Heidi Swanson – Page 11

Mushroom Lasagna

This freezer-friendly mushroom lasagna is all about homemade mushroom ragù, big dollops of ricotta cheese, and silky tender sheets of pasta finished with a bit of basil and some grated Parmesan cheese.

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This is the mushroom lasagna I make when no-one is looking. The one where I cut a couple of traditional corners, add a few personal touches and, quite honestly, never look back. Sometimes I go long-form and use homemade pasta for the layers, other times it’s all about keeping the process quick — store-bought lasagna sheets and ragù from the freezer it is. Both versions are pictured here.

Consider yourself warned, this lasagna is a big boy, and will fill all of a 13×9 pan with layers of a vibrant, hearty and creamy mushroom ragù. There are generous dollops of ricotta and ribbons of silky pasta. I’ve grated fragrant lemon zest into the bottom of every lasagna for as long as I can remember, and that’s a feature here too.
Mushroom Lasagna in a baking pan

The Vision

There are a number of different styles of mushroom lasagna. Some are white lasagnas, with no tomatoes whatsoever. They rely on creamy béchamel (butter, milk, flour) for some of the binding and creaminess desired in lasagna. My version isn’t that. I generously layer a creamy, tomato-based mushroom ragù as the primary sauce throughout. It’s rich enough that I simply skip the béchamel component you see in many lasagnas. Lemon zest lifts all the flavors up, and you can choose to use store-bought lasagna sheets or make them from homemade pasta depending on how ambitious you’re feeling.
Mushroom Lasagna in a baking pan

Quick version vs. Slow Version

Lasagna is always made with love. They can be all day affairs, but with a bit of planning, one like this can come together reasonably quick. To make the lasagna pictured above I used mushroom ragù thawed from the freezer with store-bought noodles. Had the whole thing in the oven 30 minutes after walking in the kitchen. The other lasagna picture, not so much. I made the ragù the same day, rolled out homemade pasta sheets, and when I say it was an all-day situation, no exaggeration. Either way, a lasagna is never not worth the effort.

Mushroom Lasagna: The Ingredients

The list here is short, so you want to make sure each component is on point, seasoned well and tasting good.

Mushroom Ragù: There’s only one sauce in this lasagna recipe and it is this mushroom ragù is it. It’s a hearty, wonderful, slow-cooked tomato and mushroom sauce featuring finely chopped mushrooms, tomatoes, and aromatics. Keep it in your freezer. Use half for pastas, the other half for this lasagna.
Pasta: You have options here and both are fantastic! You can use homemade pasta or store-bought lasagna sheets.
Cheese: The main cheese in this lasagna is ricotta. Parmesan is used more as a finishing cheese.
Lemon zest: Don’t skip it. It is the secret wink of goodness.
Basil: Use it when basil is in season – always fresh basil. But don’t let the lack of basil deter you from making this.

Mushroom Lasagna being served on a table

Dial up the Mushrooms

All of the mushrooms in this lasagna are introduced in the ragù. They’re well chopped. That said, if you want a mushroom lasagna with more defined mushrooms you have options! Stem and slice a pound of mushrooms 1/4-inch thick. Cook them in a couple tablespoons of olive oil in a hot skillet with a pinch of salt until golden. Alternately, you can also roast them after tossing with olive oil in the oven as it is pre-heating. Introduce these mushrooms to your lasagna layers.

Mushroom Lasagna: The Process

Here’s a step by step illustration of how to make this lasagna. The first thing to do is butter or oil your baking pan, and then sprinkle with some citrus zest. You see orange here, but I typically use lemon. Or a blend.
Lasagna pan prepared with butter and citrus zest
The next step is pre-cooking the lasagna sheets in boiling, salted water. You’ll dunk them in a big bowl of ice water spiked with a bit of olive oil. Then transfer to a baking sheet. See below.
Cooked Pasta on a Baking Sheet
From there, build the lasagna in layers starting with a thin layer of ragù. Next, a layer of pasta, more mushroom ragù, and then dollops of ricotta.
Mushroom Lasagna being layered in a Baking Pan with ragu, ricotta cheese and pasta noodles
Repeat until you’ve run out of ingredients. Make sure to end with a good amount of sauce. You can add ricotta, a bit of basil, and more lemon zest to the top if you like, or keep it simple with just a bit of sauce and a finishing layer of Parmesan. The lasagna below was made with homemade pasta and Parmesan to finish. Bake until golden and beautiful.
Mushroom Lasagna in pan just after baking on cooling on a counter
Once your lasagna has finished baking, allow it to sit for a few minutes before cutting into it.
Mushroom Lasagna in a baking pan being served with a spatula

Freezing Lasagna

The house rule for this mushroom lasagna is eat half, freeze half. It reheats brilliantly and makes for an easy weeknight meal alongside a quick salad or vegetable side of some sort. To freeze the lasagna, first allow it to cool completely. Slice into desired individual pieces and freeze. Store each slice in an individual container or freezer bag. It makes things easier and slices don’t freeze together. Keep frozen for up to three months.
Mushroom Lasagna in a baking pan

Reheating Lasagna

Arrange frozen slices of lasagna on a parchment-lined baking sheet, an inch or more apart. If you remember, allow it to thaw a bit ahead of time. Not a big deal if you forget, thawing just allows you to reheat it more quickly. Heat the oven to 400F, cover the baking sheet with foil and bake for 30 minutes, or until the lasagna is hot throughout. You may need to cut into a slice to make sure the center is hot.
Mushroom Lasagna in a baking pan

More Pasta Recipes

Favorite Pasta Sauces

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Tofu Scramble

This tofu scramble is fast, flavorful, and a wonderful egg-free savory breakfast. Made with spinach, curry powder, nutritional yeast, garlic, and onions, this is the version we’ve been making for years!

