Autumn Harvest Butternut Squash Soup

Call it what you like... Autumn, Fall, that time of the year when the leaves get crunchy enough to stop on (or don't  depending on where you live), pumpkin spice latte season...no matter WHAT you call this season... it's the perfect time for soup. And not just any soup...a soup that speaks to the season itself, to the harvest that it provides, and to the sweet and slightly spiced coolness that the air holds. 

This soup is relatively easy. It takes a bit of chopping and a tiny bit of sautéing, but the rest kinda cooks itself. Sorry I don't have many pictures; I decided after the fact that I was going to post it.

The soup itself is PLENTY creamy once blended, that I didn't feel the need to add any sort of cream. But if you decide you want some added richness, 1/4 of a cup canned coconut milk will pair perfectly with this soup. The great thing about this recipe is that a lot of it depends on your own personal taste, especially when it comes to the spices, so taste lots and adjust as you see fit. I adapted the recipe from here. Please leave me some love and let me know what you think if you try the recipe!  

Ingredients:

•     4 pounds whole butternut squash (about 2 medium), halved lengthwise and seeds    removed (I used one very large butternut squash
•     4-5 medium carrots
•    1 Tbsp coconut oil
•   1 medium Granny Smith apple peeled (I used a golden crisp apple…)
•   1 small or ¾ a medium yellow onion
•  1 Tbsp dried marjoram
•   6 cups low-sodium vegetable, chicken, or beef broth
•  Salt to taste
•  Freshly ground black pepper to taste
•  ¼-1/2 tsp nutmeg (start small and add more as needed)
•  Dash of cayenne pepper
•  Dash of chili powder
•   Drizzle of olive oil
•   ½-1 tsp ground cinnamon (start small and add more to until happy with flavor)
•  1/2 cup toasted pumpkin seeds or dried cranberries for garnish (optional)
•   ¼ cup coconut milk (optional)

Directions

• Cut tops off of butternut squash, cut in half, take seeds out, drizzle with tiny bit of olive oil, season with salt, some chili powder, and freshly cracked black pepper. Roast in the oven at 375 F until fully tender.
• While squash is roasting, dice onions and apples, and slice carrots into disks. Heat a large nonstick pot and add 1 tbsp coconut oil. Add onions and apples, sauté until slightly soft and browning. Add carrots, sauté for another 4-5 min.
• Add all broth and bring to a boil. Turn heat to low once it boils, cover, and let simmer until carrots and apples are completely cooked and soft.
• When carrots and apples are soft add the fully cooked butternut squash (scooped out of it’s skin)
• Add nutmeg, cinnamon, marjoram, freshly cracked pepper, dash of cayenne, dash of chili powder.
• Puree entire mixture in batches in a blender.
• Taste and adjust spices and salt as necessary.
• Optional: Mix in coconut milk (or cream) to make richer. I found it perfect without it, and had some plain yogurt on the side.
• Optional: When serving, garnish with dried cranberries and roasted pumpkin seeds.

Good ol' Blueberry Muffins (These are perfect)

Yes, it's been eons since I last posted. Things got crazy. The first year of this PhD program happened. It  seriously happened. (YAY!) Now don't get too excited... it's not quite over... I've got until the end of the summer before I can officially put a seal on year one, but it's as over as in no classes this summer at least. For some reason however...I still have trouble finding the time (and gathering the patience) to work as well as I want on my research--or my cooking/baking. This makes me sad. Just know that it makes me sad.

Tonight however, I made the best gosh darn blueberry muffins I have EVA made. I adapted the recipe from a blog written by what seems to be a wonderful woman with great talent! Her name is Chelsea and her blog is called "Making Home Base". I'll include the link to the original recipe below. 

I'm not one to brag about the moist-ness of baked goods. Partly (mostly) because I hate the word moist. But my word hatred aside... these are HELLA moist. All thanks to the greatness that is plain yogurt, and the wonderfulness that is science and all that jazz. 

