Super Bowl Nachos

My favorites foods for the Super Bowl (and really any football viewing party) are all classic game-day recipes, and today's recipe is no exception.

Here's a little secret though: I don't care about the Super Bowl. Yes, it's in San Francisco Santa Clara, and yes, I did go to watch fireworks at Super Bowl City, but don't count me in for watching the game. I'm actually going to be on a plane flying from Dallas to San Francisco (we're celebrating Z's mom's birthday this weekend). Given I have no attachment to either team, or really any pro football team for that matter, I am just going to finish reading the Nightingale on the plane.

That being said, there is something delicious about traditional football party food. Onion dip, wings, BBQ--all of it is so so delicious (and dangerous for the waistline). Nachos in particular are my weakness.

I like this recipe because a) it's vegetarian. Any vegetarian meal I can get Z to enjoy is a win in my book; b) it requires no specialty ingredients. You can buy everything at the normal grocery store and c) it looks great when you serve it directly from the cookie sheet, so no extra dishes!

Hope you have a great Super Bowl Sunday, whether you watch the game or not! Just make sure to eat a plate of nachos for me.

Super Bowl Nachos

Inspired by Bon Appetit

Serves 4-6

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1/2 red onion

1 clove garlic

1 jalapeño

1 15 oz can black beans, rinsed

1 tablespoon fresh lime juice

Salt and pepper to taste

6 ounces tortilla chips

2 cups shredded cheese, Mexican blend

Sour cream

Salsa

Guacamole

Lime wedges

Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add onion, garlic, jalapeño to skillet and stir until softened. Transfer to a food processor, add black beans, lime juice, 1/4 cup of water, salt, and pepper. Process until smooth.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Arrange half of chips on a baking sheet. Top with half of beans, then half of the cheese. Repeat with the remaining chips, beans, and cheese. Bake until cheese is melted and bubbling, about 5 minutes. Add the sour cream, salsa, guacamole, and lime wedges to the sheet (one in each corner), then serve.

My Favorite Tropical Smoothie Recipe

New year, new resolutions, new smoothie recipes.

Z and I went traveling to Hawaii this past fall, and one of our favorite spots in Kauai was a small little cafe with great smoothies and coffee. We must have tried four or five different smoothies during our trip there, and my all time favorite was called the "Lava Lust" smoothie. 

The smoothie was creamy thanks to coconut milk, and had a tart taste from raspberries, pineapple, and mangoes. As soon as I tried this tropical smoothie, I knew I found a winner. It was so delicious and refreshing, and maybe it was the Hawaiian weather and locale, but to me, the smoothie was perfection. 

Now that its a new year, I'm trying to be healthier. I recently signed up for Class Pass, and I've been enjoying the variety in my workout routine. When it comes to food, I'm cutting out the kettle corn I munch on at work, and reducing the number of desserts I eat during the week. To be completely honest, it wasn't until very recently that I learned that the average person doesn't eat dessert every day. Oops. Thanks best friend V for pointing that out.

Smoothies are my go to during the week, when I want something sweet and creamy, but without processed sugar and flour. Thanks goodness our Nutribullet is easy to clean.

Here's another one of my favorite smoothie recipes in case you're looking for some variety!

Lava Lust Smoothie

1/3 cup frozen pineapple

1/3 cup frozen mango

1/3 cup frozen raspberries

1 1/2 cup coconut milk

Add all ingredients to blender. Blend until smooth. 

Enjoy!

Holiday Gift Guide 2015: Crispy Za'atar Chickpeas

Z knows better than anyone else that I love presents. For me, presents aren't just things, but rather highlight the time and effort someone took into finding you that perfect gift.

Presents don't have to be silk pajamas, jewelry, or a new scarf (though I won't say no to those either). I love small tokens of affection, like little packages in the mail filled with delicious treats, that always seem to arrive come the holiday season. And while you can spend quite a pretty penny at Dean and Deluca, you can easily create delicious food gifts at home on a realistic budget.

