Welcome to Citrus and Pepper (!!)
We are Maggie Fahey and Kalindi Parikh – two millennial home chefs and *best buds* living in Chicago. Together, we create meals that combine the best of our backgrounds, with influence from Indian flavor profiles, a European emphasis on simplicity and quality, and a very Chicagoan flair for fusion and multiculturalism. Follow along for flavor-forward vegetarian meals and helpful cooking tips. No matter where you are on your cooking journey, and no matter the size of your kitchen, we hope you will find something that will excite your palate and ignite your love for cooking.
Our recipes are based off of our core values:
- Cooking should be playful and flexible. Trust your senses: add, subtract, substitute. Stay curious!
- American food is Fusion food. Global cuisine inspires us to try new things, and we have so much to learn from the food cultures of the world. In our recipes, we try to pay homage to culturally authentic food culture, while also exploring and playing with combinations and applications for our kitchens.
- We make recipes for everyone. Our hope is to demystify vegetarian and vegan cooking, not only for plant-based folks, but for anyone wanting to find recipes and tips that they love.
- All the food we share is the food we love to eat. We promise to show up with our best recipes, and share the techniques and tips that we have learned that have made our cooking great. We share vibrant recipes that are straight-forward, nourishing, uncomplicated, and that pack maximum flavor.
Hi, I’m Kalindi!
Food is in my blood. Before my parents and their families immigrated to the United States from India, my mom’s family farmed cumin seeds and my dad’s family were caterers.
I became vegetarian as a stubborn three year old. My parents, though not vegetarian themselves, always supported this choice and made mostly vegetarian food at home. Because I didn’t grow up in an especially carnivorous household, I never viewed vegetarian foods as less-than replacements for meat. Instead, I learned early to celebrate foods that are naturally vegetarian and center spice in my cooking.
My dad always called me his “guinea pig,” meaning he would test out his recipes on me, frequently asking me to taste or smell recipes he would make and identify the spices and flavors in them. If you are just starting to cook, this is a great way to find your bearings in a spice drawer. My mom, on the other hand, instilled in me a love for baked goods and cozy midwestern classics.
I am passionate about adapting my family recipes to work for small families or couples, and in apartments that may not have room for tons of specific cookware. This blog is a chance to document the recipes I grew up with as well as ones I’ve created. Thanks for reading – happy cooking!
Hey there – I’m Maggie.
For me, cooking has become a meditative space. It’s something tangible for your hands to make and something to ground you in your senses. Cooking is a beautiful here-and-now, a counterweight to the busy daily tasks and the hazy future thinking. Food is something I get to share with the people I love, a way I get to show up for myself and for others.
I didn’t always feel this way, which makes me all the more passionate about sharing cooking with others. I used to feel that cooking was a chore. I have felt unequipped and easily overwhelmed. I once caught a delivery pizza on fire (but I digress). I learned, slowly but surely, how to create a meal, how to trust my senses, and most importantly how to find the joy in it all.
Travel is a huge inspiration. Sometimes that looks like global travel. Sometimes, it looks like traveling to a new neighborhood in my city to savor and learn from their foods. I love exploring the vibrant combinations and flavors that layer together in a fusion meal.
Cooking is something that excites me, and teaching and sharing is who I am at my core. Thanks for visiting our blog. Let us know when you find and make something that you love!
