Easy, delicious red rice recipe for a quick gourmet weeknight dinner meal. Note: post was updated since original date. This red rice dish is an easy and flavorful go-to recipe for us. My Aunt Gail used to make a version served with sausage like boudin or kielbasa. Aunt Gail had about three recipes but her …
Modern Soul Food
Quick and easy sauteed green beans cooked in under 20 minutes. Green beans are sautéed in a delicious creole based sauce for tender and flavorful side dish. Instant Pot Sauteed Green Beans Ingredients This may look like a lot of ingredients, but it's really not. Most of the ingredients are for the spice mix. Green …
Ensalada de Aguacate - an avocado salad that is the ultimate triple threat - flavor, easy, and fun. Just slice, mix, and serve this vegetable side dish. Avocado Salad Ingredients Excluding salt and pepper this is a 5 ingredient salad recipe. Hip Hop icons/producers Adrian Younge and Ali Shaheed Muhammad completed a joint record with …
My campaign to put okra on the map. I love okra. Okra is good for you. Okra tastes good. Eat more okra. If you don't know how, then read this post for recipes and cooking tips. Plus I'm sure you'll learn a bunch of cool facts about okra that I bet you never knew.
Sorry I'm a little late with this post, but it's actually an annual Kwanzaa celebration recipe. After hosting Christmas dinner, mentally I'm content to ride with leftovers for a few days. However, with Kwanzaa, there is no rest for the weary. Therefore I go with simple, low involvement recipes such as this Piri Piri Shrimp. It's usually an appetizer on my menu, but can easily be made for a fancy weeknight main dish.
Experience a burst of bold flavors with our Cajun-inspired Instant Pot cabbage, paired perfectly with spicy andouille sausage and a medley of Cajun seasonings. This tasty and convenient dish brings the vibrant taste of Louisiana to your table in no time. The tender cabbage absorbs the rich, smoky flavors of the sausage and spices, creating …
Quick and flavorful recipes for instant pot Brussel sprouts. Sprouts are braised in a coconut-based sauce for a great vegan side dish that’s as good as sprouts cooked with bacon or in butter. Five ingredients less than 30 minutes. I grew up a big Dragon Ball Z Fan; so many life lessons learned! Work hard …
Easy, quick and complex homemade syrup sans the high fructose corn syrup. Humble moments led me to make this syrup recipe. Stuck in the house and short on groceries, so had to go back to my roots and improvise. Funny thing is I used to work for one of the bigger syrup brands …
Related Chicken Wing Recipes: Comfort food at its finest in the form of chicken wings marinated in chipotle infused buttermilk and deep-fried to crispy perfection. Get ready to indulge in a symphony of flavors with these tantalizing Buttermilk Fried Chicken Wings. Picture succulent, tender chicken wings, bathed in a tangy and creamy buttermilk marinade that …
This black rice recipe makes for a colorful side dish that is as delicious as it looks! The sweetness of the potatoes is balanced with the savory nutty flavor of the rice and the tartness from the pomegranate seeds and all work together for an incredible mouth experience. Often when I cook I take on …
This Southern Fried Jerk Chicken is the type of dish I make during days of gluttony, such as the Super Bowl or in this case March Madness. But this post also has big application for Sunday Dinners. In addition to this delicious, dope recipe I include and critical list of tips for making extra crispy fried chicken. Enjoy
Indulge in the easy yet deeply flavorful Cuban picadillo, combining ground meat, spices, tomato paste, and a touch of sweetness. Pair this comforting dish with Tiana Major9's soulful "Collide" for a symphony of flavors and emotions that create a perfect harmony on the palate and in the heart. Related Cuban Inspired Recipes: Classic Cuban one-pan …
Tender vegan braised collard greens cooked with aromatic spices, offering a flavorful twist on a classic Southern dish. Related Collard Greens Posts: Braised vegan collard greens recipe, a quick and tasty way to get a soul food staple on the weeknight menu! It's only 5 ingredients and made with ingredients you're likely to have on …
Collard greens are a weekly staple in our home. We have our traditional Sunday Dinner recipe that ain't changing. However, I do keep quite a few of what I call weeknight greens recipes. These are meant for us to explore the greatness of the humble but nutritious collard greens but within the context of our busy lives. So these are actually quick hitters. This curried collard greens recipe falls into this category. As its the norm, we explore cultures through food in an effort to become culturally aware as well deepen our empathy for others. Collard greens more than any other vegetable/food is most often the vessel for these explorations. Enjoy
Roasted Acorn Squash with Honey Ancho Chile Glaze are outstanding in both their taste and simplicity! Make this sweet and savory squash for your Thanksgiving meal, Sunday family gathering or even a weeknight dinner. They are naturally sweet but the glaze amplifies the flavor. Surprisingly I don't cook a lot most Thanksgivings. Between volunteering as …
Updated 10/30/2019 Smoked Butternut Squash (halves) – A Fall staple prepared on the grill for an easy dinner recipe on the weekend or weeknight. Oh, and it might be one of the best butternut squash recipes I’ve ever had. Half the squash, scoop out the guts, season, smoke, then eat. Just like that. Though most …
Sometimes when things feel like they're spinning outta control or you're just off your game, it's best to jump off the treadmill and just get re-centered or grounded. That's what this comforting bowl of black eyed pea soup represents for me. It's slow cooking and sustained eating for a few days. Just what I needed.
