Perfect Gluten Free Pancakes at Last!

Pancakes are so very simple to make, yet to very easy to screw up. Bad memories, such as brunches ruined by stubborn flapjacks, burned pancakes, undercooked pancakes, tough pancakes, and just plain fugly pancakes kept my expectations low for my recent flapjack foray. Try adding a gluten and dairy free caveat to the recipe requirement [...]

Read Full Post »

Baked Nut Butter Chicken Nuggets

I love chicken nuggets. I know, really sophisticated of me? Ha! Edited to Add: I was born and (mostly) grew up in Texas, where fried chicken was on the weekly menu rotation, at least in my earliest years. I’ve always loved it. Just the smell of it makes me nostalgic. But I can’t always eat [...]

Read Full Post »

Decadent and Easy Valentine’s Day Dessert Options

Stressing over making a homemade dessert for Valentine’s Day? Don’t worry, my loves, I gotcha covered with a few simple, quick options: Chocolate Almond and Apricot Truffles Or you could salvage a broken cake with my Chocolate Cherry Trifle: Another fun and easy option: Molten Chocolate Cakes with a Middle Eastern Flair If chocolate’s not [...]

Read Full Post »

Visions of Sugarplums: Saffron-Infused Persian Sugarplums

Merry Holidays, everyone! Does anyone really know what sugarplums are? What confection, precisely, is that Sugarplum Fairy in The Nutcracker dancing for anyways? Turns out they’re balls of dried fruits and nuts, sometimes with spices added in, perhaps coated in powdered sugar. Well, besides sounding Christmasey, this all sounded very Persian to me. So I [...]

Read Full Post »

Lazy Lemon Mushroom Chicken with Zatar

When a dish is quick, easy, and healthy, what’s not to love? I threw this chicken dish together with ingredients I had on hand one recent cold day: boneless, skinless chicken thighs, lemons, pre-sliced mushrooms, zatar, and scallions. It was comforting, flavorful, and simple to make. I’ll be making it again! I call it “Lazy” [...]

Read Full Post »

Vegan Granola Bars with a Hint of Pumpkin

Sometimes I’m running around town with little time for a proper meal. At these moments, it’s key to have a nutritious, protein-packed, and not-too-sweet snack to keep me rockin’ (and posing, for that matter). Granola bars from the bodega are alright in a pinch, but I’ve become leery of the ingredient list of certain brands. [...]

Read Full Post »

Hot Chocolate Chai Latte

In my world, few things make a morning more tolerable, maybe even a tad joyful, than a steaming cup of homemade hot cocoa. I actually somewhat look forward to the cold winter mornings for this very reason. Perhaps this means I need to investigate the possibility of getting a life, but hey, there’s nothing wrong [...]

Read Full Post »

Mission Fig Jam with Warm Fall Spices

    Canning and preserving has always both scared and fascinated me. On the one hand, it seems so practical, nourishing, and creative. It conjures up images of pantries full of summer’s bounty that can be enjoyed on cold, snowy nights. On the other hand, it strikes me as highly technical and like there’s all [...]

Read Full Post »

Persian Eggplant Dip

Sometimes the best recipes are the simplest. Here’s a recipe my dad shared with me verbally on a recent visit. It was inspired, in part, by the eggplants then growing in the family garden. Our conversation went something  like this: Dad: “You know what you can do with this eggplant? Take a whole eggplant and [...]

Read Full Post »

Stuffed Baby Eggplants with Sour Cherry Pomegranate Sauce

Maybe I”m too easily amused, but a trip to the farmer’s market is one of the highlights of my week. I’m quite obsessed with farmer’s markets, really. To the point that I’ll always try to hit up the local markets when I travel. It’s a cool way to get a feel for a city or [...]

Read Full Post »