Beet Hummus

Wow. Somehow April is here. We’ve known it would come for a while now and all of a sudden it is upon us, sort of like the monsoon-type storm outside. The next couple of weeks promise to be as tempest-like as the rain beating against the window right now...filled with excitement, hecticness, new beginnings, and probably a touch of sleep deprivation, but oh, I can't wait. We're still waiting on the finalization of a couple details, but I look forward to sharing some exciting news very soon!

In the meantime, though, let's talk beets. Or rather, let's talk foods that are easy to prepare ahead of time and go grab when you're running from one place to another.

Beet hummus is one of them.

I first tasted this delicious dip at a party about a week ago. There it was on the table next to the olives and cheese, sitting quietly and yet drawing the gaze of every onlooker, like mosquitoes to a night light. I mean, look at it up there. Is that not an astounding work of nature? I will never cease to be amazed by what the earth produces. Unable to hold back any longer, I dug in and was delighted to discover that its taste was as mesmerizing as its color, which immediately landed it at the top of my next-project-in-the-kitchen list.

I am happy to say that beet hummus will now be a staple in our house. After you try it, I'm willing to bet it'll be one in yours too.

Beet Hummus

6 medium beets
1/3 cup tahini
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 medium clove garlic, pressed
3 tsp ground cumin
Juice of 2 lemons
1/4 cup water
Salt and pepper to taste

Wash beets, scrubbing them well to get rid of all dirt. Slice each beet in two, put the beets in a medium pot, cover with water, and bring pot to boil. Lower heat so that water is at a light boil and cook beets for 40 to 50 minutes until easily pierced with a fork. Rinse beets under cold water and rub the skin off.

Put beets and all other ingredients in a food processor and process away.

Now, I made this recipe up, tasting and adjusting as I went so these ingredients (and quantities) are mainly suggestions; feel free to adjust to your heart's desire!

Roasted Vegetable Medley

One of my favorite things to do in the kitchen is to open the refrigerator door, look at what's inside and come up with a meal then and there.

Usually, I base what to make on what we have in the fridge (and what needs to be used before it goes bad), but for this particular meal I based everything on one big, round, beautiful dish.

When good friends of ours renovated their kitchen last year, we were the happy recipients of some of those we-haven't-used-this-in-years-we-should-probably-get-rid-of-it dishes. On a regular Tuesday evening in November, Josh led me by the hand into the sun room and showed me what he knew would make my heart skip a beat (or two, or three): a table covered in kitchen goodies.

There was a bundt cake pan (which I had always wanted even though I have never made a bundt cake in my life, but I will...), a pizza stone (I had literally been looking at those in the store the day before), 5X7 loaf pans, various rectangular baking dishes, and one beautiful, huge, round, and very colorful quiche pan. At least I assumed it was a quiche pan, although I had never seen a quiche that big in my life.

So on this particular evening, my goal was to fill this dish with as many colorful veggies as possible.

Mission accomplished.

Then I set out to make something edible with all of them. I present you with my result: a dish I dubbed Roasted Vegetable Medley. Which really is just a fancy word for Whatever-Vegetables-You-Have-Available-In-Your-Kitchen Medley.

It may not look like the fanciest of meals, but it really is delicious (I promise!). I urge you to give it a try. You won't be disappointed and your fridge will thank you.

Roasted Vegetable Medley

I happened to have the below vegetables this evening, although this would work with any mixture of vegetables (broccoli, zucchini, green beans...the sky is the limit!). I also happened to have some crumbled blue cheese on hand, which I decided to throw in and it was delicious. If you have any sort of strong tasting cheese I urge you to toss it in. I'll bet your results will be fabulous. Have fun!

3 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, diced
5 cloves garlic, pressed
3 medium tomatoes, diced
2 teaspoons herbes de provence
1 big bunch swiss chard, chopped
1 lb mushrooms, quartered
2 medium bell peppers (or about 10 mini ones), roughly chopped
3/4 cup white wine
1/3 cup fresh parsley, chopped
1/4 cup parmesan
1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 350ºF.

In a large pot, sauté the onion in the olive oil until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the bell peppers and cook about 4 minutes. Add the garlic, mushrooms, and herbs and cook for another 3 to 4 minutes. Add the tomatoes, the white wine, and salt and pepper. Cook about 2 minutes until the tomatoes break down. Add the swiss chard and mix well so that it is coated in the tomato juices and cook, stirring often, for another 3 minutes. Stir in the parsley, and cheeses. Pour everything into a baking pan and bake for 30 minutes.

Spoon into bowls and top with freshly ground pepper. Serve hot!

Peppers Stuffed with Kale and Ground Almonds

Spring is here! Colors are popping out all over the place in breathtaking bursts like gigantic bundles of cotton candy on sticks. Pinks, yellows, whites, reds…everywhere I look trees are in bloom.

In the garden, which we were sure would be devoid of survivors after this winter, the kale is making a triumphant comeback! The leaves are growing tall and strong, like proud little green warriors reaching for the sky.

This weekend, for the first time in 2011, we cooked our very first meal from the garden. Ah...*sigh of joy*

When deciding to make these stuffed peppers, I was on a mission to come up with a recipe that was both delicious and satisfying, while being free of grains. I turned to my books for inspiration, but everything I found contained rice or couscous or corn or barley or some other grain. So I turned to my pantry and, once again, pulled out my almond meal to the rescue.

The ground almonds in this recipe act as a filler but also provide a healthy source of fat that leaves you feeling full and satisfied. I often find that when I stuff vegetables with only vegetables, even if it tastes good, the meal usually leaves me wanting more. With this one, however, I was happily rubbing my tummy in satisfaction after just one of these brightly colored peppers piled high with goodies. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

Peppers Stuffed with Kale and Ground Almonds

2 large bell peppers (red, orange, or yellow)
1 big bunch kale, chopped
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 large onion, diced
4 large cloves garlic, pressed
1/2 cup wild mushrooms, chopped
1 Tbsp herbes de provence
1 large tomato, diced
1/2 cup parmesan (plus a little extra for sprinkling on top)
1/2 cup almond meal
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400ºF.

Slice peppers in half through the stem, making sure to keep the stem attached. Take out seeds, rub a little olive oil inside and out, and sprinkle the insides with salt and pepper. Place in a baking dish cut side down and bake for 15 minutes.

