Persian New Year Noodle Soup (Ash Reshteh)

An amazing Persian New Year Noodle Soup (Ash Reshteh) inspired by a version in Greg & Lucy Malouf’s beautiful book, Saraban. At its core, this is a celebratory bean and noodle soup featuring thin egg noodles swimming in a fragrant broth spiced with turmeric, cumin, chiles, and black pepper. Loaded with spinach and herbs, you serve it topped with walnuts, caramelized onions, and a dollop of something creamy. It’s amazing.

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I started cooking Persian New Year Noodle Soup (Ash Reshteh or Ash-e Reshteh) regularly sometime around 2010. Kate, a friend (and longtime reader of the site), told me the bookshop she works at (in Australia) hosted Greg & Lucy Malouf as they were promoting their book Saraban: A Chef’s Journey Through Persia. She told me to look for the book in the U.S. because she suspected I would enjoy it. Kate knows her cookbooks. I quickly tracked down the book and this, the Ash Reshteh (New Year Noodle Soup), was the first thing I cooked from it. Completely blown away, I was convinced it was the best thing to come out of my kitchen in years, and I’ve cooked it dozens of times since.

a bowl of persian new year noodle soup (Ash Reshteh) in a bowl

Ash Reshteh (Persian New Year Noodle Soup): The Details

Traditionally, this is a preparation associated with Persian New Year (Nowruz) but there is a long list of reasons I like to make it more often. In Persian culture, the new year is an opportune time to wrangle the “threads” in your life, and to set intentions and direction for the year ahead. That’s where the noodles come into play here. At its core this is a fortifying, nutrient-dense bean and noodle soup featuring thin egg noodles swimming in a fragrant broth spiced with turmeric, cumin, fresh chile, and black pepper. You use a medley of lentils, chickpeas, and cranberry beans to create a soup that is hearty and filling without being heavy. You add spinach, dill, and cilantro. You add lime juice for a bit of sour at the end. And then you prepare a number of toppings to add when you serve the soup – chopped walnuts, deeply caramelized onions, and sour cream (kashk). It’s a formidable ingredient list, but results in hearty bowls of, arguably, one of the world’s great soups.

The Ingredients:

A few notes related to shopping for ingredients.

  • Beans & Lentils: There are three types in this soup: borlotti (or cranberry beans), chickpeas, and lentils. They all have different cooking times which can be a bit of a pain. If I don’t have any beans pre-cooked in my freezer, I cook the cranberry beans from scratch, use canned chickpeas, and cook the lentils with the soup broth because they’re relatively quick to cook. I’m definitely a hard pass on canned lentils.
  • Stock/Broth: For this recipe I like to use water plus 2 tablespoons of this homemade bouillon powder to make my broth. Or you could do it with whatever bouillon you keep on hand. In general, stay clear of carton vegetable broths that have a lot of tomato or assertive vegetable flavors. You’re probably better off with water and can make adjustments from there if needed.
  • Noodles: I’ve played around with a range of noodles here over the years. I love to use thin-ish egg noodles, but the Persian grocer near me only stocks a generic sampling of spaghetti and vermicelli, so that’s where we landed the last time around. Andy Baraghani uses linguine in his wonderful version.

a bowl of persian new year noodle soup (Ash Reshteh) in a bowl to the side of a pot of soup on a sunny table

Persian New Year Noodle Soup: The Game Plan

Making Ash Reshteh can be relatively low lift if you do a bit of pre-planning. Making a couple of the components ahead of time, mostly passively, helps everything come together smoothly.

  • Make Ahead: Beans – The next time you cook borlotti or cranberry beans, make double and freeze them in sandwich-sized baggies. Same goes for chickpeas. Although, I tend to just grab a can of those off the shelf for this soup. The day you want to make this soup, you’re ready to go with fully cooked beans. Check.
  • Make Ahead: Caramelized Onions – Make the caramelized onions up to a few days prior. In fact, make triple the amount if you’re up for it. That way you have special onions to top the soup, AND pizza, pasta, or whatever sandwiches you might be throwing together. Keep the a jar in your refrigerator and bring up to room temperature before serving, so you’re not putting a cold topping on a hot soup.
  • Make Ahead Walnuts: Toast the walnuts up to a few days ahead of time.

