Spicy Beet Salad with Horseradish

I used to go to the Anyway Cafe in the East Village.  I liked to order shots of honey ginger infused vodka, wild mushroom pelmeni and their amazing beet salad.  We are all familiar with the standard restaurant beet salad…roasted beets, goat cheese, some sort of toasted nut or another.  I often make variations on…

Buckwheat Pancakes with Sorghum Syrup (Gluten-free)

My grandpa used to make buckwheat pancakes.  He would serve them up slathered with butter and Blackstrap Molasses and say “That’ll stick to your ribs”.  My grandfather delighted in having grandchildren to fatten up.  I have asked around, and no one in my family seems to know exactly how grandpa made his buckwheat pancakes, so…

Tahini Milkshake (Dairy-Free)

My sister Silvi is visiting me in New York AND I have Spring vacation right now!  If you just want a recipe for a dairy free tahini milkshake and do not want to hear about our trip to Coney Island, scroll to the bottom. Silvi arrived really, really early on Tuesday.  We napped, ate a…

Tofu Salad with Mint and Toasted Rice Powder

Many of the Thai dishes that I have learned to cook are part of my attempt to recreate restaurant dishes that I like.  This recipe is different. It is from a very creative and inspiring cookbook called True Thai, The Modern Art of Thai Cooking by Victor Sodsook. I do not think that I have ever…

Chili Cream and Swiss Chard Soup

So we steep chilies in cream at work to make delicious spicy cream. And there was a batch recently that got left to steep for a bit too long. My co-worker Jen was going to throw it out but I said, WAIT! That is delicious spicy cream! It is fatty and spicy and those are…

Green Vegetables in Yellow Bean Garlic Sauce

You may not realize that you have eaten yellow-bean garlic sauce, but if you have ordered long beans or water spinach at a Thai or Vietnamese restaurant in an attempt to counteract the quantity of coconut milk curry and fried spring roles that will be consuming…chances are you have had this sauce.  It’s a very…

Arugula and Herb Salad with Dates, Almonds and Sheep Cheese

I recently made this salad for a dinner party and everyone loved it!  We liked it so much that we made a second batch of it after we ate the main course.  It’s loosely based on a salad in the Plenty cookbook by Ottolenghi.  I failed to pick up the turkish sheep cheese that the…

Sweet and Tangy Fruit Chutney

It was bound to happen.  What with all the jam, curd and marmalade making, I was bound to start making chutney.  I was perfectly content to use store bought mango chutney to top my Spicy Chickpea Pancakes, samosas or pakora….but now I have made my own sweet and tangy fruit chutney, and it kicks the teeth out…

Cabbage Slaw with Mango, Peanuts, Mint and Pungent Lime Dressing

A couple of summers back, we spent a glamourous weekend celebrating a friend’s birthday at a farm-house in the Catskills.  Everyone in this particular circle of friends happens to cook amazing food.  There was fresh-baked bread, Tomato Pie, chickpea and butternut squash salad with tahini dressing, fava bean salad, smoked salmon hash with fresh herbs…