Vegan walking tacos for potlucks & parties

Vegan walking tacos are a hit with kids & adults alike. They’re great for parties and potlucks. Plus, everyone can get in on the fun by adding whatever toppings they love most.

This time of year, fairs are popping up all over the place. There are art fairs, jazz fests, state fairs… and all of them seem to have one thing in common – walking tacos. You may also know walking tacos by the name of frito pie, hay stacks, corn stacks, or taco in a bag.

For the uninitiated, walking tacos are similar to bagged nachos. They’re made by crunching corn chips or nacho chips in snack sized bags, and then topping them with all of the typical taco accoutrement.

Then you can grab a fork and walk around the midway, or stop and listen to a live band while noshing on bites of crunchy, savory tacos by the forkful.

Not only are walking tacos popular at amusement parks and fairs, they’re also a fun option for potlucks, open houses, birthday parties, dinners by the campfire, and tailgating.

Everyone loves a walking taco bar! People can modify their walking tacos to fit their personal taste preferences. Needless to say, a meal that involves chips as a main component is a hit with kids.

As you’d probably guess, most of the walking tacos that you see in the concession area aren’t vegan. However, it’s easy to make vegan walking tacos with a few simple swaps.

I make my vegan walking tacos with:

Lentil & black bean taco meat

Green leaf lettuce

Diced tomatoes

Shredded non-dairy cheese

Guacamole

Chives

Cilantro

Hot sauce (Here are my three top hot sauces!)

Jalapeño pepper slices

But the options are endless with vegan walking tacos. Here are a few more topping ideas:

What about the chips?

For walking tacos, Fritos and Doritos are common options. Fritos are already vegan, but I chose to use the Trader Joe’s version of those. They’re called organic corn chip dippers.

If you’re more of a Doritos fan, I hear that the spicy sweet chili flavor is vegan; although, I’ve never tried them.

For a similar Doritos-style flavor, I recommend Garden of Eatin’ pico de gallo chips. I always buy them two bags at a time, because I don’t want to risk being out of them when I need a vegan taco pizza ASAP.

(By the way, Garden of Eatin’ pico de gallo chips are a product I was able to convince a local grocery seller to start carrying. I simply requested it by email, and now they always have them in stock. So remember that it never hurts to ask! Check out this post for more information on how to get vegan products in your grocery store.)

Make them in snack-sized bags or get creative!

Usually walking tacos are made in snack-sized chip bags. However, three natural grocery store visits later, I gave up on that idea. Instead, I picked up a full-sized bag of organic corn chips from Trader Joe’s, and used some kraft box french fry containers instead.

(If you’d prefer to go this route, you can find french fry containers similar to these at craft stores or online.)

Individual snack bags usually come with about an ounce or two of chips inside. That’s basically one or two small handfuls.

Since I wasn’t using pre-bagged chips, I was able to layer my walking tacos, so that I could get a variety of tastes in every bite. I didn’t want all of the chips at the bottom and all of the guac at the top, because that’s a sure fire way to be eating dry chips at the end of it.

Instead I placed a few chips into the container, added some lentil black bean taco mixture, diced tomatoes, non-dairy cheese, guacamole, chives, cilantro, jalapeño peppers, and then repeated until I’d reached the top of the container.

Smash it!

Most people like to smash their chips for easier eating. They’re not as pretty that way, and so I didn’t do that for photo purposes. Plus, corn chips are small enough, it’s not really required. But if you go with a larger chip, crushing the chips makes it simpler to scoop up a forkful.

Add vegan cheese & taco filling

For the cheese, I grated a block of Daiya farmhouse cheddar since I still haven’t found a vegan pre-shredded cheese that I love.

(To see my favorite vegan cheeses for a variety of purposes, check out this post on the best vegan cheese for your every need.)

I used lentil & black bean taco filing as the meaty component of this dish. The lentils bulk out the filling and give it a texture that is similar to its meaty counterpart.

I also use this lentil & black bean filling in my vegan burrito bowls. So if you like to cook once and eat multiple times like I do, plan on eating burrito bowls one day, and then have walking tacos the next. Of course, you can also put this filling in regular tacos, burritos, or even as a topping for air fryer baked potatoes.

Cadry Nelson

Serves 6

Vegan walking tacos (a.k.a. frito pie)

Walking tacos are an excellent meal for feeding a group. Whether you're hosting a potluck, party, or cookout by the campfire, this dish is sure to be a crowd pleaser for kids and adults alike.

5 minPrep Time

5 minTotal Time

Ingredients

6 snack-sized bags of Fritos-style corn chips or one full-sized bag (Full sized bags are usually 8 to 9.75 ounces)*

1 batch lentil taco meat

2 medium tomatoes, chopped

1 1/2 cups chopped green leaf lettuce

3/4 cup shredded non-dairy cheese

3/4 cup guacamole - homemade or store-bought

Optional toppings: Jalapeno pepper slices, hot sauce, chopped cilantro, vegan sour cream, chopped onions or chives

Instructions

If you're using snack-sized bags of corn chips, gently crush the corn chips in the bag. Then cut an opening alongside the bag to create a bowl or pouch for your walking taco. If you're using alternative containers, gently crush the corn chips in your hands and put them into the container.

Top the chips with spoonfuls of lentil taco meat, tomatoes, green leaf lettuce, non-dairy cheese, guacamole, and any of the optional toppings you like. Dig in with a fork!

Notes

I used Trader Joe's organic corn chip dippers. Alternatively, these walking tacos are also terrific with Garden of Eatin' pico de gallo chips.

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https://cadryskitchen.com/2018/07/24/vegan-walking-tacos/

Disclosure: Post contains Amazon affiliate links

Source: https://cadryskitchen.com/2018/07/24/vegan-walking-tacos/

Chickpea, Tomato, and Feta Salad

Home › Recipes › Salads › Chickpea, Tomato, and Feta Salad

This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure.

This quick and easy Chickpea, Tomato and Feta Salad is kid friendly, vegetarian and gluten-free. It’s the perfect healthy side dish for a picnic, potluck or just a quick weeknight dinner!

We’ve been doing a lot of picnic-ing these days. The weather has been absolutely perfect for it: warm, sunny, with a light breeze but not too hot or humid! It also helps that the parks around our neighborhood have tons of nice shady picnic spots, and eating outside with kids means less mess to clean up!

And of course, since I’m obsessed with salads this summer, what else would I make for a picnic other than… a salad? 🙂

How to make Chickpea, Tomato, and Feta Salad

This recipe is super simple. It’s full of fresh veggies, summer tomatoes, chickpeas, feta and spices. No cooking required: just chop your veggies, toss and serve. It’s even better a few hours later once the salad has had a chance to marinate in the dressing a bit!

How to serve this Chickpea, Tomato, and Feta Salad

You can use this salad in so many different ways:

Serve it over mixed greens for lunch

Stir in a cup of cooked quinoa for a more hearty dish

Use it as a filling for a pita or a wrap (which is also a great way to use up the leftovers).

Serve it as a side dish for a bigger spread – it’s a perfect make ahead dish to take to a picnic, pot luck or barbecue! 

What makes this salad healthy? 

This salad is a really well balanced dish.  The chickpeas provide protein and fiber, key for those of us following a vegetarian diet. The tomatoes are a great source of vitamin C, K, potassium and folate and the cucumber is great for promoting hydration. Healthy fats from the avocado and B vitamins from the feta round out this good for you and hearty salad.

An easy way to make homemade salad dressing 

Making salad dressing at home is so simple, and it’s much healthier (and cheaper!) than store bought. All you need is olive oil, an acid (vinegar, lemon juice, etc.), salt and pepper. You can dress it up with fresh herbs, garlic, etc. but at its core – it’s just those 4 ingredients! This simple dressing is packed full of flavor, using a mixture of lemon juice, herbs, olive oil and garlic. You can whisk the dressing, or even easier: put all of the ingredients in a mason jar and give it a good shake.

Top tips for making Chickpea, Tomato and Feta Salad

Use the freshest ingredients you can for maximum flavor.

Drain and rinse the chickpeas before using them.

Keep the salad in the fridge in an airtight container, it will keep for up to 3 days, but is freshest 24 hours after making it. 

To let the flavors fully sing, leave the salad to marinate in the dressing for at least two hours.

You can mix up the fresh herbs in the salad dressing – I chose basil and oregano but you can try parsley, dill, or even marjoram! 

Be sure to try these other healthy salads!

If you have tried this chickpea, tomato and feta salad recipe, or any other recipe on my blog, then please rate it and let me know how it turned out in the comments below! You can also FOLLOW ME on FACEBOOK, TWITTER, INSTAGRAM and PINTEREST to see more delicious, healthy, family friendly food!

This recipe is super simple. It’s full of fresh veggies, summer tomatoes, chickpeas, feta and spices. No cooking required: just chop your veggies, toss and serve.

Prep Time10 mins

Total Time10 mins

Course: Salad

Cuisine: American

Servings: 8 servings

Calories: 135kcal

For the Salad

10.5 oz container red cherry tomatoes quartered

10.5 oz container yellow cherry tomatoes quartered

15 oz can chickpeas drained, rinsed

1 ½ English cucumbers peeled, halved lengthwise, sliced

1 Hass avocado peeled, cored, diced (ripe but semi-firm)

3 ounces feta cheese crumbled

Toss all of the salad ingredients together in a large bowl.

Whisk the dressing ingredients together.

Add the dressing to the salad and toss until combined.

Top tips for making Chickpea, Tomato and Feta Salad

Use the freshest ingredients you can for maximum flavor.

Drain and rinse the chickpeas before using them.

Keep the salad in the fridge in an airtight container, it will keep for up to 3 days, but is freshest 24 hours after making it. 

To let the flavors fully sing, leave the salad to marinate in the dressing for at least two hours.

You can mix up the fresh herbs in the salad dressing - I chose basil and oregano but you can try parsley, dill, or even marjoram! 

Calories: 135kcal | Carbohydrates: 16.1g | Protein: 5.1g | Fat: 6.1g | Saturated Fat: 2.1g | Sodium: 255mg | Fiber: 4.3g | Sugar: 2.5g

Source: https://pickyeaterblog.com/chickpea-tomato-and-feta-salad/

Hillshire® Snacking Social Platters make the Holidays a Breeze

The NEW Hillshire® Snacking Social Platters are the perfect solution to a holiday problem.

Which holiday problem? The problem of too much to do and too many parties to host! If you have to choose between wrapping gifts and slicing cheese, which are you going to choose?

Hillshire Snacking Social Platters solve your conundrum because they have done all the work for you. The platters have everything you need for pre-dinner snacking. All you have to do is buy it and remember to serve it (or bring it with you to a holiday party).

First of all, it comes in two varieties:

First, the Genoa Salame & Prosciutto tray which includes (you guessed it) genoa salame, proscuitto, white cheddar cheese, dark chocolate and herb toasted rounds.

They also have the Calabrese Salame & Genoa Salame variety which includes calabrese alame, genoa salame, white cheddar cheese, sea salt toasted rounds, dried cranberries and dried cherries. Calabrese salame has paprika and a bit more kick than Genoa Salame.

They are both delicious and have five ingredients that come on their own easy-to-serve platter..

This of course, should be obvious but I have been known to use my own plate with these types of products. Now, you don’t have to remember to bring home your favorite plate from Aunt Sue’s holiday celebration because you didn’t bring it! Talk about less stress. As you can see, the platter is part of the packaging.

This is a snacking platter that you “flip and serve”. You remove the platter from the package, peel off the film seal, replace the black platter (holding tight), then flip it over. Next, you remove the lid and serve it. I served mine with a little rosemary garnish and a fork to pick up the Prosciutto. You could also serve it with toothpicks.

I found these platters at my local Stop & Shop in the refrigerated deli section of the store next to the party platters.

These are much more unique than other trays that just come with square cheese and grapes. The flavor combinations (both sweet and savory) are chef curated and the ingredients are high quality.

The key to a great holiday party is food and a relaxed crowd. You don’t need to sweat all the details to create a warm atmosphere.

Of course, you still probably need to supply some sparkling apple cider or wine to go with your platter. I drink a lot of prosecco during the holidays because it goes so well with cheese and salty meats.

Source: https://snack-girl.com/snack/hillshire-snacking-social-platter/

Christmas Charcuterie Board

This Christmas Charcuterie Board is going to be the talk of your next holiday party! It’s packed with delicious holiday favorites and is a perfect centerpiece for any Christmas party!

Charcuterie Board

Charcuterie Boards are one of my favorite things to make this year. So far I’ve shared my Harvest Charcuterie Board and a Hot Chocolate Dessert Style Charcuterie Board, and you guys have loved those too! A Christmas Charcuterie Board was on my must-make list.

How to Make a Charcuterie Board

It can be overwhelming when you are at the grocery store without a plan. So if the thought of creating a big charcuterie board like this one is stressful, use this post as a guide. You can print out the recipe card and use it for shopping.

Start by selecting the meats. Use a mix of hard salami, soft salami and prosciutto. Make sure you have a variety, I usually only add one smoked meat since the smokey flavors can be very strong.

Add the cheese next. Hard cheeses pair well with hard salami and soft cheeses pair well with soft meats like prosciutto. I usually try and place them close to each other on the board when arranging. Prosciutto, brie and fig jam on a baguette is my most favorite pairing, so I always include that.

For this Christmas Charcuterie Board, I tried to stick to a color scheme as well. I used reds, greens and whites.

Use seasonal produce whenever possible. This keeps the cost down and the taste fresher! Pears and pomegranates are winter fruits and they match the Christmas theme, plus they are delicious! I found a bag of rainbow pears at Trader Joe’s and I loved the colors! Grapes aren’t in season, but I loved the green color.

