Whisk together the lemon juice, garlic, and honey in a small bowl. Season the dressing with salt and lots of freshly ground black pepper, and then slowly whisk in the olive oil until well combined.

Place half of lettuce on each plate, and arrange the chickpeas, bell pepper, tomatoes, cucumber, onion, olives, and feta on top in sections. Sprinkle the mint leaves over the salad and then drizzle the dressing over everything.

We also did a lot of eating; hitting up old favourites like Lamberts, Magnolia Cafe, and El Chilito, and exploring new restaurants like La Condesa and Frank, which was probably the most fun and original meal we had all week: hello, hot dog covered with bbq sauce and mac & cheese, plus they had bloody marys with bacon-infused bourbon and a strip of fried bacon as a stirrer!

On Saturday, I went to the Techmunch food blogging workshop hosted by Babette of Bakespace and Jaden of Steamy Kitchen. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but wow, what an inspirational and educational afternoon! There were a whole slew of experts discussing how to make your food blog better from selecting content to developing your brand in an effort to one day monetize your blog. My mind was just racing the entire time with different ideas and changes that I want to make to improve Recession Recipes. One of the first changes is going to be regular posts every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

Perhaps the panel that resonated with me the most was Jaden’s discussion of Creating Personal Buzz. She talked about her decision to make food and blogging her livelihood and how she created a visual inspiration board of her goals and the life that she wanted to lead. Three years later, she has achieved the life that she dreamed of and now uses her inspiration board to remind her of her journey and why she does what she does. As someone on the brink of a huge change with our impending move this summer and me still figuring out what I want to do career-wise, Jaden’s talk hit home and I’m going to make my own visual inspiration board to reimagine the life that I really want. If you want to learn more about all of the different sessions, the Austin-based food blog Setted does an excellent job of recapping the workshop: Part One and Part Two.

When we got back to Vegas, our bodies were craving healthy food and vegetables. In fact, I bet I was the only person on my flight to Vegas who was actually looking forward to lots of sleep, no drinking, and working out once I arrived! I made this Chickpea Tagine for our first dinner back as a way to atone for our trip to Austin. We both loved the hot and sweet combination of harissa and honey in the dish, which has inspired Carlo to make some harissa and honey chicken wings tonight (so much for the health kick ). Anyway this tasty and good for you dish makes enough for 6 generous dinners at $2.02 per serving.

Chickpea Tagine, adapted from Fitness Magazine, February 2010
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 red onions, halved and thickly sliced
4 small carrots, sliced lengthwise and cut into 1/2-inch slices
12 ounces cubed and peeled butternut squash
4 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
2 inches peeled fresh ginger, grated
1 tablespoon harissa paste, plus additional to taste
1 tablespoon honey, plus additional to taste
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
2 cans 14-ounce chopped tomatoes
2 medium zucchini, quartered and cut into 1/2-inch slices
20 dried apricots, sliced
water
2 cans 14-ounce chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1 lemon
salt and pepper
2 cups couscous, cooked according to package directions

In a large heavy pot over medium-low heat, warm up the olive oil and and add the onions and a little bit of salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes, then add the carrots and cook for 5 more minutes. Add the butternut squash, garlic, and ginger, and raise the heat to medium. Cook everything, while still stirring for 5 minutes.

Add the harissa, honey, cumin, cinnamon, turmeric, and stir the spices until they become fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the tomatoes, zucchini, apricots and stir well. Fill up 1 of the cans of tomatoes with water and add it to the pot and bring everything to a simmer over medium heat. If the tagine is too thick, add a bit more water until the mix is juicy but not too liquidy. Cover and reduce the heat as needed to let the tagine simmer gently, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are tender and not mushy, about 20 to 25 minutes.

Add the chickpeas and lemon juice to the pot. Raise the heat and simmer, uncovered, until the chickpeas are heated through and the liquid has thickened slightly, 5 to 10 minutes. Season the tagine to taste with salt, pepper and additional harissa and honey. Serve the tagine over couscous for a delicious dinner that perhaps tastes even better the next day as leftovers.

My sister and 2 nieces have extended their stay in Texas by a week since the farm where they live in Scotland is snowed in and a few of the pipes in their house have burst so they have no water or heating. Hopefully my brother-in-law who left to go back to Scotland yesterday will get the house warm for them when they return next week.

