Inspired by the flavors of Bali, Indonesia. Images captured in our temporary Penestanan, Ubud home + kitchen. We’re home, now.
1 cup brown rice
1 mango
1 cup celery leaves (or) cilantro
1 cup mint
1 cup basil
1 cup flat-leaf parsley
1 cup green onion
3 leaves kaffir lime leaves
6-8 shallots
3 stalks fresh lemongrass
2-3 chilies of choice
1/4 cup coconut oil
several limes
salt to taste
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In a medium saucepan bring 2 cups water and 1/4 teaspoon salt to boiling. Slowly add 1 cup long grain rice and return to a boil. Reduce the heat and cover with a tight-fitting lid. Cook about 45 minutes or until rice is tender and water is absorbed. Remove pan from heat and let stand, covered for 5 minutes. Fluff rice with a fork before serving.
Segment mango into bite sized pieces. Set aside in a bowl or prep plate. Julienne celery, mint, basil, and parsley or keep leaves whole – however you prefer. For this variation I kept the herbs whole. Set aside. Cut green onion AND chili(es) of choice at a bias, add to prepped herbs and mango that you’ve set aside.
Chop shallots and fry in a small saucepan over medium heat in coconut oil for 5-10 minutes. While the shallots sizzle, prepare fresh lemon grass stalks. You will need a very sharp knife, as the stalks are quite firm. Remove the lower bulb and shed any tough outer leaves. Slice into thin rounds and pound the pieces with a pestle & mortar until softened and fragrant. Add to the shallots. Cut kaffir lime leaves into thin strips with scissors, add to shallots and lemongrass. Let simmer for another 5 minutes or until slightly browned and fragrant. Add a bit of coconut oil if the mix starts to dry out.
Toss together cooled rice and the prepped herbs, mango, etc. Pour fried shallot mixture over the salad and toss again. Add salt and juice of several limes as desired.
Who doesn’t love a summer picnic? A few weeks ago we met up for one with our dear friend Shelly in Bloomington, IN, home of both Shelly and our alma mater. It’s where Alex and I met for the first time as college freshmen 14 years ago, where he first asked me out on a date (I said no, of course), and where he first proposed (yes, there’s more to that story, maybe for another time). This time, we were back for a quick meal with a friend and a picnic seemed like a lovely, no-fuss excuse for putting together some good eats.
We did end up doing some kitchen prep before we left, preparing some crispy white beans (similar to the crispy chickpeas below) and the simple syrup for the spritzer. After packing everything into a cooler, we met Shelly in Bloomington at a grocery and picked up our remaining ingredients for the cucumber toasts, some cheese, and fancy dark chocolate. In hindsight, I would have grabbed some fresh veggies as well, which I’ve added to the menu below; you could even add a prepared dip or this homemade one.
Below are a few tips for organizing a picnic and our menu. Like all of our menu posts, we’ve provided it not so much for the recipes themselves but as inspiration for your own picnic. We hope you’re able to share an outdoor meal with friends or family this summer as well!
Picnicking Tips
Pick your menu wisely; try to choose just a few items that require advanced preparations, and surround them by easy items like cheese, bread, crackers, fruit, veggies, and other finger foods.
A good cooler is a must. Prep the morning of and arrange your loot in the cooler with some ice packs.
Don’t forget the following essentials: sharp knife (for cutting cheese, vegetables, etc), picnic blanket, and a bag for garbage.
Consider sprucing up the picnic site by bringing some fresh flowers in a ball jar; we grabbed some from our yard before we left.
As much of a pain as it is hauling everything out to the site, it’s worth it once you arrive. Try to find a shady secluded spot under a tree (we had to work around a group practicing sword fighting in the park).
You can pawn off leftovers on other people in the park (we did, and they seemed slightly wary but excited).
Are you all breakfast people? This is not rhetorical: we’re actually wondering — as in, let us know if you are! Since we typically go simple for breakfast (think peanut butter toast), the breakfast category here on A Couple Cooks has been slimmer than others. In fact, we don’t even have a category called Breakfast; everything is filed under Brunch, since in my early cooking days I couldn’t justify expending the effort cooking on a meal that didn’t involve guests.
But lately, we’ve posted several breakfast-y items (below) and are truly enjoying creative weekend breakfast/brunches…which do we eat closer to noontime than when we wake up, but that’s just us. We’d love to hear your morning time routines — do you cook breakfast on weekdays? On weekends? Do you pile a bowl high with yogurt, granola and berries? Do you stay simple with PB toast?
