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This no-recipe recipe is my tribute dog to Sweathog, Vinnie Barbarino. This recipe has become very popular since I first created it for my monthly column on the FoodNetwork.com. The people of the Internet have spoken, and they have said that it’s a cross between a pizza and a hot dog, and that is not untrue.
We all know that rainbow sprinkles make the world-go-round and this super-easy recipe is fun, festive and good for you too. You can melt the chocolate in the microwave which makes it the perfect treat for a hot summer’s day.
A healthy recipe for creamy, cheesy, supreme pizza flavored spaghetti squash, for the pizza flavors that you crave in cute single servings. They are fairly low in calories, very filling and taste like pizza. So it’s win-win-win.
These individual brownie pan pizzas are baked and served in Lodge 3.5-inch cast iron skillets. The options for different toppings are endless. Have fun experimenting with different combinations or set up a topping bar and let everyone pick their own.
Learn how to make frozen Watermelon Wedges: the all natural ice pops.
Three ingredient white chocolate bark with Oreos that can be made in 30 minutes or less for a quick dessert or snack.
A beautiful looking stacked dessert that’s easy to make using boxed brownie mix, berries and whipped cream.
All of the bark and none of the bite.
These rich, mini bits of extra-gooey brownies are decorated to look like fancy boxed chocolates. The topping are a great way to try out new flavor combinations and play with the contrast of the colors against the dark background of the bites.
Rainbow sprinkles for breakfast? Yes! A crunchy and slightly sweet sprinkles cream cheese recipe for everyone who needs more rainbow sprinkles in their lives.
A creamy, warm, vegetarian layered dip that tastes like lasagna. This recipe is loaded with cheese. Serve with fresh veggies.
Get the secret to how to make a perfectly melty grilled cheese sandwich with my recipe for a n oven-baked Parmesan crusted grilled cheese sandwich that tastes like lasagna.Â
I’m pretty sure I invented the Elote Dog when I first developed this recipe for The Food Network in 2018. Since then Elote Hot Dogs, inspired by Sonoran-Mexican Street Corn have become a sensation with hot dog enthusiasts all over the word coming up with their own version. Here’s my recipe for hot dogs topped with elote, mayo, lime and spices and served in a bolillo roll.
Spicy Ranch French Onion Dip. Two Dips That Live As One, Together At Last!Â
The cheese crisp is the perfect comfort food. A cross between a Mexican pizza an an open-faced quesadilla, Southern Arizona restaurants started selling the dish more than 50 years ago and it’s become a staple of our local Sonoran style cuisine.Â
Healthy burrito bowl recipe with quinoa, black beans and avocado tossed in a chipotle lime vinaigrette dressing.
A decadent single-serving brownie in a mug with marshmallows and a soft, melted chocolate center. Make this recipe just for yourself, day or night.
Biscotti means “twice baked” in Italian. First you form the crumbly dough into one stiff mass and bake it whole. Then you let it cool, slice it, and bake it again at a lower temperature. That’s what gives biscotti an almost cracker-like quality, which goes especially well with coffee. This triple-chocolate double-baked treat is dipped in a dark chocolate coating with sprinkles on top.
Why isn’t corn used in more desserts? It’s naturally sweet, and the kernels add a nice pop. These paletas are made with sweet corn, cinnamon and Tajin.
Corn, beans and squash are three of the earliest domesticated crops grown by Native Americans in the Sonoran region. For this recipe, prepared corn masa, which is usually used to make tortillas or gorditas, is pressed into a cast iron skillet for the crust. If you’ve never tried tepary beans, this recipe is an excellent way to experiment with them, but you can substitute black beans instead if you want.
Start your day with this Tucson Sonoran style power breakfast bowl. It’s high in protein, complex carbs and healthy fats.
A cheesy chicken and broccoli casserole featuring my copycat condensed Cream of Chicken Soup recipe.
This Greek yogurt pizza dough recipe has only two ingredients! With this pizza dough trick, you’ll be a pie-making pro in no time.
This super easy salad dressing recipe is especially good on a Greek salad, cucumber salad or Asian Chicken salad and you can make it right in the bottle if you only have a little bit of Sriracha left.
A cute, kid friendly recipe for slices of apples dipped in chocolate and decorated with sprinkles candy or nuts. This recipe was originally developed fro Refinery29.
Canadian bacon, eggs, herbs, and cheese baked inside slices of crusty baguettes. From the Unofficial Elf Cookbook by Jackie Alpers. A visually stunning breakfast casserole that is elegant, yet quick and easy to prepare.
