Basic cookie, with pine nuts

My experiences in New York are always linked to a tiny little 2+ block radius in the West Village, where my cousin lives. It's where I stayed the very first time I visited New York at 17, where I stayed before I went up to Poughkeepsie for college, where I lived for several years thanks to the generosity of said cousin - in a cozy basement apartment, watching her adorable daughters grow up. When I visit New York now, I still end up there, where things have changed so much, and yet not at all.

Cauliflower, deconstructed

Ah... cauliflower.

Ever since I discovered the wonder that is roasted cauliflower, I have devoured it every chance I got. Roasting is still my first choice in how to prepare cauliflower, but a new craze of "cauliflower rice" had taken the food interblogs by storm, and I was curious.

A return to kale

I started this blog (so long ago!) with some posts on kale, which at the time was a recent discovery. Back then, I only cooked with it, meaning I always ate it cooked, either braised or sautéed or added to soups. I can say without a doubt that I had never tried it raw.

Then I moved to California. This was probably at the height of kale's popularity (or infamy?). I think everything people say about California is more or less true, especially the food - there is a lot of fresh, local produce, and everything is done to preserve that freshness. And so, for the first time, I had raw kale. Of course, this raw kale was massaged into submission with a Caesar dressing or with avocados and lemons - something to break up the rawness. The first 10 times, I thought it was so delicious, I would eat a huge bowl of salad for dinner. I started to get a little bored, so I would vary the flavors - an Asian-style dressing using sesame oil and rice vinegar. Or I would accessorize: large shavings of Parmesan and slices of apples, or persimmons and almonds. Then it was in smoothies, with apples and avocados and mangoes and pineapple. And then on popcorn! But after that, I just couldn't any more, with the raw kale. It was time for a break.

Not so underground anymore

Well hello!

The past few months have been - suffice it to say - nuts. I guess that is what moving across the country will do to you. It has been quite the roller-coaster ride - new job, new co-workers, new roommates, new routines... exciting and also - literally - unsettling.

And what suffered the most? My cooking, or lack thereof. And when I say "cooking," I mean so much more than just making food - it's a little bit food shopping, food prep, recipe browsing, Food Network watching, cookbook reading, and actually cooking.... Usually I am brimming with ideas and plans of what I will cook, but with all these changes going on in my life, any notion of cooking went out the window. As a result, I have been feeling somewhat incomplete.

Inari sushi

Ask and you shall receive. It is kind of crazy how this works out sometimes.

Inari sushi is one of those things that only Japanese and Korean people eat/like - amirite? I mean, try explaining what it is is to someone unfamiliar with it ("it's rice stuffed into a fried tofu pocket that has been soaking in a sweet liquid"), and just see if they will take a bite.

Accidentally vegan thumbprint cookies

I do not seek out vegan, or gluten-free, or even vegetarian foods (even though I don't eat beef or pork). And despite the name "vegan thumbprint cookies", these cookies appealed to me because they sounded really yummy and very easy to make.

And they were quite yummy - a lovely nutty, oat-y, soft yet crunchy base, perfectly balanced with the sweet and tart jam.

Leftover green curry

In my never-ending quest for the meal for one, I've encountered several challenges, including how to use up an ingredient (herbs are usually the main culprit), and how to make a single portion out of a larger recipe (clearly never going to happen with roast chicken, although - maybe a cornish game hen?).

A new spin on this last one is, how can I make manageable leftovers? As I've said before, leftovers are my frenemy - sometimes they are totally awesome, and sometimes they are the bane of my existence.

Strawberry scones, and a baking mishap

Have you ever wondered what happens if you mistake baking soda for baking powder? I have not.

But, now I know. In the grand tradition of Anne of Green Gables, Jo from Little Women, and the going-blind cook from Downton Abbey, I mistook one ingredient for another, resulting in some very dry, nearly burned, metallic-tasting scones. My error was not as egregious as theirs, I think (salt for sugar, blech), and at least I discovered it before I served it to anyone else.

The thing is, I've made these scones before! This was probably my fourth or fifth time making them, that's how much I like them. I was over confident? Or just distracted? Who knows.

Spinach egg

I went to California recently, to spend some time with relatives and also to get away from work/New York. I came back with a long list of food ideas.

For one, spinach and egg for breakfast. I've had spinach and egg together for dinner in a simplified bibimbap, even kale and egg on toast for lunch or a snack (or a late night dinner), but it never occurred to me to have it for breakfast until my cousin made it nearly every morning I was there.

Pantry pasta with marinated feta

My first rule of summer cooking: no oven usage allowed.

My second rule: only one burner can be turned on, and only for less than 20 minutes.


With that in mind, I bought some feta recently, hoping to make a watermelon and feta salad, which is possibly the perfect summer meal - no stove usage required.

But the feta I bought totally sucked.

Cilantro coleslaw, two ways

Good grief, it's hot.

I've been eating a lot of this Asian noodle salad lately - it's great for weather like this since it is fairly light and refreshing. I'm one of those people who can eat the same thing over and over again, but after my umpteenth bowl, even I got a little sick of it. Also, I ran out of soba noodles.

Lemony pasta with greens and mushrooms

Julia Child said, don't crowd your mushrooms if you want them to brown nicely (ok, I learned this from the movie Julie & Julia, so what?) - but I disagree!

