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. By the end of the day, we have snacked on and sampled everything from Indian samosa’s and Chinese steamed buns to Mexican posole and fresh dates still on the stem. And, we explore ways to bring the exotic into our everyday cooking.

It is the class I teach in which I have the most fun, because, it turns out, it’s not just about the food. Food would be enough, frankly. But, I love the curiosity and culinary adventurousness that visiting these markets brings out in people.

While I can’t take everyone on the tour, I’d like to share some of my go-to recipes for eating outside the lines of the meals we are used to.

Recipes for Using Ethnic Market Finds

Socca: AKA Italian Chickpea Flatbread (In Pursuit of More blog)

Guasacaca Sauce (Food Network) – works well as marinade, sauce on grilled meats, and corn chip dip

Red Lentil Soup With Lemon (New York Times)

Mexican Rice (The Pioneer Woman) This reminds me of the way my mom and grandpa before her made it.

Curried Chicken Salad with Apples and Raisins (Cooking Light) NOTE: Sub plain yogurt if you like. Add a handful of cashews or slivered almonds.

Greek Chicken Souvlaki with Lemon Rice (Butter with a Side of Bread blog)

Grilled Moroccan Chicken (Once Upon a Chef) – Personally, I like to use this marinade on chicken that still has the skin on it and then bake it instead.

Chicken Tagine with Apricots and Almonds (originally from Gourmet)

Yucatán Pork Stew with Ancho Chiles and Lime Juice (Food & Wine) NOTES: I usually cook this in a crock pot, 1st sauting the ingredients in a pan before stewing them. Other modifcations: heat the oil and add the crumpled chilies for 1 minute before adding the pork to the saute pan. Pour the pork into the crockpot and then add a dash of red wine to the saute pan to blend with any remaining juices. Also add that to the crockpot. Then follow the directions as indicated.

Walnut Miso Noodles (101 Cookbooks) – a great spring dish using asparagus and Swiss chard

Grilled Baby Bok Choy With Miso Butter (The Washington Post)

Coconut Brown Rice Pudding (originally from Sunset Magazine)

Pistachio, yoghurt & cardamom cake, with lime syrup (Esurientes blog) Note: for gluten free version, substitute almond meal, corn flour, or your favorite GF baking mix for the self-rising flour.

Ancho Chili-Cinnamon Chocolate Bark (Food52) Note: Eat this! It is delicious.

Happy eating!