Caramelized Onion and Balsamic Fig Crostini

You would think that as someone who loves having people over for dinner (and a food blogger) that I'd be a pro at appetizers, nibbles, and everything else to keep guests satisfied. But no matter how many times we host, it's always a scramble of what to put out while people are arriving and the main event is still cooking. Bread, really good olive oil, and nuts are the go-to's, and good local cheese if I remembered to buy some. I tend to keep canned beans on hand, so a quick pulse in the food processor with some spices, olive oil, tahini, lemon gives me the ubiquitous hummusy bean dip. 

But with a little extra planning and not a lotto extra time, I knew I could make something that I could be more proud of. Taking a cue from a pizza combo I love—caramelized onions, figs, and goat cheese—I sought out to make an appetizer that could come together with pantry ingredients the afternoon before guests arrived or even a few days before in anticipation of their arrival. 

Caramelized onions are in the same category as roasted garlic. Deceptively simple, uber delicious, and requiring little to no actual cooking. The heat does all of the work for you, and the best thing you can do is nothing. You just wait for magic to happen. 

The secret to caramelized onions is to leave them alone for a lot longer than you want to. They'll start to look and smell amazing about halfway through, but they become exponentially better with time. Jammy, nuanced, and almost spreadable, they're a far cry from their raw counterparts. I love to make a huge batch of them for sandwiches for the week or even just to top on grain bowls in the winter. They add instant complexity and richness to a dish. 

In this rendition, I cook them with woodsy rosemary, add a hint of maple syrup to enhance their sweetness, and serve them atop crostini. Toasted hazelnuts and chewy dried figs that plump up in balsamic vinegar are the finishing touches. The best part about this is that the figs and onions can be cooked separately and the hazelnuts toasted a few days before you expect guests and then warmed and assembled right before arrival. The result is a dish that looks (and tastes!) like it took all day, but really almost cooked itself. You're welcome to add goat cheese or blue cheese or substitute a different nut if you can't find hazelnuts. The real stars are the onions and juicy figs.

Caramelized Onion and Balsamic Fig Crostini

¼ cup olive oil
3 large sweet yellow onions, thinly sliced
3 fresh rosemary sprigs
1-2 teaspoons maple syrup, depending on sweetness of onions
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

½ cup dried Mission figs, sliced lengthwise in quarters and tough stems removed
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
3 tablespoons water
¼ cup hazelnuts
Crackers or bread of choice, toasted, for serving

Heat oil over medium heat until hot. Add onions and rosemary and stir to coat. Reduce heat to medium low and allow to cook, undisturbed, for 15 minutes. Stir again, and then allow to cook undisturbed for 15 more minutes. Repeat for 75 minutes or until onions are meltingly tender and a rich brown color. If using maple syrup, pour in after 30 minutes of cooking; it will also enhance the caramelization process. If onions start to stick while cooking, add a splash of water and stir. Discard rosemary sprigs when done and season to taste with a generous pinch of salt and fresh pepper.

Meanwhile, bring balsamic vinegar and water to boil in small pan. Boil gently for 1 minute. Add figs, boil for 30 seconds more and remove pan from heat. Allow dried figs to soak up liquid and soften as they cool.

Toast hazelnuts. Toast in oven or on stove top. In oven, toast at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for 7-10 minutes until golden and skins begin to peel off. On stove top, toast over medium-low heat, tossing often, for 10-12 minutes or until golden and skins begin to peel off. Remove from heat and transfer hazelnuts to a towel and rub nuts together to remove as much skin as possible. It’s not necessary to remove all, but it will remove a little bit of bitterness. Roughly chop hazelnuts and set aside.

To assemble, place caramelized onions atop crostini. Place a soaked fig piece on top (trimming if necessary to fit), and sprinkle with hazelnuts. Serve! Onions, figs, and hazelnuts can all be prepared 1-2 days ahead of time and assembled together right before serving. Makes about 1 cup caramelized onions and enough to serve about 10-12 people for appetizers.