Simple and delicious roasted eggplant recipe that is bursting with bold flavors. This dish features a crispy brown outside with a creamy sweet inside then is topped with a garlicky Cuban mojo sauce. Note this post was updated September 20, 2019. Roasted Eggplant Ingredients Eggplant ingredients Mojo Sauce Ingredients Roasted Eggplant Recipe Inspiration …
Favorite to eat root vegetables is roasted. Roasting can turn any humble root vegetables into greatness. Baby turnips make the perfect foil for this technique. You get concentrated flavor and tenderness delived in 30 minutes. It's the glaze that actually puts the dish over the top. It's time to stop running from those root vegetables your grandparents tried to get you to eat. Actually these aren't your grand dad's turnips. They're way more flavorful.
Weeknight grilling sometimes is the best grilling. This flank steak is a quick cook, but the flavor and tenderness are off the charts. The key is the marinade which blends both Asian and Caribbean flavors which also helps to tenderize. Marinate a day ahead then grill in less than 15 minutes.
Recipe for Kerala fried chicken for unique, Indian take on fried chicken thighs. Chicken is brined in a buttermilk herb-based marinade, deep-fried and spiced with a fragrant and complex garam masala spice “Make my funk the p-funk, I wants to get funked up. I want the bomb, I want the P.Funk, I want my funk …
Football season is almost upon us. I'm in grilling two-a-days to get ready for tailgating season. These brined pork chops may be on the menu for the first game! Brining meat prior to cooking, all but guarantees a juicy, moist and flavorful finished dish.
Summertime is fun time. Grilling all things including watermelon is a favorite past time of mine. It's hard to describe grilled watermelon, but trust me it's simple and delicious. Give this one and try and impress family and friends
Fried chickpeas are fairly comomn these days. But fried black-eyed peas are much better. The recipe is simple and takes less than 20 minutes to make. Try these out.
Grilled wedges are one of my favorite and easiest ways to enjoy sweet potatoes. The best thing about this recipe though is the perfect sweet heat chili lime sauce pairing. Just a few a few ingredients that net a lot of flavor. They go fast so make enough!
As you know I've designated July okra month. This is my favorite way to enjoy okra outside of a good pot of gumbo. It's quick, flavorful, and only requires a few ingredients. You'll want to keep the harissa sauce on hand and use it for other dishes as well.
A salad you can eat with your hands in the form of a watermelon wedge salad. Fresh, ripe watermelon is cut into wedges and topped with chimichurri style sauce featuring fresh mustard greens, cilantro, and lime juice.
