Category Archives: Appetizer

An Endive Flower (Modified Chicken Lettuce Wraps)!

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Today was a good day! I went back to Club Pilates and did a session and basically did not know what I was doing since I haven’t gone since August and they added a bunch of new and cool stuff! Like the stretchy bar thing along the walls for sit-ups, the big stepping stool thing that some people need to use the balancing stick for, new exercises like planking on the bouncy ball thing, and new teachers! I was off to a bad start when my hair tie broke on my way there so my long hair was all over my face and eyes as I was doing on the exercises. I totally made it a point to talk to the teacher after to make sure she didnt think I was an amateur in a Level 2 class hahah But it was really fun and I enjoyed all the new exercises. I still hate planking though but I really should do it more often! After pilates, I went to LF for their sale and emerged with 6 sweaters and a flannel. I love their winter sales more than the summer sales- last winter, I got a bunch of my favorite pieces during it, also spending like $150+. Good thing tomorrow it is supposed to rain in SD so I can hopefully wear my new chunky sweaters! But mostly I know these sweaters are for SF weather when I am finally back. Look at my haul!

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Spicy Cheesy Corn Dip!

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Hope you all enjoyed the SuperBowl and got to eat lots of yummy appetizers and burgers! I am a new football fan – getting into it more and more, year after year!!! I had a lovely time laughing at how silly the Broncos were playing and was basically blown away by the Seahawks defense and skill. BOW. Also, surprisingly, I enjoyed the Bruno Mars and RHCP performance during halftime A LOT. I don’t even like Bruno, but I might have just been converted into a fan! Such a great and entertaining old school performer – classy! (Then I came home and re-watched Beyonce’s performance last year and basically she still did it best – BOW AGAIN). Anyway, I was feeling lazy, compared to Superbowl last year when I made pretzel wrapped hotdogs and kale/quinoa cakes:

Although lazy, I managed to whip up a quick batch of chocolate chip cookies, always a crowd pleaser, and an easy spicy cheesy corn dip to go with the endless amounts of tortilla chips. I have to say the dip was super delicious!!! Now that football is over, there’s still basketball so serve this dip up at the next bball party!

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Kuku sabzi (Persian Greens Frittata)!

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Kuku sabzi: it is a delicious Persian herbs frittata with a healthy serving of all the greens you need in a day! How did I get to try this super ethnic dish? I lived with this girl during the last week when I was in SF and her mom had come up from LA to help her move her things. They were hungry and had no way of getting to the grocery store at that hour. So her mom whipped this up for their dinner and my friend and I had a slice. It was sooooo good and refreshing!!! Her mom had made frozen packets of mixed greens for her so she could eat her veggies and make this dish which I thought was really cool if you are short on time. She also made it on the stovetop which looked super easy, so I think I will try next time. I made my own version with the veggies and herbs I had on hand, so feel free to mix and match!!!

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Baba Ghanoush!

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After a long weekend in sin I needed a huge veggie detox to flush out my system – also I crave lettuce and crispness when I’m hungover. LOL I know it sounds really weird but I really like bland things the morning after. I even bought a few ready made salads from TJ and brought it. It was the perfect idea! I came back and of course SD is crazy hot and I ended up buying hella veggies to make gourmet salads. I think I spent like $75 on groceries. Sort of crazy. But then again I am a crazy veggie fanatic. Don’t judge. For those of you who don’t like veggies, there are ways to make veggies taste good! For example this eggplant dip – baba ghanoush. It is Lebanese and is usually served as a dip or it can be used to be added to other dishes. This is a great dish to serve at a bougie Superbowl party, late afternoon snack, or part of dinner. It even lasts about 5 days in the fridge. It’s so perfect!!!

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Soy Ginger Scallion Turkey Meatballs

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I’ve never really played with ground turkey because I prefer beef and pork. But I came across this recipe and couldn’t help but try it out! Ground turkey has much less fat than ground beef so a lot of people use it as an alternative to beef in things like bolognese and meatballs. I think this recipe is perfect for an appetizer or a quick snack or dinner. So tasty and addicting!

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Chicken Veggie Wrap

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This is another treat I discovered at OB People’s Market…a local heaven for vegetarians and vegans! And carnivores like me who love veggies in her life! I like how light this wrap is and packed with veggies. With the right sauces, such as Cilantro&Chive Yogurt Dip and Tahini with the chicken, it keeps this wrap fresh and delightful! I ate this prior to my first 5k!!! The Color Run!!! And felt the energy from it without feeling weighed down. Perfect!

