GRILLED ASPARAGUS PLATE + CILANTRO PEPITA PESTO

We're home! We'll do a small travel post on Belgium/Amsterdam, but I have been anxious to cook in my kitchen. We had an apartment rental the last leg of our trip, so I was able to make a few simple meals, but it's just not the same as your home kitchen. My hope was that in time away, I would be inspired to cook and create. Taking a break, it being impossible to cook even if I wanted to (most of the time), seemed the very thing I needed. I want to read more books about nutrition, to test more ideas and see them through, I want to be fearless in the recipes I write and to stay curious about food by learning from other authors and chefs. I want this work I do to be a reflection of the boldness I am focusing on this year. There is a Henry David Thoreau quote I like, “I learned this, at least, by my experiment: that if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.” 

I re-stocked our empty fridge the night we came home. It makes for a pretty hefty tab, but starting fresh feels so good. We are both in the mood for lighter fare after eating out so much (and in anticipation of a few work trips this month). In order to keep from salad burn out, I've been big-batching indoor grilled vegetables to have at the ready (you could very well use an outdoor grill, but ours is charcoal and I'm not up for that whole process quite yet). The sauce is the kind of thing I like keeping a big jar of in the fridge. I make more than I need and repurpose it through the week. It makes an excellent sandwich spread, tossed with noodles and tofu, or warmed grains. We had it on eggs or put a schmear under some avocado toast. I thin it with more citrus for an easy salad dressing. Clearly I like it and the recipe makes a generous amount. I haven't used pepitas in awhile and forgot what a wonderful flavor and crunch they have. Cheers to Spring produce. I welcome you.

GRILLED ASPARAGUS PLATE + CILANTRO PEPITA PESTO // Serves 4

The given recipe will give you a full 16 oz. jar worth of sauce. Maybe that sounds like a lot to you, feel free to half it. I mention other uses above and when the weeks are busy, I am grateful to have something tasty to jazz up simple meals. It doesn't have any dairy in it so I believe it would freeze well, even in ice cube trays, for later use.

• 1 bunch asparagus, about 1 1/2 lbs. (medium thickness stalks)
• 1 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
• sea salt
• fresh ground pepper
• 1/4 cup finely minced red onion
• 1/4 cup toasted pepitas

• // cilantro pepita pesto //
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1/2 cup toasted pepitas
• 2 tsp. sea salt
• 1 jalepeno (sort of seeded. you want a few for heat)
• 1/4 tsp. chipotle powder, to taste
• one large bunch (about 4 super packed cups) cilantro, ends cut, stem is fine
• juice of two large limes
• 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
• splash of water

 Heat your grill, or indoor grill, over medium heat.

Cut off the dry bits of the asparagus and use a vegetable peeler to gently shave the end stalks. Toss the asparagus in the olive oil and a few pinches of salt and pepper. Grill the asparagus, covered, turning a few times, for about 7-9 minutes. Time will vary based on thickness of the stalks. I like mine on the snappy side.

To make the pesto, pulse the garlic, toasted pepitas and sea salt in a food processor to chop. Add the jalepeno, chipotle, cilantro and lime juice and run the processor to combine. With the motor running, drizzle in the olive olive and a splash of water. Taste and adjust as you wish. Add more chipotle for heat, citrus juice and/or salt to brighten it, water if you prefer it thinner.

Serve the asparagus on a generous pillow of the cilantro pesto. Garnish with the minced red onion and toasted pepitas. Serve warm or at room temperature.

SPICY LENTIL SUMMER ROLLS + TRAVEL SNACKS

From our door to Paris with one layover, we had about 14 hours of travel time. I'm a multiple mini-meals lady, so one cardboard box of vegetarian mush on the flight over wasn't going to cut it for the whole stretch. Per request, I wanted to share a typical travel snack pack. I keep a few things in mind when packing food for the road/air. Bear with the stream of consciousness.

