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03 Jul 15:33

SUMMER SQUASH PASTA WITH GREEN GODDESS DRESSING

by Sara

Summer Squash Pasta with Green Goddess Dressing x Vibrant Food . Sprouted Kitchen

I remember exchanging emails with Kimberly a ways back about the book writing process. I was humbled she asked me, as I've known that Kimberly would create a beautiful and inspired book by echoing the same style she shares on her blog. There seems to be a common thread between those who set out to create and photograph their own cookbooks - an equal measure of uncertainty, fear, excitement and determination. Truth is, I am not exactly sure what I am doing either and I stumble over how to guide someone else. We sing a "learn by doing" tune over here. How I respond to those emails asking advice for books or starting a blog, friend or stranger alike, is less with direction and more with encouragement to be more deliberate in doing what you already know. Authenticity is of greater value than you expect. Thankfully... or at least I like to think. I don't believe there is a formula for success with creative work. There are people who have done extremely well, make a nice living off blogs and books, but they cannot tell you how to do the same. The theme I see throughout the books and blogs I am attracted to is they are real people simply sharing an extension of something they are passionate about. Start a blog because you have something to share or make a book because there is a story you need to tell about food. Clearly it's not the end goal, but you should want to create despite how many people read your blog or book. It should begin because YOU need it to. When you hit a wall or get negative reviews, that's what you'll have, a project that nourished you first, and it makes you want to keep going. Sure it takes time and intention to design a beautiful space or a compilation of recipes but I think a desire and hope to create said things is a majority of the key to success. And ok, reading this over I may sound a little hippy dippy but my kumbaya message can apply to a lot of things - just find something that fills you up. 

That said, Kimberly's book is a job well done - a real treat for anyone who cooks with a lot of produce. It's colorful and seasonal and delicately assertive if I may use such a juxtaposition. Hats off to you, my friend. These summer squash noodles are simple, quick and super light for how warm it's been. I'm going to grill a big filet of wild salmon this weekend and this will make a perfect side to fish. Happy 4th weekend to you all!

Summer Squash Pasta with Green Goddess Dressing x Vibrant Food . Sprouted Kitchen

SUMMER SQUASH PASTA WITH GREEN GODDESS DRESSING // Serves 4

Recipe barely adapted from Vibrant Food by Kimberly Hasselbrink

This makes for a cold zucchini salad and the drained shreds have just the right amount of crunch. If you prefer it as a warm side, give the zucchini a quick saute in a slick of olive oil after you press out the excess water to warm through.

I upped the goddess dressing amounts so I'd have enough for leftovers. Extra dressing never goes to waste around here. This is the peeler I consistently recommend, it's great. 

  • 2 lbs. mixed summer squash
  • 1 tsp. sea salt
  • 1/2 cup plain whole milk greek yogurt
  • 3 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
  • 2 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
  • 1 Tbsp. red wine vinegar
  • 1/3 cup fresh chopped basil, plus more for garnish
  • 3 Tbsp. fresh chopped parsley
  • 3 Tbsp. fresh chopped chives
  • 2 Tbsp. fresh chopped tarragon
  • 1 small garlic clove
  • 1 anchovy (minced) OR 1 Tbsp. drained capers
  • 1/4 shaved parmesan cheese, plus more for garnish
  • 1/4 cup toasted pinenuts
  • fresh ground pepper

 

Summer Squash Pasta with Green Goddess Dressing x Vibrant Food . Sprouted Kitchen

Cut the squash into thin strips using a julienne peeler or spiralizer. Sprinkle the squash with salt, toss gently, and place in a colander to drain for 20 minutes. Carefully squeeze the squash over the colander to release excess liquid and pat dry with a clean kitchen towel. 

In a food processor or blender, combine the yogurt, olive oil, lemon juice, vinegar, basil, parsley, chives, tarragon, garlic and anchovy or capers and blend until smooth.

Toss the drained squash with the parmesan, pinenuts and desired amount of dressing. 

Season to taste with salt and pepper. Garnish with more parmesan, pinenuts and basil and serve immediately.

