Black Sesame Truffles

Since our trip to Japan I’ve been seriously obsessed with black sesame desserts.

So don’t be surprised if this is the first of many sweet sesame recipes.

You probably think of sesame as a savory flavor, but it really plays quite well in the sweet sphere too, as I learned, rather quickly while stuffing my face with sesame soft serve, mochi, and macarons. These little seeds are quite common in desserts in Japan, and once you’ve tried a few you’ll understand why. The sweet and nutty combination is simply divine.

Shortly after our return, I picked up a jar of black sesame tahini (basically black sesame seeds ground to a smooth paste not unlike peanut butter) and have been waiting for the right moment to crack it open.

That moment is now.

These are classic chocolate truffles, with a rich chocolate ganache and snappy chocolate coating, but with a nutty twist: I stirred in about 5 tablespoons of black sesame tahini into the ganache filling. I started with 2, but the flavor wasn’t quite prominent enough. I think you could go up to 6 or 7 even without affecting the consistency of the ganache.

I rolled some truffles in black sesame powder, and dipped others in chocolate topped with a sprinkle of whole black sesame seeds to offer a visual ‘hint’ as to what’s inside.

Let me say, much like the Chocolate Black Sesame Cookies I made a few years back, the sesame flavor is subtle, especially when paired with a bitter dark chocolate. I was expecting it to be stronger, but even with a solid third cup of tahini in here, the nuttiness comes through as a subtle suggestion of flavor rather than a firm statement.

It’s actually quite lovely.

Black vs White Sesame

Black sesame seeds are unhulled, whereas the common white sesame seeds have their hulls removed (there are also different varieties of sesame seeds, so there are unhulled varieties that are brown instead of black, but hulled sesame seeds are always white). Unhulled sesame seeds have a coarser, crunchier texture and a nuttier flavor; they sometimes border on bitter, making them the perfect in desserts, where the sugar counteracts that bitterness.

Black sesame tahini is not nearly as common as white tahini, but I was able to find a jar of it on Amazon. Could you use regular tahini in this recipe? You bet. The flavor will be more mild, less nutty, but still noticeably sesame.

If you’re making rolled truffles you’ll also want some black sesame powder, or finely ground black sesame seeds. You can also make your own by finely grinding black sesame seeds in a mortar and pestle.

(more…)

from Love and Olive Oil http://ift.tt/2BB7Nv9

Creamy Yogurt Mac and Cheese with Spinach

This post was created in partnership with Stonyfield. All opinions are our own. 

Now that we’re parents of this heartmelting 11 month old, we think even more about wellness. How do we keep baby well through the cold and flu season—and for that matter, his mama and daddy too? Even if you’re not a parent, beating cold and flu season is key to keeping your commitments and staying well in the winter.

Last week, I got to talk to an expert: Dr. Tanya Altman, a pediatrician and author who’s all about baby and mama wellness! It was encouraging to talk to her about winter wellness and ask her all my questions. Here are some of her tips for keeping everyone healthy through the cold and flu season:

1. Sleep is key. Getting a good night’s sleep is key to overall wellness and fighting sickness. Shoot me an email if you want the breakdown of recommended sleep for your baby and I’ll send you the slide!
2. Start the day with protein. That means things like eggs, nut butter, oatmeal, and yogurt! (These are all Larson’s favorite foods.)
3. Add a fresh fruit or veggie with every meal/snack. That’s why we’ve got spinach in this mac and cheese.
4. Drink water & exercise. I knew water was good, but did you know light exercise can fight off sickness? Dr. Altman recommends 60 minutes of activity per day.
5. Probiotics help gut health and immunity. Yogurt is full of probiotics, which are fantastic for a healthy gut and immunity to sickness. Knowing this, I’ve been more intentional with my yogurt consumption lately. Stonyfield’s Yo Baby is a great choice for breakfast and snack for kiddos; it has a specific strain of probiotics shown to help with baby’s gut health (see below).

Fact: Larson is a huge yogurt fan. He loves the stuff. Perhaps it’s the texture? Whatever the case we’ve been feeding him Stonyfield’s Yo Baby and it’s one of his favorite foods. Perhaps you’re like I was a few months ago, wondering: What is Yo Baby? Aside from being fun to say, Yo Baby is organic yogurt with added BB-12 probiotics that promote beneficial gut bacteria and regular stools. The texture is thicker than other organic baby yogurts, which helps with less mess while feeding, especially for babies/toddlers that are starting to self-feed. Also, one of my favorite parts of Yo Baby is that the packaging made from plants instead of plastic! They’re called PLA cups, which are better for plant-based packaging has a lower carbon footprint.

Now for the recipe! For this mac and cheese, we’ve taken this kid-friendly comfort food and infused it with some immunity-boosting foods. While cheese and pasta are not immunity-boosting on their own, this mac and cheese is a nice way to convince anyone, kiddos or otherwise,  to get a dose of veggies and probiotics. (Unless you want a smoothie.) Here’s what we added:

• Whole milk yogurt is stirred in at the end, to give a creamy texture and provide a shot of live and active cultures and protein
• Fresh spinach is gently wilted in for all the added nutrients without a strong spinach taste.
• Turmeric gives a tiny immunity boost and some extra color.
• Fancy noodles: this isn’t immunity boosting, but honestly using a different shape and size of noodles than the standard elbows helps us slow down and enjoy eat bite instead of shoveling the mac and cheese into our mouths, which makes us eat less overall. (Anyone agree?)

You may be wondering, how does this mac and cheese taste? Though there’s lot of good stuff in it, we made sure to keep it spot-on delicious. The flavor is nuanced with a bit of Parmesan cheese and fresh garlic, which makes it taste a bit more grown up–but still tasty enough for kids!

PRO TIP: Isn’t eating leftover refrigerated mac and cheese the worst? We found a great way to reheat it so it tastes like new! To reheat the mac and cheese, place it in a skillet, add a splash of milk, and stir until creamy. (The ratio is about 1 cup noodles to 1 tablespoon milk.)

