The Faux Chef: Aliya's Kitchen

1. Place 2 oven racks close to the top and bottom of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. 2. In a medium sized mixing bowl, combine peanut butter, egg, sugar, and vanilla until a dough is formed. 3. Once your dough is formed and its got kind of a squishy yet crumbly consistency- spoon out into 2" balls on non-greased parchment paper. (You should have 12 balls on 2 trays) 4. Take a fork press into the cookies to create a crosshatch pattern. Be careful not to press your cookies down too flat, a nice light press will do the trick! 5. Sprinkle a pinch of salt on top of each cookie and place both trays in the oven on opposite racks for 14 minues, switching the trays on the 7 minute mark. 6. Remove your cookies, let cool for 5 minutes, and slide off of the tray. Enjoy!!

I had dreams that I needed to make a fancy breakfast, so I did. Decided to do a land & sea plate, with soy & black pepper seared salmon, a poached egg, with lightly charred red onion & cilantro. Side of lightly steamed & salted asparagus. It was pretty rad. For a great way to sear Salmon, check out my latest recipe!

Side: 1. Roughly chop (and de-stem) about 2 hand-fulls Romanesco Broccoli and slice up your orange/red bell pepper. 2. Add feta cheese, broccoli and pepper to bowl/dish and toss with catalina dressing! 3. Serve up next to your salmon for a bit of color, bright taste, and summertime feel!

1. Peel your bananas and then slice into 2" pieces. 2. Add eggs (crack em first, of course), banana slices, and vegetable oil to blender. 3. Blend ingredients until smooth, then add flour, brown sugar, and cinnamon and blend until your batter is velvety smooth. 4.  Heat up a medium sized non-stick skillet to medium heat. Spray vegetable oil/canola oil/butter on the pan before adding the batter! 5. Pour your batter (I make my pancakes about 4" across, but its a personal preference!) and once bubbles start to form on the top and the edges become raised, flip that sucker! Each side should take roughly 2 minutes to cook. 6. Top with strawberries, raw honey and powdered sugar! Happy pancaking!

1. slice your chicken breasts into roughly 1"x1" chunks, removing extra fat and set chunks aside in a mixing bowl 2. in a separate bowl, mix together your mango juice, teriyaki sauce, and thyme 3. Add your tangy concoction to your mixing bowl of chicken and lightly stir, making sure you coat all of the chicken chunks. Cover and set in your chill chest to marinate for 1 hour minimum (you can even do this bit overnight!) 4. Once you're done marinating, begin adding your chicken and yellow onion in an alternating pattern on each skewer. 5. Heat up a large non-stick skillet to medium heat and add butter. 6. Place your skewers on the skillet and rotate every 6 minutes until cooked through! This should take around 3-4 rotations. 7. Plate, sprinkle on a little extra thyme (don't ya just feel like a thyme lord?!), and enjoy!