Greetings from Egypt, where I’m on the tail-end of a very long research trip–one that has, unfortunately, made it pretty hard to cook things for myself. But lo! Here’s a quick and unique way to prepare a tuna salad. Habibi (darling).
Oh, my friends. My friends! (Especially you, Jenna and Ally!) I’ve been sitting on this recipe long enough. Some of you have been nagging me to post it for more than a year. Behold the two-step teriyaki: Step 1, marinate. Step 2, bake. ‘Tis all. I’ve done this with salmon (which I maintain is the absolute best vehicle for this homemade sauce), but you can do it with tofu, chicken, or presumably anything else. I think I originally got the idea for this from my friend Gill, who got it from her dad. Thanks, Gill and Gill’s dad!
I used to love breadcrumb-crusted fish way back before I went gluten-free. A few weeks ago I decided to try substituting cornmeal for breadcrumbs, and this is the result. It is, I think, the best fish I have ever cooked. It takes about five minutes to prepare and fifteen minutes to bake. Your bread-eating friends will have no idea what’s hit them.
Chraimi is a Sephardic dish I’ve had at my aunt and uncle’s house on the occasion of many Jewish holidays. It’s a garlicky, tomatoey paste for spreading on your favorite protein. It works best on fish–especially salmon and tilapia, which I’ve used here–but I’ve also done this with tofu, and I’m sure you could use chicken as well. Thanks to my cousin Sharonie for the recipe. I’ve been eating this at her house for years, and always wondered how to make it!
Here’s an easy one for quick-lunchers everywhere. And you’ve probably got these ingredients in your kitchen already!
New to East Asian cooking? Miso is a great way to get started! This simple glaze has only two ingredients. Here I’ve put it on salmon and baked the fish, but you can put it on almost anything and fry, dip, or simmer.
My terrible photos really do not do this one justice! This is my recipe for JVRP Salmon, named for the excavation where I first made this dish. I was looking for something to make for a potluck, but only had access to a barbecue and a small electric hob. Knowing that most people would make meat on the grill, I decided to go for fish, and make use of the magic that is aluminum foil. This dish can be made very quickly if you’re short on time, but two of the more complicated ingredients can be made from scratch, if you are looking to make the whole thing a bit more involved.
I recently found myself with an abundance of leeks. My original goal was to simply make sure I didn’t waste them, but I soon spent the better part of my afternoon making leek things. Here is how I incorporated them into my lunch–I’d never made anything like this before, so I just twirled my spice rack around and went with it. And it worked!
PhD Kitchen 