Spiced-Rub Braised Beef

Sauteing onions, garlic, and crushed red pepper

The most important ingredient, ready to go

the tomato sauce simmering for 20min in the dutch oven

a lovely side of sauteed zucchini & bell pepper

This recipe was so good that I forgot to take a picture of the finished product! I made some white rice and sauteed zucchini & bell peppers for the sides. So use your imagination ;)

 We had it for dinner, and then I packed away the leftovers for lunches. I used the original picture from the recipe, thank you Cooking Light for the beautifully professional picture ;) I am more of a spicy than sweet girl when it comes to meat. So I did not rub brown sugar onto the roast when marinating it, and used half of the brown sugar the recipe called for in the tomato sauce. I also added some cayenne pepper to the tomato sauce for an added kick. YUM YUM YUM.

link to recipe:
http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/spice-rubbed-braised-beef-10000001918504/

Endive Fig Appetizer

Got this little inspiration from a quick stop at Whole Foods. They were giving out samples of this appetizer and I immediately fell in love with the light, sweet & crunchy taste. Super easy too!

The base is endive leaves

then goat cheese (I bought honey goat cheese)

fig paste

sliced/slivered almonds

viola!

done!

that's it!!

enjoy!

I really wish I took a picture of the fig paste I bought at Whole Foods (bc of course they were not handing out free samples for nothing, they were promoting too!). It was in a small brick-like package in the cheese aisle. I liked the fact that I just sliced it and put it on the cheese, less of a mess than trying to spread jam. Next time I am there I will need to search for it and take a pic! But in case you cannot find that particular one, you can use fig jam, apricot jam, etc. Whatever your little heart desires.

ran out of endive leaves, so used thin crackers, improvisation at its best.