Comfort Food
Beef Patty Tacos
A plant-based, high-moisture ground beef alternative such as Beyond Beef also works well in this recipe. […]
Lunch
Chicken
Chicken Molé Amarillo: Cookbook Preview
Chicken Molé Amarillo | Recipe by Jackie Alpers from the cookbook Taste of Tucson: Sonoran Style Recipes Inspired by the Rich Culture of Southern Arizona. […]
Celebrations
“The Moist Maker” Thanksgiving Leftovers Sandwich from Friends
Inspired by “The One Where Ross Loses it Over a Sandwich.” Our version uses leftover dinner rolls instead of bread. This recipe was developed for refinery29.com […]
Atkins Friendly
My mom’s Marinated Flank Steak, “Sonoranized”
Recipe for marinated flank steak using my mom’s recipe from the 80s, adding in some Mexican oregano and extra citus so now it’s an Ohio meets Tucson recipe. […]
Chicken
The Italian Stallion Hot Dog
This no-recipe recipe is my tribute dog to Sweathog, Vinnie Barbarino. Slice an Italian roll across the top, not the side. Spoon a tablespoon of warmed marinara sauce inside the cut roll, then tuck in […]
Appetizers
The Cheesiest Cheese Crisp with Chipotle Ranch Dipping Sauce
Serves 2 to 4 A cross between a Mexican pizza an an open-faced quesadilla, the cheese crisp is the perfect comfort food. Southern Arizona restaurants started selling the dish more than 50 years ago and […]
Comfort Food
Quinoa Burrito Bowl With Chipotle Lime Vinaigrette
This recipe originally was written for and published on Refinery29 as part of an article on easy and affordable grain bowls. Check out the rest of the recipes on their site. The Greek yogurt adds a little […]
breakfast
Recipe: Grain Bowl With Green Quinoa, Tepary Beans and Egg
Grain Bowl With Green Quinoa, Tepary Beans, Avocado and Egg Start your day with this Sonoran style power breakfast. It’s high in protein, complex carbs and healthy fats. Serves 1. Ingredients 1/2 cup dry quinoa […]
casserole
Gooey, Creamy, Cheesy Chicken and Broccoli Casserole
For a lower carb version of this dish, replace the pasta with an additional cup of chopped broccoli. Serves 4 Ingredients For the “Copycat” Condensed Cream of Chicken Soup 3 tablespoons butter ¼ cup flour […]
Cheese and Dairy
Spinach Linguine with Walnut Pesto
Walnuts are less expensive and easier to find than the traditional pine nuts and I think they taste even better. Plus they’re loaded with healthy fats. This recipe originally was written for and published on Refinery29 as part […]
Baked Goods
Chicken Pot Pie in a Mug
For centuries, people believed that it was impossible to make a chicken pot pie in the microwave. I have proven them wrong. This recipe first appeared in the article “10-Minute Dinner Recipes That ANYONE Can […]
Chicken
Italian Style Grilled Chicken with Parmesan and Sun-dried Tomatoes
This is a healthy and extremely flavorful way to dress up boneless skinless chicken breasts. Adding just a small amount of butter on top, and using grated parmesan for a garnish, keeps the fat and […]
Cheese and Dairy
Snack of the Day: Nacho Cheese, Slim Jims and Beer Nuts on a Bagel.
This snack is best eaten very late at night, preferably after attending a party of some other festive gathering. It’s easily assembled and pleasant to look at, even when blurry. Save to BigOven Yum Snack […]
Appetizers
Sonoran Style Chipotle Chicken Salad
Like all regional cuisines, Sonoran style Mexican food is evolving. My spicy Sonoran style chicken salad could easily be served in tortas (sandwiches) alongside the pork or beef varieties, or in tacos, which are now available served on lettuce leaves at local restaurants as well as on traditional corn or flour tortillas. I used store-bought rotisserie chicken which has become a staple in Mexican home cooking. […]
Appetizers
Sprinkles Fairy Bread Sandwiches
Make any day a celebration! Just barely sweet, these sparkly sandwiches make a fun breakfast surprise, after-school snack, or party food. Inspired by Robert Louis Stevenson’s poem “Fairy Bread” in A Child’s Garden of Verses, fairy […]
Appetizers
Easy Grilled Mini Pizzas With Edible Flowering Herbs
One of the best ways to learn how to cook is to follow other people’s recipes, and since I cook, style and then photograph chef’s recipes for the Food Network’s website, I’m constantly learning new things. […]
Baked Goods
Crustless Quiche With Five Kinds of Peppers
Sometimes in the morning when I want a little treat, I drive down the street to my favorite coffee shop where they make the most amazing quiche. I’ve been doing it so much lately that […]
Chicken
Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner: New Grilled Chicken Recipes for iVillage
Apparently, in the olden days, every casino in Las Vegas offered a $1.79 chicken dinner. If you won a $2.00 bet, you’d have enough money to buy one, so the dealer would shout, “Winner, winner […]
Appetizers
Parmesan Pepperoni Crustless Pizza
If you bake a layer of Parmesan cheese in the oven it will crackle and pop after a while, turning into a crispy, brown cheese cracker that’s much tastier than any pizza crust I’ve encountered. I […]
