Entrees

I’ve been on a soup kick lately. Maybe it’s because it’s winter (but it’s like 80 in Phoenix today, so cold weather isn’t the motivator). Really, I think it’s because soup is so comforting.

My husband, Jade, heard about using a cast iron skillet to make deep dish pizza while listening to the Splendid Table. We finally got a cast iron skillet last fall to make honey sage cornbread, but we haven’t used it all that much. Jade was interested to see how a pizza would turn out in a cast iron skillet, so he decided to give it a try.

There’s this vegetarian restaurant in Phoenix that makes the best Thai peanut tofu dish that I order nearly every time I go there. I love their tofu because it has a crispy exterior and it is just the perfect fried tofu texture. Their peanut sauce is a hint spicy, and works so well with the crunchy veggies.

Like so many other working moms, I don’t have a lot of time after work to make healthy meals. That’s why I love using my slow cooker; I can throw a few ingredients into it and let it sit there all day. When dinner rolls around, I have a healthy and warm meal to serve my family.

Ever since coming home from Italy, I’ve been searching for more ways to connect with my roots. Creating traditional Italian dishes is one of the ways I honor my family heritage. Although I absolutely love eggplant parmesan, the standard recipe is really heavy and not very healthy. So, I decided to create a lighter eggplant parmesan recipe that still tastes decadent but it’s secretly healthy.