This recipe is so simple it could almost work for a weekday breakfast, except it’s not often that we have time in the morning before running into the office so we save this for weekends. We’ve been working with a green tea powder company to come up with some creative savory uses for the green stuff, since it’s generally used in sweet concoctions like this smoothie. Believe it or not, green tea + eggs actually works! The tea has a subtle aromatic flavor that works wonderfully with the richness of the eggs. If you try it, don’t totally coat the eggs in green, but use enough so that you can taste it. The other surprise ingredient, which you’ve likely noticed in this post title, is lime. I know, it sounds a little weird, but hear us out: adding citrus brightens the flavors of the egg and elevates the dish to a whole new level. You’ll just have to trust us on this one.
If you’re interested in the nutritional benefits of matcha, check out this post for a brief description and a link for more information. And if you’re an Indy-dweller, in this recipe we used local eggs from Schacht Farm and green onions from Full Hand Farm, both purchased at Broad Ripple Farmer’s Market.
In a medium bowl, crack 8 eggs and whisk them together until well-beaten. Stir in ½ teaspoon kosher salt and plenty of fresh ground pepper.
In a skillet, heat 2 tablespoons butter over medium heat. Tilt the pan to ensure the entire pan is coated in the melted butter. Add the green onion and saute for about 1 minute to soften slightly. Pour in the eggs.
Keep the heat on medium. When the eggs just start to set, use a flat spatula to slowly scrape sections of eggs, creating folds. Scrape occasionally until the eggs form soft folds, and remove them from the heat just before they are fully hardened.
To serve, place eggs on a plate. Garnish with sprinkles of matcha and squeezes of lime juice.
photo credit: Ashley McLaughlin (left), Laura Ramos (right)
Good morning! I’m excited for today’s post. There’s been a lot going on behind the scenes over here so I want to share some recent news with you.
Shortly after my first cookbook launched last March, I was offered to write second and third cookbooks. To say that I felt grateful is an understatement. However, my energy levels were pretty shot after a recent move, house renovation, the first trimester of pregnancy, and book launch. I knew I wanted to create another book someday, but I also knew the timing had to be right. Would I ever have the chance to create another book with a baby on the way? When would the timing be right?How would I continue to do chase career dreams while being a mother? I struggled, and still do, with these questions. I don’t have it all together, or even many answers on how to achieve a great balance, but I just try to put my heart into everything I do. I honestly didn’t know if I would want to write another cookbook for a long time. Not because I didn’t enjoy the first book, but the cookbook process is long, intense, and taxing. I’ve never been one to rush into big decisions so I decided to wait. My editors were super supportive and understanding, thankfully. I needed the passion and drive to return.
Sure enough though, that drive and creative spark did come back – and much sooner than I anticipated. During fall of last year, I started to feel a passion for creating a collection of recipes again. After a pregnancy that left me feeling lackluster about food, I now had an insatiable appetite thanks to round the clock nursing sessions. Food was exciting again!!! Recipes started flooding my mind and I worked on a recipe list during middle of the night feedings. Weird, I know, but there I was at 3am typing ideas into my iPhone. Before I knew it, I had over 200 recipe ideas and the rough outline for book #2 drafted. I was in the kitchen testing every chance I had – during naps and after Adriana’s bedtime mostly. No one was more shocked than I was with this sudden burst of creativity. My editors were thrilled to hear the news that I had been secretly working away on book #2 for months. But I was still unsure if I could make it all come to life. I’ve always been an independent worker, but it struck me then that I didn’t have to do it all on my own. In fact, I couldn’t anymore. Even though I enjoy food photography (and shooting the first book was one of my pride and joys), I knew with a baby in the house shooting over 100 photos for the book in addition to everything else just wasn’t going to happen!
The first person I thought of is my friend, Ashley. Our blogs and granola bar businesses brought us together way back in 2008 and we have stayed close ever since. She needs no introduction for many of you; she’s an incredibly talented blogger, recipe developer, and photographer (you can check out her gorgeous portfolio here). I sent her an email one day asking her if she’d be interested in shooting an entire cookbook (she recently shot the photography for her own cookbook – Baked Doughnuts for Everyone), and she got back to me almost instantly with…Am I interested? Umm let me think….YES!!!!!
