It’s Labor Day weekend. I love long weekends because it means more time to do my favorite activities. My favorite activities usually include spending hours testing new recipes in the kitchen. Labor Day weekend is especially awesome because it marks the transition into fall season, start of college football, and indulging in my favorite spices and comfort foods. Some of my favorite fall spices include cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger – mainly the spices in pumpkin spice. Sunday mornings typically mean squeezing in time at the gym, but today, I had a sudden urge to make rainbow vegetable dumplings instead. The greatest part about the long weekend is if I don’t get to the gym today, I still have tomorrow. It’s been a while since I made dumplings. I save making dumplings for long weekends because it is definitely a process and requires some patience in the kitchen. I grew up eating mostly pork potstickers, but lately, I’ve been obsessively testing out vegan recipes in the kitchen. One of my experiments evolved into a delightful creation of rainbow vegetable dumplings. The base of my rainbow vegetable dumplings is made with thinly sliced red cabbage, shredded carrots, sliced scallions, minced ginger, and minced garlic. The filling is cooked down with some kosher salt and a simple sauce of sesame oil, soy sauce, Shaoxing wine, confectioners’ sugar, cornstarch, and white pepper powder before being filled in homemade dumpling skins. Once all of the ingredients are prepared, and the dough has rested, I prepare a small bowl filled with water, and another small bowl filled with flour. I set out all of these bowls in an assembly line to start assembling my dumplings. I started with the filling, then the wrapping, and finally the cooking. The prepping and cooking process can take some time, but the end result is worth the patience. When the dumplings were done, I waited about ten minutes before I dug in. If I dug in right away, I would have easily burned my mouth. The dumpling skin was crispy at the bottom and chewy throughout. The dumpling filling was packed with flavor. Kevin helped set up the table as he anxiously waited for the dumplings. The dumplings were so good, we devoured half of them almost immediately. We did end up packing the rest to save for two additional meals during the week. As we were eating, we caught up on some of the highlights from college football games the evening before.
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Tomato Pesto Pizza
Pizza is no doubt one of my favorite foods on the planet. I love every aspect of pizza including the crispy crust, tangy tomato sauce, creamy cheese, and endless toppings. I could eat pizza any time of the day and in any form. A classic New York style pizza pie is my usual go-to, but I would never turn down pizza bagels, pizza pockets, or deep-dish pizza. I attribute my love for pizza to my family. Growing up, Friday nights in the Pan household typically meant pizza nights. My dad usually picked up a large cheese pie from the local pizzeria in Brooklyn and we would just eat and bond over good food. Just reminiscing about my childhood makes me crave pizza. This week, I’ve been especially craving pizza. Whenever I crave pizza, I usually go for New York style pizza (mostly because I grew up eating New York style pizza). In my early twenties, I lived and worked in Chicago and became exposed to the most delightful deep dish pizza. Deep dish pizza was substantially different from New York style pizza, but tasted just as good. I continued the tradition of Friday night pizza at Giordano’s on Halsted during the time I lived in Chicago. I would meet up with friends to catch up on life while eating the most splendid Chicago style pizza. Recently, I’ve been experimenting with a vegan version of pizza. Ever since I started on a plant-based nutrition certificate program earlier this month, I’ve committed myself to sticking with a plant-based diet for at least the duration of the certificate program. Throughout this process, I’ve been recreating vegan versions of my absolute favorite foods such as my coconut chocolate chunk scones. I didn’t think I could create yet another version of pizza which hasn’t already been created somewhere out in the world, but over the weekend, I made the most crave worthy vegan tomato pesto pizza using absolutely zero dairy products. My vegan tomato pesto pizza featured pesto, dairy-free cheese, and tomatoes. To my absolute surprise, the vegan tomato pesto pizza turned out even better than I expected. The base for my vegan pesto had whole almonds, kosher salt, freshly cracked black pepper, fresh basil, olive oil, and nutritional yeast. I threw all of the ingredients into a food processor and blended everything together until it resembled the pesto I remember eating growing up. I generously spread the pesto onto my pizza dough, topped the pizza with some vegan cheese and grape tomatoes, popped the pizza into the oven, and waited anxiously for the oven to work its magic. Ten minutes later, the pizza was ready for devouring. The biggest test was to see if Kevin (an absolute meat lover) would consider the vegan pizza comparable to non-vegan pizza.
