The Undiscovered Foodie

Today, I invite you try something a little different with me. Open up your fridge. What would you normally pull out and throw together for lunch or dinner? Well, whatever it is, don’t do it. I want you to look at those same ingredients you’ve been looking at all week and put them together in  a whole, new way! This doesn’t have to be a complicated task. In fact, it can be a mere 4 ingredients, they just have to be 4 ingredients that you wouldn’t normally think to create a dish out of. Let’s all discover the ability to create something new out of the old today. Jay Shetty, (former Monk and social media mogul) encourages us to slightly change our daily routines or tasks in order to keep things fresh and not fall into a rut. Something as small as sleeping on a different side of the bed once in a while. This doesn’t necessarily mean you are changing your routines completely, (as routines are good for productivity) it’s just a way to have a new perspective. So, I’ll go first. ;) The...

  It’s not everyday that you can walk into a restaurant that you just saw featured on a celebrity chef’s show and try the amazing dishes that were highlighted, but in Las Vegas, you can. This is just one of the many reasons that a city like this is a foodie’s very own heaven! For my fellow Nevadans (or just travelers!), check out Padma Lakshmi’s, “Taste The Nation”, episode 9, featuring Thai food in Las Vegas and you can have the same, heightened dining experience that I just had. I can’t recommend it enough. This restaurant is absolutely delicious in every sense of the word and it comes as no surprise that it has survived the test of time.  In “Taste The Nation”, Chef Saipin speaks from the heart about her immigrant experience with her husband, starting from scratch with barely a penny to their names and children to support. Introducing fresh, high quality, Northern Thai (many different dishes from what even Thai food fanatics are used to) food to Las Vegas residents was ...

  When I moved to NYC, I was only 17, filled with the biggest of dreams and hopes. I was living in what remains to  be my all time favorite neighborhood in the city, Greenwich Village. I loved nothing more than sitting in a cafe with a good coffee and writing in my  journal. 25 years later, this is still an activity I adore. Living on 5th Ave and 10th St, just a stones throw away from Washington Square Park, put me in an ideal location for my coffee sipping, people watching, unloading by pen ways. I soon came to find out that MacDougal Street, just on the other side of the park, was once a beatnik haven, teaming with all of the best. Apparently, Bob Dylan had made this neighborhood his home and was known for frequenting the places I am about to share with you. In fact, I recall Bleeker and MacDougal streets being called “The 4 Corners”, housing four of the most famous cafes, frequented by well known artists, musicians and writers from all backgrounds. I’d like to share ...

Having been in the entertainment industry, virtually my entire adult life, it’s hard not to constantly compare yourself to others and the industry's standards of physical beauty. Being surrounded by beautiful people can be at once inspiring and totally depressing at the same time as the questions swirl in your head, “Will I ever be as skinny as them? How is their hair always perfect?”, etc, etc. With age, one starts to come into their own skin and feel a certain sense of contentment with their god given features and body with the knowledge that health and beauty takes work. Personally, I value intelligence, kindness, ambition and open mindedness over beauty, but these qualities may not get me my next singing job on stage. Damn. Sometimes I question my life’s path. However, beauty, for now, is still something I have to consider and pay attention to (and wanting to feel beautiful, inside and out is always something I’ll desire) but it will never be an obsession. The thing is, being...

    Being Indian American, I grew up eating Channa Masala, a chickpea curry with tomatoes and spices. I looked forward to this meal and the marriage of this dish and Indian homemade breads. Our family also appreciated Middle Eastern food which there was a fair bit of, growing up in Fresno, CA, so, hummus was introduced to me at a young age. I knew I loved channa, so the flavor of hummus was familiar and comforting to me. Of course, hummus, made of sesame, chick pea, lemon and salt is a very different flavor profile than curry, but, I fell in love with it pretty instantly. While I’ve been eating and enjoying it for the past 40 years, I feel like it has gained popularity over the past 15 years or so, being a great option for vegans, and a healthy alternative to meat. So,I’d like to encourage you to try Hummus Bowls and Wraps, the build your own hummus bowl or wrap eatery in Sumerlin, NV (2 other locations in LV as well). It is a truly delicious experience, from the minute you ...

  ITALY It was a slightly overcast morning in Reggio Emilia (a city in Northern Italy) and we had just visited Cinque Terre (a coastal string of villages along the Italian Riviera) the previous day. I was HUNGRY from all of the walking and exploring and happy to be at an open market in one of the main squares. We walked by one food stall and my friend shook his head and muttered under his breathe ,“All Chinese people cooking our food. We will not go there.” Although I understood, on some level, what he meant, something about the comment rubbed me the wrong way and I had to shake it off. Racism is prevalent everywhere and Italy is not exempt. “Ah, here. I want you to try this” , he said, as we stumbled upon a little stall with a sweet, old grandma cooking up some local favorites. Erbazzone is a savory spinach pie with onions, pancetta and (of course) parmesan which came from humble traditions. To me, it resembled spanakopita but with a different texture and crust. Each bite was ...

  Some days get away from you. Today was a day of service for me so, I don’t mind that it effected my usual routine of either writing or exercising, first thing in the morning. I still wanted to share a little something that I discovered today! I love broccoli. Usually, I roast it, but sometimes you don’t have the time for all that and sautéing can get you a quicker result. However, up to this point, I hadn’t figured out the best way to get the right texture on my broccoli when pan frying without either using too much oil or it seeming a bit underdone. This recipe seems to work perfectly.  For one head of chopped broccoli, use 2 tablespoons of oil. Put the broccoli in, salt to taste and leave in pan (without touching it!) for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes stir and add 1/8 a cup of chicken stock! There it is! That’s the key! The chicken stock! That’s a lot of exclamation points but, It adds just the right amount of moisture to really cook the stalks of the broccoli all the w...

  While I can’t exactly call myself a wine connoisseur, …yet, (I’m working on it!) I can say that I have a passion for tasting and appreciating wines and after visiting at least 75 wineries (between Australia, South Africa and 8 states in the US) in my lifetime, I can safely say that a wine tasting and all that it encompasses (the ambiance, the locations, the art of it all and that little, happy buzz) is one of my favorite things to do while traveling. It’s also a fun way to see/meet a mix of both locals and tourists alike! There’s something sort of refined yet not too uppity about it. It’s always such a pleasure when you find a hidden gem and you can take a bottle or two back to enjoy in the comfort of your home, while remembering that beautiful day, sipping slowly , amidst the grape vines and rolling hills. Some of these wineries look like heaven on earth…not just in Napa and Sonoma but even in places like Los Olivos and Santa Ynez, just outside of Santa Barbara. Also, did you ...