Berberé Shortbread                                                              

3 tablespoons brown rice flour
1/3 cup sweet rice flour
1 1/4 cup oat flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons Berberé
1/2 cup sugar
2 ounces of cream cheese
6 ounces room temperature butter
1 teaspoon vanilla

coarse sugar (optional)
 

Whisk together first 6 ingredients.

In a mixer combine sugar, cream cheese, butter, and vanilla until creamy.

Add dry to wet and combine.

Roll the dough into 2 logs in sheets of parchment. Refrigerate overnight. Or less if you’re very impatient.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. cut dough into generous 1/4" slices (i.e. more than ¼ inch but less than ½ inch). Sprinkle with - and then press in - a little bit of coarse sugar, if you'd like.

Bake on parchment for 18 minutes.

 

6 eggs
1-2 tablespoons olive oil
½ yellow onion, diced
4 cloves (2T) garlic, minced
2 teaspoons Harissa
1+ teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon pepper
4 cups or two 14 ounce cans of tomatoes, diced
2 tablespoons of tomato paste (optional)
1 teaspoon sugar or honey
½ cup feta cheese, crumbled, optional

Heat olive oil in a cast iron skillet.  When the oil shimmers, add the onion and sauté until it softens and just begins to turn golden.  Add the garlic and continue to stir for 1-2 minutes, until the garlic becomes aromatic and softens.  Add the harissa, salt, and pepper and stir for another minute. If the mixture begins to stick, add another teaspoon or two of olive oil.

Add the tomatoes, tomato paste (if using), and sugar or honey. Simmer until the tomato mixture has thickened a little (this will take longer with fresh tomatoes, as they will release water initially and will take a little less time if you use the tomato paste).  

Make 6 little divots in the tomato mixture and carefully break an egg into each one.  Cover the pan and cook until the eggs are at your preferred doneness. I like to cook them for 7-10 minutes, until the whites are set but the yolks are lovely and runny.

Serve with toasted crusty bread and a green salad with a citrus vinaigrette.

This soup is far more delicious than it should be, given how quick and easy it is. It takes 30 minutes, start to finish and is filling and nutritious. It's also easy to make vegan, should you wish.

8-12 ounces of sausage, removed from casings and crumbled
medium onion, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
3/4 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon urfa biber or harissa
3/4 teaspoon turmeric

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Perhaps because I'm not eating anything with added sugar right now, I found myself thinking wistfully about a chocolate cake I made two weeks ago. It was a Valentine's Day cake for my family, and although I'd originally planned to make a heart-shaped one, when the moment came that seemed precious and twee. Instead, I made up a peanut butter ganache, a chocolate frosting, and three layers of moist chocolate cake. The moist (sorry to use that abhorred word twice!) part is worth mentioning because that tends to be the Achilles' heel of gluten free cakes, of which this was one. For the record, I don't believe in sifting. (CLICK THE TITLE FOR THE REST OF THE RECIPE)

Serves 6 with leftovers

This version follows my general attempt to add more vegetables to our diet and to use meat more as a bit player than as a main ingredient. To that end, I’ve added a variety of vegetables, as well as chicken thighs. We ate this with saffron rice and adored the whole meal.  The roasted eggplant adds a little extra time, but is well worth it.  It adds substance and a little extra body and texture. I’ve broken the recipe into three parts, but fear not, it’s still under an hour of prep. You can prepare the first part the night before.

Ingredients, part 1:
4 chicken thighs, cut into bite-sized chunks
2 tablespoons Tikka Masala
2 teaspoons salt
½ cup Greek yogurt

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This is a very vegan-friendly soup, so if you want to omit the dairy and sausage, go for it, the soup won't suffer. I used squash from the very delightful Whistling Train Farm and sausage from the wonderful Skagit River Ranch. The amounts below are loose. This is not a precise exercise in baking, where amounts must be just so or the whole thing is ruined. This soup is easy and gorgeous; the orange is bright, the bright green, olive oil slicked kale contrasts sharply, and the crumbled browned sausage brings it all together.  I'd love to post a higher resolution, larger shot of this soup, but Shopify doesn't allow that. 

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Tahini Cookies

1 egg
1 t vanilla
1/3 cup tahini
1/3 cup brown sugar or honey
2 tablespoons of butter, melted
1 ½ cups almond flour
¼ teaspoon baking soda
a pinch salt

optional: demerara sugar, ground cardamom

In a small bowl, mix the almond flour, baking soda, cardamom (if using) and salt. In a mixer or large bowl, beat the tahini to remove any lumps. Add the brown sugar and mix.  Add the egg, vanilla, and butter, mixing to combine after each addition. Space heaping teaspoonfulls 2" apart, then sprinkle with demerara sugar (if using).

Cook at 350 degrees for 12- 15 minutes, or until slightly browned.