Pasta with Kale and Fried Chickpeas

My little trip last week was last minute. I didn’t meal plan, I made a scattered trip to the grocery store and left with only random, but I had blue corn chips and spicy fresh guacamole, so I was happy. My love of cooking is not eclipsed by my passion for chips and crackers of all kinds.

The cabin had a tiny, modest kitchen. The lighting was minimal and it fit my mood- I was not inspired. But I was determined to not eat some processed convenience food (again), and I set to work. Fried chickpeas make everything better. They are my favorite protein to add to a food bowl, and sometimes they are the star of the dinner, dressed with a yummy Chinese garlic sauce.

Note: I actually prefer this recipe with a simple white wine, lemon and olive oil sauce, but the kids aren’t fans.

This is an easy dinner that tastes and looks like it is much harder than it actually is. Don’t tell anyone though stay in the kitchen for an extra 20 minutes and enjoy a glass of wine before sitting down.

Ingredients

  • One 15 ounce can of chickpeas
  • Canola oil
  • Pasta of your choice (I used organic wheat linguine, because that’s all I had)
  • 1 small yellow onion
  • 4-6 ounces of kalamata olives, torn/chopped
  • 1-2 pounds of fresh kale, off the stem and roughly chopped (a bag of chopped frozen kale works too!). I prefer LOTS of greens.
  • olive oil or vegan butter
  • garlic powder
  • dried oregano
  • lemon juice/slice
  • ground red pepper of your choice

Directions

  • Drain and dry one 15 ounce can of chickpeas.
  • Fry the chickpeas over medium/medium-high heat in little canola oil until golden – about ten minutes. Set aside on a paper towel. If everyone can agree on a level of spiciness, go ahead and dust the chickpeas with your preferred ground pepper. A smokey hot pepper would be nice!
  • Saute chopped onion in olive oil with a little salt until fragrant translucent.
  • Add the chopped kale to the onions, remove from heat and set aside. I like to kale to keep a nice texture, so I only lightly cook it in this recipe. You can saute it in the onions longer if you prefer.
  • Cook the pasta as directed, drain.
  • To the pasta add a few tablespoons of olive oil or vegan butter of your choice, a little salt, garlic and plenty of oregano. Stir in onions, garlic, olives, and kale. The kale will continue to soften in the hot pasta.
  • Heap onto plates and add fried chickpeas to the top of each. Spritz with fresh lemon juice to brighten the kale, and dust with a little ground hot pepper of your choice, if you want some heat.

Apple Season

September begins the slide toward autumn. The weather may be confused about what season it is, but I’m not. In WNC it is Apple Season.

Late summer gardens continue to gift tomatoes, peppers, and okra. The apple orchards are full families filling their baskets. Potatoes and squash from earlier this summer are cured and waiting to find their way to the table. Next week I’ll be taking a few days off and spending most of the day on a cobble beach along my favorite river, probably practicing crochet stitches ahead of a little fall stitching project to start in a week or two. I’m rusty. The century old cabin has a small but well equipped kitchen, and a large screened in porch where I have gathered on many occasions with friends and family over the years. I look forward to cooking (and eating!) without being in a constant rush toward getting the kids ready for bed, or working around the never-ending construction that is our house renovation. I’ll be making homemade bread for the first time in ages, probably some lentil stew to make the kids happy, and I’m sure some savory breakfast bowls of grits, onions and kale will make an appearance among the s’mores and fireside popcorn snacks. But the star of the cool mornings will be apples. I’ve gathered my ten favorite apple recipes for you all to add to your fall bucket lists. I hope you will make every last one of them – I certainly hope to. This little trip will include the apple crisp, apple caramel nachos, and fried apples. My mother-in-law is the Pie Queen in the family, so I will leave the pie-making to her.

