Date Roasted Carrot Salad w. Burrata, Mint & Chili

I love the transformation of humble ingredients.

Carrots are so simple and a thought I had recently was that I don’t make them enough. Though I occasionally think of baby carrots as a counterpart for hummus, for the most part, right size, whole carrots fall out of my consciousness when it comes time to grocery shopping. I find that, like eggplant or other certain vegetables, the deliciousness of a carrot is all about knowing how to treat it: not well seasoned or well cooked, a carrot would gladly be easily forgotten. So, yes, you are going to be sure to bathe these in a mixture of butter and sweet date (or fig) jam and cook until caramelized and completely melt in your mouth tender. To go the no-food-waste mile, be sure to use some of the carrot stem as a garnish.

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Date Roasted Carrot Salad with Burrata, Mint & Chili

Serves 2

• 7 thin carrots, or cut in half if they are wide, total 8 oz

• 1.5 Tbsps unsalted butter 

• 1 Tbsp date jam (or use fig jam)

• Small bunch of fresh thyme

• Toasted sunflower seeds

• 1 ball of burrata 

• 1/2 small hot red chili, finely sliced

• Fig balsamic

• Fresh mint for garnish

• OPTIONAL; carrot stems very finely minced

• Kosher salt

• Freshly ground black pepper

• Neutral oil

Preheat your oven to 400F. First rinse & scrub your carrots. Trim the carrot stems down so that just a short stem remain. Keep a few of the stems without any of the leaves.

Dry your clean carrots and in a high-heat, oven safe pan (like stainless steel or cast iron), heat a little neutral oil over high heat until hot and just barely smoking. Add the carrots, making sure they can sit in a single layer. You’ll probably need a 8-10 inch pan. Add two pinches of kosher salt and a few cranks of freshly ground black pepper and toss the carrots a bit in the pan. Sear, turning occasionally, 5-7 minutes, until golden brown on all sides.

In the meantime, mix 1.5 Tbsps of melted unsalted butter with 1 Tbsp of date (or fig) jam. Add a pinch of kosher salt and stir well.

When the carrots have a slightly golden hue all over, remove the whole pan from the heat. Set on a cool burner and wait a few minutes to allow the pan to cool slightly.

Using tongs, lift carrots and place your bunch of thyme down in the pan. Place carrots back on top of the thyme, brush evenly with the butter and date (or fig) glaze and then put the pan in the oven 12-15 minutes or until carrots are fork tender all the way through.

While the carrots are in the oven, very, very finely chop a bit of thin, clean carrot stems.

Slice a hot red chili into very thin rounds. When the carrots are ready, carefully remove the pan from the oven. Pull off the bundle of thyme and move carrots to a cutting board.

Cut them on the bias into smaller segments and place into 2 bowls, layering the carrot. Cut burrata open and place a half of burrata in each bowl next to the carrots.

Top with rounds of hot chili, a few small leaves of fresh mint, toasted sunflower seeds a sprinkle of the very finely cut carrot stem.

Cut burrata open, and drizzle with fig balsamic.

Sichuan Peppercorn Skirt Steak Tacos w. Black Garlic Labne, Scallions & Honey

Tangy Sichuan peppercorns, savory black garlic, and fresh habanero…

One of my favorite kitchen tools is the humble mortar and pestle. Sure, I don’t whip this thing out everyday, but on the occasion I do I feel so connected to my food and in control of flavor. While I use it mostly for grinding whole spices, I also love it for making marinades, like this one, or sauces like a mortar-and-pestle Pesto. Start by grinding whole ingredients and finish with fats or liquids. Here I combine Sichuan peppercorns with black garlic, fresh habanero and a mix of other smokey, savory spices to get a crusty layer of flavor on the steak once seared.

My big note with this recipe — don’t be turned away by the ingredient list. If you can’t get access, substitutions can be made: instead of black garlic use whole roasted garlic cloves, and swap labne for a thick, whole fat, tangy greek yogurt. That being said, the Sichuan peppercorns are sort of a must and these are a great opportunity to expand your flavor library. I also encourage you to try and get your hands on my new favorite Red Habanero hot sauce from Queen Majesty, based a whole 11 minutes from my apartment right here in Long Island City, Queens!! Lastly, you can always rely on me to deliver food full of unexpected flavors so there were some creative decisions, like finishing with honey, that I'll just need you to trust.

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Sichuan Peppercorn Skirt Steak Tacos with Black Garlic Labne, Scallions & Honey

• 6 x Corn Tortillas

• 1 lb, or 16 oz, skirt or entrana steak

• Honey

• Queen Majesty Red Habanero & Black Coffee hot sauce (find out where you can buy it here)

• 1/2 bunch scallions, cut on the bias

STEAK MARINADE

• 1/2 Tbsp cumin

• 1/2 Tbsp Sichuan peppercorns

• 1 clove black garlic, steamed to soften, or 1 clove of roasted regular garlic

• 1/2 tsp smoked paprika

• 1 tsp natural turbinado sugar, or any kind of granulated brown sugar

• 1/4 - 1/2 of a small fresh habanero, finely chopped with seeds for more heat (.1 -.2 oz)

• 3/4 tsp salt

• Shy of 1/4 cup neutral oil

• 2 tsp tamari

BLACK GARLIC LABNE

• 1/2 cup labne

• 4 cloves black garlic, steamed to soften, or 4 cloves of roasted regular garlic

• Juice of 1/2 lime

For this recipe, I loved using black garlic: it’s an aged garlic that is less sharp than raw garlic and super savory. You can find it online and in some specialty food stores and while it’s a bit of an investment, it’s great to have on hand in your flavor library. If you can’t get access to it, slow roast garlic and use that throughout instead. Also, if you can’t access labne, use a thick, full fat, tangy greek yogurt instead, like Fage.

Start by making your marinade. If you have a mortar and pestle, use that. Otherwise, blend everything with the oil and tamari in a food processor. You are going to need: 1/2 Tbsp cumin, 1/2 Tbsp Sichuan peppercorns, 1 clove black garlic, steamed to soften (or 1 clove of roasted garlic), 1/2 tsp smoked paprika, 1 tsp natural turbinado sugar, or any kind of granulated brown sugar, 1/4 - 1/2 of a small fresh habanero, finely chopped with seeds for more heat (.1 -.2 oz), 3/4 tsp salt, shy of 1/4 cup neutral oil and 2 tsp tamari.

Add the steak and marinade to a Tupperware or reusable Ziploc bag, making sure the steak is covered all over. Put in the fridge for 1 hour, but ideally up to 24 hours.

Next, prepare the black garlic labne. I find that steaming the black garlic cloves first allows them to fold into the labne more uniformly. Place 4 black garlic cloves in a steamer, or you can do what I did and simply suspend the cloves inside a small pot over about 1/2-1/4 cup of boiling water using a small mesh strainer. Cover with a top and let steam for a few minutes. Skip this step if you are using roasted garlic. Blend garlic, labne and juice of a half a lime until smooth.

When it’s time to sear the steak, be sure to bring the steak to room temperature first. Using a cast iron (or stainless steel pan), heat the pan until very hot with a bit of smoke coming off of it. Then add the marinated steak, searing over high heat 2-4 minutes per side for medium rare, depending how thin your cut of steak is. Go a little longer if you want it more well done. Let the steak rest, 5-7 minutes.

While the steak rests, char your tortillas carefully over a low-medium flame on your stovetop burner, using tongs to flip them every 30 seconds or so. If you don’t have a gas stovetop, crisp them a little under your oven broiler.

When ready to serve, cut the steak into strips or cubes. Spread a spoonful of black garlic labne on each tortilla and top with steak. Top each taco with scallions cut on the bias, a drizzle of honey and this Queen Majesty Red Habanero & Black Coffee hot sauce. I love how it has a balance of heat and flavor. Find out where you can buy it here.

Plant Based Roasted Sweet Potato Queso-Style Dip w. Caramelized Onions

Seriously, who doesn’t love a dip?!

I’m obsessed with female owned nut milk brand Three Trees. When I worked with them last year I fell in love with their incredible, creamy milks and instantly knew it would make the perfect base for a plant based dip. I’m also going to recommend some of my favorite tortilla chips from Xochitl for their ratio of thinness to dip-carrying-capacity.

Yes, this is a plant based “queso-style” dip and I put that in quotations in case you’re someone who does not believe in veganizing: I would hate for you to miss out on this dip for that reason. It’s just a great dip trying to be great! Made with simple plants and lots of flavor, we start by roasting the sweet potato and sautéing onions. This may seem like an extra step but don’t skip it, please. The name of the game to great food is LAYERING FLAVOR. When we roast and sauté our ingredients, we impart them with flavor before we’ve even blended and seasoned our dip. You can do this up to 2 days in advance, and then blend up later. Come over and make the recipe with me here!

