The traditional Insalata Caprese is a simple salad which originated from the Italian island of Capri. It’s comprised of vine-ripened tomatoes, fresh buffalo mozzarella, fresh basil, extra virgin olive oil, and salt and pepper. Yep, that’s it! You slice the tomatoes and mozzarella, sliver the basil, and dress with olive oil and salt and pepper. In this recipe, I’ve added pan-toasted raviolis. I find it best to use meatless ravioli, such as cheese or spinach, or both. Meaty flavors such as sausage tend to drown out the subtle freshness of the other ingredients. I also use a homemade balsamic dressing instead of the traditional extra-virgin olive oil, simply because I’m admittedly obsessed with balsamic vinegar. If you prefer plain extra-virgin olive oil, with the salt and pepper of course, that would be tasty, too. If using the balsamic dressing, use sparingly. A lot goes a long way!

Ingredients:
1 package fresh cheese based ravioli
2 large vine-ripened tomatoes
1 ball fresh mozzarella
fresh basil
salt and pepper

Dressing Ingredients:

If you’re apt to use this dressing for other purposes, go ahead and make a large batch. The ratio is 3:1—3 parts oil to 1 part vinegar. If you’re only using for this recipe, 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar and 3 tablespoons olive oil should be sufficient.

good quality balsamic vinegar
extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper
a pinch of brown sugar

Guidelines:

Mix dressing ingredients until well emulsified. Give another vigorous whisk right before using.

Cook the raviolis according to package directions, making sure not to overcook. You want the raviolis to be al dente. Drain. In a large skillet, heat a drizzle of olive oil. Working in batches, add the raviolis in a single layer. Pan fry until each side is golden brown. Remove and drain on paper towels.

Slice the tomatoes and mozzarella right before serving, and sliver the basil last.

To assemble, place the tomatoes in the center of a plate. Sprinkle with basil and salt and pepper. Drizzle with the dressing. Top the tomatoes and basil with fresh mozzarella. Arrange the raviolis alongside.

Serve.

I’ve been fooling around with this recipe for a while now, trying different vinegars, oils, sweeteners, vegetables, and processes. At one point, I even made a version with roasted tomatoes and asparagus, with prosciutto. But nah. The cold, crisp, raw veggies are what I prefer. And now I finally have a version I’m happy with! This is a great salad for picnics, potlucks, light meals, lunches, and snacks. One pound of pasta makes a big batch, and if you’re only feeding two people like I am, it goes a long way. Thankfully, this makes great leftovers! If you’re feeding a large crowd, you may want to double the recipe. Feel free to substitute your own favorite vegetables. So far, the grape tomato, snap pea, and yellow pepper combo is my favorite. I’ve tried cherry tomatoes, green beans, red pepper, orange pepper, carrots, the roasted veggies and prosciutto I mentioned above, and probably a few more. None of them worked for me. But this version has great flavor, color, and texture. The recipe is extremely flexible, however, so mix and match and adjust as you see fit.

Ingredients:

1/3 cup olive oil
1/3 cup rice vinegar
2 tbsp. sesame oil
2 tbsp. + 1 tsp. sugar
1 lb. bowtie pasta
1 crate grape tomatoes
1 yellow pepper, diced
1 ½ cups snap peas, halved
¼ cup sesame seeds

Guidelines:
Cook pasta according to package directions. You want your pasta to be al dente, however, so you may have to pull it off the stove and drain it just shy of the time it lists.

In a medium bowl, combine olive oil, rice vinegar, sesame oil, sugar, and sesame seeds. Mix well.

In a large bowl, toss the pasta with the sauce. Add vegetables and toss again.

Serve.

Note: The pasta and vegetables should be thoroughly coated in the sauce. If your dish it too dry, mix up a half batch of sauce and add to the dish until it’s, well, saucy.

I know what you’re thinking—GROSS! I don’t blame you. I think it sounds disgusting, too, but I was astonished to find that this is a great, refreshing combination that’s perfect for summer. As someone who has spent her entire life avoiding juice products that contain banana because they taste like baby-food, I’m here to tell you this smoothie doesn’t. It’s not that I loathe banana. I just don’t particularly like it. A large part of my banana avoidance has to do with texture, however. The flavor isn’t bad, especially when they banana is still fairly green and slightly astringent. So, for this smoothie, make sure you have fresh bananas. Bright yellow or on the green side will work. Just don’t throw in fruit whose peel is starting to blacken, unless you really, really like banana.

Ingredients:

1 banana
2 kiwi
½ cup vanilla flavored rice milk (regular milk or soy milk will work, too)
¼ cup vanilla yogurt
¼ cup crushed ice

Guidelines:

Combine all ingredients in blender and pulse until smooth.

Pour into tall glasses and serve.

Serves 2.

Pour spouts are handy little buggers. My first introduction to them, however, didn’t go so well. As part of our new set of dishes, we purchased a decorative container with a pour spout. Loved the look of it, but the function was ridiculous. I mean, who in their right mind is going to pour the oil or vinegar or whatever other contents they want to easily pour from a pour spout from one container into another, just to make that happen? Not I! But the dang spout didn’t fit anything else. And forget about washing the beautifully decorated ceramic container… There’s a laugh.

Luckily, my favorite olive oil (Santini Premium Extra Virgin from Trader Joes) started coming with a pour spout attached. I loved being able to grab the bottle and drizzle wherever I needed to. Several times, I tried stealing the pour spout off the bottle once I was finished with it so I could use it elsewhere, but after a couple torn knuckles from trying to wrestle off the slippery thing, I decided I’d have to go without.