  For this board, I wanted to do something a little special. I made homemade sugared cranberries for a little sparkle. They were so easy and delicious, I’ve included the recipe below.

  Nuts and fresh fruits are some of my favorite things to add to a charcuterie board, but really anything works! Olives are a great choice too.

For a little festive garnish, I used some fresh rosemary and fresh cranberries for added color.

  Christmas Charcuterie Board

Course: Appetizer

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Charcuterie

Servings: 12

Author: Melissa

Ingredients

6 oz Prosciutto

6 oz Salame di Parma

4 oz Applewood Smoked Salami

8 oz Italian Dry Salami sliced

8 oz 1,000 Day Gouda Cheese cubed

8 oz Cranberry Goat Cheese

8 oz Triple Cream Brie

8 oz White Cheddar sliced

8 oz Fresh Mozzarella Balls

8 oz Shelled Pistachios

5 oz Candied Pecans

5 oz Pomegranate Seeds

1 Pomegranate cut in half

5 oz Sweet and Spicy Pecans

2 cups Sugared Cranberries

1 pound Green Grapes

4 Rainbow Pears sliced

Fig Jam

Baguette sliced

Crackers variety

Fresh cranberries and rosemary garnish

Fresh lemon juice

Sugared Cranberries

1 1/4 cup sugar divided

1/4 cup water

6 oz fresh cranberries

Instructions

To assemble charcuterie board, place large items like cheese and meats first. Then fill in with nuts and fruit. Brush sliced pears lightly with lemon juice to prevent browning.

Sugared Cranberry Instructions

In a small pot, heat 1/4 cup sugar and 1/4 cup of water until sugar is dissolved.

Remove sugar mixture from heat and stir in fresh cranberries. Transfer cranberries to a sheet pan lined with waxed paper and let sit for about an hour until sticky to the touch.

Roll cranberries in remaining sugar. 

Charcuterie Board Supplies

Marble Board 

Cheese Knives  

Small Wood Bowls

  This post contains affiliate links.

5 Easy Dinner Ideas for Busy Weeknights

My five FAVORITE recipes for busy families!

Quick to make

Light on your budget

Easy to clean-up

and...most important...absolutely DELICIOUS

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Banana Popsicles Recipe

This banana popsicles recipe is a simple, tasty dessert and a fast way to impress your friends, family and kids while still keeping things healthy.

You can roll these in any number of toppings or even melt the chocolate to give the bananas a complete, chocolate coating. Either way, these are delicious! And with summer coming up, I try to limit Mini Chef’s intake of store-bought ice cream by keeping healthy, real-food treats in the freezer at all times.

It’s a nice thing to fall back on if I really want something sweet as well. Definitely lower carb, but if I’m really craving something sweet, it beats getting off the clean eating track! You don’t even need measurements for this. The ingredient list below is just a suggestion. Have fun with this one!

WHAT KIND OF BANANAS SHOULD YOU USE FOR BANANA POPSICLES?

The best bananas for this particular type of recipe are bananas that are just a hair past the yellow stage. They shouldn’t be totally brown (and definitely not black!), but you don’t want them perfectly yellow either. (And definitely not green!). The ripeness will affect the flavor of your banana popsicles. So choose bananas that are just starting to get some brown spots. Nothing more.

HOW LONG CAN YOU FREEZE BANANAS?

Peeled bananas, such as in this recipe, will last about two months in the freezer. So you can make a larger batch of these and enjoy them for several weeks!

POPSICLE TOPPING IDEAS:

Need more ideas for what toppings to roll bananas in? Here’s a list!

Dark chocolate chips

Walnuts, chopped

Almonds, chopped

Pecans, chopped

Dried cranberries, fruit juice sweetened is the healthiest. I get them at whole foods

Sprinkles, if you don’t mind the processed sugar

Melted chocolate

Ground cinnamon and unprocessed sugar such as Sucanat or coconut sugar

MORE HEALTHY DESSERT RECIPES:

BANANA POPSICLES RECIPE:

Banana Popsicles Recipe

A delicious, easy-to-make dessert for any occasion!

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: dessert, healthydessert, popsicles

Author: The Gracious Pantry

Ingredients

Yellow bananas (There should be some brown spots on the peel)

Nuts, chopped (whatever kind you like)

Cocoa nibs or dark chocolate chips (I used the Enjoy Life brand. They are the cleanest I can find.)

Popsicle sticks (you can get these at most craft stores)

Instructions

Peel the bananas and cut them in half.

Push a popsicle stick into the center, and then roll them in whatever toppings you have chosen.

Place on a flat surface like a plate or small cookie sheet and freeze overnight.

Keep in freezer until you are ready to eat them.

Note: If you want to be fancy, melt some chocolate and dip the bananas in that. THEN roll them in the nuts.

Recipe Notes

Please note, there is no nutrition data for this recipe.

Recipe from the Gracious Pantry archives, originally posted 7/16/15.

Source: https://www.thegraciouspantry.com/clean-eating-banana-pops/

9 Healthy Snacks Using Nut Butter

Break out of a boring snack rut with these nine healthy and easy nut butter snack ideas!

Now that school is back in session, I am always looking for quick and easy snacks that I can make in 5 minutes or less. I don’t know about you but I always seem to realize I’m starving when I have 5 minutes until I have to leave the house or hop on a conference call.

As a result, I always have a pouch or two of RX Nut Butter on hand for high protein, low carb snacking on-the-go. Just like your favorite RXBars, their nut butter is made with simple ingredients you can pronounce and contain 9g of protein per pouch!

Now available in five flavors, I’m so excited to share 9 healthy snack ideas using nut butter. For these recipes, I used their newest flavor, Maple Almond Butter, but truthfully these snacks would work well with ANY flavor. First up: drizzle it over oatmeal! Start with my 90 second microwave oatmeal recipe, top with fruit then drizzle with nut butter.

Speaking of breakfast, why should maple syrup have all the fun on your morning stack of pancakes? I love maple syrup as much as the next gal but it’s nothing but empty calories. The runny consistency of RX Nut Butter is ideal for pouring over pancakes and it’s a great way to boost the nutrition of your short stack.

Want a portable snack you can take to work or eat in the car between school drop offs? Drizzle the maple almond nut butter over a brown rice cake then top with fresh raspberries. If your berries are super ripe, gently mash them with a fork to create a quick version of raspberry preserves creating a fun spin on PB&J.

If you want to keep the entire snack super low carb, nothing beats celery and nut butter. Add raisins and you’ve got ants on a log, a snack no kid (or adult) can resist!

Instead of buying sweetened yogurt full of added sugar, I love starting with whole milk plain yogurt and adding a touch of sweetness in the form of fresh berries and nut butter. Sprinkle with a little chia seed for added texture and crunch!

Craving something salty? Try nut butter filled dates sprinkled with sea salt. These bites are so flavorful, you’ll only need one or two to satisfy your craving.

Want to go bananas instead? Be my guest! Sprinkle with cinnamon or nutmeg for even more flavor.

Last but not least, we can’t forget to include just one dessert idea: chocolate ice cream drizzled with nut butter! Is there anything better in this world? I don’t think so.

What are YOUR favorite ways to use nut butter? I’d love to hear from you!

Disclosure: This post is in partnership with RXBAR. Photography by Alejandro Photography. All opinions are my own. Thank you for supporting the brands that make The Lemon Bowl possible! 

Want more delicious snack inspiration?? Head over to my Pinterest board for more recipes!

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Source: https://thelemonbowl.com/healthy-nut-butter-snacks/

Margherita Mexican Pizza (Tlayuda)

September 11, 2018

I am often asked if flour tortillas can be made with butter. To be honest, I never knew the answer until recently. My grandma always made flour tortillas using lard and my mom makes them with shortening.

While testing this recipe, I now know for sure that you can make flour tortillas with butter…Butter with Canola Oil Plus Calcium and Vitamin D!

When I had this recipe idea I turned to my mom (the flour tortilla queen), and she gave me some great pointers and gave me this recipe.

After a few tests, we basically used our family flour tortilla recipe, but substituted the shortening with Land O Lakes® Butter with Canola Oil Plus Calcium and Vitamin D, added a little less baking powder, and less water, resulting in a thinner and crispier tortilla.

These tortillas are very similar to flour tortillas, but are called tlayudas (tla-u-das). Tlayudas are larger and thinner, and when baked become a little crispy.

Traditional tlayudas are basically an oversized corn tortilla, but this tlayuda recipe is made with flour and tastes very similar to flatbread.

On our trip to Oaxaca, Mexico we saw piles and piles of tlayudas sold by street vendors. Traditionally, they are cooked on a clay skillet directly over hot coals and once cooked the texture is somewhat pliable, yet brittle, with a unique smoky flavor.

They come in all sizes and are sold to be served whole or to be broken up and served with salsas or topped with traditional toppings such as refried black beans and chorizo to turn them into Mexican pizzas.

These tlayudas are basically Mexican thin-crust pizzas and can be topped with any ingredients imaginable.

This thin-crust rustic margherita pizza is a great dinner that emanates summer: homemade spicy salsa verde, topped with sweet, garden cherry tomatoes, fresh basil, and shredded Mexican cheese.

Celebrate Mexican Independence Day or send summer off right with this show-stopping, elegant dish.

Photography by Jenna Sparks

This post is in partnership with Land O Lakes. As always, thank you for reading and for supporting companies I partner with, which allows me to create more unique content and recipes for you. All opinions are always my own.

Source: http://muybuenocookbook.com/2018/09/mexican-pizza-tlayuda/

Painted Paper Pockets

This post is sponsored by Plaid Enterprises.

Get your creative juices flowing with these hand-painted paper pockets! You can literally paint whatever patterns, designs, or pictures you like onto card stock, and with a little bit of cutting, folding, and Mod Podge, turn them into these adorable pockets! We mixed and matched a few of our favorite shades from Delta Ceramcoat® Acrylic Paint and had fun playing with simple shapes and geometric patterns. Younger ones can let loose and paint whatever tickles their fancy and older kids can experiment with creating repeat patterns. Find all 22 shades and 6 brand new Flash Metallic colors in the craft aisle at Target!

Just spread out your Delta Ceramcoat paints on your work surface and get started! We ended up using five different colors, one for each pattern. The formula is so rich and creamy that you won’t have to keep dipping your brush after every little brush stroke. It’s so much fun to experiment with different shapes, patterns, and colors – we went with a geometric meets painterly look, but some super colorful pockets in abstract patterns would be awesome too! We love how handy these little pockets are for storing toys, trinkets, and pocket change, especially for kids who have to take everything along with them! See the full instructions below.

Step 1 Begin by selecting your colors! We used five total with a mix of warm and cool colors, including Fuchsia, Pumpkin, and Pretty Pink. Lay out your cardstock and paint whatever patterns you like. Feel free to mix and match colors and go crazy! When painting, make sure that the patterns go as close to the edges of the paper as possible. Let dry.

Step 2 We repeated this process with cool colors too: Velvet Teal and Caribbean Blue. For one paper pocket, you need about one 8 ½” by 11” piece of cardstock, so paint as many as you think you’ll need.

Step 3 Once all the paint is dry, cut the paper lengthwise into two rectangles 3 ½” wide and 11” long. (You’ll have a narrow scrap left – no need to keep this.) Next, use a ruler and pencil to divide the paper strip into sections. First, draw a line 3 ½” from the end, then another line 1” from there. Then mark another line 3 ½” from there, and finally a line 1” after that.

Step 4 Fold along each of the lines you just drew so that the blank side is in and the beautiful painted side is out.

Step 5 If you want to mix things up a little bit, you can swap the top flaps for some contrast. All you have to do is cut the top 1” and 2” segments off the strip and replace it with a new piece from the unfolded paper strip – you’ll need to add an extra ½” flap to the end so that you can attach it on with Mod Podge, as shown.

Step 6 Time to make the sides! Begin by cutting two 3 ½” squares from the unfolded paper strip. We used a different pattern for the sides than the front of the pocket for even more fun. Fold each of these squares into accordions, with each fold about ½” away from each other. You can eyeball this step, or use a ruler to mark out each fold so that it’s super even.

Step 7 Apply Mod Podge to the end flap of each accordion and attach onto the 3 ½” side of the folded paper. Let dry a few minutes.

Step 8 Do the same with the other end of the accordion, attaching it to the other side of the folded paper so that it starts to look like a little pocket! While the Mod Podge dries a little bit, attach sticky-back Velcro dots so that the pocket’s flap can open and close.

Step 9 Finally, use a dab of Mod Podge to attach a mini pom pom onto the front of each flap. Let everything dry completely and your painted paper pockets are ready to be put to good use!

Fill the paper pockets with whatever you like! They’re great little coin purses, but they’re big enough to fit little toys and trinkets too. And you could totally adapt the size of these if you wanted!

Find all 22 shades of Delta Ceramcoat® Acrylic Paint at your local Target along with the six new Flash Metallic shades in the craft aisle or at Target.com. We’re betting these painted paper pockets would be even more adorable with some metallic details!!

Keep in the loop about all of Plaid’s new products and DIYs – follow them on Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook, and YouTube.

Happy crafting!

