Chamomile Coffee Muffins (Gluten & Dairy Free)

Okay, wow. These are great. I mean, so great that my dearest and pickiest friends and family love them. From foodies, to purists, to frozen food lovers - everyone loves these muffins. If you've been around me at all this past month, chances are you've either sampled or heard me gush about these guys. They are friendly to almost any kind of diet out there (paleo, plant based, vegan, omnivore) while satisfying like a dessert and mini-meal all at once. And the best part is: every ingredient is healthy and gluten/dairy free with minimal natural sweetener.

I found this recipe on The Vanilla Bean Blog here and have been making them every week since. They don't last long. They're great for any mealtime or food on-the-go. And if you love them, the foundational ingredients can be used to make any kind of muffin you desire. Replace chamomile, coffee, and cocoa nibs with banana and walnuts, or orange zest and cranberries, or vanilla and strawberries. Let me know if you try any other flavor combinations, I would love to hear your ideas.

INGREDIENTS makes 12 large or 18 medium muffins

almond flour (4 cups)

chamomile (4 T) this usually comes to 8 teabags worth

baking soda (1 t) aluminum and gluten free variety

salt (1 t)

cocoa nibs (4 T)

eggs (4)

vanilla (1 t)

honey (1/2 cup)

olive oil (1/2 cup)

brewed coffee (1/2 cup) make sure it's nice a cold

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat the oven to 350°.
2. In a large bowl, mix all dry ingredients together.
3. In another medium bowl, beat all the wet ingredients together.
4. Add the wet ingredient to the dry and thoroughly combine.
5. Scoop mixture into muffin pan, filling each mold to the top for large muffins. The muffins will rise and billow out over the mold. (I also personally prefer no liner paper and let the muffins bake naked.)
6. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until done (poke with a knife or skewer to check; if it comes out clean, you're good to go).
7. Let cool completely. 

That's it! Enjoy! xo, J

Miso Vegetable Soup

It's so cold outside! I love it. This will warm you right up. 

Miso is pretty neat. Salad dressings, glazes, soups - oh my! And depending on its processing and fermentation methods, miso is alive with friendly bacteria that's medicinal for your belly and body. Fermentation guru, Sandor Katz sums it up well in an interview with NPR's Terry Gross:

Bacteria in our gut enable us to live. We could not survive without bacteria. They allow us to digest food, to assimilate the nutrients in our food; and they play a huge role, just beginning to be understood, in our immune functioning and in many other processes in our bodies. All life has evolved from bacteria and no other form of life has lived without bacteria. Our bacteria perform all sorts of essential functions for us, and because we are continually attacking them effectively with all of these chemicals in our lives, simply replenishing and diversifying these populations has a benefit for us.

So, if you're hankering for some instant, soothing soup, instead of reaching for a box-of-anything, try some miso. Just make sure to get an organic, non-GMO, gluten-free fresh paste. I prefer the red type since it is more nutrient dense than the yellow or white varieties.

INGREDIENTS
filtered water (4 cups)
fresh ginger (4 T) grated
garlic cloves (1-2 large) crushed
onion (1) very thinly sliced; I use my mandoline
carrots (1-2) sliced into coins
celery (1-2) sliced 
mushrooms (1/2 box)
miso paste (4 T)
vegetables got any veggies in your fridge you'd like to use? throw 'em in there! bok choy, broccoli, green onions, have fun!

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Pour your water into a pot, add grated ginger, bring to a boil. (The medicinal properties of ginger are released when it's boiled or dried, so you want to let that ginger boil while prepping your veggies.)
2. Prep all your veggies if you haven't already.
3. Throw everything in except for any super soft elements, like mushrooms. Reduce heat and simmer until veggies are softened to preference.
4. Turn off heat. Add mushrooms. 
5. After a minute, stir in the miso. (Water that is too hot will break down the medicinal properties of miso.)

That's it! Enjoy! xo, J

Zucchini Pasta

We have our warm Santa Ana winds blowing through, so I feel okay squeezing in one more post about our dearest summer squash, the zucchini.

