Category: Recipes

Bake Like an Italian

Chelsea HarperLeave a comment

I like baking cookies and I cannot lie. They are, frankly, the only thing I like baking. I’m borderline afraid of using yeast and cake repulses me. So, cookies!

I loved Italian cookies growing up but never snagged a family recipe, so I was super thrilled when a coworker of mine from Italy brought these into work recently! I made sure to grab her perfect recipe and finally got around to testing it out this morning. Great success, even from this anise skeptic. The best thing about these is that they are preposterously easy to make. They make chocolate chip cookies look like one of the Barefoot Contessa’s fancy soufflés. Let’s get going!

Mama Talia’s Italian Cookies

  • 1 1/2 c butter, melted
  • 3 eggs, beaten
  • 3/4 c sugar
  • 3 c all-purpose flour
  • 1 tsp anise extract*
  • 4 tsp baking powder

For the glaze:

  • 2 c confectioner’s sugar
  • 1/4 tsp anise extract
  • boiling water

*She also mentioned that Sambuca would do the trick in lieu of anisette…

Preheat the oven to 350. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper (the recipe makes 2 dozen). Beat the eggs, and then add the melted butter, anise, and sugar. Beat until smooth. Stir in the flour and baking powder until just combined. Roll the dough into balls. Don’t flatten them! Bake for 10-15 minutes (depending on your oven), rotating at the halfway mark. Let cool completely on the cookie sheets.

When the cookies are cool, make the glaze by drizzling boiling water over confectioner’s sugar and anise and whisking until it reaches an Elmer’s glue-esque consistency. Dip each of the cookies into the glaze until the top is well coated and add sprinkles if desired. Let the glaze harden before storing!

 

See? Literally the easiest cookies ever. Now, to avoid eating a dozen of them instead of tonight’s dinner…

 

Dumb Easy Whiskey Sours & Inauguration Shit

Chelsea HarperLeave a comment

Yeah, that’s right. It’s inauguration Day. The end is nigh. We’ll probably be dead by Monday. So, you deserve a drink tonight. And I’ve got the perfect thing.


I am a whiskey sour fanatic because I’m basic because I love me some citrus, but as I get older, I begin to adopt the Ron Swanson philosophy of drinking: “Clear alcohols are for rich women on diets.”

The major problema with whiskey sours, though, is the fact that sour mix grosses me out. And unless you’re in a hipster-y college town where the bartender makes his own bitters (I see you Ithaca, NY), I doubt that a whole lot of fresh-squeezed lemon is happening. Therefore, I never order these out, and they taste all the more special when I make my own.

[guys remember when Barack Obama was President and we all had faith in humanity remember that oh we were so young so naive and now we have to literally watch the apocalypse happen before our very eyes] 

Wow, sorry for the interruption. I’m having a hard day. ANYWAY, here is my foolproof recipe for perfect whiskey sours every damn time.

Dumb Easy Whiskey Sours

  • juice of half a lemon
  • 1/2 tbsp organic maple syrup
  • 1 oz of your favorite bourbon (I’m using Bulleit)
  • splash of lemon, lime, or pure La Croix

Fill a rocks glass with ice. Pour maple syrup, lemon, and bourbon in and stir vigorously. (Alternately, shake these ingredients in a cocktail shaker, if you’re Bond-style). Add the La Croix as a float—this just determines how strong the drink will be. That’s literally it. Garnish with a lemon rind if you fancy. The interwebs suggests garnishing this with a Maraschino cherry, but that’s vile.

My Inaug Survival Kit: La Croix, Chimamanda, iPod playing Janelle Monae, and this cocktail. Notice how the glass is EMPTY ALREADY?

