Global Cuisine

I am always searching for a new way to make chicken.  It's one of those blank canvas foods...just waiting for inspiration to hit and turned into something wonderful.

While flipping through one of my Ina Garten cookbooks, I came across this recipe. There wasn't a picture, which often deters me from making something. I want to see it done. Anyway, it just sounded good, not to mention I had few hunks of ginger in the refrigerator I needed to use. Ina mentioned this was served in her New York store and was excellent both warm and cold.

The mixture of the honey, ginger, garlic and soy sauce sounded like the perfect flavor combination. So out came the chickens from the freezer to thaw completely and then the marinating process began.

I think Mexican food is one of my all time favorites.  Growing up in Southern California, the availability of "good" Mexican food was not hard to find, it was everywhere.  I have so many old favorite places that served everything from Tex-Mex cuisine to more authentic regional Mexican cooking.  I do miss those places.  Badly.

This particular dish is a take on Huevos Rancheros (Ranch Eggs), a classic Mexican breakfast dish usually consisting of fried eggs served on top of corn tortillas with a chili-based salsa and avocado.  It's an awesome way to start the day!

But I have to say this salad also has many of my favorite ingredients...black beans, green salsa, chips and cheese.  The tomatillo or green salsa gives so much flavor.  I have always preferred a green salsa over red anyway.  The broiling of the chips also gives them that extra-toasty crunch which is just makes it all worth the trouble.

The most traditional Greek salad recipe, and the kind of Greek salad you will usually encounter in Greece, does not typically include lettuce, but is more a bowl of raw chunky vegetables with a little olive oil and lemon juice.

The flavors of this dish just get better and you can store leftovers and use with grilled meats or in sandwiches made with pita pockets.

The rich, zesty vinaigrette gets great authentic flavor from the fresh oregano, and is further enhanced by the fresh mint and parsley.

Marinating the onion and cucumber slices in the vinaigrette helps tone down the raw onion in the salad.

I love ramen soup and I'm not talking about the instant kind—though I did love a bowlful now and then during college. I mean the real ramen that you can get in Japanese noodle bars. Ramen noodles, especially when they're freshly made can be amazing. They are worlds apart from the instant kind. Whenever I feel a little under the weather or I just crave a hot bowl of soup, my go-to dish for ultimate soothing power is a bowl of ramen.

Lately I've become obsessed with having ramen for lunch. My coworkers and I go out to eat ramen at least once or twice every week. We've all been bitten by the ramen bug. New York City has countless noodle bars, ranging from cheap to very pricey. But they all offer the classic broths for ramen, including salt broth, soy sauce broth, and miso broth. They even have cold ramen served with dipping sauces. My favorite is the miso broth, which also comes in a spicy version called tan-tan men. It's the soup I turn to for a good sinus clearing! This is why ramen is the perfect cold weather soup.