Here we are back in 2010!
Obviously, I had to iron out the project proposal and all the details, but seeing her enthusiasm for this project made me certain she had to be a part of it. Her passion for food photography is exactly what I want for this next book, not to mention I admire her all-natural, unaltered approach with food styling. (You want to bet that she eats every recipe after she shoots it!) I knew she could capture the essence of my healthy, approachable, and fuss-free recipes while show-casing the food’s natural beauty.
Here are a few beautiful trial photos that she shot:
photo credits: Ashley McLaughlin
I’m so excited to have Ashley on board to shoot 100+ photos for my next cookbook. This allows me to focus on my biggest passion – developing and testing recipes for you. Not having to do the photography has allowed me to focus exclusively on developing and testing recipes, writing, and running my recipe tester website. It’s working out well (most of my recipes are completed and just need re-testing) and I couldn’t be happier with how it’s coming along. Ashley will be shooting the photography this summer, so this spring has been a really busy one for me. I know things have been quieter around here on the blog lately, and I appreciate your patience as I put my heart and soul into this next book. I hope to get back into a regular blog posting schedule soon. I miss this space so much!
Many of you have asked when the next cookbook will be published and I can now tell you that it’s due out early fall 2016. It’ll be out in time for the start of the holiday season which I think is the perfect time for this collection of recipes.
Here are a few more details about the next book:
– It will feature a mix of my favourite “every day” go-to recipes perfect for busy and active lifestyles, as well as more elaborate or special occasion recipes! I’m sharing the recipes that work for my actual life, the things I make on a regular basis, my go-to potluck/holiday recipes, etc. I think it’ll be a great mix.
– All recipes are plant-based/vegan. Almost all of the recipes are gluten-free (with the exception of a few recipes with spelt flour), and soy-free.
– I offer a lot of nut-free recipes as well as many nut-free substitutions in this book. There are plenty of nut-free snacks for kids!!
– Think “healthy comfort food” recipes that won’t weigh you down! Examples: nut-free chili and cheese nachos, creamy roasted detox salad, cheesy lentil pasta casserole, and the ultimate flourless sea salt brownies (totally bean-free, grain-free!), as well as a mix of lighter recipes like healthy parfaits, salads, soups, dips, smoothies, and more. No strange ingredients, just real food.
I’ve been sharing behind the scenes action for months now on Instagram. You can follow all the behind the scenes action with the #osgcookbook2 hashtag! Ash will be sharing behind the scenes sneak peaks this summer too (I’m a sucker for those glimpses into someone’s work!). You can follow us on Instagram: @ohsheglows and @edibleash (you can read her announcement post here, by the way).
Well, I can’t wait for this next book to come to life. I’m incredibly grateful to continue this journey and for your amazing support. More updates to come!
P.S. I’d like to pass along some recent interviews!
“This cookbook is full of simple, approachable recipes that the whole family will enjoy. Most can be made with ease on a weeknight (<45min), with downtime in-between. The recipes are such that they are practical, and don’t sacrifice flavour for speed. The included photos done by Angela are absolutely stunning, but what is more exciting is that the dishes end up looking like the photos! This is homey, craveable cooking at its finest, and Oh She Glows will be a go-to cookbook stained and splattered.” ~Katie Hay
2) An interview with Barre3 – We chatted about cookbook creation, favourite recipes, balance, and more.
“Running a business and being a new mom has reinforced something I’ve known for a while—it’s impossible for every aspect of my life to feel balanced at the same time. It reminds me of the saying, “you can have it all, but just not all at once.” I’ve made peace with the unbalance in my life right now. Yes, I’m sleep deprived, my laundry is piled up, and my pre-baby jeans are still a bit tight, but there is so much in my life to be grateful for.”
Happy almost weekend, friends! Today, I’m excited to share a recipe from The Blender Girl Smoothies: 100 Gluten-Free, Vegan, and Paleo-Friendly Recipesby Tess Masters. I had the pleasure of getting to know Tess a few years ago at the Vida Vegan Con and let me tell you, she is as vivacious, bubbly, and thoughtful as she comes across online. I totally wish we lived closer so we could bond over our love for green smoothies, Vitamix blenders, and plant-based cuisine. Well, all the more reason to visit California, I suppose!
