I used to think Mexican rice was this completely magical and impossible dish. Every family has a slightly different recipe and I seem to keep mixing the wrong ingredients in all the different recipes I’ve collected over the years. I just couldn’t perfect it. Sometimes I put too much spice, sometimes it’s too much broth and sometimes it’s not enough water. Really it took me a while to get it right and I cook Mexican food a lot! More so than any other cuisine, even Chinese actually. So after years of experimenting, here is my version of Mexican rice. It’s incredibly simple and incredibly delicious.
I found out where I was going wrong all these years. I kept trying to make a mix of Mexican rice and Spanish rice… two totally different dishes. Mexican rice, as I have known it growing up, has always been a tomato based rice that is pretty mild in taste compared to Spanish rice. It’s buttery and flavorful alone, but the key is how well it pairs with beans and the rest of your Mexican meal. I generally cook enough Mexican food to feed the block so this rice recipe makes a whole pot. Hope you like it!
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Posted by: Maggie Ha
Category: food, mmmm, recipes
Tags: cooking, food, Mexican, recipe, recipes, rice, vegetarian
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Here it is, my first dish in my new kitchen! It wasn’t as bad as I thought, luckily I chose to make something that I had all the ingredients for. Whew! So a basquaise dish is traditionally a peppers and onions red wine reduction with lots of peppers, the key ingredient is piment d’Espelette - paprika, along with garlic and thyme. Usually the traditional French dish requires some ham or bacon for that rich salty flavor but I did a version that was vegetarian friendly and oh SO delicious. I served a vegetarian dish with roasted asparagus and a meatier fishy version with halibut.
You can make a basquaise out of other things as well… that’s just the chunky peppers and onion sauce. You can put chicken or fish on top of it and it will go perfectly. I opted for roasted asparagus for a vegetarian dish but grilled eggplant or zucchini would go nicely as well. I added grape tomatoes to my version for that added burst of flavor when you bite into one. A basquaise sounds difficult but it really is easy and it tastes amazing! Hope you enjoy it!
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Posted by: Maggie Ha
Category: food, mmmm, recipes
Tags: cooking, food, french, recipe, recipes, seafood, vegetarian
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I love potatoes. I think I could eat potatoes at every meal. Hash browns, mashed, roasted, baked, fries, home style, soup, endless possibilities really. My favorite combination is garlic and potatoes, mashed or pan fried. Today I bring you, roasted! Roasted garlic with seasoned roasted potatoes, a perfect marriage of flavors. Roasted garlic doesn’t have that harsh don’t kiss me kick and actually adds a nice sweetness. So good just squeezed on top of a slice of crusty bread too!
You could really pair this as a side dish with any meal but I had it as my main dish for dinner. What can I say, I really love potatoes! And it’s technically Winter still, I’m allowed to have an entirely starchy dinner! I usually love a huge dollop of sour cream with potatoes, but this dish is so flavorful, you really won’t need anything else but a fork! Hope you like it!
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Posted by: Maggie Ha
Category: baking, food, mmmm, recipes
Tags: baking, cooking, food, potatoes, recipe, recipes, vegetables, vegetarian
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YAY! This is Vanilla Latte’s 100th post! Well to be specific, this is Vanilla Latte now as a food and travel blog’s 100th post, I deleted the ones that were irrelevant from 5 years ago. So for such a celebration, I would like to share one of my favorite mac and cheese recipes. Now this isn’t the one I normally make for dinner parties that involve 5 cheeses, that one will have to wait. This version is an attempt to be slightly healthier… I threw in spinach! 
Okay it’s not that good for you. Anything that starts as a roux and involves adding milk and cheese always ends with ooey gooey goodness that can’t be that good for you. Ah well, that’s why it’s a celebration!
I’ve used low fat milk, low fat cheese, and spinach. Little ways to make sure this delicious dish won’t cause a heart attack. But feel free to live on the edge, use full fat milk and cheeses! MAN my mouth is watering as I’m writing this. So delicious and easy to make. And really good leftovers with a splash of Tabasco. Hope you like it!
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Posted by: Maggie Ha
Category: baking, food, mmmm
Tags: american, baking, cheese, cooking, food, pasta, recipe, recipes, spinach, vegetarian
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That’s right everyone, homemade wontons! I always thought they were incredibly difficult to make, especially as a vegetarian option, but it wasn’t difficult at all. I think what put me off from making these is that my mom always used to say what a treat it was to find vegetarian wontons at a restaurant. She made it seem like they were so difficult to make and it was special occasion to have them. Now I realized she was just lazy. They are incredibly time consuming but not difficult at all. I’ve been craving veggie wontons ever since we went to Hong Kong 4 months ago. So I decided, it’s about time I called mom and asked her how to make her wontons!
I made two versions, a vegetarian version for me and a traditional pork & shrimp version for Vini. That meant, double work for dumpling fillings, double work to make stocks, and a very strategic way of cooking everything. I made a vegetarian stock for my soup and made a traditional chicken stock for the meat option. And when it came down to cooking everything, I had pots everywhere! One for the veggie stock, one for the chicken stock, a big pot of boiling water to blanch the greens and the noodles. Ladles and spoons and chopsticks everywhere… okay, I can see why my mom doesn’t do this often.
