Roasted Beets with a Curry Vinaigrette

` I absolutely love beets — it is such a refreshingly sweet vegetable.  I love to eat them with salads or in borscht like Holodnik (Russian cold soup).   Typically, you can cook the beets by simply boiling them in water until tender.  My chef friend Kei, who works at a very fancy Michelin-starred restaurant … Continue reading

3-Ingredient Quesadilla

I love pepper jack cheese. It goes especially well with a good salsa and crispy tortilla. That’s it, just three easy ingredients and you have the tastiest snack ever. Salsa & Pepper Jack Quesadilla (first discovered from Trader’s Joe’s sample food booth) medium tortilla (any type – wheat, flour, brown rice) your favorite salsa shredded … Continue reading

Russian Côtelettes

The term côtelettes is of French origin, meaning cutlet or chop.  In Russia, côtelettes has to come to refer to any sort of ground meat mixture formed into patties. For a formal Russian dinner, the serving order of the meal goes cold, hot, then cold.  Typically cold soups like Holodnik and a variety of salads … Continue reading

Olivye (Russian Potato Salad)

From living with my Belarussian roommate and thus sharing a kitchen with her, I have come to realize how much Russian/Belarussian people love their potatoes, mayonnaise, dill and pickles.  The oliyve (potato salad) dish combines all these national favorites. Russian cuisine is intriguing to me because there is very little overlap of ingredients with the … Continue reading

Fried Home-Style Potatoes (assuming your home is Russia)

Another savory recipe from my Belarussian roommate!  Natalya had taken me and several friends to the famed Tatiana restaurant located in Brighton Beach.  This glitzy Russian palace/night club features a dining experience unlike any other.  From the tome of a menu to the constant flow of vodka to the crazy production that is the weekend … Continue reading

Russian Salad (Salat)

Another recipe contribution from my Belarussian roomie – Russian salad or salat!  To stick with the whole Russian theme, this salad is a great complement to Holodnik (Russian cold soup).  Furthermore, because the majority of the ingredients are the same, it is very convenient to make both dishes at the same time for an overall … Continue reading

Shrimp and Tofu Pad Thai

Just like with my Thai Green Curry, I went the lazy route by using prepared Pad Thai sauce from the store. The sauce for Pad Thai is much easier to replicate as it requires considerably less ingredients than curry paste.  Most sauces call for some combination of tamarind, sugar, fish sauce, vinegar, tomato paste and … Continue reading

Chinese-Style Steamed Fish

Chinese-style steamed fish is an incredibly simple and healthy dish that is a great alternative to greasier, fried dishes that tend to predominate Chinese restaurant menus.  When my mom came to visit me in NYC, I asked her to show me how to properly steam a fish, including the process of selecting a fish in … Continue reading

Guacamole

My flatmate and I are addicted to guacamole.  It is always our go-to snack, whether it is while we are lazying around on an weekend afternoon or stumbling in at 2am and looking to satisfy the munchies.  And for some reason, we are always motivated to make it ourselves – I don’t think I have … Continue reading

Red Velvet Mini Cupcakes

Red Velvet cupcakes seems to be all the rage now with super cute and yummy bakeries like Sprinkles Cupcakes around. Last February I made these cupcakes for BF & BFF on Valentine’s day. I got this awesome recipe from pinch my salt . Instead of regular cupcakes I made  them mini-sized for added cuteness. Red Velvet … Continue reading