Chocolate Basil Cupcakes

This time of year my basil crop is always out of control and unmanageable. Fresh pasta sauces is usually my go-to to help cull the herb... but the other day I came across the most wonderful of ideas. Chocolate Basil cake. That's right, combine it with the sugary, chocolatey goodness and it's sure to be a delight. I've become rather smitten with baked goods that incorporate unconventional herbs as in these Blueberry Rosemary Scones.

But this time... I can't say I'm nearly as delighted. The cake turned out a bit... chewy, more like brownies and I'm not sure I'm completely sold on the additional basil flavor. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad I tried it out, I'm just not sure it will become a go-to recipe in my house. Those precious summer basil leaves may be better saved for a delicious pesto.

Chocolate Basil Buttercream Cake Recipe
I made a double-batch, which produced 30 cupcakes. I only used 1 cup of packed basil leaves, which I felt was sufficient.

Basil Buttercream Frosting
I was going to use this recipe, but when I saw that it required boiling the basil leaves in milk and then throwing them out, I decided that sounded completely unnecessary, highfalutin, and time-consuming. I went the lazy route and made up this recipe for a bit more basil-punch:

1/2 c butter
1/2 c margarine
4 c powdered sugar
2 Tbsp Almond milk
1/8 c fresh basil leaves

Cream butter and basil in a food processor until basil is thoroughly chopped. Add remaining ingredients slowly.

Fun Fact: Basil, like any other unprocessed, plant-based foods have a high amounts of minerals and nutrients. Throwing away and cooking the basil leaves takes out much of those nutrients. I would say this option is much healthier (ha!).

Weekday Veg

Have you heard of Weekday Veg? A family friend recommended the short TED talk to me a couple weeks ago and I finally got around to watching it last night. If I had known it was less than 6 minutes I would’ve squeezed it in sooner! (Read: Watch it now, it doesn’t take long!)

Anyway, Graham Hill briefly covers why he chose to be Weekday Vegetarian including the ethical and economic impacts. While my part-time vegetarianism is motivated by nutrition, the economic factors intrigue me. Many of the comments on the talk berate him for not being full-time veg. I’d say over 70% is definitely a step in the right direction and more power to him for promoting this systematic and obtainable approach!

As far as my dive into the veg-pool... It definitely went by the way-side when I was on RAGBRAI. I decided my body needed the protein for muscle recovery and not enough plant-based protein options were readily available. Prior to RAGBRAI, I noticed I was more fatigued than usual. I think there are several factors that went into this, the extreme heat, cutting out too many good carbs, and a more-than-typical packed schedule. The past two weeks back on the wagon have been fabulous, I feel great and according to my most recent blood donation, my health stats are all in excellent shape. I'm excited to give a vegan restaurant a try tonight with a couple of girlfriends!

Have you ever participated in Meatless Mondays or given up meat all together?

Dear Small Town Iowa Restaurants

Dear Small Town Iowa restaurants-

I love ya. I really do. I am more than proud to call Iowa my home state and I cherish that I was raised in a small town. But lately you haven’t been as good to me. When eating out, why must everything include bacon, sausage, or brisket? Or be “smothered” in cheese sauce or gravy? Just the word “smothered” makes me gag a little.

And when I cobble something vegetarian/vegan together, load it up on veggies don’t give me this iceberg lettuce crap with a couple of tomatoes and less than a proper serving of beans. Substitute all of that meaty/cheesy goodness with double (or triple) veggie goodness. Cross my heart, I’ll reward you with a large tip in return. Deal?

C’mon, Iowa. I get that meat production is a large industry in the state, but let’s also focus on plant nutrients too, eh? What about seasonal produce from the local farmer selling his crop on the corner? There really is no excuse in the summer and I would hope other patrons would feel the same.

