Panzanella

While I love to create my own recipes, I do watch a LOT of cooking shows for inspiration. I have a notebook full of famous-people-food that I love. Alton, Giada, Sandra Lee, Nadia, and Rachel Ray are some of my favorites. But the other day, I watched Kelsey Nixon make the most amazing sounding Smoky Panzanella with Market Vegetables. I couldn't wait - I went to the store that day to gather the ingredients. 

If you're not familiar with panzanella, it is an Italian bread and tomato salad traditionally made with day-old bread that soaks up this delicious homemade dressing. Kelsey adds cheese and a few other veggies to really take this one over the top. It's such a simple dish but the flavors come together so well and the bread soaks up the dressing and the basil screams summer and, well, I could go on and on about this. It's such an easy and perfect side dish, and it will only get better as summer heats up and tomatoes hit their peak. You should make it. Today. Now. You won't be sorry, I promise.

Italian Herb Dressing

Bottled salad dressing is expensive! And don't even get me started on the funky things they put in there. This simple dressing is perfect over your favorite lunchtime greens or for marinating meat.

Cinnamon Vanilla Biscotti

To me, biscotti has always been a fancy treat, a special kind of cookie best left to the pros. I would have never considered making it from scratch back in the day. But it was on my 2013 bucket list, so I did it. It was so easy, I laughed at myself for avoiding it for all those years. It uses ingredients I'll bet you already have in your pantry, so there's no excuse for paying for overpriced, rock-hard cookies from the store.

Meatball Noodle Soup and Italian Bread




One of my New Year's Resolutions this year is to make soup and bread on Sundays. While I realize it is not technically the New Year yet, yesterday was Sunday and I was itching to do this one right away. I raided my cabinets, pantry, and freezer and this is what I came up with. It's cheap, filling, and it makes a ton - just the way I like it!

Crispy Italian Tilapia

If you've never had tilapia, you're really missing out. Next to salmon, it is my favorite fish to prepare. It is one of those awesome ingredients that you can do anything you want to it, and it tastes good. Tilapia has a nice mild flavor that pairs well with everything. Whether you serve it up with raspberry sauce, in a packet with lemon and veggies, or pan-fried, you're going to love it. This is one of my easy weeknight favorites. It's so simple, it's almost embarrassing to share!

Pasta Fagioli




There are foods that I want to like, but I just don't. Maybe that makes me weird, but things like avocados and sweet potatoes are on this list. After years of persistence, my taste buds have finally given in and I love them both now! Pasta fagioli has always been one of them as well, until I decided to make it on my own. This is a very simple and easy soup with lots of yummy broth - perfect for crusty bread-dipping.