Recipes

(Skip to Recipe) How to Make Vegan Pancakes even Healthier   Family Tradition My son is visiting me from Belgium.  This morning he asked for pancakes for breakfast. Pancakes are probably my kids' favorite dish of mine for breakfast. When they were small I would often make them on Sunday mornings.  I always tried to make them healthy(ish) by using whole wheat and rye flours along with a...

(Skip to Recipe) What is Bumbleberry Pie? At first I thought Bumbleberry Pie was a sweet baked good featuring bumbleberries.  Little did I know that a Bumbleberry Pie is actually a pie made with mixed berries (usually three types of berries), and sometimes includes apple or rhubarb. My brother asked me to make a raspberry pie for his birthday.  He then added if raspberry was not p...

(Skip to Recipe) Is there such a thing as a heart-healthy dessert? Surprisingly there is. Sweets and treats need not always focus on large contents of sugar. If you choose the ingredients carefully, you can prepare healthy desserts for your entire family. Ingredients with high fat content, such as heavy dollops of cream and butter, contain saturated fats, which can increase cholesterol leve...

(Skip to Recipe) A Quiche Recipe for all Occasions Quiche is sometimes overlooked as a dish to serve guests.  I don't understand why.  I love quiche for informal gatherings, especially accompanied by soup or salad.  It's an easy weeknight supper with my kids.  Leftover quiche is also super easy and yummy the next day, warm or cold. Since I started this blog, I've made quiche more than a dozen...

What to do with Fresh Rosemary? A good friend brought me several branches of fresh rosemary from her garden when she came to dinner last week.  Immediately my home smelled more outdoorsy and clean.   All week I enjoyed the hint of rosemary in the air. For some reason I cannot leave all this fresh rosemary around without trying to find some way to use it all.  It's impossible for me to let good...

(Skip to Recipe) Memories of French Onion Soup Past I tasted my first real French Onion Soup at Cafe Figaro on Melrose Avenue in West Hollywood as a teen.  My friends and I thought Cafe Figaro with its French bistro-style cuisine was so cool.  It had a good menu, reasonable prices and a European atmosphere.  Taking a date here helped gave me an air of sophistication.  Or at least I thought. ...

(Skip to Recipe) How Do You Make a Vegetarian Eggplant Lasagna? Differences Between Vegan and Vegetarian Eggplant Lasagnas Recently I prepared two eggplant lasagnas side by side.  A Vegan Eggplant Lasagna and a Vegetarian Eggplant Lasagna, as I wanted to compare their tastes. In both eggplant lasagnas I used my Vegan Tomato Sauce for All Occasions as well as a single large eg...

(Skip to Recipe) How to make a Quick Tasty Tomato Fish Soup Tomato Fish Soup is one of my favorite soups at home and in restaurants.  There are so many ways to make fish soup, some simple, others a little more complicated.  This recipe is super easy to make in less than an hour. You can make this Tomato Fish Soup in a single pot, making your clean up afterwards much easier.   All you need to ...

(Skip to Recipe) The Vegan Eggplant Lasagna Challenge I have made vegetarian lasagna countless times.  Yet, I've always added cheese to each layer.  Sometimes I reduce the amount of cheese I use by mixing ricotta cheese with eggplant puree together.  I'll have to share my vegetarian lasagna some time, as it's my son's favorite.   What is Vegan Eggplant Lasagna?...

(Skip to Recipe) A Versatile Vegan Tomato Sauce I usually try to feature here recipes for tasty healthy versions of otherwise ordinary dishes.  Or recipes for extraordinary dishes that will wow your family and guests. Most people already know how to make an Italian-style tomato sauce to use on pasta.  However, here is a tasty healthy version of a tomato sauce that can be used in many of you...

(Skip to Recipe) Why make Dandelion Pesto? Dandelion pesto has brightened up many springtime dishes in past years.  In Belgium, I sometimes gathered the leaves of this wildflower from my backyard lawn to add to salads, soups and other dishes.   Dandelion greens grow wild Picking dandelion greens are an annual tradition that marks the arrival of spring.  Although you can find dandelio...

(Skip to Recipe) How to Turn Banana Muffins Vegan? I have made banana muffins many times and many ways.  Often, the recipes included some kind of dairy products, such as butter, milk, buttermilk, yogurt or sour cream. Several months ago I shared my recipe for Banana Muffin Bliss which included a single egg.  In my post I suggested how to make the muffins vegan by replacing the egg. Yesterd...

(Skip to Recipe) How My Groceries Inspired this Tantalizing Tomatillo Jalapeño Jam   Shopping Late at Night Last night on my way home around 1 am, I passed a Food 4 Less, a huge discount supermarket.  It's not my ordinary place to shop, but I figured it was an ideal time to check it out. I love how many supermarkets in Los Angeles stay open 24/7 so shoppers can stop in whenever they ...

What a Good Eater! Cookbook It may be a few years since my kids were infants or toddlers, yet believe it or not I'm already starting to look ahead to being someday a grandfather.  No rush, but when it happens I want to be prepared. So a couple weeks ago when Amy Godiwalla and Alessandra (Ali) Macaluso invited me to try out some recipes from their new book What a Good Eater!, I jumped at the op...

(Skip to Recipe) Why Bother Making Fresh Red Beet Pasta? Recently I developed a recipe for Red Beet Ravioli with Spinach and Goat Cheese, which was absolutely yummy.  Of course, I may be a bit biased.  So don't rely on my word, try it yourself and see how delicious is this ravioli dish! The red beets in the pasta make the dough a vibrant purple color, which will certainly make any plate look ...