Food for Indecisive Humans: Four Distinctively Awesome Cracker-Toppers

So making decisions isn’t my favorite thing in the world. Latte or cappuccino? Grad school or law school (…or neither?!)? Scarf of sweater? …you get the idea.

My mom says it’s best to face challenges and uncertainty head on. Pick a choice and commit to it until you realize you need to make a change, and then adapt from there.

I think she’s totally right, but can also think of one situation where her pick-one-commit statement has a little wiggle room….

CRACKER TOPPERS! The flavors! The options! It’s enough to make a queen of indecision cry.

But seriously people, your combinations are as endless as the number of crackers you can eat. Mine are pretty damn high in fiber, so four is a comfortable limit. Let me know some of your favorite combos, too, k?

Four Distinctively Awesome Cracker Toppers

The Barney (the dinosaur)
Ingredients:
1 sturdy large cracker of choice (or many little crackers, this is all about indecision so I don’t care what you do)
1/2 a small deep red/purple beet, thinly sliced
1/2 small avocado, sliced length-wise (or mashed if you just need to smash something today)
Drizzle of olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
1. Place avocado on cracker, top with beets, then olive oil and salt and pepper. Devour your Barney-esque creation. I love you….you love……

The Caprese Nibbler
Ingredients:
1 large, sturdy cracker of choice
1/2 a small, delicious tomato, thinly sliced
2 small balls of mozzarella, sliced (or big ones, whatever, this isn’t exact science 🙂 )
1 big basil leaf, torn
1/2 tsp or so balsamic vinegar and olive oil for drizzling
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
1. Place tomato on cracker, wedge in mozzarella and top with basil, balsamic, olive oil, salt and pepper. Feel fancy and Italian.
The Swanky Tea Time
Ingredients:
1 large, sturdy cracker of choice
1/2 tbs cream cheese
1/4 pear, thinly sliced (mine was bosc…yummmm)
A few thin slices of cucumber
Olive oil for drizzling
Salt and Pepper to taste

Directions:
1. Spread cream cheese on cracker. Add cucumber and pear, olive oil, salt and pepper.
2. Put on fancy hat and stick out pinky when eating
The Duh One Needed Hummus
Ingredients:
1 large, sturdy cracker of choice
2 tbs hummus, any flavor
1/2 small avocado, thinly sliced
Olive oil for drizzling
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
1. Spread hummus on cracker. Add avocado, olive oil, salt and pepper. Yay hummus. 🙂

Notes:
Wanna save a little time? Wait until all four crackers are assembled, then drizzle olive oil and salt and pepper over the plate. Bam. Efficiency.

Also. Accidentally ate the barney before I got a good solo photo. whoopsies.

Beet+Basil+Fig Yogurt Bowl

Red, yellow, gold, maroon, one or two bursts of lingering green…is there a season with more cozy beautiful colors associated with it than fall? For the purposes of this post, I’m going to say no. So what do fall colors have to do with a delicious yogurt bowl combo? Well….

This yogurt bowl is basically like being able to eat autumn.

Look at the red! The gold! The yellow! The green! And even better, it tastes delicious. The flavors are both complex and cozy, not sickeningly sweet, and leave you light, satisfied, and a little more ready for fall.

Beet+Basil+Fig Yogurt Bowl

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt or co-yo/soy/whatever
• 2 figs
• 1/4 cup spiralized or very thinly sliced raw beet (use both yellow and red for extra autumn pretty bonus points)
• 1 basil leaf
• 1 Tbs toasted walnuts
• 1 Tbs honey or maple syrup
• 1 tsp or so (a drizzle’s worth) olive oil
• Salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste

  Directions
  1. Put yogurt in bottom of bowl, layer rest of ingredients and top with honey and EVOO, then finish with salt and pepper. Does it get easier?

Clean and Bright Moroccan Carrot+Mint Salad

Full disclosure: I don’t know if this salad is actually Moroccan in any way. I had a carrot salad in Japan that reminded me of it called Moroccan Carrot Salad and it makes it sound fancy and cultured, so…..right. anyway.

I’m not sure if you saw yesterday’s post, but there was this totally awesome salad next to the PANTS OPTIONAL BOWL OF HAPPY.

Both this salad and the harissa chickpeas are great on their own, but together…..

OH MY GOLLIES. The salad is so light and fresh, and just the most perfect complement to the bowl of happy. The shaved carrots give a great crunch, the mint is light and clean, and the dressing is so simple and bright. It’s basically like chewing on a freshly-brushed smile. …Is that a good mental image for food? Don’t care. To sum it up, YOU WANT IT.

Moroccan Carrot+Mint Salad

Ingredients

• 5 large carrots, peeled and thinly sliced into strips (a spiralizer would be GREAT here, but I used a vegetable peeler)
• 3 key limes
• ¼ cup chiffonade mint leaves (this just means thinly sliced strips….so pretttyyyy)
• 3 big handfuls of mixed leafy greens
• ½ cup toasted walnuts (I dry toased mine in a medium-heat pan…shake occasionally and use your nose to know when they’re ready!)
• 1/4 o 1/3 cup cranberries (or raisins!)
• ¼ cup olive oil, preferably a very green, floral extra virgin
• salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste

Directions

1. Toss all your ingredients together *lightly so that you don’t tear the carrot ribbins
2. Smile and be like YEAH that was easy to make this super delicious salad

Notes

I think the carrot ribbons+lime juice+EVOO combo lends itself to endless herb, nut, and fruit trade-outs. Let me know what you try!

