If I’ve learned a lesson this week, then it’s not to change your routine too much. Even with a good plan it turned out to be hard to change my cooking. Was it the plan that was to blame? Or me? Am I just not that good with sticking to dinner plans? I know I’m very comfortable in my freestyle ‘what shall we have for dinner tonight’-style.
But then, how to explain this? This [vegan] White bean soup with sauerkraut was planned and too good not to write about.
Honey Lemon Glazed Fennel, or how to solve cat fights
Cooking is such a huge part of my life, that most of the time I’m not ‘just only cooking’. Like that night that I tried to make these Honey Lemon Glazed Fennel Slices. I was busier trying to separate two fighting cats than actually cook dinner. The dish was very forgiving.
I’m not sure about the cats, though.
Why you shouldn’t become a vegetarian: Roasted beet risotto with goat cheese and walnuts
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.
Keep the doctor away: Spinach Lentil Salad with Roasted Potatoes and Nuts
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?
Plane food can be good: Quinoa salad with radicchio and nuts
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.
Wear a costume, and make this Modern Crunchy Tabouleh
When I tell people in my cooking classes that probably the most difficult thing of cooking is to decide what to cook tonight, I’ll get a lot of smiling faces and glances of recognition. Because that IS the hardest part.
Also for me.
I also have those days that I really don’t know what to cook.
Every day again I’m making THE decision. What shall I cook tonight? What would I like to eat? What am I in the mood for?
If you’re tired of this answering this question, or would like to know how I stay inspired to find an answer on it every single day, read on.
>> Here!
How I saved my life and made this Salad with fennel, fava beans, goat cheese and crunchy almonds
I love you, California. I really do. But you make it damn hard for me to get inspired what to cook for dinner. This sensational salad with fennel, fava beans, goat cheese and crunchy almonds didn’t came easy.
Imam bayildi – is what you get when you don’t listen to me!
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!
Meet my new fluffly flock – Chard frittata with blue cheese
Would you eat your own chickens? I know I won’t. Basically for culinary reasons; by the time they have enough flesh on their bones their meat is firm, tough and requires good cooking skills not to dry it out too much. So let’s do something with their eggs instead; this chard frittata with blue cheese.
Will my new friend like this Oven roasted tomato sauce with bell pepper?
I like talking about food, and about cooking in particular.
Actually, this became my main premise for meeting new people after immigrating: I guessed that when they’re interested in food, there is a big chance that we might like each other! So I really hope my new Italian food friend will approve of this Oven roasted tomato sauce with bell pepper that I served over pasta.