Global Cuisine

This is one of my favorite winter casseroles based on a recipe from The Best Make-Ahead Recipe Cookbook. You can make it in one large 9x13 pan or prepare two 8x8 square pans, and bake one and freeze one for another time. To freeze, wrap casserole in plastic wrap and then cover tightly with foil and freeze for up to 3 months.

To serve, unwrap casserole and let sit at room temperature for 30 minutes, then cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes at 375F. Remove foil and continue to bake about 50-60 minutes longer, until cornbread is golden and filling is bubbly.
 
It helps to have everything prepped – onions chopped, beans drained, garlic minced, tomato cans opened. Once you begin, the recipe comes together quickly. Don’t start the cornbread until the filling is done and in the pan.

Home-cooked take out (or homemade take-away as the Brits say). It's an oxymoron, but you know what it means.

There are loads of articles in cooking / health magazines touting the benefits of making your own take out favorites. It's no surprise. At-home take out is more affordable, healthier, and often tastes better.

Without a doubt, my favorite take out food is Chinese and Thai, which unfortunately is usually loaded with sodium and excess fat from oil. So I often make my own Chinese and Thai take out favorites such as this Thai Pineapple Fried Rice.

With a few tweaks, fried rice can easily become a healthier take out dish. In this recipe for Shrimp Brown Fried Rice, brown rice and added veggies boost fiber and complex carbohydrates while reduced sodium soy sauce and unsalted cashews keep sodium levels on check. Boldly flavored toasted sesame oil is more flavorful than regular sesame oil, so less is needed without sacrificing flavor.

So tell me, dear readers, what are your favorite home-cooked take out dishes?

I was recently asked by Heinz 57 Sauce and the folks at Good Bite what my favorite “flavor twist” was. They wanted to know what simple addition could be made to meals that would take them from simple to special. The answer was easy – Smoked Paprika.

Smoked Paprika, Pimenton de la Vera or Pimenton Ahumada comes from Eastern Spain. The red peppers are gently dried with smoke, usually from oak, before being processed into paprika. You can find it at fancy food markets, on-line and even in the spice rack at the supermarket. In fact, a McCormick rep told Bon Appetit Food Editor Sarah Tenaglia, that their jars of smoked paprika were one of their hottest sellers. So, I guess I’m not the only one who likes to add zip to dishes with Smoked Paprika.

The Spanish varieties, available in little tins, come in dulce – sweet or mild, and picante – hot. If you like things spicy, go for the picante, but a little cayenne pepper can be added to the dulce for the same effect. The tin pictured was a gift from my friend Pierre, who just returned from a trip to Spain.