Cooking Recipes

Along with the cooler, more autumnal-like days has come the desire to eat things that are that tiny bit heartier.  Delicious savoury dishes such as this Goulash I am sharing today.  Goulash is basically just a stew, flavoured with paprika, peppers and tomato.  We really love it in this house.  It has been a family favourite for many, many years.

Its really a simple stew to make. Most stews are very simple, and have been the food of the common man since time began I suspect. I once read in the old days that the same pot of stew would be kept hanging over the fire with things being added to it daily.  I am not sure how much I like that idea, but stew  . . . its an old, old thing.  Most  starts off by browning cubes of beef in some fat.  The more brown you can allow them to become, the richer will be the colour of your stew.  

Most people are in  a rush and they tend to bung too much meat into the pan to brown at any given time. Don't be in a rush, do it in batches if you must . . .  trust me, it will be worth the effort in the way and amount your beef browns.  I tend to put the meat on to brown while I am preparing the  vegetables. That way I am too busy to keep stirring it and ruining the browning process. It really has the opportunity to form a nice crust and that only adds to the richness of the stew. Trust me on this. (Note, browned, not burned, you do need to pay some attention!!)

Once it is browned you remove the meat and you add vegetables  . . .  peppers and onions, these are cooked just until they begin to soften.  Then you add aromatics like garlic . . . . the paprika (two kinds, hot and sweet), and some thyme.  Cook only until fragrant and then you return the meat, the liquid and your other vegetables.

Carrots and potatoes.  Make sure you use the right kind of potatoes. I used some potatoes we had been given and they fell apart while the stew was cooking, very few pieces remaining whole.  Most disintegrated into the gravy, which made for a lovely thick gravy, but left not a lot of whole potatoes in the pot this time. So do choose your potatoes carefully.  Waxy or boiling potatoes are best.

You don't want to be using mealy potatoes, or the types of potatoes you would use for mashing. These will tend to disintigrate in the lengthy cooking time.  I had a few stay whole, but the majority of them didn't . . . nevermind, it still tasted gorgeous.

But my goulash was not as liquidy as it usually is, which I missed. So be warned.  There is usually lots of lovely flavourful juice which is luverly sopped up with crusty bread.

Sour dough, crusty white, whole wheat  . . .  whatever you desire.  All go well. Rye bread goes particularly well, but we just had soft white bread on the day, which was also very good.

Todd really enjoys meals like this.  He is a real meat and potatoes kind of a guy.  Meat and two veg (one of which is potato) and he is one very happy man.  I fished out as many whole pieces of potato for him that I could and he was in man-food heaven!

One lovely thing about meals like this is they taste even better the day after, which makes this the perfect meal for two.  We get to eat it fresh on the day and then again the day after when the flavours have really had a chance to develop overnight.  Brown food  . . .  I love brown food. The camera doesn't, but what does a camera really know about things that taste good!  Bon Appetit! 

I asked you on Instagram stories the other day whether or not you served soup at Thanksgiving. A resounding 75 percent of you said no…But since I am contrary to the core, here I am a week before the holiday serving up a parsnip soup recipe anyway.

To be honest, I am one of those 75 percent. We never do a soup at my holiday table, because well, my holiday table seats 50 people, and that’s way too many for something that needs a whole separate bowl and utensil. But every year around this time, my mind is on soup. And that’s because it’s one of the easiest things to have on hand for the week BEFORE Thanksgiving.

You know, the week when you’re running around like a turkey with your head cut off, trying to get all your dishes together, while at the same time finishing all the work you’re not going to do over the long weekend.

At times when my cooking labor cup runneth over, and I just need something simple on hand to prevent me from ordering in takeout, that’s when I turn to soup.

Recently I’ve been cooking my way through Jodi Moreno’s new book More With Less, and unsurprisingly given the theme, one of my favorite sections is the soup chapter. The parsnip chowder with garlic chips is something I’ve had flagged for a while because of its simplicity and hardiness. It would have been a perfect option for while I was recovering from my post-Mexico stomach woes. But is an equally great one for this week.

I’ve adapted the parsnip soup recipe to be low FODMAP, so instead of the garlic topping, I did a few crispy sage leaves. But you can easily pick up a copy of Jodi’s book for the original version, or just add some onion and garlic to the beginning steps of the recipe and sub the coconut milk for the cashew milk she originally called for. In fact, I actually used a combination and without checking accidentally added a cup of vanilla flavored cashew milk. I didn’t hate it!

Read on for this creamy parsnip chowder with crispy sage. And tell me, do you make soup at your Thanksgiving? Let me know in the comments section. Regardless, I hope you’ll give this recipe a shot in the near future!