Last thing: which pic of Larson with his Yo Baby yogurt face do you like best? This photo contest is also running on Instagram Stories today so you can vote there, or in the comments below. We can’t decide which is our favorite. Do you like Photo A, B or C?

Photo A

Photo B

  Photo C

Did you make this recipe?

If you make this creamy yogurt mac and cheese with spinach, we’d love to hear how it turned out. Leave a comment below or share a picture on Instagram and mention @acouplecooks and @stonyfield.

This recipe is…

Vegetarian. For gluten-free, use gluten-free pasta.

Creamy Yogurt Mac & Cheese

 

Print

PRO TIP: To reheat the mac and cheese, place it in a skillet, add a splash of milk, and stir until creamy. (Ratio: about 1 cup mac and cheese to 1 tablespoon milk)

by: a Couple Cooks

Serves: 4 to 6

What You Need

• 16 ounces macaroni or cavatappi noodles
• 4 cups baby spinach leaves (or chopped standard spinach)
• 1 garlic clove
• 8 ounces high quality sharp cheddar cheese, grated
• 1 ounce (1/2 cup) Parmesan cheese, grated
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• ½ teaspoon ground mustard
• ½ teaspoon turmeric
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt
• Fresh ground black pepper
• 1 cup Stonyfield plain whole milk yogurt

What To Do

1. Heat a large pot of salted boiling water. Cook the pasta until al dente according to the package instructions. Prepare a colander in the sink and place the baby spinach leaves in the colander. When the pasta is done, remove from the heat and drain the pasta into the colander, allowing the boiling water to wilt the spinach.
2. Meanwhile, mince the garlic and grate the cheddar and Parmesan cheese.
3. When the pasta is finished, heat the olive oil over medium heat in a large skillet. Add the ground mustard, turmeric, and garlic and sauté for about 1 minute until the garlic is fragrant. Add the pasta and spinach to the skillet and stir until evenly coated.
4. Add the cheddar and Parmesan cheese and continue stirring until cheese is melted and evenly distributed. Sprinkle on the kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper. Remove the pasta from the heat and stir in the yogurt. Serve warm.

3.5.3229

A Couple Cooks - Recipes for Healthy & Whole Living

from A Couple Cooks http://ift.tt/2DLx7Es

Flaky Pie Crust Crackers: 3 Ways

I mentioned in my Chicken Pot Pie Soup recipe earlier this week that, when it comes to pot pie, the crust is honestly the best part (I’m sure you don’t disagree). And since a soup doesn’t have crust, well, I need to be sure I got that buttery flaky element into the recipe somehow.

So…

I whipped up a half batch of my favorite pie crust and cut it into cute little star shapes. Brushed with egg wash and sprinkled with flake sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper, I popped them in the oven, expecting a salty cracker something like a cheese-less cheezit.

When they came out of the oven looking like THIS though, it was heart eyes from here to Timbuktu. I mean, just look at those layers!!

While the star-shaped crackers I made for the chicken pot pie soup were simply (and perfectly) seasoned with salt and pepper, you could take this same cracker concept in a myriad of different directions, both sweet and savory.

Flavor Variations:

Salt & Pepper: sprinkle crackers with a bit of flake sea salt and coarsely ground black pepper. These happen to be my favorites especially for topping on soups like this one.

Garlic & Herb: sprinkle with garlic salt and Italian herb seasoning.

Cinnamon Sugar: mix 1 tablespoon sugar and 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon in a small dish and then sprinkle over crackers. This sweet variation would be great served with ice cream. If you want, you can also add a tablespoon of sugar to the dough itself to make it even sweeter.

That’s only the beginning, I’m sure… you only have to look in your spice cabinet/drawer/rack for inspiration.

(more…)

from Love and Olive Oil http://ift.tt/2E5VVUB

8 Things We Learned Writing a Cookbook

A cookbook on a shelf looks so matter of fact. Here I am, here are my recipes. From the outside, it looks like everything was perfectly planned and executed. But the back story, that’s where it gets interesting: smeared and splattered kitchens, spreadsheets, late nights, nixed recipes, and lost sleep. What’s it like to produce a 100 recipe, full-color photographed cookbook?

It’s a total LABOR OF LOVE.

Oh yeah, and Alex and I brought home a newborn baby in the middle of all that (!). With a few days until our new Pretty Simple Cooking cookbook launches (February 6!), we’ve been reflecting on a few things we learned from writing a cookbook, having a baby, and surviving to tell the story.

**Order it now! Pretty Simple Cooking.

1. It takes a LONG time.

Cookbooks published the traditional route—with a publisher, not self-published—take a long time. Years. This is something that Alex and I didn’t fully appreciate until we entered into the process. It’s been four long years from the spark of an idea to seeing the actual book on paper.

• A literary agent first reached out to us in February 2014 to see if we were interested in writing a book.
• For two years, we honed and honed a proposal of what the book would be. The first agent eventually passed on the project, but a new agent stepped in who understood our creative vision and signed on with us.
• In February 2016, our literary agent helped us sell our proposal to a publisher (Da Capo Press).
• Our book launches to the world February 6, 2018!

Have you ever dreamed up and thrown yourself into a huge project? Are you as impatient as I am in wanting to see the results of your labor? When you take the risk to commit to a huge project, it can take years and feel incredibly slow going. That first agent gave us a No. It didn’t mean our book dream couldn’t someday be a reality. It meant we had to continue to believe in the project, and keep waiting for someone to come along who would believe it too.

2. There’s a lot of hustle.

Unfortunately, this book was not Alex and my main gig. It wasn’t even our side gig. It was our side-side hustle. During the year that we wrote the book, we had demanding day jobs and were running the A Couple Cooks blog, social media, and podcast. On top of that, we were trying to write a book.

What does hustle mean? It means being ultra organized. We had about 1 million planning spreadsheets. The main one was a spreadsheet that listed all the recipes with a corresponding status (Drafted, Tested, Photographed). Another key spreadsheet was a Google form where we organized and addressed feedback from hundreds of recipe testers. You see, writing a cookbook is about creativity, but it’s also about structure. There’s no way to create 100 tried and true recipes without it.

