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Vegan Queso Recipe

My oldest daughter is a freshman in college, if you can believe it. I totally cannot believe because I feel like I was just in college! She’s going to school in Texas where she is enjoying a lot of (shocking, I’m sure) Tex-Mex food. When we went to visit over Parents’ Weekend, our first meal was at Torchy’s Tacos and the first thing my daughter ordered was two quesos.

Normally my daughter is a pretty healthful eater, but I know she has a weakness for Sprinkles cupcakes and melted cheese, although let’s assume not in the same bite. Not that “queso” is actually cheese, even though that’s exactly what it means in Spanish. “Queso” in a Tex-Mex restaurant is basically doctored up melted Velveeta or a Land O’Lakes product called Extra Melt. Uh, that to me isn’t real cheese. And even if it were real cheese, pasteurized cow dairy is not awesome for you. Small amounts, ok. Fermented or cultured, a little better. Sheep or goat dairy, I’m in.

So I said to my daughter, “I can make a vegan version of this that I think is even better and won’t give you zits in the morning.”

“Whaaaat??? Since when? You’ve been holding out on me!”

Maybe so. In the meantime, I passed on the so called “queso.”

I did teach this vegan queso-type dip in my classes last year, and I figured it would be perfect to share before the Super Bowl. This recipe is actually a twist on my vegan mac and cheese recipe, jazzed up with jalapeño, black or pinto beans, and my new favorite product, Whole Foods organic frozen fire-roasted corn. If you haven’t made the mac and cheese, I am in love with it. Delicious and mostly veggies – no fake cheese, no nutritional yeast but still crazily resembles cheese sauce. And this version is a Tex-Mex-healthy-not-cheese-party that I am in love with, too.

This vegan “queso” I have used on nachos for the kids, on baked potatoes with salsa, on breakfast tacos and on spaghetti squash. Love it! I will come clean and tell you I much prefer it with butter over Earth Balance. Updated: Miyoko’s vegan butter works perfectly. If you absolutely cannot have butter, use the Earth Balance or Miyoko’s. If you have a choice, use the butter. I always use butter. Because it’s better. And then this isn’t vegan, but it’s cheese sauce made out of vegetables!!

This queso can be made a day or two ahead and reheated. It does not freeze well. Updated: it will be fine frozen, but you have to reblend it after defrosting it. But you won’t need to freeze it because you’re going to eat it ALL!! I don’t even care who wins the game on Sunday. Just give me a super bowl of queso!

2.06.21 I am updating the recipe to reflect the fact that some salts may be “saltier” than others.

5.0 from 3 reviews

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Vegan Queso

Author: Pamela

Serves: 4-6

I often serve this with no add-ins. So feel free to leave out the jalapeno, corn and beans if you like.

Ingredients

2 Tablespoons chopped shallots
1 cup (about 7 ounces) chopped Yukon gold potatoes (you can leave the peel on)
¼ cup chopped carrots (about 1 small carrot)
⅓ cup chopped onion
1 cup water
¼ cup raw cashews (soaked for 1-5 hours and drained if your blender is weak)*
5 Tablespoons unsalted butter (not vegan) or Miyoko's or organic Earth Balance (both vegan)**
1½ - 2 teaspoons sea salt (use less if using vegan butter or if you've never made this before)
¼ teaspoon garlic, minced (about 1 medium clove)
¼ teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 Tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice (optional, but add it if you have it)
¼ teaspoon black pepper
pinch of cayenne pepper
1 small jalapeno, seeds discarded, diced (about 3 Tablespoons)
½ cup frozen fire-roasted corn, defrosted
¾ cup cooked pinto or black beans, rinsed and drained if using canned
Accompaniments: tortilla chips, sweet potato chips, baked sweet potato wedges, baked fingerling potato halves

Instructions

In a medium saucepan, add the shallots, potatoes, carrots, onion and water and bring to a boil. Lower to a simmer and cook, covered, for 15 minutes, or until vegetables are very soft.
Place the cashews, butter, salt, garlic, mustard, lemon juice, black pepper, and cayenne in a blender or food processor. Add the softened vegetables and cooking water to the blender or food processor and process until perfectly smooth. Taste for salt and adjust seasoning if needed.
Pour sauce back into pot, and add the jalapeno, corn, and beans. Warm over medium-low heat for 4-6 minutes. Can be made ahead and reheated.