Leftovers:

There are rarely leftover noodles, but usually there is enough broth, beans and lentils for great leftovers. I love to serve it over rice for lunch – loaded with toppings, of course!

a bowl of persian new year noodle soup (Ash Reshteh) in a bowl

Further Reading & Other Versions of Ash Reshteh:

Some of my favorite meals over the past few decade have been Persian or Persian-inspired. I love the abundant use of herbs, and color, and texture all rooted in traditional preparations. At one point I signed up, on a whim, for a brunch hosted by Komaaj in San Francisco, this was years ago. The food explored the ingredients and flavors of Northern Iran. It was regional Iranian, the menu happened to be vegetarian, and every bite was special. If you are interested in taking a deeper dive, or other versions of Ash Reshteh, here are a few suggestions.

More Noodle Soup Recipes

More Soup Recipes

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Kale Chips

There are just a couple details to get right for the perfect kale chips. This is how I make crispy pom-poms of kale everyone loves to snack on.

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This is my love letter to kale chips, a constant in my kitchen throughout the year. We bake them 3 or 4 times a week, even if we’re out in the trailer with a tiny oven. Even when it’s too hot for a reasonable person to turn on the oven. This is because kale chips are simple to make, and also because they’re *SO* good. Everyone loves snacking on them – even raw kale haters. They’re also an easy way to add a fantastic nutritional boost to all sorts of soups, salads, pizzas, and stir-fries by throwing a handful on (or in) whatever you’re eating. I’ve tweaked my technique little by little over the years to get the best results, outlined below! First thing to know – there are some details to get right.

Crispy baked kale chips in a bowl

How To Make Great Kale Chips

To make the best kale chips, a specific type of kale (curly!) is massaged with a delicious slurry of olive oil, nutritional yeast, and a bit of salt. Don’t skimp on the nutritional yeast, you’ll want to load up to get the perfect crispy crust on your chips. Bake until crisp and enjoy. The recipe is fantastically straight-forward, but the details matter. Here are the key pointers.

  • The type of kale matters. Purchase curly kale, premier kale, or curly purple kale. These types of kale have much more volume than kale varietals with flat leaves (for example, lacinato kale). The increased volume will result in crisped pom-poms of kale – exactly the best kind of kale chips.
    bunch of curly kale on a marble kitchen counter
  • Use dry kale. Make sure your kale is as dry as possible before starting. This will promote crisping and minimize steaming as the chips bake. You only want olive oil, nutritional yeast and a bit of salt to coat the leaves (below), no water drops.
    ingredients for kale chips in a mixing bowl
  • Avoid over-baking. Kale chips go from crisp to brown and sad in a flash.They’re like pine nuts in that regard. The pro-tip here is: set a timer.

How Do You Keep Kale Chips Crispy?

Allow them to cool completely. Store in and airtight container or jar.

Variations

You can make variations on kale chips by adding dry seasonings and spice blends. I like to add most seasonings after they bake. This way your spices don’t burn. I use this approach for curry powder and za’atar – two favorites. You can also look on this page of spice blends for other homemade blends I like to make and keep on hand.

baked kale chips on a baking sheet after baking

What Can you Crumble Kale Chips Over?

I like to crush kale chips over a wide range of soups, pizzas, tacos, and the like. The joke around here is, if it’s savory, I’ll crumble kale chips on it. Here are a few links to ideas and inspiration.

More Recipes with Kale




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Sweet Potato Tacos

These sweet potato tacos are so simple, and so good! Tortillas are slathered with smashed, roasted sweet potatoes. Top with black beans, sliced avocado, quick pickled red onions, a bit of cheese, and squeeze of lime. Fantastic.

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This is a quick write-up of the smashed sweet potato tacos we’ve been making for lunch recently. They couldn’t be more simple to make and are loaded with great ingredients to keep you going for the rest of the day. Tortillas get slathered with a layer of roasted, smashed sweet potatoes which are topped with a sprinkling of black beans. From there it’s all about the extra toppings like sliced avocado or guacamole, quick-pickled red onions and serrano chiles, and a bit of cheese. I use Bulgarian feta, but cotija would be good, or skip it altogether if you’re vegan. A squeeze of lime, and some sliced scallions are the finishing touch!

