Two-Ingredient Caramel

Car-mel. Care-ah-mel. Tomayto. Tomahto.

Whichever way you say it, I have always loved caramel. I loved Werther’s caramel candies as a kid (they contributed to all the cavities I got growing up). Then as an adult, I discovered that the main ingredients in a Werther’s are high fructose corn syrup, palm oil (not sustainably sourced), and artificial flavors. I’m not surprised but nevertheless disappointed. Could I find a “healthier” alternative for caramel? The fake stuff isn’t great. The real stuff is…made out of melted cream and sugar. Not great either.

I had a revelation the other day. Maple syrup + cashew butter = a caramel fix. Sure, it’ll never taste as delectable as the real thing. When you really want caramel, eat the mouth-watering buttery, overly sugary classic caramel. But because I crave caramel everyday, I go with this more sustainable take.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup of smooth cashew butter

• 1 teaspoon of maple syrup

If you want to kick it up a notch, you can add any or all of the following:

• A pinch of salt

• 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract or ground vanilla

• Powdered freeze-dried strawberries

• Make it taste like Nutella by using hazelnut butter instead and add a teaspoon of cocoa powder

I love this carmelly nut butter with apples, in yogurt, or as “frosting”.

The New Hummus

Dare I say it, this dip is tastier and easier than making hummus. Goodbye, soaking chickpeas for hours. Goodbye, blending them until smooth. Hello, eggplant.

Ingredients

• 1 American or Globe eggplant (the large, purple kind we usually see at the store)

• 1/2 cup of tahini

• Juice of one lemon

• 6 cloves of fresh garlic, minced

• 1 teaspoon paprika or to taste

• 1 teaspoon harissa seasoning or to taste

• Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Steam the eggplant until soft.

2. Add all the ingredients into a large mixing bowl.

3. Using a fork, mash the eggplant and mix everything together.

4. Enjoy warm or cold with crackers, carrots, or on top of…anything :)

Options

• Steam eggplant and zucchini

• Add curry powder

• Add chili sauce as garnish

Going Brothless

I used to think that a good soup needed good broth and I’m learning that that’s just not the case. While pre-made broth (whether store-bought or homemade) will always be a delicious base for a soup, I’ve grown tired of its requirement.

I’m not thrilled about the plastic cartons of broth at the store or the bouillon cubes made with preservatives. I don’t have the fridge space, the containers, or the time to make my own broth at home. Because, the truth is that soup will taste delicious if you season it right.

Why do we want soup anyway? We crave something warm and comforting. Something light yet filling and nourishing.

Here is a quick and delicious vegetable soup that doesn’t require a predetermined broth and can be thrown together with the veggies in your fridge/freezer. It can also be altered with a different set of seasoning (e.g. fresh dill and a splash of white vinegar).

Ingredients

2 medium tomatoes, quartered

2 medium yellow potatoes, diced

2 medium carrots, diced

1/4 yellow onion, diced

1 cup frozen corn

1 cup frozen green beans

1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder or to taste

1 teaspoon harissa seasoning or to taste

3 bay leaves

Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Fill pot with 2 quarts of water and bring to a boil.

2. Add the seasoning, potatoes, carrots, onion, and tomatoes; cook until the vegetables are tender.

3. Add the corn and green beans.

4. Let simmer for 20 minutes.

5. Enjoy!

The Pasta-bilities

Without much success, I’ve been trying to reduce the amount of dairy and gluten in my diet. Really difficult to do while in quarantine and seeking comfort. Though delicious while consuming, I often feel sluggish and bloated afterwards.

BUT, I recently discovered the gluten-free pastas by Jovial Foods and was so excited to see that their pasta boxes have compostable windows! (Plus, their diced tomatoes come in BPA-free glass jars.) Now this is a company I can get behind.

Wondering what to do with my Jovial pasta, I came up with the recipe below, which is super easy to make vegetarian/vegan. While emptying the freezer, we found some frozen chicken and bacon that we purchased months ago. The version in the photos has crispy bacon (baked in the oven on a cookie sheet between parchment paper) and crispy chicken thighs (pan fried in avocado oil until golden brown on both sides). The vegetables I added were ones that had been in my fridge all week and needed to be eaten pronto. This is a great end-of-the-week dish to use whenever whatever in your fridge is near end-of-life.

