Once or twice a year, I lead a tour of of 8-10 people through Salt Lake City’s ethnic food markets. We visit stores that are down the street, but feel worlds away in familiarity, comfort, and experience.
Food, What a Pleasure + A Meditation
I love food. I also love fabric, flower gardens, sunsets and brilliant paintings – mostly abstract and ethnic. There’s just something about the colors, textures, and boldness that draw me in. And when scents and flavors are part of the equation, I’m just sensorily overcome. Sometimes I cook merely to eat. Other times, it’s about…
10 Lessons on Life from a Trail Running Event
If you haven’t been reading my blog for long, you may or may not know that I love to run. I’m no speedy Gonzalez or ultra-runner. Far from them. Instead, I run for the love of nature, the sheer physicality of it, and because it clears my mind of clutter and opens me up to…
Dirk’s Chili, Redux and the Delicious Flavors of Cocoa, Coffee + Chipotle
Almost two winters ago, I exchanged comments on food photos of several dishes shared by a man named Dirk from Germany on Google+. He commented on photos of the foreign foods I shared and mentioned that many of the ingredients I posted were unavailable to him. Thinking back to my penpal days as a child, in which…
Roasted Garlic Marinara Sauce and 5 Ways to Use It
It started out as soup. It decided it wanted to be sauce. Tomatoes are starting to come in in many places and you maybe, just maybe, are about to have more than you can eat. If Roma’s happen to be on your list, here is a great way to put them to work that can…
Easy Meals for a Solo Retreat
Packing it away is what I’ve been doing well of late…eating more than I should of things I shouldn’t. So, when I took off recently, I decided to only pack good eats. The Grocery List For four days of solo meals, here’s what I packed: 1 pound of ground bison A package of king trumpet…
20 ways to eat well and save money
Are you looking for ways to eat more healthfully this coming year, but are concerned about the cost? Here are 20 ideas for helping you eat delicious food while also managing your time and your budget: . Plan your menu for the week and minimize waste by buying only what you need. Shop at ethnic grocery stores…
Japanese Mushrooms: Sauteed King Trumpet Mushrooms and Greens with Soft-boiled Egg
I love mushrooms. I love their unique flavor and texture, and even how they are grown.Recently, I discovered that my favorite Asian grocery store is carrying some amazing Japanese-variety mushrooms – King Trumpet (AKA King Oyster), white and brown beech (AKA Shimeji – pictured below), and Maitake mushrooms. And, I’ve been eating them like crazy ever…
Parsley Pistachio Pesto + Spaghetti Squash
Pesto – from the Italian word pestare…to pound or crush (which is how it is typically made) – is a powerfully good thing. While the original is a mélange of garlic, basil, pine nuts, cheese, olive oil, pesto can be made with just about any fresh, leafy herbs and raw nuts. Italian parsley, shelled pistachios,and roasted…
13 Flavors (including Mayan Chocolate) of Larabar-like Fruit and Nut Bars
Mayan chocolate is probably best known as a delicious, hot, and frothy drink made with ground cacao beans and corn meal and spiced with chiles and cinnamon. This rich but bitter drink – called xocolatl – has been around for thousands of years, and only became a sweet treat in the 1700s in Europe. These…
Persimmons: Adding color to wintery days
It’s been unseasonably warm in Salt Lake so far this winter…I was able to go out without so much as a sweater until this week. The snow fall has me yearning for a summery day. Until that day comes, in-season pomegranates and persimmons are the perfect way to punctuate my days with color. We do have native…
Pumpkin Pasilla Soup: Vegetarian or Turkified
Pasilla peppers are a little bit sweet, a little bit spicy…but just a bit. These dark green peppers add great earthy flavor to dishes and are a delicious addition to this creamy, roasted tomato soup. Do you still have roast turkey or chicken in the fridge? Here’s a great way to use it up and…
Curried Roast Chicken Salad
Every once in a while, I roast a whole chicken. When the bird has been cared for (free range, organic), it results in a succulent, elegant meal that tastes delicious, is good for you, and lets you enjoy the entire chicken instead of just its parts. But what do you do with a whole bird?…
Ginger Carrot Soup
This 5-ingredient ginger soup with fresh orange juice and a gingery zing is a vibrant, fresh starter. 5-ingredient Ginger Carrot Soup November 10, 2012 by Stormy Category Soups Vegetarian Recipes (All) Ingredients 1 ½ pounds raw carrots, peeled 1 small onion, cut into fourths 2 Tbsp fresh ginger, minced Juice of 2 oranges (~1 cup) 2-3 cups vegetable…
Roasted Carrots with Herbs
Sweet, colorful, delicious…even visually interesting. Who knew roots could be so good? And whether you get them in the fall harvest, or after the spring frost, they taste delicious on their own or with just a handful of other ingredients. One of my favorite ways to eat them is roasted in just a bit of…
Muhammara – The Red Pepper, Pomegranate, and Walnut Triple Threat!