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Tofu scramble — two words that trigger visions of 70s-era hippie cookbooks, but also the college town vegetarian cafes of the 80s and 90s. And I’m here for it. Still! After all these years. A tofu scramble is a great savory breakfast or brunch option, and deservedly more popular than ever. There are endless variations out there, but more often than not, I stick close to the spinach-flecked version I’ve been making most of my adult life. It is flavor-packed with curry powder, starts with a simple onion-garlic base, and comes together in no time.
tofu scramble with skillet potatoes in a bowl

A Bit of Context

As someone who has lived nearly my whole life in coastal California, tofu scrambles have always been around. Or, that’s how it has felt. I associated the tofu scramble with the vegetarian and vegan diets popular among hippie communities of the 1960s and 1970s. Over the years, tofu scramble recipes were published in niche cookbooks and counter-cultural books that became immensely popular – for example, Diet For a Small Planet, Rebar: Modern Food Cookbook, The Tassajara Recipe Book, The Modern Vegetarian Kitchen, and Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone. Newspapers and magazines increasingly published tofu scramble recipes in the 1980s and 1990s and the popularity of the preparation expanded. Then the internet came along and boosted the reach to new audiences more rapidly through blog posts and socially networked videos, and here we are!

Why are tofu scrambles increasingly popular?

People seem to be looking to replace what is familiar to them with meat-free alternatives to traditional breakfast dishes. As people aspire to increase the number of plant-based meals into their lives, an eggless scramble is a satisfying, hearty, and versatile vegan breakfast option that can be customized to suit a wide range of taste and dietary preferences. It’s high in protein, delicious, and (when done well) packed with flavor.

Switch it up!

Think of it this way, a tofu scramble is a great vegan alternative to scrambled eggs. If you miss the taste and feel of scrambled eggs, a tofu scramble can be a great alternative. The word “scramble” is misleading in this context, because you’re not scrambling eggs in this case, but you get the idea. Even if you do eat eggs, this recipe is worth a try. It’s a versatile alternative, and an all-around crowd-pleaser. But, honestly, you don’t need to think of it as an alternative to anything. It’s just a delicious something to eat in its own right. And! It’s a great one-pan camping recipe, and clean up is a breeze.
spinach and tofu ingredient on plates

Secrets To Making a Great Tofu Scramble

For this tofu scramble recipe, there are a few things to pay attention to.

Buy extra-firm tofu: For this recipe, go with extra-firm tofu. Keyword is extra.
Press the tofu: The goal here is to confidently press as much liquid from the tofu as possible. Wrap the tofu in a clean towel, or bundle of paper towels until all the extra moisture is gone. Some people have If you the patience to let the tofu sit under a press for a long time, but typically that’s not me. Sourcing extra-firm tofu, and a quick press is all you need for this scramble.
Use strong seasoning: Perceived blandness of the tofu is one of the common criticisms leveled against a tofu scramble recipe. Tofu can be a beautiful ingredient, simply prepared on its own, but in this case we’re looking to super-charge it with color and flavor. Use a favorite curry powder, and be sure to season the scramble to taste prior to serving with salt. This little step makes all the difference.
Add seasonal vegetables: One of the great things about a tofu scramble is the versatility. In this recipe I feature spinach as the vegetable. It brings, color, nutrition, and diversity to the scramble, but I encourage you to use what is available and in season. You can all other quick cooking vegetables along with the spinach or in place of it. Asparagus, broccoli florets, cabbage, cauliflower florets, zucchini, and cherry tomatoes are all great options.

tofu scramble ingredients on a table

Key Tofu Scramble Ingredients

Tofu: This recipe calls for extra-firm tofu. It crumbles into curd-like clusters, mimicking the shape and texture of a well-cooked scrambled egg. There is an argument for experimenting with silken tofu here. Silken tofu lends a creamier, loose texture to a scramble. There is a technique to cooking a tofu scramble with silken tofu, I hope to feature here in the near future. For this recipe, extra-firm is the key.
Spices & Seasonings: No one loves a bland scramble. Spices and seasonings are the key to a great tasting version.

chopped onions and garlic cooking in a large skillet
I made this scramble the other morning while we were camping. It’s the sort of one-pan meal I love when I’m cooking on a small stove.
onions, garlic, curry powder cooking in a skillet
Here you see the onions and garlic cooking in the hot pan. The curry powder is sprinkled into the pan and it smells absolutely amazing!
tofu scramble ingredients cooking in a skillet
Then the tofu is added. You can see the size of the crumble here in this picture. How large or small you crumble the tofu is up to you. I like some larger pieces, they simulate some of the texture you get with traditional scrambled eggs.
tofu scramble with added spinach in a hot skillet
In goes the spinach. The leaves will collapse quickly as you stir and flip the mixture.
smashed skillet potatoes in a skillet
Once the scramble is cooked, I like to use the same skillet to make a side of smashed skillet potatoes from potatoes I boiled the night before.
tofu scramble served on a plate on a picnic table

What To Eat with Tofu Scramble

One of the things I love about a tofu scramble, it the versatility. Many of the things you can do with a traditional egg-based scramble, work nicely with tofu scramble as well. Here are some favorites:

Potatoes: smashed skillet potatoes are a favorite accompaniment. Pictured throughout this post.
Tacos: use the scramble as a component in breakfast tacos.
Breakfast sandwiches: smear bagels, toast, or English muffins with avocado or another favorite slather. This will help hold the scramble in place. Start with good bread, make it toast, and go from there.
Breakfast burrito: use the scramble as a component in a breakfast burrito. Beans, avocado, salsa, and whatever else you love to put in your morning burrito.

tofu scramble in a bowl with skillet potatoes

More Favorite Tofu Recipes

More Camping Recipes

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Quinoa Salad

A favorite quinoa salad punctuated with crunchy cucumbers and toasted cashews. There’s creamy feta, wisps of arugula, flecks of red onion and herbs, and a special ginger-curry dressing. So delicious!

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This favorite quinoa salad checks all the boxes. I hope you make it! Let’s talk it through. A nutritious quinoa base is punctuated with crunchy cucumbers and toasted cashews. There’s creamy feta, wisps of arugula, and flecks of red onion and herbs. The thing that makes this salad stand out from other quinoa salads is the bright, strong, ginger-curry dressing made with garlic and a good splash of orange juice. It’s *so* tasty.
quinoa salad on a picnic table

Quinoa Salad

Five reasons to love this recipe:

This quinoa salad is all about the ginger-curry dressing. The dressing is flavor-packed and can be made up to a few days ahead of time. It is also a great spread on sandwiches, and drizzled over grilled vegetables or bruschetta.
This salad is even better on the second day. Re-toss with a bit of extra dressing and you’re good to go.
A quinoa salad like this one is a fantastic option for family meals and potlucks where you might have to accommodate a range of allergies. It is gluten-free and can be nut free if you swap pepitas or sunflower seeds for the cashews.
If you’re looking for something a bit more substantial, turn this salad into a hearty one-bowl meal by topping the salad with a hard boiled egg, slivered omelette, or tempeh crumble.
It’s loaded with goodies like toasted nuts, cucumbers, herbs, and arugula. Along with the quinoa, and the spice-forward dressing, you have all the good stuff in one bowl.

This salad is big on flavor, colorful, a crowd-pleaser, fresh, and healthful. All around, a great summer salad.
quinoa, cashews, red onions, feta, and arugula in a bowl

Quinoa Salad Ingredients

This salad comes together quickly, especially if you make the dressing ahead of time or keep it on hand.

quinoa
red onion
arugula or spinach – you can use any chopped green, really. Thin shavings of green cabbage is another option. Peppery leaves of arugula is my first choice though.
toasted cashews
chickpeas
feta cheese – taste your way through different feta over time. The range of feta available dramatic and super interesting. Some are saltier than others. You will find varieties made from sheep milk, cow milk, goat milk, or a blend. True Greek feta is made with sheep’s milk, and I tend to grab that. Opt for blocks of feta over crumbles.
herbs
ginger-curry dressing

quinoa salad ingredients in a mixing bowl

How To Cook Quinoa

This recipe has you start out with a couple cups of cooked quinoa. You can use any color quinoa you like. If you aren’t sure how to cook quinoa, or how to be sure it turns out nice and fluffy, there’s a post for you. This page explains how to cook quinoa, and talks through a lot of ways to work this special ingredient into your cooking.
ginger curry dressing in a glass jar
As I mentioned up above, the ginger-curry dressing is what makes this salad really sing. The recipe below has you make more than you need, so you’ll have extra to use on other things throughout the week.
quinoa salad ingredients in a mixing bowl
Here you see all the ingredients coming together. The key is tossing everything really, really well. Then introduce the feta cheese so it holds its shape.
quinoa salad on a large plate with a serving spoon

Serving & Storing

This quinoa salad is best at room temperature. If you’re thinking of serving refrigerated leftovers, allow the salad to sit on a counter at room temperature for long enough to lose the chill before serving. The same applies to the dressing, bring it to room temperature before using.

Want to cook more quinoa recipes?

– Double Broccoli Quinoa
– Baked Quinoa Patties
– Warm and Nutty Cinnamon Quinoa
– Kale Quinoa Bites
– more fave quinoa recipes

Salad Recipes

If you’re looking for more salad recipes and inspiration, you’re in the right place.

– 50+ salad recipes in one spot
– Spicy Sesame Coleslaw
– Grilled Wedge Salad with Spicy Ranch Dressing

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Mesquite Chocolate Chip Cookies

Mesquite flour adds a wonderful accent to these oat and walnut studded chocolate chip cookies. If you’ve never baked with it, this is your encouragement

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If you’re looking for a unique and special chocolate chip cookie, this is the recipe. I developed a version of these for my book Super Natural Cooking circa 2007 and they’ve had a special place in my heart (and kitchen!) in the years since. If I were going to enter a cookie contest, these might very well be my entry. The flavor is that good. To make them requires tracking down one specialty ingredient, mesquite flour. I promise it is worth the extra effort. Mesquite flour is a wonderful, fragrant flour made from the ground-up pods of the mesquite tree. It has a slightly sweet and chocolaty flavor, with a touch of malt and smokiness. You can use it all sorts of things, far beyond these cookies, including pancake mixes, waffle mixes, oatmeal, and sweet quick breads.
Mesquite Chocolate Chip Cookies on a Baking Sheet

Ingredient Spotlight: Mesquite Flour

Chances are you’re new to mesquite flour, so here’s a bit about where it comes from. First thing, mesquite trees are very generous and play an important role in the lives of many native cultures in the Americas. They grow in a wide area ranging from the Southwestern United States all the way through Central and South America – the Sonoran desert, Chihuahuan Desert, Texas, California, Arizona, New Mexico. If you’ve driven through the Southwest, you’ve seen a lot of mesquite. And, as you can see from this list, mesquite are drought-tolerant and thrive in hot and arid climates. They are also remarkably resilient plants that give back in many ways and contribute life-sustaining properties to the communities they are a part of. Mesquite also nitrogen fixes, so it gives back to the land in that way as well.

