Vegan

Kimchi Noodles with Tofu- a Riot of Flavor

Kimchi Noodles with Tofu- a Riot of Flavor

This dish is made from plants, from the grains in the noodles, to the beans that were transformed into soy sauce. That’s a given. But whenever I cook, I try to add a few more vegetables. Get that noodle to veggie ratio just right, so it feels like a bowl of slippery noodles, but it’s also a bowl of fresh, crunchy veggies. I love my carbs, and I look at them as the comforting, lovable friends they are. But the veg to noodle ratio should be balanced a little toward the veg side. This dish achieves the right mix, with just enough noodles, and just the right amount of snappy snap peas and crisp carrots.

Ditch the Chips, Dip Roasted Potato Spears in Chimichurri

Ditch the Chips, Dip Roasted Potato Spears in Chimichurri

Do you love chips and dips? Perhaps in the covid days, you’ve found solace in mindlessly crushing a bag of potato chips and some onion dip, or chips and salsa? Well, I’m here to offer you a much better option. These Roasted Potato Spears with Chimichurri Dip are just as comforting, and waaaay better than those packaged chips and dips. They even give you an opportunity for mindfulness.

Crunch+ Avocado+ Tacos=Get In My Mouth!

Crunch+ Avocado+ Tacos=Get In My Mouth!

These Crunchy Avocado Tacos are a fun, deliriously tasty way to eat your fave hand-held, and I promise everyone will love them. The combination of lush avocado and a crispy shell flecked with panko crumbs is just sooo good.

Ooey Gooey Monkey Biscuits for Brunch

Ooey Gooey Monkey Biscuits for Brunch

Do you crave some comfort? We are all feeling it. I’m forging ahead with all the healthful piles of plants that I usually serve, and feeling good about it. But a balanced life also affords us a little treat. Like these caramel-drenched, walnut-studded Monkey Biscuits.

Go Nuts for Nutty Dukkah and Gomasio

Go Nuts for Nutty Dukkah and Gomasio

Once you have these made, just store them in a jar in the refrigerator. They keep for a couple of months, if they last that long. Whether you sprinkle dukkah on a salad, or a bowl of hummus, you’ll be so glad you have it. Gomasio makes its way onto everything from a bowl of quinoa to a toasted bagel at my house. I know it will make your life more delicious, too!

Squash and Wild Rice Make Comforting Muffins

Squash and Wild Rice Make Comforting Muffins

Winter Squash and Wild Rice for the Season Everybody needs a little comfort right now. It's cold out, and these are challenging times. What better way to warm up than to turn on the oven and bake some tender, fluffy muffins? These are perfect for cozy breakfasts at...

“Green Up” Your Hummus Routine

“Green Up” Your Hummus Routine

We all love hummus. Like so many global foods, hummus has become as American as tacos and pizza. We love it so much that we can’t resist tweaking it here and there. Kind of like meeting someone great, and saying “I love you! Now change!” We just can’t resist.

Make Your Own Chocolates? Yes, You Can

Make Your Own Chocolates? Yes, You Can

Certain kitchen adventures are shared by pretty much everyone. Even if you don’t cook much, you have made a batch of cookies, or cooked some mac and cheese. But when it comes to the world of candy, most of us leave it to the pros. Packaged candy is all around us, and it’s so easy to buy that the thought of making it is on a level with sewing your own pants, or building your own chairs.

Love Tacos? Taco Sweet Potatoes!

Love Tacos? Taco Sweet Potatoes!

You know you love tacos. That’s a given. Let’s just acknowledge that we want to eat tacos and nachos every night. These are trying times. A mouthful of spicy, savory taco goodness goes a long way toward comforting the soul. For even more comfort, I took away the shells and swapped in a soft, lovable sweet potato. Taco sweet potatoes are the comfort food I want, rig

Crank the Oven, Roast Beets for a Sheet Pan Meal

Crank the Oven, Roast Beets for a Sheet Pan Meal

When the temperatures drop, I no longer have to plan menus around keeping the kitchen cool. It’s time to start roasting my meals, and filling my kitchen with the scents of caramelizing vegetables and herbs. As you’ll see in my video, it’s also time to harvest the beets I was growing in my garden, and put them into a delicious meal.

