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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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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One evening after a gauntlet of classes, I was racking my brain for something quick to throw together since cooking and a lecture-fried brain really don’t mix. To any teachers/profs out there: if students aren’t specifically signed up for night class, we don’t want to be in class at night! Ok, off my soapbox. I decided on chicken tacos, but had no condiments aside from store-bought salsa. I used the magic of cell phone internet to find a recipe for avocado salsa in the last 10 minutes of class and stopped by the store for a few things on my way home. The super easy recipe required a lot of chopping, but in this case, “rustic” looking is ok:

Avocado Salsa

This is, of course, pre-mixed, but afterward this salsa made a wonderful taco accoutrement.
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To start off the New Year right, I bought a copy of the Flat Belly Diet! Cookbook. Before you judge/laugh, 1) It’s a diet cookbook with a cupcake on the cover! and 2) I’m not really on the diet (so I can’t speak for its efficacy), but I always need some fresh “healthy eating” recipes around. So during the ridiculously cold snap we had, I decided to make the vegetarian Curried Apple & Pear soup from my new cookbook. This was a little outside my tastebuds’ normal comfort zone spice-wise, but I ended up enjoying it a lot!

Curried Apple & Pear Soup

Due to copyright issues I don’t think I can actually reproduce the recipe here, but I’ll give a walkthrough and maybe you can find something similar via your favorite search engine.
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While searching for a way to use my leftover ricotta cheese from the Portobello Lasagna Rollups, I came across this recipe for Spinach and Artichoke Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms, which conveniently took care of my leftover spinach too. Rachael Ray touts this as a lighter twist on spinach and artichoke dip, one of my favorite indulgent appetizers.

Spinach & Artichoke Dip (click image for recipe)

Spinach & Artichoke Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms

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