everyone loves a pumpkin.

Marketing the seasons is nothing new. According to retailers, school starts in July, Halloween in August, Thanksgiving in September, and Christmas...well, it seems like any time is a good time to start your Christmas shopping.

The pumpkin market, though, is in a class all by itself. When fall hits, every restaurant, coffee shop, and grocery store plasters their walls with posters advertising pumpkin spice fill-in-the-blank. The pumpkin phenomenon may have gotten out of hand. This assertion might make me sound like an old lady screaming at trick-or-treaters to get off my lawn...except I'm about to offer you a pumpkin recipe.

One of my friends had a pumpkin-themed potluck last night, and as much as I make fun of the pumpkin trend, everyone brought something delicious that included pumpkin. Pumpkin ravioli, pumpkin salad, pumpkin pizza, pumpkin pie, pumpkin cookies, a fabulous pumpkin bourbon milkshake (heavy on the bourbon, light on the pumpkin)...the list goes on. I decided to go whole hog (whole gourd?) and hollow out an entire pumpkin, stuff it, and bake it.

I knew I would get points for presentation, but I honestly didn't have incredibly high hopes for this combination of flavors. As it turned out, they melded perfectly. Although my serving method wasn't perfect--I just stuck a spoon into the stuffing, so most people only ate that and didn't get any pumpkin--I combined the two on my plate with wonderful results. Next time I would follow the directions Dorie Greenspan offers and either slice the pumpkin with the stuffing for individual portions, or scoop it all into a big bowl and mix it up.

I made a vegetarian version, but if you're only serving this to meat eaters I would definitely add some bacon or sausage. You can use pretty much any combination of bread and cheese--whatever you think would go well together. No matter how you make it, this is one pumpkin recipe worth trying.

pumpkin stuffed with everything good
adapted from dorie greenspan
serves 6 as a side or 4 as a main course 

ingredients:
1 medium cooking pumpkin, 3 to 4 pounds
about 4 c bread, torn into chunks (I used cranberry pecan)
6 oz cheese, shredded (gruyere, emmentaler, cheddar, or whatever you like)
4 cloves garlic, minced
about 1/2 c heavy cream
freshly grated nutmeg
salt and pepper 

instructions:
Place the oven rack on the bottom Preheat the oven to 350. Cut out the top of the pumpkin, leaving a large enough hole for your hand to fit. Remove the seeds from the pumpkin, and save them if you'd like to toast them. Rub the inside of the pumpkin with salt and pepper.

In a large bowl combine the bread, cheese, and garlic, and mix with your hands to combine. Stuff the pumpkin with the bread-cheese mixture, filling it but leaving space to put the cap back on.

Combine the cream with as much nutmeg, salt, and pepper as you think is necessary, and pour the cream mixture into the pumpkin, covering the bread but not submerging it in liquid.

Place the cap back on the pumpkin and place it on a parchment-lined cookie sheet or in a Dutch oven. I used a Dutch oven to make sure my pumpkin wouldn't collapse, but it held up remarkably well. Bake for about 2 1/2 hours or until the pumpkin is easily pierced with a fork. I removed the cap after about 2 hours to let the top of the stuffing brown. Prepare to impress your friends and family!

sesame-crusted feta and fig sandwiches

When school starts, I consider it fall. No matter that the high reaches 90 degrees most days and I can still get good tomatoes at the farmer's market; I'm ready for it to be sweater weather (and stay that way--I can pass on winter, thank you). Today, Labor Day, marks the "official" end of summer, and it's a bit cooler and rainy and at least it LOOKS like fall outside, so I made a decidedly autumnal sandwich for lunch. And it was one of the best sandwiches I've ever had...which is saying a lot, since anything on bread pretty much qualifies as my favorite food.

