Chimichurri (or Green Gold)

Our society has a bit of a love-hate recipe with Gwyneth Paltrow, and I'm no different. I subscribe to the GOOP newsletter, but I regularly end up deleting it with an eye roll. The recommendations are often completely out of touch with my normal-person lifestyle. $400 cleanses? Travel guides for the Hamptons? $900 candlesticks? That said, the woman knows how to cook, and I'm a big fan of her cookbook "It's All Good." Although not all recipes in the cookbook are slam dunks and a few are plain ridiculous (fish roasted in salt anyone?), there are also some real winners.

Quick Gnocchi with Pumpkin Sage Sauce

So my mother loves a good deal. As long as I can remember she's been finding the best way to get the most for her money (and best quality too) for her 6 girls. She recently came across a wild deal on canned pumpkin and kindly shared. Needless to say, since then we've all been eating A LOT of pumpkin. I'm normally all for the fresh stuff (like our pro gardening sister talks about here), but, when you've got it, use it.

So...how to use all of this pumpkin. Seeing flat after flat of canned pumpkin reminded me that a few years ago, my non-cooking husband made me a knock-out dinner for my birthday. He really went all out. Pumpkin coconut ravioli (all hand made) with brown butter and sage. It took him about 7 hours. (No, I'm not kidding.) I really loved that meal, and with all of the pumpkin around, I thought I'd try a deconstructed, super simple version of that to share with my family for Valentine's Day. It was a hit.

Roasted Red Pepper Sauce

A few months ago I was at the grocery store and stumbled across a roasted red pepper pasta sauce. It sounded positively delicious and I decided to try and whip it up myself. I was looking for a delicious alternative to the general jarred tomato pasta sauce, but something almost just as easy, requiring only a few more steps than opening a jar and not that many dishes.