gluten-free | sel et sucre

Honey Cinnamon Almonds

Posted on December 12, 2012February 8, 2024 by Claire

honey cinnamon almonds 2

I’m a big fan of candied nuts – which probably isn’t too surprising coming from someone who loves any combination of salty and sweet. They make a great snack and a great additional to these Cool Gifts if you’re planning to give them to someone. I love the ease of this particular preparation where there’s no separating out and beating egg whites, just a simple whisking together of honey with spices. The resulting nuts are a bit stickier than many candied nuts, but I found I didn’t mind at all and still found them addictively tasty. I used almonds here since they’re one of my favorite nuts (and one of the healthiest too!).

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Roasted Broccoli and Sun-dried Tomato Salad

Posted on December 10, 2012December 18, 2012 by Claire

roasted broccoli and sun-dried tomato salad 1

I’ve long been a proponent of roasting vegetables – it’s an easy way to enhance their flavor without even needing to add anything (other than a little olive oil and a pinch of salt). But I don’t think I’ve posted any recipes before with roasted broccoli. It’s a great focal point for a salad like this, where the concentrated flavors are well-complemented by the intense umami of sun-dried tomatoes. A simple balsamic honey reduction adds sweetness. Hard-boiled eggs add a great additional texture and help to balance the other strong flavors (although I think this salad would still be quite good as a vegan version without them).

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Black Bean Kimchi Quinoa Salad

Posted on December 7, 2012December 6, 2012 by Claire

black bean kimchi quinoa salad

Okay, I know I just posted about quinoa bibimbap, and yet here I am posting another recipe using both quinoa and kimchi. But this recipe doesn’t follow traditional Korean flavors; instead, there’s great fusion going on here with the incorporation of black beans and zucchini. In fact, you could take this recipe even further from your usual Asian flavors by seasoning it with a more traditional salad dressing instead of the mix of rice wine vinegar, soy sauce, sesame oil, and brown sugar I use here. The black beans and zucchini are a surprisingly good match for the fermented flavors of the kimchi, and the overall effect is a great meal option that’s healthy but not boring.

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Quinoa Bibimbap

Posted on December 5, 2012December 6, 2012 by Claire

quinoa bibimbap

On Monday, I posted a great recipe for when you don’t have the time or energy to cook something elaborate. By contrast, here’s a complex recipe – for when you do feel like dedicating some time to the kitchen. Bibimbap is a classic Korean dish with a rice base and various vegetables as toppings. There are a lot of components here, but you can make this easier on yourself by preparing some ahead of time or omitting some. Or you can get creative and add different components using whatever you have on hand (bell peppers and zucchini, for example, are commonly used).

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Black Bean and Corn Salad

Posted on December 3, 2012December 2, 2012 by Claire

black bean and corn salad

On some days, it feels like a burden to cook something, especially something healthy. I want to be creative, to dedicate time to an elaborate recipe, but can’t stand the idea of actually doing so – there are lots of other more important (or just more exciting!) things to do. But we all need to eat, and a tasty dish can be easy as this salad. A fresh mix of black beans, corn, and diced vegetables, pulled together by lime juice and Mexican spices. Even with the chopping, it only takes fifteen minutes or so to throw together. And this recipe is incredibly versatile – serve it as a salad over lettuce (as pictured here), mix it with rice or quinoa for a twist on a burrito bowl, or use it as a side to accompany fish, meat, or grilled vegetables.

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Roasted Strawberry Quinoa Salad

Posted on November 30, 2012December 4, 2012 by Claire

roasted strawberry quinoa salad

Ever since I first heard of roasting strawberries, I’ve been waiting for a chance to try it out. Since strawberries are starting to show up around here, I tossed a pound of them with balsamic vinegar and threw them in the oven. The result is wonderfully concentrated flavor, perfect for savory or sweet applications. I chose to use them in this savory salad with quinoa. The quinoa is a great foil to the strawberries, absorbing their juices and providing a good base for the salad, along with spinach. Walnuts on top for crunch and blue cheese to balance the sweetness of the strawberries make this salad a winner.

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Roasted Cauliflower with Olive Vinaigrette

Posted on November 28, 2012November 27, 2012 by Claire

roasted cauliflower with olive vinaigrette

When I cook, I turn into a bit of a mad scientist. I can’t help but tweak nearly every recipe I come across, adding or subtracting ingredients, adapting the technique, and mumbling to myself about what the perfect end dish will taste like. Inevitably this makes the whole process take at least twice as long as it should. But this recipe was different – the combination of flavors and basic techniques used intrigued me. I love roasted cauliflower, but I’d never tried roasting thick slices before, and the Mediterranean feel of the olive vinaigrette seemed an interesting match. The recipe came together quickly, and I’m glad I restrained myself on making changes because the result was outstanding.

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Strawberry Bourbon Lemonade

Posted on November 26, 2012November 25, 2012 by Claire

strawberry bourbon lemonade

Strawberries are starting to show up here, reminding me why I chose to move to the Southern hemisphere just in time for spring. I couldn’t resist buying some up and concocting this cocktail for the increasingly hot days. Nothing like sitting on the balcony, sipping on this dangerously tasty drink, and wishing the pool below was for this apartment building instead of the next one over. I’ve been feeling nostalgic for bourbon, so that’s what I used, even though the bottle of Jack Daniels was pricey. Selection’s limited around here (the Argentine imitations are, frankly, not even close). But this recipe can be adapted to whatever liquor you have on hand, and cheap liquor works just fine, so save your high quality stuff for drinking straight.

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Ginger Butternut Squash Soup

Posted on November 23, 2012November 22, 2012 by Claire

ginger butternut squash soup

I love bright, colorful food. Not only does it evoke a much better visual response to a dish, making me excited to delve in, but colorful foods are also usually the healthiest ones – win, win! So here’s a nice colorful soup, using bright orange butternut squash as the base. Carrots and red lentils add to the delightful orange hue, and ginger provides the main flavoring (you can add even more than the recipe calls for, if you’d like, or stir in ginger juice (from grated ginger, wrapped in cheesecloth and squeezed) at the end). A squeeze of lemon or lime juice (either will work just fine – or even a splash of vinegar, in a pinch) helps contrast the sweetness of the squash.

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Momofuku Pulled Pork

Posted on November 21, 2012November 20, 2012 by Claire

momofuku pulled pork

It’s not often that a recipe comes along that I can eat for multiple days straight. I get easily tired of eating the same thing and am always craving something new – that question about, if you could only eat one food for the rest of your life, leaves me feeling panicked contemplating the possibility. But despite the large quantity of pulled pork made by this recipe, taken from the menu of the famous New York restaurant Momofuku, I found myself wanting even more when I ran out (after 48 hours straight of using it in every meal). The recipe is deceptively simple (though, admittedly, requires some patience), with the shoulder rubbed with salt and sugar, then cooked for hours in low heat, and finally glazed with brown sugar at the very end.

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