Persian Beet Burgers

Like my Sri Lankan Fish Cutlets recipe, this recipe takes fairly basic ingredients and turns them into a dish that’s full of complicated, surprising flavors and very easy to serve people. The recipe came from Louisa Shafia’s New Persian Kitchen cookbook, with a few adjustments for my friends’ allergies and to make it more convenient…

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Feasting 101, Step 3: Picking a Menu – Thanksgiving Edition

This year we’re exploring Thanksgiving as an immigrant holiday, in the broadest terms. We hoping to have the menu to reflect the people around the table and where they’ve come from (this could be in terms of heritage, family memories or even recent experiences).

Baked Corn Casserole

When we serve this dish at holiday or birthday feasts, it’s almost always the first pan emptied, no matter what else we make – comfort food at its finest.

Caramel Apple Cake

It’s fall! Time for pumpkins and apples and all my other favorite seasonal ingredients that get blended with sugar and spice to make even more delicious treats.

Garden Herb Salads

These recipes from Vietnam, Korea, and Italy make lovely colorful salads using the chives, basil, mint and more from my garden.

Happy Birthday to Me Menu

Birthdays make great excuses for feasting in my family. I have fun making menus for everyone else, but this one’s for me (and all the friends I’m looking forward to sharing it with).

Favorite Picnic Salads

I just told my sister I could live on these salads. She said it wouldn’t be a well balanced diet, so I described the ingredients. She took it back: Broccoli and Bacon Salad, Deli-Style Pasta Salad, Avacado Corn Salad

Mother’s Day Picnic Menu

A range of sandwiches, fun salads, finger food and more – as usual, we may have gone a bit overboard with the menu planning. But how would sticking to the basics be any fun?

Sweet Potato Chocolate Torte with Walnut Custard Filling

An unusual cake that uses mashed sweet potatoes and ground walnuts with eggs for the batter. Filled with a walnut custard and topped with a chocolate glaze, it’s rich and tender but not overpowering. And now it sounds like a skeezy romance novel hero.

Yuca Shrimp Empanadas

These delicious turnovers have buttery, tender crusts with yuca mashed into it and a rich filling that balances the flavors of garlic and shrimp, coconut and chillies, lime and cilantro so none of them overpower the rest.

Festive Christmas Salads

These two salads are delicious anytime of the year, but since they’re red and green they’re especially great for the holidays when you want something  healthy and festive to balance all the sweets. I love how simple and flavorful both of these salads are – they both have a mixture of great textures, too. Both…

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Cranberry Mojitos

This is a great holiday cocktail recipe: easy to make by the pitcher, naturally colorful (bright red & green!), and flavorful enough to attract people who may not normally like cocktails. There’s a little over 2 oz. of rum per serving, which is on the light side for a cocktail this size. Still, you might…

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