Hot Tip! Blog "Best of" Lists

I'm still pretty new at this blogging thing and learning all of the time. One interesting tidbit that I picked up over the New Year's Holiday was that a lot of bloggers wrote "best of" lists and then published the lists on their blogs. Farty Girl wrote about the best (and worst!) foods for IBS, other bloggers listed out their favorite posts of the year, and the most important thing of all for me, food bloggers listed their favorite dishes of the year. That is so cool! I mean, no more making things that aren't extraordinary. Just pick off of the best of list from any active food blogger that you admire and viola! you have a recipe that's company worthy.

The first list that I ran across was actually a guest post on Choosing Raw where Leslie from The Whole Plate shares 5 of her favorite veggie recipes. Collard Greens in Peanut Tomato Sauce, Roasted Beets with Cocoa Sesame Sauce, Raw Zucchini Boats with Tomato and Oregano, Thai Coconut Corn Soup, Coconut Sweet Potato Dip . . . oh la la!

Then I got notification in my inbox that Susan over at Fat Free Vegan had done her own best of 2010 list. I think I've discovered something! "Best of" lists are for me! Susan's Roasted Eggplant Pesto here I come! But first, back to Leslie's lovlies . . .

The ingredients for Leslie's Cocoa Sesame Sauce are all staples in my kitchen, which made this a very easy recipe to whip up before I left for work in the morning.

Roasted the beets as soon as I walked in the door and they were ready just in time to be served with the collard greens.

Oh, that cocoa sauce is soooooo good! Leslie was right, this is a "best of" recipe! And don't make fun of my hat, it's really cold here in Cleveland right now.

Leslie's Collard Greens in Peanut Tomato Sauce also couldn't have been easier. . .

or tastier! Two totally winning dishes. Two dishes that I would be proud to serve to a guest. And I did. Thanks to my niece Emily for being a guinea pig. And thanks Leslie! Your recipes rock!

Have you seen any best of lists that rocked your world?

What are the most memorable dishes that you made this past year?

What are the changes that you made in 2010 that you are proud of?

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Vegan Sushi Salad

I'm getting more and more ambitious in the kitchen.  I just read The Skinny Girl Dish, Easy Recipes for Your Naturally Thin Life by Bethenny Frankel and actually, I have been really inspired by the author's style of cooking. And it is not a vegan cookbook. It's very focused around ingredient substitutions that make cooking in your home more practical and more economical. She's even got a chapter called "Channeling Your Inner Chef" and, well, I'm starting to do that.

You see, I didn't go to culinary school and I have never worked in a restaurant.  Everything that I know about food came from watching and helping my mom in the kitchen, a little bit of home ec in 7th grade, a shit ton of time in front of, yes, The Food Network (and now, my new cooking resource, The Cooking Channel) and my own trial and error. So you'll have to excuse me if I am slow on the output of original recipes. I just don't have that level of kitchen confidence . . . yet. 

But the absolute best thing for me about Bethenny Frankel's new book is a sub chapter entitled "Your Fix-It Guide." It explains very simply how to season food with the three basic flavors: salt, sugar and acid. I won't give away her tricks, but I will tell you that I have saved many recipes now with her guidance.

Last night was one of those ultra-busy nights where I had to prepare dinner, feed my family and race into the car to get to my oldest's play performance by 6:45. No sweat though, because I had a moment of culinary genius earlier in the day when I knew just what to do!

In my refrigerator sat a bunch of leftovers from the sushi that I had made a few days ago, including cooked short grain brown rice, spears of cucumber, carrot, and mango. I also had a ton of roasted beets and some avocado. It was a risk, but I threw it all together and dressed it with rice vinegar, soy sauce, sesame seeds and agave syrup and BAM! a winner was born. My husband said it was one of the best things he has ever tasted.

Healthy Girl's Leftover Sushi Salad

All quantities are approximate and can be easily tailored to your tastes. Just throw in whatever veggies you want to use up.

6 cups of cooked brown rice

1 1/2 ripe avocados, diced

3/4 cup small diced carrots

3/4 cup small diced cucumber

1 cup diced mango

1 cup small diced roasted beets

1/4 cup raw sesame seeds

1/4 cup rice wine vinegar

1/8 cup soy sauce

1 tbsp agave syrup

Toss all ingredients together and enjoy!

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