It’s easy to squirm your way out of making dinner at home and go out to enjoy a fantastic dinner made by someone else. At least if you’re like me: single, of little patience and hate nothing more than doing the dishes. 

Unless I’m cooking for a client, the times I indulge myself at home seem to be dwindling more and more. I’ve been struggling with it for a few years now and am actively making moves to get over this rut of not enjoying the experience of cooking for myself. You’d think it’d be a no brainer. The relative ease and extreme comfort of cooking at home is a strong argument for bypassing the invites to eat out or the hour-long process of getting dressed. Not to mention that cooking at home has the foremost importance of offering complete control of what goes in your food. 

So, if you’re like and me and battle cooking at home vs eating out, let’s dig into our catalog of easy recipes that are easy, fun to make, delicious and versatile to enjoy several ways. 

Since spring is here, anything fresh, colorful and refreshing will quickly crawl to the top of  that list. Fruits are an amazing way to make every day cooking much more appealing and take away the guilt of eating unhealthy. Well, for the most part (b/c I can think of 20 things I can do with fruit that cancel out any nutritional benefits they have!). For me, relishes are the way to go! They’re obviously perfect as salsas for dipping, as snacks and appetizer. But, if you’re looking to use your favorite salsa to complete a robust dish, simply use it as a topping, especially for chicken or fish. 

I’ve been making this pineapple and jalapeño relish for about 10 years and it’s always a hit. Nothing special or complicated; just a really good-tasting relish that you can bottle up.  It has spicy notes that I usually avoid in my food (super low heat tolerance over here) and perfect color balance which indicates different properties of vitamin my body needs.  And, the touch of nutmeg in it gives it a sophisticated element that most rustic salsas don’t have.

I normally enjoy it as a snack, enjoyed with a variety of chips, namely a multigrain one. But, on lovely and perfectly weathered afternoons and evenings, there’s something sexy about pairing it with a chunky filet or cutlet of some sort. 

If you didn’t guess, it’s amazing over seared, grilled or even poached salmon….add a bit of wild rice and you’ve got a simple, fast and healthy meal. It works well with most white fish and even chicken. Definitely skip having turkey or a juicy steak. And, because the base is pineapple, you can alter it to fit your palatte. Less spicy, sweeter, crunchier, etc… you get it. 

It’s doable. Keeps for about 3 days. Easy to make. Beautiful colors. And, tastes amazing! 

Oh, and it reminds me of being on an island where fruit just falls of the trees for your picking and liking. That’s just as important as its flavor, right. Food that transports you is so key to it being spectacular.