Notes

*Options here: to save the step of soaking cashews, cook the cashews with the vegetables. OR use the same amount of RAW cashew butter or JOI almond butter base (it's blanched and raw and has no flavor) or cooked white beans if you are nut-free.
**only use Earth Balance if you can't use Miyoko's vegan butter or can’t or won’t tolerate butter. The dip turns out better with Miyoko's or dairy butter, in my opinion.

Roasted Cabbage Wedges Recipe

I teach five recipes in a typical cooking class and there’s usually a dark horse in there — a dish that no one is expected to be wowed by, but ends up being the surprise hit of the menu. Case in point is this recipe for roasted cabbage wedges, which everyone went crazy over and I heard multiple times, “I wasn’t thinking this was going to be anything special, but I love it!”

First of all, no one is ever wowed by cabbage, sadly. I am a huge fan of the whole cabbage fam, and wrote about it in one of my recent Friday Favorites posts. It’s such a nutritious, VERSATILE, inexpensive, and delicious veg which is grown domestically all year round. Most people think cabbage and think cole slaw, which is fine but there are many, many more delicious (and healthful) ways to enjoy cabbage.

Roasting cabbage will change your mind about this under-appreciated vegetable. It has become my favorite, and my family’s favorite, way to eat cabbage. Even Mr. Picky, my now 11-year-old son, likes it! That is cause for celebration here because there are very few cooked vegetables he likes. And even more reason for me to share this recipe plus this could not be easier to make.

Even though I call these “wedges,” I know they’re more like slabs. But the word “slab” is really unsexy and possibly a turn-off, so I had to do a little creative marketing here. When cabbage is roasted, it becomes very mild and sweet, almost buttery. If you’re lucky, the edges will get a little crispy and kind of smoky. For my family, I just serve the cabbage roasted as is, but I did teach this in my class with a lemony-mustard drizzle just for fun. I’ve also seen images on Pinterest and elsewhere where people take the roasted cabbage and separate the layers and make it feel like noodles. So clever!

I prefer to use a saturated fat like coconut oil when I cook at higher temps (like 400 degrees) because it doesn’t oxidize and create free radicals like an unsaturated fat does, like olive oil. I don’t think the cabbage tastes like coconut AT ALL, but coconut oil just makes the cabbage taste sweeter. I am in love with coconut oil-roasted veggies like sweet potato, winter squashes, carrots, cauliflower and broccoli. Give it a try sometime. If you are allergic to coconut oil or you just detest it, feel free to use olive oil in an equal amount. Roast these babies up and serve them with basically anything — poultry, fish, rice pilaf, cauliflower mashed potatoes and so on. It’s the perfect comfort food that won’t weigh you down and likely to fit into your January resolutions!

5.0 from 1 reviews

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Roasted Cabbage Wedges

Author: Pamela

Serves: 4-6

Ingredients

1 head of green cabbage, cut through the core into 1-inch thick rounds
2-3 Tablespoons melted unrefined virgin coconut oil (or olive oil)
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Dressing: (cabbage is perfectly delicious without the dressing)
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
2 teaspoons lemon juice
a pinch of sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 Tablespoons of finely chopped fresh chives
2 Tablespoons unrefined, cold-pressed extra-virgin olive oil

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a rimmed baking sheet with unbleached parchment paper.
Brush the cut side of each cabbage round with oil and place in one layer on the prepared sheet. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste.
Roast cabbage, about 40-45 minutes, flipping over after 20 minutes. Cabbage should be tender and lightly golden around the edges.
Whisk dressing ingredients together in a medium bowl. Drizzle cabbage with dressing if desired.

cabbage coconut oil

DIY Gluten-free Multi-grain Porridge Recipe

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day not only because it jumpstarts your brain and your metabolism, gives you fuel to get going, provides energy until your next meal, but it also sets the tone for how you feel and what you crave the rest of the day.

Hypothetically speaking, if I eat a doughnut for breakfast, my blood sugar will surge, then plummet, making me cranky and not able to think very clearly. I will be hungry a short while later, and psychologically other things can happen. That sugar may initiate more cravings for sweets during the day. I might be annoyed with myself for eating something “bad” and feel depressed afterwards. I could even think my whole day of eating has already been “ruined” and so I throw in the towel and eat a whole other bunch of crap, which we all know is a crazy thing to do, but it happens to the best of us.

The key is to eat the right amount of the right combination of high quality protein, fats and complex carbohydrates at breakfast.

