I look forward to spring when berries start to ripen. One of my favorite ways to use up the abundance of strawberries is this spinach and strawberry salad with poppy seed dressing. It tastes like a bowl of summer and packs a lot of healthy nutrients.The strawberries and poppy seed dressing are sweet while the pancetta […]
Welcome to your adult version of macaroni and cheese – Cheesy Herb Pasta. What goes together better than cheese and carbs?? Yea, I don’t know either! I use Parmesan, white cheddar, havarti, goat and blue cheese for a mix of flavors. If you stick to the portion increments you can pick the cheeses you like best. Think […]
There is a trend in recipes to convert meals into bowl form. I’m all about that, but I’ve been campaigning to put everything into a tortilla shell because of my love for tacos! So, does food taste better in a bowl or a tortilla shell? I’ll gladly participate in that debate with this recipe. I […]
Oh, baby, I’m dancing the ‘amazing dinner’ jig in my kitchen. The prospect of this fried rice for dinner got me through the work day.Fried rice is a pretty basic recipe, but there are a few detailed steps that can make all the difference for really good fried rice. I start this recipe with a […]
Is this a salad or a sandwich, you say? How about we call it a Salad Sandwich. That has a ring of healthy and comforting to it. Don’t shy away, my meat eating friends. This sandwich means serious business. And I don’t mean because it’s hard to make. All you need is a little patience to […]
When your food looks pretty it naturally tastes better. So by default this salad tastes fabulous. It’s like eating the rainbow. The real star of the dish is the soy-peanut dressing that makes it so mouth watering and addicting. Sure, the actual ingredients taste good, but once you lather them in the dressing, you’ll say, oh, this […]
Sure, sure…you can buy inexpensive and really delicious hummus at the grocery store. But this wouldn’t be Jacked Kitchen if I didn’t tell you to skip the store bought and make it yourself. Homemade hummus really is much fresher. And, it’s easy to make. And, it tastes great. I promise you can make it with […]
This baja cabbage salad is a twist on a regular taco salad. Instead of lettuce that often wilts in a taco salad, I used crunchy cabbage as the base. I swapped ground beef for grilled chicken. The fresh orange, veggies and cilantro add vibrant flavor. At home, baked tortilla strips add a salty crunch. It’s fresh, it’s healthy, it […]
Mastering the art of comfort meals makes me a happy cook in the kitchen. For me, a comfort meal is when my taste buds are satisfied with something rich and something that usually involves carbs. But, I also don’t want to feel guilty for eating completely unhealthy. So, what’s a good option? Stir-fry! It involves a rich […]
Dinner holy grail = healthy + quick to make + tastes good + little clean up. For meals like this, fish works great. You can bake, broil, or sear fish, and it’s ready in under 10 minutes. In this recipe, I use a halibut steak which is satisfyingly dense and meaty. The fish deliciously absorbs the flavors of […]
As my mother would say, “this one’s a keeper”. I love risotto. I like it in the winter…. in the spring…. any season. The texture is silky and oh, so comforting. Once you get the hang of making a base risotto you can adjust the add-ins to vary the dish. In the winter months I like to use […]
So these sandwiches are good. Like really good. The meat is tender, it’s sweet, it’s spicy, it’s juice dripping down your face and you don’t care kind of good.Beef and pork are slow cooked on the stove for three hours until the meat just falls apart into the sauce. The sauce is slightly sweetened with brown sugar and tomato sauce […]
Potato skins remind me of football season; a time for lazy grazing of snacks and appetizers. They are the best parts of a French fry and nachos merged into one personalized party all of its own. You get the crunchy outside of the potato skin with all of the tasty layers of ingredients on the inside.I hadn’t […]
These are not your ordinary chicken fingers. The seasoning and sauce are on the inside of the breading instead of being dredged in sauce after cooking. I used regular chicken breasts, cut into large pieces, and coated them in a layer of honey, then covered them in BBQ seasoned bread crumbs. The flavors hit you in […]
Coming up with food to pack for work lunches is always a struggle for me. Sandwiches made the night before never taste good – soggy bread, limp vegetables – it’s never pretty. I end up with 12 little baggies of individual ingredients so I can construct my sandwich at work which is just more of […]
Oh, so you don’t want to make a mess in your kitchen for dinner? Me neither. Yet, somehow I always do. How I manage to use every single clean piece of silverware is unknown to me. Cooking in foil or parchment paper helps to reduce some of the mess and includes minimal steps. It also helps […]