Recipe: Okonomiyaki (Japanese Pancakes)

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Okonomiyaki - fun word to say, isn't it? It's also a fun dish to make (and eat).



The savory Japanese pancake is made with cabbage, tenkasu (crunchy tempura bits), and bacon, fried up in a skillet, and then topped with green onions, nori flakes, sesame seeds, and okonomi sauce (think Japanese version of ketchup. Enjoy!

Okonomiyaki

1 big pancake (serves 2)

* 2 cups green cabbage, chopped into very thin strips (the thinner, the better for getting the pancake to keep its form well)

* 0.667 c. water

* 0.333 tsp. dashi stock powder

* 0.5 c. all-purpose flour

 * 1 egg
* 3 Tbsp. tenkasu (tempura bits)

* 0.333 c. chopped green onions

* 4 strips bacon, cut into ~2" pieces

* Okonomi sauce
* Sesame Seeds
* Flaked nori (I tore up a few regular nori sheets, but you can also buy aonori)

1. Whisk the dashi stock powder into the water in a large bowl until dissolved.

2. Add the flour, egg, and tenkasu. Whisk well, to form an even batter.

3. Add the cabbage and most of the chopped green onions (reserve a bit of the onions for topping).

4. Heat some oil in a large skillet pan. 

5. Once the oil is hot, spoon the cabbage batter into the pan and smooth into an even layer, about 0.5" thick throughout. Sprinkle the chopped bacon on top.

6. Cook the pancake for 4 minutes, then flip. Cook for an additional 5 minutes with the bacon side down, or until the bacon is crispy.

7. Flip the pancake again, so now the bacon side is up, and cook for an additional 4 minutes.

8. Transfer the pancake to a plate. Drizzle the okonomi sauce over it and then sprinkle the remaining green onions, as well as the nori flakes and sesame seeds, over the pancake.

Looks delicious, doesn't it? Food with toppings is so much more fun - acai bowls, frozen yogurt, and now okonomiyaki!

Have you tried okonomiyaki? How about other savory pancakes?

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Recipe: The Best Whole Roasted Cauliflower

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Cauliflower is one of those foods that can be anything from a duty food, the kind you have to force yourself to eat, to the most delicious thing on the table. This recipe is definitely the latter!

My taste testers said it was the best cauliflower they've ever eaten in their lives and, all humility aside, I must agree. It's crispy on the outside, soft on the inside, and sooo flavorful throughout. Here's the recipe!

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Recipe: Crispy Coconut Kale

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Kale can be very hit or miss and it's one of the most controversial vegetables out there. On the one hand, you have Those People who buy $7 bags of kale chips (with only two servings per bag) and wear Yale-inspired 'KALE' sweaters. On the other hand, you have the people who make taunting faces at bags of kale in the grocery store.

Yes, this is a thing that I have seen. Welcome to New York, city of characters.

Anyway, even for the most kale-adverse person out there, here's a surefire way to make the curly green enjoyable! It's crispy, it's spicy, it's flavorful, it's green and coconutty: 

It's hipster crack.

Another photo, because yum.

It's also super easy to make! I served it with coconut jasmine rice, roasted salmon, and roasted okinawan sweet potatoes for my first hosted dinner in my new (awesome) Upper West Side apartment. I must get around to writing up those recipes, as well, because the meal was a hit, but this crispy coconut kale was so good that I simply must share it NOW. Without further ado, here's the recipe.

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My Top 10 Favorite Places to Eat in NYC

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NYC has so much good food and that seems to count doubly for plantbased food. From acai bowls to raw vegan lasagna and sushi that's all vegan and fish-free (Beyond Sushi, you're on my to-eat list!), there's anything and everything you could possibly want to eat!

...and some that you'd rather not. When there's so much good food, it's a pity to waste up precious stomach space on mediocre meals. Especially if you're only in NYC briefly, you should just eat the good stuff.

So here's my list of my top ten vegetarian- and vegan-friendly food places in NYC! Some are totally plantbased and others offer options for omnivores, but also plenty of vegetarian options.

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Recipe: Eggplant Parmesan

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Do you know what's an easy, flavorful weeknight dinner that's a crowd-pleaser and a family-pleaser? 

Eggplant parmesan with angel hair pasta!

Some like a little extra spaghetti sauce with their pasta, so make a little extra and save it to serve on the side. Other than that, it's straightforward and simple and makes great leftovers! Read on for the recipe.

