Every Rom-Com, every book, every platitude says when you meet “The One,” you’ll just know. We didn’t lock eyes in a crowded airport terminal or pass each other on a train platform or have an awkward conversation about the weather in biology lab. We met on the Internet. And it’s like….magic. I have fallen completely, utterly and irrevocably in love. We are M-F-E-O (made for each other). My husband? What? No, I met him in a bar. I’m talking about the Baking Steel.
Beets were on my top food offender list when I was a kid. Beets didn’t come from a farm or the grocery store, they came from a salad bar. Sizzler, Soup Plantation, even Carl’s Jr. (yes, they had a salad bar in the ol' days) all had ‘em. Sliced or julienned, my auntie would pile…
Ever get the feeling we’re all making the same 100 recipes in slightly different ways? I make a black bean salad periodically that’s just a thrown together mix of black beans, corn, red onion, tomato, sometimes cucumber and avocado with lime, cumin and olive oil, and a little salt and pepper. A few states over, it’s got black-eyed peas, jalapeno and cilantro and they call it Cowboy Caviar. Call it what you want, this salad doubles as a rustic salsa, and it’s spot on for those of us getting our vegetable on, for those watching football and for general New Year’s good luck.
After one last sip of champagne, we’re collectively about to lay down the cheesy appetizers and cookies that sustained us through December and trade them in for big bowls of salad, platefuls of roasted vegetables and after work trips to the gym. If that transition seems tough, there’s hardly a book better than Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi’s Jerusalem 
to inspire you. Currently ranked #57 on Amazon’s bestseller list, it’s clearly a book a lot of us got for Christmas and Hanukkah.
Everything, and I mean everything, in this book looks fantastic. Even vegetables I don’t usually care much for, like eggplant and okra, are enticingly photographed. Not knowing where exactly to start, I took Emmy’s (of Emmy Cooks) advice and started with the roasted butternut squash and red onion with tahini and za’atar. Spoiler alert: It’s DELICIOUS.
I’m a convert to Texas chili, having grown up on a chili powder version with kidney beans. The upside is when we want a meaty chili, nothing but a bowl of red will do, and I’ll toast and soak the chiles. When the day calls for a vegetarian version, I can go straight for this chili without losing face and without a drop of geographical guilt.
Creating balance is sometimes about restraint. You don’t always need flavor to smack you in the face to have a wow moment. As you look at the piles of apples and pears in the produce section, it’s never been more true. My favorite eating apple these days is the Honeycrisp. It’s not shy. It’s crunchy…
Thanksgiving is just two (and a half) weeks away. I’m sure you’re already working on your plan – turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, salad, green beans, pie. But have you figured out snacks? While everyone mills around or watches football before the big meal, don’t you need a little something to nosh on? Well, of course there'll be Chex Mix. What about something a little more special, but still quick to make? These Sun-Dried Tomato Pesto Pinwheels fit the bill. Pizza dough cinnamon roll people, this one’s for you.
If you need any proof that it's possible to eat fabulously as a vegan, you only need to visit Denver. We just spent the weekend with our friends Jed and Lara there and ate at Justin Cucci's restaurants, Linger and Root Down. Not only is Linger's menu focused on global street food, which would be a potential disaster in less capable hands, these restaurants serve both carnivores and vegans, satisfying all parties. And Root Down makes a mean blood orange mimosa at brunch. I came back from Denver thinking about vegetarian dishes, and while I made a beefy, warms-your-soul pot of chili earlier in the week, I also roasted up a butternut squash and made a little butternut and quinoa salad with the flavors of fall.
You know that thing I said about tiptoeing into fall? It’s on hold. Well, temporarily. Ma Nature has gifted us with an extended summer and around these parts, you don’t look a sunny and 75 gift horse in the mouth. You bypass the pumpkin lattes and keep on making cold brew and enjoy every last bit of summer you can, because there’ll be beets and parsnips from the moment it ends until July comes around again next year.
I’m sure I’ve committed some kind of culinary crime with these vegetarian summer rolls. Violated a sacrosanct law by bringing quinoa into the picture. A grain that’s as hipster as skinny jeans and typewriters. But if you’re trying to get more whole grains, more fiber, well, then you work it in where you can. These summer rolls are a perfect little snack, a perfect little starter and they’re chock full of vegetables.