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Plant Based Roasted Sweet Potato Queso-Style Dip with Caramelized Onions

Serves 6-8

• 2 x medium sweet potatoes, 1 lb total

• 1 medium yellow or Spanish onion

• 1 Tbsp unsalted butter

• 1 small white onion

• 1/2 tsp cayennne powder

• 1/2 tsp cumin powder

• 1/2 tsp smoked paprika

• 1/2 tsp chili powder

• 2 cups Three Trees original almond milk

• 2 Tbsp nutritional yeast

• 4 Tbsps white wine or apple cider vinegar

• 2 tsp chipotle Cholula, and more for serving

• Fresh cilantro

• 1 lime

• Kosher salt

• Coconut oil

• Olive oil

• OPTIONAL: 1.5 tsps corn starch for thickening

• Xochitl Organic Blue Corn Tortilla Chips

Preheat oven to 380F degrees.

Peel and cut sweet potatoes into rounds. Add to a mixing bowl with 1.5 Tbsp coconut oil and a sprinkle of kosher salt. Toss to evenly coat.

Lay sweet potatoes on a baking sheet in a single layer and bake for 30 mins or until golden on both sides, flipping halfway through. When finished, cut rounds down loosely into quarters for easier blending.

In the meantime, let’s make caramelized onions: take your medium yellow or Spanish onion and remove the top and bottom root end so that it’s flat on both ends. Peel off outer skin. Cut onion in half, top to bottom, and then slice into thin, half moons. Add all the onions to a large pan with a splash of olive oil. Cook 15-20 mins over low heat, stirring frequently. If the pan gets dry, add a splash of water and mix. If the onions are cooking too fast and burning, turn the heat down.

When the onions are significantly cooked down, add 1 Tbsp butter to the pan and continue to cook over low heat until they are a deep golden color. Add a sprinkle of kosher salt. Remove from heat and set aside.

In a pot with a splash of olive oil, sauté 1  cup of loosely diced white onion. After a few minutes when the onion has started to soften, add a sprinkle of salt and 1/2 tsp cayenne, cumin powder, smoked paprika and chili powder. Mix and cook together another minute or so.

Then remove from the heat and add sweet potato pieces to the pot along with 2 cups Three Trees almond milk. Blend using a food processor, immersion or standard blender until smooth.

Taste and add a touch more salt if it needs. Also add 2 Tbsp nutritional yeast, 4 Tbsps white wine or apple cider vinegar and 2 tsp chipotle Cholula. Once all blended, place back in the pot and bring to a simmer, mixing frequently so you don’t burn the dip on the bottom of the pan. Once it’s bubbling, add a slurry to the pot to thicken - 1.5 tsps corn starch with 2 tsps water. The heat will activate the starch, thickening the dip, so continue to cook and mix for a minute or two after adding.

Remove from the heat and let cool a few minutes. Top with plenty of fresh cilantro, juice of half a lime, and all of the caramelized onions. You can even add another splash Cholula if you like. Live your best dip life!

Crispy Skin Bass w. Mandarin Brown Butter & Arugula Salad w. Lemon Castelvetrano Olives & Pickled Grapes

As if you needed more reason to make this than mandarin brown butter…

Brown butter is magical. Full stop. It’s nutty, slightly sweet and oh-so rich. I enjoyed finding different ways to counter that richness in this dish. First by adding citrus to the brown butter, and second by serving with a tart, peppery arugula salad. And I have no doubt you saw ‘pickled grapes’, and went… really? But trust me on this. Slightly tangy and sweet, mixed with creamy castelvetrano olives and brine, a bit of lemon peel. My hope with this dish is to leave you feeling as inspired as I was creating it.

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Crispy Skin Bass with Mandarin Brown Butter & Arugula Salad w. Lemon Castelvetrano Olives & Pickled Grapes

SERVES 2

MANDARIN BROWN BUTTER

• 3/4 stick of grass fed butter (6 Tbsps)

• 4 small mandarins, juiced and strained of solids (4 Tbsps)

SALAD

• 2 fistfuls fresh arugula

• 1/2 cup whole pitted Castelvetrano olives in brine, 3.5 oz (or pits removed)

• 1 tsp extra fine strips of lemon peel

• 20 red seedless grapes, 6.5 oz

• 1 tsp granulated sugar and 1 tsp kosher salt

• 1/2 cup white wine vinegar

• 1/2 tsp whole black peppercorns

• Extra virgin olive oil

FISH

• 2 x 8.5 oz striped bass filets with skin, tail ends which tend to be more even thickness all over

• Kosher salt

• Black pepper

• 1.5 Tbsps neutral oil

First, let’s prepare our pickled grapes, lemon castelvetrano olives and mandarin brown butter.

For the pickled grapes, rinse 20 grapes and then cut in half across and place into a clean jar with a tight fitting lid. Add 1 tsp granulated sugar, 1 tsp kosher salt, 1/2 cup white wine vinegar and 1/2 tsp whole black peppercorns. Set aside.

Next, roughly chop 1/2 cup castelvetrano olives, removing pits first if need be. Place in a bowl. From a lemon, using a sharp knife or a vegetable peeler, remove a few pieces of lemon peel. If it has any white pith on the back, be sure to remove that, as it will taste bitter. Cut the lemon peel into fine, thin strips and mix in with the olives. Add 1 tsp of the olive brine and 1 tsp of good olive oil, mix and set aside.

Next, let’s make our brown butter. In a medium sized pan, add 3/4 stick of butter cut into a few small pieces (TIP: using a stainless pan or a pan with a light colored bottom will help you to identify when the brown butter is ready). Place over med heat. Allow the butter to completely melt as you start whisking, to keep the butter moving as it cooks so that it will brown more evenly. It will take a few minutes but don’t walk away or stop whisking. You will first see the butter get foamy before the milk solids suddenly turn caramel brown and it smells incredibly nutty. Straight away remove the pan from the heat and pour the butter into a heat proof container. You can make brown butter 2-3 days in advance and store it in the fridge. It will solidify so just warm to melt before using.

Next squeeze your mandarins through a fine mesh sieve, to remove seeds and solids. Mix together 6 Tbsps of the brown butter with 4 Tbsps mandarin juice. Add a small pinch of kosher salt. This will be the sauce for our fish.

Take your 2 pieces of fish and pat them very dry. Salt and pepper both sides.

In another stainless steel or cast iron pan, add 1.5 Tbsps neutral oil. In order to get crispy skin on the fish we need to make sure the pan is hot enough: when the oil is shimmering, add fish to the pan skin side down. It should sizzle. If it doesn’t, take it out and let it get sufficiently hot. Allow the skin to completely get crispy, about 8 minutes. It should release from the bottom of the pan with just a little help. At this point you should also see that the fish on top is cooking through all around the edges, except for in the center. Remove from the heat and tilting the pan away from you, flip and cook the fish the rest of the way through in the hot oil, a minute or two. If your fish is a thicker cut and still needs more time, put it back over a low heat until cooked through.

Cut fish into two smaller pieces. Drizzle with mandarin brown butter. Serve next to your fresh arugula topped with the pickled grapes and lemon casteltrevano olives. Drizzle arugula salad with a touch of extra virgin olive oil and a little sprinkle of kosher salt.

A Fancy Roast Chicken

It felt like time to make roast chicken exciting again.

First, allow me to make the argument for a whole bird in case you’re still not convinced. Once seasoned, you put it in the oven and forget about it … for an entire hour and half. Talk about leisurely. Out of the oven comes multiple meals (and a veg, too, if you have the forethought), PLUS bones you can use for broth. It’s a no brainer. Raw chicken fears? I’ll address those below.

This recipe was born of one simple goal: roast chicken, deliciousness dialed way up. Start by building flavor from the inside out, stuffing your chicken with herbs, garlic and citrus. I added coriander seeds to the mix, which are tart and flowery, then coated the whole thing in a vibrant, savory spice blend of smoked paprika, kashmiri chili and garlic powder. Yeah, all you need to do when this chicken is ready is try not to drown an entire bowl of rice in the insanely delicious rendered juices.

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A Fancy Roast Chicken

• 4 lb whole Bell & Evans chicken

• 1 whole lemon

• 1 small head of garlic

• 1 bay leaf

• 1 tsp whole black peppercorns

• 1 tsp whole coriander seeds

• 1/2 tsp smoked paprika

• 1 tsp garlic powder

• 1 tsp kashmiri chili

• Olive oil

• OPTIONAL: sturdy root vegetable of choice, like potato, sweet potato, parsnip, carrots, etc

• OPTIONAL: medium grain sushi rice for serving

Preheat your oven to 350F. Get out a cast iron large enough to accommodate the entire chicken (10-12 inches). You could also use a large dutch oven or baking dish with high sides. Before you intend to roast your chicken, take it out and let it start to come to room temperature.

