finding time for cooking - Page 2 of 38 - for the time-starved or curious culinary adventurer

Chocolate-Almond Tartine with Jam Swirls (gluten-free)

December 10, 2017

I have a well-documented love for a moist chocolate almond cake (I’ve written rhapsodies about this fancy loaf cake thing). One of the downsides of that recipe is that it it has to bake for almost an hour, so it’s difficult to just whip up or fit into the line-up when you’re needing the oven for other things.

Enter *this* cake.

It’s a similar idea as the fancy loaf cake, with a few key differences. One is that you don’t have to whip the egg whites (great for a lazy person like me) and the flavor profile is a bit different (this doesn’t have the cinnamon and coffee). But the best part is it bakes in about half an hour, so if you’re asked to bring a gluten-free dessert to a party in a few hours (ahem, not that that’s happened to me…) you can whip this bad boy up.

This got rave reviews from adults and kids alike, my friend even mentioned to me that her kids were asking about it a week or two later.

This cake is especially perfect for people who can’t decorate cakes (*raises hand*). One thing I will say, if you’re taking it somewhere else, I would wait to assemble the cakes and put the whipped cream on til you’re ready to serve. That’s simple enough, just wrap up each layer in plastic wrap and stick in the fridge, and bring the whipped cream in a container.READ THE POST

Best Gluten-Free Recipes for the Holidays

December 3, 2017

It’s a time of year where a lot of people are headed around on the party circuit, bringing dishes to family affairs and work events constantly. And I don’t know about you, but more and more I’m being asked to make gluten-free dishes as well.

Now, sometimes that’s not a big deal. Most veggie dishes, for instance, are fine. And there are simple substitutions you can make for other side dishes, like remembering not to use flour in the gravy (cornstarch will work just fine) or flour in your roux for mac & cheese (I’m thinking a gluten-free flour mix should work…haven’t actually tried it though). But when it comes to breads and desserts, you have to work a little harder.

So while I’ve posted lots of gluten-free recipes over the years (I have a few close friends who avoid it), I figured I’d do us all a solid and pull together my favorite desserts (and one bread recipe) that work well for a group, are easy, and most importantly are super delish.

Gluten-Free Recipes for Gatherings

One note, another dessert option is a simple fruit crisp, like this peach cardamom one. All you have to do is substitute a gluten-free mix or almond meal or similar for the flour in the topping and you’re golden. I also feel bad that I don’t have more bread options, something I intend to shore up. But these somewhat odd but quite tasty GF take on Red Lobster’s garlic cheddar biscuits are tasty.

Gluten-Free Rosemary Cheddar Biscuits

While these biscuits don’t have a traditional bread or roll texture, they are really moist and the garlic, rosemary, and cheddar (yep, a Red Lobster knock-off) is a great flavor combination that helps offset the hint of almond meal flavor. I brought these to my office’s Thanksgiving potluck and they were all devoured.

Chocolate, Cinnamon, & Almond Loaf Cake

I am obsessed with this loaf cake delicious fancy bread thing. Also, this is the point at which I realized that cinnamon whipped cream was a thing, and I’ve never gone back. This is subtle and rich, but not super sweet. The almond meal provides a super moist and light crumb, and the intense dark chocolate paired with the cinnamon is heaven.

Gluten-Free Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Ganache

Gluten-free or not, this cake is the BOMB. I actually made a gluten-ful (gluten-y?) chocolate stout cake for my birthday one year and then this a couple days later for a party, and brought both to the party—people literally couldn’t tell the difference. It’s dense and moist and rich but not too sweet. The quinoa definitely gives it a slightly lumpier texture unless you have an amazing food processor, but it doesn’t matter because it’s so good.READ THE POST

How To Cut Up a Butternut Squash (& Roast It)

November 5, 2017

It’s fall, so you know what that means…

No, I’m not talking about festive Starbucks cups and new fall TV shows. It means that hundreds of butternut squash recipes are flooding Pinterest. You’re probably getting seduced by them as we speak. And then you remember that getting a butternut squash from whole into bite-sized pieces is THE WORST.

