LEMON BLUEBERRY LOAF CAKE

I am behind in tax prep so the text will be terse today. All I have on my mind is sheer amazement at how much of our income goes towards food. And Amazon. Being a grownup is scary. I remember playing house when I was little and always wanting to be "the mom." I had a fake checkbook to pay for things in this make believe adult-land I thought was so glorious. Now I am IN adult-land and I don't understand why on earth I was so anxious to be here. Take me back to where I could write my little sister a check for $20,000 just for being my pretend daughter!

But there is loaf cake. I make a lot of these and realize there is a similar one in the recipe archives but they are popular here. Hugh likes a sweet in the morning with coffee and I like cake after dinner so we can polish one these off quite quickly. They gift beautifully too if you're taking food to a friend. It's a snack to be shared no matter how you look at it. 

LEMON BLUEBERRY LOAF CAKE // Makes one 9x4 loaf

Adapted from Food and Wine 

The original calls for 2 cups of all purpose flour which, by all means, go ahead with. This was our wheat-free version and is sort of my standard loaf cake ratio anyway. Change the fruit, maybe replace the yogurt with mashed banana and the berries for chocolate chips. It's a great base to work with.
For the oat flour, I simply blend up rolled oats. The glaze here is optional. I am happy with the loaf as is but Hugh likes it a bit sweeter so the glaze keeps everyone happy. You can mix in some melted and slightly cooled butter if you'd like it to resemble more of a frosting.

3/4 cup coconut oil, melted and slightly cooled
1 cup natural cane sugar
3 eggs, room temperature
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 Tbsp. lemon zest
1/2 tsp. sea salt
1 cup plain goat yogurt (or regular)
1/4 cup lemon juice

1 cup superfine brown rice flour
1 cup oat flour
2 Tbsp. flaxmeal
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 cup blueberries, fresh or frozen
 

// glaze //

2 tsp. fresh lemon juice
1 cup powdered sugar

lemon zest, for garnish

Preheat the oven to 350'. Grease a 9x4 loaf pan and line it with parchment. 

Wish a hand or electric mixer, combine the coconut oil and sugar until well blended. Add the eggs, one at a time until well mixed. Add the vanilla, lemon zest, yogurt, lemon juice and mix. 

In another bowl, combine both flours, flaxmeal, baking powder and soda and stir to combine. Gently add the dry to the wet ingredients to mix. Fold in the blueberries and pour the mixture into the prepared pan. Bake on the middle rack for 1 hour and 10-15 minutes until golden or until a toothpick comes out clean. Remove to cool completely. 

In the meantime, whisk the lemon juice and powdered sugar together to create a glaze. 

Glaze the cooled cake. The loaf with keep covered for three days. 

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PASTA WITH FENNEL, ARUGULA + LEMON

pasta with fennel, arugula & lemon . sprouted kitchen

I suppose now is as a good a time as any to let you know I am working on a second cookbook (!!!!). A number of the details are still to be worked out as far as official dates, tentative title, how it will all be laid out, etc. but it's in motion. I am excited to be working with Ten Speed Press again as well as Hugh, my trusted, however easy to argue with, photographer. It should be due out sometime in 2015. I think it's such a privledged that I am able to call this my job. This is so huge! We are proud of our first book, but also feel there was a learning curve that was only possible by being in it. With both feet in, we learned, and we know a few things on the other side that we will do differently this time around. One of those things, for myself, is to try to create food that is personal to me, to us, and not struggle in trying to please every readers taste preferences and dietary or health principles. My hope is that people will tinker around as they prefer. Sometimes there will be pasta with a bit of cream and other times there will be dairy free, gluten free items. Sometimes dietetic recipes and other dishes food for company. This is how my real life works - all real foods, a majority of the time very healthful and especially produce focused, with room for ice cream and a little indulgence in between. The book will be a collection of bowlfoods - dishes that are served in a single vessle, which speaks comfort, ease and community in the way I see cooking and food. There will be green salads, whole grain salads, rice and noodle bowls, a chapter with a few of my favorite sauces for said bowls and treats (ice cream!) of course. I have an inclination that if you relate to the way I cook and eat here, foods in a bowl make complete sense to you. I wanted a narrower focus, something authentic, and when I think about how food applies to my favorite parts of the everyday - it is family-style eating with friends and family, picnics, having sturdy salads that last a few days for Hugh and I to snack on in the fridge or take for work, salads of any and all sorts, really - I kept coming back to the humbleness of the bowl. The best creative work is the kind that is most meaningful to the artist. Cooking is no exception. Sure, it limits me in some ways, and the critic could argue one could eat a salad or berry trifle just as easily on a plate as they could in a bowl, but they'd be missing the intention. The bowl is a point of inspiration, not a rule and I am excited to work on this project. I am back in the throws of some ideas working out as planned and others still far from the mark after 3 or 4 tries. It is not a process for the weak of heart, but I've found myself here again, willing, excited and anxious, and I am grateful to have your support. Life, how I ended up here, it's still kind of crazy to me.

