Roasted Root Vegetables

The Ingredients

1/2 chopped white onion
4 beets
1 huge carrot
Avocado oil
Maple syrup
Licorice salt
Pepper
Sesame seeds 

First dice the onion into small pieces and throw them into a pyrex baking dish. 
Then, chop the carrot and beets so they are about the same size. Both take about the same amount of time to cook, so they can be thrown in together. 
Drizzle with avocado oil to coat the vegetables.
Add two table spoons of maple syrup. Spring some licorice salt- i got mine in Iceland and LOVE this stuff. Sprinkle some black pepper and bake for 25 minutes at 350 degrees. Once cooked, top with sesame seeds and enjoy! 

Frozen Yogurt Fruit Snack

The Ingredients

2 cups plain Greek yogurt 

1/2 cup freeze dried strawberries

1/2 cup freeze dried blueberries 

2 tbsp maple syrup

1 tsp vanilla extract

Freeze for a minimum of 4 hrs. Break it up and enjoy! It is a great alternative to white chocolate bark. 

Stir Fry

The Ingredients

1 small package buckwheat noodles

6 campari tomatoes

2 tbsp coconut oil

2 cups chicken stock

2 cups vegetable stock

1 red pepper

1 yellow pepper

straw mushrooms

1/2 yellow onion

2 cloves fermented garlic

coconut aminos

white pepper

chili flakes

ground ginger

salt

cilantro 

1 cup ground peanuts

2 scallions

1/2 cup ground garlic chips

First, boil some salted water
Add buckwheat noodles and cook for 7 minutes, until they are softened. 
Alternative: boil in half chicken stock half vegetable stock for some added flavor! 
In a pan, add enough coconut oil to coat the bottom 
Then, add julienned red and yellow pepper with 1/2 chopped yellow onion 
Sauté for about 7 minutes, until the peppers appear soft and the onions are caramelized
Add 6 campari tomatoes
I quartered them so they can just mix into the peppers
Keep on medium heat
Add straw mushrooms into the sauté and cook for a few more minutes. 
Throw in the noodles. You want to make sure they are not too soft because they will cook more when added to the stir fry. 
While cooking, add 2 cloves of fermented garlic. I get mine from Trader Joe's and it is the Japanese kind- sort of tastes like soy sauce but without the soy! Then, add white pepper, chili flakes, salt, and ground ginger. 
I topped the mixture with several tablespoons of coconut aminos to taste. It is salty sweet and even better than soy sauce with a great finish! I topped it off with some fresh cilantro, ground peanuts, chopped scallions, and ground garlic chips to taste. Yum! 

Garlic chips pre-crushing

The final product! 

Italian-style mac and cheese

The Ingredients

1 box of pasta 

1 cup of unsalted butter

1 1/2 cups of shredded light mozzarella

1 3/4 cups of flour

4 cups coconut milk

2 tbsp freshly grated parmesan cheese

2 tbsp panko bread crumbs 

Ashbrook cheese 

Italian seasoning

nutmeg

black pepper

white pepper

salt

First, bring salted water to a boil. Cook pasta for several minutes, until al dente- if it is overcooked at the beginning, it will become complete mush after baking it in the cheesy mixture. Set aside. I chose a tasty pumpkin, all-natural pasta from Trader Joe's (but straight from Italy!). 

In the same pot, add 1 cup of unsalted butter until it melts, at medium heat. Once it has a clarified appearance (a little bubbly), add 1 3/4 cups of flour and whisk it all in until a thick paste is formed. This is the roux base. Once the flour has thickened up the mixture, you can add the coconut milk so it becomes more of a thick liquid. I chose coconut milk because it is lighter and does not need to be so thick due to the roux. 

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees!

Then, add the parmesan cheese, nutmeg, black and white pepper, Italian seasoning, salt, and shredded mozzarella. Let the mozzarella melt. I chose an Italian seasoning with thyme, rosemary, sage, and romano cheese. Once the mixture has fully blended and melted, coat the bottom of a baking pan with it. Add the pasta on top, then layer it with enough mixture to fully coat the pasta in cheesy goodness up to the top.

