tahini

Moroccan-Spiced Roasted Carrot Dip

August 27, 2014 by Erica

So I’ve finally made the acquaintance of harissa. For the last year, I’ve seen other bloggers making delicious spicy recipes with this spice blend I’d never heard of. I kept vowing to try it… then returning to my lazy, familiar ways. But a little tub of it caught my eye at the farmer’s market on Martha’s Vineyard, and I knew I’d regret it if I procrastinated further. Plus, who doesn’t like to come home with some foodie souvenirs from their travels?

As it turns out, I probably should have left the harissa, because I spent my last cash on it. When Nate and I went to apply for our marriage license minutes later, neither of us had the $4 that it cost, thanks to his farmer’s market coffee and my harissa purchase. We actually had to ask my dad for $5 to apply for the license! Now there’s a story for our kids – Mommy and Daddy were so poor they couldn’t even afford to get married for $4. It’s kind of romantic, right? (We can leave out the part that Mommy had just paid more than that for a gourmet spice blend and Daddy was feeding his expensive latte habit.) That’ll teach me to walk past the ATM on my way out of the airport…

It was the harissa dip I sampled at the farmer’s market stand that put me over the edge towards buying it. That dip, made with yogurt and cream cheese, was nothing like this one, but I wanted to try out the harissa and carrot combination I’d seen all over the blogosphere. Also, Nate read The China Study while we were on the Vineyard, and he’s convinced me we should try to be a liiittle more vegan again. (Although I probably had you fooled with Monday’s recipe, which contained three types of dairy and an egg.) In any case, a carrot dip seemed like a good place to start with making a dent in my new tub of harissa.

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Blueberry Tahini Smoothie

June 9, 2014 by Erica

It is that perfect weather time of year. June! June, I love you.

It’s perfect patio temperature. Warm in the sun, cool in the shade, and because we live in the West, perfectly dry all the time. It’s light in the morning when I wake up, and light in the evening when I leave work. Sometimes it’s even light out when I’m thinking about going to bed at night… but I try to stay up until dark. Otherwise I might have to sacrifice my adulthood.

It’s also perfectly green right now. Utah is usually not that green of a place. But somehow this year we had good snowfall and a relatively wet spring, so things haven’t started to shrivel into wildfire tinder just yet. And with just a bit of snow still in the mountains overhead, it’s just gorgeous!

The weather is also great for running, as long as you get your run over early enough before the sun really starts baking. To me, there’s nothing better than running in the cool part of the day before the rest of the city wakes up. After work runners: I don’t know how you survive at this time of year. It is still HOT out at 6 or 7 pm, and I mean, if you wait until later than that, when do you eat dinner?! I am very concerned for you. You are going to be heat stroked and hungry – my two worst nightmares. My workout schedule clearly revolves around temperature and food.

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Warm Curry Salad

April 11, 2014 by Erica

Warm Curry Salad

Happy Friday!

I am breathing a sigh of relief that this week is over. It was a busy one, that’s for sure. Not that that’s unexpected, but just… phew. Friday. I would imagine you feel the same?

Usually my Friday posts tend to be fewer meals and more desserts, breakfasts, snacks, and the like. Let’s face it – I am tired by the end of the week, and that is the kind of recipe that gets me excited to tie on my apron and get in the kitchen over the weekend. Healthy meals? Meh. I get enough of those Monday to Thursday. BUT today we are bucking the trend with this warm curry salad. Mostly because I got over-excited about polenta earlier in the week and just couldn’t save that post until Friday. But also because I think it’s worth throwing together a pot of this over the weekend, if not because you’re super excited about it at the time, then because you most certainly will be excited about having healthy leftovers in your lunchbox come Monday or Tuesday.

But let’s back up. Warm curry salad? What the H-E-double-hockey-sticks is a warm curry salad?

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Roasted Veggie Quinoa Bowl with Miso Tahini Sauce

March 18, 2013 by Erica

Roasted Veggie Quinoa Bowl with Miso Tahini Sauce

I warned you: Sweet Potato Fever over here. Can someone come over to my house and tell me if I’m turning orange around the edges?

Here’s how we’re getting our sweet potato fix today: roasted, in a bowl with quinoa and broccoli, and drenched in a slurpable sauce. This right here is barely a recipe. Buuuut it’s one of the meals I’ve been eating most often recently, so of course I wanted to share. It’s a great way to use up any vegetables you might have gotten overzealous with on your last shopping trip… ahem sweet potatoes.

I almost always use sweet potatoes when I make this, but the other vegetable can be changed up. I usually try to use something green. Here it was broccoli, but I’ve also done Brussels sprouts, cauliflower and kale. Green beans or asparagus would also be great as we head into spring!

For a hot meal, this is super fast to make. Quinoa is a quick-cooking grain, and I love that it’s cooked and tender by the time the veggies finish roasting. The dressing can also be whipped up in about 30 seconds, making life so easy.

Roasted Veggie Quinoa Bowl with Miso Tahini Sauce

I recently made this for lunch for Nate, our friend Pete and myself before an afternoon of skiing. I was out of the house when Nate texted me, saying he and Pete were stopping to get Pete’s ski stuff and would be home soon to eat. Eek – for a second I thought I was going to have to renege on my offer to make lunch. But I quickly got my head screwed on straight, raced home, and popped these veggies in the oven. Lunch was ready by the time the boys got back! Success.