Put the kale in a medium saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly (this is important or the leaves will burn), until bright green and wilted. The water still clinging to the kale's leaves from when you washed them should be enough to prevent the leaves from sticking, but sprinkle a bit more water in the pan if it dries out and the leaves start to stick. The kale should wilt within two to three minutes. Remove from heat and put in a colander to drain while you prepare the rest of the vegetables.

In a large saucepan, sauté onions in olive oil until translucent (about 5-7 minutes). Add garlic and cook another minute. Add mushrooms and herbs and cook about 4 minutes until mushrooms are soft. Add tomatoes and cook another 3-4 minutes until they break down. Add the kale and remove pan from heat. Stir in parmesan, almond meal, and salt and pepper to taste.

Stuff the peppers (they will be very stuffed). Cover pan with aluminum foil and bake 20 minutes. Uncover, sprinkle with a little extra parmesan (if desired) and bake another 5 minutes. Serve hot!

Tomato-Peanut Stew with Collards

Growing up in West Africa, peanuts were everywhere: on the side of the road overflowing from large tin tubs next to the brightly colored outfits of the women selling them; squeezed into little hand-tied plastic bags and sold at bus stops, kiosks, and street corners; mashed and fried and sold as delicious peanut rings…each mouth-watering option calling your name, enticing you to stop and buy it; which, inevitably, you did.

What I particularly remember, however, are the nights when the scent of roasted peanuts followed me from the street all the way home to my kitchen. I would walk through the door, take a whiff of the nut-scented air and immediately get excited about dinner. Whatever we were having, it involved peanut sauce!

In West Africa, peanut sauce is cooked in a multitude of ways. For special occasions, chicken or goat is used, but for the day-to-day version, the star ingredient is usually greens. Cooked in a base of onions, ginger, and tomatoes, the peanut butter elevates this dish of simple vegetables to a thick, rich, and marvelously satisfying meal.

When I lived in Kenya a couple years ago, I was lucky enough to befriend a wonderful woman from Nairobi who taught me all sorts of tricks in the kitchen. They eat a lot of greens in Kenya – mostly kale and what everyone there calls “spinach,” a term that refers to leaves much bigger and thicker than the spinach we are used to here in the U.S. – so one of the first things I saw her do was wash and chop leaves. Watching her work, I was reminded of the images I’d seen in college classes of workers in Cuba rolling big fat cigars. She would take eight or ten leaves, pile them one on top of the other, and roll them together as tightly as possible. Then, with the swiftness of a trained chef, she would take a knife and turn the cigar into a snake of winding green strips in a matter of seconds. It was mesmerizing.

Ever since then, I have rolled my greens into a Cuban cigar before slicing them. I’m afraid I’m still not as skilled as her, but I love that to this day I cannot slice greens without remembering our long afternoons spent in the kitchen together.

So although this is not a Kenyan dish, when I sit down at the table to eat, every bite carries with it a hint of Kenya sprinkled among the overwhelming flavors of my childhood.

Tomato-Peanut Stew with Collards

Any greens will work with this stew, so feel free to replace the collards with spinach, kale, mustard greens, or whatever else strikes your fancy!

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion
1 inch ginger, diced finely
1 green chili, diced finely (I kept the seeds, but remove them if you want the stew to be less spicy)
3 large garlic cloves, pressed
2 15oz cans diced tomatoes
1.5 cups water
1 bunch collard greens, chopped
salt to taste
2 tablespoons peanut butter

In a large pot, sauté the onion in the olive oil until translucent (about five minutes). Add the ginger, chili, and garlic and cook another two minutes. Add the tomatoes and water and bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer about 10 minutes. Salt to taste. Add collards and cook another five minutes. Stir in peanut butter until well dissolved and simmer another 10 minutes. Adjust seasoning and serve piping hot!

Kale and Sun-Dried Tomato Tart with Almond Herb Crust

Hi there. It’s been pretty silent in here. In my other world, the one outside this cozy corner of the internet, it’s been a time of inward reflection, giant leaps, and watching how early the sun rises every morning, that exact moment where the sky turns from black to dark grey, the one that beckons me outside to move this body of mine and greet the day.

For me, the end of winter always brings with it a time of retreating into myself, but like the soft clouds of white and pink dogwoods blossoming all over town, I am feeling a growing urge to pop back into the world. So here I am.

Hello world!

It's good to be back.

I think a picnic is in order, don’t you? Let’s lay out a spicy colored blanket under the soft white halo of a cherry tree in bloom and have a slice of kale and sun-dried tomato tart.


Kale and Sun-Dried Tomato Tart with Almond Herb Crust, adapted from The Gluten-Free Almond Flour Cookbook

This crust is the easiest crust I’ve ever made. There’s no rolling out of finicky gluten-free dough, no refrigeration, and, best of all, no grains or starch. You just throw together some almond flour, herbs, salt, water, and grapeseed oil and press it all down into a 9-inch pie pan and, ta-dah! You’re done. Plus, it’s delicious.

Crust:

1 1/2 cups blanched almond flour
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon herbes de provence
1/4 cup grapeseed oil
1 tablespoon water

Preheat oven to 350ºF.

Mix the almond flour, sea salt, and herbes de provence in a medium bowl. In a small bowl whisk together the oil and water. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry until well combined (I find a fork works best for this). Press the dough into a 9-inch pie pan.

Bake for 20 minutes, until golden. Let cool before filling.

Filling:

1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, diced
4 garlic cloves, pressed
1 cup sun-dried tomatoes (not packed in oil), soaked and chopped
1 tsp dried oregano
1 bunch kale, finely chopped
3 eggs
1/2 cup parmesan
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 375ºF.

Put the sun-dried tomatoes in a medium bowl and cover with boiling water. Let sit 7-10 minutes.

Sauté onion in olive oil until translucent, about five minutes. Add tomatoes, garlic, and oregano and cook for another five minutes. Add kale and cook for another 2-3 minutes, stirring constantly, until kale is bright green. Remove from heat.

In a large bowl, beat the eggs and stir in the parmesan. Add the kale-tomato mixture and salt and pepper to taste. Pour mixture in pre-baked crust and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until the pie is golden and the eggs are set.