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Review: Healthy Chef Creations Vegetarian Meal Delivery

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Healthy gourmet meals, made for you, and delivered fresh - never frozen - nationwide? To this busy girl, that sounded pretty great. 

I love cooking and baking and spending quality time with my kitchen, but sometimes life gets crazy and having a few days, or a week, where the food just magically shows up ready to eat can be a godsend. Enter Healthy Chef Creations!

Healthy Chef Creations' menu is spa-inspired and delivered weekly all across the US in individually packaged meals, snacks, and desserts that are fresh and never frozen. 

              

As long as you transfer them to your fridge immediately, they'll last for a week. It's healthy, it's fresh, and the dishes are even tempting to non-healthnuts.

They offer meal delivery programs and a la carte meals suitable for omnivores, vegetarians, vegans, and/or people on gluten-free diets. You can customize your meals accordingly! And it's always natural and organic.

Healthy Chef Creations: The Food

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Review: Hak's Paks

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When you're working full-time and juggling some pretty time-consuming side things, having time to cook healthy meals can be a challenge! 

Luckily, Haks' One Pot Cooking Sauces make it easier to juggle busy weekday schedules with cooking healthy meals at home. Eating out every night isn't cost-effective at all! 

I tried Hak's Paks in three flavors: Chipotle Bourbon, Caribbean Jerk, and Korean BBQ.

I like that the ingredients lists are pretty short and natural. No crazy chemicals or unnecessary artificial colors or flavors. All Hak's Paks are all-natural with no-GMOs, no preservatives, and no gluten.

 Cooking Fast, Easy, and Healthy:

Hak's Paks make cooking really easy. Just boil a pound of veggies, meat, fish, tofu, etc. and pour the contents of the Hak's Pak evenly over the boiled base. 

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Recipe: Savory Zucchini Pancakes

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I'm visiting my family in Germany before I move into my new apartment and start my new job in Boston next week!

In addition to frolicking in the fields, polishing up my mini-golf skills, being amused by my suddenly sassy tween sister, and enjoying seeing my loved ones after a year apart (!), I'm working on a ghostwriting project. While everyone is at work and at school, I write. Since writing means no commute, I have more time than the others and, since I also love cooking, it only makes sense that I'm in charge of lunch this week!

So, what do you do when a friendly farmer neighbor gifts you a massive tree trunk of a zucchini?



You make savory zucchini patties! What's a savory zucchini pancake? It's a cheesy, veggie-packed patty full of vitamins, minerals, and veggie goodness! It's somewhere between a latke and a potato pancake, but with zucchini instead of potatoes.

Read on for the easy and delicious recipe! It's a meat-free meal that my kid, adult, and grandmother taste testers all enjoyed.

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Recipe: Zucchini Bread

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A few weeks ago, I visited Bluestone Lane Cafes on the upper east side for brunch. The zucchini bread there was incredible (as was everything else) and I've been inspired to make a loaf of my own ever since then!



One might not think of zucchini as an ideal ingredient in a sweet bread, but it works so well in zucchini bread!

This bread is soft, moist, flavorful (I highly recommend keeping the walnuts and not omitting the optional topping) and both delicious and pretty!

It's also easy to make, features easy to find ingredients, includes two whole zucchinis, and will make your apartment smell amazing. Read on for the recipe!

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Recipe: Avogolemono Soup

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Greek food is one of the most popular cuisines and for good reason. There are so many great flavors in Greek food!

I shared a spanakopita recipe a while ago (if you haven't tried it yet, do it!) and today we're continuing our Mediterranean culinary adventures with a delicious, simple to follow avogolemono soup recipe!



The tart flavor of lemon works wonderfully with the creamy (from eggs) soup base for a fun spin on chicken soup! It's warming, flavorful, features simple ingredients, and makes a great starter or side to a full Greek meal.

Alternately, you can add a little more chicken to the soup and pair it with warm, freshly-baked pita bread for a light meal. Read on for the recipe!

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Fit for Spring: A Go2Go Review!

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Sometimes healthy habits can get lost in the hectic of work, the cozy cold of the winter, or the boredom of routine. Luckily, all it takes to return to healthy habits (and feeling our best!) is making the decision to do so! There are, of course, some things that can make that transition back to healthy living easier. Go2Go helps!

Go2Go is delivered daily in the evening (6pm for me) before, so that your food is fresh and ready for you, no matter how early you have to leave for work!

They're delivered in a cute, recyclable cardboard box, like an over-sized take-out container with a handy carrying handle. This is extra convenient for work days, because you can just leave your meals in the carton and carry them along to store in your work fridge that way!

