From ras-el-hanout to harissa to preserved lemons, Moroccan cuisine features some of the most stunning flavors on the planet. Sadly, there’s no Moroccan restaurant in my neck of the woods, but it’s easy to include some signature North African inspiration when you’re in your own kitchen. To make this batch of salsa, I blended sautéed [...]
Continue reading about Blending the Familiar with the Exotic: A Taste of North Africa
Conceptually speaking, one of my favorite things to do for dinner is to embellish something I already have. Creative embellishing is an ideal way to translate leftovers into new dishes. (Although there’s a lot to be said for the whole idea of “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” — i.e., if you loved a [...]
Continue reading about How Your Kitchen Budget and Fresh Herbs Are Connected
Who says you can’t have a fiesta in the wintertime? (Especially when it’s 48F outside. It’s like spring in the winter!) Unlike mexicanized restaurant food in the U.S., actual food in Mexico is fresh, vibrant, and light in a satisfying and hearty kind of way. Case in point: a crisp, refreshing version of pozole, served [...]
Continue reading about A Wintertime Fiesta for Your Taste Buds
You say pa-tay-to, I say pa-tah-to…or I say yuca. Or maybe ñame or taro or edo or any of the many other tuber vegetables there are out there. (Although I would assume that Peruvians — who were the world’s original potato growers — would also say patata since they enjoy over 3,000 varieties of them.) [...]
One thing I always have in my pantry: chickpeas. One thing I always have in my refrigerator: tahini. Why? Because hummus is my go-to staple, no matter if I need a last-minute appetizer, a dish to take to a party, or a quick dinner. You just can’t go wrong with hummus. (I omitted garlic and [...]
Raw bell peppers are delicious, but roasted bell peppers are even better. They’re also ridiculously easy to roast yourself: just put the pepper(s) on the center oven rack and roast for 20 minutes at 425F. Immediately drop the pepper(s) into a plastic zip-loc bag, seal, and let sit until cool enough to handle. (The cooling-off [...]
American cuisine has some instant-hit classics — corn bread, macaroni and cheese, bison burgers — but compared to other cuisines, we really don’t do much with tubers. Potatoes are pretty much the extent of our tuber dabbling. And who doesn’t like potatoes? Stands to reason other tubers would be tasty, too. If you hang around [...]
It’s summer, it’s hot (since when was Detroit in the middle of the Sahara?), and I’m sure I’m not the only one who doesn’t want to spend much time over a hot stove right now. Hence, this soup! Although it involves a bit of simmering time, the heat is on low and you don’t have [...]
Continue reading about Cool Moroccan Flavors to Spice Up Your Summer
Savory dips are just about the most versatile thing you can make, because not only can a neverending variety of items be considered dippables, the dip itself can become a sauce if you thin it a little bit and then toss it with pasta, whole grains, meat, you name it. Or you could thin it [...]
Continue reading about Celebrating Summer with a Cool Green Dip
Although I normally steer clear of fish on Seafoodwatch.org’s “avoid” list, if skate shows up at my local fish market, I sometimes buy it. (I actually hadn’t realized skate was on the “avoid” list until after I’d made this dish.) It tastes a lot like scallops, which is a bonus for me since scallops are [...]