Place the chicken in a large bowl so you easily avoid any fear of getting raw chicken on your surfaces. Take off the packaging and remove any giblets stored inside. Pat the chicken dry all over. Set aside.

Next, remove stickers from the lemon, rinse and cut in half across. Cut your head of garlic across to expose the cloves. In a small bowl, combine 1 bay leaf, 1 tsp whole black peppercorns and 1 tsp whole coriander seeds. Set aside.

In another small bowl, combine 4 Tbsps of olive oil with the remaining spices: 1/2 tsp smoked paprika, 1 tsp garlic powder and 1 tsp Kashmiri chili. Mix well.

If you plan to roast any root vegetables along with your chicken, clean and cut those now and place in the bottom of the cast iron or baking dish. Keep in mind that the veg will cook underneath the chicken for an hour and a half, so stick with bigger, thicker pieces that will do well with a long cook time (as opposed to small and thin).

Using one hand to hold your chicken, use the other to liberally salt both inside and out (yes, sprinkle salt along the inner cavity of the bird). Next stuff the bird with your 2 lemon halves, garlic halves, bayleaf, peppercorns and coriander seeds.

Once stuffed, place the bird into your cast iron or baking dish, on top of any veggies: using a silicone pastry brush, brush the entire chicken with the mixture of oil and spices. Do this here as opposed to in the bowl your chicken was in previously to allow excess oil and spices to just drip into the bottom of the pan and not go to waste.

Make sure to brush underneath any folds of fat near the front and back end of the bird, as well as underneath the wings, legs, etc. Once you’ve used up all of your spice mixture, place chicken right side up, tuck legs and wings close to the bird and stick in the oven for roughly 1.5 hours or until it reaches 165F internal temperature. I do not make chicken without my handy meat thermometer - you’ll never have to worry about either falling ill or overcooking chicken again. A perfectly timed chicken is insanely juicy.

When the chicken is done, let it rest before serving. I like to eat the thighs and drumsticks fresh from the oven, and found they were especially good over a bit of plump sushi rice with lots of the rendered juices drizzled over top. Throw the roasted veg on the plate and you’ve got a meal. Reserve the wings and breasts, and all the other bits you can pull off, which I like to use for a quick chicken salad. And don’t forget when you’re done with the chicken to place the whole carcass in an airtight bag and stick in the freezer. When you’ve made this twice, you’ll be all set for homemade broth.

Creamy Vegan Coconut Chickpea & Sweet Potato Curry

Silky, creamy, coconut -y, savory greatness.

The best meals tend to be the accidental ones: one night doing my usual pantry and fridge inventory, searching for dinner, I found some coconut milk, a can of chickpeas and some leftover roasted sweet potato. Could it be a curry? Why not. And 30 minutes later I had this luscious creamy meal.

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Creamy Vegan Coconut Chickpea and Sweet Potato Curry

SERVES 1

For Sweet Potatoes

• 1 Medium Sweet Potato, 8.5 oz

• 1 Tbsp olive oil

• 1/4 tsp ground allspice

• 3/4 tsp kosher salt

• Heaping 1/4 tsp smoked paprika

• Heaping 1/4 tsp garlic powder

• Freshly ground black pepper

For Curry

• 1/8 small red onion, cut into thin rounds, 1.2oz

• 1/4 tsp ground allspice, or whole - 5-6 berries 

• 1/4 tsp ground turmeric

• 1/2 tsp tandoori powder

• 1/4 tsp vindaloo spice

• 1/8 tsp smoked paprika

• 1/2 tsp curry powder

• 1/4 tsp cumin seeds

• 1/2 tsp garlic powder

• Kosher Salt

• 3 Tbsps neutral oil

• 1 Tbsp + 1 tsp tomato paste

• 1 tsp finely minced fresh ginger 

• 1/2 cup coconut cream (full fat)

• 1 standard size can chickpeas, 15.5 oz

For Serving

• 1/2 cup basmati or other rice (uncooked)

• Fresh cilantro

• Indian tamarind chutney (I like SWAD brand, also available for purchase in NYC HERE)

• Your favorite Indian bread

First we will roast the sweet potatoes: preheat your oven to 400F. Scrub the sweet potato clean and cut into rounds, 1/4 in. thick, and then into quarters. In a bowl toss sweet potatoes with 1 Tbsp olive oil. To the bowl add your spices: 1/4 tsp ground allspice, 3/4 tsp salt, heaping 1/4 tsp both smoked paprika and garlic powder, and a few cranks of freshly ground black pepper.

On a baking sheet, drizzle a little olive oil and lay sweet potato quarters out in a single layer. Place in the oven for 12-15 mins until golden on the bottom side and then flip. Place back in the oven another 5-10 mins until crispy all over. When they are done, set aside. You can also make the sweet potato 2-3 days in advance and refrigerate.

While your sweet potatoes are baking, get your rice over the heat with a 1 Tbsp of coconut oil, if you have, or olive oil and a sprinkle of salt. When done cooking, cover until ready to serve.

You can also work on the curry: cut your red onion into rounds and then into quarter rounds, finely dicing a little and setting aside for garnish.

In a ramekin or small bowl, combine all of the spices for the curry: 1/4 tsp ground ground allspice (or 5-6 whole berries crushed), 1/4 tsp ground turmeric, 1/2 tsp tandoori powder, 1/4 tsp vindaloo spice, 1/8 tsp smoked paprika, 1/2 tsp curry powder, 1/4 tsp cumin seeds and 1/2 tsp garlic powder.

In a pot, heat neutral oil over medium heat. Add your ground spices and let them “bloom”, or cook, in the oil: doing this releases flavor compounds, and helps to distribute flavor evenly through the cooking process.

After a minute or two, when very fragrant, add onions to the pot, stir to coat and cook over a med low heat until onions are soft. Then add chickpeas and toss to coat evenly. Let them cook over med heat, about 5 mins. 

To the pot add 1 Tbsp and 1 tsp tomato paste, and 1 tsp finely minced ginger. Let cook a few minutes until the tomato paste is caramelized and brown in color.

Add 1/2 cup coconut cream and 1 tsp kosher salt. At the last moment, take your roasted sweet potato quarters and mix into the curry before removing from the heat to serve: having them maintain some of their crispiness adds a great textural difference. Mix and check seasoning, adding salt to taste.  

Serve over warm basmati rice. Finish with fresh cilantro and if you like, drizzle with this amazing tamarind chutney, which brings tartness and heat. Serve with Indian bread like naan.

Vegan Sweet Potato & Black Bean Tacos

A few weeks ago I had the wonderful opportunity to collaborate with My Inner Glow. Founded by Kyle Somersall, My Inner Glow brings people together for inspired meditation based events.  When he initially approached me and asked me to cook for one of his upcoming events, I was excited to team up with him, and to put together a menu for the evening.   We started the night outdoors in a beautiful backyard in Kips Bay, Manhattan.  I served soccas, which are thin crepes made of chickpea flour, on parchment paper and adorned them with varying combinations of delicious toppings.  For the main course (wait for it...) we had tacos, which if you know me even on the most introductory level, will likely not surprise you.

I knew I wanted one of the tacos to be vegan/vegetarian friendly, so I decided to revisit a classic combination: sweet potato and black bean.  I deepened the flavor of the black beans with smoked paprika and lots of lime juice, and made them extra creamy by crushing them in the pot slightly while they were cooking.  I made the sweet potatoes spicy AND sweet with serrano chile powder.  And, because I am undoubtedly a condiment & toppings kinda lady, I topped this all off with homemade cashew cream, avocado, fresh cilantro, aleppo pepper and a squeeze of lime for good measure.  Ideally this taco is finished off with one of my favorite salsas, La Fundidora's Humo Salsa.  What is better in life than eating a warm tortilla jam-packed with deliciousness on a balmy May night in New York City?!? 

In the past year, the lowly sweet potato has managed to land itself right up there on my list of top 10 favorite foods.  Why?  Because sweet potatoes are incredibly versatile, satiating and tasty.  In this case, their sweetness perfectly offset the citrusy, savory black beans, and of course, I added some heat to them with chili powder, because to me there's nothing like the combination of sweet, savory & spicy. 

