on an asian ginger dressing...

I had to share this super simple Asian Ginger dressing that I've been obsessing over lately. I was first introduced to it via my mother in law and ever since I've been making it. I love it because it's light yet full of flavor! I enjoy drizzling it on a simple green salad or you can even dice up a whole cucumber and soak it in about 1/2 of this dressing to have as a side at the dinner table. The fun thing about this dressing is you can play around with how you make it. For example, I ended up putting more ginger into mine after I used the recipe below. I adore ginger and wanted that flavor to be more intense. You can go lighter on the vinegar and heavier on the honey if you like sweet dressings or vise versa if you like them a bit tangy. Try it out! Here's how I made mine...

Ingredients:

3/4 cup vegetable oil

1/3 cup rice vinegar 

1/4 cup soy sauce

2 tablespoon fresh ginger, minced

3 cloves garlic, minced

3 tablespoons honey

2 tablespoons sesame oil

Combine all the ingredients into an air tight container and shake it to mix everything together. Store in the fridge. Dressing will separate so every time you take it out of the fridge give it a quick shake, shake!  

Enjoy.

on cilantro lime dressing...

 

This sauce makes everything delicious! Homemade dressing is one of my favorite things to make. Sometimes you need to switch things up and create a new twist to your everyday dressing. This dressing would be great with any salad, drizzled on fish or even used as dipping chicken fingers or all kinds of veggies. The mixture of cilantro and lime gives you a cool yet fresh taste that makes meals end with a zing! Plus the scent of cilantro and lime together is heavenly. 
This recipe makes about two cups and will keep in the fridge for about a week. 

Ingredients:
1 cup sour cream
2 tablespoon olive oil
1 lime, squeezed 
1/4 cup cilantro 
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 pinch cayenne pepper
2 green onions

Directions:
1// Add all ingredients into a food processor, puree everything together. 

Enjoy!

on tangy bbq sauce...

I love getting creative and experimenting with different BBQ sauces. I think I finally found my signature recipe. You can use this sauce for wings, burgers, dipping sauce, use this sauce on your homemade pizzas instead of marinara sauce, even put a spoon of it in your mac n'cheese to give it a little something or use it for pulled pork like us this week! Yum. Make a batch up, put it in a mason jar and keep it in the fridge for when that Tangy BBQ Sauce calls your name. 

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 can (28oz) whole peeled tomatoes, pureed with the juices
3/4 cup water
1/2 an onion, minced 
3 gloves garlic, minced
1/2 brown sugar
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce 
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
salt & pepper

Directions:

1// In a saucepan heat olive oil and cook the onion and garlic. Add salt, pepper, chili and cayenne. Cook about 5 minutes until the onion is translucent 
2// Add tomatoes that have already been pureed with the juice, water, Worcestershire sauce, Dijon mustard and brown sugar. Bring the sauce to a boil. Now put a lid on pan and simmer on low for about 30-45 minutes. Stir it every once in a while. 
3// Lastly stir in apple cider vinegar and let cool. Store in jar and keep it in your fridge up to about a week. 

Enjoy!
xoxo. 

on blackberry chipotle sauce...

I stumbled on this recipe via Facebook after one of my friends (Hi Gina!) posted a lovely picture of her dinner. I instantly ask where she got this recipe and because she knew I love spicy things was super happy to pass the recipe along. Blackberry Chipotle Sauce. I mean, doesn't that sound so intriguing? I was so curious about this combination that I just had to try it! I'm not a huge fan of fruit but I've made it my goal to try more things that involve fruit and let me tell you that I've falling in deep deep love! I followed this recipe for the most part.

Ingredients: 

2 cups fresh (or frozen) blackberries

¼ cup sugar

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 small onion, minced

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 tablespoons canned chipotle chilies in adobo sauce, chopped (start out with less and add more as you go, this stuff is spicy!)

1 teaspoon cumin

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

½ teaspoon Kosher salt

Start out with combining the blackberries and sugar together in a pan over medium heat. Let it simmer, cook and turn the heat off after it starts to bubble. Take a potato masher and mash the blackberry in the pan. 

Use a metal mesh strainer to strain the blackberries. I used my handy dandy noodle maker which I love so much because obviously it has multiple uses! Toss the solids and keep the liquid which you should have about 1 cup of in the end. Start sauteing the onion and garlic and then add the blackberry juice, chipotle chilies, balsamic vinegar, and salt to the onions. Simmer in a skillet until contents thicken and reduce. 

When making this sauce I already had the idea of drizzling it over pan seared pork chops and it was beyond delicious! I highly recommend it. Enjoy.

xoxo.

on homemade ranch...

Now that I have an awesome herb garden with tons of yummy greens I made myself some homemade ranch! I saw a lovely recipe on one of my favorite blogs Baked Bree (if you haven't seen my interview with Bree check it out here). I am a serious ranch-a-holic. I'm admitting it to the entire world wide web! I love me some ranch. It's my all time favorite dressing on salads and I will even dip my pizza & grilled cheese into ranch. So there.
It was a super easy recipe and I was giddy as crazy as I was pouring it into a sweet little mason jar. Simple too! The two main ingredients are sour cream and buttermilk plus some little things like Worcestershire and not to forget our herb friend-- parsley, dill & chive. Check out the recipe and make some for yourself! Oh and seriously if you ever need some help in the kitchen just head over to Baked Bree because I know you will without a doubt find something that makes your mouth water.