Spicy Potato Cakes (Aloo Tikki) with Sriracha Ketchup

There are many different variations of potato cakes in the world.
There are potato latkes, potato pancakes, tater cakes, mashed potato cakes and then there are Aloo Tikkis.
Yeah, Aloo Tikkis.
I don’t know why, but the name makes me giggle.
Just like as a kid, hearing the teacher talk about Lake Titicaca made me giggle. Now that I’m thinking about it I still giggle at "Titicaca" like I did when I learned of that lake.
Titicaca...HA! Why is it so funny?

Easy Zoodle Bake

Sometimes a guy needs a pasta bake, just like mom used to make (no rhyme intended!)
A creamy, cheesy, hearty pasta bake full of flavor and deliciousness.

Chocolate Covered Lime Coconut Bites

I know I don’t make a lot of desserts, it’s just that I’m not a huge dessert person.
Don’t get me wrong, I can put away a big bowl of fudgy cocoa ice-cream and enjoy a rich and dense chocolate brownie, but I don’t make a lot of desserts simply because I prefer salty over sweet.
I’d rather have an extra-large helping of coconut eggplant curry or another hasselback potato, than have a dessert on most nights.

Key West Chicken Bowls with Lemon Quinoa

For a long time in my life, I was on the fence about one bowl meals (I know, it’s a strange thing to be on the fence about.)
I think I struggled with the semantics of it.
In my world a bowl is what you eat out of, it’s not the meal itself.
A strawberry breakfast bowl, is a strawberry smoothie served in a bowl.
Same goes for a veggie bowl. Why do you call it like that when it’s clearly a salad served in a bowl?
I love eating out of bowls, but that didn’t make the food I eat a “bowl”.

Honey Garlic Glazed Pork Chops

Oh my, it’s already Friday.
My life has been taken over with...with what? I don’t know really, I’ve been just so busy. The week flew past in a flurry of activity.
Work, training, appointments, and late night baseball games.
No, I will not tell you which team I am cheering for.
Mostly because when it comes to supporting teams people tend to say the meanest things ever. Like “I thought you were a great person until I found out you were a Yankees fan.” or “How can you root for the Red Sox? You had a stroke or something?”
Which are some of the lamest things you can say.
Same reason I don’t talk about politics or religion on this blog.
For starters, it’s not the right place to tackle these topics.
Plus, I’ve been told to never talk about religion or politics on a first date. And this blog feels like a first date. I’m already nervous that you’ll make fun of me to your friends about the piece of spinach stuck in my teeth — what if I say something stupid about politics or the God you pray to?
No way, not touching it. I have others things to talk about. Like food, health, food again, fitness, and food once again. Ha!

Almond-Walnut Thumbprint Macaroons

In spite of its faults, the New York Times is arguably one of the best all-purpose newspaper in America and probably in the English-speaking world (I know some Londoners might argue this, but still.)
It takes itself seriously, it’s taken seriously (sometimes too much so), and it’s undeniably my favorite newspaper.
Amidst all the media that I consume, The New York Times holds a disproportionately influential place in my life.
Even if trying to read it all feels like climbing Mt. Everest sometimes. Honestly, it’s (almost) impossible to read it from the first page to the last — especially the Sunday edition.

The Importance of Being Healthy

It’s Monday and I think you and I should have a little talk.
No food or recipes to share on this post, just a talk among friends.
“About what?” You may ask.
About being healthy.
Because it says right there on the blog’s header “The Iron You | Eat Well. Exercise more. Become A Healthier You”, hence we should talk about it, at least sometimes…

12 Chia Seed Recipes

Chia seeds have gotten a lot of hype this past few years as the new superfood — a long way from chia seed pet that you water and puffs up into some grass poodle.
I don’t think it’s a fad to go away though; because I don’t think it’s a fad anymore.
Actually I would go as far as saying they’re mainstream now, or at least on the way of becoming mainstream.

Shawarma Chicken Quesadillas

Do you clean up as you cook or wait until you're done?
Personally, I try to clean up as I go so I'm not left with a huge mess. I can't stand to face a chaotic jumble, plus my grandma said a good cook keeps a clean kitchen — and grandma was always right.
Not to mention that I loathe the idea of sitting down to a meal knowing that I left the kitchen a mess. It just takes the life out of me.
I have to be honest though, it’s still a task I'm trying to perfect — ideally I would like to have someone on retainer who cleans while I cook. But that’s not going to happen in the short term
(and probably not in the long term either) so I try to put my best efforts to clean up as I go.

The thing I do is to gradually put each utensil or dish in the dishwasher and put away ingredients as I use them.
It takes almost no time at all, and while I cook I have a fair amount of time waiting on things to get done anyway.
At the end of the lunch/dinner, I simply store any leftovers and put plates/cutlery/glasses in the dishwasher. Said and done.

Mango Spinach Chia Smoothie

One of the things I can tell you about me is that I'm clearly not a morning person.
I've got a friend who's a badass morning person. As soon as he opens his eyes he’s like BING! Awake and ready to go.
I’m not like that, at all.
It’s not laziness. Some people just work on a different cycle. I don't like waking up, I don’t like mornings. That’s it.
Even when I wake up at 6am to go for a morning run: my legs might be moving, but I’m still dozing off.