Vegetarian Spam and musubi

The inauguration is this weekend— and what better way to celebrate than by making a vegan version of a quirky local food from the island where the president grew up? * For those who've spent time in Hawai’i, you’ve likely noticed that Spam, that weird, over-processed canned meat, is super popular there. (Thanks, in part,...

Gluten-free mücver (zucchini fritters)

I knew these only by their Turkish name— mücver— and had to spend some time trying to find my old notebook, where I’d written down the name— and then the Internet, trying to find a recipe. These were also my first struggle cooking without wheat. It was bound to happen. I’d made these zucchini fritters...

All the leafy greens cabbage soup

So, it’s too cold this time of year for salad, but I still find myself craving leafy, green vegetables. Cabbage soup is nice, but I’ve always found it a little thin— which is why I’ve added in the kale and swiss chard. I love making a big pot of this soup at the beginning of...

Mercimek Corbasi: Vegetarian Turkish Red Lentil Soup

When I talk about my lentil soup, I don’t mean just any old lentil soup. I mean the thick, nourishing, and very tasty chorba that tided me over during the lean days of Ramadan. I first had this soup in Turkey, where I worked for a summer. No one expected me to fast, and it was...

Roasted root veggies, with red pepper and mushrooms

Roasting vegetables in the oven has two benefits: it makes your apartment warm and fragrant, and it’s easy to make a huge batch at the beginning of the week. This time of year, I get seriously unmotivated to do things. Having a bunch of tasty food in the fridge is motivation to not just curl...

Tortilla soup with green chile

It’s gray and cold, there’s snow on the ground— and there’s nothing quite like a bowl of spicy, filling soup to chase away the winter blahs. I first tried tortilla soup at the Frontier in Albuquerque, New Mexico. One spoonful of this soup and I’m thinking of a much warmer, sunnier place. The soup’s star...

Lemon rice soup: vegetarian comfort food

A standard at Kerby’s Coney Island, this soup has always been off limits to me. Usually made with chicken broth, and sometimes with extra chicken, this Greek soup still sounded delicious. Whenever my mom orders this, I always enjoy the rich, citrus-y smell of this soup. Luckily, there is the Internets. This recipe is not...

Resolutions and tasty kale chips

So I’ve had the idea for a blog for months now: years of cooking and eating vegetarian while living in Detroit and traveling abroad. The first post seems the hardest: getting over nervousness about writing online, as well as figuring out how to use WordPress’s layout. In the theme of New Year’s resolutions, I’ll start...