Speaking of Inauguration Survival Kit, a few suggestions for the new regime:

  • Read. Books. By. People. Of. Color. The nation’s highest office was just reclaimed by bigotry, by a racist, homophobic, transphobic, Islamophobic, anti-Semitic, xenophobic administration, so it’s on us to make sure the voices and stories of the marginalized are heard. We should make Ta-Nehisi Coates a shitload of money this year.
  • Don’t let your family & friends that support this bullshit off the hook. By voting for this regime, they have proven that they don’t value your life. Or their own lives, in most cases. They’re not going to get woke on their own, clearly.
  • Donate your money or time (or both). The ACLU is going to save our asses for the next 4 years. The NAACP and SPLC too. Planned Parenthood is under attack yet again. These, among many other amazing organizations, are the bedrock of our democracy. They deserve your money, your time, or both. Become a monthly donor—$5 a month is enough. The number of individual donors is often as important as the dollar amount per donation. We need to show the regime that we care deeply about our values. Y’know, human rights and stuff.
  • Listen to a fuckload of Janelle Monae. This doesn’t seem like a real suggestion, but it is. It will heal you.
  • Use your money wisely. Any business praised by the regime should be boycotted. We can’t let Fearless Leader sell ad space on the flag (as one amazing Twitter-er observed poignantly). Only support businesses that espouse your values. You’ll find that a whole lot of them do.
  • Let yourself have a drink now and again, but don’t give in to despair. It’s so easy to not give a fuck anymore. The world is trash. But we have the power to get educated. To resist. Apply for that grad program or cool new job. Best case scenario: you get to be around like-minded individuals and fuck shit up. Worst case scenario: nuclear war kills us all and you never have to pay back your loans!

How are you resisting in 2017?

—DellaBites

 

A Smoothie Life Hack for the Ages

Chelsea HarperLeave a comment

I am not a morning person by any stretch of the imagination, so one of the biggest challenges to the whole wellness/smoothie life thing I’ve committed to is, how do I get a smoothie and a cup of coffee into me during my 20-minute drive to work? I need the coffee to do the smiling and the talking (very important in the business we call retail), but I need the smoothie and the protein to not starve to death within my first hour of work. I’ve never been a chugger of liquids—my La Croixs always go flat before I finish them, and I’m used to dealing with watery iced coffee and cocktails. I needed a solution—one that didn’t involve me actually waking up earlier, duh.

So, many moons ago, while make the baby steps towards the wellness journey on which I now find myself, I discovered a little website called Nutrition Stripped. The lifestyle site is run out of Nashville by dietician/nutritionist McKel Hill. It’s basically a smoothie-recipe Mecca. As the completist I am, I pre-ordered McKel’s cookbook and everything. It’s been a big hit here at the Fig household.

So, when I discovered the Mood Boosting Cocoa Smoothie, it was my Eureka moment.

It puts the coffee IN the smoothie!

I’ve made this smoothie, like, a hundred times, with minor variations here and there based on ingredients I have on hand. I’ve been adding spirulina to get those greens! But when you have something every day, you’re bound to get a little restless and want to try new things. Therefore, I give you, The Strawberry Morning Milkshake! It’s just a variation on McKel Hill’s theme, credit where credit is due, but my oh my is it a delight.

Strawberry Morning Milkshake

makes just under 4 cups, serves 2

  • 1 banana, fresh or frozen*
  • 1/2 c. chopped strawberries (about 4 large strawberries), fresh or frozen*
  • 2 tbsp. chia seeds
  • 1 scoop Vega vanilla protein powder
  • 1/2 c. to 1 c. of cold brew
  • 1 c. unsweetened organic almond milk

In a high-powered blender, add all ingredients and blend until smooth! Serve immediately, and refrigerate leftovers for up to two days.

If you have a normal blender, like me, add all ingredients except almond milk, and process at a slower speed until smooth. Then add in your almond milk and go to town on that high setting!

I prefer a thinner smoothie, so I add all of the coffee I possibly can to this. But if you want a classic milkshake feel, I’d keep the 1/2 c. cold brew : 1 c. almond milk ratio.

*I recommend frozen fruit for this recipe, both for the temperature of the smoothie, and the milkshake-esque texture.

