I’m very lucky to come from a family who loves food as much as I do. Even though Chicago is full of great restaurants catering to almost any type of cuisine, the food I look forward to the most is my family’s home cooking.

Our food traditions have changed over the years. I have dim memories of ground beef, jello, and chicken kiev. But since then, dad discovered Indian food, corn syrup was declared the devil, and me, my mom and my sister became vegetarians. Most importantly, perhaps, we’ve been learning from cultures who have food traditions deeper than our own.

Recently, my mom’s been learning to cook Mediterranean food from an Assyrian friend who apparently has quite a way with lentils. For my homecoming dinner, my mom made a delicious lemony lentil soup that she served with tabbouleh, hummus, salad and pita. It was the perfect meal for after a long flight – light, refreshing, and even better the next day for lunch.

Food Diary for Wednesday, December 3, 2008

• Breakfast: Toast with almond butter, plain yogurt with cinnamon, an orange and a cup of tea
• Lunch: Leftover lentil soup with tabbouleh, hummus, salad and pita bread, plus a few of my mom’s pickled green beans
• Dinner: Curried chickpeas, brown basmati rice, roasted cauliflower, raita