A hearty, savory recipe featuring luscious saffron - delicious for a weekend dinner...

These short ribs are delicious served alongside roasted potatoes, polenta, or asparagus.

If you’re not super comfortable in the kitchen, meals like this can come across as intimidating to make. That's precisely why I like to show the making of them. I'll walk you through the process in hopes you'll see they are pretty straight forward. It's just a matter of following simple steps.

With my recent focus on saffron, I find myself incorporating pistachios alongside the little golden threads and it’s put me on a bit of a pistachio kick.

They serve as the savory bite in this salad made with a bunch of super chopped, refreshing veggies topped with a bright, minty vinaigrette that comes together using an ingredient I feature throughout my new book… black sesame seeds. More on them later. In the meantime, I honestly don’t know if I’ve ever enjoyed a salad more!

I’ve been focused on saffron lately. Don't let the notion that it is the "world's most expensive spice" deter you... hear me out on two things. First, a little goes a long way with saffron. It's not like you're scooping heaping tablespoons into recipes, just a small pinch of several threads brings a lot of flavor.

Also, Saffron is becoming more commonly used as a supplement because of its anti-inflammatory and antioxidant benefits, AND it is said to be beneficial for mental and brain health... plus a lot more, but I'm not going to make any claims here, so look it up.

All that said, I don't use potent enough amounts of saffron in my cooking to compare to the amount consumed in a supplement, but I do enjoy incorporating pinches into recipes for both flavor and a little nutritional boost.

For this recipe, I was just playing around with ingredients and honestly surprised myself with how delicious the resulting cookies turned out.

Saffron and pistachio create the base flavor for these crunchy cookies and maple tahini holds them all together. Extra maple tahini is spooned on top to create a caramel-y, chewy morsel nestled in the center. Finished with a little flaky sea salt and they are yumyumyum…

Bringing together a few of my favorite ingredients to make these savory pancakes. Mineral-rich shiitake mushrooms bring the irresistible umami. Japanese sweet potatoes boost the nutritional value, add subtle sweetness, and hold everything together. And capers add a needed briny bite.

Delicious for pretty much any meal… just serve them with a poached egg in the morning, sliced avocado for lunch or alongside a hearty roast for dinner.

Note: I use stemmed shiitakes for this recipe, but like the save the stems to add a little umami to broths and soups.

Taking blue spirulina a savory direction again by brightening up some broccolini with a beautiful blue ricotta… a super fun, unexpected side dish to grace your table this Easter, but easy enough to serve with a weeknight meal.

Panna cotta may seem fancy, but when it comes down to it, it’s basically milk jello—in this instance, a matcha latte in gelatinized form.

Panna cotta may seem fancy, but when it comes down to it, it’s basically milk jello—in this instance, a matcha latte in gelatinized form.

Roasted vegetables don’t necessarily seem exciting at first glance, but let me tell you that this matcha and tahini based dressing is knock-your-socks-off delicious.

Drizzled on top of winter root vegetables and some cauliflower, this side dish is hearty enough for a small plant based meal and excellent served alongside roasted chicken or salmon.

I'm taking matcha a savory direction with a little app. As I've been doing a lot these days, I figured it was fitting to add flavor with a bit of grated ginger-it turned out delicious.

I like to serve this with with veggies, but it's also delicious spread on a sandwich or in a wrap.

If you know me, you know I love my daily matcha… and I occasionally (often) pride myself on playing the role of matcha evangelist, converting friends to my matcha ways. I’m going to be rolling out a few ways I like to use this magical powder that differ from my usual latte concoctions.

This sweet cake uses almond to balance out the matcha flavor making it delicious for both breakfast and dessert.