Recently, I thought it would be fun to give auditioning for a cooking show another try. This time, I saw that ABC's The Taste was coming to Chicago and figured why not! I headed over to the "cattle call" like audition with my famous Ancho Chile BBQ Chicken tacos topped with a tangy tropical guacamole and caramelized onions. Basically, I had 3 minutes to plate my dish for the judges and then talk about it with them for a few minutes. Long story short, my confidence shined and I was asked to ... [ Read More ]
Apple Cheddar Biscuits w/ Honey
Happy Rosh Hashanah! For those of you who don't know, I am Jewish and my favorite part of my culture is all the food we get to eat around the holiday time! Tonight, I am cooking a small Rosh Hashanah dinner for my fiancé and I and I wanted to serve something really special to commemorate the new year. As a Jewish tradition, we are supposed to eat apples and honey on Rosh Hashanah to symbolize the hope for a sweet new year! This year, I wanted to honor the tradition while integrating my ... [ Read More ]
Swiss Diamond: Diamonds are a chef’s best friend!
As someone who loves to cook, I’ve tried every pot, pan and cooking utensil on the planet. I thought I used the best of the best, until I had the opportunity to try Swiss Diamond cookware. It all started when a friend of mine, Chloe, invited me over for dinner. She isn’t much of a cook, so she planned on ordering out. When she asked me where we should order from, I told her that we should cook something together instead! She reluctantly agreed and we headed out to buy the ingredients to make ... [ Read More ]
S’mores Dip
S'mores Dip. I know. Amazing, right? Who doesn't love a delicious S'more? When done correctly, the melty chocolate, chewy marshmallow and crunchy graham cracker creates an insane tastebud utopia. How did I come up with creating it in dip form? Let met start from the beginning... For a recent Sunday Football party, I got assigned desert. I'm admittedly not much of a baker (and I didn't have a ton of time either), so I decided to get inventive. I had s'mores material in my house from a ... [ Read More ]
Roasted Tomato & Mozzarella Quinoa Salad
Coming off of my raw/vegan cleanse, I really wanted to continue eating healthy. I'm totally obsessed with quinoa so I set out to the farmers market to find some yummy ad-ins and create a new and inspired dish. Low and behold within a few minutes at the market, I found these gorgeous cherry tomatoes and some decadent fresh mozzarella. I knew in that moment that this new quinoa dish was going to be amazing! When I got home and started to prep, I realized I wasn't really in the mood for a ... [ Read More ]
JuiceRX: That I Week I Ate Raw & Vegan
As many of you know last week, I made the goal of kick-starting my wedding diet with a complete raw/vegan challenge. Since I'm not a fan of straight juice cleanses, I scoured the internet in hopes of finding a company that provided both raw vegan juices & foods. After reading lots of reviews and looking through menus, I chose JuiceRX based out of Chicago (although they deliver all over the country). What I thought would be one of the more difficult weeks of my life actually turned out ... [ Read More ]
My 5 Most Embarrassing Kitchen Mishaps
On the outside, it may look like I have it all together in the kitchen. I mean, I have a food blog, teach cooking classes and have web series produced by DevHour TV. Well, I'm here to tell you that it's been a long journey getting here and I continually screw up just like everyone else. I think part of learning is making mistakes and I've had my fair share of embarrassing moments in the kitchen. In the end, from all the times I've messed up in the kitchen, I've actually learned a lot about ... [ Read More ]
Cauliflower Buffalo Wings
Lately, I've been hearing so much hype around using cauliflower to make "cauliflower buffalo wings". The thought of it didn't really make sense (I mean how can cauliflower substitute a juicy chicken wing), but I thought I would give them a try. The whole idea of making them started when we invited a few people over to watch the Colorado football game (that's where Dan went to school), and 3 out of the 5 guests were vegetarians! I wanted to do something fun and unique and thought that it could ... [ Read More ]
My Date Night at Enolo Wine Bar
Since my fiancé, Dan, and I got engaged, we’ve hardly been able to spend any time together. Between his work and travel schedule and my flights back and forth to Boston to plan our wedding, it’s been tough! Last week, we had one night where we were both free (and in town) so I knew I wanted to plan a romantic date night for us to just unwind, catch up and enjoy some incredible food. A few of my friends had mentioned that Enolo Wine Bar on Clark Street is a great new spot to grab a glass of ... [ Read More ]
Everything Erica’s Clean Eating Challenge
Bottom line, I’ve had quite a few weeks of overeating. I never knew getting engaged would mean gaining 5 lbs, but embarrassingly, it happened. It seems like lately everyone wants to send me chocolate, buy me dinner or shower me with all my favorite food items. While it’s been fun (and I’m totally grateful for all the love), I feel awful inside and I’m determined to jumpstart my wedding diet with a week of completely clean, raw, vegan eating. I've decided to start Tuesday, September 2nd (one ... [ Read More ]
