(Vegan) Chickpea Shakshuka

Shakshuka is originally a North African dish but over the generations it's become a signature dish across the Middle East as a substantial breakfast or lunch fare.
In the recent years, Shakshuka is taking America and Europe by storm being billed as a healthy dish.
Shakshuka can be seen in so many shapes and forms and today we’re making a vegan version of it, with chickpeas in lieu of eggs.
I’m not sure whether we can still call this dish Shakshuka since there are no eggs, but truth to be told chickpeas work like a charm in this recipe.
I will go as far as saying that you won’t miss the eggs in this vegan version.

Pomegranate Glazed Turkey Meatballs

Ah meatballs. These little bites of heavenly meat are seriously one of my favorite things to whip up, especially when I have a recipe for clean meatballs that are easy to make and delish.
I don’t mean to discriminate against other food, but meatballs are seriously one of my favorite things.
Beef, chicken, turkey, pork, vegetarian, baked, fried, with sauce on top, glazed, etc. The combination of flavors can be endless.

Greek Chicken Marinade

Let’s be real for a second, barbecue season is still a long way away.
This winter feels like it's lasting forever and spring is nowhere near.
To help beat the winter blues why don’t we pretend it’s grilling time already and make ourselves some delicious Greek Chicken?
Let’s act like the sun has come out to stay, temperatures are in the mid 70s, we’re sitting out on the back patio, we’re firing up the grill, and making some mouth-watering chicken. Okay?

(Vegan) Lemony Olive Oil Banana Bread

This is the time of the year when one of my least favourite word, “diet”, becomes all the rage once more. It’s the beginning of a New Year and and most of us are feeling inspired and motivated by the resolutions we have made in the last few weeks. When it comes to food, this usually means starting a new diet or eating plan.
All of a sudden we can’t get enough herbal teas, juice cleanses, hot water with lemon, and all the green stuff available (kale, broccoli, spinach, chard, etc.)
So I’m not sure this is the right time to post a recipe for a banana bread dotted with chocolate chunks, and covered in a delicious lemon glaze.
But you see, as soon as I perfected this recipe (last week) I couldn’t possibly wait to share it with you all.

Broccoli and Potato Patties

Broccoli is a tough one because it’s one of those greens that not too many people like the taste of. I know a lot of people that eat it largely because they know it’s one of the healthiest food on the planet, but enjoying it as a food? Not really.
Personally I love broccoli. Pasta with broccoli is one of my fave ways to have pasta, and what about my Crock-Pot Broccoli and Beef? So delicious. Not to mention this casserole with broccoli and mushroom or this creamy soup that I make every so often.
Today I’m gonna show you that you can also make delicious veggie patties with broccoli.

4-Ingredient Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars

As a kid, I loved Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. They were my favorite. They trumped all other candy bars. No Twix, Snickers, Butterfinger or 3 Musketeers could rival the deliciousness of Reese’s cups.
I always hoarded them, keeping ‘em in the fridge to enjoy the perfect combination of chocolate and peanut butter throughout the year.
I mean, it’s indisputable that peanut butter’s favorite partner in crime is chocolate. Smooth chocolate enrobing a thick peanut butter center. There’s nothing better.

Cabbage and Potato Pie

You know, sometimes you make something and you think "Oh man, what have I done?"
But then it exceeds your expectations and goes way better than you planned.
I just love that, don't you?
This Cabbage and Potato Pie do that to me.
I had an idea in mind for a vegan/vegetarian version of my Cottage Pie for a long time but never managed to make it.
Until I found this recipe on the Financial Times a couple of weeks ago.
I know that the Financial Times is not the first newspaper/magazine that comes to mind when in need of recipes, but truth to be told they have a great recipe section.

Crock-Pot Chicken Teriyaki

Chicken teriyaki is probably one of the most well known and liked Japanese dishes in the US and for sure one of the classic takeout recipes we all love.
Most people don’t think about making it at home because they either have a restaurant they love or because they buy teriyaki sauce like they buy ketchup.
But I do love making it from scratch.
In fact I have not one, not two, not three, but four different recipes for chicken teriyaki on this blog: Baked Honey-Teriyaki Chicken, Teriyaki Glazed Chicken Kebabs, Beer-Flavored Chicken Teriyaki, and Pineapple Teriyaki Glazed Chicken Skillet
And today I have a fifth.
*drumroll please*
Crock-Pot Chicken Teriyaki -> one word: uh-mazing.

The Best Maple Cinnamon Baked Apples

In my opinion baked apples are great treat on a cold evening or any other evening really and they make a healthier alternative to the usual dessert fare — a cookie, a brownie or a bit of chocolate.
My mom used to make them every so often during fall and winter when I was a child. I remember eating them hot from the oven with a scoop of vanilla ice-cream or some yogurt on top. Nothing fancy but so very delicious.