With health and hedonism,

Phoebe

p.s. If you’re looking to save time in your low FODMAP kitchen, check out some of these fabulous store bought sauces, spice mixes and condiments.

People deal with stress differently. For me, if I’ve had a long day or a stressful day, I will sometimes treat myself to a meal of chicken wings.

Yes. You read that correctly. For some reason I find a big plate of perfectly baked or fried chicken wings and a cold beer to be the ideal comfort food.

I would say at least once a month I make a batch of wings that I don’t share with a soul. They are mine and they make me happy. Usually I keep it simple and if I have the time my slow cooked chicken wings is my favorite method of cooking them. But, on this particular day I changed up the rub with some Cajun spices and really liked the subtle difference over a traditional rub.

If you need something to make for a game day celebration or if you just need some solo comfort food, don’t forget the humble chicken wing!

Ingredients

Cajun Chicken Wings

You can use any cajun seasoning for this rub. If your seasoning is particularly spicy, then you might want to dial it back a bit. The brown sugar cancels out some of the heat though so you can go heavy on the rub.

I like to beef up the seasoning a bit with some salt, sugar, smoked paprika, and garlic powder.

The rub.

Rub this spice rub very liberally on the wings. If I’m serving these to a group, I’ll take the time to cut the wings into more traditional drumettes and flats. If I’m just eating them myself, I actually like to leave them in larger pieces.

I kept mine whole.

If you don’t have baking racks like the above, you can line a baking sheet with foil and bake them that way. The rack just helps them cook more evenly and will let the fat drip off as they bake, leaving you with a crispier wing.

While the wings bake, I mixed up a quick sauce. This isn’t totally necessary as the dry rub wings are pretty good as is, but a little sauce makes them even better.

Saucy!

While you could toss in the sauce, I like to drizzle in this case to preserve the crispy baked skin.

Speaking of… wings are done!

Done deal.

If your sauce gets butter lumps in it, you can microwave it for a few seconds to warm it up and melt the butter. That’ll make it easier to drizzle.

Serve these baked cajun chicken wings with the normal sides. If you’re a chicken wing lover, this will be a nice change in your recipe arsenal!

This vegetarian butternut squash and edamame bibimbap topped with a fried egg and spicy gochujang sauce is total comfort food! It’s a rice-based dish that is filled with Korean flavors  (which are #TrendingInTheKitchen right now, by the way) and it is a great way to introduce them to your family.

[Disclosure: This post was sponsored by Pompeian. As always, my thoughts and opinions are my own. Thank you for supporting the brands that keep me inspired in the kitchen.]

The first time I had Korean food I was a freshman in college and the most “ethnic” food I had ever eaten was mediocre Chinese food from the takeout place around the corner from my house.

My roommate and I stumbled across an all-you-can-eat Korean bbq place not too far from campus and whoa.

Talk about a wake-up call to my taste buds. It was un. real.

Plus it was so fun! The tables had little grills in the center so that you could cook your own food. It was a very hands on eating experience. And even though I ate meat back then, I could tell that the side dishes or banchan were the true heart and soul of the meal. I could eat those all day.

One cannot subsist on banchan alone (try as though one might), and so the handful of times I’ve gotten Korean food since going meatless I’ve had to branch out to other parts of the menu. There are spicy (like…REALLY SPICY) noodle dishes, hearty stews, various pancakes and omelettes….and bibimbap. My ultimate favorite.

Historically, bibimbap was essentially a dish of leftovers. It was made on the eve of the New Year as a way to consume (and thereby get rid of) all of the leftover side dishes and vegetables before the new year. Based on that, it sounds like it hasn’t really changed much in its composition over the years; at its most basic it is a bowl of rice topped with sauteed and pickled veggies, either an egg or meat, and a splash of gochujang sauce.

Given that my love of rice bowls, spicy sauces, and a good runny yolk no know bounds, when my friends over at Pompeian challenged me to come up with a hearty fall dish with a Korean twist (since Korean flavors are #TrendingInTheKitchen and all), I knew I had to put my spin on this fan favorite.

Here I’ve taken a few liberties with the basic recipe and given it a bit of a fall twist.

Butternut squash is roasted in my absolute favorite Pompeian Avocado Oil Non-stick Cooking Spray until soft and caramelized. I’ve used certain other cooking sprays before and this is by far the best. It doesn’t have any weird propellants or ingredients in it and is just made from 100% avocado oil. AND since avocado oil has a really high smoke point of 450-500 degrees F, it is great for roasting, stir frying, searing, BBQing, or broiling.

