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

Korean BBQ Cauliflower & Chickpeas (vegan, gluten-free)

January 3, 2018

I’ve been completely obsessed with this this recipe for a couple months now. I’ve seriously made it three or four times in six weeks. And I cook like…maybe once a week?

This dish is super healthy done right—it’s so delicious that you don’t feel like you’re giving something up, and so easy that you don’t have to work hard to convince yourself to make it. Another bonus is that the main ingredients are really affordable, which isn’t always the case when using fresh, healthy ingredients.

Given how hectic things have been lately, I’ve tried out a couple of meal prep delivery services to see if they would help me be better about cooking and eating healthier—rather than relying on UberEats. I recently tried Terra’s Kitchen and focused on largely paleo and vegan recipes for my first box, to try and counteract the rest of my life.

This is a slightly adapted recipe of the first meal I made from them, and it was a WINNER! If you are wanting to try out a meal delivery service that has a lot of really healthy, fresh options, you might give them a try. This code will get you $40 off your first box (just a referral link, not a partnership of any sort).

The star of this dish is the sweet, tangy, spicy sauce that coats everything. But don’t underestimate how awesome the different textures are in combination—solid yet tender cauliflower, chewy chickpeas, crunchy peanut pieces. Nom nom nommity nom!READ THE POST

Bourbon Pear Crumble Pie

December 28, 2017

“This is the best dessert I’ve ever had”. Actual quote from my dad.

I don’t know that I can disagree. As I was trying to figure out what to make for Thanksgiving this year, I knew I wanted to make something fruit-based (because no one else was, and that’s my jam), and since my mom had about 17 pounds of fresh pears sitting around—and I loooove pears—figured it would be pear-based.

This wasn’t my first pear rodeo—I made a super delish caramel pear pie with oat crumble one year (a bit sweet for me but still soooo good) and one of my go-to recipes is a healthy pear-apple pie with streusel topping. But I wanted to try a new recipe out, so with that in mind, I pored over my Pinterest dessert board and hit upon this recipe. I knew I had a winner…bourbon pear pie was already going to be amazing, but add that crumble topping and there’s no way it won’t be amazing.

I ended up accidentally making quite a bit more filling and topping than could fit in my pie crust (I should have used the deep-dish pan), so I just poured the extra filling into a small pyrex dish, threw the extra topping on, and baked it as its own little bourbon pear crisp. It was amazing, so if you have extra I highly recommend going that route.READ THE POST

Roasted Brussels Sprouts & Butternut Squash with Dijon Vinaigrette

December 17, 2017

I am obsessed with this side dish. It is one of the few things I went back for seconds on at Thanksgiving, and has become one of my go-to side dish recipes—particularly when I need to feed a big group.

The hands-on time is minimal, just prepping and chopping the veggies. After that, you briefly toss in olive oil, season, and pop it in the oven. The vinaigrette takes all of two minutes to put together, so this is a perfect dish to make when you need to focus on other things in the kitchen.

One of the best things about this dish is that you can easily make it ahead, and it warms up and travels well. The flavors feel indulgent, but it’s still really healthy…which was one of the things we needed this Thanksgiving. I looked at our family’s Thanksgiving dish list and realized there were no green vegetables (no, green bean casserole doesn’t count!). So I whipped this bad boy up, and it got rave reviews.

You can also easily increase or decrease the amounts to feed only a few people or a horde. Basically, this is the perfect side dish and you need it in your life right this minute.READ THE POST

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

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