Ceviche is one of those things I’ve only more recently started to like. For a long time, I avoided almost all seafood. This really only ended when my parents took me to Turks and Caicos for Christmas and I realized that if I was going to eat anything on the trip, I really needed to start enjoying fish. So while I was home this summer, I got my dad to make his famous ceviche. And I have to say, I deserve no credit for this recipe. I just simply sat back, photographed the steps, and then ate the amazing food.
Category Archives: Gluten Free
Angel Food Cake (GF and Regular)
I have very fond memories of angel food cake from my childhood. This cake is so light and fluffy, and goes so well with so many toppings, which is probably why we ate it at lots of family birthday celebrations. So in honor of my birthday tomorrow, my grandmother’s birthday on Wednesday, and my mom’s birthday next Sunday (yes Septembers were really crazy in our house), I wanted to share these recipes with you all.
While I was home in California this summer, I decided to do a taste test and bake a regular angel food cake, and a gluten free version (my mom has celiac disease). My awesome friend Jenny (who also has a birthday this coming week) helped, and I have to say they were both equally delicious. So if you’re entertaining anyone in the near future who has celiacs, I definitely recommend this cake. And if not, well go ahead and make it for yourself. Just be prepared to go through a carton of egg whites!
My Favorite Meal of the Week – Grilled Veggie Sandwich
When I come home to California in the summer, I feel like all I eat is fresh veggies and fruits. In my parents’ garden alone, I can find tomatoes, zucchini, squash, eggplants, nectarines, plums, peaches, blackberries, and tons of flowers and herbs. And living on the east coast, I definitely feel deprived of all of this fresh produce, so we often try to eat as many vegetables and fruits as possible in one meal. One of my favorite meals at home is grilled veggies on bread with pesto and fresh tomatoes. So before summer ends, I just wanted to share this dish with you. This is one of those that doesn’t really have a recipe. It’s really about doing whatever fresh vegetables you can find at your local market. But here’s a list to give you some ideas.
Ingredients
2 slices of your favorite bread per person (I bought rosemary bread at Whole Foods)
1 cup fresh made pesto
Sliced zucchini, squash, eggplant, onion, pepper, brushed with oil
Sliced tomato to garnish
Sliced cheese, optional
1. Warm bread in oven (if using cheese, go ahead and melt it on the bread). Grill veggies on grill. Make pesto (see here).
2. Top bread with pesto and cheese, cover with as many vegetables as you can, and then top with fresh tomato.
Raspberry Macaroons
So these were actually a special request from my friend Sarah. And since Sarah graciously helped me with the redesign of this blog, I figured I had to make something when she requested it. Plus, I needed to make a dessert while I was home in CA, and since these are gluten free, it was perfect. And oh dear. I am so glad Sarah requested these because they are amazing!! I don’t always love raspberries in desserts, but for some reason they go so well with the coconut! Also, these are so simple, especially if you have a food processor.
My Favorite Meal of the Week – Spicy Cucumber Gazpacho
At a dinner party this summer, our friends made an amazing spicy cucumber gazpacho that I wanted to recreate. I decided it would be the perfect thing to take to jazz in the sculpture garden on a humid Friday night. But as luck would have it, jazz got rained out. But we still really enjoyed this soup. We ate it for dinner with some garlic bread, but you could also serve it as a light summer appetizer.
Guest Post: Homemade Reese’s Cups
I’ve decided to occasionally have guest posts (occasionally should be read as whenever a friend volunteers). Here is my first, written by the amazing Sarah Layton.
Sarah Layton is an avid baker and meal-maker when the time, ingredients, and cravings all meet at the right time. She lives in Washington, DC, and can be stalked at @saraholinger.
I went camping a couple weekends ago and had leftover s’more supplies. After a quick, mouthwatering Google search for a recipe to use up dark chocolate, I chose to forgo ridiculous brownie/cake concoctions and decided to try my hand at candies. Still looking for something to do with those marshmallows…
My Favorite Meal of the Week – Watermelon, Feta, and Mint Salad on a Stick
In the summers, I live for watermelon. When I can, I eat half a mini-watermelon every day. I literally cut it in half, and then sit with the half I’m going to eat, using a melon baller to scoop out bites (which immediately go into my mouth, no need to get a bowl dirty). It’s so refreshing and is the perfect palate cleanser after dinner. But sometimes, I need to class it up, and you know, serve it to people. Recently, I’ve started serving a watermelon, feta, and mint salad. The first time I did it as a traditional salad for a dinner party. The second time, I did mini ones on toothpicks for a birthday party. Both were delicious.
My Favorite Meal of the Week – Chicken Tikka Masala
So if you saw my post last Wednesday, you’ll know I love the restaurant Rasika here in DC. And I’ve now tried to replicate the two dishes I always order there – palak chaat and chicken tikka masala. And as amazing as I thought my palak chaat was, this was to die for!! I’ve also learned in the process of making this dish that it is semi unhealthy (sometimes it is better to be ignorant). But, hey, every once in a while this dish is worth it. So amazing!
Strawberry Rhubarb Cobbler
Last year I did a post on the basic pie and crumble/crisp/cobbler recipe. But I just realized, I never actually told you how to make my favorite – the strawberry rhubarb cobbler (not that there’s much to know, pretty simple). As you know, I love anything with strawberry and rhubarb (see here). And in the summer, when you can find rhubarb, I just can’t get enough of this cobbler. So, go buy some rhubarb today before the season ends (mid-spring through the end of July).
My Favorite Meal of the Week – Palak Chaat
Many of you may be looking at the title of this post wondering what it is. Well, it just so happens to be one of my favorite things to order at a particularly good (read: fancy, not greasy take out) Indian restaurant in DC, Rasika. The first time I went to this restaurant was for Dave’s birthday a couple years ago. And in typical Dave fashion, he researched the restaurant in advance on Yelp so that he showed up knowing exactly what to order. One of the dishes he ordered was the Palak Chaat. And I have to say, when he ordered this dish, I was skeptical. It was lightly fried spinach with a yogurt date sauce, which really just didn’t sound that good.
Oh dear god, was I wrong. I can’t even explain it, but this dish is seriously amazing. The spinach is so light and crunchy and all of the flavors are just unreal. The point of this whole story is that I love this dish so much that I wanted to at least try to recreate it at home. I went into the process knowing that I would never make something as delicious as the salad at Rasika, but I at least had to try. And I wasn’t disappointed. I read a couple of different recipes and combined them to come up with the following recipe. Also if you like Indian food, watch out for next week’s post – chicken tikka masala – my other favorite dish at Rasika.
the petite croissant 