Optional Add-ins for Optimal Nutrition

  • 1 tsp spirulina*
  • 1 pitted date (for sweetness)
  • 1 c. baby spinach
  • 1 tbsp. flax seeds or flax meal
  • 2 Brazil nuts

*The spirulina will slightly alter the color and taste of the smoothie, so I recommend trying it once without to get a frame of reference.

So, there you have it. A full cup of coffee and enough protein and nutrients to keep you full until your lunch break. No compromises necessary! You’ll be able to finish this on your morning commute in between embarrassing performances of every song from Hamilton. And if you think strawberries and coffee are an odd combination, have faith, don’t forget your vanilla protein powder, and enjoy!

—DellaBites

 

 

Sweet Heat Chickpeas & Vegan Mashed

Chelsea HarperLeave a comment

So, I accidentally created the best dinner ever tonight. It started with a mashed potato craving, was facilitated by a bunch of produce I needed to use up, and resulted in heaven.

Sweet Heat Chickpeas

  • 2 small beets, peeled & chopped
  • 1 large zucchini, chopped
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 c. green cabbage, chopped
  • 2 cans chickpeas, drained & rinsed
  • 1/4 c. pimenta moida*, or red pepper flakes to taste
  • 2 tbsp. avocado oil
  • 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
  • 1 tsp. paprika
  • salt & ground black pepper to taste

Vegan Mashed 

  • 4 russet potatoes, peeled & chopped
  • 1/2 c. unsweetened organic almond milk (make sure it’s not vanilla!)
  • 3 tbsp. Earth Balance
  • 1/2 tsp. ground white pepper
  • salt & ground black pepper to taste

Preheat your oven to 400. If you have a Convection Roast setting, use it to get that roasty-toasty crunch.

To get the Mashed going, throw your chopped taters in a saucepan, cover them with cold water by about an inch, and bring to a boil. Once boiling, reduce heat and simmer potatoes until fork tender.

For the Chickpeas, add all of the ingredients to a glass baking dish, toss to combine, and stick that mother in the oven. Remove and stir every 5-10 minutes, or as you notice the top of the dish browning. The liquid released from the zucchini will keep everything moist as its cooking, so you don’t really have to worry about anything drying out or burning. The chickpeas are done when the zucchini is soft and the beets are fork-tender (about 20 mins), but you can cook for up to an hour if you prefer more crunch.

While the chickpeas are cooking, drain your potatoes, add in your add-ins, and then mash until smooth. Don’t over-mash or they’ll turn to glue!

so much yum
When the chickpeas are done, give them a good stir, then plate and serve! If you’re like me, you’ll mix the mashed and the chickpeas and veggies into a food mountain on your plate. So delicious!

*A note on pimenta moida: I’ve never actually made this. You can (I assume) buy this at specialty Portuguese grocers. My mother-in-law is from the Azores, and she made an enormous batch of it in the spring and gave some to all the kids. Literally, this is how much pimenta I have:

full size pitcher of cold brew for reference
That thing was FULL just a few months ago. I could drink the stuff.

I hope this recipe helps you all take baby steps towards putting weird shit like beets and cabbage in your dinners! So into cabbage right now!

Bon appetit!

—DellaBites

I Got My Hash Pipe

Chelsea HarperLeave a comment

There is no food I love more than potatoes. Potatoes are the single greatest thing to ever grow out of the earth. Basically, you can do anything to a potato and it still tastes delicious.

One of my fave things to do to a potato is to make them breakfast-appropriate. We don’t eat your typical meat-and-potatoes diet (obviously), so incorporating my beloved potato into meals can be a tad difficult.

