#breakfast #tacos with #kale #pancetta and #avocado #bohemiancottage

Breakfast Tacos with Kale, Pancetta and Avocado

#breakfast #tacos with #kale #pancetta and #avocado #bohemiancottage

Breakfast Tacos with Kale, Pancetta and Avocado

Savory breakfasts are my favorite. Add a little spice, even better. Occasionally I do enjoy something a little sweet, but most often with a savory addition to the sweet like in the Bacon and Gruyere Stuffed French Toast. This taco creation was made with items that we already had in the fridge, and it resulted in one of the tastiest impromptu recipes I have created in a long time. The creamy avocado, health boosting kale and just enough pancetta to give it that extra burst of flavor, it is a recipe I felt I needed to share. I always think, what would make this recipe even better? Adding some chipotle chili powder or a fresh salsa verde. Or how about pico de gallo or if you don’t have pancetta, good ol’ regular bacon or smoked ham bits. In the bohemian way, experiment. Add your own personal and creative flair. I would love to hear how you made this even better with your unique twist. (read more)

MelindaBreakfast Tacos with Kale, Pancetta and Avocado

Sweet Potato Hash with Bacon and Eggs

A healthy and tasty Alternative to hash browns, sweetpotato hash.

A healthy and tasty Alternative to hash browns, sweet potato hash.

Sunday morning breakfast usually involves cooking a more elaborate meal than any other day of the week for me. I was wandering through the kitchen for inspiration from the ingredients that were already there when I remembered that I had these sweet potatoes on hand. Left over from a meal that was planned earlier this week for dinner that never got made, I decided that sweet potato hash would be the bomb. And indeed it was! With the addition of bacon for my honey, because he loves bacon, and a little maple and of course my latest obsession of alder wood smoked salt, the hash was a little sweet and a touch smokey too. (read more)

MelindaSweet Potato Hash with Bacon and Eggs

Pork Chops with Maple Apple Cream Sauce

We had these roasted root veggies from the garden with our pork chops

We had these roasted root veggies from the garden with our pork chops

Fall is finally here in Colorado! That subtle shift in the air, that familiar crisp, coolness. I get fall fever pretty bad, wanting all that it brings, comfort food being at the top of the list. The garden is finally popping out the root vegetables that I planted from seed this spring. This was my first ever crop of carrots and beets! Very exciting for a nerdy gardener and cooking geek like myself.

I wanted to accompany our roasted root veggies with one of my sweetheart’s favorite foods, pork chops! Soon pork chops will be needing their own category on the blog! I did a twist on one of my old stand bys with the apples this time, creating an apple cream sauce. It is actually a pretty light sauce with the addition of apple juice to the cream, oh, and maple syrup of course! I found some fancy alder wood smoked sea salt at the grocery store that gives the most subtle, yet distinct smokiness. Here is what I did: (read more)

MelindaPork Chops with Maple Apple Cream Sauce

Parmesan Cheese Potato Stacks

Parmesan Cheese Potato StacksThese Parmesan Cheese Potato Stacks are delicate and rich at the same time. The addition of fresh thyme gives them an added zing. I used fresh thyme from our garden. Rosemary might be good too. They are not low cal, but with their petite size make them a moderate indulgence if you can limit yourself to just a couple.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and generously grease a muffin tin with butter

4 medium russet potatoes peeled and sliced into approximately 1/8 inch slices

1 cup milk

1 cup heavy cream (read more)

MelindaParmesan Cheese Potato Stacks

Pork Loin Chops with Raspberry Chipotle Sauce

[jwplayer player=”1″ mediaid=”383″]

This luscious smokey sweet raspberry sauce was a spontaneous invention. Tom and I decided to make dinner an event with video instruction. Lights! Camera! Action! Check out our video and let me know what you think.

Ingredients for the marinade:

Juice and zest of half a lemon

1 tbsp. garlic paste (or finely minced garlic)

2 tbsp. Dijon mustard

2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

2 fresh rosemary sprigs

Salt and pepper to taste

Ingredients for the sauce: (read more)

MelindaPork Loin Chops with Raspberry Chipotle Sauce

Kale with Celery, Apple and Carrot

Celery Kale Carrot Apple

With the same bunch of kale I used in the angel hair pasta dish the other night, I was able to make this side dish for our pork chops. With the addition of green apples, it added an unexpected tart sweetness to the dish. The trick is to time when you put the different ingredients into the skillet. Experiment with different combinations of veggies with this. I used what we had on hand, enjoying the crunchiness of this combination.

1 Granny Smith apple, diced

3 carrots, peeled and diced (read more)

MelindaKale with Celery, Apple and Carrot