Freekeh (pronounced free-kah), has been a staple grain in the Middle Eastern diet for centuries, and it is now gaining popularity in the United States.
‘Cooking Together’: Freekeh Salad With Bulgar and Vegetables
‘Cooking Together’: Let’s Make Sheera for Diwali
One simple sweet my mother made on Diwali morning has left me with deep and fond memories. It is called Sheera – also known as simple Halwa in some parts of India. Sheera is often served as prasadam (gods leftovers) to the attendees of Hindu temples after a worship ceremony.
‘Cooking Together’: Home-made Berry Jam
I have not bought jams from a grocery store ever since I moved to California, some 50+ years ago. And I have raised three children, frequently making them PB&J sandwiches for lunch. Now that the kids are grown, I still enjoy making jams, sometimes for myself or to give them away to friends.
‘Cooking Together’: Holiday Pasta with Festive Red and/or Green Sauce
Home-made sauces are usually tastier and can be more nutritious if you prepare them with right ingredients. Once the sauce is made, it can be refrigerated for up to a week or frozen for a longer period.
‘Cooking Together’: Vegetarian Empanadas
Thanksgiving celebrations in the U.S. started with Native Americans and Europeans sharing food after the harvest. However, many people today do not realize the vital role the Natives played in cultivating crops such as corn, squash, beans, tomatoes, and berries and sharing this knowledge with the pilgrims.
‘Cooking Together’: Quick Stir-Fried Cabbage Bhaji
This cabbage recipe is easy to prepare and affordable to make for a large crowd. Besides being inexpensive, cabbage prepared using this method is delicious!
‘Cooking Together’: Spring Garlic Chutney
Just like the spring onion (or scallion) the entire plant – green portion and the white bulb of green garlic – can be consumed, raw or cooked.
‘Cooking Together’: New Year’s Resolution – Eat Healthier Foods
During the holidays, we are surrounded by unhealthy foods, bombarded with their ads and end up indulging. Once the holidays are behind us, many people resolve to cut down on sweets and other empty calories.
Cooking Together: Roasted Eggplants (Baigan Bharta)
Eggplants, native to India, grow there all year-round and are available in many shapes and colors. It is very popular in Indian cuisine with a variety of cooking methods, such as stir-frying, stuffing and roasting.
Cooking Together – Butternut Squash and Brussel Sprouts Curry
Butternut squash and Brussel sprouts are in abundance in the fall and winter when our bodies need them. They both contain nutrients needed for the cold season.
Cooking Together: Patras
Patras are made by first spreading a spiced batter of the nutritious garbanzo bean flour on taro leaves and then rolling them into logs, steaming the logs and finally cutting them into slices to pan-fry them briefly.
Undercover Chef – May 2019
My career as a Fine Dining Chef career spans decades in five-star hotels and restaurants. I have an M.A.Ed. with a focus on Nutritional Health and Fast Food Marketing; all of this means nothing in the field of work I do as a Chef Educator for “at risk youth.” I run a fine dining restaurant open to the public.
For food, chef walks a mile in Native Americans’ moccasins
John Farais, a local chef, cooks with the same ingredients that the Native Americans relied on, but uses modern kitchen technology to create contemporary dishes.
Richmond Review/Sunset Beacon 