Ambitious Deliciousness – Dont Eat Lazy.

Do you like okra? Okra is a vegetable that often flies under the radar. It makes an appearance  in stews, such as gumbo, because it contains a thickening agent that’s released when cut and cooked. More often than not, you can find okra chillaxin’ with its Southern friends, often battered and covered in oil.

As much as I love deep fried vegetables (who doesn’t?), I tried a different route. This recipe is super simple yet delicious, even a caveman can do it! Seriously – if you’ve been wanting cook something new, this is your chance. It would pair wonderfully with virtually anything – chicken, fish, or even steak.

(more…)

Every once in a while, I get together with my friend C and we make dinner together and  spend some quality time without the hefty restaurant tab. Plus, we can stay as long as we want. So while discussing our dinner menu for that day, I asked C if she liked Brussels Sprouts. Turns out, she’s never had them before!

Remember the last time I made Brussels Sprouts? I had David Chang’s recipe, which made them taste so delicious, and I became a lover of Brussels Sprouts ever since.

Since C lives near me, I decided to prepare the dish at home beforehand. I remember it being a very warm summer day, and I did not have the desire to turn on my oven. So I grilled them over my cast iron skillet, to get the golden roasted flavor. Plus I used a little bit of bacon fat, which is SO healthy!

(more…)

“I’m buying these because I hate them,” I said, as I bagged up a pound of Brussels sprouts at Wegman’s (aka best grocery store ever but not in NYC). “Not sure what I’m going to do with them but wish me luck!”

I’m not sure why I never had a taste for this small, cabbage-like vegetable. But I never liked them.

Not too long ago, while dining at Recette with Robyn, and there were 5 Brussels sprouts on my plate. I could only stomach 2 of them before giving the rest to her, since there is no point in wasting food.

So what made me give Brussels sprouts another chance?

(more…)

Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) is when a farmer offers a certain number of “shares” to the public. Interested consumers then purchase a share to receive a box of seasonal produce each week throughout the farming season. The produce is fairly priced, local grown, and in my case, organic.

If you’ve been reading about seasonal vegetables, I’m sure you’ve heard that zucchini is in season. This is great, except that I had no idea what to do with so much zucchini! I’ve been getting at least 2 zucchini pieces from my CSA share every single week! So after some deliberation, I thought I’d turn them into muffins.

My favorite part to eat are the muffin tops, as they are often softer and more chewy than the rest. I do find it strange that people refer to their excess stomachs as muffin tops because well, that’s just gross, no?

Speaking of which, this recipe is a bit more waist-friendly. I used half all-purpose flour and half whole wheat flour, used less butter and used honey with brown sugar for sweetness. Since zucchini is not a sweet vegetable by nature, I needed to make sure there was enough sugar. I thought they came out really good!

(more…)

Don’t you hate it when you’re all ready to make something and realize that you either don’t have enough of a key ingredient? Or worse yet, it spoiled?!

That’s what happened to me. I had a beautiful yellow bell pepper but I waited too long to cook it. Since I had mentally gotten ready to cook, there was no turning back. I went to the grocery store really quick and got bell peppers. They didn’t have any yellow ones so I grabbed a couple of red and green ones.

(more…)