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The Valentine’s day is around the corner and you are probably getting ready to make the most of the day by reaffirming your affection for the loved ones. How about taking a pause to make a commitment to love yourself as well?

The idea of loving ourselves is often associated with the self-centered notions of  “I, me, and mine.” Although a 2015 study [1] has debunked the link between the use of these personal pronouns with the inflated sense of self, putting oneself first over others is hardly the definition of self-love. Maybe it is worth looking for the clues to the definition of loving ourselves in our  own expressions of love and care toward relationships close to our hearts. In various life roles– a spouse, a friend, a colleague, a parent, or a daughter/son–we are quick to help and shower love others in myriad ways. But we often find shortage of self-compassion, time, and energy when it comes to loving ourselves. …

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Mashed potatoes and mushroom gravy are a combo made in the heaven. A combo that repeats on my Thanksgiving dinner table every year. I love this combination, but I am not a big fan of adding wads of butter or cream to my mashed potatoes. For me the solution is these cauliflower mashed potatoes, which are ultra creamy without any (dairy) cream. While the cauliflower mimics potatoes’ creaminess, it doesn’t cause the blood sugar spike like white potatoes. The mushroom gravy is a great companion and goes well with (vegan) turkey as well. You can totally make the gravy a day or two in advance  to lighten your cooking load on Thanksgiving day. …

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It would not be an overstatement if I say that we have had a long-term (culinary)affair with french fries. In the US, on average, we end up eating over 25 lbs of fries every year. WOW! It’s no a surprise that potatoes rank as the highest-consumed vegetable in the US;  most of that in the form of fries [1].  Come to think of it, french fries offer an irresistible combination of crunchy (texture), salty (taste), and fatty (fried) to our palates. But, the health effect of these easily and cheaply available packet-full of fries is not so scrumptious. Frying is the worst cooking method to prepare potatoes as it can potentially create carcinogens (keep reading). But you can replace those unhealthy french fries with these baked sweet potato fries. These are super easy and quick to make and you don’t have to worry about eating carcinogens with your fries.

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Zucchini (known as courgette in many parts of the world, especially Europe) is one of my favorite summer squashes. Although it is a fruit, in cooking it is better used as a vegetable. Zucchini–a vitamin C- and manganese-loaded fruit– is often not liked for its mushy, slimy texture and bland taste. This zucchini-lentil boats with green sauce recipe gives a complete makeover to zucchini. It offers a slightly crunchy zucchini texture accompanied by a complex mix of flavors from fresh herbs, peppers, and cherry tomatoes. …

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Cilantro and mint are two of the most nutritious herbs in the universe. And one of these two is the most-used herb in the world. Can you guess? Fresh herbs add complex and refreshing flavors to a recipe and increase its nutrition quotient. Both cilantro and mint offer health benefits ranging from improving digestion to preventing cancer. Fresh, homemade chutneys and dressings (like this Cilantro-Ginger Dressing) are virtually calorie-free unlike packaged ones from stores. In fact, packaged condiments including dressings contain a ton of chemicals and excess of salt, sugar, and fat. The worst deal is that they don’t taste refreshing like the ones made at home, virtually in few minutes. …

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Have you ever had something at a restaurant and liked it so much that you wanted to meet the chef to ask the recipe? Well, I wish that to happen quite often, specially if I come across an unusual recipe or ingredient. So, I did get to meet a chef this summer while traveling in Corsica, France. You will soon meet the hero of this story–I mean the creator of this quinoa-melon-mint salad;  but let me first introduce this amazing salad. A mouthful of this salad hits you with a number of scrumptious notes–a base of quinoa, fresh mint flavor, the pungent crunchiness of red radish balanced by the sweet, soft, pulpy water melon, and the heavenly dressing with sweet and sour notes, which I had hard time figuring out. But thankfully, I did! Here is how.

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Cucumber and dill pairing is made in haven. Literally, the combination works every time in every recipe–soup, salad, sandwich, and pickles. You can enliven any meal by adding this quick cucumber-dill salad as a side, which takes less than 10 minutes to prepare. This quick  and easy-to-make salad also often finds its way into my son’s lunch box, who loves the flavor of dill and lemon with cucumber….

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Bruschetta (pronounced Bru’sketta) comes from Italy where it is usually served as an antipasto (appetizer or starter dish). Although you can make this quick bruschetta in any season owing to the year-round availability of  tomatoes and (fresh) basil, I find myself making this quite often in the summer. Maybe I wait to get the vine-ripened tomatoes, that have gotten the right amount of sun, and fresh basil from my summer CSA . As you have probably guessed it by now, this antipasto is all about celebrating the flavors of fresh tomatoes and basil. This quick bruschetta with or without sun-dried tomatoes is often a lunch or dinner staple in the summer with lentil or bean soup/salad in my kitchen. This dish also offers a great bang for your buck, in this instance time, if you are cooking for a large crowd. Many guests at my dinner table have asked for the recipe of this quick bruschetta with sun-dried tomatoes.

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