Simple Meals I Made This Month: May 2025
fancy-made-easy recipes + the farmer's markets are back! #colormehappy
Welcome to this new series! “Simple Meals I Made This Month” is where I’ll be sharing with you the casual, yet elevated everyday meals I make each month.
One of my very favorite things is teaching & inspiring people to fall in love with cooking {or back in love with it} by finding their own unique way with it. My hope & intention with this series is that it’ll give you the permission to just give it a go, to play, to experiment, to learn something new, and to surprise yourself!
Some of these shares will include stories, some will be straight recipes, or how I put a meal together, and some will give insight into my thought process. All with the aim of showing you that: there is no “one right way” to make great food. There is just finding your way. A way that you love, that’s fun for you, and that feels just as yummy & creative in the process of cooking as it does in the enjoyment of eating.
Food can be such an easy way to add more pleasure to your every day. After all, we eat about 3x/day, why not make it wonderful?
French Herbed Omelette with Caviar
Thanks to my father-in-law, I have recently been branching out when it comes to my egg-game. He taught me how to make the best scrambled eggs. In fact, I had pretty much given up on liking scrambled eggs until I learned his method! And somewhere along the way, this branching out, paired with having caviar on-hand for my husband’s birthday, led to this attempt at a French Omelette.
[Fun Fact: My FIL & I bonded over our shared love of cooking! My husband didn’t realize his dad was such a foodie until I came into the picture and we would spend every meal “talking shop” over what we were eating.]
I can’t honestly remember attempting this dish before, I’ve always leaned more towards the stuffed American version, so given that, I was pretty happy with how this turned out.
I used 1/2 EVOO, 1/2 butter in the pan, whipped the eggs with a teeny bit of water & crème fraîche, salt & pepper until nearly frothy, and then poured them into the pan over medium-low heat. Once the eggs were nearly set, I folded 1/3 on each side into the middle and gently flipped it over so the crease was now on the bottom of the pan to cook for another minute or two.
After removing from the pan onto the plate they’d be served on, I quickly learned about the tricky balance between topping a hot omelette with crème fraîche and wanting to eat it while it’s still hot . . . let’s just say it led to some pretty melty crème fraîche as you can see! I finished them off with minced shallots, chives & a heap of caviar.
Next Time ~ I’d use a lot less black pepper in the eggs, and try cooling the omelettes just a little before adding the dollop of crème fraîche.
Bistecca alla Fiorentina
I’m pretty sure that Bistecca alla Fiorentina would be featured in my “Final Meal.” There is just something so magnificent about preparing this meat in this way.
And of course I am whisked back to Italy every single time I enjoy this dish: from the very first time I went to lunch with a girlfriend while attending culinary school in Florence and taking down an entire steak between the two of us; to finding the hidden gem trattoria that’s been serving up authentic Tuscan biseteccas since 1913 with my mom; to my husband & I finding our “go-to” spot in Lucca that we must have eaten at bi-weekly while living there. This dish just has my heart.
Don’t let the size fool you, this dish is surprisingly easy to make. The key is starting with really really really good quality meat. Call up your favorite butcher and ask if they can cut you a 2.5-3lb porterhouse, at least 1.5 inches thick. If you’re lucky, they might even carry Chianina, the true cut for a Bistecca alla Fiorentina.
Season it simply with salt, brush it with olive oil, and grill over wood or charcoal embers {though a gas grill like we used will do too} for 3 minutes per side, and then 5 minutes standing on the bone. You’re aiming to have a nice crust on the outside, while the inside is cooked rare.
Serve on a bed of arugula with lemon wedges and rosemary.
We used these two resources to help us nail it the first time we made it:
Grilled Chicken + Spring Garlic, Green Beans + Beets & Goat Cheese Salad
This was one of those suuuuper simple, “how can I make a really delicious, healthy dinner tonight as easily as possible” that ended up even better than imagined.
From the deli section of my local grocery store I grabbed these pre-marinated chicken thighs and prepared green beans. My husband threw the chicken thighs on the grill along with these gorgeous spring garlics simply seasoned with evoo & salt, while I made a salad.
Beets & Goat Cheese Salad
Farmer’s Market mixed greens with herbs
Roasted beets
Toasted pecans
Lemon olive oil
Fig balsamic
Dijon mustard (just a dollop)
Salt & pepper
Whisk 1 part balsamic and 2 parts olive oil with the dijon, salt & pepper until emulsified. Drizzle over the mixed greens & beets; toss. Sprinkle with the goat cheese & pecans.
Et voilà! One of my favorite weeknight dinners this month in less than 30 minutes.
Everything Avocado Toast
I’ve probably made Avocado Toast a thousand different ways at this point {not exaggerating.} Most of the time I prefer to thinly slice the avocado and fan it out across the toast, but every once in a while mashing it up calls my name.
I toasted a beautiful slice of M’s Bakery classic sourdough and generously drizzled it with Amphora’s Frantoio olive oil {which is super high in antioxidant polyphenols!} While the bread toasted, I went to work mashing my avocado with lime juice, salt & pepper, and then spread it across the olive-oil soaked toast. To finish, it got a healthy dusting of Trader Joe’s Everything But The Bagel Sesame Seasoning Blend & Aleppo pepper.