Sweet Potato Tacos on a plate with lots of toppings

Sweet Potato Tacos: Added Bonus

To make these tacos extra specia,l use homemade tortillas. My favorite way to make them is to use freshly made masa. There’s nothing quite as perfect as a hot tortilla made from fresh masa. Check at a local market or grocery store specializing in Mexican ingredients to start. Ask around. My second choice here, use masa harina. There are some fantastic brands like Masienda selling masa harina made from heirloom corns.

Smashed Sweet Potato Taco Recipe

A Few More Ideas

I love sweet potato tacos like these served with something bright and fresh. Something to cut the creaminess of the sweet potato.  This coleslaw, or this corn salad are great options. They’re also A-plus with a dollop of homemade guacamole slathered on top, the onions deliver some crunch and are strong enough to punch through. Also, if you love good homemade salsa, this is a favorite.

small bowls of sweet potato taco toppings including pickled onions, sliced avocado, black beans

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Pierce Street Vegetarian Chili

The best pot of chili I’ve made in years. A vegetarian chili recipe Inspired by a bunch of little bags of remnant grains and pulses collected in my cupboards – bulgur, farro, and lentils, join chile peppers, crushed tomatoes, some chickpeas, and a secret ingredient.

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I think its safe to say, we are long overdue for a good vegetarian chili recipe. I kept waiting until I had a pot in front of me that I was giddy about, the kind of chili that has you leaning over the pot, spoon in hand, shaking your head once or twice, saying mmm-hmm. And believe me, I never thought the best pot of chili I’d made (in years) would be inspired by a bunch of little bags of remnant grains and pulses collected in my cupboards. But that’s what happened. This chili is made with bulgur, farro, lentils, chile peppers, crushed tomatoes and the chickpeas I had hanging around. Beyond that, you’ve got chili powder, and the wildcard – a bit of grated ginger.

Vegetarian chili in a bowl with chopped onion on top

What To Do With Leftover Chili

Like most chili, or stews, this vegetarian chili is even better the day after! This makes an XXL pot of the stuff, so you’ll have plenty left over. If you are feeling adventurous, you can ladle some of it into a shallow baking dish, make a few indentations with the back of a large spoon, crack eggs into the hollows, drizzle generously with olive oil, and toss it into a 375F degree oven until the eggs set up – a twist on baked eggs.

To Freeze Chili

This chili freezes brilliantly. Allow it to cool completely before ladling into freezer safe containers. I like to divide the chili into meal-sized allocations which will be different depending on your family size.

Close up photo of lentils

Variations:

I should also note, you can swap in other grains if you like. That said, I think part of the success here was choosing grains that held their structure. And shoot for grains that cook in roughly the same amount of time as the lentils. Pearled grains cook much more quickly than whole farro or barley, although certain brown rices, perhaps a basmati, could work well. There are countless great ideas in the comments as well. For example someone swapped in hominy in place of the chickpeas and said it was the best part. Brilliant! French lentils pictured above, and pearled farro pictured below.

Close up photo of pearled grains

More Chili Recipes

More Great Bean Recipes

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Mung Bean Yoga Bowl

The kind of power bowl that keeps you strong – herb-packed yogurt dolloped over a hearty bowl of mung beans and quinoa, finished with toasted nuts and a simple paprika oil.

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I thought I’d show you how I take a favorite component of a recent recipe, make a minor tweak, and turn it into something completely different. Do you remember the herb-packed coconut milk from this green curry porridge? Well, it’s good. Good in its own right. And if you have some on hand, it’s a nice jumping off point for a meal. It has a luxe, cilantro-ginger creaminess that makes for a brilliant component in dressings, drizzles, and sandwich spreads. Add some eggs and you have an easy tart filling.
Big bowl filled with mung beans, quinoa, yogurt dressing and paprika oil
For today’s recipe I made a version with yogurt in place of the coconut milk, and it did not disappoint. Lobbing dollops over a simple bowl of mung beans and quinoa made for the sort of easy, nutritious lunch I aim for. Some toasted nuts and a drizzle of paprika oil bring a bit of flair and textural contrast. It’ll keep you strong for whatever you afternoon has in store – yoga class, a bike ride, work meetings, or whatever.
mung beans draining above a large cast iron pot and a jar of quinoa to the side

