creative cook
“It’s like dessert. Kind of a vanilla pudding flavor when ripe.” was what one of my neighbors told me about the green fruits that we’re falling off the huge tree in our front yard. The first thing I made with the white sapotos was a Strawberry Sapote Smoothie with a bang.
Inspiration is a crazy thing.
One day I have no clue what to cook or write for this blog. On another I have ideas piling up.
Inspiration for this blog and the recipe for Malijano came when I went to a local International Food Market (South Bay’ers: go there!) to do the groceries for a cooking demo I was about to give that night. Besides the things on my shopping list, I also needed an idea for a small dish to demonstrate while my pilaf (not this one) was getting ready on the stove. Continue reading “🍆 Move over Baba Ganoush, here’s Malijano 🍆”
A blank page.
A blinking cursor.
That was what I was staring at for quite a while when I sat down for a blog post a few weeks ago.
I had no clue what to write about or what recipe to share.
But here it is! Seven tips for more creativity in the kitchen and a recipe for Roasted sticky leeks. Continue reading “7 Tips for more creativity in the kitchen: Roasted Sticky Leeks“
I wanted to become a good cook and therefore never became a vegetarian. It’s not that I couldn’t miss meat. No, at that time, I actually ate vegetarian meals more often than I ate a meat based meal. Actually, I would have loved this Roasted beet risotto with goat cheese and walnuts.
Cook with what you’ve got, not to throw any produce, is one of my (very few!) kitchen rules. Although I can always dump leftovers on my compost pile, to me, that still feels a bit like wasting it. But what to do with a tree overhanging with fruits that you’ll never be able to eat before season’s over? Besides giving them away generously, I try to put it in any dish. And thankfully, my apples of unknown variety are great in this sensational Spinach Lentil Salad with Roasted Potatoes and Nuts with Balsamic Mayonnaise.
>> Interested in my apple tree?
I don’t know about you guys, but man, I do hate plain plane food. You know, the food they serve you when flying? For years, I’ve been refusing to eat it, getting the looks. But hey, the food I bring myself usually is much better, so I don’t care at all. On my recent trip to Europe* I had the best food ever. I made this Quinoa salad with radicchio and nuts and definitely will make it the next time I have to eat high in the sky.
As a cooking instructor I like it when people listen to me. Follow my guide and instructions. At the same time I tell them not to listen too much to me. It has not really something to do with this recipe for the Turkish classic Imam bayildi, but in a way it does.
Imam bayildi is one of my all time Summer favorites. Ever since I learned to make these vegetarian, damn, vegan even, stuffed eggplants in 2006, I make them multiple times per Summer. They’re that good!
French fries or bright yellow beans?
What? … Do you think this is a difficult choice?
But what if I tell you that they both these long yellow stalks (!) led into this recipe for Watermelon Tomato Salsa?
Two small Ziplock bags full of goooood juices. And a cup of braised veggies.
That inspired me to make this Pilaf with tomato, bell pepper and stir fried zucchini and feta on top.
Do you have those moments? That you cooked something, that you couldn’t stop talking about?
I do. And yes, I quoted myself in this blog’s title! 😉
It might overcome you when you make this Leek Mushroom Galette with za’atar and labneh.