I tasted a delicious salmon infused with a flavorful teriyaki sauce at the Vale Food Company in Miami, a healthy, fast casual restaurant. I asked Sunny Ilyas, CEO of Vale Food Co, how it was made. His answer was a form of reverse searing. First the salmon is baked in the oven for a few minutes, and then it’s sauteed in the sauce. It’s a ...Read more

Noticing so many eastern Mediterranean and Lebanese restaurants becoming popular, I was hungry for a quick dinner with their savory and aromatic flavors. Using za'atar found in the spice section of the market, I created this quick dinner with very little effort.

Za'atar, a spice mixture used in many eastern Mediterranean countries, is made with...Read more

Adding thin slices of steak to a taco makes a tasty and quick home-cooked weeknight meal. You can serve these tacos flat, and each person can make and fold their own. Or, if you like, you can serve them in a taco holder. If you don’t have one, bend aluminum foil into a taco holder shape and use that instead. Adding avocado cubes to the tacos ...Read more

I wanted to make this enchilada dinner in a hurry without having to wait for my oven to preheat or to cook the filling ingredients. The answer was my microwave. It cooked the filling ingredients, then warmed the tortillas and, finally, cooked the entire enchilada dish. Another plus: No pots to wash. When the meal was over, all the dishes went ...Read more

This mock “risotto” takes only 10 minutes to make and doesn’t need constant stirring. Instead of using traditional rice for the risotto, I use orzo, a rice-shaped pasta, and a large nonstick skillet for this quick meal. The orzo has a creamy texture when cooked this way. Using a large, nonstick skillet instead of a saucepan increases the ...Read more

Smash burgers are all the rage. They’re ground beef rolled into balls, and smashed with a burger press into thin patties. This creates a large surface for extra browning and flavor. The thin patties cook in 3 to 4 minutes. For this recipe, you don’t need a special press. You can place the burgers between two sheets of parchment paper or ...Read more

When I see the markets filled with summer vegetables, I can’t wait to make them into a salad. To turn this salad into a vegetarian salad supper, I added some black beans, edamame and avocado. You can add your own combination of vegetables, using this recipe as a guide for the amounts needed. I use fresh oregano to add extra flavor to bought ...Read more

Cucumbers and cooked shrimp make a cool and refreshing summer soup. No cooking is needed. The entire soup is made in a food processor or blender and takes about 10 minutes, start to finish. You can serve it right away at room temperature. Or, if you want to serve it very cold, fill a large bowl with ice water. Add the cumber soup to a smaller ...Read more

Looking for a light summer dinner? Here’s one using fresh salmon in a simple Salmon Bowl. I used sesame oil to cook the salmon and topped it with toasted sesame seeds.

When I saw packages of cauliflower rice in the market, I decided to use it instead of rice for this recipe. It only took a few minutes to cook in the microwave and added a new ...Read more

Ripe tomatoes are in season. Here’s an easy way to use them. To keep their fresh flavor, the tomatoes are not cooked. Their juice and seeds are blended into a sauce and mixed with mayonnaise. The remaining tomato pulp is cut into cubes and added to the sauce.

Boneless, skinless chicken thighs are used for the recipe. I like to flatten them so...Read more

Here’s a Cobb salad with a tropical twist. Ripe juicy mangoes are at the height of their season, and I added them along with shrimp sauteed with coconut to make a refreshing summer salad with a hint of the tropics.

I cut the mango into cubes for the salad. Here is a quick way to do that:

Slice off each side of the mango as close to the seed ...Read more

Just back from a trip to Chile, where I was introduced to several delicious quinoa salads. It was a surprise to learn there are hundreds of different types of quinoas. The most common ones are white, red and black. With these flavors in mind, I created a quick vegetarian salad for a summer dinner.

Quinoa is an ancient grain originating in the ...Read more