At least twice each week, I make a big pot of warm porridge, usually steel cut oats, but occasionally another grain or two. I set out a bunch of different jars on the counter so everyone can make their own “power bowl” with fresh or dried fruit, nuts or nut butter, seeds, coconut, granola, and the like.

Last year I decided to change it up a bit and mix a bunch of different grains I had lying around and see what would happen. It’s always a good idea to expose yourself to more nutrients and flavors! I chose grains that all had similar cooking times — millet, quinoa, rolled oats and “creamy buckwheat cereal.” The buckwheat cereal is just the cut version of whole buckwheat groats, so it cooks faster. I loved it and so did my husband! My son, who doesn’t like to try anything new, thought it was “ok.” But he finished his bowl and eats it all every time I make it. (I think he secretly likes it.)

Many of my students have asked me for the “recipe” after seeing many a bowl of multigrain porridge on my Instagram feed. There’s really no one recipe for how to do this. I usually use 1 cup of mixed grains, so you can divide that equally into 1/4 cups of each of 4 grains. Or you can do mostly oats if that’s what is most familiar to you and a couple tablespoons of the other ones. (Mixing the grains makes for a more complex flavor than just one note.) I like to cook with water and when the grains are nice and soft and porridge-like, finish it off with something creamy like almond milk. If you are desperate to get more protein into your breakfast, you can certainly cook your grains with milk from the start.

You can also use other grains like wheat berries (not GF), brown rice, spelt (not GF), barley (not GF) and steel cut oats, but keep in mind those take longer to cook even if you soak them the night before (which you should do — see this post for why.)

There are infinite possibilities for toppings or add-ins, but I have included a few images of my latest creations (sorry there are no images of the porridge in the pot — the steam fogged up my camera and the pictures were a mess!) and you can check this post on some of my favorite oatmeal concoctions. Make your next breakfast count!

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DIY Gluten-free Multi-grain Porridge

Author: Pamela

Serves: 3-4

Ingredients

1 cup mixed gluten-free grains (I like a combination of rolled oats*, quinoa, millet, and creamy buckwheat), preferably soaked overnight in water and drained
4 cups water (use 3 ½ cups of water if grains were soaked)
½ - 1 cup unsweetened almond milk or milk of choice (click here for how to make your own almond milk)

Instructions

In a medium saucepan, combine the grains and water. Bring to a boil over high heat, reduce heat to a simmer and cook covered.
Cook until all the grains are tender, about 25-30 minutes. If grains were previously soaked, they will cook much more quickly!
Stir in the almond milk according to whether you like your porridge is thick or thin until porridge is nice and creamy. Serve immediately or refrigerate for a few days. Reheat in a saucepan with a little water or almond milk to desired consistency.

Notes

*Look for specially labeled Gluten-free oats if you are gluten-intolerant or are trying to limit gluten.

buckwheat millet oats quinoa

Wild salmon patties recipe (gluten-free and paleo)

Happy new year! I’m just curious, are you on a cleanse? Which one? There are soooo many, I’m not sure if you’ve noticed. I have noticed, because I live in LA and I teach cooking classes all the time and once I resume teaching tomorrow, I’m going to hear all about what cleanses my students are on!

Some are hard core and just drink juice all day. I swear. Just. Juice. No. Food. Others will suffer through a concoction of lemon juice, cayenne pepper, and maple syrup. Then there are easier cleanses where you can actually eat real food, as long as it doesn’t contain gluten, alcohol, dairy, sugar, red meat, or caffeine. Or peanuts. Or oranges. Or tomatoes.

I’m just having a little fun here. I think if a cleanse can help break some bad habits, great. I’m not really a fan of not eating food though, unless you are at a spa and you don’t have to work, drive your kids to school, help them with homework or make meals for your family.

I am a fan of thinking about the person you want to be – healthy, energetic, positive, creative, maintaining a healthy weight – and making a commitment to eat in a way that supports that vision. Continuing to overeat and drink after the holidays does not promote good health. Overdoing sugar and simple carbs doesn’t either. Maybe just a little more mindfulness and some specific, realistic goals are what we need.

How does all this tie into these wild salmon patties? Not sure. But my son, Mr. Picky, thought I should finally post this recipe. Yes, Mr. Picky loves these salmon patties. I know he probably shouldn’t be called Mr. Picky anymore, but I could give you 579 reasons why the name stays. Mr. Picky actually does like salmon, as well as many other types of fish. The more simply prepared, the better.

