Pasta with shredded zucchini

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There are nights when only a bowl of pasta will do. We all have them. Long days at work. Tired bones, tired minds. Pasta fills me up and brings on that calm evening glow. I always sleep well after a pasta dinner.

In the summer I often make a quick pasta sauce with shredded zucchini, tomato sauce and a splash of half-and-half. I try to get the ratio right: less pasta, more zucchini, the perfect balance of comforting carbs and good-for-you veggies. A bowl of pasta on the couch, feet up on the coffee table, brain shifting from busy day into sleepy night. Ah, the power of carbohydrates.

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Pasta with shredded zucchini

by Erika Kerekes August-10-2011

The shredded zucchini melts into the sauce, making this dish perfect for any silly zucchini-phobic family members.

Ingredients

• 1/2 pound fusilli (or another curly, twisty pasta)
• 2 tsp olive oil
• 1/2 large or 1 small onion, diced
• 4 cloves garlic, chopped
• 3 medium-sized zucchini, shredded or grated
• 2 cups tomato sauce (not chunky; canned or jarred works fine)
• 2 Tbsp half-and-half
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1/2 cup grated parmesan, Romano or Grana Padano cheese

Instructions

Bring a pot of water to a boil. Cook the pasta as directed on the package.While the pasta is cooking, heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion and saute 3-4 minutes until softened. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, 30 seconds - don't let the garlic brown. Add the zucchini to the skillet and cook for a few minutes until softened but not mushy. Add the tomato sauce and half-and-half to the skillet, stir to combine, and turn down the heat. Let simmer while the pasta finishes cooking.When the pasta is done, drain it and add it to the skillet. Turn off the heat and gently mix the pasta into the sauce. Let the pasta sit about 30 seconds on the warm burner, then turn the pasta into a serving bowl. Season with salt and pepper, then sprinkle the grated cheese on top. Serve immediately.

Details

Prep time: 5 mins Cook time: 15 mins Total time: 20 mins Yield: 4 servings

Zucchini puffs

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Last week Weston, my nine-year-old, went to a cooking class. The class, purchased at a fundraising event, was taught by one of the administrators at my kids' school in her home. She and the two boys made some kid-friendly favorites: macaroni and cheese, an interesting dessert involving strawberries and Jell-O, and these dead-simple zucchini puffs.

Neither Weston nor his father is a huge zucchini fan. Okay, that's an understatement: Under normal circumstances neither will touch zucchini in any form other than zucchini muffins. But somehow the combination of cheese and broiler did the trick. We made a whole tray, we broiled a whole tray, we ate a whole tray.

Four ingredients, 10 minutes, easy enough for even the smallest kids to make, delicious enough to win over even the most ardent zucchini-haters: This one's a keeper.

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Zucchini puffs

by Erika Kerekes August-8-2011

Don't cut the zucchini too thinly - you want them to retain some of their crunch. Thanks to the wonderful Leslie Geffen for this family favorite.

Ingredients

• 3 medium-sized fresh zucchini, washed, ends trimmed
• 1/3 cup mayonnaise
• 1/3 cup grated parmesan, Romano or Grana Padano cheese
• 1/2 tsp dried basil or fines herbes
• salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

Preheat the broiler. Put the oven rack about 5 inches from the heat. In my oven that's the second notch down. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil.Slice the zucchini into 1/4-inch rounds. In a small bowl, mix together the mayonnaise, grated cheese, dried herbs, and salt and pepper. Spread each zucchini round with a thin layer of the cheese mixture and place on the baking sheet.Broil the zucchini rounds 30-60 seconds, until the tops are golden brown and the cheese mixture puffs up a bit. Remove from the oven and serve immediately.

Details

Prep time: 10 mins Cook time: 1 mins Total time: 11 mins Yield: 4 servings

How to blog for your personal brand: 9 rules for raising your profile

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I've met scores of bloggers over the past few years who love to write, wish they could make money writing, and don't know how to make that happen. If that's you, keep reading. And if that's someone you know, please feel free to pass this post on. 

This week I spoke at a conference in San Diego called Women Create Media: Empowering Writers in the Digital Age. My topic, which I shared with Patti Londre (owner of Camp Blogaway and Worth the Whisk): "How your blog informs your brand."

