Posts

Banana bread is a classic recipe, and it definitely got a lot more popular during COVID lockdown. My dad makes an awesome banana bread that I'll always have nostalgia for, but I was recently looking to develop a recipe for a moister banana bread. I ended up combining a banana bread recipe with a recipe for coffee cake (because who doesn't love streusel?) and it turned out really nicely.

I love caramelized onions. And mushrooms. And goat cheese. So I thought, why not put them all on top of a puff pastry base? It’s the perfect mix of sweet, savory caramelized onions and tangy, creamy goat cheese.

Gua bao is a dish I grew up with! Basically, it's often eaten as a split bun stuffed with pork belly and cucumber and sometimes other toppings like cilantro. Although as a child, my strongest memory is taking those split buns and making them into odd fusion PB&J sandwiches! After I went pescetarian, I missed having gua bao, so I came up with a vegetarian substitute that swaps mushrooms for pork belly. It tastes just as good!

Salmon is a popular and easy dinner to make. A common way to make it is roasting it in the oven, which I used to do all the time. Except the problem is, I kept ending up with overcooked salmon, because the oven was too hot. And using the oven is such as hassle – you have to preheat it, and defrost the salmon, and what not.

Roasted broccoli is simple, healthy, and versatile. It’s a quick recipe, easy to customize, and surprisingly addictive. I made a batch of roasted broccoli a few days ago, and my family snacked on it before dinner until half of it was gone!

Fried rice is one of my favorite meals to make. It’s the perfect clean-out-the-fridge dinner, and it’s quick and so easy to cook. Growing up, my grandparents would make egg fried rice with leftover pork or even ham and frozen mixed vegetables.

I know this probably sounds weird, but ratatouille + shakshuka is a surprisingly good combo. If you’ve never heard of ratatouille before, it’s a French Provencal vegetable stew typically made with the freshest of summer produce – zucchini, tomatoes, eggplant. Shakshuka is a dish of eggs poached in tomato sauce, which has many variations that can be found around the Mediterranean and Northern Africa.

Unlike chives, which you’d normally think of as an aromatic, garlic chives are treated like a vegetable and used in stir-fries, dumpling fillings, and more. My favorite way to cook them is very simple, just quickly stir-fried with some scrambled eggs. The chives bring a refreshing, delicious flavor to the dish, and it’s absolutely delicious! It’s also so quick to whip up for dinner on a busy day.

Steamed eggs, or what I called 炖蛋 growing up, has always been one of my comfort foods. My grandma used to make it for me when I was sick, and it was one of the first things I learned how to cook. It's also so simple -- it's just a savory, super simple steamed egg dish. It's technically an egg custard, but that sounds scary, and this isn't complicated or scary at all. If you've ever heard of the Japanese dish chawanmushi or the Korean dish gyeran-jjim, this is in a similar vein. It's lowkey, homey, and comforting, and as a bonus you're practically guaranteed to have the ingredients you need to make it at home.

I conquered my fear of salads with this peach and burrata caprese. I made it for my parents’ anniversary dinner, and they loved it. Since it’s peach season, I threw in peaches with the classic tomato and basil caprese salad. I also replaced the traditional mozzarella with burrata, because I think it makes the salad more cohesive. It’s a super simple salad, dressed with just a drizzle of good balsamic vinegar.

I know you can buy the elements at the store, but I prefer to make this shrimp cocktail from scratch. It’s only a few ingredients and takes barely any time at all. Plus, it’s better made fresh. For a spin on the classic, I replaced the typical super-sweet ketchup with a homemade tomato sauce that’s tomatoey, spicy, just the right amount of sweet, and absolutely delish. I also made another version with a mango chili dipping sauce, which is an awesome combination with the shrimp!

Cauliflower wings are an awesome vegetarian snack! I first made cauliflower wings when I made vegetarian buffalo wings for the Super Bowl, but I don’t love buffalo sauce, so I came up with a sesame-honey version instead. The sauce is sticky, sweet, and garlicky, and the cauliflower wings are deliciously crunchy.