Different parts of the plant are used for different purposes. Mesquite wood has long been used as fuel or shelter. Beyond that, flour ground from mesquite pods are an important food source, celebrated for being nutrient-rich profile, contributing fiber, protein and complex carbohydrates to traditional diets. The plant has medicinal uses as well as ceremonial. So, mesquite flour, a wonderfully delicious ingredient plays a rich and important role in many cultures.
Mesquite Chocolate Chip Cookies on a Baking Sheet

Where to Buy Mesquite Flour

Sourcing mesquite flour will take a bit of effort. Look for products that are sustainably harvested preferably using traditional methods. You want 100% mesquite flour with no other added ingredients or flavoring. If you roadtrip through the Southwest, keep an eye out at local markets and farmers’ markets for bags of mesquite flour. This is where you’re likely to find locally produced products. Unfortunately, the ones I’ve picked up in the past that way don’t have active websites. This Peruvian mesquite flours mentioned below have been reliably good, and are easy to get. Please let me know in the comments if you are using local mesquite flour and can point me to a site to order.

Terrasoul Superfoods Mesquite Flour: I’ve had the most experience with this mesquite flour and the one below. Both are Peruvian, reliably good, with a fine grind and flour-like texture.
Zocolo Organic Mesquite Flour
Cappadona Ranch Mesquite Flour
Native Seeds Mesquite Flour
Mount Hope Mesquite Flour

Mesquite Chocolate Chip Cookies on a Baking Sheet

What if I don’t have Mesquite Flour?

If you don’t have mesquite flour, substitute 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour OR all-purpose flour in its place; your chocolate chip cookies will still turn out chocolate chewy and fantastic.

Mesquite Chocolate Chip Cookies on a Baking Sheet

How To Freeze Cookies:

Scoop cookie dough onto a parchment-lined cookie sheet. Freeze for an hour or so and then transfer the frozen dough balls to a container or freezer bag. The will keep, frozen, for a month or two. Bake at the regular the temperature, adding a couple minutes to the overall baking time. You can see them arranged to be frozen in the photo above.

Below you can see the cookies ready to go into the oven. I use a 2 tablespoon ice cream scoop to get uniform cookies. This recipe makes a lot of cookie dough. The motto here is bake some, freeze some.
Mesquite Chocolate Chip Cookies on a Baking Sheet

Pro-tip

Avoid over-baking these cookies. The dough is darker that cookies made exclusively with unbleached all-purpose flour. Because of this, it can be a bit trickier to tell when they’re fully baked. Look at the edges of the cookies, where the dough touches the pan. You want that to be nice and golden.

Mesquite Chocolate Chip Cookies on a Baking Sheet
Lastly, lets talk about add-ins. These cookies are loaded with chocolate chunks and boosted with walnut pieces. I feel like the chocolate is key here, and I love the chocolate walnut combination. But I encourage you to experiment with other combinations. A bit of espresso powder might be nice. Or maybe some sort of toasted coconut version.
Mesquite Chocolate Chip Cookies on a Baking Sheet

Related Recipes

Here’s where you can find all the cookie recipes. I love chocolate chip cookies and you can find a number of different takes on them including David Lebovitz’s Great Chocolate Chip Cookies, Itsy Bitsy Chocolate Chip Cookies, Whole Wheat Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies (best ice cream sandwich cookies), Chickpea Chocolate Chip Cookies, this Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Skillet Cookie, and these Healthful Double Chocolate Cookies.

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Mushroom Ragù

The ragù of your dreams. This hearty and deeply flavorful mushroom ragù moves from the stovetop to the oven, slow-cooking into a hearty, wonderful sauce featuring finely chopped mushrooms, tomatoes, white wine, and aromatics.

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Most of the mushroom ragù I’ve cooked in my life featured sliced mushrooms. I’d brown them and work from there. Eventually, this style of sauce fell out of rotation and I didn’t give it much thought. Other sauces took its place and I never looked back. It wasn’t until I saw an early copy of Andrea Gentl’s Cooking With Mushrooms that mushroom ragù became a regular feature again in our house. Andrea’s ragù features a mixture of very finely chopped fresh mushrooms. It is slow cooked in a low oven for hours, and has all sorts of wonderful wildcard ingredients in it adding layers of depth and flavor – nutritional yeast, fish sauce, mushroom powder, chiles and herbs. You should buy her book, and you should absolutely make her version (vegan fish sauce works great in it if you’re veg). It’s one of my favorite ways to spend a lazy Sunday.
Mushroom ragù served over pasta in a wide bowl
When a lazy Sunday isn’t quite in the cards, I regularly find myself making what I’ve come to think of as my “cheater version” of the ragù. It happens when I know I’m a bit short on time, or out of certain ingredients — that’s the recipe you see here. It’s thick, hearty and the perfect paring for a range of pastas, polenta and the like. I love it enough to always have in my freezer these days. Mushroom ragù served over pasta in a wide bowl

Secrets to Making a Great Ragù

Generally speaking, I feel like there are two primary secrets to making a great mushroom ragù — quality ingredients and patience. On the ingredient front, choose mushrooms that are firm and dry. Avoid mushrooms that are discolored, mushy, or wrinkled. It likely goes without saying, but mushrooms that have an off-smell or have any sort of sliminess should also get a pass. Gross, I know. Patience kicks in on the cooking front. This ragù starts off quick saute on the stovetops and then moves into a low-and-slow couple of hours in the oven.