I am someone who loves to layer flavors and ingredients with contrasting mouth feel, so, of course, I added in yet another element: creamy.  Which brings me to another of my new favorite foods: cashew cream.  Insanely easy to make, delicious and dairy free, cashew cream has actually changed my life.  As a life long cheese and sour cream addict, Kite Hill's spreads were the first of the nut-based vegan cheese replacements to pull me away from my dairy addictions, and while this stuff is SO good, it's not cheap.  And while the cost of nuts can also add up, a bag of cashew pieces from Trader Joe's will cost you the same as 1 container of Kite Hill ($6.50), and will render you much more.  All you need is 1 cup of soaked cashews + water (which is free) to make more than 8 ounces of delicious, nutty cashew cream.  As I mentioned before with my Vegan Roasted Red Pepper Pesto recipe, it really is an amazing tool to be able to make your own pantry staples at home for a fraction of the cost.  It will only take you a little forethought + 5 minutes or so to blend your way to cashew cream happiness!  And it's worth it - I promise.  

Tacos are best when they have lots of delicious toppings, in my opinion, so don't forget your garnishes, and feel free to add others!!  Grilled corn?  Pickled red onions?  The options are endless.  And of course, don't forget your salsa!!  My suggested salsa pairing is La Fundidora's smokey, delicious Humo Salsa, which I purchase at the Whole Foods here in Chelsea, New York.  If you can't find it, don't worry, Cholula works too!!  I like the Original flavor best, but salsa is a very personal choice, so do what feels right to you.  And most importantly, don't be afraid to eat 2 (or maybe 3) of these tacos in one sitting.

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Vegan Sweet Potato and Black Bean Tacos

6 x Corn Tortillas

For Sweet Potatoes

• 1 Large Sweet Potato, diced

• ½ TBSP olive oil

• ¼ TSP serrano chile powder

• ¼ TSP cumin

• Heaping ¼ TSP salt

For Beans

• 1 lime - juice of 1/2 or whole, if half doesn’t bring out the lime flavor enough

• 1 can black beans

• ¼ TSP garlic powder

• ¼ TSP smoked paprika

• ¼ TSP salt 

For Cashew Cream ** PREP NOTE - You will need to soak your cashews overnight

• 1 cup raw cashews or cashew pieces - soaked overnight

• 1/2 cup water

• Pinch of sea salt

Garnishes

• 1 Avocado

• Aleppo Pepper

• Fresh Cilantro

• 1 Lime (for lime wedges)

• Suggested Salsa Pairing: La Fundidora Humo Salsa OR Cholula Original

Let's start by making our cashew cream.  Take your soaked cashews and put into the bowl of a food processor with a 1/2 cup of water and a nice pinch of sea salt (a high speed blender is ideal here if you own one, but a food processor works great too).  Allow the food processor to run for up to 4 minutes, or until the cashew cream is silky (it will take about the half time in a high speed blender).  If using a food processor, stop intermittently to scrape down the sides.  When the cashew cream is finished, pour into a jar and put in the fridge.

Next, you'll want to roast your sweet potatoes.  Preheat your oven to 400 degrees while you get to dicing the sweet potato.  I like to roast it on a high temperature so that the sweet potato bits get nice and crispy.  Here is my tactic for dicing the sweet potato: cut into rounds, then pile up 4-5 rounds at a time and dice down into squares/rectangles.  Throw the diced pieces into a mixing bowl as you go.  Once the entire sweet potato is diced, add the olive oil and spices, and toss to coat thoroughly.  Next, you'll want to spread the coated sweet potato bits onto a flat baking sheet (parchment paper optional).  The key here is that the sweet potato is laid out in a single layer, without overlapping any of the pieces. This allows the sweet potato to cook thoroughly all over and get nice and crispy!  Put the sweet potato in the oven and set a timer for 15 minutes.  After 15 minutes check the sweet potato, and add more time if necessary.  The sweet potato bits should be golden and crispy around the edges.  It's OK if a few of the smaller pieces get burnt.  You can always separate those pieces after to avoid the bitter flavor.  When the sweet potato is done, put it to the side and turn off the oven.

While the sweet potato is in the oven, you can get the beans ready.  Empty the can of beans into a strainer and rinse off the liquid from the can.  Put the cleaned beans into the sauce pan add the spices and juice of your lime.  You can start with half a lime here, mix and then taste.  The lime should come through distinctively, so if half the lime is not enough, add the other half.  While they start to heat up, use the back of a big spoon (or a potato masher if you have) to slightly mash the beans.  You don't want a total pulp here, but mash until the texture starts to become slightly more broken down and creamy.  When the beans are ready, you can turn the heat down to low so that they stay warm.  If they start to dry out, just add a little vegetable broth or even a splash of water to loosen them.

It's almost time to build our tacos!!  Depending on how small or large your sweet potato is, and how generously you fill, the amount of tacos this renders will vary.  Grab 6-8 corn tortillas, and get ready to char them over an open flame.  Turn on one of the burners on your stove on very low, and grab a pair of tongs.  Put your first tortilla directly on the burner, hovering above the flame.  Heat and slightly char on both sides, about 45 seconds each, using your tongs to flip the tortillas.  Put the warmed tortillas onto a plate as you go.  If you don't have a gas stove, you can char your tortillas in a hot pan.

Once they're all heated, start by spreading beans onto each taco.  Next, top with sweet potato bits.  Add a dollop of cashew cream to each as well as 2 slices of avocado, a few leaves of fresh cilantro, a shake of aleppo paper, a squeeze of fresh lime juice and one of the two suggested salsas.  My favorite is the Humo Salsa, which is sold here in New York at Whole Foods, but if you can't find it, good old Cholula Original works too.

Kale Brussels Sprout Salad w. Pecorino & Toasted Nuts

Kale ain’t boring when you coat it with homemade lemon oil and pecorino cheese.

Don’t forget a sprinkling of warm, crunchy toasted pistachios and walnuts. I’ve never written a “Copycat” recipe before, but this salad stuck with me long after I ate it in the backyard of Aurora Bk, paired with a beautiful glass of Italian red wine and surrounded by twinkling lights. We tend to think of salad as a meal suited for summer, but this combination is so comforting and perfectly suited for when you need a dose of greens during chilly winter months.

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Kale Brussels Sprout Salad with Pecorino and Toasted Nuts

Serves 2

Lemon oil 

• ½ cup extra virgin olive oil

• ½ large lemon, scrubbed clean and peel removed in strips without any bitter white pith

Salad

• 5 med Lacinato or Tuscan kale leaves, cleaned and cut into fine strips

• 5 med Brussels sprouts, rinsed and shaved on a mandolin or finely cut using a sharp knife

• ¾ cup mix of roasted salted pistachios and raw walnuts

• ⅔ cup finely grated Pecorino

Dressing

• 2.5 Tbsps lemon oil

• 1 tsp fresh squeezed lemon juice

• Pinch salt

To make your lemon oil, add olive oil and lemon peel to a small saucepan (make sure the lemon peel has no bitter white pith on it as it can make the oil taste bitter as well). Warm over a low-medium heat for about 20 minutes, watching and turning the heat down if necessary to avoid any bubbles from forming in the oil. Then remove from the heat and let steep 10 minutes, or until oil has reached room temperature. Strain through a fine mesh strainer and discard lemon peel. If you make extra oil than you need, store in a dark jar in a cool place.

Next, clean and finely cut your kale, removing the thick middle stem. Roll the leaves together and chiffonade, or cut into fine strips. Similarly, rinse your brussel sprouts and using a mandolin, shave into thin strips or cut using a sharp knife. Add to a bowl and toss with lemon oil, lemon juice and a pinch of salt. Massage the greens and then place in the refrigerator for up to 30 minutes.

Over a medium heat, toast pistachios and walnuts in a dry pan, making sure not to burn, just 3 to 5 minutes, until fragrant. In the meantime, finely grate ⅔ cup pecorino cheese.

Remove greens from the fridge and add toasted nuts and most of the grated cheese. Toss gently with your fingers to mix, and serve with a little extra cheese on top. Serve immediately.

Watermelon Raspberry Juice w. Ginger, Lime, Mint & Cucumber

Nothing says summer like watermelon.

Okay, well maybe ripe tomatoes do, and cold gazpacho, and 8PM sunsets. But I digress. This watermelon juice from scratch tastes like a glass of summer and this labor day weekend, you’ll find me making a big batch and having it sans-alcohol first thing in the morning, and tinged with tequila come evening.

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Watermelon Raspberry Juice with Ginger, Lime & Cucumber

Renders roughly 32 oz. juice

• ¼ of a whole watermelon

• 1 large cucumber, peeled, seeds removed and cubed

• 1 knob fresh ginger, roughly 2 inches

• 10 raspberries, fresh or frozen

• 2-3 limes

• Handful fresh mint

To make this juice, simply run all ingredients though a professional juicer, if you have one. If not, use a blender or food processor and you can manually strain out pulp, which is only slightly laborious, but totally worth it.