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Coconut Chocolate Chunk Scones
We’re heading towards the end of summer and the start of college football season. The start of college football means fall is around the corner. While I love the beautiful summer weather, I love the cooler fall weather more. Right around late September and early October, coffee shops around town begin to roll out their fall drinks. The shops are filled with the most fragrant apple and pumpkin spice smells weaved into coffee and lattes. The temperature drops quite a bit from hot and humid to cool and crisp. The leaves on trees begin to change colors from deep greens to a vibrant foliage of reds, oranges, yellows, and browns. While fall isn’t here yet, the early mornings in Ohio have gotten much cooler. Just this weekend, the morning temperature hovered in the lower sixties. Mornings are when I feel the most refreshed and ready to tackle the day ahead of me. My leadership certificate program has started again and I’m currently in the midst of my plant-based nutrition certificate program. Juggling work and school has been a bit tough at times, but it has also encouraged me to be more creative with meal prepping. Weekdays typically mean quicker meals. Weekends are reserved for more leisurely meals. I still like to spend my weekends letting my creative juices flow in the kitchen. Yesterday, I baked up a batch of the most wonderful coconut chocolate chunk scones. Since beginning my plant-based nutrition program earlier this month, I’ve felt inspired to recreate some of my favorite recipes using non-animal byproducts. One recipe I’m super excited to share is my recipe for coconut chocolate chunk scones. Scones are one of my favorite morning (or afternoon) treats. When I lived in New York City, my cravings for scones would always lead me to Alice’s Tea Cup in Manhattan. I would call up some friends and make a date to have tea and scones for brunch or afternoon tea at the nearest Alice’s Tea Cup from the Q line. Alice’s Tea Cup had the most scrumptious scones. I loved to order both sweet and savory scones along with some herbal tea. Once I moved to the Midwest just over a decade ago, I started attempting to recreate some of my favorite scones. My experimentation in the kitchen led me to developing a fantastic coconut chocolate chunk scone recipe. The coconut chocolate chunk scones reminded me of a cross between Levain Bakery’s over-the-top chocolate chip cookies, and the fluffy, slightly sweet scones at Alice’s Tea Cup. Best yet, these scones are completely vegan. I folded in refined coconut oil in place of the unsalted butter I typically use and substituted whole milk for almond milk. To make sure I wasn’t bias towards my own palate, I brought some scones over to Tommy and Court’s place to have some of Kevin’s friends try out the scones. Kevin had spent most of the afternoon playing Gloomhaven with some friends and they were eager for an afternoon snack. All of our friends enjoyed the scones and couldn’t believe the scones were completely vegan.
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Lemon Strawberry Pie with Pistachio Coconut Graham Cracker Crust
Several years ago, when I used to teach high school on the west side of Chicago, the end of August meant gearing up for the start of the new academic year. I remember feeling very nervous in the weeks leading up to the first day of school. In preparation for the first day, I would head to my classroom a week before school began and tidy up the desks, chairs, bulletin boards, and learning materials. No matter how prepared I felt, the first few weeks of school were always the toughest. I never knew what challenges I would face until school actually started the day after Labor Day. This year marks four years since I left the classroom. Whenever I reflect back on my experience teaching high schoolers through the Teach For America program, I still remember the combination of nervousness and excitement I would feel around this time of the year. No amount of preparation could have prepared me for the challenges I would face in the classroom though. Whenever I had a tough day, I always found peace and solace in the kitchen. Kavya, my roommate at the time, would always be around to test out new desserts I made in the kitchen. She was vegetarian, so she could only test out meatless recipes and since most of the recipes I made without meat were desserts, those were the ones she tested out. Kavs absolutely loved the strawberry cupcakes I made for her birthday one year and would always request it as a dessert for special occasions thereafter. As I reflected back on my days testing out desserts in my Chicago kitchen, I wanted to share a new recipe for a lemon strawberry pie with a pistachio coconut graham cracker crust I made over the weekend. I used most of a 2-pound box of fresh strawberries and the zest and juice of a lemon to make the filling for my pie. My graham cracker crust was made with a package (about 9 sheets of graham crackers), some refined coconut oil, unsalted pistachios, kosher salt, and sugar. The pie can definitely be made into a vegan-friendly pie by swapping out the honey graham crackers with vegan graham crackers or cookies.
