springy shaved beet + carrot salad with parsley dressing

for the salad:

2 beets and 2 carrots (chioggia striped beets are gorgeous in this, aren't they?)

or, 4 big carrots

baby greens (optional)

for the dressing:

1/4 to 1/2 bunch parsley

6 cloves garlic (you probably won't use all 6! but you might burn a couple, so better to start with more)

2 Tbsp olive oil

splash apple cider vinegar

juice of 1/2 lemon

salt and pepper to taste

method:

 If you've got a whole head of garlic around and 45 minutes, wrap the head in foil and put it in a 400 degree oven for 45 min. If you're short on time or garlic, or you would rather not turn on your oven, you can do individual cloves (peel on!) on the stovetop in a small pan or skillet. Medium heat, no oil, 15 min, turning every few minutes. Either way, the goal is to end up with garlic that has black spots on its peels but is very soft and not burned inside. When cool enough to handle, remove peels.

Combine dressing ingredients, starting with just 1/4 bunch parsley and 3 (peeled!) cloves of roasted garlic in blender plus the other ingredients. Blend until well combined. Let sit for a while before you taste.

Peel carrots and beets, then use vegetable peeler to create shaved beet and carrot ribbons.

Taste and adjust dressing to your preference, adding more of this or that, perhaps adding more parsley and/or more cloves of garlic one at a time if you didn’t burn them. 

Mix vegetables and dressing in a big bowl. Eat right away, or later. Without baby greens, this is a great salad to have on hand in the fridge for a few days. (Baby greens don't like to sit in dressing for very long - they will get mushy in a bad way).

Make it a meal – double the dressing, serve over chickpeas and farro (or any grain/lentil/bean combo).

Roasted Red Pepper Soup

Yo. This soup is not easy breezy lemon squeezy at first. But once you get a handle on the parts and what you want the soup to be for you, you'll be able to eyeball it & make it whenever you have a languishing cup of cooked beans or split peas in your fridge that you want to use up, or some bell peppers (not green ones, even I can't help you with that). You have to want an excuse to get out multiple roasting pans and heat up your kitchen. When you're done, I encourage you to make it a meal with the addition of cooked farro, amaranth, and quinoa and a swirl of baby spinach if that's you're thing. But don't be afraid to play around and make it slightly simpler - no beans, fewer or zero carrots, and veggie broth instead of cashew milk makes for a fiery first course or side. If you add more things, I think you'll lose the specificity of the flavors...but I wouldn't stop you. I've thought about roasting a turnip when I don't have cooked beans on hand, but have yet to try it. 

Ingredients

4-6 carrots 

half or 1 tbsp each coriander and cumin seeds

olive oil

2 yellow or orange bell peppers (I'm fairly confident that red would be fine, please don't waste your time with green ones)

3-4 onions

1.5 tbsp butter or earth balance, olive oil would be fine although less creamy

1 bay leaf

1 c cooked white beans or split yellow peas in their cooking liquids (optional) (extra note: I usually cook white beans with onion powder, garlic powder, and za'atar / split yellow peas with ginger and garlic - don't be afraid of using non-plain beans if you think they'll go well with the flavor profile of the soup)

1/2 c veggie broth (may need another cup if not using beans in their liquids)

1/2 c cashew milk (may need more - if you want a very creamy soup, replace veggie broth with cashew milk, especially if not using butter) 

salt

lemon

Method

Turn oven to 400, hotter if that's what it takes to roast your vegetables. Put the peppers on one rimmed pan with a little olive oil. You do not need to peel your carrots - that is the only unfussy part of this recipe, yay. Chop carrots into pinky-sized rods and roast on separate sheet with a few glugs of olive oil + shakes of salt + the cumin seeds and coriander seeds, tossing to coat. Pop everything in oven, shake pans/toss carrots and turn peppers every 10 min. Things will likely be nicely browned in 30-40 min.

While the roasting is happening, peel and chop onions. Heat butter in big soup pot, turn heat down to medium-low, and add onions and bay leaf. Add a little water and more butter and turn heat down if things are sputtering/browning too early - you want low and slow to caramelize in ~30 min. Remove bay leaf if you are worried you will forget to do this later.

Add roasted peppers (remove stem, deseed if you don't like spicy things), carrots, seeds, and beans with their cooking liquid (if using) to onions. Pour veggie broth and cashew milk over pans to get ahold of any lingering seeds/yummy roasting juices, and then transfer liquids to soup pot. Add more broth/milk if needed to submerge vegetables/beans. Simmer 5-10 min, remove bay leaf (THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT). Blend using immersion blender, or wait to cool slightly and transfer to blender in batches.

