The Smiling Onion

Vegetarian and Gluten-free Cooking

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Cranberry & Ginger Cream Parfait

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This time of year, we are usually in Texas with my in-laws, making tamales and enjoying the warm weather. And last week, we would have been in Massachusetts with my side of the family, making latkes and trudging around the perimeter of the house in the snow looking at the brightly lit menorahs – each strategically placed in an outward facing window, the flickering candles punctuating our circular trek in the darkness, our voices giddy and festive.

This year, of course, we stayed put in New Jersey – the flicker of Zoom screens competing with the candles and the two of us eating enough latkes (traditional potato this year) for the whole family. (Seriously, we did not adjust the quantities at all and ended up eating latkes for four days! No complaints here, of course.)

While we still managed to have a festive time (and some pretty sweet Christmas Day plans – involving tons of two-player board games and a full coffee pot – are in the works), staying put for the holidays has definitely made it seem extra important to mark the occasion in any way we can. While I didn’t get it together to put up a Chanukah-specific recipe this year, I wanted to celebrate the holiday season with a winter-inspired, simple dessert that wouldn’t take too much effort but which would scream “holidays!” I also decided to err on the healthier side of things since I tend to end up eating way too many sweets this time of year. (Don’t worry, this still tastes sweet and decadent  – I’m just calling it “healthier” because it also contains yogurt and fruit :-))

Okay, so let’s talk about it already! Cranberries and apples are cooked down with wintery spices like cinnamon, star anise, and cardamom into a deliciously tart and lightly spiced fruit layer. That gets sandwiched by a simple ginger cream that almost didn’t make it into the glass because I just wanted to eat it by itself. Basically, you’ll make your own ginger-infused simple syrup with sugar, water, and powdered ginger, pour it into some super thick greek yogurt, and stir in some finely chopped candied ginger pieces for good measure. Once everything is layered together, you’ll garnish it with some extra candied ginger and .. voilá! Time to get a spoon.

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Sorghum & Kale Salad with Balsamic-Blue Cheese Vinaigrette

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Have you heard of sorghum? It’s a wonderful gluten-free grain that is similar to farro or wheat berries when cooked whole. If you haven’t seen sorghum in berry form, you might be more familiar with sorghum flour – which has a mild, nutty flavor that is wonderful in gluten-free baked goods or pancakes – or with sorghum syrup, which is made from the stalks of the sorghum plant and is a common alternative sweetener.

But sorghum berries are definitely worth knowing about! They are probably one of the heartiest gluten-free grains you can find – robust and nutty, with a lovely round shape and a satisfying chewiness that pairs exceptionally well with bold dressings like the balsamic-blue cheese vinaigrette in this recipe.

In fact, their bite and robustness make sorghum berries absolutely fantastic in salads of all kinds! But especially in this one, which screams October with every mouthful. Bite into this salad and you’ve got a perfect medley of autumn flavors and textures: the heartiness of the sorghum and kale punctuated by crunchy, juicy apples; the sharp saltiness of the shaved pecorino romano; and the honey hazelnuts from last week’s Apple-Ricotta Tart. (They were so good I couldn’t resist making some more!) And finally, this salad wouldn’t be the same without the punchy blue-balsamic vinaigrette mentioned earlier –  with its base of grainy old-fashioned mustard and tangy blue cheese.

Best of all, this salad is hearty enough that you can easily store it dressed in the fridge and take it with you to work, etc. You’ll have a wonderful, healthy, delicious, and seasonal lunch – and you won’t have to stand in a long line and drop what may seem like an unreasonable amount of money to get it!

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Apple-Ricotta Tart with Pumpkin Seed Crust

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Tuesdays must be lucky because I have an incredible Fall dessert to share with you today. Imagine a light and creamy maple-ricotta mousse tucked inside a rich, buttery grain-free shortbread crust. Can you taste it? Okay. Now add some fresh apple slices and a couple honey hazelnuts to the mix. All good? Great. So just focus on the crust for a second – can you taste the freshly ground pumpkin seeds in there? They’ll be the rich, nutty savory hint that pops through. Now don’t forget to let that note intermingle with the fresh, brightness of the apple slices and the creamy ricotta mousse…

Having trouble holding all those flavors together in your mind? No worries. Let me take you through how to make this beauty so you can taste it for real. But first, a quick note about what inspired this dessert: Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year.

