Category: Food

There are dozens of bread types around the world, but not all of them are easy to bake. Some require a lot of nuances and can be difficult for most people to get just right. Thankfully, there are also many breads that most people can bake them at home rather easily. If you’re trying to mix things up in the kitchen and add some new breads to your overall diet, here are five exotic ones to try that are easy to bake at home.

Portuguese Sweet Bread

Portuguese sweet bread is a downright delicious bread that will add the perfect amount of sweetness to your day.  After activating the yeast, add ingredients like sugar, milk, and butter. 

Then add the dry ingredients, knead, let rise, then either cut it up into smaller rolls, bake it as a round loaf, or braid it to add a little pizzazz to the dessert bread. Just make sure that you’re eating this bread as quickly as you can, though, as it can go incredibly stale in just one day!

Challah

Challah is a prized bread that first originated within the Ashkenazi Jewish community. It’s enjoyed during Passover, Shabbat, and really any occasion worth celebrating. Though, anyone can enjoy this tasty and whimsical-looking bread anytime, anywhere, even in the comfort of their own home. Challah is a bread made with few ingredients but delivers an impressive look and flavor nonetheless. 

To make it, you first activate the yeast in sugar water, add in a good amount of eggs that give the bread its signature texture, add the dry ingredients, knead the dough, and let the dough rise. When risen, divide the dough into six pieces, roll them out into long strands, braid the dough to make that classic challah shape, and brush it with egg before baking. 

Focaccia 

Sometimes thought of as pizza’s boring cousin, focaccia is actually delicious and stands out on its own. Not to mention there’s so many ways you can decorate your focaccia with vibrant, colorful, and fragrant vegetables, seasonings, and herbs, before baking. The high gluten content gives the bread the best airy and chewy texture, paired with a golden brown and crunchy bottom and a beautifully seasoned top. 

It’s great to eat on its own, dipped in sauce, or oil, or loaded with toppings. It’s easy to make at home too. Like most bread, you activate the yeast, add the dry ingredients, let the dough rise, and bake off when risen properly. Some recipes require kneading, some don’t. It’s simple and so worth trying.  

Naan

Naan is the beloved pairing to many Indian dishes, like curries, masala, butter chicken, and so much more. The toasty, sometimes garlicky, buttery flatbread is often used as a vessel to scoop rice, meat, and veggies and soak up fragrant sauces used in Indian fare. Naan is surprisingly easy to make at home as well. After activating the yeast and mixing in the wet ingredients, you’ll knead the dough on a floured surface, also using this process to incorporate any fresh garlic or herbs desired in the dough. 

After that, you’ll let the dough rest, then divide and roll out smaller pieces of dough that you can cook on a very hot cast iron pan to achieve the proper char naan is known for. Finally, brush with salted butter and add herbs to the fresh naan and enjoy. 

Tortillas 

Tortillas are versatile and incredibly easy to make fresh at home. Flour tortillas are simply made by combining flour, salt, baking powder, water, and oil. It requires very little kneading and resting time after mixing, as well as no need to proof. 

Divide the dough into small pieces, roll it out, or use a special tortilla press to flatten the dough, and cook on a flat stove top pan for a short period of time. 

As the largest fast food chain in the world, McDonald’s has a long list of fans for every item on its extensive menu. However, the menu tends to change on an almost weekly basis, with some items that were beloved by many suddenly disappearing. Some end up returning on a temporary or permanent basis, while others are gone forever.

Out of all of the menu items that McDonald’s has ripped away over the years, there are some that haven’t come back and it’s puzzling to people. These items tend to have social media pages devoted to bringing them back, but McDonald’s has yet to have them make their triumphant returns. Here are five menu items that McDonald’s should bring back sooner rather than later (or never).

Snack Wraps

McDonald’s snack wrap was introduced to the menu in 2005 and served as a smaller portioned, quick bite for those wanting something different and slightly healthier than the fast food restaurant’s usual fare. It consists of a small flour tortilla, a chicken select tender, shredded cheese, shredded lettuce, and ranch. The option for grilled chicken, or another sauce was also available. McDonald’s slowed the production of snack wraps in 2016 and completely discontinued the item in the US in 2020. Mcdonald’s in the UK and Canada still sell the item, one that customers in the US hope makes its way back onto the menu. 

Salads

Mcdonald’s introduced salads to their menu in the 1980s and since then have come up with a few creative ways to sell the healthier alternative, like the nostalgic salad shakers released in the year 2000. The salad shakers have moved on to the fast food restaurant in the sky and McDonald’s stuck to selling normal salads, but just like the snack wraps, the 2020 pandemic resulted in the end of salad sales for the time being. Although not known for their health-conscious menu, many customers enjoyed the lighter fare and variety of McDonald’s salads offered. 