Everything said and done, it was well worth it, DELICIOUS! You don’t see vegetarian versions of this often so it’s nice to know you with a little patience, you can just make it at home! Hope you like it!
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Posted by: Maggie Ha
Category: food, mmmm, recipes, soups
Tags: asian, chinese, cooking, food, noodles, recipe, recipes, soup, vegetables, vegetarian
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The name of the dish should really be “Meaty Roasted Squash Moroccan Stew on Roasted Portobello Mushrooms with Green Onion Garlic Couscous” but it’s a bit long so I shortened it. It’s got heaps of veggies and spices, a very hearty dish and perfect for winter dinners. Hmmm might even go nicely as a pie filling!
Now when I said “meaty” I mean whatever choice of meat you want to put in it. I used a delicious soy meat, but you can use steak, chicken, lamb, whatever you want! Just make sure it’s cut into cubes around the same size and the rest of your veggies. I made this dish vegan but you can of course add meat to your liking for a carnivorous version. Season up the “meat” with salt and pepper and then brown before adding to the stew at the end. If you can find some flavored sausages, it would go really nicely as well!
The recipe looks long and complicated but it really isn’t that bad, definitely worth the extra effort! This dish is incredibly flavorful and jam packed with veggies. The roasted mushroom adds a great texture and taste to the whole dish. Top with some cilantro and there you have it, a delicious hearty meal! You know, a dollop of Greek yogurt on top would be great as well….next time! Hope you like it!
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Posted by: Maggie Ha
Category: food, mmmm, recipes
Tags: cooking, food, recipe, recipes, vegan, vegetables, vegetarian
{7 comments}
It’s great having visitors in town, it means I get to entertain and cook some of my favorite dishes. Last night I made my roast chicken with rice pilaf and served with orange and fennel salad. I’ve been meaning to post my rice pilaf recipe for a while now… I finally remembered to take some nice pictures of the rice!
Rice pilaf is one of those amazing dishes that are so easy to make and never fails to please. It all depends on the rice though. You’ll have to experiment to find your favorite type. I use Uncle Ben’s Long Grain White Rice. Not the instant rice, not the 2-minute microwave rice, and definitely not the boil in a bag… it’s the regular original converted white rice. What’s special about this rice is that it’s parcooked so it doesn’t stick.
I’ve tried this with regular white rice, it tastes great but it doesn’t have that crumbly rice pilaf consistency. If you don’t have the Uncle Ben’s handy, basmati rice or long grain white rice will be fine. I’ll make sure to provide the different measurements for regular long grain white rice and this special Uncle Ben’s.
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Posted by: Maggie Ha
Category: food, mmmm, recipes
Tags: basics, cooking, food, recipe, recipes, rice, vegetarian
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I wasn’t quite sure what to name this dish. It’s a little Asian, a little tangy, a little crunchy, but most of all a whole lot of YUMMY! I love red cabbage slaws. My favorite would be the Szechuan slaw that comes with the Vegetarian Focaccia Sandwich at CPK. YUM. I guess you can say this was inspired by it, it’s not quite exactly the same but close!
I’m still very much on my health kick, so this dish is good for you AND vegan! I need to make sure I keep posting all my vegan recipes before I forget them! I’ve got another vegan red cabbage slaw recipe that I’ll post at a later date. For now enjoy this yummy one!
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Posted by: Maggie Ha
Category: food, mmmm, recipes, salads
Tags: asian, cooking, diet, food, recipe, recipes, salad, vegan, vegetables, vegetarian
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I was sorta on a pasta kick lately because I was training for the half marathon. I think I take carbo loading a little too seriously. It’s the one time when I have a good excuse to eat lots of pasta, so why not! I’ve been using bucatini a lot lately because a.) I bought quite a few boxes and b.) I love the thickness/strawness! You try to slurp but you can’t cause it’s hallow! Great alternative to spaghetti!
Anyway, this recipe is really quick and pretty healthy. Well, at least I tried to make it really healthy. I only used a little bit of cheese in the pesto. I guess the only thing that’s “bad” is the extra virgin olive oil… which most cultures will say that it’s good for you! Such a quick and simple dish, it’s perfect for dinners during the week. Hope you enjoy it!
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Posted by: Maggie Ha
Category: food, mmmm, recipes
Tags: cooking, food, pasta, recipe, recipes, spinach, vegetarian
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Ooo baked spaghetti! Kind of like lasagna or baked ziti but not really at all. I’ve been meaning to make this for a while. I can’t quite remember where I saw this done, perhaps it was on Martha’s show, or just one of the delicious photos on tastespotting.com. Either way, I remembered the basics, cook spaghetti, make toppings, bake.
So I improvised a bit, it still came out tasty. I think if you add more sauce, it turns more lasagna. If you add more ricotta and mix it around, it’s more ziti like. I kind of kept mine more on the vegetable heavy side, still on my health kick ya know. I also used bucatini pasta, it’s spaghetti with a hole in it, they’re basically like straws. If you stick to spaghetti I think it will keep it’s shape a bit more, the bucatini wanted to wiggle around a bit more. Try it out!
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Posted by: Maggie Ha
Category: baking, food, mmmm, recipes
Tags: cooking, food, pasta, recipe, recipes, vegetables, vegetarian
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