Source: https://www.handmadecharlotte.com/painted-paper-pockets/

May Menu - Menu Plan Monday

Happy Wednesday Friends! Today I have my May Menu Plan for you. I meant to post this earlier, but I had several things going on and forgot (sorry). This months menu plan includes several family favorites and lots of grilled recipes. In Texas the weather warms up pretty quickly, so taking advantage of cooking outside is always a plus. Any recipe noted with New are recipes I plan to make and will post in the near future. I hope y'all find something you like ♥

May Menu Plan

One Pot Spaghetti & Meat Sauce & Olive Garden House Salad

Mandarin - Shiracha Chicken & Jasmine Rice New

CopyKat Panda Express Chicken Chow Mien New

Easy Peasy Roasted Chicken Legs, Southern Cream Peas & Greek Pasta Salad 

Sticky Chicken Legs & Thighs, Mashed Potatoes & Creamy Skillet Corn

Slow Cooker Beef Stew & Old Fashioned Beer Bread 

Holy Moly Chicken, Baked Potatoes & Garden Salad 

Honky Tonk Tequila Lime Steak, Cilantro Lime Rice & Flour Tortillas 

Fall Off The Bone Ribs, Baked Sweet Potatoes W/Cinnamon Honey Butter & Grilled Veggies

Cafe Rio Sweet Pork, Tortillas & Pico De Gallo 

Skillet Ravioli, Cesar Salad & French Bread Rolls

Honey Orange Chicken with Grilled Pineapple & Thai Coconut Rice

Beer in The Rear Chicken, Grilled Potato Packets & Grilled Corn

Barbecue Chicken Dinner Salad W/Western Dressing

Italian Sub Sandwiches & Potato Salad

Beef & Broccoli Stir Fry & Baked Crab Rangoon Wontons

Chicken Fried Steak & Cream Gravy & Mashed Potatoes & Corn

Salisbury Steak with Gravy, Rice & Lemon Pepper Zucchini 

Pioneer Woman's Comfort Meatballs, Mashed Potatoes & Roasted Broccoli 

Chicken Alfredo Pasta Shells , Steamed Green Beans & Freezer Rolls 

Tender Slow Cooker Pork Loin & Gravy, Egg Noodles  & California Blend Veggies

Skillet Pork Chops with Onion Gravy

Taco Salad 

Southwest Chicken Hummus Wraps & Fresh Fruit 

Beef Ramen Noodle Skillet  & Ambrosia Fruit Salad 

Moms Meaty Cornbread Skillet & Salad

Desserts: Very Berry Blackberry Dump Cake

Easy Peach Fritters  German Chocolate Pound Cake No Churn Chocolate Ice Cream

Join the Mommy's Kitchen Free Email Subscription and you'll receive an email each time, I add a new recipe or post to Mommy's Kitchen. As a subscriber you'll also receive a monthly issue of "My Texas Table" newsletter packed with all the latest recipes, menu plans, special features, seasonal recipes, canning, gardening, holiday recipes and DIY projects!

Source: https://www.mommyskitchen.net/2019/05/may-menu-menu-plan-monday.html

VINTAGE KITCHEN TOUR // SPONSORED BY CAFE APPLIANCES

I’m so excited to share my kitchen with you! I’ll get into the details deeper in the post, but this is the only time that I haven’t had to do a giant kitchen renovation in a new house. The biggest challenge was finding elements to update the space while keeping the mid century aesthetic. This is why I partnered with Cafe Appliances – their refrigerator in white and bronze blends perfectly into my vintage kitchen, while giving me the benefits of modern appliances.

My husband Craig and I are searching for our family home, and when we set foot into your house, it felt so right. Jack, an architect and UCLA professor, built this house with his wife, Marilyn, in 1953. They lived in it all their lives, and even planted a palm tree on the day they moved in – it’s now about 60 feet tall, towering over our backyard. You could feel the love in this house, and standing on the back porch, looking at Jack and Marilyn’s Palm Tree, we knew this was a special place. It felt like the last 6 years had led up to this moment and like we had finally found our forever home.

I’ve renovated a few single-owner mid century homes before, and it’s always a balance of respecting the past while adding modern comforts, but with this house, that was on an entirely other level. I walked in the house and didn’t want to change anything – it was like a perfect time capsule of 1953 Los Angeles. The wood-clad walls, hidden bar, room dividers, the chrome edged streamline kitchen – everything was so rooted in Danish modernism and deco references from the late 40s rather than the atomic “Palms Springs” modern of the late 50s. This was Jack and Marilyn’s dream home, and it showed. I have photos of them digging the dirt as the building process started. They lived there for 65 years without changing anything other than the wallpaper. That’s rare – usually someone gets bored and decides to make everything Southwestern or they tear out the kitchen and add some terribly clunky 90s monstrosity instead. Not in my time machine. I loved it so much I even kept the 65 year old drapes. This was my first time having fun with color on the walls, rather than just with furniture and objects. I’ve played around with tile and wallpaper for color, but usually keep spaces minimalistic. With this mid century gem, I used the original paint colors as my jumping off point, and researched the color palette of the era.

Every time I’ve renovated a home I’ve had to completely gut the kitchen. The kitchen is usually something dysfunctional from the 70s, with hideous oak upper cabinets, and I turn it into an open, white, modern space. But this was the first time I couldn’t – the kitchen is too special. It’s an original St. Charles kitchen in gorgeous condition. In the 50s, you’d have a company like St. Charles do your entire kitchen: floors, cabinets, countertops – the whole thing. The cabinets are painted steel (I’m pretty sure mine are “Chiffon Yellow”), so they’re incredibly durable. I also never imagined having a not white kitchen, but I love the butter yellow hue. It’s just so joyful and soothing. The fact that I didn’t need to repaint my kitchen cabinets that are 65 years old is just wild. There’s little details, like lucite protectors on each cabinet, chrome handles, stainless steel panels on either side of the oven, and a special cupboard with retractable shelf for your mixer that make this kitchen so thoughtful. The one thing I thought I’d have to do is add power outlets throughout the kitchen – I only saw one, and thought that was because of the time period the kitchen was originally built in. Nope! All of the plugs are hidden on the underside of the upper cabinets.

One of my proudest moments was figuring out how to relight the pilot light and the reconnect the gas in our vintage stove. This thing must weigh 800 lbs and has little windows like a submarine. I love it. When it works it’s a beast – it is so incredibly hot! The BTUs are insane and it makes the most delicious roast chicken.

The only updates to the kitchen were the new Cafe Appliances fridge and the banquette and light above the breakfast nook. For the fridge, I knew I needed something with plenty of space (the French doors make the fridge especially efficient), that was easy to clean (each shelf has curved edges), and had a water dispenser. One of my favorite features is that the fridge dispenses hot water for my tea in the morning. Plus, there’s a handy locking feature – James is exactly the right height to think that a water dispenser is exciting entertainment, and that lock has prevented quite a few messes.

One corner of the kitchen that I updated was the banquette. The original banquette was upholstered in a drab green vinyl, and the light fixture was from the 1980s. I had my upholsterer, Marianna from Leija Designs, rip out the banquette and cover it in gorgeous tween from Kravet’s performance line. It’s incredibly durable and has a soft, nubby texture that looks totally mid century. I added the Kiki pendant by Mitzi Lighting, and the whole corner blends perfectly into the butter yellow and chrome kitchen.

Source: https://www.thekitchykitchen.com/kitchen-tour-sponsored-by-cafe-appliances/

Special Sauce: Priya Krishna on Cooking and Being "Indian-ish"

[Priya Krishna photograph: Edlyn D’Souza. Saag photograph: J. Kenji López-Alt]

In part two of my delightful conversation with Priya Krishna, she delves into her book Indian-ish: Recipes and Antics from a Modern American Family in so many unexpected and revealing ways.

"Indian-ish" is not just the name of the book; it also describes her mindset and worldview. "For my whole life I always felt Indian and American but not quite fitting into either of those molds," Krishna says. "It was like I was too American to be Indian and too Indian to be American. But I think that as time has gone by I have found ways to really feel proud of that tension. You know, in my book I talk about how we wear our kurtas with jeans and we listen to Bollywood music alongside our top 40 hits and...these are all equally important parts of what we do. I love Indian food, but I also love Italian food and I don't think that those things need to feel mutually exclusive."

Krishna admits that she is no expert on Indian food. "I don't want to pretend to be an authority on Indian food because I'm not," she says. "I didn't want this book to be like, 'This is your guide to Indian food.' This is a guide to the food that I grew up eating."

Krishna is very comfortable being a missionary for Indian food we can make every day: "I feel like food media just, there is still this mentality that American cooking encompasses Western cuisines and everything else is the other. I still think Indian food is treated as this sort of strange esoteric thing and I really want to change that. I admire people who are doing that for other cuisines. I absolutely adore Andrea Nguyen, who just authored Vietnamese Food Any Day. I hope to do what she's doing for Vietnamese food for Indian food."

As an example, one of the things Krishna hopes to educate people about is the importance of chhonk, which Priya rhapsodizes about in the book. As she describes it, chhonk is "this this really fundamental technique in South Asian cooking and basically the idea is that you're heating up some kind of fat, whether that's tahini or oil, tossing in spices and/or herbs and basically crisping them in the oil. You pour it on top of a dish and it adds this unbelievable texture and extra layer of richness and complexity."

Of course, I asked Krishna what she plans on doing next. "There will always be some kind of collaboration with my mom and me," she says. "I think that the best recipe developers are people who kind of just have this intuition about cooking and I don't think I have that intuition. I think my strengths lie elsewhere. I'd love to develop more recipes, with my mom. My mom the other day told me, 'I think I have enough recipes for three cookbooks.' And I was like, 'Let's not get ahead of ourselves, Mom.'"

There's so much more in my conversation with Krishna that will resonate with Serious Eaters everywhere. But don't take my word for it, listen to the whole episode. I guarantee you won't be disappointed—not even a little bit disappointed-ish.

Special Sauce is available on iTunes, Google Play Music, Soundcloud, Player FM, and Stitcher. You can also find the archive of all our episodes here on Serious Eats and on this RSS feed.

Want to chat with me and our unbelievably talented recipe developers? We're accepting questions for Special Sauce call-in episodes now. Do you have a recurring argument with your spouse over the best way to maintain a cast iron skillet? Have you been working on your mac and cheese recipe for the past five years, but can't quite get it right? Does your brother-in-law make the worst lasagna, and you want to figure out how to give him tips? We want to get to know you and solve all your food-related problems. Send us the whole story at [email protected].

Ed Levine: Welcome to Special Sauce, a Serious Eats' podcast about food and life. Every week on Special Sauce we talk to some of the leading lights of American culture, food folks and non-food folks alike.

Priya Krishna: Yeah, I'd love to develop more recipes with my mom. My mom the other day told me that she has, she was like, "I think I have enough recipes for three cookbooks!" And I was like, "well, let's not get ahead of ourselves, mom."

EL: That's awesome.

EL: Priya Krishna, author of the lovely Indian-ish is still with us. So you're writing for various pubs. By the way, some serious, like high-quality pubs. We're not talking about Weekly Readerr or the Chelsea News. You know, the New Yorker, The New York Times. It's pretty impressive. I bet even your mom was impressed.

PK: Yeah. I think they were both really ... I think they didn't know what was going to happen when I went freelance, and they were a little bit worried, and then-

EL: Once they could tell their friends that Priya had written a piece for The New York Times.

PK: Yeah exactly.

EL: I know I had the same thing with my mother-in-law. Finally, my mother-in-law has something to tell her friends about what her son-in-law does.

PK: Totally. Because otherwise, it was very hard for them to understand what I did for a living.

EL: Yeah, for sure. But how did the book come about?

PK: The seeds of it where kind of planted while I was working it. Lucky Peach, we worked with an amazing editor, this woman named Rika Alanik at Clarkson Potter.

EL: Who was the assistant for my very first book.

EL: Wow, When she was an undergraduate at Yale and a friend of my nieces.

PK: That's amazing! Wow! I absolutely love her and she edited all of our books and we had a book come out called Power Vegetables and my mom contributed more recipes than anyone to that cookbook because I'd asked her for recipes and Rika in particular had just kind of fallen in love with the recipes my mom contributed. Also loved my mom's story and she felt like that story felt like one that was really relevant and that there also wasn't a cookbook that made Indian food feel like simple and doable on a weeknight.

EL: Got it.

PK: And so she was like, "I want a book that kind of marries those two ideas." That first gen, second gen narrative and the idea of a really straight forward and accessible Indian cookbook that doesn't feel the need to adhere to traditions or explain to you all the different regional cuisines of India but also does move past the food that you see in restaurants. And she sort of painted this picture for me and then I wrote a proposal and as I was writing the proposal it was one of those things where it just all clicked. I was like, "oh, yeah obviously this is a book."

EL: That's fascinating. So it was her idea. We should explain that Rika, after being my assistant, which didn't last very long because she was still in college, became an editor at a publishing house. So she really knew her way around every aspect of publishing when she became an agent.

PK: Yeah.

EL: You say the book is maybe first and foremost about identity.

PK: Mm-hmm,

EL: And that couldn't have come from Rika. We know that comes from you.

PK: Yeah, I mean it all kind of comes back to the title, Indian-ish. It's very apt descriptor for the food in the book, but it's also an apt descriptor for how I feel. You know? For my whole life I always felt Indian and American but not quite fitting into either of those molds. It was like I was too American to be Indian and too Indian to be American. But I think that as time as gone by I have found ways to really feel proud of that tension. You know, in my book I talk about how we wear our kurtas with jeans and we listen to Bollywood music alongside our top 40 hits and this is just, these are all equally important parts of what we do. I love Indian food, but I also love Italian food and I don't think that those things need to feel mutually exclusive. Even though growing up I thought that was the case.

EL: It's fascinating. So it's like you're wrestling with issues of assimilation and identity.

PK: Mm-hmm.

EL: The way a lot of people do.

PK: Yeah, and it almost felt like even more unfair because I was like, I was born and raised here. I am American just like everyone else so why am I made to feel like I don't fit in here?

EL: You probably wrestled with that well before you wrote the book.

PK: Yeah, that was like my entire elementary, middle school, and high school experience.

EL: On of the things that I loved about the book is that you wrote in the book, "Hello". It's like welcome to Indian-ish.

PK: Yeah.