Cooking Method

By sautéing ragù ingredients on a stovetop and following up with a couple hours in an oven you achieve a thick, wonderful concentrated hearty sauce. I love the combination. Mushroom ragù served over pasta in a wide bowl

Mushroom Ragù: Core Ingredients

There’s quite a lot of flexibility here. Give the recipe a try as written, and then wing it a bit moving forward based on what you have in your kitchen. For example, I’ve used scallions (with the green parts) when I was out of onions, and I really loved that version as well.

Tomatoes: I tend to keep crushed tomatoes on hand, so that’s what I use more here often than not. Fire-roasted canned tomatoes are my first choice, but standard crushed tomatoes are a-ok if that is what is available. In Andrea’s version she has you blitz whole canned tomatoes into a puree. Each choice brings something slightly different to the ragù, so feel free to experiment!
Mushrooms: I talked about the importance of mushroom quality in the previous section a bit. Here I’ll talk about types of mushrooms that work well. I love to use a mix of flavorful mushrooms in a ragù like this. You can mix up the types of mushrooms depending on what is available in your area. I rarely use them same combination twice. Oyster mushrooms are meaty and firm and hold their texture in the sauce. Because of the sheer amount of mushrooms needed for a ragù, supplementing common (and less expensive varietals) with something more special and unusual is a good approach. Generally speaking, cremini, oyster, Portobello, maitake and button mushrooms are a great place to start.
Mushroom Powder: Porcini powder is a powerhouse ingredient and adds depth and an added layer of flavor beyond the fresh mushrooms. You’re doubling down on flavor. I know it can be tricky to track down, but it’s an ingredient I wouldn’t skip here. You can blitz your own dried porcini into a powder with a high-speed blender. Because this has become such a go-to sauce for me, I tend to stock up on porcini mushroom powder, either homemade, or from a trusted source like Far West Fungi.

Mushroom ragù served over pasta in a wide bowl

How to Clean Mushrooms

It’s important to clean mushrooms that you will be using to cook. Nobody loves a gritty sauce. Use a damp rag or paper towel to gently clean any dirt or foreign material from mushrooms. Trim the stems as bit as well, they often tend to look a bit rough.

Mushroom ragù served over pasta in a wide bowl

Mushroom Ragù: Make it Creamy!

You can make this ragù creamy or not creamy – both versions are incredibly good. In the creamy version stir in one cup of heavy cream (or cashew cream) to the ragù before it goes into the oven. Whether or not to add it depends on how I imagine using the sauce. Keep in mind the cream component cuts into the acidity of the tomatoes in the sauce beautifully. I always use it if I’m going to use the ragù in a lasagna, over polenta, and in most baked pastas. Skip it, or scale back, if you’re going to use the ragù alongside a cheese ravioli or something already creamy. You can also decide just how creamy you like it – using less or more cream to your liking. I actually prefer to use cashew cream in this ragù, in part because I don’t often keep heavy cream on hand. But also because the cashew cream is so luxe and rich, subtly nutty and so good. Also, I alway have cashews on hand, so there’s never a need to make a special trip to the store. You can use either!
Mushroom ragù served over pasta in a wide bowl

Serving Suggestions!

There are countless ways to enjoy a good mushroom ragù. This list includes some of my favorites.

Lasagna: Use this mushroom ragù in your next lasagna. I love it between sheets of homemade pasta alternating with dollops of ricotta, baked until bubbling. A few simple components coming together into baked pasta perfection. Something like this lasagna, substitute the mushroom ragù for the other tomato sauce, and use ricotta in place of most of the mozzarella. We freeze slices of this to reheat on stormy nights in the Airstream. It reheats brilliantly.
Polenta: This mushroom ragù served over a creamy, hot bowl of polenta is a match made in heaven. In Andrea’s Cooking With Mushrooms book she showcases her ragù in a beautiful photo of it served over polenta.
Stuffed Shells: Swap out the tomato sauce called for in this stuffed shells recipe, replace with mushroom ragù.
Pappardelle: This sauce is wonderful with pappardelle. You can make both components a head of time and freeze. Thaw and heat the mushroom ragù to serve and boil the pappardelle straight from the freezer.
Pizza: Use this favorite pizza dough recipe to make a few rounds of dough and use this ragù as your sauce – go for it from there with toppings.
Homemade Pasta: I call out pappardelle up above, but this sauce is wonderful with a range of pasta shapes. More than anything, I just want to encourage you to try making your own homemade pasta. It’s completely doable, and you might even have the short list of ingredients in your kitchen right now!

Mushroom ragù served over pasta in a wide bowl

Variations

These are two variations I’ve enjoyed recently.