Ingredients

1 package (12 oz) of Jovial Foods GF farfalle pasta

1 can of coconut milk

2 cups of frozen peas

2 cups of diced asparagus

2 cups of chopped broccolini

1 package of boneless, skinless chicken thighs

6 strips of bacon

1 tablespoon of avocado oil

2 tablespoons of olive oil

4 tablespoons of dried onion granules

2 tablespoons of dried thyme

Salt, pepper, and chili flakes to taste (I used A LOT of freshly ground black pepper)

Instructions

1. Bake the bacon at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 30 minutes or until crispy. Set aside to cool.

2. In a dutch oven, heat up the avocado oil on low-medium heat. When the oil is hot, add the chicken thighs. Chicken thighs are hard to dry out, so don’t worry about over-cooking them. Leave them on one side to sizzle for about 8 minutes. When that side is crispy and caramelized, flip them onto the other side. When the chicken is crispy and cooked to your liking, set aside to cool.

3. In a separate pot, start cooking the pasta according to the instructions on the box.

4. In the dutch oven, leave the oil and chicken drippings on low-medium heat. Add the veggies and stir until the asparagus and broccolini are tender.

5. Add the can of coconut milk and the spices. Turn off the heat once the coconut milk has dissolved. The dish will continue to cook with the residual heat.

6. Drain the pasta and add it to the dutch oven.

7. Shred or dice the chicken thighs and bacon. Add them to the dutch oven.

8. Have a taste to see if additional spices are needed. My love for black pepper might differ from yours :)

9. Drizzle with olive oil before serving.

10. Enjoy with a cold glass of lemonade.

Mushroom Tacos

I really wanted to make Jamie Oliver’s mushroom shawarma dish but realized it was too hard and the ingredients were difficult to find. Where am I going to find a jar of preserved lemons in rural Illinois during a pandemic?!

Nope, I needed a simpler version. Luckily, Steve found portobello and oyster mushrooms at the store. For my easier take on Jamie’s dish, cook in a skillet:

• 2 sliced portobello mushrooms

• 1 sliced cluster of oyster mushrooms

• 6-7 sliced button mushrooms

• 1 teaspoon of paprika

• 1 teaspoon of cumin

• 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon

• Chili powder to taste

• Salt and pepper to taste

While the mushrooms are getting soft, I did use Jamie’s recipe for flour tortillas, which were SO easy to make. I’m never buying tortillas at the store again. For 4 small flour tortillas:

• Mix 2 cups of flour, 1 cup of filtered water, 1 tablespoon of olive oil, and 1/2 teaspoon of salt.

• Knead into a dough, adding more flour or water depending on whether the dough is too sticky or dry.

• When the dough is workable and no longer sticky, cut into four even pieces.

• Roll out each piece with a rolling pin.

• Add about a tablespoon of oil to a skillet on high-medium heat.

• Place two tortillas on the skillet at a time (depending on how big your skillet is).

• Flip when one side starts to form brown blisters.

Chickpeas Please

Still on my vegan spree, I made these five-ingredient-chickpea cookie dough balls that were a cinch. The title is longer than the ingredient list, which is:

• 2 cups of chickpeas

• 1 tablespoon of tahini

• 2 tablespoons of maple syrup

• 1 cup of chocolate chips

• 1/2 teaspoon of salt

Blend everything but the chocolate chips with an immersion blender.

Mix in the chocolate chips.

Roll into bite-size balls.

Chill and enjoy!

Cauliflowah in Chowdah

It’s chilly out, and all I want is comfort food. Comfort food to me means carbs and cream. Pasta, pastries, chowder, chocolate. I could go on.

Last week, I inhaled two bowls of clam chowder at work and immediately felt sluggish the rest of the afternoon.

Sigh, my craving for comfort food completely contradicts my desire to eat healthy.

Until this week.

I found a delicious and nutritious substitute for cream in my soups, stews, and chowders: pureed cauliflower.

One serving of cauliflower has 100% of our daily recommended amount of vitamin C and is high in fiber (source). Not to mention, cauliflower is super versatile to cook with and can often be found in grocery stores plastic-free. So many wins.

