Looking at recent blog posts, however, things aren’t quite as fresh and light.  Garlic french fries, macaroni and cheese, corn dogs, hamburgers, leek bread pudding, fried pickles, and of course, the infamous and delicious fried macaroni and cheese.  Put all of these together and we make Hardees look like an organic vegan salad bar.

With the weather warming up (high of 90 degrees today!) and our stomachs full of delicious, but way too heavy food, we think its time for a change.  We’ve been making many more salads recently than the posts on our blog suggest, and it’s time to share those with you.

Niçoise salads are not too hard to find in quality restaurants, but most try to jazz up the salad even further by using seared tuna in place of the canned tuna.  In addition, most restaurants also feature boiled potatoes, which, as it turns out, is not quite as authentic as I thought it was.  We tried to make a salad that was more true to the classic version, and it’s a great combination of fresh tastes that really lightens things up for spring.

Recipe: Classic Salad Niçoise

You know what else we love to celebrate? Corndogs. March 19th was National Corndog Day – yes, it exists – so we celebrated with some homemade corndogs.

We know corndogs aren’t fancy. Some might say they have no place on a “foodie” blog. But I love corndogs. And these are hand-dipped! So forgive us for posting and eating fair or carnival type food every once in awhile – it’s just so good!

Recipe: Corndogs

oh, and those are Garlic Fries. yum.

What goes great with a burger? Fries! What about a corndog? Fries! What about a steak?! Fries!

We’ve made fries before (thanks to our more than awesome FryDaddy – if you don’t have a deep fryer, we think you need one), but added a little garlic this time to make it super delicious. Give them a try this weekend with a yummy burger, and sprinkle some parsley on top for good measure.

Recipe: Garlic Fries

We had these fries with homemade corndogs and a side salad – we’re trying to get some color in there, too!

This was a recipe inspired by one in Real Simple magazine, but we spruced it up a little with heirloom tomatoes and fancy-schmancy pasta from Trader Joes.

Where was THIS recipe during Meatless May?! I really feel like we eat vegetarian more than we realize – but when we set out to eat no meat for a whole month, I couldn’t think of recipes to save my life.

Here’s to summer, here’s to eating vegetarian without trying, and here’s to yummy-ness. Enjoy!

Recipe: Pasta with Marinated Heirloom Tomatoes and Basil

We would suggest sticking with a more flavorful, higher-fat cuts of beef to stand up to the strong flavors in the seasoning and the sauce.  This is one recipe where beef tenderloin may not be your best bet- as tender as it is, the subtle flavors of the beef could get overpowered here.

We first discovered chimichurri sauce when we were enjoying a tasting dinner to prepare for our rehearsal dinner (one of the most fun evenings ever, by the way!).  Out of the many courses we tasted that night, the steak with chimichurri sauce came away as the winner.  Some folks only use parsley as the base, but when we first had it, there was cilantro too, so we include that in our recipe.

We love cilantro (as you can see from Tuesday’s post and many recipes before then, too), but not everyone does.  There was a New York Times article that recently talked about how the taste for cilantro is genetic- some people have the gene to love it, others don’t.  So, if you don’t like it, it’s not your fault.

But! We presented this dish to an admitted Cilantro hater this past weekend.  John and Rebecca came to visit, and we had a great time, and John bravely asked for the chimichurri on the side at dinner given his dislike for cilantro.  Turns out he loved the sauce- he even asked for more to finish off his steak!  So, don’t let previous bad experiences with cilantro deter you from trying this chimichurri sauce- it’s really not over-the-top cilantro so much as it is just delicious.

Recipe: Hanger Steak with Chimichurri Sauce

The recipe itself is called ‘Seared Sea Scallops and Mango Salsa,’ but that’s only because ‘Seared Sea Scallops with Mango Salsa and Cilantro Pesto’ is way too long and complicated. Bottom line: make sure you get out your food processor and include the cilantro pesto- it’s a great compliment to the flavors that are already on the plate.

This was part of a multi-course dinner that we ate to celebrate with Ginny before her big trip to Malawi.  Even though we ate it as a small course before the entree, you could easily give each person 4 scallops and add another side and it would be a great dinner by itself.

Recipe: Seared Sea Scallops and Mango Salsa

This is a simple summer bruschetta that is perfect for a hot day like today. Fresh tomatoes, chopped basil, garlic, and olive oil – all served on toasted baguette. It’s cool and refreshing and tastes just like summer. Yum.

Recipe: Fresh Summer Bruschetta

I actually wouldn’t mind eating my age in these green beans. I’d happily eat my age in brussel sprouts, too. Is that weird? Would you eat your age in these beans?

Recipe: Green Beans with Pine Nuts and Garlic

As we were enjoying the great flavor combination of the salty bacon, the seafood, and the light lemon zest, it occurred to us that this was a pretty healthy dinner: whole wheat spinach pasta, good seafood, and not much butter or oil. The few strips of bacon (which, by the way, only have 35 calories each) could be left out to make it healthier, but what’s the fun in that?

Recipe: Shrimp, Scallop and Bacon Pasta

Recipe: Spanish Mackerel with Dill

If you click the link, you also get to see pictures of a certain furry someone who came along…