I, too, was skeptical. Very skeptical. But it's delicious. Yes, zucchini "pasta" is delicious! Pasta itself is a precious, heartwarming artform and I would never suggest that zucchini does, should, or can substitute its delicately doughy comrade; they are unique individuals, different special personalities. However, you can prepare zucchini using some traditional pasta methods and make something incredibly tasty happen. Plus, like cooking up dried pasta, it requires few ingredients and little time. Here's the basic steps for the simple butter, salt, and pepper route, but go crazy with meatballs, tomato sauce, pesto, coconut milk - whatever you can dream up!

INGREDIENTS

zucchini (2-3 per person) shredded on a mandolin

earth balance or butter

good chunky salt

fresh ground pepper

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Warm up butter in a large sauce pan until it bubbles then add the shredded zucchini.
2. Saute until soft, but not mushy.
3. Sprinkle with salt and fresh pepper to taste.

That's it! Promise, you won't be disappointed. xo, J

Broiled Zucchini Ribbon Salad

I'm sneaking this in before the last remnants of summer completely sneak away. I've been meaning to post this dish all season since I've made it so many times that it's embarrassing to say and even more impossible to calculate.

I first made this salad when the inspiring Simran gifted me what has become one of my favorite (and at times most treacherous) kitchen tools: the mandoline. I wanted to ribbon and shred everything. I owned a (much more expensive) mandoline before, but it was clunky and difficult to use. This one is elegant, easy to use...and featured on Ratatouille! Just be extremely careful with your precious digits, I've had my own severe accident...or two.

To put my mandoline to good use, Simran sent me a recipe, "...thin strips of zucchini under the broiler then mixed with lemon juice, olive oil, parsley, capers, olives, roasted red pepper, roasted tomatoes, s&p." I ended up making many variations of this salad all season long; the broiled olive oiled zucchini ribbons dressed with lemon and salt alone is brilliant. I also started playing around with broiling everything instead of baking. Pita chips: broiler. Green beans and shallots: broiler. Crispy tofu: broiler. Zucchini ribbons: broiler!

Although this salad is amazing in its simplest form, here is my ultimate favorite variation. I've enjoyed it alone as a meal, wrapped up in a toasted tortilla, served as a side to guests, mixed in with dill and quinoa - just some ideas.

INGREDIENTS
zucchini (2 per person) thinly and uniformly ribboned; a little thicker than paper thin
cherry tomatoes halved
olive oil
coarse salt I use ground pink Himalayan or Kosher
black cured olives cut into pieces; I use kitchen scissors
capers
lemon

DIRECTIONS

1. Toss the zucchini and tomatoes separately with olive oil and salt.
2. Lay zucchini out on baking sheets; don't overlap otherwise they'll cook unevenly. Then lay the tomatoes out on a baking sheet.
3. Pop your sheets in the oven, broil on high and watch closely since broiling burns food easily. Every broiler is different, but make sure you only use the one rack closest to the heat. Cook until just golden. 
4. Toss zucchini and tomatoes together with lemon, olives, capers.

That's it! Enjoy with the last bit of zucchini you have left!

xo, J

Roasted Pears

Roasted pears! A fun foundational idea with endless improvisational finishing possibilities. Our pears were going bad, so I roasted them. Now I want to roast or broil every type of fruit at least once to see what happens. Once you scoop out the middle of the pear, you can fill it with whatever you dream up - melted butter alone in the center would be tasty, or add some squeezed lemon, sugar, and fresh vanilla bean. This time around, I filled the pears with walnuts and roasted the whole thing together. This warms up the nuts while toasting them just on top, so it maintains their raw buttery quality. Another delicious route would be to toss the nuts in melted butter, maple syrup or sugar and some spices, then roast them separately for a more candied quality. Serve warm with ice cream, alone, or next to some loaf cake.