Alex shooting our White Cheddar Leek and Greens Millet Bake (page 198 in the book)

3.  While difficult, it can be life-giving.

In our personal lives, there was also a lot going on during this period. We started the adoption process a few months before we got our book deal. In the year between starting the book and completing it (March 2016-2017), we had three adoptions fall through. It was was a devastating year for us (I wrote about the process over on Coffee + Crumbs).

You’d think the side-side hustle would be overwhelming during a personal crisis: and in some ways, it was. In other ways, it provided a much needed distraction and outlet for creative energy. I’ve said before that “the book saved me” during that trying time period. For my personality, I need a meaningful project to be invested in that keeps me going, through good times and bad. This cookbook was that project for me.

Prototype drawing to illustrate Slow down, one of the 10 life lessons, by Ashley Rodriguez

4. Things evolve. Let them.

If you think that going about writing a book is about just writing down a lot of thoughts in your head, you’re wrong. It’s about writing down those thoughts, then re-writing, re-writing, and re-writing them again. You can’t get too attached to anything. A writing slogan we live by is that you have to “kill the darlings“. While it sounds harsh, it really means to let go of the wording or ideas that you love so much if they aren’t working. Let’s take our title for example—here is how it evolved over time:

• Title 1: REAL GOOD—Recipes That Make You Crave Real Food
• Title 2: HEALTHY & WHOLE—Simple, Seasonal Recipes for Cooking at Home and Eating Well
• Title 3 (Final): A COUPLE COOKS | PRETTY SIMPLE COOKING—100 Delicious Vegetarian Recipes to Make You Fall in Love with Real Food

There’s an immense amount of tweaking involved to find the words to get your point across in an intriguing yet precise way. Try doing that with 268 pages worth of content! Some things have got to go.

5. Babies complicate things, and make them more fun.

Speaking of babies (real ones), as the march towards our first draft deadline went on, so also did our adoption story. The draft was due on March 1, and we were matched with a birth mother due in late February. This, of course, made for some good jokes about both “babies” being due in the same time period.

Sure enough, on February 19, I was drinking my coffee starting at the manuscript when we received a call from the hospital. We packed our bags and our lives have never been the same. Larson Ames was born and we brought him home two days later. It was the single BEST thing that’s ever happened to us. (Cue the floodgates, I can barely write about it without tearing up. More on Larson’s story here.)

After the initial shock, we realized we had a newborn AND had to finish our manuscript and photos in 2 weeks! Luckily, babies sleep a lot. Every moment that Larson was sleeping, we were putting finishing touches on copy and recipes, and shooting the final photographs. I think we were mostly running on adrenaline and caffeine. Once we finished, two champagne toasts were in store: one for each baby!

Working on the manuscript with baby Larson as my good luck charm

Champagne, one bottle each for the real baby and the book baby

6. If you fail, try try again.

Some of the recipes in this book worked the first time we tried them. Others bombed. In a cookbook proposal, you write down 100 concepts that you think will work. Many of them did, but others didn’t leave our test kitchen until they were something else altogether. When we thought a recipe was finished, we sent it to multiple real-life recipe test kitchens around the US and world. Then we held our breath.

Many times the feedback would come back good, but other times the testers found the recipe difficult or didn’t like the taste. Then it was back to the drawing board for us. As hard as it was to get negative feedback, it was some of the most important feedback that we received. We wanted these 100 recipes to be repeatable recipes that people loved and would make over and over again.

Here’s an example of the evolution of one recipe:

• Chocolate Hazelnut Meringue Pie (not repeatable)
• Meringue Crepe Cake (good, but not really good)
• Chocolate Mousse Parfaits with Meringue (repeatable and really good)

   

7. DO judge a book by its cover.

A cover is worth 1,000 words, so we knew our cover had to be spot on. It needed to relay beautiful and healthy, but accessible and inviting. It couldn’t be something with too much of a “vibe,” so pizza, tacos, and sandwiches were a no. It also needed to be colorful and stand out. With the help of our publisher, we narrowed it down to two choices, our Santorini Bowl and Cauliflower Curry.

In March 2017, we had a cover photo shoot. Seeing the beautiful colors of the Santorini Bowl, we knew that was the shot. We took multiple versions of the bowl with different towels and angles, then sent it to our publisher to mock up.

Da Capo came up with several different options, shown below. After many rounds of edits and tweaks, we fell in love with the “blueprint” concept, where blue lines ran through the cover. The designer mentioned that the blueprint lines mirrored the way our book was a “blueprint” for sustainably healthy cooking. YES! Making the title in a font similar to our logo was the last step to have a cover that we hope represents the book: a fun, healthy, joy-filled approach to cooking.

Larson worked his way into our cover shoot too!

8. Good friends are worth gold.

Because this was a side-side hustle (per Item 2), a huge community of friends and supporters helped us along the way. Friends and family would stop by during shooting days to eat get a meal or two in exchange for hand modeling and dishes help! Our friends Katelyn and Jared helped us brainstorm the title. (Such a silly way it came up, I can’t even share it.) Our summer intern, Claire, helped us proofread recipes and organize an army of recipe testers.

Speaking of recipe testers, the amount of gratitude we have for these extraordinary people cannot be expressed in words. These volunteers cooked our recipes, provided detailed feedback, and were our biggest cheerleaders during the process. Connecting with these new friends and supporters was one of the best parts of the book, and we feel confident that we’ve created recipes that these people love. We truly felt carried by community in the process—which is why we are elated to present you with:

Pretty Simple Cooking.

**Order it now! Pretty Simple Cooking.

 

 

A Couple Cooks - Recipes for Healthy & Whole Living

from A Couple Cooks http://ift.tt/2E6clME

Day 3: Trends and Product Innovations from the Winter Fancy Food Show

The Specialty Food Association Trendspotter Panel spent the past three days reporting on trend findings from the Winter Fancy Food Show, which closed yesterday at Moscone Center in San Francisco. Last November, the SFA released its Trendspotters' predictions for the top trends of 2018. Throughout show days, Trendspotters sought out on-trend product innovations related to these predictions, as well as any new or emerging trends.

