Add a dash of nigella seeds to sweet potato chickpea dip

Admit, we all like to snack. My husband, especially so. He loves potato chips, tortilla chips, cookies and chocolates (well I like some of those things, too, though not on his frequency). Fortunately for him he has a speedy metabolism.

To counteract his snacks that sit around the house, I find myself nibbling on salads, hard-boiled eggs and raw vegetables. And because I work at home, I tend to nibble quite a bit instead of stopping to make myself lunch.(Bad, I know.)

But it’s winter and I remember an acupuncturist I knew long ago said not to eat raw vegetables and salads during the winter but to eat more root vegetables.

So I asked acupuncture goddess Jill Blakeway of Yinova Center, who is an absolute dear, the reason for this. (If you live in New York and need an acupuncturist, she’s the one to visit!)

Jill said that “Root veggies draw their energy from the earth and so are considered particularly nourishing and warming in the winter while salad veggies are cooling and draw their energy from the sun making them more suited to the summer.”

During these cold months instead of nibbling on raw vegetables, or worse, junk food like chips, I sometimes make this sweet potato/chickpea dip that I adapted from a recipe I saw in Oprah Magazine a while ago. I even make my own pita bread.

I’ve come to believe that homemade snacks are the best and if my refrigerator is stocked with a few great dips, I’m ready for a day of hunkering and writing.

What’s your favorite homemade snack food? Share it with us on Facebook.

Sweet potato and chickpea dip

Ingredients
1 medium sweet potato, scrubbed
1 can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1 small clove garlic
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus a dash more for drizzling
fresh ground pepper, to taste
nigella seeds, to taste (optional)

Make the dip
Preheat oven to 425°. Prick sweet potato several times with a fork. Place on a cookie sheet and roast until flesh is tender, about 50 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside to cool.

Combine chickpeas, garlic, cayenne pepper and salt in large bowl. Mix with an immersion blender until smooth. Scoop out sweet potato flesh, and add, mixing for another minute. Slowly add olive oil and mix until combined.

Transfer to a serving bowl. Grind pepper over dip and drizzle with extra olive oil. Sprinkle with nigella seeds (optional).

And if you’d like to make your own flatbread (I highly suggest it; you’ll never buy store-bought again!) you can read this rather old article with flatbread flatbread recipe in Dean & Deluca.

Serve with whipped cream (homemade of course) or ice cream

If you’re looking for a new way to cook with apples, why not try a French version that was created by mistake.

Here’s an excerpt from my post on Dean & Deluca’s Gourmet Food Blog:

My first job was at a 4-star French restaurant in Boston and one of my most vivid memories of working at Maison Robert was the tarte tatin that sat in full view of all the diners, enticing anyone who walked by to order it for dessert. It was kept warm on some sort of hot plate, waiting to be topped with chantilly cream.

Click here to read more about Tarte Tatin and for the recipe on The Gourmet Food Blog at Dean & Deluca.

This recipe appeared over at Dean & Deluca but I want to share the vinaigrette recipe with you because I love how it turned out: tangy, sweet and garlic-y.

You can certainly make the salad I created for Dean & Deluca or better yet, serve the dressing simply over your favorite greens with dinner tonight.

Although this stew contains cod, it’s actually hearty with the addition of potatoes and chickpeas. I spiced it up with some cayenne pepper. I actually added more than the recipe requires, and you can do the same if you like it hot + spicy. One thing I love about stews is that you can add other things you like, i.e. sometimes I make this with shrimp and sometimes with clams (or both!). Use your imagination…at least that’s how I roll in the kitchen.

I love egg rolls. Okay, they’re fried and all but that’s okay once in a while. And I’m always a sucker for unique ingredients like galangal, which is in the ginger family and often used in Southeast Asian dishes.

These egg rolls are served at Spice Market, which is still going strong in the Meatpacking District. Read about Spice Market’s Chef Anthony Ricco in my Q&A with him in Haute Living.

