The Kitchen Operas

I needed a healthy breakfast that was easy and quick in the mornings.  So I found something that I could make once and then keep around to heat quickly in the mornings and get my nutrition in without thinking!  I’d been seeing baked oatmeal all around the blogosphere, and decided I needed to make a [...]

Dear Soup, How do I love thee?  Let me count the ways. 1) You are magic.  Somehow, soup as a whole is always better than the sum of its parts.  You put veggies in a pot with some water, and they come out tasting incredible.  Magic. 2) You make me love winter.  Because who doesn’t [...]

I wanted hearty and filling mushroom soup, so into the pot went some wild rice and white beans!

I used one of my favourite spicy peppers here: chipotle in adobo (smoked jalapeno peppers in a tomato sauce).

So we’ve been eating out a lot due to some schedule craziness around here, and last night I wanted a really nourishing and delicious dinner.  But all I had in the house were some really weird odds and ends (tomatillos, alfalfa sprouts, red lentil stew, rhubarb, mushrooms), and a whole bunch of squash. I’m saving [...]

As a part of a great Ethiopian dinner, it’s great to have contrasting flavours and textures.  So let’s say you have some gorgeous collard greens (ye’abesha gomen), it’s great to also have a spicy smooth stew (like spicy lentils, recipe tomorrow) and then some veggies in big chunks. For my Ethiopian dinner, I chose to [...]

This is my new favourite way to prepare any greens. You could also use it to make delicious kale, or even chard.

If you’ve got your Niter Kibbeh all ready to go, what you need now is your spice blend. You can buy Berbere already made at Ethiopian groceries, as either a dry spice blend or a paste. Or you can make your own and make your kitchen smell divine. The Niter Kibbeh is a spiced oil, [...]

This summer I was fortunate to eat again at my favourite west-coast spot: Chez Panisse. As part of my decadent meal, I had a gorgeous salad: “Willey Farms Eggplant & Rocket Salad with Red Onions & Mint” It was so good, I’ve been eating nothing but lemony arugula salads at home.  And then Solveig introduced [...]

Molly Katzen says these pickled onions “keep practically indefinitely” in the fridge, but I don’t think a batch will last you that long.