The sun. The warm air. The sounds of laughter and roar of the lawn mower. The scent of freshly cut grass. When I sat down earlier to write this blog post, all of these things beckoned me outside. I tried to soldier on but all I found was a sputtering of ho-hum sentences curving around the photos I had so carefully edited earlier. Finally, I conceded defeat, snapping my laptop shut and heading outside to trim our bushes, play an impromptu game of soccer and grill burgers for dinner.

In the end, I was smiling, no longer held hostage by words that wouldn’t come or feeling of being torn between what I needed to do and what I wanted to. It just goes to show that sometimes the best thing we can do is to walk away and let life happen.

This salad is a let life happen sort of thing too. It’s so simple that it can practically be made with zero planning. Red pepper, avocado, corn, black beans … these are things we practically always have on hand here at this time of year. Avocados are in season and affordable at about $1 each. We easily eat three each week. Lime juice? It’s my citrus of choice, so it’s almost always in the fridge in some form or another. All together, it’s a magical combination that makes a perfect side dish for lunch or dinner. Or you could totally snack on the leftovers. Don’t worry — I won’t tell.

What this salad isn’t is terribly unique. Yes, I actually said that. This is my version that I whip up but there are dozens of other similar ways to make it. Mine was inspired by a salad my cousin shared with me at the beach recently. Hers had lemon juice as the citrus and a few more ingredients (tomatoes and some sort of onion, if I remember correctly). Meanwhile, I made this for a family party on Saturday and arrived to discover that another very similar salad was also on the table. That cool, tangy version used a lot more lime juice and had green onions and tomatoes in it but no avocado. It was so refreshing. That’s three versions … all from within our one family. Do you have one too? Spill in the comments!

The avocado lends a smooth creaminess to this salad, enveloping the red peppers, black beans and corn. It has enough cilantro to give the salad that earthy freshness without allowing the pungent herb to overtake the other flavors. It’s a perfect balance, even if you aren’t usually a big cilantro fan. But cilantro fans might want to double the amount. But for me, it’s just right.

This salad? It’s just lovely for spring.

Creamy Black Bean, Red Pepper and Corn Salad with Avocado and Cilantro
serves 8 as a side dish

2 ears fresh corn, peeled, boiled for 10 minutes and kernels removed
1 large red pepper, finely diced
1 tbsp minced fresh cilantro
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed (I use organic)
1 Hass avocado, pitted, peeled and diced
1 lime, juiced
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper, to taste

Stir together the corn kernels (break apart any large clumps, but small ones are okay), red pepper, cilantro, black beans and avocado. Drizzle with lime juice and olive oil. Toss well. Season with salt and pepper to desired flavor.

Chill until ready to serve.

Leftovers can be stored in the fridge for up to two days.

Dr. Seuss once wrote, “Remember that life’s a great balancing act,” and with every passing year, I nod in agreement more and more. This quote sticks in my head, particularly as I zip from work to school to sporting events to library to kitchen with the kids. It seems like so much of our life is spent on the go, heading to or from one thing or another. And that’s not a bad thing. I am all for a full and active life. But sometimes at the end of the day, you just want to curl up and do nothing.

That rarely happens — there is always more to be done.

Still, you can help the balance tilt closer to center by choosing easy dishes for dinner when you’re so busy. It’s a logical choice — something simple that takes the pressure off. This shrimp dish? Ridiculously simple.

This recipe is based on a basic method for sauteing shrimp that I use often. Start by cooking the just-seasoned raw shrimp in a little olive oil. Add a little liquid (white wine is a fave), cover and cook for a few minutes. Then uncover and let the liquid evaporate. Done, and all it took was about 10 minutes. It always yields tender, juicy, well-seasoned shrimp. With the addition of Chinese five-spice seasoning, these get a sweet-spicy twist that’s irresistible.

So, yes, shrimp is a great choice for a super quick meal — especially when your kids love shrimp like mine do.

After a day of sporting events this weekend, the kids and I dashed into the grocery store for a few things for dinner. They didn’t know it, but shrimp were on the menu. Shrimp cook so quickly and are always a huge hit. When we neared the fish counter, Paige looked at the display and then turned to me, “Mommy, can we have shrimp? They’re my faberite.” It was so easy to say yes.