Vegan Mushroom Ragù: Use cashew cream not heavy cream. To make cashew cream blend 1 cup raw cashews with 1 cup water in a high-speed blender until silky smooth.
Mushroom Ragù with Curry Leaves and Lemon: I make an India-inspired version of this ragù using fresh green chiles, lots of fried curry leaves, mustard seeds and lemon zest. It probably warrants a separate dedicated recipe post, but if you’re a confident cook the jist is the following. Heat 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil in a small saucepan, you’re going to make a tadka of sorts. Add two chopped serrano chiles to the oil and fry for a couple minutes. Add 40-50 fresh curry leaves, stir well and cook until they begin to crisp – a couple minutes. Toward the end, stir in 1 tablespoon black mustard seeds. Cook until they start to pop a bit. Strain the curry leaves and solids on a few paper towels and mix with the zest of one lemon. Use the curry-infused olive oil as a replacement for the olive oil called for in the mushroom ragù recipe below. Stir the curry leaves in at the end, or reserve to top whatever you are serving with the ragù.

Pot of Mushroom ragu with wooden spoon

Mushroom Ragù: Storage

I always have a few “bricks” of ragù at the ready in my freezer. They also work great as substitute ice blocks to keep our cooler cold when we’re out on a road trip and should be added to my list of favorite camping recipes. Freeze into your preferred shape and quantity and then store for up to a few months frozen. Thaw, reheat and use.

Frozen ragu for storage

Related Recipes

If you’re looking for something much quicker, try this five-minute tomato sauce. Other related recipes include: homemade pasta, pappardelle, gnocchi, pesto, and the pizza dough recipe I’ve been fine-tuning forever. Here’s where you can find more pasta recipes, as well as more mushroom recipes. Enjoy!

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Glazed Lemon Cake

This lemon cake is moist, fragrant and topped with a salted lemon glaze. It is made with lots of lemon zest and freshly squeezed lemon juice. You don’t need a mixer, the olive oil based batter comes together quickly, and you’re not much longer than an hour from having a beautiful cake to share.

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If you love to bake, you likely have a lemon cake in your repertoire. This is mine and I’ve been making variations on it for just about ever. I love it for many of the reasons people celebrate a good cake. It is moist and beautifully fragrant. It makes people happy and it sings with lemon flavor. You fold an arguably aggressive amount of hand-chopped lemon zest and a good jolt of juice into the batter and glaze. I like to make this cake with sourdough discard, but just as often don’t – instructions for both methods are included in the recipe below. This is the perfect picnic cake. No mixer necessary, and the batter comes together in a flash. Give it a try!
Glazed Lemon Cake in Baking Pan

Lemon Cake: Ingredients

The ingredient list for this cake is relatively short. Considerations for some of the main ingredients have notes below.

Yogurt – I like to use Greek yogurt for this cake. Either low-fat or full-fat will work.
Sourdough Discard – Sourdough discard works beautifully in this batter. It adds a dimension of flavor and contributes to a fluffy crumb. Also, I’m eternally trying to use my discard up in things like crackers, quick breads, and the like. If you don’t have discard, you can still make the cake (see the asterisk in the recipe). I do it all the time. Basically, add an extra 1/4 cup of flour to the flour mix, and add an extra 1/4 cup of water as well. The crumb is a bit more dense, but in a good way! The cake below was made with discard and you can see the fluffy crumb.

Partially Sliced Lemon Cake

Olive Oil – You are going to want to use a mild tasting olive oil here.
Almond Extract – I love almond extract and use it in a lot of my baking. I especially love the combination of lemon and almonds here. But if you don’t have it on hand, by all means swap in vanilla extract. It’s not a big deal at all.
Lemon – As I mention above, I’m particular about how I like to use lemon in this cake. For bursts of lemon zesty flavor, I suggest that you take the time to peel the zest from the lemon, scrape off any pith and cut it into the the thinnest whispers of strips (below). See photos. The rest of the cake is such a breeze, it’s worth it to make a bit of extra effort at this step.

Small Pile of Lemon Peel
You can see above, all the bitter white pith is stripped from the peel. And below, the lemon peel is cut into long, thin strips.
Small Bowl of Lemon Zest for Lemon Cake

Lemon Cake Variations

These are all variations on this lemon cake I’ve baked in the past. Lemon pairs well with so many other ingredients, I’m sure you’ll come up with other wonderful variations!

Boozy Lemon Cake: Brush 1/4 cup whiskey (or whisky) across the top of the cake after it comes out of the oven, before topping with the lemon glaze. Limoncello is another option, and I also love amaretto here.
Glazed Citrus Cake: Experiment beyond the lemon! You can make this cake with a wide range of citrus. Or even a blend of zests and juices. Consider blood orange, lime, grapefruit, etc. Or a blend.
Berry Lemon Cake: Fold in room-temperature berries along with the final addition of yogurt mixture called for in the recipe. Use as few or as many berries (within reason) as you like. I also prefer to finish off berry versions of this cake with a dusting of crushed freeze-dried berries after drizzling the warm cake with glaze. Raspberries, sliced strawberries, blueberries and huckleberries are all fair game. Or combine into a mix!
Glazed Sourdough Lemon Cake: This is the version of the cake you see in the recipe below. I love the crumb in the sourdough discard version — it is super fluffy, like a fluffy banana bread. The version with no discard has a more dense crumb – not quite in the poundcake realm but in that direction on the spectrum. The instructions for both are included below.
Lemon Cake with Pretty Flowers: Add some edible flower petals after drizzling the lemon glaze – rose, calendula, violet, rose geranium, etc. You can add fresh or dried. (Edible Flowers)

Glazed Lemon Cake
Please let me know if you try this one! Or if you explore any fun variations. Or(!) if you bake one and take it somewhere wonderful on a picnic. It’s the kind of cake that loves an adventure and loves to be shared!