Left hungry and feeling cheated,
Stephanie

85% Plan

As I mentioned in a previous posts, I’m going through a major lifestyle change regarding my eating habits. I’ve always considered myself a decently healthy eater. I’ve always had an affinity for vegetables and studying amateur nutrition facts. Alas, my obsession with nutrition is usually short-lived and only surface-level. But this time? This time it’s become an addiction. After obsessively monitoring and journaling about my food intake for several months now, I've realized I’m not nearly as much as a healthy-eater as I once thought. My diet has been composed of too many carbohydrates, fats, and sweets and not nearly enough nutrient-dense vegetables, even though I continuously profess my love for most vegetables.
This journaling obsession started as I was starting a Biggest Loser challenge at work and after I read the book Eat to Live by Joel Fuhrman. Dr. Fuhrman's life-long diet plan for optimal health and to fight chronic disease is summarized as:

• 1 lb of raw green vegetables per day
• 1 lb of cooked green vegetables per day
• 4 fruits per day
• 1 cup of beans per day
• Up to 1 handful of nuts per day
• No oils or salts added, you get enough from nuts and other vegetables.

More detail here.

I don’t know about you, but that seems seemed a bit extreme to me. More power to you, if you can pull it off. For those that couldn't completely commit, he recommends following it at least 90% of the time. At the time I thought "That's still extreme, buddy, and I don't want to miss out on some of life's biggest joys because I'm this strict in my eating."
I briefly thought I should give it a try, just to see how my body feels on such a plan. That thought led to an extreme cycle of food consumption monitoring. I went through week-long phases where I tried different methods/diets I was reading/watching about, they were:

• Eat to Live lifestyle diet (I wasn't properly prepared at the time and didn't give it a fair try)
• High protein to build muscle mass + lots of vegetables
• No Processed Foods
• Paleo Diet

Then my birthday came (and went) and I had re-entered a two-week period of eating crap. I knew I needed to get back on track. After more documentary-watching, I started to think that vegetarianism may be the way to go for ultimate long-term health. There are counter arguments to a complete vegetarian diet, because you can only get some vitamins from animal-based foods. Below is what I'm hoping to make my lifestyle diet plan:

(not that far off from Dr. Furhman's original "crazy" plan, eh?)
Again, as I stated, I'm doing this for ultimate long-term health. From the books I've read, the documentaries I've watched, and the doctor-written blogs I follow, I've determined this is the best plan for me. So far anyway.

If you would've asked me 10 years ago if I would ever become a (85%) vegetarian, I would've answered with an emphatic no. Even 10 weeks ago I would've had the same reaction. If you look at health studies, cultures that eat more meat end up with more chronic diseases. Americans by far eat too much meat. Yet the National Dietetic Counsel believes that meat, in moderation, is not bad for you. I agree. I just want to be cognizant of the amount I'm consuming. Similar results are found for dairy products. Plant based foods are the way to go for me.

I've found the hardest part about this transition is the time it takes to prepare meals. The meals that I make are simple and delicious and I feel great after eating them, but it does take some extra preparation time. I mean, do you know many vegetables you have to eat meet your daily caloric intake? Answer: a lot.

Of course there will be times when I can't follow this plan as strictly as I'd like (read: RAGBRAI or any event in rural Iowa) and those times I'll "cheat" and it will be okay.

Blueberry Rosemary Scones

Blueberry + Rosemary = Heavenly

Kids, this may be one of the best things I've ever made. Melt in your mouth awesome.

I've been buying blueberries in multiples every time I go to the grocery because they're so fresh and delightful this time of year. Usually, I just wash them and freeze on a cookie sheet to put into my morning oatmeal later in the week/month; that is if I can stop popping the treasures into my mouth to actual freeze. This past week I found a blueberry scone recipe from La Petite Brioche and immediately wanted to make it, but I didn't get around to it until today. But I added fresh rosemary from my garden to make it a bit more fancy-pants.

Blueberry Rosemary Scones
Adapted from La Petite Brioche

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon fresh rosemary (I would use more next time, maybe close to 2 Tbsp)
1 stick cold unsalted butter, grated
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1/2 cup cold heavy cream (I don't keep heavy cream, so I melted 1/3 c butter with 3/4 c almond milk and 1 Tbsp flour; which yields 1 cup of cream)
1 cup blueberries, fresh or frozen (I would use close to 1 1/2 cups next time)
extra heavy cream for brushing the tops
raw sugar for sprinkling the tops

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Mix flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Add the cold butter and mix at the lowest speed (I used the dough hook for my food processor). Combine the egg and heavy cream, flour and butter mixture. Mix until just blended. The dough will look lumpy.  Add the blueberries and cut rosemary to the dough, gently mix by hand.

