My Mom’s been raving about these Mussels for a while and I’ve been dying to try them out but haven’t yet (I think the amount of ingredients has been deterring me). Anyways, I was just in Miami visiting my parents and my mom and I decided to make the recipe together so that I could recreate it back in Boston, which I have not yet done, but will soon. These turned out AMAZING. It’s quite time intensive but the sofrito makes enough for 4 portions, and freezes well, so after making it once, you can make the mussels again 3 more times, minus most of the fuss. once==Everyone was practically silent throughout dinner working on and enjoying these mussels and I can pretty confidently say, I think they’re the best I’ve ever had.

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A friend of mine from work, taught me this great trick for tofu that’s really made me a tofu-liever. Freeze tofu blocks and defrost out of fridge for a day or in the fridge for several days. Something about the freezing process makes it easier to squeeze the water out of tofu, making it more absorbant (gets crispy!). I made lots of brown rice to serve alongside the curry and will be bringing it to work all week. Don’t hate, coworkers!

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When I tell my boyfriend that I’m making a meal with a heavy veggie component he usually has a negative response (i.e. eyebrow raise, awkward silence, etc.) I’m trying to help him overcome this feeling by introducing him to all kinds of delicious vegetable (not necessarily vegetarian) dishes. I assured him that these veggies were ones that he could get behind and I really don’t think he disagreed.

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This recipe is near and dear to my heart and is one of my favorite things to eat in the whole world. When I was a wee child living in Venezuela, my family had a woman working at our home named Erlinda and besides being lovely and taking great care of me, she was also a fantastic cook. My mom was so impressed with the black beans that she learned the recipe and has been making them for my family ever since. This post is dedicated to both Erlinda and my mom (two great cooks and wonderful people)!

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I’ve been wanting to make a beef stew for a while now and haven’t gotten to it until now. And it was just in time because I feel like eating a hearty beef stew isn’t really appropriate in the warmer months. This recipe made A LOT of stew so was great pretty much all weekend and when added to some quinoa and veggies good all week long for lunch.

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So, I know that I’ve already made and posted a kale gratin but it just so happened that I had a whole bunch of leftover kale and spinach in my fridge this weekend I thought the best way to rid myself of these greens was to bake them with cheese, cream and bread crumbs. Woe is me. Anywho, the last one I made had eggs and rice in it so I decided to try a totally different recipe this time around. I think this turned out really nicely and has managed to stand up well to reheating. The proceeding photo is proof that gratin is a anytime food. 

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