Snack Wraps

McDonald’s introduced their premium McWrap in 2013, years after the simpler and petit snack wrap version. The McWrap consists of a large flour tortilla filled with sliced crispy, or grilled chicken, lettuce, tomato, bacon shredded cheese, and ranch. It came in a fun tube-like packaging that you tore the top part off of, leaving the bottom part to use as a vessel to hold your McWrap while you ate it. Many McDonald’s outside the US still serve the McWrap and continue to produce more varieties of the easy to eat treat, even some breakfast popular versions. 

Better Happy Meal Toys

One thing that remains on the menu, but has drastically plummeted in quality is the restaurant’s sad excuse for happy meal toys. The nostalgic, higher quality and fun array of happy meal toys make up some core memories for today’s adult population. Through the years McDonald’s has put little effort into the toys provided with every kid’s favorite fast food meal. The toys have shrunk in size, have less cool features, and are plagued with the boring repetitive re-release of previously sold happy meal toys. Although the kids might not mind, McDonald’s proved in the past that they can do better and have clearly stopped caring about quality. 

Fried Apple Pie

The sweet treat everyone loves after their salty fast food meal is McDonald’s apple pie. The apple pie currently remains on the menu but has changed over the years. The pie is now a baked item, prepared ahead of time and left to sit and get stale over time. Before the change, the pies were deliciously crispy with a bubbly fried outer shell and warm apple pie filling inside, in a more cooked-to-order style rather than previously baked. The new style of pie makes for a lower-calorie option, but customers mourn the departure of the caloric beauty that is the fried apple pie. 

When healthy eating options come to mind, fast food isn’t really something that gets thought about. We tend to associate fast food with high amounts of calories, fat, and carbohydrates. There’s good reason for that, too, as some of the most caloric foods in the world can be placed in a bag and bought for cheap in a drive-thru.

McDonald’s is one of the places that people bring up constantly for having unhealthy food and was even the topic of the documentary “Super Size Me” which pointed out the food’s nutritional values. After all, McDonald’s is the top dog worldwide when it comes to fast food venues. Is it really all unhealthy, though? Surprisingly, there are some items on the menu that are surprisingly low in calories and high in protein. Here are the five healthiest menu options at McDonald’s when you’re really craving the golden arches.

Egg McMuffin

McDonald’s Egg McMuffin has been on the fast food joint’s menu since the early 1970s and is still going strong to this day. One of the most beloved of McDonalds’ highly sought-after breakfast items. The Egg McMuffin just so happens to be one of the healthier food choices on the menu. It consists of two buttered halves of an English muffin, one egg, one slice of Canadian bacon, and one slice of American cheese. Coming in at 290 calories, with 11g of fat, and 16g of protein. 

Sausage Egg Burrito

McDonald’s started off 2015 right when they first introduced their Sausage Egg Burrito on January 1st of that year. The breakfast item quickly became a customer favorite and remains on the menu as a healthier, quicker option to start your day. It’s made up of a warm tortilla filled with fluffy scrambled eggs, pork breakfast sausage crumbles, American cheese, and a mix of cooked green chiles and onions. It comes in at a reasonable 310 calories, with 17g of fat, and 13g of protein. Making for a healthier, protein-forward option when you’re on the go. 

Oatmeal

Added to McDonald’s breakfast menu in 2011, their Fruit and Maple Oatmeal is a warm and filling option for those wanting a more sweet, healthier, vegetarian bite to eat. The oatmeal bowl comes with two servings of whole-grain oats, cream, and brown sugar mixed together, topped with apple chunks, craisins, and two varieties of raisins. The hearty dish comes out to 320 calories, with 4.5g of fat, 6g of protein, and 31g of sugar. The Fruit and Maple Oatmeal is a comforting start to your day and a decently healthy choice compared to most fast-food offerings. 

Crispy Chicken Sandwich

Since the 2020 COVID pandemic, McDonald’s has removed a majority of healthier menu options, particularly their salads and grilled chicken. Although, they haven’t rid their menu of chicken entirely. In early 2021, McDonald’s introduced their competition to the fast-food chicken sandwich wars. Their Crispy Chicken Sandwich quickly became a hit and remains on the menu today. It consists of two buttered halves of a potato roll, crinkle-cut pickles, Mayo, and a lightly breaded and fried chicken cutlet. It comes in at 470 calories, with 20g of fat, and 26g of protein. It’s a lower-calorie option compared to the rest of the menu, as well as a pescetarian-friendly one.