Summer Squash Pasta with Green Goddess Dressing x Vibrant Food . Sprouted Kitchen

14 Aug 16:46

SUMMER PEACH TART

by Sara

date pecan peach tart . sprouted kitchen

I catered a small dinner party last weekend. Some things I knew would turn out - a couple dressings and sauces were a shot in the dark, but I was certain they'd pass as edible. Summer produce makes this such an easy season to cook in because the produce needs little done to it. I know where to get the tomatoes I'm faithful to, even mediocre corn is passably sweet and crunchy, and a basic fruit dessert requires little fuss, as the juicy berries and stone fruits can hold their own.

I served a maple-slathered, grilled peach half with a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream and crumbled gingersnaps, an even easier adaptation of a treat recipe in our cookbook. It was the most basic dish I served and it was the one dish every single person cleared their bowl of (yes, I watch, who do you think is doing the dishes?). Granted, it was a small dessert, but it made me think, how often am I overcomplicating things?

Fast forward a few evenings, we had guests over here for a BBQ. A friend was talking about how a couple invited their family over for dinner and the hostess just ordered a pizza and made an easy green salad. She mentioned how much she respected that - how getting together, eating together, sharing good company and conversation is enough. I stood at the sink cleaning dishes after they left. I had made everything from scratch - dressings, marinades, a crumble, etc. I don't make complicated food, I don't know how to cook complicated things, but what I do does take me a lot of time and I spend even more time just thinking about the meal. Where is my tipping point between making food for people that is special, but still allows me to just enjoy the company? How to channel this effortless effort... I feel like I am narrating to and for myself here, bear with me, think Carrie Bradshaw Sex in the City monologues except we're talking about dinner. Our own heads, my own head, is a rabbit hole. I get down there by over thinking and over complicating when the answer is really up top at the proverbial pizza.

The peaches for this tart were leftover from that easy dessert I mentioned a minute ago. I didn't have a recipe in mind, I just didn't want to waste the peaches sitting on the counter on their peak day. I remembered a crust I wanted to try and layered from there. It's simple, a fantastic peach is what makes the whole tart, but it is a new favorite. You could merely change the fruit on top or try different nuts in the crust. Summer in all its glory. I can hear Hugh sneaking into the fridge, his fork clattering against the plate as we speak.

There is an Oscar Wilde quote, "The smallest act of kindness is worth more than the grandest intention." So applicable to cooking, to creating things, to feeding people... the act is often times less complicated than we make it. Here's to the simple things.

date pecan peach tart . sprouted kitchen

SUMMER PEACH TART // Makes one 12'' tart

crust recipe adapted from A House in the Hills

I know some of you will be looking for alternatives to powdered sugar here in the cream layer. It helps set the creme fraiche to not puddle everywhere, a liquid like maple or honey will not work. You could try coconut sugar if you are ok with a little grit, but I can't say I've tried it.

/crust/

  • 9 pitted dates
  • 1 cup toasted pecan pieces
  • 1 cup almond meal
  • 2 tsp. coconut oil
  • 1 tsp. cinnamon
  • pinch of salt

/cream layer/

  • creme fraiche option:
  • 1/2 cup creme fraiche
  • 1/4 cup powder sugar
  • 1/4 cup muscavado sugar
  • 1 Tbsp. corn starch
  • 3 large/4 small ripe peaches
  • 2 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
  • toasted pecans, granola, turbinado etc. for garnish

date pecan peach tart . sprouted kitchen

 

For the crust, pulse all ingredients in the food processor until crumbly. When you pinch some between your fingers it should stick. Add a tiny splash of water if it needs help holding (this will depend on the freshness of your dates). Press the mixture into an even layer the bottom of a parchment lined, 9'' or 10'' springform pan.

Make your cream layer. Follow the directions for the the coconut whipped cream. Otherwise, whisk together the creme fraiche, powdered sugar, muscavado and corn starch. It will be loose but should hold shape when spread over the crust, if it looks too loose, add another Tbsp. or two of powdered sugar. Spread the cream layer over the crust.

Halve and pit the peaches and slice them thin. Layer the peaches in concentric circles, starting against the outer edge and then starting again with another circle, inside that outer circle. Brush the top with lemon juice and garnish with chopped pecans, granola, turbinado or whatever you wish. Refrigerate for at least two hours to chill completely. Remove the ring of the springform pan and cut into slices.

