gluten free dairy free soy free recipes
Spring is here!
So is asparagus season – yum! Our relationship has come a long way.
Growing up, raw carrots, lettuce, and tomatoes were welcomed on my plate, for the most part, and nothing else. The green vegetables were what I had a tough time with. Mushy, and usually marginally seasoned thus resulting in my conviction: I will never eat vegetables for the rest of my life.
Purim, the cheeriest of all Jewish holidays, begins at sundown Wednesday night (March 23). It’s when we celebrate the oppression from the evil chief minister of King Ahasuerus in Persia (more on the history here). A holiday dubbed as the “Jewish Mardi Gras”, Purim calls for lots of drinking, eating, dressing in costume and giving of food (usually sweet) gifts to others called Mishloach Manot in Hebrew. And when we celebrate with hamantaschen cookies.
When I was sixteen I had the best job ever. I worked at a Chinese restaurant delivering food while the radio blasted in my car (okay, Dad’s car), for a few hours a day on the weekends. The tips were the clincher. The people of Glendale (Queens, New York) were very generous tippers (shout out to the wonderful folks of Glendale), making my job that much sweeter; happy to deliver Chinese food with the usual abundance of fortune cookies and duck sauce tucked into their shopping bags.
If this weekend comfort food doesn’t provide any consolation from a long week, then I don’t know what will.
Can we just stop and stare for a minute?
I’m not one to initiate a stare but look at those crispy edges. And the clusters of caramelized crunchy goodness. And the specks of orange zest. YASSS. Wait until we slice… there’s an irresistible blend of citrus swirling around with vanilla and honey flavors, all infused into the most decadent custardy french toast under a golden brown exterior.
In recent months, cauliflower has been a front-and-center sale item here (“here” being Los Angeles suburbia). Purple, orange and white varieties – all of them – spread out at my grocery store ready for the picking and poking, reminding me that I don’t make nearly enough recipes with this smart looking vegetable.
