This is not the papaya you’re thinking of – the ripe golden breakfast fruit that people drizzle with lime juice and eat while vacationing in tropical climes. This papaya is unripe: green on the outside and white on the inside. It’s shredded and mixed with green beans, fresh tomatoes, lime juice, and spices. The beef is then marinated in lime, garlic, and fish sauce, and grilled. Add a rice base, and you’ve got an unusual and delicious salad. I love […]
If you haven’t had fattoush yet, here’s a good gateway recipe. This variation on the Middle Eastern classic is made with sumac, cilantro, crisped pita chips, tomatoes, pomegranate seeds, and feta. It’s a wonderful combination of Mediterranean flavors, and a substantial salad that has become a fixture on our weekly summer menus. I love it because it’s a different way to enjoy the gorgeous heirloom tomatoes of the season; the sumac and pomegranate dressing give them unique flavor, and the […]
My grandmother grew up in Georgia, and her meals were always redolent with the flavors of the South. I never tasted okra until she cooked it, and her version was so different from any other okra recipes I’ve seen that I want to share it with you. Okra can be stringy, slimy, and tough – or you can make it like this and get something very different. She used to chop okra into coins, roll it in cornmeal, and flash […]
Thursdays at the White House are known as Tex-Mex Thursdays, and there were (and still are) several good Tex-Mex specials on the menu on those days. I thought it would be fun to have a little #TBT to the Tex-Mex Thursdays, and my friend Matthew Wendel has graciously agreed to supply a monthly recipe for these scrumptious occasions. Today, his recipe for Mexican pasta salad is simple and so delicious! Here’s what he said: This pasta salad was a favorite […]
These cakes would make an amazing hostess gift if you really want to show someone how much you love them. They may look like they took hours, but this recipe is all about the shortcuts. I used a box cake mix and canned frosting, adding fresh fruit and sugared flowers to keep it rustic and simple. There are also shortcuts on sugaring the edible flowers; I started by painstakingly painting each petal with egg white, and then dipping each petal […]