Store covered in the fridge. Should be enjoyed within 3-4 days. The colder it is, the easier it will be to get clean slices, just fyi.

date pecan peach tart . sprouted kitchen









14 Aug 16:30

Cumin Lime Black Bean Quinoa Salad (quick + easy!)

by Angela (Oh She Glows)

easyquinoasaladveganblackbean 7359   Cumin Lime Black Bean Quinoa Salad (quick + easy!)

Recipe creation is a funny thing. There are those moments when no amount of testing produces the result I’m looking for. I’ll put so much work into a recipe, only to have it fall short after hours (or days) of work. Vegan baked goods are notorious for being fussy at times, especially when trying to make something wholesome without sacrificing flavour. I usually toss the recipe into my reject pile, in case I’m ever crazy enough to dig it out. Sometimes I am. Other times, I don’t want anything to do with it. ever. again.

Then there are moments, like this salad recipe, that come together effortlessly. With no real plan or guide, I just follow my instincts and taste buds. That’s the best kind of recipe! Summer dishes shine like this which is why I love creating new dishes this time of the year. Things are more simple and the fresh ingredients speak for themselves.

On Friday, we were rushing to get out the door for a weekend at the in-laws and I had a small window of opportunity to throw some food together. I usually try to bring a big batch of Vegan overnight oats, some snacks like hummus and crackers and fruit, and a hearty grain and bean salad. Booze, to balance it all out. Thankfully, I had some cooked quinoa in the fridge and then from there I pulled out a few ingredients from the crisper, decided on an overall flavour, and then whisked together a simple dressing to pour on top.

Black beans. Quinoa. Green onions. Carrots. Cilantro. Cumin. Lime. Love.

easyquinoasaladveganblackbean 7395   Cumin Lime Black Bean Quinoa Salad (quick + easy!)

Oh, and don’t forget to shoot some quick photos before throwing it into a container and flying out the door!!

Fresh. Delicious. Ready in the amount of time it takes to cook a batch of quinoa. I’ll take it!

easyquinoasaladveganblackbean 74251   Cumin Lime Black Bean Quinoa Salad (quick + easy!)

If you’re looking for a simple salad to prepare for a road trip, picnic, or just a light lunch, I hope you’ll give this a try! I like to make it the night before and let it sit in the fridge overnight. I have a few more family gatherings this week due to some very special visitors and I already plan on making it at least two more times this week. What can I say, when I like something I want to make it all the time.

vegansaladquinoa   Cumin Lime Black Bean Quinoa Salad (quick + easy!)

Cumin Lime Black Bean Quinoa Salad

Email, text, or print this recipe

Makes 6.5 cups (or serves 4)

For the salad:

  • 1 cup uncooked quinoa (or 3 cups cooked)
  • 1 (15-ounce) can black beans (or 1.5 cups cooked), drained and rinsed
  • 1.5 cups cilantro, finely chopped
  • 3 small/medium carrots, julienned (about 1.5 cups)
  • 4 green onions, chopped
  • fine grain sea salt & black pepper, to taste

 

For the dressing:

  • 3 tablespoons fresh lime juice (about 1 lime)
  • 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 large clove garlic, minced
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1 teaspoon pure maple syrup (or other liquid sweetener)
  • 1/2 teaspoon fine grain sea salt

 

1. To prepare the quinoa: Rinse quinoa in a fine mesh sieve. Add into pot along with 1.5 cups water or veggie broth. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low-medium, and then cover with a tight-fitting lid. Simmer for 15-17 minutes until the water is absorbed and the quinoa is fluffy. Remove from heat and steam with the lid on for 5 additional minutes. Fluff with fork and chill in the fridge for at least 15 minutes.

2. In a large bowl, toss the quinoa, drained and rinsed black beans, cilantro, carrots, and green onions.

3. Whisk together the dressing in a small bowl or jar. Pour onto salad and toss to combine. Season with salt and pepper to taste. I prefer to enjoy this salad chilled, so I usually throw it into the fridge for at least an hour. This is a great make-ahead salad too – prep it the night before and let it sit in the fridge for up to 24 hours.

easyquinoasaladveganblackbean 7401   Cumin Lime Black Bean Quinoa Salad (quick + easy!)