Then, Useful Things hooked me up with these stainless steel Pour Spouts. Yay! If you make your own salad dressings as often as I do, you will wonder how you went without having a pour spout attached to everything. (Next mission: find jars I can make my salad dressings in that the pour spouts will fit.) It’s also great to put the pour spout equipped oil and vinegar jars directly on the table for guests to mix up their own.

What else is cool about these pour spouts? They are natural cork, which I prefer over plastic any day, because plastic contains all sorts of icky chemical bonds that do strange things to the human body. Also, these pour spouts have lids! I’ve never in my life seen a pour spout with a lid, and I love to leave my vinegars in the fridge, with pour spouts attached, without having to worry about odors leaking out or getting in.

Other possible nifty uses for pour spouts: liquor bottles, extracts (vanilla, almond), food coloring, and other thin sauces, such as soy.

Pour Spouts from Useful Things.

I haven’t written a Brown Bag Lunch post in ages. I’m still making new and hopefully interesting dishes for my husband’s lunch, so I don’t know what my problem is. Maybe it’s that I’m jealous I don’t actually get to eat any (or much) of what I make for him. It’s kind of hard to recommend something when you only try a bite or two, you know? I can take my husband’s word for it, but he has a rather… interesting… palate sometimes. Which is why when he said he wanted barbeque beans with salami in it, I looked at him funny. It’s not that I think it would taste bad, I just thought other combinations would be better. I ended up making the dish with a more tomato-y tasting sauce than a traditional thick and (usually) over-sweet barbeque sauce, mostly due to what I had on hand, but also because, well, I wanted to. I AM still the cook, after all! But also because I couldn’t find a whole package of Gallo Italian Dry Salami, the kind with the rind on it. All the store now carries is the thinly sliced version, and I knew that would get totally lost in barbeque sauce. The results with the tomato-y sauce were fantastic, however! And luckily I made enough that I got two servings out of it, too! The bad news is: I didn’t measure anything, so neither I, nor you, will be able to duplicate it exactly. That doesn’t bother me—I’m not one of those cooks who makes the same thing taste exactly the same twice. If you like precision, however, um, I’m sorry I can’t help you…

Ingredients:
2 cups dry Great Northern White Beans
14 oz tomato sauce
a couple ounces Italian Dry Salami, diced or sliced
smoked paprika, about a tablespoon
molasses, a couple tablespoons
garlic powder, about a teaspoon
a pinch of cumin
fresh thyme, about 4 sprigs
salt and pepper to taste

Guidelines:

Cook your beans. You can do a quick soak, like I do, or an overnight soak, if you prefer. To do a quick soak, cover your beans with plenty of water, sprinkle in some salt and pepper, some garlic powder, if you like, and bring to a boil. Remove from heat, and let sit for several hours. Drain. Rinse. Put your beans back in the pot, cover with plenty of fresh water (about 2-3x more than beans), add more salt, pepper, garlic powder if you like, and a couple of thyme sprigs. Bring to a simmer, and simmer for about an hour until they reach the desired tenderness. Drain.

For the sauce, heat the tomato sauce with the smoked paprika, molasses, garlic powder, and cumin. Simmer on low for about 10-15 minutes to let the flavors meld. Add fresh thyme, diced or sliced salami, and beans. Cook on low for another 5 minutes, or until everything is heated through.

*This recipe made enough for 7 servings of about 1 cup each.

Over the years, I’ve accumulated several large files of recipes I’ve printed off of food blogs. The files (actually they are notebooks and scrapbooks) are almost overwhelming to go through, and yet I do it every week as I’m creating my grocery shopping list. What do I want to make? What haven’t I tried? What goes with the season, the weather? I haven’t tried all of the recipes I’ve gathered, and maybe I haven’t even tried the majority of them, but I have tried a lot. At least once a week I cook something that comes from a fellow food blogger, and I’ve been delighted by a lot of what I’ve found. Today, I want to highlight five of my favorite food blog recipes of all-time. I think they deserve the attention… Look for another set of five Favorite Food Blog Finds in the weeks ahead, and then another set, and another set…

Chicken Fajitas
I thought I had chicken fajitas down, but the cooking method in this recipe from Sea Salt with Food—on a cast iron grill—is so great, I’ll never make fajitas another way! And I love the marinade, too. In the past, I’d make homemade fajita seasoning with dried spices, but the freshness of this recipe is really good. Next time I will modify one thing, however—I need the guacamole, please!

Chile Verde
As seen on Simply Recipes, this recipe for Chile Verde comes from Arturo Vargas. I cut it in half, as I’m only feeding two people, but the flavors are wonderful, rich, and spicy, but not too spicy.

Hazelnut & Chard Ravioli Salad
This recipe by Heidi Swanson of 101 Cookbooks, is packed with healthful ingredients, such as Swiss Chard and butternut squash. It’s a great recipe for fall, as it has those fall colors, flavors, and warming tones, but it definitely tastes yummy whenever!

Perfect Popcorn
Seriously. The title is true. This IS perfect popcorn. I haven’t bought those nasty bags of microwave popcorn since I discovered this easy and exceptionally tasty way to make it in a large saucepan. Thanks Elise at Simply Recipes!

Pizza Dough
I love, love, love, love, love this pizza dough! Whenever I make it, everyone asks me for the recipe. I wish it were mine, but it belongs to Julie Jams, who actually got it from someone else. So thank you way on down the line…