{gift guide: for the foodie}

1. Glass & Steel beverage dispenser- perfect for batch cocktails!

2. Beer Making Kit 

3. Libbey Mini Tasting Set - so they can act like a high end caterer at their next soiree

4.  Kitchen Scale- every cook needs one for the most accurate cooking!

5. Boos Block cutting boards - everyone could use a cutting board upgrade

6. Modernist Cuisine - the holy grail of cookbooks and the more affordable version they just released

7. Kitchen Stand for Ipad  - it beats using a ziploc bag which is what we do.

8. 3 months American Cheese delivery - its cheese delivered to their door- enough said.

9. Mythical beast Cheese Knives 

10.  Vintage cookware- especially retro Le Creuset because it always stands the test of time!

11. Shun knife set

12.  Food Magazine subscriptions- Food & Wine and Bon Appetit are my favorites!

13.  Truffle Salt- it's sort of like gifting people crack.

{pumpkin ravioli with crispy sage & brussel sprouts}

I have owned up to it in the past, but Chris definitely handles waaaay more of the cooking around here than I do (but I do think I am valuable support staff!).  When I'm left on my own for dinner, I generally opt for some sort of ready made meal like Trader Joe's salads or sandwiches- which is fine, but let's be honest it just not that exciting.

I decided to try out elevating a some pre-made Trader Joes pumpkin ravioli and brussel sprouts with a few simple cooking steps (something even I could handle).  In addition to the pack of pumpkin ravioli and brussel sprouts, I picked up a pack of fresh sage and saved some of the pepitas from these arrangements.  Rather than boring ravioli and steamed veggies, I created pan-fried pumpkin ravioli topped with crispy sage and roasted pepitas alongside pan-fried brussel sprouts (full explanation at the bottom of the post).

This dish serves two, but could easily be doubled or tripled to use for a dinner party which means you have no excuse to not host a few friends over this holiday season!

what you need:

• 1 pack pumpkin ravioli
• 1 pack par-boiled and seasoned brussel sprouts
• fresh sage leaves
• roasted pepitas
• butter
• vegetable oil

1. Pull off about two to three sage leaves per person and quickly fry in oil following these directions. Set aside on paper towel to drain excess oil. 
2. Boil water in medium saucepan and cook ravioli for about 6 minutes. Strain and set aside. 
3. While ravioli water is boiling, place a healthy tablespoon of butter into a pan on medium-high heat. Toss in brussel sprouts until they get slightly browned on each side- about 8 minutes. Set aside. 
4. In a separate pan, place another tablespoon of butter of medium-high heat. Gently toss in pasta until slightly crispy on edges- about 2 minutes. 
5. Place pasta and brussel sprouts alongside each other on plate.  Garnish with crispy sage and roasted pepitas.
6. Never eat a boring salad for dinner again.  

{easy summer side: grilled radicchio salad}

You guys. THIS recipe is why I love The Chew so much.  It tastes amazing and it took me a grand total of 20 minutes from start to finish to make.  About 90% of the time my husband, Chris, cooks the dinners around here.  I like to think I am an active participant by helping to chop veggies or simply supervising the playlist of music and setting the table, but let's be honest- he is doing most if not all the work.  Since Chris has been travelling a lot for work recently, I have been left to fend for myself as far as meals go and Trader Joe's salads can only get you through so many nights of cooking for one.  After watching the clip below of this grilled radicchio salad, I felt pretty confident I could prepare this meal for myself and since it tasted great, I would like to think I was successful!

This salad was the perfect amount for my dinner and would also make for an amazing side dish for a grilled summer meal.  It's got great charred flavor from the grilled corn and radicchio plus added sweetness and crunch from the candied walnuts.  And for extra credit this dish is also a low calorie and healthy option according to Daphne on The Chew.   See the full recipe instructions here or watch the clip below (note: I omitted the asparagus since it just isn't my thing but you do you.)

Tune in: Fresh Daily. 1e|12p|c on ABC

The Chew celebrates and explores life through food - from cooking to food trends, restaurants, holidays and more all aimed at making life better, fuller and more fun. Featuring celebrity chefs Mario Batali, Michael Symon, and Carla Hall, lifestyle expert Clinton Kelly and fresh face of healthy living Daphne Oz, “The Chew” is a leap forward into a delicious new kind of talk show.

Watch The Chew Weekdays at 1e|12p|c on ABC!

Disclosure: Compensation was provided by ABC via Glam Media.  The opinions expressed herein are those of the author and are not indicative of the opinions or positions of ABC.

Thank you for supporting the sponsors that make Mint Love Social Club possible! :)

{fresh herb saving tip}

I'm going to be completely honest and tell you that we throw away a lot of food in our house.  Not because we are being particularly wasteful on purpose, but because while we do love to cook a lot of meals at home we are also also really busy with our weird work schedules.  Those two conditions come together to leave us with leftover ingredients that don't get used in time before they spoil- especially fresh herbs.  This is a problem since I could probably eat cilantro or basil on practically any dish and feel like I am constantly buying a fresh bunch of it for use in recipes.   When I saw a tip for saving fresh herbs on The Chew I knew I had to at least try it.  Carla on The Chew claims that this saving method could make fresh herbs last weeks which means having fresh herbs for recipes and then still having fresh herbs a few days later for cocktails!!