Everyone needs a good buttercream frosting recipe. Here’s yours! From my cookbook, Sprinkles!: Recipes and Ideas for Rainbowlicious Desserts.
This may be one of the easiest recipes ever. It was originally written for and published on Refinery29 where you can find seven more of my Oreo recipes. I literally wrote the book on sprinkles, so if you’re interested in learning more ways to cover everything in sprinkles, pick up a copy of Sprinkles!: Recipes and Ideas for Rainbowlicious Desserts.
This Cauliflower coconut “Fried Rice” recipe is vegetarian yet high in protein and keto friendly.Â
Sweet and creamy butternut squash hash, hearty wheat berries and protein rich eggs merge into the perfect breakfast bowl.
How To Make Sweet Mini Pepper Poppers. I first developed this recipe for the Food Network.
For centuries, people believed that it was impossible to make a chicken pot pie in the microwave. I have proven them wrong.
Sprinkles melt away during baking leaving behind little confetti-like poufs of color in this deconstructed cake that shows off the sprinkles hidden inside.
Look to the cookie! Black and white cookies inspired by the famous Seinfeld quote with sprinkles added so we remember to sparkle too.Â
These vegan, slow-cooker barbecue flavored cocktail pups are made with baby carrots instead of little smokies.
This dessert has it all, Omega 3 packed chia seeds, antioxidant rich frozen berries and dark chocolate, and a 5-minute prep time.
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 calories down.
Recipe for healthy breakfast taco cups. Low-carb tortillas filled with eggs, bacon, pinto beans, cheese and salsa.
How do you say “delicious” in Portuguese? Brigadeiro, that’s how! These easy-to-make balls are fun to roll in chocolate jimmies. Box them up for the perfect gift.
Fleur de sel (flower of salt) is a hand-harvested sea salt with distinctive flavor. Look for variations that have a pink or gray tone. You’d think that something with such a fancy-sounding name might be complicated to make, but in fact these sweet and savory bite-size treats are as easy to concoct as they are to devour. Still, if you want to let your friends believe these caramels are a feat of culinary magic, your secret’s safe with me.
Ohio meets Arizona! Cincinnati chili cheese nachos. “Cincinnachos” are the best of everything for snacking season. Cincinnati Style Chili, tortilla chips, kidney beans, cheddar cheese, raw onions and jalapenos.
These healthier German pancakes are topped with fat-free Greek yogurt and fresh fruit, reducing the sugar content. I added a little spreadable fruit and garnished them with confectioners’ sugar so they still taste sweet.
Thai Grilled Chicken Thighs recipe. All of the ingredients for authentic Thai cuisine are available at most grocery stores. Sambal Oelek and Thai fish sauce can be found in most Asian food sections.
An unusual amount of butter and the broth from the potatoes help make the spiciest, creamiest mashed potatoes, biscuits and sausage gravy.
Learn the secret to making no-flour sausage, egg and cheese breakfast muffin cups that are still light and fluffy!
My niece got married in a field in Oskaloosa, Kansas last weekend. Afterwards we had lunch under a tent. My mother-in-law made all of the desserts including this Savarin, a rich airy cake soaked in a simple syrup and topped with apricot glaze and whipped cream. It’s traditionally served as a feast-day dessert in France. This is her recipe. It’s a little more complicated than the recipes I usually post, but I think it’s worth the effort.
Looking to kick start a hot summer day? These chocolate and coffee frozen pudding pops are just the ticket.
Covered in chocolate, whipped cream, and all your favorite toppings, Fudge Puppies are a carnival and state fair food classic. Here’s how to make them at home.
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” from A Child’s Garden of Verses, fairy bread is a popular treat at children’s parties in Australia, New Zealand, and other little pockets of the world.
This recipe is from my book Sprinkles!:Â Recipes and Ideas for Rainbowlicious Desserts. The photograph is previously unpublished
Celebrate spring with hand-painted watercolor flower cookies. Herbs, fruit juice and plant dyes can all be used as food coloring.
Visually stunning sugared cranberries are a study in contrast. The tart, dark berries which appear to have been encrusted in tiny jewels, add a magical quality to these brie crostini.
Learn how to fold crunchy rainbow sprinkles into lightly sweetened butter, and turn any breakfast into a celebration.
These monsterized pesto-fried eggs are green and frightening looking, but delicious and monstrously easy to make.
These wings are hot! The spiciness will vary greatly though, depending on the heat of the chili flakes you are using, and the barbecue sauce you select. This recipe also works well for boneless skinless breasts or thighs.