This recipe is from UK based chef Hugh Fearnley. He has a series of books and this is my favorite yet. Unlike American cookbooks, the recipes are more loosely written, leaving some responsibility to the cook and I love that. They don't give amounts for salt and pepper or an estimated time for each step. It's refreshing. We're not huge pasta people over here, but when I do make it, I only have success in small batches. The recipe is printed for two and it worked out great as such. I suppose it could be easily doubled if you're feeding more. Or maybe a side dish with a good piece of salmon. Lastly, against my sprouted nature, I have to say completely whole grain noodles are intense, almost two distracting here in their sturdiness. I like a good brown rice spaghetti or maybe a thinner one than the sort I have in the photos if you're going to use the grainy stuff. Anyway, I'd bet you know what you like as far as noodles go.

So, a book! Here we go, party people. Thanks for being great.

pasta with fennel, arugula & lemon . sprouted kitchen

PASTA WITH FENNEL, ARUGULA + LEMON // Serves 2

Adapted from River Cottage VEG

It's simple and lovely as written, I only changed a couple things as mine was looking a tad dry (likely because of my uber sturdy noodles). Nothing is particularly fussy here, just be prepared to move quick, everything comes together in a snap.

• 1 large fennel bulb, fronds reserved
• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil or grapeseed oil
• 2 large cloves garlic, minced
• 6 ounces pasta (papparadelle, linguine, spaghetti etc.)
• 1/4 cup creme fraiche, to taste
• zest of one large lemon, juice reserved
• 3-4 good handfuls of arugula
• 1/4 cup reserved pasta water
• sea salt and pepper
• parmesan or hard goats cheese, to finish

pasta with fennel, arugula & lemon . sprouted kitchen

pasta with fennel, arugula & lemon . sprouted kitchen

Bring a large pot of liberally salted water to a boil. 

Cut the fennel in half lengthwise. Remove the tough core and slice it into 1/4'' wedges. Heat the oil in a frying pan over medium high heat. Add the fennel, give it a stir and let it cook, undistrubed (that's how you get the nice brown bits) for 5 minutes. Give it a stir, turn the heat down to medium, add the garlic, a pinch of salt and another splash of oil if the pan looks dry. Start cooking the pasta.

To the fennel, add the creme fraiche, lemon zest and stir to coat. Add the arugula and give it another toss.

Drain the pasta, reserving 1/4-1/2 cup of the pasta water. Add the noodles to the creamy fennel pan and toss to coat, adding a pinch or two of salt, pepper, squeeze of lemon juice and pasta water as needed.

Serve each portion with a generous grate of the parmesan and a few fennel fronds.

pasta with fennel, arugula & lemon . sprouted kitchen

SALMON SKEWERS WITH CUCUMBER YOGURT SAUCE

salmon kebabs . sprouted kitchen

A bit late to the party (as I often am with these things), I'm finally reading Cheryl Strayed's Tiny Beautiful Things. It is a collection of some of her letters and responses as a then-anonymous advice columnist. This won't be the last you'll hear me mention it - I'm in love with how she writes. So frank and forward but not the least bit insensitive. Hugh refers to it as a self-help book because he sees me passionately underlining particular lines. It is not a self-help book, but somehow you feel empowered and encouraged after some of the entries, which I suppose is helping oneself. There is this one entry where she is responding to a young, struggling writer. She talks about overriding limitiations by simply producing. You must continue to work. "You will feel insecure... How much power you give those feelings is entirely up to you." I am not at home pecking away at the next great work of fiction, but giving power to feelings of insecurity, is something anyone who does anything even the least bit challenging can relate to. I think what I love about these stories, is even though none of them are mine, they make me think. My other favorite, "There is no why. You don't have a right to the cards you believe you should have been dealt. You have an obligation to play the hell out of the ones you're holding." Seriously! So good. Between not giving power to insecurity and playing your own cards, I'm repeating these lines to every friend I've been talking to lately about troubleshooting life. We're all hurting and struggling and experiencing joy and intimacy and tenderness in the scope of our days - sharing our stories makes the whole of it pretty incredible. 