Good ol' Blueberry Muffins

Adapted from Making Home Base

Ingredients for Muffins

**This recipe can easily be made vegan by using a coconut milk based yogurt (or just adding an extra 1/4 cup of the non-dairy milk + tsp of apple cider vinegar and eliminating the yogurt), substituting a flax egg for the egg, and using solidified coconut oil in place of the butter used in the topping. 

• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 2/3 cup granulated sugar (feel free to substitute your sweetener of choice, but adjust amount accordingly)
• 1 egg
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup melted extra virgin coconut oil (feel free to use canola oil here)
• 1/3 cup "homemade buttermilk" (1/3 cup of ANY milk. I used Almond Breeze's unsweetened coconut almond milk + 1 tsp apple cider (or white) vinegar--allow this to rest for about 5 min before pouring it into the wet ingredients)
• 1/4 cup + 1 tbsp plain yogurt (I would suggest NOT to use nonfat--but doing so won't necessarily mess things up.
• 1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries (I used fresh ones that I had frozen myself)

Ingredients for Topping

• 1/4 cup butter softened
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/3 cup all purpose flour
• 1/4 cup sugar

Directions:

• Pre-heat oven to 400 F
• Sift together the dry ingredients in a large bowl (First 5 ingredients)
• In a separate smaller bowl, whisk together the egg, sugar, and vanilla extract
• While continuously mixing add the oil, milk, and yogurt
• Before adding the wet ingredients to the dry ones, go ahead and make the topping by just combining the ingredients for it with a fork. It should look crumbly. Set aside
• Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and combine. Don't over-mix
• Fold in the blueberries (batter will be relatively thick, just make sure you disperse the blueberries across the whole batter)
• Spray a cupcake tray with non-stick spray and place about 1/4 cup batter in each space. Generously top each with the topping. Makes about 10-11 muffins. 
• Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes--keeping an eye out during those last 5 minutes that it doesn't over-brown. Remove from the oven when tops are browned and toothpick inserted in the center of a few of them comes out clean. 
• Cool in pan for 5 minutes before placing them on a rack to cool completely. (Or if you're like me you'll burn your tongue trying to eat one 2 sec after it came out of the oven...no big deal.) 

I apologize for horrible pictures... 

Chocolate and Butterscotch Chip Oatmeal Banana Cookies

Hello all!

Yes, it has been a million years (only a couple months) since I've posted anything. I apologize. Profusely. I moved from sunny San Diego, CA to beautiful rural Blacksburg, Virginia. I miss San Diego, the ocean, and the knowledge that there are more sunny and warm days in the year than there are cloudy and cold days...but life must go on.

Sunset Cliffs - San Diego, CA (07/2012)

Just after a thunderstorm - Blacksburg, VA (09/2012)

And it has! It took me a bit to get situated here, and now that I'm situated, school has consumed me completely. Please don't be angry with me. Send me a message or comment every so often so I know that I'm in your thoughts and I promise it will motivate me to come and post. I've started a PhD degree in Clinical Psychology and Science at Virginia Tech and it's been a great experience thus far. I have pretty close to zero time to relax, but the pace is refreshing and because I like what I'm learning/doing it hasn't been so bad. Lets hope none of that changes.

For now, here is the cookie recipe I promised so long ago!

Chocolate and Butterscotch Chip Oatmeal Banana Cookies

Ingredients

· 1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour

· 1 cup sugar

· 1 teaspoon salt

· 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

· 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

· 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

· 1/2 cup oil + 2 tbsp

· 1 egg (or 1 tbsp ground flax mixed with 3 tablespoons water left to sit for 5 min)

· 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar (or white vinegar) (if you use flax in place egg)

· 1 tspn vanilla extract

· 1 cup mashed ripe bananas (about 2)

· 1/3 cup + 2 tbsp peanut butter

· 1 cup rolled oats

· 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

· 1/3 cup chopped butterscotch chips (leave out to keep vegan)

Directions

·In a bowl, combine the first six ingredients; add oil and mix until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add egg (or flax egg), vinegar (if using flax egg), vanilla, bananas, peanut butter and oats; mix well. Stir in   chips.