Cute bite-sized vegan appetizer made with veggie dogs and spicy jalapeno sauerkraut filled Fillo cups accented with a dollop of yellow mustard.
A variation of the Bushwacker glamorized with sparkling sprinkle bits and pearl sugar dragees in tropical hues, this is a seafaring drink said to be invented on a Caribbean island founded by pirates. Ahoy! This recipe is excerpted from my book Sprinkles Recipes and Ideas for Rainbowlicious Desserts.
It’s christmas cookie season, and while biscotti isn’t technically a cookie per-se, they often find their way onto the plethora of platters that mark the season. From cookie swaps to office parties, to host/hostess gifts, cookies are part of what defines the winter holidays.This chocolate/coffee pistachio biscotti recipe is excerpted from my book Sprinkles!: Recipes and Ideas for Rainbowlicious Desserts.
What is the nature of art? Can it exist in popsicle form? Is it still art after the popsicle has been eaten? How does the process of melting affect the piece? These are some of the questions that I pondered while creating, and then ingesting this popsicle. made it from diamond shaped sprinkles in primary colors and Sno-Caps candies.
Haunted Halloween gingerbread houses including a Dia de los Muertos house inspired by the sugar skulls that typically signify the holiday.
A simple and satisfying crustless quiche that has all 5 things to love; peppers (both hot & sweet), onions, Swiss, Gruyere, eggs, and cream.
A healthy, frozen, chocolate treat that’s high protein, and low in calories, fat and sugar. What more could you want? Oh yeah, it has sprinkles! Lots of them in pretty summer colors that are perfect for a hot pre-holiday weekend.
made this low-carb bread replacement (often called “Oopsie Bread”) out of eggs and cream cheese from a recipe I’ve seen all over the internet. It turned out great. It smells like cheesy-bread while it’s cooking, and it’s very light, and well, bread-like. Often hot dogs are too much about the bun, so this turned out to be a perfect alternative housing for the Sonoran hot dogs in my Taste of Tucson cookbook.
Recipe for roasted baby artichokes in an easy Italian style marinate. Food photography by Jackie Alpers.
A classic Greek Salad of chunky vegetables and feta tossed in a light vinaigrette will prove that you can indeed win friends with salad.
Three Johnny Marzetti recipes, including the original recipe for the pasta dish, low carb, and Paleo versions.
The Wedge salad is one of these very classic, simple recipes that’s accessible to everyone. One that’s been loved for generations and modified along the way to accommodate changing tastes. This version is topped with a lighter vinaigrette.
I want some figgy pudding! How could I not after hearing that song year after year. So, I came up with this recipe for Chocolate & Coffee Figgy Pudding. Make your Christmas past a Christmas present.Â
These easy candied apples are a healthy, sweet treat that are fun for kids to make. I used Lady Apples, which are stunning, tiny, sweet apples that resemble crab apples. Also called Christmas Apples, they are generally available in stores starting in mid-October. The candy melts are small discs that come in a variety of colors and are available at Michael’s and other craft stores as well as some supermarkets. I chose pink because I thought it looked nice with the red apples, but it’s fun to play around and find the colors you like best.
Mini pizzas made with a herb and cheese crust and a combination of both hot and cold classic Italian toppings.
Until recently, the only biscuits I ever made at home came from a Pop n’ Fresh can, so when friends from overseas asked me for a real American biscuit recipe, I scoured every book I could find, starting with the biscuit tome Southern Biscuits by Nathalie Dupree and Cynthia Graubart, and ending with Alton Brown’s always insightful analysis in I’m Just Here for More Food: Food x Mixing + Heat = Baking.
Brussels sprouts and bacon compliment each other so perfectly that this may be my favorite food of all time. You cook the bacon in with the sprouts so that a little bit of bacon grease seeps into them and makes them crispy. I can’t explain why this dish is so good… it just is. I cooked up a batch for the photo and ended up eating the whole pan for dinner along with a glass of wine, and I was happy. VERY happy.
My choice for snack of the day is a crunchy Sonoran style Mexican and Jewish deli mashup. Try it, you’ll like it.
Yay! It’s National Taco Day! Here’s a recipe of one of my favorite kinds – Carne Asada, from the book Knack Mexican Cooking by Chelsie Kenyon. Please note: these are not the Sonoran Style carne asada tacos from my Taste of Tucson cookbook but they are damn good none the less! Photos by me.
Recipe for Sonoran-style Mexican Shakshuka made with eggs simmered in a spicy tomato cream sauce and topped with melted cheddar.