These crispy chickpeas are simply delicious, and one of the best food gifts to give and receive! Everyone can eat them (no worrying about dairy, gluten, nuts), and they are just the right amount of salty, crunchy, and addictive. Pour some into a cellophane bag, tie with a cute ribbon, and start mailing them to friends and family across the country. 

These chickpeas are so easy to make that I am also going to whip up a triple batch for Z's and my annual Channukah party. Finding a dairy-free, gluten-free, and vegetarian snack option can be difficult, and these will be a great addition to any holiday party. 

Crispy Za'atar Chickpeas

From NYTimes

2 cups cooked chickpeas, rinsed if canned

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons Za'atar

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

Spread chickpeas out on a paper towel. Pat dry, then let dry for an hour at room temperature. 

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Line a heavy rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Spread chickpeas evenly on the pan, and bake for ~ 30 minutes, stirring and rotating every 10 minutes. Chickpeas should be crunchy. 

Place chickpeas in a bowl and drizzle with olive oil, Za'atar, and salt. Toss, then enjoy!

Hummus with Pita Chips

Yes, you can buy a pretty decent hummus at the store for $5 (you better be buying Sabra), but no supermarket hummus can compare to the amazing creaminess and taste of homemade hummus. I still dream about the hummus in Israel, served at nearly every meal with fresh pita and herbs.

Here in the Bay Area, Z and I like to travel down to Oren's Hummus in Palo Alto for fresh hummus and grilled chicken, but given the traffic and driving time, we don't make it down nearly as much as we would like. For weekends when a hummus craving strikes (which for me is about every other week to be completely honest), homemade hummus is the way to go.

Cooking hummus at home is really straightforward. It does require some foresight and thought, so buy the ingredients during the week and start the soaking process on Friday night when you get home from work/happy hour/dinner. By Saturday at noon, you'll have a giant bowl of homemade hummus for weekend football parties and fall picnics.

Every good hummus needs a vehicle to eat it with, and my personal favorite is homemade pita chips. Homemade pita chips are healthier than store bought chips, have way more flavor, and are easy to throw together at a moment's notice. Inspired by Mediterranean flavors, I flavored my chips with sumac and thyme.

I find that each person has their own hummus preferences, so feel free to treat this recipe as a guideline. Add more lemon juice, garlic, and herbs to your liking. Add in some roasted tomatoes or garlic. I serve mine topped with olive oil and a sumac/thyme combination, but grilled meats, pine nuts, and chopped veggies would all be outstanding.

Hummus and Pita Chips

From The New York Times and Ina Garten

1 1/4 cups dried chickpeas

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons light tahini paste

4 cloves garlic, crushed

4 tablespoons lemon juice

6 1/2 tablespoons cold ice water

1 package pita

Olive Oil

Salt

Pepper

Sumac

4 sprigs fresh thyme

Place the chickpeas in a large bowl and cover with cold water twice its volume. Let soak overnight. 

The next morning, drain chickpeas. In a medium saucepan, combine drained chickpeas and baking soda over medium high heat. Cook, stirring constantly, for 3 minutes. Add 6 1/2 cups of water and bring to a boil. Cook at a simmer, skimming foam and chickpea skins off the top of the water, for 20 to 40 minutes, until chickpeas are tender (in my testing, it was about 20 minutes). When done, the chickpeas should crumble easily when pressed, but should not be mushy.

Drain chickpeas. Place chickpeas in food processor, and process until you get a stiff paste. With machine running, add tahini paste, garlic, lemon juice, and salt (1 1/2 teaspoons). Slowly drizzle in ice water, and let process for 5 minutes until you get a smooth and creamy paste. If it is too thick, add more water as necessary. 

Transfer hummus to bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let sit for 30 minutes. Refrigerate if not eating right away--will last up to 2 days in the fridge.

