Seaweed or nori (sea vegetable) rolls are an easy and beautiful delicacy you can serve for a light main meal or as appetizer maki bites.  Arrange the maki on a nice plate or tray and you have a centerpiece for any cocktail party or get together.  Best part is that these rolls are as delicious as they are colorful and they take very little time to make. I made these seaweed rolls with spinach, scallions, quinoa, cucumbers and strawb...

Portobello mushrooms have great consistency and texture and can please even the most hard-core carnivores.  Simply baked Portobellos are already delicious all on their own.  Add tofu ricotta on top and it gets more interesting as you create a sophisticated hearty meal to serve on any occasion.   I am thinking as a lovely dinner entrée or as an appetizer if you cut up each mushroom into four pieces. Tofu in its raw state is qu...

Olives in the raw are bitter, mostly inedible and not much to look at.  But cured olives are savory, rich tasting and full of color.  I remember growing up in Peru, my grandfather Pepe a man of the land and an amazing cook, would bring home sacks of dry black olives that he would cure and integrate into different dishes. A black olive and onion salsa was one of his recipes and a home staple that we served with bread, over rice and...

This recipe for succulent roasted brussel sprouts came from the website of  Cafe Gratitude, a collection of vegan eateries in California.  The restaurant group has a dedicated area where visitors can choose from a short seasonal list of recipes.  I love brussel sprouts in general but this miso glaze made with Tamari, maple syrup, red miso and apple cider gives these green babies an extra yum.  The asian-inspired dish is that com...

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...

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...

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...

I think that a healthy breakfast can taste like dessert.  Or dessert anytime of day can be healthy in general if made with the right ingredients.  I am almost certain you will agree with me when you see what this parfait is made of, especially since it is completely sugar-free but sweetly satisfying. You can make this parfait with blueberries or strawberries. And you can also make it in any glass or dish instead of a jar. Ma...

I have been home under the weather for a few days and really wanted something special for breakfast. Saturday was rainy and we were all hanging out in the loft so it was a perfect time to bake.  I had all the  baking ingredients I needed and a couple of fuji apples, all perfect for what I had in mind. I thought an upside down cake would be perfect because I wanted the top to be caramely and gooey.  We all know about the pineap...

Lucuma ice cream was my  favorite as a child living in Peru.  And mango everything was everyone's favorite.  I was shopping at a different Whole Foods in the suburbs of Boston last week and I came across lucuma powder.  I was skeptical at first but I bought it anyways.  It was pricey at about $14 a bag but I couldn't resist hoping for a taste of my childhood.  Thankfully I wasn't disappointed.  Lucuma is a tropical fruit nat...