when in doubt, fry an egg

 Some days you are the monster, and some days you are the squish in a s’more! 

(Source: siraudio.deviantart.com, via heyoscarwilde)

in love. 

(Source: hodors)

it’s official. these are my new favorite cookies. 

sweet and savory, with a melt in your mouth nuttiness, these are a lot like a macaroon, with a hard shell and soft interior.  

these gems are micronutrient-rich, loaded with calcium, copper, manganese and iron; and being over 50% fat, they are a great energy-boosting snack for those of us who are fat adapted. 

incredibly easy to make, these baked in under 8 minutes in my crazy oven. start with the dry ingredients, 1 1/4 cup of blanched almond flour, a pinch of crunchy celtic sea salt and a half teaspoon of baking soda. add to it 1/3 cup of tahini (make sure you shake the jar!), 1/3 of a cup of honey 1 tablespoon of good verdant olive oil, 1 tablespoon of vanilla and the zest of 2 or 3 lemons. 

a couple of stirs with a wooden spoon, and the dough will come together, looking a lot like regular cookie dough. 

roll out even sized balls, about 1 inch each and roll them in sesame seeds. flatten and place them in a cookie sheet, leaving plenty of room for them to spread. i lined my sheet with parchment paper, but it shouldn’t be necessary. 

bake it at 350F until they are golden brown, 8 to 15 minutes, depending on your oven, and size of cookies. 

i ate 3 within 20 minutes of them coming out of the oven. yeah, they are that addictive. 

ps: i just had a couple with some boucheron cheese. it was perfect. 

bone broth is your friend. 

although humans need only tiny amounts of micronutrients—vitamins and minerals— to function, a deficiency of those can be very detrimental to your health. 

every time my grandma ate anything “with bones” she would make sure to break them and eat all of the marrow hidden inside, which is loaded with calcium, magnesium, phosphorous and other trace minerals. 

while i’m still a sucked for roasted marrow, this bone broth is an easy and efficient way to get your share of micronutrients.

i like to infuse my broth with tons of flavor (and extra micronutrients) by first sautéing a mixture of finely chopped onions, garlic and shallots in a heavy sauce pan with a bit of olive oil or tallow from your previous batch of broth. 

make sure your marrow bones are grass-fed and antibiotic-free, and add them to the pot once the onions have become translucent. add a healthy pinch of sea salt and cayenne pepper. 

cover the bones with filtered water and bring it to a boil. lower the fire to a minimum, cover, and let it simmer for about eight hours. you can also do this on a crockpot. 

when fully cooked, the broth may look gelatinous due to a high concentration of collagen. in other words, the broth is a micronutrient jackpot. 

once the broth cools, the fat, or tallow, will raise to the top, and it can be used to cook with. 

place the broth in glass containers and refrigerate it, or freeze it in ice cube trays for easy access. 

this broth is universal in flavor, and it can be used for a number of recipes or enjoyed on its on. 

a cup of broth a day, keeps the doctor away. 

as a kid, i use to douse my hair in goat milk and lay in the sun, hoping for highlights. the smell was intense, to say the  least. 

fortunately, that did not turn me off to goat cheese. 

this goat cheese tart is loaded with protein and it is delicious, hot or cold. 

the almond flour dough comes together in a pinch, and it is not only easy to handle and versatile, it is also fool proof. 

i used olive oil for the savory tart, but almond oil or coconut oil are perfect substitutes if you wanted to turn this into a sweet dough. 

in a bowl mix in 2 cups of almond flour, 1 egg, 1 pinch of coarse sea salt, and 2 tbsp of olive oil until it forms a dough ball. keep it in the fridge, covered, until ready to handle. 

traditional french goat cheese tarts usually feature sweet onions and thyme. this version is loaded with sweet roasted garlic and cherry tomatoes. 

crumble up 10oz of fresh goat cheese in a bowl, add in a cup of half & half or heavy cream, and 3 large eggs and stir until well mixed but still “clumpy.”

add in a hefty pinch of fresh thyme, sea salt, cayenne pepper and three or four chopped roasted garlic cloves. 

preheat the oven to 350 F, take the dough out of the fridge and simply press it into a tart pan. 

pour the goat cheese mix onto the tart pan and sprinkle the cherry tomatoes on top. 

bake for 30 to 40 minutes, or until the top is browned and the filling is “firm” when shaken. 

let it rest for at least 10 min before digging in. enjoy it for breakfast, brunch, lunch or dinner. 

chicken. just because i don’t eat it, it doesn’t mean i can’t make a mean one. 

cooking it on the bone and skin on assures that the chicken stays flavorful and moist. these drumsticks were soaked in a greek marinate for a few hours and then cooked on a cast iron skillet. this marinate is also delicious on pork, or potatoes. 

mix together the juice and zest of 3 lemons, 1 tbsp of fresh oregano (dry is ok if it’s all you got), 1 tbsp of thyme, 1 tsp of garlic powder (or 1 tbsp of fresh minced), a healthy pinch of sea salt and 3 tbsp of olive oil. 

rub the drumsticks, and make sure the marinate gets under the skin. let it rest in the fridge anywhere from 2 to 24hrs. 

pre-heat the oven to 400F, and heat up a cast iron skillet on the stove top. place the drumsticks skin side down, and cook them on high for about 2 minutes. lower the temperature, and cook for another 5 minutes. Place the chicken in the oven, and cook for another 20 min, before flipping it. Flip it and cook for another 10 minutes, or until the drumsticks are cooked through. 

drizzle with fresh lemon juice before enjoying. 

