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Cabbage roll soup with rice meatballs is all of the flavour of traditional cabbage rolls without the effort of rolling!

Cabbage Roll Soup with Rice Meatballs

Slow Cooked Pork & Beans with Smoked Ham Hock

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Mains

This classic Romanian soup features hearty porcupine meatballs swimming in a creamy and flavourful broth dotted with diced veggies and fresh herbs like lovage, parsley and dill. Serve with hot pickled peppers and crusty bread for a perfect cold weather meal.

Ciorbă de Perisoare | Romanian Porcupine Meatballs Sour Soup

This creamy bacon and pea pasta is a quick mealtime indulgence that only calls for 7 simple ingredients and takes about 15 minutes to make. You can even make it in one pot for max convenience.

The Easiest Creamy Bacon & Pea Pasta

This smoky Romanian Bean Stew tastes like home and comfort. It calls for just a few basic ingredients, it’s versatile so you can use what you have, and it only needs about 5-10 minutes of prep time.

Fasole cu Afumătură | Smoky Romanian Bean Stew

Jerk chicken is a perfect blend of spice, salt, acid and heat. The quick jerk marinade turns your regular chicken thighs into a super flavourful meal even on a busy weeknight. A good marinade is probably the easiest way to go from regular chicken to an exciting meal.

Jamaican Jerk Chicken

These fish tacos with mango salsa and creamy white lightning sauce are full of vibrant flavours layered together to create a perfect bite. Made with baked fish and lots of fresh ingredients, they’re healthy but they taste like pure indulgence. All for only 400 calories and 10 grams of fat per serving of 3. The best part is that they’re quick and easy to make. Fish tacos are the answer to boring weeknight meals.

Baked Fish Tacos with Mango Salsa & Creamy White Lightning Sauce

A super easy weeknight meal that goes from freezer to pan (and then to plate) in no time. Add a side of 5-minute Asian sauteed cabbage with garlic, sesame & chilli and some rice (or even noodles if you want to live on the wild side 😝) and you’ve got a complete meal with ka-pow pow flavour on the table in less than 30 minutes. My kind of weeknight friends.

Sweet & Spicy Hoisin Freezer Meatballs

This 3 ingredient creamy herb and tomato pasta is comfort in a bowl. Imagine a vegetarian carbonara. Creamy and luxurious with a bold undertone of umami richness. Just 3 ingredients. I can’t get over it.

Creamy Tomato & Herb 3 Ingredient Pasta

Melt-in-your-mouth tender beef meatballs poached in a sweet and spicy coconut curry sauce and served with a drizzle of creamy mascarpone. They will blow your mind for only 15 minutes of hands-on prep!

Melt-in-Your-Mouth Coconut Curry Meatballs

Side Dishes

Classic jamaican rice and peas is rice and kidney beans simmered with coconut milk, green onion, fresh thyme and spices. It’s an easy way to jazz up your meals and makes a great accompaniment to just as easy Jerk Chicken.

Classic Jamaican Rice & Peas

These fish tacos with mango salsa and creamy white lightning sauce are full of vibrant flavours layered together to create a perfect bite. Made with baked fish and lots of fresh ingredients, they’re healthy but they taste like pure indulgence. All for only 400 calories and 10 grams of fat per serving of 3. The best part is that they’re quick and easy to make. Fish tacos are the answer to boring weeknight meals.

Easy Mango Salsa in 10 Minutes or Less

More Side Dishes

Breakfast & Brunch

Two poached eggs over a bed of creamy garlic and herb yogurt topped with Aleppo pepper butter and a garlic and herb infusion and served with half a roasted aubergine, smokey aubergine puree, and arugula dressed with a simple lemon tahini dressing. This is Çilbir or Turkish poached eggs and I guarantee the combination of flavours will be the most exciting thing you’ve had for breakfast in a long time – maybe ever.