Sauteed Five Spice Shrimp
serves 4

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 lb raw jumbo shrimp, peeled and deveined
1/2 tsp Chinese five spice seasoning
salt and pepper, to taste
2 tbsp dry white wine

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the shrimp and season with Chinese five spice, salt and pepper. Let cook, flipping once, until almost opaque (about 5 minutes). Add the wine and cover. Cook for 2 minutes. Uncover and cook until the wine evaporates, stirring occasionally. Serve immediately.

Poor ricotta cheese. It’s usually made with the leftover whey from making other cheeses but is rarely a destination food unto itself. Really, ricotta cheese is highly underrated and underutilized. Generally left to tango with marinara in baked ziti or spread on lasagna noodles all whipped up with egg and Parmesan or sweetened and piped into a cannoli, it’s rarely left to its own devices to please. While people happily cut slices of fresh mozzarella (which shares some of the same flavor profile) and spread cream cheese on bagels, ricotta is under-appreciated and forgotten. But ricotta is something amazing on its own. It’s rich, with a hint of sweetness and a fine but every-so-grainy texture. I prefer the cow’s milk version, but you can find ricotta made with goat’s milk or sheep’s milk or buffalo milk as well.

And if you are feeling very adventurous, you can try making your own homemade ricotta.

Lately, I’ve had ricotta on the brain, wanting to give it an opportunity to shine. So when I was working on a pasta recipe last week where the roasted garlic tomatoes rocked and the pasta dish itself didn’t, it immediately occurred to me that I could salvage my efforts by plucking the best part of the recipe out and using it elsewhere — as part of a crostini topping.

Crostini is a fun little class of appetizers built on crunchy slices of bread. They are eaten in just a couple bites, letting you get the full effect of a dish without a lot of effort. This one starts with unadulterated ricotta cheese spread on toasted slices of French bread. Use as much as you please — we like a good smear of it. Then a garlicky roasted tomato is placed on top.

Though my kids can be funny about bread, not always enjoying it — especially when it’s crunchy — they inhaled the flavors and textures in this dish. Paige‘s favorite part? The ricotta. Perhaps it won’t be so under-appreciated in this household anymore.

What do you think? Should ricotta be a little more used and appreciated, beyond the confines of the usual suspect dishes?

Garlic Tomato Crostini with Ricotta
serves 4

1 pint grape tomatoes
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
kosher salt
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
4-5 sprigs thyme
ricotta cheese
1/2 loaf French bread cut into 1/4 inch slices (approximately)

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Rinse the tomatoes in cool water, drain and add to an oval baking dish. Sprinkle with minced garlic and salt and drizzle with olive oil. Toss the sprigs of thyme into the dish and give it a good shake to distribute the seasonings.

Bake for 25-30 minutes, until the tomatoes burst when touched with a spoon. With a firm hand, crush all the tomatoes.

Meanwhile, spread ricotta cheese, to taste, onto each of the French bread slices (you will need as many slices as tomatoes — roughly 30-35). Then spoon a tomato and a little of the juice from the baking dish on top. Arrange on a serving plate.

Enjoy.

“Winter was not kind to my body this year.” Those words escaped my lips at the beach last week. It erupted forward before I could self-censor myself and tuck the sentiment away. My cousins, to whom I spoke, quickly tried to argue with compliments, a sweet gesture but the scale doesn’t lie. I’ve put on more weight than I am comfortable carrying around. I hate it. And I especially hate the constant battle with my weight. What happened to the days when my weight was constant? (Yes, I know the answer: age, time, kids, work, stress, rinse, repeat.)

Then one of my cousins suggested we all try the Mediterranean diet, which is more a lifestyle or eating philosophy than diet. I’m familiar with the principals of the Mediterranean diet, which I have loosely followed for several years. In the past few months, I’ve been lax about it … Perhaps that’s to blame for the weight gain. Anyway, I agreed. We’re trying it.

