Cinco de Mayo is almost here, and what better way to celebrate than by cooking up some delicious mexican-inspired food? I’m a big fan of mexican food - it’s one of those things that always sounds tasty no matter the situation. But for a Cinco de Mayo celebration it’s fun to go a little above and beyond a veggie fajita or cheesy quesadilla. Luckily the Cinco de Mayo Trap has plenty of inspiration.

Since I’m not a meat-eater I might try whipping up some of these Creamy Tortilla Soup Enchiladas, yum! And for the carnivores out there, I thought that these BBQ Pulled Pork Taquitos look like a fun twist on a mexican classic. If you’re trying to stick to a healthy diet, you can check out these tips for keeping things light at your fiesta.

And of course, don’t forget drinks and dessert. I’m all for a classic lime margarita, but this blood orange version would be fun to try. Sticking with the margarita theme, I like the looks of this Frozen Margarita Tart that is made a little healthier by using greek yogurt.

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

Kelly

Image via Noble Pig

Full Recipe: Smoked Salmon Brunch Taco Bar
Discovered in: My “brining” Trap
About the blog: Noble Pig is a recipe blog bolstered by great taste and self-expression. Cathy, an established Pinot Noir winemaker and freelance writer also kills it in the kitchen.
Reason we picked it: I had anticipated a pork recipe for my first stab at brining, but smoked salmon jumped off my ipad screen. As a taco addict, I couldn’t resist. Cathy caught the Chinook salmon herself, displayed her narrative with beautiful photography and like myself is located in the Willamette Valley. I was sold.
What you’ll need:

• the brine: water, kosher salt, light brown sugar, pure maple syrup
• Salmon filet, coupled with alder wood smoking chips (I added pepper to the maple syrup baste)
• daikon radish, rice vinegar (if you plan to pickle them—I didn’t)
• whipped cream cheese
• pepper jack cheese
• capers
• toasted sesame seeds
• furikake, optional (yet recommended, so delicious)
• flour tortillas cut into 4” circles

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As a kid, the Easter holiday (if you celebrate it) is all about the big fluffy Easter bunny and hunting for eggs. I never had a yard growing up, so my candy-filled eggs were hidden under pillows and in lampshades, but the thrill of the hunt was still the most fun part of the day. I’m a little old for Easter egg hunts now, so my focus has shifted to making delicious brunch dishes and maybe experimenting with a few fun crafts if I have the time. Perusing our featured Traps, it’s clear that there is plenty of inspiration for both!

If you’re looking for Easter foodie inspiration, head on over to the Brunch Trap for a huge variety of tasty-looking and Easter-appropriate recipes, from healthy to indulgent and fast to extravagant. I’m a big fan of pretty much all egg dishes, and this Vegetable & Cream Cheese Quiche with Almond Crust sounded particularly interesting. I’d imagine these adorable little Mini Ham & Cheese Frittatas would also be a hit. If you’re in a time crunch, check out these recipes that prep in 30 minutes or less or get a head start on the festivities with this Make-Ahead Brunch Strata.

And of course we can’t forget the crafts. For those with kids who want to change things up a little bit, check out these 9 ways of decorating eggs besides classic dyeing. I also really liked this cute DIY Mini Easter Trees project for kids or adults. These Graffiti Eggs are a great modern-art take on the holiday, and I also like the idea of trying some paper crafts instead of working with real eggs.

Regardless of what treat or craft you decide to whip up, enjoy the holiday and happy Spring!

-Kelly

Full recipe: Butterfly Pasta with Kale
Discovered in: a Kale Recipes trap
About the blog: I found this recipe on Breastcancer.org’s Think Pink, Live Green column, which aims to help women trying to prevent or fight breast cancer make healthy choices.
Reason we picked it: I have been making roasted kale chips in my oven for a while now, and I love that it’s an easy way for me to eat a lot of healthy kale with only a little added olive oil and salt, but I’ve been wanting to try other ways of cooking the greens and incorporating them into meals I already love, like pasta.
What you’ll need:

• 2 large bunches of kale
• 1 pound farfalle pasta
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 6 cloves garlic, slivered
• 1 1/2 cups sundried tomatoes, rinsed and coarsely chopped
• 1/2 cup pine nuts, roasted
• Salt and pepper
• Freshly grated parmesan cheese