·Drop by tablespoonfuls onto greased baking sheets. Bake at 375° for 13-15 minutes or until bottom is golden brown and top is slightly browning. Cool on wire racks. Yield: 2 dozen.

I love these cookies with a cold glass of coconut milk. ALSO I found that the brand Almond Breeze has a combined coconut AND almond milk and is AWESOME. I've included the link for the unsweetened version, although sweetened versions exist as well. Hugs all!

Vegan Baking...WHY?

Hey all,

So yes, I haven't posted in a LONG time. I know. Don't hate me.

It's been a crazy month and a half. Lots of data collection for my thesis (which I now need to analyze mad-style), a lot of visits from wonderful friends and family, and packing for  our move to Virginia. It's been stressful, wonderful, and definitely a learning experience, but I miss blogging, and I miss cooking/baking new things for you guys. This post isn't so much a recipe, but rather a commentary. The recipe will come a little later when things calm down a bit.

I made oatmeal chocolate chip peanut butter banana cookies. Yes, that is a mouthful...of goodness! I was invited to a housewarming party this evening and earlier today I found myself with overripe bananas and not much time. Initially I thought banana bread, but the recipe I love takes over an hour to bake. My next thought was banana oatmeal cookies. I found a recipe that looked good and might be easy to adapt (aka add some peanut butter, etc). And then I realized...crap. I have no eggs, no butter, and not as much oatmeal as I needed.

Improv is a huge part of baking at the spur of the moment. I have a few friends that are Vegan, or gluten free, or have allergies, etc and their diet restrictions have taught me to adapt my cooking/baking and gain the knowledge necessary to do so. One might initially think ew, how the heck can a cookie without eggs, or butter taste good at all? Well it can, with a few easy adaptations. The internet is a GREAT source for picking up this knowledge. So in place of the butter, I used 3/4 of the quantity of butter, in oil and added it in the same order as I would normally add butter. In place of 1 egg, I mixed one tablespoon of ground flax seeds (a great source of plant-based omega-3), and three tablespoons of water and left it for a few minutes until it became gelatinous. Eggs are typically used as a binding agent to help keep things together and they're important in baking cakes and cookies because they lead to softer texture rather than the chewy texture of bread for example.

I also added a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar (white vinegar would work as well) because without the addition of a real egg, I didn't want my cookies to lack moistness and leavening. In Vegan baking many times, you'll see the addition of a teaspoon to a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar, and moistness is one of the main reasons (also added to non-dairy milk as a replacement for buttermilk). Think back to the volcano experiment a lot of us did in elementary school. Vinegar, mixed with baking soda equals explosive bubbling. Baking and cooking are both VERY related to chemistry in the way that what you end up with is a product of a bunch of reactions with the addition of good flavors. Embrace the science and use it to adapt! The recipe already called for baking soda, so the addition of vinegar reacts with the baking soda to create the bit of rise that the cookies needed as well.

So there you have it. This improvisation in baking/cooking is what makes learning and understanding vegan baking (and any other specialty type of baking) necessary. Plus you can accommodate friends/family with lactose intolerance, allergies, food restrictions, etc, and that just makes you that much cooler. 

All in all, the cookies turned out amazing. The batch I made is GONE, which is why I don't have pictures/recipe for today (which also means they were good?). But I promise they will be up soon. Promise promise.

White Peach, Blueberry, Blackberry Pie

Hey all,

Definitely long time no blogging. My thesis is slowly consuming me and I'm sitting here wondering whether I'll have the time to finish everything before I move to Virginia to start my PhD program. I'll finish though, because I have to (and want to, and kinda really need to...haha). So this post is actually the first of a two part post. It's the beginning of something crazy--like chocolate croissants... those are pretty crazy...good. *Disclaimer* No I don't just sit here stuffing my face with pastries, and you shouldn't either. Definitely not good for you. Although if something ever came out that made eating pastries all day a no problem kind of thing, I may in fact move in that direction. Hah.

