Recipe: Vegetable Tom Yum Soup

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This is a fantastic meal that can be prepped ahead of time so that it only involves dumping some things is a pot and coming out with a delicious, spicy, tangy soup on the other side. I make this at least twice a month because it’s just so satisfying. You can customize the vegetables to your personal taste but you need mushrooms or tomatoes if you want it to have that extra umami in this meatless version. The tom yum paste I buy (from Lobo) doesn’t have shrimp paste so this dish is vegan as well!

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Recipe: Macaroons

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These chewy, coconut-y snacks are not at all like the macaron you’re probably thinking of but they’re also kind of unlike most cookies or other snack foods also. These actually taste best the next day but you can start eating them the moment they cool. They’re traditionally a Passover treat but good basically any time. Since these have whipped egg whites in them they puff to nearly two times their size in the oven so that’s something to keep in mind when you shape them.

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Recipe: Pasta with Creamy Pumpkin Sauce

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I’ve actually been making this pumpkin sauce with pasta for almost two years and figured it might finally be time to post it. You can use any type of squash or pumpkin and then adjust the flavor but personally I like red kuri squash (sometimes called Hokkiado squash) quite a lot for this sauce. You can easily make a large batch of this and freeze the sauce in cubes or in a large tub for future use as well.

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Recipe: Pumpkin Scones

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These scones are extremely squash / pumpkin forward and deeply savory so they’re perfect as a side for soup or with some tangy soft goat cheese or cream cheese. I put pumpkin seeds inside of them to give them a little bit of textural interest but feel free to replace that with walnuts, sunflower seeds, or even dried cranberries would be interesting. Since these are scones they come together extremely quickly in one bowl so they’re perfect for a slow morning brunch but you can also make them ahead and they’ll stay fresh for several days in air tight container.

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Recipe: Village Chicken Stew

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A very simple and hearty chicken stew that is especially good with bone in dark meat cuts of chicken. This stew is cooked long, low, and slow and results in a very gravy-like stew with just enough flavor from onions and seasoning to make it hearty. This is in the Zambian style so serving with it nshima (corn meal porridge) and repu (collard greens) is traditional but you can make any type of carb side and vegetable want and it makes a really satisfying and mostly hands off meal if you have the time, perfect for a weekend dinner.

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Recipe: Kewa Datshi

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This is a homey and simple dish that is basically a cheese and potato stew. While a lot of Bhutanese food relies on many chilies this is only uses a few to flavor the dish with just enough heat to give it a light, almost sweet flavor. I found this dish very humble and simple but unfortunately that also meant it isn’t very flashing or tempting. I boiled it down a little more I think it usually is (as it seems to be served pretty watery) and added a little less cheese and found myself wishing that it had a little bit more flavor. I think this is an interesting template I might play around with in the future for how to cook potatoes though and its so easy that you should try it for yourself as well to taste a little bit of Bhutan at home.

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