This is the sort of thing that you can pack in layers in a wide-mouthed mason jar as a portable lunch or picnic go-to. It’s good at room temperature and doesn’t require much fuss at all once you have the components prepared. And really, don’t get too hung up on the base ingredients – like I mentioned, I used mung beans and black quinoa, but if you have lentils and/or brown rice on hand, you’re set. Try to work in a substantial protein component though like some sort of bean or lentil. It’ll keep you strong and less hungry compared to, say, a rice-only version. xo Enjoy! -htofu scramble with skillet potatoes in a bowl

More lunch ideas:

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Broccoli Apple Salad

A dreamy broccoli apple salad made from all-star ingredients. Bright broccoli florets, crisp apples, crunchy fried shallots, candied nuts and slivered red onions are tossed in a honey-kissed, creamy, almond dressing.

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All things crunchy and colorful are combined in this broccoli apple salad. And it’s a beauty! Bright broccoli florets, crisp apples, crunchy shallots, candied nuts and slivered red onions are tossed in a barely sweet, creamy almond dressing.

broccoli apple salad drizzled with dressing on a blue plate

This is a hearty and substantial salad with lots of play between the sweet of the apple, the savory shallots, and the crunch of the candied walnuts and crisp, flash-boiled broccoli. It’s the sort of thing that is welcome on just about any table – holiday, picnic, Tuesday night, or desk at work. I if you’re on the look out for feel-good lunch ideas, I also love this broccoli salad as a bento component.

ingredients for broccoli salad including walnuts, chives, apples and red onions arranged on a counter

Make Ahead Plan

With a bit of planning, this recipe comes together quickly. You can make most of components ahead of time, but, pro-tip, don’t dress the salad until you are ready to serve it. This preserves the various crunches. Make the almond butter dressing up to a few days in advance. Same goes for the crispy shallots. If you are going to do the version with candied walnuts, those will hold in an air-tight container for weeks. Beyond that you’re simply boiling broccoli and slicing apples.

all the ingredients for broccoli apple salad in a metal bowl readdy to be tossed

Broccoli Salad Variations

  • Make it a Main Dish: Add caramelized tofu, pan-glazed tempeh, or spicy tempeh crumble (on top) to turn this into a main course.

  • Ginger Carrot Broccoli Salad: Swap out the creamy almond butter dressing in the recipe below, and use this ginger carrot dressing instead.

  • Broccoli Apple Salad with Spicy Ranch Dressing: Swap out the creamy almond butter in the recipe below and use this spicy ranch dressing in this wedge salad recipe instead.

  • Broccoli Apple Salad with Peanut Butter Dressing: In this version, swap out the almond butter and swap in peanut butter.

broccoli apple salad drizzled with dressing on a blue plate with a large serving spoon

More Broccoli Recipes

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10 Fantastic Pumpkin Recipes Worth Making this Fall

The best pumpkin recipes currently on my radar for this fall. A curated list of recipes to have in rotation for peak pumpkin (and winter squash) season. Emphasis on dinner, emphasis on savory.

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Because pumpkin recipes can often be so wrong, you need a list of when they are so right. This is a curated list of recipes to have in rotation for peak pumpkin (and winter squash) season. Emphasis on dinner, emphasis on savory.

1. Pumpkin and Rice Soup(101 Cookbooks)
Six ingredients stand between you and this favorite ginger-chile kissed pumpkin soup. Served over rice it makes the perfect simple, soul-warming meal. Get the recipe here.

Fantastic Pumpkin Recipes worth Making this Fall

2. Pumpkin & Feta Muffins(101 Cookbooks)
These are a super interesting, hearty beast of a savory muffin. Packed with seeds, spinach, herbs, and seasoned with mustard, you can use any winter squash. Get the recipe here.

Fantastic Pumpkin Recipes worth Making this Fall

3. Pumpkin Miso Broth with Soba(My New Roots)
Soba noodles in a pureed pumpkin soup flavored with miso and ginger. Top with lots of scallions, sesame seeds, seaweed (I like toasted nori, crumbled), and sautéed (or roasted) shiitake mushrooms. Or you can simply make the base soup and top with whatever you have on hand. Get the recipe here.

