by Lisa of La Mia Cucina

So I don’t really know Jack about football. I know who I’m supposed to cheer for due to many years of having it pounded into my head first by my parents and now by Hubbs.. WOO HOO! Cleveland Browns! YAY! Ohio State Buckeyes!! I know that some of those boys look mighty fine in their lil tight britches.. Ohh Brady Quinn… *slurp* And I know that football can’t be bad because football season starts in Autumn and I am Autumn’s biggest farkin’ fan!

Where I can’t tell you how many innings there are in a football game, nor how many points are awarded each time that oblong ball falls through the hoop thingie or even the difference between a touchback and a hat trick, I can tell you what to eat while cheering on your favorite team! For there lies my sportsman-like expertise, my friends.

In doing some research for this article I originally thought I’d concentrate on “MAN FOOD” and then I decided that football games aren’t just about men drinking beer, grazing on chips and dip and screaming obscenities at the TV screen. In fact, the best football parties I’ve ever been to had an array of food choices for everyone. And considering that I stand near the boofay during these parties, where I find it much safer than joining the masses near the wide-screen, what with their jumpin’ around with full glasses of tap beer sloshing to and fro and bumping chests like two antler-less bucks during rutting season, I derive my pleasure from snacking.

Imagine pulling into the stadium parking lot or the driveway of a friend’s house and getting a whiff of succulent pork being smoked to perfection. Mmmm.. that is what I was reminded of when I read Mel’s Diner author and Resident Man In The Know, Mike’s post about his Lexington Barbecue. A Boston butt simply smoked until the juicy meat falls from the bone.. can you imagine the pulled pork sammies coming from that hunk o’meat? Oh. Yeah. Baby.

Pork not your thing? How about Barbecued Beef Brisket and Bacon Sandwiches to trip your trigger? Look at the incredible color of Cooking By The Seat of My Pants‘ amazing chef and writer, Jerry’s, exquisitely smoked brisket. Sandwich that in between two fresh buns and you’ve got the ultimate in tailgate finger foods. There’s no need for sissy eating utensils here kids.

Let’s leave the smoker and fire up that grill, shall we? Cynthia of Diary of a Glad Housewife shares with us her sweet and savory Honey Barbequed Grilled Chicken. Now I loves me my smoked beef & pork, but give me a finger licking sticky-sweet leg of poultry and you’ll hear soft giggles and squeals coming from my direction. SO GOOD!!

Sometimes you just want a bowl of something cozy and comforting that will stick to your ribs for at least 5 minutes until you move on to the next offering on the boofay.. and for me, All Things Edible’s incredible mommy and cook, Jenny’s Vegetable (Not Vegetarian) Chili truly hit the spot. This could easily be adapted into a vegetarian chili if you were to leave out the ground beef and Chorizo for your veggie loving friends. The best thing about this recipe, next to the taste, is that you can use any combination of veggies that you have on hand and it all comes together in one pot.. SHE SHOOTS! SHE SCORES!!!!

But wait! All of this delectable food takes a while to prepare.. what can we eat while we’re waiting?? Try this on for size - Tony of Olive Juice brings these Chorizo Stuffed Medjool Dates to the party.. dear sweet jebus, you’ve got your savory and spicy pork product encased in a sweet and creamy date all wrapped in crispy bacon.. *swoon* THIS IS HEAVEN!

I couldn’t resist a lil plug regarding this Buffalo Chicken Dip that I discovered a couple years ago.. of course it’s a widely known and loved dip that’s been around for quite some time, but I wasn’t introduced to it until the fall of 2006.. you can make this dip as mild or as smokin’ hot as you’d like and I’ll be dipped in 24 carat gold if it doesn’t taste EXACTLY like Buffalo wings minus the bones.

Finally, what’s a party of ANY kind without a little dessert?? Why it wouldn’t be a party dammit! And lahdee-beeee did I find the perfect dessert for a football soiree! Peaches ‘N Steam cupcakes! Yes you read that correctly.. the “steam” comes from the Habanero peppers! In a cupcake! The genius behind this recipe is Lisa of Parlsey, Sage, Desserts and Line Drives, who created this recipe for a cupcake contest and what an amazing concoction she came up with! Cool, creamy and sweet peaches offset but a mellow heat from the Habaneros. The great thing about this recipe, is you can use as little or as much Habanero as you’d like.

That’s it for this recipe round up - I hope ya’ll are wiping your chins and are thinking about that next football party you’ll be throwing and/or attending - any one (or all!) of these recipes would uplift your home team’s win.. or at least soften a loss with their deliciousness. xoxo

Want more football inspired recipes? You can find plenty of them on the Foodievew Recipe Search Engine.

To find out more about Lisa, check out her blog, La Mia Cucina.

It seemed like there was a time I could hardly browse around the LA blogosphere without bumping into some article about cupcakes. What is it with these daintily sized desserts? Certainly LA had good normal sized cakes before Sprinkles. Is it just that it’s a convenient serving size where a regular cake is too much of a commitment? Or have cupcakes pushed some sort of button in the collective unconscious? Could it be that eating a cupcake is like taking a brief, carefree trip back to your childhood?

Whatever the reason, cupcakes have been a major hit ever since Sprinkles Cupcakes opened its doors a couple of years ago. And of course, with success comes imitation. But strangely, we hadn’t seen much hoopla about cupcakes in San Diego… until now…

With 2 cupcake only bakeries, and 5 more specializing in them, I declare the cupcake war officially on in San Diego!

As usual, our mission is to find the absolute best that San Diego has to offer, so we sampled cupcakes from 9 San Diego bakeries as well as the Sprinkles Cupcakes in Newport Beach. Sugar coma, be damned!

On our tasting panel, we had two new special guests, Candice from SD CityBeat and Caron from SignOnRadio’s Gourmet Club and SD Food Stuff. Also on hand were long-time FoodieView friends and cupcake fanatics Mike and Eric, and the indispensable Michele and Liz helping with cupcake serving and photos.