Thus, Lazy Sunday Hash was born! And yes, I’m making it on a Wednesday because I don’t abide by the rules of society. This recipe has the added bonus of minimal prep-time and effort!

hash with organic ketchup (for when you run out of eggs)
Lazy Sunday Hash

serves 2 very hungry people, or up to 6 reasonable people

  • 2 Russet potatoes, diced
  • 1 handful of fresh organic green beans, chopped
  • 1 handful of chopped scallions
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1/2 red onion, chopped
  • 2 tbsp avocado or olive oil
  • 2 tsp paprika
  • salt & black pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 350 (use that lovely roast setting if you’ve got it!)


Prep your veggies and put them all into a glass baking dish. Sprinkle on your spices. Toss in the avocado oil until well coated, and stick in the oven.


Slow-roast for an hour, removing and stirring every 15 minutes for even cooking.

**If you don’t have an hour to kill, set the cook temp higher and stir more frequently. The hash is done when the potatoes are fork-tender.


This hash is best-served underneath two over-easy eggs & a generous sprinkling of hot sauce!

Enjoy, mes amis!

—DellaBites

 

Coconut Almond Butter Cookies (vegan optional!)

Chelsea HarperLeave a comment

Have you ever gotten an intense craving for peanut butter cookies in the middle of the night for no reason? Me too, I feel you.

But sometimes, all you have is the fancy-pants freshly-ground peanut butter, so it seems a shame to use it in cookies.

But sometimes, you have a jar of homemade almond butter that you processed with coconut oil and cocoa powder just sitting in the fridge waiting to be used! So, obviously, cookies must be made!

I was lucky enough to receive a pink KitchenAid stand mixer at my bridal shower last month, and these cookies were just the thing to christen it.

I love that homemade cookies always look a little bit wonky.
Coconut Almond Butter Cookies 

Makes 2-3 dozen, depending on how large you like your cookies

1 1/4 c cocoa almond butter (recipe below)

1/2 c coconut oil

1 1/4 c packed light brown sugar

1 tbsp vanilla extract

3 tbsp unsweetened almond milk

1 3/4 c whole wheat flour

3/4 tsp salt

3/4 tsp baking soda

1 egg (or flax egg: 1 tsp flax meal mixed with 2 1/2 tsp of water)

Preheat the oven to 375. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper. I use these!

In a stand mixer with the whisk attachment (or in a bowl with a fork if you’re a normal person), cream together the coconut oil, almond butter, brown sugar, almond milk, and vanilla extract until just combined. Slowly add in the rest of the ingredients and mix until just combined.

Scoop out the batter onto the parchment paper a tablespoon at a time. It will be very gooey, but the coconut oil will keep it from sticking. Once the cookie sheets are full, use a fork to make a crosshatched impression on the top of the cookies, because s’cute.

Bake for 8-10 minutes, rotating the trays halfway through cooking. I like to swap oven shelves at this time to make sure both trays cook evenly.

At (approximately) the 10-minute mark, remove the cookie sheets from the oven and let your cookies cool on a rack. They’ll still be a bit gooey, but don’t overcook them or they’ll turn to rocks. Gooey is good. Gooey means they’ll firm up to the perfect texture.


*Making the co-co-coconut almond butter:

Have you heard? Almond butter is the single easiest freaking thing on planet earth to make. It is the pet cat of foods—it requires minimal effort and doesn’t need any attention paid to it.

makes one lovely mason jar-full

3 c roasted, unsalted almonds

1 heaping tbsp cocoa powder (more if you love chocolate)

1 tbsp coconut oil

Put all the ingredients in a food processor and process on high for 20 minutes, scraping the sides intermittently if you need to. That’s it. The end result is a luscious, creamy heaven-sauce that tastes amazing on waffles, in yogurt, and in smoothies.

Enjoy these amazing (and healthy!) cookies this week!

—DellaBites

Endless Summer Southwest Salad

Chelsea Harper2 Comments

I was lucky enough to go to my town’s farmer’s market this morning, and took home a huge haul of organic veggies! In the blind panic of holy-hell-I-have-way-too-many-zucchini, I decided to create a summer salad inspired by my love of all foods southwestern. It took under 20 minutes to put together and it might be the yummiest thing I’ve ever made!