In line with the 2018 trend predictions, exhibitors showcased a plethora of plant-based products, alternative sweeteners, region-specific Middle Eastern foods, functional mushrooms, and moringa, according to Trendspotters’ reports from day 1 and day 2 of the Winter Show.

Here are some more trends and product innovations the panel spotted on Tuesday. 

Snacks: Plant-based, better-for-you, unexpected flavor and form innovations. Examples:

• Pocas International Corp. Dragon Fruit Chips, a non-GMO chip made from dried dragon fruit
• Puffworks Snacks Peanut Butter Puffs, similar to a cheese puff but with 4 – 5 grams of protein
• Snackgold Charissa Gourmet Potato Crisps

Regional global flavors. Examples:

• Brooklyn Delhi’s achaar, a spicy Indian relish; winner of Monday evening’s Front Burner Foodservice Pitch Competition
• Lemoncocco sparkling lemon beverage authentic to Rome

New twists on yogurt. Examples: 

• Anita’s Coconut Milk yogurt alternative
• Morinaga Alove aloe yogurt with chew bits of aloe
• Wunder Creamery Quark

More examples of these trends can be found by searching exhibitor listings in the Fancy Food Show app or on the specialtyfood.com Product Marketplace.

from Food Trends http://ift.tt/2n77P9z

Glowing Green Apple Smoothie

This is magic green juice—and it will change your life. It will make you skinnier, healthier, and glow from the inside out. Your back side and front side will be tighter. Your friends will idolize you and your enemies will want to be you. It may cause you to come into unexpected sums of money. You’ll achieve a sense of inner peace.

OK, I kid. But sometimes, doesn’t it seem like people marketing “healthy this” or “healthier that” make it seem like their product can do all those things? And there’s a part of us as humans—a tiny part of us—that wants to believe it. If I could just make myself XYZ, I’d be skinnier, healthier, and tighter. That elusive magic “answer” will solve all the difficulties to self-care and eating well. You can probably see where this is going. Unfortunately, there is no magic green health tonic that will cure all your worries and make healthy living easy. However, there are things you can do to make eating nutrient-filled, immunity boosting foods easier and more delicious.

Enter: the Glowing Green Apple Smoothie.

We don’t often post smoothies on this site, because—well, because it’s not really “cooking”, and cooking is what we love. Also, we’re bad at making smoothies.  Yes, laugh away. For some reason, we could not for the life of us find a smoothie recipe we loved. It was either too bitter, too sweet, too thick, to thin. Following a recipe didn’t work, and throwing random smoothie-like ingredients into a blender didn’t work.

Does anyone else have this problem? 

Our new cookbook, Pretty Simple Cooking, launches in just 2 weeks! So more than anything right now, we need to stay well—as in, not sick. No winter colds allowed this year! My first thought as I pondered this resolution was drink lots of smoothies. And I remembered our green apple smoothie from a few years ago. It’s tangy and tart, just sweet enough. But looking at it, I wanted to tweak a few things (of course). Since Medjool dates are a specialty ingredient, I decided to replace them with maple syrup and a handful of cashews to add extra protein and creaminess.

What resulted is our new favorite green smoothie. The tangy is balanced with sweet, and it has a loose but creamy texture that’s easily drinkable and a vivid, glowing green color. I can’t promise that it will make you skinnier or healthier or immune to all disease, but it tastes incredible and it is literally packed with nutrients.

You’re not so bad, Glowing Green Apple Smoothie.

Alex and I only need one smoothie recipe, and this is it. Green apple smoothie on repeat. (Oh, and Larson loves it too.)

Did you make this recipe?

If you make this glowing green apple smoothie, we’d love to hear how it turned out. Leave a comment below or share a picture on Instagram and mention @acouplecooks.

This recipe is…

Vegetarian, vegan, plant-based, dairy-free, gluten-free, and naturally sweet.

A few other smoothie recipes, while we’re at it:

• Tart Cherry Granola Smoothie Bowls
• Strawberry Coconut Smoothies

Glowing Green Apple Smoothie

 

Print

by: a Couple Cooks

Serves: 2 cups (1 large or 2 small smoothies)

What You Need

• 1 large green apple
• 1 tablespoon maple syrup
• ½ cup water
• ¼ cup raw cashews
• 3 cups spinach
• 10 ice cubes
• 1 tablespoon fresh squeezed lemon juice

What To Do

1. Core the apple and cut it into chunks, leaving the skin on.
2. Place all ingredients a blender and blend. Add the lemon juice and blend for a few seconds again. Taste, and add a touch more maple syrup and/or lemon juice as desired. Serve immediately, or refrigerate for up to 1 day.

3.5.3229

 

 

A Couple Cooks - Recipes for Healthy & Whole Living

from A Couple Cooks http://ift.tt/2DwhpZX

NYC Offers Hot Chocolate That's Creative, Haute, Spicy

Hot chocolate is taking off in New York City, with some cafes charging as much as $14 a cup, according to The Wall Street Journal. The gourmet beverages are being served at restaurants such as a Michelin-starred Gotham Bar and Grill, which makes its drink with cocoa sourced from Costa Rica. The drink has an herbal flavor with a "black tea quality," according to Gotham Bar pastry chef Ron Paprocki.

While Gotham represents the high-end of the craze, plenty of other restaurants are serving fancy but more affordable versions in the $4 to $9 range, with extras available. Cronut creator Dominique Ansel offers the Blossoming Hot Chocolate, which features a marshmallow flower that opens after the drink is served, while Tetsu offers hot chocolate with spices like cardamom, a "toasted rice" topping, and the option to add a shot of exotic liquor.