EL: I was struck by that because for a long time on Serious Eats the home page had, "Welcome Serious Eater" and now I'm actually quite annoyed that I allowed some designer to have me take it off because I think the book is very welcoming and I think a welcome is really important. Especially when you're trying to communicate ideas that haven't been put forward before.

PK: Mm-hmm.

EL: You know, this whole idea of you're welcoming people to the world that you inherited and that you're trying to make sense of as you move along in your life.

PK: Yeah, and I also wanted the book to sort of sound like a conversation. Like I was just a friend, standing next to you in the kitchen, just chatting with you.

EL: Yeah, yeah.

PK: So I wanted to keep the conversation really chatty. I want people to feel unintimidated. I wanted them to feel welcomed. Exactly, yeah.

EL: Let's define the "ish" and I know you say that it was just a place holder

PK: Mm-hmm, yeah.

EL: and then it became the title. What does the "ish" mean to you?

PK: It's just like a representative of all of the things that have influenced my family's identity and our food. You know, it's the travels around the world that we took. The fact that I grew up in Dallas, TX and the influences from that. The television shows I watched and the movies I was obsessed with. All of that is in this book and all of that encompasses the "ish"

EL: So you wrote about what you know.

PK: Yeah, and I think that like for me that was the only cookbook that I could write. I don't want to pretend to be an authority on Indian food because I'm not. I didn't want this book to be like, this is your guide to Indian food, and more just like this is a guide to the food that I grew up eating.

EL: It's funny that you mention that because neither you nor your mother had any formal training, cooking either at a restaurant or going to cooking school but you felt like you had something to say and you could communicate it best through food.

PK: Mm-hmm.

EL: And that was your jumping off point for the book.

PK: Yeah.

EL: So did it ever give you pause that you hadn't devoted years to perfecting your cooking craft?

PK: You know, I felt really self conscious about it at first but I think this book is kind of- it's a reflection of exactly who I am, which is that I'm not a super skilled cook who spends hours in the kitchen. I am a pretty lazy cook and you know, my knife skills are fine, not great and this book is reflective of that. There are a lot of recipes that are very forgiving if you don't have good knife skills. These are recipes that I make on a weeknight because if something had like five sub-recipes there's just no way that you would find me making that on a Tuesday night. So I learned to sort of lean into those things that I felt really self conscious about and make that into a cookbook that felt very real to where I am in my life now.

EL: You sort of answer this in the book and I'd love for you to answer it now. In the frequently asked questions about why should I trust you. So why should we trust you?

PK: Well, I think first and foremost, I think you should trust me because you should trust my mom because she's an incredible cook. Where I am a super lazy, not as skilled in the kitchen cook, like my mom has been doing this for a really, really long time. She has learned on the job and she is super skilled, super intuitive. These recipes are all written by her. I just edited them, had them tested and went through that whole process. So I think one, because of my mom. I think the second is like, I think that as a food writer, I kind of like understood, as someone who has worked on many, many cookbooks and read many, many cookbooks, I kind of understood, okay what does it take to write a cookbook that people will actually use. That will make an impact. That was something I thought about a lot. I also put a ton of effort into making sure that these recipes worked.

EL: Trustworthy.

PK: Yeah, I spent a month doing testing and then I had each of them tested by three amateur cooks. I removed the recipes that got mixed feedback and only kept in the greatest hits. This is a book that- the most frustrating thing is when you buy all these ingredients and you put effort into a recipe and it doesn't work. I didn't want that to be the case.

EL: Got it. No, no. That's the death of all of us.

PK: Yeah.

EL: You write that Indian food is everyday food.

PK: Mm-hmm.

EL: It seems like that's an important thing that you wanted to communicate.

PK: Yeah, I mean I think there's this perception that, many of the publications that I write for, that they treat foods that are not western foods almost as though they're like projects. Like, there's no way you can make Indian food, or Middle Eastern food, or Korean food your average weeknight. That's something you have to devote special time to. And I just wanted to rid people of that notion. This is the food that I grew up eating. This is the food that millions and millions of people eat every single day on Monday through Friday.

EL: So you talk about spices a lot in the book.

PK: Mm-hmm.

EL: Give us a one minute primer on Indian spices.

PK: Sure. The spices are what add the depth and complexity to a lot of Indian dishes. Not every Indian dish has spices though, and that's evident in the book, and not every Indian dish requires you to make a customized spice blend. I feel like that's something that really intimidates people about Indian food. They're like, "well I have to buy a spice grinder and blend up spices." A lot of the dishes, the spices are left whole because they add- cumin seeds taste really different when you eat them whole versus ground. They add a really interesting texture. They taste a little bit different. They're a little bit more intense. So I wanted this book to sort of teach you how to cook with spices in an every day, accessible way, because that's how my mom cooked with them. I also wanted to teach the basics about spices. Like the idea that you have to toast them, either dry or in some kind of fat to really activate their aromatics. The concept of a chhonk, which is when you-

EL: Yes! We have to talk about the chhonk because first of all I never seen the word and we should have a spelling test for everyone who's listening. How do you spell chhonk? C-H-H-O-N-K.

PK: So the chhonk, I get a lot of people emailing me saying, "that's not how you spell chhonk" but chhonk, the way that I spell it in the book is it's sort of a phonetic spelling. It's a Hindi word. And in Hindi there's a "juh" and then there's a "chu" which is a more breathy and this is the "chu".

EL: This is the chhonk.

PK: Yeah, well it's like a little more. It's like chhonk.

EL: Okay. I'm never gonna get it. I can tell.

PK: Give it a little more H.

EL: Okay.

EL: Yeah, so what about the magic of chhonk?

PK: So it's this really fundamental technique in South Asian cooking and basically the idea is that you're heating up some kind of fat, whether that's tahini or oil, tossing in spices and/or herbs and basically crisping them in the oil. You pour it on top of a dish and it adds this unbelievable texture and extra layer of richness, and complexity.

EL: And you say in the book, you can put it on anything, salads, vegetables, meat. It just-

PK: Nachos.

EL: You chhonk it.

PK: Chhonk nachos are unbelievable.

EL: I love that. That's so great.

EL: So in the book you write about- is that how you pronounce your mother's name?

PK: Ritu.

EL: Ritu's tips. And I feel the need to recite Ritu's tips because I do not live up to many of them. And I want to know if you live up to many of them. So I'm gonna quickly go through them. Taste every dish for lime and salt. Never underestimate the power of a statement necklace. I wouldn't know about that. And statement earrings to go with the statement necklace. Change out of your work clothes as soon as you get home. You'll immediately feel more relaxed. Always take the stairs if you can. Appetizers are overrated and distract from all the hard work you put into a meal. Two and a half inches are as high of a heel as you'll ever need. Anything taller is a recipe for bunions. Use cloth napkins even if you're using paper plates. They make everything look better. Better to be overdressed than to be underdressed. Invest in nice pottery you will make your food look ten times more impressive. For dinner parties try to be done cooking food at least two hours before guests come over so you can have a pre-party glass of wine. I have never mastered that. So how many of those have you mastered?

PK: I'm still working on a lot of them, I would say.

EL: That's like an advanced course in gracious living.

PK: Yeah. It's really funny, the one that she cut out that I'm really bummed- I kinda wish I could put it back in, is this is more my dad's rule for living graciously which is, poop in your house in the comfort of your own toilet.

EL: That's for the blooper reel.

PK: But okay, I do, I try and take the stairs. That's one that I do. I feel like I'm always like a statement necklace or statement earrings person, never both and I need to get better at doing both. My pottery collection is very very limited. I just have a tiny apartment and that's stuff chips really easily. I do love the tip about when you come home, changing out of your work clothes. That I found, that's an easy one and I do always feel more relaxed.

EL: Did you initially fight all of your mother's tips?

PK: No, these weren't the things that we fought about.

EL: Got it.

PK: Those were things were I was like, "okay she's got this figured out."

EL: Do you feel that she's right about the heels?

PK: Yeah, I think she's 100% right about the heels. Like, you know-

EL: I feel that way about my heels.

PK: I have since changed my philosophy on shoes. When I was younger I was like always really into the high heels and now I completely agree.

EL: The book has really catapulted you in really interesting ways, right. How has the book changed your work life and how you do your work?

PK: I feel like I never set out to be an ambassador for Indian cooking but I guess I have been. I mean, there are obviously some really amazing and talented people out there who are also blazing a trail. People like, Tejal Rao and Khushbu Shah and Sonia Chopra who are doing unbelievable work to sort of get stories about Indian cooking out there. I just sort of, as I'm on my book tour now and it's the most exciting to meet other South Asians who are like, "I feel seen in this cookbook. I had never opened the Bon Appetit YouTube channel and seen someone cooking with curry leaves." That's cool and exciting to me. I've been lucky enough to be given these platforms and I wanna use them to try to change things.

EL: You do have in your own way a missionary zeal.

PK: Yeah, I mean-

EL: In a quiet way.

PK: It's getting- I'm getting less and less quiet about it. I feel like food media just, there is still this mentality that American cooking encompasses western cuisines and everything else is the other. I still think Indian food is treated as this sort of strange esoteric thing and I really want to change that. I admire people who are doing that for other cuisines. I absolutely adore Andrea Nguyen who just authored Vietnamese Food Everyday. I hope to do what she's doing for Vietnamese food for Indian food.

EL: And you're doing lot of video.

PK: Mm-hmm .

EL: For Bon Ap, and for yourself, and maybe you'll come do stuff for Serious Eats. Will you come do some videos for Serious Eats?

PK: Yeah, of course!

EL: What are the things that you found hardest to master in doing videos?

PK: What's funny is people always ask like, "what kind of training did you receive before you did video?" And the answer is none. At Bon Appetit they just throw you in front of the camera. There's no script. There's no nothing. They're just like, "just, go. Just do it." And they need you to just immediately be able to while the onions are sauteing just talk to the camera and say things. Just to be likable but there's no way to-, you can't- there's no formula for being likable. And it's-

EL: I always used to say to people, that used to do a lot of media consulting and I once told Jeffrey Steingarten d this, he and I did a show together and I said "don't worry Jeffrey, if you just come across as likable and believable on TV, everything else falls into place." And I think that's true but Jeffrey said to me in response, "you'll take care of the likable and I'll take care of the believable."

PK: And it's also terrifying to cook on camera. Like I said, my knife skills aren't great and it was really tough having a camera zooming in while I was doing a not great job of chopping onions. I'm getting slowly, but surely better but I'm just like, "I wish they would not take video of me cutting onions." Or you know turning the heat on medium high and being like okay now medium high heat and the recipe person in the back being like, "well your recipe says medium heat." All right, medium heat it is. Being terrified that you're gonna mess something up on camera. But I think the beauty, at least of Bon Appetit videos, is they kind of, they love leaning into the mistakes and making it seem as real as possible.

EL: Yeah, 'cause I've always wondered whether that gestalt is real spontaneous, or faux spontaneous.

PK: No, it's all very real. You're just in the- you're filming for such a long time that things just happen and their editors are very good at just piecing it together into a really fun ten minute segment.

EL: You didn't set out to become a star. You're not trying to become the Madonna of Indian cooking, who had this insane focus and ambition. I know people who knew her when she was coming up. But in your own quiet way you actually do have this laser like focus. Do you think that in part comes from your mom?

PK: My mom just has always known how to hustle and she just instilled that hustle in me.

EL: Amazing. That's what I took away. Your mom is a phenomenal hustler in the best sense of the word.

PK: Yeah.

EL: So what's next? Like are you developing- do you feel confident enough to develop your own recipes?

PK: There were always be some kind of collaboration with my mom and me. I think that the best recipe developers are people who kind of just have this intuition about cooking and I don't think I have that intuition. I think my strengths lie elsewhere. So yeah, I'd love to develop more recipes, with my mom. My mom the other day told me that she has, she was like "I think I have enough recipes for three cookbooks." And I was like, "let's not get ahead of ourselves mom."

EL: That's awesome!

PK: But she's set to retire this year so you know, so who knows?

EL: Exactly. Give us three recipes that if someone had just bought the book that they should try.

PK: The first one I think is one that I think has taken off most out of all the recipes in the book and it's the spinach and feta cooked like Saag Paneer or Saag Feta and it's basically like a super, super delicious coriander and cardamom spinach gravy that my mom discovered you can sub out the paneer for cubes of briny salty feta and it is just this wonderful marriage. You top it with a chhonk made of cumin seeds and red chili powder. And it's-

EL: There's that chhonk again.

PK: It's perfect over rice with roti. That's a fantastic starter recipe.

EL: All right.

PK: I also love the roti pizza. It's on the cover, it's probably made more than anything else in our house. The blend of red onions and cheddar cheese and cilantro chutney over roti is just this beautiful marriage. It almost tastes like Indian nachos is kind of how I think about it.

EL: I like that. I like that.

PK: And then the third one I think that everyone should make is the dahi toast, which is like my mom's take on a, almost like an Indian grilled cheese sandwich. You mix yogurt with cilantro and onions and chilis and then you spread it on sourdough bread, you griddle it and then top it with a mustard seed and curry leaf chhonk. You never would think yogurt inside a sandwich, how can that possibly work? But it just works in the most amazing way. It's this tangy, crunchy, bright, spicy sandwich and you know.

EL: It's the essence of Indian-ish.

PK: Yeah, it is. And on the sourdough bread. The sourdough bread is key. And it is just-

EL: Nothing Indian about sourdough bread.

PK: Yeah, my mom just went to California in the 80's, discovered sourdough bread, thought it was awesome-

EL: Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco.

PK: And thought it was amazing. But it's things like that, that my mom tried sourdough bread and was like yeah know, in thahi toast the richness of the spices would pair really well with the tang of sourdough bread. That, those are just connections she was able to put together.

EL: Got it. So now it's time for the all you can answer special sauce buffet.