The Mediterranean diet is inspired by the actual diet of folks in the Mediterranean region.  Before modeling my own diet after it, I researched it a bit and read The Mediterranean Prescription. Basically, you eat lots of fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts, seeds and whole grains. Olive oil is used freely. You can dairy in moderation. Fish is eaten several times a week, along with some poultry. Healthy fats and red wine are ok too — in moderation. Red meat is seldom had.

As far as eating styles go, this is something I can really get behind. It’s natural to me to eat lots of fruits and veggies. And 12-grain bread is my absolute favorite. The challenge for me is to eat enough fish. And to eat red meat seldom (I typically have it once a week). But these are things that I can overcome.

Our conversation and collective decision inspired me to pick up flounder fillets when I was at the store this weekend. Flounder is a low mercury fish, and these thin wild-caught fillets were perfect for the recipe I had in mind. This is something I’ve made a few times, using whatever white fish I had handy. It’s good with catfish fillets, cod or tilapia as well.

Basically, the fish is bathed in an olive oil garlic mixture, salted and topped with fragrant thyme. Yes, it sounds like a lot of olive oil, but in reality you don’t eat all that oil — and the flavor it gives is worth it.

Then you bake it until the fish flakes effortlessly when pricked with a fork. Serve it with lemon wedges (yes, it’s required. Lemon and fish is a must). It’s a simple recipe, but one that produces a tender, delicate fish that the kids and I love.

What about you? Do you have an eating philosophy you follow?

Oven Poached Flounder with Garlic and Olive Oil
serves 4

1 lb flounder fillets (thin fillets — about 1/4 inch thick)
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
4-5 sprigs fresh thyme (one for each fillet)
sea salt
lemon wedges

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray a 9×13-inch glass baking dish with cooking oil spray. Rinse the flounder under cool water and arrange in the pan.

Whisk together the olive oil and garlic. Then pour over the flounder. Place a spring of thyme on each piece of flounder.

Salt, to taste, with sea salt.

Slide the baking dish into the preheated oven and bake for 12-15 minutes, until the fish flakes easily with a fork.

Serve immediately with lemon wedges.

A salad like this is a perfect ending to a cheery day. It hits all the right notes — crisp, crunchy, sweet, savory and belly-filling. And despite the length of the ingredients list, it’s ready in 10 minutes or less. An invaluable recipe to have in your repertoire, right?

This healthful salad was actually the ultimate finish to my Friday, the last weekday of spring break for my kids. We’d had a playful day filled with laughter, thrills and our collective favorite place — the beach. Yes, again.

What really made it significant though was that the whole week had been filled with memory-making good times. That’s no small feat, considering it was a work week for me. It was as though I had a fundamental shift in thinking that allowed me to just let go and enjoy — while still keeping up with all my work responsibilities. Good times, people.

But I will be the first to admit that the merriment of Spring Break 2012 is a complete 180 from previous years. In the past, the words ‘spring break’ have made me shudder. I struggled to balance work with having the kids home, and never seemed to do it well. Instead of enjoying spring break, the inevitable disruption in our schedule was an overwhelming challenge. And then there were all my good intentions of being one of those families that actually traveled during spring break. It never happened, a reality that inevitably produced dreaded feelings of inadequacy. Spring break in past years was just a bundle of blech.

This year was different. Anticipating the start of spring break, I was excited for the welcome respite. We’ve been in a whirlwind of activity for the past few months, including the week we were away. The beautiful weather and not wanting to travel (yes, really) made a difference too.

You know what else made a difference? Being a little spontaneous. Little excursions — to the playground, to the beach (um, twice) and even to track practice with friends — made the week really count. The little things can really mean so much.

So spring break this year? It was awesome. Summer vacation can’t come fast enough now.

While I can’t fast-forward through the last two months of school (and really, I wouldn’t want to … there is something to be said for anticipation), I can clutch a tiny bit of summer by trading the heavy foods of winter for the lighter bites of summertime — like this Edamame Chicken Dinner Salad.