Enjoy!

Ingredients
½ tbsp. garlic, minced

4 oz. butter, cut into 1” cubes

1 lb oyster mushroom, stemmed, sliced ½” thick

¾ lbs. shitake mushroom, stemmed, sliced ½” thick

¼ green thai chili, minced
Salt to taste

1½ Tbsp. lemon zest

1 Tbsp.young ginger, peeled

1 Tbsp. chervil, picked and freshly chopped

1 pack spring roll wrappers

Make the filling
Add butter and garlic in a sauté pan and cook over medium high heat, stirring until butter is foamy and garlic is fragrant. Add mushrooms and chili, sprinkle with the salt and stir well. Cook, covered over medium heat until mushrooms have released their juice and are soft and glazed. Add remaining ingredients and mix well. Spread into a pan and cool in the freezer, mixing well every 10 minutes until very cold. Put 3 Tbs of mix into wrappers and brush well with egg yolk.

Galangal Emulsion

Ingredients
1 oz. galangal, peeled and chopped

3 Tbs lime juice 

3 Tbs rice vinegar 

6 Tbs tarragon, picked

1 egg yolk 

4 oz. grape seed oil
Salt, to taste

Make the emulsion
In the blender purée galangal with lime juice, vinegar and salt until smooth. Cool over ice. Return to blender add egg yolks and drizzle in oil to emulsify, then add tarragon and puree until smooth and green. Pass through a sieve or mesh, pushing for total extraction.

To serve
8 pc Mushroom rolls

8 pc Boston lettuce cups

4 oz Galangal emulsion

Directions
Fry as needed in a 375-400 degree fryer until golden brown. Remove with slotted spoon. Blot well on paper towels and season with salt and white pepper. Put 2 rolls and 2 Boston lettuce cups per plate, divide galangal among four sauce cups and serve.

I love Thai food, and while I used to order in a lot, I tend not to anymore. (I just can’t seem to find a great place in my new neighborhood.) And for some reason I thought it was daunting to make curry at home. But actually it’s very easy.

This is a versatile dish, because you can choose whatever vegetables and protein you like (or make it vegetarian). I made my curry with 2 chicken breasts, and about 4-5 cups total of fresh sliced carrots, cut green beans, sliced red peppers, sliced onion, quartered potatoes and chopped broccoli. And I used these two products from Thai Kitchen, which made things super easy. (I haven’t attempted to make own curry paste yet.)

In a skillet, saute the chicken and vegetables in 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat for about 5 minutes, then simmer in 1 can of coconut milk and 3 tablespoons of the curry paste for about 10 minutes. (I also added in one of my favorite herbs: 1/4 cup of kaffir lime.) Serve with your favorite rice (my daughter loves jasmine, so that’s what we serve).

It’s a super easy dinner if your’e a busy mom and/or busy business owner and don’t have a lot of time to cook at the end of the day.

Enjoy!

If you’re looking for a quick but healthy snack to eat while you’re busy working, running around and/or taking care of your family, consider quinoa. Known as the “mother” of all grains, quinoa (pronounced keen-wa) is actually not a grain at all, but a relative of leafy green vegetables like spinach and kale. But because of its texture, it’s eaten like a grain. And it’s packed with nutrients perfect for a quick snack.

Quinoa is:
• A complete protein, which means that it includes all 9 amino acids
• A great source of magnesium and riboflavin, both of which help fight headaches and aid in cardiovascular health
• Rich in fiber, which offers protection against breast cancer
• Rich in powerful phytonutrients that aid in overall health
• Full of manganese and copper, both of which are antioxidants

The health benefits of quinoa are amazing, especially for women. And another plus is how easy and versatile it is.

Make a big batch at the beginning of the week and then add to it for a quick snack or lunch that will keep you full and energized.

You can buy it in bulk from Amazon. Click on the photo.