I know lots of people who don’t like cooked carrots. And I understand why. There’s nothing more blah and boring than squishy, sweet carrot mush. For years I only ate them raw or lightly steamed, or chopped finely as a base for soups and sauces. But ever since I’ve discovered that you can roast carrots, I can’t get enough of the cheerful little buggers. Today I experimented a bit, and came with this recipe. The carrots are roasted for quite long, which makes them pleasantly soft but also gives them a nice hearty flavor. The spices, lemon juice and honey add some interest. If you’re one of those people who claims to not like carrots, I encourage you to try these. (more…)
Posts Tagged ‘side’
Lentil salad with goat’s cheese and parsley
Today’s dinner is one I am particularly proud of. We had my favorite lentil salad, roasted carrots, some fantastic pita bread I bought a while ago from the jewish district, a spiced garlicky lemon-dill-yoghurt sauce I made, and some harissa for spice. It was a lovely, flavorful vegetarian meal, somewhat middle-eastern inspired, and very nutritious. I’ll post the lentil salad recipe first and tackle the carrots in the next post, because I think they both deserve to shine on their own.
Pommes Duchesse with cheese and parsley
I guess it’s tie to admit that I have very little experience with preparing Dutch food. Not that there’s anything wrong with it…per se. Or, you know, maybe there is! Its main flavor components are “salt” and “fat,” textures range from “gooey” to “gluey” and its main themes are “meat” and “potatoes.”
But even Dutch cuisine has its highlights, and a good “gehaktbal” (meatball) is one of them. Every grandma has her own top-secret recipe, and some of those recipes are fucking brilliant! Sadly, I don’t own one. Marbles’ mom, however, is widely renowned for her meatballs. And today I found out why! Marbles brought home some of her mom’s balls this weekend, and they were really damn delicious. But I can’t give you a recipe, it being Top Secret and all.
Instead, I’ll live you the recipe for my cheese-and-parsley pommes duchesse. They are the pretty little potato rosettes sitting next to that delicious looking meatball. And they’re surprisingly easy to make. (more…)
Potato gnocchi with sage butter
Gnocchi. Food of the gods! I even liked the gummy, prepackaged kind sold at Dutch supermarkets before I moved to Slovenia, where, by virtue of being located right next to Italy, people know how to make really NICE gnocchi. Then I had the pleasure of tasting some FANTASTIC potato Gnocchi in Gardona in Italy, at a little restaurant up in the hills frequented by local workmen and such. Those were something else altogether! They were light and fluffy and perfectly seasoned, accompanied by a simple brown butter with fresh, wild sage. That’s when I decided I had to master the art of making gnocchi. (more…)