Fantastic Pumpkin Recipes worth Making this Fall
4. Toasted Pumpkin Seeds – (101 Cookbooks)
While you’re at it, if you’re cooking with pumpkin, you might as well toast the seeds. It’s simple and you can season them a bunch of different ways – I’ve included three faves here. Get the recipe.
Fantastic Pumpkin Recipes worth Making this Fall

5. David Kramer and Hayley Magnus’ Squash and Kale Salad(Salad for President)
Use whatever pumpkin or hard winter squash you’ve got, cut into thick slabs. Kale represents big here accented with hazelnuts, pickled onions, and cilantro. Get the recipe here.

Fantastic Pumpkin Recipes worth Making this Fall
6. Sourdough Galette with Delicata Squash(101 Cookbooks)
Six ingredients stand between you and this favorite ginger-chile kissed pumpkin soup. Served over rice it makes the perfect simple, soul-warming meal. Get the recipe here.
Fantastic Pumpkin Recipes worth Making this Fall

7. Incredible Squash Pizza(Wholehearted Eats)
If you’re open to alternative interpretations of pizza, this is a beauty. The “crust” is a riff on the popular cauliflower crust, this one made with pumpkin (or winter squash) slathered with a basil-spinach nut sauce, and topped with vibrant cherry tomatoes or other seasonal veg. Get the recipe here.

Fantastic Pumpkin Recipes worth Making this Fall

8. Miso Sesame Winter Squash – (101 Cookbooks)
Inspired by a recipe in Bryant Terry’s cookbook, The Inspired Vegan. Roasted winter squash (and tofu) is combined here with a wonderful miso, maple, sesame and citrus sauce. Get the recipe here.

Fantastic Pumpkin Recipes worth Making this Fall

9. Roasted Delicata Squash – (101 Cookbooks)
If breaking down a big pumpkin or squash fills you with dread, this is your recipe. A longtime favorite, it calls for thin-skinned delicata squash, and you leave the skins on. Tossed with a miso harissa paste, roasted and combined with potatoes, kales, and almonds. Give this one a go for sure. Get the recipe here.

Fantastic Pumpkin Recipes worth Making this Fall
10. Pumpkin, Spinach and Walnut Spaghetti(Lazy Cat Kitchen)
If I can’t be bothered to carve and cube an actual pumpkin or squash for a recipe like this one, I grab for a bag of frozen sweet potatoes. They’re pre-cubed, and I always keep a couple bags in the freezer for lazy weeknights. Alternately, you might carve a number of pumpkins or squash on your own, and freeze any you wont be using. Being nice to your future self! 😉Get the recipe here.
Fantastic Pumpkin Recipes worth Making this Fall

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Big Sur Bakery Hide Bread

From the Big Sur Bakery cookbook, a seed-packed pocket bread recipe contributed by a good friend of the bakery. Sesame, sunflower, flax and poppy seeds, quinoa and oat bran impressively cram themselves into these delicious, hearty rolls.

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The Big Sur Bakery sits back off California’s famous Highway 1 a bit, nestled next to a gas station. The owners, three of them, left the Los Angeles restaurant scene years ago, determined to turn a property with a lackluster track record into something special. They set their sights on a house-turned-abandoned-restaurant, eventually wrangling it into what is now the beloved Big Sur Bakery.

Small round homemade breads topped with seeds and butter on a baking sheet
It was tough choosing a single recipe to feature from their namesake cookbook, but a seed-packed pocket bread contributed by a good friend of the bakery jumped out at me. Sesame, sunflower, flax and poppy seeds, millet, oat bran, and a splash of beer impressively cram themselves into palm-sized hearty rolls in a way that doesn’t disappoint.
Small round homemade breads topped with seeds on a marble counter

Big Sur Bakery Hide Bread

The recipe is from Terry “Hide” Prince, one of the bakery’s earliest friends. If you can imagine dense, seed and grain-packed soda bread, you’re in the ballpark. Rather than using salt, Terry gathers kelp from the coast and uses it to season the bread. I use sea salt (and salad booster), or dulse flakes if I have them. Use what you have. The key to enjoying these delicious little breads (and I can’t emphasize this enough), is splitting them open, toasting until they are deeply golden, then slathering generously with butter (or drizzling with olive oil). Then sprinkle with a bit more salt. Blissful buttery crunchiness.

