I miss Iranian food. As a matter of fact I miss international food, good international food. It’s funny because when someone outside of the middle east finds out I live in Jordan, they get really excited and tell me how lucky I am that the food is amazing. Sure, Arabic food is amazing, but you can only have so much Arabic food before it starts coming out of your eyes, ears and nose. Everything else — non-Arabic food– is basically mediocre. Oh right, and there’s little to no variety. (more…)
I’ll be honest, this recipe was supposed to be “red rice and chicken,” but, obviously, the rice isn’t red. It’s likely due to several factors; the brown spices I used, my not caramelizing the onions, pre-packaged chicken stock. Honestly, I can’t quite put my finger on the exact reason why my rice isn’t red, but I’m not even disappointed. Despite this being a red rice fail, it worked out perfectly as a modified kabsa. (more…)
It’s fall! Officially pumpkin season. And no, I did not jump on the pumpkin spice latte bandwagon back in September. Pumpkins, in my personal opinion, should be enjoyed once the weather gets crisp and just a little chilly. Sweater weather, if you will. So when we were hitting 90 degree temps in September, I was still rocking my sleeveless tops and French vanilla coffee.
Sweater weather has arrived, and with it everything pumpkin flavored. I may or may not be a little obsessed, seeing that I have a plethora of pumpkin themed recipes on the blog. Some of my favorites include: BBQ and Spiced Pumpkin Seeds, Pumpkin Pecan Cheesecake, Pumpkin Brownies, Pumpkin Spice Pancakes, Pumpkin Cheesecake with Cinnamon Pecans and Pumpkin Jam. (more…)
I’m not a huge fan of Asian foods [and by Asian, I mean far-east Asian]. I’m extremely picky. Not because I’m not adventurous with food, but everyone has different tastes and mine just happens to not be extremely fond of the sauces. I usually have one or two go-to items when I’m stuck in a situation where I have to have Chinese, or Thai, or Japanese food – usually because I’m the minority. And usually, my go-to items are sauce-free or are pretty bland in flavor. Everyone’s entitled to their prerogative and this is mine. (more…)
The last time I made rice, it took me exactly 1 minute and 30 seconds. I basically pulled the plastic wrap off of minute rice, stuck it in the microwave and waited impatiently for one minute while it cooked. Needless to say, rice is not my forte. Even more needless to say, I barely eat rice at home, unless it’s minute rice of course. Despite this, I still decided to try my luck with a healthy, lower-calorie version of a rice casserole. I wasn’t sure. I’ve had too many experiences where the rice was either over (mushy) or under cooked. Trust me, if I can do this, so can you. (more…)
After spending some time with my mother this weekend, I decided to take some of her advice. Mom suggested I find a hobby to keep me busy since I’ve been getting bored lately. That would have been easy, if I could think of one activity that could keep me interested and entertained for a long period of time. Cooking can’t keep me busy all the time. That’s when I realized, it’s time to get cracking on my “Before I’m 30 List.” Yes. Such a list does exist. It started when I was 15 on a piece of college-ruled paper. When I got my first laptop, I digitized my list and have been crossing things off ever since. Some have heard about this list … not many have actually seen it, or know what’s on it. That’s probably because, I’ll admit, there are some things on there that I should have accomplished by now. (more…)
