When you really want Thai food but don’t want to spend the money ordering it from a restaurant, using canned Thai curry paste at home is your next-best option. Even though the paste is not made from scratch, it’s pretty darn good. It will get you really close to replicating any simmered Thai curry dish…
Summer Salmon Burger
When you want a burger that’s not beef, salmon burgers are a frequently overlooked choice when it comes to alternative burgers. For these fish patties, the clean flavors of garlic, ginger, chives, and coriander mixed in with some honey mustard all combine to yield a satisfying “umami” flavor. Like all burgers, all it takes is…
Blackeyed Pea Tabouli Salad
People familiar with my food know that I really love serving up bold and spicy flavors. However, not everything can be spicy all the time. To balance out the heat, it’s a good idea to have this mild and refreshing Blackeyed Pea Salad to serve alongside some spicy jerk chicken or some Vegan Jollof Rice….
Pineapple Honey Limeade
Lemonade is a classic choice for a refreshing summer drink, but limeade is the overlooked citrus beverage that deserves just as much attention. The tartness and tanginess of fresh lime juice are quite intense, which means you don’t need to use very much to yield a good limeade. On its own, lime juice needs lots…
Red Pepper Tahini Dressing
When you love red bell peppers and find yourself frequently buying jars of them, you’re already on your way to making a fantastic 4-ingredient red pepper dressing. Simply grab a clove of garlic, kosher salt, and tahini. Mash the red pepper and garlic into a paste. Stir in the tahini, then thin it out with…
Maple Cornbread with Berry Preserves
This recipe for maple cornbread is inspired by what I call “heritage cooking”. I’m a genealogist in my spare time, and I constantly wonder what my ancestors ate. Or, if I were living back in any given time and place, I frequently imagine what I would have cooked with the ingredients that were available. Historically,…
Curry Sweet Potato Dip with Candied Ginger
This recipe is similar to hummus, except sweet potatoes are the star ingredient instead of chickpeas. Whether you consider this a sweet potato dip, spread, hummus, or mash … it’s a Jamaican-inspired way to prepare this super versatile root vegetable. I’m not Jamaican, but I’m a huge fan of the country’s food. And as a…
Oven-Dried Tomato Slices
Drying food is great for campers and hikers, but home cooks also have good reason to use this cooking technique to make oven-dried tomato slices. Why? Simply because they deliver intense tomato flavor to vegetarian sandwiches. Let’s not forget that tomatoes are technically a fruit with high sugar content. Without moisture, tomato flavor becomes super…
Red Mexican Quinoa, Quick and Easy
Salsa from a jar is great for nachos, but it’s also great to use as a cooking base. Using it as a starter for some Mexican rice – or quinoa – is an easy idea to serve as a side dish or filler item for burritos. Mexican Red Quinoa is also great in meatless tacos,…
Lean Collard Greens with Smoked Pork Chops
When making healthier collard greens without pork, many people nowadays use smoked turkey. The traditional Black-American preparation involves slowly cooking down a ham hock. The meat breaks down, and the greens get seasoned with the pork fat that renders off. However, for health reasons, I’m constantly creating healthier versions of classic dishes, such as Vegan…