Variations

These are divisive little pucks. People either have deep love for them, or….don’t. You can browse the comments for insight into both camps. They also take well to endless variations. As you can see from terry’s comment below, that’s the spirit of it!

  • More from Terry: He says, “There’s no need to be intimidated by making my bread. It was born out of a sea voyage, from Hawaii to New Zealand, because it was easier than yeast bread. I used my friend, Jay’s, Irish soda bread recipe, only I added my own super foods. Amaranth, millet, and quinoa all have the 8 essential amino acids for building muscle, flax seeds for digestion, and kelp or seaweed for vitamins and minerals. I keep a 5 gallon pickle bucket with my dry bread mix, adding whatever sounds healthy.”
  • A gluten-free version: Obsoletepostergirl says, “this recipe adapted very well to gluten free. I used my usual mix of brown rice flour, millet flour, oat flour, and tapioca starch in place of the flour. I used coconut milk in place of buttermilk as well. They turned out wonderfully when toasted!”

Bread in a roll shape topped with seeds held in the palm of a hand

The Big Sur Bakery Cookbook

The cookbook captures a year in the life of the restaurant through a series of vignettes, purveyor profiles, and recipes. Anyone who dreams of starting their own restaurant should have a read. One of the things I like about this book is the way it illustrates many of the things that make creating a restaurant so fulfilling. At the same time it isn’t afraid to touch on some of the stuff that also makes it so difficult. As I’m sure many of you know (or can imagine) Big Sur is remote, and running any sort of business in a town connected by a single power line to Carmel isn’t without its challenges.

How To Make Big Sur Hide Bread

Here’s a quick guide to the major steps needed to make this bread. 

Large mixing bowl with bread ingredients including flax seeds, sunflower seeds, quinoa, flour, and bran

Step 1: This bread comes together like a soda bread. No yeast is called for, it’s a quick bread that comes together in no time with baking soda as the leavener. Start by combining the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Add buttermilk to this dry mixture and stir until everything comes together.

bread dough rolled out on counter and cut into portions
Step 2: Turn the dough out onto a countertop, roll into a wide log. Slice into equal pieces and for into patties. The shape I aim for is like a small English muffin.

Individual rolls shaped and arranged on metal baking sheet prior to baking
Step 3: Brush the tops of each roll with buttermilk and sprinkle with seeds and seaweed.
Individual bread rolls on baking sheet sprinkled with seeds prior to baking
Step 4: Bake for about 45 minutes or until the bottoms are golden.
Small round homemade breads topped with seeds on a marble counter

A Few Things That Make the Big Sur Bakery Special

I’ve been to the bakery a number of times over the years. I love the dark wood, the beautifully rustic morning pastries, and the mix of locals and people just-traveling-through intersecting at the counter. The bakery serves coffee and pastries in the morning and early afternoon, lunch on certain days, as well as dinner (hours listed here). The heart of the bakery is the wood-fired stove – and much of the food served (and featured in the cookbook) is inspired by it.

A Bit More About the Cookbook

The Big Sur Bakery Cookbook includes a wide range of recipes, not simply pastries and baked treats. Also plenty for vegetarians and non-vegetarians alike. I’ve earmarked the Dresden Stollen (legendary), Nine-Grain Pancakes, Date & Quinoa Muffins, and the Fresh Garbanzo Bean Stew. Sara Remington did the photography for the book – a beautiful combination of portraits, images of Big Sur, meals shared, and of course, no end to the photos of the food. In all, 262 pages, full color. If you haven’t been able to visit in person yet, the book is next best.

Small round homemade breads topped with seeds on a marble counter

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Green Curry Porridge

A green curry porridge to keep you cozy as the weather changes season. This is a great way to use up winter squash and any herbs you have on hand. Rice and coconut milk form the base, and you get a kiss of spicy from serrano chile.

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This is a boisterous green curry porridge made with pan-toasted brown rice, spicy herb-packed green coconut broth, all punctuated with winter squash and lots of green onions. It’s the kind of bowl that keeps you warm, full, and happy from the inside out.

a bowl of rice-based green curry porridge made with delicata squash and herbs

Green Curry Porridge: Variations

A good number of you have made this over the years. Here are a few stand-out riffs on the recipe from the comments. Over here, sometimes we like to serve it with a poached egg on top. Other times we work in some chickpeas and a bit of pan-fried tofu to top things off.

