Brightland

I was recently featured alongside 4 other powerful women in Brightland’s fall campaign. View it here! As a huge fan of food, I was thrilled. I have been an avid fan and lover of Brightland’s clean and pure olive oil, all grown in California.

I wanted to share all my answers. There were a few snippets used from my interview, but why not feature them all!

how do you have fun in the kitchen?
I try not to overthink things and keep it very basic and simple, because it’s the action of cooking that I love more than eating it at times! Cooking is very similar to jewelry designing to me because I love building or making with my hands. Being hands on is very therapeutic and immersive because I become hyper focused on what I’m doing, and nothing is more enjoyable to me than that.

What do you cook for yourself when nobody’s looking?
It’s really hard to choose, but I either go the spicy Szechuan route, or the healthy comfort soup route. It’s one of two dishes, Szechuan double pepper chicken, or Korean ginseng Samgyetang. Growing up in an adopted family, I wasn’t as adventurous trying new cuisines before 18. In the past decade, I have cultivated a deep appreciation to eastern foods as a way to connect to my background and heritage.
What does living in a golden state mean to you? How do you live in a golden state in your kitchen?
Golden state to me means being next to the freshest ingredients. Theres no excuse to not eat well especially in LA! It also means getting to immerse myself in all types of cuisines, and connect to different cultures through food.

What 3 words would you use to describe your cooking?
comfort, healthy, spicy

What’s your night-time/wind-down routine?
I eat quite late around 10pm (horrible habit, but I don’t really see it changing after 10 years!) This means we start cooking around 8:30, eat around 10, and clean up by 11. Having the luxury of cooking at home and cleaning the kitchen is really calming for me.

Best piece of advice for the aspiring-but-overwhelmed home chef?
Learn the basics, and everything is easy peasy after that. Learning something as simple as chopping garlic, sautéing it, and adding vegetables makes cooking super easy, which is saying a lot - I used to live off of instant ramen in my early 20s! At the end of the day, learning to cook is a skill you’re not born with, it’s practice. Ray and I love to cook together, and cook almost every day of the week, we consider it date night! He’s more skilled in the kitchen, so I’m the sous chef and master eater.

Ray Ting is cofounder of Amnesia Media, a cannabis adtech company.
Sumo is a rescue pup who loves eating ice, being the boss, and being a social dogfluencer full time.

My favorite way to use Brightland Olive Oil in my breakfast:

Savory Breakfast - Fresh heirloom tomatoes thinly sliced, drizzle with 2 tablespoons of Brightland Awake, lightly salt and papper. Serve with toast and cottage cheese

Sweet Breakfast - half cup of yogurt drizzled with 2 tablespoons of Brightland Alive, and raspberries and blueberries.