This grain-free chicken parmesan in spicy Arrabbiata sauce takes about 10 minutes to make using store bought sauce and rotisserie chicken.Â
A can of pumpkin’s been staring at me from the counter top for two weeks now.The internet recipe sites are all screaming at me that it’s pumpkin season, and I am indeed ready for fall. So today I finally got to work and invented something to celebrate the beginning of my favorite time of the year.
The deep maroon hue of the wine soaked sausages contrasts nicely against the warm, heavy pasta.
Eggs scrambled with Gorgonzola and Salsa. A salty, spicy twist on a traditional breakfast dish.
Miniature sweet peppers are adorable and perfect for little snacks and appetizers.
These shrimp go great with a glass of wine and a conversation. It’s a dish to be shared, because if everyone is eating it, you won’t have to worry about reeking of garlic… or you could just eat it all by yourself when no one else is around to the same effect. It’s fun either way.
Cincinnati chili does not exist in Arizona, except for in a suspicious canned variety, so I went on quest and figured out how to cook it up myself.
Here’s an easy summer beverage. Lavender Limeade is super easy and you don’t need to add a bunch of sugar. The lavender flowers add their own sweetness.
Recipe for a boozy, beautiful blue ice cream soda for adults made with frozen grapes muddled with wine coolers and ice cream.
The Muddler is a tropical cocktail made with muddled, grilled fruit, Mandarine Napoleon, tequila, and curry bitters for a hint of spice.
This is a great snack when you want something sweet with not a lot of calories. It’s high fiber with balanced protein and very tasty
4 Triscuits or Woven Wheat Crackers
This lox and cream cheese frittata with fresh tomato and red onion is a healthy low-carb breakfast. You won’t even miss the bagel.
Here in Southern Arizona, our famous Sonoran style Mexican food is often garnished with pickled red onions and Mexican limes. I’ve incorporated those flavors into this spicy potato salad tossed with a chile-lime vinaigrette.
This chunky guacamole recipe from the Taste of Tucson cookbook is spicy, salty and creamy – yet crisp and bright with lots of citrus and a tiny bit of crunch.
Wake, roll and bake for breakfast with these crispy rolled and baked sausage, egg and cheese breakfast tacos.
Here in Tucson it can be hard to get fresh green papaya, so I use packaged coleslaw mix instead in this spicy Thai cabbage salad inspired by Som Tum.
Sonoran style white cheese nachos with black beans for contrast, fiber and a bit more protein, and jalapenos too – of course!
Recipe for a hearty, spicy Sonoran style Mexican Rice with Chayote and Black Beans.
These spicy, chipotle deviled eggs topped with caviar and capers are fancy yet simple. The perfect party food or indulgent yet healthy snack.
It took me forever to figure out how to make a thin crust pizza at home. I practiced stretching the dough for months. First I tried to roll out the dough onto a pizza stone. That did not work. Then I purchased a non-stick 16″pizza tray with holes in it which was perfect, but it still took me awhile to get the process down. There were a lot of misshapen hole filled crusts that I would have to peel off of the pizza tray and wad up in a ball for another go around. Below is my step-by-step procedure for getting the dough almost paper thin. I also posted an IPhone video below my husband Jason made of me that illustrates the whole procedure.
Recipe for both the Caesar salad from the 1967 Joy of Cooking and a modified version of the recipe by Jackie Alpers.
In Arizona we tend to forgo the green beer in favor of a lovely pale green margarita on St. Patrick’s Day. You can make them easily at home without the high-sugar mix. If you use high end tequila and Grand Manier instead of tripe sec it’s called a Cadillac margarita which are usually served in bigger proportions than a regular margarita.
A hearty vegetarian version of traditional matzo ball soup modified from an onion and mushroom soup recipe that my mother used to make when I was a kid.
Serves 2
Ingredients:
4 pieces light whole grain bread
1 cup egg substitute
1/4 cup non-fat milk
1 T. pure vanilla extract
1 tsp. cinnamon
2 T. 100% pure maple syrup
light butter
Instructions:
Spray a large skillet with canola cooking spray & heat to medium/low.
Whisk together the egg, milk, cinnamon and vanilla until frothy.
Soak the bread in the mixture for 10 seconds on each side.
Add the soaked bread to the skillet and cook for about 4 minutes on each side, or until golden brown
Remove the skillet from the heat and cover. Let sit for 2 minutes. This makes the french toast fluffier.
Serve with light butter and a tablespoon of pure maple syrup, or dust with confectioners sugar.
Enjoy!
At the urging of my friends and family, I’ve put together a new blog of easy, healthy and hopefully fun recipes that I’ve developed over the years. It’s illustrated with food photos that I took just for this project.