Each day comes with a healthy lunch, dinner, snack, and fresh juice.

There are several plans that you can choose between. Whether you're a vegetarian, an athlete, or even ordering for a kid, Go2Go can be there for you!

That takes most of the work of food prep out of your day, but also leaves with the flexibility to choose what you want to eat for your third meal. It's a win-win! You are, of course, encouraged to choose healthy, natural foods for your third meal and to stay hydrated.

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Review: Nookie Bars

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An afternoon snack is great for so many reasons, especially when working or traveling. It gives us energy, fights off hangriness, and keeps us from being ravenous by dinner time!

But what we choose for our snacks matters just a much as choosing to have a snack. Nookie Bars are a nutritious snack that are both healthy and delicious! 

We don't have to compromise taste or convenience for good nutrition. Nookie Bars  have yummy chocolate, healthy fats and sugars for the energy we need to make it through the rest of our days, and even the superfood spirulina!

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Recipe: Spanakopita (Greek Spinach Pie)

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I love cooking my way around the world.

I love traveling, too, but traveling in my kitchen (as a supplement to the traditional way) lets me learn so much more about the world and the many fascinating cultures of the world than I would otherwise be able to. And cooking is fun!



Today, I hope you'll join me on a delicious trip to the Mediterranean. Greek cuisine is beloved by many, both in Greece and elsewhere, and I've been really enjoying working on more Greek-inspired recipes lately.

This spanakopita (Greek spinach pie) recipe is delicious, flaky, flavorful, and a great packed lunch for work. Spanakopita is meant to be eaten cold or at room temperature, so it makes the best leftovers!

It isn't very difficult to make, as long as you remember to thaw the phyllo in advance if you're using frozen phyllo pastry, and the result is restaurant-quality. Read on for the no-fail recipe!

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Recipe: Potato Leek Soup

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I had a really cool opportunity to travel to Paris for 2.5 weeks last month for work!

I missed having Christmas with my loved ones (and New Year's, but I don't care nearly as much about that), which was really sad and hopefully won't happen again, but the experience was amazing.

Parisian architecture is beautiful, the city of lights sparkled and shined despite the atrocities earlier in the fall, and visiting the museums and Eiffel Tower was really great! Parisian food was also a really interest culinary experience.

But after 2.5 weeks of eating out every day, I couldn't have been more thrilled to return to my kitchen! Since winter finally hit in January (it came so late this year) and I had just returned from France, I couldn't think of anything more fitting than potato leek soup.



Read on for a simple, but delicious, recipe for Potato Leek Soup. It will sweep you away to a rainy Parisian afternoon!

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2016 Oriya Health Challenge!

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Is anyone absolutely awful at writing the right date at the beginning of each new year? I still have to remind myself not to end dates with -15, because it's -16 now!

That said, I love the fresh new start of new years and the excitement that comes with it. If there's anything you've been procrastinating, the new year provides a perfect opportunity to stop putting it off and just do it already!

This year, I spent the holidays in Paris on a work trip. It was an unusual holiday for me, not just because of the unseasonably warm weather for the time of year (both in NYC and, to a lesser extent, in Paris), but also because it was my first time not spending the holidays with my family.

Follow me on Instagram as @danaikadzere for more travel, food, and life photos!

Paris has been amazing and I love my job, but I'm hoping to spend Christmas with my loved ones again next year - and I'm already wishing that next year will bring a white Christmas!

Anyway, I will bid the city of lights adieu this evening and fly back home to NYC late tonight. So, in a way, tomorrow (January 4) is my real new start to the new year! The trip has been great and wonderfully educational, but I'm also looking forward to being home and getting back into/creating a new year's new rhythm.

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Top Seven Tips for Taking 'Me' Time This Holiday Season!

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The holiday season is my absolute favorite time of the year and the absolute best time to make special memories with friends and family and all your loved ones. I have family Christmas memories from over a decade ago that I still treasure more than anything else!

Being reunited with loved ones is such an amazing feeling!

That said, many of us can find that the holidays can get a bit hectic. That's no fun! It's all about striking the ideal balance between participating in the festivities and taking some much needed, and equally enjoyable.

Read on for my top seven tips for taking some precious 'me' time this holiday season!

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Recipe: Can't-Fail Creamed Corn

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Creamed corn is an American staple side dish. I've babysat kids before who wouldn't touch any vegetable (including regular cooked corn or corn on the cob) but went crazy for my creamed corn. 

