How To Easily Add A Foreign Flair To Home Cooking

International cuisine can seem intimidating to anyone who's not a top chef.

Click here for The Best Restaurants in 15 International Districts Across the US.

But in reality, it's not difficult to add a pinch of foreign flavor to your kitchen, says Blakely Trettenero, chef, world traveler, and host of Cooking for Bimbos and Hungry for Travels.

Trettenero, who makes difficult dishes easy on her cooking website with the tongue-in-cheek name, has visited more than 30 countries and made many food discoveries along the way.

"While in Italy, I realized pasta in the United States is second rate," says Trettenero, who has been featured on several TV shows. "That dried stuff we buy in a box doesn't cut it. If you've ever had homemade pasta, you know what I mean."

Click here for 13 Things You Probably Didn't Know About Real Italian Food.

Once, after a night of dancing in Greece, Trettenero and others worked up an appetite and at 6 a.m. landed at a restaurant that never closes on Mykonos Harbor.

"We ordered this amazing chicken soup with fresh lemon juice squeezed on it," she says. "It was unreal."

Here are two recipes from Trettenero to help bring a taste of international cuisine to your home:

Take a trip to Thailand with quinoa, red cabbage, cucumber, edamame, and more, all drizzled in a ginger, soy, honey, and lime vinaigrette.

Click here for the Thai-Style Quinoa Salad recipe.

Sail around the Mediterranean with this delicious (and simple) orzo soup recipe with scallions, garbanzo beans, and chicken.

Click here for the Mediterranean Orzo Soup recipe.

Blakely Trettenero, host of the Cooking for Bimbos and Hungry for Travels websites, is a graduate of the Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts in Orlando. She also is a world traveler, having visited more than 30 countries, and is becoming a frequent guest on TV.

The accompanying slideshow is provided by The Daily Meal's Dan Myers.