Better Home Cooking Basics: #69 Top Your Ice Cream with Spices to Add More Flavor (Not More Fat!).

It's ice cream weather! While hot fudge, whipped cream & extra sprinkles all offer extra deliciousness to everyone's favorite summer treat they also add extra calories. Today, I'm asking you to put down the typically delicious & caloric toppings & visit your spice rack instead. Spices aren't just for cooking any more. You can jazz up any kind of ice cream with spices which means more flavor without added fat! Keep reading for my ice cream & spice pairing suggestions.

Simple Toasts with Marscapone, Chives & Sea Salt

We have a toaster oven at work. I may really be the only one that ever uses it. I love toast. If i can have a sandwich with toasted bread - i’m toasting it. Usually I’ll bring in al the components to make a sandwich but don’t make them into an actual sandwich until I’ve toasted my bread about five minutes before I eat it. Sounds high maintenance but it’s really not - it’s toasting bread. It’s so simple & really for the short amount of time I have to dedicate to make my sandwich all the more delicious - well I’m going to make the commitment.

So you see, toast seems fancy but it’s not.  So if you’re having a dinner party & need a quick appetizer make these simple cheesy toasts. There will be no leftovers & everyone will be so impressed that you too the time to make (easy) fancy toast - they really will.

Tomato, Beet, Avocado, Arugula & Walnut Salad

Sometimes it's a sandwich & salad kind of night at our house. Last night we dined on tuna sandwiches (courtesy of the hubs tuna salad) & this salad which was equally parts creamy, crunchy & tasty.

Since this salad is so easy to make, take the time to make it pretty when you plate it.  You eat with your eyes first, so make sure to feed them with a pretty feast.

Ingredients:

• 1 large heirloom tomato
• 2 avocados
• 1 large (cooked) beet
• 5 leaves fresh basil
• handful of walnuts
• 2 handfuls of arugula (or other lettuce of your choice)
• 1 tablespoon walnut oil
• sea salt & pepper

Make it!

1. Slice tomato, beet & avocados into equal sized slices (this may vary on the size of your fruits/veggies but closest to uniform size is ideal).
2. Coarsely chop walnuts & heat them in a pan over low heat for a few minutes until toasted (but not burned). As soon as you smell them take them off the heat.
3. In a separate bowl tear basil & mix with arugula.
4. Arrange the slices of tomato, beet & avocado in a pretty order on your plate, I like to alternate the colors like tomato, avocado, beet.
5. Top with arugula/basil mixture & toasted walnuts.
6. Drizzle walnut oil over all ingredients & season with sea salt & pepper.

PS: Happy Birthday Aunt Rosemary :) xx

Six Survivor Ingredients

My NYC girlfriends always tell me that they just don't shop for or have room for ingredients & don't know what to buy, so they just don't cook.  Well I've got my ingredient guide down to the only six items that you'll ever need to make a successful dish (whether it's chicken, a simple salad or a pasta dish).  If you keep these six ingredients on hand you can't go wrong & you'll always have something fresh & tasty to enjoy.

My six survivor ingredients & why:

1. lemon - you can use the zest to add real flavor to any dish. The zest is even more flavorful than its juice but use it's juice too to squeeze over fish or seafood for a little extra (well) juice!
2. sea salt - try looking for unbleached salt - you wouldn't drink a bottle of bleach so why would you want to cook with/eat bleach. Not me anyway. The sea salt in the photo above is pink because it's unbleached, oh & from Hawaii!
3. black pepper - if you do nothing else to a piece of chicken or even a fried egg, please season with salt & pepper, it'll make all the difference from a bland-please-pass-the-salt dish & mmmmmm this is really good.
4. fresh herbs - always make it look like you tried. Buy what's in season but also buy what you like. Fresh herbs add freshness & look pretty too.
5. fresh garlic - shy away from the jarred stuff & spend the extra time to chop up some fresh, sticky garlic the taste is much stronger (read: better).
6. extra virgin olive oil - you can cook it into tomato sauce, use in in a marinade or do about a million other things with it. It's the light kind of fat that will add flavor to you dish & doubles as a skin moisturizer!

oh & there's one extra secret ingredient that you must have on hand when you cook.  Read on to find out!