Lemon Ginger Crème Brûlée

Crème Brûlée with a twist. Bad pun? Yes, that's true but the ginger kick makes up for it, I promise. If you have a well stocked kitchen, or workshop for that matter, and have a torch of some sort you now have an excuse to use it. If you're like me and lack a workshop and avoid gadgets, your oven's broiler will do the trick. I've now used three different oven broilers to finish this dessert and all three yielded tasty results. If you can't get the ramekins 'very very' close to the broiler using the oven racks, carefully prop the ramekins up a few extra inches using an upside down 9x13 pyrex dish or muffin tin. Please, please, please be careful- the broiler is unforgivingly hot!!!

Israeli Couscous and Mustard Greens

Fresh, lightly cooked, greens with dainty couscous pearls and a hint of lemon zest. A quick, one pot dinner that can be enjoyed on its own or served alongside fish or chicken. Kale or chard could be used in place of the mustard greens, but I like the bitterness that the mustard greens bring to the party. 

Decadent Skillet Macaroni and Cheese

'Fancy' or 'grown up' macaroni and cheese is quite popular these days. I'm perfectly happy with juvenile and straightforward mac and cheese, but sometimes it's nice to dress it up a bit. This is a one skillet recipe for a macaroni and cheese that is not béchamel based. In otherwords, you don't have to fret over making a sauce that can be tricky if you're not careful and you only use two pans: 1) to infuse the cream with mushrooms, herbs, and pepper and 2) to cook the pasta & sauce. This dish is easy and a great dish to serve to guests. Oh, and mascarpone is the hero of this dish. Mmmm mascarpone....

Thai Green Curry

This is the first curry paste I've made from scratch and now I'm hooked. Thanks to my dear food processor, I didn't need to finely chop the curry paste ingredients or painstakingly pound them in a mortar and pestle. Nope, I basically dropped everything in the processor, gave it a long whizzzzzz and out came the most fragrant, fresh, bright green curry paste I've seen. Delicious. I'm sure you could make this curry with only vegetables but chicken, shrimp, and tofu are great additions. Filled with power vegetables and herbs like garlic, ginger, lemongrass, and chiles, this dish will taste great and make you feel great.