Dabble in Molecular Gastronomy by Making Chia Seed Pudding

I confess: I’ve jumped on the chia seed bandwagon. At least when it comes to chia seed pudding.

You may be familiar with chia seeds from the chia pet craze of the 1980s.* Turns out, those quick-growing seeds are also a mini nutritional powerhouse, rich in omega-3 fatty acids, a variety of amino acids (protein), and heart- and gut-healthy fiber. Yeah, that’s all well and good, but what’s really fun about them is the way they react to liquids.

This Chart Helps You Pick the Perfect Wine for Your Meal

Wine Pairing Chart infographic by madelinep.

Just in time for your Valentine’s Day dinner planning, I’ve found this handy infographic. Although I don’t claim to be a wine-pairing expert, in my experience the chart’s pretty accurate. I especially like how each type of food has more than one option, because wine pairing is not really cut and dry. For example, I tend to heavily favor the red wine spectrum on this chart, while the sweet white wines are entirely off my radar. But that’s just my personal preference. The only hard and fast rule when it comes to wine is to drink what you like and not worry about any other rules you might be breaking.

If Nutella Were a Health Food, It Might Look Something Like This

I’m not delusioning myself that a healthy breakfast includes Nutella. However, I am trying to stick to my New Year’s resolution of clean eating, but at the same time I can’t give up my annual celebration of World Nutella Day each February 5. This recipe is a compromise. Sort of.

Why a Cleanse Isn’t Always for Everyone—Plus a Healthy Chili Recipe

Yesterday, my husband and I started a dietary cleanse for the New Year. After more than a month of less-than-healthy holiday eating, it seemed like a great idea. But then we chose to base ours off the concept of the Daniel Diet, an extremely restrictive cleanse that allows no meat, dairy, refined carbs, leavened breads, sugars of any kind (even the healthy ones, like honey and molasses), caffeine, and alcohol. Instead, you eat legumes, whole grains, vegetables, and fruits. You’re supposed to do it for three weeks, which I thought would be easy-peasy. I used to nearly eat that way before as a flexitarian, and anything could be done for three weeks, right? Plus I love a good challenge, and new diets and recipes are always good blog fodder.

Today, I quit the cleanse.

Chipotle Provides a Warming Twist to This Corn Chowder

I’m in a recipe rut.

Well, that’s not entirely true, or at least it’s open to interpretation. It’s not that I haven’t been trying new recipes. I’ve experimented with one or two each week from the multitude I’ve pinned on Pinterest. It’s just that none of them have made me very excited.

But then there was this.

A Light Cranberry Orange Bread Is Perfect on or After Thanksgiving

Have a few spare fresh or frozen cranberries from your Thanksgiving meal? This light bread is the perfect way to put them to use, plus it won’t weigh you down after a rich holiday meal—the entire recipe has just two tablespoons of butter.

Southern Nuevo Cuisine Goes Greek at Kouzzina on Disney’s Boardwalk

It was the last dinner of our trip. That’s always an unfortunate time (at least for me) to visit a great restaurant, because by then I’ve had my fill of rich restaurant food, and the mere thought of eating yet another heavy meal has me turning slightly green.

But here we were at Cat Cora’s Greek-Southern U.S. fusion restaurant, Kouzzina, in the Boardwalk Inn complex. We’d been here once before under similar circumstances, and you think I would have planned it better this time, but alas. A number of delicious-sounding entrees caught my eye, such as the cinnamon-stewed chicken and tomatoes, braised short ribs, pastisio, or a trio featuring most of the above. But my appetite (or lack thereof) won out over my taste buds, so I ended up choosing a smaller appetizer and side dish for my meal instead.