So the first part of this *insane* endeavor is a pie. Any pie really. I made a white peach, blueberry, blackberry pie and you should too. Mind you this pie would be awesome serving it's purpose as just a pie, but it CAN be something greater. You'll just have to wait and see. I got the recipe for the pie crust and the initial pie idea from Joy the Baker. Joy is a fabulous baker (and seemingly wonderful cook), and her writing style is AMAZING. Her posts are super fun to read. I followed the crust recipe exactly, but changed up the filling a little bit. Making a pie crust may seem like a daunting task, but it's seriously the simplest bready-like thing I've ever made. You could also just get a store bought pie crust but I'm telling you, this crust is something else.

White Peach, Blueberry, Blackberry Pie


Crust Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 2 Tbsp sugar
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter COLD and cut into cubes
• 5 Tbsp + 2 tsp ice cold water
• 1 tsp apple cider vinegar (white vinegar should work as well) 

Crust Directions: 

• Sift together flour, sugar and salt
• Add cold butter to the dry mixture and incorporate butter into flour with your hands. You should end up with peas and oatmeal sized bits when you're done. (See Joy's page for a picture of this). Do this as quickly as possible. 
• Mix water and vinegar in a cup 
• Make a well in the center of the flour/butter mixture and pour the water and vinegar into the well. 
• Bring dough together with a fork. When slightly combined and kind of moistened, turn dough onto lightly floured surface and knead LIGHTLY with your hands until all combined. 
• Separate dough into two pieces and form two disks. 
• Wrap each disk in plastic wrap and refrigerate for an hour

While your crust is chillin' in the fridge (literally), get started on the filling!

Pie Filling Ingredients:

• 4 medium white peaches (I'm guessing you can substitute any type of peach here) 
• 3/4 cup (6 oz) fresh blueberries
• 3/4 cup (6 oz) fresh blackberries
• 2 tsp fresh lemon juice
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon 
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/8 tsp ground ginger
• 1/8 tsp ground coriander (you COULD eliminate this if you wanted)
• 3 Tbsp all purpose flour
• 1 Tbsp corn starch
• 1 egg beaten to be used as egg wash for the top of the pie
• 2 Tbsp sugar + 1/2 tsp cinnamon for the top of the pie (you will use less than this more than likely)

Pie Filling Directions: 

• Pit and slice peaches (leave skin on)
• In a large bowl, throw in peaches, blueberries and blackberries
• Add lemon juice to fruit
• In a separate smaller bowl, whisk together the sugar, spices, flour, and corn starch
• Add spice mixture to the fruit and mix to combine. Make sure fruit is covered pretty evenly.
• Set aside 

Putting the Pie Together:

• Set your oven to 400 F
• Take one disk of dough and place it on a lightly floured surface.
• Flour your rolling pin and roll out the dough into a circle about 13-14 inches round. ( this will take some effort; rolling, folding edges, turning dough clock-wise or counter-clockwise with every few rolls). Don't OVERWORK the dough. The butter will warm and you don't want that. Also, remember, the circle will not be perfect--baking is not perfect haha. 
• After you're done rolling the dough out, spray a 9 inch pie dish with nonstick spray and place the dough circle on the bottom.
• Add the filling into the dough.
• Repeat the dough rolling process with the second disk and place the second dough circle on top of the filling
• Pinch edges together with your fingers or a fork (I used a fork) 
• Cut any dough that is hanging off the edge of the pie pan and set this dough aside.*
• Brush beaten egg on top of the pie, making sure to cover all of the surface.
• Sprinkle Cinnamon sugar mixture on top.
• Cut a few slits LIGHTLY going around the center of the pie. 
• Place pie pan onto a cookie sheet, also place another cookie sheet under the rack you will be putting your pie on in the oven. (This is to prevent the filling from bubbling over, burning in your oven, and suffocating you--not to mention that ANNOYING SMOKE DETECTOR).
• Place pie in oven and bake at 400 F for 15 minutes. Then turn down the heat to 375 F and bake for another 40-50 minutes. If you find the top getting too dark towards the end, just move the pie down the the bottom rack.The pie is done when the top is golden brown and the filling is bubbling :).
• Cool for 2 hours at room temperature before serving. Store, covered, in the fridge. Should last up to a week. 