For pita chips: Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Cut each pita into 8 slices. Toss pita slices with olive oil and a sprinkle of salt, pepper, sumac, and thyme. Spread pita slices onto a baking sheet, and cook for 10 minutes, tossing at 5 minutes. 

Enjoy! 

Tailgating Favorites: Caramelized Onion Dip

Fall is finally here, which means football and tailgating are in full swing! I didn't grow up as a football fan, and I'm not partial to any NFL team, but college football is a horse of a different color. Z and I are still loyal to our alma mater, and we spend fall Saturdays tailgating with friends down at Stanford.

With football and tailgating comes all the guilty pleasure food that I rarely allow myself to eat during the year, like this caramelized onion dip. This dip is inspired by the Lipton's Onion dip, but this one has way more flavor and no artificial ingredients. 

It's essentially a ton of caramelized onions, stirred into a combination of sour cream and mayo. It's creamy, not overwhelming salty, has a ton of onion flavor, and has a bright punch thanks to a slight addition of balsamic vinegar.

I love it to eat this at game days with potato chips and veggies, but it's also great as a spread on sandwiches. Put a bowl of this out at your next tailgate, and it's sure to disappear quickly. 

Caramelized Onion Dip

From Cook's Country

3 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 pounds yellow onions, diced fine

Salt and pepper

1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/4 cup water

2 1/2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar

1 cup sour cream

1/2 cup mayo

Melt butter in 12-inch skillet over medium heath. Add onions, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, and cayenne, and cook, stirring occasionally, until onions are translucent. Reduce heat to medium low, and continue cooking until onions are golden brown (about 10 more minutes).

Add 2 tablespoons water to skillet and stir, scraping up browned bits on bottom of skillet, until water evaporates, about 5 minutes. Add remaining 2 tablespoons of water, and cook until onions caramelize and water evaporates, about 5 more minutes. Remove from heat, and stir in vinegar.

Let onions cool. Combine mayo and sour cream in bowl, then stir in cooled onions. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately, or refrigerate until ready to eat. 

Brie and Honey Butter Sandwiches with Homemade No-Knead Bread

There’s no other way to say it: you got to make this sandwich, and you better do it with homemade bread. The sandwich is so simple that every ingredient counts, and this is no place to skimp on quality or calories! 

The sandwich is just bread, brie, honey, and butter, but it’s a heavenly combination that you can use on repeat. At tea parties, picnics, or just as a Sunday afternoon snack, there’s no place this sandwich doesn’t fit it (unless you are maybe going to a picnic with a friend who is both dairy AND gluten-free, which in this case, why are you eating a meal with this person?!?!). 

Z and I had this sandwich at Shed, and it was so delicious that we wanted to recreate it at home. I’m glad we did! It forced me to try the speedy no-knead bread recipe from The Times. I like the speedy recipe compared to the original because it allows for more flexibility; no waiting a full 24 hours here. It’s one of the simplest recipes around, and one of the greatest dinner party tricks. “Hi friends, you made a salad, that’s cool, well I made BREAD”. No need for your friends to know that the salad was probably harder to make than this loaf of bread. 

Is it the most perfect bread loaf around? No. But it’s pretty delicious and goes great with cheese, so make sure to stock your fridge with Brie!

Brie and Honey Butter Sandwiches with Speedy No-Knead Bread

From The New York Times

For Bread:

3 cups bread flour

1 packet instant yeast

1 1/2 teaspoons of salt

Oil as needed

For Sandwiches:

Serves 2, adjust as necessary

2 tablespoons softened butter

1 1/2 teaspoons honey, plus more for drizzling

6 thin slices of brie (3 for each sandwich)

2 slices of bread (use 4 if you want it to be a closed sandwich, but I prefer open-face here)

Combine flour, yeast, and salt in a bowl. Add 1 1/2 cups water, stir until blended. The dough will be shaggy. Cover dough with plastic wrap, and let it sit for 4 hours at warm room temperature, about 70 degrees. 

