Nectarine and Orange Salad: A Refreshing Summer Recipe

The vibrant colors and flavors of the season are everything I want on my plate on these hot summer days, and this Nectarine and Orange Salad delivers those healthy and tasty vibes in spades. It’s a beautiful salad with sliced nectarines, oranges, red onion, goat cheese, and pumpkin seeds.

Vegan Spaghetti Squash With Spinach Basil Sauce

How wonderful it is that nature provided us with spaghetti squash, an unprocessed, gluten-free, grain-free, and dairy-free option to pasta. I’m in Portugal, where I love all the organic fresh produce I find at our local farmers’ market. I took advantage of the abundance of squash to make an easy and healthy meal. Vegan Spaghetti Squash With Spinach Basil Sauce is a delightful combination that delivers a delicious and nutritious dish.

Asparagus Salad with Butter Leaf Lettuce, Brie, and Soft-Boiled Eggs

Salads are a mainstay of my diet, offering versatility and freshness that fit any meal. I savor a bowl of fresh greens and veggies not just for afternoon or dinner fare but for brunch and, occasionally, breakfast. This Roasted Asparagus with Butter Leaf Lettuce, Brie, and Soft-Boiled Eggs strikes a balance between elegance and heartiness, perfect whether serving an intimate group or a hungry crowd.

Spinach Risotto with Mushrooms Recipe – A Cozy Fall Comfort Food

We’re looking forward to more cooler days, fall colors, and cherished family gatherings over the next few months. We’re also indulging in simple yet substantial warming meals. One such dish is this Spinach Risotto. Topped off with garlicky mushrooms and a perfectly soft-boiled egg, it transforms into a complete and utterly satisfying meal that’s easy to prepare.

Fresh and Easy French Potato and Peapod Salad

This French-style potato salad is delicious on its own, served on a bed of greens, or used as a side dish with a protein. The crisp pea pods give it a fresh flavor, and the dressing is filled with bright-tasting herbs and mustard.

Quick Pickled Red Onions

Pickled red onions can add a bit of tang and some pretty pink to so many dishes. Add some slices of jalapeños and you will give this wonderful condiment a bite of heat. A staple in most Mexican kitchens, pickled red onions can be a delicious addition to tacos, quesadillas and enchiladas, but they are also wonderful on scrambled eggs, avocado toast, fish dishes and salads. Not as sweet and my Red Onion Marmalade, but they are interchangeable and I always have a jar of at least one of these on hand at all times.

Lemon and Caper Cauliflower Steaks

Cauliflower is a little like tofu, it's a convincing imitator that can be prepared in ways that are usually saved for proteins, like fish or meat. Since the flavor is mild and it has so much texture, you can easily swap it out for animal proteins and have a healthy...

Marinated Feta and Tzatziki: A Taste of Greece

We were lucky to squeeze in a quick trip to Greece just before the lockdowns began. During our visit, we explored all the wonderful nooks and crannies of Athens and indulged in incredible Mediterranean food, including authentic marinated feta and creamy tzatziki. Bring a little of Greece home with these Marinated Feta and Tzatziki recipes.

Provencal Asparagus Tart

There is something about French Provencal food that really speaks to me. Haute Provence cuisine is a much lighter and simpler style of cooking verses Haute Cuisine, which is what a lot of people associate with French cooking. Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of...

Creamy Zucchini and Potato Soup

Seventy degrees one day and the next, we have two feet of snow, but it's not a problem as we have no place to go. One day seems to blend into another and I'm forgetting which day of the week it is. I'm also being super lazy about taking care of things around the...

Lemon Asparagus Risotto

Congratulations! We've lived through another week of quarantine and can take a deep breath and begin this new week with a commitment to stay home and stay healthy, plowing past this virus as soon as possible. Yesterday, I completed my workout without tears, so that...

Roasted Pepper, Artichoke and Cannellini Bean Salad

Life at my day job as a Realtor has been roller-coaster of changes by the hour since our town has gone into lock-down mode. I had a conversation with a friend that personified all that is and will be so challenging during this period. We are all concerned about...

Peanut Noodles Primavera

If you’re looking for a quick, healthy, and incredibly versatile dish, this Peanut Noodles Primavera is the answer. I like to think of it as a delicious "veggie dump" dish—you can add almost any vegetable you have on hand, and it will work wonderfully. Best of all,...

