The Smiling Onion

Vegetarian and Gluten-free Cooking

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Mascarpone and Berry Parfait with Balsamic, Basil, and Mint (4th of July, Here We Come!)

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My brother and I have always been very attached to traditions. Most people have to do something at least twice for it to be considered a “tradition” that should be repeated; for us, it only takes once. As soon as we do something to commemorate a special occasion or event, if it goes well, it’s a tradition. And we better repeat it, or face the consequences!

My parents were frequently frustrated with us growing up – “But mom, we can’t celebrate Rosh Hashanah on the day itself – we ALWAYS celebrate it one day early!” – or “Dad, we HAVE to go to the store right now and get chocolate covered espresso beans to put in the cookies – it’s a tradition!” I’ve cut vacations short just so that I could be home for a certain occasion I’m always home for and I once took a “birthday walk” in the pouring rain (complete with thunder and lightening) because … well… it was the birthday walk. Tradition! You can’t mess with it.

Anyway, I have two 4th of July traditions that I try to repeat every year. I’m not going to tell you about the first one, because it will probably make me sound even crazier than I already do. But I will tell you about the second: vanilla ice-cream with strawberries, raspberries, and blueberries. Red-white-and-blue deliciousness.

So, for my 4th of July blog post, I wanted to create something in the spirit of that tradition. I definitely did not want to make ice-cream this week (I’m a little ice-creamed out from the Ben and Jerry’s fiasco I wrote about last week) but berries and cream … this I could do. And boy could I eat it! Because this parfait is a mascarpone cream interspersed with balsamic-basil strawberries, blueberries infused with mint and red wine, and salted-maple raspberries. Need I say more? At the risk of sounding super cheesy, it’s fireworks in your mouth.

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5-Ingredient Chewy Cinnamon Cookies (Vegan and Grain-Free!)

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I’ve been having some trouble with will power lately. Specifically when it comes to sugar cravings. It all started with my wedding a couple weeks ago (yay!) when the catering company left us an entire fridge shelf filled with gluten-free mini key lime pies. Suddenly, it was key lime pie for breakfast, snack, “lunch dessert” (which normally does not exist in my household), and of course, dinner dessert. Yeah – a mini key lime pie is one of those awesome desserts you can justify eating for breakfast – I mean, you’d eat a lemon bar, right? What’s the diff?

After the pie fiasco, I was at my local grocery store when I spotted a ridiculous sale: THREE Ben and Jerry’s ice creams for ten bucks. WHAT?! That’s basically like getting a whole pint of ice cream free, given that the lowest price I’ve ever seen for Ben and Jerry’s is around five bucks. I’m actually not a huge purchaser of Ben and Jerry’s ice cream because it has a LOT of crap in it compared to other comparable brands like Haagan-Dazs (and when I do buy ice cream I normally try to buy organic, grass fed milk, etc. anyway which rules out both of the above-mentioned big guys) but…I mean three pints for ten bucks?! And Ben and Jerry have been super politically involved lately – I should support them for that, right? I don’t know if I’m convincing you, but I sure convinced myself.

Now, once you have three pints of ice cream in your freezer, it is very, VERY hard not to indulge at every possible occasion. Especially when your freezer is packed full as can be and you can barely close the door because of all the gluten-free flours you have stuck inside. So really, every time I went to the freezer to get some ice cream, I was actually just doing my duty to clean it out. Three pints take up a lot of space, and we needed that space.

Which leads me to these cinnamon cookies. Another way to clear freezer space, of course. I had just 1/2 a cup of white sugar left – so why not make some cookies and get rid of the bag? I would actually be ridding my freezer of sugar in the long run, so it was totally justifiable. In fact, these cookies would be great mixed in to some of my remaining ice cream …

Okay, so you can see how things might have spiraled a bit out of control. But hear me out – the recipe for these cookies is actually super awesome. And if you are going through something similar and want to indulge a sugar craving fast, these guys are really quick and easy. Just five ingredients, completely grain-free, completely vegan, lovely cinnamon flavor, wonderful chewy texture. Make them! You can stop eating sugar tomorrow.