The morning's sessions tended toward the inspirational and emotional, but Patti and I were all about business. Your blog can be your resume, your portfolio, your public face to the world. You can use your blog to make a name for yourself, build a personal brand, and get paying work as a writer, editor, consultant, recipe developer, photographer. But it doesn't just happen. You have to make it happen.

I realized as I was preparing for this presentation that I've followed some basic rules over the past two and a half years, and I'm proud of the results. I can't promise you fame and fortune if you follow these rules - but I can promise you that potential employers and clients will take you more seriously.

Erika's 9 rules for blogging with purpose


1. Create excellent content. This may seem obvious, but lots of bloggers give themselves permission to be sloppy. I do not think it's okay to post stuff half-baked. You never know how a potential employer or client will find you - it could be your most recent post, or it could be something from months or years ago. Make sure that wherever on your blog a visitor lands, she's seeing your very best.

2. Pick an angle and stick with it. You want people to read your title and your tag line and know exactly who you are and what you do. You want them to be able to describe you in one sentence. Why? So that potential clients notice and remember you among the crowds of food/mommy/etc. bloggers. If you can package yourself well, clients will assume you can do the same for them.

3. Be consistent. Don't disappear for a month and then write four posts in one week. It makes you look flaky. If the client sees that you ignore your own brand for weeks at a time, she might be more wary of trusting you with hers.

4. Be professional. If you want people to pay you to write, then write cleanly - no typos, no grammatical mistakes, no lazy constructions or run-on sentences. If you want people to hire you to develop recipes, make sure every recipe you post works. If I'm a brand manager looking for a freelance writer to help me with my website and I see typos or careless errors on your blog, guess what? I'm moving on. There are lots of writers out there - I'm going to hire one who'll make my life easier by turning in clean copy.

5. Think strategically. When an opportunity comes your way, make the most of it. There's always a way to turn a lucky break into a stepping stone.

Here's an example: In 2010 I was fortunate to be chosen by Foodbuzz to decorate cakes with Kelly Ripa and Buddy "The Cake Boss" Valastro. I knew the event would be getting a lot of attention, and I wanted to find a way to use it to boost traffic to my blog.

The collective mind of Food Bloggers Los Angeles (more on that in a minute) came up with a great idea: Write a themed post every day for a month leading up to the event to generate excitement and create search-engine-friendly content. I took private lessons with a local baker in fondant and buttercream, listed facts about ovarian cancer (the event raised money for the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund), shopped for makeup to get ready for the video cameras, decorated cupcakes, piped chocolate - and blogged about it all. In every post I mentioned Foodbuzz, Electrolux (the sponsor), Kelly Ripa, and the OCRF.

It was hard work. But my blog traffic took a big jump that month and never dipped. And when I got to the event in New York, every single person from the PR agency and Electrolux knew who I was and had read my posts. Did that series lead directly to money? Maybe not. But it went a long way toward putting In Erika's Kitchen on the food blogging map.

6. Make friends. The better people know you, the more likely they'll be to help you, support you, and even hire you. Online relationships are fine, but nothing replaces face-to-face time. That's why we go to blogging conferences. And that's why Patti and I founded FBLA.

Every month our group of Los Angeles-area food bloggers gets together to learn from (and cook for) each other. Members share their expertise with the group - we've had sessions on SEO, Google Analytics, working with PR agencies, brand-building, photography and more. We write about each other's food, which helps all of us expand our audiences. We've fed each other paying work, helped each other get mentioned in newspapers and magazines, and pulled each other up the learning curve. And we've become really good friends along the way. We've been meeting for almost two years and in that time every single one of us has seen tangible growth and success. By the way, we include reporters, PR reps, local chefs, food companies, and just about any other member of the local food and restaurant community. Relationships are key.

7. Ask for what you want and don't sell yourself short. Your voice is important, your audience is desirable, and your time is worth money. When someone asks you to write for free and promises you fantastic exposure in exchange, think hard about whether you're really likely to get something concrete out of it (traffic, recognition, connections, a reference, a portfolio piece). If yes, then do it. But if you feel like it's something you should be paid to do, then ask. I say something like "Thanks so much, but I'm only taking paid writing assignments right now - is there any funding available for this project?" Sometimes there is, sometimes there isn't. The worst they can say is no.