Here’s how I used pureed cauliflower this week in my chicken pot pie chowder:

Ingredients

• 1 small head of cauliflower

• 1 small yellow onion

• 3 cups of chicken broth

• 2 cups of shredded chicken

• 2 cups of frozen corn

• 2 cups of frozen peas

• 2 cups of diced carrots

• 2 cups of diced potatoes

• 1 cup of almond milk

• 1 tablespoon of ghee

• 2 teaspoons of thyme

• 2 teaspoons of chili powder

• 1 teaspoon of turmeric

• Salt and black pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Side note: I roasted a whole chicken the day before, made broth from the bones, and shredded the breasts for the chowder.

2. Cut the cauliflower into large pieces.

3. Bring the broth and cauliflower to a boil in a large pot; cook until the cauliflower is tender. Let cool.

4. Dice the onions, carrots, and potatoes.

5. Blend the broth and cauliflower until smooth. Keep it in the blender for a moment.

6. In the empty pot, heat up the ghee. Soften the onions, carrots, and potatoes until the onions are translucent.

7. Add the pureed cauliflower and almond milk to the pot.

8. Bring the mixture to a simmer. Add the seasonings, frozen corn, and frozen peas.

9. Chowder is done once the potatoes are tender.

10. Enjoy!

Takes Two to Mango

Another recipe inspired by Samin Nosrat, this mango pie is a paleo version of the one she recently wrote about in The New York Times. While sitting on the bus home on Friday, I was super pumped for the weekend and excited to cook in the kitchen (weekends are usually the only time I get to do any real cooking). This is V0 of my mango pie. Hopefully I’ll learn to perfect it in years to come :)

Ingredients for the custard

• 2.5 cups of mango puree (about 3-4 mangoes)

• 1 pack of gelatin

• 1 tablespoon of honey

• 2 teaspoons of lemon juice

• 1 egg

• 2 tablespoons of tapioca flour

• Pinch of salt

Ingredients for the crust

• 1/4 cup of honey

• 1/3 cup of coconut oil or ghee

• 1 egg

• 2/3 cup of coconut flour

• 1/4 cup of tapioca flour

• Pinch of salt

Instructions

1. Mix the crust ingredients together. Roll the dough into a ball and freeze.

2. Blend all the custard ingredients together.

3. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

4. Roll out the crust and press evenly into a pie tin. Poke holes in the bottom with a fork.

5. Bake the crust for 10-15 min.

6. Lower the oven to 325 degrees F.

7. Pour the custard mix into the pie tin.

8. Bake for another 18-20 min.

9. Let the pie cool and then when it’s room temp, put it in the fridge to set some more.

Almost Focaccia in the Oven

I try my best to stick to a paleo-ish diet but for some reason, all I want to do is make bread and pasta. I think it has to do with Bob’s Burgers and The Great British Baking Show being the only two TV shows I ever watch.

A couple months ago, I took a sourdough baking class at The Mill in San Francisco. The ingredients are simple but the process takes forever. From growing the starter to proofing the dough, baking good bread is a waiting game.

So when I watched Salt, Fat, Acid Heat, I was amazed how easily Samin Nosrat whipped up Ligurian Focaccia. No need for a starter and the main wait can take place overnight. But even Samin’s recipe takes some babysitting, so I took bits and pieces from hers and The Cafe Sucre Farine to create a super easy focaccia.

Ingredients for the dough

• 4 cups of all purpose flour

• 2.25 teaspoons or 1 packet of yeast

• 2 cups of warm water

• 2 teaspoons of honey

• 1 teaspoons of salt

• 1/3 cup of olive oil

Ingredients for the brine

• 1/3 cup of warm water

• 1 teaspoon of salt

Instructions

1. Mix the dry ingredients together.

2. Add the warm water to the mix.

3. Cover the bowl with a dish towel for 8-24 hours (or in my case, overnight).

4. In the morning, drop a tablespoon or two of olive oil in a 9-inch cake pan. Make sure olive oil generously coats the bottom and sides of the pan.

5. Give the dough a couple more kneads and place it in the pan. Note, the dough will be really sticky but that’s okay. It’ll spread nicely in the pan if you give the pan a few shakes.

6. Drizzle some more olive oil over the top of the dough.

7. Cover the pan with a dish towel for 45 min.

8. Check on the dough and dimple it with your fingers.

9. Mix the brine ingredients together until the salt dissolves. Pour the brine over the dough to fill the dimples.

10. Proof for another 30-45 min.

11. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.

12. Sprinkle the dough with salt and add whatever toppings you want: rosemary, cherry tomatoes, red onion slices, olives, etc.

13. Bake for 30-35 min.