Winter Toast, 3 Ways

In my fourth and final contribution to Terrain's blog, I talk toast. More specifically, I talk about how it can actually be part of a whole foods diet. (In case you missed the other three posts, you can see them here, here, and here.) We're wired to think of bread and bad, just like we're wired to think of pasta as bad. But, I'm here to show you that one, life's to short to say no to bread—good bread, that is—and two, the health factor of your toast all depends on what you're topping your bread with. 

I'm most definitely a peanut butter and banana fan, and I love a coconut butter and avocado toast, but I also love layering on vegetables for a nutritious kick. I don't need to tell you that there's something so satisfying about biting into a piece of perfectly toasted bread. But if you're someone who eschews toast because of its carb count, etc. I want you to just start to think about how it may not be so bad after all. That sugar spike that comes with eating bread is diminished when it's a nutty whole grain bread and when it's topped with healthy fats and fiber-rich foods. 

For some inspiration on how to do toast in this last month of winter, head over to Terrain's blog to check out the recipes! 

What are some of your favorite ways to do toast?

Roasted Beet and Za'atar Socca

The farmers’ market has been looking a bit sparse these last few weeks, and I’ve found myself buying lots of beets. And carrots. And more beets. I wouldn't I wouldn’t be surprised if I turned into a little beet myself soon.

One of my favorite dishes with the red root veggies is this beet and tahini relish that a local Mediterranean restaurant serves here on their mezze platter. The sweet earthiness of the beets plays so well with the creamy nuttiness of the tahini. It’s supposed to be a dip, but I take my fork to it like the very (un)classy lady I am.

Using that as a jumping off point, combined with my other favorite thing, chickpeas, or more specifically chickpea flour, I thought I’d make a beet socca with tahini and za’atar, an Israeli spice blend with oregano and sesame seeds I fell in love with on a trip to Israel a few years back.

If you haven’t heard of socca. That’s totally cool. But it just may change your life. It’s a chickpea flour and olive oil-based flatbread that comes together in no time and has a distinctly nutty flavor that I find addicting.

To make quick work of this, get your beets roasting first. Then mix your socca batter. Combine your za’atar sauce, cook your socca, and then peel and chop your beets. Maybe make a nice green salad in between some of the oven time.

I made little ones because I happen to have little cast iron pans, but you could make larger ones and you’ll have pretty pizza-like things gracing your table.

To save even more time, but still get a really nice flavor, ditch the socca and use store-bought pita. Toast it, slather on the za’atar mix, top with beets, and drizzle with tahini. It will still be delicious. Promise.

Roasted Beet and Za’atar Socca

Socca
1 cup chickpea flour
1 cup water
2 tablespoons olive oil, plus more for pan
1 ¼ teaspoons salt

1 large beet or 2 medium beets, washed
½ lemon
2 tablespoons za’atar
1 ½ tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus a little extra for the beets
2 tablespoons Greek yogurt, optional (I used 2%)
2 tablespoons tahini, plus more if desired
3 tablespoons pine nuts, toasted
Handful fresh cilantro, chopped
Sea salt, to taste

Roast beets. Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. Drizzle beets with a touch of olive oil. Wrap in foil and place in oven and roast until knife pierces through easily, about 50 minutes. Remove from oven, carefully unwrap, and allow to cool for 5 minutes. Remove peel and chop beets into ½-inch pieces. Toss beets with zest and juice of ½ lemon.
Meanwhile, make socca. Mix chickpea flour with water, olive oil, and salt. Stir to combine and allow to rest 20-30 minutes. Grease bottom and sides of 12-inch cast iron skillet with thin layer of olive oil until well-coated. Preheat pan in 425 degree oven for 5 minutes. Remove pan, and swirl in batter to coat bottom in ¼-inch layer. Return to oven and allow to cook for 12-15 minutes or until beginning to crack on top and springy to touch. Remove from oven, use spatula to lift socca from skillet, and repeat with remaining batter (if using smaller skillet), greasing pan generously with olive oil as necessary to prevent sticking.

Make za’atar sauce. Mix za’atar with yogurt, olive oil, and generous pinch of salt.

