Herbs & Spices

Potatoes get a bad rap as being one big carbo load with little or no nutrition. That’s a shame, because it’s not true of all varieties, especially not purple Peruvian potatoes. Smashing, as the name suggests, uses muscle to get what you need, instead of lots of butter and milk like typical mashed potatoes. A hand mixer will do, but I prefer my mom’s old potato masher from 1953. As you pulverize all of those inner starches, you’ll produce a fluffy texture, a lot of flavor, and, with these potatoes, a gorgeous and unusual color.

Toasting cumin releases its aromatic, flavorful, and incredibly healthy oils. As the seeds heat up, they begin popping like popcorn, which is how you know they’re done.

When I was growing up, coleslaw was pretty one-dimensional. It didn’t matter where you went, German deli, Greek diner, it was all pretty much the same: cold cabbage drowned in mayo with a few slivers of carrot for coloring and maybe a few celery seeds. These days, slaw has gotten an extreme makeover, and there are now more versions to choose from. This concoction is both warm and sweet and serves as a great base for salmon, chicken, tofu, or tempeh. Sautéing the onions, red cabbage, and carrots in a little brown rice vinegar, tamari, and ginger makes it easy to eat and mighty flavorful.

While the concept of sweet-and-sour dishes is generally appealing, the execution often leaves something to be desired. Sweet-and-sour is like a seesaw; if it tilts too far in either direction, you could be thrown off balance, mangling your taste buds in the process. In this recipe I use a very light hand on both sides; the sour is a delicate brown rice vinegar, the sweet a gentle agave nectar. They dance together nicely on the tongue, more like ballet than Irish clogging. For folks who like a crunchy texture or who want to avoid fat, this one’s a winner.

As much as I love to cook, I also really enjoy watching other cooks go through their creative process. Recently I was at a conference at the Commonweal Retreat Center, where I was able to observe one of my favorite cooks, Claire Heart. She brought out this dish, and the first thing I noticed was that it had bok choy. Now that’s a great vegetable, but it tends to be bitter. She completely solved that problem by pairing it with yams to create a dish that tasted like a vegetarian Chinese Thanksgiving. It was a completely unique and delicious pairing. The colors blew me away as well. I went home and decided to play around with her concept, adding a little ginger for zing and digestion and a few more Asian-style flavors. Thank you, Claire!

Sometimes creating recipes is like dating. You have to know when to hold ‘em and when to fold ‘em. I recently broke up with a chopped broccoli dish because we had no chemistry. It just wasn’t happening. I might have been depressed if not for another broccoli suitor that swept me off my feet. This guy—well, as mom likes to say, he cleans up nice. Maybe it’s the company he keeps as well; surrounding himself with fresh basil, red bell peppers, a little lemon … they’re a sprightly crowd, fun to hang with, and healthy, too, full of anti-inflammatories and other anticancer properties.

A staple of Latin cuisine, this black bean soup rocks because it’s a nutritional powerhouse. Black beans are rich in protein and dietary fiber, and recent studies link black bean consumption to reduced rates of pancreatic, breast, and prostate cancers. Cooking the beans with kombu, an easy to find dried Japanese seaweed that breaks down the bean’s sugars, eases gas and bloating while softening the bean’s exterior. As for taste, I guarantee your taste buds will say “more, please!”

I was working at the Chopra Center for Wellbeing when the only living woman Indian saint stopped in. Her entourage laid down some pretty strict rules: No talking to the saint. No approaching the saint. And whatever you do, don’t touch the saint. But after eating her bowl of dahl, this little imp of a holy woman motioned me over and then … proceeded to kiss me on the forehead! The Chopra folks (and I guess the saint as well) like their dahl chunky, and I love it that way too, but it’s just as enjoyable blended and smooth. Blend the dahl a bit if you want something a little easier to swallow or digest. Small amounts of this dahl are wonderful for someone who isn’t particularly hungry, as the cumin is an appetite stimulant.

What’s the first thing you think of when somebody says, “Let’s get Thai food”? Most of my friends have an involuntary response: they start to sweat. Many people think that Thai food is hot, hot, hot. Well, maybe not, not, not. True, some Thai food can set off smoke detectors. But real Thai cooking emphasizes distinctive flavor combinations regardless of the heat. This soup, a takeoff on traditional Thai tom kha gai (a chicken soup), uses coconut milk, which is very soothing to the nerves. The ginger aids digestion, while the lime brightens up the overall flavor. The result is a soup guaranteed to jump-start even the most jaded taste buds.

This rustic flat bread is great served with white bean dip or dunked in red sauce. It’s also wonderful dipped in olive oil. Be sure to serve it warm.

This is an old-fashioned recipe from Sweden, often baked during Christmastime. Although Swedish cuisine may be unfamiliar to most of us outside of Scandinavia, these cookies will probably taste familiar. Cardamom is the predominant spice in masala chai, the warming, aromatic tea sold by street vendors called “chai wallahs” throughout South Asia, and now also sold at Starbucks around the world, packaged as chai latte. But whether it’s Starbucks, Stockholm, or India, these cookies from way up north taste like the holidays to me.

The perfect birthday cupcake, these vanilla beauties can be decorated any way you like. Top them with confetti, decorating sugar, sugared violets, edible flowers . . . the possibilities are endless. My husband says they taste like a vegan Twinkie. I take that as a compliment.

These cinnamon rolls are to die for. I can hardly control myself as I wait for them to cool. In addition to their overwhelming yumminess, they are also incredibly easy to make. I’ve used rapid-rise yeast (also known as quick-rise yeast, fast-rising yeast, instant yeast, and/or bread machine yeast), which eliminates all that hanging around you normally do while waiting for old-fashioned slow-pokey yeast to rise. Make these for a holiday breakfast, or any weekend morning, for an extra somethin’ special.

A pretty, elegant scone, these are equally delicious with or without the glaze.

Spicy chive- and pepper-flecked savory muffins are a wonderful dairy-free option to pair with soup or salad. Sliced in half and loaded with your favorite leftovers, they make a delectable sandwich.

Who would guess that this super-rich and thick chocolate frosting is vegan? Frost over everything, or simply eat it with a spoon, like I do.

Here’s a fabulous cupcake to have on hand for the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays. For extra zing, add 1 tablespoon fresh peeled and minced ginger to the batter (in addition to the ground ginger). I use low-glycemic yacon syrup in place of molasses in this recipe. Top with Cream Cheese Frosting (page 95).

Fragrant and brimming with health-boosting nutrients, these little cakes are a scrumptious alternative to pumpkin pie at Thanksgiving dinner. Top with Whipped Cream Frosting (page 93).