Les Bouchées Quotidiennes

Hell week is almost over! I can almost taste it! It's hard to believe that spring break is in a week, which I am so excited for...except I will be studying the entire time. But, it does allow for baking time! Here's what we've been eating lately:

Remember that gigantic butternut squash I chopped last week? Well here's the last way we finished it off: with a smoky butternut pasta sauce with steamed collards. This sauce is easy enough for a weeknight, but decadent enough to feel special. I love the liquid smoke/smoked paprika with the sweet squash and collards. I'll definitely be making this again!

Okay, maybe it's just me, but when I see "weird" food combinations in recipes, I have to try it. Like, immediately. When Sara posted this recipe with pomegrante, mint, orange, chili powder, and millet, it went on my "to make ASAP" list. Although it seems like a lengthy recipe because of the odd ingredients, it actually isn't at all! The flavors were perfect together and created a really nice sweet/cooling/spicy flavor profile. 

Simplicity in its purest form is the vegan bowl: a grain with vegetables, protein, and some sort of sauce. I could live solely on bowl dinners. I heard a rumor that Sara's next cookbook is ALL bowl recipes, which is crazy awesome. Anyways, this roasted broccoli bowl was great for a busy weeknight. I love that you roast all the vegetables and chickpeas on one tray. The sauce didn't really thin that well, but it was still delicious and made a great wholesome meal!

I'm not sure how it's taken me so long to make carrot soup. I have so many different variations saved, but I settled on this super simple one from Deb (aka head food goddess of the Internet) with some Middle-Eastern spices, swirled with a tahini dollop (which I have been eating a lot of recently) and topped with my own creation: gluten-free za'atar croutons. The flavors are warm, comforting, and delicious. Za'atar has become one of my favorite spices lately. For the croutons, heat a pan on medium, add a TBS or so of butter/olive oil, then about 2 heaping cups of cubed/torn GF bread, a generous pinch of za'atar and a tiny pinch of salt. Then stir occasionally, toasting the bread, until all sides are lightly browned. Then devour!

Sometimes not having anything to eat for lunch is a challenge I like to take on. Today's lunch consisted of things I need to get out of the fridge (as it always does): GF bread spread with homemade roasted garlic mayo, homemade roasted red pepper spread (from the broccoli bowls), caramelized red onions, eggs over easy and hot sauce. Maybe not the healthiest lunch, but it was damn tasty and filling!