So do these folks, in fact. In practice, it always seemed to me that mushrooms end up leaking tons of moisture as they cook and virtually de-glaze themselves from the pan, negating the need for any cooking oil. And if you did use oil, the mushrooms would just absorb it too quickly.

Not-ready-for-summer butternut squash

Is it just me, or did winter leap-frog right over spring and turn straight into summer? Sigh, poor spring.

In defiance, I am sticking with winter foods such as butternut squash.


Ok, not really. I made this a while ago and never got around to posting it.

Back when it was still cold out, I happened to roast some butternut squash, just very simply with olive oil, salt and pepper. I also tried a version with some Indian flavors, like coriander and cumin. Unsurprisingly, both ways were quite delicious. The thought occurred to me that butternut squash might go well with sausage, so that's what I tried here.

Even better easy cocktail sauce

Thanks to Ina Garten and Canada, I am now in possession of an even better cocktail sauce than this one.

First of all, oh Canada - the one thing I brought back from a recent trip is a bottle of ketchup aux tomates because a) the label is in French, and b) I like it better than the American version. My first taste, on some breakfast potatoes in Montreal, I thought, hm different. On the second taste: wait, is it different? Third taste: definitely different. Fourth: omg yummy this is the best ketchup evah!!! I think it's because they actually use more sugar than the U.S. (The label says they use "liquid sugar" but upon some Wikipedia research, I think this is a euphemism for high fructose corn syrup, boo.)

Yogurt accessory

Because I like to eat and cook a variety of food, my pantry is filled with a lot of different types of ingredients - soy sauce and sesame oil for Asian foods; garam masala for Indian; basil for Italian; etc.

It's a bit overwhelming, so I like when ingredients have some crossover appeal. For instance, cilantro is great for both Indian, Mexican/Tex-Mex, and some Asian-inspired foods. I use canned tomatoes for everything from soup to pasta sauce to chana masala. Even instant espresso has some dual usage - I've used it in chili and cupcakes.


Now I can add yogurt to that list. I wasn't sure exactly what to call this yogurt accompaniment - it's not exactly a dressing, not just a dip either. It's kind of a hybrid between ranch dressing and raita. I start with either plain yogurt (full fat or low fat), sometimes strained using a coffee filter (or you could use already-strained yogurt).

Sometimes... coriander rice and beans

Sometimes when I feel like my finances have gotten out of hand, I resort to eating rice and beans, which have developed a reputation for being cheap eats. Here is one of the ways I cope with being poor.

Balancing act

I have a bit of a love-hate relationship with food. If I could, I would probably sit around eating pastries, cheese, fried chicken, and white rice all the time. But I always feel a small pang of guilt when I do. I blame society.

So sometimes, when making meals for myself, I try to balance out the "bad" with a little "good" - like in this quick mac and cheese, with spinach. Who knows if the added healthy elements make a difference, but it comforts me nonetheless.

Quick chips

I started making these "quick chips" using corn tortillas because sometimes I am in the mood for some pico de gallo or guacamole but don't have any chips around. I never have a bag of chips around because I usually devour it right after buying it.


Take a corn tortilla and cut it into wedges. If you freeze your corn tortillas like I do, give them a quick defrost in the microwave, just to soften them a little.


Lay them flat on a baking tray (I use parchment paper just in case there is any sticking). Overlapping results in uneven baking so I don't suggest it.


Toast in toaster oven (I've ranged from 400-450 degrees) for about 5 minutes. I like to toast them until they show little hints of brown on the edges, so sometimes this requires an additional minute. Watch carefully - they burn easily and will turn to ash.


When you can touch them without burning yourself, start munching! These are quick to make, but you've got to eat them quickly too as they do not last like packaged chips.

I've tried it with flour tortillas too, though I feel like corn tortillas produce sturdier quick chips. I've only ever attempted these in my toaster oven because I usually just need a few chips to eat with some chili or for some guacamole. Really if you need a lot of chips, it's better just to buy a bag, but this method is a quick and easy alternative, and also another way to use corn tortillas.

Pasta puttanesca

After trudging through a few hits and misses, I decided to revisit a dish that I hadn't made in a while: pasta puttanesca.


I first learned about pasta puttanesca from watching one of my cousins prepare it for another cousin who was going to be arriving late at night. I believe it was around Christmas, and our family was gathered at my aunt and uncle's. She chopped olives and capers and mixed it into some tomato sauce while the older relatives praised her in Korean about how quick and efficient she was (they love doing that).

I didn't even taste the dish (she had added some meat, and at the time I was diligently vegetarian) but the combination of ingredients had me hooked and I've been making my own variation of it ever since.

Hit or miss

Here are some other recipes I have attempted recently.


Beans baked in tomato sauce
I primarily chose to make this recipe because it required items I was trying to get rid of in my pantry/freezer purge. Also, sometimes I like making things that just sit in the oven for a while - after a flurry of prep work, you can sit back and relax or do other things while it finishes cooking.


The end result was a dish kind of like baked beans - after all that time in the oven, the beans and tomato sauce melded together into a thick, stew-like consistency. I must admit, this cooking method has me intrigued (I wonder if I could make chana masala like this), but overall it was a little too sweet for my taste (I could cut down on the honey next time) and I kind of got sick of the leftovers. It could be a good make-ahead side dish though.
Hit or miss?