So the idea was to visit each bakery and get a Red Velvet Cupcake - a mildly cocoa-flavored cake tinted red for some inexplicable reason and topped with cream cheese frosting. But not all the bakeries carry that flavor, so we just got what was available from those places. So how did they do? Read on for all the gory details…

10th place (Tie)	Elizabethan Desserts		This North-County bakery might need to go back to the drawing board for their Red Velvet cupcake. Although Elizabethan is generally well-regarded, their neon-pink Red Velvet cupcake was dreadful. Some choice words from our tasters included “Weird flavor” and “Tastes like Play-Do”.
10th place (Tie)	Heaven Sent Desserts		Heaven Sent makes some fine desserts (especially since they hired a new pastry chef not long ago), but their angel food cupcake with mint frosting needs some serious tweaking. Though the cake was fine, it was completely masked by the bizarre frosting which tasters alternately described as “waxy”, “greasy”, “like Jello”. Note that Heaven Sent doesn’t really specialize in cupcakes, though they often have one random flavor in their case.
8th place	Heavenly Cupcakes		Heavenly Cupcakes is a brand spanking new cupcake shop downtown. Unfortunately we weren’t big fans of their Red Velvet. Tasters noted “Dry, very dry”, “Not sweet enough”, “Gritty frosting”, “Almost tastes like bread instead of cake”.
7th place	Michele Coulon		Michele Coulon doesn’t specialize in cupcakes, but they often have a couple of flavors in stock. Though their angel food cupcakes looked lovely, the texture of the cake seemed out of whack: “Tough cake, like bread”, “Seems dense for angel food, like it was smushed”. But people did like the light frosting on the cupcakes, and on average it scored much higher than the 8th place cupcake.
6th place	Babycakes		Babycakes’ Red Velvet cupcake landed smack in the middle of most tasters’ rankings. Though many tasters liked the “not-too-moist, not-too-dry” texture of the cake and the “smooth cream cheese frosting”, some found the flavor of the cake off-putting: “Strong chemical taste”, “no pronounced cocoa flavor”.
5th place	The Daily Scoop		Scoop is actually a cute, little ice cream shop in South Park that happens to serve a few cupcakes. The to-go packaging for their cupcakes is either hilarious or annoying depending on your mood. They take their ice cream pint cartons and literally plop the cupcake into them. To get to the cake later, you have to rip apart the carton. Anyhow, their cupcakes had its fans (”moist, soft, tender”, “strong cream cheese flavor in frosting, yummy!”), but it was not without problems (”cake needs more cocoa”).
4th place	Eclipse Chocolat		This local chocolatier turns out several exotic flavors to highlight its chocolate. Their Chocolate Cupcake with Burnt Caramel Filling scored very high with some, garnering 2 first place votes noting its “deep chocolate flavor”, “good moist cake”. But some also noted a “burnt, bitter aftertaste” and “a gritty texture” to the frosting.
3rd place	Sprinkles		Apparently Sprinkles is worth the hype. Their Red Velvet cupcake had two 2nd place votes and one 1st place vote. Several of us appreciated the flavor of the cake: “just the right amount of cocoa”, “tastes most like red velvet”. But there were still some notable criticisms (especially regarding the frosting): “frosting is too sweet”, “sweet frosting is gritty”.
1st place (tie)	Influx		So we have a tie for first place, and I’m glad to see one of my neighborhood haunts is at the top. Influx is more of a coffeehouse that happens to make some pastries and cupcakes. The Red Velvet cupcake was well-liked by most. “Very good cake flavor, nice texture”, “Very smooth, tart frosting.”
1st place (tie)	Cupcakes Squared		Cupcakes Squared confounded the tasting panel with its not-red-at-all Red Velvet cupcake. We thought there was a mistake in ordering, but after calling to confirm, we discovered that they purposely do not add red coloring to their Red Velvet cake. Despite the confusion, the tasting panel liked the cupcake. “Moist, chewy, nice flavor”, “Nice cream cheese frosting”, “Good crumb”.

So that’s it for this battle. Want to chime in and tell us about your favorite cupcake fix? Let us know in the comments…

by Meeta Khurana

How fantastic is this time of year? Visiting the local Farmer’s Markets is pure bliss right now. As summer kisses us goodbye, she leaves us with the last fresh bounties of peaches, raspberries and zucchini. Autumn reaches out tantalizing us with delicious plums, apples and pumpkins.

This year I am looking forward to experimenting more with root vegetables and pumpkins. As I start to see parsnips, sweet potatoes, turnips, beets and rutabaga in the markets I am getting excited to try out the several recipe ideas I have bookmarked or saved.

Most people are familiar with the more common types of root vegetables like potatoes, carrots or celery, it’s those other unglamorous sorts that leave us scratching our heads. Beetroots, rutabagas, turnips and parsnips all offer wonderful variety in flavor. Besides being extremely nutritional they are perfect for soups, stews or gratin. But it does not end there - I have collected some incredible ideas that will change your view of these vegetables for sure.

Beets

These are related to Swiss chard, as a matter of fact the beet greens can be used and cooked like chard. Does anyone remember eating beetroot eagerly when they were younger? I have to say that I have found a new passion for them. My favorite way is gently roasting or baking them in the oven to release their sweet flavor. This wonderful baked beetroot with apple horseradish dip is perfect for a light and quick snack. I love the sweet flavors of the beetroot combined with the slightly sharp aroma of the dip.

Jules of Stonesoup also enjoys her beets roasted. She serves up an very intriguing seared spiced beef ‘carpaccio’ with roasted beets & goats curd. She wraps her beets in foil, sprinkling them with balsamic vinegar and oil first. Then they are baked in the oven till tender.

I am going to out myself now. I really love pickled beets and was excited to find Vanessa of What Geeks Eat pickling various produce - yes she even pickles beetroot.

Turnips

Now don’t go turn up your nose at these! I’ve found a new liking to these root vegetables, when one of my friends cooked up a delicious meal. I kept wondering what she did to her mashed potatoes. It turned out they were not potatoes at all but turnips! I was blown away.

