Spicy Roasted Okra

Let's talk okra.  Have you ever tried okra?  I grew up just north of Boston, so needless to say we were not a big okra-eating family.  Actually, we weren't an okra-eating family at all.  I'm not sure I'd ever even seen okra before I moved to DC, never mind tried it.  I mean, the stuff looks like it's covered in dog slobber.  Not exactly on my top 10 "must try" list.



Strangely enough, the grocery store by my apartment in Chicago almost always has okra. (Except the first time I'd worked up the nerve to try it.  Obviously, that day they had no okra whatsoever.)  In my store, it's up on the shelf with the Brussels sprouts.  And that is another food - Brussels sprouts - that I never thought I liked until I found out they're actually my favorite thing in the world when sauteed in bacon fat and mixed with Israeli couscous.  So if I could give Brussels sprouts a shot, why not okra?



My first instinct was that the dog slobber oozing out of the okra needs to be dried up.  Please. And that means we are not making okra in a pan.  We are not sauteing it down to a puddle of dog slobber.  I'm not quite ready for that, even if I was using bacon fat.  When I found this recipe for roasting the okra, I figured this was the best way to go.

By the way, as long as we're talking bacon fat, I have a confession to make.  For Easter, I made a quiche (which obviously included bacon) and ever since I've been saving leftover bacon fat in my fridge.  I only use it for things like quick brussels sprouts on a weeknight.  But yeah, there's that.  Don't judge me.  Especially if you're my sweet Kosher-keeping Bubby.



Right, so okra.  Okra rocks.  Or at least this okra recipe does.  I'm not quite ready to venture out and try any others yet, but I'm pretty stoked about what we had going on here.  I'm always looking for a new vegetable to change up our routine (which, come summer, is asparagus, asparagus, asparagus....and our roommate hates asparagus) so this is a really nice change of pace.  Plus it's seriously easy.  You don't even have to trim the tops off if you don't want to!  And the chili-infused olive oil the Monkey Scientist's mom gave us has some serious kick to it, so you know he was loving this recipe, too. (But if you're a weirdo and don't like spicy foods, you could use olive oil instead and I think you'll be just fine!)  I'm excited. It's going into the rotation.

Oh, P.S. those glorious little nuggets on the plate that look like tater tots are actually roasted gnocchi.  In this case, Cajun roasted gnocchi.  My old co-worker's sister gave me this recipe months ago and it is one of my favorite things ever.  I really need to share it with you one of these days! 



Spicy Roasted Okra
from Tartlette

Ingredients
1 lb okra
1/4 c chili-infused olive oil (we bought it, but you can make your own)
1/2 tsp ground sea salt
1/4 tsp ground black pepper

Instructions
1. Preheat the oven to 400.
2. Wash the okra and slice in half vertically.  I cut the tops off first, but this is optional.
3.  Put the okra in a large bowl with the chili-infused olive oil, salt, and pepper. Toss to coat.
4.  Place the okra in a single layer on a foil lined baking sheet.  Bake for 15-20 minutes, until the okra is browned and crispy.  Serve immediately.

Salted Caramel

Now that autumn is in full-swing, all I want to do is go apple picking. Unfortunately, the weather has not cooperated between the drought and early heat this spring - which led to a small harvest this year - and the rain storms we've had lately. I tried to plan a big trip and we had tornado warnings all weekend. Such a bummer. Still, there have been great Honeycrisps from Michigan at the grocery store and I've really been enjoying them!



This weekend, I decided that if I was going to eat apples inside in the rain, I needed to dip them in caramel. This recipe was SUPER easy. I think I could have let the sugar get a little bit deeper caramelization, but I was so afraid of burning it that I pulled it off a little early. Next time I'll let it get a little darker. This recipe is fantastic though! I brought the leftovers to the Monkey Scientist's parents - I'm hoping his mom uses it to make some spectacular baked goods. It would be wonderful swirled in brownies or cake!



