New York City, and the surrounding area are about to get dumped on by a massive snow storm. People are flocking to the store, raiding the aisles, and stocking up on supplies to last them until Spring. Me? I cooked up this delicious pot of stew, and plan on holing up in my apartment and eating leftovers while the storm blankets the city’s sidewalks with snow. I can’t think of a better home-cooked meal to welcome the storm than this satisfying and healthy Italian Stew. Continue reading
If your holidays were anything like mine, they were filled with an heart-warming array of family, friends, laughter, and cheer. Our celebrations were also filled with copious amounts of cookies, cakes, gratins, casseroles, cheese, bread, sugar, and of course, lots and lots of wine. To top it all off, I went with a big group of friends on a ski vacation to Whistler, BC over New Year’s, and while we spent the days skiing and working off some of that holiday “cheer”, we spent the nights more than making up for it, stuffing our faces and drinking like we were back in college. Needless to say, I’m ready to get back to conscious eating and a healthy lifestyle. Continue reading
One of the many amazing things that I love about living in New York City is the endless list of restaurant options. It can be overwhelming for an avid home cook, because while I enjoy staying home and cooking, I also thoroughly enjoy discovering new restaurants and dining out. Often when it comes to choosing between cooking something at home, and going out to eat, I’ll choose the latter. While this significantly depletes my wallet, it contributes heavily to my recipe catalogue. I love sourcing recipes from restaurants that I visit, and whenever I am feeling a lull in creativity in the kitchen, I look to some of my favorite restaurants and dishes for inspiration. Continue reading
A few weeks ago, my family and I went on an unbelievable trip to France. We spent 10 days living the good life – our time split evenly between Paris, the city of lights, and Provence, the land of olive groves, vineyards and picturesque mountaintop towns. I couldn’t have asked for a better vacation. Absolute joie de vivre.
In Paris, we rented a beautiful apartment in Le Marias, and enjoyed all of the local shops and groceries to every extent we could. We were lucky enough to be staying just around the corner from a wonderful boulangerie-pâtisserie, and every morning we planned our day over steaming cappuccinos, freshly made baguettes smothered with sea-salt butter, and flaky, buttery pastries. Continue reading
I realized that I haven’t been writing nearly enough about my summer CSA and I need to immediately change that. My kitchen has been overflowing with ripe, local, and absolutely delicious produce all summer long, and it’s been glorious. I think it’s about time I share some more recipes with you! You might remember the kohlrabi and summer squash fritters I made at the start of the summer, which included some main ingredients from my CSA. But I’ve been chopping and cooking so much more than that – I unfortunately just haven’t been the best at documenting the process with pictures! This week I vowed to change that, especially now that we’re starting to receive mouthwatering, sweet heirloom tomatoes in the crop. Continue reading
Sometimes there is nothing better on a warm summer night than firing up the grill to cook some fresh summer veggies. Unfortunately, I live in a small Manhattan apartment with no outdoor space, so a grill is a luxury I don’t always have access to. So whenever I’m on vacation and there is a grill on premises, I try to take advantage of it as much as possible. I’ll stock up on fresh local corn, summer squash, and fresh local tomatoes right off the vine. Toss them with a little olive oil, salt and pepper, throw them on the grill and within 10 minutes you have the perfect, healthy side dish. Continue reading
Kohlrabi and Summer Squash Fritters with Yogurt Dill Sauce
I have made it my mission to cook as many healthy, locally sourced and seasonal recipes as possible this summer. Not just because it’s summer and I have to be seen in a bathing suit in a week (eek!), but mostly because when I eat well, I feel well, and that is really the most important thing to me when it comes to my diet eating habits. I hate using the word diet because I really don’t believe in them. I feel that by restricting the foods I eat I often crave them more, leading to binge eating which is never, ever a good look. I am quite petite, so I do have to eat less than other non-vertically challenged people, but watching what I eat is far different from restricting what I eat. As you can see on this here blog, I do have a pretty strong sweet tooth, which I used to always try to deny. But I found when I didn’t have that cookie, I’d wind up eating 10 later in the week, and that just wasn’t working. When I allow myself to eat smaller portions of things I like, and truly enjoy them without feeling the guilt, then the cravings disappear and it turns into a lifestyle of conscience eating, rather than endless weeks of diets that fall short. Continue reading
A few weeks ago, my boyfriend, Jordan, and I took a much needed long weekend away from the city. I love everything about living in NYC… the energy, the skyline, the food (obviously), the endless list of things to do at any given hour of the day… but let me tell you, it can get to be a lot. The noise, the crowds, the inconvenience of having to be anywhere on time, it can be unbearable sometimes. If you live in NYC you will absolutely know what I’m talking about. If you don’t then it’s hard to put into words…it can sort of feel like this. Especially after this wretched winter, when everyone was surly and miserable because the weather was so incredibly oppressing, we were just over it and needed a weekend away. So we booked a long weekend at a small lake house in the Berkshires. Just Jordan, our dog Brody and myself. Continue reading
Whenever I ask my Jewish friends what’s on the menu for their Passover Seder, I always get similar responses: meat and potatoes. The dishes may vary, from brisket to a roast. From mashed potatoes to potato gratin. But chances are, these two staples are most likely on the menu. It makes a lot of sense, when you can’t have bread, potatoes are the obvious choice for a delicious starchy side. Continue reading
This winter has been a doozy. I’ve lost count of the major snow storms here in NYC, and the forecast for the next few weeks is not looking much different. The cold weather and continuous gray skies have really been taking a toll on my mental health, and it seems I’m not alone. Everyone seems just a bit more on edge, making winter in New York even more unpleasant. Warm weather seems so far away, despite the fact that today marks the official first day of Spring. There’s only one way to escape the misery that is NYC in winter – a beach getaway. So that’s exactly what we did. Continue reading
Cassie's Kitchen 