Turmeric-roasted cauliflower with maple-pomegranate vinaigrette

2 Comments November 14, 2016 urbankitchenapothecary

 

Well, Thanksgiving is fast approaching — in fact, it’s less than 2 weeks away, and how on earth did that happen?

Oh, right, many of us were distracted by a little thing called the 2016 Presidential Election…

That was a doozy.

Um, okay, let’s get back to food. This blog is a no-politics zone…kinda like our home is a no-mayo zone…But I digress.

For me, holiday meals are all about the SIDES. Sure, I might sneak a slice or two of turkey onto my plate, but typically the animal proteins are crowded out by lots of colorful veggies.

Sides are where so much of the creativity of the meal happens — new flavor combinations and preparation techniques, bright sauces, colorful garnishes; the fun stuff (in my opinion). (And, since the hubs makes a fantastic turkey breast on the bone, I’m free to focus my attentions elsewhere.)

I’ve been getting lots of requests lately for plant-based recipes for Thanksgiving, which I think is great – people are really branching out and the meal is no longer just about meat and potatoes (or marshmallow-capped sweet potatoes – sorry, but I just cannot get on board with them!).

This year I’m reserving a special spot on the table for a new favorite: turmeric and chile-rubbed cauliflower with red onion, garlic, pine nuts, pomegranate seeds & a bright maple-pomegranate vinaigrette. A slightly unconventional dish for a very traditional holiday, yet one whose warm, earthy flavors get along quite nicely with the usual players, i.e., turkey, mashed potatoes and/or sweet potatoes, stuffing, greens, etc.

Roasting is my favorite way to introduce cauliflower (or re-introduce it, for those who have been cauli-traumatized in the past) to people who aren’t fans of this super-nutritious but often under-appreciated brassica.

If you’ve only had cauliflower steamed, boiled (the  horror!), or raw as part of a cruditè platter, you are missing out. Spending some quality time in a hot oven brings out cauliflower’s natural sweetness, and the resulting caramelized edges and tender interior make it super-satisfying, almost meaty in texture.

Turmeric brings a wonderful earthiness and the most gorgeous golden color to the cauliflower florets. And juicy, ruby-red pomegranate jewels, crisp toasted pine nuts, and a zesty dressing take it to the next level; how could anyone resist such a royal dish?

You could serve this as a side to virtually any meal, or make it the star of the show by serving with a grain such as quinoa, short-grain brown rice, or farro, or over mashed sweet potatoes or creamy polenta. This is a dish that will delight both the plant-based eaters and omnivores at your table.

5-ingredient flourless almond butter cookies

Leave a comment November 3, 2016 urbankitchenapothecary

This is a story about a cookie; an incredibly simple yet decadent salted peanut butter cookie that I’ve developed a bit of an obsession with.

Whenever I see these plump beauties in the case at my local coffee shop, with their golden, domed tops sprinkled with crunchy salt, I must have one. They’re gluten-free and flourless – so how bad could they be?, I thought – and in this case ignorance was bliss.

When the bakery shared the recipe a while back, everyone made a big deal that it’s only a 3-ingredient cookie (PB, eggs, brown sugar).

But whoa, Nelly! One of those three ingredients turns out to be Skippy — chock full of refined sugar and, even worse, that most unholy of fats, trans-fatty-acid-packed hydrogenated oil. So much for my beloved 3-ingredient cookies.

Now, I still treat myself to one of these cookies on occasion, because life is short, and they really are that delicious. Also my willpower simply isn’t that good! But I also set out to create my own healthier version, so I can enjoy that magical trifecta of sweet-salty-nutty goodness any time, with a lower sugar profile and minus the inflammation-fueling trans fats (seriously, factory fats are evil!).

Spiced carrot apple bundt cake with citrus brown butter glaze

Leave a comment November 1, 2016 urbankitchenapothecary

 

Carrot cake or apple cake? That is the question.

And it’s a tough choice when both are near and dear to your heart.

Luckily, there’s no need to decide, because I’ve brought these two classics together in the form of this plump, golden bundt cake.

This beauty is flecked with golden shreds of carrot, studded with tender, sweet apple chunks and crisp toasted pecans, and infused with the rich nuttiness of browned butter, a panoply of warming spices, orange zest, brown sugar, and vanilla.

Oh, and no big deal or anything but it’s drizzled with a citrus browned butter glaze (I’m obsessed). This bundt is basically the dreamy, golden light of autumn wrapped up in cake form. But let’s not stop at autumn; I can see baking this one all winter long, too.

Roasted sweet potato + red pepper soup with coconut milk and maple-cayenne pumpkin seeds

Leave a comment October 30, 2016 urbankitchenapothecary

 

Today was one of those crazy late-October days that felt like three seasons in one 24-hour period.

It started out feeling like a balmy June morning, and by early afternoon the temperature had reached 75 degrees – perfect weather for lounging on lawns in Central Park and dining al fresco — and also calling for the re-installation of our living room air conditioner, which has now been in and out of the window four (yes, four) times this month (next year it stays put at least through Thanksgiving!).

After a late lunch at one of our favorite cafes on Columbus Ave (gotta make the most of rosé weather while its lasts) we strolled down to Joe for a couple of cortados. As we walked south, the sun shining on our faces, we soon noticed menacing, dark grey clouds rolling in from the west. This was going to have to be one really fast coffee stop!

Cups in hand, we made it to 3 blocks from home when the sky opened up, and a whipping wind pelted us with rain until we arrived, drenched, in the vestibule of our building. Humbled by the New York City weather gods, once again, but luckily we missed the worst of the storm, which we watched from the dry oasis of our third-floor window.