First off, food will likely be at room temperature for a few hours so choose items that are alright to be out awhile. This covers most vegetarian options, but worth saying. Those foods should have a good constitution - greens that hold up dressed, like kale or a broccoli salad, rice or noodle bowls packed with vegetables and sauce, wraps or sandwiches with lots of crunchy items inside. I try to keep the choices lower in salt (planes keep you puffy as is). While I am all about reusuable containers on a normal basis, storing food in plastic bags or disposable containers (I steal these from salad bars and tuck them away for circumstances like this) are easiest here. Something you don't mind throwing away or recycling. Lastly, bring an empty reusable water bottle and fill it up past the security check. Sure you get water on the plane, but I like to drink more than that wimpy cupfull once or twice a flight. It's nice to have throughout the trip as well. I loved Sarah of My New Roots recent post about travel foods too. It reminded me that I forgot to make these peanut butter bites.

This likely sounds high maintenance to a few of you, but it is totally worth the few moments of planning ahead to have fresh, light food while traveling. I went to bed at 2am the night prior but at least I had good snacks! Hugh would never take the time to pack food, but appreciates it greatly when the pretzels and peanuts have worn their welcome. Minimal bit of time invested, big reward.

sprouted kitchen

My backpack full of snacks:

kale salad: chopped lacinato kale, hard boiled eggs, parmesan, thinly sliced celery and lemon vinaigrette (extra virgin olive oil, lemon juice, white of a scallion, honey, salt and pepper)

summer rolls: recipe to follow

"favorite things" trail mix: roasted/salted pistachios, montmorency dried cherries, dark chocolate chips, toasted coconut flakes

maple chocolate chip cookies: I'll post this recipe eventually, good heavens. A version of these.

good greens bars: these are the emergency snack. Most "energy bars" are full of lots of soy and crap. These have the most virtuous list I've seen. Not my first choice of whole foods focused snacks, but they don't take up a lot of space and plug up hunger when you've gone through your fresh items.

sturdy fruit: apples, bananas, oranges

SPICY LENTIL SUMMER ROLLS // Makes 6

I made these the late afternoon before leaving, and everything held up fine a full day later. I did not pack a dipping sauce. As you can see my snack bag was quite full as it was, and I have had sauce taken by security (what is my life?) but a peanut sauce would be so tasty if you aren't dining on an airplane.

I made used the end of my homemade sriracha, but the bottled sort works great too. Carrots and beets were the last vegetables in my fridge, a combination of sprouts, cucumber, lettuce or sweet peppers would be great here depending what you have.

sprouted kitchen

• 6 rice paper wraps (you can typically find these in the asian section of well stocked markets)
• 1/2 cup cilantro sprigs
• 1 1/4 cup grated carrots
• 1 1/4 cup grated beets
• 1 large avocado
• 1 1/2 cups cooked lentils
• 1-2 Tbsp. sriracha (see note above)
• 1 Tbsp. toasted sesame oil
• pinch of salt

sprouted kitchen

Set up your roll workspace. You need a large bowl of warm water and a damp dish towel to work on. Set out your cilantro, carrots, beets, avocado and in a small mixing bowl, combine the cooked lentils with siracha, sesame oil and pinch of salt. Taste and adjust heat as desired. Remember this is what flavors the entire roll.

Working one roll at a time. Put the wrap flat into the large bowl of warm water, being careful to not let it curl up, until soft, about one minute. Lay the wrap down on the dish towel. Down the center, like a burrito, layer the cilantro, small handful of the carrots and beets, a few slices of avocado and a modest 1/4 cup of the lentils. Fold over the top and bottom ends over the filling, tuck the right flap over and then roll to close. Repeat with remaining wraps.

Enjoy or if traveling, store in plastic wrap for easy transport.