Until you know how to do it well. So that’s where I come in. I’ve found and refined a way to dismember butternut squash that doesn’t take long, doesn’t kill your hands, and will get you perfect little cubes every time. Sure, you can sometimes buy it pre-cut (and there’s nothing wrong with that), but you can’t always find it that way plus it gets kind of slimy fairly fast. Better to have a good back-up.

So let’s dive in, shall we? There are two main pieces of equipment that you need, and one of them is an actual decent Y-peeler. I’m in love with my OXO peeler, got it a few years back and now no longer accidentally take off layers of skin when I’m peeling veggies. It gives you so much more leverage and stability than a regular vertical-bladed peeler.

Begin peeling long, deep strips out of the squash. You’ll need to overlap your stripes, because it will likely take two tries to get it deep enough. Butternut squash peel is not messing around.READ THE POST

Dark Chocolate Stout Cake with Peanut Butter Frosting + Happy Birthday to Me!

October 29, 2017

My tradition of ugly but delicious birthday cakes continues…

A cake decorator I will never be.

This cake, however, is suuuuuper delish. I really wasn’t feelin’ it this year. I was so tired and stressed that I didn’t even know if I wanted to bother making something. My birthday was on a Tuesday (blah) in a super crazy week (among other things we were moving offices, had big deadlines, and I was getting ready to leave the country), and I knew it would be a super long day.

So looked for something simple but that really tugged at me. And, man, peanut butter and a dark chocolate stout cake can get me every time.READ THE POST

Sweet Potato Chickpea Buddha Bowl

September 17, 2017

So…I’ve been chastising myself lately for my diet. Between crazy work schedules, travel, and being on crutches, I’ve just been a bit too reliant on Uber Eats and definitely lacking in fruits and veggies. It’s kind of amazing I don’t have scurvy.

Then this morning as I was working I decided to finally get around to watching “What The Health?” on Netflix, which talks through a lot of the things wrong with our diets and how that’s impacting our health, and the medical establishments and lobby groups that are set on keeping it that way.

Its basic conclusion is that we’re meant to eat plant-based diets, and that anything else is unhealthy. It’s definitely an interesting watch, and while I don’t completely agree that meat is the devil—I grew up on a family-run cow farm, after all, and I also believe that God designed us to eat some meat—I 100% agree that we’ve totally screwed up our food chain in so many ways and that a heavier plant diet is a good thing, and overall it guilted me REAL HARD into really putting on my adult pants today.

So I did some digging on plant-based diets and found some recipes that I want to try to rotate into my everyday routine. This was the first one I came across that made me go “Hmm!” The flavor combos are awesome, it’s easy to make, I’m a sucker for a good tahini sauce, and I’m hoping it’ll make an awesome lunch for a couple days this week as well. For a non-pasta vegetarian meal, I’m totally on board with this one!

READ THE POST

Lemon Raspberry Cake with Raspberry Frosting

August 27, 2017

I want to eat this cake all day, every day. Lemon + raspberry is a match made in heaven. Add those to a light, buttery cake and you’ve reached something truly sublime.

When I first made this recipe, it was actually as lemon cupcakes with a raspberry frosting, for my friend Casey’s birthday. But even as I was making it, I was mentally adapting it into a cake. Because let’s face it, cupcakes are a pain in the rear.

And then as I was making the cake, I had the idea of adding some jam swirled throughout. 1) Because I’m a huge fan of jam, and 2) because it does add a lovely moistness and complement to the lemon.

Jam is my jam.

This dessert is perfect for the winter months, because it tastes of springtime and warm days and lemons are usually plentiful. But it would be just as appropriate in summer for a light group dessert. Basically this is a year-round winner. YOU’RE WELCOME.READ THE POST

Banana Bread with Espresso Glaze

August 19, 2017

Oohhhhhh look at that warm, sweet, gooey glaze!

