Spicy Roasted Broccoli Romanesco, Chickpeas

I served this with yogurt, and it was one of the best lunches I've had in a long time.

Roasted Broccolini, Millet, Fried Egg

Smashed Chickpeas on Toast with Sauteed Kale

Cranberry Beans, Millet, Roasted Broccolini, Fried Egg

This is the sort of meal that comes from having a bunch of good ingredients on hand but no clear plan of what to do with them. I soaked some millet and beans overnight, and then went to the store the next day to see what looked good, opting for more of this beautiful broccolini from Borba Farm that I've been eating a lot of lately. I had some diced red onion (from my knife skills class), so I caramelized that and added it to the beans once they were cooked. I cooked the millet and tossed it with just a little ghee to add some richness (I swear, soft-cooked millet with ghee and sea salt is as good as, if not better than, mashed potatoes any day), roasted the broccolini with garlic, and put it all together with an egg on top. Delicious, if a little scattered...

Scrambled Eggs with Arugula, Green Garlic, Herbs and Chevre

made with beautiful eggs from my fried piper's chickens!

Roasted Baby Broccoli, Chickpeas with Harissa, Yogurt

Spicy Chickpeas with Preserved Lemon and Arugula

Broccolini and Tofu, Brown Rice

I sauteed the broccolini and tofu with a bit of tamari, miso, garlic and ginger, and added a little mirren and black sesame seeds to the rice.

Roasted Cauliflower, Black Eyed Peas, Walnuts, Goat Cheese

Loosely based on this recipe from Smitten Kitchen, and on the ingredients I had at hand. I forgot to take a picture after I added the goat cheese, but you get the idea: I roasted the cauliflower with some garlic and rosemary, and added the walnuts for the last couple minutes just to toast them. Then tossed everything with the beans in a vinaigrette made with shallots, lemon juice, and red wine vinegar.

Couscous with Asparagus, Arugula, Herbs and a Fried Egg

I dressed the veggies with red wine vinegar, finely chopped shallots, and lots of black pepper, and added in some mint and parsley. I also shaved a little Parmesan on top at the end (post photo), which was delish.

Black Eyed Peas, Rainbow Chard, Feta Cheese

Roasted Root Vegetables, Lentils, Hazelnuts, Goat Cheese

Sort of a mish-mosh of a few favorite dishes, on a day where I was in need of some protein. The light also happened to be perfect just as we were sitting down to eat.

Asparagus, Arugula, and Goat Cheese on Millet Toast

It's spring! I dressed the asparagus and arugula with some shallots, red wine vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper.

Sweet and Brown Rice, Bok Choy with Garlic, Ginger, Chili and Miso

Smashed Chickpeas, Sauteed Kale with Caramelized Shallots, Knackebrod

A quick dinner demonstrating the knackebrod addiction I picked up while in Sweden...

Chickpeas, Carrots, Cabbage & Sunflower Sprouts with Yogurt, and Stout in a Teacup

There were very few green things available in Sweden in the middle of winter, so I made this variation on one of my favorite easy meals with cabbage, and we threw some sprouts on top for a little extra green. Since we were cooking in a rented cabin we didn't have any seasonings, so this came out pretty bland (ever underestimate the power of salt!), but it was nice to have something healthy after eating knackebrod and tube cheese in the car all day. Also interesting to note: I usually make this with caraway, and I thought it would be really easy to find at the grocery store in Sweden, as caraway is such a common spice in Northern European cooking, but we couldn't find anything labeled as such. I compromised by buying cumin instead, and when I opened the package I discovered it was indeed caraway... so what do they call cumin in Sweden, if "cumin" means caraway?

Brown Rice with Kale, Caramelized Shallots, and Miso

My friends and I ordered Chinese last night while catching up on Drag Race, and I had a lot of brown rice left over. I heated that up with a little mirin, and sauteed some shallots with a spoonful of red miso, added kale until it wilted, and combined everything. Delicious, and about as easy as possible!

Roasted Cauliflower with Walnut Pesto, Fried Cranberry Beans with Kale, Sumac, and Feta

Cauliflower recipe from here. The beans were a play on this Ottolenghi dish, made with bits and pieces from my fridge: cranberry beans instead of lima (they didn't fry up quite as nicely because of the smaller size), kale instead of sorrel, leeks instead of spring onions.

Roasted Carrot and Black Sesame "Hummus"

Recipe here. I didn't have any regular tahini so I used black sesame tahini*, which is why this is green instead of a lovely orange color. I also omitted the milk (since when do you put milk in hummus?), but it tasted delicious with the whole wheat pita chips I made (cut pita into pieces, drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and bake for about 10 minutes), and I've been snacking on it all week.


PS: these people also make the best cashew butter ever known to mankind. Seriously addictive.

Tofu Bake

This recipe is from the amazing Amy Chaplin at Coconut & Quinoa, and involves layers seasoned tofu, millet and beets, and leeks and mushrooms. I don't like mushrooms so I subbed in artichoke hearts, and it was delicious! The tofu layer didn't come out the way it should have- the recipe calls for firm tofu but I think I should have gone with a softer one to get the creamy effect I was looking for- but it still tasted great!.