The first time I made these salmon patties, Mr. Picky said to me, “Mom, the next time you want to make salmon, think salmon patties!” Ok, little dude. These are a little different from many fish patties though, because they are lacking filler. They’re basically just salmon. No bread, breadcrumbs or crackers were used here. Maybe that’s why I thought they’d be a good, clean eat at the beginning of the new year when a lot of us are looking for good, clean eats.

They are also made with canned salmon, so this can be a last minute pantry meal if you happen to keep canned salmon around. I buy my canned salmon from Vital Choice because it’s the best I’ve found. It’s wild, clean, and the cans are not lined with BPA. What more can you ask for? (Unfortunately, it’s a tad expensive. But feel free to use whatever canned wild salmon is your fave.) I also love this recipe because you can prepare the patties in the morning, refrigerate them and then cook them up for dinner when you get home. Love recipes like this!

I serve these on a salad with avocado and baked sweet potato fries, or with cauliflower mashed potatoes and some greens. I suppose you could serve them on a hamburger bun, but only if you’re eating flour, grains, gluten and you’re not Paleo or grain-free. Just saying.

4.4 from 8 reviews

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Wild Salmon Patties

Author: Pamela

Serves: makes 8 patties (I think this serves 4 people well)

Ingredients

24 ounces canned wild salmon, preferably without bones, drained
2 large eggs, beaten
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
2 small or 1 large shallot, minced
2 garlic cloves, minced
zest of 1 lemon
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon sea salt
freshly ground black pepper to taste
unrefined coconut oil or olive oil for sautéing

Instructions

Place the drained salmon in a large bowl and break it up with a fork.
Add remaining ingredients, except oil, to the bowl and gently mix until combined.
Form into patties with your hands and place on a flat plate or small baking sheet. Refrigerate, covered, for at least 30 minutes or up to 1 day.
Warm a griddle or large skillet over medium with enough oil to cover the pan ⅛-inch deep.
Place the salmon patties in the pan and cook until golden brown on the underside. Carefully flip the patty (I like to do this by sliding a metal spatula under the patty with one hand and flipping the patty against the side of the pan and allowing it to slide back down to cook the other side. This will help avoid splattering and breaking the patty.) and cook the other side until golden brown. You don’t have to worry about whether or not the salmon cakes are cooked through, because canned salmon is already cooked.
Serve warm with a side salad or on a rice bowl. I also like putting a little chipotle Vegenaise and some avocado on top.

Dijon mustard shallots wild salmon

Dutch baby pancake recipe

When I think back to my childhood, I don’t think “deprivation” or “missing out.” But the fact that I didn’t know about and had never had a Dutch Baby until I was an adult makes me a little sad, like my family was out of the loop. So many people recall fond memories of leisurely Sunday family breakfasts with Mom pulling a puff of sweet heaven out of the oven. Wow. My mom did not get that memo. My husband came home when we were first married with a small pizza box from a restaurant called Dinah’s by Los Angeles International Airport. Inside was a very buttery, cinnamon and sugar-covered disc of sliced apples held together with a minimum of batter. “It’s a German apple pancake. Have you never had one of these before?” Wow. No, I had not. A Dutch Baby pancake, similar to the German apple pancake, is a puffed, kind of ugly pancake that is more egg-y than flour-y. It’s not quite like a pancake that you make on the stove in that it’s a little denser, but very delicious it its own way and so much easier because you make the batter in a blender and then bake the whole thing in the oven.

The best part of a Dutch Baby oven pancake is when you first pull it out of the oven. It goes in as a thin batter in a skillet, and comes out as an irregularly puffed, golden, warm pancake with a sweet aroma of vanilla. The. Best.

The Dutch Baby pancake recipes I have seen involve the regular suspects: white flour, white sugar, milk, eggs and butter. Those suspects are easily changed to whole grain or even gluten-free flour, maple syrup, almond milk, but I still keep the eggs and butter. You can change the butter to Earth Balance if you need to. But I’m not quite sure how to make a Dutch Baby without eggs. Plus that’s where the protein comes into play if you are wanting to serve this for breakfast on its own.

What you put on a Dutch Baby can vary from lemon juice and butter (very popular actually,) to fresh or cooked fruit to powdered sugar or maple syrup. We keep it simple in our house with seasonal fruit, like sautéed apples and pears in the fall/winter and berries in the summer. It is incredibly good with fresh blueberry sauce. Recipe here and you can make it with frozen blueberries!

