Gumbo is a Louisiana soup or stew which reflects the rich cuisines of regional Indian, French, Spanish, and African cultures.  Gumbo is derived from the African term for okra, “gombo,” and first appeared in print in 1805.  Gumbo is also a choice dish during Mardi Gras, the day before Lent begins.  Mardi Gras is French…

This is Asian-style fast food!  Fresh, simple ingredients thrown together and ready to eat in 20 minutes!  Snow peas provide good to very good amounts of vitamins, minerals, dietary fiber and protein.  Snow peas and other green peas are one of the important foods to include in your diet if you feel fatigued and sluggish. …

This is an easy weeknight meal that you can have ready to eat in 30 minutes!  In La Cucina tradizionale siciliana, Anna Pomar writes:  The name “parmigiana” does not derive from that of the cheese but is the Italianization of the Sicilian dialectal word “parmiciana”, which refers to the slats of wood which compose the…

What’s not to like about a curry?  Tantalizing aromas that tease your senses and fill the kitchen with a sense that one has escaped to an exotic land!  Cannellini beans (also known as white kidney beans) are large white beans with a nut-like flavor.  They are a favorite in our house and I use them…

Another delicious recipe from Cooking With Booze!  Thai meals typically consist of either a single dish or it will be rice with many complementary dishes served concurrently and shared by all.  When it comes to taste, nothing surpasses the famous four Thai flavorings: spicy, salty, sweet, and sour.  With their Buddhist background, Thais shunned the…

A baked potato or jacket potato has a crispy, crunchy skin with a fluffy interior.  It is stuffed with fillings such as butter, cheese, ham, bacon bits or chicken.  Nutritionally, a large percentage of the vitamins, minerals, and trace elements in a potato are found within or immediately below the skin.  A baked potato (dressed…

According to The Oxford Companion to Food, salad is a term derived from the Latin sal (salt) which yielded the form salata, ‘salted things’ such as raw vegetables eaten in classical times with a dressing of oil, vinegar, or salt.  Salads were enjoyed by the ancient Romans and Greeks. Dinner salads were popular with Renaissance…

There’s something sinfully delicious about fast food when it’s made at home.  Perhaps it is the love and attention one puts into making the dish or maybe it’s just to satisfy a craving.  For me, it was the combination of both!  Fried foods aren’t the sort of cooking style I adhere to on a regular…

Souvlaki is Greek fast food consisting of small cubes of pork (usually marinated in olive oil, oregano, thyme and a little vinegar or lemon juice) threaded on a wooden skewer. Not a fan of pork?  You can also use chicken, beef, lamb or swordfish.  Souvlaki is usually wrapped around grilled pita bread and accompanied by…

With the Super Bowl 44 coming up on Sunday, these ribs seem like a natural choice for good hearty fare to help kick-off the game.  Football fans love to eat with their hands so keep the menu of finger food easy.  Things such as pizza, guacamole, baba ganoush, hot and spicy wings, nachos, hefty sandwiches,…

Wow!  The soft lemony flavors coming from this dessert is a gastronomic delight!  To be honest, I had never heard of a Meyer lemon until I saw them in Pete’s Frootique.  The Meyer lemon is smaller than the common yellow lemon and is much sweeter in taste and less acidic.  This citrus fruit is native…

Salads are always at the top of the food list in our family much to my daughter’s chagrin.  That said, she does enjoy this type of salad.  Couscous is a versatile pasta made of tiny grains of dough that are steamed. Couscous originated in Morocco and northern Algeria, and is a staple throughout North Africa.…