8. Be patient, but not complacent. It can take months or even years to get significant traction as a blogger. It's not likely to happen overnight. Have patience. But don't just sit there waiting for things to happen. Do something. My M.O.: Strategize, plan, act, assess, repeat.

9. Prioritize. Figure out what's really important to you and make decisions accordingly. My personal guideline: Real life comes first whenever possible. If it's a choice between blogging and cuddling my kids, my kids win (most of the time).

What else belongs on this list? I'd love to hear your ideas - leave a comment below....

Shrimp salad with dill a la IKEA

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There are two IKEA stores near where we live in southern California. We normally frequent the one in Torrance, which is slightly closer via a less congested route. But it has one fatal flaw: a sub-standard restaurant whose fare is limited to hot dogs, ice cream and those (admittedly wonderful) iconic Swedish meatballs with lingonberry sauce.

The other IKEA in Burbank is harder for us to reach and has worse parking. But its restaurant offers magical Scandinavian specialties: gravlax (cured salmon), a nice apple cake, and, in my husband's words, "cunning" little open-faced shrimp sandwiches. They take tiny bay shrimp, mix them with chopped fresh dill and mayonnaise, squirt the whole thing with lemon, and put it over thinly sliced brown bread. Simple, clean, elegant.

(Confession: Sometimes when the kids are away with their grandparents or sleeping over at friends' houses, my husband and I go to IKEA for date night. We can't be the only ones - right? Right?)

I was trying to remember shrimp salads of my youth and realized that bay shrimp must be a West coast phenomenon. I'd never seen the tiny pink shrimp before moving to California. Now I buy them often. I love their soft, briny chew in soups, seafood stews, and especially shrimp salad. A quick rinse and they're ready to go - no peeling, deveining or chopping required.

Note: I like a lot of dill in this shrimp salad. If you find it overwhelmingly aromatic, use the lesser amount.

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Shrimp salad with dill a la IKEA

by Erika Kerekes August-3-2011

Use tiny bay shrimp if you can find them - they're sweet, tender and require no preparation beyond a quick rinse.

Ingredients

• 1 pound bay shrimp, rinsed and patted dry (can substitute larger shrimp, peeled and chopped)
• 2 green onions, finely chopped
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup fresh dill, finely chopped
• 1/3 to 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• juice of 1 lemon
• salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

Mix all ingredients in a large bowl until well combined. Serve chilled over lettuce leaves or sturdy brown bread.

Details

Prep time: 10 mins Cook time: Total time: 10 mins Yield: 4 servings

Oven-roasted Yukon Gold potato chips

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On the rare days I work at home, I like to make something special for the kids' after-school (or, in this case, after-camp) snack. Fortunately I am a masterful multitasker. Today I participated productively in a conference call while putting these oven-roasted Yukon Gold potato chips into the oven. Pretty sure no one on the line noticed. I do love that mute button.

Yukon Golds have the perfect texture for these chips - they crisp up nicely while retaining a little bit of chewy heft. Salt them generously and serve with a creamy onion dip. Figure on two big potatoes per nine-year-old boy, especially when said boy has spent the day at Fitness by the Sea beach camp paddling with dolphins and riding "the best waves of the summer, Mom!" on his boogie board.

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Oven-roasted Yukon Gold potato chips

by Erika Kerekes August-1-2011

Simple oven-roasting turns out healthy, satisfying potato chips. Make more than you think you need - these go fast.

Ingredients

• 2 large Yukon Gold potatoes, preferably Idaho
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp sea salt

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.Rinse the potatoes, then peel them. Using a mandoline or a very sharp knife, slice the potatoes about 1/8-inch thick. Put the potato slices in a large bowl and add the olive oil and salt. Toss, making sure each slice is coated with the oil.Lay the potato slices flat in a single layer on two sheet pans, then slide the pans into the oven. Bake about 25 minutes, or until the potato slices are browned and crisp. You may have to remove some chips before others, so check every few minutes starting after 20 minutes.Pile the chips in a bowl or on a plate. Serve immediately.

Details

Prep time: 5 mins Cook time: 25 mins Total time: 30 mins Yield: 1 after-camp snack for a hungry nine-year-old