The epicenter for the trend is believed to be Union Square's City Bakery, which has been serving gourmet hot chocolate since the early 90s and hosts an annual hot chocolate festival in February, according to the report. Full Story

Related: Chefs Make Effort to Move Away from Mainstream Trends; Diners Eat at Restaurants Almost Six Times a Week.

from Food Trends http://ift.tt/2n2LAkl

Creamy Chicken Pot Pie Soup

Imagine your favorite chicken pot pie: creamy, rich, and chock full of cubed chicken breast, tender potatoes, carrots and green peas. Now imagine it out of the ramekin and in a soup bowl, slightly thinner but no less creamy, in soup form. Sounds good right?

Trust me, it tastes even better.

Of course, the best part of chicken pot pie is the crust (obviously), which is why I topped this soup with buttery salt and pepper pie crust crackers. They turned out so good I’m giving them their own post… stay tuned later this week for the recipe (plus other flavor variations for sweet AND savory applications!)

(Also, excuse me for a second while I toot my own horn but that bowl up there? I MADE IT. Like, with my hands and a lump of clay. Ok, so out of 30 some odd pieces I made during the 9-week ceramics class I took last term, it was one of the 3 or so that are actually usable, but I’m so dang proud of it and the fact that it was actually usable in a photo I couldn’t not say anything.)

Anyway, more about this soup…

How do you keep creamy soups from separating? Pretend like you’re making ice cream. Make sure your dairy is at room temperature and your soup base is hot but not quite simmering. And then? Temper your dairy: whisk a bit of the hot soup liquid into the dairy, a spoonful at a time, until it is warm to the touch, then whisk it into the pot with the rest of the soup. This also brings the soup down to a perfect consumption temperature almost instantly, so you don’t even need to reheat it (or if you do, just be sure you don’t let it boil or the dairy fat might separate).

While there will still be a little bit of fat that will rise to the surface (that’s unavoidable), it’s a heck of a lot more homogenized than if you added cold dairy directly to hot soup. Trust me on this one and don’t skip this step.

(more…)

from Love and Olive Oil http://ift.tt/2Duu2sh

Moroccan Sweet Potatoes with Tahini Dressing

I’d like to introduce you to our friend Gena. Some of you may remember her writing a post on A Couple Cooks a few years ago called 5 Tips for Balanced Eating. It started like this: “My name is Gena. I’m a food blogger, a vegan cookbook author, a nutritionist, and an RD-to-be. I’m also recovering from thirteen years of on-again, off-again anorexia and orthorexia.”

Powerful words. In the years since then, Gena Hamshaw has become a dear friend. She’s the face behind the food blog The Full Helping, and author of three vegan cookbooks. At the same time, she works as a nutrition counselor and is completing her master of science degree in nutrition and education. (Talk about rockstar!) I admire so many things about Gena: her ability to excel in so many things, her generous spirit, and her grit to persevere through professional and personal trials. But one of the things I admire most: her fearlessness and vulnerability to speak out about important topics to help others heal. Gena’s courage to talk about issues with food in a gentle and constructive way has touched the lives of thousands of people across the world. In the post she wrote for our site, she went to to say:

“Usually I say that I’m ‘recovered,’ not recovering. In a lot of ways, this is true: I’ve been weight-restored and physically healthy for many years now. I no longer engage in disordered eating patterns, I don’t have “fear foods,” and I don’t use restriction or dietary manipulation as a means of trying to exert control over my life. I love food—it’s probably my greatest passion—and I love to eat. But I couldn’t help but think that the word “recovered” may be a little too neat and tidy to describe the before-and-after of eating disorders. In a lot of ways, we’re always recovering from the struggle—even if recovery takes us to places where we feel more freedom and pleasure and peace than ever before. Part of embracing the ongoing journey of recovery, I think, is understanding that balance doesn’t just happen—it demands effort and consciousness, at least for some of us.”

When Gena and I met, I was struggling with my own issues of viewing food in a healthy way and understanding balance. Many times in the evenings I’d find myself raiding the pantry for anything made of sugar, stuffing myself and then falling into a cycle of guilt and shame. In Gena I found a champion of the cause of balanced eating: eating where food is both a source of pleasure and a source of nourishment, indulging when it feels right, and eating until you’re satisfied but not beyond the point of comfort.

What a pleasure it is today to share a recipe from Gena’s NEW cookbook, Power Plates: 100 Nutritionally Balanced, One-Dish Vegan Meals! The concept of this book is unlike any other I’ve seen and I’m very excited about the concept! Every recipe contains the key macronutrients of healthy fats, complex carbohydrates, and proteins, which together make for a complete meal in one dish. So, you don’t need to worry about cooking up any side dishes or snacks: these recipes are complete meals altogether. This speaks right to Alex and my sweet spot of pretty simple cooking, since most nights it’s all we can do to make one main dish recipe. Gena’s book makes sure that each recipe is nutritionally balanced on its own.

Of course we would pick a recipe with sweet potatoes…and these Moroccan sweet potatoes are exceptional! The sweet potatoes are topped with lentils mixed with cumin seeds, harissa, and veggies, then smothered in a creamy lemon tahini sauce brings it all together. The vibrant sweet potatoes against the savory spiced lentils are the perfect match: drop-dead delicious! This recipe is similar in style to things that Alex and I make on the regular, and we loved this new take on one of our favorite vegetables.

Another lovely thing about this cookbook is that it was photographed by our dear friend, Ashley McLaughlin. We couldn’t be happier to get our hands on the fantastic work of two of our very favorite people. Congratulations, Gena, on an incredible book: we know it will be dog-eared for years to come.

PS Exciting news: Gena and I will be co-hosting a cooking demo event in late February in NYC to share Power Plates and Pretty Simple Cooking with you! Stay tuned for more.

Order the book! > Power Plates: 100 Nutritionally Balanced, One-Dish Vegan Meals by Gena Hamshaw

Did you make this recipe?

If you make these Moroccan sweet potatoes with tahini dressing, we’d love to hear how it turned out. Leave a comment below or share a picture on Instagram and mention @acouplecooks and @thefullhelping.

This recipe is…

Vegetarian, vegan, plant-based, dairy-free, and sugar-free.