What you’ll need:


for the salad

2 ears corn, husked with kernels cut off the cob

1 tbsp coconut oil

1 zucchini, diced

1/2 small red onion (or 1/4 large), finely chopped

1/2 lb of grape tomatoes, halved or quartered

1 can black beans, drained & rinsed

salt & black pepper to taste

for the dressing

1 clove garlic, minced

2 tbsp lemon juice (about 1/2 a large lemon)

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

1 tbsp vegenaise (or mayonnaise if that’s your jam)

1/2 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp coriander

1/2 tsp chili powder

1/2 tsp paprika

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1 tsp cilantro (I use Gourmet Garden cilantro paste)

salt to taste

To begin, set your oven to 400 degrees (if you have a roast setting, use this!) Remove the kernels from the corn cobs, toss in a bowl with 1 tbsp coconut oil, and lightly season with salt & pepper. Roast in the oven in a baking dish for 10 minutes, until lightly browned. Remove from the oven and let cool.


While your corn is roasting, prepare your vegetables, rinse your beans, and combine it all in a large mixing bowl. When your corn is cool, add it to the vegetable mixture.

In a blender, food processor, or with an immersion blender, combine all of the dressing ingredients. Add salt to taste. Pour dressing into salad and toss to combine.

Serve on top of a bed of greens, on its own, or as a side with burritos or enchiladas! Top with avocado if you’re feeling frisky!


This is summer in a bowl! So delicious and vegan!

Homemade Ramen

Chelsea HarperLeave a comment

I grew up a ramen junkie. Granted my lily-white mom called it “Oodles of Noodles” but regardless—I was hooked on that Japanese elixir. Chicken, Shrimp, Oriental—whatever flavor that weird atomized msg dust called itself, I was in.

My father (the main culprit of feeding us ramen) tried to “health it up” with frozen veggies, sesame oil, and dried seaweed, but at the end of the day, ramen-from-the-packet is basically death soup. Exactly nothing about it is nutritious…

UNTIL NOW.

I made this last night and was amazed at how delicious it was. Even better than the packets, with the added bonus of ginger and miso!

Homemade Vegan Ramen

3-5 cloves garlic, chopped (your preference)

1 inch fresh ginger, peeled and chopped

2 tbsp soy sauce

1 tbsp sesame oil

4 cups veggie broth

2 cups water

2 tbsp miso paste

2 cups chopped broccoli florets

3 organic carrots (cut to matchsticks)

4 oz rice noodles

chopped scallions

sesame seeds

Roasted Tofu Topping

1 pkg tofu

2 tbsp soy sauce

2 tbsp sesame oil

2 tsp sriracha

The tofu topping is easy, so start with that. Preheat oven to 400. Drain extra firm tofu, press out excess liquid. Dice tofu, and lay in a single layer on a cookie sheet. Drizzle on sesame oil, soy sauce, and sriracha. Bake/roast (depending on your oven) in 5-10 minute intervals, flipping to ensure even cooking. The goal with the tofu is that they’re all evenly coated in flavoring, crisp on the outside, and soft on the inside. Cook for approximately 25 minutes total. Set aside.

To make the ramen, sauté the garlic & ginger in the sesame oil for a few minutes until it smells like heaven in your kitchen. Add the chopped broccoli and carrots. Sauté for a few more minutes, making sure everything gets coated in the sesame oil. If the mixture gets a little dry, drizzle some soy sauce in there. Next, add the broth, water, soy sauce, & miso paste. Mix around until the miso dissolves. Let everything simmer for a few minutes so the carrots can soften. Next, add your noodles. Depending on what type of noodles you have simmer for 5-10 minutes until the noodles are thoroughly cooked. Turn off the heat and add the scallions & a squirt of sriracha.

Ladle into bowls and add the tofu & sesame seeds as a topping. Enjoy!

Do you make from-scratch versions of your favorite junk foods?

