Fida Mirki has been a health conscious home cook for years, enjoying cooking for friends and family in her Palo Alto home. But until recently, she showed off her culinary prowess by donating meals to a school fundraiser at the former Peninsula International School (now her Valley International School in Silicon, where her children attend). bottom.
Her daughter encouraged her to start an Instagram page to showcase her cooking at the start of the pandemic, but Milki resisted at first. Eventually, with encouragement from her daughter and her niece, who lives abroad and helps women build businesses, she agreed to give it a try, posting on her Instagram. Launched an account her Fertayket Fida.
Her recipes and photos of beautifully presented dishes have become hits on social media platforms. She drew inspiration from her long walks around Palo Alto, picking locally grown seasonal flowers to decorate her dishes.
Last year she released her first cookbook called “Recipes for Every Day” and just released an electronic cookbook of New Year’s recipes with the theme of detox from the holidays. and includes smoothies, soups, main courses, and desserts.
“All of these recipes are like my baby,” she says.
Growing up in Lebanon, her mother did most of the cooking. She says that when Miruki got married and came to America, she knew nothing of how to cook.
When she was newlyweds, she made a special trip to Sharon Heights Safeway in Menlo Park, near where she was living at the time, to cook one of her husband’s favorite dishes, white bean and chicken stew. reminds me of However, by the time she followed the recipe, she realized that the beans had more or less melted and lost their shape, leaving only chunks of chicken. skill has grown slowly.
Today, she’s an avid cookbook collector, regularly drawing inspiration from books by Yotam Ottolenghi and Ina Garten in Barefoot Contessa, how to adapt recipes and make them healthier. I’m looking for, she says.
Miruki also brings his multicultural background to life in his cooking. She studied languages and translation at university and met her husband, a local doctor, in Lebanon through a mutual friend. She still visits there most summers and uses her Lebanese and French influences to inspire her cuisine with an emphasis on nutrition and healthy eating.
Two years after launching Fertayket Fida, she says she has no intention of slowing down. Now that her latest e-cookbook is out, she dreams of writing a cookbook that utilizes her mother’s recipes from Lebanon.
“Don’t be afraid to cook,” she says when asked how a home chef can build her skills. Cooking again and again makes me look forward to it.”
“You can always find time to cook,” she adds. “Home-cooked meals are of higher quality and healthier…you know you’re eating something healthy.
coconut quinoa salad
1 cup washed quinoa
2 cups coconut milk
1 cucumber (peeled and sliced)
2 tablespoons pomegranate seeds
1 avocado (peeled and sliced)
2 tablespoons fresh mint leaves
2 tablespoons fresh basil leaves
1 cup greens of your choice
crumbled feta or goat cheese
2 tbsp* toasted chickpeas
salt and pepper to taste
In a small saucepan, combine rinsed quinoa with coconut milk and 2/3 cup water. Add salt and bring to a boil.
Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 20 minutes or until all liquid is absorbed.
Transfer to a serving bowl and top with cucumber, pomegranate, avocado, mint, basil, goat cheese and chickpeas. Toss together and enjoy.
*To toast the chickpeas, heat the oven to 400 F. Spread chickpeas on parchment-lined cookie sheet. Drizzle with avocado oil, paprika, and za’atar, if desired. Roast for 20 minutes until crisp.
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