Mediterranean Flatbread

We flew off to Newport, Rhode Island and the Connecticut coast to visit with family and to celebrate some special birthdays. Those warm, humid summer days that turn into misty cool evenings with foghorns blowing in the Long Island Sound, are evocative of a past life I...

Grilled Flatbread

Lovely flavorful flatbread can be used in so many ways. It can be used torn apart to scoop up hummus and other dips, flat and crisp almost like a pizza with various toppings, or similar to a pita or tortilla, filled with delicious goodies.   Grilling the flatbread is...

Nicoise Salad

The Nicoise Salad is one of the great French culinary concoctions. It is simple, fresh tasting, and a nutritiously power-packed dish. It is a wonderful salad to make for a buffet table or pot-luck, as it allows people to take the ingredients that suite their particular diets and preferences.

Lemon Jewel Couscous

Looking for a side dish with bright and fresh flavors? This Lemon Jewel Couscous is great hot, cold, and at room temperature. It can be served as a side dish or as a wonderful vegetarian or vegan entrée, when plated on a bed of greens, such as arugula. In the warmer...

Tomato and Wine Focaccia Bread

Bakery Life and My Tomato and Wine Focaccia Bread Every day from April through October, my mornings began at six. I’d quickly dress and head to my charming little shop and catering business on Fishers Island. My friend Kristen, a dedicated mother of three adorable...

Preserved Lemons

Preserved Lemons are a wonderful addition to many recipes. A staple in Moroccan and Middle Eastern cuisine, they have become a more popular ingredient, adding a lovely and unique citrus flavor to chicken, fish, vegetables, rice and, my favorite, couscous dishes.  ...

Lemon Cherry Ricotta Cake

It felt good waking up with the sun this morning, pulling my hair up into a ponytail, skipping the make-up, throwing on sweats and a tee-shirt, knowing that I didn’t have to leave our little birdhouse today. As I stood for a minute sipping coffee at the kitchen sink,...

Latest Recipes

Tomato Shallot Confit with Whipped Ricotta

Tomato Shallot Confit with Whipped Ricotta

Our Saturday ritual consists of a walk to our local farmers’ market, and coffee and breakfast at a favorite restaurant. I often find that the farmers’ market dictates our menu for the week, with the lush fruits and veggies in season inspiring me. This Tomato Shallot Confit with Whipped Ricotta is no exception.

Welcome!

I’m Eva Marie, a cook, traveler, and an integrative nutrition and brain health coach. This is my little nook where I share my recipes, travel experiences, and stories. I’m so glad you stopped by to have a look around.

 

Living Well

-Thoughts to Consider-

Spinach, Berries, and Quinoa Salad

Spinach, Berries, and Quinoa Salad

This Spinach, Berries, and Quinoa Salad is more than a pretty plate. The combination of tender greens, juicy berries, nutty grains, and heart-healthy fats hits all the right notes—sweet, tart, crunchy, creamy.

read more

-Meditation Practices-

Loving-Kindness Meditation

The loving-kindness meditation, is a practice rooted in Buddhist traditions that involves cultivating feelings of love and compassion and offers a profound and beautiful way to invest 10-15 minutes daily. I frequently wrap up my workouts by lying on the floor and...

Simple Mantra Meditation

When I delved into the practice of meditation, a shroud of secrecy surrounded the process, prompting questions about the necessity of ceremonial initiation and associated fees. I firmly believe that meditation should be an accessible skill taught in schools,...

-Brain Health-

Meditation in Snow and Silence

On this bitterly cold day across most of the United States, I come to you from Bergen, Norway, where I am spending the Christmas holiday with family.

One Christmas while in the Colorado mountains, I was overwhelmed by the season – too much emphasis on buying the next big thing for gifts, frantically shopping, cooking, sending out cards, and ensuring everything was perfect. I took a walk in the woods to clear my head and breathe. I thought I’d reshare this post I wrote when I emerged from that walk.

The Land of Trolls and Apple Cake

A delicious traditional Norwegian Apple Cake recipe from my mother’s homeland. The land of trolls, fjords, and apple cake.

Annie

She was from a different era, when people were...

To Be a Mother

Here’s the deal, my “kid” is thirty-three years...