A little more about the salad … This is crazy simple to make. Start with a bed of lettuce. Top with cucumber, tomatoes and roasted red peppers. Fry up a slice of bacon (yes, just one) and then brown edamame in the grease (ok … that I could have made a little healthier, but everything in moderation, right?). Top the salad with the bacon (crumbled, of course), edamame, a sliced grilled chicken breast (perhaps leftover from last night?) and a little oil and great quality balsamic vinegar. Oh, and a touch of salt and pepper.

Done. Grab your fork and dig in. It’s calling to you. Seriously.

So tell me … how do you feel about spring break? Is it something to look forward to, or a total dread fest?

Edamame Chicken Dinner Salad
serves 1

2 cups sweet baby lettuce
1/2 cup peeled, sliced and quartered cucumbers
1/2 cup grape tomatoes, halved
1/4 cup thinly sliced roasted red peppers
1 slice bacon
1/4 cup shelled edamame (frozen is ok)
4 oz grilled chicken breast, sliced
extra virgin olive oil
balsamic vinegar (best quality)
salt and pepper, to taste

Arrange the lettuce, cucumbers, tomatoes and roasted red peppers in a large bowl.

Heat a small skillet on the stove over medium heat. Add the bacon and cook till crisp. Remove the bacon to a paper towel lined plate and let cool. Add the edamame to the skillet and cook, shaking the pan occasionally for 3-4 minutes, until lightly browned.

Crumble the bacon onto the salad. Top with edamame and chicken breast (hot or cold, it’s your choice). Drizzle with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Then sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Enjoy!

When I opened the door to let the dogs out early this morning, I was smacked with chilly air. Not winter cold, but brisk enough to send me retreating to the comfort of the couch farthest from my open living room windows. I wrapped my fuzzy green blanket around me and started reading. Against the backdrop of a near-silent house and with a steaming up of coffee in hand (with a splash of whole milk and one spoon of sugar, thanks), the characters came alive off the e-reader screen. And in my head, I mentally planned for a day filled with comfort foods, sweats and convincing the kids to abandon the Legos and go outside for just a little while for some fresh air.

It was only a few hours later when I got ready to run to the grocery store, throwing on a dress and hoping I wouldn’t freeze on the way. But when I stepped outside, I was greeted with balmy 70-degree weather. I immediately thought of the beach and started plotting to go. A few hours later, after grocery shopping and a bit of work, I piled the kids into the car with simple picnic lunch of water, cheese crackers and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

I love the beach. From the second I saw the water, it was like a giant feeling of home washed over me. And the kids … they love the beach nearly as much as I do. When they heard we were beach-bound, they whooped with joy and hurried to put their bathing suits on, grabbed their pails and shovels and headed out the door.

When we arrived, it was a mad dash to get out of the car and down to the beach. It wasn’t long until the kids dropped their bodies into the warm sand, running their fingers through the course grains. They buried each other in the sand, collected shells, built castles and dipped their toes in the water. Or maybe more than their toes. It was a glorious afternoon.

Sometimes, you just have to be spontaneous. Whether it’s taking an afternoon off to enjoy a warm spring day at the beach, or whipping up a dish on the fly to round out a meal. Spontaneous can yield such amazing results — and memories.

Those mini frittatas above? They were also spontaneous. Originally, I planned to make scrambled eggs on Easter. But at the last minute, I realized how much easier it would be to make mini frittatas. I could cook them, and then quickly reheat them before we ate. As for the flavor of these — sweet red bell peppers and onion-y scallions, it was completely based on what I had in the fridge. It was a perfect combination.

And yes, they are a cinch to make. Really.

Red Pepper and Scallion Mini Frittatas
serves 4 (yields 12)

1/4 cup finely chopped red pepper
1 scallion, finely chopped (white and light green parts only)
6 large eggs
1/4 cup milk
salt and pepper, to taste
1/2 cup sharp cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Spray the cups in a standard 12 muffin pan with cooking oil spray. Divide the red pepper and scallions evenly among the 12 cups.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, salt and pepper until light and frothy. Ladle into the 12 muffin pan cups, dividing equally. Sprinkle with cheddar cheese.

Bake for 15-18 minutes, until set.

