Healthy, Varied, Delicious, Easy Food All Week with Meal Planning and Prep

July 15, 2016 Leave a Comment

Shrimp-Avocado-Farro-Kale Salad for the ultimate summer meal prep and planning

Do you ever intentionally make leftovers? Not just a large enough batch of food that will make for a second or third helping, but leftovers in the form of par-cooked or pre-prepared ingredients that can be remixed day by day to make new and exciting meals. It's a different kind of meal prep for those who get anxious about eating the same meal all week. People like me who have all the skills needed to be a devoted meal prepper, but just can't do it. This type of intentional leftovers is based on ...

Turkey-Mushroom Meatballs with Green Olives

July 6, 2016 Leave a Comment

Turkey-Mushroom Meatballs with Olives | Runaway Apricot

These meatballs are flavorful. That's a word my boyfriend uses whenever he likes something. Not spicy, not sweet, not herbaceous or salty or earthy. He just says "flavorful," a word that means something that you're able to taste but can refer more generously to something that has an appealing taste or that has an enlivening quality. To win that compliment with a dish primarily composed of ground turkey, the rice cake of the meat world, I had to get creative.To start enhancing and ...

Chickpea Chopped Salad with Apple and Avocado

June 11, 2016 Leave a Comment

Chopped Chickpea Salad with Avocado and Apple

I love the strange mix of pressure and joy from sitting by my contributions to a potluck and watching to see if it's a hit or miss. At a picnic or cookout, where there's so much variety and less-than-ideal conditions for serving food, there's so many different questions that go into choosing the right dish for the occasion. Will the flavors complement the other dishes or will it turn bitter when paired with the host's main? Can it hold up to the weather or will it spoil in the sun? Will it stand ...

Spicy Chickpeas with Tomatoes and Spinach

November 5, 2015 1 Comment

This is one of those recipes that you should memorize. I say that because it's the type of dish that you can quickly and easily whip up when you need something healthy and hearty. But going back and forth to check the ingredients and measurements each time you make it will belabor the point and make it annoying rather than the simple answer to all of your "what should I make for dinner" conundrums.I try to write my recipes so that they'll be easy to read and that also helps for ...

Sauteed Kale with Cherries

August 1, 2015 Leave a Comment

Sometimes I forget that the primary goal of Runaway Apricot is to convince the world to eat healthfully. Consequently I wind up posting about 4 desserts in nearly as many weeks instead of sharing easy and flavorful recipes that get you eating your veggies! But I don't want you, my lovely readers and friends, to fall into the advertised "healthy lifestyle" traps that come in those quick box-to-microwave meals that actors in commercials indulge in. I'm here to provide ideas for flavorful, real ...

Simple Entertaining: Lemon-Coriander Roast Chicken + Kale Salad with Apples, Dried Cherries and Pecans

April 14, 2015 1 Comment

Sometimes I forget that you don't need four courses to have people over for a meal. All it takes to entertain friends or family are a couple simple dishes prepared with love, smiles, good conversation and a little music to fill the restful pauses. Try these two dishes: Lemon-Coriander Roast Chicken and Kale Salad with Apple, Dried Cherry and Pecans. Cut down on work and feed others more often.Embrace the whole chicken! A whole chicken takes longer to cook than its parts, but it's so easy ...

Shrimp Creole and Cheddar Grits

March 2, 2015 6 Comments

I really enjoy business trips around the country, despite the annoyance of security lines and the pain of too little leg room. That's because I take advantage of my free time in different cities to learn and love different foods. This past fall a series of trips to the south led me to explore my obsession of shrimp and grits and the myriad ways they're served. At Six Feet Under in Atlanta, GA, I enjoyed soupy grits with cajun-spiced shrimp, barbecue sauce, green beans and crispy fried onions. ...

Pan-Fried Chicken Breast with Tomato Sauce and Smoked Mozzarella

February 16, 2015 5 Comments

Chicken with Tomato and Mozzarella | Runaway Apricot

WOW! It has been a wonderful few days with the incredible honor of being named Yahoo Food's Blogger of the Week. I was so excited when the interview went live that I couldn't stop fidgeting. And then I read it over and over again reminiscing about the roots of Runaway Apricot from my time in high school. I wasn't just baking to sell to classmates back then; I did a lot of cooking for my family. And when there was a special occasion, like my mother's birthday this Wednesday, I would make a dish ...

Watercress Two Ways: Baked Eggs + Sweet Potatoes with Salsa Verde

January 31, 2015 Leave a Comment

#2Ways2Percent - Watercress | Runaway Apricot

It's no surprise why American Express and Whole Foods chose watercress as January's #2Ways2Percent featured ingredient. After all, January is a month for healthy new beginnings. Watercress is ranked by many as the most nutrient-dense vegetable on the planet. For its few calories—only 4 per 1-cup serving—watercress is loaded with vitamins A, C, and K. NutritionData.com gives it 5/5 stars for optimum health and weight loss. Rather than go on about its super food benefits, let's introduce to you ...

Healthier Peruvian Chicken Skewers with Green Sauce

January 27, 2015 12 Comments

Sunday afternoon my sister sent me a worried text, "R u ready for this storm?" I racked my brain for a second and replied, "My fridge is full so I guess so." In truth, that was the first news I'd heard of Winter Storm Juno, a blizzard that would have NYC Mayor de Blasio silence the moral debate over ordering food delivery in a storm by issuing a travel ban on all non-essential vehicles. I'm glad I was not leaning on Seamless. I'm especially happy that my fridge was stocked with this delicious ...

