Marinated Cherry Tomato Salad

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I wrapped up my final semester of grad school last week and have been day dreaming ever since (Yippee!! Recipe for a celebration treat to come! Here's a hint: It involves frosting and chocolate). I have Northern Italy on the mind! My browser's history is rich with images of Misurina Lake, old Castles with winding roads backdropped by and jagged mountains, and Tiramisu. Don't forget about the glass lakes, or storybook farm scenes either. 

In the fall, I'll be traveling to Iceland, Germany, Austria, and Italy for two weeks! My mom and step-dad, who have been using Bavaria as a home base for the last year and a half, will join Oliver and I for the adventure. The trip is still months away, but a girl can day dream, right? I'll also be using my day dreams as recipe inspiration until I can taste the real deal. 

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This salad is not Italian, but it has tomatoes, basil, and balsamic vinegar, which is most of the way there, right? ;) It's also a fantastic summery break from the surprise spring snow storm we just got (Ugh!). 

Italian or not, what makes this salad so good? The answer is easy: the tomatoes are marinaded in a bold dressing that is tart and sweet until their natural flavors are amplified. To turn this into a proper salad, you can spoon the marinaded tomato mixture over a bed of lettuce (my favorite these days is butter head or buttercup).

From the spoon or from a plate, Salude! Here's to the near future, and all of the fun it holds. 

Marinated Cherry Tomato Salad

Published May 11, 2015 by Caitlin Sherwood

Serves: 4   |    Active Time: 30 minutes

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Ingredients:

1 lemon, zest and juice

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

1/4 cup olive oil

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon honey

1/2 teaspoon minced garlic

6 large leaves of lettuce (my favorite variety is butter head, but anything will work)

1 pint cherry tomatoes, cut in half (cherry tomatoes in various colors make this salad gorgeous, but it’s not necessary)

1 cucumber, sliced thin

1/4 cup minced red onion

2 tablespoons fresh basil, minced

2 tablespoons fresh parsley, minced

Optional: freshly cracker pepper

Directions:

1. In a medium-sized bowl, combine lemon juice and zest, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, salt, honey, and minced garlic. Whisk to combine.
2. Add sliced cherry tomatoes, cucumber, and red onion to vinegar mixture and stir. Set aside for at least 15 minutes so that flavors can intermingle.
3. To serve: Spread lettuce leaves out in the bottom of a serving bowl or platter. Add fresh basil and parsley to tomato mixture, stirring to incorporate. Use a slotted spoon to transfer tomato mixture to the serving dish, and then drizzle any remaining vinegar mixture over the top of the salad. Top with freshly cracker pepper to taste and serve.

Paleo Banana Bread with Cacao Nibs

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Using almond flour in place of regular flour in banana bread makes for a soft, nutty, and moist loaf. One that’s satisfying, grain-free, and gluten-free, too!

A lot of bakers will tell you that in order to make bread, you need to pull out the scale. You need to measure twice, and be precise. I am not that baker. In fact, this recipe is a “base recipe” from which I’ve made many variations, including turning the slices into french toast, swapping out the cacao nibs for chocolate chips, and topping the whole thing with walnut streusel. My mom has reported replacing half of the almond flour with regular wheat flour. My point: be brave, experiment, and create.

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My advice: Don't be afraid to try test things out. Sometimes, a little experiment can lead to wonderful things. Even if it doesn't work, you'll learn more about your ingredients by giving it a shot.

Alternative flours are different, and bake differently than traditional flour — some experimentation and learning comes with baking with almond flour for the first time, too!