Salted Caramel Sauce
slightly adapted from Lick My Spoon

Ingredients
1 cup sugar
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into chunks
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
1/4 cup water
1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt
1 tsp vanilla extract

Instructions
1. Heat sugar and water in a 2-quart or 3-quart non-stick saucepan over medium-high heat. Stir to help the sugar dissolve, but stop stirring when the sugar comes to a boil. You can swirl the pan a bit if you want.
2. When the liquid sugar hits a dark amber color (I don't think I waited quite long enough), add all the butter to the pan. The mixture will foam up and thicken. Whisk until the butter has melted. Once the butter has melted, take the pan off the heat.
3. Add the cream to the pan (the mixture will foam up again) and continue to whisk to incorporate.
4. Add the sea salt and vanilla and whisk until caramel sauce is smooth.
5. Let cool in the pan for a couple minutes, then pour into a glass jar and let cool to room temperature. Don’t worry if the sauce seems a bit too thin at first, it will thicken as it cools. Store in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. Warm before serving to loosen it up again.

Peanut Butter: Attempt #1

Have you tried this?



It is the bomb.  I'm totally obsessed.  The only issue is how difficult it is for me to get to a Trader Joe's.  The ingredients are so simple - Roasted Valencia Peanuts, Roasted Golden Flax Seed, and Sea Salt - so I figured, why not try to make it myself?



I popped around and realized that homemade peanut butter is actually super easy to make.  I've always found peanut butter, unless purchased at a natural market like Trader Joe's or Whole Foods, usually either isn't smooth at all or has all sorts of weird ingredients.  I really appreciate the ability to make my own foods from scratch and control all of the ingredients.



I also love adding flax seed.  This is such a healthy ingredient, and I love to sneak it into anything I can.  I kind of jumped the gun on this one and I didn't think about roasting the flax seed before I added it to the peanut butter - that's why I'm calling this one try 1.  Next time I'm going to do some seed-roasting, I'll let you know how it goes.



This homemade peanut butter is delicious!! It isn't as smooth as Jiff or Skippy, but it has comparable texture to my favorite Trader Joe's brand. I even found it a little bit easier to spread, even straight out of the fridge. It was fantastic on a PB&J sandwich for work.  I stored it right back in my old peanut butter jar for my reduce/reuse/recycle moment of the day.  I'd call it a great success, I can't to try some new iterations.




Smooth Peanut Butter with Flax Seed
inspired by Joy the Baker
(makes about 1 cup peanut butter)

Ingredients
1 1/2 c unsalted, dry roasted peanuts
1/4 c flax seeds
1 tsp sea salt

Instructions
Combine all ingredients in food processor.  Blend until peanut butter is smooth and shiny.  You may need to stop halfway and scrape down the sides with a spatula.  Store in an airtight container in the fridge.

Homemade Taco Seasoning

Tacos are such a fun and easy weeknight dinner.  Meat, vegetables, shell or lettuce wrap - easy as pie.  And in college, we always flavored that meat with taco seasoning.  Have you ever read the ingredients on taco seasoning?  Check out what Ortega puts in theirs:
Yellow Corn Flour, Salt, Maltodextrin, Paprika, Spices, Modified Corn Starch, Sugar, Garlic Powder, Citric Acid, Autolyzed Yeast Extract, Natural Flavor, Caramel Color (sulfites).


Lots of salt (430 mg). Maltodextrin. Autolyzed Yeast Extract. Caramel Color?  The only other food I know with Caramel color in it is Coca-Cola.  Probably not the best things to be throwing into your ground beef.



As it turns out, making taco seasoning couldn't be easier.  I used all ingredients that I had in my house. I altered it a little below, based on what I had, but feel free to go back to the original recipe and add in some of the things I removed (like onion powder).  I also kicked up the spice for the Monkey Scientist, so feel free to cut back if you're not into that.



I made the seasoning with these super cute measuring spoons that my mom bought for me. How adorable are they?  I thought about giving you the ingredients in these cutesy measurements, but I figured it might not be that useful.  I just love them though - especially because they remind me of Mom.



This seasoning is super flavorful - we loved it.  I made lettuce wrap tacos to cut down on the carbs (and then loaded it with cheese, fair tradeoff!) and thought they were tasty and filling.  The seasoning does make a little more than you need for 1 lb of beef, so I put the extra in a ziploc for another day.  Make sure you label it!  Then you can have an easy weeknight dinner, and without all those unnatural ingredients and extra salt, in no time!



Homemade Taco Seasoning
adapted from Food Renegade

Ingredients:
1 tbsp chili powder
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp paprika (I used sweet)
1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp ground black pepper
1/4 tsp ancho chili powder
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

Instructions
Combine all spice and use to season your favorite taco meat!