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Trio of Dips

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Why is dipping food into other food so much fun?!  If I like the dipping instrument and the dipping matter, I could probably be completely content for hours on end just taking a chip, dipping it into something creamy, taking a carrot, dipping it into something spicy, taking a strawberry, dipping it into a pool of melted chocolate … whoever invented dipping was seriously a genius.

And dips are laughably easy to make, too. The creamy harissa one in this post, for example, is as simple as stirring together harissa and yogurt, with maybe a bit of mayo thrown in there for good measure. That’s it! And it tastes four times as good as a creamy harissa dip you might purchase at the store – complete with a bunch of “dehydrated milk powder” and other random ingredients they have to throw in there so it doesn’t go bad while it’s waiting to be purchased. Making dips at home is definitely the way to go – both in terms of quality and taste and in terms of your wallet. (Extra points if you decide to make your own harissa too – I buy a really good brand that’s cost effective and doesn’t have any yuck ingredients in it so I just used that.)

How do you make a fabulous dip? Easy. Just think about what ingredients might go well together, then mix ’em up. If your dip doesn’t quite pop, you might need to add some acid (lemon, lime, vinegar, etc.) and if it doesn’t taste quite balanced, try adding a tiny bit of sweetener (honey, maple syrup, agave, etc.) If you want your dip to be creamy, you can use sour cream, mayo, yogurt, avocado, hemp seeds, etc. For spice, throw in some cayenne or some kind of spice paste (like harissa or Asian chili paste). Spicy components go great with creamy or sweet elements, and sweet components go great with sour ones. Experiment and have fun!

To get you started, today I’m sharing a trio of dips that would be perfect to take with you on a Father’s Day picnic  – or any other kind of picnic – or to eat on your front porch, balcony, etc. We’ve got the aforementioned spicy, creamy harissa dip; a savory, protein-packed avocado-hemp dip; and a deliciously refreshing mango-poblano. That last one has some fresh tomatillo, basil, lime, and cumin in it as well and is the perfect counterpart to the savory avocado and spicy harissa.

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Summer Buckwheat Noodle Salad

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I guess I maybe shouldn’t have complained about the lack of hot weather in my last post. Because now we’ve got it…bad. I know it’s not officially summer yet (and the weather is actually pretty nice when you’re lucky enough to get outside) but it’s so hot inside my apartment that the familiar summer sluggishness has definitely set in for me. I don’t feel like eating much, and when I do, it better be light and refreshing if I’m expected to eat more than a mouthful or two!

Hence this salad. The only part that requires the stove at all is boiling water for the buckwheat noodles. Easy peasy. It’s nice and light – more of a side than an entree – but if you wanted to make it more substantial, you could easily add some fried tofu and/or egg. Buckwheat noodles are tossed with fresh cabbage, carrots, scallion, and cilantro, doused in a light Asian-inspired vinaigrette, and topped with some roasted peanuts and crispy ginger. Sounds pretty good, right? It is!

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5-Minute, 5-Ingredient Hazelnut Gelato (Vegan, No Sugar)

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Summer is coming! It is, it is, it is! I know that some of us eat ice-cream year-round, but for those of you who don’t (who are you??), I think I can say with certainty that it’s time to get started again, rain or no rain. If we act like summer is here, it will come. Okay?? And…according to the always-reliable weather forecast, it is going to be in the 70s and 80s all next week. So let’s celebrate with some 5-minute homemade gelato!

This gelato is seriously delicious. It contains no dairy, no eggs, and no sugar. The secret? Frozen bananas and a Vitamix! Yes, you can be skeptical…but I urge you to try this before passing judgment. It really does taste like gelato and…IMO…banana is not the central flavor. I mean, it’s there – don’t get me wrong – but you don’t have to be a banana lover to like this; you just can’t be a banana hater. (Actually, I gave some of this gelato to my mother and asked her to guess the base, and she didn’t even realize there was banana in it!)

