When you find yourself inside a snow globe, there is one thing to do: make gingerbread.  This recipe will transport you to gingerbread heaven and will make you realize why gingerbread is truly the King of Cakes.

The triumphant tomato takes a back seat in this dish, while our eggplant, poblano and garlic trio team up to steal the show.  I love to add this sauce into the rotation in the winter months: the roasting process will fill your kitchen and your home with warmth (not to mention a savory aroma sent from heaven), this thick, rich sauce will cling to pasta and fill your belly and family with nutrient-packed goodness, and this sauce allows you to go meatless without missing the meat for a minute.

Mushroom Beef Barley Soup is hearty, it’s healthy, and it is the ideal use for that leftover Christmas roast you have been reheating for the past week.  This recipe is going to pre-suppose that you have already cooked your beef and are using it up in this soup.  Send me a comment if you’d like tips on how to cook your beef from scratch for this dish.  And, of course, if you don’t want to use beef at all, leave it out!  This soup can be just as hearty and delicious when prepared vegetarian-style… just use vegetable or mushroom stock in place of the beef stock, and you’re in business.

By popular request, here’s my version of the famous Italian Wedding Soup… which is really just chicken soup with little meatballs and escarole. Which, if you grew up Italian, was the only way you ever ate chicken soup, so it’s funny now to call it something else… but there it is.  Mangia!