Welcome to Basically Homemade! My name is Niousha. I am a full-time orthodontist and a part-time blogger and live in Palo Alto, California. I’ve been cooking and creating recipes for many years, but had never thought about posting my creations online. A little while ago, I began posting some of my food photos on Instagram and received so many requests for recipes that I figured it might be worthwhile to create a blog.

It has been a bit of an adjustment — I am not used to measuring every single ingredient when I cook — it’s usually a dash of this and a pinch of that, but I’ve learned to have my measuring cups handy whenever I’m cooking!

I like to cook a little bit of everything and love to try new dishes! My favorite thing is to go to the farmers’ market on weekends to find fresh ingredients and challenge myself to create a new recipe.

I also love the artistic aspect of food. It’s always fun to see how ordinary bread and vegetables can be transformed into a piece of edible art.

I am originally from Iran so you might find a little bit of middle-eastern flavors and spices in my dishes. The recipes that I post here are the ones that I have personally enjoyed. If I don’t personally want a second helping of a dish, I will not post that recipe on this blog. My goal is to make cooking simple and fun so that everyone from a seasoned chef to an amateur cook can enjoy them. Feel free to put your own twist on these recipes and share them with me!