Mains

I don’t think a little cooking technique and olive oil is going to “undiet” this infamous Cabbage Diet Soup. Mine tastes good, like a slimmed down minestrone. This is just how I made it. You can add any green, non-starchy veggies to this and it will still be low calorie.

This is my mom’s Cheese, Onion & Tomato Pie based on the Savory Cheese and Onion Pie in “The Vegetarian Epicure” by Anna Thomas published in 1972. All my life, we’ve called it Cheese, Onion & Tomato Pie, but after I reached out to Anna Thomas and asked permission to publish this recipe, I looked it up and see that she has another recipe called Cheese & Tomato Pie in her book, The Vegetarian Epicure, Book Two. This is not that recipe although that one looks good too. My mom uses a frozen 9” pie crust for the pie, but the original recipe calls for a 10” shortcrust pastry. My mom adds Parmesan cheese to the recipe as well.

A Whole 30 and gluten free compliant pie with a potato crust, pork carnitas, caramelized onions, roasted tomatoes, and eggs. My idea was to take the ingredients of pork taco and make it into a pie or quiche with a layered potato crust.

Carnitas are citrus and spice infused braised pork that’s often browned in the oven before using.They’re kind of like Mexican pulled pork.

The Roasted Asparagus, Mushroom, Bacon & Goat Cheese Tart I designed for an Easter brunch. It would also make a fine Easter bonnet, it’s so pretty.

Some days mashed potatoes seem like too much work. You can save a step by roasting and slicing the potatoes for a lazy turkey shepherds pie and topping it with cheese.

This is a delicious spin on potato pancakes is perfect for Passover! I wanted it to be extra crunchy, so I added crisped rice to the coating. I was curious to see how this would work out and it did so “CRUNCH-i-liciously”!

Bacon Fried Rice is my favorite breakfast dish, but I could also eat it for lunch, dinner, afternoon snack, or even dessert. Clearly, it may seem that I have a problem. I say, “There’s no problem unless there’s no more bacon or rice in the world.”

While this Smoked Duck Breast, Mango & Avocado Salad sounds pretty fancy, it’s only because smoked duck breast makes even the most pedestrian dish sound uppity. Say: Smoked Duck Breast, Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich—see? It adds instant class. In addition to raising the social strata of any dish, smoked duck breast is a quick fix for any dish. Yes, I’m calling Smoked Duck Breast Oatmeal—trend-spotting!

There are no proportions for the ingredients in this recipe, only the technique. I figure on six to ten wings per person. I always make extra since we can usually eat a ton of these and even if we can’t finish them, we are very happy to eat them the next day. Make a sticky sauce and consider giving them a wee sprinkle of a little something crunchy when they come out of the oven like garlic chips, sesame seeds, bacon bits, and so forth (more ideas below).

You can follow a recipe and eat very well, or do your own thing and eat EXACTLY what you want, which I think is even better. I’m a rule-breaker and I encourage you to do the same. You can put anything in this Franken-salad. Just make sure the colors contrast as you build it and expect GASPS from your guests.

Back in the Stone Age, I found the base recipe for Jackie’s Sassy BBQ Sauce in a compilation cookbook that was from a neighborhood association or the Rotary Club, which I’ve long since lost. I tweaked it and changed it and made it my own, so I renamed it. I’ve made it all over the world. In the 90’s, I had to bring my own Mexican chili powder to Australia to make it because they didn’t sell it there. In my family, it’s evolved to a comfort food and my little brother likes it every Christmas Eve as part of his birthday dinner along with my Confetti Potato Salad and Pot Licker Greens. No, we don’t live or celebrate his birthday in a warm climate. I oven-barbecue it every year.

My Mama didn’t know how to cook when she left the nest. She had to learn fast. This Madras chicken curry recipe was one of her most requested-by-us dishes. It’s so simple a newlywed could master it!

I can make all sorts of new fangled, over-the-top and invented dishes I want for turkey day, but I know my family and friends would turn on me if I didn’t make macaroni and cheese. It’s on the menu every year. It’s rich because it has a lot of CHEESE in it and BUTTER and that’s what makes it DELICIOUS! This is recipe for a crowd or just a few Mac ’n’ Cheese enthusiasts. You know your people. Be sure to make enough. It also freezes beautifully.

Every time I order sushi, I swear I’m getting something different and then I order a salmon skin roll. Perhaps that’s because salmon skin rarely shows up anywhere else in my life and I have to get my fix. Props to the Japanese for inspiring this cross cultural dish.