Lightly oil a work surface, and place dough on it. Fold the dough onto itself once or twice. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let sit for 30 minutes. 

Immediately start heating up the oven, setting it to 450 degrees. Put a heavy 6-8 quart heavy pot in the oven. When the dough is done resting, carefully remove the pot from the oven. Put the dough into the oven, seam side up. Shake the pan once or twice. 

Cover the pan with a lid, and bake for 30 minutes. Remove lid, and back for another 15-30 minutes, until loaf is beautifully browned. Cool pot on a rack, then take out bread and slice.

Combine honey and softened butter together in a small bowl. Spread the butter equally over the two slices of bread. Top with 3 slices of brie on each piece of bread, and drizzle more honey over if desired. Enjoy! 

Chai Banana Smoothie

New Year's Resolutions. Are you still keeping yours? I dropped mine after 5 days. I swore off dairy--good-bye cheese, pastries, and cappuccinos. Then, I realized that the twice-baked pumpkin croissants at Jane on Larkin were only around for a limited time, and they are pretty amazing. Oh, and they have dairy in them. Au revoir resolutions!

That being said, I am still limiting my dairy intake. I avoid dairy Monday through Friday, except for the occasional post-workout pizza and a little bit of cream in my coffee. 

I've been relying on creamy and delicious smoothies to help me forget about my recent lack of dairy. In particular, I love spicy and creamy chai tea lattes, and I've been missing them. These smoothies remind me that just because I'm dairy free doesn't mean I have to give up on my chai. 

These smoothies are creamy and faintly sweet, but have no added sugar! I make up a batch for Z and I in the mornings. They give me a boost of energy for the day. 

Enjoy!

Chai Banana Smoothies

1 frozen banana

1/2 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom

1/2 teaspoon ground allspice

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

Puree all ingredients in a blender until smooth. Add more almond milk if necessary. So easy and delicious!

Homemade Ricotta and Ricotta Toasts

Hope you all had a fabulous weekend! I had such a wonderful weekend, and I am sad it is now at an end. Zach was visiting DC for work, and our weekend was filled with chocolate chip cookies, long walks, and a beer tasting with friends.

When Zach is in town, I use him as a guinea pig on new recipes, and homemade ricotta was calling my name. Homemade ricotta is deceptively quite simple to make! From start to finish, the recipe only took 10 minutes of active cooking time. 

This ricotta would make a great food gift (in a beautiful container and a hand-written note) or would be perfect for entertaining. Even if you serve it with store-bought bread or pasta, everyone will be impressed that you made the ricotta!

I made both sweet and savory ricotta snacks. One is simply bread, ricotta, roasted tomatoes, olive oil, and fresh black pepper.  The sweet ricotta dish is bread, ricotta, raspberries, and honey. Try them out next time you have friends over!

Ricotta Cheese

from Bon Appétit Magazine

about 1 cup of ricotta

2 cups whole milk

1 cup heavy cream

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice or distilled white vinegar

Combine milk, cream, and salt in a pot, and cook over medium heat until it just begins to boil. Remove from heat. 

 Add lemon juice (or vinegar), and stir gently until mixture starts to curdle. Let stand for 5 minutes.

Pour mixture into a fine-mesh sieve lined with two layers of cheesecloth, set over a medium bowl. Chill until the cheese is spreadable, at least 20 minutes and up until 12 hours. The cheese should last for about three days covered in the fridge.

Guacamole

Since moving to DC, I have realized that California is not only the mecca of sunshine and great weather, but also the best Mexican food you will ever have in your life. Whether you are scarfing down fish tacos and a beer at South Beach Bar and Grille in San Diego or ducking into La Taqueria in San Francisco for a chicken burrito, there is nothing in DC that even compares to the food out West.