MAPLE SPICE DELICATA, FENNEL + KALE BOWL

My oven was down for a few days. Actually closer to a week... even longer if you consider it was only heating up to 300' - max. Something about the gas valve. I cook often, but it'd be dramatic and exaggerated to say I use my oven every day. I go on cooking binges but I can certainly get by without it for a week, no huge deal. From the moment the maintenance guy said he needed to order a part and to not use it in the meantime, all I could think about was what I NEEDED my oven for. We need another lemon loaf. I was out of granola. I've seen all these wonderful photos of homemade bread and while I've tried and failed before, I must try again, immediately. But since he said not to use it and I didn't want to risk the kitchen filling up with gas and blowing up, we kept meals simple and stovetop. I was dreaming up recipes yesterday and Hugh mentioned a theory about creativity actually thriving in confined parameters. Infinite freedom is too chaotic, there needs to be parameters whether it be money, time, space, a theme, lyrics etc. - constraint based creativity. With a bit of googling, turns out a number of people have written on creativity blooming within restriction versus a vast blank canvas. Twitter for example, the 140 character confinement that revolutionized social media.

Fast forward to today, and it seems that the oven hiatus pushed me to try new things. I didn't need to make granola or another lemon loaf. I actually needed to not make those things to get out of a rut. I finally bought a waffle iron after talking about it for two years and made my new favorite chocolate treat that I'll post next week. This all sounds like a complete "first world problem" but you catch my drift. I needed my oven to break down is what I'm trying to say. 

I've had a few delicata squash appetizers in the past few months that I can't get out of my head. One was back in Portland at Clyde Common, an understated pile of roasted delicata with a handful of greens, shaved parmesan and hazelnuts and another was generously bathed in brown butter and topped with crumbled amareti at Mozza. The squash pairs so perfectly with warm and sweet spices and the fact that you can eat the skin makes them that much more attractive. It's honestly past delicata squash time around here, they were gone in a blink. Just as I'd given up, promising to pay closer attention when fall rolls around again, I found a few lonesome ones at a market I don't often frequent. I hope you can find some near you, but some chunks of butternut or kabocha can work here just fine. A warm salad, a side dish, a whole meal if you'd like with the addition of some lentils or a poached egg. I will add some toasted hazelnuts next time, or maybe a sharp, dry cheese. Let me know if you add anything you like. Call it what you wish, but I've been dreaming of this warm, spiced bowl of my favorite squash. 

Speaking of bowls, I wrote a recipe for Wisconsin Cheese showcasing their gorgonzola and they created a video of our process. Have a look if you're interested. 

MAPLE SPICE DELICATA, FENNEL + KALE BOWL // Serves 4

A note on texture. As written, the kale ends up somewhere between a kale chip and sauteed kale - crisp edges and a tender center. If you want it more crisp, make sure your kale is completely dry and add 5 minutes to the baking time. If you prefer it less crisp, take 5 minutes off the baking time, giving it just enough time to wilt. The squash and fennel have some kick, if you don't like too much spice, eliminate the red pepper flakes. 

• 3 small delicata squash (about 1 - 1.5 lb. total) skin on, halved and seeded
• 1 large fennel bulb, reserving fronds for garnish
• 2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil, divided
• 1 Tbsp. Grade B Maple Syrup
• 1 tsp. whole grain mustard
• 1/2 tsp. cayenne
• pinch of red pepper flakes
• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp. fresh grated nutmeg
• salt (smoked or sea salt) + pepper
• 1 bunch purple kale, stems removed
• 3 Tbsp. minced red onion

Preheat the oven to 400'. Arrange one oven rack in the upper third and one on the bottom third. 

Slice the squash into 1'' half moons. Slice the fennel down the center, cut out the tough core, slice into 1/2'' wedges. Spread everything on a rimmed baking sheet. Drizzle with 1 Tbsp. of the olive oil, maple, mustard, cayenne, red pepper, cinnamon, nutmeg and a few generous pinches of smoked salt and pepper. Toss gently to coat everything, adding another drizzle of oil or maple if it seems too dry. Roast in the upper third of the oven for 35-40 minutes or until the squash is tender and caramelized, tossing the vegetables half way through. 

Rip the kale into large chunks, drizzle it with remaining olive oil and a pinch of salt and pepper. Spread it on another baking sheet. At the 30 minute mark, move the squash tray to the lower rack and put the kale on the top rack. Bake for 10 minutes until the edges are crisp. Add your minced onion and gently toss everything together. Enjoy warm.