Remove from the oven and let cool for about 5 minutes, before loosening with a knife and removing the mini frittatas. Enjoy immediately.

From this angle, you can see the lettuce piled high on whole grain bread and perhaps a hint of the ruby exterior of the lower half of a French breakfast radish. And if you look closely, you can see the not-too-thick, not-too-thin layer of easy egg salad for one. This sandwich takes mere minutes to whip up, but it feels like something special.

Working at home, it’s easy to fall into habits when it comes to lunch. Going out for a sandwich, for instance, because it’s easier than making your own. Or picking up something from the grab-and-go at the grocery store because you are there anyway. Or slapping together a thin, boring sandwich because it’s easier. Ultimately, these all aren’t really that awesome. You are either taking a whack at your budget (take-out adds up!) or find yourself eating because it’s time to eat. Shouldn’t eating be fun? And can’t it be fun without digging into your wallet?

Yes. Truly.

To make this easy lunch for one, you start with a few simple ingredients for the egg salad: hard-cooked eggs, salt, pepper and mayo. Don’t worry: your eggs don’t need to be dyed like these. But if you have leftover eggs from Easter, this is a perfect use for them.

You peel the egg and then mash it with the tines of a fork. Easy. And if you are super short on time, buy pre-cooked, pre-peeled eggs from the grocery. They are a huge timesaver.

The egg should look like this when you are done.

Now, you are almost done. Stir in a little mayo, salt and pepper until the egg salad just holds together. Then spread it on a slice of toasted whole grain bread. Top with the radishes and lettuce. Close it up and enjoy.

Who says you can’t eat well, even in the middle of a workday?

Easy Egg Salad Sandwich for One
serves 1

1 hard-cooked egg
1/2 tbsp mayonnaise
salt and pepper, to taste
2 slices whole grain bread, toasted
1 French breakfast radish, sliced very thin
1/4 cup baby greens

Remove the egg from its shell, discarding the shell. Using the tongs of a fork, mash the egg. Stir in the mayonnaise, salt and pepper until thoroughly mixed.

Spread the egg salad onto one slice of the whole grain bread into one even layer. Top with very thin slices of radishes and a pile of baby greens. Top with the other slice of bread. Cut in half.

Enjoy.

After a long day at Walt Disney World last week, all I wanted was a salad. It was tattooed on my brain — the kind of desire that trumps all other thoughts and options. Forget about the long menu with some truly amazing dishes. Show me the salads, people. So when Shawn, the kids and I headed to a restaurant nearby our hotel, I gravitated to the salad menu (naturally!) and was shocked to see that salads were in the $13-$18 dollar range. Seriously? For a salad? Is this inflation at work? It almost pushed me into ordering a more wallet-friendly sandwich instead, but I really desperately wanted a salad.

Are you sensing a theme here?

Finally, I spotted it. A brief entry on the light menu that promised many of the salad toppings that I was craving for a mere $11. Well, not so mere, but better than the other options. Apparently light meant lots of lettuce and sparing amounts of toppings. But whatever. I ordered it and it was tasty.

Still, the idea of spending big bucks on salads floors me. Restaurants are charging more and more for salads with exciting toppings. In some cases, the salads cost more than the lighter entrees on the menu, though I am sure that the work that goes into the light entrees trumps that of making a salad. It’s curious, and definitely takes away some of the luster of ordering a killer salad. Especially when you can make your own at home for a fraction of the cost. Literally a fraction. Like 1/8 or something.

Now that we’re back home again, I am making my own salads with all the fabulous toppings I want. But I’m not going for the chopped salad look with this one (I am of course a huge chopped salad fan, but that’s just not what I wanted here). Instead, I wanted something that was as pretty to look at as it is to eat.  That means substantial chunks of some things and whisper thin bits of others, courtesy of the mandolin. After seeing a food styling demo at Food Blog Forum that involved a mandolin, I couldn’t wait to try making a salad with oh-oh-thin bits too.

