I love it when recipes come together so easily. A couple of weeks ago, I was looking for a simple meal that wouldn’t take any time to prep. I actually had the luxury of time for it to cook, but I needed to be taking care of other things around the house, so the situation called for something that didn’t need baby sitting and would get me to work ASAP. Usually my go to in this situation is a roasted chicken, but I’ve made quite a few of those lately, so I turned to the cookbook Rôtis for some inspiration.

While I love this cookbook, I wasn’t too hopeful about finding a recipe I could make as most of them, though they need little prep, usually require forethought because the recipes have wonderful marinades. To my surprise, I stumbled upon a recipe for roast pork with lemongrass and tea that required no marinade, 15 minutes of prep, and about two hours to cook. Sold! Off to the store I went. (more…)

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Asian, Dinner, Gluten free, Prep for Later Use, Wine pairings by Courtney

Lately I’ve been on a bit of a tropical kick, so I’ve had more than my fair share of pineapple hanging out in my fridge. As I grew tired of enjoying the sweet flavors, I happened to have a bit of leftover rice hanging out in there too, and I decided to try my hand at pineapple fried rice. A hint of sweet, a lot of savory, and just the right amount of salty with the ham and soy sauce makes this recipe tick all the right boxes for me. (more…)

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Asian, Dairy free, Dinner, Gluten free, Side Dish, Thai by Courtney

Last week I made an amazingly tasty salad from arugula, butternut squash, and roquefort cheese. While the meal was missing just a little bit of crunch, there was no denying that the flavors were a great combination of sweet, pungent, peppery, and creamy. Since I had only used half the butternut squash and a little of the roquefort and arugula, I set out to make something else from this medley of flavors. Given the cold weather, I was really craving something warm and comforting. I was debating between a polenta dish or a pizza dish. Since the grocery store I stopped by on my way home didn’t have polenta or pizza crust, I was forced to improvise. (more…)

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Dinner, Pizza, Quick and Easy by Courtney

It always happens after the big holidays – you have a few leftovers in the refrigerator. At first you work your way through the the prepared foods, simply reheating or making sandwiches from hams and turkeys, but there’s always those extra bits of raw ingredients left over, such as excess vegetables that may not have made their way into the rich dishes you created for Christmas dinner.

Fear not! Instead of simply steaming or boiling these veggies, why don’t you add some spice to your life, making this modern take on vegetable pakora? (more…)

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Appetizers, Dairy free, Gluten free, Indian, Vegan, Vegetarian by Courtney

A while back, I was feeling a bit sniffly and stuffy, so I spent a few days on the couch browsing the web. Apparently I was in the frame of mind to check out Ayurvedic remedies for my stuffy nose, and thus I spent a lot of time reading blogs and articles stuffed to the brim with advice and ways of life from the sub-continent.

Kitchari was apparently the new kid on the block (or, as it is, the newly discovered elder on the block). I read multiple articles about its abilities to help you cleanse, its ease on your digestive system, its nutritional values (apparently it is a complete protein, though I’m thinking that has more to do with the dal, less to do with the rice and spices). While I scoffed at the idea of eating nothing but this moong dal and rice mixture for any amount of time, my stomach started to growl and the craving had set in. I already had some leftover, new-age pakora in my fridge; this could just be a spicy rice addition with a little beans. Plus, it’s healthy, right?

So I consulted the various recipes I had found around the internets (that link being one of them), then I cracked open my favorite Indian cookbook from “the food of” series, and I started devising a recipe. (more…)

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Dairy free, Dinner, Gluten free, Indian, Lunch, Vegan, Vegetarian, World traveller by Courtney