Cuisine: Annie's

Carrots Roasted with Rose Harissa and drizzled with Garlic Tahini Sauce

Carrots Roasted with Rose Harissa and drizzled with Garlic Tahini Sauce

Yotam Ottolenghi is my muse. I love his bold flavors, energetic spirit and infectious love for food. This is a rather radical modification of a recipe in his latest book, Simple. Rose harissa is somewhat hard to find (I get it at the Cheese Importers in Longmont, Colorado), but regular harissa that you make yourself or buy will be totally delicious. This is great as a side dish, something to bring to a dinner party (whenever that happens again…), or to add a little heft to a night when all your serving is a big salad. I find this intensely flavorful dish to be totally craveable. And for me, as long as it’s healthy, I don’t think we should make/eat any food that’s not in the category of craveable. Life is too damn short to spend time making and eating food that’s just meh.

Cashew Dill Cheesy Spread

Cashew Dill Cheesy Spread

I’ve messed around with making a variety of alternative cheeses, but I’m just not a fan of ingredients like tapioca flour or agar agar powder, etc. This recipe is my latest obsession because it’s so simple and incredibly delicious. Adding a bit of brine from your favorite fermented vegetable gives it a dose of healthy probiotics, too. To get the super creamy texture, however, you will need a bad ass blender like BlendTec or a VitaMix. If you try making it in a food processor or a normal blender, the result will still be tasty, but the texture will be a bit grainy.

Quarantine White Bean Dip

Quarantine White Bean Dip

If you’re cooking and adding beans to everything these days like minestrone, soup, stews, etc., this is a great way to use up the extras. If you don’t have tahini, just use a tiny bit more olive oil. The fat from the olive oil and/or tahini is what makes the dip a little more decadent. Specific quantities are listed below, but just adjust to what you have on hand and your taste. FYI: this also works with canned beans.

Salad Stuff

Salad Stuff

This so-called recipe is something I make fairly regularly and always have in my fridge. I love it because it adds a little extra crunch, a few more nutrients and a bit of fiber to my salad. The salad toppers in the grocery store are filled with things like yogurt covered almonds, sugar-dipped dried fruit, added oils, and crap like disodium inosinate and FD&C red 3. Bleh. My mix might be considered rather bland, but it’s certainly much healthier, nutrient-dense and, without a doubt, more affordable than what you see in the grocery store.