Remove watermelon flesh from rind and dice into pieces that will fit into the body of your blender or food processor. Blend and then, over a large bowl, strain through a very fine mesh strainer, using a rubber spatula or just the back of a large spoon to press the pulp against the strainer, rendering all of the delicious watermelon juice. Do this a few times — you should be left with just a very small amount of pulp. Toss pulp.

Peel a large cucumber and cut in half long ways, scooping out seeds. Loosely cube remaining cucumber and add to the body of your blender. Remove skin from large knob of ginger and cut into a few pieces. Add a handul of clean, fresh mint and fresh or frozen raspberries.

Blend, and then repeat above process, straining through your fine mesh strainer into the bowl with your watermelon juice, making sure to completely drain the pulp of all liquid before tossing.

Add juice of 2-3 limes, depending on your preference and amount of juice your limes render.

Adjust to taste, adding more ginger, mint or lime as you see fit.

Enjoy solo over lots of ice with muddled mint and raspberry, or with the addition of tequila, or your spirit of choice. Cheers!

Warm Israeli Couscous Salad w. Roasted Cherry Tomatoes

Israeli couscous is an absolute pleasure to eat.

There’s something inherently comforting about eating a hot bowl of soup on a cold day, and that’s precisely how I feel when I eat this warm Israeli couscous salad.  Also known as pearl couscous, this pasta-like couscous is plump and silky, with more surface area to carry flavor than regular couscous. And lest you be misled by my use of the word ‘salad’, there are no leaves involved. Only gluten-full globes of deliciousness with a mouthfeel I can only describe as delightful.

In this dish, simplicity is everything. Cherry tomatoes with sea salt and plenty of good olive oil are roasted until bursting, creating a perfectly subtle sauce right in the bottom of the baking dish. Cooked couscous is folded in and finished with shallots caramelized in chili flakes for a savory, spicy finish.  Not sold yet? You can have this dish cooked and ready to serve in as little as 30 minutes. This is one of those dishes that you are going to want to eat right off the spoon.  Be sure to eat it while it’s still warm so you don’t miss out on the joy of cherry tomatoes bursting unexpectedly in your mouth.

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Warm Israeli Couscous Salad

Serves 4-6

• 1 cup Israeli (pearl) couscous (like Brad’s Organic or Trader Joes)

• 1 box cherry tomatoes

• 1 large shallot, or 2 small

• Extra Virgin Olive Oil

• Dried red pepper flakes

• Sea Salt

• OPTIONAL: Manchego, for shaving on top

Preheat oven to 375. Wash tomatoes and put them in a baking dish with high sides. Make sure that the tomatoes are in a single layer. Pour lots of good olive oil on top and sprinkle generously with sea salt. The olive oil should cover the bottom of the baking dish. Combined with the juice from the tomatoes, it will comprise the sauce for your couscous, so don’t hesitate to be a bit heavy handed.

Once the oven is preheated, put the tomatoes in the oven and set a timer for 15 minutes. Now start your couscous in a small pot, and cook according to product specific instructions. For Bob’s Red Mill Pearl Couscous, add 1 ½ cups water to the pot with a sprinkle of sea salt. Bring to a boil and then add 1 cup couscous. Reduce to a simmer and mix before covering. Cook covered until water is absorbed, about 10 or so minutes. Remove from the heat, mix gently, cover and set aside.

While the tomatoes are in the oven, cut 1 large shallot into rounds (or use 2 small shallots). The more caramelized shallots, the merrier! Heat 2 tbsps or so of olive oil in a medium sauté pan over medium heat. Add the shallots when the olive oil starts to shimmer. Turn down the heat and let shallots cook until they are starting to become soft and translucent, about 2 minutes. Add ½ tsp red chili flakes and a sprinkle of sea salt to the pan. Let cook over very low heat another 8-10 mins. When you taste your oil, it should have the heat from the chili flakes. Turn the heat off.

Once the tomatoes have been in the oven 15 minutes, take them out, give them a mix and then stick back in the oven for 10 more minutes, or until tomatoes are very soft with wrinkled skin. Once done, let cool a few minutes and then pour cooked couscous into the baking dish with the cherry tomatoes. Pour in shallots with chili oil and gently fold everything together. Taste for salt and add more as needed.

Serve warm. Top with a bit of shaved manchego for some extra pizzazz. This dish also tastes great after a day or two in the fridge, as the couscous continues to soak up all the delicious flavor.

Warm Black Sesame Cardamom Pudding w. Toasted Coconut

Can you believe this is my first published dessert recipe? Admittedly, I’m usually more of a savory gal, but when I was approached to collaborate with Three Trees and Learn From A Chef on a delicious recipe and fun, virtual cooking class, I could not turn down the opportunity. Their Black Sesame Nut & Seed milk is lightly (& naturally) sweetened with dates, has no fillers, gums or additives and gave me the perfect base for this delicious pudding. Infusing the milk with whole cardamom, one of my favorite spices, makes it feel really fresh, aromatic and nourishing. Also, did I mention this pudding is 100% plant based? In this recipe, we harness the magic of cornstarch to achieve a thick, creamy pudding and top it all off with a freshly toasted coconut topping. And as always, you can feel free to add anything else that makes your heart sing! I want you to make this recipe yours…

And in case you missed the live class, you can rewatch and learn the recipe with me here!

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Warm Black Sesame Cardamom Pudding with Toasted Coconut

1 Serving 

• 5 oz black sesame milk

• 2 oz full fat coconut milk

• 1.5 tbsp cornstarch, loosened with 2 tbsp water

• 1 dash vanilla extract

• 6 cardamom pods

• 1-2 tsp maple syrup, to taste

• 1 tsp coconut oil

• 1 cup coconut flakes

• Black sesame seeds

Measure out Three Trees Black Sesame Milk and full fat coconut milk in a measuring cup, mix to incorporate and set aside.

In a mortar and pestle, or on your cutting board, gently smash 6 cardamom pods to expose the seeds. Place a small saucepan over medium heat. Once pan eminates heat, add cardamom pods and gently toast, swirling around in the pan, about a minute until fragrant.

Pour in mixture of sesame and coconut milk. Mix to combine, and then let warm just until bubbles start to form around the edges of the pan. Then remove from heat, cover and let sit anywhere from 10-30 minutes, depending how much cardamom flavor you prefer.

Meanwhile, in a small bowl, create a slurry: combine cornstarch with cold or room temperature water and whisk, scraping the bottom and sides, until you form a uniform, creamy liquid. Set aside.

Measure out 1/2 cup of coconut flakes for your topping. This renders more than 1 serving, so you can keep what remains to use in granola, on top of yogurt, or just as a slightly sweet snack. Get out a small to medium sauce pan, cast iron is great, but you can work with whatever you have at home.

Strain your infused milk through a fine mesh strainer into a bowl to remove cardamom and loose seeds. Rinse your saucepan and dry of any excess water. Add the strained milk back to the pan and bring the temperature back up over medium heat. When the milk starts to get warm, add a dash of vanilla extract and maple syrup to taste and mix, gently scraping the bottom of the pan to make sure it’s fully incorporated. Taste and make sure it’s as sweet as you want it!

If your slurry has separated, give it a good whisk before adding. When your milk has just started to reach a gentle boil, a few bubbles coming to the top here and there, while whisking, slowly pour in the cornstarch. Your milk must be sufficiently hot for the cornstarch to activate. Once added, you should immediately see your milk turn into a pudding like texture. Remove from the heat as you continue to whisk. Add to a medium sized bowl and set aside to cool. 

While that cools, we quickly prep our coconut topping. In your pan, heat 1⁄2-1 teaspoon coconut oil, or neutral oil over medium heat. Once the pan is warm, add coconut flakes, mixing constantly to ensure they don’t burn. When most of the flakes have turned a golden color, remove from the heat and put into a small bowl. For a delicate sweetness, add a pinch or two of sugar while warm, and toss to coat the coconut flakes evenly.

Give your cooled pudding a mix before plating, to ensure a smooth texture. Top with warm toasted coconut, and any of your other favorite toppings, like seasonal fruit!

Smoked Salmon Toast

Equal parts crisp, crunch & smoke.

Smoked salmon sandwiches have quickly become a part of my daily rotation. Loaded with fresh ingredients that need little prep, it’s quick to come together and offers a refreshing change from the daily rotation of other more expected sandwiches. The key, as always, is using the best ingredients you can find: a great bread and high quality smoked salmon are key. And it’s totally worth the extra few minutes it requires to make your own scallion cream cheese. Of all the things you could put on toast for breakfast, lunch or brunch, I promise this one won’t disappoint.