Favorite vegan apple recipes:

  1. Southern Fried Apples! Like any good Southerner, I know these qualified as a vegetable side just like macaroni and hushpuppies. I will probably serve these with some NanaMoo vanilla ice cream and on top of fluffy pancakes.
  2. Apple Hand Pies! Skip the egg wash and sub with Just Egg if you’d prefer this to be a vegan recipe. Peppridge Farm makes a vegan puff pastry that can be found at most grocery stores (but not at Whole Foods).
  3. Apple Crisp! I will make this in a cast iron skillet, and we will definitely eat it for breakfast, not dessert. Switch the butter for your favorite vegan options – I’ll probably use unsalted Earth Balance sticks.
  4. Caramel Apple Nachos! With loose teeth, serving up granny smith apples in nacho style instead of dripped caramel apples is an excellent alternative. I will be making vegan caramel using coconut cream, and letting the kids add from a choice of toppings: toasted coconut, sprinkles, chocolate chips, mini vegan marshmallows, peanut butter sauce and of course, cinnamon.
  5. Kale, Apple and Beat Salad! I’ll be honest, I am probably the only person in the house excited about this. I am very excited!
  6. Apple Cinnamon Energy Falls! If you’ve seen my post about peanut butter energy balls, protein packed snacks are critical to keeping the kids from having miserable afternoon meltdowns.
  7. Apple Butter! I like this recipes because it make enough to use now, and doesn’t require canning. Apple butter on buttered toast, on top of pancakes, ice cream, apple butter everything!
  8. Rustic Apple Cake! Sub for your preferred vegan butter and egg replacer – and voila! I suggest Bob’s Red Mill Egg Replacer for baking.
  9. Morning Muffins! Okay, these aren’t just for apples, but I am going to make several batches of these for the freezer to make the mornings a little easier.
  10. Apple Chips! I can’t wait to break out my mandolin (is it a weapon or a kitchen gadget? Hard to say.).

roasted okra

The other night I looked out the window to see my husband pruning two rows of bushy okra plants that aren’t setting fruit or growing in their usual tall habit. My current theory is stink bugs. I hate stink bugs, and I’m eager to blame for most late summer garden issues. He told me pruning okra is called “whipping” and encourages it to fruit – much like pinching flowers off tomato plants. It appears to be working and we finally have our first okra of the season in the fridge.

In the south fried okra reigns supreme, but to be honest I’m not great at frying things and in general I prefer not to eat fried food all that often. Besides, it makes a mess and who wants to deal with that when they are trying to make a quick dinner before the kids melt down?

It’s super easy to make and goes well with any late summer or early fall menu. Serve with a little salt or any of the following goodies: ground oregano and salt, garlic and soy sauce and sesame seeds (my personal favorite), a pile of thinly slice fried onions with garlic and maybe a shot of hot sauce sauce, or a dusting of your favorite spice mix – a Cajun blend is excellent on okra. I think this weekend I will try hot honey roasted okra with garlic kale on top grits. Stay tuned for a picture and recipe notes.

How to make it:

  • Pre-heat the oven to 450 for get crispy ends – 400 if your children believe anything brown is burned.
  • For four people I typically use one pound of okra. Avoid pieces that are more than 3 inches long – they will be not be as tender.
  • Trim the tops off the okra and cut it down the center. Toss it in a mixing bowl with 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil and stir until the okra is evenly coated. Place one layer of okra cut-side down on the sheet pan.
  • Pop the plan the middle of the oven for 15-18 minutes. Scoot the okra around on the pan with a spatula or shake the pan at least one time while baking.
  • Serve hot

kitchen organization and cleaning

The kitchen has been under construction for nearly ten months. This is what happens when you gut your house and add major additions to each side during the middle of a pandemic. Zero stars, do not recommend. It’s only recently occurred to me that I will need to unpack our boxes and find a home for everything. Many post it notes have moved around the kitchen as I’ve sorted this out and determined what I needed to bring some organization to it all.

The new kitchen has only lower cabinets, maximizing the view and natural light. I designed the cabinet layout to include two deep drawers to the left of the stove, a mini roll out pantry, wide shallow drawers in two locations, and more deep drawers in the island for plates, bowls, and glasses. Feeling a little protect of the new counter tops, I ordered these cute silicone trivets. They have that cast iron vintage design, without needing to worry about scratching the stone.

