Tapioca coconut milk pudding with dried apricots
This is a mash-up of Azlin Bloor’s Zabadee al Mishmish recipe and the tapioca pudding with coconut whip cream recipe from smitten kitchen
(http://smittenkitchen.com/blog/2014/01/coconut-tapioca-pudding-with-mango/)
As far as the rice vs. tapioca pudding wars go, I am clearly on the tapioca side!
Bombay aloo with boniato
Some experiments are more successful than others. This wasn’t one of them – regular potatoes work much better than the tasteless boniatos (which I expected to be sweet). The potatoes are fried in a mixture of turmeric, cumin seed, Hing, fennel seed, mustard seed and curry leaves (which I have several bushes of in the yard – pictured below). Then they are drenched in fresh-squeezed lime juice. As I said – better to keep the “aloo” in the Bombay aloo.
This beet, feta and za’atar toast is offered on Zak the Baker’s breakfast menu. Not sure I reproduced it accurately, but the feta and beet combo is really hearty. I mashed picked baby beets with cream cheese and fried onions, and za’atar (a spice mixture of oregano, thyme, sumac and sesame seeds), and then topped this with feta crumbles and more za’atar. This of course on Zak the Baker walnut and cranberry bread, with a solid helping of butter spread on it.
More Zak the Baker foodporn here: http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/zak-the-baker-miami?select=iksozRcfAU4uxreL6OLqGg#3BioobwAuFigJAtSzpBdNA
Garbanzo & Chorizo stew (chickpeas, fresh tomatoes, roasted peppers, green olives, mild chorizo sausage, smoked paprika, onions and garlic — mandatory cilantro on top).
and
Bulgarian feta pastry (banitza) – a basic recipe can be found here: http://www.food.com/recipe/simple-bulgarian-banitsa-501743 I roll the phyllo sheets, rather than just lay them out, though.
A word of caution, the Greek phyllo sheets sold in supermarkets are too thin and papery – one is better off buying phyllo sheets like the Bosnian Jufka from the local Eastern European shop (http://www.bonkhoff.eu/thumbs/75c8e3039d01895ee0714d183b6eebe4.jpg)
Vitamin C booster salad with leaves from the Moringa Oleifera tree. Native to the southern slopes of the Himalayas, it actually grows and prospers in South Florida as well. The leaves are gentle and pretty much without a specific/strong taste and texture, but they add freshness to any salad you put them in.
The salad here contains shredded carrots, cherry tomatoes, corn, green onions, parsley, garlic and apple cider vinegar. And Moringa leaves of course.
This Russian salad is called “Vinaigrette”, and it is a cold salad made with boiled beets, green peas, chopped apples, chopped pickles, and green onions. It is a sweet and sour salad. It is astonishingly rich and diverse in taste, and insanely good for you, with all these nutrient-loaded ingredients. Even people who despise beets like it.
Party platter experiments: stuffed baguette with veggie pâté (the interesting ingredients in it are french fried onions and parsnip), and sweet potato & adzuki bean burgers with a coating of crispy panko crumbs. The burgers need help when you put them in a bun – coleslaw, cucumbers or some spicy sauce (they’re just too wholesome and sweet otherwise).
Recipes here: http://www.veganricha.com/2013/02/sweet-potato-adzuki-bean-burger-sliders.html
http://yoli-www.blogspot.com/2015/06/blog-post_14.html (this is the meat version and it is in Bulgarian, but it has a translation button)
Mini olive/cilantro/red onion loaf. Apparently olives, cilantro and red onions belong together.
Stuffed grape leaves with fresh leaves picked just outside the house. I got them through the grapevine, and I’m just about to lose my mind, honey, honey, yeah.
Foodstuff 
