The Smiling Onion

Vegetarian and Gluten-free Cooking

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Turmeric-Carrot Muffins

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Despite my obsession with carrots, carrot cake and carrot muffins have never really done it for me. I’ve always placed them in the “oatmeal raisin” camp, which to me translates as not my jam. Maybe I’m just biased against desserts with raisins? But something about your run-of-the-mill carrot muffin is just not that appealing to me. Yet when the polar vortex hit the other day, so did the baking bug. And I’m now completely sold on carrot muffins.

But – big caveat – these are definitely not your ordinary carrot muffins. There’s no cinnamon and no raisins: instead, I went with fresh turmeric and ginger, a generous dose of sour cream, a hint of cardamom, and a subtle kick from some ground black pepper. They are also less sweet than a typical carrot muffin, making them a fantastic (and not so sugary) breakfast or snack that is delicious warm or cold. So let me rephrase my previous statement: I’m now completely sold on carrots in muffins – as long as there’s turmeric and sour cream in there too. These are definitely going into my muffin rotation!

In addition to the flavor profile, I’m also excited about these muffins because they are completely nut-free. While I normally depend on a small amount of almond flour to add moisture and tenderness to my baked goods, I wanted to create some muffin recipes that don’t use this somewhat polarizing (because of its cost and because not everyone can eat nuts) ingredient. Since it’s the high protein and fat content that makes almond flour such a great ingredient in gluten-free baked goods, those elements are taken care of by the sour cream, eggs, and butter in this recipe. High protein oat and sorghum flour seal the deal, and – along with a teaspoon of binding psyllium – help to create the perfect texture.

So – whether you are offended by or sympathetic to my stance on the “typical” carrot muffin, I do urge you to try this remix. You can even add in some raisins – if you must. (Just make sure to soak them first.)

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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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Spiced Carrot Salad with Fennel & Olives

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I tend to think a lot about food right before bed, probably because my mindless internet browsing of choice involves a lot of food blog scrolling. I’ll admit – it’s not a great habit. I end up having to expend a lot of will power in order to sleep on an empty stomach (which is definitely best for digestion, inflammation, disease prevention, quality of sleep…ugh, pretty much everything.) But I do sometimes get great ideas for what to make the next day!

I saw this salad from Smitten Kitchen during one of my pre-sleep food browsing sessions, and could not get the words “crushed olives” out of my head. I’ll spare you a detailed retelling of my dreams that night, but suffice it to say that the crushed olives made quite an impression on my subconscious. Anyway, I had some fennel stalks and fronds in the fridge (left over from making this lovely white gazpacho) and had been wanting to put them to good use, but – aside from the crushed olives – the rest of the salad didn’t look all that appealing to me. I’m not a fan of orange zest, and not that big on shaved fennel or fennel-centric dishes generally. I also didn’t have any fennel bulb  – just the stalks and fronds. What I did have was carrots! (You probably guessed that already.)

Now, one of my absolute favorite salads ever is Ottolenghi’s Moroccan carrot (which you can find here). So it occurred to me that I could do a sort of variation of that – but with the fronds, stalks, and olives from Smitten Kitchen’s recipe. I knew I wanted to vary up the spice mix a bit and simplify the recipe some as well. I also knew that I wanted to sauté my fronds, rather than leave them raw.

And thus, a perfect late summer/early autumn salad was born. I’m actually amazed that I got it so perfect on the very first try – measurements and all. It’s just the right amount of spice, just the right amount of tang, just the right amount of fennel (which I tend to prefer as an accent, not a centerpiece), and basically just balanced AF. The first night I made it, we ate it by itself for a late dinner.  The next day, we enjoyed it on our balcony with some barely warmed quinoa, simple sautéed chickpeas, and a cold kale and tomato dish. Yum!

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Kabocha & Tofu Stew

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You know what sounds better than braving the New York restaurant scene on Valentine’s Day? Staying in and eating comfort food. And yes, I know that sometimes means nachos or fries or pizza, but with the crazy January we’ve had here in the U.S., I’ve been craving something a bit more nourishing.

After all, Valentine’s Day is about taking time out to appreciate those you love and giving them a little extra care and attention. That could be friends, a partner/partners, or even yourself. So in my book, cooking a nourishing (and incredibly tasty) meal is a great way to celebrate. And if you want to break out the ice-cream or alcohol later in the night, I won’t judge.