Dump the dough onto a well-floured surface and knead it into a ball. Flour your hands and a rolling pin and roll the dough 3/4-inch thick. You should see small bits of butter in the dough. Keep moving the dough on the floured board so it doesn't stick.

Shape the dough into a square. Cut the square into quarters then cut again into eighths, diagonally, making triangles. Brush the tops of the scones with heavy creme, sprinkle with sugar and bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the tops are browned and the insides are fully baked. The scones will be firm to the touch.

This may be my next go-to baked good for potlucks and events. Seriously, give it a try. Just ignore how much butter you're using, like i did...

Black Eyed Peas & Kale Soup

If you talked to me for more than five minutes in the past month you know that I've recently discovered the awesomeness that is kale. And how I was slightly concerned I may turn orange because of the astronomical levels of Vitamin A I was ingesting because I was eating so much kale. (Note: I have not turned orange yet, although I would welcome some color to my post-winter pastiness.) If you've ever talked to me at all you know that I'm always game for anything with beans. The other day I was looking for a soup that had both kale and black eyed peas and came across the blog, 365 Days of Kale. Delightful, no?

I used her recipe as a starter for and for the past week, I've been thoroughly enjoying my version of:

Blacked Eyed Peas and Kale Soup

3 c fresh kale
3.75 c (16 oz) frozen black eyed peas
1 1/4 c carrots, chopped
1 pint mushrooms
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 slices uncured Turkey Bacon (I got mine from Trader Joe's), cooked & chopped
32 oz Turkey Stock
1.5 c water
1/2 c fresh parsley
1 tsp Chipotle powder (for extra smokiness)
Black pepper to taste

Simmer all ingredients until vegetables are tender.

Yield: 4 very large meal-sized servings (I made 5 servings out of the full recipe, but the nutrition info is based on 4 servings)

Recipe adapted from original version here.
Calorie information via Calorie Count.

Breakfast Tour KC

My beau likes a big breakfast/brunch. I like my beau. Therefore we have gotten into the habit of eating a pretty big breakfast on the weekends. We're trying to do the every-other-weekend thing and cook one weekend, eat out the next. It's pretty delightful. I love that he loves good food and I love talking and laughing with him over our enormous portion-sized meals.

@ Succotash, with the inaugural photo of the breakfast tour. We originally took this photo because of the comedy of our plates and drinks not fitting on the table. The pre-meal photo became a tradition that I cherish. Justin takes the photos, because his inevitably turn out better (i.e. less blurry and higher up).

@ Blue Bird Bistro on Summit & 17th. Not much left... apparently we tore into this one without snapping a photo first. Oops! This place inspired me to make Pumpkin-Sage Jam (more to come on that later).

@ Genessee Royale in the West Bottoms. This was one of my favorites, the dressing on the greens was so light and just perfect. We even tried the bacon jam (pictured in the center)... not my fav, but Justin was a fan.

@ Rooster in St. Louis. Delicious, delicious crepes. These larger plates were shamefully followed by a warm Banana-Nutella dessert crepe. It was devoured in minutes by the two of us. This was Justin's first awakening to Nutella (or Nut-ella as he pronounces it) and now I'm afraid there's no going back.

We've also hit up The Farmhouse, Chez Elle creperie, and The Wooden Spoon in Overland Park. All delicious, but not captured in our photo study. I guess we'll just have to go back!

@ Home. Here's a sampling of our creations. I'm still working on my omelet technique after years without practice and after this meal I dubbed Justin as the official hashbrown-maker. He accepted. Now we have perfectly prepared hash brown patties instead of just hash. Together, we're pretty much breakfast rock-stars. The homemade meals usually include simply potatoes, sausage, eggs, and any combination of vegetables around. Sometimes we throw in a spinach smoothie. Sometimes I attempt baked goods without proper measuring utensils. Or breakfast pizza. One thing is for certain, we've been eating well the past several months. (Perhaps contributing to my extra fluffiness as of late...)

Future places on our my list to try out: You Say Tomato, Happy Gillis, Westside Local, Urban Table, Julian, Eggtc, Room 39, Unforked, etc. Any other suggestions?