About the salad, it’s all about the flavors and textures here. You have crisp, tart bits of apple, sweet shards of red pepper, zingy bits of red onion and creamy avocado. The red wine vinaigrette is a perfect accompaniment because it draws all the flavors together without overpowering them. This makes a perfect light lunch — and it only takes a few minutes to toss together.

About that mandolin though …

Using a Mandolin

Years ago, I bought a mandolin because I thought it would be the magic secret to making easier sweet potato fries. Unfortunately, I soon discovered just how challenging the sweet potato is. The mandolin (and later a fry cutter) were no match for the stubborn raw sweet potato. Aside from a few times using the food processor to make shoestring sweet potatoes, I always cut my fries by hand now. It’s just easier (and ruins less kitchen equipment).

Aside from that, I just didn’t see a need for the mandolin. Sharp knives do the job just fine for making thin cuts, don’t they? Well, they can. But … you had to know there was a but coming, right? … you can’t get whisper thin slices from hand cutting. Perfectly even, whisper thin cuts … they are just so beautiful and delicate. Turns out maybe the mandolin isn’t so useless after all. Color me a convert.

These days, I am shaving my vegetables on a handheld Oxo mandolin that was in my Food Blog Forum swag bag (thanks Oxo!). It’s super easy to use and super easy to clean up.
Plus it’s thin and stores really easily. I’m totally loving it. Oh, and Oxo didn’t ask me to write these nice things. I just did because I totally dig the mandolin.

Are you a mandolin fan? What do you use yours for?

Green Apple, Red Onion, Avocado and Red Pepper Salad
serves 2

4 cups sweet baby greens, rinsed and spun dry
1/2 Haas avocado, diced
1/2 cup whisper thin slices red onion
1/2 cup whisper thin sliced green apple
1/2 cup whisper thin slices red bell  pepper
red wine vinaigrette

Toss together the lettuce, avocado, red onion, apple and pepper until well combined. The pieces of onion, apple and pepper should be dispersed throughout. Drizzle with red wine vinaigrette and toss again.

Divide into two salad bowls. Devour.

On Sundays, I cook. Maybe it’s cliche, I don’t know. But Sunday is the day when I make a big batch of something for lunch that we can nibble from during the week. Hopefully that something is also good for Will’s lunch on Monday too. It’s also the day that I usually bake to fill the cookie jar, which is a fun indulgence. Oh and I test out new recipes too.

Sunday is also the day that we go to the library and enjoy fresh donuts from the local bakery. If I have time, I sit on the couch and read too, getting lost in books. It’s a good day.

This past Sunday started out busy. Too busy. I was rushed, so my breakfast was merely the coffee I drank before dashing out the door with the kids. Don’t worry – they ate, polishing off special toasted bread, berries and more. By the time we arrived home for lunch, I was beyond starving, which added some pressure. Lunch couldn’t be complicated. No, it needed to be fast, simple and still be worth making and eating.

Fortunately, I have a few tricks that I turn to for a quickie meal for the kids and I. First, I keep chicken sausage in my fridge (and freezer). Precooked chicken sausage is so easy to heat up and serve. I’ve served fat apple maple links with omelets for lunch. Sweet Italian chicken sausage with sauce for dinner. Caprese sausage with mashed potatoes. This weekend, we were down to two varieties: spicy mango or chicken chorizo. I opted for the latter.

Second, beyond having a treasure trove of uses for the sausage, I have my standby dish, which is basically a formula for a foolproof throw together pasta: 8 oz dried pasta (cooked) + 4 cooked and sliced sausage links + cheese of choice + tomatoes, peppers or vegetables, all tossed with a touch of oil and a sprinkle of salt and pepper. It couldn’t be easier.

For this week’s dish, I combined the slightly spicy chorizo with salty feta and sweet diced tomatoes. It was a symphony of flavors and textures that was different enough to not seem repetitive, but familiar enough to make us enjoy it. With the mere addition of salt, pepper and walnut oil, the dish was transformed from a bunch of random ingredients into something that the kids couldn’t wait to eat again (a good thing, since we had it for dinner tonight too).

There’s already been requests for me to make this again. Sounds like a winner.

Do you have a go-to dish? What is it?

