World Cup of Yum

Tom Kha Gai (Thai coconut soup)

This coconut soup is one of my favorite Thai foods. Tom Kha Gai is a great accompaniment to other Thai dishes, but its rich and warming broth makes it hearty enough to eat as a main dish as well, especially with a side of rice. Making Tom Kha Gai is a simple 3-step process –…

Garlicky Anchovy Pasta

I call this Garlicky Anchovy Pasta a “pantry pasta” dish because it’s made with ingredients that I almost always have around. Which means it’s fantastic for those nights when you need to whip up dinner, but heading to the grocery store is one step more than you have energy for. The anchovies add umami but…

Mini Lemandarin Pies

A Lemandarin, also known as a Rangpur Lime or a Mandarin Lime, is a hybrid between a lemon and a mandarin orange. The tree in my neighborhood had a ton of ripe lemandarins in December. I’m told they’re great for making marmalade, but since they’re a bit like sour oranges or Meyer lemons (which you…

Zucchini Stir-Fry with Ground Pork

Zucchini is awesome for stir-fry because it soaks up the flavors of the sauces so well. In this case I just use a handful of sauces and seasonings that I always have on hand. Great for when you need a quick but satisfying weeknight meal. Guessipe olive oil for stir-frying 5 cloves garlic, minced 1…

Garlic Chili Noodles

My friend gave me a jar of homemade chili oil. A few days later I found myself in a food pinch – scrounging around in the pantry to see what I could use to whip up a meal. I came across a package of rice vermicelli and that jar of chili oil, added a few…

Ponzu Cucumbers

When you’ve put in your order at a Japanese restaurant and you’re so hungry you think you might pass out before the food arrives, and then they bring a little dish of complimentary cucumbers to your table… cucumbers have never tasted so good, and it’s just enough to hold you over. You can have this…

Korean Rice Cakes

Korean rice cakes are awesome because they have a fantastic soft chewiness and they absorb flavor really well. This guessipe is a spicy sweet treat that only involves 2 minutes of cooking and takes less than half an hour all together! Guessipe 8 oz Korean rice cakes 3 cloves garlic, minced 2 TBSP sugar 2…

Lettuce Wraps

I find myself drawn to lettuce wraps when I see them on a restaurant menu. But they’re also pretty easy to make at home, and people are so excited when I serve lettuce wraps. You can pre-assemble them, or just put out all the elements and let people build their own. Interactive dishes are always…

Turkey Tetrazzini

This was one of my mom’s go-to dishes when I was a kid. The creamy cheesy goodness made it such good comfort food. I always imagined it was a lot of work to make, so I was thrilled when my mom told me it’s pretty much just an assemblage of freezer and pantry items plus…

Persimmon Sorbet

This is the easiest dessert in the world. No exaggeration. It contains one ingredient. And it’s healthy, because that one ingredient is a fruit. If you end up with a bounty of persimmons from your tree (or from a friend’s tree in my case), this is also a great way to keep them from going…

Honeyed Persimmon Cake Topping

Whenever cake comes with the typical sugary frosting on top, I do my best to scrape off as much of the frosting as I can. It’s just too sweet for me and doesn’t have any other flavor. But did you know that you can use a simple mixture of Greek yogurt and honey to make…

Spinach Soup

This spinach soup is probably not what first comes to mind when you hear “spinach soup”. It’s not creamed or blended – it’s broth-based. But it’s what I thought of as spinach soup when I was growing up. I loved it whenever my mom made it. So when I got old enough to start paying…