My friend Rose brought a delicious herb and radish salad with pickled onions when she stopped by for lunch back in early July. This salad was outstanding. What added an unexpected flavor to the salad was the pickled onions. Rose said she had made the pickled onions at home. When I asked her if they were hard to make, she said the recipe was super easy and shared it with me. I gave it a try, and she was right! For the gourmet taste and look of these delicious pickled onions, they were surprisingly simple to make and took just 5- 10 minutes to pull together. Continue reading Pickled Onions
Category Archives: Quick & Easy Recipes
Sweet and Tart Sun-dried Cherries Dark Chocolate Bites with Fuchsia Blossoms & Rose Petals
There is something about cherries and chocolate that is a marriage made in heaven. Both are deep, dark, beautiful, and delicious, and their flavors blend together perfectly.
I love cherries in their pure cherry form – fresh or dried, with no additives and no enhancements, just pure cherry flavor is what I favor. I’ve tried cherry pies, cherry ice cream, Black Forest Cake with Cherries, cherry flavored drinks, I’ve tried them all – though they all taste wonderful, I always come back to my favored way of eating cherries – pure unadulterated cherries. If I want to eat cherries in some other form than fresh or dried – the only other way is with pure chocolate. Continue reading Sweet and Tart Sun-dried Cherries Dark Chocolate Bites with Fuchsia Blossoms & Rose Petals
Federica Cucinelli’s Rigatoni with Tomato and Basil
We had just picked a harvest of juicy tomatoes from our garden with our cousins who were visiting from Austin, Texas, and these tomatoes were looking great. All I kept thinking is what is the best way to use my garden tomatoes to show of their bright flavors and started looking for a good recipe that would highlight their freshness.
This pasta recipe by Italian luxury brand designer Brunello Cucinelli’s wife Federica looked like the perfect one to try. I came across the article on nytimes.com over a month ago and held onto it waiting for the day when my garden tomatoes would be ripe and ready. Continue reading Federica Cucinelli’s Rigatoni with Tomato and Basil
Green Apple & Sugar Snap Peas Salad
The inspiration for this salad came from my garden, in an effort to use up a few of my garden Anna apples in a savory dish, I decided to make a salad with apples and sugar snap peas. Both have similar texture and color, and both look good together. With a fruity vinaigrette and a dash of feta cheese or goat cheese this is a wonderful salad that tastes sweet, savory, and crunchy. It is also the perfect salad to make ahead. Continue reading Green Apple & Sugar Snap Peas Salad
Haricot Verts with Cumin Seeds, Asafoetida and Turmeric
This is my all time favorite way to have haricot vert beans – lightly seasoned and cooked to perfection. If you are looking for a unique way to serve green beans, this is the recipe to try.
Haricot vert beans also known as French green beans tend to be skinnier than the regular green beans, and because of this, they cook faster and taste fresh even after being lightly sautéed with spices. Hericot vert green beans are so tender that they taste amazing when they are cut into tiny pieces allowing the delicate flavors from the interior of the green beans to come through. Continue reading Haricot Verts with Cumin Seeds, Asafoetida and Turmeric
Green Chili and Cilantro Rice with Cauliflower & Peas
My friend Veena is the Rice Queen. I’ve known Veena for over twenty years now and over the years I have had the most amazing South Indian Tamil foods prepared by her. Anything and everything she cooks is outstanding. One of her specialties is making the most creative rice dishes I have ever had. Her rice dishes are always flavored to perfection and positively delicious.
Continue reading Green Chili and Cilantro Rice with Cauliflower & Peas
Orange Salad with Olives & Mint Orange Vinaigrette
Orange Salad with Olives & Mint Orange Vinaigrette
Ingredients:
- 4 large navel oranges, skin removed and cut into big round wedges
- 4 cups spring greens leaves or any salad greens
- 1/4 cup olives
- Orange and Mint Vinaigrette – Ingredients
- Juice of 1/2 orange
- Juice of 1 lime
- 5 mint leaves
- 1 tbsp finely chopped chives
- 4 tbsp apple cider vinegar or any white wine vinegar
- 4 tbsp olive oil
- Salt and pepper
Continue reading Orange Salad with Olives & Mint Orange Vinaigrette
Indian Scrambled Eggs with Green Chili, Ginger, Onions & Turmeric
Here is a recipe for Indian style eggs that is packed full of flavor with good for you ginger and turmeric. In India scrambled or fried eggs are typically made with chopped onions, cilantro, green chilies, and finely grated ginger, and sometimes spiced with a pinch of turmeric. Once in a while I love making Indian scrambled eggs for a change from my usual omelet.
Continue reading Indian Scrambled Eggs with Green Chili, Ginger, Onions & Turmeric
Grapefruit Dressing
If you like the flavor of grapefruit and are looking for a nice refreshing salad dressing, this is the one. I made this grapefruit dressing with a lot of grapefruit juice and very little olive oil turning the dressing into a thinner and very light version. Here is the recipe. Continue reading Grapefruit Dressing
Sugar Snap Peas & Micorgreens Salad with Grapefruit Dressing
Thinly cut sugar snap peas combined with microgreens and tossed with grapefruit dressing makes this salad very light yet surprisingly filling at the same time. This is a crunchy, juicy, and refreshing salad that pairs really well with chilled white wine such as a Sauvignon blanc, Gewürztraminer, Chardonnay, Pinot Grigio & Pinot Gris. I buy microgreens from the Farmer’s Market but they can also be found at specialty grocery stores. If you cannot find microgreens you can use any firm greens such as arugula, mache, or baby kale. Here is the recipe. Continue reading Sugar Snap Peas & Micorgreens Salad with Grapefruit Dressing