Moroccan Sweet Potatoes

 

Print

by: a Couple Cooks

Serves: 4

What You Need

• 4 medium sweet potatoes, scrubbed
• 1 cup (200 g) dried brown or pardina lentils, rinsed
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
• 1 small white or yellow onion, diced
• 3 cloves garlic, finely minced
• 2 tomatoes, chopped, or 1 (14.5-oz, or 411-g) can diced tomatoes, drained
• 1 tablespoon finely grated or minced fresh ginger, or 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1⁄4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1⁄2 teaspoon sweet paprika
• 1 tablespoon harissa paste, or 1 teaspoon ground chili powder
• 1⁄2 teaspoon salt
• 4 cups (120 g) firmly packed baby spinach
• Water, as needed
• 2 tablespoons pomegranate molasses (optional)
• 1⁄2 cup (125 ml) Everyday Lemon Tahini Dressing (see recipe below)
• Optional: Chopped fresh parsley, chopped fresh cilantro, snipped fresh chives or chopped scallions

What To Do

1. Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C) and line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Put the sweet potatoes on the lined baking sheet and prick each several times with a fork. Bake for 45 to 60 minutes, until fork-tender.
2. Meanwhile, cook the lentils as directed on page 15. Drain well.
3. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the cumin seeds and cook, stirring constantly, for 1 to 2 minutes, until the seeds start to pop. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 to 7 minutes, until tender and translucent. Add the garlic and tomatoes and cook, stirring frequently, for 1 to 2 minutes, until the garlic is fragrant. Decrease the heat to low and stir in the lentils, ginger, cinnamon, paprika, harissa, and salt, then stir in the spinach. Cook, stirring frequently, until the spinach has wilted, adding water by the 1⁄4 cup (60 ml) if needed to prevent sticking. Stir in the pomegranate molasses. Taste and adjust seasonings if desired.
4. Cut each sweet potato in half and use a fork to coarsely mash the flesh, still in the skin. Place two halves on each serving plate and top them with a generous scoop of the lentils. Serve right away, with a drizzle of the tahini dressing and the optional fresh herbs.

Notes

Reprinted with permission from Power Plates, copyright © 2018 by Gena Hamshaw. Published by Ten Speed Press, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC.

3.5.3229

Everyday Lemon Tahini Dressing

 

Print

by: a Couple Cooks

Serves: ⅔ to ¾ cup (160 to 175 mL)

What You Need

• 1⁄4 cup (60 ml) warm water, plus more if desired
• 1⁄4 cup (60 g) tahini (or more, see note)
• 1 clove garlic, finely minced or grated
• 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1⁄2 teaspoon agave nectar or maple syrup
• 1⁄4 teaspoon salt
• 1⁄8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

What To Do

1. Combine all the ingredients in a small bowl or measuring cup and whisk until evenly blended. If the dressing is thicker than you’d like, whisk in water by the tablespoonful to achieve the desired consistency. **Note: We had to add several more dollops of tahini to get the sauce to come together, as our tahini was fairly loose. The exact quantities will depend on the brand of tahini.
2. Stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator, the dressing will keep for 1 week.

3.5.3229

 

A Couple Cooks - Recipes for Healthy & Whole Living

from A Couple Cooks http://ift.tt/2G2uT0Q

Demand for Spicy Dishes Grows, Some Restaurants Require Waivers

As consumers grow more adventurous and demand for spicy food grows, restaurants are introducing special dishes so hot they require waivers, reports The Wall Street Journal.

American consumption of chili peppers rose 33 percent to more than 7 pounds per capita between 2000 and 2015, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. A survey by Technomic found half of consumers prefer very spicy foods and sauces over moderate or non-spicy alternatives, and restaurants are happy to deliver.

Mikey’s Late Night Slice in Columbus, Ohio, occasionally offers the "Fiery Death with Hate Sausage," a pizza with a mix of peppers, including Bhut Jolokia, Trinidad Moruga Scorpion, and Carolina Reaper paired with spicy sausage.

Mint Indian Bistro in Las Vegas, Nev., introduced an "Inferno" menu of naan, biryani, and kebabs cooked with super hot peppers, which has proven to be successful.

Even an ice cream parlor is getting in on the trend, with Sunni Sky's Homemade Ice Cream offering an "Exit Wound" flavor made with three types of chile peppers, hot sauces, and capsaicin oil resin, according to the report. Full Story

Related: Category Spotlight: America’s New Spicy Staple; Exotic Flavor Profiles Drives Consumption of Fresh Produce.

from Food Trends http://ift.tt/2DlKqXT

SFA News Live Stream During Winter Fancy Food Show

During the Winter Fancy Food Show, the Specialty Food Association is broadcasting SFA News Live, brought to you by the editors of Specialty Food News and hosted by Phil Lempert, the Supermarket Guru. Interviews will take place throughout show days in a talk-show format with industry trailblazers, icons, disruptors and other experts. Watch live here.

from Food Trends http://ift.tt/2Bgy0yW

More than Half of Americans Interested in Eating Less Meat

While three out of four American consumers have tried to eat more protein, and are interested in doing so, they’re less inclined to obtain protein from meat, according to research by Mintel. In fact, 58 percent have tried, or are interested in trying, to eat less meat.

An analyst with the firm says a conscious effort to eat more protein through meat alternatives is the result of consumers perceiving these products to be healthier and more cost-efficient. Also, protein-rich meat alternatives are becoming increasingly available to consumers.

Mintel’s research also found that 55 percent of Americans say they lived a healthier lifestyle in 2017 compared to the year prior, and 45 percent say they've made dramatic changes to improve their health. Still, more than three quarters of consumers agree that healthy choices can be balanced with small indulgences.