I made this smoked oxtail recipe and it was so good! If you're looking for a flavorful and hearty dish, then definitely give this one a try. The smokey flavor of the oxtail goes perfectly with the Jamaican jerk marinade and BBQ sauce. Smoked oxtail - Bone nibbling comfort food you won't want to use …
This tuna salad has gone from my weekday comfort salad to a quick light dinner meal. It's tangy, aromatic, and delicious featuring ingredients you likely have on hand making for easy meal prep. This recipe is a twist on a tuna salad sandwich my uncle used to make. He would drink Schlitz Malt Liquor Beer and …
It's almost okra season, but I couldn't wait. This is my version of "fried okra aka "Southern Popcorn." I switch it up to longer okra halves so they're more like fries. And for a super crispy texture, I subbed rice flour for wheat flour. It's not only crunchier but has a light, clean finish about it. Don't worry there is absolutely no slime!
The last of the recipes featuring harissa sauce, I think. I'm tempted to make another batch and create more recipes to pair it with. Keeping the simple + elegant vibe these glazed harissa carrots will put a smile on your face. No fuss, but high flavor.
Charred Asparagus may just be the perfect side. Less than 5 ingredients, Less than 10 minutes total cook time including prep, and backed by an ever so versatile and killer harissa sauce. Don't worry the sauce is not too spicy, as the honey and lemon juice tames the heat from the chili paste.
NCAA College Basketball's Sweet Sixteen is set! As the countdown to the Final Four continues, add these sticky wings to your gameday appetizer menu. These are made with an Asian-Jerk fusion sauce that takes them over the top.
Nothing like a quick and easy side dish with incredible complex flavor. This blanched spinach salad is simple, unique, and everyday! Put it on your weeknight menu in less than 10 minutes.
One of the things that impressed me most about the Civil Rights Movement and continues to be a source of inspiration for me is the fact that there were so many every day people who contributed. It wasn't just about Dr. King, Julian Bond, and John Lewis, but also the unsung like Georgia Gilmore who went from cafeteria cook to unemployed as the result of the bus boycott to home-cook and entrepreneur who fed and financed the movement. I'm happy to tell her story in this month's post as well as offer up in the immortal words of Outkast's Big Boi - "some fish and grits and all that pimp shit!" Enjoy
I'm having way too much fun with my new InstaPot. I'm still learning, but have been to churn out some good recipes, mostly traditional classics that I've converted for pressure cooking. This Southern classic black-eyed peas recipe is made vegan, so I had to do a little extra to replicate the smoke from what would have been smoked meat. I think I figured it out. I went deep into the classic rock vault for some inspiration. Enjoy.
A few years ago my family got invited to the premiere of the movie "The Hundred-Foot Journey," which is a movie produced by Steven Spielberg and Oprah Winfrey about an Indian family seeking asylum in France. The son becomes a famous chef introducing the French to Indian spices and cooking techniques. I remember thinking at the time how similar Indian cooking was to "soul food" in terms of the use of spices and seasonings to take humble ingredients to extraordinary. I was reminded again during our Thanksgiving trip to Dubai when we ate a Masala based fried cabbage dish which was very similar to the southern fried cabbage I grew up. I bought a lot of spices from the local Souk including the garam masala I used in this dish. This dish tastes as great as it smells so be prepared.
Change up your gameday menu and find a way to get some smoked ham hocks in your life via these pork nachos. Don't fret, just start your New Year's resolutions after the bowl season or just reward yourself with a cheat day.
Celery Root is definitely not the prettiest vegetable at the market, but what it lacks in good looks it more than compensates with inner beauty, dynamite taste and ease of prep/cooking. If you're not familiar with celery root or celeriac as it's known, it's beyond worthy of your consideration. This celery root steak recipe is a great introduction. We enjoy it in our house as one of our many meatless nights. It also presents well enough to be on your holiday menu. Don't worry it's tastes nothing like celery, is easier to handle than it looks, and is low calorie and low carb.
Sundays mean meal prep for me, which pretty much always means making 2-3 sauces for the week. As I tend to keep things on the simple end during my always busy week, having reliable, delicious and versatile sauce on hand allow me to elevate any basic dish whether its pasta, grilled chicken, or roasted potatoes. This collard green salsa verde qualifies as one of those do it all type sauces. It definitely skews on the healthier side, but in no way skimps on flavor. Besides the taste and versatility I find it's an easy way to get the nutritional benefits provided by collard greens on a daily basis without the labor of cooking up a big ole pot of collards. JUST keep things simple with the recipe and you'll love it as a condiment/meal enhancer.