly so quickly. The freshness of a new year eventually wears off. New year’s resolutions become less shiny and exciting – and consequently, less enticing to follow. The daily grind wears us down, tempts us to flake out on our goals.
We are all human, and we all slip up on our goals sometimes. I’ve realized that it’s important to remind myself that this is normal. As a recovering perfectionist who was once flat-out rigid in her self-discipline, I have learned the beauty of self-compassion, of giving myself grace when I slip up with habits and goals. The key to overall maintaining challenging endeavors, I have learned, is to remember:
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Gilmore Girls, guys.
I know everyone has been talking about Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life online lately. What they are saying, I’m not sure, as I’ve been intentionally avoiding any feedback on the recently-released four-part miniseries because I haven’t finished it yet. I’ve only watched the first two episodes so far. But I’ll be watching the other two tonight!
I became obsessed with the show my junior year of college, when two friends of mine who were Gilmore Girls‘ junkies lent me their DVDs so I could catch up. Between the two of them, they had all six seasons that were released at that time, so I was able to watch the seventh and final season as it aired on TV. Every Tuesday after a long day of class, I would scoot over to one friend’s house near campus to watch it with her and her roommate, who was equally as obsessed as we were. We would sit there enthralled for the hour, then go to one of our favorite bars, The Cabin, for drinks and pizza and post-episode discussion. This was where my friend introduced me to the magical pizza combination of tomato, onion, and feta, for which I’ll be forever grateful!
Tomato, Onion, and Feta Pizza – oh, how I adore thee! Seriously, this pizza is BOMB. The acidity from the tomato, the savoriness of the onion, and the tangy bite of the feta go so well together. Savoring this delightful pizza makes the fact that I pretty much abhorred these first two new episodes of GG go down a little easier.
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Happy fall, everyone! I was mourning summer until the official first day of fall last Thursday; then a flip switched in me. I am LOVING the cooler weather and coziness we are having here in Metro Detroit. It’s that perfect sweet spot where it’s in the low 70s during the day but cool enough at night that I get to break out my fleece sweatpants – YES!!! Fleece sweatpants, I missed you so!!! Who feels me on that one?
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Happy 2016! I am one of those people who is obsessed with the dawning of a new year and all of the promise it brings. New projects! New trips! New seasons of fave telly shows (Girls Season 5 what what! Only 48 days away!)! And of course, with the new year comes new food – probably the best promise of them all for someone like me who enjoys bumbling around in the kitchen. I look forward to developing and sharing new recipes with you as much as I look forward to discovering what crazy shenanigans Hannah and the gang have gotten themselves into this year (supes excited for Girls Season 5 and the excuse to order HBO for a few months, as you can tell).
The new year should be ushered in with a recipe that is bright and fresh and earthy and tangy – and that preferably goes well with leftover champagne. And that vibes well with any health-related resolutions we may have set. This citrusy feta and parsley beet salad checks all those boxes, in my humble opinion.