This is a bit more labor-intensive than a ham and cheese on wheat, but the extra effort pays off. The nuttiness of sesame seeds plays off the sharp tang of feta, and the figs' already considerable sweetness deepens with a quick toss in a saute pan and a drizzle of honey. The bread is almost secondary, but a nice hearty whole-grain works well (I used Whole Food's Seeduction bread, one of my favorites despite the name). Now that I think of it, though, this recipe might work even better as a salad, on a bed of arugula perhaps.

sesame-crusted feta and fig sandwiches
adapted from serious eats
serves two

ingredients:
4 oz. block feta
1 tbsp butter
4 figs, quartered
1 tbsp olive oil
1 egg, beaten
2 tbsp sesame seeds
1/2 tsp coriander
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper
1 tbsp honey
4 slices of hearty bread

instructions:
Slice feta into approximately 1/4" slices and place on a plate in the freezer to harden, about 15 minutes. Meanwhile, heat butter in a nonstick skillet over medium heat until bubbly, 2-3 minutes. Add figs and cook until softened, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.

Combine sesame seeds, coriander, and red pepper on a medium plate. Remove feta from freezer, dip each slice in egg and coat all sides evenly with sesame seed mixture.

Heat olive oil in skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering. Saute feta until golden on both sides, turning carefully with tongs, a minute or two per side. Remove from heat.

Top each slice of bread with feta and figs, season with salt and black pepper, and drizzle with honey.

my favorite potato salad

 I love the word "salad"; it can cover a multitude of sins. Especially in the South, where salads usually involve something creamy--mayonnaise, cream cheese, even cool whip--they are often much less healthy than they sound. I won't say I'm above such mayo-laden delicacies as grape or broccoli salad, but sometimes I want something a little more complex and a little less heart-stopping. Earlier this summer my mom asked me to make some potato salad for dinner at the beach, and based on a recipe I liked and what we had in the fridge, I came up with the recipe below. It's creamy, yes, and I don't know that I would call it health food, but it's more than potatoes+mayo+celery, and it is absolutely delicious warm or cold.

my favorite potato salad
adapted from food52
serves 4-6

ingredients:
10 or so medium red-skinned potatoes (about 1 1/2 lbs), cut in half
Olive oil and kosher salt, for roasting
1/2 c Greek yogurt
1/4 c mayo
2 tbsp sweet pickle relish
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
1 clove garlic, minced
1 green onion or 1/4 large onion, diced
2 ribs celery, diced
A few shakes Tabasco
1/2 tsp Creole seasoning

instructions:
Preheat oven to 400. Toss potatoes with olive oil and kosher salt, and roast until cooked through and golden brown on the bottom (40-45 minutes). Meanwhile, combine remaining ingredients in a large bowl to make the dressing. When potatoes are done and you're ready to serve the salad, cut them into bite-sized pieces and toss with the dressing. Don't do this until you're ready to serve the salad (warm or cold is fine), since the potatoes soak up the dressing pretty quickly.

P.S. - I made a much larger batch of this for a meal we served this week at The Nashville Food Project, alongside pulled pork, maque choux, and banana blueberry cake. It's not up yet, but in the next few days they will have the recipe for maque choux on their website feature Cook for a Crowd. Check it out!

cookies for breakfast (or lunch, or a snack...)

I have a gigantic sweet tooth. I like to think I come by it naturally (my sister has the same condition, if you can call it that), but no matter the source it's there. My regular winter breakfast is oatmeal with almond milk, cinnamon, and a sliced banana, so I even start my day with something a little sweet.

These cookies are kind of a grab-and-go version oatmeal, akin to granola bars. Most of the "breakfast cookie" recipes I've seen include some measure of white flour and a fair amount of sugar, and although I'm certainly not opposed to either of those, I try to hold off on having them until after lunch. The only added sugar in this whole recipe is 1/4 c of maple syrup, which comes out to 1 tsp per (pretty large) cookie. Calling them "cookies" might be a bit of a misnomer, but I just like thinking that I'm eating dessert for breakfast.

