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. [...]

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Gazelle’s Horn Cookies

A heart filled with desire for sweetness and tender souls must not waste itself with unsavory matters —-Rumi The above is quoted from a ghazal poem by Rumi (the famous Persian poet). The words above speak to me especially now, in light of recent events and changes in my life. More and more I’m learning [...]

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Green Herb Hummus

Today’s recipe isn’t so much a recipe. It’s more of a template, that you can adjust and re-configure to your liking. Motivated by hunger but de-motivated by the heat to cook, I ended up making a really great hummus with what I had on hand, and figured I’d pass along my results to you. By [...]

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Summer Solstice Kuku with Summer Squash and Sweet Potato

As the seasons shift, so do my eating and cooking habits. Some days I don’t cook at all–relying on smoothies, salads, and chilled soups for sustenance. The “Big Oven” gets the summer off, unless there’s a cake or cookie or entree I just can’t force bake in the toaster oven. With the summer equinox fast [...]

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FaRAWfel-Raw Falafel and an Afternoon Walk in El Barrio

I’ve been really into raw foods lately. I find that as the weather warms, I like more salads, more smoothies, and lighter, cooler fare. Such choices feel better to me. Raw food fits the bill beautifully, and it energizes me quite nicely. However, there’s no reason we can’t pack our raw goodies with some good [...]

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Tangy Tahini Red Pepper Salad Dressing

We’ve talked before about how I eat a lot of salads. Love them! So dressing them properly and deliciously is of the utmost importance. Dressing a salad isn’t so different from dressing one’s self, I suppose. Now I’m much more foodie that fashionista any day, but there are indeed parallels when it comes to this [...]

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Happy Nowruz and Cooking Kuku Sabzi on TV

Happy Nowruz, everybody! Well, technically the big day of the Persian New Year is the spring equinox, which is tomorrow, but I figured now’s as good a time to spread the happiness. The weather here in New York is as fresh and spring-like as can be. Birds singing, tons of sun, and gorgeous blue skies. [...]

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Levant Style Marinated Olives

Once, many moons ago, I didn’t like olives. Yes, I know, hard to believe, right, especially seeing as I pretty much live for them now! I think my dislike stemmed in part from the fact that up until a few years ago, most olives available in the United States were mainly canned or jarred and [...]

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Ommmm. . . Now Pass the Soup?

As a Yoga practitioner and teacher, and a lover of food, I found this New York times article on the overlap of Yoga and foodie culture interesting. As a writer, I thought it was well-written, and the copy editor did a fantastic job with the headline. Reporter Julia Moskin certainly did talk to many of [...]

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Zesty, Zippy Zatar! Plus a Simple Zatar Dip Recipe

Zatar. Not many of my friends have heard of this wonderful stuff, so I often serve it as an app at dinner parties to spread the good word. So what is it? It’s generally a mixture of toasted sesame seeds. . . . . .and very finely ground dried herbs and spices. There are probably [...]

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