Serve with a fresh green salad. Enjoy!

Coconut Fruit Pancakes with Berry Reduction Sauce

Who says no flour means no pancakes? I present you flourless pancakes! Grain-free and delicious to boot.

I stumbled upon a blog a couple weeks ago that quickly rose to the top of my favorite blogs list. Green Kitchen Stories is a wonderful mixture of simple healthy food, delicious pictures, and fun stories about life and travel from David, Luise, and Elsa. If you haven't checked it out yet, it's worth a visit!

It was on Green Kitchen Stories that I first saw a recipe for flourless pancakes and I knew instantly that I just had to try it. The recipe called for unsweetened coconut, which acted as the "flour" giving substance to the liquid fruit and eggs. It also called for coconut oil, which I had never used but had been curious about for some time. I couldn't wait to try my own version.

On Saturday morning, I surveyed the fruit in my kitchen: two bananas, two pears, lots of clementines, and a bag of frozen mixed berries. Wanting to use some of everything, I decided on banana-pear pancakes with a berry-orange reduction sauce.

Oh, it was heavenly. So light and fruity; it was tremendously satisfying without the heaviness of usual pancakes. And the best part is that the house smelled like coconuts for hours after we were done eating. Just another trip to the land of swaying palm trees...

Coconut Fruit Pancakes with Berry Reduction Sauce

The Sauce

Start the sauce first so that it can simmer and reduce while the pancakes are cooking.

3 cups mixed berries
1 cup freshly squeezed orange juice (about 3 clementines)
1/4 cup honey
Sprinkle of cinnamon

Put all ingredients in a medium saucepan. Bring to boil, turn heat to low, and simmer about 30 minutes until thick and syrupy.

The Pancakes

2 bananas, sliced
2 pears (small to medium), finely chopped
100g/3.5 oz unsweetened coconut
2 tsp cinnamon
5 eggs
Coconut oil

In a large bowl, mix together the coconut and cinnamon until well blended. In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs. Add the bananas and pears to the egg mixture and mash everything up with a potato masher. Add the liquid ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until well blended.

Heat some coconut oil in a frying pan. When hot, spoon the mixture into the coconut oil using approximately 1/4 cup batter per pancake. When bubbles start appearing and popping on the top of the pancake, flip and cook for a minute on the other side. Serve hot with spoonfuls of berry sauce!

Serves 4.

Roasted Carrots and Beets à la Moroccan

Does it seem like I've been posting Moroccan and other faraway flavors a lot lately? Why yes, it sure does. And I'll tell you why: because it's winter and winter demands traveling to hot places where the sun blazes and the markets are bustling. And when you can't afford to constantly be hopping over to Morocco or Tunisia or Cuba (oh, how my heart longs to go there), you do the next best thing and you travel there on your senses. The colors, the smells, the flavors...you make all of these come straight to you and land right on that plate that you're setting on the small table by the kitchen window. And just like that, although it may be snowing outside that window, it's suddenly hot and sunny where you are. That's what happens when you cook.

It's magic.

Just like the flavors in this dish. The prunes and honey, like the sweet scent of honeysuckle on a hot desert night, bring a lightness to the depth of the spices. The chilies offer a touch of heat, but only every now and then, when your lips occasionally brush their skin. The beets and carrots throw in a satisfying earthiness, just enough to bring you back down from your reverie; or maybe, on the contrary, to plant your feet firmly on that desert sand.

Either way, wherever the spices may lead you, it's a trip worth taking.

Roasted carrots and beets, adapted from The Food of Morocco

1/4 cup olive oil
2 large onions, each cut into 6
6 cloves garlic, unpeeled and crushed
2 beets, peeled and chopped into bite-size pieces
1 lb carrots, peeled and sliced into bite-size pieces
1.5 teaspoons ras el hanout (recipe follows)
2 red or green chilies, seeded and finely diced
1.5 cups vegetable stock
1 cup pitted prunes
1 tablespoon honey

Preheat oven to 400ºF.

Put the onions, garlic, and beets in a large baking dish and toss with the olive oil. Bake for 15 minutes. Add the carrots, ras el hanout, and chilies. Season and toss well. Bake for another 30 minutes. Stir in the vegetable stock, prunes and honey and return to the oven for another 30 minutes.

Delicious (and beautiful!) served with a side of sautéed greens.

Ras El Hanout

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
2 teaspoons ground allspice
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons ground ginger
2 teaspoons ground turmeric
2 teaspoons ground black pepper
2 teaspoons ground cardamom
3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
3 teaspoons ground coriander
2 nutmegs, freshly grated (or 6 teaspoons ground nutmeg)

Mix all spices in a jar. Seal and store in a cool dark place.

Makes 60g/2 1/4 oz.

Pesto in January

Last weekend I sat on the living room floor with piles of fresh basil in front of me, pinching leaves off of bright green stems in the warm afternoon light and listening to Jimmy Buffet sing about white sand and piña coladas. Lost in the smell of summer and images of the Caribbean, I felt very far from January. A brief but delicious escape from winter.

I’ve never made pesto in January, obviously. Usually, by this time of year, I’m digging in the far corners of my freezer looking for any remnants of the pesto I made and froze in the summer. I mostly come out of the icy depths cold and disappointed. I love pesto; it never lasts as long as I want it to, no matter how much I freeze.

But this past weekend, Josh stumbled upon a super sale at the grocery store where they were selling huge boxes of fresh organic basil for under two dollars. (Two dollars!) We couldn’t resist. We bought three boxes.

And so, for the first time ever, I made pesto in January.

Pesto, slightly adapted from The Moosewood Cookbook (the original edition)

This recipe reminds me of my mom in summer, of sitting at the kitchen table with mountains of freshly-picked basil from the garden, and of spending hours making bright green pesto. I remember watching my fingers slowly turn black as we pinched the leaves off, talking the afternoon away. Sitting there, I couldn't help but imagine the generations of women before us that spent their days working together in the kitchen, sharing stories and laughing as they prepared food that would serve them for the year to come. I remember feeling all warm and tingly inside at the thought of being connected to such generations past, like I was sharing a special timeless secret.

3 cups packed fresh basil (mine were packed and overflowing)
1 cup lightly packed parsley
3 large cloves garlic (I like my pesto garlicky; you may want to start with two cloves and then taste)
1/2 cup pine nuts and walnuts mixed
3/4 cup freshly grated parmesan
1/2 cup olive oil
3 tbsp melted butter
salt to taste

Put all ingredients in a food processor and blend until smooth. Taste and adjust seasoning. I love this recipe because it tastes so fresh, like a burst of herbs on your tongue. If you would like your recipe to taste a little less herby, just add more olive oil/parmesan/butter. There's no right way to do this, so have fun and experiment!

This makes a lot of pesto. The best way to store it is to fill empty ice cube trays with it as soon as it's ready and put it in the freezer before it oxidizes. Once the cubes are frozen, pop them out of the trays and store them in zip lock bags in the freezer. Now you have ready-made individual servings whenever you want!

Black Eyed Peas and Collard Greens for a Healthy and Prosperous New Year

 

The New Year is here. Full of promise and expectation!

Here in the South the saying goes that to ensure a year of luck and prosperity, one must eat black-eyed peas and collard greens on New Year’s Day.

Apparently, the greens stand for money and the peas stand for luck and prosperity. I don’t know much about this tradition, but I do know that it’s been around since the time of the Civil War in the U.S., and much longer than that in other cultures. I also know that it is still alive and well today because when I went to buy black-eyed peas at the grocery store, the only shelves that were completely empty were the ones with signs advertising canned black-eyed peas and dried black-eyed peas. Luckily, I was able to snatch some of the few that were left on a nearby shelf not advertising them.

So in good Southern tradition (and in an attempt not to tempt fate), Josh and I decided to make the traditional meal on New Year’s Day. I couldn’t find any steadfast rule about how the peas and greens ought to be cooked, and since I had just made a trip to my favorite Indian store to replenish my spices and on impulse had bought a new jar of curry paste that I was

curious to try, I decided to make a curry sauce and to serve it over quinoa.

It turned out wonderfully. Richness of coconut milk, balanced by the slight bitterness of greens, the sweetness of tomatoes, and the earthiness of black eyed peas. The curry was mild and red with only a slight kick, bringing the flavors together beautifully.

We sat by candlelight and ate our first dinner of the New Year. I had a feeling deep in my belly that 2011 was going to be a good one.

Black Eyed Peas and Collard Greens Curry over Quinoa

1 cup dry quinoa
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
5 cloves garlic, pressed
1 inch fresh ginger, minced
1 can coconut milk
3-4 tablespoons mild curry paste
1 15oz can diced tomatoes
1 big bunch collard greens, chopped
1.5 cups cooked black eyed peas
salt to taste

Cook quinoa according to package instructions. Once cooked, let it sit in covered pan until the sauce is ready.

While the quinoa is cooking, sauté the onion and ginger in the olive oil over medium heat for 5 minutes, or until onion becomes translucent. Add the garlic and sauté one more minute. Add the coconut milk, and curry paste and bring to a light boil, stirring until the paste is completely dissolved. Salt to taste. Add the tomatoes and simmer for five minutes. Add the collard greens and black eyed peas and continue simmering for another 10 minutes. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary. Serve piping hot over a bed of quinoa.

Happy New Year!

Green Green Noodle Soup

Holiday sweets are everywhere. On the filing cabinet in the hallway of your office, on the coffee table of friends, in your kitchen waiting to be wrapped up and handed out to family and colleagues. It’s the season of giving, after all.

I love this season.

However, among all the sugary kindness, my body craves vegetable goodness. Which is exactly what this soup is.

I made this soup for the first time when the weather had just started turning cold. On that night, one of my best friends came over for dinner. We hadn’t seen each other in a little while and despite the exhaustion of a long day’s work, we were both giddy with excitement about spending an evening together. We stood in the kitchen talking, laughing, and sipping wine while I diced zucchinis and washed spinach.

Soon enough, our stomachs started growling and we became impatient to eat. Luckily, this soup is super quick (in addition to being really easy). And despite all that green which looks too healthy to be "good," this soup definitely falls in the comfort food category. The mix of pasta, pesto, and parmesan topped with a spinach-garlic-zucchini purée just hits that perfect sweet spot on a cold winter night.

Within minutes, we were ladling up huge spoonfuls and bringing our steaming green bowls into the living room to sit by the fire, eat, and talk the night away in that cozy way special to old friends.

Green Green Noodle Soup, adapted from The New Enchanted Broccoli Forest by Mollie Katzen

2 tablespoons olive oil
2 medium onions, diced
1.5 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon dried oregano
8 medium cloves garlic
2 medium zucchinis, thinly cubed
1 lb spinach
5 cups water
freshly ground black pepper
8 tablespoons pesto
parmesan for sprinkling
1 package gluten-free noodles (my favorite for this recipe are these)

Cook noodles as directed on package.

While noodles are cooking, sauté onions, salt, thyme and oregano on medium heat until onions are translucent. Add garlic, zucchini, and spinach. Continue cooking for another five to eight minutes until zucchini is tender and spinach is wilted. Add water and black pepper to taste (add more salt if necessary), and cook for another five minutes. Purée soup in a blender in two batches (or purée directly in pot with an immersion blender).

Divide noodles among the bowls, add pesto (about 1 tablespoon per serving), ladle soup over everything and top with parmesan. Eat immediately!

Chana Masala

Like I've been saying, it's cold here. Really cold. Like, ridiculously cold. I've decided I'm allowed to complain about it until true winter arrives, because technically it's not winter until December 21st. So these temperatures are entirely unacceptable until then.

So, as I was saying, in order to survive these ridiculous temperatures I need to cook very hot, very spicy things. Things that make me feel like I'm in some faraway part of the world where temperatures are more civilized and hotter. Like India, for example.

 A couple days ago, I ventured across the street from my office building to the natural food store that has a delicious hot buffet to check out what lunch options could hopefully heat me up. They had a couple soups (most containing wheat, which thankfully they write down) that I unceremoniously dismissed, and then I saw it.

Right there, in the middle of all the choices, was a fresh pot of Chana Masala. The chickpeas looked so hot and inviting in their obviously spicy and still-simmering dark sauce that I immediately filled up a big cup of it and brought it back to my desk.

Once back in the relative warmth of my office, I shrugged off my coat, sat down, and wrapped my hands around the cup, letting the heat seep through to my frigid palms. Then I dug in. WOWZER. Talk about SPICY. Within a couple bites, I was peeling off layers of clothes and blowing my nose. I had to take breaks in order to make it through the whole cup. And by the end, every inch of my body was warm.

It was everything I had hoped for.

So, of course, I decided I needed to replicate it when I got home. Which I did. The result was a comforting bowl of kick-in-the-pants spiciness. I hope it warms your entire being up as much as it did me!

Chana Masala, adapted from The Food of India

WARNING: This recipe is spicy. Josh literally had sweat rolling down his face as he ate it. We love spicy, so it was a big hit here, but if you would like to tone it down a bit, just omit the green chili and cut down on the chili powder. Although, I recommend it as is. Chana Masala, after all, is supposed to make you sweat a bit.

3 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, pressed
2 inch piece of ginger, grated or finely chopped
1 green chili, finely diced (I only had jalapeno, so I used that instead)
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons ground coriander
1 teaspoon chili powder
2 tablespoons garam masala
1/2 cup plain yogurt
1 15 oz can diced tomatoes
4 cups water
4 cups cooked chickpeas, or two 15oz cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1/2 lime
2 teaspoons salt
cilantro leaves, roughly chopped

Sauté the onion, garlic, ginger, and chili in the oil until transparent and well-cooked (about 5-8 minutes). Add the spices and cook another two minutes. Add the yogurt and stir another minute. Add the tomatoes and cook another minute or two. Add the water, chickpeas, juice of 1/2 lime, plus the lime, and bring to a boil. Turn heat to low, add salt and mix in well. Partially cover the pan and simmer for 30 minutes. Remove lime and simmer for another 30 minutes, until liquid has reduced some and the sauce is thicker.

Serve piping hot over basmati rice and garnish with cilantro. Eat and be warmed!

Serves four.

Spicy Black Bean Soup

It has been SO cold lately, it’s not even funny. It was 18°F at 7am yesterday morning. 18°F!! In North Carolina! In early December! It’s pure craziness. Us poor southerners are not used to these kinds of temperatures so early on and we spend our days shivering and unable to get warm no matter how many layers we pile on. Or maybe that’s just me. Either way, this weather makes me want to spend my time (all of it) with my feet inches from a fire, or deep under the covers with a good book.

And it makes me want to make hot, hot things in the kitchen. Like spicy black bean soup.

I got home last night and immediately turned to the cupboards and fridge in search of something that would warm me inside and out. I wanted comfort and I wanted heat. I reached for black beans, a red pepper, onions, garlic, and lots of spices. And I set to work.

The result was a make-you-sweat (only a little, though) sPiiiCy black bean soup. It did the trick - made me warm all over. Josh even decided to go for a walk outside after a bowl. It didn't quite have that effect on me, but pretty close.

If you're looking for something to heat your soul after those frigid temperatures outside, I suggest a bowl of this soup!

Spicy Black Bean Soup

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, pressed
1 red pepper, diced finely
1 teaspoon coriander
2 teaspoons cumin
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon chili powder
2 15oz cans black beans, drained and rinsed
2.5 cups vegetable stock
juice of 1 lime
Salt to taste
0.5 cup of plain yogurt (optional)

Sauté the onion and pepper in olive oil on medium heat until the onion becomes translucent (about 4-5 minutes). Add the garlic and sauté one more minute. Add the spices and cook, stirring constantly, one more minute to bring out their flavors. Add the beans and stock, bring to boil, then lower heat and simmer ten minutes.

Blend soup in a blender (or in pot with an immersion blender). Return to pot, add lime juice, salt to taste, yogurt (if desired) and reheat. Serve hot, hot, hot!

Makes 3 servings.

Bok Choy and Shiitake Mushroom Sauté with Sprouts and Peanuts

I have a new love. Once you check out the cookbook Clean Food, I'm guessing you will to.

I have a lot of health cookbooks that concentrate on whole foods and healthy meals, but this one is different. It still does all of that, but it also incorporates a truly holistic approach to health. One that is about balance and not just food. As her website states, Terry Walters (the author) "is all about good health - body, mind, and soul." Ah, happy words.

Plus, her recipes are absolutely delicious. What more could you ask for?

I have been flipping through the cookbook every chance I get - it's on my nightstand at night, on the couch with me in the morning while I drink my coffee, and in my bag when I leave for work so that I can read it on my lunch break. I have been wanting to make almost every recipe I read. Immediately. Unfortunately, I can't drop everything and spend my days in the kitchen (no matter how hard I wish I could), but I can spend my evenings there.

Last night I made a stir-fry with bok choy and shiitake mushrooms.

Shiitake mushrooms have been a staple of mine for some time. I absolutely love their taste and versatility, not to mention their amazing health benefits, so they end up in at least one or two meals a week.

Bok choy, on the other hand, is not usually a vegetable that I buy. It's not that I don't like it, but habit usually has me reaching for kale or mustard greens or swiss chard when it comes to my regular leafy greens. After the meal last night, however, bok choy is sure to become a much more frequent visitor to the kitchen. It's absolutely delicious (with surprisingly tender sweet leaves)!

This recipe also includes onion, ginger, garlic, and clover sprouts. Talk about health in a bowl. And did I mention that it's delicious?

Bok Choy and Shiitake Mushroom Sauté with Sprouts and Peanuts, adapted from Clean Food by Terry Walters

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
4 garlic cloves, pressed
1 tablespoon (about one inch) grated fresh ginger
1 medium onion, chopped
1/2 pound shiitake mushrooms, sliced
3 tablespoons gluten-free tamari
4 tablespoons gluten-free Thai peanut sauce
2 heads bok choy, chopped
4 oz package of clover sprouts
1 cup dry-roasted peanuts

In a large skillet, sauté the onion, ginger, and garlic in the olive oil until onions are translucent (about 5 minutes). Add the mushroom, half the tamari and peanut sauce and cook for 5 minutes until mushrooms are caramelized. Add one tablespoon of water at a time to deglaze pan as needed. Add remaining tamari and peanut sauce and continue sautéing the mushrooms another 3-4 minutes.

Stir in bok choy and mix with other vegetables until well blended. Cover pot and steam for one minute. Uncover, fold in sprouts and cook everything for one more minute. Stir in peanuts and serve hot.

Makes three servings.

Gluten-Free Creamed Onions

Certain smells trail memories in their wake. Strong memories. Wonderful memories. A scent with such a world attached to it has the power to make you travel instantly, to bring you back to that first kiss under the weeping willow, the scent of freshly fallen rain still clinging to its green leaves. It has the ability to instantly whisk you back to afternoons spent with your grandfather, laughing and talking as you watched his powerful but gentle weathered hands break away the shells of pistachio nuts that he handed to you to pop in your mouth, one salty bite after another. To this day, pistachios still make me think of Switzerland and my grand-papa.

One of the most powerful scents in the world for me, the one that carries the largest suitcase of memories with it, that instantly sucks me back to my childhood, is the smell of onions slowly sizzling in butter or olive oil. For a moment, I am a little girl again, hungrily inhaling the air in my mother's kitchen and asking what's for dinner. That single smell bottles up all the comfort and security of home.

And never is it more powerful than at Thanksgiving.

Every year, for as long as I can remember, my mother made creamed onions for Thanksgiving. It was always my favorite dish.

I loved the way the kitchen smelled as the onions slowly crackled and hissed in the butter, eventually allowing it to turn them to a soft caramelized gold.

I would always steal one, fascinated at how easily I could squeeze the little round bulb out of its outer layer, straight into my mouth. I would then savor the caramelized skin last, perfect in its sweet saltiness. Yes, I love onions. Unabashedly.

And so, this Thanksgiving, I am sharing one of my all-time favorite holiday dishes with you. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

I will say, however, that although this is a simple dish, it's one you definitely have to work for. Pealing those dozens upon dozens of tiny onions is not a task you want to do alone. Believe me, I found out the hard way. I made it this weekend to bring to work for a Thanksgiving lunch on Monday, and spent an hour Sunday afternoon sitting on my kitchen floor peeling onions. My hands still smelled of onions when I woke up the next morning.

This is a true Thanksgiving meal - one that is supposed to be prepared in a kitchen full of family and friends, all laughing, talking, and working together.

All, in turn, creating a day, and memories, worthy of thanks.

Gluten-Free Creamed Onions

2 10oz bags of pearl onions (any color will do - in this recipe I used one bag of yellow and one bag of red)
4 tablespoons butter
1.5 tablespoons cornstarch
2 cups milk
200g (about 2 cups) grated cheddar
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 375°F.

Peel the onions, but leave them whole. Sauté in 2 tablespoons butter on low heat until soft and golden.

In the meantime, melt the remaining two tablespoons butter in a medium sized saucepan. Whisk in the cornstarch until well blended. Slowly pour in the milk a little at a time, whisking constantly so that the sauce thickens. Once all the milk has been incorporated and the sauce has thickened, stir in the cheese until well blended. Add the nutmeg. Salt and pepper to taste.

Put the onions in an ovenproof container (I used a square 8X8 dish) and cover with the sauce. Bake for 30 minutes.

Serve hot!

Pumkin Mushroom Sage Sauce over Pasta

There is a passage in Barbara Kingsolver’s “Animal, Vegetable, Miracle” that describes the feelings one starts developing towards certain vegetables by the end of the season. I think this specific passage is about asparagus – those beautiful, sensual, green stalks that start jutting out from the dark earth in April. We await their arrival with impatience, and we know that, as soon as they arrive, we need to eat them. Then and there. If you wait too long, they lose that fresh only-in-season unmistakable taste of true asparagus. So you gobble them up. You throw them in everything imaginable, from salads to pizza to pasta to bread…until, by the end of the season, you can’t imagine ever eating another stalk. Which, of course, is the whole point of seasons, isn’t it? Because just when you think you can’t take it anymore, the earth stops giving you asparagus and starts tossing baskets full of tomatoes and zucchini at you. And the whole process starts over again.

In fall, my asparagus is the pumpkin. Those hard, round, bright orange fruits that bring to mind fall leaves, holidays, and magic carriages (yes, Cinderella was my favorite book when I was a child. My mother says she must have read it to me at least a thousand times. I think she may be kidding about that number…but I’m not sure).

And so this fall, I am warning you, you will get very sick of pumpkins. It’s starting; the recipes are piling up in my mind and I can feel them just about to reach the breaking point. They will soon start pouring out and showering you with pumpkin everythings…

…starting with a creamy pumpkin-mushroom-sage sauce tossed with pasta. Talk about comfort in a bowl. You add a glass of red wine and a crackling fireplace, and I promise you’ll feel like you’ve died and gone straight to cozy heaven.

This recipe however – let me be completely honest here – was my pre-attempt at delving into true pumpkin cooking. I have two very real, very beautiful pumpkins sitting on my kitchen floor waiting for me to take a knife to them.

But, no matter how excited I get at the thought of carving my first pumpkin of the season, there is also something a little daunting about the task. Or a lot daunting. So, at 8pm on a weeknight, when I got home and got ready to start dinner, I decided carving pumpkins was really more of a weekend task. This recipe, therefore, was made with good old canned pumpkin. It’s still 100% pumpkin, but I think we can all agree it never tastes quite as good as the in-season fresh kind. So, if you have fresh pumpkin on hand, by all means, use it here. Your taste buds will do an extra little dance.

This sauce gives you a small taste of what the season has in store. Let’s call it an opening act, or an amuse-gueule, to what the real fruit of fall will soon bring to the table.

Pumpkin Mushroom Sage Sauce over Pasta

This sauce is super simple and quick to make. It’s perfect for a busy weeknight or anytime you’re in the mood for some comfort food. And your vitamin A will be through the roof!

1 package gluten-free spaghetti or linguini
10 cloves garlic, pressed
20 sage leaves, chopped
2.5 tbsps butter
10 shiitake mushrooms, sliced (you can use any type of mushroom you like, but shiitakes are my favorite for taste and health benefits)
1 15 oz can 100% pure pumpkin
1.5 to 2 cups vegetable stock (depending on how thick you want the sauce)
3 oz cream cheese
Salt and pepper to taste
Parmesan to serve with (optional)

Cook the pasta following the directions on the package.

While the pasta is cooking, melt the 0.5 tbsp butter in a heavy based frying pan and throw in the mushrooms. Cook, stirring frequently, over medium high heat until slightly brown and cooked through (about 5-7 minutes). Set aside.

In a large pot, sauté the garlic in the remaining butter for a minute (do not let brown). Stir in the sage leaves and cook one more minute. Add the canned pumpkin and the stock. Stir everything well, bring to boil, then simmer for about 10 minutes. Add the mushrooms and cream cheese and stir well until the cheese is melted and everything is well mixed. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Serve immediately over pasta. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese and freshly cracked black pepper.

Enjoy cozily!

Serves 4

Roasted Broccoli with Carrot Sauce

 

Things have been crazy around here lately. Good crazy – the kind of crazy that involves lots of salsa classes and late-night dancing, pet-sitting my parents’ two big beautiful black dogs that I adore (but that are quite a handful!), learning new things like pole dancing (so fun!) – but crazy nevertheless. All this running around has left me grasping for a way to come up with quick meals, while still maintaining a balanced diet and not skimping on cooking (at least not completely). I’ve had my good ole’ staples when I’m on the run – hummus with veggies, dry roasted almonds, fresh crunchy apples, etc. – but tonight I was craving something more. I wanted colors on my plate. I wanted something new, something that would involve creativity, but that wouldn’t take all night.

So after getting back from my salsa class, I dropped my bags and went straight to the fridge. I spent a couple minutes eyeing the insides and weighing my options. I had a couple heads of broccoli, which I took out. That would take care of my vitamin C. I went back looking for something that would make a pretty contrast to the green of broccoli and found a bag of organic carrots (hello vitamin A!). I found the idea of simply steaming or baking broccoli and carrots boring, but I loved the idea of baking the broccoli and then drizzling a bright orange liquid on top of the crispy green stalks. I’d never made carrot sauce (I’d never even heard of such a thing), but I liked the concept and it couldn’t be that hard, right? Now I was excited!

So I got to work peeling and chopping.

Let me stop for a second here to share how oddly calming I find the simple act of chopping. I don't know if any of you feel the same, but when I am at the counter-top, vegetable in one hand and knife in the other, all of my senses get wound up in the moment, my eyes concentrating on the bright orange of the thin slices, my ears taking in the rhythmic sound of the knife against the cutting board – thud, thud, thud – so soothing…I often find myself slipping into a meditative state. A welcome place at the end of long hectic days...

And then, just like that, I am awakened out of my zone - the olive oil is hot, the onions get thrown in, where's that garlic press? - and I'm off, throwing everything together, listening to the sizzling of the vegetables, inhaling the smells that quickly surround me.

Before I know it, there it is: carrot sauce.

I try it. It's smooth, sweet...but it's missing a little something. I throw in a dash of cayenne. Ah, there we go. Now it's got a kick.

I peek into the oven and steal a stalk of slightly crispy broccoli. It's ready.

And so, after a long day of work and dancing, I finally sit down with a hot steaming bowl of bright fresh colors. I take a bite - garlicky, a little crunchy, and smoothly sweet. Perfect.

Sighing contentedly, I relax into the night.

Roasted Broccoli with Carrot Sauce

Roasted Broccoli

2 heads broccoli
6 cloves garlic, pressed
2-3 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon herbes de provence
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 425ºF.

Cut the broccoli into bite size pieces (don't discard the stalk - it's full of extra calcium and iron! Just peel off the tough outer layer and slice the stalk up). In an oven-proof dish, mix the broccoli with the garlic, olive oil, herbs, salt and pepper. Toss everything well, massaging the oil and garlic into the broccoli with your hands. Once everything is mixed, put the dish in the oven. Bake for 20-30 minutes turning every 5-10 minutes. If the broccoli is getting too crispy toward the end, turn the oven temperature down a bit.

Carrot Sauce

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large onion, diced
8 cloves garlic, pressed
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
10 medium carrots, peeled and sliced
3.5 cups water
1.5 cubes vegetable bouillon
dash of cayenne pepper (optional)

Sauté onions and garlic in olive oil until onions are translucent. Add cumin and coriander and sauté one more minute. Add carrots and cook for one minute stirring frequently to mix everything up. Add water and bring to boil. Once water is boiling, turn down to a simmer and add vegetable bouillon. Stir well to dissolve the bouillon. Cook everything on low for about 20 minutes, or until carrots are very tender. Once carrots are cooked, blend in batches and return to pot. Reheat and add cayenne pepper to taste.

Spoon carrot sauce over roasted broccoli and enjoy!!

Mulled Cider and A Fall Party

On Friday we threw fall a party. It’s the least we could do, really. When I think of all the gifts fall brings us every year – breathtaking scenery, cool temperatures, crisp blue skies…it even manages to do away with those pesky mosquitoes! – honoring it with some sort of celebration seemed like a small but necessary gesture.

So we went out and gathered the ingredients that the season made readily available. We concentrated mainly on apples and asked friends to bring whatever stroke their fancy.

Someone brought a delicious curried sweet potato dip, while someone else brought a mouth-watering pumpkin cheesecake.

I made baked goat cheese with honey and apples, a combination lusciously tart and sweet at the same time.

Once baked, the apples become soft and just a little brown, melting into the warm cheese and creating a perfect silky bite with just the right amount of tang.

We dug in without holding back.

But the pièce de résistance was the mulled cider. I had it cooking on the stovetop when people started arriving, infusing the house with the scent of cinnamon and cloves. Pulled like magnets toward the spices, everyone walked straight to the kitchen, sniffing the air and inhaling deeply, nose above the pot and eyes closed in sensory pleasure.

I made three huge pots of it throughout the night. We kept taking breaks from the singing and music by the fire in the backyard to come back in and refill cups with the warming fall drink, relaxing more into the coziness of the evening with every sip.

And so, on this second Friday in October, we officially welcomed fall with steaming mugs of cider, friends, music, a bonfire, and belly laughs that ricocheted deep into the crisp night air.


Hot Mulled Cider, slightly adapted from Williams-Sonoma's Holiday Entertaining

This recipe makes 6 mugs full once you add the liquor. The original recipe calls for brandy, but we used rum and/or whiskey. My favorite is rum with a splash of whiskey - I don't usually like whiskey, but in this drink it gives it a nice little kick. I highly recommend it!

The recipe is also delicious with no alcohol, but it will make less.

4 cups (32 fl oz/1 L) apple cider
4 teaspoons honey or brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
8 cloves
8 cinnamon sticks
1/2 an apple, thinly sliced
rum, brandy, whiskey...your choice!

Select 6 mugs. In a saucepan over medium heat, combine the cider, honey, allspice, nutmeg, cloves, and 2 of the cinnamon sticks. Bring to just below a simmer and reduce the heat to low. Cook for about 20 minutes.

Pour desired amount of liquor in a mug. (Start slow if you're not sure how much you like - you can always add more!) Divide the hot cider mixture evenly among the mugs, pouring it through a fine-mesh sieve. Garnish each serving with a cinnamon stick, a sprinkle of your favorite spice, and 1 or 2 apple slices. Serve at once!

Note: Since I wanted people to be able to come and get refills whenever they wanted, I doubled the recipe and, once it was ready, passed it through the sieve into another pot, which I kept on low heat so that it stayed hot. I left a laddle next to it and people were able to get refills throughout the night without having to deal with filtering the liquid.


Baked Goat Cheese with Honey and Apples, slightly adapted from Williams-Sonoma's Holiday Entertaining

1/2 lb (250g) log soft or semi-soft goat cheese
1 crisp apple (my favorite is Granny Smith)
3 tablespoons honey
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
Gluten-free crackers for serving

Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).

Place the log of goat cheese on a baking sheet. Flatten it some with a spatula. Halve and core the apple and thinly slice it lengthwise. Put the apple slices in a bowl, add the lemon juice and 1 tablespoon of the honey, and turn the apples to coat. Drizzle the remaining two tablespoons honey over the cheese, and layer the apple slices on top.

Bake until the cheese is warm throughout and softened and the apples are tender, 8-10 minutes. Using a wide spatula, transfer the cheese to a platter. Serve warm with crackers!

Papas Bravas

When I think back on this three-day weekend, it is hard to remember that I never actually left North Carolina. My senses swear to the contrary.

On Friday night, as I mentioned in my previous post, Josh and I strolled along crowded Parisian streets, the scent of mussels and french fries infusing the hot summer night air.

On Monday, we went to Spain. We traveled there on burning lips, golden potatoes, and slow-cooked tomatoes.

The day had been planned for some time; ever since Josh mentioned that his favorite Tapas dish was one he had had in Spain called papas bravas. He hadn’t had it since, which is all I needed to hear to pull out my planner and mark the calendar with a “Tapas” day. What better excuse for another culinary adventure?

“Papas bravas” means brave or courageous potatoes, and once you’ve tasted the sauce that is served with this dish, you understand why. Its whole reason for being is to be as hot as possible, challenging anyone who crosses its path with its fierceness.

The tomatoes are cooked in onion, garlic, paprika, and dried chilies. They are left to simmer on the stove top until their bright summary essence collapses into the dark almost ferocious flavor of the spices. This sauce does not dance around the word "hot;" it embraces it as if its life depended on it.

But the potatoes, brave beings that they are, counter the heat with a softness so delicate that it is almost sweet. Add on to the mixture a drizzle of mayonnaise or homemade garlic aioli, and what you get is an explosion of heat immediately offset by the creamy softness of the starch and the sweet tanginess of the aioli. A veritable symphony in the mouth. No wonder it is one of the most popular Tapas in Spain.

Of course, to really turn the afternoon into a culinary adventure, we had to have other dishes from Spain.

First, we settled on a version of the traditional Spanish tortilla that, while still starring eggs and potato as its main ingredients, also included green and red peppers and was baked as opposed to cooked on the stove top. It had a golden puffy quiche-like quality when it came out of the oven that made it hard not to devour immediately, but somehow we resisted. We let it cool and then cut it up into delectable little squares, just the right size for popping into eager open mouths.

Lastly, we decided to change gears completely, and opted for roasted red peppers stuffed with crab. So simple and so delicious.

We spent the afternoon side by side in the little kitchen, pealing, chopping, dicing, and sautéing as we tried new foods, shared memories of Spain, and danced to flamenco music. The hours flew by as we worked, talking and laughing, and before we knew it the day had turned into night.

Finally, glasses of Spanish red wine in hand, it was time to sit down and eat.

There are few things that give me as much pleasure as watching someone get gob smacked by the emotion of the flavor in a first bite of food they love but haven’t had in a long time. Their face becomes a remarkable canvas of emotion; surprise, ecstasy, and nostalgia all fighting for first place before the person finally closes their eyes, sighs contentedly, and sinks into the magic of it all, letting themselves travel wherever the food may take them.

I watched gleefully as the emotions danced across Josh’s face. Then, sinking into the magic myself, I let the spices take me back to Spain.


Papas Bravas

The Sauce

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, pressed
3 teaspoons Spanish paprika
2.5 teaspoons chili powder (start slow and build you way up)
2 14.5 ounce cans diced tomatoes
2 teaspoons red wine vinegar
2 teaspoons sugar
½ teaspoon salt


Sauté the onion and garlic in a heavy based saucepan on medium heat until translucent. Add the spices and cook, stirring often, for another minute. Add the tomatoes and bring to a boil. Turn the heat to low and add the vinegar, sugar, and salt. Simmer for 20 minutes. Serve in a bowl or put in a dispenser to drizzle over the potatoes.

The Potatoes

4 large Russet potatoes
Canola oil for frying
Sea salt

Wash, peel, and cut the potatoes in 1 inch cubes. You can either boil the potatoes first and then fry them to get them golden and crispy, or deep fry them.

If you choose to boil them first, cover the potatoes with water and boil them for 10 minutes. Drain and let them cool before frying them to a golden brown in an inch or two of oil.

If you choose to deep fry the potatoes, fill a heavy pan with enough canola oil to completely cover the potatoes (make sure there are a couple inches between the oil and the top of the pan) and heat to the point that oil pops when sprinkled with water or fizzles when you put a potato in. Fry the potatoes for six to seven minutes, until they start to sizzle. Remove from oil, drain, and allow to cool. Once cool, fry again for another couple minutes until they turn a golden brown. Drain and sprinkle with sea salt.

Serve immediately with the sauce and a side of mayonnaise or aioli. Enjoy!