* Roll out the excess dough that you cut off, and if you have a cookie cutter, or are pretty confident in your knife skills, cut the dough into shapes. Brush with egg wash and sprinkle cinnamon sugar on top, bake for like 15-20 minutues or until golden brown. You can eat these just by themselves (they're awesome), or you can set them aside and use the for part two. 

The white peaches add a really nice flowery sweetness to the pie--love em! Share with friends! Don't be greedy. :) Thanks all for reading! 

Mirza Ghassemi (Persian Eggplant Tomato "Dip")

Hey guys,

Long time no recipe-ing. Been a bit busy with my thesis proposal and data collection as of late. Please keep me in your thoughts as I go through what is going to be a CRAZY summer. More updates on that as they develop. In the meantime, I have still been cooking to release the stress build up. So as promised, you'll see an Iranian dish on here every so often. The dish I have in mind for today is native to the northern part of Iran and a staple in the Gilaki cuisine. As some of my readers know, my husband's family is originally from Rasht, a province in northern Iran. Gilaki cuisine is very different from what many people consider "Persian food". It consists of very little red meat, other than the occasional vavishka (originally a Russian dish made with ground beef, onions, and tomatoes), or kabob torsh (sour pomegranate kabob). Instead they use a lot of fish and eggs as sources of protein. Also, the use of garlic in Rashti or Gilaki cooking is NOT for the faint of heart. They use garlic like it's nobody's business. (As you will see here shortly).

Mirza Ghassemi (Persian Eggplant Tomato Dip)


Ingredients

• 1 medium bulb of garlic (not clove, but the ENTIRE bulb) 
• 4 medium eggplants 
• 6-7 large tomatoes
• 7 eggs
• 1 1/2 tsp turmeric
• Salt and pepper to taste (make sure you're not under-seasoning)
• 3-4 Tbs olive oil

Directions

• Preheat oven to 400 F. Stab each eggplant all over with a fork. Place eggplants (uncut and unpeeled) onto a foil covered baking sheet and bake until soft. Mine took about an hour to really get soft, but check periodically after about 30 minutes. To get really authentic with this you can grill the eggplant until soft. 
• While eggplant is baking, peel tomatoes by boiling in water for 3-4 minutes (until skin splits) and then placing tomatoes immediately into ice water. You should easily be able to peel of the skin with your fingers. Dice peeled tomatoes and put them into saucepan. 
• Add a little bit of salt to the tomatoes and cook them down on medium/high heat until about most of the liquid boils off (1/3 should still remain), then lower heat and cover.
• When eggplant is cooked, remove from oven and peel them and cut off the end. Chop eggplant finely (almost smashing it as you dice, it want it to almost be pasty).
• At this point peel, finely dice, and smash the garlic. 
• Heat 2-3 tablespoons of oil in a deep pan and add two-thirds of the prepared garlic to the pan. When lightly browned, add 1 1/2 tsp turmeric to the garlic and stir for a minute or two.
• Add eggplant and saute for 6-7 minutes. If there's any liquid coming from the eggplants at this point, let most of it simmer off. 
• Add cooked off tomatoes to the mixture and combine thoroughly.
• Turn heat to medium-low and allow any remaining liquid to simmer off.
• While the eggplant mixture is cooking, heat a Tbs of oil in a pan.
• crack eggs into a bowl and whisk, add some salt and pepper to the eggs (to taste)
• Add remaining garlic to the pan, saute until lightly browned and add a 1/2 tsp of turmeric--stir for a couple minutes
• Add whisked eggs to the pan and stir until you essentially have what looks like scrambled eggs (you want the pieces to be relatively smaller and not in huge chunks.) 
• Add cooked eggs to the eggplant mixture and combine for a uniform look.
• Taste and add salt and pepper accordingly
• Cook for 15-20 minutes longer so that flavors combine and then serve and enjoy!