For me, Rosh Hashanah signals the beginning of Fall, the beginning of apple season, the beginning of the long, bountiful “time-to-eat-all-the-time-especially-sweets” season that continues with Thanksgiving and doesn’t end until after Valentine’s Day. I’ll be going home to Massachusetts soon for my family’s annual Rosh Hashanah walk on the Mount Holyoke Range and apple picking in Ashfield. We’ll each take some time to think about the year that’s passed and the one to come, and then we’ll have a delicious meal and dip apples in honey to symbolize our hope that it’s a sweet one.

Hence this apple tart. It screams Fall – apples, pumpkin seeds, hazelnuts – short of sprinkling on some colorful leaves, I’m not sure how it could honor the season more. And of course, the Rosh Hashanah elements of apples and honey are represented. But what’s more, while there’s an elegance about it, there is also a homey, comforting quality that seemed appropriate for the holiday.

After all, what do most of us want when entering a new year? Sure, there are always things to change: new beginnings remind us to be creative, daring, unafraid to take risks. That’s your pumpkin seed crust right there. But there is also something to be said for holding on to some familiarity –– to comfort, to home. We tend to feel better about starting anew when we have some sense of security and grounding: for this, Fall, baking, and apple slices seemed like a good place to start.

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Carrot Latkes with Green Apple Sour Cream

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It’s latke time! Whether you’ve just lit candles for the second night of Chanukah, or all you know about Chanukah is the Adam Sandler song (one of my all-time LEAST favorite songs, by the way), you gotta make some latkes. Or at least, find somewhere to go eat them. Because Jewish or not, who doesn’t like crispy fried potatoes with sour cream and apple sauce?

That said, too much of a good thing definitely applies . And if you do happen to celebrate Chanukah, you know what I’m talking about. The first time you eat latkes on Chanukah, it’s totally awesome. But by the time the obligatory latkes hit your plate at the third Chanukah gathering you’ve been to, you may start to get a little…well…rebellious. My solution? Ditch the starchy, heavy potato and bust out your carrots! Need some more reasons to try carrot latkes? I’ve got ’em!

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Millet-Apple Hot Cereal

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What’s your perfect breakfast food? For me, it’s hot cereal. If I eat a big fat omelette with homefries first thing in the morning, I generally feel sluggish and uncomfortably full within ten minutes. If I eat a granola bar, I’ll be ravenous within ten minutes. But if I eat a nice, warm bowl of porridge (not too hot or too cold!), in the words of Goldilocks, I feel “just right.”

That’s because porridges and hot cereals are generally considered easy to digest, which is just what your body needs early in the morning. Since your digestion is weaker in the morning than at midday,  its a better idea to awaken your digestive system gradually (with a nice, warming bowl of hot cereal) than to have your breakfast omelette bop it over the head with a baseball bat (IT’S MORNING! GET UP!!!!) In addition to being kind to your digestive system, hot cereal also happens to be a delicious and satisfying way to start the day – especially if it has creamy coconut milk, cardamom, and apples like this one.

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Mung Bean and Apple Salad

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At the greenmarket this morning, I started noticing “First Crop of 2015” signs on some of the apples. If that’s not a sign of fall on the horizon, I don’t know what is.

Much as I’m still holding fast to summer (and I’m certainly not about to stop posting summer recipes just yet!), I’ve begun mentally preparing myself for fall. And there are some nice things to think about: colorful trees, crisp air, squash, pumpkins … in fact, if it didn’t signal the impending doom of winter, fall would probably be my favorite season. But I’m not quite ready to let go of summer just yet.

So I would call this a transitional salad.  It’s the perfect light bite for a hot summer day, but there is also something about it that forecasts the coming of fall. Maybe it’s the nuttiness and heartiness of the mung beans, conspiring with the crisp tartness of the apple. Or maybe it’s the pinch of nutmeg in the cumin-spiked lemony dressing. Perhaps it’s something else entirely. While I can’t pinpoint exactly why this salad seems to straddle the line between summer and fall, I can tell you that you should make it. And then eat it. And then make it again.

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