Taste. It is probably delicious, but may need a little more salt and/or a lemon squeeze if it isn't quite acidic enough. Leftovers will likely want a squeeze of lemon.

You can make this a meal by mixing in cooked grains (I like a combo of farro, amaranth, and quinoa with this), some extra beans/split peas, and baby spinach.

Spicy Coriander-Mustard Seed Zucchini Pickles and Jalapeno Rings

adapted from http://www.simplyscratch.com/2013/05/easy-homemade-pickled-jalapenos.html

special equipment needed: glass jar(s) with airtight lid. ladle if you have it. almond milk (or any kind of milk) to cool down with after you eat one of these :)

1 c water (more may be needed)

1 c white vinegar (more may be needed, some recipes recommend cider vinegar)

2 Tbsp raw sugar (any kind of sugar should do)

1.5 Tbsp kosher salt

1 Tbsp whole black mustard seeds

1 Tbsp whole coriander seeds

2 whole cloves garlic

2 whole chilies, red serrano or similar

3 zucchini, ends discarded, middles cut lengthwise into spears

5 jalapenos, sliced in rings

In a medium saucepan or pot, heat water and vinegar. Add sugar, salt, seeds, garlic, and chilies. Once sugar has dissolved and boil has been reached, add zucchini and jalapeno slices. If liquids don’t cover solids, add water and vinegar in 1:1 ratio (I sometimes need to add another quarter- or half-cup of each).

Turn heat down and simmer for 5 minutes (skip this step if you want crisper pickles). 

Turn off heat, let everything hang out for another 10 min until cool enough to ladle the vegetables, garlic, and peppers into glass jar. If using two smaller jars, try to put a garlic clove and chili in each. Cool for a bit, then add brine until covered or out of brine. Try to get all the seeds into the jars, but don’t be obsessive about trying to get the same amount into each jar.

Cool a little more, then seal lids and pop in fridge. (NOTE: these are NOT shelf-stable pickles. You need to put them in the fridge.). Some people say to eat refrigerator pickles like these within a week, I think they’ll be fine for 2-3 weeks if you can let them last that long. You can whirl the leftover garlic, brine, and serrano into a salad dressing or daal, or put chopped up cabbage and cauliflower cores into the brine and let sit for a few days to one week (INSIDE YOUR FRIDGE) to make a second, milder batch.

Kale Salad with Roasted Parsnips and Pear

makes 4ish appetizer/side servings. you can make this a meal over warm or cold quinoa and lentils!

because the best kind of salad is the kind of salad that can hang out in your fridge, and potentially gets even better with time. great option for making the night before a dinner party or whenever you have lots of other day-of things to do.

for the dressing:

2 tbsp tahini or almond butter

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tsp horseradish (grated prepared kind is great to have around)

3 big cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp apple cider vinegar or rice wine vinegar

2 pinches salt

1 pinch cayenne pepper

dijon mustard (optional)

lemon juice (optional)

for the salad:

1 big bunch lacinato (dinosaur) kale, preferably, though any kind will do!  - washed, rinsed; then leaves torn, big ribs cut up very very very small or set aside for some other project if you hate raw kale ribs (I prefer them stir fried until tender in hashes)

2 parsnips (or more, because more is more), peeled and diced into smallish pieces

handful of shallots, peeled and diced into smallish pieces

olive oil, salt and pepper for roasting

1 hard pear - bosc is great here - sliced thin. a crisp and flavorful apple (perhaps pink lady or granny smith) will work too.

directions: 

Heat oven to 400 F. Put all dressing ingredients in a small bowl and mix well. If you taste the dressing and it isn't zingy enough to your taste, add some dijon mustard and/or more horseradish.

In a large bowl, massage kale leaves (and ribs if using) with dressing for at least 5 minutes - the kale should seem to decrease in volume and grow more vibrant in color and glossiness. If the kale fully absorbs the dressing before 5 min, add more olive oil. Let hang out in fridge - it's great to do this an hour or more before serving, or even a day ahead. 

Toss parsnips with olive oil, salt, & pepper and spread out in roasting pan in single layer. Do same with shallots in a separate pan so that you keep your flavors potent and powerful by being apart. Put in oven. Shake pan and turn pieces every 5 or so minutes so vegetables brown evenly, should take 15-20 minutes. May need to turn oven up to 425 F towards the end. Once well-roasted, set aside to cool.

Taste a bit of kale and potentially drizzle with more salt/oil/tahini/horseradish/vinegar/lemon juice to your liking. Add slightly-cooled roasted vegetables and pear. 