Poke! :D 

It should resemble this :) 

Enjoy!

Now in Rasht, Mirza Ghassemi is usually served as an entree with white basmati/Persian rice, ashpal (white fish eggs), baghali (fresh fava beans), walnuts, and sliced Persian cucumber. We kept it simple with white rice, and salad shirazi (salad made with diced cucumbers, diced onions, diced tomatoes, lime juice, dried mint, and salt and pepper). Oh yeah... and my husband had this with pickled garlic as well. Luckily we had no where important to be the next day. A simpler way to eat it, and the way in which restaurants usually serve it in Tehran or the US is just with warm bread. This makes a perfect appetizer or entree. I imagine it would be a great spread on crackers or toasted french bread as well. 

Whole Grain Crackers

First order of business...HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY to all the mothers out there. Coincidentally this year mother's day in Iran was also pretty close to the US mother's day (It was on Friday), but regardless, no matter where in the world they are, mothers are beautiful, perfect, and oh so kind in their own way. A special shout out to my own mommy who I just skyped with! :)

This post may seem like..."omg I can't believe she's posting about crackers", but crackers are big deal. I mean this all actually started when I was eating tea biscuits (these Ulker tea biscuits) with...tea--and I thought to myself, "I wish I could make these". To my surprise, it's totally possible to make crackers. The ones I'm sharing with you guys today unfortunately didn't turn out exactly like the tea biscuits, but they're still absolutely delightful. They kind of taste like a biscuit version of  Nabisco's Wheat Thins--not too sweet, not really salty, good on their own... and a perfect pairing with whatever you want to top it with (peanut butter and jelly, butter and jam, chocolate...). They're also pretty easy to make, with the hardest part being the arm workout from rolling out the dough pretty thin.

I made a couple changes to the original recipe because some people had put in their reviews that the granulated sugar made the crackers a bit grainy and that the amount of sugar really made the crackers sweet.

Whole Grain Crackers
Adapted from www.egglesscooking.com (click for direct link to original recipe)

Ingredients:

• 1 and 1/3 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/4 cup all purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp rolled oats
• 5 tbsp cold butter (I'm not sure if you can substitute margarine or extra virgin coconut oil for this, but I will try it and let you guys know) 
• 1/3 cup powdered sugar  (or other powdered grain sweetener)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup + 2 tbsp milk (whatever kind you prefer, 1%, 2%, whole, almond...)
• A couple tbsp of granulated sugar for topping (you will likely use less than this) 

Directions:

• In a large mixing bowl, sift flours, baking powder, and salt (sifting is important to ensure that your dough is uniformly mixed and that no lumps get into the batter, I usually whisk these ingredients in the sieve to help mix them up and push them through a bit quicker)
• Cut up cold butter into small pieces and add to the flour mixture. Mix with a hand mixer or tabletop mixer, or work with your fingers until mixture forms coarse crumbs
• Stir in sugar and slowly add milk to form a dough
• Knead dough with hands until smooth 
• Form dough into a disk, wrap it and place in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. In the meantime, pre-heat oven to 375 F. 
• Line two cookie sheets with aluminum foil and spray them lightly with oil
• After 30 minutes in the fridge, lightly flour the surface you're working on and roll out dough into 1/2 cm thickness. I had to do this in pieces--I didn't roll out the entire dough, but instead divided the dough into 6 pieces and rolled each piece individually. It was a little bit more work but it made things a bit easier as the dough is not like a soft stretchy pizza dough.
• Use a cookie cutter to cut out whatever shape you like from the dough (I used the opening of the smallest size Rubbermaid food container)
• Combine dough scraps again with rest of the dough and re-roll and repeat cutting process
• Prick crackers with a fork a few times before placing them on the cookie sheet
• Top each cracker with a small pinch of granulated sugar before you place in the oven
• Baking time depends on the thickness of your crackers and the color of your cookie sheet, mine took about 10-12 minutes. I would definitely watch them after about 8 minutes or so. You're looking for a light golden brown color--nothing dark (which happened to a couple of my thinner ones sadly).
• Leave them to cool for a few minutes on the baking sheet when done, and then transfer to cooling rack.