These go great with tea or coffee, or they're delicious alone. You can also make any number of substitutions to this recipe; if you prefer different sweeteners, fats, grains, seeds, spices, or dried fruit, feel free to give them a shot. If you want more of a "real" cookie taste, chocolate chips would be a great addition (clearly, since the original recipe uses them).

breakfast cookies
adapted from 101 Cookbooks
makes one dozen large cookies  

ingredients:
2 medium bananas, mashed
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 c maple syrup
1/4 c peanut butter
2 c rolled  oats
1/4 c wheat germ
1/4 c flax seeds
1/2 c dried coconut
1/4 c dried dates, chopped
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder

instructions:
Preheat oven to 350 and line a large cookie sheet with parchment paper.

Combine first four ingredients in a large bowl and set aside. In a medium bowl, stir together remaining ingredients; add to banana mixture and mix together until thoroughly combined (you can use a spoon or your hands, although it's a bit sticky).

Scoop dough into 1/4-c. portions and place on cookie sheet. Press down a bit to make them as tall or flat, neat or messy as you'd like. Bake until golden brown, about 20 minutes (longer if you'd like them to be crunchy rather than chewy).

The cookies will last a few days in an airtight container, or freeze them for up to a month and pop one into the toaster for a quick, healthy breakfast.

it runs in the family

My family likes food. A lot. My mom, sister, and I like to make it, and my dad and brother-in-law like to eat it (okay, they occasionally help in the kitchen, too). Every Christmas and birthday we exchange various cooking gadgets, try out new recipes on each other, and eat more than we should. And when we manage to get together on a normal weekend, we devote a good chunk of our time to food then, too.

My sister Emily and brother-in-law Jon just moved to Atlanta, which works out quite nicely for the rest of our family, as Atlanta marks the halfway point between Nashville and the town where my parents live. So, we had some family time this weekend that included house hunting, furniture shopping, and lots of delicious food. We tried a couple of great restaurants, JCT Kitchen for dinner on Friday and Rosebud for Sunday brunch, but Saturday's dinner, prepared by Emily and Jon, topped them both. Something about cooking a meal yourself (or, at least, watching as it's cooked!) just makes every dish taste better.

The great thing about this menu is you can make it as easy or labor-intensive as you'd like. It's also endlessly modifiable and completely carbtastic--two features of most of my favorite meals. Feel free to tweak the recipes, but they're pretty delicious as-is.

As for timing everything, cocktails first, of course. Then I would recommend starting the pasta sauce, boiling the pasta, making the pizza, and tossing the salad last. For dessert, we had vanilla ice cream with granola (both homemade!), and that's a great ending if you're feeling ambitious (and easy to buy if you're not).

I'm calling this menu a "new Italian family feast" because, well, I have to call it something, right?

new italian family feast

serves 4-6

kir royales a la emily

tossed salad with fig-balsamic vinaigrette

pear, brie, & arugula flatbread

pasta and tomato sauce with onion and butter

kir royales a la emily (makes 5 cocktails)
 
1 bottle prosecco
3 oz brandy
3 oz creme de cassis
5 lemon twists, for garnish

Divide prosecco, brandy, and creme de cassis evenly among five champagne flutes. Rub rims of flutes with lemon twists and drop in the drinks to serve. (If you don't make anything else on the menu, make these!)

tossed salad with fig-balsamic vinaigrette

dressing:
   2 tbsp olive oil
   2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
   2 tbsp fig preserves
salad:
   5 c mixed greens
   1 small bell pepper, sliced
   1 small cucumber, sliced
   1/4 c kalamata olives
   1/4 c chopped toasted nuts

Whisk together first three ingredients; toss with salad ingredients and serve.

pear, brie, & arugula flatbread

 







1 ball store-bought pizza dough (try Whole Foods), or homemade version
1 pear, sliced thinly
4 oz. brie, chilled and sliced thinly
2 tbsp brown sugar
2 c arugula

Preheat oven to 500 degrees, or as high as your oven will go. Sprinkle flour on baking surface (a cookie sheet will do just fine), and stretch dough into a thin round--or whatever shape you can make it! Place round on cookie sheet and top with pear and brie, and sprinkle with brown sugar. Bake until edges are brown and brie is bubbling, about 10 minutes. Top with arugula and serve.

pasta and tomato sauce with onion and butter

simple & delicious.

