I have learned that the best way to control what you put in your body is to make your own food rather than buy the processed products. So I make my own burgers, salad dressing, hummus – basically everything I can I make from scratch, I adjust the recipe to my taste and it’s always healthier. Crackers are one of those foods I simply got used to buying and not even think of making. Recently I came across some very good recipes that suggest the home version of crackers and I kid you not – it’s the easiest thing ever and tastes so much better. These crackers are full of healthy ingredients and have many substitution options. Try it! You won’t buy crackers any more, I can promise you that.
Mexican Food Tour In San Jose
This weekend we went with our friends Pari and Moshik to visit great Mexican food places they like in San Jose. They kept telling us that Mexican food in San Jose is different than what we are familiar with and that we need to join them for a true Mexican tour and enjoy the places they love. Today we took them up on their offer and Moshik planned for us a tour in what he calls “Little Mexico” in San Jose. It was a day before Cinco de Mayo, so the streets were full of flags and people getting ready for the big day. Mexican food in California is very popular, but the places we visited really gave Mexican food a different meaning. Everything was very authentic, fresh, not industrial and more than anything – tasty like we expected, even more.
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Grilled Chicken Rolls
Even if you are an excellent cook, you cannot stay indifferent to this gorgeous dish. This recipe might fool you to think it’s very time consuming, but it really isn’t. These beautiful rolls are a Vietnamese dish, which together with a vermicelli sauce make a perfect low calories lunch or dinner.
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Baked Tortilla Chips With Guacamole
Quick and healthy baked tortilla chips that you will immediately fall in love with. Its so simple to prepare and you can pick whatever tortilla you like, whether its corn, wheat or with flavors. I love to scoop guacamole or hummus with these chips. Thanks god they are not fried.
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Cauliflower Dough Pizza
Pizza is my favorite food. But like most of the good things in life, it comes with a price significant price tag…the calories! Most of the calories are attributed to the dough and the cheese of course. So a quick calculation tells me that if I want to get healthy and drop a few extra pounds (well, summer is here soon), I have to give up pizza for the near future. Well, do I?
A few days ago, when I was killing time on Pintrest (isn’t that what everybody does on Pintrest?) I noticed a version of this genius recipe – pizza with cauliflower crust. Well, allow me to present the flourless pizza crust, the dream of every pizza lover who cares about calories and cant give up pizza. With some modifications on the recipe (it’s improvising food after all,) I gave it a first try last week, and I’m telling you – it was awesome! When we ate it, we agreed that is definitely fulfills the craving to pizza, real pizza, but it’s only about 30% of the calories. Worth a try?
My Morning Smoothie
That’s a way to open your day. Smoothies loaded with vitamins and tastes so creamy, I call it breakfast.
You dont have to stick to these ingredients off course, but I tried this one every morning recently and I love it.
Stuffed Kale With Quinoa, Pistachios And Mushrooms
How many times did you hear someone tell you “try it, it’s healthy! It’s good for you!”? I bet you heard it a thousand times. And then you challenge yourself and give it try and…most of the times you regret you did. There is a reason it’s healthy, you say to yourself…
To me it happened with kale. First time I tried it, the kale was raw in a salad with feta cheese. The kale was fibrous and had a strong leafy flavor. But since its “good for you”, I decided to take control on the flavor and came up with this great and healthy recipe that is both good for you AND tastes great.
Kale is a kind of wild cabbage that comes in different shapes of leaves (curly, purple, narrow and long). So if it tastes like a cabbage and looks like a cabbage, why not treat it like a cabbage and create a stuffed cabbage-like recipe, using Kale? Guys and gals, once you tried this version of kale, you will add this to your recipes book.
What’s good about this dish: it tastes great (seriously, we loved it), very healthy due to the ingredients, and it’s vegetarian. The down side is it takes some time for the preparations, but it’s very much worth it. Ready?
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Spring In Our Backyard
Spring is here! I took a few pictures in our backyard, to capture some of the of the fruite and veggies we planted recently (to be honest, im not responsible for planting and growing, but more on the culinary side of things).
Its really amazing to see the old plants “wake up” as it becomes warmer and start to bloom…
Btw, Needless to say everything is organic. take a look.
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Black Rice Mushroom Risotto
Rice is one of these ingredients you can cook in so many variations.
My favorite type of rice is the black rice. It is less popular than this white brother, although these days you can find it in almost any store. This is my second post with black rice; the first one was the black rice salad. Back to the dish – Risotto is the upscale version of rice that requires some TLC to get to perfection. Black rice risotto tops a regular risotto by refreshing the dish with unique flavor and color added by the black rice. Do not skip the mushrooms!
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Baked Homemade Chips
If you are into junk food snacks, but would like to try a healthier version -this post is for you.
These chips are very easy to make, and you won’t believe how tastier and more flavorful they are, vs. the chips you buy in stores. Incomparable.
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A Day At The Farmers Markets
In this post, I have decided to share with you my Saturday/Sunday farmers market experience. If you live in California, you are probably already familiar with your local farmers markets, simply because there are so many of them. I frequently go to the one in Mountain View and Sunnyvale. Most of the times I go there, I find some farm fresh fruits or vegetables that I haven’t tried before and that is the real fun. Lately, as the farmers markets become more established, new vendors join the market. You can see artists who play music and entertain the crowd, knives sharpener, many new food stands and much more. I hope the photos can give you a flavor of how beautiful this experience is. Ready?
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Snow Treat
This weekend, we went to a cabin with friends who like to ski. We are not big fans of skiing, but we do love to stay in cabins when it’s cold outside, and warm inside. But if I don’t ski, it doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy the snow, right? Check it out.
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Chicken Lettuce Wraps
Last week my brother came to visit us from Israel. In his last day here, I wanted to make for us a dinner that is different than usual, so I decided to create my version of the famous P.F Chang’s lettuce wraps. First time I ate it, I enjoyed it so much both because of the flavor, but also because of its originality. I used to think of wraps in a carb-related context (tortilla, pitta bread, egg roll etc.…) but this one, using the lettuce, provides freshness and crunchiness to this Asian flavored dish. The sauce requires some ingredients that you might need to buy if you are not used to cooking Asian food, but pay attention to the “improvising” section for a quicker and simpler way to make a version of this dish.
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Orange Coconut Cake
I’m not that good with desserts, but the ones I do love are the “dry” cakes rather then the creamy ones. One of my favorite cakes is this orange-coconut cake that my mom makes. This cake is unbelievably moist and delicious and smells like citrus. One slice is never enough :) Again, I was only the Sous chef and was taking pictures. Yumm….
Homemade Bread (Kind Of Challah)
A few days ago I had the pleasure of cooking a few recipes with my mom during my visit in Israel. We had a great time spending the day together and for me it was a great opportunity to watch closely and document for the first time how she does it. For each recipe there was a story attached and an explanation of when is the best time in the year to serve it. The day with my mom made me think of how underrated traditions are these days and how nice it is that some dishes make some events more festive than others. In our home, making homemade bread is a sign of love, of giving, and symbolizes the feeling of being home. Well, I’m home indeed.