Edible Existence

Banana Tart with Warm Caramel Sauce

2011-12-29T17:23:00.004-05:00

This dessert is much more decadent than most we feature, which makes it ideal for special occasions this holiday season! While there are several different components, they are all quite easy to prepare. We hope you and yours enjoy it as much as our friends did! We also wish you a New Year as sweet and rich as this tart! Note: Alfred went absolutely ga-ga over the caramel sauce – if you have

Maple Pecan Tart

2011-11-24T15:05:00.003-05:00

We hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. It was just the two of us this year, so we we kept our dinner pretty simple. Roasted butternut squash, brussel sprouts with caramelized onions and for dessert this simple pecan tart. It is basically a healthier version of pecan pie. Sweetened only with pure maple syrup, it is not tooth-achingly sweet like the traditional dessert, and the maple

Slightly Spicy Roasted Butternut Squash

2011-10-15T20:11:00.006-04:00

Apologies for the lengthy lapse in postings, life has been crazy busy. We hope everyone’s autumn is off to a great start. For the last few weeks, we have been enjoying the bounty of fall produce – apples, pears, kale, brussel sprouts, turnips, and parsnips. One of our absolute favorites is butternut squash. We love it in everything from soups to baked goods. But nothing beats simply roasting

Roasted Banana Crumb Muffins

2011-09-18T12:49:00.004-04:00

One item always in-stock at our house is bananas. Ashlie eats one just about every day with almond butter as an afternoon snack. Alfred loves to use them to make smoothies. And when we end up with too many ripe bananas they make their way into baked goods. These muffins are a yummy twist on the traditional banana nut bread/muffin. The “secret” is to roast the bananas before adding them to the

Honey Mustard Glazed Salmon

2011-08-26T21:00:00.000-04:00

Salmon is one of our absolute favorites. We eat it a couple of times a week, often seasoned with just a little olive oil, salt, and pepper. We make this dish when we want to jazz it up a bit. The honey mustard glaze adds an element of heat and sweet, but it doesn't overpower the natural flavor of the fish. One of the best aspects of this recipe is it requires minimal preparation, and it cooks

Mediterranean Tuna Salad

2011-08-24T21:05:00.002-04:00

Sandwiches are one of Alfred’s favorite foods. He loves all varieties from hot and toasty paninis to cold and creamy egg salad. This tuna is one of his latest favorites. Unlike traditional tuna salad, this one is free of mayo and relish. Instead, it is made moist by olive oil and flavored with olives, capers and basil. In addition to being great on sandwiches, this Mediterranean- inspired tuna

Zucchini Muffins

2011-08-20T15:31:00.004-04:00

It is certainly the season for zucchini, and we have been eating more than our fair share! We love it in savory applications raw, roasted, sautéed, in soups and stews... but zucchini is also great as a moister booster in baked goods. The neutral flavor also creates a wonderful palate for any flavors you enjoy most in your baked goods to shine through. These muffins are subtly sweet and spicy,

Basil Vinaigrette

2011-08-11T09:17:00.008-04:00

One of our favorite summer flavors is basil. We buy a huge bunch each week at the farmers market, using as much of it as we can and drying the rest for winter time. This simple vinaigrette - sure to enliven your taste buds - is a fabulous way to take advantage of this aromatic herb. We like it best on fresh green salads, but it also works well drizzled over sliced tomatoes

Honey Nut Phyllo Triangles

2011-07-19T15:52:00.004-04:00

This recipe - phyllo dough enclosing a honey sweetened mixture of chopped nuts and spices - might also be called baklava bites. Truth be told we are gearing up for a big move and trying with all our might to use up the contents of our freezer. And I’ve had half a box (a box comes with 2 sleeves) of phyllo dough in our freezer since I made apple turnovers a while back. As with all recipes

Raspberry Almond Crumb Cake

2011-07-14T16:43:00.005-04:00

Alfred really enjoyed this simple cake. It is not too heavy and not too sweet, a nice treat for warm summer days. It is also a breeze to make, and it really needs no accoutrement, the fruit peaking through the crumb topping makes for a very pretty presentation. Feel free to substitute the raspberries with another berry or diced stone fruit such as peaches or cherries. It’s always best to go

Grilled Radicchio

2011-07-09T20:44:00.004-04:00

During the spring and summer months we are grilling feigns – and year round we are veggie feigns. Until recently, one of the few veggies we had never grilled was salad greens. We aren’t big fans of wilted lettuce, so recipes using romaine and other more delicate greens weren’t very appealing to us. So, we decided to try out radicchio, which has a sturdy almost cabbage-like texture capable of

Lemon Basil Squash Ribbons

2011-07-06T20:16:00.004-04:00

Summer squash is a wonderful veggie - it is an incredibly versatile crowd pleaser - great on the grill, and equally tasty raw, sautéed, or roasted. One of my favorite ways to prepare squash is to slice into thin, pasta like ribbons and sauté it lightly with some aromatics and herbs. A mandolin or vegetable slicing tool is useful in achieving thin and uniform slices, but you can also perform the

Nutty Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

2011-06-14T16:35:00.007-04:00

These cookies are super quick, super easy, and super tasty! What could be better? They are also pretty healthy when it comes to cookies - they provide a good dose of protein from the almond butter, plus heart healthy fiber from the oats, and they contain no refined sugar. They also happen to be gluten-free if you use gluten free oats. So, snack away! Nutty Oatmeal Raisin Cookies1 Cup Almond