EL: Who's at your last supper, no family allowed. Can be anybody, but no family allowed because everyone always says their family.

PK: Yeah, I know. I wish it could just be like my entire extended family.

EL: See? Can't do it.

PK: That would be great. I feel like I would love to have Mindy Kaling there because she's like, I just look up to everything she has done and I feel like she would be really funny, entertaining, because it's a dinner. And I then I would love to have the Obamas. Imagine like the Obamas, me, and Mindy Kaling.

EL: I like this.

PK: That seems like a great-

EL: Yeah that's a great four-some.

PK: A great meal, yeah.

EL: One more person and then we're done.

PK: Uh, ooh one more person. How about Richard Gere? I feel like he'd be a great conversationalist. That's like a little homage, if my mom can't be there she'd send Richard Gere.

EL: But would you demand that he ballroom dance with you?

PK: I would definitely demand that he like perform monologues from some of his movies.

EL: Got it.

PK: Definitely. Maybe the one from Shall We Dance.

EL: So what are you eating?

PK: So I've always thought that my last meal would be like the first course would be like a traditional Indian meals with all of my favorite things. Like the roti pizza, some [00:23:56] but then after that I think there would just be an assortment of noodles around the world. So there would be like khao soi-

EL: From Thailand.

PK: There would be like maybe some kind of pesto pasta situation, maybe a Bolognese, maybe a pho, a ramen.

EL: A ramen. I like it.

PK: Just like a long buffet of-

EL: Noodles from around the world. I like this. That's- can I come?

PK: Yeah, of course. Yeah, all are invited. I hear the Obamas are gonna be there.

EL: So what do you cook when there's nothing in the house to eat?

PK: I make this tomato- it's like this tomato cheese toast. I toast a piece of bread, I melt, I put tomatoes, cheddar cheese on top and melt it in the toaster oven. And top it with chop masala and have it with a glass of milk. That is what I eat.

EL: The glass of milk is interesting.

PK: The milk is critical. It cuts through the cheese and the intensity of the spices. It's really important. And I feel like people are skeptical, but you just have to try it.

EL: All right. I'll try it.

EL: So what's in your fridge most of the time?

PK: Usually like three or four kinds of cheese. I love cheese. And then like a lot of different kinds of specialty butters.

EL: Interesting.

PK: Because I just love like toast with butter. It's very-

EL: So specialty as in French butter, high butter, fat butters, goat-

PK: Your Kerigolds, yeah.

EL: I assume there's ghee, clarified butter.

PK: There is but there's not always ghee. Ghee is not something I always have around. Usually, it's really funny whenever my mom comes to visit, she'll just like throw a few sticks of butter in a pot and like skim of the top and just make ghee and pour it in a jar and she'll have ghee for me. But one of the reasons why in the book it's ghee or olive oils because my mom kind of like trained me that you can cook Indian food with olive oil. She loves the fruity taste and the way that it compliments Indian flavor.

EL: I love that. That's the essence of Indian-ish.

PK: It's not a given the ghee is in my fridge and then a lot of yogurt. I would say yogurt is probably the food that I eat more than anything else.

EL: Is it your father's yogurt?

PK: I wish it were my father's yogurt but I just don't always have time to make homemade yogurt. So it's often just the convenient store brand but it's always full fat yogurt. I feel very strongly about this.

EL: Have you had White Mustache?

PK: Yeah I've had White Mustache. It's good. I'm not as into like the really fancy yogurts. I like just getting a tub of the really basic stuff.

EL: But full fat.

PK: But full fat.

EL: Got it.

EL: what's on your nightstand right now, book wise?

PK: I am reading Balli Kaur Jaswal, she wrote this story called Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows and she recently wrote a follow up to that called The Unlikely Adventures of the Shergill Sisters and it's about-

EL: You know I actually wrote those books under a pen name.

PK: And I love reading Indian American or just Indian authors generally. And so this is a book about these sisters who go back to India after their mother dies. And I grew up reading books where the characters didn't look or sound like me so I feel like I'm retroactively reading all of these books. And I can relate to the characters.

EL: Got it. That's great.

EL: And then of course, I think Serious Eater is on your night stand.

PK: Yeah, well as soon as I can get a copy of it. I'm planning on bringing it on book tour with me. So that I can read it.

EL: So who's had the greatest influence on you in your career? Is there one person that's been really helpful and meaningful?

PK: Yeah, I think that person would be Tejal Rao, who writes for the New York Times. She and I met when I was at Lucky Peach really early on because our mothers, well my mother and her cousin introduced us in one of those, they way that like moms are like "You should meet this girl."

EL: And she's from Goa, is she not?

PK: No, Tejal kind of grew up all across the world.

EL: Got it.

PK: She has this really amazing, sort of worldly upbringing. And we met and just immediately clicked. And she is someone who has just been like the most relentless advocate for me, has made introductions, has pushed me to believe in myself when I was feeling doubtful. And she's someone who as she's risen up in the ranks and been in positions of power, she's not one of those people who's like, "well, I want to be the only Indian person or the only woman of color" she has brought up other people of color with her and I just really really admire that. And yeah, I don't know what I would do without her.

EL: So who would you love to have a one on one lunch with just to see how he or she thinks?

PK: One person who's mind I'm fascinated by is Brooks Headley, who owns Superiority Burger. I feel like if there's someone-

EL: He's been in that chair and he is, he has the quirkiest, most interesting mind you can imagine.

PK: I would love to just- I've interviewed him for stories before but sometimes I wish I could just peek inside his brain and understand how it works.

EL: I totally understand that. I like that.

EL: It's just been declared Priya Krishna day all over the world. What's happening on that day?

PK: We're eating a lot of noodles and listening to a lot of Bollywood music. I would say. There's just Bollywood music just booming from every speaker everywhere. And we're also eating a lot of pastries, like pies specifically.

EL: Pies.

PK: Tons of pie. I'm very much like a pie over cake person.

EL: So this is like a carb festival with the noodles and the pie.

PK: It's raining pies, we're all eating noodles.

EL: I love this. I want it to be Priya Krishna day!

EL: Well thank you so much for sharing your special sauce with us, Priya Krishna. Pick up a copy of Indian-ish, Recipes and Antics from a Modern American Family. And you can find Priya's writing in the New York Times, and Bon Appetit and hopefully Serious Eats again soon. And you can also see Priya's videos all over YouTube. Anyways, she's everywhere. Thank you so much.

PK: Thank you for having me.

EL: And so long Serious Eaters, we'll see you next time.

This post may contain links to Amazon or other partners; your purchases via these links can benefit Serious Eats. Read more about our affiliate linking policy.

Source: https://www.seriouseats.com/2019/06/special-sauce-priya-krishna-2-2.html

You Butternut Pout

My husband and I were recently talking about how our eating habits have changed since we got married 14 years ago.  I was an AWFUL cook.  Like, couldn't toast toast kind of bad.  For the first 3 years of our marriage, we survived on tater tot casseroles, chicken squares (gag), Hamburger Helper, and pizza.  We eventually moved onto a variety of meals to make up for those lost three years, but only in the recent years have we shifted toward a healthier diet.  I'm not saying we're perfect eaters 100% of the time.  We still love all the "bad" stuff, too.  But these days we practice the motto, "everything in moderation".  On nights when we want something that could easily double as a "bad" meal, we opt for this dish.  Savory with a touch of sweetness all wrapped into one.  So you butternut pout (see what I did there?!) because this is just as tasty and sinful as anything I ever cooked those first three years of marriage!---see>

BUTTERNUT SQUASH NOODLES WITH SAUSAGE & SPINACH

1 pkg. butternut squash noodles

2 tsp. minced garlic

1 tsp. + 1/2 TBSP. olive oil

1/2 yellow onion, sliced

1 link turkey sausage, sliced

1 C. baby spinach

sea salt & cracked pepper, to taste

Optional

crushed red pepper flakes, to taste

shredded parmesan cheese, to tase

Preheat oven to 400.  Line a baking sheet with foil.  

Toss salt, pepper, olive oil, and squash in a gallon sized ziplock baggie.  Seal and shake until the noodles are coated.  Evenly spread noodles out onto the baking sheet and cook for 10-12 minutes or until al dente.

You can spiralize your own butternut squash OR take the easy way out like I did and buy a pre-spiralized package.  You can typically find these in the produce department close to the bagged salads and whatnot.  

While the squash is cooking, saute the onion, garlic, & sausage in a skillet with 1/2 tbsp. of olive oil over medium heat.  Cook until sausage is browned and onions are translucent.

Remove squash from the oven and transfer to the skillet with the sausage and onion.  Add a cup of baby spinach to the mix and cook over low heat until spinach is wilted.  I added some crushed red pepper because I like things a little hot.  If you're into that sort of thing, I strongly recommend that optional addition.

If you're so inclined top your serving with a sprinkle of shredded parmesan.

This is one of my go-to dishes.  Quick enough to whip up for a weekday lunch or filling enough as a dinner for two.  Extremely flavorful and low in carbs, too (if you're keeping track).  This is one of those recipes that never gets old!

Source: http://pearls-handcuffs-happyhour.blogspot.com/2018/08/you-butternut-pout.html

48 Hours in Savannah: The Perfect Girl’s Weekend

Planning a girl’s weekend in Savannah? I’ve got your ultimate 48 hour travel guide to Savannah, Georgia where I show you where to stay, what to eat and what to do!

Whether you’re a busy mom of little ones like me, a single gal working 50+ hours a week or a retired empty nester, I think we can all agree: nothing beats a girl’s getaway!

After having such a blast with friends in Charleston and Austin, I couldn’t wait to bring my gal pals to another new-to-me city: Savannah, Georgia!

Rich in history and full of Southern charm, I couldn’t wait to spend 48 hours exploring all of the best food and taking in the beauty of this coastal town on the Georgia coast.

After having such an incredible experience at the Andaz Scottsdale, I couldn’t wait to check out the Andaz Savannah located in the heart of downtown within walking distance of boutique shops, restaurants, bars and the river.

The eclectic boutique hotel offers modern guest rooms, artful décor and a relaxed urban vibe.

When visiting, be sure to carve out time to relax by the pool. The sunshine and warm weather was a welcome treat after the long Michigan winter we all experienced here in the north!

Once you’ve checked in, head to Blends Coffee Boutique to refuel after a long day of travel. Located on Broughton St., it’s the perfect starting point for your afternoon of exploration in Savannah.

From Blends, begin exploring all of the local boutique shops located throughout Savannah. We found that the city was extremely walkable and if it got too hot outside, there was always a fun, air conditioned shop waiting for us to pop inside and cool off.

A few of my favorite boutique shops in Savannah include Copper Penny, RMC Boutique, Joseph’s Clothier, The Paris Market and Carlisle of York.

After all that shopping, you’ll probably be in the mood for a sweet treat. There’s no better spot for fresh baked goods than Savannah’s very own Back in the Day Bakery! A 2015 James Beard Nominee, you can’t beat the vintage pastries and unique twists on traditional baked goods.

While you’re in the neighborhood, keep your eyes peeled for the beautiful murals sprinkled throughout.

Here’s a great guide to show you where you can find the many murals of Savannah.

Once you’ve had downtown back at the hotel to refresh and recharge, I suggest starting off your first evening with happy hour cocktails at Artillery Bar.

Offering beer, wine and craft cocktails, I was very impressed with the creative use of fresh herbs and other unique ingredients such as pickle juice in the “Bit of a Pickle” cocktail.

For dinner, I have two great options for you starting with The Public Kitchen & Bar located directly next door. Be sure to try the fried green tomatoes and crab cocktail – they were amazing!

If you’re looking for a more upscale dining experience, swing by Local 11 Ten. We were lucky enough to visit when they had lobster stuffed fried zucchini blossoms on the menu. They were as incredible as they sound!

After dinner, swing by The Peregrin rooftop bar for a night cap and a snack to finish off night one in Savannah.

Do yourself a favor: order the frose! Perfectly balanced, not-too-sweet and frozen thick, it’s the ultimate drink to keep you cool on a hot Savannah evening.

Oh and if you love a good mural photo as much as we do, you’re in luck – Peregrin has their own photo opportunities in every direction on the rooftop!

It’s day two in Savannah which means it’s time for another cup of Joe! The Coffee Fox is not to be missed during your visit to Savannah. The award winning coffee shop is centrally located in the heart of downtown Savannah. Fuel up – it’s time for a workout!

To get our blood flowing and start day two on the right foot, we decided to take a fun Yoga HIIT class at The Hub Savannah.

Offering yoga, spin and HIIT classes, you will love the friendly staff, spacious studio and conveniently located smoothie and juice bar located directly inside.

For lunch on day two in Savannah, get your seafood fix at The Savannah Seafood Shack. Casual, family-friendly and a little messy, it’s exactly what I look for when I visit a coastal town.

Pro Tip: Order the seafood cone with fried shrimp! It’s out of this world and so much fun to eat!

After lunch, it’s time to go on a dolphin tour around Tybee Island!

Family owned and operated since 1992, Captain Mike’s Dolphin Tours are the ultimate way to explore Tybee Island.

During our 90 minute cruise we saw at least 80 dolphins. It was truly a site to be seen.

Added bonus? There’s a bar next door where you can grab drinks to bring on board. The dolphin tour was the ultimate way to enjoy the sunshine.

Before dinner, it’s time to enjoy another beautiful Savannah rooftop bar: The Grove. Located in the heart of City Market, I highly recommend the glass of bubbles that comes with its very own homemade popsicle.

The shared plates were perfect for sharing and the cocktail menu offers a little something for everyone. This rooftop is not to be missed during your girl’s weekend in Savannah!