A little research made me understand that turnips are best when they are less than three inches in diameter. If using older turnips they should be peeled before cooking. You may steam, boil, mash, or roast turnips, making them very versatile. Turnip greens can be cooked like any other green.

You can imagine how excited I was to find Samantha of Novel Eats’ incredible meal of Quinoa with turnip geens and toasted almonds, and creamed turnips. She uses homegrown turnips for a satisfying and healthy dinner.

Lisa of Lisa’s Vegetarian Kitchen finds that there is nothing more satisfying than simply sautéing root vegetables. She creates a wonderfully aromatic and extremely simple carrot and turnip kinpira. She lightly seasons the vegetables with tamari sauce and nutty sesame seeds.

I have often had turnips as part of a Middle Eastern meal, where this vegetable is quite a regular visitor in stews, tajines or simple as a side. So, it was great to see Mercedes of Desert Candy enjoying a typical Iraqi dish with her her mother. She makes turnips braised in molasses and sprinkled with pepper. The sweet and peppery contrasts give the turnip an exceptional unique flavor.

Rutabagas

Turnips and rutabagas are closely related, but are different vegetables botanically. Rutabagas are larger and sweeter than turnips. They are a cross between a wild cabbage and a turnip. Rutabagas have to be peeled before cooking and can be boiled or steamed like turnips, used in soups and stews, or mashed like potatoes.

One of the dishes using rutabaga that really caught my eye was Jenny of Straight From The Farm’s very unique herbed rutabaga couscous salad. I loved the gorgeous aromatic way she prepared the dish using bacon and cheese for more texture and spiking the salad with a delicate vinaigrette made with herbs de provence, honey and a touch of cayenne pepper.

My friend Tanna of My Kitchen in Half Cups comes up with a fantastic vegetable side. She creates a potato and rutabaga, bacon and plum tomato veggie mix that sounds irresistibly good. The fun aspect for this dish was the fact that it was created on the spur of the moment. She seasons it with Aleepo pepper adding a perfect hot and tart finish to the dish.

Parsnips

I truly love the flavor of parsnips and often use them in soups or stews. In appearance they are similar to carrots but are tan or a dirty white color.

When cooking with parsnips you will notice that they add their lovely distinct flavor to several dishes. One I really recommend is my bulgur with vegetables and feta. Parsnips are part of the great vegetable palate making a wonderful light meal. I also used parsnips to give the beef ragout a full bodied aroma. The sweet and nutty flavor of the parsnips added a lovely highlight to the ragout.

Having a deliciously sweet flavor parsnips work well in sweet desserts or breads. An intriguing recipe is certainly one that Haalo of Cook Anything (at least) Once shares. A moist looking chocolate and parsnip loaf. I am comparing it to a carrot and chocolate cake and can really imagine how this would be a kind of delicious upgrade!

Even Sunita of Sunita’s World recently found her passion for parsnips. She serves it in a wicked garlicky roasted vegetable mix. She uses sage and red chilies to give a fantastic mix in flavor.

Sweet Potatoes

I love the fact that these so called vegetables are versatile and can be used in savory and sweet dishes. I often make sure to pick up a few sweet potatoes when I go produce shopping. We enjoy them added to regular mashed potatoes, gratins or bakes.

An interesting take on mashed potatoes is one that June from Thyme for Food creates. Her chunky banana and sweet potato mash, which complements the chili pork skewers she serves them with, incredibly well.

The notion of sweet meets spicy is one that Myamii of For the Love of Food also enjoys. She teases us with an explosive baked sweet potato with maple Jalapeño sour cream.  The sweet potato is baked in the oven until tender and then topped with a creamy, sweet and spicy dip.

I decided to go the sweet route with my sweet potato. For dessert I recommend a brilliantly flavorful sweet potato flan. The sweet mellow flavor of sweet potatoes and a toffee aroma of the caramel is truly divine and perfect as an after dinner surprise.

Pumpkins

Ever so popular and very much en vogue at this time of year, pumpkins are probably on many peoples minds. Halloween and Thanksgiving is right around the corner and it’s time to look for a few interesting recipe ideas.

Joey of 80 Breakfasts recently made an outstanding honey and thyme roasted pumkin. She drizzles the pumpkin with honey, sprinkles them with pepper and tops them of with walnuts and pili nuts. I was sold the minute I saw the recipe.

The smell of freshly baked goods always is enticing to me. So, when Kellypea of Sass & Veracity shared her recipe for Pumpkin oat muffins with pepitas, I could literally catch the aroma wafting from my notebook. The muffins are packed with spices like cinnamon, cardamom and ginger to name only a few. Pumpkin puree gives these muffins their moist texture and oats a crunchy bite.

If you like your pumpkin more savory, then you’ll find pleasure in my pumpkin risotto with shrimps. An elegant way to serve dinner. It offers wonderful flavors of the sweet pumpkin and the firm shrimp infused with the delicate hint of coriander.

So, the next time you are shopping for your produce do not walk past those root vegetables. Dare to be rooty this Autumn. I certainly am going to be. I hope that a few of these recipe ideas provide you with a good basis to start.

If you want more, FoodieView is another great source for great recipes using rutabagas, parsnips, turnips or carrots. You’ll find several great dishes to experiment and try.

Meeta is passionate about food, photography and life. On her blog What’s For Lunch, Honey? she shares her passion for cooking and pictures, all peppered with a good dose of life. Visit her for more root vegetable ideas like this quick and easy root vegetable stir fry on quinoa or an irresistible pumpkin and feta tart or even this delicious vegetable polenta gratin with manchego.

By Maureen Clancy of Matters of Taste

With the possible exception of a golden turkey or a bumpy apple pie, there’s probably no food more closely linked to autumn than butternut squash. Trend-setting restaurant chefs are inclined to toss the colorful cubes into dishes all year round. But, in fact, this is a winter squash that grows on vines in cooler climates and is typically harvested in the fall.

