Autumnal Appetite (Winter squash hummus, Baharat)

I love slipping into autumn for a number of reasons. On the culinary side, Fall brings the warmth of richer, heartier flavors. It's a joy to roast and stew things, again, and the amount of butter and baked goods also spikes, precipitously. With the oncoming onslaught of holidays, it can at times be a bit much to each so much heavy food.  That's why it's important to find autumnal foods that are full on flavor (and fill you up) but be on the lighter side. Julia Child is absolutely right that more butter can solve almost anything, but an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, especially if one is predisposed to counting calories. As such, I present to you "winter squash hummus", which makes an appealing snack or appetizer that's pleasingly sentimental in its embrace of fall flavors while pleasantly lighter than most holiday fare.

Snack happy

Hot Potatoes (Sweet Potato Chipotle Soup)

Lately, I've been obsessing over soups. The perfect answer to blinding snow and biting cold, they make a timely and seasonally appropriate companion. The winter pantry offers no short stock of roots like onions, potatoes, and garlic, and hardy greens like cabbage and kale, but today I extoll the virtues of the humble sweet potato. Naturally bursting with flavor and nutrients, sweet potatoes make a thick, velvety soup with a color sure to brighten up the end of the day. Some of the oldest evidence of human sweet potato consumption dates from Peru 8,000 years ago, spreading to the Caribbean by 2500 BC and Polynesia by 1000 AD. Europeans weren't lucky enough to first taste sweet potatoes until Columbus' famed voyage of 1492. I embraced a general Meso-American theme by including Mayan sweet onion and the smoky spice of chipotles in adobo.

Colorful, flavorful

We Secretly Love The Heat (Salsa Fresca)

We're heading into the peak of summer, so what better time to post a classic treat enjoyed in cultures throughout the world: salsa! The Spanish word for sauce, salsa can actually refer to a number of sauces in Hispanic cuisines; however, in the U.S., it typically refers to a spicy tomato-based sauce, often enjoyed as a dip. There are a number of types of these salsas (Wikipedia lists over 15), but the two main categories break down to cooked versus raw. In this case, we're focusing on the raw side, and making our own salsa fresca, or "fresh sauce". And given it's the time of year when those of you with gardens should be seeing ripened tomatoes and peppers, this is a perfect idea for what to do with some of your harvest.

Can you handle the heat?

Sticker Shock (Almond Butter)

$25? I was floored. I have an annoying habit of picking the most expensive item on the rack before checking the price tags, but this was a little ridiculous. $25 for one measly little jar of almond butter, which I'm more accustomed to grabbing for less than half that price. A quick google suggests extortionate almond butter may be something of a growing trend. Is there an almond shortage? Mad almond disease? Is it possible we were buying just "natural" almond butter and now that we're trying for organic we're going into sticker shock? Well, I got a pound of organic almonds for a song, so it seems to me the food industry is just trying to bend us over a barrel because they have grinders; and that really grinds my gears.

A luxurious commodity

Easy Being Green (Gumbo z'Herbes)

Cajun cuisine may be stereotyped as all pork fat and crawdads, but gumbo z'herbes stands as a saucy testament to the cardinal importance of vegetables. While no dish would be complete without "the Holy Trinity," a blend of celery, onion, and green bell peppers, gumbo z'herbes raises the stakes by rounding up a potful of fresh greens and letting them rock out front and center. This recipe is extremely timely as April rains coax new shoots of tender green from the warming earth and budding leaves form misty plumes of color painted along the limbs of trees. Gumbo z'herbes is a fun, family-friendly dish that packs magnificently satisfying body and flavor with nary a shellfish nor ham hock in sight.

Flavor-full

Kaleidoscopic Colors (Kale and Citrus Salad)

Much like every March, I've come to harbor the deeply-held belief that this winter has overstayed its welcome. There's something about snowflakes greeting the first day of spring that puts me on the definite outs with Mother Nature. With citrus very much in season, however, I figured I could achieve a dash of lighter and brighter flavors via the sweet simplicity of salad. The tangy, floral zing of ruby red grapefruit was something I arrived at the grocery planning upon, the garnet-red blood oranges were a delightful surprise.

Surprise!

Bananarama (Roasted Banana Bread)

Perhaps it's embarrassing to admit to, but I just recently learned the "flax egg" trick of vegan baking. Whisk together one tablespoon of freshly ground flax seeds with three tablespoons of water and chill for one hour and you have a dairy-free "egg" with all the binding action of the original. Excited as I am with this new knowledge, I can scarcely resist the urge to try it out over and over again. Our friends Gregory & Piyanka gave Aaron a copy of the Forks Over Knives cookbook, so I have a hefty source from which to seek inspiration.

Inspiration: now in baking form

Pumpkin Remix (Biscoff Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies)

Have you had Biscoff spread? It recently came to my attention that several of my friends haven't, and that's a shame. I've always been especially fond of peanut butter and its various compatriots like almond butter and Nutella, but Biscoff spread may just be the tastiest of all. As is to be expected, it lacks any redeeming nutritional value, but is as delicious as cookies pureed with canola oil until they achieve the consistency of Jif can be. I've found myself sneaking to the pantry at night, depleting it spoonful by guilty, furtive spoonful.

It's so good

The Raw Truth (Raw Vegan White Peach Cheesecake)

About two weeks ago, we held a small party with family and friends, celebrating the 10,000th pageview of our blog (we should hit 11k, today). Our good friend Jules, who we hardly ever get to see outside chance encounters at the Grower's Market, would be in attendance and she happens to be vegan. To make her feel welcome, I wanted to ensure more items were vegan than not, because it's awful to be at a party and be unable to eat anything. For the glorious finale, that meant a raw, vegan cheesecake.

Less cooking, more awesome

Friends with Salad (Spring Green Panzanella)

I love spring. If I had my way, I'd simply go into hibernation from November until May. I find the bleak, gray, snowiness simply unbearable. Consequently, I'm always innervated with a jolt of manic elation when the thaw comes, the days lengthen, and birds sing in the garden once again.

Garden fresh