Another thought – this would also be fantastic with diced avocado and/or mango! Summer tomatoes too. Have fun playing around with the recipe…it’s a good one to adapt.

© copyright 2013 Oh She Glows. All Rights Reserved.
08 Jul 16:05

United States of Awesome

by Jim Behrle

 

Previously: Relation Ships

Jim Behrle tweets @behrle.

---

See more posts by Jim Behrle

19 comments

08 May 00:19

Ultimate List of all the Best Art + Photo Tumblrs to Follow

by Jeff

ultimatearttumblrlist-4

 

*Update February 21st 2017 – We are continuing to update this list, removing Tumblrs that are no longer updated very frequently, and adding more as they are submitted. Please read the text below before submitting your Tumblr for consideration! Thank you all for the help, this has become an amazing resource – let’s keep it going!

We’re compiling an extensive list of all the art and photography Tumblrs worth following and would love your help to make this the ultimate list! Please leave a comment below with your suggestions and we’ll update this list with the best suggestions.

Rules:

1) Your Tumblr must be a survey of work by different people. We are not including individual artists’ portfolio sites.

2) You give credit to the creators, and even better you provide a link to the source of the work.

3) Your Tumblr is updated weekly at the very least. If your Tumblr has been removed because it was inactive, let us know if it’s alive again.

 

+

+    THE ULTIMATE LIST OF THE BEST ART/PHOTO TUMBLRS    +

+

 

adambellefeuil.tumblr.com

antronaut.net

artesostenible.tumblr.com

artofdarkness.co

artruby.com

badbananas.tumblr.com

blackcontemporaryart.tumblr.com

bradypus.tumblr.com

bremser.tumblr.com

bryanschutmaat.tumblr.com

burnsidepacific.tumblr.com

contemporary-art-blog.com

covetarts.tumblr.com

darksilenceinsuburbia.tumblr.com

drawingdiary.tumblr.com

eiginleiki.net

exhibition-ism.com

eyescapemagazine.tumblr.com

folknouveau.tumblr.com

foundinspirationmovingforward.tumblr.com

gallery44.tumblr.com

gh0stgums.com

gills.tumblr.com

grossgaians.tumblr.com

heathwest.tumblr.com

heliocentrism.tumblr.com

hifructosemag.tumblr.com

hldky.tumblr.com

hydeordie.com

hyperallergic.tumblr.com

i-love-art.tumblr.com

iamjapanese.tumblr.com

if-you-leave.tumblr.com

iheartmyart.com

inspiredbyme.tumblr.com

jesuisperdu.tumblr.com

jillsies.tumblr.com

julianminima.tumblr.com

juxtapozmag.tumblr.com

killthecollector.tumblr.com

kinetics.tumblr.com

la-beaute–de-pandore.tumblr.com

lacma.tumblr.com

laravissante.tumblr.com

lesthetiquedelinventaire.tumblr.com

like-ivy.tumblr.com

maciekjasik.tumblr.com

mayanhandballcourt.com

mdme-x.tumblr.com

murmansea.tumblr.com

myampgoesto11.tumblr.com

mydarkenedeyes.tumblr.com

mydeadpony.tumblr.com

nattonelli.tumblr.com

nearlya.tumblr.com

neural-network.tumblr.com

ninebagatelles.tumblr.com

nopefun.com

nyctaeus.tumblr.com

oneforeverywish.tumblr.com

oxane.tumblr.com

photographersdirectory.tumblr.com

photographsonthebrain.com

plotsummary.tumblr.com

razorshapes.tumblr.com

robotscrytoo.com

ronulicny.tumblr.com

ryandonato.com

sculptores.tumblr.com

sculpture-center.tumblr.com

selektormagazine.tumblr.com

semihlakerta.tumblr.com

sensitive.tumblr.com

sfmoma.tumblr.com

shanellpapp.tumblr.com

somewhatreal.tumblr.com

spatula.tumblr.com

spraybeast.tumblr.com

staged-photography.tumblr.com

supersonicelectronic.com

technolowgy.tumblr.com

the-coven.tumblr.com

the-drawing-center.tumblr.com

thefunctionfordrift.tumblr.com

thegetty.tumblr.com

theheavycollective.com

thewowpicture.tumblr.com

thisisnthappiness.com

timelightbox.tumblr.com

toutpetitlaplanete.tumblr.com

unknowneditors.tumblr.com

untrustyou.tumblr.com

visual-poetry.tumblr.com

voodoovoodoo.tumblr.com

whereiseefashion.tumblr.com

whitneymuseum.tumblr.com

wowgreat.tumblr.com

+ + +

 

Leave a comment / Suggest a Tumblr to add!

