852. Whole Wheat Bread Loaf

I have struggled a fair bit in the bread making department and truly believed my success is limited to a decent loaf of 5 minute artisan bread (a nifty base recipe with endless varieties including amazing stecca, focaccia, and pull apart). This is the recipe that changed my bread making universe. The fact that it's wholewheat makes it all the more tasty!

851. Banoffee Pie

Although my banoffee pudding is famous and highly requested among friends and family, it is a spin off the classic Banoffee Pie. This is the banoffee pie! Layers of biscuit crust, dense dulce de leche, slices of fresh banana, and a fluffy topping of freshly whipped cream.

850. Red Velvet Cheesecake

I keep claiming that Red Velvet is nothing more than a dyed weak chocolate cake yet I keep finding myself making variations of it! What can I say? People love it. After the brownies, brownie cake, and cupcakes, comes today's red velvet cheesecake.

849. Chicken Mushroom Tepsi

The secret of the flavor, she told me, lies in using both cooking cream as well as whipping cream.
A light dish, this is not. But the coziness, deliciousness, and flavor makes up for it. This is a recipe invented and given to me by a dear sister and friend. It's something of a chicken pie, with an kinship to hachis parmentier and cottage pie.

848. Citrus Scrub (Non Edible)

Citrus are widely used for their health benefits both through consumption and exterior skin application.
The essential oils in the zest of citrus are invigorating and energizing, and are the main feature of this scrub.

847. Broccoli Mushroom Pasta Bake

I seem to prefer baked pasta dishes to stove top ones. My baked mac and cheese is pretty phenomenal, although my stove top shrimp broccoli fettuccine is also hard to beat. This pasta bake incorporates broccoli and mushroom and whole wheat torsade or fusilli pasta.

846. Melon Mozarella Viande Sechee Salad

Remember the melon wrapped in viande sechée I made a while back? Well this salad is a more formal form of that rustic version and is just as easy to make and presents much better.

845. Grilled Mortadella Cheese Pita

Grilled sandwiches seem to be a multi-cultural favorite knowing no borders nor continent.
From the Mexican, to the British, Italian, American, and beyond. Today's is the Arab version (one of many), using the famous Lebanese pita bread.

844. Red Fruit Salad

Fruit salads can be a generic mix of whatever fruits you have on hand, or they can be a beautiful reflection of the seasonal bounty. This red fruit salad celebrates Summer in all its fiery glory.

843. Berry Ice Cream Lemon Cake

Full disclosure: you can make this dessert by buying a pound cake loaf, a tub of vanilla ice cream, and a packet of raspberries where all you do is assemble. Or you could take it a step further like I did and amp up the flavor big time by going home made.

842. Long Life Salad

Four different kinds of pulses, a gluten-free grain, a hearty green, nuts, dried fruit, fresh fruit, healthy oils, and a hefty punch of fresh citrus is this salad. A fairly long list of ingredients and some prep work is needed, but the pay off if a fantastic one.

841. Torsade Pizza

Torsade in French just indicates something that's been twisted. Like the DNA double helix. Like a spiral. Like fusili pasta. So this pizza rolls the dough (my no-knead overnight bread) into a long rod, then proceeds to twist the rod to create the torsade effect (and minimizes retracting of the dough), before being rolled up into a loose snail shell shape, and topped.

840. Malteasers Bars

Until not too long ago, there was an unreasonable obsession with striving to make food look like it were factory produced in uniformity and shape. Now, not so much. Mass produced products often contain a calculated imperfection or two in a marketing attempt to convey a home-made and hand-made air.

839. Spinach Mushroom Feta Crustless Quiche

With the sheer quantity of quiches in this blog alone, it is no secret I harbor a tender spot for these vegetable pies. This crustless cheesy pie of goodness is the latest addition.

838. Pistachio Basbousa

Basboosa (البسبوسة) is an Arab semolina cake which is very popular in the Arabian Gulf, Levant, and North Africa.
MCW boasts a regular basboosa, a coconut basboosa, and now this pistachio basboosa.

837. Palestinian Chicken Musakhan

This month's MENA Cooking Club feature is Occupied Palestine. The MENA Cooking Club explores the differences and similarities of the Middle East and North African countries through local cuisine. Previous entries include Algeria, Bahrain, Djibouti, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Malta, Morocco, and Oman.

836. Lentil Aubergine Salad

This salad looks so mild and timid, and maybe even a little boring, but my was it an explosion! Brown lentils, fried aubergine, and crispy fried (or toasted) pita bread are layered with tangy rich pomegranate molasses and topped with a yogurt dressing.

835. Crispy Chickpea Avocado Salad

This salad is a nutritional powerhouse. A few simple ingredients that one would not otherwise think of bringing together make for a healthy and satiating salad.

834. Vegan Avocado Chocolate Mousse

A three ingredient chocolate dessert with health benefits to boot is now a reality with the magical blending of avocados, cocoa, and honey.

833. Tri-Color Detox Juices

Detox juices are not just for January. I think they should be a constant feature in our lives.What's not to like about mixes of fruits and vegetables producing vibrant natural colors and undiluted nutritional and vitamin boosts customized from the comfort of your kitchen? It's easy and it's fast. All you have to do is invest in a good juicer, which will eventually pay for itself. As for the juice combos, feel free to create your own as I did mine.

832. Peach Caprese Salad

Balsamic reduction is liquid gold in the kitchen. Tangy, sweet, and savory, it's a reduced balsamic vinegar.
Seasonal sweet ripe peaches replace the tomatoes in a play on the classic Italian caprese salad. Milky fresh buffalo mozzarella pairs wonderfully with the peaches and fragrant fresh basil leaves.

831. Peach Cobbler

Cobbler is another dessert consisting of a baked fruit and some form of pastry. In this case, the pastry is flattened into circles and placed slightly overlapping over the fruit to resemble a cobblestone pathway. Sweet, intoxicating seasonal peaches were my fruit of choice.

830. Red Capsicum Pasta Bake

I think I might have mentioned I lean towards pasta bakes rather than stove top pastas. This particular pasta bake is loaded with Summery red bell pepper or capsicums and has so much flavor. Angel hair pasta gives the dish a lighter feel and the variety of herbs lacing the pasta is phenomenal.

829. Rangina Balls

Rangina, the Arabian Gulf seasonal dessert gets a make over as bite-sized balls this year around.
I say seasonal because although some people make rangina with dried dates which are available all year around, it is originally only made using fresh ripe dates which are only available in the mid- to late Summer.

828. Chicken Pesto Peach Salad

Peach season deserves a couple recipes before the internet explodes with autumnal apples pies and pumpkin recipes galore. This bright and delicious salad makes for a perfect 15 minute Summer lunch, providing you have your fresh basil pesto all whipped up and waiting in the fridge.