ORANGE CHICKEN SALAD

This is exactly what you think it is: Asian-style orange chicken, but served without the rice and instead fashioned into a scrummy salad. I air fried the chicken here, but you could just as easily get similar results (albeit with a bit more oil) with baking or pan-frying them.  Coat the chicken pieces (I like… Read more »

KIMCHI, TOFU & NORI FRIED RICE

I’ve been writing on here for more than 9 years now. Many things have changed and evolved along the way—priorities, methodologies, ideas—but one thing remains intact: I still forget to cook my rice. Just thought I’d point out that some things are still familiar around here. (A nifty trick – once the rice is cooked… Read more »

CHICKEN OATMEAL CONGEE

Eating a hot breakfast is a rarity in my world. It’s usually a cup of coffee and a banana (with a protein shake in hand) before I rush out the door with my toddler in tow. We do find time to make it a family affair on the weekends though, and for that I’m grateful…. Read more »

DATE BARK

Date barks are all the rage right now. It first made an appearance in a viral tiktok video (I think?) and soon started making its rounds on every food platform known to humankind. I saw it and instantly knew I had to try it. Some recipes are like that; you just know they’re going to… Read more »

CARAMELISED APPLE SALAD

Have some salad leaves wilting in the fridge? Here’s a good recipe to use it for. Don’t have salad leaves wilting in the fridge? Maybe buy some to try this recipe then? My solidly convincing arguments aside, this salad is so delicious and takes 15 mins from start (washing your lettuce) to finish (forking it… Read more »

PUMPKIN HUMMUS + SPICED BUTTER

  Pumpkin hummus. The usual crew: chickpeas, sesame (I use seeds; not store-bought tahini), lemon juice.  To dial up the natural sweetness of the pumpkin, we roast it in the oven until soft and yielding. Halve a whole head of garlic, wrap in foil, and add to the roasting tray along with the pumpkin. Once… Read more »

AIR FRYER PANKO FISH + MANGO SALSA

And as if on cue, I’m back with another seasonal mango recipe at the tail-end of mango season, when all you see on grocery shelves are varieties that are too sour to eat or popular ones past their prime. Which admittedly, is kind of the whole point of this dish. In an effort to prolong… Read more »

CHILLI OIL BROCCOLI & GREEN BEANS

When things are quiet around here it’s usually one of two things: I’m eating the same thing on repeat, or my 35-year-old body is giving out with toddler sleep regressions. Thankfully it’s the former this time around.  This is an easy side to make and it features heavily in our meal rotations. Even easier if… Read more »

PUMPKIN & FETA ORZO

I’m a creature of habit when it comes to pastas. I don’t do many meat versions either. (A vegetarian husband requires that my meat component is always on the side, and never in the pasta itself.) To make it into our regular meal rotations I make sure my pasta dishes follow these general rules. 1)… Read more »

BLUEBERRY & CHIA FILLED CHOCOLATES

I can count with one hand the number of times I’ve made a baked dessert this year. I don’t particularly enjoy tasks that involve precise measurements and temps (I find it counterintuitive to go down this path when I use cooking as a de-stress mechanism). Bunging things into a pan is my jam. This recipe… Read more »

Latest
  • ASIAN BEEF BURGERS

    Sweet and spicy Asian beef burgers? Spicy, sticky Asian beef burgers? Asian beef burgers with a sticky sauce? I basically considered all the possible permutations before settling on ‘Asian beef burgers’. This minimalism thing works for me in completely disjointed ways. I have a confession. I don’t post recipes on here that I haven’t tried… Read more »

  • COCONUT AND MANGO CHIA PUDDING

    We eat eggs for breakfast every single day of the week, which as much as I like, is a bit of a shame because breakfast foods are the most fun to cook in my opinion (albeit not on a busy weekday morning). To get around this, a slightly more elaborate Sunday breakfast tradition has arisen:… Read more »

  • GRANOLA BARS

    I know. The world doesn’t need another recipe for granola bars. But I’m here to throw out some ideas and variations to the ones that you normally make, maybe change things up a bit? Specifically this part: dates. Dates are a common enough addition to granola bars for sweetness, but I find that unless you… Read more »