The roasted squash is then sauteed in a scallion-soy sauce mixture, along with edamame, peas, and spinach to make our veggie topping. Rice is cooked and crisped up in the same pot used to make the veggies. It’s all mixed up and then served with a fried egg, quick pickled veggies, and a spicy gochujang sauce on top.

It seems like a lot of steps, but if you’re focused (and don’t have a two year old pulling at your leg insisting on “helping”), it can be made in 30 minutes. Enjoy!

Homemade Buffalo Sauce Recipe – a quick and easy recipe for a homemade version of classic buffalo sauce that’s perfect for buffalo wings and more!

I can always depend on Bart and Sam loving any dish that includes that signature buffalo sauce flavor. From chicken wings to our favorite buffalo chicken dip, I know those are surefire hits whenever I make them for them. There’s just something about that little vinegary, spicy kick that can liven up so many dishes. 

Homemade Buffalo Sauce Recipe

For years now, I’ve been making my own using ingredients that I always have on hand in my refrigerator and pantry – butter, hot sauce, vinegar, Worcestershire and garlic.

And by the way, I can’t think of anything that wouldn’t possibly be good with those ingredients in it! No wonder we go through it so quickly around here!

I use it in so many things – more than just for wings, too!

I actually use it in a few ways that may be a little out of the norm for you guys, but I just have to tell you in case you’d love it as much as I do. I love to add a splash of my homemade buffalo sauce to my ranch dressing for a kickier version (please let me think that’s a word, okay?), or even onto avocado toast for an update on that classic morning staple that definitely wakes you up! And don’t even get me started on using it with fried cheese sticks! I just add a couple of splashes as I coat my cheese before cooking and it just makes for a whole new world where cheese sticks are concerned in my book. You really have to give it a whirl sometime.

So, now that I’ve shown you just how crazy in love with buffalo sauce I am, I better go ahead and give you that recipe so you can make it at home yourself! Now, neither one of us will get strange looks from the bag boy at the grocery store for the insane amounts of buffalo sauce we’re buying. And for that, I’m ever so grateful!

How to Make Homemade Buffalo Sauce

To make my Homemade Buffalo Sauce, you just whisk together melted butter, hot sauce, vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, and garlic until well combined.

Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator, shaking to blend well before using, for up to one month.

Buffalo Sauce Video

Here’s my homemade buffalo sauce recipe. I think you’ll love it as much as we do!

Recipes using Homemade Buffalo Sauce

Here are a few of our favorite recipes using Homemade Buffalo Sauce:

and more!

Enjoy!
Robyn xo

From the Add a Pinch recipe archives. Originally published 2013.

Fish sauce is a staple in Southeast and East Asian cooking, but finding a substitute can be challenging for vegetarians and vegans. This plant-based, Vegan Fish Sauce is made with dried shiitake mushrooms, liquid aminos, and soy sauce and adds umami to your favorite dishes!

I quickly learned that one of the challenges of cooking many Southeast and East Asian dishes and transforming it into a vegetarian dish wasn’t the question of what to do with the meat or seafood, but rather how to season it without a very critical ingredient: fish sauce.

Used in place of salt, fish sauce is not only important for making a dish salty, but giving it that certain umami that can’t be achieved with kosher salt alone. I quickly learned this when making vegetarian pad Thai and vegetarian pancit. Traditional fish sauce is made by fermenting anchovies and salt for 1 year or up to 18 months, and when the precious liquid is pressed, it adds a very concentrated depth of flavor to dishes. Between you and me, when cooking a vegetarian dish for myself, I would let a teaspoon of fish sauce slide in the dish, but I knew I had to try a substitute since the challenge of making a dish truly vegetarian isn’t complete without one.

I did some quick investigation of what products are out there and found that the answer is, well, not much. But I did find that there are other ways to create a vegan fish sauce at home. Methods and ingredients vary, and of course, some are more complicated than others – some use dried mushrooms, others soy sauce, and some had longer ingredient lists than others. I wanted something simple, because cooking is hard enough, and cooking a delicious vegetarian dish should not be any harder.

This vegan fish sauce can’t get any simpler. Dried shiitake mushrooms, water, soy sauce, and liquid aminos – four ingredients that simmer and reduce to resemble the salty, flavorful depth of flavor found in fish sauce. I found it worked quite well in those noodle dishes – to be honest, I was surprised how well, actually! My discerning tongue was satisfied, and my family didn’t notice a difference, which means I’ll be keeping this on hand from now on!

This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, read my disclosure policy.

What is Organic Milk anyway and why is it important? Today I’m sharing about Horizon Organic and why I buy organic milk.

Something to use organic milk in? The BEST Pumpkin Muffins! This easy muffin recipe is full of pumpkin flavor and perfect for fall breakfasts!