Related: US Consumers Turn to Meat Alternatives; Plant-Based Foods Poised for Growth; Joint Venture to Focus on Plant-Based Meat Alternatives to Disrupt Food Industry.

from Food Trends http://ift.tt/2rryORM

Top Wine Trends for 2018: Alternative Packaging, Rosé, Prosecco

Alternative packaging, rosé, and prosecco will be the top trends for wine in 2018, according to Nielsen. The importance of interesting packaging is only growing as the wine space becomes more crowded, with innovative design being a purchase driver. Even though 73 percent of wine sales were glass bottles in 2016, premium boxed wine, canned wine, and Tetra Paks all garnered attention and sales in 2017. Canned and Tetra Pak wine were particularly popular for outdoor events like picnics, while boxed wine was used for everyday convenience.

Among specific wine varieties, rosé has exploded in popularity recently, particularly during the summer months. White wine buyers increasingly added rosé to their purchases, opting for an alternative to sweet or dry whites. Prosecco accounts for 20 percent of the sparkling wine category, and it grew 21.1 percent in terms of dollar sales in the past year. The wine serves as a mid-tier offering in terms of price, making it well-positioned for growth.

Related: Packaged Facts Unveils 10 Food Trends for 2018; Ten Food Trends That Will Shape 2018.

from Food Trends http://ift.tt/2mONRPU

2018 Top Wine Trends: Alternative Packaging, Rosé, Prosecco

Alternative packaging, rosé, and prosecco will be the top trends for wine in 2018, according to Nielsen. The importance of interesting packaging is only growing as the wine space becomes more crowded, with innovative design being a purchase driver. Even though 73 percent of wine sales were glass bottles in 2016, premium boxed wine, canned wine, and Tetra Paks all gained attention and sales in 2017. Canned and Tetra Pak wine were particularly popular for outdoor events such as picnics, while boxed wine was used for everyday convenience.

Among specific wine varieties, rosé has exploded in popularity recently, particularly during the summer months. White wine buyers increasingly added rosé to their purchases as well, offering an alternative to sweet or dry whites. Prosecco accounts for 20 percent of the sparkling wine category, and it grew 21.1 percent in terms of dollar sales in the past year. The wine serves as a mid-tier offering in terms of price, making it well-positioned for growth.

Related: Packaged Facts Unveils 10 Food Trends for 2018; Ten Food Trends That Will Shape 2018.

from Food Trends http://ift.tt/2DxIIGa

Bottled Is the Only Way 15 Percent of Consumers Drink Water

Fifteen percent of consumers only drink bottled products for water, reports Food & Wine. According to the survey by Harris Poll on behalf of the International Bottled Water Association, 63 percent of respondents reported bottled water among their most preferred beverages, edging out coffee, which had 62 percent support, and soft drinks with 58 percent.

The top reasons for liking bottled water were because it's healthier than soft drinks, lacks artificial sweeteners, and has lower calories. Overall, 90 percent said they consider bottled water a healthy and convenient beverage, with 86 percent saying they have a positive opinion of bottled water, according to the report. Full Story

Related: Bottled Water Consumption Surpasses Soda Consumption; Hydrating in Style.

from Food Trends http://ift.tt/2EZjiOL

Spicy Squid Ink Fettuccine with Shrimp and Chorizo

You’re probably wondering what we did with that dramatically colored squid ink fettuccine we made earlier this week…

Well, this is it.

Since the squid ink pasta has a mild brininess to it (it actually smells stronger while you’re making it than it tastes in the final dish, but it’s still an underlying flavor that shouldn’t be ignored), it’s definitely best used within the context of more seafood.

One of our favorite cookbooks has a recipe for a frutti di mare (fruit of the sea) pasta with squid ink spaghetti that would be a seafood lover’s dream. I also think it’d be great with a crab fra diavolo-style sauce, with tomatoes and spicy red pepper flakes.

We went a slightly different route, a twist on surf and turf, if you will, combining shrimp with spicy Spanish chorizo along with garlic, red pepper flakes, and tomatoes for a fiery red sauce that compliments the squid ink pasta perfectly in both color and flavor.

If you make your homemade squid ink noodles ahead of time (it can be dried or frozen – one batch of pasta makes enough for two 4-serving meals), then you can easily throw this recipe together in under 30 minutes. That’s my kind of dinner recipe.

If you want to use dried pasta instead, simply cook it according to the package directions, and adjust the timing of the sauce accordingly: ideally you want the pasta cooked to al dente at the same time that the shrimp is fully cooked through.

Pro Tip: Whenever you cook pasta (fresh or dried), always set aside a cup or so of the cooking water before you drain your pasta. This starch-laden water is your new pasta secret weapon: a splash or two will improve the consistency and help the sauce and the pasta stick together.

When sourcing your chorizo, look for dried Spanish chorizo (like salami) instead of raw Mexican chorizo (which carries a much different flavor profile). The most notable flavor in Spanish-style chorizo is the paprika, lots and lots of paprika, with garlic and other spices mixed in. While we wanted the flavor profile of Spanish chorizo, we chopped and pulsed ours in a food processor before cooking to give it more of the texture of ground meat and make it more cohesive with the rest of the sauce.

If you can’t find Spanish chorizo, a spicy salami such as linguiça or sopressata or other dry-cured meat, or even Nduja (a spreadable spicy cured meat) would be the closest substitution. You can even get chorizo on Amazon (seriously, they sell everything) if you can’t find it locally. Trust me, it really makes the dish.

While we used diced tomatoes here, plain tomato puree or sauce will work here as well (use whatever tomato product you have on hand). Tomato sauce will make a smoother, sweeter result while the diced tomatoes will be chunkier and more rustic. If you use sauce, maybe toss in a few fresh quartered cherry tomatoes with the shrimp for texture.

We topped our pasta with some lightly toasted panko breadcrumbs, which adds a nice textural crunch.

(more…)

from Love and Olive Oil http://ift.tt/2mGLiiO

Savory Vegan Pot Pie with Sage Crust

  

Fact: the human brain remembers negative events better than positive ones. (Heres’ one source, there are many.) Yes, it’s true. Those snide remarks, criticisms, fears, and worries stick out like sore thumbs. Have you ever had something fabulous happen, then to be dwarfed by the smallest “negative” event your mind can’t help from focusing on?