As usual, Mother Nature knows what she’s doing. Butternut squash has a rich, sweet, nutty flavor that plays well in the dishes we love to eat when the weather turns cold. Soups, kugels, breads, purees and stews - such as Elise’s Spicy Lamb Stew with Butternut Squash that’s spiked with sweet paprika and red pepper flakes –are just some of the comfort foods that benefit from the distinctive flavor and creamy texture of this member of the cucubita family.

Butternut squash is a versatile vegetable, showing up in everything from corn muffins and chili to risotto and gratins. At The Wednesday Chef you’ll find a scrumptious risotto made famous by Alice Waters of Chez Panisse.

Blogger Luisa Weiss writes poetically: “The cubed squash simmered gently in sage-scented broth, while rice toasted in oil and butter and the onions grew translucent from the heat. The risotto, green-flecked and squash-studded, was sweet and faintly chewy - the squash toothsome and yielding. The crispy, fried sage leaves broke with the tiniest of crackles under the tines of our forks.”

Now, who can resist that.

I also love how butternut squash blends with other grains such as farro.

This unique grain, popular in Italy since Roman days, is enjoying a surge of popularity in the U.S. as health- and trend-conscious chefs cook with it and specialty food stores start to stock it. It can also be purchased on line at Gustiamo.com, a Web site devoted to artisanal products imported from Italy.

The heartiness of farro plays well against the smooth sweetness of butternut in a 101 Cookbooks recipe that involves roasted red onion, fresh thyme, toasted walnuts and balsamic vinegar.

Butternut’s natural sidekicks include garlic, onions, sage, thyme and both parmesan and blue cheese. But the squash’s mild flavor also makes it a natural in highly seasoned ethnic dishes such as Thai-spiced squash soup with ginger and red curry paste. At Foodmusings, the soup is spiked with cilantro pesto, fresh ginger, ground coriander and red chiles.

Butternut’s smooth texture makes it a perfect base for such creative soups. You can stick to the basics with a quick and easy soup - adding just onion, spices and a splash of cream — from Thyme For Food; or go whole hog with crisped bacon and canned cannellini beans, courtesy of the food-lovers at Friends Eat.

Butternut squash can even do its part in the other half of the “soup-and-salad” marriage. I admit I was skeptical that the meaty orange squash would be good in a salad, but the Butternut Squash and Chickpea Salad with Tahini, created by Orangette and tinkered with by Amateur Gourmet, is an ingenious use of the veggie. Allspice, cloves, onions and cilantro provide the seasoning element in a salad that tickles the tastebuds with its various textures.

Home bakers, too, can jump on the butternut bandwagon, using the squash in maple-swirled and pecan-studded breads and muffins, caramelized tarts and cinnamon-scented holiday pies that sub butternut for the more typical pumpkin. The squash muffins scented with ginger, vanilla and cloves at Coconut & Lime will get everyone out of bed in the morning fast. And Farmer’s Daughter shares a squash bread loaf that’s studded with chopped walnuts.

You don’t have to read a lot of blogs to discover that many home cooks have never tackled a butternut squash. That smooth, camel-colored skin is, indeed, hard to cut through (though some people claim they peel it with a vegetable peeler). The fleshy orange pulp is also harder to work with than, say, a summer zucchini squash. And the oddball shapes of the butternut further complicate the process.

But today, many supermarkets and almost all specialty food chains offer butternut squash that’s ready-to-cook, usually cut into cubes and packaged in plastic containers.

With the Thanksgiving feast just two months away, this is a good time to experiment with squash dishes that will steal the show at the holiday dinner. Epicurious’s Butternut Squash Gratin is dressed up with goat cheese and toasted hazelnuts. Andrea’s Recipes shares a simple butternut puree that’s enlivened with ginger.
And Too Many Chefs has a great-sounding souffle — moistened with apple cider and spiced with garam masala - that I plan to try on that hard-to-imagine Thanksgiving Day when I have some extra time on my hands.

You can also find several scrumptious butternut squash recipes on the FoodieView Recipe Search Engine.

To find out more about Maureen Clancy and her love of all things food, you can visit her blog Matters of Taste.

By Susan Russo of Food Blogga

Figs are food for the gods. These lovely tear-drop shaped fruit are singular in both appearance and flavor. From their characteristic perfumed fragrance to their fragile skin that is often split from ripeness, revealing droplets of golden honeyed nectar, fresh figs are a treat so luscious that time seems to slow while eating them.

Part of figs’ allure is that they have a heart-breakingly short season (typically from August-October). Though the vast majority of U.S. figs are produced in California because of its Mediterranean climate, they can be found in most supermarkets across the country. Fresh figs are distinct from dried figs, so here are some tips for selecting and storing fresh figs:

* Look for richly colored, plump, unblemished fruits with the stems intact. The skins often have a powdery finish, which is normal. They should be tender to the touch, but not squishy. Fully ripe figs often ooze a clear, syrupy substance which is a good indicator of its sweetness.

*If you’re not too embarrassed, then take a good whiff. Ripe fresh figs usually emit a delicate, sweet aroma.

*Since figs do not ripen once they’re picked, it’s best to eat them as soon as possible. Otherwise, place unwashed figs in an air-tight container and cover with a piece of paper towel; they should last 1-2 days.

*Bring figs to room temperature prior to eating, which will enhance their flavor. Wash them gently, remove the stem, and enjoy.

Now that you know what to look for, you need some inspiring recipes to try, and there are plenty of them around the blogosphere.

Like vine-ripened, succulent strawberries, figs’ sweetness is enhanced when paired with contrasting flavors such as salty prosciutto, bitter arugula, or tangy balsamic vinegar. An ideal pairing is sweet figs with salty cheese. Peter demonstrates figs’ allure in his chic Baked Figs with Mozzarella. Figs and cheese only get better when served atop crisp toast, as Katy well shows in her simple-to-make yet elegant Fig Canapes with Gorgonzola. Bruschetta-lovers will appreciate this boldly flavored Fresh Fig, Arugula, and Mascarpone Bruschetta.

