Category: Recipes

I like eggs. No, I love eggs! People talk about cheese as the food that keeps them from “going vegan”, but for me it’s eggs. (And maybe ice cream/gelato, but that’s another discussion altogether.)

As much as I enjoy eggs, though, I’ve never eaten a lot of quiche. I don’t find the idea of an egg pie appetizing. My partner, Fálki, though — I discovered during one recent discussion — has enjoyed quiche on many occasions.

During that discussion, she mentioned a hashbrown-crusted quiche, and my curiosity was piqued. Hmmm… Now that sounds interesting!

You may or may not know that I am an ovo-vegetarian, which means I only eat plants and eggs. It’s a lifestyle I enjoy — works for me.

I’ve made a lot of egg sandwiches over the course of my lifetime, but I stumbled upon this combination yesterday that blew me away. It includes gluten-free bread, which is part of my diet this year, as I am reducing my ingestion of wheat in 2014 to see what that does to my system, but you could, of course, use any kind of non-descript bread. I say “non-descript”, because a rye, for example, would give the sandwich a different flavor profile, which may be better — or not.

INGREDIENTS

• 2 slices of Udi’s Whole Grain gluten-free bread, toasted
• 1 large egg
• 1 tsp to 1 TBsp sriracha, to taste (I like Trader Joe’s and I use a lot of it)
• 1 TBsp mayonnaise (I used a local organic one)
• sliced tomato (I always use campari tomatoes)
• baby greens (I used an organic spring mix)

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Put the bread in the toaster.
2. Heat and oil a pan and add the egg. After it sets a bit, crack the yolk. I prefer not to scramble mine, or to blend the yolk and white before frying. I like the white and yolk to mostly stay separate. Once it’s almost completely set, flip the egg and turn off the pan.
3. When the toast is done, put the mayonnaise on one slice and the sriracha on the other.
4. Place the greens on the sriracha side, top them with the tomato (4 slices works well, if you are using camparis), and then add the egg atop that.
5. Put the mayo’d slice of bread on top of everything.

Man, that is good eating.

I enjoy making schnapps. When I make it myself, I can control the quality of the ingredients and the strength of the liquor. What’s not to like? Okay, maybe the waiting is the hardest part, but that’s the only downside. Saves me money, too.

Limoncello is still my favorite, but I know cinnamon has been pretty hot lately, so I wanted to give that a try.

I tell you, I think I nailed it on my first attempt.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 liter 190-proof Everclear
• 12 to 15 small cinnamon sticks, or 5-6 giant ones snapped in half or thirds
• 2/3 cup organic light brown sugar
• 1.5 liters purified water

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Place the cinnamon sticks into a widemouth 1.5 liter wide-mouth resealable jar.
2. Pour the Everclear into the jar.
3. Store the jar in a cool, dark place for a month (it might not need that long, but I didn’t get around to the next step until a month had passed).
4. Once the cinnamon infused Everclear is ready, start to heat 1.5 liters of water in a pot.
5. Add the light brown sugar to the pot, and continue to stir as the pot heats.
6. Once the sugar is completely dissolved, turn off the heat and let the sugar water cool.
7. Once the sugar water is cool, remove the cinnamon sticks from the Everclear.
8. Filter the Everclear to remove any excess solids. You can do this using cheesecloth or a clean coffee filter.
9. Divide the Everclear equally into 3 quart-size Ball jars.
10. Divide the sugar-water equally into the same 3 jars, to mix it with the Everclear.
11. Enjoy the World’s Best Cinnamon Schnapps however you prefer to drink it.

I like this schnapps with no ice at room temperature. The alcohol content of this recipe means this schnapps may get slushy in the freezer — or, at least, mine did — but keep it in there, if you like, and you’ll have ice already built in.

There’s one other thing: Enjoy!

If you like this, try my World’s Best Limoncello, based on a recipe I got from a shop owner in Sorrento, Italy, the home of limoncello!

Every once in a while I come up with a really good recipe. When I do, I like to pass it along.

I say “I like to pass it along”, because, well, there are a couple reasons I don’t do it:

1. Some recipes I’ve been meaning to pass along — like my no-sugar-no-fat-added banana-apple waffles — but I just haven’t found the time.
2. Most recipes I make are one off. That is to say, I don’t measure anything, and I often add things along the way, and forget what’s in them, so there is no way for me to accurately tell you about it.

But this one for the World’s Best Gluten-Free Pasta Dish is one that — while I didn’t measure — I can figure out about the right numbers to give you a chance to make it.

And so, without further ado, here it is.

NOTE: When I say “gluten-free” I am referring to the pasta. If you need things to be completely gluten-free, you should probably use a tamari-style soy sauce, and check on any other ingredients.

INGREDIENTS

• 6 oz (dry) Tinkyada brown rice spaghetti, broken in half (unless you really like whole spaghetti)
• 30 young, thin (size of a smallish drinking straw) asparagus spears, less if you have thicker ones
• 2 Tbsp (or to taste) of your favorite soy sauce, I prefer to use a non-GMO soy sauce like Polar
• 1.5 Tbsp (or to taste) Huy Fong sriracha
• 2 or 3 medium tomatos, diced
• 1 handful baby kale, chopped OR similar volume of kale tips
• 2 tsp toasted sesame oil
• 1 Tbsp sesame seeds
• 1.25 cups slightly sprouted mung beans (less than 1-inch sprouts, about 1.5 to 2 days into sprouting)
• Splash of lemon juice

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Put the pasta water on to boil and heat up a grill pan or your grill.
2. Once the water is boiling, add the pasta. Set your timer for 13 minutes. (NOTE: The package directions say 16 minutes, but we’ll work that out in step 8 below. If you don’t use Tinkyada brand, check the cooking instructions on your package, and shave 2 or 3 minutes from it.)
3. Once the grill is hot, add the asparagus. Leave the spears on just long enough to add dark marks, but don’t cook them through. This should take no more than 2 minutes.
4. Remove the asparagus to a cutting board, and cut off and discard the woody bottoms, then cut the rest into slightly larger than bite-size pieces, i.e. don’t destroy them. 3 or 4 cuts is all you need.
5. After 13 minutes, drain the pasta, and return it to the pot.
6. Add the soy sauce and sriracha to the pasta. Stir to coat.
7. Add the rest of the ingredients EXCEPT the lemon juice. Stir to mix.
8. Cover the pot and let it sit for 5 minutes. This will warm up the uncooked ingredients and cook the pasta the rest of the way. (NOTE: I use cast iron, so the pot holds its heat. If you use a type of cookware that cools faster, you may need to leave your pot on the stove on “warm”.)
9. Serve in shallow pasta dishes. Add the splash of lemon at the table for just the right touch of acid.

TIME NEEDED
30 minutes, including prep

NUMBER OF SERVINGS
2 large, 3 medium, 4 small