Tag: Western

Loaded Avocado Toast

Posted on

I am the most basic millennial in that I will never, ever tire of avocado toast. Avocado toast with an egg? Check. Avocado toast with chili crisp? Yes. Loaded avocado toast? Always. This version uses sourdough bread topped with radishes, pepitas, and queso fresco, for a Cali-Mex-inspired version of our beloved avocado toast. This makes one toast, so double or triple your quantities depending on how many you’re making.

Ingredients:

  • 1 slice sourdough bread
  • 1 garlic clove, peeled
  • 1/2 avocado
  • 1/2 teaspoon Meyer lemon juice
  • Salt and pepper
  • 2 tablespoons sunflower microgreens or similar sprouts
  • 1 radish, thinly sliced
  • 2 teaspoons pumpkin seeds, toasted
  • 1 tablespoon crumbled queso fresco
  1. Toast the bread until lightly golden brown. Cut the garlic clove in half and rub it all over the toast.
  2. In a bowl, mash the avocado with the lemon juice, salt, and pepper to taste. Spread the mashed avocado onto the toast. Top with the microgreens, radish, pumpkin seeds, and queso fresco.

Tequila-Pineapple Shrub

Posted on

I make a peach-bourbon shrub that’s one of my favorite cocktails: it’s tart and sweet and summery in the best way. The thing about shrubs is that they’re endlessly riffable, so why not replace the bourbon with tequila and the peaches with pineapple? It turns out they’re a winning combination too. Make this drink in the late spring and summer, when pineapples are in season.

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1 1/2 pounds pineapple, peeled, cored, and chopped into medium pieces
  • 3 tablespoons white vinegar
  • 6 ounces blanco tequila
  • 2 ounces lemon juice, preferably Meyer
  1. Bring sugar and 3/4 cup water to a boil in a saucepan and add pineapple pieces to pan. Reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes. Remove from heat and let sit 30 minutes. Strain syrup into a bowl (reserve a few pieces of the pineapple for using as a garnish); stir in vinegar. Cover and chill shrub.
  2. Set out 4 ice-filled cocktail glasses. For each cocktail, shake 2 ounces shrub, 1 1/2 ounces tequila, and half an ounce of lemon juice in an ice-filled cocktail shaker until frosty. Strain into glasses and top with reserved pineapple.

Ginger-Ponzu Tuna Poke

Posted on

Remember a few years ago where fast-casual poke spots were opening up in what seemed like every other corner? I liked that. It was a food trend I could get behind. I love poke bowls, especially in the summer, but I’ve started making them at home more often because a lot of those poke restaurants aren’t around anymore (come back please!).

This gingery tuna poke gets its creaminess from the addition of macadamia nuts and an unmistakable herbaceousness from shiso leaves. You can use salmon just as easily as tuna here.

Ingredients:
  • 1 tablespoon soy sauce
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice (preferably Meyer) ponzu
  • 2 tablespoons finely chopped green onions, plus more to taste
  • 1 tablespoon finely sliced fresh shiso (Japanese or Vietnamese), plus more to taste
  • 1 tablespoon crushed unsalted roasted macadamia nuts, plus more to taste
  • 2 teaspoons sesame oil, plus more to taste
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons grated peeled fresh ginger, plus more to taste
  • 1 pound skinless sushi-grade tuna
  • Sea salt, to taste
  • Toasted white sesame seeds
  • Cooked short-grain white rice and nori seaweed, for serving

Directions

  1. Stir together soy sauce, lemon juice, green onions, shiso, macadamia nuts, sesame oil, and ginger in a medium bowl. (Mixture should be slightly creamy.)
  2. Cut tuna into bite-size (about 3/4-inch) cubes. Add tuna to ponzu mixture in bowl; gently stir together until well coated.
  3. Season with salt to taste. Adjust flavors with additional ponzu, green onions (pungency), shiso, macadamia nuts, sesame oil (velvety richness), ginger, and/or salt to taste. Serve atop individual bowls of rice and garnish with sesame seeds, more shiso leaves, and nori seaweed; serve immediately. (Poke itself can be made up to 1 day in advance and stored in the refrigerator.)

Corn, Okra, and Red Pepper Skillet

Posted on

If you’ve know me at all then you know okra is my favorite vegetable, and this blog is a no-okra-slander zone. This easy summer skillet pairs okra with corn and peppers for the ultimate summer side dish. Eat it with rice and chicken or even better, by itself. (I paired it with Iranian dolma here, because why not?)

Ingredients:

  • 1 teaspoon avocado oil
  • 2 slices turkey bacon, chopped
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
  • 1 shallot, finely chopped
  • 1 red bell pepper, chopped
  • 1 jalapeno, seeded and finely chopped
  • 10 okra, stemmed and sliced crosswise
  • 4 ears corn, shucked, kernels sliced off (or one 10-ounce package frozen corn, about 2 cups)
  • 4 green onions, thinly sliced
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  1. In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the turkey bacon, stirring occasionally, until crisp, about 8 minutes. Transfer bacon to a paper towel-lined plate; set aside. Do not wipe out the pan.
  2. Melt 1 tablespoon butter in the skillet and add garlic, shallots, bell pepper, and jalapeno and cook over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Increase heat to high, add okra and corn, and cook, stirring occasionally, until crisp-tender, about 7 minutes. Stir in green onions, reserved turkey bacon, and remaining butter and season with salt and pepper.

Hearts of Palm and Avocado Salad

Posted on

This salad is so easy that it hardly qualifies as a recipe, but the combination of creamy hearts of palm and acidic dressing is a perfect pairing. To be honest, I could eat hearts of palm straight out of the can, but avocados make everything taste even better.

Ingredients:
  • 1 15-ounce can hearts of palm, rinsed, drained, and sliced into 1/2-inch pieces
  • 2 tomatoes, diced
  • 2 slightly firm avocados, peeled and diced
  • 3 teaspoons olive oil
  • 2 tablespoons white vinegar or lime juice
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon pepper
  • 1 tablespoon chopped cilantro
  1. Combine the olive oil, vinegar, salt, and pepper in a serving bowl. Add the hearts of palm, tomatoes, avocado, and cilantro and gently mix until the vegetables are coated. Serve immediately.