Tarator – chilled yoghurt and cucumber soup

Since I am in Bulgaria right now, there is hardly a better tribute to Bulgarian summer than the tarator (таратор).  When I was a kid it was a fixture of our summer menu – for lunch and dinner. Incredibly simple and fast to prepare – it can bright up the summer menu.

Chilled English peas soup

English peas are one of my favorite spring ingredients, and this recipe is another re-incarnation of the English peas puree with mint. If you simply thin the puree with some liquid – voila! you have got a soup.

Agnolotti dal plin stuffed with English peas and ricotta

For the longest time I had a phobia from anything that involves dough (so no bread or any type of baking) but recently I have been getting into pasta making with increasing success. Agnolotti dal plin (agnolotti with a pinch) is the first pasta I learned in a cooking class, and this is the second…

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Crab salad with avocado and grapefruit

When life gives you lemons, you make a lemonade; and when friends give you a Harry and David grapefruit basket, you … keep making dishes that involve grapefruit: Braised endive and citrus salad, Caramelized fennel and grapefruit salad, and now crab salad with grapefruit.

Cheeseburger

Who doesn’t love a juicy cheeseburger! Since I don’t have a good grilling set up, I have defaulted to pan frying steaks and burgers. A burger makes a delicious dinner that you can whip in 15 min.

Lamb marinated in pomegranate molasses

This dish was inspired by our time in Turkey in 2013 when we spent 2 months in Istanbul. Pomegranate is a staple of Turkish (and Persian) cuisine and is used pervasively in salads and meat dishes. Pomegranate molasses is also used in the spinach salad with pomegranate seeds.