Quick, Easy Chocolate Fudge Cookies

A couple weeks ago, I needed a chocolate fix, bad. But not wanting to go to the grocery store or spend a lot of time in the kitchen, I turned to this uber fast and simple recipe:

Chocolate Fudge Cookies
1 (18.25 ounce) package devil's food cake mix
2 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (I used dark chocolate chips)
3/4 cup hazelnuts, chopped (optional, but it makes them awesome)

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
Grease cookie sheets. In a medium bowl, stir together the cake mix, eggs and oil until well blended. Fold in the chocolate chips and nuts. Using an ice cream scoop, scoop the dough into small balls. Place the cookies 2 inches apart on the cookie sheet. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely. Makes 24-30 cookies.

Awesome!

Sweet Paul inspiration

Another issue of Sweet Paul came out the other day and it's filled with delicious fall foods that I can't wait to taste-test, along with lovely, lovely food styling (as always), beautiful layouts, and inspirational crafts.

After a weekend with family, I was sent home with a bag full of delicious home-grown pears, tomatoes, multicolored bell peppers and lots of fresh rosemary. I was delighted to see many recipes with pears and rosemary!

Here are the recipes I'll start with:
I've tried for years for a good pretzel recipe, maybe this will be the one...

John's Pretzels, image via Sweet Paul

Dried pear slices, image via Sweet Paul

Fennel & Rosemary Roast Lamb, image via Sweet Paul

Honey Baked Fall Vegetables, image via Sweet Paul

Pear Galette, image via Sweet Paul

Pear, Red Onion & Manchengo Pizza, image via Sweet Paul

Pork with Warm Fall Slaw, image via Sweet Paul

Thyme Roasted Chicken with Pears, image via Sweet Paul

I think I'll start with the Roast Lamb with Fall Vegetables and Pear Galette, I do love the rustic and romantic qualities of a good flaky galette... so who's comin' over for dinner?

As always, well done, Sweet Paul!

Unforked.

 As of Thursday noon, I had scraped the last bit of Smuckers natural peanut butter and strawberry jelly into a PBJ and there was officially nothing was left in my fridge that could combine to create any semblance of a meal. So eating-out was in order for my last couple of meals prior to moving.

Photo of "Cali" Taco and Chips by Stephanie Hertel

Today's lunch was a treat, something special. Sheridan's (Frozen Custard) opened a new concept restaurant called unforked close to work and a couple of co-workers and I decided to try it out today and ohmygosh it's good. Here's a snippet from their "about us" section:

We promise to buy clean, local, seasonal ingredients first; if not local, then family-farmed organic; if not organic, then fair trade; if not fair trade, then the most unique highest quality possible. We take responsibility for the food we serve while giving customers the flavors they crave.

The place is gorgeous. A designer's paradise. Eames chairs at every table, exposed steel beams, beautiful graphics galore: the cups, the parchment, the beverage labels, t-shirts, etc. Design porn, as I texted to my fellow-designer friend. The building was designed by 360 Architecture in KC and the branding and graphic design was done by Design Ranch. (side note: The KC Business Journal covered the opening, but why I ask is the architecture firm credited, but not the graphic design firm??? Did they not play just as big of role? Aren't they just as local? They designed this brand, this brand that will follow them to hopeful future openings nationally. Where's the equality, I ask? Sigh.)

Image via Design Ranch Blog 

This move may be dangerous, unforked is half-way between my new apartment and work. They're breakfast sounds sinfully delicious. I may become a regular, it's delectable, very well-priced and supports multiple local business. How could one go wrong?

Moving Day Saturday

The big moving day is almost here and I am so excited. I have been talking sofas and chairs and packing non-stop for the past couple of weeks. But mostly I'm excited to have a kitchen in order again and not be eating randomly concocted meals and finally be able to indulge in the wondrous produce of summer. These are the first three things I think I will make in my new kitchen: Stuffed Peppers, Zucchini Strand Spaghetti, and Fresh Peach Pie (must take a better photo of this guy). Yum. Maybe I'll throw these in for good measure (as a bribe to all of my co-workers who have put up with my moving-talk).

p.s. I'm offering a free Chipotle lunch to anyone who helps me move!

