More plants, you say?

And we are back on YouTube! SO BACK AND I AM SO SCARED

I looked at Eric yesterday and said, “I think I’ve cooked more in this past week than ever, but produced less than…ever?” This is because I am back on YouTube. I love it there, but it requires patience. I think we all know the one thing I do not have.

That being said, I have also been in a *bit* of a two-week funk. Most people bounced back from the fall-and-rise of TikTok two weeks ago, but it hit me harder than I anticipated. I didn’t think it would hit me at all, but all of the sudden I was facing the realization that while I think I own my work…I don’t own nearly as much as I think I do.

So thank you for being here, I do own this email list. But I don’t own you…… let’s not be weird about it.

Now this funk has been a feisty one, but the best way I pull myself out is by sharing the simple, easy things I love. The things I could eat for weeks straight and not get exhausted and/or bored. Lots of vegetables + lots of flavor + low effort. A few wonderful things to keep us going through this winter.

So with that…

The weekly round-up!

Carrot Ginger Hummus Bowl with Sesame Garlic - The star here is the sesame garlic topping. Just bring some sesame seeds, garlic slices and ginger slices to a simmer in a bit of olive oil, strain them and salt them, and you have a crispy-nutty topping that you’ll want to put on everything. Plus the now-infused-oil is used to make a honey ginger dressing. Nothing goes to waste!

Twice-Baked Maple-Miso Japanese Sweet Potatoes - every now and then I throw in a simple, set-it-and-forget-it kind of recipe. And I love this one because it’s just four ingredients. You can make it as a single serving (I love a personal potato), or there are directions on how to increase this for a group. And yes, it can be done with normal sweet potatoes, too. I’m just partial to a purple one.

And my latest YouTube video!

We’re easing back into long-form content with a recipe that I think mandates a video tutorial - Squash and Dill Spaetzle! I teased photos of this on notes a week or so ago, and it is Page 202 in “Justine Cooks."

I hired a team to help me with this video…so I’m very nervous for what you’ll think. But nervous/excited!

You can watch the full video here!

A PDF of the full recipe will be available for paid subscribers below, but in the meantime, I really hope you enjoy the video. So grateful to have you here, and have the best weekend <3