Roasted Vegetable Pasta

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This roasted vegetable pasta is tossed with lots of caramelized roasted veggies and a delicious balsamic garlic butter sauce. So simple and delicious!

This roasted veggie pasta was an instant hit in our house!

I mean, it’s hard to go wrong in our book with mixing a big pan of caramelized veggies with pasta. But we loved the simplicity of the butter-balsamic-garlic sauce here, which perfectly complemented the flavors of the roasted veggies without overpowering them. When tossed with a generous handful of salty freshly-grated Parm and lots of fresh basil, this dish was absolutely bursting with big, fresh, summertime flavors. We went back for seconds…and then thirds! Couldn’t get enough of this one. ♡

The veggie options here are totally flexible, so please feel free to use whatever sounds good (or is overflowing in your garden, if you happen to have a green thumb!). You could also add in an extra protein if you’d like (such as chicken, sausage, shrimp, etc). And while I love the warm roasted veggies here fresh out of the oven, we can vouch that this recipe tastes equally delicious served as more of a cold pasta salad, so be sure to enjoy those leftovers too.

Let’s make some veggie pasta!

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Cardamom Scones

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These delicious cinnamon cardamom scones are easy to make, perfectly soft and flaky, and drizzled with a simple glaze.

New favorite scone alert! ♡

My mom recently brought us a batch of freshly-baked cinnamon scones, inspired by this recipe from Smitten Kitchen. And our entire family instantly agreed that they were hands-down some of the best we had ever tasted. Seriously, we absolutely love these scones and can’t stop making them!

As you can see, Deb’s original recipe features these fun “open-book” layers, which are easy to create by adding a few folds of cinnamon-sugar to dough. Our family really loves cardamom, though, so we’ve taken to adding a few generous teaspoons of ground cardamom to the filling along with the cinnamon and sugar. We’ve also come to love adding a touch of vanilla and some extra cream to the dough, to make it irresistibly soft and flaky and flavorful. And even with a final drizzle of icing, I love that these scones turn out to be sweet-but-not-too-sweet. When served hot out of the oven alongside a good cup of coffee, I’m telling you, there’s nothing better!

Let’s bake some scones!

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Bruschetta

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All of the best tips we learned in Italy about how to make classic tomato basil bruschetta.

Tomato season means…time to make tomato bruschetta! ♡

I’ve long been a big fan of this classic Italian appetizer. But a few years ago during our trip to Rome, my husband and I had the opportunity to take a cooking class on the art of making traditional tomato basil bruschetta and learned a few tips and techniques we found helpful. So I figured that tomato season would be a good time to pop in here and share a bit of what we learned!

First, a quick note about pronunciation. Americans often pronounce bruschetta with an “sh” sound, but the Italian ch is actually pronounced like an English “k”, so it should sound more like broo-skeh-tah. (By the way, the plural of bruschetta is bruschette — broo-skeh-teh.) Its name is derived from the Roman verb meaning “to toast” or “to roast over coals,” which makes sense because bruschetta is commonly regarded as one of the best uses for leftover bread.

Tomato bruschetta been a popular dish in Italy since the 16th century, back when tomatoes first arrived on the scene in Europe. And as with most classic Italian dishes, the components of tomato bruschetta are intentionally kept simple so that the vibrant, fresh flavor of each ingredient can each really shine through. All you need are ripe tomatoes, good-quality olive oil, fresh basil, garlic, oregano, sea salt and crusty bread to make an excellent batch of bruschette al pomodoro. It’s a quick and easy appetizer to assemble. And, if you’d like, you can even prep the crostini and tomato basil topping hours in advance and assemble just before serving, making bruschetta a terrific option for easy entertaining.

The most important thing that our instructor stressed again and again is that amazing tomatoes make for amazing bruschetta. So let’s make the most of tomato season and whip up a quick batch of bruschetta!

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Crostini

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All of my best tips for how to make perfectly crisp and delicious homemade crostini, plus lots of ideas for fun toppings!

One essential technique that I highly recommend memorizing for easy entertaining — how to make crostini! ♡

These classic little toasts are the perfect appetizer or snack to serve a crowd and always taste a million times fresher when made homemade versus store-bought. And, since it’s so easy to whip up a batch in 20 minutes with just 3 basic ingredients, I’m convinced a homemade batch is always worth the extra effort!

They’re the perfectly crisp and versatile little vehicles to host any number of delicious toppings. So whether you’re craving classic tomato basil bruschetta, a spread of goat cheese drizzled with honey, fig jam layered with prosciutto and arugula, brie topped with apple slices, a scoop of pimento cheese or spinach artichoke dip — I could go on and on, the options really are limitless — a fresh batch of homemade crostini is pretty much guaranteed to make everything better.

Here are all of my best tips and tricks for how to make a quick batch of crostini, plus tons of ideas for fun seasonings and toppings to try!

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Curry Chicken Salad

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This zesty curry chicken salad recipe is full of protein and perfectly balanced with sweet and savory flavors.

Trader Joe’s curry chicken salad has long been a favorite in our house. But when we moved to Barcelona seven years ago and found ourselves an ocean away from TJ’s grab-and-go option, I quickly figured out how to make my own homemade version from scratch, which honestly couldn’t be easier and (bonus) was just a fraction of the cost! ♡

Many years later, this recipe is still one of my go-to’s for a protein-packed lunch. It comes together quickly with cooked chicken (diced or shredded), toasted cashews, shredded carrots, cilantro, red onion, and a simple Greek yogurt curry sauce. I also like to add in lots of fresh red grapes for extra texture and sweetness (versus the raisins used in the TJ’s version), and prefer to lighten up the curry sauce with plain Greek yogurt instead of mayo. Together, the ingredients combine to create the perfect balance of sweet and savory flavors, crunchy and tender textures, with a perfectly spiced creamy dressing. And the leftovers taste even better the second day after the the flavors have had a chance to meld. So good!

Feel free to serve this curry chicken salad up between slices of bread to make a sandwich, roll it up in a tortilla to make a wrap, scoop it into lettuce wraps, serve it with crackers for dipping — there are so many ways to enjoy this delicious and versatile salad. So enjoy, enjoy! (more…)

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