Very Veggie Creative Food Day

Image via Amy Atlas Events

Amy Atlas has been an inspiration to me for a couple of years now. I love her work and consider her one of the first trendsetters of the over-the-top dessert/candy table craze. There are others doing the same thing now, but not with as much skill, elegance and grace that Amy has. I love following her blog and seeing the behind-the-scenes peaks at what it takes to go into her extremely creative events.

The one thing that has always slightly bothered me, beautiful as the tables are, it’s all desserts, candies, and sweets (hence the name dessert tables) and maybe not all that practical for an entire event spread... but then I saw a beautiful departure a couple months ago: A fruit and veggie table.

Image via Amy Atlas Events

HOW PERFECT? I love vegetables, my previous co-workers thought I was nuts for my fanatical nature about the nutritious and delicious food group. How can you not love them? They’re colorful, crisp, fresh and you can eat them all day long and not feel guilty about them what-so-ever. So after seeing Amy’s inspiration table and announcing Friday as a “creative” food day, I had no second guessing about what I was going to bring (and seeing as I gave up desserts for Lent, it was even more of an automatic decision) veggies was on the menu!

Below is my scaled-down version:

I paired the veggies with SkinnyTaste’s Creamy Cilantro Dressing. I highly recommend this recipe. I got tons of compliments on the dip (and the presentation) and can't wait to use it as dressing for salads. Instead of using buttermilk, I made a buttermilk substitute with 1 1/2 tsp lemon juice and 1/2 cup milk and letting rest for 5 minutes. SkinnyTaste focuses on favorite dishes, made skinny, often supplying the Weight Watchers points as well, this recipe is 0 points! A perfect snack for the entire day!

A Valentine's Dessert!

Over New Years eve weekend I attempted to make tiramisu with a friend. It was a colossal fail, due to a lack of patience and not having the proper dish to make it in. I was determined to give my tiramisu a second attempt, so I coerced partnered with my roommate, who is a much better baker than I, to attempt the delicious dessert for Valentine's Day.

This was my inspiration from Gourmet Baking:
A mix of a delicious-looking chocolate base, marscapone cheese, and chocolate mousse.

Lindsay and I made ladyfingers the night before, which turned out light, soft, and delectable. After reading a couple of comments online about how to get the tall circular shape, we decided to line tin cans with parchment paper, which worked like a dream. We cut out the ladyfingers with the tin cans and piped in the marscapone cheese and whipped cream layers and put it in the fridge to set.


We had also planned on a low-fat chocolate mousse to layer in, but realizing the already towering height from double-layers of the ladyfingers, marscapone, and whipped cream we decided to nix that last minute. I wish the end result would've been a bit cleaner like the inspiration image, but I couldn't complain too much because it tasted phenomenal. I guess I'll just have to make it again to practice the presentation! Click here for the five-star recipe.

Roasted Vegetables

For Christmas I got a perfectly-suited Roasted Vegetable cookbook from a friend. So about a month ago I decided to make one of the delicious recipes, I decided on Roasted Vegetables with Orzo. It was a colorful delight and tasted even better with the amazing depth of flavor from roasting... I may make some more this weekend! It's perfect for leftovers during the week!

This chestnut... err, hazelnut recipe

Do you know what today is? It's World Nutella Day!

For the longest time I boycotted Nutella, something about it just didn't seem right to me. I bought some to have for guests at my crepe brunch on Christmas Eve and I fell in love. Nutella-banana-whipped topping crepe? Amazing.


Earlier in January I made Nutella biscotti, while it wasn't a massive fail, it wasn't perfect. So I tried a new recipe Mini Chocolate Whoopie Pies with Nutella to bring to celebrate the glorious day at work. The recipe was a success! How could you resist the hazelnutty/chocolatey goodness?


And this may have been the most beautiful, silky-smooth dough/batter I've ever made-for cake or cookies. I made it at night, so no pictures (they just turn out bad without proper lighting...).

Culinary Delights

I've been holding some of my culinary delight photos hostage because I've been in computer-limbo, but now I've got my brand new, shiny computer all ready to go and sent off my old friend to recycling (that was a sad day).