This post has been sponsored by Horizon Organic. All opinions are my own. Plus… pumpkin muffins are amazing!

PIN IT NOW TO SAVE FOR LATER!

My family thinks Horizon milk tastes great, but that’s not the only reason I like to buy organic.

For a long time, I passed over Organic Milk because I didn’t know why it was better. Then I learned a few things about organic milk I didn’t know.

What is organic milk and why should you buy it?

1. It’s non-GMO and the cows are given non-GMO food.
2. The milk comes from cows who haven’t been given antibiotics.
3. No toxic or persistent pesticides are used to grow the food that’s given to the cows.
4. No growth hormones are given to the cows.
5. Organic rules require healthy living conditions for the cows that produce organic milk. (It’s the same reason I buy organic eggs!)

The most important part of organic milk for me: the animals have safe, healthy living conditions.

I really love that organic milk means the cows haven’t been given antibiotics or hormones. However, for me, the most important thing about buying organic milk is that the cows have safe, healthy living conditions. I appreciate they have access to the outdoors year-round, must be provided shade, shelter, exercise, fresh air, and direct sunlight, and their housing has to have proper ventilation, clean water, and proper sanitation. The care of the animal is a huge deal to me.

Something else I always think about when we’re headed back to school is whipping us into healthier eating again. I get really lax over the summer with cooking and shopping, so when the school year starts, I try to focus on buying healthier foods and making recipes with better ingredients, like organic milk.

I made these delicious pumpkin muffins with Horizon Organic Milk, and we absolutely loved the result!

I made these muffins the other morning just before my trainer came over to work out with me. She walked in and couldn’t stop talking about how good my house smelled; it smelled like fall!

Whenever I bake Pumpkin Muffins or pumpkin bread or anything cinnamon and apple, it makes the whole house smell amazing. I know it’s barely September, but I am so ready for fall and cooler temperatures! Once school is back in and Labor Day is over, I’m ready to slide headfirst into PSL season.

These easy pumpkin muffins are made from scratch!

I use milk in so many baked goods, from cake to banana bread and so many more. These pumpkin muffins use milk too. Milk is important for baking; the protein creates a strong batter. The sugar and fat in milk tenderize or moisten baked goods.

I used non-fat milk in these muffins, but you wouldn’t know it’s missing the fat because the pumpkin keeps the muffins super moist. However, if you only have reduced-fat or full-fat milk in your refrigerator, feel free to use one of those instead.

In addition to the milk and pumpkin, this easy muffin recipe has brown sugar and granulated sugar. I like using both in fall flavor muffins because the brown sugar adds a depth of flavor you’d expect from pumpkin recipes.

Don’t forget the pumpkin spice! When you’re making pumpkin muffins (or anything pumpkin for that matter), you have to add all the pumpkin spices to the batter so it actually tastes like what we’ve come to think pumpkin flavor is. If you don’t have pumpkin pie spice, you can make your own with my DIY Pumpkin Pie Spice recipe.

I love to sprinkle some cinnamon sugar on top of these muffins before baking too. It gives them a nice crunchy top with a little extra sweetness.

This pumpkin muffin recipe is kind of a blank slate. Want to add chocolate chips or peanut butter cups, or maybe even add a maple frosting on top? Feel free!

These taste great out of the oven, or you can store them in an airtight container or even freeze them for later. I love having a batch in my freezer for fast morning breakfasts!

When you’re shopping for ingredients, just remember: Only ORGANIC means ORGANIC, and Horizon Organic has you covered!

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This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Horizon Organic. The opinions and text are all mine. [TAPINFLUENCE AGREEMENT: https://www.tapinfluence.com/tapinfluence-master-influencer-agreement/]

This low carb, high protein egg bake breakfast recipe is made with Italian sausage, bell peppers and sharp cheddar cheese. Perfect for prepping ahead of time! 

Nothing makes me happier than starting a week with a healthy breakfast prepped and ready to go.  Whether it’s overnight chia seed pudding, refrigerator oats or a low carb, high protein egg bake, I am all about weekend meal prep.

Versatile, affordable and protein-packed, I love turning whatever meat and veggies I have on hand into a healthy egg bake breakfast.

Most recently I found myself with a little extra Italian sausage and peppers so I decided to turn it into a breakfast bake topped with sharp cheddar cheese. Of course, any cheese would work so use what you have on hand.

If I’m prepping ahead, I’ll stash the bake in the refrigerator throughout the week and simply reheat in the microwave for about 90 seconds before serving.

Sliced tomatoes or oranges go perfectly on the side, plus a sprinkle of whatever fresh herbs you have on hand.

Your fork is waiting.