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Paleo Banana Bread with Cacao Nibs

Published April 17, 2015 by Caitlin Sherwood

Yields: 1 loaf   |    Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes

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Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup almond flour
• 1/2 cup coconut flour 
• 1 tablespoon arrowroot starch  
• 1 1/4 teaspoon baking soda 
• 1/2 teaspoon salt 
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons coconut oil or butter, softened or melted, plus more for greasing your pan
• 4 eggs 
• 4 very ripe bananas (if you are using bananas that are solid yellow (i.e., they do not yet have brown spots), you may wish to add 1-2 tablespoons of honey to this bread to increase it’s sweetness)
• 1/2 cup cacao nibs

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease a standard 9-inch loaf pan with coconut oil (alternatively, you can line the pan with parchment paper). 
2. In a mixing bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients, until no clumps remain.
3. In a separate bowl, cream together the bananas, coconut oil, and vanilla. Once they are fully combined, stir in the eggs until incorporated. 
4. Add the dry ingredients to the wet, stirring it in with a spatula or electric mixer until a consistent batter forms. It may have a few small clumps but should be mostly smooth. Fold in the cacao nibs.  
5. Spread the batter into an even layer in the loaf pan. Optionally, sprinkle the top of the load with cacao nibs. Then, place the pan in the center of the oven. Bake for 45 - 55 minutes until golden on top, and a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the middle of the loaf. Allow to cool for 15 minutes before slicing. 

Za'atar Roasted Vegetables

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I've been day dreaming of Morocco for years now. Landscapes awash with sand, doorways painted bright turquoise, and dirty street markets flicker through my mind as I doze off. I want to see Morocco. I want to taste the flavors of North African cuisine on my tongue and I want to know what it smells like. While I don't always admit it, I'm a lot like my Dad: he taught me to wander, to see the world. He taught me to embrace "from scratch" recipes, and he showed me world cuisine (Thanks, Dad!). 

As you may have gathered in my recent tropical vacation post, when I can't hop a plane, I travel with my tastebuds. While I've been dreaming of Morocco for years (seriously, it's been on the top of my travel wish list for 6 or 7 years), I have yet to make the trip. 

In my day dreams I can be more creative than I might be if I knew what traditional Moroccan food actually entailed. It's liberating really--my minds is free to pair traditional spice blends with less traditional produce items. Case in point: Broccoli is actually a Mediterranean vegetable, but it works well (really well) with Za'atar, a toasted, nutty, herbaceous spice blend used in North Africa and Middle Eastern cooking. 

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You can used ground spices, as directed in the recipe below, or whole spices. If you opt for whole spices, toast the cumin seeds and coriander seeds in a skillet first, and then grind in a mortar and pestle. Finally, add herbs and sesame seeds.

You can buy Za'atar at some grocery stores, but it is actually pretty simple to make. To me, traveling is all about awakening your senses: what you see, what you feel, what you taste, and what you smell. Make your own Za'atar at home. Toasting the spices fills your kitchen with the sweet scent of toasted sesame seeds, sumac, and thyme. It smells like a Moroccan kitchen and, as my Dad might point out: homemade just tastes better.

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Za'atar Roasted Vegetables

Published April 5, 2015 by Caitlin Sherwood

Serves: 4   |    Total Time: 40 minutes

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Ingredients:

Veggies:
• 1/2 red onion
• 1 large sweet potato
• 1 medium eggplant
• 1/2 head cauliflower
• Generous amount of olive oil
• Note: you may also test out other veggies! Try broccoli, summer squash, winter squash, etc.

For the spice blend (Za’atar-inspired):
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 teaspoon ground sumac
• 1/2 teaspoon dried dill
• 2 tablespoons sesame seeds
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• Note: classic Za’atar does not include garlic, salt and pepper, but all three really help this recipe taste delicious!

For serving:
• 1/4 cup minced parsley

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 450°F. Dice the veggies into equal-sized pieces. Spread out on sheet pan, and drizzle with olive oil, tossing the veggies to coat.
2. Combine the spices in a small bowl, stirring to incorporate. Then, sprinkle over the vegetables generously.
3. Place vegetables in oven and bake for 35-40 minutes, until all of the vegetables are cooked through, and the eggplant and cauliflower is beginning to brown.
4. Garnish with parsley and serve hot.