For all those gluten-free folks who miss puff pastries and croissants and eclairs, baked mochi is a culinary godsend. For wheat-eating folks who love trying new things and are endlessly curious about food, baked mochi is a fun treat. For folks who love mochi in its more common forms — like ice cream and sweet [...]
When it comes to the fruit-and-veggie world, at least, the old adage “Good things come in small packages” really is true: little strawberries have a lot more flavor than the bigger ones do, little blueberries are more tart and blueberry-esque than their bigger cousins, slim stalks of asparagus are more tender and tasty than the [...]
Continue reading about How’d You Like Them — er, These — Apples?
Sweet and savory have always been the ying and yang of the food world. Any self-respecting cheese plate, for example, is going to offer a few sweet tidbits of fruit alongside the salty cheeses. Nuts often go hand-in-hand with fruit, too — even though nuts aren’t as salty as your typical cheese, the rich, full [...]
Continue reading about Transforming a Cheese Plate into a Scone
Interesting note about cashews: the nut actually grows off of the end of a fruit. The fruit — called a “cashew apple” — is also edible. Unfortunately, it doesn’t travel well; the only time I’ve ever seen anything made of cashew apple Stateside was a bottled Brazilian beverage I stumbled across in (of all places) [...]
Interesting things happen when you have to — or choose to — stay away from traditional (i.e., gluten-oriented) breads and baked goods. First you go through bread withdrawal. Then you start exploring the wide world of non-wheat-containing breads and crackers and cookies and cakes and realize that life is not all about French baguettes. Globally [...]
Continue reading about Skipping the Bread and Going Directly to Snack-Sized Sandwiches
Over a year ago, I wrote about incorporating spiced almonds into salads — the crunchy, flavorful almonds are a perfect contrast to silken baby spinach and juicy pears. Lately, though, I’ve been spicing everything from almonds to Brazilian nuts and then enjoying them as stand-alone snacks. The formula is simple: choose your nut, choose your [...]
Continue reading about Getting Creative with Spices and Nuts
Kale chips are my latest food fascination — they’re flavorful and crunchy and have an intriguing texture thanks to their curly, frilled edges that get amazingly crispy when dehydrated or baked. Quite frankly, kale chips are far tastier than any potato chips I’ve ever had. The only problem with the kale chips is that they’re [...]
I have a confession to make: I’m not a fan of plain-Jane, eaten-as-they-are almonds. I like to toast sliced almonds and include them in all sorts of dishes, and I love to grind sliced almonds into flour and use them in a wide variety of baked goods, but the idea of munching on unadorned almonds [...]
Move over, Frito-Lay! And Better Made and Ruffles and any other potato chip you might find on the shelf. Not even high-end organic chips can compete with the kind you can make in your home oven. The ones that come in a bag can’t beat out the homemade variety in terms of taste or freshness [...]
The first time I made popcorn with chili powder and olive oil, I thought I’d found snack nirvana…but last week I tried the same combination on crispy walnuts and ascended to post-nirvana sublimity. The butteriness of the walnut perfectly compliments the spiciness of the chili powder; in the meantime, the fruitiness of the olive oil [...]