Toss Together Chorizo, Feta and Tomato Pasta
serves 4

8 oz medium shells pasta
4 chicken Chorizo sausage (precooked)
1 large tomato, diced
1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese
salt and pepper, to taste
1 tbsp walnut oil (or extra virgin olive oil, if you prefer)

Prepare the pasta according to package directions.

While the pasta is cooking, heat the Chorizo up (I do it in the oven at 375 for about 8 minutes). Let it cool slightly and then slice into 1/4-inch thick rounds.

Once the pasta is done, drain it well and then add to a large bowl. Add the sausage, tomato and feta. Toss well. Season with salt and pepper and drizzle with oil. Toss again.

Serve immediately. Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.

My friends can tell when stress is getting to me without asking. Apparently, I recede a little. Chat less. Update my Facebook and Twitter less. A general quieting of my online presence. And they’ve told me on more than one occasion over the last few weeks that they’ve been seeing these things recently. I was surprised, but only because I didn’t realize how obvious it was. Of course, they are right.

January was a hard month for my career. February was a hard month for my bank account. And now it’s March. The good news is things are looking up. Yesterday, the first edition of a new column I’m writing for SheKnows appeared. It’s called Chasing the Dream and is all about achieving those big life dreams we have for ourselves. I am over the moon with excitement about it. Other good things are happening behind the scenes too. It’s like the tide is changing, and it feels good even though I am still reeling from two tough months.

Some weeks, it would be super easy to dissolve into complaints and quips here. When life is harder, it’s so natural to focus on the worst thing happening. I could go on and on about malfunctioning fire alarms in the dead of night and about my internet being spotty in recent storms. I could tell you about the migraine I was fighting earlier today or my strong desire to just sleep, a definitive sign that I am under the weather. But I won’t. I will however tell you that real life happens to me the same as everyone else. If it ever seems otherwise, it’s only because this is my happy place — the place where I choose to focus on the positives. Here on Sarah’s Cucina Bella, I would rather celebrate the good food and good times.

And generally speaking, I think there is a lot to be said for focusing on the positives. Norman Vincent Peale was really onto something with his writings on the power of positive thinking. It’s that positivity that has really helped me during rough patches recently, allowing me to be present with the kids and also focus on forging ahead.

Did I mention good food? Yes? Because that helps too. Good food can brighten a dark moment. Like these fries. A friend recently tossed me the idea of dipping fries in curry sauce after having a similar dish in Boston. I was skeptical but tried it and was totally wowed.

Crispy Salt and Pepper Oven Fries with Curry Dipping Sauce might actually be closer to fry-crack though. When I make them, I literally cannot stop eating them. Good thing they are oven fries and relatively low-fat. And the little bit of cornstarch in the recipe makes the outsides so nice and crispy. Totally killer. I picked that tip up after reading about another blogger — The Art of Doing Stuff — using it in her sweet potato fries. So I tried it on my oven fries, using a really small amount and it worked wonders.

Though the fries are great on their own, it’s that dipping sauce that sends them over the edge. Curry simmer sauce is a sauce made from curry, coconut milk and other ingredients. It’s got this sweet-spicy thing going on that will have you double and triple dipping for more. Don’t worry, I won’t tell.

Crispy Salt and Pepper Oven Fries with Curry Dipping Sauce
serves 4

1 lb Yukon gold potatoes
1/2 tsp cornstarch
1 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
Cooking oil spray

Dipping sauce: curry simmer sauce (found in the Asian foods aisle; NOT curry paste)

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with nonstick aluminum foil or parchment paper.

Wash the potatoes. Then, cut them into 1/2-inch thick fry shapes. Put the cut potatoes into a resealable bag. Sprinkle with the cornstarch, salt and pepper and then seal the bag. Shake vigorously until the fries are well-coated.

Pour the fries onto the prepared baking sheet, arranging in a single layer. Spray with cooking oil spray.

Bake the fries for 30 minutes, flipping once or twice, until golden.

Serve with curry simmer sauce for dipping

This recipe was created for BettyCrocker.com and is shared here with permission. Visit the recipe page on Betty Crocker.com for more tips and tricks.