I always take two weeks off around Christmas and New Years to spend with my family. Maybe you have a little time off too, or perhaps you are having friends for brunch on New Years Day. These are the days that I like to make breakfasts that are a little more special, that we can sit a savor for a bit longer. Hoping you can find some time to do just that this week. And if you do, this Dutch baby recipe is the perfect one to try.

Wishing you and yours a happy, healthy, peaceful and joyous 2015!

5.0 from 3 reviews

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Dutch Baby Pancake

Author: Pamela

Serves: 4 (but I swear I could eat the entire thing myself)

Ingredients

2 Tablespoons unsalted butter
3 large eggs, at room temperature
¾ cup whole milk or almond milk, at room temperature
⅔ cup whole grain flour, such as spelt or whole wheat pastry or ¾ cup all-purpose flour or your favorite GF flour blend
¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
1 Tablespoon pure maple syrup or sweetener of choice
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
Accompaniments: fresh fruit, preserves, butter, powdered sugar

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Place the butter in a 9-inch skillet or pie plate and transfer the skillet to the oven until the butter is melted. Brush the sides of the skillet with the melted butter.
Add eggs, milk, flour, salt, syrup and vanilla to a blender and process for 1 minute.
Pour batter into the skillet with the melted butter and bake until puffed and set, about 20 minutes.
Serve immediately with desired accompaniments.

Notes

Room temperature ingredients, as well as whole milk and all-purpose flour make the pancake rise the best. But it will still turn out well with whole spelt flour and almond milk.

eggs milk vanilla whole wheat pastry flour

Turmeric latte recipe

My friend Alex sent me an email a few weeks ago with the subject line: “new obsession”. Alex and I have very similar tastes in food and she is also not one for melodrama, so I knew this was an email I was interested in reading. She proceeded to write: ” I have a new obsession. Full out obsession” with the recipe for a delicious-sounding “Turmeric Tea.” Thank you, Alex! Right up my alley. Print!

I don’t know what has taken me so long to wind down an evening, any evening, with a cup of warm, anti-inflammatory turmeric tea or latte. It’s everything I love — soothing, nourishing, delicious and might even help me sleep better to boot. The same day I received Alex’s email, a text came through from another girlfriend, whose husband was instructed to follow and anti-inflammatory diet. “Can you tell me what foods are anti-inflammatory? Need to get on this pronto!” First thing I wrote back was … turmeric.

I love turmeric in curries, stews, juices and I even add it to my homemade taco seasoning. Because turmeric runs bright, flaming yellow, I also use it in place of saffron sometimes (like in Mediterranean fish stew and paella.) It is truly one of the most healing, powerful foods on earth. I already mentioned turmeric’s anti-inflammatory properties, but it is also an antioxidant, wound healer, digestive stimulant, liver detoxifier, helps to lower cholesterol, and has a warming thermal nature. I use fresh turmeric in juices, and ground in everything else for practical reasons. Turmeric has a very distinct, but mild flavor. Since it is related to ginger, it does have a faint hint of ginger, but also a bitter, tart, chalkiness, too. A little is nice, but a lot can be offensive. It also stains like crazy — from clothing to countertops — so be careful!

Since Alex’s email, I have made this beverage many, many times and guess what? I’m OBSESSED! It’s my new favorite drink, just in time for winter when I don’t really drink cooling juices as much. However I’m calling this a Turmeric Latte, since the base of it is milk. I use almond milk, because it’s my go-to and I always have homemade on hand. Of course you can use regular milk or your favorite alternative milk, or a combo of milks. I recently started playing around with adding a little cashew milk to almond to add a thick, creamy richness. More on that another time!

This turmeric latte is beyond delightful and the perfect way to settle into a restful evening. It is also quite easy to prepare and you might even have all the ingredients on hand. I would start with the basic recipe below and then change it to suit your taste/needs. For example, it would be perfectly easy to use a few drops of stevia to sweeten instead of the maple syrup. Or a couple pinches of ground ginger instead of fresh. If you love turmeric, feel free to add more.

As we near the end of 2014, I know many of you have resolutions of better health and adopting new habits on the brain. I hope this post catches you in time, as I think drinking a turmeric latte a few times a week is a resolution I can stick to. How about you?