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Smoked Salmon Toast

• Scallion cream cheese, store bought or homemade

• Good bread, like sourdough

• Tomato, thinly sliced rounds

• Cucumber, thinly sliced rounds

• Red onion, thinly sliced

• Sprouts

• Baby greens

• Lemon

• Sea Salt

• OPTIONAL: Capers

You can use store bought scallion cream cheese but homemade is easy, and really delicious: mix a pound of softened plain cream cheese with about ½ cup sour cream (or heavy cream). Mix and fold in freshly cut scallion.

Take out all ingredients. Slice cucumber, red onion and tomato into very thin rounds. Set aside. Put bread in the toaster. When done, spread both pieces of bread with cream cheese. Add desired amount of smoked salmon to one piece of bread. Top salmon with thinly sliced cucumber, tomato, red onion and sprouts. To the other piece of bread, add greens on top of cream cheese, lightly pressing down. Sprinkle sprouts with sea salt, freshly ground black pepper and a drizzle of fresh lemon juice. Add capers without liquid, if you like. Close sandwich, cut and eat immediately.

The Simplest Sauce Ever

I grew up eating this sauce. My mom always made it from scratch, imagining it just a little differently each time. I’d watch while she threw in a bit of this and a bit of that, until it tasted just right. While pasta can provide a canvas of opportunity for creativity, there’s something to be said for taking it back to basics. To this day, the sauce always starts with a few things: whole peeled tomatoes crushed by hand (dangerously threatening any garment of clothes you’re wearing), garlic, olive oil, red pepper flakes and capers. It really is the simplest sauce ever, and rarely disappoints. This is an anti-recipe recipe: there are no measurements, and few specifics. Have fun, trust your intuition and remember, you can make this pasta YOURS: add whatever calls to you.

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The Simplest Sauce Ever

Serves 3-4

• 1 can Italian whole peeled tomatoes, crushed by hand (or whole fresh tomatoes, if they are in season)

• Extra virgin olive oil

• Salt to taste

• Fresh chopped garlic

• Red pepper flakes to taste

• Capers and a splash of the liquid 

• OPTIONAL: fresh basil

Start by roughly chopping your garlic cloves. For a whole can of tomatoes, I’d use 2-3 cloves of garlic, but adjust to your own tastes and factor in the size of your garlic cloves.

Start a sauce pan or pot over med heat, adding olive oil once the pan is hot. Next, add your garlic and sauté until fragrant, a minute or so. Then add your crushed whole peeled tomatoes to the pot and stir. Add an extra splash of olive oil, and capers with some of the briny liquid.

Lower the heat and cook the sauce down 15 or so minutes, allowing flavor to deepen. Add salt and red pepper flakes to taste only after reducing. If you have fresh basil, chiffonade and add at the last minute before serving.

Serve over al dente pasta, or use for any dish that calls for a simple tomato sauce (i.e., Lasagna, Eggplant or Chicken Parmesan). If saving to use later, let cool to room temperature before packing up and storing in your fridge or freezer.

Seared Mushrooms w. Creamy Polenta & Miso Garlic Butter

This dish puts umami front and center.

Umami is the king of all flavor profiles. It’s deep and savory and rich. This appetizer, perfect for the holiday season around the corner, uses three umami ingredients in one dish: mushrooms, Parmigiano-Reggiano and miso. Oh, and did I mention butter and garlic? Finish this flavor bomb of a dish with something bright, like fig balsamic or herb oil. Serve alongside simple proteins and/or plants. Eat the whole cozy bowl yourself, or divvy it up with those whom you can safely gather with.

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Seared Mushrooms with Creamy Polenta and Miso Garlic Butter

For Polenta (serves 2 with leftovers)

• ½ cup white polenta (southern white grits)

• ¼ tsp coarse salt

• 1 cup milk

• 1 cup water

• ½ cup freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano

• Freshly ground black pepper

• Finish with salt to taste (plan to under salt this a little because the mushrooms and miso butter have lots of flavor)

For Mushrooms (serves 2)

• 1 portobello, 2 shiitake and 40g beech mushrooms per serving, or 1/2 cup

• Neutral oil, enough to coat the bottom of your pan

• Coarse salt

• Garlic powder

• 20g butter, or 1.5 Tbsps, melted

• 4 smashed garlic cloves

• ½ Tbsp miso

First, make your creamy polenta: to a pot, add the milk, water and salt. Bring to a boil, then add polenta and lower the heat, cooking until liquid is absorbed, stirring frequently. When polenta is creamy, about 15 minutes, add black pepper, grated parmigiano reggiano and salt to taste. Make sure to under salt the polenta a bit because the miso butter is salty and the mushrooms should also be well seasoned. Remove from the heat off and set to the side, covered.

Clean and dry your mushrooms well. In a frying pan, heat enough neutral oil to coat the bottom of the pan. Drizzle just a little oil on the mushrooms, so your seasoning sticks, and sprinkle with coarse salt and garlic powder on both sides. When the neutral oil is shimmering and pan is hot, sear all the mushrooms on both sides, in batches if necessary to avoid overcrowding. Set mushrooms aside. Safely remove the hot oil and liquid from the pan. Wipe clean and place back over a low heat.

At this point, give your polenta a stir and put back over a low heat, covered, to warm for serving.

In your clean pan, add melted butter, miso and garlic. Over a low-medium heat, whisk to combine butter with the miso. Once incorporated, add the mushrooms to the pan, spooning the miso butter over them.

After a minute or so turn the heat off on both the mushrooms and polenta. Add polenta to a shallow bowl. Using a slotted spoon, remove mushrooms from the pan and place on top. Spoon miso butter over the mushrooms. Serve immediately with a fork and knife. Finish with something bright, like a drizzle of herb oil or fruity balsamic vinegar (I love fig balsamic, personally).

Roasted Vegetable Goat Cheese Enchiladas

Sometimes the best ideas come from a place of necessity, and when we least expect them. 

Although I took a bit of a hiatus from writing recipes, that does not mean that the cooking has stopped, and certainly not the ideas.  I found that I was deep in a place of “working” on my personal work because I felt I ‘should’, because I ‘had to’.  So I decided to take a break and return when I was ready to create from a place of joy.  By allowing joy to fuel my work, I not only feel more fulfilled, but also create work that is completely genuine.

On this particular Saturday, I woke up with a desire to cook something that was both nourishing and delicious (and let’s be honest, I also just had a hankering for enchiladas).  I had recently thrown together a chilaquiles-like dish using goat cheese and corn, and I couldn’t get the flavor combination out of my mind.  So I decided to elaborate on it: spread corn tortillas with goat cheese, fill them with sweet & savory plant-based goodness, and bake with more cheese on top.  What could go wrong?  Well, in this case, nothing.

The beauty of this dish is you can totally make it your own.  After all, no recipe is written in stone (well, OK... except if you're baking, which doesn't happen to be my forte for obvious reasons).  Want to take this dish all the way vegan?  Make it without cheese or use dairy free cheese replacements.  Not in the mood for beans?  Leave ’em out.  Prefer brown rice to quinoa?  Swap it.  Feel like adding an animal protein?  Go for it!  The only thing you definitely don’t want to miss is, well, this dish... 

It’s a perfect balance of sweet and savory, with bursts of sweet potato and corn balancing out earthy mushrooms and beans, and a smokey chipotle sauce blankets the enchiladas before they are baked with sharp cheddar on top.  When I say this is what dreams are made of, I really mean it.  This is ACTUALLY what my dreams are made of.  If you find yourself dreaming about enchiladas too, then get cooking because I promise - this dish will make all of your enchilada dreams come true.  It's literally, the whole enchilada!

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Roasted Vegetable Goat Cheese Enchiladas

Serves 3-4

• 1 medium sweet potato

• 1/2 cup loosely packed cooked white quinoa

• 1/2 med-large zucchini

• 1/2 large yellow onion

• 1/2 cup frozen sweet corn

• 1/2 cup black beans, rinsed

• 4-5 Baby Bella mushrooms

• 1/4 tsp adobo seasoning

• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

• 1/4 tsp smoked paprika

• 1/2 tsp chili powder

• 1 tsp garlic powder

• Sea salt to taste

• EVOO

• Flavorful salsa of your choice (I used Brad’s Organic Salsa but also like La Esquina’s Salsa Roja)

• 1 small can Goya Salsa Chipotle or similar Chipotle Marinade or Enchiladas Sauce (not to be confused with Chipotle Peppers in Adobo Sauce)

• 1 small log herbed goat cheese (or vegan alternative like Kite Hill Chive Spread or Treeline French Style Herb-Garlic)

• 2-3 slices sharp cheddar (or vegan alternative like Daiya slices)

• 6-8 corn tortillas depending how many you’re serving

• Additional toppings optional: Fried egg, sliced radish, fresh cilantro, avocado, Pico de Gallo, crema

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.  We’re going to start by prepping all of our vegetables.  Remove the skin from the sweet potato and cut down first into rounds, and then down further into fourths.  In a bowl, toss the sweet potato with a splash of extra virgin olive oil, roughly 1/4 tsp sea salt and 1/4 tsp adobo seasoning.  Lay your sweet potato pieces onto a baking sheet in one layer, which will allow them to cook evenly and get perfectly crispy.  Bake on the top rack of your oven for roughly 15 mins.  You want the sweet potato to be golden and crispy, so leave it in a little longer if it doesn’t look ready after 15 minutes.  I do recommend setting a timer though so you don’t forget to take your sweet potato out while you’re prepping your other ingredients!

