This is one of the most attractive and unusual salad recipes I’ve found. It goes well with a number of Mediterranean dishes and only takes a few minutes to have ready. I’ve tweaked the recipe to take out the only part I found labor intensive.
Category: Side Dishes
Homemade Gnocchi
Gnocchi uses very simple ingredients to create something that tastes sublime. Store-bought frozen gnocchi simply can’t compare – but the warnings on the recipes I’d read made me think it must be hard to make. I didn’t find that to be the case when I actually tried it, though you do have to be willing to get your hands a bit messy.
Sri Lankan Favorites: Pineapple Curry
This unusual, colorful dish is one you can mix up in 10-15 minutes (depending on how fast you chop an onion). If you keep canned coconut milk and pineapple on hand, this is also an easy pantry dish, though it does taste extra special with fresh pineapple.
Sri Lankan Favorites – Fish Cutlets
This recipe works nicely as an appetizer or as a quick main dish. It can be made ahead (mostly) or put together at the last minute. It’s cheap, versatile, and delicious. Of course it’s becoming a regular at our house.
Quick & Easy Indian: Chana Masala
A deliciously tangy chickpea curry that’s easy to make with canned ingredients and tastes great hot or cold.
St. Patrick’s Day: Corned Beef and Irish Soda Bread
This meal displayed both the strengths and the weaknesses of our family’s approach to food. It was successful in that we planned ahead and the results were tasty, healthy, and visually appealing. Unfortunately we all were depending on inexplicable telepathy to make the preparation details clear to my sister, who who was left to execute…
Christmas Feast #2: Tropical Salad
If I saw this recipe in a fru-fru cookbook or trendy cooking magazine I probably would not have tried it. I sometimes suspect recipes like these of being designed by a food editor to photograph well without much thought for the flavor combinations. But I’ve tried several unusual salads from this cookbook before and always found…
Indian Dinner – Stuffed Plantains
I normally associate plantains with Puerto Rican cooking, where they are served with most meals as tostones, fried twice to soften their starchyness and mashed flat the final time so they can be crispy all over and – if they’re at their best – smeared with a bit of mashed garlic, salty and crusty and…
Applesauce Chemistry
I love homemade applesauce – it’s one of those simple things that most people miss out on because it’s so easy to just buy, but the flavor of homemade is completely different from anything you’ll find in a jar at a store. Using this family recipe, you’ll find the secrets to the perfect texture, color,…
Indian Dinner – Coconut Dhal
Dhal is a staple side dish in both Indian and Sri Lankan cuisines, as simple and ubiquitous as mashed potatoes in the US. I like this Sri Lankan version because the coconut milk adds a lot of creamy richness to it and it includes several versions for people who like it spicy or mild.
Indian Dinner – Spinach Raita
Raita is a standard side dish designed to offset the spiciness of many Indian dishes. It can be made with fruit or vegetables, but the base is always yogurt. It’s like a savory version of the whipped topping & marshmallow “salads” you find in American church basement dinners – it’s creamy and light, but not…
Quick & Easy Side: Scallion Mini-Muffins
These muffins come together without any trouble, a quick counterpoint to earthy soups. Their rich, buttery flavor is balanced by a light sweetness and the hint of sharpness from the bright green scallions.
The Kitchen Tourist 