When I lived in Arizona, there was a chain-ish bakery nearby where I would love to go for lunch and grab a sandwich on their fresh baked focaccia or ciabatta. They would sell their breads by the loaf and I’d always pick up a loaf of the cranberry walnut bread while I was there. I probably haven’t been back there since high school, but I still think about the tasty breads and pastries that I had there. Here’s my easy version of the cranberry walnut loaf I used to get there.
toast walnutsyeasty!leave to proofdoubled!floured and scored
Acid is one of the items in a complete dish that can be easy to miss. Some fresh citrus isn’t always handy and it weird be a little weird to toss some vinegar into something. I find that an acidic, pickley side is perfect for keeping a bite fresh. It helps balance flavors and keeps you wanting to eat more. When I have an excess of red onions, I love to make a batch of pickled red onions that are a little sweet, a little sour, a little spiced, and extra crunchy to be a side dish or a topping. Even better, this is great to add some acidity and color to a cheese or charcuterie board.
Ingredients
Red onions – the red onions marinate long enough to turn the entire slices of onion a beautiful pinky fuchsia color
Cinnamon – skip the cinnamon if you don’t want them spiced
It’s still a little rainy in Washington and Arizona has already jumped into the upper 90s for summer, so if I average the weather in both places, can we call it spring? Spring leads to summers of outdoor parties and gatherings. I love a snacky handheld that can hold up outside! Asparagus season is peaking so this is the perfect time for this asparagus twists. They’re so fun and fancy looking that people will think you spent a lot more time cooking than you actually did.
Ingredients:
Asparagus – pick a bunch of asparagus that is more “mid-sized”. Larger asparagus may not fully cook through and thinner asparagus will shrivel up into nothing.
Puff pastry – store bought, please! who has time for lamination?
Seasoning sprinkle – this one is parmesan & pepper, but feel free to mix up the flavor variations to maybe lemon & butter, italian seasoning, onion & red pepper flakes, or goat cheese & chive.
puff pastry thawedcut into stripsmilk readybrushbakedsprinkle
A fun spring/summer handheld appetizer that is perfect for any gathering.
Course Appetizer, Side Dish
Keyword asparagus, puff pastry
Prep Time 20 minutesmins
Cook Time 20 minutesmins
Ingredients
1poundasparagus
1sheetpuff pastrythawed
1tbspmilk
2tbspParmesan
1tbspblack pepper
Instructions
The evening before, put your puff pastry into the refrigerator to thaw overnight.
Wash & break the hard ends off the asparagus pieces.
Using a knife or pizza cutter, cut the puff pastry into long strips that are about the same width as the pieces of asparagus.
Holding the base of the asparagus, squish one end of the puff pastry around the base of the asparagus and wrap the remaining piece of the puff pastry up the stalk of the asparagus. Don't worry about wrapping too tightly, as the puff pastry will be entwined into the asparagus when it bakes.
Ensure that the pieces of puff pastry aren't touching on the baking sheet.
Brush milk over puff pastry pieces to help with browning.
Bake for 20 minutes at 400F.
Remove from the oven after baking, and immediately sprinkle Parmesan and black pepper on each piece.
Topped with a saucy protein and some roasted vegetables, polenta is so warm and comforting and super filling! I prefer to make polenta using cornmeal so I don’t have bags of cornmeal AND polenta sitting on my shelves. Some say that using cornmeal instead of “polenta” makes a mushier polenta, but maybe that’s just a marketing scheme.
When I make polenta, I like to use a pan instead of a pot and I like starting with cold water. A pan provides more heating surface area, cooking the polenta faster. I’ve also found that mixing the polenta in cold water and bringing the mixture together to heat prevents clumps and chunks of uncooked cornmeal.
Ingredients
Cornmeal – again, I don’t think you need to use “polenta” labeled cornmeal
Parmesan – this is where a majority of the salt/seasoning comes from. If omitted, use some extra salt to taste!
Heavy cream – substitute with water if you don’t want to use it
cold panwaterthickening up!add heavy creamadd cheeseserve!
Creamy, smooth polenta made in a pan that doesn't require boiled water!
Course Side Dish
Keyword parmesan, polenta
Ingredients
1/2cupcornmeal
2 1/2cupswater or stock
1/4cupheavy cream
1/4 cupgrated Parmesan cheese
salt & pepper
Instructions
In a cold pan, start by gently mixing your water/stock and cornmeal.