Kale and Kimchi Fried Red Rice with Tofu

Kale and Kimchi Fried Red Rice with Tofu

Fried rice is one of the best uses of a leftover ever devised. In Asian countries with rice-based cuisines, there is bound to be some left over. Nobody wants to waste valuable food, so creative cooks find a way of making that cold rice into a a dish that may well be better than the original dish. That dish is, of course, fried rice. Take cold, crunchy rice and toss it in a hot pan, and you have food that comforts your very soul.

Try Creamy Chinese-Style Corn with Tofu over Black Rice

Try Creamy Chinese-Style Corn with Tofu over Black Rice

And once you’ve had corn on the cob three nights in the week, you might want to branch out and try making something a little different. That’s when I like to make this quick and easy Chinese-inspired dish. It’s a brilliant idea, really. If you are thinking about canned creamed corn, banish that from your mind. When you puree fresh corn, season it with lots of fresh ginger, garlic, and chilis, it has much more pizzazz.

Try Tomato Mayonnaise Pie!

Try Tomato Mayonnaise Pie!

When tomatoes are at their peak of flavor, give them a starring role in this fast and easy pie! Shave time and ingredients from your effort by using mayonnaise as the secret ingredient in the crust, and as a base for a lemony drizzle at serving.

Have You Tried Fresh Edamamae?

Have You Tried Fresh Edamamae?

Fresh Edamame pods are a seasonal treat, and when they come to market, snap up a few bunches to boil, then either eat them as a snack, or slip the beans from the hulls and use them in salads, soups, dips, and anywhere you might use a bean or pea.

Deep Dark Chocolate Brownies, with a Secret Ingredient

Deep Dark Chocolate Brownies, with a Secret Ingredient

There’s no time of year when chocolate is “out of season.” We don’t eat pumpkin pie in the summer, or cold soup in the winter, but we will eat brownies all year long. That makes these lush, dark chocolate treats appropriate for every month of the year.

Try Peach Chutney with Mint

Try Peach Chutney with Mint

It was time to move some of my peaches into the savory realm, and enjoy them alongside an Indian-inspired meal. I love chutneys, and find that just about any fruit can be made into a respectable one.

Best Sandwich Ever?

Best Sandwich Ever?

If you’ve looking for a fantastic meal that comes together quickly, look to the Banh Mi. It’s a sandwich, but it’s so much more than the usual sandwich. Packed with chewy, five-spice and garlic laced seitan, a sweet and sour quick radish pickle, sliced jalapenos, cilantro, and garlicky aioli, it’s a riot of flavors that will keep your palate in a state of excitement through the last bite.

Who Needs Meat? We Have Lentils for Delicious Meals.

Who Needs Meat? We Have Lentils for Delicious Meals.

Red Lentil-Carrot Hummus I recently put together a cooking segment for my favorite local TV show, Twin Cities Live. Since Covid, we are doing them via skype, from my kitchen. In light of the current situation, with so many people out of work, I wanted to get the word...

Stalking the Wild Morel for Stuffed Morels!

Stalking the Wild Morel for Stuffed Morels!

I’ve always been intrigued by the hollow shape of the morel, and decided that I wanted to make stuffed morels, if I did find any. I toyed with ideas for fillings, and settled on one that is so simple that it makes perfect sense. A saute of shiitakes, another intense mushroom in their own right, would make a dense, woodsy puree that I could stuff into that cavity. Then, each mushroom would explode with over-the-top mushroomy-ness when you took a bite.I’ve always been intrigued by the hollow shape of the morel, and decided that I wanted to make stuffed morels, if I did find any. I toyed with ideas for fillings, and settled on one that is so simple that it makes perfect sense. A saute of shiitakes, another intense mushroom in their own right, would make a dense, woodsy puree that I could stuff into that cavity. Then, each mushroom would explode with over-the-top mushroomy-ness when you took a bite.

Make a Decorated Focaccia, Brighten the Day

Make a Decorated Focaccia, Brighten the Day

Decorated Focaccia is the Easiest Bread! In these days of "stay the F#%! home," many of you have been finding time to bake. If anything good comes from our current disaster, I hope that it is a new and sustained interest in baking and cooking at home. Home made has...