CASA Blog — Page 3

Want a really refreshing salad that hydrates you from within? This simple, no-lettuce, no-dairy salad has plenty of crunch and an nice medley of flavors. There’s noticeable zing thanks to the orange, fennel and red onion. The cucumber gives you plenty of cool crunch while the avocado throws a bit of richness into the mix. […]

This herb crusted salmon is about as good as it gets and it’s healthy too! Serve atop a bed of greens and you’re in for a super easy, super delicious lunch or dinner. If you’ve got an herb garden like I do, you might want to play around with the herbs you use. I recently […]

If you’re a fan of Mediterranean or Middle Eastern cuisine such as Greek, Lebanese, or Armenian cooking, chances are you’re very familiar with the almightily strong garlic dipping sauce. You know, it’s that super delicious and super garlicky stuff they serve next to the Shish Tawook aka Chicken Kabob and a slew of other faves. […]

#1–One Barbecue Sauce, Three Ways Most regular barbeque sauces are nothing more than ketchup, some added vinegar, spice, brown sugar and maybe a bit of Worcestershire and garlic powder. You can basically whip this stuff up on your own. Whether homemade or not, good ol’ basic barbeque sauce can easily transform into Asian-style with the […]

Love watermelon? Find you’re often looking for ways to make it sweeter or more refreshing? Well, this recipe takes just minutes and is just as great with perfectly-sweet-watermelon as it is with melons that are less than stellar in sweetness or juiciness. For serving, chill a glass or porcelain serving bowl and if it’s a […]

Sweet, tangy, spicy and wonderfully layered, Leek Mango Chutney is a delightful alternative to heavier chutneys and sauces. It pairs beautifully with any kind of white fish and despite the odd pairing, it’s a total showstopper served alongside Jamaican Jerk Chicken (for total perfection, add cooked plantains as a side). This recipe is a great […]

Want to appear effortlessly fabulous for your guests? Well get yourself some high-quality puff pastry dough (I use Dufour) and you can whip these babies up in a cinch. This recipe is seriously easy and seriously delicious. I mean these guys are good. So good in fact that I recommend making more than you think […]

Leeks oh leeks! They’re that strange cousin to the ubiquitous domestic onion and close relatives to elephant garlic and an Egyptian sister called kurrat, a flowering leek of sorts with a nearly identical flavor. More importantly, leeks are really, really delicious. They have a sweet, mild onion-like flavor with none of the harshness of regular […]

Light, healthy, and flavorful, the hardest thing about this dish will be slicing all your veggies in skinny strips. Nevertheless, the final presentation is well worth it. If you’re so inclined, you can add chicken, beef (in which case I recommend seasoned skirt steak) or shrimp but I think it’s perfect as is. Recipe 1 […]

Want to encapsulate the summer food trends of 2015 in just a few words? Say this: the less sweet, funky East. Yup, it’s eastward we’re looking but thankfully this time, we’re going way past broccoli beef and hitting notes that, just a decade ago, would have probably been a little too complex for most American […]

Beer and bananas? In pancakes? You bet! There’s something great about the flavor of bananas mixed with beer. The rule of thumb is the riper the bananas, the hoppier you can go with the beer especially if you’re a hops lover like me. Alas, this time around, I was fresh out of extra ripe bananas […]

  In a recent blog post, Kenji Alt Lopez hit the nail on the head when he said, “Bay leaf, by its very nature, plays second fiddle to other, more prominent flavors.” Basically, you might not notice it when it’s there but you’ll most definitely miss it when it’s gone. When it comes to any […]