Green Papaya Salad

City living has introduced me to so many new cuisines.  One of my new favorite comfort foods is Thai food, with it's impossibly delicious balance of salty, sweet, sour, and spicy.  There is a hole in the wall place near my old apartment that I fell in love with.  Green curry with jasmine rice, crispy soft shelled crab, tom kha gai soup, and my favorite side dish green papaya salad.  Green papaya is just unripened papaya, the perfect vehicle for the spicy dressing of the salad.  I haven't been able to find the unripened fruit anywhere in DC, so I was ecstatic to bring some home from Baltimore.

The papaya should be peeled, seed, and shredded before using.  I prepared the papaya, carrots, and cucumber with the shredding blade of my food processor, but the large holes of a cheese grater would work fine in a pinch.  The shredded vegetables are combined with blanched green beans and sweet cherry tomatoes then dressed with a spicy tart balanced sauce.  It's best to let the salad soak in the dressing for a few hours before serving to allow the flavors to really pack a punch.

Valentine's Day Blood Orange Yogurt Cake

If you haven't already noticed, I'm not really a baker.  I like the freedom of adding as I go along and not having to worry about the chemistry of the dish, just the flavor.  But tonight, I was inspired by the cheap bag of blood oranges in the front of my Trader Joe's.  I waited a half hour in a line wrapped around the store (ohhh foggy bottom) and thought I deserved a treat!  Plus, this cake is a twinge pink and Valentine's Day perfect!

My love affair with blood oranges began when i was 9 in Belgium.  I was visiting my aunt and I pulled what I thought was an orange out of her fruit basket.  To my surprise, there wasn't the typical sunny interior but a deep red color with a taste that was a mixture of orange and berry.  Years later, I remember the first bites and always look for them in the winter when they're in season.

I tried to stay a little healthy with this dish, which is why I chose to adapt Ina Garten's Lemon Yogurt Cake.  Greek yogurt acts as the fat along with vegetable oil.  Blood orange and lemon zest scent the whole cake with a blood orange juice simple syrup soaked into the cake.  A simple glaze punched up with blood orange sorbet (told you I was obsessed) and/or berries macerated in lemon and pomegranate juice are a great accompaniment.

Roasted Chickpeas

This was a lovely addition to my roasted eggplant soup as protein-packed croutons, but these would also be a perfect finger food at any party.  The chickpeas are roasted until browned and crispy then salted and covered in spice while still warm.

Tamarind Spiced Roasted Eggplant Soup

I do not tolerate the cold.  My teeth chatter at the slightest hint of a temperature dip.  Since I'm stuck with DC winters for at least another 3 years, I figured I should find a culinary respite in the mean time.  This tamarind spiced eggplant soup is so comforting to me.  The first layers of flavor are created by roasting eggplants, tomatoes, and garlic.  The spices are sauteed before any liquid is added to allow their flavor to permeate every bite.  The silky coconut milk is a nice change to stock and cream based soups and adds sweetness to contrast with the spices.  Finally, the tamarind gives it a delicious and unexpected underlying tang.  All in all, a balanced, hearty, and warming soup perfect for a dreary winter day.

Tamarind Spiced Roasted Eggplant Soup

Tamarind is the fruit pulp of an african tree with notes of sweetness and tartness.  I used a tamarind concentrate that I found at my local asian market.  It is used in thai, mediterranean, indian, and mexican dishes, but you may know it best as one of the bajillion ingredients in Worcestershire sauce (affectionately, whatsinhere sauce).  The flavor is concentrated, so a little definitely goes a long way.

Concentrated Tamarind: The Unsung Hero!

As a note, this is my first post with my new big girl camera.  I was inspired to upgrade based on this picture from Deb at Smitten Kitchen, so I thought this would be an appropriate ode to her and her inspiring photography.

Chickpea and Jicama Citrus Salad

I'm a poor grad student and meat is expensive, so I try hard to get protein into my diet in other ways.  My go to is chickpeas - in salads, dips, or crisped up with spices.  For this salad, I combined the chickpeas with crunchy jicama and colorful bell peppers and then dressed it with a citrus dressing.

Cilantro Lime Grilled Fruit with Challah and Marscapone

Grilled fruit is a game changer.  Ever since I saw Alton Brown's episode on grilling, where he ended with fruit kabobs utilizing the last heat from the coals, I've been obsessed.  No fruit is safe; I've tried pineapple spears, stone fruit, lemons and limes for topping meat, and whole bananas.  So on kebab night (oh my lord spiedis straight from Binghamton, NY), I decided to switch it up with kebab strawberries!  A simple syrup infused with lime and cilantro is the star of this easy summer dessert.

Cilantro and Lime in EVERY Bite!

Grilled Corn with Garlicky Chipotle Butter

Goodness, I love summer corn.  Grilled corn topped with a melted butter sauce is typical on our family table for Sunday night dinner.  The charred sweet corn goes great with a garlicky spicy melted butter.

Grilled Sweet Corn with a little Spicy Kick!

Grilled Sweet Potatoes

After my yoga class the other day, I heard a couple of girls talking about grilling sweet potatoes.  Despite the fact I hate all things root vegetable, I knew my family would love it so I had to bring it home.  The trick to getting it just right is to parboil the potatoes before slicing into grill-friendly wedges.

Warm Corn and Tomato Salad

When thinking of what to pair with the Bacon-wrapped Mahi Mahi, I knew I needed something citrus-based to cut the fat of the bacon and keep the dish light yet savory.  Fresh corn and tomatoes help deliver the bright flavor.

Bacon-wrapped Mahi Mahi

According to Emeril, pork fat rules!  So, naturally bacon can only make fish taste more delicious.  This was a creation after a long day of work, where I was watching bacon sizzling on food network.  I immediately jumped up and tried to figure out what I could wrap in bacon.  I chose the mahi mahi in my fridge, a firm white fish that will stand up to a lot of strong flavors.