This is my first recipe post in a LONG TIME. It’s not that we don’t cook–we actually cook more now, and my lack of restaurant posts is testament to that–but we don’t do much that’s really interesting or experimental. However, we got some really awesome kitchen tools as wedding gifts so maybe that will change! Now, this super easy steak marinade I found on Allrecipes.com was SO good I ate the steak strips for both lunch and dinner (as salad and then inside a pita). Mario nearly fought me for the leftovers. Part of the appeal was the super tender sirloin “stir fry strips” I found at Publix, but the flavor of the marinade was also really amazing.

Steak Salad

My salad was just bagged spring mix topped with the warm steak strips and some Marzetti Simply Dressed Greek Feta dressing I received through the fine folks at Foodbuzz (my ad provider) from Marzetti. I love feta cheese and try to put it everywhere I can (the aforementioned dinner steak pita was topped with feta), so I chose this yummy Greek dressing over some of the other varieties available in the new all-natural dressing line–like Ginger Sesame, Blue Cheese, and Pomegranate. The cool dressing and warm steak were perfection together!

I think that constitutes my “full disclosure”, so here’s the marinade recipe:

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Here’s a quick recipe to use the delicious strawberries that are starting to show up in stores now that their season is coming around. The actual salad is a no-brainer: mix sliced strawberries and torn spinach leaves. I really love what the tangy sesame balsamic vinaigrette does for the salad, and I think some blue cheese crumbles would be an excellent addition. A number of commenters on the recipe I adapted this from also say slivered almonds or walnuts are great on this salad too.

Spinach & Strawberry Salad

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It has been a looong time since I posted a recipe to the site! Not that I haven’t been cooking, I just haven’t been cooking anything particularly interesting (sad, I know). But, this recipe is an excellent way to get back in the swing of things: Tyler Florence‘s Ultimate Chicken Salad.

Ultimate Chicken Salad

Tyler’s recipe actually lives up to the “ultimate” moniker, incorporating cranberry sauce, brie, and sliced apples, but the chicken salad on its own is pretty ultimate too.

As a plug for my ad provider Foodbuzz and Nature’s Pride Bread, the bread pictured was sent to me to try on the house by Nature’s Pride. I used their OvenClassics Oatmeal bread, which was delicious and stood up to any juices from the chicken salad.
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Last week I picked up a large bag of cherries at the farmers’ market. As much as I love to just stand over the sink and spit pits as I eat, I have managed to hold off on demolishing the bag (read: I only eat every third cherry while I’m pitting them) long enough to make this simple, delicious dessert.

Balsamic Cherries over Ice Cream

This is an adaptation of a healthy dessert idea from Ellie Krieger. Unfortunately, it does not include ice cream in its original form. To practice portion control, I use the small party cups of vanilla ice cream I used to eat at birthdays. The balsamic cherries lend a slightly sweet and tart topping, and making them is a snap.
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Artichokes are scary. They’re spiny, difficult to break down, and it seems like you toss more than you eat. Artichokes are also delicious. Which led me to face my fear of swollen, artichoke-stabbed hands, and try making Giada De Laurentiis’ recipe for baked artichokes:

Baked Artichoke

I won’t say that my first time prepping an artichoke was easy, but it was doable. The instructions from the recipe and my copy of Joy of Cooking helped a lot. I also found this lovely instructional video for those of you who are feeling adventurous also.
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I don’t eat a lot of eggs. And I know I totally should, but aside from scrambling them or making an omelette, I never really know what to do. Recently though, I bought a carton of eggs to bake with and decided to try my hand at making a frittata (basically a baked omelette) with the leftovers. I found a recipe for one combining some flavors I like and jumped in:

Goat Cheese, Prosciutto, and Caramelized Onion Frittata

My frittata came out thinner than I was expecting (I was expecting something like a layer cake), but this was likely just due to the size of my pan. And who cares about the thickness when it’s delicious??
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I had a few leftover tilapia filets in my freezer and was looking for a way to use them in a non-boring way (as I mentioned on my parmesean-crusted tilapia post, I typically find tilapia pretty bland). This lovely recipe from Cooked from the Heart for pastry-wrapped tilapia came to the rescue. Excuse my messy wrapping, I didn’t have as much puff pastry on hand as I thought

Pastry Wrapped Tilapia

Tilapia has grown in popularity as of late because it has virtually no fat or cals and is cheap and sustainable. Aside from some butter used to sauté onions, which could easily be replaced with olive oil, this recipe doesn’t add much to the low-fat nature of the fish (except for the puff pastry of course…). Poaching the fish keeps it moist and the simple filling is tasty and hearty.

Recipe after the jump:
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The sweet potato soup I stole off Mario at Craftbar a few posts down was so yummy I was inspired to find a recipe and make it myself (also, I finally got myself an immersion blender and have been itching to use it).

Sweet Potato Soup

This came out sooo well! I know it’s hot now and no one really wants soup, but you must make this ASAP! The texture was fabulously smooth; if velvet could melt in your mouth, it would feel like this soup.

Recipe and tips after the jump:
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To any of you who, like me, enjoy breaking out one of those blue boxes of cornbread muffin mix to accompany a nice homemade dinner: After you try this recipe, you will never feel the need to buy another box of mix again. I was surfing the web for a cornbread muffin recipe and somehow ended up with another nugget from the Neelys. These cornbread muffins are just as easy as fixing up the boxed muffins, and are easily more delicious:

Honey Cornbread Muffins

I actually made these as part of Mario’s birthday dinner Pt. 1, and he had a hard time believing they were made from scratch. These came out moist but still a tad crumbly with a kiss of honey goodness.
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Lately, I’ve been trying to act like the grad student that I am and respect the fact that I should be living and eating on a budget. This means more cooking at home…for now anyway. In addition to being a budget-friendly meal, this is also my “meatless” Lent post for the week. These shrimp tacos were very quick and easy to put together and also crazy good:

Shrimp Tacos

I was purposely looking for a taco recipe with a mango accoutrement after my successful foray into avocado salsa, and these did not disappoint.
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