In the meantime, you can get to work on dicing the onion, zucchini, and portobello mushrooms.  If your quinoa is not already cooked, this would also be a good time to throw it in a pot and cook according to box directions.  To keep my quinoa nice and tender, I like to add a splash of extra virgin olive oil to the water after it boils and before I let it simmer.

In a bowl combine your cooked quinoa, diced zucchini, and mushrooms.  Keep your onion, corn, and black beans to the side. 

Over medium heat, add a heaping tbsp of extra virgin olive oil to a deep sauté pan.  Once the olive oil starts to shimmer and heat up, add your onions and let them cook down.  They should start to soften and become transparent.  Next you can throw in your rinsed black beans, corn and the rest of your spices.  Here I encourage you to add salt to the eye - trust your gut - but if you’re really unsure, start with a 1/2 tsp.  You can always use a spoon to taste and add salt later if needed (just remember if you’re cooking for others, not to double dip).  After 5 or so minutes of letting the ingredients cook together, add the quinoa and vegetables.  Stir everything together thoroughly so that you combine all the flavors in the pan.  You can turn the heat down a bit here so as not to overcook any of your ingredients.  This is a good time to give your filling a taste and adjust the flavors as needed.  Add more garlic powder if you love garlic, more salt if it’s bland, or more cayenne if you like more heat.  Then turn the burner off and put the pan to the side.

Prep a baking dish by brushing or spraying with a little olive oil (you can also use coconut or avocado oil if you prefer).

Now we assemble!  Before you start, notice if your quinoa and vegetables have become overly dry in the pan.  If they have, you can always add a small glug of olive oil and mix, to loosen it up. 

To soften your tortillas, dampen a paper towel and wrap around the tortillas.  Place them on a microwave safe plate and hit them with 30 seconds.  When you pull them out, they should be steamy, soft and pliable.  Now, taking 1 tortilla out of the paper towel at a time, we quickly coat (or spray) one side of each tortilla with olive oil, or your cooking oil of choice.  Flip over and smear the other side with a little goat cheese.  Add a few pieces of your roasted sweet potato and a tablespoon of your filling, being careful not to overfill your tortillas. 

Carefully roll, and place into the baking pan, seam side down.  Continue until all your tortillas are filled and rolled.  Keep in mind that it's okay if a little of your filling spills out as you transfer them to the baking dish - they don't have to be totally perfect.  You can always nudge the filling back in using a spoon.

For the sauce, if you cannot locate the Brad's Organic Salsa or Goya Home Style Chipotle Sauce (https://www.walmart.com/ip/Goya-Home-Style-Chipotle-Sauce-7-oz/199898824) that I used, you can also look in the International Aisle of your local grocery store for any red enchilada sauce and a salsa that appeals to you, and mix them to taste! You can also opt to make your own if you’re feeling really ambitious.

To mix, pour into a measuring cup 1/4 cup of Brad’s Organic salsa, and then fill the rest of the way to 3/4 cup with Goya Chipotle Sauce. Mix together, and then pour over tortillas as evenly as possible.  Place 1 slice of cheddar cheese on top of each rolled tortilla.  Place in the oven and bake on 400 for 20 mins, or until cheese is bubbling and golden.

You can serve with a fried egg to make this a delicious brunch, and top with any of your favorite toppings: radishes, crema, avocado, guacamole, pico de gallo, or fresh cilantro. The world is your oyster!

Pork Tostadas with Grilled Tomatillo Salsa & Grilled Peach Pico

I could eat tostadas every day.

And I wrote this recipe as a last-ditch effort to stop throwing so much money at chorizo tostadas from my favorite neighborhood spot. Combining pork breakfast sausage with smokey cumin seed, ginger, and miso creates a base of layered flavor profiles. Combine that with just-fried salty tortillas, sour cream and not one, but two, homemade salsas, and you’ll reach taste bud nirvana.

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Pork Tostadas with Grilled Tomatillo Salsa & Grilled Peach Pico

For Tostadas

• 6 x Corn Tortillas

• Neutral oil for frying, 8 - 16 oz depending on the size of your pot

• Coarse kosher salt

• Alternatively, packaged tostadas

For Pork

• 12 oz ground breakfast sausage (or buy whole breakfast sausages and remove casing)

• 1 tsp raw minced garlic

• 1 tsp raw minced ginger

• ½ tsp cumin seed

• 1 ½ white miso

• 1 Tbsp paprika

• 1 Tbsp lime juice

• Sour cream

• Grilled Tomatillo Salsa

• Grilled Peach Pico

Start by prepping your salsas. They come together quickly and will keep in your fridge for tostada leftovers, or for eating with other meals throughout the week.

In a medium/large pan, heat a little neutral or olive oil, just enough to lightly coat the bottom. Add minced ginger and garlic and cook until light golden brown, being sure not to burn. Then, add your ground pork, breaking up the meat with a spoon or spatula, and letting it brown all over. After a minute or two, add paprika and cumin seeds. Mix and continue to cook a few minutes, letting the pork get crispy in its own fat. Then, turn the heat down and stir in your miso. After a few minutes you can turn the heat way down, or completely off while we make the tostadas.

When it comes to frying at home without a deep frier there are a few things to keep in mind.

First, you’'ll need a decent amount of neutral oil. Neutral oils, like safflower, canola, and other vegetable oils have a high smoke point, meaning they can safely be heated to a temperature high enough to fry your food. Ideal temperature for frying is between 350-400F.

You’ll also need a large pot or a high walled sauce pan or cast iron pan. For our needs, your pot must at least be larger in diameter than your tortillas. A good rule of thumb is that you should use enough oil in your pot to fully submerge your food, but so it comes no more than half way up the sides of the pot. The reason for that is when you add ingredients, their inherent moisture causes the oil to bubble up and you do not want a spill over of hot oil.

Since we’re frying something flat (tortillas), you won’t need quite as much oil here. I used roughly 8 oz of oil in a 10 inch cast iron pan.

Another important rule of thumb for frying is to remember that dryness is key. You always want your ingredients as dry as possible and never want to get water in or near hot oil as it could cause it to splash or even dangerously boil over. In our case, tortillas are inherently dry already, so just make sure you keep water away from your pot and tools while frying.

Start your oil over a medium heat, bringing it up to 350F, using a frying or candy thermometer to carefully check. Once oil is hot enough, using stainless steel, high temperature safe tongs, carefully lower in your first tortilla. If the oil is hot enough, bubbles will form around it when added.

Keep an eye on the tortilla, flipping it after a minute or two to evenly fry on both sides. When the tortilla is light golden brown on both sides, carefully remove and place on a paper towel to drain grease. Take care that tortilla will be hot, but immediately sprinkle both sides with coarse salt.

It’s important not to add too much food to your frying oil at once, as this drops the temperature of the oil, and your food will come out soggy, so I recommend just frying tortillas one at a time.

Once all tortillas have been fried, reheat your ground pork over a medium heat. On each tortilla, spread a large spoonful of sour cream. Top with ground pork and peach pico. Finish with a few dollops of your grilled tomatillo salsa, and eat immediately.

SAFETY NOTES: “Never use water, flour, or sugar to put out a grease fire… and do not try to carry a flaming pot outdoors. To suffocate a fire, use baking soda, a damp towel, or a fire extinguisher specifically designed for grease fires.” - MORE ON DEEP FRYING AT HOME CAN BE READ HERE

Pistachio Pesto

Pesto is a thing of magic.

From the Italian “pestare”, or to crush, pesto starts out as 6 simple ingredients and turns into a bright, rich, savory sauce that can serve you on your culinary adventures in myriad ways.  Pesto can be used, of course, on pasta, but also as a marinade for meat, in dressings, as the base for a delicious pizza, spread on to your favorite sandwich, on top of homemade hummus, or, as I love to do when I make my Pesto Meatballs, folded into ground beef. 