This stew will make your apartment smell insanely amazing. First, we fry some tofu with chives and ginger (a meal in itself!), then it gets simmered with kabocha, tamari, thyme, and cumin. Finally, we fold in some kale, add some more seasoning, and pop in some kabocha chunks to bite into (the first ones become part of the stewy sauce!). The result is a velvety, umami-laden sauce with a nice gingery punch, chunks of nutty kabocha and meaty tofu sprinkled throughout, and beautiful, tender greens to add to the love. Serve it with your favorite grain, or enjoy it on its own.

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Cranberry Cookies with White Chocolate and Ginger

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Unless you are super Type A or enjoy making shared family spreadsheets (and does anyone really enjoy that?), chances are there will be some oversights or duplications in your Thanksgiving shopping. Especially when multiple people are bringing ingredients/food. Last year, for example, I somehow ended up with four bags of organic cranberries and only eight people to feed. Despite having multiple cranberry sauce fanatics at the table,  nobody is going to eat quite that much of it, especially with all the Thanksgiving standards to load up on. So I decided not to use all four bags.

But then I had a new problem – what could I do with so many cranberries? Cut to a few days post Thanksgiving, when the last slice of pie had been eaten and the glorious array of leftovers was almost gone. I wasn’t ready to give up having a kitchen stocked full of treats just yet, so I decided to make some cookies. (I mean, I needed to use those cranberries, anyway, so this was really the responsible choice, right?) Okay, maybe responsible is a bit of a stretch, but the decisions was definitely a good one. It yielded these cookies! And I’ve been waiting a whole year to share them with you.

Perfect for including at your Thanksgiving table or for munching on after the fact (people with extra cranberries, I’m looking at you!), these cookies have such a holiday flair. The tartness of the cranberries goes perfectly with the sweetness of the white chocolate and the lovely chunks of candied ginger. I’ve used finger millet flour for these, which is a darker variety of millet flour that helps temper all the sugar a bit and lends a lovely earthy quality that is perfect for the cold weather. That said, if you are unable to find finger millet flour (I order it online from Pure India Foods), you can use regular white millet flour (actually pictured above) and the cookies will still turn out. If you go this route, I would suggest cutting the sugar slightly (try a scant ½ cup) as the white variety turned out much sweeter.

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Pumpkin Spice Hemp Milk

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Hemp milk is one of my absolute favorite milks. While some might say it’s an acquired taste – and there is definitely something very unique about the flavor that “nutty” doesn’t quite capture – once you get used to it, hemp milk can’t be beat. It’s super nutritious (all those omegas!) AND you can make it without any straining, soaking, or waste. All you have to do is blend up some hemp seeds with some filtered water, add in whatever sweeteners or spices you’d like, and drink up. You do have to blend it for a couple minutes to really get a nice consistency, but this makes it even better: when it comes out of that blender, it’ll be warm, frothy, and altogether beautiful.

You can totally make hemp milk completely plain, and that is actually what I do most often. Since it does get so warm and frothy, I find that I like it without any sweeteners at all. But, since fall is here, why not try it with a bit of pumpkin spice flava?

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Five Spice Tofu

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Have you ever realized that you tend to gravitate towards the same spices/herbs? Some years ago, I noticed that most of the meals I cooked for myself were seasoned with either cumin and hot paprika (still a solid combo!) or some version of Italian seasoning. Sure, occasionally, I would add one or two additional spices to the cumin and hot paprika mix (oregano for Mexican-inspired dishes, coriander and garam masala for Indian-inspired ones) but those three  – cumin, hot paprika, and Italian seasoning – were definitely the ones that I used most heavily.

Yet spices/herbs have impressive health benefits in addition to opening up a world of flavor combinations, so in recent years, I’ve been making an effort to branch out a bit more. Thyme – which I almost never touched for most of my life – has become a staple, as well as dill, sage, allspice, and turmeric. I discovered five spice powder (a mix of cinnamon, fennel, cloves, star anise, and white pepper) in culinary school, when we made five-spice dates, which literally consisted of rolling dates in five spice powder. But what a flavor! This was a spice mix I had to add to my pantry.

