Recipe Box

Dollops & Toppers, Snacks The Mom Pop Dollops & Toppers, Snacks The Mom Pop

Curry Spiced Sweet Potato Hummus

If age is any indicator, hummus has been popular since at least the 13th century, where it was listed in an Egyptian cookbook. So as far as it being too exotic to cook, well, that’s really not the case. Hummus is a mix of pureed chickpeas, lemon juice and tahini-- which is just ground up sesame seeds that, fortunately for your brain, are full of zinc. Hummus is a great foundation for experimentation, and here I’ve pumped up the colors and flavors by introducing sweet potatoes topped with pomegranate seeds and mint. There’s an earthy, mellow taste to this creamy hummus that resonates on a deep level, with cumin, curry, and ginger spicing providing just the right level of ahhhhhh….

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Soups & Broths The Mom Pop Soups & Broths The Mom Pop

Greek Cucumber Yogurt Soup 

If this immediately brings to mind Greek tzatziki sauce, well, that’s what it was designed to do. I love tzatziki—it’s so cool and refreshing—and I figured if it was good enough for a sauce, it would work great as a chilled soup. And so it goes. Normally with tzatziki you have to grate those hydrating cucumbers. With this recipe, everything goes in the blender—and boom!—you have soup. The only thing you have to do is put it in the fridge to cool. It’s absolutely luscious on a hot day. 

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Salads The Mom Pop Salads The Mom Pop

Watercress, Purple Cabbage, and Edamame Salad with Toasted Sesame Seeds

Cooking sometimes defies math—or, as we’re fond of saying around my house, the whole of a dish is often greater than the sum of the parts. Edamame, watercress, cabbage: in themselves, they’re a tad less than exciting. Yet when you combine them and add zinc-filled sesame seeds and a cilantro-lime vinaigrette, suddenly you have a salad that’s clean, green, and lean. I love it with fish (especially salmon), but it also works well on its own, notably on those days when your body and mind are yearning for culinary refreshment. This would be a great accompaniment to Wild Salmon Kebabs with Asian Pesto.

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Beverages The Mom Pop Beverages The Mom Pop

Triple Citrus Cooler

When I want to go from “wow” to “YOWZA!” with a drink, I boil it down into a syrup. This one’s made with grapefruit, lemon, and orange. And sometimes inspiration will strike, and I will add fresh herbs, in this case thyme. Then I boil, watch, wait, and strain. Surprise–I have a syrup of epic proportions that is bracingly refreshing.

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Beverages The Mom Pop Beverages The Mom Pop

Chamomile Lemonade with Green Apple

Whether it’s kids, traffic, work, marriage, or any combination thereof, stress is an ever-present factor in most people’s lives. I’ve long turned to chamomile’s relaxing properties to pull some of that stress out of my system. A lot of folks like chamomile as a hot tea, but that’s not exactly a summertime go-to, thus the inspiration for this lemonade that combines chamomile tea, green apples, lemon juice, and a hint of maple syrup.

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Beverages The Mom Pop Beverages The Mom Pop

Green Tea Cooler with Ginger, Papaya, and Lime

When it comes to improving your well-being, green tea is a slam dunk. It’s a phenomenal immune booster and can protect against tumor growth. But when it comes to taste, lets just say it needs a good point guard to help it set up the alley-oop. In this recipe, that would be papaya, which Columbus called “the fruit of the angels.” It’s a popular food in Nicoya, Costa Rica, one of the ‘blue zones’ renowned for longevity. Papaya’s sweetness balances the natural bitterness of straight green tea. The two dance nicely together in the lab as well; one study suggests that the combination of green tea and papaya may cut the risk of prostate cancer. I have to admit, I get a kick out of it when I choose ingredients based on taste and later find out that they’re also great for you.

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Salads The Mom Pop Salads The Mom Pop

Asian Rice Salad with Edamame

For ages, buying rice in America was like walking into an ice cream store and finding they had only two flavors. The vanilla of the rice world is bleached white rice, which has had its nutrients strip-mined away. Its chocolate counterpart is taste-less short-grain brown rice, which gave rise to the phrase “hippie gruel.” Fortunately, many different types of rice are now available. Basmati, jasmine, sushi rice . . .  Forbidden Rice (Purple Rice), is a terrific choice for rice salads because of its nutty taste and firm texture

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Main Dishes The Mom Pop Main Dishes The Mom Pop

Baked Chicken with Minted Chimichurri

Chicken isn’t given its due as a brain food, and that’s an omission worth correcting. It’s absolutely loaded with tryptophan, which can boost mood and make sleep come easier. It’s also high in vitamin B3 (aka niacin), which the Chicago Health and Aging Project, in a study of more than 3,700 individuals, found may slow cognitive decline. Here we take chicken thighs and jazz ’em up with a tantalizing mint chimichurri: with its South American roots, it’s one of my go-to sauces for chicken.

