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Paleo Baklava Shortbread Cookie Bars {Gluten-free}
A twist on traditional baklava these Paleo Baklava Shortbread Cookie Bars bring the classic flavors of this popular Greek pastry, I grew up on without flour or gluten. Luscious butter, comforting, aromatic spices, a hint of citrus, a blend of spiced nuts and a sweet honey syrup. Mmmmmm!
I am sorry, I have been holding onto this recipe for sometime now. I usually work several months out on my content, I create and test recipes several times over to get them right, then I make them for the final shoot, I style the food, shoot and edit all the photos, I write up the post and recipe and put it into the content calendar. I move my content around to keep it fresh, I base it on what’s in season, holidays and what you all are wanting most. For me, baked goods aren’t always a priority, I don’t love to bake and I don’t generally care about sweets so the baked goods always get pushed down in the queue.I created the recipe for these Paleo Baklava Shortbread Cookie Bars after a trip back home to Buffalo to see my family this past April. My trips home always inspire so many recipe ideas, often new ways to create family or local classics that I didn’t even know I missed so much. The day I made this recipe for the very first time, the smell in my kitchen reminded me of home, of my mom and my dad, my Yia Yias. The first bite I took of this Paleo Baklava, I actually cried. A full on dessert-induced cry.
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Honey Balsamic Roasted Fig and Toasted Pistachio Coconut Yogurt Parfaits
It’s here. It’s officially fig season and I couldn’t be happier. Though the season can seem somewhat short, when you have an over 20 foot fig tree in your yard, it honestly feels like it carries on forever and ever. I am not complaining. For the rest of the world, fig season usually feels like it is over in the blink of an eye. The season gone and done with, before you even fully begin to enjoy it. What a beautiful metaphor for life. Everything happening so quickly, whizzing right by us. The sweetest things, they come and go and if you don’t stop and slow down, if you don’t savor every bit of it, truly stopping to appreciate every little detail, it will pass you by.
Over these past three summers of being in this house, I have done my very best to not take this tree for granted, what a gift. Having only ever really eaten dried figs, I have learned to love figs in a whole new way and I have found myself getting creative, adding them to recipes anywhere that I can. If you have never had fresh figs, I can tell you that you are surely missing out.
Figs are delicious when fresh, sliced up and added to salads or pasta, they are wonderful just for a sweet bites, you can stuff them with goat cheese or blue cheese, but like many foods, I have a real thing for roasting them. The flavor and the sweetness shines even brighter this way and you end up with a delicious sauce of sorts, perfect for so many different recipes.
Roasting is also a great way to preserve the figs a bit longer. Many times if I pick figs that are perfectly ripe and ready for eating straight away, I try to nab them just before they fall to the ground or the birds get them, but they won’t last long when they are this ripe. Roasting gives me a few more days with them and it ensures not a single fig’s life is lost in vain! It’s also a great way to get the most out of the figs that aren’t as great. Maybe they were picked a little early or they are just less sweet. Roast them. Problem solved.
If you don’t have a tree, when buying fresh figs, always buy the more ripe ones. Unlike many other fruits, figs do not continue to ripen once picked. Soft and squishy is perfect, a little splitting skin with some juices oozing, even better. The ugliest figs, the ones many would likely pass right over, those are usually quite often, the tastiest figs. Possibly another metaphor for life? Heh.
These yogurt parfaits are one of my favorite ways to enjoy and savor the roasted figs. The tart and sweet flavor of the roasted figs, the beautiful syrupy sauce that is created, it pairs so perfectly with a creamy and tangy yogurt. I love the addition of the toasted pistachios, too. You can feel free to swap with whatever your favorite nut or seed is. I opt for my homemade coconut milk yogurt, but you can feel free to opt for any yogurt you’d like. Greek, goat’s milk an so on. Great as a breakfast, a dessert or a snack.
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Grilled Peach Salad with Baby Arugula, Pistachios and Lemony Yogurt Dressing
After rediscovering peaches this summer after a few years without them in my life, I am getting reacquainted with all of the subtle nuances of their delicate sweet flavor. I am also discovering all of the many different ways to enjoy them, sweet and savory.
Grilled peaches has quickly become one of my favorite things and something I will be making time and time again, while those sweet fuzzy beauties are in season. They are great in savory salads like this one or with your favorite ice cream or yogurt for a sweet treat.
This salad is not only a beautiful, vibrantly-colored celebration of all that is in season right now, but it is also one of the tastiest salads you’ll ever have the pleasure of indulging in.