4.0 from 1 reviews

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Turmeric Latte

Author: Pamela

Serves: 1

Ingredients

½ teaspoon ground turmeric (or more if you like it)
½ teaspoon pure maple syrup
pinch cayenne (optional)
pinch freshly ground black pepper (helps absorb up to 2000% more curcumin)
1-inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and cut into chunks or ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
8 ounces warm unsweetened almond milk (or half coconut milk-half almond milk, regular milk or cashew milk)
other possible add-ins: pinch of ground cinnamon, drop of pure vanilla extract, spoonful of unrefined coconut oil, chai spices

Instructions

Place turmeric, maple syrup, cayenne, and ginger in a mug. Pour in warmed almond milk. Stir and allow to steep for a minute. Enjoy!

Notes

Feel free to use this recipe as a base for your latte, then add other spices or more/different sweetener to taste.

almond milk coconut milk ginger maple syrup turmeric

Brussels sprout sliders recipe

brussels sprout sliders | pamela salzman

During the holidays, I find myself saying quite often, "Oh, what the heck. It's the holidays," as I add a handful of cheese or have an extra cookie. But the "holidays" aren't just one day. They start around Halloween and stretch until New Years Day, at which point most people I know declare the beginning of their cleanse to redeem themselves for overindulging during the "holidays." I have to be honest and say that I am a little more lax during the holidays with my eating and I've never too happy in January when my jeans aren't too comfortable. This year I'm going to be a little more mindful and not use the holidays as an excuse to act like every night is my last supper!

My new favorite hors d'oeuvre is actually what motivated me to really try to find delicious recipes for the holidays that are also healthful. Not only am I crazy about these little Brussels sprout sliders, but they were such a hit at my house with my friends this year, as well as with my cooking classes this month. In fact, my friend Cheryl enjoyed them at my house for dinner one night and then asked my to bring the sliders to her house for a little get-together a few weeks later. Winner!

"Sliders" have been very popular the last few years at parties. They are basically mini-burgers. I've seen them as simple as a basic mini beef or turkey patty and bun all the way to topped with caramelized onions, gorgonzola and arugula. In this vegetarian and bread-less version, the sprouts are halved and roasted and become the "bun." And then you can put whatever you want in between. Do you get it? Crazy good, and GOOD FOR YOU, TOO!

Before you think, "Oh, it's the holidays. These aren't indulgent enough," I haven't seen anyone stop at just one. They are super tasty and very satisfying. I usually stick to the following fillings (which happen to go into my favorite grilled cheese): thinly sliced gruyere, sauteed onions, coarse-grain mustard, and roasted apple. Sometimes I add them all, sometimes two or three. Of course, you can add richer fillings, such as cooked bacon or a piece of honey-baked ham as well.

Not a lot of time on your hands? Here's what I would do:

slice the cheese up to a week ahead
saute the onions the day before and refrigerate
roast the sprouts several hours in advance and allow to sit at room temp
assemble the sliders a few hours in advance and warm through at 300 (or 350) for a few minutes

Since Brussels sprouts aren't all the exact same size like store-bought hamburger buns, the key step here is to keep the sprout halves next to each other so that you don't have to search around for the perfect match when you assemble. Trust me, this is a good idea!

I think this would be amazing to make as an hors d'oeuvre on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day. And they would be perfect for any cocktail party when you need something hearty and green to balance out all the cheese dips. But, if you are planning on these for a cocktail party, consider that they are individual bites, and take a little more time to assemble than a dip. So you don't want to prepare a menu of too many items like this (=time-consuming.)

I hope you have the happiest of holidays, filled with joy, love, peace, light and nourishing, delicious food!

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Brussels Sprout Sliders

Author: Pamela

Serves: makes 20 full sliders or 40 half (open-faced) sliders

Ingredients

6 Tablespoons unrefined, cold-pressed extra-virgin olive oil, DIVIDED, plus extra for greasing baking sheet
1 large onion, sliced thin
Sea salt to taste
20 medium Brussels sprouts, trimmed of any dry edges (but don’t slice off the whole core)
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
2 Tablespoons whole grain mustard
Small block of gruyere cheese, thinly sliced and cut the same size as a sprout
Other add-in possibilities: Roasted apple or pear chunks, manchego cheese