I now feel a little guilty about complaining that it was freezing in Vegas on Friday because it was in the 50s and grey outside. Although it did give me an excuse to wear my Longhorn snuggie all day and lounge on the couch. I think our matching snuggies just might have been the best present we got for Christmas–thanks Mum!

Anyway, freezing days (whether they are real or imagined as in my case) require something slow cooked on the oven as a way to warm the soul, both literally and metaphorically. This Italian Pot Roast recipe cooks for a few hours, but is perfect dinner to make on a cold day. This recipe makes enough for 8 dinners at $2.34 per serving.

Italian Pot Roast, adapted from Simply Recipes
3 1/2 to 4 pound rump or chuck beef roast
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 cup carrots, diced
1 cup celery, diced
1 1/2 cups red onion, diced
4 garlic cloves, finely minced
2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 bay leaf
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh sage
3 cups medium-bodied Italian red wine
1 28-ounce can Italian plum tomatoes, put through a food mill to remove the seeds

Trim any extra fat from the roast and pat it dry with paper towels so you can nicely brown the meat, and then generously season with salt and pepper. Heat the oil in a large Dutch oven over a medium-high heat, and when the oil is hot, add the roast and brown it on all sides. Once it is nicely browned, transfer the meat to a platter.

Reduce the heat to medium and then add the carrots, celery, and onions. Cook the vegetables while stirring occasionally until they are golden brown and begin to stick to the bottom of the pan, around 10-12 minutes. Add the garlic, parsley, and sage, and cook them for about 1 minute. Deglaze the pan by adding 1 cup of the wine and stirring until most of the wine evaporates and coats the veggies. Return the meat to the pan and baste it with the veggie sauce.

Increase the heat to high and add the remaining wine, bay leaf, and tomatoes, and bring to a boil. Cover the pot and reduce the heat to low. Let the roast simmer, turning and basting the meat every half hour, until the meat is very tender, around 3 to 4 hours. Once the meat is cooked, turn off the heat and let the roast sit in its juices for an hour.

If you don’t want to cook the meat on the stove, you can also cook it in the oven at 300¬?F while turning and basting the roast every hour. I’m sure you could also put the roast in a slow cooker too after browning the meat and sauteing the veggies.

Remove the meat from the pot and cover it loosely with some foil. If the sauce is too think, quickly bring the sauce to a boil and then lower the heat and let it simmer to thicken it up. Taste the sauce and season with salt and pepper.

Cut the meat into thick slices and serve covered in the sauce. We ate our pot roast with some potato puree and brussels sprouts, which were the perfect accompaniments.

The main effect the book had on me was to create an intense craving for pasta — real pasta, with real sauce, not some oversalted red concoction out of a jar. Buford spends several pages talking about his experiences working the pasta station on the line at Babbo, and it put me over the top when he went into great detail about how they get the ingredients to come together into a glorious combination to make their awesome sauces. So I looked over Babbo’s web site, where they kindly post lots of recipes, but I ended up with this recipe, out of the Italian Two Easy: Simple Recipes from the London River Cafe book, which itself is full of great dishes that simply capture the elegance and beauty of Italian cooking.

The end result was a decadent, creamy dish with great flavor from the pancetta and tomatoes that, while forcing me to do a few extra sit-ups, definitely satisfied my craving. This pasta recipe makes enough for 4 meals at $2.06 per serving.

Pappardelle with Tomato and Pancetta, adapted from Italian Two Easy: Simple Recipes from the London River Cafe
6 plum tomatoes
5 ounces pancetta slices
2 dried hot chiles
3 1/2 ounces freshly grated Parmesan cheese
4 to 5 tablespoons unsalted butter
2/3 cup heavy cream
16 ounces egg pappardelle
salt and pepper

To easily peel the tomatoes, make a slit in the side of each tomato, and place them in a large bowl and cover with boiling water. Leave the tomatoes for 30 seconds or so, and then remove them into cold water. Once the tomatoes are cool enough to touch, peel them and remove the seeds and roughly chop the flesh. Cut the pancetta into 3/4-inch slices and crumble the chiles.

Melt the butter in a thick-bottomed pan and add the pancetta and chile. Gently cook them until the pancetta begins to colour. Add the tomatoes, and season with salt and pepper. Let the tomatoes gently cook for 10 minutes, and then add the cream and cook for a further 10 minutes.