I had these crackers topped with banana slices and all natural almond butter. Almond butter (essentially almonds grounded into a paste) is a great nut butter full of Vitamin E, Potassium, Magnesium, Iron, Calcium, and Phosphorus. It's also a great alternative for people with peanut allergies. The key is to find an almond butter made using cold pressed methods (which ensures that nutrients are all still there), and one that is natural (no sugar, extra oil, etc added). 4-5 of these crackers are a great midday snack and the fiber helps keep you full :). 

Leave me some love in the comments below! 

Enjoy!  

Spice Mix Hamburgers

An interesting topic of discussion came up today at work (and is completely NOT work related, haha). For lunch, I had brought in some left over pan grilled chicken and roasted baby red potatoes. After heating my food, I walk into the office and apologize to my co-worker in case my food stinks up the room. I mean after all, it was a spice rubbed chicken breast and an equally seasons roasted potatoes. She said it was no problem, and flatteringly mentioned that is looked and smelled really good. Which reminded me--remember back in elementary school and junior high? You would never want to be caught dead being the kid that brought leftovers for lunch. In my case, left over Persian food is not pretty, nor does it smell like what the standard American child is used to. Shoot, even our spaghetti with meat sauce didn't look and smell the same! I have definitely lived through a couple instances of unforgiving children asking "What is thatttttt???" in that grossed out tone (similar to the "OMG you have coooooties" tone). While I don't remember what I usually took for lunch back then (my memory fails me, haha), I do remember that the sandwiches and pizza were probably the only cool thing a person could bring (and this was confirmed by my office mate).

Fast forward to the more recent years. I crave foods with spices, and try and add an exotic twist to even the most American of foods (i.e these hamburgers). I've learned to embrace the difference and variety and in all honesty, people are becoming more and more accustomed and familiar with the more exotic flavors thanks to the internet and the wonders of food blogs. Hopefully by the time I have kids, they will be more open to trying new things instead of hating on the unfamiliar.

These hamburgers have the basic ingredients of a hamburger, but I've added a mix of spices that bring flavors of the Mediterranean and Middle East. In fact these spices are now widely used in many different world cuisines. For this recipe I used extra lean beef to cut down a bit on the fat content, ground turkey is a good alternative too. But for those of you who would like to indulge an 80/20 lean-to-fat (80% lean beef, 20% fat) is plenty.

Spice Mix Hamburgers
Serves 5-6 depending on size of hamburgers.

Ingredients

• 1 lb extra lean ground beef
• 1 medium onion grated finely
• 1/2 tsp chili powder
• 1 tsp smoked or sweet paprika
• 1 Tbs ground meat seasoning (I bought this from my local Middle Eastern food market, but you can use whatever go to ground beef spice you have, or purchase this online--Sadaf has some great food items!)
• 1/4-1/2 tsp ground cumin
• 2 tsp garlic powder
• Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

• Combine beef with spices, mix thoroughly (get in there with your hands... fear not...just make sure to wash them after touching anything else--you don't want to contaminate anything else) 
• Heat electric skillet or pan--spray lightly with oil (I heated a skillet to 375)
• Shape beef into patties (Size up to you) 
• Cook patties on skillet for about 3-4 minutes each side or until juices run clear (I like my burgers well done, adjust time accordingly for anything medium) 
• 2 minutes after flipping the burger, top with cheese of choice and allow cheese to melt while the other side finishes cooking. 
• Spray buns lightly with oil and place on skillet while burgers are cooking.
• I also sauteed some onions to top the burgers with (cut 1/2 onion into rings, spray pan lightly with oil, sautee until browned and starting to caramelize, add a 1/4 tsp Worcestershire sauce, cook a minute longer and set aside) 

We topped our burgers with tomatoes, middle eastern pickles in brine (found at local middle eastern food market or here), a bit of the saffron aioli I had made earlier that day, pepper jack cheese, caramelized onions and romaine lettuce. This was definitely an indulgence meal. I had one burger, the hubs had 2 (so they were good I guess?). If you try them out, let me know what you think! 