Not only is tess the force behind The Blender Girl website, The Blender Girl cookbook, and The Blender Girl Smoothies app, but her second cookbook, The Blender Girl Smoothies, was just released on June 30th. It’s packed with 100 creative smoothie recipes including a beautiful photo for each recipe. The book is divided into 4 chapters: 1) Smoothie Secrets, 2) Find Your Perfect Blend, 3) The Recipes (light and fruity; clean and green; an exotic ride; dessert), and 4) The Smoothie Pantry. Each smoothie recipe has icons that let you know whether the smoothies are nut-free, detox-approved, high-protein, immunity-boosting, alkaline, and more. She also provides a comprehensive list of pantry ingredients. This comes in handy, especially for the lesser known superfood ingredients (such as spirulina, camu powder, wheatgrass, etc.). Lastly, she dishes on her top tips for blending perfect smoothies and shares a “build your own smoothie” guide so you can create your own unique recipes.
Today, I’m happy to share her “Mystical Mango” smoothie! It’s so energizing and makes enough to share (just under 4 cups worth, although I could’ve easily chugged it all myself). I served it alongside the tofu scramble from my cookbook and some toast for an easy, satisfying breakfast.
The Blender Girl’s Mystical Mango Smoothie
Vegan, gluten-free, grain-free, no bake/raw, nut-free, oil-free, refined sugar-free, soy-free
I fell in love with this smoothie’s thick and creamy texture and sweet, tangy flavor. It makes the perfect breakfast drink to pair with a bowl of overnight oats, tofu scramble, or chia pudding. This recipe is lightly adapted from Tess Master’s The Blender Girl Smoothies (2015) published by Ten Speed Press.
Tess writes, “With a creamy texture and exquisite flavor, this immunity blend is a fabulous for collagen formation and glowing skin, hair, and nails. Mango’s enzymes and vitamins A, C, and E cleanse the liver and aid digestion, and it’s potassium and fibre help regulate blood pressure and cholesterol. This one will make your heart happy.”
Yield 4 cups (2 servings)
Prep Time 5 Minutes
Cook time 0 Minutes
Total Time 5 Minutes
Ingredients:
1.5 cups orange juice
1/2 cup water, or more if needed
1/4 cup avocado
1/2 teaspoon finely grated lime zest
2 cups frozen mango (I used an entire 300g bag)
Pure maple syrup, to taste (optional – I added a teaspoon)
Directions:
Add all of the ingredients into a high speed blender and blend on high for 30-60 seconds, until smooth and creamy. If using the Vitamix, you can use the tamper stick to get things moving. If the mixture seems too thick you can thin it with a bit more water.
Note: Tess says you can boost this smoothie with 1/2 teaspoon wheatgrass powder, 1 teaspoon chia seeds, and 1 teaspoon of flaxseed oil.
I’ve had a word document open on my desktop for the past month. The ticker at the footer reads 6,201 words. Oy. Everyday for the past week I’ve tried to sit down, stand up, walk around with the laptop getting things sorted out. Music, no music. Pants, no pants. Wine, more wine. You know when you throw out your back and you find yourself inventing new yoga poses to get that darn thing to pop back into place? Yeah, that’s how I feel about writing right now. Just. Can’t. Quite. Get. There. The stuff sorta hurts to get out and then ends up looking like a mess on the page.
Then I sat down with a friend. She’s a writer. She gets it. She also has a 13 month old daughter and pumps out about twice the content I can in a week and I think to myself: Jesus, Kels, SHE HAS TO TAKE CARE OF ANOTHER LIVING CREATURE AND YOU CAN’T GET YOUR SHIT TOGETHER. Anyway, we had this great chat about vulnerability, where it fits with the business of writing (and sharing that writing online) and how the word and concept makes us recoil a bit when we hear it tossed around so casually over coffee and cocktails. She said this, which I love: some secrets are worth keeping. Sometimes none of the words and thoughts and feelings we wrestle with need to see the light, and that’s okay. It takes guts to get vulnerable, i.e. share parts of ourselves that we fear will result in rejection. But guts for the sake of guts feels totally… disingenuous? It shows security, confidence to pump the brakes a bit, and decide, on our own terms, how and when and for whom we’ll strip down for.