While I don’t use it as often as some of the spices mentioned above, it’s fantastic on root veggies, in noodle soups, and in this carrot breakfast pudding. But I probably use it most often in tofu dishes, along with tamari, toasted sesame oil, and chives. Sometimes I stir-fry my tofu and veggies briefly, and then just cover and let ’em simmer with the tamari and five spice. But I also love making Chinese take-out imitations like this dish, which coats crispy, fried tofu in a delightfully sticky, sweet and salty sauce and is perfect over rice or millet. Best of all? The sauce comes together in seconds!

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Turmeric-Ginger Hot Chocolate

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As a morning person, I’m generally refreshed and energized as soon as I open my eyes – ready to tackle whatever the day has in store for me. I do my best work in the morning, and I don’t need coffee or anything else to wake me up. (Afternoons and evenings are an entirely different story, of course.) When I woke up this morning, though, something was off.

I had gotten plenty of sleep, but felt tired and grumpy. I had to leave my apartment early to make it in time for student teaching but couldn’t bring myself to rush. And it felt like a layer of fog covered everything I heard, said, or did. When I arrived at the school where I was student teaching, I was amused to see that the class’s word of the day was “lethargic.” Yup.

Things declined from there. I went to the grocery store to buy zucchini, and they were out. I bought a water bottle that turned out to be unnecessary, and it made my bag uncomfortably heavy. The app I use to display my bus pass kept bugging out, and when I tried to uninstall and reinstall, my connection died after the uninstall. (Of course the bus arrived as soon as this happened!) In short, I was beginning to think I was the new protagonist of the childhood classic Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day.  

Luckily, when things go wrong or I’m feeling downright irritable (which I was by this point), I know what to do: eat chocolate. Or in this case, drink chocolate. Generally, ingesting chocolate one way or another (has anyone tried a syringe?) is a pretty solid mood lifter. And I’m happy to say it did the trick today.

Of course, don’t wait until you have a bad day to make this epic hot chocolate. It’s thick, creamy, rich, and comforting, with subtle warming notes from the turmeric-ginger combo. And I do mean subtle: the main flavor here is dark chocolate, but I melt it into a mix of coconut cream, almond milk, and ginger-turmeric tonic for a truly special cup. Whether you feel like you’re on top of the world, at the bottom of a dumpster, or somewhere in between, this hot chocolate is guaranteed to lift your spirits.

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Carrot Tea

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Wait, what?! Carrot tea?! Oh, yes.

I’ve been sitting on this recipe for a while, but it’s been such a busy couple of weeks that I haven’t had time to actually sit down and write it up until now. You may think I’ve gone nuts during that hiatus and that my carrot obsession has crossed a line – carrot breakfast pudding and carrot lokshen kugel were fair enough, I guess, but carrot tea? Really?

Yes, really! I urge you to reserve judgment until you try the recipe. It’s really quite lovely.

You can make your carrot tea savory or sweet, hot or cold. I recommend the savory version hot and the sweet version iced. If you have kids, see if they like the iced version – it has a lot less sugar than juice or soda but tastes like a new kind of lemonade, if lemonade wasn’t tart.

I love to drink the savory version when I’m feeling like my system needs a bit of extra help  – there is something very healing about it, and the celtic sea salt provides mineral support.

So, am I crazy? Let’s find out!

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Golden Porridge

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When the sun decides to stay hidden for multiple days in a row and the weather is dark and gloomy, there’s nothing better than a bit of gold to brighten up your morning. Especially when that gold takes the form of a warming, hearty breakfast that will give you the fuel you need to start your day, sun or no sun.

This golden porridge is delicately spiced with turmeric, ginger, and cinnamon and uses a mix of gluten-free oats and quinoa flakes for a really lovely texture that is reminiscent of steel cut oats. Don’t panic though – there is a VERY big difference between this porridge and steel-cut oats: it doesn’t take forever to cook!

Finally, I love this recipe because you can customize it to your liking. I happen to be a turmeric freak and often make this with a full teaspoon of turmeric, but I’ve tried to tone it down for my readers. If it’s still a bit heavy on the turmeric for you, or you think it could really use more cinnamon, or maybe you’re feeling a nutmeg vibe, this recipe is yours to fiddle with. Spice it however you’d like. The same goes for sweetener: add a bit of maple syrup, coconut sugar, honey…whatever floats your boat. Or leave it unsweetened, which is what I’ve opted for lately. With some fresh fruit and a bit of candied ginger, I find that I really don’t crave any extra sweetener at all, and my body is happier for it.

So, ready to whip up a batch of porridge? Just make sure to store any leftovers far away from Goldilocks.

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