Filet o Fish

Another healthier McDonald’s menu item great for the pescatarian crowd, or religious folk who stray from regular meat on meatless Fridays, the Filet o Fish is a tempting option from the burger-focused joint. The Filet o Fish is the creation by McDonald’s franchise owner, Lou Groen, back in 1962. It’s made up of a fried square of Alaskan Pollock, topped with tartar sauce, and American cheese, on a standard hamburger bun. It comes in at 390 calories, with 19g of fat, and 16g of protein. This is a tasty and protein-packed sandwich for when you’re looking for something lighter and different from the usual fast-food fare. 

Don’t get us wrong, we wouldn’t turn down an expensive, three-course meal at a Michelin-starred restaurant – but very often the most delicious meals are actually the simplest: home cooking that is often taken for granted in its country of origin is often the most delicious, and sometimes it can be the healthiest, too. This is what we’re homing in on today: here are five staples from around the world that you should consider trying in your own diet.

Dahl

Dahl, also spelled dal, is common throughout India and made from different types of beans. It has a number of variations depending upon what region of the country a specific receipt originates from. For example, you will see more mung beans, used to make Mung dal, in the south, and more yellow split peas, used to make Chana dal, when the recipe comes from the north.

This recipe calls for the beans to be soaked overnight and simmered until the beans are tender. They are then mixed with seasonings like cumin, turmeric, ginger, chilly oil, or coriander. Healthy and delicious.

Borscht

Borscht comes to us from Eastern Europe, where it has been eaten for generations in areas like Ukraine and Poland. It combines beets, potatoes, beans, cabbage, and other staples, depending upon the precise recipe used. The nutrient-rich ingredients and delightful flavor make it a great soup to add to your rotation. 

Lentil soup

Lentil soup originates in countless cultures and regions, with traditional recipes hailing from Europe, South America, and the Middle East. This soup will generally call for any colored dehulled lentil that will disintegrate while cooking. These lentils then form the base for the soup and can be combined with a variety of other vegetables such as carrots, potatoes, onion, and various seasonings, depending upon the recipe. This is a cheap and varied soup to add to your rotation, particularly in the winter on cold evenings. 

Boiled or fried plantains

Plantains bear some resemblance to bananas, as they are in the same genus. However, unlike bananas, people consume cooked plantains. This staple is popular in West and Central Africa in addition to the Caribbean and South America along the coast.

You can enjoy this staple either fried or boiled. To fry them, simply slice the plantain into thin slices and then heat the oil in a pan and fry until they are golden. If you want to boil them, cut them slightly thicker– so you get about three pieces per plantain– and then boil until they are tender. In either recipe, season with hot sauce as desired.

Chapatis

The flatbread chapatis has a traditional region that stretches from East Africa to the Arabian Peninsula over to the Indian subcontinent. These delicious circular pieces of bread call for just finely ground wheat flour, salt, and water. The dough then forms round balls, flattened, and cooked on both sides. You can then serve it with various dishes and toppings for a complete meal.

As modern people, we have access to an incredibly rich menu of foods that come from around the world. Those interested in expanding their palates or improving their diets can look at some of these important staples from around the world to see if any of these might fit their own menus well.

Making sure that you’re getting enough protein can be difficult when you’re on a vegetarian diet. After all, the main sources of protein come from meat, meaning that you have to stick to certain foods and supplements. You also might not be an experienced chef, making things even more difficult. However, there are some recipes that are packed with protein while still being meatless and easy to make. Here are five of those recipes that you’re sure to love once you try them out.

5. Broccoli Casserole

A casserole is a great main dish that you don’t have to put a lot of preparation time into while still being able to get a filling dish that serves an entire family twice over. To make a perfect broccoli casserole, you’ll also need a cup of quinoa. There are other ingredients in the mix that include Greek yogurt, milk, pepper, garlic and onion powder, so if you’re vegan it isn’t the best option, but vegetarians will enjoy this dish tremendously. 

4. Bean and Potato Tacos

We all love tacos, and if you’re a vegetarian, it’s one of those things that you miss the absolute most. Never to fear, you can still make tacos if you’re vegetarian, they’ll just be a little bit different. Instead of using meat and a lot of the grease that comes with it, try using black beans and sweet potatoes. That combination is filled with protein and fiber, allowing you to get that full feeling that tacos usually provide. Throw in some salsa, onions, peppers or whatever ingredients you want and it will be like you’re not missing meat at all.