Confession: my perception of what parenting would be like was skewed to the negative. Hearing what parents all around me had to say about it, I assumed my life would be full of dirty diapers, sleep deprivation, frustration, helplessness, loneliness, and boredom. But what I’ve realized is that I’ve heard positive things from parents too, I just didn’t remember them as well.

It’s the best, most fun thing you’ll ever do. (Check!)
Your soul is changed; you cherish the smaller things more. (Check!)
Looking at your kiddo makes your heart melt in a way you’ve never felt before. (Check!)

And it goes on. I do think Alex and I got lucky: Larson is an extraordinarily awesome kid who is fun-loving, curious, hilarious, and sweet, and pretty much the most fun person to be around in the universe (I know, I’m biased!). But I think the fact that I’m surprised that parenting is the most positive thing I’ve ever done is because my brain hears and remembers negative loud and clear.

How does that relate to this vegan pot pie? Well, you may remember us talking about all the kitchen failures we’ve had in the past. Being adventurous in the kitchen calls for taking risks, and with risks comes failures. It can be easy to start to fear failure when you’re taking culinary risks. Last week, Alex said he’d make dinner for me. That evening, he made up this vegan pot pie from scratch based on just an idea in his head. Knowing what I know about risk and failure, I assumed it would be a flop–and I wanted to keep my expectations low in case we ended up eating peanut butter sandwiches. Miraculously, this vegan pot pie was one of the best things I’d ever tasted. The earthy potatoes and onions are slathered in a savory, creamy sauce, along with fried shallots and white beans. And on top, a flaky sage crust that you’d never believe is vegan (his secret: coconut oil).

This time, I decided to bask in the glow of the vegan pot pie triumph. We made it again, and it was spot on. Larson was in love with the pot pie, eating more than we’d ever seen him eat and slamming the table with his hands in glee. And though I know my brain is wired to remember the negative best, I intentionally impressed this positive memory into my brain: Cozy, delicious vegan pot pie. Sparkling snow on the ground. Sweet 11 month old Larson covered in vegetable goo. This is what I want to remember.

Looking for more healthy dinner recipes?

Looking for some healthy dinner recipes? Here are a few more of our favorite healthy dinner recipes, which happen to be vegan recipes:

• Moroccan Spiced Cauliflower Soup
• Spiced Chickpea Tacos with Avocado Cream
• Simple Chickpea Curry with Tart Cherries
• Creamy Vegan Pasta Marinara

Did you make this recipe?

If you make this vegan pot pie with sage crust, we’d love to hear how it turned out. Leave a comment below or share a picture on Instagram and mention @acouplecooks.

This recipe is…

Vegetarian, vegan, plant-based, dairy-free, and sugar-free.

Savory Vegan Pot Pie with Sage Crust

 

Print

by: a Couple Cooks

Serves: 6

What You Need

• For the crust
• 1⅓ cups all-purpose flour
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt
• ¼ teaspoon baking powder
• 2 teaspoons dried sage
• ½ cup refined coconut oil (room temperature)
• 7 tablespoons ice water
• For the filling
• 1 large shallot
• 1 15-ounce can cannellini beans
• About ⅓ cup olive oil, divided
• 1 small sweet potato (about ½ pound)
• 1 small Yukon gold potato (about ½ pound)
• 1 medium yellow onion
• 1 small or ½ large red bell pepper
• 8 ounces baby bella mushrooms
• 2 teaspoons garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1 teaspoon ground thyme
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 cups vegetable broth
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• ¾ teaspoon kosher salt

What To Do

1. Preheat oven to 450°F.
2. Make the crust: In a medium bowl, mix all-purpose flour, kosher salt, baking powder, and sage. Measure ½ cup of room temperature coconut oil and then drop small blobs of the coconut oil into the flour mixture. Use a pastry blender to cut it into the flour mixture until a coarse meal texture is obtained.
3. Sprinkle 7 tablespoons ice water over the flour, mixing gradually with fork until the dough sticks together. Add additional water by the tablespoon until the dough comes together with your hands, but is not sticky (add a bit more water or flour if necessary). Form the dough into a ball and refrigerate in a covered container until the filling is ready.
4. Make the filling: Slice the shallot into rings. Drain and rinse the cannellini beans, shaking them dry. Place a medium skillet over medium-high heat and pour in olive oil until the bottom of the skillet is just covered. Add the shallot and beans to the skillet in a single layer. Cook without stirring for 3 to 4 minutes until the bottoms are browned and crispy, then stir and cook without stirring for another 4 to 5 minutes until crispy and fully browned. Remove from heat and add a pinch of kosher salt.
5. Meanwhile, dice the sweet potato, Yukon gold potato, yellow onion, and bell pepper into ½-inch cubes. Slice the mushrooms.
6. In a large skillet, heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the sweet potatoes, Yukon gold potatoes, onion, pepper, and mushrooms. Cook, stirring frequently, until the potatoes are tender, about 10 minutes. When tender, reduce the heat to low. Add the spices and flour and stir until the vegetables are coated. Add the vegetable broth, soy sauce, and kosher salt. Stir for about 4 minutes until the broth thickens into a sauce. Remove from the heat and add the crispy beans and shallots. Taste and adjust seasoning as desired.
7. Pour the filling into a deep dish 9” pie pan or small baking dish, or into several smaller baking dishes.
8. Remove the dough from the refrigerator and roll it out on a floured surface until it is large enough to cover the pan. Work quickly as the dough is easiest to work with while it’s just come to room temperature. Drape the dough over the pan and remove excess dough. Lightly crimp the edges (it’s a rustic pie, so it doesn’t have to be perfect!). Cut 4 small slits to vent for steam in the center of the crust. In a small bowl, mix a few drops of water with 1 tablespoon of olive oil and lightly brush it over the dough.
9. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes until golden and crispy. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for several minutes before serving.

3.5.3229

 

A Couple Cooks - Recipes for Healthy & Whole Living

from A Couple Cooks http://ift.tt/2Ba3qqB