Now in the early evening a more seasonally-appropriate, chill breeze is coming through the open windows (air conditioner has returned to its neglected state) and we’re back to soup weather.

Mediterranean turkey and cannellini bean chili with gremolata

Leave a comment October 23, 2016 urbankitchenapothecary

Hard to believe, but it took me 30 years to make my first pot of chili. Crazy, huh? In my house growing up we feasted on all manner of soups, stews, braises, and long-simmered sauces, but we never, to my memory at least, made chili. It wasn’t until I met a certain gentleman from New Mexico (who later became my husband) that I finally began the journey towards making a decent pot of meaty-beany-spicy-tomato-y goodness.

If you haven’t made chili before, it can sound like a lot of work — the ingredient lists for many recipes are a mile long. But in reality, after a bit of chopping and browning, time does most of the work. And when you’re ready to eat you take the lid off the pot and that spicy, savory steam hits your olfactory glands and it’s just pretty much heaven from there.

Spiced apple pecan yogurt muffins { gluten-free }

Leave a comment October 12, 2016 urbankitchenapothecary

 

We’re nearly halfway through October – truly, solidly autumn — so we could all go for some apple spice treats in our lives these days, right?

We have been bringing home a ton of new-crop apples from the NYC greenmarkets lately… and I intentionally buy more than we can eat out of hand – in the interest of baking, of course.

These spiced apple muffins were my first foray into apple-centric baking this fall, and I have a feeling I’m going to be making them many more times before the season is over.

Infused with warming notes of cinnamon, nutmeg, and brown sugar, these golden-topped beauties are studded with tender chunks of apple and rich, crunchy pecans. Yogurt and olive oil make for a tender, moist crumb. They’re also gluten-free and enriched with blanched almond flour for a satiating protein boost.

And if you need another reason to make them: your kitchen is guaranteed to smell incredible for the rest of the day.

Thyme-roasted delicata squash with sautéed sungolds and poached eggs

Leave a comment October 7, 2016 urbankitchenapothecary

 

End of September into early October is that magical moment when everything seems to be in season at once. At the greenmarket green and yellow summer squash sit next to bright orange pumpkins and winter squash; new-crop apples, pears, and potatoes are piled alongside the last of the heirloom tomatoes; and late-summer eggplants and bell peppers cozy up to the first of the celeriac and fat red and gold beets. Bright, juicy summer meets earthy, starchy autumn.

These juxtapositions always inspire some unusual combinations in my kitchen, and a recent favorite has been this quick sauce of sweet-tangy sautéed sungold tomatoes atop rings of golden-edged roasted delicata squash and topped with a poached egg, pickled chiles and parsley. The flavors and textures sing of summer and fall at the same time – and the squash is a perfect stand-in for breadier things that often serve as the foundation for tomatoes and eggs. The season for this dish is brief, but if you make extra sungold sauce and freeze it you could also be enjoying it in the middle of January, which wouldn’t be a bad thing at all.

Brown butter banana bread with pecans and vanilla brown butter glaze

2 Comments October 4, 2016 urbankitchenapothecary

 

Fall has always been my favorite season —

the season of crunching, colorful leaves,

sweaters, boots, and scarves,

crisp, sunny days and cool breezes,

Halloween and Thanksgiving — i.e., the food holidays…

bright pumpkins and squash,

soups and braises and all the good slow-cooked things.

Oh, and it’s also the season of BROWNED BUTTER.

I think I speak for most of us when I say that most autumn (and winter) foods can be just slightly improved upon with the addition of butter – especially fragrant, lightly toasted butter. Butter that’s halfway to ghee.

And that coziest of sweet treats, banana bread is no exception. Browned butter adds an incredible toasty richness that perfectly complements the sweetness of the bananas, and along with warming cinnamon and vanilla and a hint of brown sugar, it’s a flavor palette that has fall written all over it.

Spiced sweet potato and mung bean soup + Upcoming Fall Workshops!

Leave a comment September 28, 2016 urbankitchenapothecary

Now that cooler days are here again, I’ve dusted off my soup pot and am back at the stove simmering up some new recipes.

Quick-cooking, easily digestible, and protein-rich, mung dal (split and hulled mung beans) is among my favorite legumes for fall soups. Its mellow, nutty flavor is the perfect canvas for autumn ingredients and warming spices, and the split mung dissolve into their cooking broth creating a creamy, hearty texture that’s very satisfying.

I make different versions of mung dal quite often during the fall and winter months. For this iteration I added sweet potato and apple for hearty texture and earthy sweetness, fresh ginger for its wonderful bite, turmeric for mellow earthiness and its characteristic golden hue, and ground coriander seeds for bright, herbaceous pungency. Ginger and coriander are wonderful for digestion, making them perfect additions to any legume dish.

Late-summer tomatoes recipe round-up

Leave a comment September 16, 2016 urbankitchenapothecary

They’re still here…

Summer tomatoes, that is. And I’m taking advantage of every. last. one. Last autumn one of our favorite farmstands stayed stocked with beautiful heirloom tomatoes through early October, and I’m crossing my fingers that this year we’ll have another long tomato season. I can’t get enough!

So, it goes without saying that it’s been a tomato-heavy week over here in the urban kitchen apothecary.

All colors and sizes of heirlooms were eaten simply sliced and topped with peppery olive oil, fresh basil and gomasio.

But some fancier preparations happened, too. Easy and festive – my favorite combination! These three have been my favorites, and I decided to roll them all up into one post, because there’s no time to waste….

My new spin on a late-summer panzanella.

Baked eggs in a sweet and spicy cherry tomato and bell pepper sauce.

Slow-roasted sungold tomatoes on toast with pine nut cream.

Without further ado, let’s get to the recipes, shall we?