  • Mix it up! Drops of Jupiter swapped out the rice…”My boyfriend made this last night substituting rice with a high fibre grain mix (wheat, buckwheat, rice, chinese barley, wild rice) and it was stupendous! we didn’t even saute the rice. We used organic veg broth and in place of sorrel, baby spinach and arugula that was lying in the fridge. Eating this for lunch now too as it makes for great leftovers.”
  • Other squash: Claire notes, “ I used acorn squash, stirred in some tofu, and garnished with chopped peanuts”

a hand drizzling olive oil over a bowl of green curry porridge
The key with this recipe is to get the seasoning right. If you under salt, it’ll be bland. So, pay close attention. You also want it to have nice acidity from a generous squeeze of lime, a kick of spiciness from the chile pepper, and a jolt of green from the sorrel or spinach, cilantro, and green onions. The creamy coconut milk brings it all together. You can dial any of the variables to your liking and, of course, experiment with other toppings.

More delicata squash recipes

More Rice Recipes

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Peanut Butter Granola

Using a short ingredient list of pantry basics, this peanut butter granola is incredibly good. It features a peanut butter and maple syrup coating that bakes beautifully into crunchy oat clusters.

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This peanut butter granola is my granola of choice as the seasons change. If mornings are cold enough to need a sweater, the homemade granola I’m baking is getting an extra layer as well. In this case that extra layer is a warm mixture of peanut butter and maple syrup accented with lemon zest. Combine this with a bowl of old-fashioned oats, and the granola it forms while baking develops a peanut-centric, powdery soft coating. Cashmere and crunchy clusters. So good.
peanut butter granola topping yogurt in a ceramic bowl

If you’ve never baked homemade granola before, this would be the recipe to try. The ingredient list is short, and consists of items you might already have in your pantry – oats, peanut butter, maple syrup, lemon, vanilla extract. It’s not a lot of effort, you can bake a double batch, and you’ll likely be way ahead on cost compared to store-bought granolas which can be super pricey.peanut butter granola in a large mason jar

How To Make Peanut Butter Granola

Making peanut butter granola couldn’t be simpler! You gently heat a mixture of peanut butter and maple syrup along with a couple other ingredients into a beautiful molten mixture that will have you licking the pan. Pour this mixture over your oats and peanuts and bake into golden-edged clusters.a mixing bowl filled with granola ingredients and a large spoon

A Couple Tips

There are a couple things I pay close attention to when making this granola. I’m calling them out here, before you get down into the recipe, for emphasis.

  • Mixing matters: First, you want to mix the oats and peanut butter coating *really* well. Stir, stir, and then stir some more. This way you get a uniform granola that will bake more evenly.
  • No blond granola: For this granola (and most granolas, really) to be truly great you need it toasted. I’d rather over-bake this granola versus underbake. Go for golden edges, and stir the granola at least once to give some of the center a chance to toast out near the edges.

granola spread across a baking sheet prior to baking
Well mixed granola before baking (above). And nicely toasted granola after baking (below).
clumps of peanut butter granola on a rimmed baking sheet

Variations & Ideas

I’ve included the recipe down below, it’s a great base recipe for peanut butter granola, but keep in mind you can use it to explore all sorts of other ideas and variations! For example:

  • Experiment with other nut butters: Of the nut butters, I prefer the strong flavor of peanut butter, but almond butter is another option especially if you or someone close to you has a peanut allergy. I want to do a pistachio butter version, but would have to name it Millionaires’ granola. The last small jar I bought was $25 – worth every penny, but so far it has been reserved for enjoying by the spoonful straight from the jar.
  • Add boosters:  You can add nutritional boosters here and/or spices. Adding a couple tablespoons of chia or hemp seeds to the oat mixture is one option. Adding a tablespoon of curry powder to granola is another favorite flavor boost.
  • Gluten Free Peanut Butter Granola: use gluten-free oats and follow the recipe as written.
  • Use granola in baking: Mix a couple cups of clumps of peanut butter granola into your next batch of chocolate chip cookies, or shortbread.

peanut butter granola topping yogurt in a ceramic bowl

Peanut butter granola served over Greek yogurt with a drizzle of maple syrup and some crushed freeze-dried raspberries.

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