3. Vegan Chickpea Meatballs

If you’re looking for a recipe that’s not only high in protein and vegetarian friendly but also doesn’t contain any dairy, try this vegan chickpea meatball recipe that’s made from chickpeas and quinoa. You’ll need one can of chickpeas, one cup of quinoa to make your meatballs. You’ll also want to include pecans, bread crumbs and all of the seasoning that you’d like. To really spice things up, you can make a polenta to go with it using vegetable stock and dairy free cheese and butter.

2. Lentil Pancakes

When you’re in a breakfast mood and really want some protein, you’re pretty much limited to sausage and bacon. However, you can still get all the protein you need and great flavor while still going meatless. Take a banana, a half cup of lentils, Greek yogurt and a few other ingredients and blend them together. Pour the blend onto a non-stick pan and cook the mixture into pancakes. You can top these off with fruit or yogurt to really make them flavorful for a great start to your day.

1. Farmer’s Breakfast

Lentil pancakes aren’t the only thing that can satisfy all of your vegetarian protein needs during breakfast time. Try out this classic farmer’s breakfast with some familiar ingredients. Two potatoes, some olive oil, onion, eggs, rosemary, basil, salt and pepper all combine with a quarter cup of mozzarella to establish a strong start to your day. It’s only about 30 minutes from start to finish to make this breakfast, and at 540 calories with a ton of protein you’ll be good to go.

Lennon and McCartney, Sonny and Cher, bananas and mayonnaise? There are some duos that are well known across the world, but then there are some that are very esoteric. This is mostly in the food world where we combine ingredients to capture the perfect taste. It doesn’t always work out, but when it does, it can be amazing. Here are some unique and unlikely food pairings that you’re sure to like.

10. Oreos and Orange Juice

Chocolate and citrus have gone together in a great way for some people for a long time. So have milk and Oreos, but milk tends to make your cookies extremely soggy and crumbly. Instead, try using orange juice for a great kick of citrus while keeping the structural integrity of your Oreo intact.

9. Pickles and Pizza

While there have been wars waged over whether or not pineapple belongs on pizza, many people have been letting pickle pizza fly under the radar. We’re starting to see it more frequently in national pizza chains and for good reason. Give it about 10 years and we bet that pickles will be just as polarizing as pineapple.

8. Mango and Chile

An extremely popular combination if you’re south of the border in Mexico, the combination of mango and chile is starting to catch on further north. The spiciness combined with the sweetness is a unique combination that hits every one of your taste buds in just the right way.

7. Chicken and Waffles

Of course, we can’t talk about odd food pairings without mentioning perhaps the most famous one. Fried chicken on top of waffles with a smothering of syrup is an American classic, especially if you’re visiting the south.

6. Steak and Berries

It might sound pretty weird to have berries included on your steak, but is it really? We tend to eat salads with protein like chicken that have blueberries and strawberries, so why should steak be any different? After all, it’s just another protein.

5. Peanut Butter and Potato Chips

We like salty things and we like sweet things, it’s simple science. Peanut butter and potato chips combined hit all of the right spots. This is especially true when you add chocolate to the mix, which is why Reese’s came out with a peanut butter cup that also included a potato chip in the middle.

4. Jelly and Hamburger

At first thought, it might be crazy to put jelly on your hamburger (it might already seem weird enough that a lot more people are using peanut butter). But when you think about it, it makes sense. A lot of people use grape jelly when making meatballs, and what are hamburgers besides just large meatballs in patty form?

3. Milk and Popcorn

Popcorn on its own without all of the butter and salt is basically a breakfast cereal, right? There has been a growing number of people that have been eating bowls of popcorn with milk in lieu of cereal, citing that it’s just as good if not better.

2. Bananas and Mayonnaise

People tend to get a bit wild with their sandwiches, and combining bananas with condiments is one way they do just that. Perhaps the most perplexing combination is bananas with mayo, which a lot of people scoff at upon seeing, but change their minds when trying it out.

1. French Fries and Ice Cream

This really shouldn’t work, but if you’ve been to a Wendy’s, there’s a great chance that you’ve seen someone dip their French fries in their Frosty and enjoyed it. 

The worst part about trying to get healthy or lose weight is trying to figure out what you actually can eat. It seems that there’s a million different foods that people tell you to avoid, but not all of them in the general consensus list are actually bad. Some foods that have been banned from many diets can actually be healthy in some variants or even as they are. Before you give up on some of your favorite foods, consider the benefits that they might have. Here are five foods that are healthier than you might think.

