Vegan Veggie Burgers

I’m not vegan, but I watched “What the Health?” on Netflix and learned some interesting facts about where our food comes from and the politics of the food industry. I also have some dear friends who are vegan so I want to make sure I have recipes for when they come and visit!! These veggie burgers are nice because they stick together and don’t require any “binding” ingredients like eggs or breadcrumbs. It also doesn’t use any oil and all the flavor comes from the veggies and hot sauce! My mother in law introduced me to this recipe when our little guy was just a few weeks old and they freeze really well in wax paper/glass containers. I made a few little tweaks to the original she got from a vegan cookbook since I didn’t have some of the ingredients it called for but here it is. Enjoy!

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Cinnamon Brioche French Toast

French toast is one of those foods that takes me back to my childhood. My mom used to take me to the YMCA in Philadelphia and they taught us kids how to make french toast. So now here I am in Texas, still making french toast and still needing a step stool to reach cupboards. Enjoy!

Here’s a photo of me trying out a french toast recipe at home at our apartment in Upper Darby:

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Tomato Avocado Orzo Summer Salad

I like walking through the grocery store and seeing a bounty of summer veggies to choose from. The mini tomatoes always seem to catch my husband’s eye and are a fun snack with cheese and crackers. I had some leftover orzo pasta in the pantry that needed to be used up so there’s my boring inspiration for a yummy summer salad. Enjoy!

Ingredients (4 servings)

  • 1 cup uncooked orzo pasta
  • 1 pint mixed mini tomatoes, quartered
  • 1 avocado, small cubes
  • 6-10 leaves of fresh basil (depending on size) – chiffonade
  • 1 tsp / 1 clove minced garlic
  • 1 Tbsp olive oil
  • 1/2 c fresh grated parmesan cheese
  • salt and pepper to taste

Directions

  1. Heat oil and garlic on low-medium heat until fragrant (2-3 min) and then keep pan warm on simmer setting.
  2. Cook orzo pasta per package directions, drain excess water and transfer pasta to pan with oil/garlic and stir to coat.
  3. Add tomatoes and stir to combine and leave on gentle heat (simmer) for 5-6 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste.
  4. When ready to serve – remove from heat and add avocado, basil and cheese and gently stir to combine.

Fig and Citrus Salad

There are some things that I look forward to all year – one of those things is fig season. Whether they are the Black Mission, Brown Turkey, or Tiger Stripe variety, I always make it a point to head to Trader Joe’s the last few weeks of August to stock up on the deliciousness. My absolute favorite fig is the Tiger Stripe both in appearance and flavor and so I chose to use them this time but any fresh fig will do. Enjoy!

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Restaurant Review: Baan Esaan

My husband and I went on our honeymoon (slightly delayed by 3 years) to Thailand and had a pleasure of visiting Bangkok, Chiang Mai, and Phuket. We took a cooking class in Bangkok that we absolutely loved and had the chance to eat the local food in Chiang Mai which was equally delicious. We returned to San Antonio craving the same flavors and were so excited that a new Thai place had opened up a few blocks away: Baan Essan. The name means ‘Home of the East’  and it specializes in the food of northeastern Thailand.

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Creamy Mushroom and Leek Tagliatelle

My sweet friend, Jen, gave me the gift of a free Hello Fresh week. It’s a service where you get a week’s worth of groceries specifically measured to create specific recipes and reduce food waste. It was fun to try different recipes and this one has become a favorite in our house. It’s creamy like an alfredo but much healthier and the leeks have a nice mild flavor – a perfect cold and rainy day dinner. Enjoy! (more…)

Pumpkin Pie Cupcakes

A good friend of mine (thanks again, Jay!) sent me this a long time ago and it’s still one of my favorite crowd-pleasing cupcakes to make, though a bit labor intensive. The recipe is from Bake It In a Cake and it’s a mini pumpkin pie baked inside of a vanilla cupcake with a cinnamon cream cheese frosting. It’s not too sweet and has a wonderful texture that is light though it appears dense. I had a lot of extra cupcake batter, pumpkin pie batter, and some pie crust so you may want to account for that to make more mini pies or even a small pumpkin pie and a few plain vanilla cupcakes. Enjoy!

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Sparkling Cardamom Spiced Cranberries

This recipe comes from a friend here in San Antonio – Annice Hill. She is an amazing cook and and was so sweet to share this with me. It’s perfect for the holidays and my in-laws have lovingly named these ‘Crackberries’ because of how addictive they are. The cardamom adds a slight spice which I really like. Though a little labor intensive, they are well worth the effort. Annice likes to display them in a clear glass or crystal bowl or a compote. No refrigeration required.

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Restaurant Review: Berbere Ethiopian Cuisine

One of my favorite types of ethnic cuisines is Ethiopian food. My grandparents spent many years in Addis Ababa and my mom and a few of her siblings were born there. In each of the cities that I have lived in I had a ‘go to’ Ethiopian or Eritrean restaurant that I could get a vegetarian plate with the soft tangy spongy Injera and my favorite lentils and veggies. However, San Antonio doesn’t have a restaurant like that… yet. After many weeks of Google searches and yearning for Ethiopian deliciousness I stumbled upon a Facebook page for Berbere Ethiopian Cuisine, a caterer who provided “catering for events and home parties along with personal chef services.” My parents and in-laws were coming into town for a weekend so I thought I’d give the personal chef a try so our family could spend some quality time together. I am so glad I did…

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Restaurant Review: Bombay Salsa Co. Food Truck

What happens when you combine Indian food with Mexican food? We went to find out at Bombay Salsa Co.’s grand re-opening a few weeks ago. Bombay Salsa Co. is a food truck run by Hitish Nathani and his fantastic father with the support of their family. Biochemistry professor by day and ‘Salsero’ by night, it’s obvious that Mr. Nathani has a passion for food and he recently spent a few months traveling all over India for inspiration and new items to add to his menu. The menu itself is a blend of an Indian street food/Chipotle/Taco Bell style options (many Indian college students have dreamt of such a thing): you pick whether you’d like a quesadilla, burrito, or taco and then you pick a style (Indian or Mexican) and a protein (chicken, tofu, or paneer). We enjoyed tasting a variety of things off of the menu with some friends and if Indian Mexican fusion food was something you dreamt about in your dorm room, read on!  🙂

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