28 oz can whole peeled tomatoes
5 tbsp butter 
1 medium yellow onion, peeled 
   and halved
16 oz dried or 24 oz fresh pasta 
   (Jon made our pasta from 
   scratch...no big deal)
salt, shaved parmesan and red 
   pepper flakes, to taste (optional)

Place tomatoes, butter, and onion in heavy saucepan over medium heat. Bring to simmer and reduce heat to low. Stir occasionally, breaking up the tomatoes, and cook for about 45 minutes or until you're ready to eat. In the meantime, prepare pasta and other dishes. Salt to taste, and top with parmesan and red pepper flakes.

fall! (means comfort food)

Fall has arrived! (at least chronologically, if not meteorologically...the weather in Nashville has been alternating between summer and fall) I love the changing of the seasons, and fall might be my favorite one. The colors, the activities, the food...just soak it all in.

I had both an acorn squash and a butternut squash on hand this week (thank you again, CSA, for making me exercise culinary creativity), so I roasted them together and let my imagination take it from there. First I made a version of this recipe for farro with acorn squash and kale (delicious, but not exactly pretty), and then I used my butternut squash for something resembling mac and cheese.  This recipe is not quite as cheesy and hopefully a little bit healthier, but it is still top notch comfort food!

I had something like this for the first time last fall, when my sister made this recipe. I'm not sure why I didn't make it myself until last night, but I'll certainly be making it again.  About 17385 other food bloggers have posted a version of a butternut squash mac and cheese recipe, so this isn't exactly new, but it may be new to you.

I had my pasta bake as part of the first "homestyle" meal (meat, vegetable, starch) I'd eaten in awhile, and I could not believe how satisfied I felt afterwards! The dish can certainly stand alone as a vegetarian main course, but I had mine with chicken and green peas last night, which are also featured in one of the photos below. I think I'll have leftovers again tonight, and I'm actually looking forward to it. I think that says a lot!

P.S. - With my remaining cup of butternut squash, I think I'm either going to try this bread or these cookies. If anyone has other suggestions, please share!

the best part!

cheesy butternut pasta bake
adapted from Martha Stewart
serves 6 as a main course, 12 as a side
per large serving:  460.2 cal, 10.2g fat, 63g carb, 11.2g fiber, 27.4g protein, 12+ weight watchers

ingredients:
16 oz whole wheat pasta (I used spirals)
3 c cooked mashed butternut squash (I roasted mine)
2 eggs
1 c skim milk
1 c fat-free cottage cheese or ricotta
4 oz cheddar cheese, grated
1 oz parmesan, grated
1/2 tsp salt
pinch of cayenne pepper
pinch of nutmeg
1/2 c breadcrumbs or cracker crumbs (Ritz are the best!)

instructions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees and butter a large casserole. (I used one that was about 8 x 12; it just depends on how thick you want it!)

Boil pasta until al dente, according to package directions; drain.

Combine squash, eggs, milk, cheeses, salt, and spices in a large bowl. Add pasta to squash mixture and mix until combined. Transfer mixture to casserole and top with crumbs. Bake until top is crispy and edges are browned, 40-50 minutes. Add salt and black pepper to taste.

summer across the south

I've lived in Nashville for just over a week now, and I have discovered that although it differs from Charleston in a number of ways, the two cities share at least one thing in common: they have awesome summer produce. High-quality, inexpensive fruits and vegetables are hard to find, so as soon as I decided to move to Nashville I began scouring the internet for places to buy produce here. Luckily, I almost immediately found Green Door Gourmet, a local "farm to fork venture" that offers weekly CSA boxes for $20, with no seasonal commitment. I ordered my first box on Friday and picked it up on Saturday; I was not disappointed. Corn, heirloom tomatoes, peppers, squash, basil, cucumbers, and okra filled my rather large box to the brim, and they even threw in a free bag of locally sourced cornmeal for good measure.