Toast with Pea Shoot Pesto & a 7-min Egg
I’ve been doing somewhat of a “sourdough series” lately over on Instagram because I have been complete obsessed with this local sourdough I’ve been getting from M’s Bakery.
[Pro Tip: I’ve found an amazing way to keep my sourdough fresh so that it lasts way longer — Keep it in the bakery bag it comes in, slice one of the “butts” of the bread off and reserve it. Slice the next slice in, and then “cap” the now open end of the loaf with the “butt”. Return the loaf to the bag and tightly roll up the end of the bakery bag, squeezing out excess air. Then put the bagged loaf in a plastic zip-lock bag and suck out all of the air before sealing it. I’m finding my loafs last more than a week this way without getting moldy or stale!]
Each week I’m find new & different ways to highlight this incredible bread, and this one was such a favorite that I did it 3 days in a row!
Recipe:
Toast a slice of M’s Bakery sourdough (or your own favorite) until golden brown
Drizzle with olive oil {I’ve been loving Amphora’s Frantoio for it’s grassy flavor and antioxidant benefits}
Slather on pea shoot pesto {I get mine from Deschutes Produce at the downtown Bend Farmer’s Market, but you can use any pesto you love!}
Boil 1 perfect 7-minute egg:
1) Lid on, bring a small pot of water to a boil
2) Gently place your egg(s) on the bottom of the pan {a slotted spoon or pasta spoon works great here!}
3) Set your timer for 7 or 7.5 minutes (depending on your desired level of runniness)
4) Meanwhile, fill a bowl with ice and then fill it with cold water, leaving enough room for your egg(s) so that it doesn’t overflow
5) When the timer goes off, remove your eggs from the pot and put them directly in the ice bath; let cool completely
Peel your 7-min egg, place on the toast, and roughly slice into rounds, fanning them out along the length of the bread
To finish, sprinkle with Trader Joe’s Everyday Seasoning {or some combination of S&P, onion, garlic, paprika, chili}
This dish will surprise you with how decadent it is, while still having so many super healthy elements!
The Mortadella Sandwich
You might have seen this one already as I wrote an entire piece dedicated to this dreamy sandwich! Get the full recipe & all the delicious details of this Italian love-affair here:
Though I am still on the lookout for the perfect bread for it here in Bend . . . !
Farmer’s Market Salad
I make a LOT of salads. And not because “you should eat salad” or whatever diet-culture is telling you about getting more greens in. But because I genuinely love a good salad. Miss me with those sad iceberg & flavorless tomato wannabes smothered in too-sweet dressings made of a hundred artificial ingredients.
But this beautiful summertime bounty of a salad quickly became an all-time favorite of mine — likely thanks to the appearance of my #1 favorite cheese.
If you know me, you know that I’m this quirky combination of both being lactose intolerant AND having cheese be my favorite food. I mean, I did work in a fine foods market and go to culinary school in Italy after all! But never did I imagine that I’d find the cheese that would forever capture my heart right here . . . in Oregon of all places.
Enter: Rogue River Blue — a decadently rich, deep & nuanced, blue cheese that is aged a minimum of 9 months after being loving wrapped in pear spirits-soaked Syrah grape leaves. It’s fudgey texture is accented by lactate crystals, with it’s rich blue taste complimented with the flavors of the pear along with figs, toffee & vanilla.
Its price tag may be hefty, but it is oh so worth it.
This cheese deserves to be showcased and that was exactly my intention with this salad; I didn’t want the cheese getting lost in it.
Recipe:
Chop red leaf lettuce into 1” pieces
Use a vegetable peeler to create ribbons of carrot
Finely slice some red onion & a few radishes
Slice a handful of cherry tomatoes in half
Add all the vegetables to a bowl to toss
Make the dressing: 2 TBSP EVOO, 1 TBSP apple cider vinegar, 1 TBSP greek yogurt, juice of 1/2 meyer lemon, 2 TBSP finely grated parmesan, S&P. Add all ingredients to a jar and shake well.
Drizzle the salad with the dressing and toss to coat
Plate the salad onto serving plates
Slice Rogue River Blue into at 1/8” minimum slices and break over the top of the salad {adding the cheese last and not tossing it with the salad is the key to keeping it from getting lost and losing out on all of it’s amazing flavor!}
Grind fresh pepper over the top
Bon appétit!
Farmer’s Market Pasta
A summery & super simple pasta at home that gives that gourmet restaurant feel.
Recipe
Bombaci Asparagus & Preserved Lemon Cappellacci; cook according to directions
Drizzle with Amphora Lemon Olive Oil
Dot with Deschutes Produce Pea Shoot Pesto, DeCarlo Semi-Dried Pomodorini & Meredith Dairy marinated goat cheese
What’s inspiring you this month? What seasonal foods are calling your name? What dishes are you dying to make?