The Smiling Onion

Vegetarian and Gluten-free Cooking

Subscribe

Archives for January 2016

Blueberry-Blue Corn Pancakes

By Leave a Comment

Waking up Saturday to the insane blizzard outside, I had one thing on my mind: pancakes. Snow days just scream for them! Unfortunately, my trusty cast iron pan (the absolute BEST type of pan to make pancakes in, IMO) had been out of commission for quite some time. It had started to flake, and was in desperate need of reseasoning, a task I of course put on the “To Do This Weekend” list almost every single weekend for a good year but never actually did.

The howling wind and relentless snow outside, however, gave me a new sense of purpose – THIS was the day. After all, pancakes awaited!  I am always a bit obsessive about any task I don’t yet have down to a science (reseasoning cast iron included) so after an hour of internet research that yielded a LOT of contradictory information about oven temp, oil type, face up or face down in the oven, time, etc., I finally just decided – for my own sanity – to follow The Kitchn’s instructions. Unfortunately, I ended up with a sticky cast iron pan – there were tar-like patches (probably from oil drippings) all over its surface! Luckily, after another 30 minutes of research, I found this extremely entertaining (and highly effective) Youtube video, which I more or less followed – minus the beer and cigarettes portion (you’ll understand if you ever happen to have a sticky cast iron issue and decide to watch the video).

Anyway, I hope that was helpful for anyone “in a similar situation,” as Arlo Guthrie would say. The long and short of it is … I finally ended up with a beautiful, non-flaky, non-sticky cast iron pan and a wonderful batch of blueberry-blue corn pancakes! They were perfect for a snowy morning (well…early afternoon at that point) and a lovely way to celebrate the resurgence of my cast iron pan.

[Read more…]

Spaetzle (With Caraway-Dill Cabbage and Onions!)

By Leave a Comment

Twelve long years ago, I met spaetzle for the first time. We were in the Czech Republic, and it was summer. I was 16 – spaetzle was….well…considerably older, but age didn’t matter to us. During our first encounter that summer in the Czech Republic, I fell madly in love.

I remember it like it was yesterday: I was wearing jeans and a t-shirt; spaetzle was cloaked in a sweet sauce of butter and poppy seeds. Neither of us heard the clink of fork on plate as we met for the first time. I remember the moment as tender, with a slight bite (just the right amount.) I remember the rush as my teeth sank into pillowy goodness. And I remember the butter.

That summer was amazing, and we both swore we would not be strangers to each other when it came to an end. But touching down on American soil once more, I was distracted. Years of pizza, tacos, and take-out Thai came and went, my beloved spaetzle momentarily forgotten. During one of those years, I swore off floury food all together: no gluten, no spaetzle! It looked like our love affair might be over for good.

But I’m happy to report that, twelve years after we first met, I’ve rekindled my relationship with spaetzle. Our first meeting on American soil was remarkably similar to our first meeting in the Czech Republic: my new spaetzle is just as tender, just as pillowy, and just as buttery as the one I remember from twelve years ago. But with one major difference: no gluten. Which made our encounter all the more exciting.

If you’ve never heard of spaetzle and just made it through that whole love story without googling it or giving up – you are super awesome!  In case that did happen, let me brief you: spaetzle is a traditional German dish that is somewhere between a dumpling and a noodle. It is normally oddly shaped and can be served in both sweet and savory preparations, with all manner of delicious things.

[Read more…]

Warming Spiced Lentil Soup

By 1 Comment

There is something so incredibly nourishing about a nice, warm, hearty bowl of soup. And the aroma that fills the kitchen while it’s gently simmering on the stove is second to none. In fact, this particular soup smelled so good that I was reminded of the children’s story The Tale of Despereaux, which is set in a kingdom that holds soup in such high esteem that they have a holiday devoted to it every year! (That is, until a visiting rat is so entranced by the aroma of the Queen’s soup that he accidentally falls into her bowl, causing her to die of shock, which in turn causes soup to be outlawed in the kingdom!) Horrible, right? And what’s with rats being foodies in children’s stories, btw? (I recently rewatched Ratatouille.)

Anyway, I’m not going to ruin the book for you, but suffice it to say that the kingdom had it right: soup is so good that we really should have a holiday devoted to it. And if it were ever outlawed, I would totally join in on the illegal soup making that happens in The Tale of Despereaux. (Yes, there is illegal soup making … because soup is just that good!)

[Read more…]

Vegan Caesar Salad Dressing (Soy-Free and Nut-Free!)

By Leave a Comment

I’ve always been a caesar salad coveter. At restaurants, potlucks, cafeterias … I’ve often caught myself ogling that pile of romaine with the luscious, creamy dressing and fantasizing about bite after bite of delicious, crispy, creamy, sinful goodness.  I was devastated the first time I learned that, while there was no visible meat to speak of, the dressing harbored what I considered to be a dark secret: anchovies.

Mind you, I was well aware of most foods that had hidden meat – beef stock in French onion soup, chicken stock in so many classic veggie soups, lard in Mexican beans – and I was never that enraged by any of it. The hidden meat was enough to keep me far away, but that was fine with me; there was no coveting – no looking longingly at a neighboring table’s order and imagining what it would be like to eat it.

With caesar salad, however, I’ve embarrassed myself more than once. There is something about it that is just so tantalizing. So when vegan caesar dressings started popping up in some vegetarian restaurants, I was super excited. Until I went rice-free, that is. Because guess what all vegan caesar salad dressings (that I’ve ever seen) have in common? Miso! And guess what miso is made from? Soy and rice.

So I decided to create a vegan caesar-style dressing that is soy-free, nut-free, and grain-free. It uses sunflower seeds as a base, and is caesared-up with roasted seaweed sheets (the ones that come in the little seaweed snack packages) and umeboshi vinegar. It is very easy to make, requires zero planning (you don’t have to soak the seeds or anything), and has a creamy, salty, savory, tangy flavor that should work for all your caesar salad needs. I’ve tried it massaged into kale, on romaine, and as a dip for carrot sticks. While you won’t taste anchovies, you will get that creamy texture and savory flavor that (in my opinion) is the defining feature of a caesar dressing.

[Read more…]