But what to do with all of it? I'm only one person, and this was a LOT of vegetables. Nostalgia kicked in soon enough, and I decided to combine some of my okra, tomatoes, and corn with black-eyed peas for the quintessential southern summer dish.

I'm not even going to feign humility here; this turned out damn good. (Unfortunately, the pictures did not, so you'll have to trust me on this one.) One thing I love about food is that it can make me feel at home no matter where I am, and as I create a new home in a new city I find this quality especially important. It's nice to know that even though I'm nine hours away from Charleston, at any moment I could be eating the very same variety of tomato I would find at the farmer's market on Marion Square.

black-eyed peas with summer vegetables
makes about 6 servings as a side dish, 4 as a main
nutrition: it's healthy except for the butter...no time to calculate 
   nutrition facts now that i'm actually busy!

ingredients:
1 tbsp butter
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 c diced bell pepper (about 1/2 medium)
1 c okra (about 8 large pods), sliced into disks
1 c corn kernels (from about 1 large ear)
1 medium tomato, chopped
2 cans black-eyed peas, rinsed and drained, OR
   1 c. dried, prepared from package directions
1 c water
1 tbsp molasses
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1/4 tsp dried thyme
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper
1/2 tsp salt, or more or less to taste

instructions:
Melt butter in large cast iron (preferred) or nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add garlic and bell pepper and cook until lightly browned, a minute or so.

Add okra, corn, and tomatoes, and cook until slightly softened and blackened in spots, 5-7 minutes or more. Add black-eyed peas, water, molasses, vinegar, thyme, and red pepper, and stir to combine. Let cook down until little liquid remains. Add salt to taste (and more molasses, vinegar, thyme, or red pepper, if you want) and serve.

a unique rice salad

 The idea of making a rice salad had never occurred to me until I read this post on America's Test Kitchen's new website. For some reason I disassociate rice from other grains, so while a barley or quinoa salad recipe wouldn't seem odd to me, rice salad did. Anyone else feel that way? No? Just me?

Regardless, I'm glad I came across the post, because the slightly adjusted version of the salad I made was absolutely delicious, and perfect for summer. The combination of flavors--sweet mango and coconut, cool mint, and sour lime--was refreshing and completely different from anything I've had before. I liked the whole thing so much that I made it again for a group of friends two days later.

I mostly stuck to ATK's recipe but substituted brown rice for white, added fresh mango, and adjusted the amounts of a few ingredients. I also omitted the shrimp and served mine with seared tuna. (Okay, so maybe I changed it a lot.) This version is perfect for a summer picnic or cookout, or if you just want to try something a little different. You won't be disappointed.

a unique rice salad
adapted from America's Test Kitchen
4 main-course servings or 8 side dish servings
per large serving:  380.4 cal, 18.2g fat, 48.9g carb, 8.1g fiber, 7.2g protein, 10+ weight watchers

ingredients:
1/2 c mango chutney
1/4 c fresh mango, mashed
2 tbsp lime juice, about one lime's worth
1/4 c olive or grapeseed oil
2 c cooked and cooled brown rice (I recommend this method of cooking
   brown rice--it turns out perfect every time!)
2 c fresh or frozen green peas (thawed if frozen)
4 scallions, minced
1/3 c chopped fresh mint
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 c toasted coconut

instructions:
Whisk together mango chutney, fresh mango, lime juice, and oil to make dressing. Toss with rice, peas, scallions, and mint. Season with salt and pepper to taste, and top with toasted coconut.

an unseasonable salad

There was a time back in the dead of winter (which in Charleston translates to temperatures consistently in the fifties) when I ate brussels sprouts at least three times a week. I roasted them, sauteed them, put them on pizzas and in omelets. To my surprise I liked them raw as well as cooked, and a salad I found on food52 became a regular menu item for me. I talked about this salad A LOT, as anyone who spent more than 10 minutes with me during that period can attest.