For dinner on your final evening in Savannah, be sure to book a table at Husk. Hands down the best meal of our entire visit, Executive Chef and Savannah native, Chris Hathcock, reinterprets the bounty of the surrounding area with ingredient-driven cuisine redefining what it means to cook and eat in the South.

Centrally located in the heart of Savannah’s Landmark Historic District, be sure to book your table ahead of time as this hot spot books up weeks and months in advance.

For brunch on day 3 in Savannah, head to The Collins Quarter.

Best known for their avocado toast, all of us enjoyed everything we ordered including salads, sandwiches and egg dishes.

After brunch, explore the many beautiful squares of Savannah with a casual walking tour of the city. Forsyth fountain is a must but truly everywhere you go you will find beauty, charm and breathtaking architecture.

Are you familiar with the phrase “Keeping up with the Jones’?” Well, it all started on Jones St. in Savannah!

After exploring this gorgeous street, it didn’t take much to figure out where the saying got started.

Check out these self-guided walking tours for maps and more information on where to walk throughout Savannah.

While I’m not a fan of trying to keep up with the Jones’ in real life, it sure was fun exploring Jones St. in Savannah.

Before heading home, it’s time for one final meal in Savannah at The Vault Kitchen and Market.

A renovated, local banking institution turned industrially chic eatery, the Asian inspired menu was full of my favorites including dumplings, seaweed salad and grilled calamari. A must during your visit to Savannah!

Needless to say, we had a blast in Savannah and I am already missing the southern charm and warm weather!

Your passport is waiting.

Disclosure: Visit Savannah provided our hotel accommodations. Photography by Alejandro Photography. 

Planning a trip? Check out my Pinterest board!

Source: https://thelemonbowl.com/48-hours-in-savannah-the-perfect-girls-weekend/

Creamy Chicken and Green Onion Hand Pie Sticks

Creamy Chicken and Green Onion Hand Pie Sticks

I am a fan of anything creamy that has chicken and a crust – like a delicious chicken pot pie. Don’t skimp on the bottom crust through! We made these super cute Creamy Chicken and Green Onion Hand Pie Sticks for you. These hand pie sticks have a really great proportion of crust to filling – and maybe even a little generous on the crust part. So if you’re a carb lover these are for you. These keep pretty well so you can make a bath for dinner and then have them for some lunches too! I love serving these with a super simple green salad on the side. It’s all you need! Enjoy these hand pie sticks :) ♥ Teri

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Creamy Chicken and Green Onion Hand Pie Sticks

Makes 8 Ingredients: filling: 2 cooked, boneless skinless chicken breasts, shredded 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened 1 cup white cheddar cheese 1/2 cup sour cream 2 green onions, thinly sliced

1 recipe cream cheese crust (divided into two discs and chilled) 1 1/2 tablespoons sesame seeds 1 egg, beaten

Directions: 1. Preheat oven to 425˚F 2. Combine filling ingredients in a large mixing bowl and completely mix together. Set aside. 3. To assemble: Roll 1 chilled dough out onto a lightly floured surface into a 13” x 9” rectangle and brush surface with egg wash. 4. Scoop filling into a piping bag or resealable plastic bag and cut a 1/2 inch opening at the tip. 5. Leaving a 1/2 inch border around the edge and beginning on the left (13 inch) edge, pipe 8 lines of filling, 2 inches apart. 6. Roll other disc of dough to a 13”x 9” rectangle. Sprinkle sesame seeds over dough and using a rolling pin, gently embed sesame seeds into dough. 7. Carefully lift and place sesame studded dough over filling topped dough and gently press down between filling and edge to seal. 8. Slice to separate each hand pie stick and using the back of a fork, crimp edge of each stick. 9. Transfer sticks to a parchment lined baking sheet, about 1 inch apart. 10. Brush each stick with remaining egg wash and sprinkle with sea salt and cracked black pepper. 9. Bake hand pie sticks in the oven for 20 to 25 minutes or golden brown and cooked through. 10. Allow savory hand pie sticks to cool, about 15 minutes, before serving.

Source: http://www.spoonforkbacon.com/2018/09/creamy-chicken-and-green-onion-hand-pie-sticks/

Special Sauce: Nik Sharma on the Kitchen as Laboratory

[Nik Sharma photograph: Courtesy of Nik Sharma. Meatloaf photograph: J. Kenji López-Alt]

This week, in part two of my conversation with chef and food writer Nik Sharma, we dug into the science-based approach to cooking that informs his terrific new cookbook, Seasons: Big Flavors, Beautiful Food. 

Given Nik’s background in medical research, it made sense to learn that he thinks of his kitchen as just another lab. All of us, he pointed out, experiment in one way or another in the kitchen, even if we’re just tweaking a family recipe. In his case, though, Nik explains that he “had that training to do that…one of the things I really like about recipes, [is that] the way they're written is exactly the way I would prepare my buffers in biochemistry or in genetics… We call them recipes, we pretty much use the terminology, everything is arranged by volume or when it has to go in.” He even admits to using lab notebooks when he’s developing a recipe. It’s that analytical approach that he says allows him to make each iteration of a recipe better.

That said, Nik shied away from making Seasons read overly scientific. Instead, “I kind of wanted to introduce myself to people,” he said. “At the same time, I wanted to be really approachable, so someone who is intimated by being too science-y kind of understands that the simplest things that they're doing in the kitchen actually have a scientific basis to them.” He talked about something as simple as bruising an herb like mint to extract essential oils and introduce them to a cocktail. “You know, you're breaking those cells to release those essential oils so then they get solubilized in whatever solvent they're in, so like water.”

The moral of Nik’s story? Even if science intimidates you, “what you're doing in the kitchen is a form of science,” and even when it goes awry, learning from your mistakes is half the fun. Nik believes, like Bob Dylan once sang, "There's no success like failure and failure's no success at all.” When it comes to cooking, he told me "I want people to understand that when you walk in to the kitchen, you don't have to be compelled to succeed the first time, I think that's something very cultural where there is this impetus to push people for success, but I think we forget sometimes that it's okay to fail because it's your failures that you remember, you'll never remember what you succeeded at or why, but it's when you fail you start to remember what was wrong, how can you fix it, and it makes you much wiser."

I loved hearing what everyone's eating on Nik Sharma Day, but if I told you what it is, you might not listen to the whole episode. And that, serious eaters, would be a big mistake.

Special Sauce is available on iTunes, Google Play Music, Soundcloud, Player FM, and Stitcher. You can also find the archive of all our episodes here on Serious Eats and on this RSS feed.

Want to chat with me and our unbelievably talented recipe developers? We're accepting questions for Special Sauce call-in episodes now. Do you have a recurring argument with your spouse over the best way to maintain a cast iron skillet? Have you been working on your mac and cheese recipe for the past five years, but can't quite get it right? Does your brother-in-law make the worst lasagna, and you want to figure out how to give him tips? We want to get to know you and solve all your food-related problems. Send us the whole story at [email protected].

Ed Levine: Welcome to Special Sauce, Serious Eats' podcast about food and life. Every week on Special Sauce, we talk to some of the leading lights of American culture, food folks and non-food folks alike.

Nik Sharma: We don't think about these things all the time, but actually what you're doing in the kitchen is a form of science and in a lot of the experiments I did when I was in research, we would use similar things like a blender, a Waring blender or a mortar and pestle to crush cells, use glass speeds, you know all those kinds of things. And it was fascinating that we were doing the same thing in the kitchen.

EL: Today we're talking to the supremely gifted Nik Sharma, the author of Season: Big Flavors, Beautiful Food, and the creator of the amazing blog, A Brown Table. He also writes a column for the San Francisco Chronicle called “A Brown Kitchen.” So, when you started putting "Brown" in your titles, whether it's the brown table, or brown kitchen, was that in part your way of saying this is who I am, and I'm proud of it, and, you know, just live with it everybody.

NS: There were two reasons behind it. One was the fact that at the time, brown wood was a popular prop in photography.

EL: Oh.

NS: And I couldn't come up with the name, I'm really not good at coming up with leads and book titles. And obviously blog names, too. And so that was the idea behind that. And the other thing I said, well, it's also playful because I'm brown, and I think it works.

EL: Got it. So you're doing the newspaper column, and how did the book come about?

NS: At the time what happened I had won my second IACP award for my blog. And when that happened, an agent reached out to me to write a cookbook. And I wasn't sure because a couple of years ago, I had reached out to agents who had kind of turned me down and said I didn't have anything to write about.

EL: Nice, that's such a great reaction, that really makes you want to just keep on going, doesn't it?

NS: It does, it actually does. You know why? Because if you come from the science world, your professors will tell you that you have really nothing to tell.

EL: That's awesome. So your science background really came in handy when the rejection started coming in.

NS: Right. I think one of the things with rejection is you have to learn how to take it with a grain of salt and learn to figure out what your point of view is, whether you're in science, whether your theory is right or wrong, and whether you have the tools to get there. And so it made me reevaluate my thoughts and whether I should really write a cookbook, whether really the agent was right did I really have something new to tell people? And why was my book going to be different from everybody else's? You know because, as you know, there are so many cookbooks that come out each year.

EL: Absolutely.

NS: And I think one of the misconceptions that I had early on was that a cookbook would be the next stage in my career but something that I had to do, which isn't true. There was a point when I told myself I don't think I need to do a cookbook also. So when the agent reached out to me, I wasn't really sure, we spoke quite a bit, we even met up in person until she said no, I actually do believe that you have something to tell people that's different. And we both worked on our proposal together, and this was at the same time that I was working at the food start-up in San Francisco and just started writing my food column for the Chronicle. And, you know, we sold a proposal and then I started to work on Season.

EL: Yeah, and that's interesting. Since you were doing both the column and the book at the same time, did you have to come an agreement with the Chronicle? Or did you just say Okay, I'm not going to use anything from the Chronicle in the book.

NS: I did-

EL: I know that's always a thing, when it comes to Serious Eats is, books, or Kenji's book, or Stella's book, or whatever.

NS: Yeah, I didn't have to worry about that, in fact I didn't even to think about it.

EL: Good.

NS: Because the main thing what I wanted to do was with the book, I feel if people are going to spend money or something, they need new content, and that's my personal opinion, because they could get that stuff for free elsewhere. And the only thing I did, I decided because my fans wanted me to include the most popular recipe from my blog. I thought that would be okay and so I picked the apple cake in my book, the Masala Chai Apple Cake, which at the time was one of the most popular recipes on the blog. So I put that in the book, but then everything else I really wanted to be different to kind of reflect how everything that I had done in my life had also influenced this book.

EL: So there was a larger point you were trying to make with the book?

NS: Right, I kind of wanted people to first not think it was an Indian cookbook, and I wanted to look at it from the way that this is how an immigrant cooks, and also this is what it means to cook with flavor, to me.

EL: So you start the book with a flavor glossary, speaking of flavor. What exactly is that? And why include it in your book?

NS: Yeah, so that was an idea that came up by my editor. And I thought it was brilliant because one of the things, even for me, who is someone who grew up in India with spices being around them all day, I find it sometimes hard to distinguish between something like cumin or caraway because they all look similar, right? And the shape of the seed is so similar so if they're not placed next to each other, it's really difficult. And so I decided to put myself in my reader's shoes from, you know, based on the blog and the column, and based on the comments over the years, I started also polling them with questions to find out what do they find uncomfortable? And one of the things is with Indian cooking is with spices, and I think this is common with any culture that's not mainstream, is people are scared of spaces as they're scared of people. I always put it in terms of xenophobia, you're always scared of what you don't know.

EL: Sure.

NS: Right? And so the same thing with spices, so I said this is a great way to kind of, since attention spans have also changed over the past couple of years, something visual will probably resonate much better with people. So if they go to the store and they know what it looks like, then-

EL: They won't be as scared?

NS: Right, you'll feel more confident in asking for something.

EL: Before we leave the apple cake behind, the Masala Apple Cake, I do love an apple cake, my grandmother, may she rest in peace, made a phenomenal apple cake.

NS: Oh.

EL: How did you make it yours?

NS: I go with what excites me in the moment, to be honest. Like with this apple cake, if we take this as an example, apple cakes and spice cakes was something that I learned about when I came to America that during, when the weather starts to cool off, people naturally in America deviate to warmer spices in their deserts. And you know we've got the spice cakes that kind of do that, even mulled wine does that, and so I said how do I put these flavors but kind of connect the apple cake that's so American to me with something that's Indian in my experience, but also brings that level of warm.

NS: And the masala chai spice, or the chai masala rather, works really well here because it's got those combination of warm flavors, and then I said if I'm going to call it a masala chai cake, and "chai" meaning tea, I need to put tea leaves in it, or tea in some form I need to incorporate that. So I put that into the batter and made a flour with that. And to me that represents kind of this I wouldn't say fusion, but this kind of meeting of ideas in between.

EL: Yeah, I love that, I love that, 'cause it's sort of emblematic of the way you cook and the way you think.

NS: Right.

EL: So I want to talk a little about your photographic point of view. On page 75 of in the book, you have these lentils that look like rocks. And you really do have an original photographic voice. How would you describe it? And how did it evolve?

NS: Well, evolve is through trial and error, I, at least, had no idea what even composition was. Two of the pieces of advice I got from my dad on photography was what kind of camera to buy. He's used Nikon for all his life and so it made sense for me to use Nikon 'cause that's a brand that he's worked with, but to be honest, now as I'm more mature, you know, I think no brand is really superior to the other, it's your lenses that matter. But in terms of point of view, I think that was a lot through trial and error, 'cause for the longest time, I was trying to do what everyone else was doing. And it felt okay, but it didn't make me happy. And then I was also letting, again, people define who I was even artistically.

EL: Yes, there's a theme, sort of, there's a through line here, Nik, I'm getting. You know it's like each time, and this is true of I think of most creative people, we tend to emulate or imitate the people we respect and admire.

