Carrot-Ginger Dressing

I recently purchased the Candle Cafe Cookbook.  If you live in New York City, you should definitely check out both of their restaurants, both on the Upper East Side.  It's a vegan restaurant but even if you are not on a vegan diet you can still enjoy great soups, salads, entrees, and even desserts!!  I particularly love their dressings, they have about 8 to choose from! Here's an adapted version of their Carrot-Ginger Dressing.

Carrot-Ginger Dressing
(makes 2 cups)
3 knobs of peeled ginger, about 1-inch each, minced
2 garlic gloves
2 shallots, peeled and roughly chopped
1 cup peeled and shredded carrots
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1/2 cup vegetable or safflower oil
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
3 tablespoons agave nectar
2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
1 tablespoon rice vinegar

Place all ingredients in the food processor or a blender and process until smooth.  Taste to adjust seasoning.  Keep in the fridge, tightly covered, for up to 10 days.  Pour over your favorite mixed greens and enjoy!

Mini Egg Muffins

Prepare the chopped veggies, chop them small...think mini muffin tins

Beat 4 egg whites and 1 whole egg in a bowl. Add salt and pepper. (FYI, I actually painted this bowl myself, you like?)

Dress the potatoes and asparagus with olive oil and roast in the oven at 400 degrees for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile in the egg bowl add some grated parmesan cheese, as much or as little as you like. Actually you can add whatever cheese you like.

When the veggies from the oven are cooked through mix them into the egg bowl along with your chopped tomatoes.

Spoon the egg mixture into greased mini muffin tins. Bake at 350 degrees for about 20-25 minutes till they are puffed up and cooked. Below is my final breakfast plate. It was really delicious and I still have some mini muffins for another day. You can re-heat them in the microwave or oven. The salad that I had alongside the egg muffins was a mixture of cucumber, tomato, and avocado. The dressing is a drizzle of olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper....and TADA....you've got yourself a nice little yummy Israeli Salad! I also ate a piece of whole wheat baguette with some ricotta cheese sprinkled with salt.

Anniversary/Birthday Cake/Salad

So today is my dad's birthday, yesterday was my parents 36th wedding anniversary, and on Tuesday is my brother and his wife's 1st wedding anniversary. The family, sans my sister, who's in college, is getting together on Wednesday evening for some home cooked grub at their place.

I know for sure I am going to make a Coconut Layer Cake that I once sampled at a friend's bridal shower in Connecticut. The cake was bought from the Sono Baking Company. The guy who started the bakery, John Barricelli, used to work at Martha Stewart Living Productions in Westport, CT. Martha Stewart Productions produces the magazine Everyday Food and the show on PBS called Everyday Baking. The Sono Baking Company is going to be sold at bookstores March 9th!! I'm super excited to get a look at what else is inside!! After putting two and two together we got our hands on this recipe, see link above. I've never seen a group of ladies eat a whole cake at a bridal shower and actually enjoy it and leaving wanting more. I think I thought about that cake for several weeks after the shower, and I'll tell you this...I wasn't the only crazy one still salivating at the thought of this cake.

I'm also going to make this salad, I saw the recipe on another blog I follow called, Big Girls, Small Kitchen: A Guide to Quarter-Life Cooking. What I liked about it was the dressing, because really what's a salad with no dressing?? Not much! I love that the recipe calls for avocado and lots of vibrant flavored herbs such as basil and parsley. P.S. I SUGGEST NEVER USE CURLY PARSLEY. Not even sure why markets even bother selling it. Have you ever seen a recipe that specifically calls for curly parsley over the flat leaf kind?!!?!? I thought so.

Green Goddess Dressing

½ medium avocado 3 tbsp white wine vinegar 1 garlic clove 1/2 lemon, juiced 1 tbsp mayonnaise 2 tbsp parsley, chopped 2 tbsp basil, chopped 2-3 scallions, chopped ½ - ¾ cup olive oil ½ tsp salt and pepper (to taste)

Combine all ingredients in a food processor and pulse to combine. Stream in the olive oil gradually and blend until the mixture becomes light and frothy. Taste for seasoning. Toss with your leaves of choice.

So as an edible gift to my parents, brother, and his wife I'd like to bake this cake. I will definitely photograph the meal and all the food that's served. And maybe, just maybe, I'll be able to capture a snapshot of my family, surely a shot not to be missed! Be sure to stay tuned, this could get interesting!