cumin

red and white onion bajiis

August 30, 2011

Bajjis, bhajis or pakoras are Indian vegetable fritters I adore. They sort of remind me of the type of vegetable/rice fritters my mother used to occasionally make when I was a kid. She called them bolinhos de arroz, or rice balls. It was a creative way of using leftover rice. There was never waste at [...]

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homemade “Mexican” rice, or vegetarian rice with tomatoes

August 12, 2011

I made this Mexican rice the other day to go with my tutu de feijão. I don’t even know anymore how Mexican or Tex-Mex, Brazilian or Californian this combo might be. It is vegetarian, but that sounds as limiting as any other category. I want to call it “international,” but these days that implies sort [...]

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tutu de feijão or vegetarian refried beans

August 9, 2011

Tutu is a dish made in my birth state, Minas Gerais, in Brazil, that consists of mashed beans seasoned with spices and some fat, either of animal or vegetal origin. In the essentials, it is more-or-less the same as the popular Mexican style dish in the US called “refried beans.” Traditionally tutu is served with [...]

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camarão com chuchu AKA shrimp with chayote

August 1, 2011

I was feeling like listening to Brazilian music the other day. For some reason, I haven’t been doing that as often lately, and I was missing the cool, soothing sounds of Bossa Nova. I like the old guard, so I set my iTunes for classics from João Gilberto, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Astrud Gilberto, Elizete Cardoso, [...]

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quinoa, fresh fava bean and avocado salad

July 25, 2011

I’ve adapted this light and protein-rich salad from Plenty by Yotam Ottelenghi. It is flavorful and perfect for a barbeque party. You will enchant all your guests with this one, whether they’re vegan, vegetarian, or more omnivorous. The dish combines ingredients from both new and old worlds to become a beautiful international delight, just the [...]

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broiled corvina in charmoula marinade

July 7, 2011

Like us, our friend Kristen adores Mediterranean, Middle/Near Eastern and North African foods. We haven’t seen her much since she was married so it was a real treat to have her spend the evening with us recently. Whenever she’s here, we hang out in the kitchen: cooking, snacking, sipping wine and caching up with the [...]

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Indian red lentil soup with Savoy cabbage

June 17, 2011

Everybody throughout the northern hemisphere is probably eating summer food right now; you know: barbecue, ice cream, sno-cones, watermelon, and most anything grilled. Not us! The heat wave that has sent temperatures soaring past the 100’s elsewhere has yet to reach San Francisco. So we’re ‘stuck’ in the almost eternal refrigerator chill that makes the [...]

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palak tofu or Indian pesto with tofu

June 6, 2011

I love palak paneer, that Indian dish of spinach and cheese, but every time I go to Indian restaurants I tend to stay away from it. There’re a couple of reasons. The first is that the color of the dish scares me a bit. So often, the spinach has that uninviting rusty grayish green shade [...]

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advieh

June 2, 2011

This recipe comes from the amazing book by Najmieh Batmanglij, Food of Life. I made advieh for basmati and fava rice. Personally, I find spice mixes fascinating and mysterious bordering on scary. They’re so puzzling when you buy them pre-made. Whatever could be in these things? Chinese five spice is a perfect example. I look [...]

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basmati rice with dried yellow fava beans

May 27, 2011

This delectable dish comes from the sublime Najmieh Batmanglij’s book, Food of Life. I made it with some success for a recent dinner party on a day when I felt little inspiration. Najmieh always cheers my mind and appetite. Her recipe calls for dried peeled yellow fava beans, which I happened to have. Hegui picked [...]

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