The addition includes a utility room off from the kitchen. For the first time ever, I broke down and purchased a monthly calendar to hang on the side of the extra fridge. Grocery requests and pick ups, appointments, work schedules, birthdays and everything else are noted here. Like my planner, I think there is the potential for this to some sort of family artifact, providing a little glimpse into life. At the moment though, I most excited about leaving reminder notes for my evening meetings, which have littered the kitchen for years.The utility room has closet, which is big new around here. A place for a broom and cleaning supplies – it is the definition of luxury. So excited to have space, I stocked up on cleaning supplies and organized with a deep sense of joy and relief. It represented the stress of the remodel coming to an end and a new beginning for our family in our home.

The quartzite counter tops called for Lustro Italiano Stone Cleaner. I filled a new cleaning caddie and closet with my favorites from Thrive Market: tea tree toilet bowl cleaner, stainless steel spray polish, tub and tile, lemon scented all purpose cleaner, glass and mirror cleaner, laundry detergent, and dishwasher soap. I tossed cleaning rags that have accumulated from our first apartment and replaced them with a stack of terry cloth rags.

The expression so fresh, so clean has never been so true.

Sephardic Spinach Patties

Just thinking about this recipe makes me want to light a candle in the kitchen when the sun has set early in the evening and dinner feels much later than it actually is. This recipe was shared with me from my mother-in-law approximately one million years ago – or more specifically just a few weeks after our first wedding anniversary as we prepared for Thanksgiving. I’m not sure if it’s origin, but I suspect it is from the Moosewood Inn cookbook, but has evolved over time in her kitchen and in mine. This recipe pairs well with couscous with vegetables and chickpeas, rice with dried apricots and pine nuts, rice and lentil stuffed bell peppers, spiced potatoes.

Ingredients

  • 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
  • 1 large onion, chopped
  • 2 to 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 lbs fresh spinach, stemmed, cooked, chopped, and squeezed dry (20 oz frozen,   squeezed dry)
  • 1 cup fine dried bread crumbs
  • about ¾ t salt
  • ground black pepper to taste
  • ½ t grated nutmeg or 1 ½ t cayenne
  • substitute for 3 eggs (I use Just Egg or Bob’s Red Mill Egg Replacer)
  • oil for frying
  • lemon wedges for serving

Directions

  • Heat oil over medium heat.  Add the onion and garlic and sauté until soft—about 5 min.
  • Remove from heat and add spinach,bread crumbs, salt, pepper, and nutmeg or cayenne. 
  • Stir in egg substitute.  If the mixture is too loose, add a little more bread crumbs.
  • Shape the spinach mixture into patties.  In a large skillet, heat a thin layer of oil over medium heat.  In batches, fry the patties, turning, until golden brown, about 3 minutes per side. 
  • Drain on paper towels.  Serve warm with lemon wedges

Embrace Fall: Seasonal Recipes and Traditions

I do not allow myself to indulge anything fall- like until it is September 1,  despite the fact that we all know in the southeast that September 1 only marks the beginning of “third summer.”  I enjoy the change of season and sense of time created by traditions. A sense of time, something to look forward to and making time at home as special and magical as possible has been important to me, particularly during the pandemic when most of the time it’s made more sense to stay on our little mountain than to venture out into the world .Each year I made the same handful of specific recipes, their special nature being highlighted by their frequent or seasonal appearance. This is a recipe round of some of my favorites:

The anticipation of the joy to come is almost as wonderful as the actual season itself. In no particular order here are some of the things I look forward to every year:

  • The new season of Saturday Night Live.
  • The first fire in the woodstove.
  • An excuse to make pie on a rainy day taking a walk and saying brightly colored leaves against
  • Harvesting chanterelle mushrooms along our trails.
  • Acorns and pumpkins of all colors.
  • Having a little outside fire down by the hazelnuts while we pluck them carefully from the bushes.Decorating the mantle and hearth with seasonal sweetness: big pumpkins, acorns and twinkling lights. I’m pretty sure this bunting is going to make an appearance…
  • Switching over to white to red wine – malbec is my fall and winter favorite.
  • Ordering matching jammies sets for the kids careful to be festive but not too specific so they can be worn through chilly spring night. Last year I ordered the wintry scene, moose, and red berry patterns. This year I am leaning toward these cuties:
  • The excitement of a new school year! We are a homeschool family and I delight in the anticipation of a new year.