(if you make them, let me know how you like them, as i haven’t had chicken in 15+ years and don’t plan on having it anytime soon.) 

granny smith apples + all-natural prosciutto = SNACK MAGIC

if you are not going to eat these right away, make sure you give the apples a healthy sprinkling of lime juice. 

i like things spicy. cold sweat, eyes tearing up and nose running spicy. growing up, i remember watching my grandma setting my grandpa’s plate for lunch. whatever it was that we were having, she would put a super spicy ladyfinger pepper right by his fork. he would take a bite of the food, and then take a bite of the pepper. 

when i moved away from Brazil, i missed the flavor of some of the peppers, specially the pimenta de cheiro, the malaguetas. my grandma then started to conserve them in olive oil, so that when i came over to visit, i would have my very own containers of lava-hot happy-oil. my favorite part was watching her giggle as i drenched my plate with the oil. 

my nearby market recently stopped selling habaneros by weight, and started packaging them in a little tray. i only needed one or two of them for my ceviche, so i decided to channel my grandmother, and conserve the rest of them with some grapefruit peel and olive oil.

you can do this with pretty much any pepper and good olive oil. the longer it sits, the spicier the oil gets. once the oil levels go down, you can always add more oil to it and wait until it ‘heats up’ again. 

the seasoned oil can act as a great salad dressing in a pinch, and it is delicious over fish, roasted veg, or in my case, over everything. 

as a little girl, i used beets as makeup. i would take a piece of boiled beet, and use it as lipstick, rouge and even eye shadow. during the summer, with my baby-hairs bleached from the sun, i would volunteer to do the dishes,  just so i could get my hands on the water the beets were boiled in. i would dip my hair in it, just long enough to get some marvelous magenta highlights. 

nowadays, i roast my veggies. beets are easy. trim them, scrub them, rub them with some olive oil and wrap them in aluminum foil. make sure you keep the greens. roast them at 375F for ~45m. once they cool for a bit, they will be easy to peel. 

i treat the beet greens just like collards, or kale. crisp up some bacon of pancetta in a sauté pan, add garlic, cumin, salt and cayenne pepper and the greens. cook til just heated through.  

the beet greens are fantastic with bison short ribs and the beets are perfect with raw goat’s cheese, grapefruit, basil  and hazelnuts. 

ribs are delicious. the meat being so close to the bone, makes it extra good for you. 

beef and pork ribs are delicious, but there is something spectacular about bison ribs. these are cooked low and slow and were fall-off-the-bone perfection. 

braised ribs take time, but when done right, they can be cliché-inducing.

the method is lengthy, but not complicated.  season 2lbs of meat with cayenne and  thyme and let it rest in the fridge overnight. take the meat out 30 min before cooking and season it generously with sea salt. 

pre-heat the oven to 325F. coat the bottom of a large dutch oven with plenty of olive oil. searing the meat is the most important step of this process. make sure the oil is smoking hot, and sear the meat in all four sides. don’t rush this step. 

remove browned ribs from the pan and add 1 cup of chopped onions, 1/4 cup of chopped garlic to the pan. cook until translucent.add 2 bay leaves, 2tbls of balsamic vinegar,  4 sprigs of thyme, sea salt, cayenne pepper and a half a bottle of a dry red wine. 

add the ribs back in, meaty side down. cover the pan, and put it in the oven. check them for doneness in about 3 hours. the meat should yield to a fork easily. 

you can let the meat rest for 10 min and serve it as is, or place ribs in a cookie sheet and broil them for a few minutes. 

steak. get in my belly! 

broiling tri-tip is one of the easiest ( read little clean-up) ways to enjoy steak at home. 

tri-tip steaks cook up fairly quick. i like to heat up my cast-iron griddle in the oven at around 500F and then place the room-temperature steaks on it, under the broiler for about 4 or 5 min on each side. 

if you don’t have a griddle pan, you can just as easily broil your steaks directly on aluminum foil with a lil’ olive oil. 

it goes without saying, but be careful. the boiler is hot. the griddle will be hot AND heavy. the aluminum foil will be hot and flimsy. use common sense. 

i usually use a ‘neutral’ marinade on the steaks, so that if they are not all consumed at once, you can easily re-purpose them for another meal. 

sea salt, cayenne pepper, fresh thyme and a splash of balsamic vinegar usually does it for me. 

the leftovers are delicious cold and thinly sliced, and are a great way to ‘spruce up’ less-favored veggies like spinach and squash.