easy | Elena the Epicurean

Quinoa with Shrimp, Tomato, Cucumber, Feta, and Herbs

The truth is, I don’t always write my own recipes, but another truth is that I never follow a recipe to the tee. I almost always modify them, either adding and omitting ingredients or making substitutions. And I did just that recently with a recipe from one of my favorite cooks, Ina Garten aka The [...]

Shakshuka and my first Food Bloggers of Los Angeles meeting

Yesterday I had the pleasure of attending my first ever Food Bloggers of Los Angeles (FBLA) meeting, held at a fellow blogger’s home in Tustin, CA. The theme was egg dishes, hence the title of the meeting, “Egg-stravaganza”. (I will spare you any more egg puns for the duration of this post)

And speaking [...]

The Red Grape Salad

I was fortunate enough to grow up in Sonoma County, California, where some of the world’s best food and wine can be enjoyed. I’m not kidding – any good foodie has heard of it or been there, and tourists flock to the region just to wine and dine. I would say growing up there is [...]

Egg White Frittata with Baby Kale, Tomato, and Feta Cheese

For part two of my review of organicgirl good clean greens, I made a recipe using their i heart baby kale. I first took a taste of it raw, and wow! I find kale too bitter to consume raw, but baby kale has a much milder, delicate flavor. I could definitely see myself using it [...]

Product Review: organicgirl good clean greens

I recently had the pleasure of receiving a free sample of organicgirl good clean greens to review. The company is celebrating their debut on Lifetime Network’s “All Mixed Up” reality cooking show. I received their baby spinach, i heart baby kale, and SUPERGREENS! as seen below:

Who doesn’t love the names of these products? [...]

Smoked Salmon Salad, Fried Egg, and Arugula on Whole Wheat Toast

It’s hard to escape the buzz about salmon and its health benefits. The American Heart Association recommends eating a fatty fish such as salmon at least twice a week to ward off cardiovascular disease and lower cholesterol. But unfortunately, if you’re like me, salmon can sometimes seem a little boring. I prefer that it has [...]

Food Flashback: The Italian Salad Trifecta

As much as I love variety when it comes to food, I’m also a creature of habit like most human beings. I tend to get hooked on a certain dish and it’s so good that I just want to eat it every.single.day – and I do, for maybe a week or two. When I lived [...]

Soy Spaghetti Noodle Bowl

If you remember my recipe for Drunken Spaghetti, you know that pasta doesn’t always have to be cooked in water. This time, I cooked it in soy sauce. There’s nothing more comforting than a noodle bowl, and you don’t have to go out and buy a bunch of specialty Asian ingredients in order to make [...]

Tuna Salad with Olives and Capers

Firstly, a small announcement…I’ve decided to venture into the world of pescetarianism. This means basically being a lacto-ovo vegetarian (eggs and dairy products are OK, but no meat), yet still consuming seafood. I’ve been an on-again-off-again vegetarian for most of my life, but I notice that whenever I go vegetarian, I find myself hungry all [...]

Greek Yogurt with Red Wine Infused Dates, Toasted Walnuts, and Honey…and the cathartic power of writing

Making a dessert for a crowd is often assumed to be time-consuming, difficult, and just something that adds more stress and complication to planning a meal. It does not have to be that way, and this simple dessert proves it. It can also be healthy, exotic, and impressive. In addition to being a crowd-pleaser, this [...]

Hey there! I’m Elena, a 22-year-old UCLA alum living in Los Angeles. I am totally obsessed with cooking, baking, and anything food and wine related. I grew up in beautiful Sonoma County in Northern California, where some of the best food and wine on this planet can be enjoyed. I love cooking to this day because I find it extremely therapeutic, relaxing, distracting, and rewarding. Eating is something that we do three times a day, every day, so the possibilities and opportunities are endless. Read more...