Roasted Butternut Squash and Apple Puree

January 13, 2015 4 Comments

Butternut Squash and Apple Puree // Runaway Apricot

Smooth as butter and sweet as a nut, butternut squash tastes great with a lot of different treatments. In the past I've shared recipes for a super simple Butternut Squash "Lasagnette with Sage and Parmesan, Butternut Squash "lasagna" with Sausage and Spinach, and seriously good Butternut Squash and Creamed Spinach Empanadas. Instead of digging deeper to think of something new, I went back to the fundamentals. Did you realize that squash is in fact a fruit? Of course it is - the seeds are inside! ...

Collard Greens are the New Kale

December 26, 2014 3 Comments

I earned a bit of Twitter fame this September for this tweet: "Collard Greens Are The New Kale" #VogueArticles— Robyn Burgess (@runawayapricot) September 11, 2014As the hashtag suggests, my tweet was in response to a Vogue Magazine article which declared, "We're Officially in the Era of the Big Booty." There's no denying that big booties are currently saturating pop culture via twerking and belfies (butt selfies), but the fact of the matter is that to African-Americans big booties have ...

Two Ways for Ham: Split Pea Soup ++ Ham and Cheese Sandwich with Apple Pie Pickles

December 19, 2014 1 Comment

Glorious honeyed and clove-studded hams are in season around these parts. Equally majestic are ham leftovers, which lose no amount of their appeal in the days that follow. I always sneak into the kitchen first-thing on an after-holiday morning to indulge in a bowl of macaroni and cheese with ham. Then I turn my sights on a few more composed dishes until every morsel of the meat, fat and bone have bestowed their flavorful blessings. Here's a little motivation to rescue that neglected end of the ...

Microwaved Zucchini and Tomato Terrine

September 3, 2014 Leave a Comment

This is so crazy easy to make with no unnecessary heat for your kitchen. Microwaves are a safe and healthy cooking option. Yesterday was the hottest day of 2014 in NYC...the day after Labor Day. It was a day when the stove and oven were not options for cooking food; a day when microwave cooking prevailed. I've wanted to share this favorite Summer recipe for a few years but feared you would all call me crazy. That's somewhat because of this:Seriously, this woman looks like she owned a ...

Broccoli Rabe Three Ways

June 8, 2014 Leave a Comment

Exploring a spring vegetable through one flavor combination in three dishes.One of my favorite ways to explore ingredients is to grab a huge bunch from the market and eat it little by little in several different dishes. I call these my starter ingredients and it's all about testing. The key learnings are how to complement the flavors, optimize the textures, and make the cooking process efficient. If that sounds like stiff professional language, just enjoy the other key takeaway here: three ...

Glistening like Beyoncé: Jerk Chicken Meatballs

March 28, 2014 9 Comments

Jerk. Chicken. Meatballs. Enough Said.What is it about sauces that make foods look so sexy? You know - when a roast is glistening like Beyoncé in the Baby Boy video.Or when Bon Appétit asked which of these January 2013 covers were sexier:That buttery pork chop is giving some serious competition!True: dry food is hard to swallow and thus naturally undesirable. There's also a ton of porn-tastic re-definitions and euphemisms on Urban Dictionary for "juicy" and ...

Healthier Dan Dan Mian: Spicy Sichuan Noodle Bowl with Turkey, Kale and Peanuts

March 15, 2014 Leave a Comment

Fresh, fast and extremely tasty. You'll make this dish again and again.This is one of those dishes that you prepare for dinner and pack for lunch but then wind up eating before noon. It happens to me every time because it's so good I can't wait for the proper lunch hour. Traditional Dan Dan Mian is from the Sichuan province of China: numbingly spicy chili noodles topped with ground pork, peanuts and scallions. I fell in love with dan dan mian while studying abroad in Beijing and I make ...

#mealprep: Expert Tips for Easy, Healthy and Affordable Meals All Week Long

January 13, 2014 117 Comments

$3 a meal for a perfectly portioned menu that also saves on time and energy. Here's all the advice you need for this lifestyle.Yesterday I helped to cook a week of lunch and dinner for 2 people with $60 in under 3 hours, including a trip to the grocery store! This is the meal prep lifestyle and my friend Emmanuel Sean Peters is an expert. Instead of making excuses, Sean sets aside a little time to plan for a healthy and budget-friendly week. Here's how you can do it too.Every Sunday ...

Roasted Carrots and Potatoes with Carrot Top Pesto

October 28, 2013 Leave a Comment

I'm finally willing to admit that it's fall. I have to wear boots, accessorizing with a scarf is now more functional than aesthetic, and the heat from the oven pleasantly warms my chilly apartment. That means it's time for me to roast again - starting with carrots. I'll move on to winter squash when I've given up all hope of warm weather.The carrots I grew up with tasted like the cello bag they were stuffed in. But farmers market carrots are completely different. The natural sugars caramelize ...

Summer Produce and Chorizo Soup

September 2, 2011 Leave a Comment

I always have trouble figuring out what to make for dinner. I ask my co-workers, friends, consult websites like Gojee.com - there's even this hilarious website for suggestions. But last night my 2010 self told me what to cook.Thanks to Facebook's new "On This Day" feature, I was able to see my status from last September 1st when I made a Soup au Pistou variation using seasonal vegetables and chorizo. So last night I stopped off at the grocer and produce market to repeat the ...

Baked or Grilled Jerk Chicken

June 28, 2009 3 Comments

My childhood home came with a grill. Far to the back of our half-acre lot, the red brick grill was built by a previous owner alongside a large serving table; no doubt to encourage cookouts. And cookout we did. It was the only motivation for the days of labor it took to maintain the heavily wooded backyard. And for every major summer holiday and countless weekends besides my mother would decide to host a gathering.The role for each of us hosts was clear. My mom would call the guests and ask ...