Pants-Optional Bowl of Happy AKA Sweet Sriracha Chickpeas with Raisin-Flecked Brown Rice

You know those days where you feel like “just let me get home, whip off my pants, and eat a muffin in my undies and t-shirt?” Don’t lie to yourselves.  

Well, yesterday totally felt like that, minus the particular craving for muffins. Work was long and I just wanted to whip up some comfort food and cozy up into my couch with Netflix.

Can I just say that this totally hit the warm-bowl-no-pants-happiness spot?

 This recipe is adapted from remembering when my friend made whatever the “official” recipe from Vij’s cookbook is.

I think it was something harissa chickpeas and couscous? It was delicious, but you know what, I think this improv pantry baby might just be better.

 

Sweet Sriracha Chickpeas with Raisin-Flecked Brown Rice 

Ingredients

For Sweet Sriracha Chickpeas:

•  3 cups of cooked chickpeas (about two cans-worth if you don’t make your own)
• 26 oz chopped tomatoes (Pomi is my favorite brand)
• 2 large or 3 small zucchini, sliced into 1/4 in thick “half moons”
• 2-4 TBS of Sriracha, depending on how brave your tastebuds are
• 2 medjool dates, pitted and chopped
• 6 cloves of garlic, chopped
• 1 large yellow onion, chopped
• olive oil for sautéing
• vegetable broth, as needed (I used 2 cups worth)
• salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste

For Raisin-Flecked Rice

• 1 cup brown rice
• 3 cups vegetable broth
• 1/2 cup (less or more to taste) raisins
• 1 TBS sriracha

Directions

For Sweet Sriracha Chickpeas:

1. Heat large, deep pan on medium-high heat, add olive oil, and sauté garlic and onions until soft, and golden-brown translucent stirring frequently (five minutes or so), add about 1/4 cup of vegetable broth and turn heat to medium.
2. Add tomatoes, dates, and sriracha to pan, and stir occasionally until sauce thickens and some of the tomato liquid evaporates (it will still be watery, that’s not a bad thing) 
3. Add zucchini, chickpeas, and salt and pepper to pan and stir all ingredients. Put lid over pan, and let cook for five minutes. Stir, turn heat to medium low, and replace lid. In ten to fifteen minutes, zucchini should be cooked through. It is ready to be eaten right away, but the longer you let it simmer, the more delicious it becomes!

For Raisin-Flecked Brown Rice

• Cook rice according to box or rice cooker instructions, swapping water for vegetable broth. Add raisins and sriracha as you start cooking the rice, so that the raisins plump up and the sriracha infuses into the rice.
• Place your delicious rice in bottom of bowl, take off pants, and top your rice with sweet sriracha chickpeas. Find favorite seat and cozy on in. 🙂

Recommended Garnishes:

• While I say recommended, the following garnishes REALLLLLY add something special to this dish – toasted pine nuts, greek yogurt (or co-yo for vegan), and freshly shredded mint leaves. 

What’s your comfort food? 

 

 

Crunch+Love Beet and Zucchini Chips

Confession: I’m a cruncher. Raw carrots, potato chips, celery, crisp apples….I’m all over it.

I’m also a spiralizer addict. After my dad gave me a beautiful one as a welcome home gift from Japan, I’ve been spiralizing everything from potatoes to papaya (okay, papaya probably wouldn’t actually work, huh?) Anyway, you get the point. My favorite spiralized+crunchy winners so far? These beautiful beet and zucchini chips!

They are so easy, full of crispy, farm-fresh flavor, and, yes, CRUNCHY. So chomp on my friends, chomp on.

 Crunchy Beet and Zucchini Chips with Fresh Parsley and Basil

Ingredients

•  2 large beets, one red and one yellow for extra fanciness
• 2 to 3 zucchini
• olive or coconut oil (I recommend 3tbs to 1/4 cup per beet and every 2 zucchini)*
• 2 large handfuls fresh basil and parsley, chopped
• Fresh ground salt and black pepper to taste
• Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees and prepare large cookie sheet with parchment or aluminum foil. Place sheet in oven (you heard me people, it’ll help the chips get extra crispy to have a pre-warmed sheet).
2. Spiralize beets and zucchini, using preferred blade for chips. Alternatively you couldddd peel the zucchini and beets, just be prepared to cozy up to your knife or peeler for awhile….
3. Place spiralized veggies in large bowl and toss gently with oil, a generous handful of basil and parsley, and salt and pepper
4. Take baking sheet out of oven, spread chips on top (make sure they’re not touching…otherwise they won’t get crispy!) Bake 20 minutes or so, flipping once halfway through.
5. CRUNCH DEVOUR LOVEEEEE

Notes:

• For olive vs coconut oil, I’ve tried with both, and they’re really good! I personally like coconut oil for the beets and olive oil for zucchini
• This recipe is very much a framework more than an exact science. Play with it and let me know what delicious combos you come up with! Some I’m thinking would be great off the top of my head are basil+garlic, orange zest+balsamic, parmesan+sage