It has been almost five years since I moved from California, and you know what I’m still not used to? Summer rainstorms and the staggering attendant humidity. Snow and the bitter cold I can handle – although I’ll gripe about it along with everyone else, for sure! At least I was mentally prepared for the cold. I mean, it’s all anyone talks about when you say that you’re moving to Michigan. ...
gluten-free
Thai Peanut Quinoa Salad
Last week, my boyfriend and I were eating this Thai-inspired peanut quinoa salad for dinner and watching an old episode of Modern Family. In the episode, Jay is trying to convince Manny to try pickles, and Gloria jumps in and suggests that in exchange, Jay should try blood sausage. As someone who doesn’t eat a lot of meat in the first place (and who has always been somewhat of a picky eater), ...
Mexican Quinoa Salad
Today is my first ever REAL snow day! I’m not going to lie – I’m pretty darned excited about it. In true graduate student fashion, however, I'm excited about it because it means that I can stay home and have time to work without interruption. My university cancelled class once last year as well, although technically that wasn’t because of snow accumulation, but rather because the ...
Peanut Caramel Rice Krispies Candies
I’ve inadvertently been on a bit of a candy-making kick lately. Over the holidays, I was already planning to make a batch of chocolate hazelnut truffles to give as a gift, but was then encouraged (volun-told?) to make an additional batch and a half for various family members. A week or two later, I ended up making even more candy when we had some friends over for dinner. I needed a ...
Cherry Cashew Rice Pilaf
In college, I had already been living in an apartment and cooking for myself for almost a year before I took a real interest in cooking, and shortly thereafter, I received America’s Test Kitchen Family Cookbook as a Christmas gift. Having grown a bit bored with living off basic chicken and rice dishes, green bean casserole, and tuna melts, I was super excited to try some new recipes, and this ...
Cheesy Texas Hash
Texas hash made a fairly regular appearance at my family’s dinner table while I was growing up, but for some reason, it was never really my favorite. I liked each of the individual ingredients well enough (rice, tomatoes, onions, ground beef/turkey, and even green pepper, which I realized only recently a lot of people loathe), but it always ranked below other casseroles like macaroni and cheese or ...
Aji Burrito Bowls
Have you ever been to a Peruvian restaurant? If you have, then you’ve likely encountered an enchantingly spicy green sauce made from cilantro and jalapeños, often called aji sauce, and let me tell you – it’s downright addictive. ...
Rajma Quinoa (Indian-style kidney beans)
Hello there! I hope you all had a lovely holiday weekend! My apologies for the blog silence lately - I had actually wanted to post this recipe last week, but felt that it might not be very relevant to post an Indian food dish in the days leading up to the Fourth of July. Everyone else seemed to be posting traditional American recipes and fun red, white, and blue foods, and I'd be ...
Hash Brown Breakfast Pizza
Potatoes are one of my favorite foods. In fact, my go-to breakfast order at my favorite local diner is called “The Potato Lover”: just a plate full of hash browns with a smorgasbord of toppings! I know. It’s kind of weird. But hey – if it’s on the menu, then other people must order it too, so that means I’m not the only weird one! Or that’s what I like to tell myself, at any rate. ...
Coconut Almond Truffles
It's Monday. And Mondays require chocolate, right? Don't worry - I've got you covered! As a child, Almond Joys weren’t even on my radar: my favorite candies were pretty much all peanut-based (Snickers, NutRageous, Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, etc.) This probably stems from the fact that my brother is allergic to peanuts. The only time we really had much candy was at Halloween—we got some at ...