Cooking… as little as possible
I’m thinking this might be dinner tonight. via My Paris Kitchen by David Lebovitz
I’ve been learning towards minimalist cooking for a while now, but the heat of summer has taken my laziness to a whole new level. One night for dinner, I had green beans with salted butter and an enormous wedge of watermelon. Last night - when it was stil 32 degrees at 8:30pm - I had tinned tuna in olive oil and a big bowl of cherries.
This hummus recipe is a little more complicated than that - but I think it’s worth the effort.
Fancy Hummus (adapted from David Lebovitz)
Okay, yes, you can buy hummus at the supermarket. But this is SO much better. And since you’re making it your meal, let’s make it awesome.
The two steps you’ll want to avoid but shouldn’t:
1 - Boil the tinned chickpeas with baking soda. You’re overcooking them - that’s the point. You’re getting them nice and mushy so they will puree smooth. (1 tin of chickpeas + ½ tsp baking soda)
2 - Thin the tahini mixture with ice cold water before adding the mushy beans. The colder the water, the smoother the tahini.
INGREDIENTS:
1 can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
½ tsp of baking soda
¼ cup of lemon juice
1 garlic clove chopped
½ tsp fine sea salt
½ cup tahini
ice water
½ tsp cumin
1 TBL extra virgin olive oil
Garnishes: toasted pumpkin seeds, dukkha and/or chili flakes
DIRECTIONS:
1 - Put your rinsed and drained chickpeas in a pan with ½ baking soda and cover the chickpeas with a few inches of water. Boil for about 20 minutes. Then drain the beans and set them aside.
2 - In your blender: blitz the lemon juice, garlic and salt. If you can let that mellow for 10 minutes, great. Then add the tahini and blend it all together, scrapping down the sides as needed. while blending, drizzle in a few tablespoons of ice cold water until the tahini is light and smooth.
3 - Add in the beans and cumin, combine and then add in the olive oil. Monitor the consistency and add tablespoons of ice cold water until you have a super creamy texture. Taste and add more salt if necessary.
4 - Put into a gorgeous bowl and top with toasted pumpkin seeds, dukkha and chilli flakes.
Cookbook research
I’m flirting with idea of writing a Lake Annecy cookbook... Here are a few of my early comps!
1) How to Eat a Peach by Diana Henry 2) My Paris Kitchen by David Leovitz
1) No-Recipe Recipes by Sam Sifton 2) Savoie by Madeleine Kamman
How to Eat a Peach by Diana Henry - My God, I love her writing and visual style. The book itself is fuzzy… like a peach. Such a beautiful book.
My Paris Kitchen by David Leobvitz - This book is as much about Paris as it is about the recipes. That’s what I want to do for Lake Annecy.
No-Recipe Recipes by Sam Sifton - this is how I write recipes. More like a list of ideas and suggestions - not a tedious instruction manual.
Savoie by Madeleine Kamman - The only English language cookbook I could find that is focused on this region. And it’s out of print! But I managed to procure a copy of World of Books. :)
Granola Bars (with 10 grams of protein)
A few years ago, I would’ve questioned the rationale behind making your own granola bars. It seems like a lot of work when you can buy “healthy” granola bars at every convenience store… right? Unfortunately, most of these options are not nearly as healthy as you might think. Most are highly processed and contain buckets of sugar.
So one rainy afternoon I made these granola bars and I’m never going back. They’re made with whole foods, no refined sugar and have 10 grams of protein in each bar. Keep them in the freezer and throw one in your bag before you leave the house.
Ingredients
1 cup rolled oats (porridge oats)
1 cup natural peanut butter (just peanuts + salt)
1⁄3 cup honey or maple syrup
1⁄2 cup hemp seeds
3 tbsp ground flaxseed
1⁄4 cup pumpkin seeds
3 tbsp almonds, finely chopped
1⁄4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract (optional)
Instructions
Combine the wet ingredients in one bowl and the dry ingredients in another.
Mix everything together - I use a spatula first, then my hands.
Line a loaf pan with parchment paper. Then press the mixture into the pan, cover and put in the fridge to harden for a few hours.
Cut into 10 bars, wrap each in plastic wrap and keep them in the freezer. (I don’t love using the plastic wrap! It’s fiddly and well, plastic-y. But I haven’t found a better solution just yet. I don’t want them to stick together or loose their shape. Suggestions welcome.)
My little nut & seed pots
I’ve been working very hard to add more protein to my diet - I aim for a minimum of 20 grams per meal. When my protein intake is high, I have noticeably more energy and focus. Plus, I have fewer sugar cravings! Which is so important for me because once the sugar cravings start, it’s a downward spiral to iced rosé and salty chips for dinner.
This is an easy hack for adding 20 grams of protein to your breakfast. I add it to my yogurt and it keeps me full (and without cravings) until lunchtime. I just hosted a girls weekend at the lake house and these were a big hit.
Notes:
This recipe makes 8 pots. Each pot contains about 18-20 grams of protein, depending on which nuts you use. I like to use a mix of almonds, walnuts and hazelnuts.
Ingredients for a batch of 8
Hemp seeds — 1 cup (160g)
Chia seeds — ½ cup (95g)
Pumpkin seeds — ½ cup (70g), toasted
Sunflower seeds — ½ cup (70g), toasted
Chopped nuts — 1 heaping cup (120g), toasted (almond/walnut/hazelnut mix)
Instructions
Toast your nuts and seeds on the stovetop in batches. (optional, but dramatically improves flavour)
Then make a little conveyor belt system and load your pots…
Each individual serving gets:
2 TBL hemp seeds
1 TBL chia seeds
1 TBL pumpkin seeds (toasted)
1 TBL sunflower seeds (toasted)
3 TBL chopped nuts (toasted)