This is also one of my favorite lunches to pack for work. It’s so healthy, and the tart and salty sauce is just the type of thing I look forward to eating all morning. Not to mention the sweet potatoes!

Roasted Veggie Quinoa Bowl with Miso Tahini Sauce

5.0 from 1 reviews

Roasted Veggie Quinoa Bowl with Miso Tahini Sauce

Hands-on time

10 mins

Cook time

20 mins

Total time

30 mins

Author: Erica

Yields: 3 servings

Ingredients

For the bowl:

1 large sweet potato (1 1/2 to 2 lbs), peeled and chopped into 1/2-inch pieces
3 small heads broccoli, chopped into bite-size pieces
2 tsp olive oil
sprinkle of salt and pepper
1 cup uncooked quinoa, rinsed

For the miso tahini sauce:

2 Tbsp white miso paste
2 Tbsp tahini
2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice (about half a lemon)
2-4 Tbsp water (as needed)
1 small clove garlic, minced (optional)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400 and line 2 baking sheets with tin foil.
Toss sweet potato with 1 tsp olive oil and a sprinkle of salt and pepper and spread onto one of the baking sheets. Do the same with the broccoli, remaining olive oil, and another sprinkle of salt and pepper and spread onto the other baking sheet. Roast both for 20-25 minutes, until starting to brown, stirring once halfway through.
While vegetables are roasting, cook quinoa. Add to small pot with 1 1/2 cups water. Bring to a boil and simmer for 12-15 minutes, until tender. Drain any remaining water.
Finally, prepare the miso tahini sauce. With an immersion blender (or a whisk), mix together the miso, tahini, lemon juice, 2 Tbsp water, and optional garlic. Add additional water to reach desired thickness.
Once vegetables are done, you're ready to eat! Scoop quinoa into each bowl and top with vegetables and miso tahini sauce.
Enjoy!

Butternut, Chickpea and Kale Soup with Tahini Broth

March 6, 2013 by Erica

butternut kale and chickpea soup with tahini broth

Can you believe it’s March?

I’ve started off every month for the past… oh, year or so, with that same question. I think it’s a sign I’m getting old.

But this month, unlike every month in the fall when I know that another month means even colder weather, I’m happy it’s March. March means that, although everything may still be snow-covered, a few warm days will be tossed in here and there. It’s actually been over 50 the past few days! (Don’t be too alarmed; there’s a chance of snow today… now THAT is March for you.) I always look forward to the warm weather because it means summer produce. Strawberries, tomatoes, basil, peaches… and other things that I have probably forgotten about because I haven’t seen them in so long.

But this year, I kind of started to panic when I realized spring was coming. I haven’t cooked enough winter food yet! Blogging will do that to you. I need more time for soup!

butternut kale and chickpea soup with tahini broth

So that was the impetus behind this soup. That, and wanting to make something creative with tahini while Nate was out of town this weekend because, as you may remember, he does not like tahini. So I made a soup and put tahini in the broth. It’s yummy, and satisfied my soup craving so that I can finally make peace with winter.

The main flavor of this soup comes from the butternut squash, making it slightly sweet. The broth is also spiced; I used coriander, turmeric, and thyme, but you could play around with those. And when it comes down to it, I think the tahini is actually optional (for all you tahini haters out there… I don’t understand you).

I love that this soup is chock full of veggies and flavor. Warming, filling, yummy-tasting… all my favorite qualities in an end-of-winter soup.

butternut kale and chickpea soup with tahini broth

5.0 from 1 reviews

Butternut, Chickpea and Kale Soup with Tahini Broth

Hands-on time

15 mins

Cook time

35 mins

Total time

50 mins

Author: Erica

Yields: 4-5 servings

Ingredients

1 tsp olive oil
1 red onion, chopped
2 large or 3 small cloves garlic, minced
3 stalks celery, chopped
1 bay leaf
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1/4 tsp ground turmeric
pinch of cayenne
pinch of dried thyme (optional)
5 cups vegetable broth with no tomatoes (such as Whole Foods 365 Organic)
4 cups diced butternut squash
1 14-oz. can chickpeas, drained and rinsed (1 ½ cups)
1 cup reserved chickpea liquid (or substitute 1 cup vegetable broth)
1/4 cup tahini
juice of 1 lemon
2 handfuls curly kale, torn into bite-size pieces
sprinkle of salt

Instructions

In a soup pot, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add onion and garlic and saute about 5-6 minutes. Add celery and saute another 3-4 minutes.
Add bay leaf and all spices and stir to coat. Add the vegetable broth, butternut squash, and chickpeas and bring to a simmer. Simmer 20-25 minutes, until squash is tender.
In a heat-proof measuring cup, microwave the chickpea liquid (or additional vegetable broth) until hot, about 2 minutes. Stir in the tahini until thoroughly combined. Add to the soup along with the lemon juice and kale.
Remove from heat. Salt to taste. Allow to cool slightly before serving.

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