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Happy National Root Beer Float Day

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Today is National Root Beer Float Day!

A root beer float is a fun, simple, classic, easy treat.

Chill a mug or pint glass.

Add a scoop of vanilla ice cream to the glass.

Pour root beer slowly over ice cream.

Enjoy with a straw and a spoon!

My root beer floats will be made with Abita root beer.  Abita tastes amazing, is made with cane sugar, is caffeine free and is my favorite.  Abita is a Louisiana based brewery. To make it easier to find Abita products, the company has a sleek, concise, cleanly designed, and free App for iPhone and Android. Get the App or try Abita’s web based product finder tool at www.abita.com.

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A&W is a name nearly synonymous with root beer. A&W Restaurants will be celebrating National Root Beer Float Day with free small floats while supplies last. A&W will also be using the celebration to raise funds and awareness for the Wounded Warrior Project. You can find all the details here.

Hope you enjoy your day!

-Jenn

Easy Lentil Salad

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I never knew lentils could be so tasty and versatile and right now I am especially enamored with the beautiful French Lentil.

French Lentils

Now that I am more familiar with this ingredient, I find myself using the French Lentil variety often.  Its texture is firm and its flavor is both verdant and earthy.  I have been incorporating the French Lentil into soups, salads, stews, and I even use it when I make my vegetable stock.

This simple recipe, inspired by the flavors of tabouli, showcases the French Lentil.  It is an easy summer dish that is picnic friendly (no mayo!), plant based / vegan, and gluten-free too!

I enjoy this dish for lunch and it works well as a side dish too.

FRENCH LENTIL SALAD

by: Jenn Surowitz @FoodByJenn / http://www.foodbyjenn.com

Cook 1 cup dried French Lentils in a large pot of boiling water for about 45 minutes (or until tender or to your desired tenderness). Drain and let the lentils either come to room temperature or chill.  You can use cooking time or chilling time to prep the other ingredients listed below.

3 Very thin slices of red onion, minced (approximately 1-2 Tablespoons)

1 clove of garlic, peeled and finely minced (or pressed in a garlic press or grated on a microplane)  Continue reading →

Apple Pie – My Oh My!

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I love pie and this is a wonderful time of year for apple pie, as the fruit is abundant and in season.

This recipe includes just a few ingredients and doesn’t take too long to put together. Prep time is about 20 minutes or less. The pie will bake for 50 – 60 minutes depending on your oven (convection ovens will bake more quickly).

I confess upfront, however, that I am not much of a pie pastry maker. I can make my own pie shells and tops, but I often cheat and use store-bought. I have tried many brands and types and I really like the combination I describe below. Since I lack the skills of a proper French pastry chef, I think this combination tastes about the same as my homemade version.

(A note on brands, I am not paid or given perks to use, feature or write about any products shown.)

I encourage you to find what works for you!  Use what you like or have on hand or find at your local market!! If your grandma or aunt has an awesome pastry recipe, try it – use it and pass it along!   Continue reading →

Granola Bar Bar Bar Jackpot!

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photo by: FoodByJenn

Last October I visited a Bed & Breakfast in Vermont where the owner treated me one morning to a delightful yogurt parfait with his homemade granola.  Ever since, I have been determined to create my own tasty granola.  After much trial and error, and more than a few recipes, I decided what I really wanted to make was a granola bar that I could either toss into my purse to eat on the run or crumble into a greek style yogurt when I had the time to sit and eat breakfast or lunch.  In the end, I modified Ina Garten’s “Homemade Granola Bars” recipe which you can find here. This is a wonderful recipe just as it is written (after all, would the Barefoot Contessa let us down? I think not!).  I tweaked the recipe because I wanted to incorporate quinoa flakes into the bars for a protein bump up, sesame seeds for added flavor, and dried tart cherries for a little pucker.  Continue reading →

Chill Out – No Bake Cake

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Two days ago, I tried out the Strawberry Icebox Cake Recipe from page 137 of the August 2011 issue of Woman’s Day Magazine.

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You can find an instructional video from Woman’s Day here.

The recipe was easy to follow and came together with relative ease within the suggested timeframe.

My primary hardware used: Cuisinart Prep 9 9 cup food processor; 8 quart Farberware Millenium saucier; Kitchen Aid Ultra Power 5 hand mixer; Baker’s Secret loaf pan.

My review: The dessert cake came out tasty and refreshing.  It was SWEET because the berries I used were quite ripe and the cookies I used were a slightly thicker than the magazine’s photo suggested.  I liked that my end result looked similar to the magazine’s photo.   Continue reading →