This recipe is a staple side dish of mine that I’ve adapted and modified at length through the years. Both colorful and flavourful I think it creates a texturally interesting background for spicy curries and other East Indian flavoured entrees. Why not try it with Tridoshic Dal, Coconut Chicken Curry, or Vegetable Curry in a Hurry? Coconut Rice with Lentils and Cashews INGREDIENTS: 1/2 lb.... 

Made on a rainy night, this spicy vegan peanut soup was a cinch to throw together. The flavours of peanut and ginger combine to create a spicy, sweet and silky texture and the crisp, cool crunch of the bean sprouts prevents the overall flavour profile from ever becoming cloying. This is a rather non-traditional (in this part of the world) take on comfort food. Although I used supermarket beansprouts... 

This Tridoshic dal comes from a cookbook that I’ve been using for years called The Ayurvedic Cookbook. I’m always interested in learning about the culinary traditions and philosophies of other cultures. Eastern cuisines in particular often fixates on the concept of warming and cooling foods. Maintaining a balance of the two within a meal, or strategically stimulating or calming ones... 

This meal came together relatively quickly. It is a classic one-pot dish based on veggies that are on ‘standby’ and tinned pantry staple. What gives it a little twist from other cobbler-style casseroles is the use of cornmeal as the crust. As I enter my 3rd year of preparing gluten-free meals where my mother is concerned I have come to have an even greater respect for cornmeal’s... 

Red-Red is a Ghanian dish I stumbled across quite accidentally while looking at a recipe for Kelewele that was kindly sent to me via my Facebook page by Corinne, a regular contributor. Traditionally served with fried plantain it is a rich, luscious and spicy combination of thick tomato sauce and black-eyed peas which visually lives up to its name. Having never tried it before I used a multitude of... 

“Best Ever Lentil Soup” (link to recipe, below) On a semi-regular basis I like to check what keywords are driving people to this site. Without fail “lentil soup” in one form or another is on the list. This surprises me as I often think that I am the only person who loves these humble brown beans (they certainly don’t elicit much response when I mention them to others... 

Finally! I have completed (and posted) a Daring Cooks Challenge on time! I have been cooking along with this most recent adjunct to the Daring Bakers community but have always ended up missing the deadlines for one reason or another. No more! This time around the challenge was Indian Dosas. I’ve made dosas before but this was my first time doing so with gluten-free flour. Two suggested accompaniments... 

This is a recipe whose origins have become lost to the sands of time (and disorganization), however it is fast, nutritious and never fails to please. It’s a regular part of my Purim menu because of the prominent role that chickpeas play in that festival. In Trinidad cuisine chickpeas are routinely served curried or fried. Rarely do they get to shine, relatively unadorned, as the main star. This... 

Hummus is a never-fail crowd pleaser and so deceptively easy to prepare! I love to offer hummus as a starter at Purim because chickpeas figure so prominently in the Purim story. This recipe comes from one of my favourite cookbooks The Sephardic Table: The Vibrant Cooking of the Mediterranean Jews (you can read my review here). Although I have tried many hummus recipes and am not opposed the occasional... 

Without a doubt this is definitely one of the best bean soup recipes that I have tried. I have no idea where I got it from, it’s been floating in my recipe file for more than a few years. One of the reasons why I think I avoided it was because parts of the instructions seemed off putting to me. For example, cooking the beans in PLAIN water or 90 minutes seemed totally UGH! However that is all... 

Don’t you just love when a recipe has superlatives built right into the title? This recipe for ‘Best Ever Lentil Soup’ was one that came bundled with my copy of MacGourmet and comes from the beautiful vegan blog Vegalicious. In the past the only lentil soups that I’ve tried have had either a West Indian flair, or an East Indian slant, so the first few sips of this version... 

“A navy bean is bigger than it seems put it on and don’t ask what it means Parade around” – Tracy Bonham Am I the only one who remembers Tracy Bonham, that alt-singer/violinist from the late 1990′s? I loved her first CD and really think she should have gotten a lot further. The above quotation from her song ‘Navy Bean’ started my fascination with the idea... 

This light salad is simple enough to assemble in minutes yet elegant enough to serve to company. The lemon juice really gives the beans much needed ‘sparkle’. Be sure to sprinkle liberally with sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper for even more flavour and flair AKPC_IDS += "1187,"; Read More →

This has to be one of my favorite recent recipes. Its twist (for me) comes from the addition of mango chutney near the end. This really gives it a sweet n savoury kick that is hard for others to put their finger on. Since this recipe I’ve taken to adding a spoonful of chutney into my curry dishes as a matter of course Because I used chive from our little herb garden (see below), I have also... 

As I’ve written in the past Trinidad doubles is the ultimate local street food. It’s cheap. Usually hot/warm. Hearty. Filling. The below video, from the bookmann, is for the old skool style of doubles with 2 bara that form a ‘chickpea sandwich’. These days doubles vendors more often will make one large bara that is then folded over to enclose the curried channa filling. You... 

The genesis of this recipe came about when Nandita at Saffron Trail asked me to come up with a dish that could theoretically represent the West Indies Cricket Team at this year’s Cricket World Cup, for an article she is developing. Caribbean cooking is so varied and nuanced that I struggled for a while to find a piece that really brought us together. The best I could come up with was Rice and... 

Mom’s Curry Chicken and Saim Aaaah, there’s nothing like cooking in harmony with the seasons. Currently one of my favorite vegetables, saim (a type of broad bean), is in season and like Chennette’s mom, my mother has been going a bit buckwild with it I certainly don’t mind! HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE! AKPC_IDS += "436,"; Read More →

Here it is, the last in my Ole Year Offerings series. And it is the ultimate in ‘last-minute’ entertaining. Neither of the dishes requires any cooking! That’s right, just combine and serve! It doesn’t get any easier than this In keeping with the ‘ ‘still secret’ Black & White Theme of January’s Blog Party I decided I would make 2 bottles of... 

Pelau is one of Trindad’s signature national dishes and I would argue its also our definitive one-pot meal. This is the meal that we make whenever we have informal gatherings (‘limes’) either at home, at a river or on the beach. It also feeds hungry revellers at Carnival time and provides a comfortable rhythm to a lazy Sunday afternoon. Cooked in coconut milk and seared in caramelized...