NS: Right, right.

EL: But at a certain point you go, "This is them, it's not me."

NS: Right. And it came to me early on that I, it just didn't feel right, why I was trying to be like everyone else? And if it doesn't work, it doesn't work. And so I started to evolve as a writer, as well as a photographer and a cook, and started exploring how could I push my limits.

EL: And so at that point it's trial and error and there's nobody that you're going, God, I'm inspired by, whoever, Weegee, or it doesn't matter, Walker Evans, or any photographer.

NS: Right, I wanted to see what excites me and how, why was I liking food so much? And so I wanted to convey that through my photos. And so I needed to understand myself in order to put myself out there if that makes sense.

EL: Yeah.

NS: Out to my world.

EL: It makes perfect sense. You titled something in the book says, which I think harkens obviously back to your science background, your kitchen is your lab, what did you mean by that?

NS: So one of the things that in the kitchen I realized is that a lot of us, even we're handed down a recipe from a family member, be it a grandmother or a mother, we end up changing it quite a bit over time to make it our own. And that is experimentation in its own way. And so, in my case, I already had that training to do that. Because one of the things I really like about recipes, the way they're written is exactly the way I would prepare my buffers in biochemistry or in genetics, you know, for my enzymes. We call them recipes, we pretty much use the terminology, everything is arranged by volume or when it has to go in. And so, these were the things that I found there were a lot of similarities, and so when I write recipes, I actually use still use lab notebooks, and I write things down in iterations, like you know version one, version two, version three. And so I try to do that with the recipes and work through them in an experimentative way where it may not work the first time, but how do I make it better? So let me look at it analytically.

EL: And like Kenji, you sort of take your readers on your adventure.

NS: I do, I do.

EL: And that seems to be important to you?

NS: That is, because I want people to understand that when you walk in to the kitchen, you don't have to be compelled to succeed the first time, I think that's something very cultural where there is this impetus to push people for success, but I think we forget sometimes that it's okay to fail because it's your failures that you remember, you'll never remember what you succeeded at or why, but it's when you fail you start to remember what was wrong, how can you fix it, and it makes you much wiser.

EL: You know, Bob Dylan wrote, "There's no success like failure, and failure's no success at all." We've got to think about that when it comes to cooking.

NS: Yeah.

EL: Let's talk now, I want to get back to seasoning because it's a big part of your book. And you talk about the how's of seasoning.

NS: Yeah.

EL: And you say grinding, bruising and chopping, toasting, infusion, muddling, smoking, brining, marinating, and applying rubs, browning, and then bringing it all together. So what were you trying to communicate in terms of the how's of seasoning?

NS: I didn't want this particular book to be something too scientific, because it was an introductory book, and I kind of wanted to introduce myself to people. At the same time, I wanted to be really approachable, so someone who is intimated by being too sciency kind of understands that the simplest things that they're doing in the kitchen actually have a scientific basis for them. So something that you might not think about, like you mentioned bruising, is a way to pull out the essential oils, for example, in mint, into a drink. You know, you're breaking those cells to release those essential oils so then they get solubilized in whatever solvent they're in, so like water. And we don't think about these things all the time, but actually what you're doing in the kitchen is a form of science. And in a lot of the experiments I did when I was in research, we would use similar things like a blender, a waring blender or a mortar and pestle to crush cells, use glass speeds, you know all those kinds of things. And it was fascinating that we were doing the same thing in the kitchen in a very different way.

EL: You've gotta level with me, Nik. At any time, when you were in that lab, were you making pesto in the blender?

NS: Okay, I can say now since I'm no longer employed by anyone, at least from science, but I did at one point, I was really concerned about yogurt, why was my yogurt when I made it at home not the same kind of yogurt back in India? And so I actually ended up taking cultures and gram staining them and looking under the microscope to see what was wrong.

EL: But not telling your professor that you were doing that?

NS: No, I didn't need to do. And I think even if they saw it, they wouldn't really care, 'cause they all did their own. I actually had a professor who would, if I'm correct, he actually ran wine samples once in an osmometer to measure osmolality.

EL: I don't even know what that is, but it sounds complicated.

NS: But yeah, I mean, so I did like a lot of those smut stuff, I sneaked it in, but at the same time I also, one of the things that I, you know, I was lucky to do was learn about biology, and in so biology, you end up doing a lot of stuff which is edible. So a lot of experiments I did was learning how to isolate pectin or gelatin from plant or animal tissues, you know, measure the yield of casing in different kinds of milk. And so that I think kind of, for me it just made sense, oh, yeah, you would have to do in a lab anyway.

EL: Got it. So you write about the pantry, "I firmly believe that person's wealth lies in his or her kitchen pantry." It's kind of radical?

NS: Not really so and that's the reason why I put it in, because if you go to anybody's refrigerator, it might not be stocked with actual ingredients, right? You might not have vegetables, or fruit, or meat, or whatever in there. You will see a lot of condiments. Go to the pantry and it's the same thing, you might not see actual, you obviously won't see actual meals in there, but you will see a bunch of random spices, or, you know like a marshmallow or two or something sitting in there, like a half a bag of lentils, and I think that's what reflects the wealth of a person because it's kind of like visiting someone's house and you look at the number of books they have, or the stack of magazines, and you get an idea of how of they think.

EL: Right, so is the pantry-

NS: It's same thing.

EL: You think the pantry is kind of a Rorschach Test?

NS: Yeah, you walk in and you say, wow, this is something interesting, I don't have that at home, maybe I should get it, why do they have it? Let me ask them that question, and what do they do with it? And so, and in often what happens in many cases, and this is something that I've seen with home cooks a lot, is we're always trying to make do with what we have already at home.

EL: It's true.

NS: Right? And so if I have say a bit of brown beef, I don't really want to go out and buy something new sometimes. I want to work with what I have at home, so how do I make that happen? And so that was what I was trying to tell people is that your pantry's probably well stocked already, let's see what we can do with it.

EL: Yeah. Whose had the greatest influence on you sort of cooking wise, writing wise, and photography wise? And they probably are different people?

NS: Yeah, I'll start with photography. So photography, one of the places that I don't have any particular names, but one of the places that I actually look for inspiration is anything that's not food related.

EL: It's great. And you actually talk about I saw a video online where you talk photography in terms of dance and curves.

NS: Yeah.

EL: That was really fascinating. So you have some explaining to do, man.

NS: Okay. So one of the things I'm drawn to are curves; I find curves to be really sensual, and I actually did a poll recently with people as to what kind of taste they associate, shapes of food with taste, and curves seem to be very popular with people. And I think it's because curves are so sensual, your eye tends to move on a smooth line and it's drawn, whereas quadrilaterals and, you know, lines are tend to be a little sharper, and so they feel a little harsh, and so it's soothing. And one of the things I think about when I'm styling food is that I liked food because I think the process is beautiful by the way it happens, the final dish is beautiful, the ingredients are beautiful, and I'm not referring to the way things are styled, but just the idea and concept. And so I wanted to convey that in a way that made sense to me. And for me that was, oh, look at this ballerina on stage, when she's dancing, everything falls, it becomes noise, everything around her is noise, and it gets pushed away to the darkness, and then you have the light just focusing on her. So when I photograph in style, I kind of keep that always in mind, where I want to photograph this process as being the ballerina right now.

EL: Yeah.

NS: That's what makes it beautiful in that moment to me, 'cause sometimes I think we take... the I guess the simplest task for food for granted, like even rubbing a lemon on a cutting board just to loosen the cells up, that's such a beautiful process that we don't think about, there's so much going on in there, the cells are breaking, the essential oils are coming out, and you're getting to smell that aroma.

EL: Yeah.

NS: And I think those are like the littlest things that make it so beautifuL.

EL: Yeah, I think you're right. So what about your cooking or your writing?

NS: In terms of cooking and writing, I think I'm heavily influenced by home cook authors, especially Diana Henry is one.

EL: Whose a famous, for people who don't know, British cookbook author.

NS: Yeah, I love the way that she approaches food in a very mature, sophisticated way, but it's also very casual and welcoming. Nigella Lawson is another author that I really love, and I also really like Nigel Slater, because they do the same thing, they make it approachable for home cooks. At the same time, they're also teasing with them new ideas.

EL: Do you have a British fixation? What's up with that? All three of those people, don't tell me you're into the royal wedding, and the royal babies.

NS: I'm definitely not into that.

EL: Okay.

NS: But for some reason, I do appreciate a lot of British authors. From the American side, I do like M. F. K. Fisher, I think her writing is very, it's again very sophisticated and mature, which I'm not, so I really enjoy people who do that. And then authors that are from India, like Julie Sahni is one of.

EL: Sure, sure.

NS: You know, I really like the books that she wrote. Madhur Jaffrey. And then, I feel like Honey and Co, that's not really well known, they're from the Middle East, they're again based in London, but they've written several books, they're not really well known here yet, but I feel their work is also so compelling because they come from the restaurant side of the world, but they make it approachable for home cooks.

EL: What are their names?

NS: Itamar and Sarit.

EL: I need three recipes people should start with from the book and why. I know me, personally, I'm going to make the Sweet Potato Bebinca for Thanksgiving, 'cause that seemed and looked so awesome.

NS: Yeah, and for the people that hate making pies, I think that's an easy way to do it.

EL: Yeah, yeah.

NS: Definitely since we're heading in towards the Stoneford season, I would recommend trying the Broil Peaches with the Maple Vinegar Syrup, that's one of my favorite deserts in the book 'cause it's simple and easy. And then I would recommend the Cauliflower Paneer Salad because that's a different way of looking at paneer, classically, it's, you know, I always see people substituting feta for paneer, or cottage cheese, or something else. I think it's time to celebrate paneer for what it is and so I tried to do that with the salad and showcase that it can, it holds its structure, like a lot of the other Greek cheeses. And so it works well, it's easy to make at home if you can't find it, all you need is milk and some kind of food acid. And then the third recipe I would recommend is to go ahead and make the Meatloaf.

EL: The Meatloaf?

NS: Yeah, 'cause the meatloaf is something that is so iconically American to me.

EL: This is Cincinnati meets India, meets San Francisco, meet Washington D.C.

NS: Yeah, meets the South. Yeah, 'cause, you know, my husband really loves meatloaf, it was one of the things that he made me when we started dating. And we don't make it that often now, but the meatloaf was something that I said I need to do kind of something like an East meets West kind of thing in this dish, and it's such a classic iconic American dish, how do I make it much more flavorful? I'm not a big fan of ketchup on meatloaf, so I made my own sauce for this. So it's sweet, it's spicy, but it's also really moist because of the apples that go into it.

EL: Oh, I am going to try this. You know that Frank Bruni did a whole book of people's meatloaf recipes?

NS: Oh, wow, I need to look for that.

EL: So what's next, Nik? You've climbed up a lot of mountains in a relatively short period of time. Besides writing for Serious Eats, I think that's what's next.

NS: We'll see what happens, but I am working on a new cookbook that it's definitely going to be more science focused this time, for home cooks. And it'll be out in Fall 2020.

EL: Great, that's awesome. So, now it's time for the All You Can Answer Special Sauce Buffet. No pressure, you could take your time.

NS: Okay.

EL: So whose at your last supper? No family allowed.

NS: I wouldn't invite family anyway, they'll be too critical.

EL: Okay, I like that.

NS: Let's see, I think I'd like to have Kenji and Stella.

EL: You say that to all the guys.

NS: No, I love Stella, because Stella's been so wonderful, and I mean Stella's like someone you can knock on a door and she'll have an answer for you.

EL: And it's true.

NS: So I love Stella.

EL: So we should say that Stella Parks is, at Serious Eats, I call her our pastry wizard, and Kenji Lopez, as everyone I think knows at this point is wrote an amazing book called The Food Lab, and was our Culinary Director, and is still our Culinary Advisor at Serious Eats. So I like that, there's one more person, though, besides Stella and Kenji that I need to have, to finish out the table.

NS: Okay. Samin, Samin Nosrat.

EL: Samin Nosrat?

NS: Yeah.

EL: Is that someone you've gotten to know out there? Or just someone you admire?

NS: Both, so Samin and I, we both live, well, she lives in Berkeley, I live in Oakland. And we obviously know each other since we run in the same circles. But Samin is someone that I really admire because she's someone that's also, you know, a child of immigrants, and has been so successful. So I'm really in awe of what she's been able to accomplish, but she's also just a really nice person, and knows her flavor well. And the three people I selected for this dinner really know their flavor well, so if they had to give me criticism, it would be objective.

EL: I like that. So what are you eating?

NS: Right now?

EL: No, at the last supper.

NS: Oh, at the last supper. So there will be ice cream for sure.

EL: Okay.

NS: 'Cause I'm a big ice cream fan, so there will be ice cream.

EL: Alright.

NS: Let's see, I will probably make some kind of rice dish that will have saffron, for sure, and a bunch of spices. So maybe some kind of pilaf, or pilau, as people call it. I'll probably do a whole roast chicken because that's a great trick for a home cook to look impressive. You make a big chicken, everyone's impressed, and it takes minimal work.

EL: That's great. And you have this line in the book about flavoring a whole chicken, that the trick is to keep the sauce between the skin and the flesh, because the layer of fat in the skin helps the chicken retain its moisture while the flavors in the marinade penetrate the flesh.

NS: Yeah, I don't know why people do it the other way, like I get the salt outside, but I want the flavor to touch the meat.

EL: Yeah.

NS: That's just me, but. And then, Oh, yeah, we've got to have a salad, so probably do, depending on what's in season, I'll make a salad for them. And then, let's see, we have to a vegetable dish, so maybe a roasted cauliflower or something.

EL: That sounds great, man. Can I come?

NS: Yeah.

