In my opinion, wild rice is a highly underrated and underutilized ingredient. If you've never had it, the texture and taste varies greatly from your average white rice, as it's made up of four different grains (the most recognizable are the long black grains). Wild rice is also VERY high in protein and dietary fiber- it has about 6x as much protein as white rice and 9x as much dietary fiber! 

Personally, I love wild rice because of its al dente texture and how versatile it is. You can cook it on its own, add veggies to it, add sausage to it, you can serve it hot, or even as a cold salad. Many people also make wild rice stuffing for Thanksgiving (it's deli...

Since my Serrano Pico De Gallo seemed to be an instant favorite with all of you other lovely home cooks out there, I thought I’d share another one of my salsa favorites- Charred Tomatillo and Avocado Salsa Verde.

Not to toot my own horn, but this salsa is so damn good. Browning the tomatillos, onion, and lime brings it to a whole new level of deliciousness and gives the salsa some extra oomph. It’s also pretty easy to make. The key, however, is using a blender.

Let’s get started!

What you’ll need: 3 medium/large tomatillos, 1 whole large serrano chili, 1 small yellow onion, 2 limes, 1 ripe avocado, and 1 tsp kosher salt. You’ll also...

I ♥ Mexican food.

As a native Los Angeleno, I’ve been eating all types of Mexican food since I was a kid. I really enjoy cooking Mexican food too. I like to make mole, enchiladas, carnitas, carne asada, tacos, chilaquiles, and tres leches cake, so you can expect to see those recipes here eventually… but before we get into all those fancy dishes, I thought we should start with the simplest of recipes- Pico de gallo. It’s easy, tasty, and goes well on top of nearly everything (except maybe chocolate cake, but I haven’t tried that, so for all I know it could actually work).

Since we like it a little spicy, Asher and I add serrano chilis to our pico de gallo...

I've been a pesto lover since I was a kid. I mean really, what's not to love. It's great with pasta, as a dip, on pizza, or on your finger as you're taking it out of the Cuisinart... Regardless of how you enjoy it, you can now make it at home with this super fast, inexpensive, and easy recipe. (Seriously, it only takes about 5 minutes to make and consists of 8 easy to find ingredients.) It's also really versatile because it tastes great both hot and cold.

One trick I've discovered while making pesto over the years is to use almond meal (aka almond flour) instead of whole almonds. Believe me, it will make your life SO much easier and it makes a much smoother,...