Pan-Fried Gnocchi with Green Goddess Sauce and Quick-Pickled Carrots

Last week my little brother was in town from the USA and we had an incredibly fun and ridiculously debaucherous time with him and a pair of his hilarious friends. Not being used to the many party-friendly novelties of Berlin (you can drink on the street! bars never close! everything great is walking distance!) they made it their mission to stay up all night every night and take it all in. I managed to avoid the craziness for a few nights but by the weekend I was in too, and I think I'll be recovering for some time. (Also from the heartbreak of suddenly having to go cold-turkey off of American-boy humor, which I apparently have really been missing.)

So for dinner after they left I decided to make something with a lot of raw garlic and green stuff to stave off oncoming infections surely flooding my weakened immune system. The perfect thing? Green Goddess dressing from Appetite for Reduction, a garlicky, tahini-laced herb dressing with tons of punch. Instead of serving it on a salad like normal however, I opted for some comfort food (to soothe my empty-nest syndrome). What better than some toothsome gnocchi? I boiled a couple of potatoes, set on the window sill to cool off, then put them through a potato ricer and kneaded the resulting mash with flour until it was easy to form little dumplings. Then I pan fried it in some olive oil and margarine. For a final kick, I peeled a carrot and quick pickled it in a bit of vinegar and sugar in the fridge.

Two parts raw, one part cooked, and extremely vibrant and delicious. I can think of many variations on this theme...

Another bright and delicious weeknight meal that incorporates a raw dressing? Another rendition of the sweet potato, tahini and onion dish from Jerusalem, served alongside some kale with garlic, diced red peppers, and a dollop of pomegranate molasses.  

Man I should eat like this every night! But then, what would I tell the veggie dogs in my fridge...?


Song of the Day: Paolo Conto- Sparring Partner

Weeknight Delicacies

Don't get me wrong- I definitely don't miss being unemployed. But working sure puts a cramp in one's cooking style. It's one thing to whip up a fabulous dinner when you have all afternoon to putz around, boiling beans, caramelizing onions, or picking up exotic ingredients from lazy walks to the market. Now that I have a moderate level of employment that takes up the better part of a day, its sometimes a struggle to make something for dinner that is not totally half-assed. Luckily, this is where other people's hard work on recipes comes in  handy!

Sweet Potatoes and Onions with Garlicky Tahini Sauce

I just recently got a really lovely new cookbook from Berlin's biggest English bookstore, where I like to spend aimless Saturday's reading England's best-sellers, which include more than a few books about Downton Abbey as well as one too many books about World War II. As far as cookbooks, they usually have a bunch of Jamie bloody Oliver and Nigella Lawson picture books and use the metric system and its just not appealing to me. But this time they had a really huge and gorgeous cookbook called "Jerusalem" from Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi and I fell in love. Its not vegetarian, but its packed with vibrant combinations and fresh techniques and quite a few of them would only need some tweaking to make it suitable for vegans. The above recipe, the first one I tried, is broiled sweet potatoes and onions covered with a simple tahini sauce and spices... its pretty much a starter, but it was so delectable that I'm totally thrilled to try to the rest of the recipes, especially when Spring comes and we can get a decent tomato up in this joint.

Manhattan Glam Chowder

Another recipe genius I don't mind exploiting is Isa Chandra (Miss Moskowitz if yr nasty) who has a veritable treasure trove of quick and tasty (yet still exciting) weeknight meals. I've been particularly enjoying her soups lately, and especially those ones imitating fish soups. Last week I tried the Bouillabaisse with Roasted Yellow Squash as well as the Manhattan Glam Chowder from Appetite for Reduction (pictured.) Both rich, tomatoe-y and soul-satisfying, I would recommend both. (The Bouillabaisse was particularly surprising- who knew roasted squash was such a flavor booster? Not I.)

Spaghetti and Bean-balls with nooch

Also from Isa is the famous mock-meatballs "Spaghetti and Beanballs" from V'Con. Never tried this recipe before despite having worn out the book from cover to cover, and discovered it was an easy and crowd-pleasing weeknight supper, especially if you have your own favorite tomato sauce recipe down-pat.

