Keema Matar

My friend’s mom visited her for a month and bought all the spices to cook Indian food, even though she already had all of them in her pantry. So lucky me – she gave me all the duplicates! I used them to make Keema Matar (ground meat with peas). Guessipe Sauté the onion in olive…

Asian Beef Balls

When my family goes to dim sum, we never get the steamed beef balls – they tend to be bland and a bit mushy. But I had a big package of ground beef and needed something to bring to a football party, so I decided to try making my own better beef balls. A bunch…

Caramelized Cabbage with Bacon

I crave this cabbage dish. How many cabbage dishes can you say that about? But I kid you not. The caramelized sweetness of the cabbage with crispy bacon bits and a touch of spice make it a savory spicy sweet bit of heaven. Do you think dessert cabbage could ever become a thing? Guessipe 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…

Garlic Cucumbers

Din Tai Fung is a Taiwanese restaurant chain renowned for its soup dumplings. But the dish that sticks in my memory most from the times I’ve eaten there is their Cucumber Salad. I’ve been craving those garlicky cucumbers, but since restaurants are still closed because of COVID, I decided to try to re-create the flavors…

Spicy Sweet Cabbage and Noodles

This spicy sweet noodle dish is a great side dish, but also hearty enough to be a main course. You could add fried tofu or your favorite meat to make it even more robust. I love meat, but when I’m in a pinch and don’t have any on hand, this dish still does the trick….