You could also graduate from toast to pizza. Usher in the fall season with Fresh Fig and Fennel Pizza that is made with sauteed fennel bulb and figs, pungent blue cheese, and crunchy toasted walnuts. Or make Jeanne’s classy Brie, Fig, and Prosciutto Pizza, that boasts an enticing medley of textures and flavors.

Julie proves that opposites attract: she pairs tangy balsamic vinegar with sweet figs to create a rich, savory sauce for her Feta Stuffed Chicken Breast with Fig Sauce. Chris also appreciates the pairing of figs and chicken with her unique Cheesy Figgy Chicken Pockets. If pork is more to your liking, then try Laurie’s hearty Mediterranean Sausage and Lentils with Spiced Figs. You could also make a meat of your choice and top it with Half Baked’s wonderfully aromatic Fresh Fig Chutney made from cloves, ginger, brown sugar, and cinnamon.

When it comes to desserts, figs take the cake, literally, in Chris’s amazingly moist, sweet Upside Down Fresh Fig Cake. Figs can also flash a European flair, in the classic French clafouti. Veronica made hers by pairing crisp seasonal grapes and tender figs in her lovely Fig and Concorde Grape Clafouti. Speaking of classic French sweets, Helen’s Fig Almond Tartelettes are filled with a decadent mixture of fresh figs, brandy, and apricot marmalade.

Dessert First’s chic Vanilla Bean Fig Cupcakes with Orange Blossom Honey Frosting may sound kid-friendly because they’re cupcakes, but I assure you, these beauties are meant for a discerning palate. And though Allen’s charmingly pink sorbet will no doubt attract little ones, save it for an adults-only night. This Fresh Fig and Port Sorbet is too luxurious not to truly savor.

So feel like a god for the day by indulging in some seasonal fresh figs. Then try you hand hand at any of these sweet or savory offerings. The experience may just be divine.

You can find more fig recipes fit for the gods on the FoodieView Recipe Search Engine

Susan Russo lives in Southern California where she is addicted to local farmers’ markets. She publishes stories, recipes and photos on her cooking blog, Food Blogga, and is a regular contributor to NPR’s Kitchen Window.

By Meeta Khurana

Eat those vegetables!

You need to eat your fruits!

How many of us have grown up on those words from our diligent mothers? I for one clearly remember my mother always telling me how important vegetables and fruits are for our health and daily nutrition. However, my mother never shoved these words down our throats. Both my brother and I grew up loving spinach and enjoying our crunchy apples.

Today, I have a son of my own and in the same way my mother did all those years back, I am trying to teach my 6 year old the benefits of a vegetarian diet.

I do have to say this for my part though – I am not a vegetarian. As a matter of fact I am married to a German who loves his meat and both of us will indulge in a chicken, steak or fish whenever we crave for it. What I have learned over the years however is that a mainly vegetarian diet is not only healthier but it makes us feel better. For a major part of the past 12 months I have been consciously cooking more vegetarian meals at home. Looking at our weekly meal plan I would say it is about 80% vegetarian.

Do we feel a change? Yes! My husband says he feels better – more energy and simply “lighter”. I see exuberance in Soeren’s face and his high spirits are all signs that show me, the slight change in our diets is working for the positive. Personally, I have lost a bit of weight, despite all the desserts I make. I feel my skin glow and energized throughout the day.

Vegetarian diets are lower in saturated fats, cholesterol, and animal protein. They’re also high in folate, anti-oxidant vitamins like C and E, carotenoids, and phytochemicals. Overall, vegetarians have substantially reduced risks for obesity, heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes mellitus, osteoporosis, and some forms of cancer - particularly lung cancer and colon cancer. Vegetarian diets that are low in saturated fats have been successfully used to reverse severe coronary artery disease.

If you too are seriously considering integrating more vegetarian meals into your weekly meal plans I have a few fantastic and delicious ideas in store for you. First, you will find an interesting introduction to vegetarianism on the Daily Tiffin a great guide to get you started.

Gone are the days when eating vegetables meant munching a piece of celery or a bowl of sorry looking cabbage. Today you will find such a delicious variety of vegetarian meals, one better in taste than the other. The recipes are fun, creative and use a variety of exciting and most important healthy ingredients.

Pasta: We all love pasta dishes and I find myself trying to get away from the usual Bolognese sauce and offering a bit more than a tomato sauce.

I love lasagne and a ricotta pesto and mushroom lasagne is a creative and an especially delicious vegetarian way to serve lasagne. The basil pesto highlighted with the creaminess of ricotta layered with pasta and wild mushrooms bring out a delicious palette of flavors and aromas.

Using the seasons’s ripe heirloom tomatoes, Susan of Food Blogga puts together a delicious penne with fresh ricotta and baby heirloom tomatoes.  The silky creamy ricotta is paired with flavors of tangy lemon and aromatic fresh herbs to make a perfect light summer dinner.

Talking of summer - there is nothing like a fantastic pasta salad to indulge in while you are sitting out on the porch enjoying the warm evening. Ilva of Lucullian Delights packs her simply irresistible pasta salad with vegetables, avocados and capers. She uses all my favorite vegetables - zucchini, bell peppers, and eggplant. Perfect!

If you’ve got an abundance of tomatoes right now then let me recommend my caramelized tomatoes on homemade gnocchi. A delicate dish where the tomato is the star. Gently caramelized in the oven to bring out the their sweet aromas and juices. The contrast in taste comes from the peppery red peppercorns giving the whole dish an incredible and explosive combination.

Summer offers such a huge bounty of fruit and vegetables. The stalls at the Farmer’s Market are a rainbow of colors and one simply cannot resist over-buying. Here are a few great dishes using some of the seasons best vegetables.

Eggplant/Aubergine:  A classic dish using eggplants has got to be the aromatic Ratatouille. It’s not an easy dish to make as one has to pay special care as to the order of cooking the various vegetables. I make my ratatouille with aromatic herbs. It’s creamy and full of flavor.