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Full recipe: Crockpot Irish Beef Stew
Discovered in: “Guinness” Trap
About the blog: The Simple Moms blog as you can imagine, is all about simplicity and honesty. Readers can find recipes, crafts and DIY projects galore, tested and reviewed by moms from all walks of life.
Reason we picked it: Guinness really isn’t just for pint glasses anymore. I’ve always been fascinated with cooking with different types of beer and fell in love with the idea of a simple stew, allowing the dark stout flavor to pop as the prime ingredient.
What you’ll need:

• arrowroot powder
• sea salt
• pepper
• carrots
• 1/2 head of cabbage
• onions
• gold potatoes
• garlic cloves
• reserved beer marinade
• beef stock

For my first cooking experiment with Guinness, I wanted a traditional meal familiar to my taste buds to judge and contrast with the stout flavoring. A recipe with emphasis on simplicity jumped out at me, and I took note of the short ingredient list: no herbs (thyme, parsley, bay leaf), and besides a little beef stock, Guinness was the main act of the stew’s liquid base (no worcestershire, no red wine, etc). Although the stew thickened nicely, the soupy juices of the meal came out a tad bland. Salt and pepper to taste made it fantastic.

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We already know that Trapit can be a useful tool when it comes to finding recipes for your favorite types of food (pasta, pizza, vegetarian,etc.), but it can also help when you’re looking for a multitude of ways to use a single ingredient. Our sports editor Geoff is particularly fond of using this approach, as he described in this post about finding a way to make use of leftover ginger root. I was feeling in the mood for something garlicky today, so I made a garlic recipe trap and found some delicious ideas based around the versatile ingredient. I love garlic for many reasons, but a few of them are: it can add wonderful flavor to almost anything without the need for heavy fats or salts; it’s in season right now, which means it will go wonderfully with other late winter ingredients; and in this terrible cold and flu season, cooking with garlic can help ward off sickness thanks to its antibacterial and antiviral properties. I recently ate a spoonful of raw chopped garlic (with a dab of honey) in the hopes of shortening a terrible cold, but the recipes I found today will be a much more enjoyable way to incorporate more of the healthy ingredient into my diet.

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Full recipe: Grilled Peach Pizza with Fresh Goat Cheese
Discovered in: The Pizza Recipes Trap
About the blog: Savoir Faire is a food blog by Venezuelan native Enriqueta Lemoine that highlights delicious recipes ranging from Italian to Lebanese and many places in between.
Reason we picked it: I am a huge pizza lover. It’s one of those foods that sounds delicious to me at all times, so I thought it would be fun to try something a little unconventional that still falls in the pizza category. Plus, I’m a sucker for anything with goat cheese in it.
What you’ll need:

• 1 pizza dough
• 2 peaches, sliced
• 1/2 cup goat cheese
• Corn meal (optional)
• 3 basil leaves cut into strips
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Balsamic vinegar reduction - see Enriqueta’s instructions here

When I saw this recipe pop up in the Pizza Recipes Trap, I was definitely intrigued. I love pizza, especially the homemade variety, and when I’m out at restaurants and there’s a goat cheese item on the menu, I will almost always order it. And while I know not everyone is in this camp, I’m also a fan of pizza that takes a lighter, healthier approach. I love trying recipes that are a bit unconventional and new to me, but are still simple and fast. This looked like something that would be fun and interesting, but still easy enough (and using few enough ingredients) to make on a regular basis.

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Full recipe: Hearty Chard, Pancetta, and Pecorino Quiche
Discovered in: The Quiche Trap
About the blog: Serious Eats is a wonderful food blog community with many different food bloggers and just as many good recipes and ideas.
Reason we picked it: I’ve always wanted to try making quiche, and during a terrible winter head cold it was one of the only things that sounded appetizing. Plus, you can eat the leftovers for just about any meal.
What you’ll need:

• 1 pie crust (bought or homemade)
• 1 cup chopped pancetta (or in this case, sundried tomatoes)
• About 3 quarts of loose chopped swiss chard
• 6 large eggs
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 cup creme fraiche (I substituted full fat greek yogurt, see below)
• I cup coarsely grated Pecorino Romano or other salty Italian cheese
• Salt, Pepper, and Nutmeg

I’ve always wanted to try making quiche, but it seemed to be a daunting task for some reason. I came across this recipe and it sounded simple enough so I thought I would finally give it a try, even if I did cheat and use a store-bought pie crust. If Serious Eats says it’s ok, then it’s ok in my book. I love that quiche is good for any meal and keeps really well - perfect for lunches at work! I adapted this recipe to my own vegetarian tastes and substituted a couple things because in case you’ve never noticed, pecorino romano cheese is crazy expensive.