But the bounty of spring and summer made me forget about the miniature cabbages that had served me so well in January and February. I moved on to salads of baby lettuces, tomatoes, peppers, and sweet corn. Brussels sprouts left my life as suddenly as they had appeared.

Then, this Sunday I saw a tiny basket of them at The Vegetable Bin, my favorite source for produce in Charleston. I took all of them. I made my winter salad again. I'm not ashamed to say I licked the bowl.

brussels sprouts salad
adapted from food52
4 small servings, or 2 large
per large serving:  238.5 cal, 16.3g fat, 21.1g carb, 4.1g fiber, 6.2g protein, 7+ weight watchers

This is a very flexible recipe. You can use whatever cheese you want, or omit it altogether for a vegan version. I've replaced the cheese with nutritional yeast with some success. The salad could also easily be turned into a light main dish by adding some protein; chickpeas work perfectly.

ingredients:
1/4 lb brussels sprouts (about 12 large),
   trimmed and sliced thinly
2 ribs celery, diced
2 c arugula, chopped
1/4 c dried cranberries
1/4 c crumbled feta
2 tbsp chopped toasted walnuts
juice of half a lemon (about 1 tbsp)
2 tsp oil of your choice (I used
   grapeseed)
salt and crushed red pepper, to taste

instructions:
It's a salad. Toss all ingredients together and serve! 

beets: a love(/hate) story

I always think I love beets. They make any dish more beautiful with their deep magenta color and jewel-like sheen. But when I'm honest with myself, I realize that beets are my food version of a "small dose" friend:  fun with a group for a night out, but too much of them and I want to gag. (Sorry if that's a little too graphic and/or mean; I promise no one who is reading this falls into that category of friend!)

just look at them...anyone would be tempted!

So, of course I bought a giant bunch of beets at the market on Saturday, and now I have to eat all of them. Last night I roasted a few, and I'm looking for different things to do with them that aren't totally beet-centric. Today for lunch I made this sandwich, and it was everything I could ask for:  crunchy and melty, sweet and savory, comforting and refreshing.

So, if you find yourself with an extra beet or six, give it a shot.

open-faced beet and brie melt
serves one, but is easily multiplied
no nutrition facts for this one...it's too imprecise.

ingredients:
hard roll, or sandwich-sized
   section of baguette
1 small beet, roasted*
1 ounce brie
a few toasted chopped
   walnuts
1 leaf lettuce
a few leaves of fresh basil
red wine vinegar, to taste
salt and pepper, to taste

instructions:
Set broiler on high. Cut roll in half and beets and brie into thin slices. Top each half of roll with beets and brie, and broil until cheese is melted and brown in spots. Remove from oven and top with walnuts, lettuce, basil, vinegar, and salt and pepper.

Tell me this isn't delicious, whether you love beets or not.

* I like to peel my beets when they're raw, wrap them individually in foil, and roast them in a 425-degree oven. Depending on their size, it takes 45-60 minutes to get them to fork-tender stage.

Farmers market stir-fry

One of my favorite things about living near my office is coming home for lunch every day. It only takes me about five minutes to walk to my apartment from work, so I have 50 minutes of preparation + eating time at my disposal each day. Yes, I know...I am the luckiest person in the world.

Unfortunately, I often underestimate the amount of time it will take me to prepare a dish (tip:  do not lug out your food processor on your lunch break). I have found one method, though, that never takes me over my time limit:  stir-frying. It's quick, can be made healthy quite easily, and is a suitable cooking method for almost any food. Case-in-point: this particular stir-fry took me all of 40 minutes to prepare, photograph, and eat. And it was delicious!