So this salmon. That deep, rich, ruby color is Copper River Sockeye. Wild-caught Alaskan salmon is considered one of your "best choices" as far as sustainable fish from the Marine Stewardship Council. It actually has a season which runs late spring through summer, depending on the species in particular. I've been holding onto a few salmon recipes waiting for the good stuff. I'm intrigued to try slow roasting a large filet for a dinner party and would like to do some blackened in a taco. It's rich as far as fish goes, and I know salmon isn't for everyone, but if you can get your hands on some fresh stuff this time of year, you may be persuaded. I put some chunks on a skewer and drenched it in a cool cucumber sauce. Next time I think I'll add more veggies, maybe some onion and bell pepper, to stretch them even further. I know there are only a couple salmon recipes in the archives here, so I hope this adds an idea to your healthy/easy week night dinner repetoire.

salmon kebabs . sprouted kitchen

salmon kebabs . sprouted kitchen

SALMON SKEWERS WITH CUCUMBER YOGURT SAUCE // Serves 4

I served these with a bit of quinoa that I mixed with a splash of oil, vinegar, a few chopped scallions and a basic green salad. Didn't feel a recipe was needed for those. Some rice would be nice, or even some warm toasty pita. For the sake of time, I put these under the broiler. They would be excellent on the grill, but I would just suggest using one of those top grates and oil it well as fish seems to stick to the BBQ annoyingly easily. 

I am still getting Meyer lemons from my mom's tree. If you can find them, use them here. The pith is much more pleasant to eat and they are sweeter in general. Add more vegetables or change them up according to your taste. 

• 8 skewers
• 1 1/2 lbs. Wild Alaskan Salmon, skinned and deboned
• 2 zucchini
• 2 lemons, sliced very thin and seeded 

• 2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
• 1 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
• 1 Tbsp. maple syrup
• 1/2 tsp. sea salt 
• 1/4 tsp. paprika
• 1/2 tsp. Italian seasoning
• 1/4 - 1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes 

• // yogurt sauce //
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1/2 tsp. each salt and pepper
• 1/2 of a large english cucumber, roughly chopped (about 1 1/2 cups)
• zest of one lemon
• 3 Tbsp. fresh dill
• 2 Tbsp. fresh mint leaves
• 1 cup full fat greek yogurt

salmon kebabs . sprouted kitchen

salmon kebabs . sprouted kitchen

salmon kebabs . sprouted kitchen

Preheat your grill or broiler. Soak the skewers in water if using wooden/bamboo ones. Prepare a parchment lined baking sheet. 

Cut the salmon into 2'' chunks, you want them similar in size to cook evenly. Slice the zucchini into thin coins. Layer your skewers with a piece of salmon, a slice of lemon (folded in half), and a chunk of zucchini. Repeat three times, depending on the size of your skewers, and lay them on the baking sheet. Repeat the process with remaining ingredients. 

In a small bowl, mix the oil, lemon juice, maple, salt, paprika, Italian herbs and red pepper flakes. Give it a little mix and brush the oil mixture liberally onto all sides of the skewered goodies. Move a rack to the upper third of the oven and broil the skewers on the sheet for about 8 minutes until the edges just begin to brown and the salmon feels barely firm. Salmon is best under opposed to overdone, so keep an eye. 

To prepare the sauce, whirl the garlic in a food processor. Add the salt, pepper, cucumber, zest and give it a few pulses to chop. Add the dill, mint and yogurt and give a few more pulses to combine. The texture should be a bit chunky. Transfer to a small bowl and serve along with the skewers and grain of choice. 

salmon kebabs . sprouted kitchen