Spicy Roasted Corn

It’s late summer, and our neighbors and garden gurus have recently harvested beautiful ears of sweet corn. Before banishing corn from the kitchen, one of my summer favorites involved roasting corn on the in the oven and slathering it with a mix of my favorite flavors.  While I won’t be making this any time soon, it’s too delicious (and simple) not to share.

Ingredients

  • 6 ears of sweet corn
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder (or one clove minced)

Optional Toppings

  • Chopped cilantro and lemon juice
  • Fresh basil, garlic and lemon and slice cherry tomatoes
  • Chopped hot peppers of your choice, or pickled jalapenos! Turn up the heat with a few shakes of cayenne pepper or finish off with a little sriracha

Directions

  • Preheat the oven to 400 degrees
  • Remove the husks and silk from the ears of corn
  • Generously rub the corn with softened / room temperature vegan butter
  • Sprinkle with spices
  • On a foiled lined baking sheet, situated the corn so the ears are not touching
  • Add a tablespoon or two of water to the bottom of the pan for a little steamy action
  • Baked for 15 minutes, flip the ears over and bake for another 15 minutes / until the ears kernels are tender
  • Add more butter and toppings of your choice before serving

butternut squash soup

It’s late summer and the butternut squash are in a familiar place – piled up in a box in the utility room waiting to be turned into my favorite fall recipes — like this one. I’m eyeing the forecast waiting for the first hint of fall in the air. When it arrives (soon I hope!) I will be bring the golden relaxed vibes to the dinner table with ginger butternut squash soup.

This is an elegant soup with a lovely texture, but don’t be fooled, it’s little more than chopping, sauteing and cooking it down. The garlic, ginger, and onion will immediately put a smile on your face. Note, in a hurry I have been known to saute the onion and garlic for about five minutes, throw in the rest of the ingredients and boil the hell out of it because I was in a hurry to put something warm on the table. While the texture suffers a bit and the flavors are less developed, but no one around the table seems to notice.

There are many ways to make a meal out of this soup – here are a few of my favorites:

  • Simple spinach salad on the side, toasted sourdough, with a swirl of olive oil and sprinkle of hot pepper
  • A plop of vegan butter and salt atop the soup, toasted with smashed avocado
  • Olive oil and swirl (or two) of sriracha for the soup, crusty bread pan fried with a little butter with either jammy tomatoes or a thick slice of fresh tomatoes. There are almost always some large Cherokee purple tomatoes on the vine when I make my first batch. If opting for a fresh tomato, a thin layer of vegan mayor and a little salt will brighten and deepen the flavor profile all at once.

Ingredients

  • 1 large butternut squash, scooped and chopped
  • 1 small/medium yellow onion, chopped
  • 1 Granny Smith apple, peeled and chopped
  • 1 tablespoon chopped ginger
  • 1 spring fresh rosemary (off stem, chopped)
  • 3-5 cloves of garlic, chopped
  • 4-ish cups veggie broth (though, I have used water and extra herbs in a pinch)
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 1/2 teaspoon sea salt

Directions

  • In a large pot, saute yellow onion, apple and squash, olive oil and salt over medium heat until the onions are translucent,8-10 minutes.
  • Add garlic, ginger, and rosemary and stir for 30-60 seconds, until fragrant.
  • Add a veggie broth and bring to a boil, then turn to simmer for 20-30 minutes, or until squash is very tender.
  • Uncover and let it cool slightly before pureeing – I prefer the immersion blender because it is one less thing to clean up!
  • Add small small amounts of vegetable broth to achieve the desired texture.
  • Salt and pepper to taste.

