Edamame is a favorite side dish/snack that I serve my family a few times a week.  My husband and toddler both love it and I am overjoyed that my little one is getting protein and fiber while having fun picking the beans from the pods.  We eat edamame plain mostly but when I want spicy, salty and garlicky, seasoning these babies is the way to go.   Best part is that you can make edamame in a few minutes without thinking too much a...

There are few ingredients that I love more than chocolate.  And anything with pure cocoa powder just gives me sweet chills.  My life is filled with cravings for different tastes and today I was anxious for this healthy yet rich raw chocolate tart.  I saw a recipe at my local Whole Foods made by one of their recipe specialists and I couldn't resist. Best part about this recipe is that it is naturally sweetened with dates.  The wal...

When I lived in Buenos Aires I ate palmito (hearts of palm) salad all the time.  I loved it and ordered it in restaurants whenever I could find it.  I hadn't eaten palmitos in a while and then recently I was at a Brazilian restaurant and they had it on the menu!  It was so delicious that I have brought back palmitos into my cooking for the Spring.  You can buy palmitos canned at most local super markets. Palmitos on t...

Spring appears to be committedly here now and I get the fever for all things fruit.  These Bartlett pears were looking pretty and almost ripe at the produce section of the super market and all I could think was about grilling something. That something would be pears.  Grilled pears are great on their own since the cooking process brings out their sweetness. But wouldn't a chilled dill mayo just totally balance out the sweet and...

Dulce de leche was one of my favorite desserts growing up in Peru, although there we called it manjar blanco or white delicacy.  There are actually different types of dulce de leche and they come in a range of  shades from white to deep brown depending mostly on how long you cook it. Dulce de leche is really nothing more than milk and sugar cooked for a long time with thickener added.  But the invention of condensed milk was revo...