My farmers market loot from last weekend

This recipe incorporates almost all the vegetables I bought at Charleston's farmers market last weekend. You can use any produce that's in season and whatever protein you want. If at all possible, don't omit the pickled vegetables; their sweet acidity contributes an important layer of flavor to the dish. I originally made them as part of this banh mi recipe, which I highly recommend.

farmers market stir-fry
serves one
per serving (as written):  283.6 cal, 7.3g fat, 46.7g carb, 7.4g fiber, 13.5g protein, 8+ weight watchers (unless you enter each ingredient separately...then it's only 6!)

ingredients:

1 tsp vegetable oil

1 clove garlic, minced

1 sliver fresh ginger, minced

kernels from 1 ear of corn

2 radishes, sliced

1 carrot, sliced

1 scallion, sliced

8 medium shrimp

about 1 tsp soy sauce

about 1 tbsp rice vinegar

sriracha to taste

diced fresh jalapeno to taste

about 1/4 c pickled carrots and radishes (recipe below)

instructions:
Heat oil in large skillet over medium heat until shimmering. Add ingredients from garlic to white part of scallion. If you're using a slower-cooking protein then shrimp, add that as well. Cook 5-10 minutes, stirring and tossing with abandon (that's the fun part, until you toss a little too enthusiastically and send corn kernels flying all over the place).

Add shrimp if using. Add soy sauce, rice vinegar, and sriracha, and stir to coat mixture evenly. Cook a minute or two longer, until all liquid has dissolved. Empty into a large bowl, cover with rest of sliced scallions, jalapenos, and pickled vegetables. Enjoy your lunch (or dinner, or late-night snack, or maybe even breakfast)!

pickled carrots and radishes
adapted from food52
makes about 1.5 c

ingredients:
1/4 lb carrots, julienned
1/4 lb radishes, sliced thin
1/2 c water
1 c apple cider vinegar
1 tbsp salt
2 tbsp sugar

instructions:
Mix all ingredients together. Let sit in refrigerator for at least an hour or as long as overnight. I used mine up in about three days, but they would have kept longer.

vegan chocolate chip cookies

I went to a cookout this weekend with lots of vegetarian/vegan attendees, so I thought I'd try my hand at vegan baking. I'd made a couple of vegan desserts before (brownies, Alton Brown's awesome chocolate pie with a couple of substitutions), but this was the first time I made up the recipe completely my own.

This recipe is an amalgamation of about 6 chocolate chip cookie recipes, some regular and some vegan, taking snippets as I pleased. Surprisingly, the cookies turned out great--crispy crumbly, extra chocolaty, with a hint of coconut from the oil. Unfortunately, I didn't have the foresight to snap a picture of them, so you'll just have to make a batch to see how they look!

vegan chocolate chip cookies
makes about 5 dozen medium-sized cookies
per cookie:  114.3 cal, 6.4g fat, 14.6g carb, 1.0g fiber, 1.4g protein, 3+ weight watchers

ingredients:
1 1/2 c bread flour
2 1/2 c oats, ground (measured pre-grinding, which is optional but easy with a
         food processor)
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 c coconut oil, room temperature
1 1/2 c sugar
2 tbsp ground flax seed mixed with 6 tbsp water
2 tsp vanilla
2 c (1 12-oz bag) vegan chocolate chips 

instructions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Whisk together flour, ground oats, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl; set aside.

In a large bowl, beat coconut oil with sugar on medium speed for about two minutes. It will not get fluffy like butter but should look creamy. Add flax seed mixture and vanilla, and beat on medium speed for another two minutes.

Gradually add dry ingredients to wet ingredients while mixing on medium-low speed. Mix just until combined, then fold in chocolate chips.

(Optional step:  At this point, I decided to make chocolate chocolate chip cookies by pulsing half of the dough in the food processor, then incorporating it back into the original dough. This yielded a cookie with a chocolaty flavor throughout, plus a good number of chips. Feel free to skip this step if you want a more traditional chocolate chip cookie.)

Scoop tablespoonfuls of dough onto a cookie sheet and bake for 13-15 minutes, depending on how crispy you want your cookie. Let cool for at least 10 minutes before eating, as these are slightly more delicate than their non-vegan counterparts.

tropical pudding

Ah, summer. With the exception of the last few days' unseasonably cool weather (75! And windy!), summer has definitely fallen upon Charleston. This makes me want to eat as many cold, fruity things as possible...sorbet, yogurt, popsicles, pudding.