Chicken
Buffalo Chicken: Tenders & Tacos Recipes
I have an on-going, and pretty much constant craving for buffalo wings. I’d alway thought that buffalo wing sauce was one of those fast food enigmas (like the McRib) that could never be replicated by average people. It’s […]
Atkins Friendly
Win Friends With Salad
I am going to make a bold statement and say that you can indeed win friends with salad in stark contrast to the Simpson’s clip I’ve posted below. Here’s a good one to start with: […]
casserole
Three Ways to Make Johnny Marzetti
I’ve hit a carb overload. The holidays are over, thank god. I’m really ready to get back to eating healthy, but I also want food that carries some weight to it, so I came up […]
Appetizers
Recipe for Fennel, Blue Cheese & Spanish Chorizo Mini Pizzas
This week I’m a guest writer/photographer for heart-stoppingly beautiful new magazine about rural culture, Broadway+Thresher. Here’s a link to the article, featuring my photos and the recipe I developed for “Fennel, Blue Cheese & Spanish […]
casserole
Quick & Easy Recipe for Low Carb Chicken Parmesan in Spicy Arrabbiata Sauce
October 1st I want to eat warm hearty meals in Autumn colors. Casseroles baked in stoneware dishes with rich sauces. Meat, cream, smoked cheeses, tomato sauce, and, I want the recipe to be fast, and […]
Appetizers
Coctel De Camaron: Mexican Style Shrimp Cocktail
The shrimp cocktail I grew up with in Ohio was reserved for special occasions. It was served in a chilled martini glass filled with crushed ice topped with a dollop of horseradish and lemon juice […]
Dinner
Sicilian Shrimp with Hot Peppers and Lots of Garlic
There was a line in front of the fish case at the market today and everyone in front of me was buying the rock shrimp. As soon as I got up to the counter I […]
Cheese and Dairy
The Best Fettuccine With Whole Clams
I came up with this recipe because I wanted a more creamy, cheesy sauce than the traditional version. I started with a really basic cream sauce using a combo of milk and some of the […]
Easy
Arizona Lentil Caviar
I have a long-standing distrust of any food that contains lentils. Lentil soup has always been my go-to answer when asked about my most hated food. I first experienced the suspicious discs floating aimlessly among […]
Atkins Friendly
Healthy Lox and Cream Cheese Frittata Recipe
Growing up, in my family we liked our salmon smoked. Preferably on top of a bagel and cream cheese. Well, I haven’t eaten a bagel since I decided that the payoff wasn’t worth the 450 […]
Appetizers
Sonoran Style Chunky Guacamole Recipe
Some people avoid avocados because they are higher in calories than other fruit, but they are filled with the good fat, the kind that’s been shown to actually help you lose weight and lower cholesterol […]
Fast!
Thai Green Papaya-less Salad Recipe
Som Tum (Green Papaya Salad) is my very favorite Thai dish. It’s crunchy, salty and spicy and I swear that it will cure whatever ails you – known or unknown. Here in Tucson it’s really […]
Comfort Food
Quick and Easy; Rotini Pasta with Caviar and Parmesan
I had a lot of left over caviar from my deviled eggs recipe so I boiled up some pasta and mixed it in with a hearty dose of Parmesan cheese. This recipe is super simple […]
Easy
Chipotle Deviled Eggs With or Without Caviar
Thanks to the lovely people working behind the scenes at the Food Network (whose tweets reveal that they are apparently having some kind of office-wide deviled egg challenge), I’ve been having an unyielding urge for […]
Baked Goods
Homemade Thin Crust Pizza
More often than not, Sunday night is Pizza Night at my house. It took me forever to figure out how to make a thin crust pizza at home. I practiced stretching the dough for months. […]
contains whole grains
Easy Pita Sandwich for Lunch
I’ll get on a kick where I’ll have this for lunch almost every day. It’s great when you’re super hungry because it only takes about 5 minutes to make. The hummus and nonfat feta add […]
Atkins Friendly
The Week of Gazpacho
My husband woke up, looked at me in from his side of the bed and declared this the “Week of Gazpacho”. And so, it is. I got a handy little device called Vegetable Chop and […]
Comfort Food
Classic Caesar Salad Recipe and Photo by Jackie Alpers
CAESAR SALAD DAYS This is a story about choices, creativity, personal power, and a salad. Specifically, the Caesar salad from the 1967 Joy of Cooking. My mother made it table side at a dinner party […]
Comfort Food
Onion-Barley Matzoh Ball Soup Recipe
I’m craving soup. Here’s a hearty vegetarian version of traditional matzoh ball soup. I modified it from an onion/mushroom soup recipe that my mother used to make when I was a kid. For the matzoh […]
contains whole grains
Baked Falafel Sandwich Recipe
Ever since I went to yoga (once – last week), I’ve been having a hankering for a falafel sandwich. On the way home from the class I stopped at a middle eastern sandwich shop and […]