Much like other sauces with minimal ingredients (Carbonara and Cacio e Pepe come to mind), the quality of each ingredient is of the utmost importance.  For this reason, pesto is best when made from fresh basil (keep an eye out at your local farmer’s market).  In North America, unfortunately this limits our pesto season to the warmer months, but making extra at the end of the summer and freezing it for year round enjoyment is always a great idea.  If you grow it yourself or have access to fresh basil year round, even better.  Just know that your pesto will taste best when the basil is at peak freshness and flavor.  And let’s not forget that the quality of your olive oil and Parmigiano-Reggiano are equally as important.  Don't skimp!  These two ingredients give the pesto it’s richness; the olive oil being the glue that carries it all, and the cheese what gives pesto it’s deep umami flavor.  Getting real-deal Parmigiano-Reggiano is a non-negotiable here.

Here’s where this recipe goes against the grain: instead of pine nuts, pistachios are used.  Not only are pine nuts wildly expensive, I've found that they are just not the end all be all when it comes to making pesto.  In the kitchen I always say, why not experiment?  I once used pistachios when making my Vegan Roasted Red Pepper Pesto, simply because I didn't have pine nuts on hand, and the result was fantastic.  Pistachios are rich and flavorful, and nothing makes them less capable of making an incredible pesto.  In fact, they make a wonderful nutty alternative, and bring a whole new dynamic to this classic sauce.  Once you have all your ingredients, it only takes 10 minutes or less to go to pesto heaven, so what are you waiting for?

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Pistachio Pesto

Renders roughly 1 cup concentrated pesto

• 2 cups loosely packed fresh basil

• 1/4 cup high quality extra virgin olive oil

• 1 large clove fresh garlic, pressed or finely diced

• 1/4 tsp sea salt (can add salt after if need be)

• 1/2 cup shelled raw pistachios (unsalted)

• 1/4 cup loosely diced pieces of pargmigiano-reggiano

• Optional: Juice of half a lemon

Unless pre-washed, wash basil and remove leaves from the large stems.  If not using a garlic press for the garlic, you can finely dice your garlic or mash it up a bit in a mortar and pestle.  Shave off chunks of parmigiano-reggiano from your larger block, loosely filling 1/4 cup.  Then combine all ingredients except sea salt in a food processor (or blender) and blend, stopping occasionally to scrape down the sides. 

Once the pesto is mostly smooth, but still retains some texture, add salt to taste.  Depending how salty your parmigiano is, you may need either more or less than 1/4 tsp of sea salt.  If you find you need more olive oil, add a little more olive oil and blend again.  Love garlic? Add a second clove.  Lemon is optional but adds a nice subtle tartness.  When it's all done, go have fun and get creative!  Your pesto will last in the fridge for at least a week, or you can freeze it for enjoyment later.  To defrost, just let pesto sit at room temperature.

Low & Slow Goat Cheese Eggs

I’m not sure what’s worse than dry scrambled eggs.

I make very few exceptions in regards to my distaste for scrambled eggs and largely because they are often overcooked, becoming rubbery chunks I simply do not find appealing. Two notable exceptions however are 1) Australian Folded Eggs, gifted to my consciousness via The Kitchn and 2) Bobby Flay’s eggs at his now closed New York restaurant, Gato. Although these two dishes are made using differing techniques, what they share is the resulting soft, custardy deliciousness that can be scrambled eggs, when cooked the right way.

Borrowing from Gato’s addition of creme fraiche, goat cheese is mixed into these eggs before they’ve started to cook, and going slow allows you to make sure the eggs come off the heat just when they’ve transformed from raw to deliciously custardy.

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Low & Slow Goat Cheese Eggs

• 4 eggs

• 1.5- 2 Tbsps Soft Goat Cheese, preferably from a log and not precrumbled

• Freshly ground black pepper

• Butter or Extra virgin olive oil

• Sea Salt

• OPTIONAL: sprinkle eggs with your favorite finishers, I like chives and aleppo pepper

Take goat cheese out to bring to room temp.

Whisk 4 eggs together with a few cranks of freshly ground pepper and about ¼ tsp of sea salt.

Over low heat - start a non stick pan with a little pat of butter, or olive oil.

Once butter has melted or oil is warm, add eggs. The pan shouldn’t be so hot that the eggs start cooking when they hit the pan. Add about 1.5-2 Tsps softened, crumbled goat cheese.

With a spatula, start gently mixing the eggs in the pan. The idea is to create folds of softly cooked egg. Continue folding in a circular manner until the eggs are gently cooked with creamy layers in between. Put into a bowl and top with fresh chives and any of your other favorite toppings.

Homemade Roasted Red Peppers

Chef Tom Colicchio in his cookbook, Think Like a Chef, writes about the importance of making ingredients.

When I came to this chapter in the cookbook I was struck by the equal simplicity and importance of this idea. When you prepare a food, through roasting, seasoning, blistering, smoking, etc, before using it in your cooking or in a final dish, you find an opportunity to build flavor in a way that you can’t when you start with all fresh or raw ingredients. As a lover of condiments, which build flavor in a dish after it’s been cooked, I equally appreciate the making of ingredients. Roasting peppers under a broiler brings out their inherent sweetness and smokiness, and there must be a million and one great things that can be done with roasted red peppers. Once you make them from scratch, you’ll probably never go back to the store bought kind, unless in a pinch of course. So go ahead and roast up a whole batch of peppers to keep on hand. Put them on sandwiches, in salads, on homemade pizza and most definitely to make my Roasted Red Pepper Pesto and Creamy Roasted Red Pepper Sauce.

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Homemade Roasted Red Peppers

• Red Bell Peppers

• Extra Virgin Olive Oil

When it comes to roasted red peppers, surely you could use the store bought kind, but roasting your own is even more delicious and doesn't take long at all. Thoroughly wash and take off any store stickers from your peppers. I like to use Red Hollands, if you can find them. These are a beautiful bright red variety of red bell pepper, but regular works just great too. Turn your oven on to the high broil setting and let it heat up.

Cut the stem off the top of your pepper and remove the inner core along with all seeds. Place peppers on a baking sheet and drizzle with a little bit of olive oil. Once oven is hot, put peppers in. You'll need to babysit them a little bit from here on out: every 5-10 minutes, poke your head in the oven and check that the skin of the pepper has bubbled and gotten slightly charred on the side facing up. Once it has, use tongs or a clean oven mitt to rotate the pepper, allowing it to char on the next side. Continue to rotate and turn both peppers until they have bubbled and slightly charred all around.  Keep in mind - this does not mean burnt! You just want spots of charred skin - not a completely burnt pepper!

Once the peppers are done roasting, take them out of the oven and immediately move the peppers to a tupperware with a lid just slightly ajar, allowing steam to accumulate inside. This allows for the pepper to cool down enough to handle, and for the skin to become more easy to peel away from the rest of the pepper. Once cooled, take the peppers out of the tupperware and remove the skin. Cut into slices and your peppers are ready. Use immediately, or cool thoroughly and place in an airtight container in the fridge.

Herb Salsa

As a chef in 2020 it’s hard not to be inspired by Samin Nosrat. Her cookbook turned Netflix Special Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat is a game changer when it comes to thinking about cooking. Her food is a celebration of the very basic concept that great food can be made using intentional combinations of simple, high quality ingredients. She wrote a recipe for Basic Herb Salsa for NYT Cooking and I was very much inspired by that, as I stared at the heap of fresh herbs I’d been ignoring in the bottom drawer of my refrigerator. I made this version with the addition of scallion, less garlic and vinegar optional. It’s tangy, vibrant and of course herbaceous. I like to think this herb salsa is the thing you can pull out of the fridge to make just about anything look impressive: spread on sandwiches, over eggs, grains or chickpeas, or serve it with warm crispy bread.

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Herb Salsa

• ¾ cup Extra virgin olive oil

• 1 bunch scallions

• 1 bunch cilantro

• 1 bunch parsley

• Lemon zest of 1 small lemon

• 1 small clove garlic, or ½ med/large clove

• Salt

• OPTIONAL: Vinegar of your choice

Finely dice 1 bunch of scallions and put in a bowl.

Finely chiffonade, or slice, cilantro and parsley and add to the same bowl.

Using a microplane or extra fine cheese grater, over the bowl zest 1 small lemon and grate fresh garlic. When you zest your lemon, make sure to only zest the yellow part of the fruit and not the white, bitter pith which is just underneath.

Pour in oil and gently fold all ingredients together. Salt to taste.

Add vinegar if you want the extra acidity, but note that vinegar will dull the color of your greens over time. Refrigerate and use within a few days over eggs, added to salad dressings, or with these Charred Sweet Potato Wedges.