Vegan Pumpkin cinnamon rolls

It’s August and still very much a hot and humid summer, but I can’t pretend that I don’t notice everyone starting to pre-game for the fall. For me this means starting to make lists of my favorite fall recipes and trying to convince myself the yellow leaves on the tulip poplar are from the upcoming change in season, instead of the later summer stress the tree displays every year.

This recipe was originally published via The Kitchn, years and years ago. I only swapped out the butter for Earth Balance, and changed the cinnamon to Vietnamese cinnamon, it’s just my personal preference. I also use more cinnamon and more brown sugar, because life is short and I make these only two or three times a year. This is my tweaked vegan version. I’ve only added chopped walnuts or pecans once or twice over the years, and generally perfer this recipe with more sugar and no nuts. You can also check out the original here.

I bake my cinnamon rolls in 9×13 inch USA pans, which are my absolute favorite bakeware. I generally fill the pan and use a USA Pan loaf pan for extra rolls.

Ingredients

For the dough:

  • 1/4 cup water
  • 1 tablespoon yeast (1 package)
  • 1 cup plant based milk (unsweetened soy works very well)
  • 1/2 cup vegan butter (I’ve had good luck with Earth Balance in this recipe)
  • 1/2 cup cane sugar
  • 1 (15-ounce) can plain pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling!)
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
  • 5 1/2 cups all-pupose flour

For the filling:

  • 1/2 cup butter (Earth Balance)
  • 1 cup packed brown sugar
  • 1 tablepoon teaspoons cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon ginger
  • 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
  • 2 cups pecans or walnuts – toasted, chopped, and divided in half (optional)

For the glaze:

  • 1/4 cup vegan butter
  • 1/2 cup favorite plant based milk
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • pinch salt
  • 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Directions

  1. Sprinkle the yeast over the water and let it sit a few minutes until the yeast is dissolved.
  2. Meanwhile, warm the milk and butter in a small saucepan on the stove top until the butter is melted. Combine this with the sugar in a large heat-proof mixing bowl and stir until the sugar is completely dissolved.
  3. Let the milk mixture cool until it is just warm to the touch – NOT HOT. Then stir in the yeast and the pumpkin. Add the salt and five cups of the flour all at once, stirring until all the flour has been absorbed. Squish it between your hands if you’re having trouble incorporating the last of the flour. The dough will be sticky, but should come together in a shaggy ball. If it’s still more the consistency of cookie batter, work in an additional 1/2 cup of flour.
  4. Cover the dough and let it rise for 1-3 hours. During this time, it should double in bulk.
  5. You can punch the dough down and refrigerate it overnight or continue shaping the rolls.
  6. To shape the rolls (either immediately or with the refrigerated dough), sprinkle your work surface with a little flour and dump the dough on top. Pat it down into a rough rectangle and then use a floured rolling pin to roll it into a rectangular shape about a half an inch thick, longer than it is wide. If the dough gets sticky, sprinkle a little more flour on the dough’s surface and on your hands.
  7. Melt the butter in the microwave and drizzle over the rectangle of dough and the spread it evenly across the dough using the back of a metal spoon.
  8. Sprinkle the brown sugar and spices over the butter. Leave an inch of bare dough at the top. Sprinkle one cup of the toasted pecans over the dough, if using. Starting at the edge closest to you, roll the dough into a cylinder and pinch it closed at the top.
  9. Rub a tablespoon of soft butter into the bottom of two 9×13 baking dishes, two 9-inch cake pans, or a combination. Using a bench cutter or a sharp knife, cut the cylinder into individual rolls 1 – 1 1/2 inches thick. Place them into your baking dishes so they have a little wiggle room on all sides to rise. Cover them with a clean kitchen towel and let them rise until they fill the pan and look puffy, 30 minutes for already-warm dough and 1 hour for dough that’s been refrigerated.
  10. About 20 minutes before baking, begin heating the oven to 375°. When the rolls are ready, bake them for 20-25 minutes, until the tops are golden and starting to look toasted around the edges. Rotate the pans halfway through cooking.
  11. While they are baking, prepare the glaze. In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine the milk and butter. When the butter has melted, add the brown sugar and salt. Stir until the brown sugar has melted. Remove from heat and strain into a mixing bowl to remove any sugar clumps. Stir in the powdered sugar. This should form a thick but pourable glaze.
  12. Let the baked rolls cool for about five minutes and then pour the glaze on top. Sprinkle the remaining cup of pecans over the top, if more nuttiness is desired. Eat them immediately. Leftovers will keep for several days and are best reheated for a minute in the microwave.

