Clean, Healthy and Creative Pantry Staples to Make at Home
When you come home late after work, it can be tough to make meals that are as healthy and nutritious as they are tasty. That's why having the perfect condiments on hand can make all the difference when you're whipping up something fast. To the rescue, we have Katzie Guy-Hamilton, author of "Clean Enough" and former director of Food and Beverage at Equinox. Guy-Hamilton led our residents through a cooking demo for our latest Related Speaker Series to show how to make four delicious pantry staples you can keep in your home to enliven your meals, serve as an appetizer or just broaden your repertoire.
Below, she shares the four recipes with us.
ROSE HARISSA
This Tunisian condiment is spicy and elegant, like my highest self.
Ingredients
1 each medium Red Bell Pepper, roasted
½ cup Red Onion
2 each Garlic Cloves
2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
½ teaspoon Caraway Seed
½ teaspoon Cumin
½ tsp Coriander, ground
½ teaspoon Turmeric
2 each Red Fresno Chilis, seeded
1 ½ Tablespoons Lemon Juice
¼ teaspoon Himalayan Pink Salt
½ teaspoon Black Pepper
1 Tablespoon Rose Petals
Directions
1) Under a broiler, on a gas stove or on a grill, char black pepper until completely blackened.
2) Place in a bowl with a cover to steam.
3) Meanwhile finely chop red onion, garlic and seeded chilies.
4) Place in a skillet with olive oil on medium high heat and sauté until brown, almost blackened.
5) Meanwhile in a skillet warm turmeric, cumin, caraway and coriander.
6) Place blackened chilies with spices, bell pepper, salt, pepper and lemon juice in a Vitamix blender.
7) Blend until completely smooth.
8) Add rose petals and pulse to break down but not puree completely.
9) Store in the fridge until ready for use.
BASIL MINT PESTO
(Makes 1 Cup)
Play around with your fresh herbs, have fun, and do not take this condiment too seriously. My happiest moments with pesto involve a glass of red, a cutting board and a great conversation while I chop away at my pile of herbs, nuts and spices before dousing it all with olive oil and calling it a day.
The beauty of pesto and this pesto in particular is the freedom to swap out the herbs and nuts. Walnuts work beautifully in pesto along with toasted hazelnuts. I have been known to add a handful of super spicy baby arugula to my herb mix or cilantro. Pesto traditionally is made without a blender or food processor and rather a mortar and pestle. I have made pesto on a cutting board by chopping away at a pile of herbs and nuts, but I've also used a mortar and pestle, a Vitamix or a food processor. Use whatever feels best to you.
Ingredients
½ teaspoon Lemon Zest
1 Tablespoon Lemon Juice
1 each Garlic Clove
1 cup (packed) Basil Leaves
½ cup (packed) Parsley Leaves
½ cup (packed) Mint Leaves
1/3 cup Olive Oil
1 teaspoon Himalayan Pink Salt
½ teaspoon Black Pepper
¼ cup Pine Nuts (toasted or raw depending on your preference)
Directions
1) Pile the herbs on your cutting board with the clove of garlic and begin chopping.
2) At this point, you can rough chop the herbs down and transfer to a mortar and pestle with the nuts and lemon zest, salt and pepper, and begin to mash with the oil. Season with the lemon juice at the end.
3) Alternatively, you can transfer the mixture to a food processor to pulse with the lemon juice, streaming in the oil.
4) Alternatively, you can make a finer puree by using a Vitamix blender and streaming in the olive oil.
5) Finally, you can go without a machine and chop the herbs down with the garlic, nuts and lemon zest until very fine with the salt and pepper.
6) Transfer to a bowl and stir in the lemon juice and olive oil.
CUCUMBER TZAZIKI
What’s better than a cucumber yogurt sauce? A cucumber yogurt sauce made with labne instead of regular greek or plain yogurt. The grated cucumber and rosewater dance together with this ultra strained yogurt to make the best condiment for soups, salads, toasts, bowls, hors devours and life. Persian cucumbers have the best crunch texture, but in a pinch you can use an English cucumber.
Labne
Ingredients
1 each 16 ounce container Low Fat or Full Fat Plain Greek Yogurt
Cheesecloth or Cold Brew/Almond Milk Strainer Bag
Directions
1) Place yogurt in cheesecloth or cold brew bag.
2) Hang over a drain bowl and place in the fridge for 12 hours.
3) The longer you let the yogurt strain, the thicker it becomes.
4) For ultra strained yogurt, hang for 16-20 hours.
Tzaziki Sauce
Ingredients
2 Tablespoons (Heaping) Grated Persian Cucumber
½ cup Labne
1 teaspoon Lemon Juice
½ teaspoon Wild Rosewater
¼ teaspoon Grated Garlic
¼ teaspoon Lemon Zest
2 teaspoons Mint, chopped fine
Optional
Chopped Pistachios
Rose petals
Directions
1) Fold ingredients together and use immediately.
2) For a dip sprinkle chopped pistachios and or rose petals on top before serving.
Katzie Guy-Hamilton
ROMESCO
This dip, spread, moment is everything. I have had an up-and-down relationship with roasted red peppers. For the most part, I do not find them delicious – unless they are handled with love and care and appropriately used. Please do not ever fill a sandwich with roasted red peppers for me. Please do blitz them with almonds and perfect sourdough so that I have a crudité dip, schmear for my toast and eggs, and all around perfect condiment for years to come.
Ingredients
1/2 each (2/3 cup) Large Red Bell Pepper, Roasted
2 teaspoons Tomato Paste
3 Tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
2 Tablespoons Raw Almonds
1 cup Whole Wheat Miche Sourdough
¼ teaspoon Black Pepper
½ each Garlic Clove
1/8 teaspoon Red Pepper Flake
½ teaspoon Himalayan Pink Salt
¼ teaspoon Paprika
2 Tablespoons Red Wine Vinegar
Directions
1) Place bell pepper whole under the broiler or on top of a gas stove or grill.
2) Char on all sides for about 10 minutes.
3) Place in a bowl with a lid or plastic wrap to steam.
4) Remove charred skin, seeds and stem of bell pepper.
5) Measure 2/3 cup (approximately ½ of the pepper) and save the remaining pepper for a later use.
6) While the pepper is roasting, place torn sourdough and almonds in a 350 degree oven.
7) Toast for 10 minutes until golden.
8) Allow bread and almonds to cool.
9) Place cooled almonds, sourdough, bell pepper, garlic, red pepper flake, salt, pepper and red wine vinegar in a Vitamix blender.
10) Blend on high, scraping down. Add olive oil and blend to combine.
11) Serve immediately.
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