Mom’s Baked Turkey Meatballs

Growing up, my mom made the best meatballs in my opinion. I don’t know/remember if she took the recipe somewhere, tweaked an existing recipe or invented it from scratch (most likely is the former), and I’m not going to pretend these are super authentic Italian meatballs. But I grew up eating them and for that reason alone they hold a special place in my heart.
Mom would make these using either ground beef or ground turkey. I always preferred the turkey version — because I could actually taste the other ingredients in the meatball, not just the meat. But the beef version was also pretty spectacular.

Salt, Pepper & Paprika Potato Wedges

I’ve been making these spicy potato wedges for so long, I can’t even remember (most likely I was still in college.)
To be honest, I can’t believe that after all these years of blogging I haven’t told you about them yet, you should revolt or something. Just kidding, please don’t.
I don’t even remember if I found the recipe somewhere or someone told me about it or if I just experimented on my own.
It’s as simple as it gets: Potatoes cut into wedges, oil, salt, pepper, paprika, and garlic powder, pop in the oven, and voilà: awesomely crispy, packed-with-flavor, potato wedges.

(Vegan) Easy 3-Minute Brownie In A Mug

I’m gonna start this post by admitting that I already have a recipe for a chocolate brownie in a mug on this blog .
Which begs the question: do we need another one?
The answer is: yes, we do.
Let me tell you why.
First off, there’s no such thing as too many brownies— we can all agree on this one, am I right?
Secondly, this recipe is drastically different from the other one: it’s eggless, dairy-free, nut-free, vegan and not really paleo. But it’s still so very delicious, simple, quick, and easy to make.
So why not?

Baked Stuffed Tomatoes

I took a month off and went on a trip to France for the summer. I so needed it.
While I was traveling on the French Riviera I stopped in Nice for a couple of days.
What a gorgeous city, you could easily have stayed there a week — or 37 years, like the artist Matisse did.
Anyways, on a breezy summer evening in a small brasserie on the Promenade des Anglais, I tried some amazing tomates farcies à la viande hachée (i.e., tomatoes stuffed with ground beef.)
An amazingly simple dish but so fantastically delicious that the next day and the day after that I came back to the same brasserie to eat it again.

Apple-Mint Iced Tea

It’s been scorchy hot these past few days, so I’ve been drinking a lot of refreshing drinks.
Together with my Mint and Ginger Iced Green Tea this Apple-Mint Iced Tea has been at the top of my list.
Green tea tartness goes really well with the pungent and refreshing mint aroma and is perfectly counterbalanced by the apple juice sweetness.
Super simple to make, all-natural, good-for-you, and oh-so-yummy.

Sheet Pan Spicy Chicken Fajitas

I don’t know if I should tell you or not, but I kinda have a thing for Mexican food in my house.
I’ve never actually thought about it until now, but I’m pretty sure I eat Mexican food at least once a week. From quesadillas, to carnitas, to enchiladas, to these awesome Sheet Pan Spicy Chicken Fajitas.

"Blow Your Mind" Grilled Chicken Marinade

Sometimes simplicity is the best. Like the easy breezy grilled chicken marinade I invented the other day.
As a person who loves chicken dishes and couldn’t get tired of them, ever, I’m constantly looking for different and original methods to cook chicken so I can serve it more often without the risk of getting bored. My goal is always the same, juicy, tender, succulent chicken that packs a flavor punch.

Marinated Red Peppers with Garlic and Oregano

Most of the time, I don’t choose the recipes I share here, it’s the market that controls it.
As it happens when you live in a climate that deprives you of field-fresh produce for almost half the year, leaving you to go completely out of control and of course overdo it in the months that you’re graced with it — bringing home buckets of fresh produce when you only need a fraction of it.
The other day I picked-up some mega-huge red peppers thinking about pickling them, but then I changed my mind — as I often do— and I instead roasted them.

Mom's Pink Lemonade

When I was a kid I was 100% convinced that pink lemonade was made from pink lemons (yes, pink lemons do exist but unfortunately their light pink flesh juices run clear).
Then for years I thought it was made by adding pink grapefruit juice to lemonade; it’s not.
Pink lemonade is a popular cloudy variation of traditional lemonade made with added grape juice or cranberry juice, giving the drink its distinctive pink color.
If the taste of pink and traditional are exactly the same, why does the former is more popular than the latter?

(Vegan) Sun-Dried Tomato and Chickpea Burgers

Here is the thing about veggie burgers — I found that once you bite into them, they are often mushy, or they tend to fall apart or even worse they are cardboard-like.
Even some of the good ones are more akin to a fritter than a burger and all miss that juicy burger texture.
Prepare to be amazed.

Classic Souvlaki Kebabs

Why is it that, no matter what, we always crave the back-to-basics, simple food that has been around for ages?
Probably because no one wants to fuss and also because we like food that doesn’t make demands on our time, our kitchen skills or our wallets.
As far as I’m concerned there are recipes — such as these Classic Souvlaki Kebabs — that I make a lot around here.
Simple food that speaks for itself. What is there not love about it?