Main Dishes

Wow! Savory Cauliflower Cake

Wow! Savory Cauliflower Cake

This one’s a keeper. On my first taste, I knew that this cauliflower cake would be a party dish on my table. I’m pretty picky about what I serve my guests but this beautiful dish is that good. Love at first bite, I guess. This…

A Belated Happy New Year: Stir-Fried Tofu with Vegetables and Noodles

A Belated Happy New Year: Stir-Fried Tofu with Vegetables and Noodles

Happy Year of the Pig. I’m a bit late cooking for Chinese New Year. Life got in the way.   Here is a wonderful stir fry served with noodles that I’m pretty sure you will enjoy. No pigs here, though, just a great melange of…

Like A Boss: Glazed Shiitakes With Bok Choy

Like A Boss: Glazed Shiitakes With Bok Choy

Do Asian vegetables confuse you? Don’t know your bok choy from your choy sum? Neither do I, but when David Tanis, one of my favorite food writers,  published this recipe for Glazed Shiitakes With Bok Choy in his New York Times column City Kitchen, I soon found…

Smooth As Butter: Roasted Butternut Squash With Lentils and Stilton

Smooth As Butter: Roasted Butternut Squash With Lentils and Stilton

How do you feel about butternut squash?  No, really. For those of you who might shy away from the squash, consider the following: It is a fruit; who doesn’t love fruit? It is a healthy food; who doesn’t want to eat healthy?  It is inexpensive;…

Spilling The Beans On Guinness Baked Beans

Spilling The Beans On Guinness Baked Beans

  Truth be told, I love baked beans. There are few meals that I enjoy more than a big bowl of baked beans and a generous side of coleslaw. To my taste, the crunch of the coleslaw perfectly complements the sweet/savory flavor of the baked…

Fast Food:  Skillet Chili

Fast Food: Skillet Chili

  This probably never happens to you, but I sometimes find myself wanting to get in and out of the kitchen quickly after a tiring day.  If I can do that and still produce a great meal, I’m one happy camper. This is a recipe…

Eggplant Gratin in Parmesan Custard

Eggplant Gratin in Parmesan Custard

  I’ll confess right off. Eggplant and I have a rocky relationship. It’s not because eggplant isn’t Robert-Redford handsome. Just look at that smooth skin and that sensuous coloring. It’s also not because I don’t try. I do.  I just have trouble finding stellar recipes that…

Ho. Ho. Ho. and Spinach and Mushroom Gratin

Ho. Ho. Ho. and Spinach and Mushroom Gratin

It is the Christmas season here in Huntington Beach. I know that because my local Costco has Christmas trees for sale.   Seems a tad early to me, but there is some research that holds that people who decorate early for the holidays lead happier…

Cumin-Spiced Cauliflower With Fried Lentils and Spinach Yogurt

Cumin-Spiced Cauliflower With Fried Lentils and Spinach Yogurt

  You’re pretty sure to be the only person to bring this salad to the next potluck. It’s unusual. This recipe is adapted from one that appears in Hetty McKinnon’s imaginitive salad cookbook, Neighborhood. I find myself repeatedly going to her cookbooks when I want…

Dates, Baked Beans and Sitting on a Beach with Chris Christie

Dates, Baked Beans and Sitting on a Beach with Chris Christie

Pythagoras was so convinced that beans had souls that their consumption was forbidden among his followers. Don’t get me wrong. I love beans, but I’m not so sure about the soul part. Tiny little bean hearts, maybe. Truth be told, however you fix ’em, I…