Blessings

With all of the pretty pictures we see on social...

Grabbed #MeToo

“What is the big deal?” I hear so many of you...

Climbing Mountains and Slaying Dragons

One foot in front of the other we trekked our...

Fishers Island Wedding

She looked like a dream, as we all knew she...

Life In Portugal

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Latest Blog Posts

Phuket – Paradise Found

Phuket – Paradise Found

First Impressions of Phuket: Heat, Haze & Hospitality I could feel and hear the plane give that telltale tropical rumble—a low vibration caused by thermal waves rising into the sky. Despite taking an early morning flight from Singapore, the heat that greeted us in...

Spinach, Berries, and Quinoa Salad

Spinach, Berries, and Quinoa Salad

This Spinach, Berries, and Quinoa Salad is more than a pretty plate. The combination of tender greens, juicy berries, nutty grains, and heart-healthy fats hits all the right notes—sweet, tart, crunchy, creamy.

Loving-Kindness Meditation

Loving-Kindness Meditation

The loving-kindness meditation, is a practice rooted in Buddhist traditions that involves cultivating feelings of love and compassion and offers a profound and beautiful way to invest 10-15 minutes daily. I frequently wrap up my workouts by lying on the floor and...

Simple Mantra Meditation

Simple Mantra Meditation

When I delved into the practice of meditation, a shroud of secrecy surrounded the process, prompting questions about the necessity of ceremonial initiation and associated fees. I firmly believe that meditation should be an accessible skill taught in schools,...

Jalapẽno Cheddar Cornbread

Jalapẽno Cheddar Cornbread

Not Your Grandmother's Cornbread Recipe, But Close Jalapeño cornbread has been a favorite in my kitchen for as long as I can remember. My love for it began as a child during visits to my Mexican grandmother in San Antonio, where she taught me to make sweet cornbread...

Macho Salad With Cornbread Croutons

Macho Salad With Cornbread Croutons

Cherry Creek Grill is one of my favorite restaurants in Denver. I make a point of eating there whenever I’m in town. I always order the smoked salmon appetizer—probably the best smoked salmon I’ve ever had—and the Macho Salad, minus the chicken, since I eat a...

Healthy Choices

Spinach, Berries, and Quinoa Salad

This Spinach, Berries, and Quinoa Salad is more than a pretty plate. The combination of tender greens, juicy berries, nutty grains, and heart-healthy fats hits all the right notes—sweet, tart, crunchy, creamy.

Tomato Shallot Confit with Whipped Ricotta

Our Saturday ritual consists of a walk to our local farmers’ market, and coffee and breakfast at a favorite restaurant. I often find that the farmers’ market dictates our menu for the week, with the lush fruits and veggies in season inspiring me. This Tomato Shallot Confit with Whipped Ricotta is no exception.

Nectarine and Orange Salad: A Refreshing Summer Recipe

The vibrant colors and flavors of the season are everything I want on my plate on these hot summer days, and this Nectarine and Orange Salad delivers those healthy and tasty vibes in spades. It’s a beautiful salad with sliced nectarines, oranges, red onion, goat cheese, and pumpkin seeds.

Vegan Spaghetti Squash With Spinach Basil Sauce

How wonderful it is that nature provided us with spaghetti squash, an unprocessed, gluten-free, grain-free, and dairy-free option to pasta. I’m in Portugal, where I love all the organic fresh produce I find at our local farmers’ market. I took advantage of the abundance of squash to make an easy and healthy meal. Vegan Spaghetti Squash With Spinach Basil Sauce is a delightful combination that delivers a delicious and nutritious dish.

Spicy Red Curry: A Quick and Nutritious Meal for Busy Days

In the whirlwind of our busiest days, when it feels as if every minute counts, I find solace in the kitchen. It's a sanctuary where I conjure up...

Delicious Vegan Sofritas Recipe: High-Protein and Gluten-Free

Delicious Vegan Sofritas Recipe is a delicious high-protein, gluten-free, and vegan option that can win over the staunchest of meat aficionados. It’s a tantalizing medley of onions, peppers, aromatic chilies, cumin, and sweet and smoky paprika. This vegan Sofritas recipe is perfect for those seeking a flavorful and satisfying plant-based meal.