Assemble socca. Spread sauce over socca rounds. Sprinkle chopped beets over top, drizzle with tahini, and sprinkle with cilantro and pine nuts. Enjoy! Makes 4 servings.

Creamy Coconut and Red Lentil Soup

I came down with a cold recently, and I was craving soup. As much as I love a fragrant, brothy soup like pho when I get the sniffles, my body wanted something more substantial (i.e. something that wouldn’t leave me hungry in two hours...does pho do that to anyone else but me?). Also when I’m sick, I go from having no appetite at all to suddenly wanting to devour everything in sight. Thank you, robust and raging immune system. I wanted soup, and I needed it fast.

Red lentils to the rescue. They cook in 20 minutes, take minimal effort for my cold-fighting body to breakdown, and they’re full of fiber and protein that keep me satisfied. I also tossed in coconut milk for added oomph, vitamin-rich carrots because I believe veggies of any kind are instant healers, and warming spices for extra comfort. A little apple showed up for a tart-sweet flavor and because we all know that vitamin c is a force when it comes to conquering illness.

I served it with brown rice, but any hearty bread would do. It also freezes well, so make a big batch and save some for later!  

To get the recipe, head over to Anthropologie’s blog. It’s a beautiful soup, but I must say it looks even prettier in their fancy bowls.

Chai Spiced Coconut Pancakes

When I was in high school, one of my favorite things to do with my girlfriends was to go to Panera, order chai, and sit by the fireplace...oh, and gossip. Yeah, we weren't above that. We felt like such cool kids / pseudo adults sipping from our giant mugs like we had nothing better to do. As the temperatures drop, I find myself craving those same cozy flavors and warming spices (and fireplace chats). I also find ways to mix up my usual cold overnight oats with something a little less chilly.

I took chai spices—cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, and cloves—and put them in pancakes, another food that transports me back to when Bisquick pancake mix was our Sunday morning go-to as kids. These pancakes may be a whole lot more wholesome than those Bisquick pancakes, but they are just as comforting. Sweetened with coconut sugar or maple syrup, they have a base of oat flour (I show you how to make homemade), whole wheat flour, and shredded coconut. They are slightly more dense than fluffy buttermilk pancakes or my Lemon Ricotta Pancakes due to the whole wheat flour, but you can lighten them up if you're not a fan of whole wheat flour by subbing more oat flour in its place.

These pancakes are perfect for lazy weekends this winter or perhaps you make a batch and store them in the fridge to enjoy throughout the week as snacks.

Chai Spiced Coconut Pancakes

½ cup rolled oats (or ½ cup + 2 tablespoons oat flour)
⅓ cup shredded, unsweetened coconut
½ cup whole wheat flour (or additional oat flour)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
¾ teaspoons ground cardamom
¾ teaspoons ground ginger
½ teaspoon cloves
⅛ teaspoon salt
1 egg, beaten or flax egg**
1 cup + 2 tablespoons unsweetened nut milk
3 tablespoons coconut sugar or maple syrup
2 tablespoons coconut oil, melted + more for cooking
Maple syrup, for serving
Shredded and flaked coconut, toasted

Make oat flour. Place oats in coffee grinder or mini food processor and process until it resembles flour. Mix oat flour and remaining dry ingredients in small bowl. In a larger bowl, whisk together egg (or flax egg), nut milk, maple syrup, and melted coconut oil. Slowly whisk in dry ingredients until combined.

Preheat flat griddle or cast iron skillet over medium high heat. Add thin layer of coconut oil to coat. Add batter by ¼ cupfuls to griddle and allow to cook 2-4 minutes or until you see batter starting to dry out around edges. Flip and allow to cook for 2-3 minutes more. Remove from pan.

Move to a wire rack and keep warm in a 200 degree oven if not serving immediately. Repeat with remaining batter, greasing pan with coconut oil as necessary. Serve with maple syrup, and toasted coconut. Enjoy! Makes 8-9 pancakes.

**To make flax egg: Stir 3 tablespoons water with 1 tablespoon ground flaxseed and allow to rest for 15 minutes