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Trapit can do amazing things when it comes to finding food and recipes. Create a trap on just about any cooking style or ingredient and the results will no doubt be wonderful, and probably make you hungry to boot. Welcome to our new series, “Trapit in the Kitchen.” We’ll be making recipes we’ve discovered thanks to Trapit. We hope you’ll enjoy the ride and make some of the recipes along with us! 

Full Recipe: Roasted Brussels Sprouts, Butternut Squash, and Pomegranate Seeds
Discovered in: Brussels Sprouts Trap
About the Blog: Foodie Tots is a wonderful blog by mom Colleen Levine that focuses on sustainable and healthy eating that is also kid-friendly. 
Reason We Picked it: Hearty, vegetarian-friendly, and we both love brussels sprouts. 
What You’ll Need:

• 1 butternut squash
• 1 pound Brussels sprouts
• 1/3 cup pomegranate seeds (arils)
• 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon pomegranate molasses (or molasses and the juice of 1/2 lemon)
• Kosher salt
• black pepper

We did our best to cut the butternut squash into similar size chunks so that they would cook evenly in the oven. 

We lucked out with some humongous brussels sprouts that we easily cut into quarters so that they would also roast evenly. A nice thin coating of olive oil helps them crisp up on the outside. 

While the sprouts and squash were roasting in the oven, Laura took over with one of her favorite cooking tasks - de-seeding the pomegranate. I learned that you have to be gentle to avoid rupturing the fruit and ending up with stained clothing. Luckily Laura had it under control. 

We didn’t have any pomegranate molasses, so we decided to adjust and mixed a little bit of regular old molasses with some lemon juice to water it down. We combined our three ingredients (sprouts, squash, and seeds) and mixed in our homemade dressing. We ended up with a wonderful hearty vegetable dish that we both agreed was delicious. Combining the sprouts with sweeter ingredients was an interesting and very successful way to go. It would make a great side dish at a holiday gathering or a filling vegetarian lunch. We call this one a huge success! The recipe is simple enough to recreate at the drop of a hat and both of us would make it again. 

Thanks to Foodie Tots for the recipe and Trapit for leading us to it!  View the full original post and recipe from Foodie Tots here. 

-Kelly

Image via Grubarazzi.

It’s that certain special time of year where us Northerners are starting to suffer the S.A.D. (curse you 4:35 sunset). I dream of Thanksgiving pie. Luckily Trapit’s great for finding food-porn and recipes. And as the sun settles outside my office window I’ve been drifting into the Harvest Trap more and more—turns out we can now algorithmically predict how popular your pies will be! 

I asked folks in office to share some of their Thanksgiving picks. I bring you Trapit’s top five Thanksgiving recipes.

My pick is this zucchini, squash, mint, and quinoa stuffing. It should be a hit with my gluten free uncle and make a nice veggie side dish. Also, I hold the unpopular position that regular stuffing is gross.  

From the more popular side of the stuffing debate is Ethan who says,

Nothing ruins a Thanksgiving turkey quite like actually stuffing the bird with your stuffing. This Thanksgiving, I can’t wait to try out this crock-pot stuffing recipeand cooking the bird the way it was meant to be cooked: with air circulating freely through it!

Geoff also goes in for the stuffing,

When it comes to Thanksgiving leftovers, there is nothing more disappointing than running low on stuffing when there is still plenty of turkey scraps to go around. This year I’m going against the grain with an extra batch of stuffing made with cornbread and sausage. 

Tommy breaks our stuffing trend and suggests a veggie side dish. He plans to upcycle his Halloween pumpkin for Thanksgiving with this recipe for roasted pumpkin with rosemary pepita pesto.

And last but not least, Kelly brings dessert,

I have made a pretty great pumpkin swirl cheesecake in the past, but this year I happened upon this version (in bars instead) in the Harvest Recipes Trap and I might just have to try switching it up. It’s different than the standard pumpkin pie, still has great seasonal flavor, and I know from experience that the marble effect, which is surprisingly easy, impresses almost everyone. You can’t go wrong!

Happy Thanksgiving!

-Laura