Yogurt

Lamb marinaded in a spicy yogurt sauce and grilled to a perfect medium rare.

This indian curry dish is inspired by veggie chili.  It is super healthy, flavorful, and filling.

This is the best onion dip of all time.  For real.

These chicken wings are inspired by the Persian chicken stew fesenjoon.  It is flavored with pomegranate and walnut.

Hummus is mixed with some chickpea flour, formed into planks, and then fried. Serve with a yogurt sauce and you can dip a dip into dip!

Ingredients1/2 Pound Ground Lamb1/2 Onion diced 2 Teaspoons Oregano1 Teaspoon Cumin1 Teaspoon Sumac1 Teaspoon Coriander1 Cup Diced Cucumbers1 Cup Diced Tomato1/4 Cup Minced Parsley1 Clove Garlic (grated or pressed) 1 Lemon (juice) 1 Cup Yogurt (give or take) For: 8 PeoplePreparation: 10 minCooking: 30 minReady in: 40 min InstructionsSaute the onion in some butter to…

As I mentioned earlier, My sisters and I threw a big party for my parents last weekend and it was a great success. For the main meal at the party, I did kind of a vaguely middle eastern/greek feast for everyone, the centerpiece being these marinated chicken drumsticks and pork tenderloins. The marinade might seem like a bit of work and a little pricy, but the fact is, it can transform cheaper cuts of meat into a luxurious treat fit for a king.

I really think that udon is the future of pasta salad. Seriously this noodle is so chewy and perfect for cold preparations. I made this pasta salad with leftover taco meat and mixed it with yogurt and ponzu and it made a fantastic side dish for a bbq. You read it here first folks. Udon is the future of pasta salad.

I had some co-workers over for a quick bite on the way out to a “Team Building Event” (bar crawl). Had to stick to veggies because one is vegetarian, but I wanted to make something light anyways. I needed it to be really delicious because these people cook my recipes at Cafe Burrito every day and I wanted to show them that I was good at cooking other types of food too. I decided on making a simple cauliflower and chickpea curry and rolling it into some fresh rolls. I made a quick yogurt raita as a dipping sauce and the rolls were a big success.

My entire cooking career, I have been on the lookout for these thinner spring roll wrappers. There is a bit of confusion with nomenclature on google, and in the grocery store, I could only ever find thick egg roll wrappers, wonton wrappers, or summer roll wrappers. Finally one day I asked an employee at an Asian market and he lead me to the freezer section! This is where I had gone wrong my whole life! The other wrappers are in the aisles or the refrigerator, but the nice thin spring roll wrappers are in the freezer. This was a whole new world to me and I instantly came up with some fun spring roll ideas, starting with this chicken tikka variety.

Mandi got me this really cool handheld smoker for my birthday this year. She passed my secret test where I casually mention I want something nowhere near my birthday while we are watching Top Chef after drinking a few beers and then I expect to get it for my next birthday. I guess she is a keeper! Anyways, despite wanting this thing, I had my reservations about it. I didn’t think it could possibly get smoke flavor into any ingredient with just a quick 15 minutes of “smoke marinade”. I still wanted to try though! After my first attempt, I am still on the fence, but hopeful. This soup had a nice background smoke flavor to it. I ran the smoking gun 4 times while making this soup which seems like a lot to me to get just a “background smoke flavor”, but I think after I get the hang of how to best use it, I can get better results with less smoking action.

Malai kofta is a favorite Indian takeout dish of Mandi and I. I have been wanting to make a version of this for awhile, and I finally had a chance this weekend. I found a classic recipe in an Indian cookbook I have, and swapped out the spinach for some fresh kale. These kale kofta balls came out great and really satisfied our craving for a hearty Indian vegetarian feast.