Cook the pappardelle in boiling salted water according to the package instructions, or until al dente. Drain the pasta and add it to the sauce. Stir in half of the grated Parmesan while tossing the pasta to make sure each piece is nicely coated in sauce.

Serve the dish with a little extra Parmesan on top.

Cheddar BLT Burgers with Tarragon Russian Dressing
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/3 cup ketchup
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon grated onion
1 tablespoon chopped parsley
2 tablespoons sweet relish, or more to taste
1 tablespoon chopped tarragon
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
12 ounces thickly sliced bacon
1 1/3 pounds ground beef chuck
1 1/3 pounds ground beef sirloin
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
3 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, cut into 6 slices
6 hamburger buns, split and toasted, or you can use any other type of bread like we did with brioche
6 iceberg lettuce leaves
6 slices of tomato
6 slices of red onion

In a medium bowl, whisk the mayonnaise with the ketchup, red wine vinegar, onion, parsley, tarragon, sweet relish, and Worcestershire sauce. Cover it and place it in the fridge while you prep the burgers.

In a large skillet, salt and pepper the bacon and then cook it a moderately high heat, turning the pieces over once until the bacon is crispy, around 6 minutes or so. Drain the bacon on paper towels to get rid of any excess grease.

Light the bbq grill and let it heat up. While it is heating up, place the butter on the grill in a small metal dish to let it melt.

Gently mix the ground chuck with the ground sirloin (or plain ground beef if that is all you have), and thoroughly salt and pepper the meat. Divide the meat into six equal portions and form the patties in your hand, each one around 1 1/4 inches thick.

Place the burgers on the grill and brush them with some of the melted butter. Grill them over a high heat for 9 minutes to achieve a nice medium-rare burger. Turn them once during the grilling and brush the other side with a bit more butter. Place the cheese on top of the burgers right before they are fully cooked and let the cheese melt.

You can also put the buns or bread on the grill too and brush with a little butter to add a nice crunch to your burger as well.

To serve the burgers, spread the Russian dressing on the bottom of the buns and top with lettuce and tomatoes. Set the burger over this and top with the onion and slices of bacon to enjoy a really good and juicy burger.

The only “bright spot” of this daunting day was finding this recipe for a Tunisian Tuna Sandwich in a Metropolitan Home magazine in one of the doctor’s waiting room. This week after Carlo regained his appetite, I made it and we both enjoyed the salty tang of the sandwich. This recipe makes enough for 2 large sandwiches at $2.23 each, a fraction of what you would pay at a fancy sandwich shop.

Tunisian Tuna Sandwich
1 medium Yukon Gold potato, peeled, cubed (1/2-inch pieces)
2 large eggs
2 5-oz cans water-packed, albacore tuna, drained
1/4 cup capers, drained
1/2 cup chopped parsley
juice of 2 lemons
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil, plus more for serving
salt and pepper
2 demi-baguettes or rolls
Harissa

Boil the cubed potatoes in salted water until they are tender, and then drain and let them cool. Cover the eggs with cold water in a small saucepan and cook them over a high heat for 12 minutes, then cool them in a bowl of ice water. Once they are cool, peel and slice the eggs.

In a large bowl, combine the tuna, capers, parsley, lemon juice, olive oil and mix with a fork. Season with salt and pepper to taste. I just kept on adding lemon juice and a bit of olive oil until the mixture tasted how I liked it. Lastly fold in the potatoes into the sandwich filling.

Gently toast the cut baguettes or rolls, and pull out the the soft insides of the bread. Spread the bottom side of the bread with a generous amount of harissa and top with a sliced egg. Then add the tuna stuffing on top and drizzle with a bit of olive oil to finish off the sandwich.

However this fast and easy Thai Chicken, Zucchini, and Tomato Curry can make you rethink that Thai delivery because you can have dinner on the table faster than the delivery guy can make it to your house at a fraction of the cost. This Thai Curry feeds 4 people at $2.03 per serving.

