The Real Food Journal
Robin Asbell is your experienced guide to cooking and eating healthfully, sustainably, and deliciously. Her cookbooks, articles and blog are valuable resources for anyone interested in the good life with good food.
I Like Pumpkin Pie For Breakfast!
We go to Friendsgiving” at a dear friend’s house. It’s a wonderful new tradition, and we are so thankful to be able to do it. The only drawback is that there is no leftover pie! That’s why I came up with this slightly lighter, slightly less sweet “breakfast pie.” It’s made with kabocha squash, a sweet, less watery squash that I love. It’s also really good cold, the next day. Garnish with leftover cranberry sauce, or a dollop of yogurt, for a good start to the day.
Apple-Cranberry Strudel, Thanksgiving or Anytime
If there is one non-negotiable at most Thanksgiving meals, it’s the pumpkin pie. I have to say that I’m in that camp. But there’s room on my table for more than one dessert at the holidays. Nudge that pie over just a little bit, and make room for this strudel. The crisp filo shell is filled with tender apples, lightly spiced with cinnamon and studded with plump dried cranberries. Apple Cranberry Strudel is a celebration of the Fall apple harvest and a nod to the cranberry harvest as well.
Watch Me Make A Veggie Strudel for Thanksiving on TCL!
Watch me wow the taste testers on Twin Cities Live with my Roasted Vegetable and Sage Strudel!
Spooky Squash Claws and Treats for Halloween! So Scary!
Look for the smallest Sweet Dumpling squashes so you can cut them into curved “claw” shapes, then roast to sweet tenderness. Use the black sesame seeds often sold in the sushi section at the store, to get a natural black color.
Thai Seitan-Radish Lettuce Cups, Fast and Tasty
Lettuce Cups have it all. I used canned mock duck, but you can use other kinds of seitan, tempeh, tofu or mockmeats. If you’re looking for a lower carb meal, this is all the great Thai flavors you love, in a leaf of lettuce instead of over rice. You can avoid grains, if that is your thing, and shorten the cooking time, too. Thai Seitan Lettuce Cups are also great finger food for kids.
Pumpkin Spice Chocolate Chip Cookies
Let me be clear, these cookies make much more sense than the Pumpkin Spice Corn Chips On the end cap at your favorite grocery store. These are lovely pumpkin cookies with pumpkin appropriate spices, and some chocolate thrown in for good measure.
Pumpkin Spice Overnight Oats-Comfort In a Bowl
ow often do you eat a good breakfast? Do you ever run out the door with nothing but a cup of coffee under your belt, or do you resort to boxed cereal very day? Treat yourself to a real breakfast. Once you make this easy prep and put it in the fridge, you are set with 4 breakfasts, all you need to do is scoop it into a bowl, or a tub to take with as you run out the door. The pumpkin spice flavor makes it feel like a dessert, but it is truly a nutritious breakfast.
One-Pan Spaghetti with Chickpeas
When I’m out in the world, teaching and speaking about food, I meet people who say they are too busy to cook. Life gets crazy, things pile up, and the next thing you know, you’re eating chips out of a bag, or picking up take-out. Either of those options will fill you up, but it’s probably not going to nourish you the way you deserve to be nourished. It is also a waste of money to eat take out, when you can make a meal for just a few bucks at home.That’s where this One-Pan Spaghetti with Chickpeas comes in. Grab a big pot and start sautéing half a chopped onion, and while it softens, chop some garlic, grate some lemon zest, halve grape tomatoes, chop a carrot. Don’t bother to put on a pot of water to cook the spaghetti-it’s going to cook in the pot with the veggies!
Make Your Own Facial, From Food!
mood, you can slather it all over your body. That’s because homemade skin care is the plant-based way to nourish your skin with ingredients that are good enough to eat. This recipe is actually made from foods that are good for you both inside and out!
Make a Pure Plant Smoky TLT Sandwich
We start with a mushroom, a plant famed for its umami chemicals. Umami, according to this article in Science Direct.com, is the meatiness caused by the presence of sodium salts of glutamic and aspartic amino acids and 5′-nucleotides. What that means is that mushrooms have an extra chemical punch when you eat them, that makes your brain perceive them as more “meaty” and satisfying. Then, we add another umami star, smoke.
Plant Based Smoky “Lox” and “Cream Cheese” Bagels!
The brilliance of carrot “lox” is that it uses the natural color of the carrot and a few simple ingredients to make a silky, smoky bagel topper that really does make you think of lox. The cashew cream cheese helps to support the allusion, giving you that combination of creamy, rich cheesiness under the lox-flavored carrots. It’s really a stunning combination. The capers, red onions and cucumbers also serve to reinforce the feeling that you are really eating a lox and cream cheese bagel at a deli, in the most delightful way.
Roasted Tomato Sauce over Pan-Toasted Gnocchi
Last week, I extolled the virtues of my fave way to put up tomatoes. I’m picking a big bowlful of tomatoes every few days at my house, and I have developed my own routine. Early in the morning, before it gets hot, I roast them, then freeze them. I’ve also posted my method for freezing basil, and it’s my most popular You Tube video to date! Once you have those two essential meal prep items, you have invaluable flavor, concentrated and ready to go. One really fast and easy meal that you can make with your prep is this Roasted Tomato Sauce over Pan-Toasted Gnocchi.
