At Red Rooster we serve a special blend of spices and peppers and serve it alongside our Fried Yard Bird. With a complex and deep flavor to this mix, I find myself shaking it on everything from noodles to steak.

Photo: Rubber Slipper in Italy

Photo: avlxyz

When mixed with equal proportions of water, chickpea flour can be an egg-replacer for vegan recipes. Used to make pakoras and papadums prevalent in Indian cooking, this gluten-free flour is high in protein, making it a great base to this warm chickpea and tomato salad.

Photo: liz t williams

Berbere is the most essential spice blend used in Ethiopian cuisine. It’s a great addition to help spice up any ordinary dish and take it to the extraordinary!

Click here to read more about it and see a video on how to use it.

Photo: liz t williams

Makes about 3/4 cup

Photo: ecks ecks

One of my philosophies is that you don’t have to be a vegetarian to eat meat-free.  It is good for the system to cleanse. Last Wednesday Elaine Louie of The New York Times shared one of my vegetarian recipes in her column, “The Temporary Vegetarian.”

Cabbage is often snubbed because people have tasted over-cooked and unappetizing preparations.  It also has a relation in people’s minds to poverty, but when cooked correctly, it can melt in your mouth, tasting rich and buttery.

My recipe for Warm Cabbage and Green Beans takes its cue from Ethiopian cuisine, and it’s spices and subtle flavors combine to make a hearty, delicious vegetarian meal.

And, in keeping with my second-day food philosophy, helping to make our kitchens more sustainable by wasting less, Ms. Louie remarks that “it also tastes even better the second day, and the third.”

Eat this with traditional injera, the national bread of Ethiopia, which is made with teff flour.  You can pick up injera at your local Ethiopian or Eritrean restaurant.  Or, make white or brown rice to serve with the dish.

As published by Elaine Louie in the New York Times

Photo: frabisa

For an easy and filling meal for four, try my recipe for Lentil Stew from Soul of a New Cuisine. The lentils are full of protein and will leave you feeling satisfied and content.  I love a warm bowl of this stew on chilly fall evenings.

Here’s my tip for peeling the fava beans.   Read More