Pile of Shingles

Good news. You can make healthy food even better with two small tricks. One? Cut the vegetables into adorable shapes like half moons. Two? Make this super easy dressing and pour it all on. Last weekend I stayed at The Gilded in Newport . The food was so amazing that since checking out I have asked for two of their recipes... and they have actually emailed them to me. At some point in the near future I will absolutely be making their chocolate chip cookies, but until then I make a version of their incredible tomato salad.  Their tomato salad was a bit different than mine. I refused to go to more than one grocery store (TJ's doesn't have fava beans) and needed to amp it up a bit to be more filling. The real reason this salad is amazing is the dressing. It is so light and flavorful without being too much of anything. You don't feel like you are eating a bowl of cilantro. I can see myself making a dressing like this for many years to come.  Changes I made: - Swapped fava...

Woah. I had no idea that these little bitty eggplants could be so delicious. I think I have always turned away from eggplant parmesan because of the eggplant. In hindsight that is truly ridiculous because nothing can be terrible when you cover it in cheese. When I was planning my garden this year, I really wanted to include a patio baby eggplant. The patio baby produces plants that are much smaller than traditional plants. They are ideal for growing on patios (obviously) and for people who don't need a ton of large produce (single people). I did try to grow this same variety last year but it was largely unproductive. The plant has been bursting with little eggplants for much of the summer but I didn't get around to really using them until this week. Until now I've been forcing them on people who come for tomatoes. You want some fresh tomatoes? Take an eggplant as a bonus item. Making eggplant parm doesn't take a lifetime but it does have more steps than I'd...