Patricia of Technicolor Kitchen, makes a quick meal before she moves. She grills her eggplant and smothers them with some cheese. Her grilled eggplant with tomatoes and cheese is he right kind of dish for a bit of comfort and a lot of flavor.

After living in the Middle East for about 12 years, I quickly learned to make my favorite dishes when I moved to Germany. Baba Ghanouj with a warm vegetable salad is something I can never get enough of. Baba Ghanouj is a garlicky dip made using sesame seed paste (Tahini) and a touch of lemon, then mashing the aubergine. The vegetable salad also uses roasted eggplant, zucchini and bell pepper and a touch of cumin. Gorgeous with a fresh basket full of warm pita bread!

Corn: Cynthia of Tastes Like Home offers us a coconutty corn! She cooks the corn in coconut milk giving it that lovely tropical flavor. She then spices it up with lots of fresh pepper and minced hot pepper.

I use fresh corn is a tangy corn-coriander salad. Drizzled with fresh lime juice and a large bunch of coriander, this salad is not only a treat for the eyes but wonderfully delectable for the palate.

Margot of Coffee & Vanilla makes a lovely grilled corn with lime and coriander butter. The corn can be grilled in the oven or on a barbecue.

Zucchini: As I surf my favorite blogs I see one vegetable stand out among the rest. The zucchini! It seems there are plenty of these delicate summer vegetables going around and everyone is scrambling to create a variety of dishes from their bounty. If your CSA, garden or as in my case, the mother-in-law is providing you with a huge load of zucchini here are a few great ideas to try out.

Ann of Redacted Recipes simply adds a touch of garlic and sprinkles them with grated cheese and then places them under the broiler. Her cheesy zucchini is a great way to enjoy the abundance of this vegetable!

Deb over at Smitten Kitchen prepares a wonderful crunchy side. By quickly sautéing zucchini strips she adds nutty toasted almonds and sprinkles some pecorino Romano cheese, to give a simply elegant quick saute of zucchini with toasted almonds.

Tomatoes: Sweet, juicy and in various rainbow colors - tomatoes are in full season right now and there is nothing better than to enjoy it in it’s fullest glory. Sink your teeth into delicious crust, creamy spinach and roasted tomatoes with my makeover of the classic tarte flambée - the tarte flambée with tomatoes and creamy spinach.

Jaden’s delectable sweet and sour tomato sauce lovingly kisses the pan seared steak and makes it into a gala dinner meal! What would summer be without those lovely fried green tomatoes presented by the very talented Kevin of Closet Cooking? Reminds me of that wonderful film Fried Green Tomatoes from back in the early ’90s!

Elise suggests using excess tomatoes from your gardens to make a cooling homemade tomato juice. This one I need to try!

There are so many exciting and very interesting vegetarian recipes to indulge in, it becomes hard for me to share all of them. But here are a few I will be trying out in the next couple of weeks.

I particularly like Lindsay and Taylor’s exciting walnut-lentil burgers. They look and sound simply delectable, not to mention the health factor. Eating a burger will never be the same.

Ariela of Baking and Books makes an extremely aromatic butternut squash stew with rosemary and tomatoes. It will get chilly soon and this is going to keep me warm! Hope you

Michelle of Greedy Gourmet makes use of her new potatoes in a wonderful tortilla with courgette and tarragon.

Hope you enjoy these vegetarian specialities. With this much creativity and variety you’ll have a great time incorporating more vegetarian meals into your weekly meal plan.

FoodieView is another great source for great vegetarian ideas. You’ll find several mouth-watering dishes to experiment and try.

Meeta is passionate about food, photography and life. On her blog What’s For Lunch, Honey? she shares her passion for cooking and pictures, all peppered with a good dose of life. Visit her for more vegetarian dishes like this gorgeous Caponata Sandwich or a spicy Indian Paneer Frankies or even this delicious ricotta vegetable pot pie.

By Susan of Farmgirl Fare

Cranking up the oven to 500 degrees for a couple of hours might not be your idea of fun during late summer, but that’s just what you should be doing right now. Backyard gardens and farmers’ markets are brimming with vine-ripened tomatoes, bouqets of basil, and all sorts or other pizza-friendly ingredients, making this the tastiest time of year for homemade pizza.

Whenever someone tells me they want to try baking their own bread but have no idea where to begin, I suggest they start with pizza. This is the equivalent of learning to make biscuits or scones before attempting Danish pastry and éclairs. Pizza dough is not temperamental or fussy. The actual hands-on work usually takes less than 10 minutes, and you can let it rise for as little or as long as you like. It is extremely difficult to ruin and will almost never let you down. Serious pizza dough disasters are rare.

When two friends and I started a new blog called A Year in Bread last year, we naturally tackled pizza dough first. The touch of honey in Kevin’s favorite crust gives it a “nicely sweet lilt.” Beth’s signature pizza dough conveniently rises in the fridge overnight, and my simple recipe produces a crisp, chewy crust that you’ll be sinking your teeth into in less than three hours.

Can’t wait that long? Andrea at Andrea’s Recipes makes a kid-approved, whole wheat pizza crust that goes in the oven in under 30 minutes. Over in the kitchn, Emma shares her tried and true, no-rise thin crust recipe for those in need of pizza in a hurry.

If thick crust is your thing, don’t miss Chopper’s amazing Meatball Deep Dish Pizza over on Belly Timber; it bakes in a cast iron skillet and is served up with a side dish of pizza history.

Of course there’s more to pizza than just the crust. Faith from the kitchn tells us that “good sauce is essential to great pizza, and homemade pizza sauce is almost as easy as opening a jar.” She offers up recipes for both red and white sauce, “since some toppings do better on a mild, creamy base.” When faced with a bounty of tomato ’seconds’ in my kitchen garden, I turn them into a flavorful sauce that cooks up quickly and requires no blanching, peeling, or seeding.

