Turkey-Pesto Burgers with Grilled Onions

Do you ever go to the store with no idea of what you want to make for dinner? Last Monday was one of those days. I went to the Butcher counter and started to panic because it was almost my turn and I couldn’t focus: Hmm…that fish looks nice and fresh…So do those steaks…Dustin would [...]

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“Thai” Basil Stir Fry

One of our favorite Thai dishes was the inspiration for this meal, except that we used regular basil instead of thai basil – the kind that everyone has tons of right now that screams caprese salad or pesto. Well, we wanted to do something a little different with ours. We found it was the perfect [...]

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Grilled Lamb Gyros with Tzatziki & Summer Chickpea Salad

We’ve been thinking about gyros ever since we went to a Greek Food Festival with our friends last month. I think my favorite part of a gyro is the tzatziki. The cucumber, lemon and yogurt make for a refreshing sauce that goes perfectly with grilled meat, tomatoes and onions. Last night we made our own [...]

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Happy Easter! Part 2: Lemony Couscous with Peas, Mint, and Pea Shoots

This may have been another Easter side dish, but my fork kept gravitating to it on my plate, as if it were the main dish. We dressed couscous up for spring with peas, cumin seeds (ground in a mortar and pestle), fresh mint from the garden, refreshing pea shoots (I love how much delicate pea [...]

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Egg-Noodles with Green Garlic, Chiles, Cilantro & Steak

Dustin thought up this comforting dish using my leftover steak from dinner the night before at Cafe Cruz, where I conquered the delicious (and unwieldy) open-faced “Bistro Steak Sandwich” – a piece of garlic bread, topped with a perfectly medium rare steak, and finished off with a handful of thin, crispy onion rings. Well, I [...]

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Veggie Crudités with Minted-Pea Yogurt Dip

Green foods are sometimes not as photogenic as others, but putting that aside, this dip is fresh, healthy, and a good match for cold, crunchy, seasonal veggies. We served this dip while we were watching the Oscars on Sunday – with radishes, carrots, Belgian endive, red and yellow bell peppers, and snow peas. What I [...]

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Fresh Cranberry & Mint Sauce (and other Thanksgiving tales)

Once upon a time there was a condiment that not only went well with turkey, but could also be drunk as a cocktail. Seriously. The tartness of the cranberries, and the burst of citrus and mint would be even better with champagne or rum. This is how it works:
In a food processor, simply place a [...]

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Halibut & Cannellini Beans In Tomato-Rosemary Broth

Halibut!? Why did we have that? Just for the Halibut!! Haha. Sorry. Bad joke but a delicious fish! This meal was lighter than we were expecting, but it was warm and comforting on a cold night. It definitely needs to be accompanied by lots of sliced bread to soak up the extra broth [...]

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Parmesan Herb Croutons

Turn that stale bread on the counter into crunchy, little satisfying bites! Last night we went over to my parents’ house for dinner and pumpkin carving, so I brought these croutons to use in the salad. I was inspired by the homemade croutons by Ashley of Delish and wanted to try them myself. They are [...]

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Barbequed Trout with Herbs & Potatoes

When I was a little girl, I refused to eat seafood. It’s really unfortunate because I must have missed out on a lot of delicious experiences. For example, in Felton, a small town outside of Santa Cruz, there is a restaurant called The Trout Farm Inn where you can C.Y.O.T. (catch your own trout) in [...]

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Crispy, Crunchy, Garlic-Roasted Tomatoes

So if you haven’t noticed, panko breadcrumbs are one of our favorite ingredients. In this recipe they are sautéed with garlic and parsley and make a lovely crispy topping for baked tomatoes. Yes please! Try this side dish with chicken, fish, whatever. It comes (once again) from the 12 Best Foods [...]

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Tuna & White Bean Salad with Pesto Crostini

I spent a few hours on Christmas day sitting in front of the fireplace with my new 12 Best Foods Cookbook. Now that we’re back in Japan, it’s been a fun challenge to think of new recipes that use these foods. Of course before we got the book we used tomatoes, broccoli, blueberries, [...]

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Goat Cheese Quesadillas with Caramelized Onions & Fresh Basil

Before heading off to our Christmas party/gingerbread man-decorating-extravaganza, I wanted to jazz up our usual weekend lunch, so I came up with these quesadillas using things that were hanging out in our refrigerator. I’m obviously not the first to come up with this combination, but they were so light and tasty.

Spread a thin [...]

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Bacon-Wrapped Chicken & Sage w/ Creamy Lemon Pan Sauce

We’ve entered the season of Christmas party-planning madness, so that’s why we haven’t been around for a week. And after I write this we’re off to eat Udon Nabe at my student Mieko’s house (thick noodles simmered in broth with tofu and veggies–hopefully that will manifest itself as a post sometime soon; realistically after [...]

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Full of Thanks

Things I’m thankful for (in no particular order):
1. My kitten
2. German Shepherds
3. My family
4. My husband
5. Forgiveness
6. Good wine
The hardest time to live abroad is over the holidays, especially a year when your birthday and Thanksgiving finally fall on the same day. This was our second Thanksgiving without family or turkeys (the latter are [...]

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Spiced Lentils & Rice with Caramelized Onions

It’s cooled down a lot this past week. We’ve taken our sweaters and scarves out of the closet, and next week we’ll probably add our jackets and gloves to the mix. This dinner was warm and satisfying and gave me the energy to teach one last night class on the past perfect tense. [...]

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Pasta with a Melange of Japanese Autumn Mushrooms with Butter, Herbs & Cream

A tribute to the fall fungi at our grocery store that sparked our curiosity. Shitake (“tree” mushrooms), had a slippery texture and a woody flavor when cooked. Shimeji (the Medusa-esque ones above) had a more firm, meaty texture and tasted like button mushrooms. And the third variety Eringi (or King Oyster mushroom), [...]

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Dustin’s Garlic-Basil Chicken & (my favorite) Spinach

I love it when we cook together, but I appreciate Thursdays because while I’m at school teaching a cute 6th grade girl, Dustin is at home making us dinner. When I get home and park my bike behind our apartment building, I smell something delicious coming from the floor above me. I climb [...]

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Crisp Salmon with Lemony Potatoes and the Kitten’s Parsley

Japan isn’t really known for its space, and our balcony is no exception. Nonetheless, it’s our only place to enjoy the fresh (?) city air. So we recently cleaned out the junk that was being stored there by the last tenants, bought some planters, and plated some herbs — basil, parsley, and sage, [...]

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Salt, Sand, Sunshine & Cerveza

We made it safely back across the Pacific! It’s hard to sum up everything in this jet lagged state, but it was so great to see family, pets, familiar places and faces, and to eat some long-awaited food cravings. Here’s the first of several California-related posts, along with some food updates, since this [...]

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