Refreshing Nectarine and Watermelon Salad

Discover the benefits of a Refreshing Nectarine and Watermelon Salad, featuring nutritious ingredients like dates, walnuts, and goat cheese, with a tangy balsamic dressing. Perfect for a refreshing and healthy meal.

Fresh and Easy French Potato and Peapod Salad

This French-style potato salad is delicious on its own, served on a bed of greens, or used as a side dish with a protein. The crisp pea pods give it a fresh flavor, and the dressing is filled with bright-tasting herbs and mustard.

Quick Pickled Red Onions

Pickled red onions can add a bit of tang and some pretty pink to so many dishes. Add some slices of jalapeños and you will give this wonderful condiment a bite of heat. A staple in most Mexican kitchens, pickled red onions can be a delicious addition to tacos, quesadillas and enchiladas, but they are also wonderful on scrambled eggs, avocado toast, fish dishes and salads. Not as sweet and my Red Onion Marmalade, but they are interchangeable and I always have a jar of at least one of these on hand at all times.

Picante Pinto Bean Soup: Nutritious Vegetarian Fare

A quick and easy Picante Pinto Bean Soup. It’s healthy and hearty, and can be served vegan, with cheese and sour cream, or over rice.

Lemon and Caper Cauliflower Steaks

Cauliflower is a little like tofu, it's a convincing imitator that can be prepared in ways that are usually saved for proteins, like fish or meat....

Vegan Mushroom Bourguignon

I would toil away late into the evening in the back of my little store, in the kitchen with an apartment electric oven and limited supplies. After...

Crisp Asian Salad with Tofu and a Peanut Dressing

This crunchy and cool salad that is made up of two kinds of cabbage, celery, carrots, and topped off with precooked tofu or chicken is a wonderful main course dish. It’s easy to make ahead of time and the peanut dressing is so divine.

White Bean Puree with Kale and Balsamic Onions

As a vegetarian, if I showed up at someone's house and they served this to me for dinner, I be thrilled. So often vegan and vegetarian meals are...

Creamy Zucchini and Potato Soup

Seventy degrees one day and the next, we have two feet of snow, but it's not a problem as we have no place to go. One day seems to blend into...

Roasted Pepper, Artichoke and Cannellini Bean Salad

Life at my day job as a Realtor has been roller-coaster of changes by the hour since our town has gone into lock-down mode. I had a conversation...

Arugula, Sweet Potato and Quinoa Salad

This is a nutrient dense salad made with spicy arugula, sweet potato, quinoa (a complete vegan protein), and dried cranberries. I like to serve it on individual plates but you can also toss all of the ingredients into a large bowl and serve it family style.

Peanut Noodles Primavera

If you’re looking for a quick, healthy, and incredibly versatile dish, this Peanut Noodles Primavera is the answer. I like to think of it as a...

Roasted Squash, Red Onion and Pomegranate Salad

The quiet was as soft as could be, with only the occasional sound of the kitty's paws padding along the wood floors, so it was a perfect morning to...

Nicoise Salad

The Nicoise Salad is one of the great French culinary concoctions. It is simple, fresh tasting, and a nutritiously power-packed dish. It is a wonderful salad to make for a buffet table or pot-luck, as it allows people to take the ingredients that suite their particular diets and preferences.

Lemon Jewel Couscous

Looking for a side dish with bright and fresh flavors? This Lemon Jewel Couscous is great hot, cold, and at room temperature. It can be served as a...

Thai Green Curry

On a private beach in Thailand, a green curry simmered in a pot over an open fire. It was served as part of an incredible lunch spread on an epic...

Southwest Butternut Squash Soup

November has been a historic and wild month for us Americans. The political scene has made for an emotional rollercoaster and a myriad of...

Potato Asparagus Salad

A delicious and healthy potato and asparagus salad with a great mix of veggies, fresh herbs and a savory vinaigrette spiked with some lemon zest to give it a little pop of unexpected citrus.

Provincial Tomato and Canellini Bean Bisque

Rustic and provincial dishes are very appealing to me. I enjoy the rough edges and textures. This tomato soup has all the right elements; smooth,...

Farmer’s Salad with Polenta Croutons

On a recent trip to Denver's Union Station, my mother-in law ordered a wonderful salad at Mercantile Dining and Provision. The ingredient that...
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