Winter is over (’bout dang time!). Spring produce isn’t quite ready (asparagus, I’ve got plans for you). But I’m already craving the familiar flavors of summer…tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, and dill to name a few. Lately, I’ve really needed a hot-weather food fix. So I decided to seek solace in the comfort of my pantry and freezer. Last summer my dad taught me how to can tomatoes and pickles. This is a life skill no Bloody Mary-loving, spicy pickle-obsessed gal (or dude) should be without. It ranks right up there with knowing how to change a car tire (which I don’t) and knowing when to pull the pot off the heat before the sugar burns when making kettle corn (which I do!). Priorities, amiright?
vegan
Indian-spiced Kettle Corn with Coconut Flakes (and a reminder)
every now and then you get a reminder. a reminder that’s strong. a reminder that makes you pause…and forget the everydayness of too much laundry, too little time, and too few minutes spent at the breakfast table sitting mesmerized by your son’s inability to care that his “brother” (a.k.a. pet cat) just stuck its tail in his nearly overflowing cereal bowl (when the generic brand of cinnamon toast crunch cereal is on sale, it’s christmas in our household–there just isn’t enough milk in the world…fill that bowl to the brim!).
i digress.
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Salad Greens with Roasted Sweet Potatoes, Tempeh Sticks and Balsamic-BBQ Dressing
This salad was born from a glorious idea a friend gave me. Something so simple, so quick it’s really a non-recipe recipe: slice up some tempeh, saute it, then dip it in barbecue sauce. I think that little idea changed my life. Who doesn’t need one more option of something to dip into barbecue sauce? After that, I realized it was my duty as a citizen of this earth to pass along that gem. You’re welcome.
But what else can I do with that? I needed to find it a veggie companion, without dismissing the barbecue sauce. I have a box of sweet potatoes in the basement, so they were destined to enter the picture. At the end of the farmers market last season, I purchased a 25 lb. box of sweet potatoes for $25 to last me through the winter. That was the end of October and I’m just now starting to see the bottom of the box. The farmers don’t clean the dirt off the potatoes so they’ll keep longer, and they have! I highly recommend it if you have that option. So, sweet potatoes, check! I had a golden beet in the fridge along with some red onion and goat cheese. And the BBQ sauce? Let’s turn that into a dressing! Hows about a salad? Let’s do it!
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Books + Soup: Winter Reading and Eating
Books and soup, a marriage made in polar vortex heaven. They’re a perfect pair; they go together like Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman (just can’t get enough Sherlock). This winter, my reading seems to be about discovery…or rediscovery. I’ve been delving back into some cookbooks I’d shelved for a couple years (Power Foods and Forks Over Knives), getting super stoked about new recipes and techniques in the kitchen (The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook and Wild Fermentation), and FINALLY reading some Michael Pollan (I’ve read several essays and articles by him, but not one of his books). I’m also about halfway through Outliers by Malcome Gladwell (more on that in a minute). I’m not the best at reading BOOK-books; I usually just read cookbooks. And I do mean I read them; I love reading recipes. My husband will sit in bed at night with a book-book — ya know, lots of words, no pictures — while I sit in bed with cookbooks, reading recipe after recipe and ogling the beautiful food photos. But I am trying to read more non-cookbook books and cram some knowledge into this food-obsessed brain.
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Kale Dust
Kale is controversial in my household…I could eat it for days (and do) but my husband and son can’t stand it, which is a real bummer, maaaan. [channeling the Dude] It’s packed with incredible nutrition, is absolutely beautiful to look at, and is so versatile: salad, slaw, soup, chips, juice, pesto…and now dust. Whaaa?? Usually I try to keep my house dust-free, but this is one kind of dust you’ll want to keep around! It’s quick, easy, and adds a healthy punch to whatever you sprinkle it on. Hello popcorn! Or stir it into yogurt and cream cheese for a veggie dip, top off your garlic bread or pasta, add a spoonful to potato soup, or sprinkle it onto a cheese quesadilla.
Kale it, don’t kill it! Hmmm, a new vegetarian slogan? Oh, I kale me! {…just stop}
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Red Lentil & Butternut Squash Chili
Feeling lazy? Too cold outside to do anything? Want to curl up on the couch and watch a movie with something warm and comforting to nosh on? Don’t worry, I got ya covered. Spicy. Sweet. Savory. And loaded with veggies. It’s chili time!
Make a big pot of this over the weekend and save the leftovers for those busy Monday nights. Your Monday night self will give you a high five!
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Homemade Strawberry-Rhubarb Vodka
Rhubarb is one of those foods I’ve always been leery of. It kinda looks like celery, but people make pie out of it…huh? Is it a fruit? Is it a vegetable? Are you really supposed to eat it? Or is it just one of those foods that people “back in the day” happened upon, were hungry, and had to figure out a way to make it edible. To me, rhubarb is one of those weird ingredients my grandma used, mostly in pies or crisps. But is it really necessary these days? We have so much other incredible fruit available that rhubarb seems a bit…um, old school. Plus, it’s so tart and sour you have to add a butt-load of sugar just to make it palatable (yes, “butt-load” is a technical term in my kitchen).
Nonetheless, as suspicious as I am of these odd, pale green and blush pink stalks, my culinary curiosity gets the best of me. It’s in season and starting to pop up at farmers markets and through my CSA. So, what can I make with this stuff that ISN’T pie? When in doubt, add booze! I’ve made several flavored vodkas (cucumber, peach, hot pepper) and figured that was the perfect vehicle for this peculiar, in-your-face-flavored perennial…and it’s so darn simple, plus it makes a really cool gift! Here’s the gist: wash fruit or veggies, chop, add to jar, pour in vodka, let sit for a week, strain, get drunk…I mean, enjoy!
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Spicy BBQ Tempeh Joe’s
Sloppy Joe’s…you either love ’em or hate ’em. I love them; my husband hates them. He thinks they’re annoying and unnecessary. They’re messy; they drip all over your hands. As you eat them, you’re increasingly left with less between the bun and more on the plate…but that’s one of the things I love about them! When you’re finished noshing the sauce-soaked bun, you get to scoop up all the sloppy-laced fixins that lay strewn about on your plate. Maybe you politely scrape them up with a spoon…maybe you dig in with your fingers and shove the fallen goodies in your face. I’m just sayin.
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Asparagus & Quinoa Salad with Orange Vinaigrette
This salad highlights the transition from winter to spring by combining tangy, juicy oranges with tender, nearly-sweet emerald spears of asparagus. It’s the baton hand-off in the relay of seasonal life. Orange tips it’s hat in farewell while asparagus extends it’s arms in a welcome “Hello”…Spring has arrived!
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Greenest of Greens Veggie Dip
I am a very lucky mother…my son loves spinach. It was the first veggie we fed him when he was a baby and he’s gobbled it up ever since. But spinach usually gets a bad wrap from kids…they say it looks gross and tastes weird. Well, they’re wrong. And sometimes you just have to look them straight in the eye and tell them that. “Hey buddy, you’re wrong, spinach is awesome, it’s a superfood!” Yeah, go the superhero route. And throw in the word epic, they’re saying that these days…totally.
the Seasonal Veg Head 