While it's important to encourage picky eaters to get a variety of vegetables in their diet (I have posted about ways to do so, sneakily and not-so-sneakily!) it's great to also have a veggie side option that you don't have to convince or trick them into enjoying. This creamed corn fits the bill!

While corn is often under-appreciated as a vegetable, there are actually a lot of great reasons to enjoy corn! 

Corn is rich in vitamins A, B, and E, as well as a wide variety of minerals, including magnesium, zinc, phosphorous, manganese, and so on. It is in high in satiating, digestion-regulating fiber, contains antioxidants that have been linked to reduced rates of cancer and Alzheimer's, reduces cholesterol absorption in the body, promotes good bone health, and helps prevent anemia.

Satisfied that you want corn on your dinner table? Great! Then read on for the recipe for my creamed corn - you'll have plates scraped clean!

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Recipe: Perfect Pumpkin Bread

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I love winter squashes and pumpkin, so I'm one of the many who is thrilled when all things turn to pumpkin in October! 

Pumpkin yogurt, pumpkin spice lattes, pumpkin soup, roasted pumpkin, pumpkin ice cream, pumpkin smoothies, pumpkin juice - I can't get enough! 

Whether you have an extra can of pumpkin in your pantry and don't want to go the usual pumpkin pie route (or if pies are a Thanksgiving tradition for you, and you're trying not to get ahead of yourself with your holiday spirit), or you have a pumpkin from the pumpkin patch awaiting a fate other than becoming a soup or a decoration, this recipe for pumpkin bread is an autumn delight. 

For quick and easy, use canned pumpkin puree. I've tried with homemade pumpkin puree from a fresh pumpkin, as well! It's certainly more of a process (and a mess) but can be a lot of fun! Read on for the no-fail recipe (listed with canned pumpkin puree, but an equivalent amount of fresh works wonderfully, as well).

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Drink to Your Health With Vitamin Chick! A Review

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Fall is a season full of breathtaking beauty, wonderful experiences (apple picking, anyone?), and delicious flavors - pumpkin everything, especially Starbucks!

Like any other season, it's a great opportunity to start anew with healthy, happy habits that allow you to make the most of every moment of every day. I am a firm believer that wellness begins from the inside! Giving your body solid nutrition can do so much to improve your overall sense of well being.

If you've been going heavier on the apple cider donuts than the apples, pre-gaming Halloween with grab bag candy, visiting more Oktoberfest parties than you would care to admit, and/or feeling a little sluggish, I recommend Vitamin Chick juices for a quick and easy reset!



Enjoy a variety of delicious, 100% organic juices that will flood you with the vitamins you need after less than ideal eating. I was honestly surprised by how great the juices tasted, especially the Power Up!



A blend of raw coconut water, sweet carrots, and maca root powder, it's sweet and satisfying and perfect! If carrots aren't your thing, the green juices are delicious, too.

Not a fan of sweet juice? Don't worry, they even have some all-vegetable green juices (check out the Green Vaccine and Vita Green juices) to satisfy those who are watching sugar content.

If you order a pre-arranged cleanse, the juices even come numbered for you (5 juices, a booster, and a creamy nut milk to end the day) so there's no guesswork.



If prearranged cleanses aren't your thing (though they do have a variety of options, which are carefully selected to satisfy the particular need that they're designed for), you can also order their juices, milks, and boosters individually to get exactly what you want.

Either enjoy the juices as a cleanse (starting with just a one day cleanse for those of us who don't want to give up chewing for 3+ days and/or who have busy schedules) or as part of a healthy balanced diet with your usual (healthier) food choices.



Either way, you're doing something good for your body!

They regularly run great specials, such as buy six juices and get the seventh free, so be sure to check out their website for up-to-date details!

What is your favorite way to do a healthy reset?

What is your favorite kind of juice?

What are you enjoying most about autumn so far?

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Exploring Southern Cuisine with Peach Dish!

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Would you like to make restaurant-quality healthy food with a Southern twist in the comfort of your own home in just ~30 minutes?

How about Chicken with Muscadines and Mashed Potatoes?

You can and you don't have to have studied at culinary school or worked in a kitchen! 

Peach Dish makes it easy and convenient to cook delicious, nutritious dinners at home. You just choose which dishes you would like to order from their ever-changing weekly menu, how many people each meal needs to serve, and how many meals you would like to cook per week.

Read on to learn about my experience trying them out!

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