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Seasoned Vegan Mac
I started my plant-based nutrition certificate program earlier this week and have been feeling very inspired to test out more plant-based recipes in the kitchen. Even before I started the program, I felt as if I was operating in a split kitchen (trying to balance meals with meat and meals without meat). Kevin is a huge fan of meat and insists on having meat at every meal throughout the week. I’m more of a flexitarian and only eat meat occasionally, mostly on weekends. Therefore, when I prepare meals, I have to find a creative balance to prepare a meaty meal Kevin will love and a meatless meal I would enjoy. I have slowly been trying to recreate vegetarian and vegan versions of some of Kevin’s favorite dishes. I started the plant-based nutrition program in the hopes of gaining a better understanding of the advantages and disadvantages of specific diets and lifestyles. Plus, I was just overall curious about the whole food, plant-based diet and wanted to learn more about it in detail through a structured certificate program. In an effort to expand my culinary horizon, I’ve been testing out more vegan recipes in my kitchen. Recently, I’ve challenged myself to recreate some of my favorite dishes without using any animal products. It was difficult at first because I ate dairy products my whole life, but once I started testing out dairy alternatives, I found the dairy alternatives to work just as well in satisfying my cravings. One recipe I’ve been working on recreating for some time now is my seasoned two cheese macaroni and cheese. It has the distinctive creamy texture and cheesy flavor from the two types of cheeses and milk I use and it is further enhanced with some garlic powder, paprika, and mustard powder. The combination of the cheeses and seasonings really makes for a comforting and decadent macaroni and cheese. When I set out to create a vegan version of my seasoned macaroni and cheese, I tested out a lot of dairy alternatives to see which one would come closest to the creamy texture of my seasoned macaroni and cheese. I finally discovered the delightful, toasty flavor of roasted cashews soaked in water overnight as a wonderful substitute for the cheese and milk I typically use when making macaroni and cheese. The soaked roasted cashews, blended in some water, salt, and seasonings tasted exceptionally good and was very close in texture and flavor to my seasoned two cheese macaroni and cheese. To add the cheesy element to the vegan mac, I added in two tablespoons of nutritional yeast. Once blended together, the creamy seasoned cashew sauce was perfect for topping on some elbow macaroni pasta. After testing the recipe on four separate occasions using different ratios of spices, I finally came up with a satisfying version I could stick with in the long term.
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Cacio e Pepe Rigatoni with Bacon and Arugula
I can’t believe it’s already halfway through August, which means we are heading towards the end of summer very soon. While I will miss the warmer weather, I am also excited for the fall spices and college football. Just yesterday, I received the most beautiful postcard from my close friend, Ada. She is currently traveling throughout Europe this summer. Reading her stories about delicious food she has sampled and historic sites she has visited reignited my wanderlust. It reminded me of the trip Kevin and I took to Italy earlier this year. Back in May, Kevin and I traveled to Italy for our honeymoon. We soaked in the historical sites during the day and enjoyed the most splendid pasta during the evenings. Italian food is one of my favorite cuisines. I love how even the simplest forms of pasta has immense depth of flavor. Kevin and I even took a pasta making class where the chef who taught the class introduced us to authentic Roman pasta and sauces. He discussed in detail the types of sauces paired with different shapes of pasta. One of his favorite sauces (cacio e pepe) also happens to be one of my favorite sauces. Throughout the cooking class, Kevin and I learned how to make pasta from scratch and enjoyed the fruits of our labor. Thinking back to our trip to Italy inspired me to make some cacio e pepe rigatoni with bacon and arugula. Lemon cacio e pepe spaghetti is my favorite go-to pasta dish when I have no idea what I want to make for dinner. I omitted the lemon zest this time around and folded in some bacon and arugula. I used about 3-4 ounces of grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, a tricolor peppercorn blend, crispy bacon, and fresh arugula. All of the ingredients added different textures and flavors to the pasta. The Parmigiano Reggiano cheese added a salty bite. The tricolor peppercorn added a boldness and slight spicy kick. The bacon added a crispiness, smokiness, and saltiness to the dish. The fresh arugula added a peppery and sharp note to the pasta. From start to finish, the dish took about 30 minutes. It was simple to prepare, quick to combine, and delicious when served. My cacio e pepe rigatoni with bacon and arugula was the perfect meal for a busy week.