Here are the newly uploaded photos from this past Fall:

Peanut Butter filled Chocolate Cupcakes with Chocolate Ganache topping

Roasted Garlic & Goat Cheese Twice-Baked Potatoes & Roasted Brussel Sprouts

Beautiful flowers from my going away party at Hallmark

Fresh salsa & cilantro (to accompany homemade pork carnitas)

White cheddar & jalapenos for scones... my hands burned for days, although slathering in sour cream helped. Note to self: buy better gloves.

Jalapeno-Cheddar Scones from smitten kitchen

Red Velevet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting & Chocolate Snowflakes I made for the last day of class for the semester!

Tremendous Turkey Day

I had a splendid Thanksgiving, on Thursday my mom and I cooked all morning while my dad did the dishes (it doesn't get any better than having your own personal dish-washer). Earlier in the week my dad sent out an invitation to international students at ISU to join us for the holiday, we had one taker and his wife, a young couple from China. The husband is working on his PhD in Astro Physics and the wife is applying to ISU masters programs to get her second masters. It was great to share this uniquely American holiday with the couple, bringing a new appreciation to the tradition.

Then on Friday, my friend John and I made the Salted Caramel and Chocolate Cake from Sweet Paul Fall edition e-magazine for our families. It turned out delectable... although not really like the picture (but their picture is much prettier than our version). The cake itself is super moist, the salted caramel sauce is delicious (but not thick and substantial like it's shown) and the frosting is more of a ganache (even better!)... we only made half of the frosting recipe and we could have gotten away with 1/3 recipe (that way you'd only need 1 cup total of heavy cream), but all-in-all it was a win! I'll definitely have to make it again sometime to impress the boys.

And the holiday weekend ended on a lovely note by flashing three (3!) pictures of me (and fellow ex-coworkers) in a Hallmark public service announcement after the Hallmark Hall of Fame movie, November Christmas. Did you see my big debut?

Wallpaper Wednesday | 025

Recently we're been talking about failure in one of my grad classes and not being afraid of failure, but learning from it. This is best shown in how I learned to cook.

I've always loved cooking, it's such a creative and satisfactory experience for me.
There are two things that inspired me to start:
1. I was a hungry child (still am, I like to eat, what more can I say?)
2. My dad was famous for "concoctions" in my household growing up.

My dad would throw in any number of ingredients to make something delightful... or inedible. I seem to remember the later more distinctly (note: I'm not necessarily saying the later was more often). My dad can be a great chef, if you're looking for an omelet prepared exactly to your liking, a delicious bowl of hearty chili, or a "cookout" burger, he's your man. In fact, I got a lot of my skillz from my pops... by sitting through those sometimes-terrible concoctions and being a hungry child and all, I decided to learn to cook myself. I was never afraid of throwing in some of this, or a little of that, because it couldn't be worse than the macaroni 'n cheese/ground beef/ketchup concoction my father had attempted the night before.

A couple of my friends have asked me to teach them how to cook, the answer? Don't be afraid of failure and just try.

That being said, I'm trying to implement those words of advice into the rest of my life. Learning to not sweat the small stuff and learning from my missteps. I'll let you know how it goes.

Rustic Apple Tarts

Have you heard of Sweet Paul? It's an online magazine chock full of food porn. This time it's full of Fall foods, including lots of apple baked goods (It's Fall and I have an obsession with apples...).. Sometime I want to make the Apple Filled Bread, Apple Muffins, Rustic Apple Tart, Carmel Chocolate Cake, and the Chevre pizza.

That sometime was last night for the Rustic Apple Tart. I got to use the apple peeler-corer I was given a year ago, which was so fun, I even made Curly Cheese Potatoes!

The pre-baked wheat crusts.

I'll leave you with Sweet Paul's professional out-of-the-oven photo.

Verdict? Absolutely delish. The texture of the wheat flour gives the crust more depth and is the perfect balance to the tartness of the Granny Smith. I added a significant amount of cinnamon to the recipe, in the crust and in the apple mixture. And instead of adding the apple preserves at the end, I used some of the leftover cinnamon & sugar mixture from the apples to create a syrup and drizzled that on top. It's definitely going in the recipe box.

Things I'm loving: Roasting Vegetables

Red peppers. Garlic. Tomatoes. Even eggplant.

Have all been roasted in my oven lately. Once I discovered how truly easy it is to roast vegetables I haven't been able to get enough of that delightfully smoky flavor. I wonder what I can roast next... any suggestions?