Archive for the ‘Food + Recipes’ Category
Glad Lucia!
It’s the day for celebrating light in Sweden: the tradition of Lucia.
As the child of a Swede that was intent on preserving tradition, I always knew what would come the morning of the 13th.
In the midst of the pitch black of a winter morning, my mother would gently knock on my door, the sign that I was meant to get up. Propping it open, she would walk away, leaving only the melodic sounds of Lucia sången coming from the downstairs speakers. I would rub my eyes and sleepily crawl out of bed. Outside of my door, a white robe was carefully hung, a thick red sash draped on top.
Recipe: Olive Oil Citrus Polenta Cake
Everyone has to have a couple of go-to cake recipes. Because when it’s Sunday afternoon and you’ve spent all morning drinking coffee and reading The New York Times (you’re still impressed by this week’s Modern Love section, and weren’t Bill Cunningham’s photos great this week?), you better have something to whip up for dessert when your friend throws an impromptu get together. The olive oil polenta cake is mine.
Gluten Free Cardamom Currant Scones
This recipe has become my Sunday standard, and you wouldn’t even guess that it’s gluten and dairy free. The secret? Ground almonds.
Recipe: Salted Cherry Cardamom Chocolate Bark
You’re having a chocolate craving. Resist the urge to down a box of cherry cordials and make this elegant yet simple chocolate bark instead. With dried cherries, a dash of sea salt, and some lemon zest, it’s the perfect after dinner treat.
If you’re the kind of person that really loves dark, bitter chocolate, you can even make this with 100% cocoa baking chocolate, which I discovered by accident. Note to self: always read the package before baking. Just be sure to sprinkle a little bit of organic cane sugar over the top before you put it in the fridge to cool to add just a touch of sweetness.
A Menu For When You’re Just Not Sure About Turkey
If there’s one thing I don’t like about Thanksgiving it’s the stress that goes into making the holiday “perfect.” Hint: it’s about being with friends and family, being grateful and in the process hopefully eating some delicious food. But too often we’re hung up on what has to be served.
Over on Foodie Underground, a story of why turkey will not be served in my family anytime soon inspired a full turkey-free Thanksgiving menu, complete with eight vegetarian, partly vegan, mostly gluten free recipes to get you from appetizer to dessert.
I could barely get past positioning the wings under the heavy carcass in the roasting rack. I am not a vegetarian, but I rarely prepare meat and quite frankly I was almost convinced that the thing was going to get pissed that I wasn’t treating it well, come back to life and start pecking at my face. Thanksgiving stress level successfully upped a notch.
Recipe: Fig and Coconut Walnut Cake
Packed with protein, omega 3s, and antioxidants, walnuts are an excellent source of energy. Their rich flavor also makes them perfect to bake with. And why wouldn’t you want to bake a cake entirely out of walnuts? Enter the Fig and Coconut Walnut Cake.
This dense cake was inspired by a recipe in an issue of Bon Appetit from earlier this year, but with a few tweaks it quickly turned into a gluten and dairy free version. Add in figs, coconut and chocolate and you have a cake that’s just as good for breakfast as it is for dessert.
Recipe: Baked Egg in Avocado With Parsley and Goat Cheese
Earlier this year, pictures of eggs baked in avocado were the darling of the online food porn world. Then I tested out the recipe myself, and the result was so good I wonder how I ever lived without this creation.
The concept is simple: bake an egg in an avocado. If you were looking for a way to put all those eggs from your backyard chicken coop to use you should certainly put this recipe on the breakfast list.
Recipe: Beet Pesto
My mother is known for always having a couple of homemade spreads on hand. In fact, if we’re out of pesto to put on open faced sandwiches in the morning (we’re Swedish after all) she has been known to make a fresh batch at 6 a.m. Completely normal in a food appreciating household.
Which is why I was in no way surprised when I was home this summer and in the midst of trying to come up with an appropriate crust recipe for a gluten free appeltaart, she exclaimed, “oh! you have to try the beet pesto!”
Of course.
Breaking Down Cultural Barriers with Food in Afghanistan
It should have come as no surprise that my favorite Dari word from nine intro language lessons would have been “lunch.”
The first step to traveling respectfully is to learn how to say “hello” “thank you” and “goodbye” in the local language. The second step is to learn a few things food related, because no matter where you are in the world, you are going to need to eat.
Recipe: Five Seed Crackers with Olive and Cilantro Tapenade
I cringed as I stood in the upscale grocery store pulling an overpriced box of “Flackers” down from the shelf. There was a dinner party and I was out of time, but let’s be honest: crackers are the last thing you should be paying top dollar for, especially when you can make a delicious version yourself.
These five seed crackers are as easy as mixing some seeds and nuts in a bowl and letting them sit for awhile, and you end up with a crunchy, gluten-free, vegan cracker that’s healthier than you may wish to admit. Top them off with Olive and Cilantro Tapenade and you have your new favorite appetizer.
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