One day, I got a craving for really good guacamole. Yes, I could have gone to Oyamel for their delicious table-side guacamole, but why pay the $12 for something I can make table-side at home? This guacamole almost made me feel as if I was back in Southern California--if only the weather out here in DC would get a little warmer!

This recipe is by no means "authentic," but it is delicious. I add in raw red onions to my guacamole, and I realize most people might find the onion too harsh.  However, if you rinse off the onions with cold water before you add them to the guacamole, the onions will not be nearly as strong, yet still retain a lot of flavor.

Feel free to change the proportions on the ingredients listed below--guacamole is more art than science!

Guacamole

1/2 red onion, chopped

2 avocados

Juice from one lime

3 tablespoons cilantro, chopped

1/3 cup salsa

A few dashes of Tabasco

Rinse the red onion under cold water for about 30 seconds. 

Open the avocados, and scoop them into a bowl.

Add the red onions, lime juice, salsa, cilantro, and hot sauce to the avocados.

Mash the ingredients together using either a fork or a potato masher. Taste, and adjust to your liking, then serve!

Greek Yogurt Sauce

I recently purchased an UP band for myself, and I have actually been very thorough with logging my food, activity, and sleep habits through the UP iPhone app. Even after just a few days, I noticed myself making healthier food choices, simply because I am now keeping track of almost everything I eat. 

Last weekend, I wanted to make a dip to go with some crudités and sandwiches, but I wanted the dip to be somewhat healthy given my new found health kick. Perusing the internet led me to focus on Greek-inspired veggie dips. I love love love Mediterranean food, and this dip is definitely going to be in constant rotation in my kitchen! It only takes about three minutes to pull everything together, and the dip really livens up sandwiches, salads, and vegetables.

Hope this inspires you to bring some health, Mediterranean cooking into your life this week!

Greek Yogurt Dipping Sauce

From Ellie Kreiger

1/2 cup non-fat greek yogurt

2 teaspoons olive oil

2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

1 clove garlic, minced

1 teaspoon chopped fresh dill

1/8 teaspoon salt

Fresh black pepper to taste


In a small bowl, stir together all of the ingredients.  It's really that easy!

Home for the Holidays

I flew home to San Diego late last night, and I am so excited for a week full of the four F's: friends, family, football (GO CARDINAL!), and of course, food.

My sister has recently become obsessed with eggs.  I am actually quite happy with this, because she spent years refusing to eat any sort of eggs.  Today, she had a hankering for deviled eggs, so she and I whipped up a quick batch of them.  These are a perfect appetizer or snack--so easy to make, especially if you have hard-boiled eggs lying around in your refrigerator.  The recipe below is for traditional deviled eggs, but feel free to add in whatever herbs you like!  The possibilities are endless--curry, anchovies, capers, tarragon, etc.  

I have also included a recipe for hard-boiled eggs.  Hard-boiled eggs should never ever have gray yolks.  

Deviled Eggs

From Mark Bittman's "How to Cook Everything"

Serves 6

6 hard-boiled eggs

Salt to taste

3 tablespoons mayonnaise

1 1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Paprika, as a garnish

1. Cool, then peel the eggs.  Cut them in half the long way.  Carefully place the yolks in a medium sized bowl. 
2. Mash the yolks with the salt, mayonnaise, mustard, and cayenne.  Taste, and adjust the seasoning to your preference.  Spoon the filling back into the whites. 
3. Garnish with paprika and serve, or cover and chill, well wrapped, for up to a day before serving.

Hard-Boiled Eggs

Makes 6 eggs

Six eggs

Place six eggs in a medium saucepan, and fill up the pan until the water rises one inch above the eggs. 

Bring the eggs to a boil over high heat.  Remove pan from heat, cover, and let sit for 10 minutes.  

Meanwhile, fill a medium bowl with one quart of water, and one tray of ice cubes. 

Transfer the eggs to the ice water with a slotted spoon.  Let the eggs sit in the ice water for five minutes.
Peel the eggs and used as desired.