I want people to understand my journey and to be inspired by that. You can be an immigrant, and if you work really hard, you can have your own restaurant.
I credit my grandmother for teaching me to love and respect food. She taught me how to waste nothing, to make sure I used every bit of the chicken and boil the bones till no flavor could be extracted from them.
For centuries, soup kitchens have been a way for local communities to offer a way of support, both nutritional and emotional to their less lucky neighbors.
When you are already eating as cheaply and meagerly as possible, any raise in cost can quickly plunge you and your family into hunger.
I think that if you grind your spices and keep them in small batches, you can use them in endless ways. The key thing is to have a spice mill or a coffee grinder, and to keep your spices cold and in tightly lidded boxes.
Food has always been in my life. Being born in Ethiopia, where there was a lack of food, and then really cooking with my grandmother Helga in Sweden. And my grandmother Helga was a cook's cook.
If it's done really well, you don't want big portions because you think, 'That was so fulfilling. I'm not stuffed. I feel great.'
While keeping active is a major aspect of staying fit, what you use for fuel definitely factors in.
The avocado is native to the Mexican state of Puebla, which helps explain why it's so popular in Mexican cooking.
Most of my education has been around food.
While I'm more of a soccer and tennis fan myself, I still enjoying catching some football games when I get the chance.
The darker the chocolate is, the more antioxidants it contains. So when eaten in moderation - just a few bites from a well-made dark chocolate bar, for instance - there's no need to feel bad about indulging once in a while.
A juicy chicken breast can be the perfect accompaniment to a classic Caesar salad or a club sandwich. It's also easy to cook, and can be as simple as dressing it with a few spices and popping in the oven.
Every time you use the word 'healthy,' you lose. The key is to make yummy, delicious food that happens to be healthy.
Chocolate is one of the world's most beloved discoveries, and when we need a quick boost of energy and endorphins, chocolate is the go-to treat.
Even before the earthquake in Haiti, only half the country's population had a source of safe drinking water.
As a chef, I always have in mind how to properly feed the public, but at times it's easy to forget that some people have trouble even getting any food, much less adequate nutrition.
Salad can get a bad rap. People think of bland and watery iceberg lettuce, but in fact, salads are an art form, from the simplest rendition to a colorful kitchen-sink approach.
It's fascinating when you're from another place, but you don't speak the language.
Egypt is the largest wheat importer in the world. In some part, this is due to irrigation issues and inhospitable climes. Egypt's dependence on wheat is also partially because for decades it has been cheaper to import wheat, corn, soy and barley from the U.S. than to grow it locally.
The holidays are my favorite time of year! Christmas was always one of the biggest celebrations in Sweden, and I look forward to the festivities each year.
I love chicken. But, like a lot of chefs and cooks, I get tired of preparing it the same way.
When I get the chance to make my favorite breakfast on the weekend, I often choose to make pancakes.
Let the fresh fruits and vegetables be your guide, and make something that will keep for the whole week.
For many of us, clean water is so plentiful and readily available that we rarely, if ever, pause to consider what life would be like without it.
Avocados have a creamy texture, making them a healthier replacement for ingredients like butter and mayo in recipes, though they do contain a surprisingly large amount of fat - a whopping 30 grams per medium-sized avocado.
I can take a lot of pride that I can launch cookbooks and there's an audience out there that supports that.
Many people are turned off at eating vegetarian because of the misconception that all dishes are just an arrangement of bland vegetables.
Here's a thought: what if we ban the word 'healthy food' from our culinary vocabulary? I'm not talking about banning foods that are considered healthy. I'm talking about changing the way we think about food overall.
Many popsicles you'll find in a supermarket have a lot of unwanted sugar or preservatives, but with a few ingredients you can make healthier popsicles with any flavor you can imagine.
We can all agree that government can't solve the obesity crisis alone. It's an ongoing issue that will require a collaborative effort across private and public sectors if we want to see some long-term success.
I want to make sure the cooking industry becomes more and more diverse.