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Creamy Coconut + Curry Chickpeas
As I gorged myself on the test run of these Creamy Coconut + Curry Chickpeas, I heard a constant nag in my head, “Girl! Slow down! Make it last!” Good advice, but not very realistic. I couldn’t.stop.eating. Seeing the bottom of my empty bowl was the saddest thing to happen to me in a long time. Obviously, this recipe is a WIN. Here’s why… Because even Indian-spice newbies can create this amazingly absolutely delicious yet quick and simple dish and their own signature House Blend Curry Powder. It will take me a while to come down from this achievement-high. It was an exciting Indian-Thai fusion spice adventure. Making such a…
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House Blend Curry Powder
Even Indian-spice newbies can create this amazingly robust and simple curry powder blend. Once I learned how to make my own, I never looked back. While curry blends vary across the geography, they typically combine golden turmeric + earthy cumin + nutty fenugreek with various and sundry drool-worthy flavors. Tailoring the combination of spices to your own palate just makes sense. Making your own blend also gives you control over toasting the spices or not. Toasting the spices brings out a deep, delicious earthiness. If possible, start with whole spices. They tend to be more vibrant and retain their fresh flavor longer. Spices that are already ground are exposed to…
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Panang Curry Noodle Bowl
Get ready to eat the rainbow. I hope you are holding your fork because this vibrant recipe will be on your table in about 20 quick minutes! Boil some noodles. Throw all the sauce ingredients in the blender, then heat in a pan. Add noddles and garnish with your favorite crunchy + sweet + savory + herby condiments. That is it! If you don’t already know it, I love Thai food. I LOVE THAI FOOD. I mean, I crave it at least once a week. There is something about its combination of sweet + robust + salty + piquant flavors that work me into a frenzy. By the time I…
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Sweet Georgia Peach Ice Cream Sandwiches
Masters Week has come and gone, y’all. Didn’t make it to the tournament to grab one of those delicious Georgia Peach Ice Cream Sandwiches? Or perhaps you can’t help reminiscing about those quintessentially southern treats you noshed on last week? No worries. I gotcha. Let me be clear, however: this is NOT the sugar cookie recipe used by Nashville’s Christie Cookie Company. Like most things that concern the Augusta National, that recipe is veiled in secrecy. But chances are these will hold you over till next year’s tournament. The recipes for these cool confections are oh, so easy: simply bake up a batch of sugar cookies and sandwich a big…
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Curly Kale + Tandoori Chickpea Salad (and a lecture on massaging the Queen)
Do you enjoy a really good massage? If you answered yes, you know how revitalizing a massage can be. Relaxing yet invigorating; a bit painful at times but always worth all the tissue manipulation. Right? Now apply these same principles to your kale. No, I am not kidding. You are going to give your kale a massage. Massaging your kale will break down her cellulose or woodiness. Kale is the Queen of Greens, after all. She deserves it! You know why? She is the OG of superfood cred. For the price of a 2 minute massage, she has a lot to offer in return: 5 grams of fiber per…
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Fakes (Greek Lentils)
Sometimes a girl just wants some beans and rice. Or beans and pasta, as the case may be. Pronounced fa-KEE and sometimes called fakorizo, THIS is my comfort food. I absolutely begged for it as a child. It’s a security blanket in a bowl, like chicken noodle soup. Eating comfort food is my class of self-medicating. It soothes me physiologically. So when I am feeling blue, I reach for my drug of choice: comfort food. Hello, I’m Naked Epicurean, and I am a comfort food addict. My drug must meet requisite standards. For example: Is it easy to make? Check. Does it evoke nostalgia? Check. Is it loaded with calories?…
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Ooey Gooey Vidalia Onion Dip
Aaahhh, Vidalia onions. Those sweet colossal bulbs cultivated by Southern soil. Hailed as the paragon of all onions, they are so sweet you could bite into them like you would apples (or so I hear). Typically these horticultural gems are available Spring through Summer. I, however, pulled the onion for this recipe out of my freezer because around here we buy them 25 pounds at a time from the Boy Scouts. These onions are Georgia’s state vegetable, so famous that they even have festivals to celebrate their greatness. (FYI…the 2019 festival is April 25-29, if you’re interested in attending.) While these onions assume the lead role in this dip, the…
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Tzatziki Sauce + Dip
Should you or shouldn’t you on the first date? The answer depends on how confident you are with yourself and how comfortable you are with your partner. It really has to be a commitment from both parties. After all, if you both eat garlic, you should be fine because your garlickyness will cancel out his garlickyness. Right? We were face to face with this dilemma on our first date. The culprit was tzatziki, loaded with garlic and garnished with scrapes. Garlic galore! The Man and I looked each other square in the eye. I think he could tell I do not easily part from my food. I was elbows…
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Buffalo Chickpea Pockets with Bleu Cheese Drizzle
We are counting down to the Sweet Sixteen. As the bracket narrows, The Man is brainstorming game day menus. One request is Buffalo Chicken Wraps. I agreed, but with the caveat that I make plant-based modifications, just for funsies. I gave these a practice run and WOW, let me tell you—these babies are a slam dunk! Blue cheese + buffalo sauce is one of my love languages (um, I seem to have so many). Today we are subbing chickpeas for chicken. Chickpeas are little pearls of protein with less cholesterol than the alternative. You’ll drench them with a spicy piquant sauce and then cool them down with a buttermilk bleu…
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Buttermilk Bleu Cheese Dressing
I CANNOT have enough bleu cheese in my life. I am a member of “The Bluer, the Better” society. My mom would make my dad’s favorite dressing for his birthday every year. It was a creamy, reddish Roquefort, and I remember stealing little nibs of cheese when she wasn’t looking. I absolutely loved it. Even her telling me the “blue” was actually mold did not temper my passion. To this day I remain an ardent devotee. * I mean, who doesn’t need a little Penicillium in their life? I like this recipe because it is less oily than so many other creamy bleu cheese dressings. Substituting sour cream and buttermilk…
eat. drink. bemerry. repeat.