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Pork and Chive Dumplings!

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From time to time I like to go back to my household roots and make things my mom or dad makes. I have been heckling my dad to create a Chinese recipe book so I can use it in the future in my own household. If you don’t know, my dad is a great cook. He can seriously make anything. Right now he is working on perfecting Chinese rice noodles, ya know the ones you get a dim sum. I wish I can be at home all the time to document his successes (i.e. macarons, Japanese cheesecakes) but being that I am in SD, I will have to do my best to find it in my memory to create the things I love eating at home. Here are some delicious pork and chive dumplings. Its a tsk tsk thing though, I did buy the potsticker wrappers this time, but in the future I will try my hand in making the wrappers.

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Prosciutto Wrapped Asparagus

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This is seriously one of the best fancy side dishes ever. It can probably get you to eat your veggies! (Although it might be a tad bit expensive to eat this gourmet dish all the time!) Anyway, totally worth it if you want to snack by yourself, or prepare it for a hot date. I prefer to not share, so I will just eat it all alone. haha.

A few fun facts:

1. It’s native to most of Europe
2. A recipe for asparagus is found in the oldest known book of recipes from third century AD
3. US got this beautiful veggie in 1850
4. There are albino asparagus!!! WHITE ones!!! Very popular in countries such as Netherlands, Span, France and Switzerland
5. Low calorie source of potassium and folate, with tons of antioxidants
6. South Koreans have studied that asparagus helps with hangovers
7. There is an annual asparagus festival in Stockton, CA (Central Valley) where the main source of asparagus for the US

I hope you get addicted to this dish too! 🙂

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Pretzel Wrapped Hot Dogs!

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I made these for this year’s Superbowl party and they were such a huge hit! Friends gobbled it up so quickly because they were seriously so so good. I normally am a HUGE pretzel fan- I loveeee soft pretzels dipped in nacho cheese at ball games, Costco, or amusement parks. I love the doughy and salty taste to it. It originated in Europe, most likely in Germany because “pretzel” comes from the German word “brezel.” Its defined by its signature twisted loop shape and comes in hard and soft kinds. The loop is said to also be a functional design for easy hanging for sale. It has particular significance in the Catholic Church according to wiki because its associated with Lent and Easter because the faithful can’t eat such things like eggs, milk, dairy, or lard during Lent. Boiling the pretzel dough in baking soda water helps make it that brown color.

Spirited outfits!

Because they were such a huge hit, when 4th of July came along and I was to go to a picnic at Dolores Park, I figured one of the best finger foods and also filling would be these damn good pretzel dogs. I made the dough in the morning for it to rise by noon. Just as I expected, the hot dogs were a huge hit, along with all the other delicious food at the picnic. Everyone really went all out!

Beautiful 4th! So HOT in SF! 🙂

Pretzels are best eaten the day of they are made, so grab a friend, a beer, and nom on these delicious homemade pretzel dogs!

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Stuffed Bell Peppers

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Hi yall! Its been quite a loooonggg minute since my last post…in May. Crazy how time flies when every day is filled with different adventures, learning experiences, reflections, and food. What have I been up to these past few months? Well to name a few: sister graduated from Cal, went on a 2.5 week vacation to the east coast, started my VENMO internship the day after I came back, moved to SF for the summer, catching up with friends, never-ending family adventures, and anticipation for the weekend, every week. (More on my crazy summer adventures in later posts.)

In addition, I have been eating out a lot more because I work in Palo Alto, chef/catering at work, and the restaurants there are basically amazing and I live in SF where food and friends are abundant. I sort of lost inspiration for some time because I was never really craving anything because I was trying new foods every day. But I started noticing I felt lazy and gross from eating out for 3 weeks straight, so I decided to take up some more cooking again.  I finally have more people around to eat my food so I get to be a bit more creative! Cheers to being back. I hope yall are having a fabulous summer so far!!! ❤ much love to anyone who reads this.

I decided to make this stuffed bell pepper because I had leftover peppers from the night before when I made the portabello mushroom combination pizzas. For those of you who know me, I actually hate bell peppers-the green ones more than anything. I usually like the red or yellow ones raw. But hell, I had to have color on my pizzas so I had to buy a tri-color pack of bell peppers. I only needed a little bit so I decided to make stuffed peppers and feed them to my friends. Here we go!

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