I worry, sometimes, that my generation falsely associates vulnerability with sharing every moment tasted, every hurt suffered, every little nugget of wisdom that comes to us while washing our hair or taking out the trash. I feel like we relinquish a bit of our agency in doing so. We give up sacredness for the rush of affirmation –– I divulge, therefore I exist. We don’t get a chance to ever really feel something in a totally pure state without those feelings being tampered by the onlookers we willingly, or unwillingly, called to table. There is enough of that look-at-me-see-me-feel-my-heart-beat-but-don’t-actually-judge-me-or-tell-me-something-I-don’t-want-to-hear sorta thing on the internet and in the “real” world that we have to deal with.
So instead of trying to contort the ever-living crap of that diabolical mess of thoughts, I’m going to bank on what I know for sure: loosening the grip reveals new truths, and that space and distance do help us heal and sort through the things that weigh heavy on our hearts. It’s okay to let some things just be our own to ponder and wrestle.
Instead! Life update:
We’re moving. To the mountains. It feels right. We’ve grappled quietly with getting out of dodge leaving Denver since late spring, and upon our return from Bali it felt like all lights were flashing GREEN GREEN GREEN to manifest on that tug for migration. Seattle and Portland, Maine made the shortlist, but we’re not quite ready to say sayonara to these Rocky Mountains yet. We’re under contract on a little place west of Boulder that backs up onto a bit of woods –– we’ll sign and get the keys on Shaun’s 26th birthday. Wish us luck.
Concord Grape & Mint Sorbet
I finagled a few shortcuts to this killer recipe from Kimberley Hasselbrink’s recent release, Vibrant Food. After watching the food blog community reproduce the summer chapter online when the book first came out, I felt like I should wait to share this number when the leaves started changing and remind you that the fall, winter, and spring chapters of this book are equally impressive. I had the huge honor of recipe testing for Kimberley as Vibrant Food came together and I’m telling you, she, and these recipes, are total keepers. Oh, and, the recipe for harissa, on page 97, needs to be bottled and sold around the world. It’s the best I’ve ever had.
You’ll need:
2 lbs fresh Concord grapes, stems removed
12 mint leaves
1/4 cup sugar
juice of 1 lime
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Remove stems from grapes. Rinse. In the basin of a blender or food processor, combine grapes, mint leaves, sugar, and the juice of 1 lime. Puree the the mixture until all but a few specks of grape skin remain visible. Kimberly suggests straining the mixture through a fine mesh sieve or strainer, but I’m into the pulp. It’s up to you.
Churn the blended grapes in an ice cream maker for 25-30 minutes, until slightly frozen. The sorbet will still be soft. Pour into a freezer-safe container and freeze for three more hours to solidify.
I wanted a perfect ending. I’ve learned, the hard way, that some poems don’t rhyme, and some stories don’t have a clear beginning, middle and end. Life is about not knowing, leaning into change, taking the moment and making the best of it without knowing what’s going to happen next. Delicious Ambiguity. – Gilda Radner
Vegetarian Pho
Barely adapted from newly released Green Kitchen Travelsby by David Frenkiel andLuise Vindahl. These two are some of the kindest, most genuine folks I’ve come to know in blog-land. Green Kitchen Travels is everything I want in a cookbook, and everything the world needs more of: sincerity, originality, and spunk.
2 large onions, peeled and halved
nub of fresh ginger, peeled and sliced
4 cinnamon sticks
4 star anise
4 cloves
4 cardamom pods
1 tbsp coriander seeds
4 large carrots, peeled and chopped
1 fennel bulb, quartered, stalks removed
1 tsp minced garlic
1 tbsp shoyu or soy sauce
8 cups vegetable stock
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1 head of bok choy, quartered
fresh thai basil
fresh mint
2 cups beansprouts
handful of limes, quartered
1 lb brown rice noodles
shaved sweet onion slices
Heat oven to 450.’ Place onions and ginger slices onto a baking tray and roast in the oven for 10 minutes until the edges are starting to brown. Place spices in a heavy-pot and dry roast until aromatic, stirring to prevent from burning. Add vegetable stock, shoyu, carrots, fennel, and roasted onions and ginger. Bring to a boil and reduce heat. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes. Strain soup base through a fine mesh strainer to remove vegetables and debris, then return strained broth to the pot and reheat. Cook noodles according to packet instructions. Prepare serving bowl(s) with cooked noodles, bok choy, beansprouts, onion, fresh herbs, and lime wedges. When ready to serve, pour over hot broth and serve immediately.
**The publisher is letting me give away a copy to one (1) Happyolks reader. Leave a comment with an active email address and I’ll notify a winner by next Tuesday.