Bring mixture to a simmer and continue stirring every few minutes to ensure nothing sticks.
Polenta may take 15-20 minutes to fully cook and hydrate. If polenta is too thick for your preference, add 1 tbsp of water at a time until it reaches desired consistency.
When polenta is smooth and no raw gritty bits remain, stir in heavy cream and Parmesan cheese.
A simple, week-night fancy dessert that comes together so quick but is so satisfying and beautiful. The winter has been feeling long and I’ve been missing the time of summer fruits and berries. This was made with frozen raspberries and was just as delightful as fresh fruit! One bite and I was thinking summer.
I like making my cream a little salty to balance the sweet and tart berries. Adjust the salt to your liking. This recipe would also be great with any other berries you might have sitting around.
Kombucha is a fizzy, fermented, sweet and tart beverage that really is just made out of tea and sugar! Kombucha is like the beverage version of making sourdough bread. Naturally occurring bacteria and yeast in our environments grow together to ferment the tea. You can see the growth as a SCOBY (symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast) during kombucha production. Kombucha contains probiotics for great gut health and is also another fun beverage to have when you don’t want to drink just water!
Because fermentation can vary based on the amount of sugar, temperature, and amount of SCOBY, the amount of time for fermentation to get your tea to kombucha may vary depending on your kitchen conditions!
Ingredients
Tea – green or black
Sugar – just the classic, white, refined sugar
Water
SCOBY – you can grow the SCOBY over time by just using tea and sugar, but I would recommend buying a SCOBY online or find a friend that is making kombucha as a strong, healthy SCOBY may take quite a bit of time to develop.
Process
Kombucha is generally made in two fermentation steps. The first fermentation gives you plain kombucha, which is ready to drink if you like plain kombucha. I like adding fun flavors, so I always go to a second fermentation, adding flavors and juices. The second fermentation also gives your kombucha that fun carbonation!
I always brew my kombucha in glass jars. I’ve never tried in any other material container, but I’ve heard that flavors can leach from other jar types into your kombucha, so I’ve never risked it.
sugar & hot waterimmediately adding teasteeped overnight
First Fermentation
Here’s how I recommend mixing your kombucha for the first fermentation.
You’ll need:
Black or green tea
Sugar
Water
SCOBY + kombucha starter (plain kombucha that came with your SCOBY or reserved from the last time you did a first fermentation)
To make the tea mix:
Dissolve 200 g of sugar with 2 liters of hot water. Steep 8 bags of green and/or black tea or 4 tsp of loose leaf tea overnight.
The next day, combine the kombucha starter with the tea mix and add in the SCOBY. Cover the jar with a breathable top (like a kitchen towel, cheesecloth) and leave to ferment in a room-temperature, dark place. This may be as quickly as a few days up to a month before your kombucha ferments! After a week, you can taste your kombucha every few days until it is sour to your liking. If that’s where you want to stop, stop! You can drink your kombucha now, just make sure you save about 1 cup and the SCOBY to make your next batch!
a lot of SCOBYreserve somecleaned jar!new teastarter kombuchaSCOBY in!
Second Fermentation
Depending on how sour your first fermentation went, the amount of flavorings or juice you add may differ! You can also brew additional flavored teas to add if you want a stronger kombucha. I recommend using a flip-top glass bottle or a glass growler. These will help get your kombucha fizzy after this second fermentation.
I generally will mix a ratio of 75% kombucha to 25% flavoring, juice, or tea… since I usually end up forgetting about my kombucha and it’s really sour by the time I get to the second fermentation…
Some fun combinations:
honey & ginger
guava
lychee
passion tea lemonade
After you’ve mixed your flavored kombucha for second fermentation, close your bottles, and store for 1-2 weeks at room temperature, opening them every few days to release some pressure. After 2 weeks, I recommend transferring them to the refrigerator to slow the fermentation process. You can keep them in the fridge all the way up until you want to drink it!
Super stinky, super umami, and super umami…. fish sauce!! Nuoc cham/nuoc mam is a classic dipping sauce – this is a staple in Vietnamese food! You can eat it with literally anything. The recipe is pretty simple with a lot of shelf stable ingredients. It’s easy to make a large quantity since it’s all in ratios and some items are just to taste!