5. Red Meat

There’s been quite a big stigma when it comes to red meat, especially in the past 20 years or so. These days, people think that red meat is an express ticket to heart disease or cancer without considering that it can be good for your body in smaller portions. Many red meats tend to be lower in calories and contain no carbohydrates. Red meat packs in a lot of protein, as well as valuable nutrients such as iron, vitamin B12, zinc and selenium.

4. Eggs

Just like red meat, eggs belong in that group of foods that were once wildly popular before trends started to say that they were unhealthy. The biggest reason eggs became ostracized is because of the cholesterol content. One egg contains over 200 mg of cholesterol, meaning that two eggs would put you well over the daily recommendation. However, 70 percent of people that eat eggs don’t tend to have higher cholesterol, and this food contains several key nutrients such as selenium, calcium, zinc and more.

3. Chicken Wings

Chicken wings have always been popular, but more and more people are becoming experts on the food and there’s a lot of different ways to make a good wing. However, chicken wings are mostly seen as unhealthy because of the way that most restaurants prepare them. Deep fried wings with a lot of breading can be extremely unhealthy, but you don’t have to sacrifice health for good taste. Try throwing some naked wings with seasoning into an air fryer and you’ll get a lot of protein and vitamins that your body needs.

2. Peanut Butter

When people are trying to lose weight, peanut butter is one of the first things to go. That’s because peanut butter is high in calories and carbohydrates. However, peanut butter also has a solid amount of protein and healthy fats. The nutrition of peanut butter causes you to feel full and can lower your risk of heart disease and cancer. Of course, you don’t want to eat an entire jar all at once, but using a small amount each day goes a long way.

1. Potatoes

Just like peanut butter, potatoes are thought to make you gain weight instantly and will fill your body with carbs. Potatoes, like chicken wings, can be bad for you if you’re frying them and covering them in various high fat sauces. A baked potato on its own though is very beneficial. Potatoes can help control your blood sugar and provide your body with antioxidants and even throw in fiber to help you feel fuller for longer.

Everyone has heard of curry, and likely have tried it at least once. However, there are so many types of curry that you’ve likely only tried a handful of them. There are countless different ways to prepare curry, with various parts of the world coming up with their own unique spin. If you’re looking to broaden your curry horizons and find something that might fit into your weekly schedule, you’re in luck. Here are some curry dishes that you likely have never heard of, but are sure to excite your taste buds.

5. Mutton Paya

Mutton paya, or mutton trotters, is typically a breakfast curry that’s served in India and can vary by region. Mutton paya is used with garlic and onions and mutton is added to the recipe to get things going. It just takes a few minutes to mix the ingredients (which also includes whole spices and oil) and all in all is only about a 30 minutes process. For the best results you can slow cook your mutton paya overnight or you can pick a different type of meat.

4. Kori Rotti

A main course that comes from the Tulunadu region of India, Kori Rotti is made when you combine a chicken curry with coconut milk and combine it with red chili, rice and wafers. Just make sure that you prepare your tongue for this dish, though, as it’s incredibly spicy (but tastes amazing). The preparation does take some time (at over an hour for cooking and prep) and will quickly become your new favorite.

3. Lucknowi Nihari Gosht

A curry that’s typically reserved for special occasions like the holiday of Eid, Nihari Gosht was once a royal dish that has caught on with everyone. There are a lot of ingredients that go into a good dish, including cinnamon, bay leaves and nutmeg mixed with yogurt. This dish takes a little bit longer to prepare, taking around an hour and a half from beginning to end. This colorful dish looks appetizing before you even start digging in, and the extra wait is worth it for the taste.

2. Kozhi Ishtew

Kozhi Ishtew is a very versatile curry since it doesn’t require a lot of expensive ingredients, has a short prep time and is able to appeal to a wide range of tastes and spice tolerance. You’ll need chicken as the main part of this curry and can be prepared through baking, steaming or whichever way will be easiest for you. Adding in potatoes, coconut, peppercorns and more, you can get yourself a great bowl of Kozhi Ishtew.

1. Massaman Curry

We finish off the list with a visit to Thailand for the beloved Massaman curry, which is a fusion of several other dishes and uses a slew of interesting ingredients. Among them are sugar, peanuts, onions, coconut milk and much more. The first published recipe actually called for orange juice to give a citrusy taste. The history of Massaman curry is actually quite long, dating back to the 17th century and has become a regional favorite. If given some more time, we may see this dish become one of the most popular in the world.