The Korean Vegan

Hey Reader, In this week's musings, I talk about a friend from my lawyering days, Brett. You'll see why. But, if you're not into storytime, I got you: just scroll on down to This Week's Recipe Inspo: Cashew Nut Tofu. If you're really only ever interested in the recipes, I get that. Click here and from this point forward, you will ONLY get the recipes on Thursdays, with my Weekly Recipe Roundups! Otherwise, read more for a short story on my buddy, Brett. "So, there's this Korean place not too...

Hey Reader, When I think of Korean comfort food, my mind immediately goes to jjigae or stew. Whether it's kimchi jjigae or soondooboo jjigae, there's nothing quite as soothing as a bubbling ddukbaeggi of spicy broth, crammed with veggies (i.e., potatoes!!) and tofu. Of all the Korean stews out there, though, the most ubiquitous of them all is undoubtedly doenjang jjigae or Korean fermented soybean paste stew. Wow. That's a mouthful. But a really delicious mouthful! If you've dined at a Korean...

Hey Reader, This week's musings relate to my struggle with disordered eating and body dysmorphic disorder. If you find this topic unsettling or otherwise uninteresting, you may want to scroll down and skip to This Week's Recipe Inspo, 3-Ingredient Bagels! 😉 Last week, on my Instagram stories, I talked about the eggshell skull doctrine in law. In short, the theory can be summarized as follows: if you break the law or commit some sort of tort against a person (like assault), you are liable for...

Hey Reader! I hope you're having a great week. But, if you're like me: you cannot wait for the weekend to begin! If you're on my IG Stories, you know that I spent last weekend developing a recipe for Strawberry Cake. Don't get too excited--there were a couple of BIG wrinkles with my first go-round, so that isn't quite ready yet. Still, in order to cheer me up, I made a really quick and easy gnocchi recipe, using store-bought gnocchi (no shame here!). We are still on the broccoli theme,...

Hey Reader, Recently, I started having monthly Zooms with a friend who lives on the opposite side of the country. I don't normally schedule these types of regimented chats, but this particular friend is brilliant, empathetic, and extremely well read. He is also an incredibly talented writer (which often happens when you read a lot of books). I like surrounding myself with people who challenge me to be better at things--things I actually care to be better at, and he does exactly that. On our...

Hey Reader, It's been a whirlwind of activity in Casa Molinaro the past week. Yes, we are back home, largely back in the groove, and this morning, we even had a bit of rain. I've never in my entire life been so relieved to see the tiny, shallow puddles collecting on our patio. I want to thank all of you who reached out to me last week to check in on our safety. For some reason, though, they all went to my spambox (weird!) and I didn't see them until yesterday, so please excuse my delay in...

The Palisades Fire (view from our window while driving on the freeway). Hey Reader, I had just settled into my preferred nook at our kitchen table. My laptop was open. I planned on using some of its precious battery to edit chapter 2 of The Memoir, per the comments I'd just received from my agent. This was, I concluded, a good use of my time. I didn't have enough energy (mental, physical, or electrical) to edit videos or photos for a recipe. Still, I knew in the same way the birds knew to fly...

Hey Reader, I don't have anything really pithy to write here this week, as I spent much of last week cooking and doing little else! A few weeks ago, my editor sent me potential mock-ups for the cover of Book 2 and suffice it to say, none of them stood out to me as the immediate winner. I didn't panic or anything, because for Book 1, none of them really stood out to me as the immediate winner either. But there are probably many of you reading this right now being like, "I mean, how could you...

Hey Reader! Happy New Year! For this week's Recipe Roundup, I bring to you my homemade Korean Vegan Rice Cake Soup or Vegan Tteokguk. It's what we eat for New Year's and guess what? This year, Lunar New Year isn't until January 29, so you have plenty of time to procure your ingredients and make one of my favorite Korean dishes of all time! In addition to Vegan Tteokguk, I've pulled together The Korean Vegan's Top 10 Recipes of 2024. As you know, we only just started blogging regularly this...

Hey Reader, I've been thinking about what to write in this space for several days now. As 2025 looms, I feel obligated to write something reflective of the year we've had, with intentions about the year ahead. But I don't want to...? The hoopla surrounding New Year's, while understandable, is still a wildly arbitrary ritual. Time continues to march forward at the same, pedantic rate, and it seems strange (absurd?) that the replacement of one calendar for a new one should dictate the...