Thai Chicken, Zucchini, and Tomato Curry
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breasts, sliced crosswise 1/3 inch thick
salt and freshly ground pepper
1 onion, sliced 1/4 inch thick
2 zucchini, cut into 2-by-1/2-inch sticks
1 1/2 cups cherry tomatoes
1 tablespoon Thai red curry paste, or to taste
1/2 cup unsweetened light coconut milk
2 tablespoons water
finely grated zest of 1 lime
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
rice, for serving

In a large pot, heat 2 tablespoons of the vegetable oil. Add the chicken seasoned with salt and pepper, and cook it over a high heat until the chicken is just white throughout, around 2 minutes. Transfer the chicken to a plate.

Add the remaining oil to the pot, and add the onion and stir-fry over a moderately high heat for 2 minutes. Throw the zucchini and cherry tomatoes into the pot and stir-fry for another 2 minutes. Stir in the curry paste (you can add as much as you want depending on how hot you like your curries), coconut milk, water, lime zest, and lime juice and bring the curry to a simmer. Add more coconut milk if you think the curry needs a bit more juice and then stir in the chicken and cook for a couple of minutes.

Serve the curry with cooked rice and top with fresh chopped cilantro for a quick Thai dinner at home.

Honey Lime Salmon
3 tablespoons honey
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
3/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon freshly grated lime peel
1/4 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
4 pieces salmon fillet, (about 4 ounces each)
3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro leaves
lime wedges

Mix together the honey, cumin, coriander, salt, lime zest, pepper, and 1 teaspoon of very hot water until everything is thoroughly blended.

Rub the honey-spice mixture all over salmon. You can cook it straight away, but I prefer to let it marinade for a bit to really infuse the salmon with the spicy flavours.

Place the salmon on a grill over medium heat and cook for 10 minutes or just until the salmon turns opaque throughout and flakes easily.

Serve the salmon with a sprinkle of cilantro and some lime wedges to squeeze over the fish. I made the Southwestern Sweet Potato and Quinoa Salad to go with the salmon, and it made for a fast but tasty dinner.

Due to our visit to Gilcrease farm and me picking the giant squash, last week turned into a squash fest with me making Zucchini Pesto Pancakes and a Ricotta Cheese and Zucchini Tart with Potato Crust. Despite having enough of both dishes to eat them for a dinner and then lunch the next day, we still had more squash in our fridge that needed to be cooked!

Luckily this recipe for Zucchini Carbonara, from the issue of Jaime Magazine that my sister brought me from Scotland, had been taunting me ever since I had returned from Texas. Every time I opened the magazine, it always seemed to fall open to this recipe and I just couldn’t resist the siren’s call any longer, especially with all that zucchini in the house!

Worried about testing our threshold of just how much zucchini one can possibly eat in a week, I’m happy to report that the lemon-infused sauce of the Zucchini Carbonara was so good that we kind of forgot that we had been on a squash binge for the previous few days. So if you too have overloaded on the summer bounty of zucchini, I highly recommend this pasta recipe to chase away your squash blues. The Zucchini Carbonara feeds 2 people and costs $2.11 per serving.

Zucchini Carbonara
2 large eggs
1 ounce creme fraiche
1 ounce finely grated Parmesan
2 1/2 ounces smoked pancetta, cubed
1/4 red onion, sliced
1 small yellow squash
1 small zucchini, julienned
grated zest of 1 lemon
parsley or chives
dried spaghetti or linguine

Heat the olive oil in a sauce pan over medium-high and fry the pancetta to a crisp. Add the onion to the pan and cook for around 2 more minutes. Lastly add the zucchini to the mix and cook long enough for the zucchini to wilt.

Beat the eggs together with the creme fraiche, lemon zest, freshly ground black pepper, and most of the grated Parmesan cheese.

If you don’t have any creme fraiche, but still want to make this recipe, you can substitute the sauce that I made for the Orrechietta Carbonara a few weeks ago. Just be sure to add the lemon zest.

Boil the spaghetti or linguine according to the packet directions, then drain the pasta and save some of the cooking water. Return the cooked pasta and a little bit of the pasta water to the pot and add the zucchini, pancetta, and onion mixture. Toss everything together and then pour over the egg mixture. Gently combine all of the ingredients and allow the sauce to thicken. Serve with a little more grated Parmesan and sprinkle with some chopped parsley or chives.