Pesto makes a perfect pizza ’sauce,’ and a pizza topped with homemade basil pesto and slices of fresh tomatoes is my idea of the ultimate summer indulgence. Some pizzas don’t call for sauce of any kind, such as this simple Three Onion & Three Cheese Pizza, or the gorgeous Pear & Gorgonzola Flatbread with Baby Arugula & Shaved Parmesan that Jaden made in her Steamy Kitchen using no-knead pizza dough.

Even those who eat gluten-free don’t have to go without pizza, as deliciously demonstrated by Natalia the Gluten Free Mommy and Karina the Gluten Free Goddess.

Still not ready to turn on the oven? Then crank up the grill and cook your pizza outdoors instead - right after checking out these helpful grilled pizza tips on Slice, a part of the Serious Eats food blog community. Or walk through the steps with Nic in her Cooking School grilled pizza post on Baking Bites.

For those of you who love New York style pizza and know that - soaring summer temperatures or not - when it comes to pizza, the hotter the oven the better the pie, ex-New Yorker Jeff Varasano is about to become your new hero. He shares his famous New York pizza recipe on his popular website, along with extensive pizza making tips and instructions on how he rigged his home oven so that it’ll heat up to a crust-charring 850 degrees. Jeff is even turning his passion into a new profession; construction has just begun on Varasano’s Pizzeria, which will be located in the Mezzo building on Peach Street in Atlanta.

One of the best things about homemade pizza is that the possibilities are endless, and you’ll find all sorts of other pizza recipes on FoodieView.

Susan Thomas shares recipes, stories, and photos from her crazy country life on 240 remote Missouri acres on her award-winning blog, Farmgirl Fare - and always has at least three kinds of homemade pizza in the freezer.

By Rachel Rappaport of Coconut & Lime

I don’t know how it is where you live, but here in Baltimore, we are lucky if it goes below 90 degrees in August. The heat however, doesn’t stop me from wanting dessert. Perhaps the simplest of no bake desserts is a yogurt parfait with fresh fruit or even just the perfect peach but if you are up to something a little more complicated, you have a wide range of options.

Over at Closet Cooking, Kevin made a classic no-bake
cheesecake that would be perfect to serve with fresh Summer berries. Or if you want something slightly less traditional, try one of Dianne’s no bake cheesecakes. She has recipes for both a no bake key lime version and a peanut butter cheesecake with homemade hot fudge.

If cookies are more your thing, how about these Nutella
Oatmeal Cookies from Bake or Break. These no
bake bar cookies from Confabulation in the Kitchen are full of
oats, chocolate and peanut butter. Feeling sporty? How about trying
these no bake cherry-almond energy bars?

My absolute favorite no bake desserts are ice box pies. So named
because they require no baking and set up in the refrigerator (the ice
box), they are perfect for summer. They are also a great way to use up
seasonal fruit. My favorite is this blueberry ginger pie I made last year, it was little more than fruit in a shell and really showed off the blueberry’s fresh flavor. I also like
the look of this mango pie; it looks both creamy and fruity. Little Spatula made a lemon
ice box pie that looks super refreshing.

And let’s not forget what is possibly the most obvious of no bake
desserts: ice cream! Andrea’s Recipes has the tropical sounding passion
fruit macadamia nut ice cream or try this creamy avocado
ice cream from the Perfect Pantry. Looking for something a little
more traditional? Check out this peach ice cream from Homesick Texan. Or this low fat chocolate
ice cream from Christine Cooks.

Sherbets, sorbets and granitas can all highlight natural flavors and
cool you off on a hot day. This intriguing strawberry
sherbet is made with vanilla hemp milk and suitable for vegans. Or
try this blackberry
lemon verbena sorbet to use up some in season blackberries. This
lime
sorbet would be a great palate cleanser. This violet
granita is sure to impress anyone lucky enough to eat it.

For more delicious “No Bake” dessert recipes, try the FoodieView Recipe Search Engine.

Rachel Rappaport is a food writer and recipe creator who lives in Baltimore, Maryland. You can check out over 600 of her original recipes at her award winning food blog, Coconut & Lime.

By Lisa of La Mia Cucina

There are so many fantabulous dishes out there using fresh fruits and vegetables from home gardens, farmer’s markets and roadside stands that I couldn’t resist highlighting a few more awesome recipes!

For many of us, August means fresh, juicy tomatoes are ready to be picked and devoured. We’ve already gorged ourselves on crisp cucumbers and tasty zucchinis.. green beans bursting with flavor, buttery lettuce and the most beautiful eggplants. So many of these wonderful vegetables are grown locally - if not right in our own back yards. And so many of these vegetables are found in all kinds of recipes in the food blog world.

Starting us off is a recipe from Val - a very sweet gal who writes the blog More Than Burnt Toast, and is obviously a fabulous cook! Val made this recipe for an event that showcases favorite blogger recipes, which is a great idea as some of my most favorite recipes are recipes I found on the blogs I read. (Course my husband thinks I find most of my recipes in the 100’s of cookbooks I own so.. shhhh!) What I liked the most about it is the fresh grape tomatoes, arugula and basil.. oh and there might be a lil garlic thrown in the mix as well. The recipe is a Rachel Ray creation and it looks like this dish can be created in under 30 minutes - bonus! Roasted Garlic & Grape Tomato Pasta with Basil & Arugula is a dish that can be made on those nights when you’re just exhausted from a hard day at work. Now that’s my kind of recipe!

Next on my list is a stunning Sweet Carrot Soup with Basic, Goat Cheese and Capers. Holy cow, there’s nothing that doesn’t sound good here. The very talented Oakley of, Lemonbasil, chose this recipe because she wanted to highlight some gorgeous carrots she found at her local farmer’s market. Now only did she decide on a delicious recipe to do just that, but her photos are amazing as well! I’m so happy I found Oakley’s blog during my research for this article.. I’ll be checking in often to see what else she makes, and I suggest ya’ll do to!