Honey Whole Grain Muffins

2011-06-05T12:51:00.007-04:00

These naturally-sweetened, fiber-rich muffins make for a great healthy breakfast, but they are also a nice treat at tea time or a light dessert (according to Alfred, our resident muffin monster, these are good anywhere, anytime)! The recipe is also very simple and customizable - you can use any whole grain flour (gluten-free or gluten-full) you like and you can use different fruits and spices to

Citrus Honey Vinaigrette

2011-06-01T10:05:00.007-04:00

We can't get enough salads lately - lunch, dinner, and even snacks - salads and warm weather just compliment each other perfectly. We keep things interesting by using a variety of homemade salad dressings. This simple vinagrette is one of our favorites. It is incredibly refreshing and works equally well tossed with fresh greens or cucumber and radish slices. Citrus Honey Vinagrette1/4 Cup

Raisin Pecan No-Knead Bread (and a blog name change)

2011-05-27T19:35:00.009-04:00

Alfred is a huge fan of bread, so (being the loving wife that I am) I bake him a loaf once a week. His favorite bread is a wheat loaf based on Jim Lahey's famous no-knead recipe. It happens to be the easiest bread recipe imaginable. The dough's long rise yields a slightly sourdough like flavor with an airy, chewy crumb. He loves this bread plain, with jam or honey, and he uses it to make

A Simple Formula for DIY Granola

2011-05-20T12:03:00.007-04:00

Granola is one of my many foodie obsessions. I have a couple of recipes on the blog already. For years I've been tweaking my approach. I've tried many different ingredients and different proportions of oil, liquid sweeteners, fruit purees, oats, nuts, and seeds. I've finally settled on a formula that produces a granola that I absolutely adore. It's crisp, flavorful, and lightly sweet. It is great

Dessert From The Grill: Stuffed Bananas!

2011-05-15T10:54:00.006-04:00

Today we'll be continuing with the theme of the last few posts - grilling! When the sun is shinning we just can't keep ourselves indoor, even to cook and bake. Stuffed bananas have become one of our favorite easy outdoor treats. The "recipe" is super easy and super tasty. It's especially great for cookouts, camping trips, and is certain to be loved by adults and children alike! You will need:1

Sweet and Savory Plantains

2011-05-10T10:25:00.006-04:00

Plantains - those huge "bananas" often located near other tropical fruits such as mangoes and coconuts in the grocery store - are not only tasty, they are incredibly nutritious. They are high in fiber, potassium, and Vitamins A and C. Unlike bananas, plantains cannot be eaten raw, in other words they must be cooked. Green, unripe plantains are very starchy, much like a potato. As they ripen, the

Grilled Spring Veggies

2011-05-06T15:01:00.009-04:00

As soon as the weather starts to warm up Alfred goes grilling crazy. As long as it's not raining, most everything we cook from May to October we cook on the grill. Fish, chicken, lots and lots of veggies, even pizza, and fruit for dessert. Right now, spring veggies are ideal candidates for grilling, and recently we cooked two veggies on the grill that turned out particularly well: Artichokes and

Melt-in-Your-Mouth Roasted Salmon

2011-04-30T15:50:00.007-04:00

Without a doubt our favorite protein is salmon. We eat it as least once a week - usually on Friday nights for a special treat. In the past, we typically cooked it at a high temperature on the grill, stove top, or oven for just a few minutes to end up with fish cooked no more than medium. And, we always loved it.... that was until we tried roasting our salmon at a very low temperature for a

Apple Turnovers

2011-04-29T15:34:00.011-04:00

Alfred's all-time favorite pastry is apple turnovers. So, for his birthday I made him some - but, of course, I couldn't resist healthy-ing them up a bit. Rather than using puff pastry (which is mighty tasty, but full of butter) I used philo dough. And, rather than sweetening the filling with sugar, I used honey. The result was awfully pretty and he assures me they were very tasty! I think they

Magic Chocolate Mousse Tart

2011-04-24T11:38:00.011-04:00

This is one of the most decadent desserts I have ever had the pleasure of consuming! It is also unbelievably simple to prepare - which brings us to the magic part! The magic ingredient is (drum roll)....water! Water? Yes, water! This rich, decadent, creamy, truffle-like mousse is a simple combination of chocolate and water. This video provides the best explanation of how it works, but trust me

Simple Tomato Soup

2011-04-22T13:45:00.006-04:00

We love pretty much all soups, but we especially adore a nice tomato soup. For many years (back in Ashlie's dairy and wheat eating days), our favorite lunch was velvety tomato bisque served with plenty of fresh ciabatta bread to sop it up! We would drive about an hour to Central Market in Dallas to indulge in this delight. Recently we were are out of town and needed to grab lunch and we ended up

Pretty Darn Perfect Pizza Crust

2011-04-17T13:44:00.009-04:00

For years we've been searching for the perfect pizza dough, as well as the perfect pizza cooking method. We've tried many kinds of flour (bread flour, all purpose flour, whole wheat flour, semolina flour, etc.). We've tried no-knead dough and dough you knead the heck out of. We've tried baking the crust on pans, on baking stones, partly on pans and then finishing it on a baking stone. And, we