To prepare for my debut, Carlo explained how to turn on the grill and work all the knobs. After seeing my sister lose far too many eyelashes and arm hairs in her grilling experiences in high school, I’m a total wuss when it comes to flames. He also found some helpful chicken grilling tips in the Steve Raichlen book, How to Grill: The Complete Illustrated Book of Barbecue Techniques. If you are a grilling newbie or just want to improve your ‘que, I would definitely recommend this book. Not only does it go over the basics, Raichlen proves his bbq guru-ness with tons of recipes that he has found by traveling the world in the pursuit of the grill.

Since I’m an amibitious cook (not always a good thing), I decided to jump right into grilling and cook everything on my dinner menu on the grill. Carlo wanted me to make this delicious looking Publican Chicken that was published in the New York Times food section last week, and I added the sides of Grilled Bread Salad and Grilled Corn.

I had everything prepared in the kitchen, the grill heating outside, and was only waiting on Carlo’s phone call to tell me that he was on his way home from school for me to put all of the food on the grill. I had even memorized Raichlen’s tips on how to grill chicken quarters properly. I first started by putting the bread on to grill for the Grilled Bread Salad, and all was going well until I flipped the slices over and the other side would just not toast.

Turns out the grill had run out of gas, or at least that is what I thought, even though in the back of my mind, I wondered if I had somehow broken the grill. I turned it off and waited for Carlo to get home where he confirmed that the grill was indeed out of gas (man, was I relieved that I was not a grilling idiot!). He got a new tank and eventually took over on the grill while I observed and helped out a bit. So my grilling debut turned out to be a bit more collaborative than I had intended, but I’m ready to face the grill solo soon!

We used chicken legs for the Publican Chicken recipe to make 3 servings at $1.37 each. The Grilled Bread Salad made 4 servings at $2.12 each, and the Grilled Corn cost 50 cents per serving for a total dinner cost of $3.99.

To make the marinade for the Publican Chicken, mix together olive oil, lemon juice, brown sugar, hot paprika, oregano, garlic and salt and pepper. The marinade is a nice combination of sweet and savory, which works great with the dark meat of the chicken legs.

Our favourite way to marinate meat is to put it in a large ziploc bag and then pour in the marinade. Close the bag and shake the bag to get the marinade all over the chicken. By putting it in a bag, you are able to really massage the marinade into every nook and cranny of the meat without getting your hands dirty and making a mess. I highly recommend that you marinate the chicken for a few hours in the fridge to fully allow the marinade to flavor the meat.

After a few hours in the fridge, the chicken is ready for the grill, where you should place it skin side down first over medium to high heat. Grill the legs for a few minutes until the skin is beginning to brown and then move the leg to a cooler section of the grill and cook until the skin is fully browned. Repeat the process on the other side for perfectly cooked chicken quarters.

To make the Grilled Bread Salad, start with some really great tomatoes. I got some more from the Farmers Market since they were so good in the Tomato and Mozzarella Salad with Basil Vinaigrette. They were supplemented by one for our own garden, the bigger red one in the middle–sadly, my tomato bushes right now only seem to be ripening one tomato per day which isn’t ideal for using them in recipes!

Another key ingredient is good bread. I used some leftover ciabatta that I got from the Farmers Market as well. Ciabetta is a good choice for the bread salad because it toasts well and the airy slices help soak up the juices of the tomatoes better. Cut the bread into thickish slices and then put them on the grill and toast them on both sides until the bread browns and chars slightly.

As for the tomatoes, I cut the cherry tomatoes in half and then put them in a large bowl and mixed them with olive oil, lemon juice, red onion, and finely grated garlic. Be sure to taste the mixture and adjust to your liking. This tomato mixture forms the basis for the salad, so you need to make sure it is seasoned well and tasty.

After the grilled bread cools, cut into up into large chunks and add them to the tomatoes along with a handful of cut parsley and basil. Mix everything together so all of the flavors meld together. I prefer a crunchier bread salad, so I serve mine fairly quickly after I add the bread cubes. Incredible!

BTW: If you love bread salad and ever find yourself in Marfa, Texas, check out the Pizza Foundation. Not only are their pizzas to die for, but they have an incredible Tomato Bread Salad on the menu too.

My preferred way to eat summer corn is grilled with a smidgen of butter and a sprinkle of salt. Grilling corn is really easy: just shuck the corn and put it on the grill over medium heat. Keep an eye on the cobs so they don’t burn, but just have some nice charred parts on them.