Instructions

Warm 2 Tablespoons olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onions and a sprinkle of salt. Saute, stirring frequently, until they become more golden in color, about 15-20 minutes. Lower the heat a little and continue to cook until they are tender.
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Line a baking sheet with unbleached parchment paper and brush with olive oil.
Cut the Brussels sprouts in half from top to bottom, keeping the two halves close together. If you don’t, you will have to search for a pair that fits well together after they have roasted.
Drizzle with remaining olive oil. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Roast for 20 minutes, then turn the sprouts and bake 15-20 more minutes or until tender.
Take one half of a Brussels sprout, smear with mustard, add a piece of gruyere and a pinch of onions. Take the other half of the Brussels sprout and position it so the two sprouts are like the buns on a burger, with the cut sides facing each other, and secure with a toothpick. Serve at room temperature or warm on a baking sheet in a 325 degree oven for 10 to 15 minutes.

apple brussels sprouts gruyere mustard onions

Five Friday Favorites: Homemade Edible Gifts for the Holidays and a Recipe for Dark Chocolate Hazelnut Bark with Dates and Sea Salt

Holiday gift list. Those three words can make me more stressed out than hearing “OMG! You borrowed my shirt again without asking!” I honestly do not love trudging around shopping malls, looking for parking and standing on looooong lines at this time of year. I would rather sit in my pajamas with a cup of tea and order gifts online like a civilized person. And even better is being in my kitchen cooking up something delicious for the special people in my life. That, to me, is a pleasure.

Today’s Five Friday Favorites are the edible gifts I love to give during the holidays. Everyone will love receiving these treats and you don’t have to worry about things being out of stock or not arriving in the nick of time. You can also make everything organic and with the natural ingredients you would want to share with people you care about. Go put on your slippers and some relaxing holiday music and get busy!

Biscotti

Biscotti are perfect cookies to give out as gifts because they are hearty by nature- they are actually meant to be slightly dry and can last for over a week in the pantry! This ensures that your recipient will have plenty of time to indulge in these tasty treats. Biscotti are perfect for a dunking in a morning cup of espresso or a late sweet liqueur nightcap- both of which take place frequently during the holidays. Their unique shape lends itself to fun gift packaging, so you can really make these cute with a little cellophane and ribbon. Or arrange a bunch in a lovely mug and wrap it all up. My favorite biscotti of all time are these gingerbread biscotti, which couldn’t be more perfect for the holidays!

Other biscotti recipes that look great:

Deep Dark Chocolate Biscotti with whole wheat flour, flaxseeds and almonds at Cooking Light

Whole Grain Cinnamon Nut Baby Biscotti from King Arthur Flour

Nut and Seed Biscotti from 101 Cookbooks

Gluten-free Lemon and Pecan Biscotti from Gluten-free Girl

Chocolate Bark

If you are short on time, chocolate bark is just about the simplest and quickest treat you can make plus everyone LOVES it! I think chocolate bark of any kind looks so pretty and is fun to break off and eat piece by piece. There are two ways I make bark — either by stirring some of the ingredients into the melted chocolate and sprinkling some on top or just sprinkling everything on top. I like a little mixed into the chocolate, personally.

I like to stick with dark or semisweet chocolate since those contain less sugar than milk chocolate. I also prefer using organic chocolate which should be guaranteed non-GMO (sugar is often genetically-modified unless it is label organic or non-GMO.) Good brands are Enjoy Life and Dagoba, but if you are in a pinch, Trader Joe’s has well-priced, good-tasting 1-pound chocolate blocks.

My favorite version of chocolate bark right now is this one with dates, hazelnuts, and sea salt (don’t forget my favorite flavor combo is salty-sweet!,) but the possibilities are endless. You can customize each batch of bark to whomever you are gifting it! Crushed peppermint candies, dried cherries and pistachios, salted almonds, etc. Of course the best part about making homemade treats is that you can control the ingredients. So you can use all organic everything if you want! And since it’s meant to come in broken pieces, it travels easily and no need to worry about being delicate with it. My recipe for Dark Chocolate Bark with Hazelnuts, Dates and Sea Salt is below. So good!

