Grubarazzi

(This recipe was featured in Urbanite Magazine !) Are you tired of serving green beans from a can smothered in salty soup and soggy fried onions?  Do you wish there were other vegetable delights offered at your holiday feast besides flimsy asparagus or gray green beans?  You are in luck!   Roasted winter vegetables sprinkled with rosemary, orange and pecan gremolata is a perfect accompaniment to the traditional roast, bird or tofurkey you are about to serve this Thanksgiving. Your guests will be delighted when they bite in to the tender honey roasted vegetables covered with a fresh, herbaceous and crunchy topping.  I hope all of my readers have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday with family and friends. I look forward to grubbing out, running it off and doing it all over again come Christmas. Consider yourself warned, you might have way too much green bean casserole left over if you serve this dish.  Honey Roasted Winter Vegetables with Herby Pecan Gremolat

The week before Thanksgiving never ceases to amaze me. The days are shorter while the To Do list grows more lengthy by the minute. The last thing we need is our waist lines expanding due to the stress of it all. To help combat the holiday bloat eating light in between grub fests is essential. Cooking with an assortment of vegetables and grains is fun, healthy and can be scrumptious. Two delightfully healthy dishes have found their way in to my belly this week, and they have a lot in common. They are comforting, warm and hearty without being laden with calories. Think about making them in between gorge sessions. Or enjoy them post-Thanksgiving when we are all joyfully unbuttoning our pants while secretly pleading to the scale gods to keep the damage to a minimum. Vegetable Tian Contains Dairy and Gluten Ingredients: 1 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil 1 zucchini, thinly sliced 1 yellow squash, thinly sliced 1 tomato, thinly sliced 1 bunch of asparagus, trimmed

What a versatile marvel pumpkin is. I recently devoured an entire pint of pumpkin ice cream and, let me tell you, it is delightful. This pumpkin rum sorbet is just as silky as its dairy relative; however, it tastes more like pumpkin pie chased with a dark n’ stormy .   I am not going to sit here and wax poetic about how much I worship pumpkin. I’m not going to tell you how excellent this sorbet is, and that you WILL scoop another serving while your mouth is still full with the first. Nor will I tell you about the wonderfully crunchy, sweet brittle that pairs perfectly with the creamy cold sorbet. I simply do not think you need to hear this from me. Because pictures speak a thousand words…   Pumpkin rum sorbet and cinnamon walnut brittle is a sugary delight you will not want to pass up this holiday season. Pumpkin Rum Sorbet Ingredients: 1 ¼ cup water 1 cup white sugar 1 tbsp. dark molasses   ¼ cup maple syrup 2 tbsp. Goslings black seal rum

  Grubarazzi with her adorable and supportive husband  (a.k.a taste tester extraordinaire) I am a classically trained eater with a passion for cooking, photography, writing, and travel. I write about what makes me tick, mainly grub. After a decade of climbing the corporate ladder I craved an outlet for my insane love of food, photography, writing and family. Since I was a babe my foodie parents saw the passion in my eyes when they would bring their homemade concoctions to the table.  This blog combines everything I adore in life.  The recipes, photos and scribbles on the pages of Grubarazzi are yours truly, although I am constantly inspired by chefs, friends and fellow food bloggers. Twisting classics while respecting tradition is what Grubarazzi is all about. I only hope my passion is duly expressed and motivates readers to try anything.  Enjoy the recipes, dance, laugh and eat with me. And for goodness sakes, get your grub on!  

After a long day of work and school I went on a quest for an edible muse. There was plenty of food in the house, but I wanted to use an ingredient that was not typical of me.The store was not making it easy, and the journey began with the usual culprits. Zucchini, lemons, red onions and arugula all found their way in to the basket.  Nothing was screaming “Hey Grub, over here! I’m different! Try me!”  Then, hidden near the seasonal goods I stumbled upon a weird little fruit that looked like the red headed step child of a tomato and an apricot. What is this alien produce I have surely seen before but never cooked with? A persimmon! They were so cute four of them came home with me.  Persimmons were the catalyst to this shaved creation. The salad was paired with cornish hens; however, the hens didn’t make it. They tasted great but looked more like torture victims than edible art. Please keep them in your thoughts while you eat this salad. The battle of the Cornish he

Food is the rhythm of a nation.  Last night, I took a trip to Morocco through the thumping pulse of its cuisine. Thump thump...boom...pow! A nation’s fare often reflects its delicate and tumultuous past. Given its location on the North African coast, Morocco has been molded by the Berber, Spanish, Portuguese, Arab and Mediterranean cultures. Exotic spices have been imported for thousands of years and the land proved worthy of harvesting saffron, mint, olives, oranges and lemons. The rich heritage of Morocco is reflected in every indigenous spice, nut, bean, fruit and grub-worthy carbohydrate. It only makes sense that its cuisine is lusciously spiced and bursting with culture. Maybe one day I will actually travel to Morocco and experience it firsthand. Until then, I am dancing to the Moroccan beat in my kitchen. The dancing is frightening...the food is delish! Moroccan Spiced Turkey Breast Cutlets  Ingredients: 1 lb. turkey breast cutlets 2 tbs. olive oil

  Give me a rule and I will break it.  Who says peanuts get to have all the fun? Almonds are just as versatile (hellooo, almond butter) and should be used with abandon. Don’t let this bundle of noodles fool you with its creamy zesty-ness. They may be all up in your face with flavor but this dish is healthy and loaded with good fats, protein, fiber and vitamins to keep your engine roaring.  So, if you are looking to surprise the people you love at dinner tonight, rock their nuts off by pulling this recipe out of the bag. Be sure to make enough for seconds.   Almond Noodles with Pickled Pear Relish Ingredients: ¾ lb soba noodles (or brown rice noodles) 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts ¼ cup rice wine vinegar 3 tsp. sugar 2 tsp. red pepper flakes 1 large shallot, thinly sliced 1 yellow bell pepper, julienned 1 pear, julienned 3 stalks celery, julienned ½ cup slivered almonds To marinade the chicken: ¼ cup light soy sauce 2 tbsp. rice wine

While searching for edible bowls to stuff with savory goodness I found a few gems hidden in the autumn produce bin. Carnival squash is so colorful and playful it is almost too pretty to eat. Almost. The meat is gently sweet and similar to butternut, but gets its looks from the acorn side of the family. Carnivals are perfect for roasting and loading with hearty ingredients. The brown rice based stuffing is filled with golden raisins, mushrooms, spinach, walnuts and blue cheese to create a texturally satisfying bite. The raisins add a hint of sweetness to contradict the wonderfully pungent flavor of crumbled blue.   Stuffed carnivals are a perfect side item for the holidays.  Stuffed Carnivals  (contains dairy)   Ingredients:  3 carnival squash 1 tbsp. olive oil Salt and pepper, to taste 1 cup brown rice, uncooked 2 tbsp. butter 1 large shallot, finely chopped 1 package baby Portobello mushrooms, coarsely chopped to smaller pieces 3 large cloves g