That's right, pudding. Despite--or perhaps because of--Jell-O's best efforts, when many of us think of pudding, we don't think of a refreshing warm weather treat, we think of a weak substitute for ice cream or something that comes out of a mold. We certainly don't think, "Pudding...refreshing!" I mean, besides Jell-O, the other brand of pudding I see most often in my grocery store is called Kozy Shack; this doesn't exactly conjure up images of sandy beaches and the ocean lapping at your feet.

But if you add coconut and mango...voila! You're transported to a cruise ship with a lei around your neck and ukelele music lulling you to sleep. So that's what I'm going for here. This is pudding, but it's pudding with a tropical twist. I think it's the perfect transitional dessert for springing into summer. 

tropical pudding
makes six 1/2-cup servings of pudding + 1/4 cup fruit
per serving (pudding only):  180.5 cal, 7.6g fat, 24.9g carb, 0.3g fiber, 2.0g protein, 5+ weight watchers 

ingredients:
1/2 c sugar
1/4 c cornstarch
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 c light coconut milk
1 1/2 c plain almond milk
4 egg yolks
1 1/2 c mango or other fruit of your choice
Zest of one lime (optional) 

instructions:
Whisk together sugar, cornstarch, and salt in a medium saucepan. Add milks a little at a time (the order doesn't matter), whisking as you go and making sure there aren't lumps of cornstarch. Whisk in egg yolks.

Cook mixture over medium heat, whisking frequently, until it thickens and begins to form large, lazy-looking bubbles. Remove from heat and pour through a fine-mesh sieve into a medium bowl. Cover and refrigerate for at least three hours.

Serve with fruit of your choice; I prefer mango, but pineapple or blueberries would also be delicious. A squeeze of lime juice and a sprinkling of zest perks it up a bit, too.

sweet skillet cornbread

Cornbread. Maybe it's the southerner in me, but I don't think there's another bread out there that can beat it with a stick. (I don't use that phrase often, so it really means something.)

Only recently did I discover the existence of a dividing line, approximate to the Mason-Dixon, that separates northern cornbread from southern. Many say the sweet, cake-like cornbread baked in a casserole hails from the north, while its savory, cast iron skillet-cooked cousin originates the south. Perhaps because I have both New England and southern roots, I prefer a hybrid of the two--enough sugar to make me feel like I'm eating a little dessert with my dinner, but a nice crust around the edges to give the bread some oomph.

So, I sort of hijacked this recipe from The Pioneer Woman, whom I love (or should I say, whose website I love). I substitute butter for shortening and add a little honey plus a lot of fresh sweet corn. I also halve it since there's just me to eat it, and that could be dangerous. (Plus, I accidentally bought a 6-inch cast iron skillet on eBay...you can't make a whole batch of anything in that.) Hence, this recipe can easily be doubled and cooked in a 10- or 12-inch skillet. 

sweet skillet cornbread 
adapted from The Pioneer Woman 
makes 4 (generous) servings
per serving:  162 cal, 4.1g fat, 28.3g carb, 1.9g fiber, 5.1g protein, 5+ weight watchers

ingredients:
1/2 c yellow cornmeal
1/4 c all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 c buttermilk
1 egg white
1 tbsp honey
2 tbsp butter, melted and divided
kernels from 1 ear of corn (about 1/2 c) 

instructions:
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Combine cornmeal, flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl; set aside.

Whisk together buttermilk, egg white, and honey. Add buttermilk mixture to cornmeal mixture, and stir to combine. Fold in corn kernels and 1 tbsp melted butter, stirring just until incorporated. Batter will be very thick.

Pour rest of butter into a 6-inch cast iron skillet; set over medium heat. Once skillet is hot, swirl butter to coat it and pour (or rather push) batter into skillet.

Cook on stovetop for about one minute, then transfer to oven and bake for 15-20 minutes more, until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean.