The goods:

• Your fruit of choice – I love to use frozen mixed berries.
• Your sweetener of choice – I default to white granulated sugar because it’s the closest thing within arm’s reach when I’m standing at my stove.
• Orange, lemon, or lime juice.
• Optional add-ins: vanilla extract, rose water, cinnamon, nutmeg, or fresh mint (You can do some mixing and matching, but I would definitely not recommend all those things in the same batch)

The method:

• Everybody in the pool. Seriously. Dump your frozen fruit in a pot. Add a few spoonfuls of sweetener, and a couple splashes of your citrus juice.
• Whack it on the stove on relatively low heat, and just let it cook. It’ll take a while for the fruit to thaw and start breaking down, but then it will start cooking itself into a delightful sauce.
• Keep it on a simmer or at most a low boil until the fruit’s basically mush and/or the liquid coats the back of a spoon.
  • If you’re adding other stuff, do dried spices early in the simmering process (or like right as soon as everything becomes liquid). If extracts or fresh things, add towards the end (like in the last five minutes)
• That’s it! Taste your compote at least a couple times while it cooks, and if it needs more sweet or more citrus, add a bit more. If it’s been simmering for a while and it’s just not getting thick, you can add some cornstarch slurry to tighten it up – but go easy. You want a sauce, not a pudding. (Though no judgement if you want a jam or a pudding, honestly.)

And that’s it! You can enjoy this on: pancakes, crepes, waffles, scones, cake, brownies, blondies, ice cream, yogurt, fresh fruit, toast, porridge…

You know what, I think I need to go get myself some breakfast now.

Happy feasting!

As much as I wish I was awesome enough to have developed my own recipe … yeah, not so much. This is adapted from On Baking, which was one of my textbooks in my culinary program. It’s pretty solid, even if I don’t … actually follow it…

So if you want just a solid basic focaccia, this recipe is great! It’s an easy one (though much easier with a stand mixer than kneading all by hand) and easily customizable (you can swap out the rosemary for your favorite herbs or herb blends – this recipe is also fantastic with Herbes de Provence). But you’re not here for that, so let me give you the info for the jalapeno cheese version =)

Okay, here we go! (And remember, this recipe is scaled up for my house of 20-something people! Do feel free to cut it in half for a single, more reasonable loaf)

The Goods:

• 2 Tbsp active dry yeast
• 2 Tbsp sugar
• 3 cups lukewarm/warm water (I just microwave tap water for like 30 seconds)
• 2lb 4oz all-purpose flour (this usually ends up about 8 cups, if you don’t have a scale or can’t be bothered)
• 1+ Tbsp olive oil
• 1 Tbsp salt
• 2 or 3 fresh jalapenos, seeds and membranes removed, finely diced
• somewhere between 12 and 16 oz shredded cheddar (or “mexican blend,” that’s also delicious)

The Method:

• In the work bowl of your mixer (fitted with your dough hook), add your yeast, sugar, and water. Let that sit for a couple minutes to wake up the yeast. You don’t need to wait until it’s foamy.
• Chuck in your flour and start your mixer going on the lowest setting (on my Kitchenaid, that one is “stir”)
• As the flour is incorporating, drizzle in about 1T oil and add the salt.
• Knead (in the mixer) until the dough comes together and cleans the side of the bowl. If it looks like the dough isn’t picking up all the flour, drizzle in a little extra oil.
• Reserve a couple big handfuls of cheese for topping the loaves and chuck the rest into the mixer.
• Knead until the cheese is incorporated into the dough. You should have a nice smooth firm ball of dough now, with no shaggy bits. At this point I turn it out onto my counter and give it a couple kneads by hand just to form it into a ball. If you poke your dough ball, the divot should bounce back.
• Oil your (currently empty) mixing bowl, plop the dough ball back in, oil the top of your dough. (I actually usually use cooking spray for this step since it’s so much faster)
• Cover with plastic wrap or just a tea towel and leave in a warm-ish spot for about an hour or until it’s doubled in size.
• Preheat your oven to 425 F and line your baking sheets with parchment paper. (If you’ve halved this recipe, you’ll only need one. I assume you don’t have giant full-sized restaurant sheet pans in your kitchen, but I could be wrong??)
• Punch down the dough (honestly? I often skip this.), divide into two big blobs, and pat each one into a circle… or whatever shape best works for the baking sheet you’ve got. They should be flattened to no more than 1 inch high. (This would be why I skip the punching down – flattening your dough will work out enough of the air pockets anyway. Pop any large/obvious ones you see and pat the dough back down into the hole)
• Top with the rest of the cheddar and the jalapenos, and let rise for 15ish minutes.
• Bake for about 20 minutes, or until the top is golden brown and delicious and the bottom sounds hollow when you tap it.
• Rest it (this is going to be torture, I know) for at least half an hour before cutting it.

And now you have delicious cheesy bread! You can of course skip the jalapeno if you’re heat-averse, or leave the seeds and membranes if you want more heat (Or just use hotter peppers) – and feel free to reach out if you’d like to hear about my other riffs/add-ins to this recipe!

I love these because they’re surprisingly simple, using store-bought puff pastry and pesto, and yet they still have BIG flavor, and wow do they look pretty! I would absolutely have done damage to myself trying to eat the entire batch – thank goodness for plenty of hungry housemates to save me from myself.

First, here are the ingredients you’ll need:

• 1 box of puff pastry sheets, thoroughly defrosted (preferably overnight in the refigerator)
• Your favorite pesto, whether storebought or homemade. (You’ll need about 8 generous tablespoons, which is just about what this particular jar contained)
• Tomatoes! I really liked the look of these rainbow grape/cherry tomatoes when I was at the store, but you can use whatever you like.
• Parmesan, which is optional if you are dairy-free. (note that most if not all commercially made pesto contains cheese though, so if you are vegan or dairy-free, you’ll be better off making your own)

Other things you’ll need:

• parchment paper
• a bit of flour, for dusting your work surface
• a rolling pin (or, in a pinch, a can or a bottle.  I’ve definitely used a wine bottle in the past when I didn’t own a rolling pin.)

Instructions:

1. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Lightly dust your work surface with flour and lay out your puff pastry on it.  Dust the top too, to prevent your rolling pin from sticking, and just give it a few passes to even it out and get rid of the seams from the folded pastry.  I’m not particularly fussy about the dimensions or the straightness of the edges – I just want it uniformly flat.  Transfer your rolled puff pastry sheets to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

2.  While your puff pastry is hanging out on your baking sheet, cut your tomatoes.  If you’re not using grape or cherry tomatoes, you can just use nice slices of tomato (think about the thickness you’d put in a burger or sandwich). I like to give my tomatoes a bit of a squeeze to get out the juice and seeds, so they won’t make the pastry all wet. It seems like a minor thing, but it makes a load of difference!

3. Spread a thin layer of pesto on your rolled pastry sheet, leaving about a 1/2 inch border on each side. I ended up using around 4 tablespoons of pesto per sheet, in order to get full coverage.

4. Spread your tomatoes out evenly over your pesto. Then sprinkle parmesan over the top, if you’re using it.  An optional step at this point, if you want some extra-rich goodness, is to brush some egg wash over the exposed pastry border, but I skipped that part.

5. Ready to bake!  Bake your tarts in your preheated oven for 15 minutes, or until golden brown and delicious. Yum, right? Once they’re out, let them rest for at least 5 minutes before cutting. I cut mine into eight pieces per tart, but you can divide it up however you like.

For an optional brunch variation, crack an egg directly on the pastry before you put it in the oven! It will cook fully through in that time, with the barest hint of jamminess in the yolk.  If you like your yolks more runny, maybe wait 5 minutes and crack the egg on when you’ve about 10 minutes left in baking.

You can serve this alongside a light salad, if you desire, or just have it on its own.  Bon Appetit!

The Goods:

• your favorite green stuff: basil, parsley, cilantro, scallions, kale, arugula, spinach, etc
• lemon juice
• vegetable or peanut oil (olive oils can go bitter when they’re hit with blades)
• salt and pepper to taste
• optional: garlic, shallot, hots, capers, olives, other layers of flavor
• optional: nuts or seeds (for thickening and body)

The method:

Step 1: pack your blender or food processor!

So in the work bowl of my food processor, this batch was: a handful of pepitas, a bunch of cilantro, a bunch of parsley, a fistful of basil, and some arugula. If you’re using garlic/shallots/hots, add them in at this time too.  Really, just go with your gut!

Splash in some lemon juice (what’s the actual volume of “a couple glugs?” maybe 1/4ish cup?) and add a hefty pinch or so of salt and pepper.

Step 2: pulverize!

You want everything to get nice and chopped up into itty bitty pieces.  You should end up with like… a chunky paste.

Step 3: add your oil! You can either drizzle it in through a feed tube while your blades are going, or you can just dump like a cup of oil into the bowl or blender and just go for it. Yes, this is about as precise and specific as this recipe gets.

Steps 4 – ?? Adjust the consistency and flavor!

• Is your goo too thick? Add more liquid (for purposes of “liquid” I’ll accept oil, lemon juice, vinegar, or water)
• Is your goo too thin? You can thicken it up by adding some more green stuff or some more nuts or seeds.
• How does it taste? If it’s too lemony, add more oil and/or greens. If it’s not lemony enough … well, that’s an easy fix. Does it just taste kind of blah or bland? Add more salt or garlic/cheese/nutritional yeast/hot sauce/whatever

The key here is … take it to wherever you want it! Some goos I make are very runny and I use them as salad dressings. Some goos are thick enough to stand a spoon up in, and I use those for spreads. This particular goo, as you can see, I spread on some salmon before whacking the whole thing into the oven.

But ultimately, you can use your goo for whatever you like! Salad? Great. Rice? Awesome! Pasta? Yeah, rock on. Dip for crusty bread and veggies? Whoo hoo! Secret ingredient in your tuna salad? I support it!

What I really enjoy about this recipe is that it looks super fancy, but it’s really not. If you already know how to cook a steak in a frying pan, you’re honestly like most of the way there! But the bitterness of the cocoa, the smokiness of the cumin – they all play so well with the … well, the beefiness of the steak. It’s balanced, but also a riot of big bold flavors all up in your face. It’s maybe not an everyday sort of food, but I do like a nice steak as an occasional indulgence. I adapted this recipe from the website Dessert for Two. Okay, here we go!

The Goods:

Your steak of choice – for this version, I used some lovely strip sirloin.

Unsweetened Cocoa Powder (you want the baking kind, not the hot chocolate drink kind) – 2 ish Tablespoons

1 ish teaspoon granulated sugar

1ish tablespoon paprika

a few pinches of cumin for that lovely smoky flavor

a couple pinches of granulated garlic

kosher salt & ground black pepper, to taste

Oil (as much as I love olive oil, I opted for the more neutral-flavored vegetable oil here) and/or butter (the recipe called for bacon grease, which is delightful! But my dinner companion for this eats halal, so no bacon for us)

The Method:

• If you haven’t already, get your steaks on the counter to get them closer to room temp before you cook.
• Mix the dry rub ingredients together (that’s basically everything on the list other than the fat and the meat)
• Pat your steaks dry, then rub in a light coating of oil and coat with your dry rub. I generally sprinkle it over every surface and then really pat it in with my hands.
• Let that sit while you get your (preferably cast-iron pan) hot over medium-ish heat.
• (By the way, if you have extra dry rub, it’s pretty amazing sprinkled on asparagus and potatoes, I’m just saying)
• Once your pan is hot, drop in a blob of butter and some oil (butter for the flavor, oil for its higher smoke point) and let that all melt together.
• When your fat is just barely shimmery, lay in your steaks. You want to leave them long enough to get a nice sear on each side.
• ** Your cooking time will depend on the cut and thickness of your steak, so use your best judgement, and turn/flip them as often as you need to cook them evenly.
• Once your steaks are done to your desired level (for me, that’s medium-rare, so about 140 degrees.) remove them to a plate, cover them with a foil tent, and rest them for 10 minutes.
• ** Okay, medium rare is actually 145, but remember that carryover cooking will bring your steak to that temperature by the time it’s done resting.
• What to do while you’re waiting? You’ll have a pan full of lovely flavor bits still stuck on – why not deglaze that with some wine or broth and build a quick pan sauce? Or if you’ve been multitasking, here would be where you finish up your side dishes and get your plate ready. Or just pour yourself a glass of something and relax for a few.
• Once your meat is rested, slice and plate up, and enjoy!

The Goods
Cauliflower, cut into maybe 1-inch-ish chunks or just split the florets apart
Vegetable broth or bouillon [You could also use chicken stock if you prefer]
Cashews, raw [Look down through the recipe – if you haven’t got a carafe blender and you don’t need this to be vegan, go ahead and sub this out for sour cream or creme fraiche.]
Nutmeg
Fresh lemons (bottled lemon juice is fine too)
Turmeric
Salt, Pepper
Cumin
Extra Virgin Olive Oil

The Method:

First, put a handful or so (I think I used about a cup by volume?) of cashews into the carafe of your blender.  Just barely cover them with boiling water. Let that soak while you get the soup started.

Get your soup pot on the stove and heat up a couple good-sized glugs of oil on medium-ish heat.  You want enough to just coat the bottom of the pot.  Once that’s kind of shimmery, chuck in your cauliflower.

Adjust your heat and let that cauliflower go until it’s got some nice browning going on.  We’re kind of trying to approximate the caramelization you’d get from roasting the cauliflower, but I was too lazy for that extra step.  If you’re not as lazy as I am, by all means go ahead and actually roast your cauliflower in the oven!

Once you’ve got some good browning, add enough stock (or its equivalent in bouillon and water) to just cover the cauliflower.  Now’s also a good time to shake in some turmeric and cumin, and do an initial seasoning of salt and pepper.

Drop the heat to just slightly above a simmer and let that go until the cauliflower is completely soft – like, you can break it apart with a wooden spoon.

While your soup is soupifying, go ahead and blend those cashews.  Don’t bother draining the water, just blend that whole thing up.  You may actually need to add a bit more water – you’re looking for something about the consistency of sour cream. There should be no grittiness left in the blender once you’re done.  [Author’s note: add some lemon juice and salt and pepper and congratulations, you’ve got a batch of cashew cream, which is a fantastic vegan substitute for sour cream!]

Still with me?  Okay, so now would be the time to use your stick blender and puree your mushy cauliflower soup! The smoother you get it, the more velvety your soup will be.

Add your cashew puree to your soup puree and heat all that through.  Add in some nutmeg and lemon to really brighten up the flavor.  (I used both the zest and the juice, but if you haven’t got a microplane or a grater, just the juice is fine.)

And there you have it! Hopefully what you’ve got in front of you now is a perfectly smooth, rich, silky, thick soup that’s got all that lovely sweetness and earthiness from the cauliflower, and just a little smokiness from the cumin.

Feel free to add some hot sauce for a little extra kick – this would also be great with some fresh parsley or fresh dill chucked on top. Enjoy with some nice bread for dipping. Yum Yum!

Happy feasting!

The Goods:

quinoa, cooked

brussels sprouts, trimmed and roasted or sauteed until just a bit browned and cooked through

dried cranberries

toasted walnuts, rough chopped

diced gala apples

balsamic vinegar, a couple good splashes

olive oil, a good drizzle or three

salt & pepper, to taste

The Method:

Uh, mix all that stuff together.  You can also add some thinly sliced or red onion or shallot, if you want a little more punchy flavor (I love onions, but I try to do relatively low FODMAP these days for one of my housemates.)

Or swap out the balsamic vinegar for lemon juice, if you want a brighter acid (or less sweet notes).

Hate cranberries? Raisins are nice, or you can omit the dried fruit entirely.

Basically, mix up some nice produce with some lovely, protein-filled quinoa and have yourself a bowl.  Enjoy!

The goods:

Pre-made Naan flatbreads (can be found near the bakery section in most supermarkets)

Pre-made tikka masala simmer sauce (I like Patak’s but get whatever looks good to you)

Mushrooms, sliced and cooked (optional; you could also grab some cooked chicken and dice it up. Or both! Or skip this entirely!)

Shredded Mozzarella

Paneer Cheese (optional, you can find this in the cheese section in many supermarkets.  If you can’t find paneer, any sort of fresh/farmer’s cheese will do)

cucumber

plain yogurt (get a good thick one – either whole-milk/full-fat or greek would be fine)

garlic

cumin

The method:

Turn on your oven to somewhere in the 350-375 degrees Fahrenheit range.