Middle Eastern dips and sauces are some of the best in the world, in my opinion. Often thick, rich in flavor, and healthy for you, they are also easy to make – and to modify – if you know what goes into them. What is Muhammara? Muhammara, a red pepper and walnut dip from Aleppo…
Eating Indian Food + Pumpkin Masala Recipe
I distinctly remember the first time I ever ate Indian food. I was 19 and had still not been exposed to many of the world’s cuisines; my tastes were pretty mundane and the spices and heat were just so foreign. It wasn’t until I met my future husband, Will, a few years later that I…
Fueling your Run and Recovery Without the Grains + How to Make Plantain Chips
Though I’ve been out of a routine the last couple of months, I usually run pretty regularly. In fact, I am planning to run in a half marathon this Saturday in a place called Monte Cristo. The last time I was there, I ran into a moose and her baby. While the thought of seeing…
A Mexican Wedding Feast and 5 Tips for Feeding Groups
Last weekend, I hosted a wedding. The bride, of Mexican heritage, wanted food reminiscent of her childhood. The groom, a meat and potatoes kind of man, has milder tastes in food. As I was in charge of the kitchen, I opted for a happy medium that was gluten and dairy-free, without being obviously so, and…
How to Roast Hatch Green Chiles
It was a bittersweet weekend around our household. We lost a dear furry friend, but also spent days surrounded by loving friends and family – much of that time was spent cooking and eating. Food is comfort. Food is love. And, preparing food is therapy. So I got my hands dirty cleaning sweated Hatch chiles…
Enjoying the Fruits (and Vegetables) of Summer
I love this time of year. It brings back childhood memories of running through late-summer orchards, eating ripe peaches from the tree and not caring that the fuzz tickled and that juice was running down my face and neck. My home town was the epicenter of fruit-growing in Utah. The road, two blocks from my…
Easy & Elegant Orange-poached White Fish
Some days I don’t feel like cooking. At. All. You probably know the days – the ones when you’re tired, it’s hot, and you lack motivation to do anything in the kitchen that will take much effort, but you also want to eat something that is relatively healthy and light. Today was one of those…
Garlic: strength, health, protection, and flavor
Garlic has long been my favorite vegetable. I love it so much that, in college, I used to eat raw cloves. My roommate’s mother, a Taiwanese woman who rarely spoke to me when she visited, made a point to call me out on it one day. “You eat garlic like Chinese Red Army. They’re strong and healthy. …
The Joys (and how-to’s) of Shopping at Ethnic Food Markets
The first time I walked into an Indian grocery store, I couldn’t tell coriander from my elbow. It took years of reading, being introduced to ethnic restaurants, and cooking experiments to build up familiarity and confidence with coriander and the multitude of other spices and flavors this world has to offer. Today, I not only shop…
Spiced-rubbed Sichuan Roast Pork
I have a recipe for you. It’s not my own. But it is pretty delicious and inspired by the Sichuan peppers I ran across on my recent trip to China. Sichuan peppers, if you haven’t had them, are an interesting experience. I won’t say interesting flavor, simply because flavor is too simple a word for what…
Rose and Bael Fruit Tea Recipe
As you know, I love to visit ethnic food markets. Recently I discovered that my favorite SE Asian market carries dried rosebuds and something I hadn’t seen before: bael fruit. Bael fruit is known by many names: Bengal quince, golden apple, Japanese bitter orange, stone apple, and wood apple. Native to India, it is often used in a popular summer drink. The package…
Exploring China’s Street Food Vendors and Local Markets
Visiting a foreign country, to me, is an opportunity to explore much more than what my eyes can see. It means listening to the sounds in the streets – the voices and unique rhythms of a place, enjoying local music, meeting people and sharing stories and perspectives, and tasting new-to-me foods. That’s why I love markets…