Deniz and I were doing Mexican taco/burrito this week and saw beautiful baby sweet bell peppers on sale in the […]
Appetizer/Side
Savory appetizers/sides are soooo good. Dim sum, mezes, tapas… whatever the country, they’re delicious. Heaven for me would be having dozens of tiny appetizers/sides for dinner, every dinner. Too bad they take so long to cook, or I’d be in my heaven. Anyway, here are some of the best appetizers/sides that we discovered and developed. We love them, and hope you do too!
Garlic Eggplant Hummus
This is a simpler variation on Marcus Samuelson’s Chickpea-Eggplant Dip in Soul of a New Cuisine. It’s by far the […]
Mexican VegBeef Tamales
I love tamales, and wish vegetarian versions were more commonly available. Below is Tyler Florence’s recipe adapted for our vegetarian […]
Toasted Orzo with Grilled Vegetables
This is one of our go-to recipes when get a hankering for grilling. It’s adapted from Bobby Flay’s Toasted Israeli Couscous […]
Chinese Hot and Sour Soup (酸辣湯)
I’ve made this delicious soup in various versions over the years, thanks to Wei-Chuan’s cookbook guidance. It’s got that perfect balance […]
Fusion Chipolte Lentil Soup
Deniz and I have always loved lentil soup. Before we met, each of us made it in our own way, […]
Turkish Spinach Yogurt Dip (Ispanaklı Yoğurt Meze)
This is another of my favorite vegetarian Turkish meze dishes. Had it once in a Turkish restaurant in Tokyo and […]
Turkish Ezogelin Soup
When I was in college back in Turkey, it was common for us students to eat cheap fixed menus at […]
Turkish Yogurt Soup (Yayla)
This is one of my favorite dishes from my childhood. I remember asking my mom if she could make that […]
Indian Grilled Eggplant Pâté (Baingan Bharta)
If you like mashed eggplant dishes like Baba Ganoosh, this dish is for you. It’s a tart Indian dish, packing in lots of […]
Japanese Fried VegPork Curry Buns (カレー パン- Kare Pan)
During our stay in Japan, one of our favorite snack places was bakery shops. Every major train station and busy street […]
Fusion Black Velvet Hummus Dip
One day we were staring at our pantry after a fun but tiresome trip. We did not have the energy […]
Chinese Stir-Fried Choi Sum with Brown Sauce
As a little girl, I always dreaded dinner when my parents made stir-fried Chinese vegetables (except for kong shin tsai […]
Taiwanese Stir-fried Ong Choi (空心菜)
Ong Choi, or Kong Shin Tsai as it’s called in Taiwanese, is by far Deniz and my favorite vegetable. We […]
Mexican Vegetarian Tacos
Deniz loves Mexican food. I mean REALLY loves Mexican food. When we first started dating, I once caught him with […]
Taiwanese Radish Cake (蘿蔔糕 – Gwei)
Gwei… Taiwanese radish cakes made of rice and daikon. Mmmmm… Every time I hear that name, fond memories of savory […]
American Buffalo Chick’n Wings
One of Deniz’ ultimate favorite dishes is Buffalo wings. Every time we try to pick a restaurant for dinner, he […]
Chinese Stir-Fried String Beans with VegSausage
Another great reciepe from Wei-Chuan, this one from the Chinese Cuisine Cooking Book by Huang Su Huei. We adapted it […]
Turkish Eggplant Shakshuka (Şakşuka)
One of the things I have done in the past that unintentionally impressed Delphine was to cook a vegetarian dish […]
Turkish VegBeef Kebab Börek
After making baklava last week, we ended up with an extra box of phyllo dough. We debated for 10 seconds […]
Turkish Spiced Bulgur (Kısır)
Kısır is a traditional, home-cooked Turkish side dish. It’s made of fine bulgur (chopped, hulled wheat kernels), which are high in […]
Mango Kale Salad
As vegetarians we never wanted to be associated with salad and other raw greens. However, this does not mean we […]