Weeknight Kitchen

Traditionally made with bulgur wheat, tabbouleh is probably one of the most popular Middle Eastern salads. This version uses quinoa instead of bulgur wheat and black beans to make it more filling and nutritious by adding fiber, protein, vitamins, and minerals. Store the tabbouleh in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to three days.

Our version of America’s favorite fast food skips the bun in favor of a thick, hot dosa. The Dosa Dog is one of the most popular menu items at our food truck. Kids enjoy theirs with Cheddar from Grafton Village Cheese, the Vermont factory where we park our truck, and adults typically add mustard and Masala Sauerkraut. We always choose high-quality hot dogs—the farmers’ market or the meat aisle of a natural food store are good places to find a local brand.

This “pizza” is extremely popular in Vietnam and is often ordered at street-food stands to be eaten straight off the grill. And we totally understand why. Either in spite of or because of its simplicity, it tastes fantastic.

One day at the restaurant, we got in a shipment of particularly perfect cauliflower from a farm in upstate New York. These cruciferous beauties were so grand that I was compelled to cut them into slabs, coat them in Japanese breadcrumbs, herbs, and cheese and pan-fry them until crisp on the outside and tender inside, and that’s how this dish was born.

You can’t deny yourself a good potato – fact! Especially if it is a potato salad that has the added goodness of nuts, lentils and greens. You simply can’t go wrong.

This recipe is very dear to my heart, as it was my first attempt to use ingredients that didn’t normally go together, but made sense to me. In Asian cooking, vinegar is often used to cut saltiness from soy sauce or other ingredients. For me, balsamic vinegar has the perfect mix of sweetness, acidity, and body to combine with the brown sugar and soy sauce here.

This is one amazing steak. It’s simple to prepare and you get maximum flavor in a short period of time. Flank steak is a lean cut, so be careful you don’t overcook it; medium-rare is ideal.

Gujarati Corn on the Cob Curry | Gujarati makai subji

Fresh Pacific halibut is a seasonal splurge. It needs very little to enhance its flavor—in fact, it’s almost a sin to fuss too much with it. I like to prepare it simply: pan-seared until golden and crisp with a quick sauté of sweet, garlicky cherry tomatoes on the side. Depending on how long you cook the tomatoes, they can be firm and fresh or soft and jammy. I usually aim for somewhere right in between, but they’re delicious either way.

Often, I have a bit of chicken left over from dinner that I use up the next day for lunch. Here is a really delicious summer version, using fresh-cooked chicken breasts; obviously, you can swap in leftover roast chicken.