Book Review: Vibrant India by Chitra Agrawal

Masala dosa with potato curry and cilantro coconut chutney from Chitra Agrawal's Vibrant India. **ARC provided by publisher via NetGalley** Vibrant India melds tradition with the modern, capturing and adapting South Indian dishes for the home cook, whether you grew up eating Indian food, or it’s all new. The book suggests vegetable variations for…

ByMichelleMarch 21, 20170Comments

Book Reviews

What’s Cooking: Vibrant India by Chitra Agrawal

Vibrant India, Chitra Agrawal's ode to South Indian vegetarian cooking is due out on March 21 from Ten Speed Press. You might know Chitra from her blog, ABCD's of Cooking, or her condiment line, Brooklyn Delhi. In the book, she's sharing a collection of quick vegetable stirfrys, salads, chutneys and pickles, rice dishes and hearty vegetarian stews. I've…

ByMichelleMarch 9, 20170Comments

Recipes Side Dishes

Chorizo-Spiced Roasted Cauliflower – But It’s Vegetarian

The spice profile in Mexican chorizo makes it a love-it or hate-it proposition. While I love the the zing of vinegar with chiles, paprika, cinnamon and cumin, my husband would just as soon not. You can mix the chile paste mixture into ground pork or turkey, and as I discovered last week, you can (and you…

ByMichelleFebruary 2, 20170Comments

Book Reviews Recipes

Kale Malfatti with Brown Butter & Pumpkin

Kale Malfatti with Brown Butter and Pumpkin from Chef Jenn Louis' next cookbook, Book of Greens. The Book of Greens from Portland Chef Jenn Louis comes out in April, but I’m not going to be able to wait that long to talk about the kale malfatti with brown butter and pumpkin.By then, we’ll be at the very…

ByMichelleJanuary 10, 20170Comments

Main Course Recipes

Red Lentils and Rice with Yogurt, Preserved Lemon and Pomegranate

I'm beginning to think I should call my husband the Grad School Gourmet. For a poor grad student back East, he ate pretty surprisingly well. Instead of packets of instant noodles, he'd buy giant bags of beans and rice to get by. He usually ate these lentils and rice with a little fresh tomato on…

ByMichelleDecember 20, 20160Comments

Main Course Recipes

Quinoa Black Bean Burgers

With 12 days to go until Christmas, there's no sign of the treat train letting up. It's one of the benefits to working from home, no break room donuts or cookies or cake to tempt you. Of course, when you yourself go to See's Candy to pick up a few pieces, because it's Christmastime and…

ByMichelleDecember 14, 20160Comments

Main Course Recipes

Spicy Dhal with Tomatoes and Swiss Chard

Man, what a grey old day we had. It's the Pacific Northwest, but man, the first one of the year, the day where it doesn't get light until after 7 a.m. and it's in the mid-40s, and it's stormy, it's just a slap upside the head. And I'm just done with turkey for now. I'm not hating…

ByMichelleDecember 1, 20160Comments

Cooking Pizza Recipes

Friday Night Slice: Peter Piper’s Pizza

I've been a little chile obsessed this week, so there's no better way to wrap up than with a red Anaheim, jalapeño and green pepper pizza. Pick a peck of peppers at your grocery or farmers market this weekend and you too, can have the Peter Piper pizza. As usual my keys to a good…

ByMichelleAugust 26, 20161Comment

Cooking Main Course Pasta Recipes

Summer Pasta Solution #1 – Penne with Zucchini, Ricotta & Chickpeas

Summer is officially here! And along with the beach parties, cookouts and s'mores, it's time to complain about zucchini! Get ready, overzealous gardeners every where are about to start leaving crazy amounts of zucchini on your doorstep. I've never been lucky enough to live next door to someone whose zucchini crop gets out of control every…

ByMichelleJune 20, 20160Comments

Dessert Recipes

Peach Melba Ice Cream – the Easy Way

I think of Peach Melba as an old school dessert. It's true, the real peach melba dates back to the 1890s, but for me, it dates back to the 1980s when that peach-raspberry combo was my mom's fruit-on-the-bottom yogurt of choice. This week, it's the dessert of choice and the best part is, you can…

ByMichelleJune 17, 20160Comments

Book Review: Vibrant India by Chitra Agrawal

What’s Cooking: Vibrant India by Chitra Agrawal

Chorizo-Spiced Roasted Cauliflower – But It’s Vegetarian

Kale Malfatti with Brown Butter & Pumpkin

Red Lentils and Rice with Yogurt, Preserved Lemon and Pomegranate

Quinoa Black Bean Burgers

Spicy Dhal with Tomatoes and Swiss Chard

Friday Night Slice: Peter Piper’s Pizza

Summer Pasta Solution #1 – Penne with Zucchini, Ricotta & Chickpeas

Peach Melba Ice Cream – the Easy Way

Book Review: A Ghastly Catastrophe by Deanna Raybourn

The Fourth Princess by Janie Chang

26 New Asian and Pacific Islander Books for your 2026 TBR