Rosetta’s Kitchen

In the before times, no trip to Asheville felt complete if we didn’t stop by Rosetta’s Kitchen for some peanut butter tofu and a pint of kombucha. Like its vegan friendly soul food, the family friendly atmosphere was a source of comfort and relaxation, particularly in the early years of toting a toddler and an infant around town. Rosetta’s became was our go to restaurant because I could always count on my kids eating their food – and nothing makes me quite as irritated as ordering (or cooking!) a meal only to have a small child turn their nose up at it. With a menu full of vegan options, we never felt constrained. It was easy and I am definitely pro-easy right now.

It’s funny how a place can become part of your family narrative. Toward the end of my pregnancy with my son, I had non-stress tests twice each week. The name of these test is misleading, because I found it to be extremely stressful process. After these lengthy appointments I’d waddle my way to Rosetta’s and eat a plate of chili fries or tacos by myself before the lunch crowd arrived. The night before my son was born my husband picked up Family Favorite and late into the evening after our son was born the following day, he brought me The Mountain. We’ve celebrated birthdays, grabbed quick lunches while running errands, and gathered with family on the way to see the Nutcracker.

It’s not just the good food though – it’s also the people. Two staff members (Davey and Pixie – we miss you!) really captured their heart and imagination. They danced together, were surprised with birthday cookies, and had the privilege for feeding the seahorses in the Buchi Bar aquarium. They told my son and daughter they were their favorite regulars – and even though they probably said that to the parade of cute kids who came in every day – it really made mine feel special. As they got older, I could enjoy a few quite moments to myself, because they’d be sitting at the bar, sipping their kombucha and chatting with Davey. It was like a little mini-vacation, and I was so grateful for it. The business is respectful of it’s staff and honors the dignity in work and in the community with fair wages, reasonable work hours, and an every one eats program – really just being so awesome. I am happy to have supported these efforts one plate of vegan tacos at at time.

My two kittens, side by side at the Buchi Bar, living their best life during the “before times.”

As fall approaches, I know it’s about to be gravy season in our house. The best vegan gravy I’ve ever had, is at Rosetta’s. For years I made my own copycat recipe at home, but it wasn’t quite right (not enough water or flour). Then one day I found Rosetta’s published Granny’s Gravy recipe online. I’m sharing it with you so you too can put it on everything you make this fall and winter. I could pour this on an old shoe and my son would eat it, and everyone needs a trick like that for dinnertime. Sometimes I add a little celery seed, rosemary and/or thyme – but it’s totally unnecessary.

Granny’s Gravy published by Rosetta’s Kitchen (via Instagram on Christmas Day, 2019)

Ingredients

  • 1 cup all purpose flour
  • 1 cup nutritional yeast
  • 1 tablespoon dried oregano
  • 1 tablespoon ground black pepper
  • 1 cup olive oil
  • 2 quarts water
  • 1 cup soy sauce

Directions

  • Toast dry ingredients over medium heat in 4 quart pan unti fragrant – don’t burn them! (I can attest that skipping this step is a really bad idea)
  • Add olive oil and whisky together until bubbly
  • Slowly add in water and soy sauce
  • Whisk and simmer
  • Pour on everything (also, skipping this step is a bad idea)