What do Brussels sprouts, potatoes, carrots, and mushrooms have in common? They were all in my pantry begging to be made into soup. The lentils looked lonely, too, so I threw them into the mix. Hearty soups are best made in the winter, after all, even if the term “winter” doesn’t seem to currently imply [...]
Happy New Year, everybody! I thought I’d start off 2012 by breaking an established culinary tradition: pizza toppings. Don’t get me wrong — I love mushroom and (pastured) pepperoni as much as the next guy — but I also enjoy venturing into off-the-spun-dough territory. I first had Thunfisch (tuna fish) pizza in Germany and have [...]
Although sweet pies typically feature fruit enclosed by crust on both the top and bottom, savory pies are made with veggies and/or meat and often sport only a top deck. Shepherd’s Pie, for example, is made with beef and veggies on the bottom and a “crust” of mashed potato on top. An English version of [...]
Roasted kale and popcorn are probably my two favorite snacks (or dinners, for that matter). They’re both crispy-crunchy and can be tossed with a variety of spices and umami-rich flavors: kale with tamari and sesame and popcorn with anything from Ethiopian berbere spice blends to Indian curry powders. My only problem is that I tend [...]
Continue reading about Kale: It Just Keeps Getting More Delicious!
Here’s something you might not know: Ethiopia’s biggest export is agricultural products. Agriculture has always played a key role in Ethiopia, especially before misguided policies resulted in stripped-out soils, lowered water tables, and poorer crop yields. (Policies like the ones that forced farmers to switch from native, non-thirsty plants — i.e., drought-resistant crops — to [...]
Continue reading about Greens That Would Make Popeye Jealous
Who says a salad can’t be manly? The term “salad” derives from sal, the Latin word for salt. A dish that’s salata or salada is simply one that’s been seasoned with salt — the original word has nothing to do with lettuce. And while some of the best classic salads are lettuce-based (Caesar Salad, Salade [...]
Winter = soup. Especially hearty soups that are fragrant with spices — in this case, curry. And thanks to the inclusion of millet and a touch of coconut milk, you’ll have a thick, creamy soup that’s filling enough to be a main course. You could also stir in crab or cooked shrimp at the very [...]
Continue reading about Finding Winter Happiness in a Soup Bowl
Dips are fantastically fabulous: you can make them out of nearly any ingredients that you can purée, you can serve them with a variety of dippers (crackers, tortilla chips, raw veggies, etc.), and if you make the dip less thick, it becomes a sauce for pasta, a marinade for meats, even a spread for sandwiches. [...]
Continue reading about Dips, Dinners & Other Delicious Dishes
Others may disagree, but to me, pizza has three basic components: a base, toppings (including sauce), and cheese. This leaves a lot of room for creative interpretation…and also means that you always have pizza makings in your fridge! The next time you get the urge for something hot and stringy, why not try inventing a [...]
Mirepoix is a French culinary term for three basic vegetables (carrots, celery, and onions) that are chopped or diced and then used as the base to create sauces and soups/stocks. (The Spanish version is sofrito–it includes onion, garlic, and red pepper.) In this case, I added mushrooms, red pepper, tomato sauce and herbs to create [...]