More Recipes

Here’s where you can find more favorite baking recipes. A few to look out for include this one bowl banana bread, this no-bake chocolate cake, my favorite flourless chocolate cake, this Rosemary Olive Oil Cake is outstanding (thank you Kim Boyce!), and the Violet Bakery Chocolate Devil’s Food Cake.

For anyone wanting more lemon inspiration, here’s where you can browse all the lemon recipes. A couple favorites include these lemon ricotta pancakes, this lemony olive oil banana bread, this lemon focaccia, this roasted lemon chutney, and these limoncello macaroons. oh! And there are some good citrus recipes here as well!

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Cilantro Salad

The best salad I’ve had in the past year was a cilantro salad. Meaning, no other lettuces. None. Unless you absolutely loathe cilantro, you 100% must try it. It is made with cilantro leaves and stems tossed with a simple shallot-forward soy sauce dressing, plus peanuts. I’ll often add asparagus.

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This cilantro salad came to my attention in a round-about way. And I’m so thankful! I went to a lunch in Oakland a few weeks back. It was one of those special lunches that passes all too quickly – a warm April afternoon, a stretch of tables pushed together under a booming canopy of white flowers, good company, Lillet blanc, and some of my favorite cooks arriving with something to share, family-style. It was a celebration of Deborah Madison’s new book, and after all these years, I was finally able to thank her for inspiring body of work in person. All in all, a great afternoon. I would have been more than happy to stay right where I was, long after the plates were cleared, as I imagine dinner under the blossoming trees would be magic. But, that’s not actually what I was thinking about after I left. I was thinking about something I ate.
Cilantro Salad in a Bowl

Cilantro Salad: You Need This Salad in Your Life

There was this one salad at the lunch that I just couldn’t shake. It was made entirely of cilantro, tossed with a simple shallot-forward soy sauce dressing, toasted peanuts, and a vegetable. It was so simple, so bright, and it got me thinking about cilantro in an entirely new way. I can’t emphasize more strongly how much I want you to enjoy this salad as well.
Salad Ingredients in Large Bowl

The Inspiration

The Xinjiang salad was made by Carolyn Phillips from a Chinese cookbook specializing in the Northwest (you can see the write-up on her site here). You’ll also also see it featured in her upcoming book on regional Chinese cooking being published by McSweeney’s in 2014, All Under Heaven. She used red bell peppers, but I’ve been doing versions with whatever spring produce I have on hand. You can see the asparagus version as well as an all-cilantro version down below. Unless you absolutely loathe cilantro, you must, must(!) try this salad.
Cilantro Salad Recipe

What is it Good With?

I love this salad as side to just about anything. It’s great as a component to a grain bowl, wonderful in tacos, and I love it as a side salad to a rustic, savory tomato tart.

Cilantro Salad in a Bowl

Cilantro Salad: Pro-tip

This is the main thing that matters. The absolute key here is to use the brightest, best cilantro you can get your hands on. The stems should be crisp but not at all tough. The leaves need to be vibrant, with no shift in color (indicating onsetting spoilage).
Cilantro Salad Recipe

More Salads

I understand if cilantro isn’t your things. Especially if you’re one of the people who experiences it as soapy. Here are a bunch of other salad recipes for you to check out.

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Baked Quinoa Patties

Great served hot or room-temperature, these quinoa patties are packed with herbs, kale and creamy feta cheese. Adult and kid-friendly, and perfect for lunches on the go.

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Quinoa patties are portable, packed with protein, and adaptable. Even people who are on the fence about quinoa tend to love them, especially the ones you see here. This version is sesame-crusted and boosted with lots of herbs and kale. That said, you can play around with a wide range of accent ingredients and cooking techniques. I initially featured a skillet-cooked version in my book, Super Natural Cooking (2007), but you can bake them as well with great results, and that’s what you see here.
Baked Quinoa Patties

How to Make Quinoa Patties

Quinoa patties come together quickly, particularly if you have a few cups of leftover quinoa on hand. I always cook extra quinoa, knowing it will come together into a quick lunch if I plan ahead a bit. To make quinoa patties you simply combine cooked quinoa, eggs, herbs, breadcrumbs and seasoning in a bowl. The patties are shaped by hand and then baked or pan-fried. They can be enjoyed hot or room-temperature, and, either way, I love them with a bit of hot sauce.
Quinoa patties on a baking sheet prior to baking
You can see the patties prior to baking above. And then after baking below. I like to sprinkle a few sesame seeds on top for added crunch. Really push them into shape using your hands so that they will hold their shape.

Quinoa Patties: On the Go

I initially highlighted these quinoa patties (below) when a number of you asked about packing meals for flights. I was heading to London – so, a long flight from San Francisco. My strategy for flight meals is an ever-evolving system which (currently) involves a collapsible container, two thick rubber bands, and a plastic fork/spoon thing. All food goes in one container, and I avoid anything liquid to get through security. A good splash of sauce seems to be fine though. For my flight to London, I packed these potstickers. What you didn’t see was the way I buried them under a layer of these baked quinoa patties. Not pretty, but great to have on hand. I use a folded piece of parchment paper to divide the dumplings from the patties.
Quinoa patties packed for lunch in a small box
When I stay closer to home, I tend to go the bento or tiffin route – have a look at this page if you’re interested in more on-the-go, feel-good lunch ideas.
Quinoa patties in a bowl served with a side salad

Variations:

As long as your base ingredients (quinoa, eggs, onion, garlic, breadcrumbs) hold together into a patty, you can play around with different accents and ingredients. Here are a few ideas I’ve had success with over the years.