Okay, so let’s get to the five ingredients: we need two ripe bananas which have been frozen solid (to the point where you can’t cut into them to peel them unless you let them sit out for a few minutes), hazelnut oil, coconut cream (which you can buy or obtain by just scooping the cream from a can of refrigerated full-fat coconut milk), a pinch of cinnamon, and mesquite powder. Oh – a pinch of sea salt is also nice, but I’m not counting that in the “5-ingredients” because c’mon, it’s salt!

Have you heard of mesquite powder? It’s a superfood made from the seeds of the mesquite plant, which grows in desert areas, and has been used by indigenous people in Mexico and the Southwest for a long, long time. It has a sweet, caramel-like flavor, a bunch of awesome vitamins (calcium, potassium, iron, magnesium, zinc…), and some protein to boot! It’s wonderful in smoothies, hot drinks, baked goods, raw cookies…and this gelato, of course. In short, I highly encourage you to get some and try it out!

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Date and Ginger Scones

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There is something about the word “breakfast” that is just downright appealing. It implies something well beyond the “crap, I have to leave right now, I guess I’ll just grab this package of instant oatmeal” meaning of the word. No, in its natural state, I would argue that “breakfast” is the type of affair that’s suggested by the phrase “Let’s do breakfast.” Or better yet, “I made breakfast.” You know … the meaning of the word that triggers images of steaming tea and coffee mugs, wonderful smells wafting out of the kitchen, cozy pajamas, rain patter on the windows, sleeping kittens, etc. (Sleeping kittens?! Okay, maybe I’m alone on that last one, but I do find it to be one of those comforting images the word breakfast evokes.)

Anyway, in case I’ve completely lost you with the whole “breakfast” thing – consider the word “scone.” Are we on the same page now? These date and ginger scones are part 1 of what I consider to be the perfect breakfast – part 2 being a mug of tea. They definitely fit the “wonderful smells wafting out of the kitchen” criteria too. And…if you are having one of those “crap, I have to leave  right now” mornings, they are an excellent grab ‘n go option that will allow you to transport the elegance of “breakfast” to the road.

Oh, I should mention that this is a super easy, 1-bowl recipe!

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Chiles en Nogada (Stuffed Poblano Peppers with Walnut Sauce)

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Ever since my 13-year-old self read Like Water for Chocolate and cried her eyes out, I’ve been dying to try chiles en nogada. Incredibly, I ate it for the first time today, 15 years after I vowed to make it as soon as possible. Well, good things come to those who wait.

I should start by saying that this isn’t the traditional chiles en nogada. For one thing, it’s completely vegan – no ground meat whatsoever. For another, the walnut sauce has hemp seeds in it (trust me, you won’t know – they just make it nice and creamy!) And finally, while traditional chiles en nogada is quite heavy on the fruit (the meat filling is usually cooked with raisins, apple, pear, and peach), I just put some chopped raisins in mine for a bit of sweetness and called it a day. Not out of laziness, but because I’ve never been a fan of fruit-heavy savory dishes. Some people also dip their chiles en egg batter and fry them — I chose to leave mine roasted and unfried.

Well, the gods were with me. Because I created a truly delicious (IMHO) vegan, gluten-free twist on the classic dish I’ve been wanting to eat since age 13. Roasted poblanos are filled with a savory mixture of juicy portobellos, lentils, spices, walnuts, and raisins; topped with a thick and creamy walnut sauce; and sprinkled with pomegranate seeds. As in the traditional recipe, the colors of the Mexican flag are well represented: just in time for Cinco de Mayo. (Although chiles en nogada is generally eaten for Mexican Independence Day –- which falls in September — it is one of Puebla’s traditional dishes, which makes it  appropriate for Cinco de Mayo in my book! Especially since your standard American-style nachos are deemed appropriate and would basically not exist in Puebla!)