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Dutch Baby Pancake with Lemon Cream and Fresh Berries
This week, my leadership certificate program resumed classes for the fall semester. After taking a week off in between the end of summer semester and beginning of fall semester, I have been mostly on the go. For the most of this year, I have been going to work, heading to school, working ahead on homework, squeezing in time to eat, and retiring to my bed once I got tired. During these busy days, I like to meal prep as much as I can. When I don’t have enough time to meal prep, I like to whip up some quick meals to satisfy my hunger. I try to eat healthier during the weekdays and save indulging on my favorite treats for weekends. Saturdays (and sometimes Sundays) are usually my cheat days. I typically reserve Saturdays for meal prepping, catching up on shows, and testing out new recipes. On Sundays, I often head to the gym, think about what I want to eat for brunch, and meal prep in my mind as I am running. Halfway into my run today, I decided to make a Dutch baby pancake with lemon whipped cream and fresh berries. I love making a Dutch baby pancake when I want something sweet and quick for breakfast on Sundays. Instead of just my usual Dutch baby pancake served with a dusting of powdered sugar, I also cut up some fresh strawberries, rinsed some fresh blueberries, and whipped up some cream with lemon zest folded into it. Pancakes pair very well with fresh fruits and citrus and this Dutch baby pancake was no exception. The strawberries and blueberries added a nice burst of sweetness and tanginess to the pancake. The lemon whipped cream added a good contrast and creaminess to the pancake. The batter itself is a thin batter, but puffs up quite nicely in the oven. Whenever I remove the Dutch baby pancake from the oven, I am always amazed by the height and puff of the pancake. The puff does deflate fairly quickly once removed from the oven, but it’s always impressive to look at. As we were enjoying our post-workout brunch, I filled Kevin in on this new series I started watching on the CW. The series was called Two Sentence Horror Stories based off of a thread which began on Reddit. I’ve only seen two episodes and both episodes were surprisingly creepy. I tried to convince Kevin to watch the episodes with me, but he declined since he wasn’t a fan of scary stories. He quickly changed the topic and raved about the Dutch baby pancake with lemon cream and fresh berries. The fluffy, eggy, and cakey texture of the Dutch baby pancake reminded us of the mini egg cakes we ate growing up. Kevin spent most of his youth living in Hong Kong and snacking on the mini egg cakes whenever he was around one of the food stands selling these treats. I grew up in New York City and spent many weekends getting my share of mini egg cakes whenever I headed to Chinatown in Manhattan.
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Scallion Cream Cheese Wontons with Spicy Orange Dip
I’ve loved scallion cream cheese for as long as I can remember. When I lived Brooklyn, I would stop by Bally Total Fitness for a quick workout, and then turn the corner after a couple blocks to pick up an onion bagel with scallion cream cheese at Bagel Boy. Working out beforehand made me feel less guilty about gaining the calories right back as I devoured the bagel. At the very least, I got to indulge in one of my favorite treats. Of all of the bagel options, the onion bagel with scallion cream cheese at Bagel Boy in Sheepshead Bay was my absolute favorite. It had all the textures and flavors I loved. The large pieces of oniony scallions balanced very well with the smooth cream cheese. The best part was the ½ inch thick layer of cream cheese sandwiched between a toasted onion bagel. I especially loved the contrast in textures and flavors of the onion bagel with scallion cream cheese. Over the years, I’ve paired this contrast in texture and flavors in the form of everything pretzels with scallion cream cheese. My newest adaptation is my scallion cream cheese wontons inspired by some crab rangoon Kevin and I had at a local Chinese restaurant. Over the weekend, Kevin and I stopped by a Chinese restaurant to get our fix of American Chinese and traditional Chinese dishes. We don’t typically order appetizers, but for some reason, I really wanted some crab rangoon (in addition to steamed fish and beef noodles). When the crab rangoon arrived, it was definitely an unexpected delight. It had pieces of crab meat, cream cheese, and scallions packed into a deep-fried wonton wrapper. The fried wontons were served with a sweet chili sauce. If you deconstructed the crab rangoon filling, it was basically scallion cream cheese with some crab meat. I’ve only had crab rangoon a few times growing up, but every time I do have it, it always seems to hit the crispy, crunchy, and creamy cravings spot. There is just something about cold cream cheese wrapped in a fried wonton I just can’t seem to get enough of. When I got home, I set out to make my own version.