 

29 Apr 19:47

Michael Pollan's Cooked: Delicious, If a Bit Rich

by Tom Philpott

Having largely abandoned the home kitchen, Americans have embraced the "reality" of TV cooking. We now spend less than 60 percent of our food budgets on groceries for home consumption a third less than we did a half century ago. And when we do eat at home, there's a lot of box opening and microwaving. Time spent cooking has plunged over the past 40 years. According to a 2010 study (PDF) by University of Utah researchers, the time women spend cooking dropped from over 90 minutes per day to 60 minutes per day between 1975 and 2006. And men didn't pick up the slack—their kitchen time hovered around 20 minutes over that period. Meanwhile, cutthroat cooking contests featuring celebrity and would-be celebrity chefs have soared in popularity, as have old-school cooking-demo shows. 

What gives? Why abandon the practice and embrace the spectacle? In his new book Cooked: A Natural History of Transformation, Michael Pollan ventures an answer. We've also abandoned other traditional household pursuits like making furniture or clothes, he notes, but "we're not watching shows or reading books about sewing or darning socks or changing the oil in the car." Our flight from the kitchen has left a void, an itch we can't scratch; unlike other happily discarded activities, cooking "retains an emotional power we can't shake, or don't want to." And so time we once spent doing the act, we now spend watching it.

That pull, he says, emanates from the depths of human history—from the African savannah, circa 1.8 million years ago. Leaning on the work of Harvard anthropologist Richard Wrangam, Pollan claims that cooking, which frees up and concentrates nutrients, probably led to the expansion of the early human brain and sent us down the path that led to civilization. Something so central to the human project cannot be discarded lightly, Pollan insists.

This is a just-so story, of course; there's no way to judge its truth value. But by linking the rise of food TV with the decline of cooking, Pollan has hit upon a powerful correlation, and he marshals impressive evidence of drastic consequences: the expansion of waistlines and the deterioration of health.

Pivoting off this central insight in Cooked, Pollan has written two different books that exist in some tension. One is a lavish, rollickngly told account of Pollan's recent culinary education, his path from pedestrian cook to the sort of fellow who maintains a sourdough starter for bread and makes his own beer. The other is a cri de coeur about our exile from the kitchen and an attempt to lead us—men and women alike—back. "My wager in Cooked," he writes, "is that the best way to recover the reality of food, to return it to its proper place in our lives, is to master the physical processed by which it has been traditionally made."

The first is an unmitigated triumph. As a longtime cooking nerd, I consumed Cooked like I do a plate of pasta with clams: that is to say, voraciously. Pollan organizes his narrative around four cooking styles correlated to the elements of pre-science Europe: fire (barbecue), water (braising), earth (fermentation), and air (breadmaking). For each, he chooses fascinating and charismatic guides, ranging from the storied North Carolina whole-hog pitmaster Ed Smith to the Connecticut "cheese nun" (and Ph.D.-holding microbiologist) Noella Marcellino.

Each of them pops vividly to life on the pages of Cooked, and Pollan places them in an enticing background of deftly researched history, science, and philosophy—and then takes their lessons into his home kitchen for a test run. His legendary chops as a science writer are on full display. Here he is on a loaf of bread, lovingly coaxed from a homemade sourdough starter, as it cooks in his oven:

I closed the oven door gently to make sure I didn't deflate the risen loaf while it finished baking. I needn't have worried. By now, the starches in the dough had "gelatinized"—stiffened enough to formalize the matrix of gluten, which had itself stiffened. During the early moments of baking, the cells of the matrix had ballooned under the pressure of gases expanding in the heat. At least for the first six to eight minutes of oven time, new alveoli continue to form, since the yeasts keep working until the temperature reaches a lethal 130 F. During this period, provided there remain enough sugars to feed them, the rapid flush of heat provides one last, climatic burst of fermentation.