About a month or so ago I randomly caught the show, The Chew, while working from home one day. I have never been a big talk show fan or even a big cooking show fan (thats what I have pinterest & food blogs for!), but this show is so much fun to watch that I got hooked after one episode!  The banter between the hosts makes you feel like you are just sitting around entertaining them in your own home and Maraio Batali cracks me up constantly.  The recipes and entertaining tips on the program are actually really interesting while still being approachable.

 Here's the clip featuring the tip I mentioned earlier about saving fresh herbs:




Check out The Chew's past full episodes right here.

Tune in: Fresh Daily. 1e|12p|c on ABC

The Chew celebrates and explores life through food - from cooking to food trends, restaurants, holidays and more all aimed at making life better, fuller and more fun. Featuring celebrity chefs Mario Batali, Michael Symon, and Carla Hall, lifestyle expert Clinton Kelly and fresh face of healthy living Daphne Oz, “The Chew” is a leap forward into a delicious new kind of talk show.

Watch The Chew Weekdays at 1e|12p|c on ABC!

Disclosure: Compensation was provided by ABC via Glam Media.  The opinions expressed herein are those of the author and are not indicative of the opinions or positions of ABC.

{side dish: red beets with avocado puree}

The same line of thought that led me to want to make the kale aid smoothie last week also steered me in the direction of wanting to a find a healthier/lighter side dish option to go along with some fish Chris cooked up last week.  I spotted this dish over the Kitchy Kitchen (one of the best food blogs out there in my opinion) and I knew it would be perfect!  We decided to cheat by buying pre-steamed red beets to cut the cooking and prep time down.  We also added in some chopped walnuts for a little bit crunch as well as chipotle yogurt sauce for a little bit of spice.  For the chipotle yogurt sauce we simply mixed about 1/4 cup of plain greek yogurt with 1 to 2 tablespoons of chipotle peppers and sauce (you can add more of less depending on how spicy you would like it).  

This turned out way better than I could have ever imagined!  The chipotle yogurt sauce sort of stole the show so I highly recommend adding it in since without it I think this dish might lack a bit of flavor.  This recipe worked perfectly as a side dish, but would also come out nicely as an appetizer especially one that travels well since it can be served cold! 

{weeknight vegetarian}

While our regular dinner party menus might lead you to believe otherwise, we often try to cook vegetarian meals especially on week nights at home.  One of my favorite blogs for great vegetarian meal inspiration is Sprouted Kitchen which features the only two things you need to make me read a food blog: amazing photography and even tastier recipes (and a new book)!  We recently whipped up her recipe for shitake mushroom & lentil tacos for a quick weeknight diner for two.  Don't let the vegetarian nature of these tacos fool you because they are full of flavor in addition to being quite healthy!

{fall cooking: crispy polenta}

These past couple blustery days in Chicago have made it feel like Fall more than ever so I have been collecting a wishlist of dishes to cook to go along with the changing season.  This recipe made the cut as soon as I spotted it on Pinterest, but the honey and lack of protein in the dish made it feel too much like a dessert.  We dropped the honey from the recipe and added in cremini mushrooms as well as some spicy italian sausage. We also used feta cheese instead of goat cheese, but that is only because I mistakenly bought lemon flavored goat cheese at the market (it's gross- trust me). You can see the original recipe we followed here.  The crispy polenta makes for a great base to any dish and is easy to prepare for large groups- we particularly love to pair it with marinated pork loin.

{sweet potato corn cakes}

Do you ever get the desire to eat something fried for dinner like when all you want is a plate of french fries and a glass of champagne?  Well I didnt have that last night, but I did have something just as good...


Last night Chris made up a plateful of sweet potato and corn cakes with a garlic dipping sauce served alongside a glass of red wine and it could not have been more perfect.   I am pretty much a sucker for any dish using sweet potato or butternut squash so we were off to a good start just based on the ingredients, but these pan-fried cakes really proved to be delicious.  We followed this simple (and inexpensive!) recipe from Budget Bytes accompanied by a side of broccoli.

The potato cakes are starchy and slightly sweet with a bit of crunch plus the garlic dipping sauce adds an unexpected punch of cool flavor.  While originally I was hoping these would also make a great appetizer in mini form for future get togethers, we found in the pan-frying process that it probably wont be possible to make them much smaller than we did.  Although, this recipe would still make for a great side to a marinated steak dish or a bed to a nice seared pork loin.

{gourmet grilled cheese}

After watching Anthony Bourdain's Food Porn special and seeing a ridiculous tallegio, braised short rib and pickled onion grilled cheese get made,  I thought it might be fun to re-create that sandwich along with some other variations for a gourmet grilled cheese dinner.  Yesterday after some great finds at the Rose Bowl flea market, we stopped by Trader Joe's to pick up ingredients to make three different grilled cheeses.  The combinatons we decided on were:

#1: blackberry, basil, fontina (recipe here)

#2: bbq beef, pickled red onions, cheddar/gruyere

#3: avocado, sriracha, gouda (similar recipe here)

Every single one of this was great (hard to go wrong with anything that includes melted cheese), but the favorite by far was #3.   The spicy sriracha mixed with creamy avocado and strong gouda flavor turned out to be a very simple but winning combo.  The blackberry/basil one was great, but was definitely lacking a big punch of flavor since Fontina is a relatively mild cheese.  The BBQ beef option was hearty and filled with flavor and crunch from the pickled onions, but this one felt more like the BBQ beef was the center stage of the sandwich rather than a grilled cheese.

Three grilled cheese sandwiches between two people is definitely a decadent dinner option and I can't imagine this will be a new weeknight staple, but a trio of grilled cheeses would make for a great appetizer for guests served sliced into bite size portions!