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Margherita Pizza
I have finally achieved a version of margherita pizza I believe both Mark and Scott would be very proud of. Recently, I’ve been catching up on all of my favorite shows after finishing my summer semester of classes. One show I’ve been watching frequently is a YouTube show called Really Dough? where Mark and Scott try some of the newest and latest pizza inspired creations and debate whether or not the creations are considered pizza. Most of the restaurants featured on the show are restaurants throughout New York City (which adds another nostalgic element to the show for me). Scott seems to believe almost every creation is pizza. Mark tends to disagree. For the most part, I seem to side with Scott, but sometimes I do think Mark has a point. Mark believes pizza is dough, sauce, and cheese. At its most basic level, isn’t pizza just dough, sauce, and cheese? Watching all of these episodes have really given me the energy boost to make some pizza from scratch over the weekend. I typically prepare my pizza dough using a combination of all-purpose flour and bread flour. Over the weekend, I put a spin on my usual pizza dough and used only double zero flour to make the pizza dough. I was first introduced to double zero flour when I took a pasta making class in Rome. Our chef explained the pasta and pizza in Italy are usually made with double zero flour because of how fine the granules are. After returning from Italy, Kevin and I made a special trip out to Jungle Jim to pick up some double zero flour. We used it mostly for fresh homemade pasta, but on Friday night, I used some of the flour to prepare my basic pizza dough. I always prepare the pizza dough the evening before to give the dough as many hours to rise as possible. Plus, preparing the dough the night before allows me to have pizza the very next day. After preparing and kneading the pizza dough on Friday night, I left it to rest in the corner of my kitchen counter overnight. On Saturday morning, I preheated my oven to 500°F along with a pizza stone. As the oven was preheating, I lay out my pizza peel, placed a sheet of parchment paper over the pizza peel, and placed half of my pizza dough I’ve been letting rest overnight onto the parchment lined pizza peel. I used a rolling pin to roll the pizza out as thin as possible. I learned this trick by watching Mark roll out his pizza dough using a wine bottle at his restaurant, Lucali, on the Really Dough? show.
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Minty Chocolate, Blueberry, and Coconut Smoothie
It’s official! I’ve completed all of my exams and final projects for my two summer classes. When I started taking classes again earlier this year, I was a bit nervous. I had been out of school since I completed my master’s degree in 2015 and shifted my focus to working. In 2019, I decided to go back to school again. This time around, I took classes in subjects I was more interested in learning about for self-improvement. During the spring semester, I took an introductory baking course, safety and sanitation course, and two leadership courses. It was a bit tough to balance work and school at first, but after a month of classes, it felt as if I hadn’t skipped a beat. All of those courses ended in May. I took a break from work and school and traveled to Italy with Kevin to finally have our honeymoon. You can read more about our adventures in Italy here. Once I returned back from my travels throughout Italy, I was ready to begin my summer photography courses. I’ve been working diligently through all of the photography projects, quizzes, and exams. Fast forward to today, and I’m done with both classes. I love the process of learning and growing. I just wish I could skip the exams portion of learning. To celebrate the completion of my two courses, I decided to make myself a treat. I was craving something minty, fruity, and chocolatey all at the same time, so I whipped up a minty chocolate, blueberry, and coconut smoothie for an early evening pick-me-up. The combination of the fresh mint, delectable chocolate, sweet blueberries, and creamy coconut milk blended together makes for the perfect indulgent and refreshing summer drink. I love whipping up smoothies throughout the year and especially during the summer when I want to cool off with a satisfying drink. The best part about a smoothie is how quickly the smoothie comes together. I layer some fresh mint, coconut milk, blueberries, chocolate syrup, and some chocolate chips, then blend everything together for about a minute, pour the contents into a mason jar, and top with some additional mint leaves. In less than five minutes, I had a satisfying smoothie to sip on.
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