—DellaBites

That Bulletproof Coffee Trend

Chelsea HarperLeave a comment

So, unless you’ve been living in a cave for the past few years, you’ve heard of Bulletproof Coffee. When you Google it, about 1,000 think pieces about it come up; some people praise it like it’s Sliced Bread 2016, others mock it for being possibly the world’s stupidest idea. I haven’t tried the real thing (drinking butter seems highly gross to me), but I do drink a lot of coffee, so any way to pack more nutrition into it seems like a good idea to me!

Lucky Goat coffee beans, chia seeds, organic coconut oil, & cinnamon

 

An amazing dairy-free version already exists, via Nutrition Stripped, but as I don’t have powdered medicinal mushrooms or maca at my disposal, I thought I’d try my hand at a layman’s version. Vegan living isn’t that hard if you’re creative in the kitchen!

I only used ingredients that I always keep in my house, and it tastes pretty delicious! I can see myself making this on work mornings to stave off hunger until break time.

Frothy Power Coffee

serves 1, hot or iced

8 oz. cold brew or freshly-brewed hot coffee

2 oz. unsweetened organic almond milk

1 tsp. organic coconut oil

1 tsp. chia seeds

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 tsp. of nutmeg

sweeten to taste (I recommend 100% maple syrup)

Pour all ingredients into a blender until frothy and then serve! A word of caution—if you choose to serve this cold/iced, the coconut oil will start to solidify over time, giving the drink a chalky consistency. Hot is probably the way to go for those of us with texture issues!

All the above measurements are estimates. You know how you like your coffee! If you take your coffee black, skip the almond milk altogether and sub in more coconut oil. Add some cocoa powder to make it a mocha or blend in some fresh raspberries. Totally customizable.

There are endless ways to enjoy this super easy drink, without bankrupting yourself at the health-food store.

Well, I’m off to start cooking brunch! We ran out of tempeh so I can’t make my kickass “bacon.” So much sadness!

Happy brewing!

—DellaBites

Vegan Tempeh Bacon

Chelsea HarperLeave a comment

Love bacon but hate the inhumane slaughter of one of Earth’s smartest and cutest creatures? Me too!

baby-miniature-pigs_large
image via google
I’m not going to sit here and act like I’ve never eaten or will never again eat a pork product. I don’t eat pork, but unless you personally make every single meal you eat, there’s really no way to 100% know. I’m not perfect! But pigs are very awesome, so until I convince my fiancé that a pet pig is a really good investment, I’m just going to eat all of this vegan “bacon” in one sitting.

Here’s the deal: I love to cook, but I’m also deeply passionate about recipes involving fewer than 5 ingredients with 20 minute prep/cook times.

Vegan Tempeh “Bacon”

makes 4 servings (or 2, because let’s be real)

1 pkg. tempeh

1 tbs olive oil

1 tbs soy sauce

1 tsp liquid smoke

Preheat oven to 400. Combine liquid ingredients in a small bowl. Slice tempeh as thin as you can, trying your best to replicate the shape of bacon. Thinner slices mean crispier, cruncher “bacon” (this is obviously the best way to eat it, screw anyone that likes it soggy). Thicker slices are heartier and more Canadian bacon-esque. Lay all of your slices on a piece of parchment paper on a cookie sheet (no need to grease the paper), and brush on your marinade. Bake for 7-10 minutes, depending on your oven (mine has a convection bake setting). Take the cookie sheet out, flip your slices, and brush the marinade on the other side. Bake for another 7-10 minutes, this time checking to make sure the pieces haven’t burned. When you take them out of the oven, they’ll be sizzling deliciously. Let them cool for a couple of minutes and enjoy!

My favorite way to enjoy these are between whole grain toast with mashed avocado! Or for omnivores, add a fried egg & melted Swiss to the above equation.

Happy baking!

—DellaBites

P.S. Sorry there are no process pictures, but this is so quick and so delicious that they were gone before I could even grab a camera!