Papaya Smoothie Recipe (Sinh To Du Du)

Sinh tố đu đủ literally translates in Vietnamese to papaya (đu đủ) vitamin (sinh tố). I've made sinh tố bơ in the past with creamy avocado, but I got my hands on a beautiful papaya, so I made this version instead. You can also make many variations of the Vietnamese drink such as jackfruit, durian or mango depending on what you have on hand. The usual sweetener is sweetened condensed milk. You can blend the fruit with either yogurt, soy milk, regular cow's milk, coconut milk or coconut water.

I love wandering through ethnic markets. They're a great place to find interesting ingredients to develop new recipes. This weekend, my husband Lulu and I went to Mi Pueblo supermarket in East Palo Alto after a trip to the nearby Home Depot. Along with the beautifully ripe papaya, which reminded us of our last trip to Cancun, I found nopales (cactus), exotic banana varieties and the best horchata I’ve had in a long time. On top of that, the staff was incredibly friendly and helpful. I’m definitely going back for more great Mexican ingredients.

Pulao Recipe (Indian Vegetable Rice)

Pulao is an Indian rice dish filled with sabji ("vegetables" in Urdu). In this version, I flavored the rice with only three vegetables: lima beans, carrots and green peas. Lima beans are packed with protein and are very filling. The combination of lima beans and rice makes a perfectly balanced meal for a vegetarian diet.

I served this one-dish meal family style with raita or chutney on the side. This weekend, we prepared a large pot and everything was gone at the end of lunch time! My favorite is the fried "burnt" rice at the bottom of the pot, called kurchan.

Mediterranean Vegetables: Healthy Side Dish Recipe

This Mediterranean vegetable medley is not only a healthy side dish, it's also packed with flavor. I mixed red bell pepper, sunburst squashes, crimini mushrooms, green olives and garlic, along with baby eggplants, which fit perfectly in this particular dish. The skin is tender, not bitter and the seeds are very small. I also melted goat cheese at the end to bind all the flavors together. We bought way too many fresh loaves of French bread from the bakery aisle at Safeway, so I took one of the loaves and cut it into small croutons and used them to soak up the juices from the vegetables.

For a non-vegetarian version, I would substitute grilled chunks of chicken for the croutons and serve it on a bed of rice.

Banana Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

Baking banana cupcakes is my way of using the ripe bananas that have been sitting in our fruit bowl. Our family eats a lot of bananas but I think this week we went a little over-board, so we had some leftover that were turning black. I mashed the bananas with a little lemon juice and used it as a flavoring for cupcakes. I added crème fraîche (you could use sour cream) so the cake batter was very moist.

I frosted the cupcakes with cream cheese frosting and decorated them with sprinkles I recently bought at Target. Easter is coming soon, so why not prepare some cute sweet treats!

Asian Noodle Salad with Peanut Salad Dressing

We went to a potluck this weekend, and I brought along an Asian-inspired salad. I wanted to serve it as a main dish, so I made a pasta salad loaded with tofu and vegetables. But instead of using regular pasta, I used thin egg noodles. I mixed a myriad of vegetables such as crimini mushrooms, baby zucchini, cauliflower, bok choy, sugar snap peas and pickled red peppers with fried, cubed tofu. To finish the dish, I covered it in a delicious peanut dressing made of peanut butter, chili garlic sauce, sugar cane vinegar and ponzu soy sauce.

This cold Asian noodle salad can be prepared hours in advance, making it perfect for picnics and potlucks. Just leave the peanut salad dressing on the side and mix right before serving.