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Salads The Mom Pop Salads The Mom Pop

Mint and Egg Salad

This is nothing like your grandmother’s egg salad. Instead of a heavy mayonnaise dressing, eggs are tossed with vibrant slivered mint leaves and a light dressing of olive oil and lemon. What makes this salad unforgettable is Paula grates the eggs, so they are ethereally light. (As her longtime editor Fran McCullough notes, grating also makes traditional egg salad velvety smooth.) Paula offered this recipe as an accompaniment to köfte, Turkish grilled meat skewers. But it’s so good, it’s been doubled here to be enjoyed as a stand-alone or with a green salad as a light meal.

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Dollops & Toppers The Mom Pop Dollops & Toppers The Mom Pop

Cashew Cream

You know that old Sesame Street song that goes, “One of these things is not like the others . . .”? Put a cashew next to butter and margarine and you’ll probably think, “Hey, I know which one of these doesn’t belong.” Think again. By using nut creams—in this case pulverized cashews—I’ve pleased many a client who swears by butter but wants to go dairy free. Not only is the cashew taste fulfilling and delightful, but nuts are far better for you than any store-bought buttery spread made from corn oil.

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Main Dishes The Mom Pop Main Dishes The Mom Pop

Roasted Ginger Salmon

All I can say is get out your camera, cause when you make this dish, you’re going to want to take a picture of it before you serve it. It’s just that pretty, with the peach of the salmon, the ruby red jewels of the pomegranate seeds, the vibrant green of the parsley. The taste is no less sensational, the citrus and herbs playing wonderfully off the salmon’s healthy blend of omega-3 rich fats. This one will energize all your senses.

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Dollops & Toppers The Mom Pop Dollops & Toppers The Mom Pop

Pomegranate Olive Mint Salsa

Painting, like cooking, is all about getting into a zone, which is probably why I like doing both. They’re complementary in another way; I’m visually driven, and when I’m working on a painting—as I was this past summer—I’m drawn to foods that create a color sensation on the plate. Don’t ask me why— maybe there’s something about color that impacts taste—but foods that blend well visually also taste fantastic together. I know that not many people would put pomegranate seeds together with olives and fennel, but you gotta trust me on this one; it’s not only a dance party for the mouth, but your eyes will widen at how good it looks.

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Soups & Broths The Mom Pop Soups & Broths The Mom Pop

Ridiculously Good Split Pea Soup

Working with the youth of America in the kitchen keeps me both in stitches and on my toes. A sassy Jersey girl named Katie Bealer is one of my trusted assistants. Hanging around Katie is like learning a new language, one I think of as Text-o-Talk. She took one taste of this soup and exclaimed,“OMG!” I LOL’d in response. (See, I’m learning.) I was actually thinking of calling this recipe RGSPS in her honor; anyone who comes up with descriptor “ridiculously good” deserves to be honored. In any case, her unbridled enthusiasm for this soup made it a keeper for the book. If you enjoy traditional split pea soup with ham and want that smoky flavor here, just add smoked paprika or ground chipotle chiles. However, it’s the blending of the split peas that drives the taste in this recipe, creating a velvety mouth feel that’s perfect for transporting the flavors of the garlic, carrot, onions, and thyme that round out the soup. As a bonus, especially for those concerned about diabetes, split peas are great for you, being rich in fiber, which fights cholesterol and helps regulate blood sugar levels. As for Katie and me, all I can say is we’re BFFs.

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Salads The Mom Pop Salads The Mom Pop

Bejeweled Forbidden Rice Salad

This is certainly a case for visuals drawing you to the plate. Served with salmon, this rice—an indigo delight—pops like a painting, beckoning you to come closer, closer . . . and that first bite seals the deal. The rice and bell pepper play delightfully against the creaminess of the avocado, while the mint and cilantro roll all around your mouth like pinballs, blasting taste here, there, and everywhere. This salad enchants all the senses—and the rice is a whole grain as well, feeding the mind in more ways than one.

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Soups & Broths The Mom Pop Soups & Broths The Mom Pop

Congee

Congee is an ancient Chinese porridge, dating back more than two thousand years. When Americans think about porridge, oatmeal comes to mind. This broth-based congee is thinner, but it’s stimulating and satisfying. It’s whole grain brown rice base is perfect for jump-starting digestion (some people even eat it for breakfast), and it’s a nice canvas for adding taste-enhancers ranging from scallions to cinnamon.

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