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Dark Chocolate Bark with Hazelnuts, Dates and Sea Salt

Author: Pamela

Serves: 24 i-inch pieces

Ingredients

1 cup whole, raw hazelnuts
1 pound dark chocolate (70% cacao or higher), chopped
½ cup diced dates (about 6)
1 ½ teaspoons flaky sea salt (such as fleur de sel)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a pie plate or baking sheet, toast the hazelnuts until the skins blister, about 15 minutes. Transfer the nuts to a clean kitchen towel and let cool, then rub to remove the skins. If you don’t mind hazelnut skins, you can skip this step. Coarsely shop the nuts and set aside.
Melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water until smooth.
Meanwhile, line a sheet pan with parchment paper. Using a ruler and a pencil, draw a 9-by-10-inch rectangle on the paper. Turn the paper face-down on the baking sheet.
Once the chocolate is melted, place half the dates and half the chopped hazelnuts into the bowl with the chocolate and stir to combine.
Pour the chocolate mixture onto the parchment, into the middle of rectangle you drew, and spread out to the edges of the rectangle using a spatula.
Sprinkle the remaining hazelnuts and dates evenly over the chocolate, followed by the sea salt.
Let sit at room temperature for at least 2 hours, or in the fridge for 1 hour to harden, then chop into desired shapes.
Serve at room temperature and store in tightly sealed container for up to a week.

Here are some other bark combinations around the web that look irresistible:

Swirled Bark with Salted Peanuts from Martha Stewart (someone make this for me — looks fantastic!)

Nutty Chocolate Bark with Cardamom and Coffee from Saveur sounds so interesting!

Trail Mix Chocolate Bark from Eating Well

Superfood Chocolate Bark from ThePlantStrongVegan

Granola

A nice change from the traditional Christmas cookies, homemade granola is a perfect gift for the holidays. It is not quite as sugary as all of the usual holiday treats, but still has such a satisfying salty-sweet crunch. It also has so many uses- it can be eaten plain as a snack, finished with almond milk for breakfast, or served over yogurt with a little drizzle of maple syrup for a healthier dessert. Plus, you can buy cute little jars in all different shapes and sizes that can be repurposed by the recipient and look so darling with a little ribbon or twine. I give a little jar of homemade granola to all my kids’ teachers and coaches, etc. and I am always so delighted with their responses. So many of them are health-conscious and they appreciate an edible gift that isn’t dessert. I have also given large jars of granola with a small metal scoop inside as a hostess gift during the year! Click here for my gluten-free, vegan granola recipe.

Custom Almond Butter (or any nut butter)

As I mentioned in my last Friday Favorites post, high quality nut butters are hard to find in any local market right now. And considering the fact that I have been obsessing over Solstice Canyon’s flavored almond butters, I thought this is a perfect time of year to give away homemade almond butter as gifts! First order some wide mouth mason jars like these. Then go here with my homemade almond butter tutorial, and then feel free to mix it up with other nuts, flavors, spices, and add-ins. Try adding vanilla, cinnamon, and maple syrup. Or you could add raw cacao and hazelnuts. Coconut butter or oil would make it really smooth. Or dried figs, honey, and chia seeds. Orrrrrrr, you can cheat and buy plain almond butter and doctor it up with some of the add-in I just mentioned. Think DIY almond butter nutella! Regardless of what you put in, homemade almond butter is so delicious and good for you – and everyone will be shocked that you made it yourself!

Infused Olive Oils and Vinegars

Infused olive oils and vinegars are quick and easy gifts with a personal touch. There are so many different flavor combinations and these can really be fun with all of the different types of bottles that you can find at stores like Cost Plus World Market, The Container Store, Pier One or, of course, amazon. Infused oils and vinegars are great for special salad dressings, drizzling over pasta or seafood, or even just as an appetizer with some crusty bread for dipping. Although I hear that you should never use garlic in infused oil since it can cause botulism! Yikes! I often buy Napa Valley Naturals organic, unrefined cold-pressed olive oil, but you can use whatever is your favorite. Whatever recipe you use, warm the olive oil on low heat instead of high to protect the antioxidants in the oil. Once it’s bottled, cork it well and let it sit for about a week to fully infuse the flavor. If you don’t have that kind of time, the oil will still be flavored after a couple days, but mention to the recipient that he or she should allow the flavors to meld for about 2 weeks for best results. A good idea might be to put a “use by date” just so they remember when it was given. I would store infused oils in the fridge after a month. Check out these how-to’s and different flavor combinations.

Rosemary-Infused Oil from Giada de Laurentiis

Basil-infused Olive oil from Martha Stewart

Lemon-infused Olive oil Video

Cranberry-infused Vinegar from Michael Chiarello (by the way, he has a great book on infusing oils and vinegars)