Moroccan Eggplant Pizza

This is truly one of those "no recipe" recipes. It was inspired by a lone eggplant hanging out in the refrigerator and my desire for pizza. And it was delicious enough that it made it to this space!

While the suggestion below is for squeezing lemon juice over the finished pizza - trust me on that, you need to at least do that - if you have preserved lemon, mince it super fine and sprinkle it over the pizza before baking. That will probably be even more fantastic!

Although fresh mozzarella is not usually my choice, it works better here than regular mozzarella because the tomato sauce needs to be more of a dominant flavor than it tends to be when covered up with melted mozzarella. Think of this as more of a flat bread than a pizza and you will have a better understanding of the concept I was attempting to create.

Best Healthy Creamy Garlic Herb Dip

Necessity is the mother of invention, or so they say, whomever "they" are! When I needed a healthy snack to have around the house for the returning college students, this dip popped in my head: cottage cheese whipped into creamy deliciousness with garlic and herbs. What's not to love!

Whether you eat it with raw veggies or sour cream and onion thick cut potato chips, it's healthy and filling - not the potato chips perhaps, but the dip is!

This would make a great addition to any 4th of July picnic, an easy way to get veggies into your Independence Day festivities.

This is literally a snap to whip up and if you haven't discovered the ease and joy of fitting a small mouth mason jar on your blender for making such dips, do it with this recipe; you will never go back to your carafe!

Homemade Sriracha - DIY Pantry

Yes, that is a honey bear with homemade Sriracha in it. It is kind of the perfect container and the irony of spicy sweet condiment inhabiting a honey bear tickles my fancy quite a bit!

I like to make my own sauces and condiments because it's fun, and often cheaper if you do it in season. With Sriracha, you can only do it when the jalapenos are red, usually at the end of the summer, so keep this recipe at the ready for when you can scoop some up.

Nicoise Inspired Chopped Salad

This is one of those dinners that was thrown together with what was in the fridge and because it "looked pretty" according to my hubby, I took a picture. And thinking that more people should do likewise in using up odds and ends from the frig, it has now become a blog post.

Nicoise inspired because there is fish on it (that would be leftover cooked salmon and anchovies), boiled potatoes and eggs, but the sauted zucchini, avocado and feta is just what was available and looked tasty. This is one big satisfying salad, and I have made it with canned sardines, cooked asparagus, radishes and cucumbers. Make it with whatever is in the pantry to bulk up your meal. Try it, you'll like it!

Sockeye Salmon with Green Sauce

Salmon is truly one of life's great pleasures, at least from my perspective. And having it so readily available in our fish counter at the North Coast Co-op has surely spoiled me, but that is just fine and dandy with me!

Finding new ways to prepare salmon aside from my usual favorites is a fun pastime, and this version from David Tanis of the New York Times (and Chez Panisse) never fails to please. It is more of a summery version, all fresh green herbs and lemon juice.

French in origin, it pairs wonderfully well with mashed potatoes (of course, to my hubby and I, everything goes with mashed potatoes! especially Indian food, really, you'll love it!) But it also is great with boiled new potatoes, steamed green beans or asparagus, or some other spring/summer like veggie.

My version relies heavily on the fresh tarragon, but that's just me. Use chervil if you can find it/grow it. This is my go-to salmon dish when there isn't any creme fraiche brewing for this version. But only make it with fresh tarragon. Either way, prepare for a repeater; it's easy and scrumptious!

Zucchini Crust Pizza

Unless you have only been cooking from cookbooks (and if so, bully for you!) but everyone else should have undoubtedly heard of the cauliflower crust pizza. This is even better, trust me!

It is like a giant zucchini fritter with pizza on top, sooooo amazingly good! Feed it to your skeptical diners, they will reward your with praise! Even my hubby, who couldn't believe his eyes, actually said it might be better than real pizza crust! It was good enough that I planted extra zucchini plants to freeze shredded zucchini to have through the winter!

I have to admit that I have not been able to achieve the "crisp" crust that so many of the bloggers brag about, even though I bought a silicon baking mat specifically for that purpose. But it still tastes delicious!