Cook for 25 minutes and take out of the oven. Add some melt-friendly cheese on top. I chose an Ashbrook cheese from Vermont with vegetable ash in the middle. Let the mac and cheese cook for 5-10 more minutes, until the cheese has melted. Top with the bread crumbs and cook for another 5 minutes, until the top is browned and crispy. Enjoy! 

Roux-la-la

Ready to bake

Add the cheese!

Melted cheese!

Bread crumb time.

Deliciousness.

Baked Artichokes

The Ingredients

4 artichokes

1/2 stick of unsalted butter

2 tbsp parmesan cheese

1bunch of parsley

3 cloves of garlic (smoked)

2 tbsp panko bread crumbs

1/2 lemon

salt

pepper

First, clean the artichokes thoroughly under cold water. Scrub the outside a bit with a small brush. Cut off about one inch from the top and trim the outside leaves if there are thorns (they are spiky, so be careful!). This also depends on the type of artichoke- mine weren't too bad, so I only had to do minimal trimming.

Rub lemon all over the outside of the artichoke to add flavor and to prevent it from oxidizing and turning brown while getting prepped. 

Chop up the cloves of garlic. Whole Foods had just gotten some gorgeous smoked garlic from Arleux, so I had to buy some! Spread out the petals a bit to put in the parsley, parmesan cheese, and garlic. Top with salt, pepper, and some lemon juice from the remaining lemon. 

In a pan, melt half a stick of butter. Pour this into/all over each artichoke, then top with break crumbs. Bake for 40 minutes at 350 degrees. Enjoy! 

I lined the baking pan with foil to let them sit up straight.

A close-up for the cheesiness.

Final product! 

Veggie Stew

The Ingredients

1 can of garbanzo beans

5 Japanese (small) eggplants

6 small green peppers

3 large tomatoes (heirloom or beefsteak)

4 cloves of garlic

1 small onion

2 cups veggie broth

cumin

coriander

crowberry chili salt

1 tbsp avocado oil

I love my Dutch oven. So much that I try to use it as much as possible. It creates amazing sauces and broths!

Coat the Dutch oven with enough avocado oil to fully coat the bottom. Dice the small onion and add to the oil. Cook at medium heat for several minutes, until it caramelizes. Then, mince the garlic and add it to the mixture. This should also brown. 

Then, add the veggie broth. I had some frozen that I had made a few months ago that is a go-to for any type of stew or soup recipe. Let simmer on medium heat for a few minutes. In the meantime...

Chop eggplants, peppers and tomatoes. Add to the broth mixture. Add spices and salt to taste. Then, cook for 45 minutes at 350 degrees, until the liquid has reduced by about half. This is the magic of a Dutch oven- sauces and soups are so flavorful when prepared this way because they reduce in amount and not in flavor. Add chickpeas (drained) and enjoy! 

After some stewing 

The final product! 

Chocolate Licorice Meringue

The Ingredients

4 egg whites 

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup cocoa powder

1 tbsp licorice powder

I was super excited to use my kitchenaid stand-up mixer. I also love meringue and have only made it once in my life because I never had a proper mixer to get those stiff peaks in egg whites that meringues are famous for. There are few ingredients in meringues, but the whole process is a labor of love. 

First, egg the egg whites into the bowl of a mixer and beat on medium-high for several minutes. Stiff peaks should form. Then, mix in the sugar, a little bit at a time. Same goes for the cocoa and licorice powders. It should take a few minutes for the mixture to be fully blended.

It should look like this:

Scoop out the mixture with a spoon and put on a baking sheet. Cook the meringues at 200 degrees for two hours. 

Boom! Crunchy, yet chewy, with a lot of flavor. The chocolate-licorice combination is delicious! 

pre-baking

Ready to eat- and dusted with some licorice powder to make them look a little fancier.