INGREDIENTS

pears peeled with a peeler with the center toughness scooped out

maple syrup optional

lemon

earth balance or butter

cinnamon

salt

walnuts crushed

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Heat the oven to 350. 
2. Arrange the pears on a baking sheet. 
3. Brush with maple syrup and squeeze some fresh lemon on top.
4. Plop a bit of butter in the center and sprinkle everything with cinnamon and a touch of salt.
5. Fill up the middle with walnuts and finish with a bit more butter on top.
6. Pop in the oven until golden and caramelized. Watch the nuts to make sure they don't burn.

Enjoy! xo, J

Crispy Tofu & Peppery Shaved Celery

This is based on a dish from Mark Bittman's 101 Summer Salads. I've had this list magneted to our fridge for almost a year, but its recipes truly shine during the summer. I've tried about a dozen of these salads, and so far, they vary in greatness. But man, the tasty ones are so brilliant, it's worth some trial and error to sniff them out. The genius of these salads is their SIMPLICITY; their minimalist ingredients, instruction, and effort. Bittman gives you a great starting place and it's playtime from there. I had a lot of fun with this one. The celery is a refreshing crunchy contrast to the warm crispy-on-the-outside-soft-on-the-inside tofu. It's filling, a standalone meal. You could throw in some orange juice and zest for the tofu glaze, serve over rice/quinoa or by itself.

INGREDIENTS
celery (1 stalk bunch) sliced a little thicker than paper thin; I use my mandolin for this, but can be done by hand or maybe with food processor attachment
organic (preferably sprouted) extra firm tofu (15.5 oz) pressed between paper towels with weight on top for at least 30 minutes to soak up the water (this allows the tofu to crisp up and absorb flavor better), then diced into small cubes
peanut or olive oil (1 T) or as much as you want; I always use as little oil as I can get away with
peanuts (1/3 cup) crushed
chili flakes (1/4 t)
freshly ground Szichuan or regular peppercorns
tamari or soy sauce
toasted sesame seeds
lemon

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Beat some oil and tamari together. Spread the diced tofu out on a baking sheet then brush them with oil/tamari mixture. Pop in the oven and broil until golden crispy.
2. In the meantime, heat up oil in a small saucepan until slippery, then add red chili flakes to infuse the oil. After a minute or so, add the crushed peanuts and stir until golden and aromatic.
3. Toss shaved celery, sesame seeds, spicy peanuts, crispy tofu, fresh ground pepper, and tamari together, finish with squeezed lemon to taste.

Enjoy! xo, J

Plum & Avocado Salad

Spring and summer are about salads. Fresh fruits, vegetables and herbs all in crazy mix. Stonefruit is my favorite star of the season, so I am thrilled to find this dish dreamed up and posted by the talented Lena on Food52. I have a few adjustments for my taste (and belly) - dial down the buttery avocado so it just accents the forkful of plums, kick up the garlic to nudge everything in a more savory direction, and drastically reduce the olive oil since I don't need a lot (and it doesn't compromise the integrity of the dish). I also assemble the ingredients in one bowl (laziness) instead of prepping the dressing and avo/plums separately. The lemon and finishing salt really bring the whole medley to life. This has become a summer staple for me this season - breakfast, lunch or dinner.

INGREDIENTS
garlic cloves (2) crushed
cilantro (1/2 cup) 
olive oil (1-2 T) I use just enough to make a nice chunky paste, but feel free to add as much as you want to get more of a dressing consistency 
chili pepper flakes (1/2 t) or more if you like it hot
finishing salt I love Maldon or pink Himalayan
plums (2-3) peeled (a peeler works great) and cubed into small chunks; you want the plums firm enough so they hold their shape, but ripe enough so they develop sweetness; pluots are great as well
avocado (1/2) cubed
lemon (1 small) freshly squeezed



INSTRUCTIONS

1. Mash up the garlic with a little salt, chili pepper, cilantro and olive oil into a chunky paste.
2. Add the plum and avocado chunks, squeeze the lemon juice on top and sprinkle some pinches of salt. 
3. Without mashing the avo, gently toss everything together by hand.
4. Let rest for a moment so the flavors have chance to settle.
5. Add more salt and/or lemon to taste.

Enjoy!