If you’ve been to a Vietnamese restaurant, you’ve likely already had it. It is usually served with the egg roll appetizer, broken rice dishes, vermicelli noodle bowls, and more! I had some recently with vermicelli noodles, bean sprouts, egg rolls, and some mint and basil.
After traveling to Las Vegas for work and making a pit stop in Phoenix, I was immediately greeted back to the PNW with *snow* on the ground?? Small hail? Regardless, it was white and cold. I miss the sun and warmth so I wanted to make something warm and cozy. I saw it on a menu at a Vietnamese restaurant recently and suddenly had a craving. Bo kho is a Vietnamese-style beef stew that can be eaten with rice, noodles, or bread. It’s rich, warm, and super comforting!
Ingredients
Beef – It is a beef stew, so I would recommend using beef, but swap ingredients to your heart’s desire! The chuck roast here gives the broth a really beefy flavor, but you can use other stew meat or beef shank too.
Ketchup – Weird right? It gives the broth a reddish tint, a slight tomato flavor, and some sweetness.
sear beefS&P + searedonions, garlic, lemongrass, gingerketchup + fish saucebeef + water + sugar1.5 hours latercarrots in!15 more minutes
When I need to consume a lot of vegetables but I don’t want to deal with forking salad greens into my mouth, I turn to a spring roll. A yummy, portable roll of goodness that is also great at utilizing leftovers. There are some “traditional” spring roll combinations, but I like to take the sauce and then insert whatever I have available into the actual roll. My “leftovers” glamorized as a spring roll included some short rib, shredded carrot, lettuce, and vermicelli noodles.
These are perfect as an appetizer at a dinner party, or make them XL for a full meal! It’s not as pretty, but the sauce can be spooned inside with the filling, and rolled up so no extra dipping is required.
Traditional Combos:
jicama, carrot, Chinese sausage, sliced scrambled egg, lettuce & herbs
Make your spring roll your own! Start with a protein, have a noodle, and then fill the rest with fresh veggies and herbs.
Process:
Gather your fillings and cut larger items into strip-like shapes, if possible. They will fit in the rolls better this way.
Wet your rice paper with cold or room temperature water. Hot water will soften the paper faster, however it will be stickier and harder to roll.
Add your fillings in the center of the paper, closer to the bottom half of the roll. Don’t overstuff!
Fold the bottom of the rice paper over the fillings, using one hand to hold everything in place. Use another hand to fold the left and right sides in towards the center.
Finally, roll the fillings directly up to seal the roll.
protein innoodles & carrotslettucebottom upsides in
An easy peanut-hoisin sauce that is sweet & savory, perfect to complement your spring rolls.
Keyword hoisin sauce, peanut sauce, spring roll
Ingredients
1/2cuppeanut butter
1/2cuphoisin sauce
1/4 cupwarm water
Instructions
In a bowl, mix together the peanut butter and hoisin sauce.
Add water 1 tbsp at a time, mixing until completely combined before adding another tbsp of water. It may look like the dipping sauce is "breaking" and not coming together, but it will become more aerated and combined as you continue mixing.
For some reason, everyone has really been loving a lunchtime work meeting, so I’ve been trying to make more “prepped” lunches for days where I really can’t step away for long to take a break (is this an unhealthy work environment?) I also recently got a walking pad to slide under my desk for when I’m feeling restless, and meals on the go (on the walking pad) should be relatively spill resistant and easy to transport from plate to mouth. In comes, the pasta salad! No reheating required. I can easily spoon this from the master pasta salad container into another bowl, bring it back to my desk/walking pad, and shovel some into my mouth in between meetings.
Ingredients
Pasta – I like using some macaroni or rotini for pasta salad. Their size makes consumption simple since they are easily spooned or forked up. Minimal spills!
Vegetables – I like crunchy vegetables like bell peppers and onions. This could also be really lovely with diced pickles or zingy capers. The key is the consistency in the chop so nothing seems too large in a bite.
Sauce – Our dressing/sauce here is a mayo-sour cream blend that is brightened up using some vinegar. You can use all sour cream or all mayo, but the additional vinegar will be to taste.
Salami – feel free to leave this out to make it meatless 🙂