Za’atar Quinoa Patties: Follow the recipe as follows, adding 1 tablespoon of za’atar to quinoa mixture. This is a favorite, especially along with a sesame crust.
Lemon Madras Quinoa Patties: Skip some of the herbs and stir in 2 teaspoons Madras curry powder and the slivered zest of one large lemon.
Gluten-free Quinoa Patties: Niki commented, “I substitute ground almonds or walnuts for the bread crumbs – works perfectly.”
Brussels Sprout Quinoa Patties: VL noted,”I just want to say I made these for a trip this weekend, but used brussels sprouts instead of the kale. They were great!” I can also imagine finely chopped cabbage working brilliantly as well, along similar lines.

There are a bunch of other great substitution ideas down in the comments as well.
Travel photos in London

A Few Tips!

One thing I’ve learned over the years of making these is that the quinoa mixture is easier to shape if you allow it to sit overnight, refrigerated. It just holds together better.

Linda Marie commented, “I found that wet hands made shaping the patties easier. Did them in the skillet. Turned out great. Will try baking next time.”
Quinoa patties in a bowl served with a side salad

Related Recipes

Here’s a post about how to cook quinoa along with a bunch of related quinoa recipes. And here’s where you can get more inspiration for feel-good lunch ideas. These quinoa patties are great tucked into a bento situation along with edamame, a bit of coleslaw, and bit of spiced avocado.

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Spiced Coconut Spinach

The perfect simple, spinach side dish – toast a few spices, add a pile of shredded spinach to the skillet, and finish things off with a burst of lemon juice and some shredded coconut.

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This is a quick post for an easy, fast and spinach-packed side dish. It’s the type of thing I get excited about – simple, but bold on flavor. Even better, all the ingredients come together in one pan. I stumbled on this recipe for Coconut-laced Spiced Spinach as I was flipping through Anjum Anand’s book new book, in early 2011. Not much more than ten minutes later, we were sitting down to the table with it as part of our meal. I’ve cooked variations of in endlessly in the years since.
Coconut Spiced Spinach Recipe

Spiced Coconut Spinach: The Technique

The key here is having all your ingredients cleaned, prepped and ready to go. You toast a few spices, add a pile of shredded spinach to the skillet, and finish things off with a burst of lemon juice and golden-toasted coconut.
Coconut Spiced Spinach Recipe

A Few Ideas

I think I’m so excited about this in part because it is so versatile. While it makes a great side – I also like it in, on and under lots of things. Case in point, alongside one of these special quesadillas. It’s also great on an open-faced veggie burger, in tacos, in a wrap, over brown rice or farro, etc. I also like to make a meal of it with some grilled tofu, paneer, or fried egg. Let me know if you end up making it, and what you do with it!
Coconut Spiced Spinach Recipe

The Spice Profile & Variations

The cumin is really nice here, I’ve dialed it up over the years. My advice? Don’t skimp. The same goes for the red pepper profile. I’ve added more over time, but it’s one of those things where you really just want to add it to your liking. I talk through some other ideas in this list of variations as well.

Add-ins: I often add other extra quick-cooking vegetables to the skillet along with my spinach. Segments of thin asparagus work well, as does small broccoli or cauliflower florets.
Herb It Up: If I have any fresh herbs on hand – chopped cilantro, basil, chives, and/or dill – adding them after the spinach has cooked is a nice way to experiment with the flavor profile.
Swap your chiles: Use a chopped serrano chile in place of the red chile flakes for a greener spiciness.
Burst of Ginger: Mince a small knob of peeled ginger along with the garlic-shallot paste if you love ginger.

Coconut Spiced Spinach Recipe

Cooking Spinach

The main thing to remember – resist the urge to overcook the spinach. You want to cook it just long enough for it to collapse, cook through, and brighten up. And keep in mind it continues to cook after you pull it from the heat.

Hope you like this as much as I do. And thank you Anjum for the inspiration – I’m really enjoying the Ayurvedic angle of this book.

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10 Recipes That Teach You How To Cook Asparagus Like A Pro

Asparagus is the workhorse of the springtime kitchen. Here are a handful of asparagus winners that will teach you how to cook asparagus like a pro!

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If you want to know how to cook asparagus, this is a great place to start. Asparagus is the workhorse of the springtime kitchen. Unlike the fussier darlings (I still love them), fava beans, peas, and artichokes, all of which require copious amounts of preparation time. Asparagus is relatively simple. Instead of partaking in tasks like shelling, trimming, and de-choking, asparagus can be at its pinnacle with a simple trim, quick blanch, drizzle of olive oil, and dusting of salt. We get pencil-thin asparagus here, as well as asparagus thick as a candle – and everything in between. Here are a range of asparagus winners that will teach you how to cook asparagus like a pro. Happy spring, and enjoy!

1. A Simple Aspragus Soup – (101 Cookbooks)
A great starter recipe. Everyone should have a good asparagus soup in their back pocket. This one is tops – fresh asparagus, new potatoes, a bit of green curry paste, and coconut milk are pureed to make this spring favorite. Get the recipe here.