I’m not really into icings or glazes, but this espresso glaze takes something as simple as banana bread to a whole other level. This banana bread is fairly straightforward, albeit with a little topping of crunchy turbinado sugar and a hint of cinnamon and espresso powder. But add that glaze and you have a bona fide hit on your hands.

What’s great about the recipe is that it can feel really special, or just be an everyday sort of thing. I’m not hugely into banana bread, but I am hugely into this. Seriously, what are you waiting for? It can be in the oven in 15 minutes. Go. Go now.READ THE POST

Meyer Lemon Syrup Cake with Jam Swirls

July 23, 2017

I’m on a one-bowl cake train right now due to laziness and lack of time. Nothing fancy here.

And you know what? It’s summer and we don’t need fancy. We need fast, delicious, easy, and having the oven on for only a minimum amount of time.

This actually came about because I was at the grocery store (a rare occurrence for me lately) and they had meyer lemons. I’ve been obsessed with the idea of meyer lemons for a long time, but have never made anything with them or I think even HAD anything with them. They’ve been on my “to try” list for a while, so I threw them in my cart, not knowing exactly how I planned to use them.

After tons of searching (particularly taking into account the amount of time I could really devote to something), I decided to try this syrup cake. I’m hit and miss on cake as a dessert, they’re often a bit underwhelming to me, and often dry as well. I love the idea of the syrup cake because it would keep it much more moist. The batter also comes together in one bowl, so less dishes and it’s all very fast (about 10 minutes to pull everything together).

At the last second, I decided that it needed something extra, so I added some jam swirls to provide a complementary flavor and some extra texture. I had a jar of apricot jam open, and knew that the sharp, sweet apricot would be a great pairing with the sharp, sweet meyer lemon. But strawberry or raspberry would be great as well, or you can leave the jam out if you prefer. This was a hit at work, gone within an hour of putting it out.READ THE POST

One-Bowl Yogurt and Honey Olive Oil Cake

June 17, 2017

It’s been…quite a while since I’ve baked. Or cooked. Or gone grocery shopping, to be honest. Life’s been a bit nuts.

And last Sunday I had every intention of actually cooking a real meal that I could use for lunch all week, but as the hours flew by on Sunday I lost all my motivation. I ended up getting Uber Eats and actually getting to sit and read for a half hour, which was lovely, but then I decided that I needed to bake something to prove that I wasn’t entirely lazy.

Yes, I realize that’s a weird justification, but it was very compelling so I went with it.

The key was, it had to be super easy and fast. I had just found this recipe on The Kitchn and it checked a lot of boxes for me. One bowl (and not even the mixer), yay. Lemon, check. Add some herbs, check. Super moist because of the yogurt, check.

I literally threw it together in about 15 minutes, while a hair deep-conditioning treatment was soaking in. It was fast, easy, and tasted amazing. My house smelled divine, and it made for lovely leftovers.

The flavor combination is very subtle (very much my style), and a bit of homemade whipped cream or mascarpone cream provides a great texture counterpoint. I’m looking forward to taking this base recipe and trying some different flavor combos…I’ve got my eye on orange and rosemary next.READ THE POST

Fresh Corn Galette with Goat Cheese, Zucchini, and Thyme

June 11, 2017

I actually made this last year, right at the tail-end of summer. You know that time when there are like 7,000 pounds of zucchini, and the corn is just perfect but it’s like the last week of corn season??

And then I accidentally sat on it too long, and then it just seemed mean to post it in the late fall when you couldn’t get yummy fresh zucchini and corn to make it. So I’ve been patiently sitting on this recipe for several months, waiting for summer to roll around once again.

Nom nom nom. It looks fancy, but it really isn’t a difficult recipe. The only thing that’s a bit of a pain is making pie crust, but you can just buy it pre-made if you don’t want to deal with it. Add a glass of cold white wine and you have a summer masterpiece.

The combination of the tangy goat cheese, the fragrant herbs, sweet corn, and then mellow crunch of zucchini is sublime. This is summer perfection.READ THE POST

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