Shaved Raw Beet Salad

By Lori Powell

Since I just turned another year older, I am on a mission to eat healthier and to be more active. I’m writing this on the morning after my birthday, after a very rich dinner out.

My birthday dinner consisted of heritage Kurobuta pork short ribs on a very creamy buttery parsnip puree, with crispy fried Brussels sprouts and a lemon caper compound butter, all paired with a lovely red wine. I am a sucker for short ribs and especially pork ones. I figured with the pork shortage about to happen in 2013, I best have it while I can and I felt that this was on par with a celebratory dinner.

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Rolled Pork Gyoza

By Katie Barreira

While dining at one my favorite neighborhood restaurants, I strayed from my usual hot pot and opted for an order of the TonTon Famous Gyoza. I was expecting a steaming plate of pleated dumplings in the classic potsticker form, but instead, I was presented with a sizzling platter of what looked like Asian-style taquitos.

These simple rolled dumplings were a revelation. Not only were they much easier to prepare than traditional Gyoza (making them perfect for a weeknight meal), they also had twice as much of the dumplings’ tastiest feature, that golden-crisp skin. Yum!

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Brown Bag a Bento Lunch

By Sandy Hu

When Steve and I go on vacation, we love to poke around in local farmers’ markets and explore supermarkets to check out what the locals are eating. Our suitcases on the return home are always bulging with cans and boxes of transportable food, a few new cookbooks and some food magazines . We try to make our vacation last a little longer by replicating some of the dishes we enjoyed.

During our first trip to Japan in May, we fell in love with o-bento lunches (Japanese box lunches, artfully arranged in partitioned containers).We can buy them easily from Japanese markets in San Francisco of course, but in Japan, we could purchase them everywhere and in great variety. Whether from the fabulous food emporia found in the basement of every high-end department store, to train station kiosks and even the 7-11, o-bento lunches were uniformly tasty.

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How to Warm Tortillas

By Jess Ziman

How do you heat your tortillas? They can be soft and slightly warmed, or toasted for a smoky taste. Whether you are making gourmet tacos for a boozy night with your buddies or trying to repurpose some leftovers for a quick dinner with the family, these techniques will help you get the job done.

Once you learn this simple technique, try my recipe for Tilapia Tacos with Peach, Corn and Black Bean Salsa before all the summer produce disappear.

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Birthday Bouquet of Greens

By Lori Powell

Another B’day is right around the corner and an early gift has arrived on my doorstep. A bouquet of greens!

They’re especially great when fresh-picked at a farm stand or from your neighbor’s garden, but to present them this way as a gorgeous bouquet of healthy greens to celebrate my birthday is just perfection. So lovely that I could have put them in a vase and placed them on my table.

So gorgeous…how could I even think of cooking them? Well at least for a day or two.

I quickly came to my senses as I can’t get enough of kale – raw, cooked or in a smoothie. It was love at first bite.

Below is one of my favorite ways to serve them…oh and they are amazingly good for you. Go figure. So below, my happy b’day kale recipe.

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