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Mushroom Bolognese with Kale

I love winter, and the excuse to hunker down and get cozy.  Put on a wooly sweater, some fluffy socks and break out the red wine.  But pairing red wines with the food we normally eat – fish, veggies, salads – can be challenging.  So this recipe, which relies on the earthy, umami-ness of mushrooms and miso and a long, slow cook for depth and complexity, has become a cold weather staple.  It’s rich and satisfying, and I might venture to say, even better than the meaty original. 

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Bengali Mustard Salmon

We eat salmon at least once a week in our house. It’s a nutritional superstar, full of brain-boosting, anti-aging and anti-inflammatory omega-3 fatty acids — and all of us, including my two little guys, love it. This recipe, from Indian goddess Madhur Jaffrey’s book At Home with Madhur Jaffrey, is in constant rotation.

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Flower and Berry Beauty Cocktail

Full disclosure: I am obsessed with all things Moon Juice, a Venice, CA juice/lifestyle brand based on medicinal herbs, whole foods and the soothing cosmic wisdom of fabulous founder Amanda Chantal Bacon.  The whole package is right up my nouveau-hippie alley. Expensive, yes, but can one really put a price on optimal health or eternal beauty? Priceless I say!  So […]

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Vegan Bourbon Butterscotch Pudding

Once a year on his birthday, my husband, born without a sweet tooth, wants dessert. But not just any dessert. He’s not a fan of chocolate (what??), so that rules out most anything I’d pick. He likes lemon, so we generally do some sort of not-sweet lemon cake. But what he really loves is butterscotch pudding.

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Turkey Meatballs

Everybody needs a killer go-to dish that they can whip out, practically from memory, for guests or special occasions. One that pleases just about everyone, and doesn’t stress out the host. Preferably one that can be assembled ahead of time. For me, this is the dish, my “famous” turkey meatballs. Famous because I’ve made them so many times, at one point or other for every single person who has joined us for dinner, and are always a hit.

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Strawberry-Amaretti Crumble

I can’t get enough of ripe, juicy strawberries when they are in season. We mostly devour them straight up, with breakfast. But we were having a few friends over for dinner recently, and I wanted to showcase the first beautiful strawberries of the season in a dessert. Preferably one that went with a bottle of dessert wine.

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