Good energy, great vegetables

Fall has been treating us well this year

Hello from (yet another) cozy upstate location! My fiancé works at a pretty large company, and each year they do a week called “Wellness Week” where they give their employees some extra PTO to take off (which I think is so effective and so kind). Luckily for Eric, my idea of wellness involves taking our French Bulldog on 0.6 mile hikes and then over-ordering at Cafe Mutton’s Friday night dinners. So here we are!

Now I know, I know, I did go dark on the newsletter for a few weeks, and that’s because I spent three weeks of October in another upstate location being VERY BUSY and VERY SECRETIVE. These are my two least favorite things, I would much rather be not busy at all, and very loud.

But wow, am I happy to be back on the recipe developing and newsletter side! I always forget this, but creativity is an expendable resource, and if we overextend ourselves in one creative capacity, it starts to feel like we will never be creative in another way ever again. I felt that way deeply, until I got home in late October, got some rest, and got my hands on some Sprouting Cauliflower.

So with that, the weekly round-up!

We’ve had a lot of vegetables this week, and that’s because fall veg has been SPEAKING to me. Here’s what went up on the blog this week:

Sprouting Cauliflower with Anchovy Brown Butter & Lemon - toasty, nutty flavors with a bright hit of acid, and you can make it with any brassicas you have around!

Caramelized Leek Pasta - my first Snacks After Dark episode: a creamy, caramelized leek pasta with blanched leek greens swirled right in. It’s easy, gorgeous, and delicious.

Honey Sesame Kabocha Squash & Cabbage - very loosely inspired by the bean salad at Pecking House, this sticky squash with fall-apart, roasted hunks of cabbage is salty-sweet, deeply cozy, and still packed with color and nutrition.

And a few honorable mentions from October, when I was busy being secretive

These are some recipes that went live when I was newsletter-less, but are so insanely good that they are worth a mention!

Skyr Butter - it’s literally just half butter, half skyr (skyr is a greek yogurt twin!), but it tastes like cream cheese and butter had a baby and it melted into your toast. Plus, it stays spreadable FOREVER. A win-win-win.

Honeynut Squash Congee with Poached Fish - a fast-tracked congee for when you have leftover rice to use! The honeynut makes this vibrant and slightly smokey-sweet, while the fish poaches on top to make it a full (but easy) weeknight meal.

And that’s it for this week!

I might come back next week with a round-up of all the cute places I’ve found on my upstate trips, but right now it feels unfair to choose! So I’ll just leave you to your weekend and hope a few of these recipes make your grocery list. And as always, I’m so grateful for everyone who subscribes to this newsletter and cares about my recipes. Your support of my work means more than you know!

Until next week, xoxo

Secret_Snacks