January calls me to cook. again.

This year I'm going to try for short but frequent blog posts, keeping track of what I'm making, and keeping me on track to keep cooking.

This morning I finally decided to make that acorn squash that's been living in my fridge. I cut it in half, drizzled it with evoo, sprinkled some s&p and dried thyme, and put it in the oven at 400 degrees F. It's probably going to bake for at least an hour.

I'm still wicked jet-lagged from my trip to Europe, so having this ready to eat for later will be awesome.

A Daily Fresh Creation

In the spirit of the Food Revolution, I'm aiming to create at least one fresh dish each day. Today it is a hearty grains salad. This was made from the hearty grains mix I bought at Trader Joe's. I cooked it according to the package, substituting EVOO for butter, and then added chopped green and red pepper (sweet), slivered almonds, dried cranberries, and a zucchini that I chopped, brushed with EVOO and broiled. The dressing is EVOO, lemon juice, salt and pepper.

Jamie Oliver appeared today on the Rachel Ray show, and demonstrated the "evolution" of a salad. You can start with just a couple ingredients, and then by adding layer upon layer, you end up with several different possibilities for a healthy salad. The tomato salad Rachel showed us went from just tomatoes and basil to a protein-rich pasta dish with white beans and tuna. Here are recipes for his evolution potato salad and his evolution cucumber salad.