Moving right along to one of my most favorite bloggers and fellow FoodieView contributors, Andrea of Andrea’s Recipes. Andrea opened up her copy of Gina DePalma’s Dolce Italiano in search of something to use up her bountiful zucchini’s. My gawd, I can so relate to zucchini overload.. our garden is BURSTING with them as well! And now that I’ve got my own copy of this book thanks to a sweet friend of mine, I will so be putting my zukes to good use in this amazing Zucchini-Olive Oil Cake with Lemon Crunch Glaze.. are ya’ll swooning yet? I was! I’m making this tomorrow as a matter of fact.. can’t wait! And seriously - what a perfect recipe.. you are baking a cake with zucchini in it so you know it’s got to be good for you!!

Rounding up the vegetable highlights is my own little Antipasto Salsa. Another Cooking Light recipe, this “salsa” is much more like a chop salad. Where salsas that I am familiar with are more wet and like a condiment, this salsa is chunky and could be eaten as a side dish. I substituted the zucchini with cucumbers only because the hubby isn’t a raw zucchini lover, but stuck with the rest of the recipe as written. Delish!! We brought this to a friend’s house and I served them with blue corn tortilla chips - there wasn’t a bite left before the evening was over. And with only 39 calories and 2 grams of fat per 1/2 c. serving, I’d say this was a winner!

I couldn’t end this without highlighting some fresh fruit, could I? It just so happens that this time of the year I start craving fresh peaches. OHMYGOD is there anything better than a sweet and juicy peach picked right from the tree?? Hell no there is not! I hit upon a most amazing post from Maggie of Dog Hill Kitchen. Maggie’s blog is chuck full of delicious recipes including some amazing dairy free baked good recipes that always blow me away. This time though, it’s all about the peaches. She and her family were tavelling back from Florida and she couldn’t resist picking up a full box of juicy peaches once she caught a whiff of their sweet aroma. Who could blame her?? Maggie came up with a few mighty tasty desserts using those peaches including stewed peaches and blueberries that you can make in the microwave and some broiled peaches with a streudel like topping made of brown sugar and pecans.. delish!!

But what really caught my eye, was her recipe for Peppery Peach Slices - yep.. peaches and pepper! At first I was like.. wha?? And then I read how she slices the peaches, tosses them with a lil sea salt and freshly grown black pepper then dehydrates them. So those of you who follow my blog, know I’m all about the salty and the sweet.. I CANNOT WAIT to try this recipe! I can just imagine the fruit made even sweeter by dehydrating it, the zing of the pepper and that salty burst.. *swoon*

Thank you gals.. you’ve given me even more recipes that I will be using as my garden gives me more veggies - ya’ll rock!

xoxo

You can find more fresh veggie recipes on the FoodieView Recipe Search Engine.

To find out more about Lisa, check out her blog, La Mia Cucina.

By Brilynn of Jumbo Empanadas

The NY Times recently had an article
about the ultimate chocolate chip cookie where it was determined that the very best cookie should be baked after aging the dough, use chocolate disks instead of chips and contain a generous amount of salt both in and on top of the cookie. Since that article was published, the cookie recipe has circulated the blogging world with an intensity not seen since the NY Times published an article about No Knead Bread. Home bakers everywhere have been “ageing” their cookie dough in the fridge for up to 36 hours, trying desperately not to eat it all with a spoon during the wait time, (or is that just me?).

The Kitchn, Noisy Stuff, Velvet Lava Cafe, Cookie Madness, Alice Q Foodie, (among many others) have all made these cookies and it seems as though this recipe is showing no signs of slowing down at any time. Joy the Baker has a particularly thorough series of cookie tests where she bakes the cookies at various points in their 36 hour resting period. Her posts are entitled The Chocolate Chip Cookie Debate Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 and Part 4, after which she decides that sometimes a cookie is just a cookie and shouldn’t bring about such intense scrutinization.

And although chocolate chip cookies are undeniably good, they’re not the only kind of cookie that elicits such excitement. Many people are just as passionate about French macarons. Helen of Tartelette is a macaron master and makes them in the most amazing flavour combinations like Cracked Pepper, Mint and Strawberry,
Cherry Blossom and Hibiscus or Hot Tamale just to name a few. From a master to a beginnie, The Occasional Baker tries making macarons for the first time after being appalled at the price bakeries were charging for a single cookie. After a few attempts that didn’t quite produce perfect macarons, he succeeded using an Italian meringue recipe and made some gorgeous macarons that he filled with lemon buttercream. If you want more macarons, check out the appropriately named Mad Baker who has 24 posts dedicated to macarons alone, all in pretty shades and delectable flavours such as Lavender Macarons with Honey Vanilla Buttercream.

If you’re looking for a simpler cookie, how about a classic like Snickerdoodles? But if you want a new twist, why not add blueberries like Nemmie of Cast Sugar. According to Nemmie, Snickerdoodles have always seemed a little plain to her but blueberries elevate them to a whole new level.

Nicole of Baking Bites uses citrus in her cookies to make Lime, White Chocolate and Macadamia Nut cookies. I love White Chocolate Macadamia Nut cookies and I can only imagine that the lime adds a whole new dimension to an already great cookie. The ever popular Deb of Smitten Kitchen also uses lime in her cookies, this time to make Lime Meltaways using tiny key limes that take forever to juice but that are well worth the effort. Patricia of Technicolor Kitchen uses citrus in her cookies as well, but lemons instead of limes. Once word gets out that she’s making Lemon Poppy Seed cookies I’m sure she’ll have people lining up for them as poppy seeds are now very difficult to find in Brazil. A blog with citrus in the title though not in the cookies, Coconut & Lime, makes a ginger cookie that doesn’t require rolling. In addition to being great on its own, her ginger cookies also make a wonderful base for pies in place of graham cracker crumbs.

As for myself, I think anytime is cookie time and recently I’ve been baking up a storm of cookies from Martha Stewart’s new cookie book. I think I’ll be making some sort of peanut butter cookie next, or maybe chocolate chip, or lime or blueberry or pecan… The possibilities are endless.

For more yummy cookie recipes, try the Foodie View Recipe Search Engine.

You can read more about Brilynn and her love of cookes on her blog, Jumbo Empanadas.