Dandelion is claimed to be one of those miracle greens. It is bitter yet cooling and it is apparently good for stimulating liver function, reducing swelling and inflammation and improving digestion among a myriad of things.  Just the word "dandelion" sounds lyrical and makes me think of magical fairy food picked off by beautiful creatures frolicking in colorful fields in a faraway land.  Perhaps I have watched too many fantasy fil...

My son loves the vegan scones from the Whole Foods bakery and I wish I could eat a whole one too.  I can take a bite here and there because of the flour, but I wanted a more digestible scone and perhaps not as sweet.  One of my go to baking books, BabyCakes NYC, has a great recipe that I adapted by adding raisins.  Gabriel loves anything raisins so this was the way to go. I bet that if I gave Gabriel this triple deck of scones...

Some store-bought hummus are not bad but nothing like making it at home.  I find that I can taste more of the tahini in the homemade version and I can always adapt it to add a bit more of this and a bit more of that to get the exact flavor I want. Hummus is really nothing more than chickpeas/garbanzo beans, garlic, tahini (or sesame paste), olive oil, lime or lemon and whatever else you want to put in it to give it a kick such a...

Sweet and delicious baked squash with maple syrup and a touch of cumin.  I ate mine straight from the shell and with a glass of red pinot noir to savor every bite. Not much to this recipe. Cut, scoop seeds, season, bake and there you have it! I mashed the remaining half of the squash and served it to my son and husband as a side dish.  They slurped it right up!   Save Print Baked Acorn Squash ...

My favorite part of the fall holiday includes the crisp cool air of the season, beautiful orange pumpkins displayed everywhere and delicious apple picking days in the New England fields.  And who doesn't love the comforting smell of scrumptious baked goods that makes for a cozy home?  One of my favorite fall recipes (pumpkin-spice muffins) comes from the first BabyCakes NYC books, which I have adapted for this recipe to make a bre...

Most weekends we go to an Indian buffet that we love in Cambridge.   I always salivate over the creamy  kheer in the large bowl being scooped generously by the patrons into delicious globs held by tiny overflowing cups.  Finally I decided to make a kheer that I too could enjoy.  Many may disagree and it's all good but white rice has little nutritional value for me so I used quinoa instead for my  recipe.  Plus I figured Gabrie...

 Summer, summertime and all great tasting light dishes are welcome.  I need nourishment but hate to feel too full when I eat.  This quinoa salad served chilled hits the spot in all areas including tummy satisfaction, good nutrition and feeling cool during the warmer months of the year. I basically threw in any veggies that looked good into my cooked quinoa and then topped it off with pomegranate. Delish! Keep cool people....

My Philippine friend Tony turned me on to mung beans a few years back.  Tony said I should take a shot at making them so that he could eat them given that mung bean dishes are not a staple in the U.S.  Being Latin and all I wasn't shy to trying a new bean and going through the soaking process etc.  Instead of using the typical spanish cumin, onion and tomato paste sauce I used a curry one instead and the dish was fabulous.  I rememb...

I promise this is not a cheap way out of a blog post, I just honestly love roasted asparagus and it is a dish I make often.  And simple, simple, simple. The thinner the asparagus the less fibrous they are when you cook them.  Chop about an inch off the bottoms to get rid of the hard stuff. Drizzle with olive oil. Add some fresh cracked pepper and sea salt and toss around to cover asparagus well. Roast and here you have...

We were in Paris last week and I was reminded by how the French prepare vegetables that are simple and beautiful.  These vibrant and opinionated people (whom I love by the way) seem  to effortlessly throw raw or cooked veggies on a plate with a bit of a sauce and voila!  Lunch or dinner is served!   These radishes looked so rich and crispy on the produce shelf that I whisked them up right away to create a French style roasted sa...