Leave it to Pollan to turn the baking of a bread loaf into steamy drama.  

Incidentally, Pollan's terrific bread section offers a possible explanation for the recent rise of "gluten intolerance" and the general bloated feeling one gets from modern bread. Today's loaves are pumped with fast-acting industrial yeasts and never undergo a lengthy fermentation, Pollan writes. But in that increasingly rare process, "the organic acids produced by the sourdough culture also seem to slow our bodies' absorption of the sugars in white flour, reducing the dangerous spikes in insulin that refined carbohydrates can cause." No wonder I feel fine after eating naturally leavened bread.

But as a clarion to lead the masses back to the kitchen, Cooked falls a bit flatter. True, it inspired me to want to expand and deepen my own kitchen practices—it left me eager to launch my own sourdough culture and rekindled a decades-old ambition to brew beer. But I've been a passionate home cook for 25 years, and worked in restaurants before that. What about the unsaved? By the time Cooked is cooked, Pollan has roasted a whole pig, been scolded by his private kitchen tutor, a Chez Panisse chef, that the dice on his mirepoix for his daube simply won't do (not fine enough), and produced a credible boule under the tutelage of the baking wizard who runs San Francisco's celebrated Tartine. Engrossing as they are to read about, none of these adventures are practical on a Tuesday evening after a long day at the office while the kids are screaming for dinner.

I put the book down wondering if such exertions might, to some, confirm precisely the attitude that Pollan is at pains to dismiss: that cooking is a luxury, a spectator sport, not a daily practice.  

But this quibble doesn't take away from the overall achievement of Cooked. Other writers—Mark Bittman, Suzie Middleton, Tamer Adler—specialize in demonstrating that anyone can cook great from-scratch food without too much fuss or expense. Still others, like Tracie McMillan, have demonstrated the brutal economic realities that undergird our flight from cooking (as with Pollan's other books, labor and class don't register in Cooked). What Pollan has done is written a brilliant set of narrative essays on what it means to transform the raw into the cooked—among the most riveting in English since those of MFK Fisher.

10 Apr 18:58

Interview With a Bedbug

by Nicole Cliffe

As part of our ongoing series of conversations with animals on policy and population control issues, we recently sat down with Warren, a bedbug about to step onto a bean-leaf in Murray Hill.

Us: Hi, Warren, why don't you come sit down over here?

Warren: Sure, just let me...hm...wait a second.

Us: Take your time!

Warren: Something about this doesn't feel right.

Us: No? It's just us. (shows hands)

Warren: (cautiously steps forward)

Us: GOTCHA, YOU SON OF A BITCH!

Warren: (turns to run, gets hopelessly entangled in the hooks of the bean leaf)

Us: GROW OLD AND DIE THERE, I CARE NOTHING FOR YOUR PLEAS.

Warren: You'll never take me alive, you dirty rat!

Us: You think I haven't planned this for years? How it would go? What I would say? What I would wear?

Warren: You weren't so brave when you were putting everything you owned in bags in the freezer. When you cried, and put the feet of your bed into jars of Vaseline. When you missed a bunch of big summer movies because you were too scared to sit in theater seats. Where was your bravado then?

Us: That was then, and this is now. Who knew it would be so simple? So simple.

Warren: Is this really you, though? Will you be able to live with yourself? Are you so cold-blooded as all that?

Us: I thought my blood was warm, Warren. That's what you said. Isn't that why you loved me? My warm blood? Can you taste it now, I wonder?

Warren: It was never personal. You know that.

Us: Oh, Warren, I disagree. I think it was very personal.

Warren: Are you going to leave?

Us: Do you want me to?

Warren: No. Stay, would you? Please stay. Until it's over.

Us: I will. I'll be right here.

Warren: The actor hasn't learned the lines you'd like to hear / He's sad for his people, sad to be defeated / By his own weak body.

Times passes. The rays of the sun move slowly across the floor. The struggling stops. The body relaxes.

Us: (bends over, kisses his head softly, leaves to start our new life)

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See more posts by Nicole Cliffe

81 comments