Sweet Potato and Mushroom "Quesadillas"

I also came up with another simple after-work supper- Sweet Potato Quesadillas. This would be as flexible as the ingredients you have on hand. I sauteed some mushrooms, peppers, onions and garlic for a nice sofrito, while boiling a huge sweet potato, peeled and cut into chunks. When the sweet potato was fork-pieceable, I drained it and mashed it with a bit of soymilk, margarine, cinnamon and cumin.

To assemble and cook, you preheat an oiled frying pan to medium high heat and throw a tortilla in there. Plop some sweet potatoes in there and spread out a bit from the center, then add in the sofrito. Cover with the next tortilla and press gently to spread out the filling. After a 2-3 minutes, flip and fry on the other side until nicely browned. You could serve this with salsa or sour cream- I served it with smashed avocado and lime.

Domestic dominance and work aptitude? CHECK!

 Song of the Day: Two Door Cinema- What you know

Cold Comfort

Winter time, and the living is easy.

The weather is extremely mild (for Berlin), I've got a little money for once, and I have lots of fun parties and meet-ups to attend before heading back to the USA for the holidays. With all of this good luck, I've been cooking up a storm of comfort food.

Above are potato and spinach enchiladas with a side of avocado. Enchiladas are really just the greatest. Once you've got a standard recipe, you can substitute whatever you have on hand to make a simple dinner. I used my normal recipe for Chipotle Plantain enchiladas, but subbed the filling out for a simple mash of boiled potatoes and spinach (with a bit of salt and pepper and soymilk) With frozen spinach anbd potatoes it doesn't get much cheaper than this recipe. I also subbed out the chipotle in the sauce, getting the heat instead from a tablespoon of cayenne pepper. Spicy and delicious.

Next I made the Mac and Cheeze from the archives of the mysteriously disappeared Veganyumyum. Its a great recipe because if you have a decently stocked vegan cupboard, you likely have most of the ingredients on hand. (Tahini, miso, soy sauce, nooch, lemon juice, ect.) The dish itself is extremely satisfying and even somewhat cheeselike. Hmmm, maybe I should whip up another batch today...

Last but not least, we have a boring (read: easy and delicious) curry with potatoes, carrots, zucchini, tofu, and tons of garlic and ginger. The curry is coconut based with tomatoes thrown in too. Topped with a little sriracha, its the kind of thing I like to make a big batch of then eat all week for lunch.

Ah, winter... if you keep behaving, you can stay a little longer.

Song of the day: Spandau Ballet- True

Tahini Two Ways

Tahini is one of those ingredients that people are rarely aware of before they turn vegan, like agave nectar, kale, or almond butter. But upon being tapped by the vegan fairy, you are obligated to consume large quantities of it in everything from soup to muffins, and I gladly oblige, especially since its so cheap and plentiful here in Germany! Its one of the middle eastern ingredients I've become exceedingly fond of, alongside pomengranate molasses. I'm basically using both every day.

Last night I made a simple tahini-miso dressing (equal parts tahini and dark miso, a bit of agave and some water whisked together) to drizzle over roasted sweet potatoes and carrots, alongside rice and garlicky rainbow chard. It was such a light and perfect meal, and the tahini sauce was a total match made in heaven for the sweet potatoes.

Then, this morning, still on my tahini kick, I whipped up a big batch of thick, spreadable hummus for my sesame and poppy seed bagels du jour, which my friend and I happily gobbled up drizzled in a little pomengranate molasses. Total heaven.


And I've heard that sesame seeds have calming properties, which is good since I am fairly freaked about the elections today in the USA. I guess not all tea-partiers are anti-gay, anti-immigrant, ultra-nationalist religious fundamentalists, right? RIGHT?

Song of the Day: NOFX- We got to jealous agains

PS: You absolutely MUST go check out Kittee's Dia de los Muertos sugar skulls at Cake Maker to the Stars and Amey's equally gorgeous and outrageous sugar cookies at Vegan Eats and Treats, I'm so in awe!