I made horchata cookies with queso fresco and incorporated sweetened condensed milk, almonds, rice flour and cinnamon. I didn't stop there and topped the moist cookies with cinnamon and crema Mexicana sour cream icing.

The key to creating this grilled vegetable terrine is to make sure the layers of flavors are tightly packed to showcase the colorful display. I garnished the terrine with shredded red oak leaf lettuce, diced avocado and crumbled queso fresco.

Tostadas are deep-fried corn tortilla presented in the form of a flat, open-faced sandwich. I made a slightly smaller version in the form of appetizers, called tostaditas. You can fill them with anything you like; I played with different textures.

I used the leftover beef and gravy and added frozen peas and carrots and prepared a pot pie. I used store-bought puff pastry and made pot pies. The flakiness from the crust and the creamy filling make the most delicious meal.

I settled on savory cookies flavored with Dubliner cheese for appetizers. A bit of cottage cheese serves as the "glue" of the whole appetizer, and the crab topping finishes the elegant bite-sized snack.

The recipe is ultra easy. I paired the sweet potato pancakes with chicken scallopini and "fine-herbes" flavored cream cheese and pineapple relish on the side. I often make these sweet potato pancakes for Thanksgiving and serve them with poultry.

I tossed hakka noodles (vegetarian wheat noodles made without eggs) with mock ground meat, julienned carrots, bell peppers and yellow onions. I served them at room temperature in lettuce cups and added sweet potato shoestrings as a crunchy garnish.

As long as you have lemon curd and wonton wrappers, the preparation for this elegant dessert will take no time. Whipped cream is folded in lemon curd so the mousse is light and airy and filled it in the shaped and baked wonton cups.

Here's a recipe for an inexpensive, super easy and delicious snack. Kale chips are nutritious and low in calories with fewer than 50 calories per serving. I flavored the chips with Indian spices and Meyer lemon zest.

The filling for wontons consists of carrots, tofu, chestnuts, green onions, wood ear mushrooms and shiitake mushrooms. I also made a simple broth to let the flavorful vegetarian dumplings be the shining stars.

To kickoff our week of SF-friendly Super Bowl foods, here's a combination of California rolls (avocado crab cucumber) and tuna (freshly caught by our neighbor Tom) and salmon sushi. It's easy; all you need is fresh ingredients and ready-cooked rice.

Tuna melt is the perfect choice for the season. A combination of tuna, artichoke, olives and cheese is the filling of the delicious warm sandwich.

I'm starting to plan out what could amaze my Valentine in a few weeks. I prepared a mandarin-flavored dark chocolate mousse and enclosed it in the cutest little crêpe purses. Wouldn't be romantic to end the meal feeding each other chocolate?

This recipe is for a "forest"-style crepe, which means it's filled with mushrooms and it'salso known as beggar's purse. I added a few crumbled roasted chestnuts and garbanzo beans for added protein.

How about ringing in 2013 with a fresh start on healthy eating? Try Bean Curd Rolls...

Bouchée à la reine is a classic in French cuisine. You might also have heard the same dish called "vol-au-vent". During the holidays, it's often filled with sweetbreads and morel mushrooms, which is exactly what I did in this recipe.

Hachiya persimmon pulp makes a great pie filling, since it's almost perfect for the job on its own. It makes the dessert super easy to prepare. The only work required is the preparation the Brazil nut crumb topping in advance.

It may be sacrilegious to say at this time of the year, but a turkey is not right for everyone. While the big bird (sorry Sesame Street fans) parked on your dinner table, roasted to perfection looks great, if you're having an intimate gathering it ca

The key to any pecan pie is to overload the pecan flavor, which is my primary objection to the ones sold in bakeries. The reason is probably that pecans are so expensive. This version is flavored with orange and date syrup.

My favorite part of this pumpkin flan is the caramel at the bottom of the cup. You could serve it as is, or flip the dessert onto a plate so the caramel drips all over the "flan".

Given that Thanksgiving is just around the corner, I made roasted yams topped with pear and blue cheese. I thought the crunch and natural sweetness from the yam would marry wonderfully with the soft pears and pungent blue cheese, and it did!

I find a nice hot bowl of soup to be one of the few comforts when I'm not feeling well, so I made a big pot with fresh vegetables, ginger, onions and turmeric. I also flavored the soup with Japanese white sweet potatoes and Brussels sprouts.

It's this time of the year when I experiment with new desserts. I made a pumpkin-flavored French flan (flan pâtissier in French). It's a pie crust called "pâte brisée" filled with custard made of egg yolks, milk, cream, sugar, cornstarch and vanilla.

The preparation of this visually striking potato dish is fairly easy if you own a mandoline. Very-thinly-sliced potatoes are par-boiled, then brushed with a butter oil mixture. The slices are then stacked to mimic flower petals in individual ramekins

My husband Lulu has been stuck in bed because of a bad cough. I made a comforting vegetable soup to soothe his throat. The ingredients of the soup are pretty standard with peas and carrots. For added crunch, I topped the soup with fried green peas.