Anyway, if you have a couple hours to spare (nothing with stuffed roasted poblanos is ever quick and easy to prepare), I highly recommend this recipe. The filling is just the right amount of sweet and savory, and the walnut sauce provides the perfect creamy compliment. Plus it’s just so elegant!

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16 Passover Recipes

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Passover is around the corner! That means matzoh ball soup, charoset, hard boiled eggs, horseradish, tzimmes, and a whole lot of other Passover staples if you happen to be attending or hosting a seder this year. In fact, planning what to eat at a seder is almost never difficult – there are so many traditional Passover dishes! What can be hard for most of us, however, is figuring out what to eat after the Seder, when you are sick of the staples yet still have almost a week left of restricted eating.

Since I’m gluten-free year round and happen to also follow Sephardic Passover (this means beans and grains are A-okay), the basic change to my diet is restricting oats. Which isn’t super difficult. However, many of my friends follow Ashkenazi Passover, which is much more restrictive – no grains or legumes at all (though quinoa is okay), no poppy seeds, sunflower seeds, or sesame seeds…the list goes on for a while. And it can be difficult if you are vegetarian.

So, instead of giving you yet another version of Matzoh Ball Soup (though I have a pretty great idea for one and will probably post it next year), I’ve decided to list for you all of the delicious and wonderful things you can eat right from this blog even if you follow a strict Ashkenazi style Pesach. (If you follow Sephardic Passover, you can pretty much eat anything on this blog that doesn’t contain oats!)

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Pumped-Up Jam Bites

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Pump up the jam…bites. Anyone? Here’s a link to what I’m talking about – go 90’s!

Anyway, there are actually a variety of reasons why these delicious little bites are “pumped up.” They are made from teff and oats, which are both whole grains that pack a big nutritional punch. Teff flour is very high in protein, iron, and calcium – in fact, its iron and calcium content is much higher than that of whole wheat flour. Oat flour is protein rich as well, and also happens to be the winner of the soluble fiber contest: it has the most of any grain, ever! If you’re not familiar with soluble fiber, it has a wide range of benefits, from helping you digest all the insoluble fiber you may be eating (and if you’re vegetarian like me, you are probably eating a lot!) to lowering your cholesterol levels, to…well,  a whole lot more. Additionally, these guys have no refined sugar (if you use a fruit-sweetened jam like my favorite brand Fiordifrutta) and are also completely dairy-free. So pump it up!

Okay, but enough about all the health benefits. Let’s get to the taste! And in that respect as well, these little jam bites are totally awesome, in my humble opinion. If you eat them still warm from the oven, they are soft, tender, decadent, and seriously sticky! (The jam will not stay inside these little guys when they are still warm, but will instead ooze out in the most delightful – if messy – way, covering the entire bottom layer with a heavenly fruity finish.) Once they’ve cooled down, they are more akin to a Nutrigrain bar– the outer layer will take on the slightly drier texture of a cereal bar and the jam will stay inside. So you’re really getting two delicious bites from only one recipe! How’s that for pumping it up? (How many times can I reference this song, you guys? Is once per paragraph too much? :p )

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Quinoa-Vegetable Lettuce Wraps (Mexican-Style!)

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Alright – I may be getting ahead of myself with this recipe – it screams summer. But summer is coming!! It really is!! And as the days get longer and the sun shines brighter, I’ve been craving some lighter meals. In my opinion, lettuce wraps are one of the most refreshing and delicious ways to satisfy that craving. And, luckily for me, I am able to get really delicious local, greenhouse-grown lettuce to form the base of my wraps (so don’t judge me too harshly for throwing in a summer-style recipe when it’s still spring :p)

Plus…the filling for these wraps is nice and warm and rich and savory and delicious and spicy and …(I could go on for a while here.) What I’m trying to say is that –– if you look past the fact that zucchini is definitely not in season this time of year –– this dish is actually the perfect prelude to summer. It’s light and fresh, but still warming, hearty, and satisfying.

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