ABC Muffins

// apple-banana-carrot vegan muffins //

adapted from martha stewart mag's morning glory muffins

1 ripe banana

1/4 c olive oil

1/2 c almond milk (any kind of nut milk will work, coconut milk may be a bit thick/heavy)

1 tbsp chia seeds

1/2 tbsp ground flax seeds

1/2 c whole wheat pastry flour or whole wheat flour (or regular flour, whatevs)

3/4 c regular flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice or nutmeg or combination

1/2 tsp coarse salt

1 c old-fashioned rolled oats (not instant)

1/2 c packed light brown sugar (dark is probably just fine)

1 apple, diced

4 carrots, peeled and grated

my photography skills don't do these justice...but you can tell that they were such a hit at a recent get-together that there was only one left!

Pre-heat oven to 400 F. Fork-mash the banana in a bowl. Pour in almond milk and olive oil and mash a bit more. Stir in chia and flax seeds so that they puff up and get gloopy (to make your faux-egg binding agent) while you get started on...

Grating the 4 carrots if you haven't already. I know, it's a lot of grating. It's worth it, promise. Dice up any remaining bits of carrot. Spray down a 12-muffin pan with olive oil.

In a big mixing bowl, whisk together the flours, baking powder, baking soda, spice, and salt. Whisk in the oats and sugar. Then the apple. Then the carrots. Then the banana-chia-OO-almond milk gloop (use your hands). Once flour mix is well-incorporated, divide into muffin cups. 

Slide pan into oven. Check on 'em at 18-20 min, then they'll need about 5 min, probably, so that a toothpick inserted in center of muffin comes out clean. Yay! You have muffins!

Quinoa Chia Cold Porridge

2-3 snack-sized servings

1 c cooked quinoa

1/4 c chia seeds

1/2 c almond or coconut milk (any kind of mild, sweet nut/rice beverage will do)

1 carrot, shredded using microplane or food processor

dash each ginger, cinnamon, cardamom, salt

splash vanilla extract

1-2 teaspoons honey or agave (you may want more, particularly if chia seeds are new to you)

fresh or frozen fruit – strawberries & bananas; blueberry & mango; pear

yogurt (optional)

put everything but the fruit in a bowl stir many times, being sure to distribute chia seeds evenly to break up clumps. let sit at least one hour or overnight so that chia absorbs milk and gels the porridge together.

to serve, add fresh or frozen fruit and an extra splash of milk or yogurt. if you use big chunks of frozen fruit, this makes a great on-the-go snack – no need to lug around a separate ice pack! 

Red Lentil Soup with Coriander and Lime

First Soup of Fall: Red Lentil Soup with Coriander and Lime

I’ve found soup making to be a wonderfully mind-clearing experience. All of the chopping and measuring and heating and tasting requires my attention and presence, which means that my mind doesn’t leave my kitchen for 30 minutes, and then I get to have soup. Trust your instincts on this one. Do you think that’s too many carrots? Use fewer. Not enough spices? Use more. Out of quinoa? Use another half cup of red lentils. You cannot mess up this soup – I’ve tried. I like to stir in a handful of spinach, broccoli, or okra to make the soup a meal, but it’s great on its own as a starter or side.

1 c red lentils

1/2 c quinoa

1 onion

6 carrots

1-2 Tbsp. olive oil (or coconut, grapeseed, or vegetable oil)

1.5-2 inch hunk of ginger

big pinch cayenne pepper

3/4 tsp. ground coriander

1/2 tsp. cumin

1-2 limes

1 can light coconut milk (use regular coconut milk if you like a richer, heartier soup)

2 c hot water (more as needed) or vegetable broth

salt and pepper to taste

Rinse red lentils and quinoa, and soak in a few cups of room-temp water (this can be done overnight or a few hours before if you wish). Roughly dice onion and carrots, keep separate. Heat at least one tablespoon oil in big soup pot over med-high heat; add onion, and sauté about 4 minutes or until onion becomes translucent. While the onion cooks, grate ginger and zest one lime. Add the ginger to the onions. Once fragrant (about 30 seconds), add cayenne, coriander, cumin, and zest of one lime, more oil if needed, and carrots. Cook over med-low heat for another 3-5 min to soften carrots slightly.

Add hot water and coconut milk to pot and raise heat. Once soft boil appears, add drained lentils and quinoa. Wait for water to boil again, then reduce heat to a simmer for 15-25 minutes (check around 15 minutes to see if more water is needed), or until quinoa tails have released and lentils have nearly dissolved. Turn off heat, add juice of one lime,  and blend soup to desired consistency using immersion blender (or wait to cool and blend in batches in a regular blender). Add salt, pepper and additional lime juice to taste.