Also, in the comments below, answer this--what are your lunch time memories/nightmares as a child?  

Saffron Aioli

I always thought condiments were the unhealthiest things ever--and they can be, if you buy store bought condiments with a list of god knows what kind of ingredients they put in that thing. But over the years, I've really come to terms with the idea of balance. Balance in my life, in my relationships, and yes, even in my condiments. I also came to learn that the list of 12 ingredients that are listed on the back of mayo--well that's um...8 more ingredients than what is necessary for a homemade mayo.

I recently, in the past year, lost about 35+ lbs with diet and exercise, and the best part of this diet was that I never felt like I was dieting. I ate what I wanted (within reason), but controlled portions, and changed my cooking methods to include less of the things that really aren't necessary to make food taste good. There is eating for pleasure, and for hunger, and then there is EATING. The third kind...unnecessary.

Tonight I'm actually making burgers (recipe for that soon), but to make these a bit fancier, I thought an aioli would be fun. Typically, aioli's are best with fish and chicken--milder meats--but a tiny bit of aioli can give big flavor to anything really. An aioli, by definition, is mayo that has garlic. Some places will omit the garlic and add other things and pretend it's an aioli--but it's NOT an aioli if it doesn't have garlic. Without garlic, it's just a mayo with something added to it.

Saffron, in my opinion is one of the most beautiful spices. It's used fairly regularly in Persian cooking and baking. There's a wonderful aroma and amazing color to saffron--and while it's expensive, a tiny bit goes a long way. Historically, this spice originated in the Middle East, but is now used widely in cuisines worldwide. Saffron happens to also have a history as a remedy for many ailments (asthma, kidney problems, infertility), but research hasn't been done yet to prove that it is in fact effective for these problems. Recent research thought has actually found that saffron has properties that help in lowering cholesterol. (Clearly not in mayonnaise form though...)

Saffron Aioli
20+ servings depending on how much of it you use each time.

Ingredients: 

• 2 egg yolks
• 1/2-1 tsp salt 
• Freshly cracked pepper to taste
• 1 clove garlic finely minced or grated
• 2 tsp lemon juice
• 3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1/8 tsp saffron ground with a mortar
• 2 Tbs hot water

Directions:

• Place saffron and 2 Tbs boiled water in a small bowl, and set aside to steep for 8-10 minutes
• The next part can be done via blender, hand mixer, or whisk (if you trust your hardcore whisking skills), I did this with a hand mixer.
• Add egg yolks, salt (start out with 1/2 tsp and add more at the end if necessary), pepper, garlic, lemon juice, and saffron/water mixture to a medium bowl.
• Using you method of choice, beat well until combined and a bit thickened.
• SLOWLY (especially in the beginning) drizzle olive oil while blender, mixer, or whisk is on and working at a medium-high speed. Stop adding oil after about each 1/4 cup just to make sure oil has been well absorbed and emulsified--you don't want to see breakage. 
• Continue adding the rest of the oil in the same way while mixing constantly. The last minute or two, turn the speed on high and make sure everything is mixed well and has reached mayo consistency. 
• Refrigerate prior to use for a couple hours, and store in an airtight container for up to one week. 

This was my first time making aioli/mayo.. .and I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was. I hope you guys enjoy this--and remember, balance is everything. It's okay to indulge a bit every so often, but watch portions, and if you can, make things at home so that you know what's going in it. I'll probably use 1/2-1 tsp for the entire burger--the flavor is this is PACKED. If you split this into about 20 servings, it's only about 77 calories per serving. As always, comments, suggestions, and thoughts are ALL welcome.