EL: Alright. What do you cook when there's nothing in the house to eat?

NS: If I have eggs at home, which I usually do, then I'll probably work with the eggs and call it a day. But often what I'll do is I will just make a quick soup.

EL: Assuming that there's stock, either store bought, or that you've made?

NS: Yeah, sometimes I don't even use stock.

EL: You use water?

NS: Yeah, and then I just flavor it as I go.

EL: Got it.

NS: Because I usually have a well stocked pantry, I might not have a lot of things in the fridge, but you can work your way through with the pantry and make it work.

EL: So, do you have a guilty pleasure?

NS: Ice cream. Well, I don't feel guilty about it so I.

EL: Yeah, neither do I. Straight up, are we talking Humphry Slocombe? You're from San Francisco, Bi-Rite Creamery, which one of those ice creams really touches you?

NS: So I'll get in trouble for saying this 'cause I'm not going to pick something local. I'm going to pick Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams.

EL: She's Columbus, right?

NS: Yeah, yeah.

EL: I think she's in Cincinnati now, but she started in Columbus.

NS: But the thing with Jeni's Ice Cream is that she is the only one that makes a really beautiful tart lemon ice cream.

EL: Got it.

NS: And no one has ever been able to compare to that. And that's the only thing I get from Jenny's is that lemon ice cream or I make it from her book at home.

EL: That's so great. So what's on your nightstand right now book wise? It doesn't have to be food related.

NS: Oh my God, it is food related.

EL: It's Okay, that's good.

NS: I'm currently reading Arabesque by Claudia Roden.

EL: She's an amazing scholarly writer.

NS: Yeah, I love everything that all the work that she's done. I don't have any of her other books, I only have Arabesque and Middle Eastern Feast, I think that's the book.

EL: Yeah.

NS: And both of them talking a lot personally about cooking Middle Eastern food. I've actually been reading the book just for her essays, they're also fun, the way she approaches stuff.

EL: That's cool. What's the most influential book you've ever read? That influences you personally on your career, on your life.

NS: There's a book called Genome by Matt Ridley. That was a book that I read early before I was I think in grad school. And it talks about each chromosome as a chapter, each human chromosome, and I think they've done updates to it. But it makes you appreciate how our bodies affect our different ways of life, from food to, you know, sociology and everything.

EL: Right.

NS: And so that has always played in mind when I've gone through life, even now with writing about food, a common theme that comes up about taste, you know we're attached to this bitter taste, or not to taste, and so are the things that he talks about, and I've always been kind of paid attention to that.

EL: So, whose had the great influence on you in your career?

NS: Diana Henry.

EL: Really? Have you ever met her?

NS: Yeah, we're really close friends.

EL: That's great.

NS: I love her.

EL: And why is she been the greatest influence? 'Cause you just admire the way she thinks and she cooks?

NS: What I really appreciate about Diana is her ability to introduce new ideas and make them comfortable for home cooks. At the same time, she's also a prolific cookbook author.

EL: Yeah.

NS: And she's also been hugely supportive of my career. I can always ask her about books that I've never heard about, or a topic that, and you need that.

EL: Sure.

NS: In the food world, you need someone. The same case with John Birdsall, he's been also really influential in my life in directing me in the right direction. And both of these authors have really taken their time to help someone who was relatively unknown at a certain point and invest in them because they believe in their voice and work, and that doesn't happen a lot. So to me that, you know, both of them, both John and Dan are really special to me.

EL: It's just been declared Nik Sharma day all over the world. What's happening on that day?

NS: Everybody gets a tub of really good lemon ice cream.

EL: Okay, there's a theme there.

NS: It should be warm 'cause I hate days when they're cold.

EL: Okay.

NS: And I think everybody should write a line on a piece of paper to say what they did that made them really proud of themselves that day.

EL: I love this. I love Nik Sharma day, we're going to make it happen. Let's say September or October, we're going to make it happen.

NS: Okay, Okay.

EL: So, thank you so much for sharing your Special Sauce for this, Nik Sharma. Pick up a copy of Season: Big Flavors, Beautiful Food, read Nik's terrific blog, A Brown Table, as well as his column, “A Brown Kitchen”, in the San Francisco Chronicle. And his about to be column in Serious Eats, no, no, wait, no, no.

EL: But anyway, thank you, Nik, it's been awesome.

NS: Thanks for having me on, Ed.

EL: So long, Serious Eaters. We'll see you see next time.

This post may contain links to Amazon or other partners; your purchases via these links can benefit Serious Eats. Read more about our affiliate linking policy.

Source: https://www.seriouseats.com/2019/06/nik-sharma-ed-levine-podcast-2.html

10 minute gazpacho

If you’ve got summer veggies bursting out of the garden right now, then you are in the right place! Read on to find out how to turn garden-fresh tomatoes, herbs, cucumbers, peppers and more into a delicious bowl of gazpacho in just 10 minutes.

My older daughter is one of those true natural born foodies who starts thinking about her next meal while still eating the current one. She will often blurt out “what’s for dinner?” while we are still eating lunch. I try not to scold her, as I know she can’t help but being food obsessed. It’s in her nature. She has been that way since she was born. I have no idea how I survived on-demand-nursing that kid.

This time of year, August, puts me into her frame of mind. But it’s not so much for the simple pleasure of eating. It’s because I’m worried about getting in as much gorgeous garden-fresh produce into every meal as possible, and it all needs to be planned out and strategized or there will be wasted bites. Or cucumbers left to grow out of control in the garden.

If you go out into my garden right now, there are three tomato plants (one of which is actually taller than me), a sweet pepper plant, two cucumbers and three zucchini. It gives me a bit of anxiety as we speak just thinking that there may be a hidden zucchini under those giant leaves that I haven’t caught in time before it grows to Volkswagen Beetle size.

I can’t believe I am actually saying this, but I am glad the center raised vegetable bed was taken over by rampant purslane, and I had to rip out all the seedlings before they actually got going. It would have been just too much of a good thing! Sort of.

One of the “necessity is the mother of invention” recipes I turn to at this time of year is good old fashioned pureed gazpacho. I can use up a lot of tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers all at once. I add in onion and garlic (of course) and some flavor boosters, jalapeno, basil, cilantro and a splash of vinegar to brighten it up.

I use fresh bread in my gazpacho. I favor using sourdough because it is neutral tasting (not wheaty) and it has natural tanginess to it that pairs well with the tomatoes and vegetables. The bread gives the gazpacho body and makes the texture less watery. You can also use foccacia or Italian bread if you like.

I like to add in olive oil as well. This is traditional, and I can really taste the difference. It adds richness and helps to give it a better mouth feel too.

Then since it only takes about 7 minutes to make the gazpacho (since all you have to do is peel and quarter the veggies) I like to spend a tiny amount of extra time to doll it up with some garnishes. Like a swirl of mascarpone (thin it with milk so you can drizzle it) or creme fraiche. Even full-fat yogurt is nice. Other toppings that serve as a contrasting addition are microgreens, chopped herbs and toasted nuts or seeds (try hemp seeds!)

MORE RECIPES YOU’LL LOVE WITH AUGUST PRODUCE

Rainbow Panzanella it’s made with Tomatoes, Peppers, Cucumbers, Basil and Onions (vegan)

Simple Heirloom Tomato Salad with Anchovies

Green Beans with Basil Vinaigrette (vegan and gluten-free)

Low Carb Grilled Stuffed Summer Squash (vegetarian and gluten-free)

No-Cook Zucchini Noodles with Pesto (vegetarian and gluten-free)

ALSO READ MY PRODUCE GUIDES

The Ultimate Guide to Tomatoes

The Ultimate Guide to Cucumbers

Thanks so much for reading! Happy Cooking! ~Katie

This 10 Minute Gazpacho recipe will help use some of your tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers from the garden. Customize it how you like with fresh basil or cilantro. Add a kick with jalapeño pepper. And make it a bit fancy with garnishes like sliced cherry tomatoes, microgreens and mascarpone cheese.

Ingredients

2 large ripe tomatoes, cored and cut into quarters (about 1 ½ pound)

1 cucumber, cut into quarters

1 red or green bell pepper, cored and cut into large chunks

½ red onion, peeled, cored and cut into quarters

½ to 1 clove garlic, to taste, chopped

1 cup water

2 slices sourdough bread

½ cup olive oil

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

additional flavor boosters: 1 small handful basil or cilantro leaves, 1 jalapeno chili, stemmed.

Optional garnishes: greek yogurt, crème fraiche or mascarpone. Microgreens, chopped cilantro or basil. Sliced cherry tomatoes and diced avocado. Toasted seeds or nuts.

Instructions

1. Set up work area with chopped vegetables, blender and a large bowl or pitcher for the final product.

2. Add about half of the ingredients (1 tomato, ½ cucumber, ½ bell pepper, ½ of the onion, garlic, ½ cup water, 1 slice sourdough, ¼ cup oil, 1 tablespoon vinegar, ½ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper) to the blender. If using additional flavor boosters add half of them to the blender. Pulse until the mixture liquefies, then run the motor continuously until desired smoothness. Transfer the gazpacho to the bowl or pitcher.

3. Repeat with the remaining ingredients and process to desired smoothness. Thoroughly mix the two batches together in the pitcher to ensure even distribution of the flavors. Chill if desired.

4. Divide among 4 bowls and top with optional garnishes.

https://www.healthyseasonalrecipes.com/10-minute-gazpacho/

Katie Webster | HealthySeasonalRecipes.com

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Source: https://www.healthyseasonalrecipes.com/10-minute-gazpacho/

Fall-Ready: Squash Bowl Recipe from Industry Kitchen

The vibrancy of the yellow spaghetti squash adds color and texture to this vegetarian and gluten free, fall Squash bowl recipe from Industry Kitchen. A healthy rendition of the classic chicken pot pie, the recipe calls for spaghetti squash tossed in a mushroom ragu, creamy maple ricotta, spicy chickpeas, served in a squash vessel.  Basically fall in a bowl.

Located beneath the FDR along the bank of the East River, Industry Kitchen is overlooks the water and offers diners views of the East River and the Brooklyn Bridge. While wood fire pizzas are typically the stars of the show at the restaurant, for the fall there is a very strong contender. One that may surpass the many pizza orders i.e the SquashPot. See below for the recipe.

Fall Ready Squash Bowl Recipe from Industry Kitchen

  Print

A healthy, vegetarian and gluten free rendition of the classic chicken pot pie created by Industry Kitchen. Made with Spaghetti Squash, ricotta cheese, chickpeas and a hint of maple sweetness. The Squashpot is the perfect recipe to start the fall season.

Author: Industry Kitchen

Recipe Type: Dinner

Cuisine: Vegetarian and Vegan Comfort Food

Ingredients

• 2 medium sized acorn squash

• 2 ½ cups cooked Spaghetti Squash

1 ½ lbs Mushroom Ragù

1 cup Spicy Chickpeas

1 cup fresh ricotta cheese

2 oz maple syrup

Spaghetti Squash Ingredients

2 medium sized acorn squash

Salt

Mushroom Ragù Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 ½ tbls butter

1 pinch salt

1 ¼ lbs wild mushroom, sliced

¼ cup minced shallots

2 tbls Cognac

½ cup vegetable broth

salt and pepper to taste

Spicy Chickpea Ingredients

1 cup cooked chickpeas, drained

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 pinch of cumin

¼ tsp cayenne pepper

salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

Spaghetti Squash Directions

Preheat oven to 450F°.

Cut squashes in half, sprinkle a little salt on each half and place cut side down on a baking sheet.

Bake for 15-20 minutes or until skin can be easily pierced with a fork.

Once out of the oven, flip each squash piece over to release steam.

Let cool for about 5 minutes and pull strands away from the skin using a fork.

Set squash shells and spaghetti to the side

Mushroom Ragù Directions

Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Stir in mushrooms and salt.

Cook, stirring occasionally, until any liquid evaporates and mushrooms are light brown.

Add butter and shallots. Stir while cooking, until mushrooms are caramelized.

Drizzle in Cognac; continue stirring until liquid evaporates.

Stir in vegetable broth, salt and black pepper to taste. Reduce heat to medium-low, cook until slightly thickened and mushrooms are tender; set aside.

Spicy Chickpea Directions

Preheat oven to 400F°.

Pat chickpeas dry.

Mix chickpeas, oil, cumin, cayenne pepper and salt/pepper in a bowl.

Spread chickpeas on a baking sheet.

Roast for 25 minutes then turn heat off.

Keep chickpeas in the oven until cool for crispiest results.

Once cool, crush chickpeas by hand or in blender on pulse.

Squash Pot Plating

Take empty acorn squash shells and spread ¼ cup of ricotta in each. Fill with Spaghetti Squash and Mushroom Ragù, then top with crushed Spicy Chickpeas. Drizzle with maple syrup.H

3.5.3229

Prepping for the new season Industry Kitchen will be adding a few seasonal additions. Seasonal dips made from beet, pumpkin, and sweet potato accompanied with a side of veggie chips; the Squash pbowl, and a Spiced Poached Pear for dessert with a side of hot chocolate and Madagascar vanilla ice cream. Fall signature cocktails include The Autumn Cobbler with applejack whiskey, pear liquor, lemon juice topped with cinnamon bark.

Alyssa Holder

Alyssa is passionate about donuts, burpees, listening to the stories of the people who devote their time to fill our stomachs and exploring. She spends most of her time balancing her love for sugary, carb heavenly goods and fitness trends.She is currently working at the empowering fitness community Lucille Roberts as their Social Media Manager

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Tags: fall recipe, gluten free recipe, healthy pot pie, industry kitchen recipe, NYC restaurant, squash recipe, vegetarian recipe

Source: http://honestcooking.com/fall-ready-squash-bowl-recipe-from-industry-kitchen/