The Smiling Onion

Vegetarian and Gluten-free Cooking

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Savory Fall Smoothie

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If you live in the Northeast like I do, you are experiencing a very strange December. I mean, it’s been in the 60s this entire week! People seem to be handling the uncharacteristically warm weather in different ways: some are freaking out, some are ecstatic, and some are taking it as a sign that a delicious pumpkin-based smoothie recipe I had thought was doomed to sit around until next fall is actually still very much seasonally-appropriate. (Okay, maybe just me for that last one!) But yes, I have a wonderful smoothie for you to savor during these last few (days? weeks? who knows at this point?) of warm weather, and I highly recommend that you make it before the snow hits!

This smoothie has a savory quality that I really enjoy. The frozen banana definitely gives it some sweetness – but there is also a complexity of flavor that differentiates it from your everyday smoothie. Pungent turmeric and ginger combine with creamy pumpkin puree, coconut milk, and fall spices; I chose to highlight these notes with a bit of celtic sea salt  (more than you would typically put in a sweeter smoothie) and the result was delicious.

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Pumpkin “Mac and Cheese” (Dairy-Free!)

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This pumpkin mac and cheese is everything I look for in a mac and cheese – it’s super creamy, uber-savory, and deeply buttery. It also happens to look great in a ramekin. But there’s no cheese. Or butter.

If you’re skeptical, I don’t blame you. I’ve had my share of dairy-free mac and cheese  and I’m not really a fan. Imitation cheese is just never as good as the real thing. But here’s the beauty of this recipe – there’s absolutely no imitation cheese involved. None whatsoever. There isn’t even any miso or nutritional yeast or any of the other ingredients often used to make something taste “cheesy.” But somehow, this dish manages to mimic the feeling and textures of eating mac and cheese in a way that is surprisingly close to the real thing.

A caveat: When it comes to mac and cheese, people have strong opinions about “the real thing.” Please don’t make this expecting it to taste exactly like your favorite version of the classic – it definitely won’t. Unless, of course, your favorite version happens to be one that will give you delicious pumpkin-scented mouthful after creamy mouthful, with just a hint of sage and some caramelized onions thrown in for good measure.

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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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