Put the naan on a baking sheet. Spread the tikka masala sauce on the naan. Sprinkle with mozzarella. Add mushrooms and chicken, if using.  Crumble/cube the paneer and add that, if using.

Heat until cheese is melty and gorgeous!

For the yogurt sauce:

Shred or finely dice the cucumber.  If you want a less watery dip, I heartily recommend shredding the cucumber and squeezing out the excess liquid.  That cucumber water is awfully refreshing mixed into some seltzer or water, pro tip!

Add the cucumber and some amount of finely minced garlic to your desired amount of yogurt. Season with salt, pepper, and cumin to taste.  If you want a bit more zing, splash in some lemon juice.  If you want more of an allium kick, a bit of finely diced red onion or shallot won’t steer you wrong.

See? Super easy, and everyone think’s your a super fancy and imaginative chef, when all you did was tweak a standard pizza method.  Happy fusion feasting!

Y’all, I love corn on the cob.  I like kernel corn, but that’s more of an “oh cool, I can add it to a dish” and not “yay corn kernels I’m gonna eat a big bowl of ’em!”  Corn on the cob, though, is a favorite of mine.  It’s so perfect for grilling during the summer, it’s fun to eat, I mean … what more could you ask for?

Well, how about you slather it with a delicious crema and coat it in crumbled cheese?  I discovered elotes many years ago at … I dunno, one Mexican restaurant or another, and they have quickly become a thing I actively search for.  They’re typically a street food, and they’re delicious.  I won’t even pretend that my version is anywhere near authentic, but I’m fond of it, so let’s get to it!

The Goods:

• corn on the cob, shucked
• lime juice
• sour cream
• mayo
• something in the soft fresh cheese family: traditionally it would be cotija, I also often use queso blanco or queso fresco.
• chili powder, cumin, salt, pepper, garlic powder
• oil (I generally prefer EVOO but feel free to use vegetable or canola oil) [only if you’re roasting or grilling your corn]

The Method:

• Uh… cook your corn.  I favor grilling because I haven’t got the patience to boil a big honkin’ pot of water, but however you want to make your corn “Not Raw” is fine.
• Meanwhile, mix equal parts sour cream and mayo together, and add lime juice and seasonings until it tastes awesome.
• Crumble or shred your cheese.
• When the corn comes out or off the heat, you have two options:
  • Option 1: Roll your corn in first the crema and then the cheese.
  • Option 2, slightly less messy: Plop your corn on a plate and spoon the crema and cheese over it.
• Top with more chili powder/cumin, if desired.
• Grab several napkins and and chow down!

If you’re not a fan of corn on the cob, this is absolutely also great with corn kernels – then you can mix everything together into a bowl of gooey creamy deliciousness, and honestly I wouldn’t say no to that either.

I’ll be impatiently waiting for corn season to roll around again next summer!

Can I just say – I love beets! There are people in my life that definitely don’t feel the same – I’ve heard at least one person say they taste like dirt. But I dunno, y’all – they definitely have that earthy thing going on for them but I still love them. I guess the difference to me is that they taste like GOOD dirt.  My favorite form of beets is this bright citrusy beet salad.

The goods:

Beets, boiled, peeled, and cut into chunks or big slices (If you don’t want to take the necessary precautions to avoid staining everything you own red/pink, you can absolutely use golden or chioggia (candy cane) beets – they’ll still taste the same!)

Oranges, peeled and cut into chunks

Some orange juice (if you cut your oranges supreme-style, which is cutting out the membranes, you can just squeeze the membrane and pulp – otherwise, bottled is just great)

olive oil (extra virgin preferred)

salt, to taste

The method:

Uh, just mix it all together.  It gets even better if it’s allowed to sit for at least an hour for all the flavors to blend – have you had a beet that’s got a little citrus infused into it? It’s pretty magic.

If your beets aren’t as sweet, you can certainly add some honey to the “vinaigrette”, but the salt will actually bring out some of the sweetness.  Remember, salt is a flavor enhancer – you don’t want your salad to be “salty” – you want it to be balanced!

Optional add-ins:

Toasted nuts

Thinly sliced onions or radishes for some crunch and some heat

Arugula or massaged kale

Goat cheese or feta

chunks of watermelon (for color-matching AND extra sweetness!)

Happy eating! (Happy beet-ing?)