Çilbir: Turkish Eggs with Aleppo Butter, Jalapeño Shug & Roast Aubergine

Savoury scones with cheese, smoked paprika, leek and black olives

Spanish Style Cheese Scones with Smoked Paprika, Leek & Olive

ingredients for sweet potato shakshuka

Sweet Potato Shakshuka with Homemade Berbere & Garlic Naan

Savoury French Toast Bake Using What You Have

More Breakfast & Brunch

Starters & Snacks

Plăcintă cu Carne | Romanian Meat Pie

Homemade Jamaican beef patties with rice and peas in the background.

Jamaican Beef Patties

The thing is – they just look like some cooked tomatoes in oil so you really don’t expect much. At first glance they are… unassuming. And I’ve eaten my share of preserved tomato products. Sauces of course, but also preserved whole tomatoes – in vinegar, in brine, and yes, even in oil. Sun dried tomatoes too. None of them were anything to write home about. But these tomatoes are something else entirely. When you take your first bite it’s near life changing. Like you’re tasting the full potential of tomatoes for the first time.

My Mother in Law’s Famous Slow Roasted Tomato Confit

These fish tacos with mango salsa and creamy white lightning sauce are full of vibrant flavours layered together to create a perfect bite. Made with baked fish and lots of fresh ingredients, they’re healthy but they taste like pure indulgence. All for only 400 calories and 10 grams of fat per serving of 3. The best part is that they’re quick and easy to make. Fish tacos are the answer to boring weeknight meals.

Sărățele: 3 Ingredient Romanian Cheese Sticks

More Starters & Snacks

Pasta

Homemade potato gnocchi with lamb ragu made from leftover roast lamb and mashed potatoes.

Roast Lamb Ragu with Homemade Gnocchi (Made from Leftovers!)

Homemade potato gnocchi made from leftover mashed potatoes.

3 Ingredient Pasta Grannies Potato Gnocchi

Homemade Pappardelle with Sicilian Anchovy & Breadcrumb Sauce

Ethiopian lasagna

Ethiopian Lasagna with Homemade Berbere

Dessert

cinnamon and brown sugar pasta

Cinnamon & Brown Sugar Pasta

Elegant apricot and almond tarts with a luscious cream cheese base over light and airy puff pastry pockets. These not-too sweet tarts are the perfect dessert for your next summer gathering.

Apricot & Almond Cream Cheese Tarts

It’s a really simple recipe that makes a lovely party dessert or even a sneaky sugar-laden but totally acceptable treat at breakfast or brunch…or Saturday night on the couch. Again, no judgment.

Quick & Easy Petit Pain au Chocolat

Buttermilk Dutch Baby with Cherry Preserves & Maple Cream

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THE FACE BEHIND THE BLOG

photo me 4

Hi, my name is Cristina. I'm a Romanian from Toronto living in beautiful Amsterdam. I started this blog to share my love of cooking and food culture. What you'll find at the AOI are recipes and explorations of histories, techniques and flavours that bring the tastes of the world to your table.

Thanks for stopping by,

Cristina

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Featured Posts

Crispy Parmesan & Herb Chicken Quarters with Roast Potatoes

May 6, 2020 By Cristina 4 Comments

Handmade Macaroni From Scratch

July 21, 2017 By Cristina 4 Comments

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Recent Posts

Cabbage Roll Soup with Rice Meatballs
Slow Cooked Pork & Beans with Smoked Ham Hock
Plăcintă cu Carne | Romanian Meat Pie
Ciorbă de Perisoare | Romanian Porcupine Meatballs Sour Soup
The Easiest Creamy Bacon & Pea Pasta

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Some of my favourites

Homemade Jamaican beef patties with rice and peas in the background.

These fish tacos with mango salsa and creamy white lightning sauce are full of vibrant flavours layered together to create a perfect bite. Made with baked fish and lots of fresh ingredients, they’re healthy but they taste like pure indulgence. All for only 400 calories and 10 grams of fat per serving of 3. The best part is that they’re quick and easy to make. Fish tacos are the answer to boring weeknight meals.

Caramelized Roasted Cabbage Stuffed Phyllo Spirals

Homemade potato gnocchi with lamb ragu made from leftover roast lamb and mashed potatoes.

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