This is one of my mother’s favorite side dishes adapted from Martha Stewart’s Everyday Food. Ingredients: 1 block of extra-firm tofu, drained, cut into 16 equal pieces half a package of peeled baby carrots 4 scallions, sliced thinly, lengthwise 2 tbsps vegetable oil 3 tbsps soy sauce 2 tbsps rice vinegar 2 tbsps sesame oil…

Ratatouîa, also known as ratatouille, is a traditional French vegetable stew of tomatoes, eggplant and bell peppers. Ingredients: 1 medium-sized eggplant, peeled and diced 2 zucchinis, green and yellow, diced 2 bell peppers, red and yellow, seeded and chopped 1 can of diced tomatoes 1 onion, roughly chopped 3 garlic cloves, minced 1 tsp dried…

I love serving this salad because it’s so different from just a lazy bowl of mixed greens. Ingredients: 3 fresh portobello mushrooms, brushed off dirt using paper towel 1 leek, roughly chopped and thoroughly washed minus the hard green leaves a handful of baby spinach, roughly chopped goat cheese balsamic vinegar salt, pepper, olive oil…

You can use olive oil to roast these potatoes but they would just be more evil if you use duck fat. Sometimes, potatoes call out to be more evil. Ingredients: 1 bag of small white potatoes, rinsed thoroughly, halved duck fat 1 bunch of flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped salt, pepper 1. Put potatoes on roasting…

Nigella Lawson suggested to serve this salad with roasted duck. I didn’t want to disappoint her so I followed her advice. Ingredients: Belgian endives, separated into leaves a bunch of watercress, thoroughly washed, patted dry with a paper towel 1/2 cup hazelnuts, shelled and crushed into smaller pieces 1 tsp grain mustard 2 tsps lime…

This recipe calls for clarified butter. In a small pan, melt a few sticks of butter over low heat. Brown the butter until there is no more sizzle, but remove from heat to avoid burning it. Using a cheesecloth, strain to remove the burnt sediments. Transfer to a ramekin and put inside the fridge to…