  • VEGETABLE STOCK FROM KITCHEN SCRAPS

    I don’t know if you can tell that I’m quite big on this nose-to-tail / root-to-shoot (?) concept of cooking. Not only is it a great way to reduce waste in the kitchen (and save money), but it also forces me to be creative; think outside the box and utilize as much as I can…. Read more »

  • PRESERVED LEMON MARINADE

    I try to refrain from using words like ‘best’ and ‘favourite’ to describe recipes. But that’s exactly what happened here, and I’ve had to delete two entire paragraphs lest I sound like a used-car salesman. Not a good place to start. Preserved lemons have been making an appearance in a lot of dishes in my… Read more »

  • OVEN-ROASTED TARO

    Taro/taro root or colocasia as it’s sometimes called is a starchy vegetable of the taro plant. Native to India and South-East Asia, taro also forms a staple in diets in Hawaii, the Caribbean and Africa. Taro ‘root’ is actually the corm—swollen underground stem—of the plant, so technically not a root. Just some casual food semantics… Read more »

  • VEGAN PESTO

    I’m not one for veganizing foods unless I’m cooking for someone who’s lactose intolerant or doesn’t like dairy (happy to report that I haven’t met anyone that falls in the latter category). Having said that, I do however try and reduce my dairy intake for a couple of reasons. One, most cheeses that are available… Read more »

  • BRUSSELS SPROUTS PORIYAL

    Brussels sprouts in a South-Indian style recipe might sound terribly inauthentic. It is, and it’s probably why it comes as a surprise to most people when I tell them about this poriyal (as well as ones using oyster mushrooms, broccoli and lettuce). Growing up though, this was pretty normal. When I was at boarding school… Read more »

  • BASIC CHINESE CHICKEN STOCK

       When it comes to stock-making, there are no real rules. (I would argue that there are no real rules to cooking in general, but I’ll hold off on that one for now). Depending on whether you’re making a Western style of stock or an Asian one, the ingredients will vary widely. Western stocks usually… Read more »

  • HOMEMADE RASPBERRY FLAVOURED YOGURT WITH CHIA SEEDS

       Until three years ago, I didn’t know how to make yogurt at home. What seems like a basic enough task now evaded me for a long time. I pulled out all the tricks and hacks I found on the internet from measuring exact temperatures using a food thermometer to setting it in ceramic, stainless… Read more »

  • CHICKEN TERIYAKI

       This might be the most requested recipe from my Instagram story (and also the most ad-libbed recipe on there, making the measuring process ridiculously hard). Disclaimer: I’ve written the measurements to the best of my ability and to what suits my palate, but you will still have to taste and adjust along the way… Read more »

  • EGG AND SILKEN TOFU FRIED RICE

       If sticky-rice fried rice is something you enjoy eating, then this might be the recipe for you (fyi, and achieved without using sticky rice). Silken tofu is broken up into small curds—resembling scrambled eggs—and when tossed with the rice, gives it the most desirable soft-set consistency. The tofu completely disintegrates into the rice and… Read more »

  • ROASTED BEET, CUMIN AND CHIA LASSI

       I started my previous post by saying that I don’t do many breakfast foods on here, and here I am now with another one. This is inadvertently becoming a new trend.  Lassi is strictly speaking not a breakfast food, but fruit lassi, yogurt-smoothie—really, what’s the difference? I make the mango and cardamom lassi and… Read more »

  • COCONUT QUINOA PORRIDGE WITH CARAMELIZED BANANAS

       I don’t do a lot of breakfast foods on here and that’s primarily because breakfast for me usually consists of scrambled eggs, a whey shake and a banana. I have however started incorporating more millets and whole grains into my diet, and the easiest way to do this I’ve found, is to add them… Read more »

  • PRESERVED LEMONS

       I’d been buying preserved lemons from a store that grows organic lemons on their property. I’m not someone that only buys organic produce, but the concept of using the entire fruit—peel, rind, juice and all—made me want to try and get my hands on some pesticide-free ones for preserving. So when my aunt called… Read more »