Crispy Chocolate Cake with Hazelnut and Sour Cream by Alison Roman

Let’s talk about a chocolate cloud. No, I’m not referencing Willy Wonka or Candlyand, the classic board game of my childhood. I’m talking about the essence of a cloud made of rich, decadent dark chocolate with hints of hazelnut and almond. 

Just keeping it real, Alison’s crispy chocolate cake is a gluten-free chocolate cloud. A cloud that can interrupt my sunny skies any day. 

I don’t feel like walking through every step of the cake-making process today. But I do want to write a little something about the people I shared this chocolate cake with, which I’ll intersperse with pictures of the cake baking process, because I have them, so why not. 

My coworkers, the team of ten at the Center for Vocation and Career, are a delightfully diverse and committed and thoughtful group of people invested in the success of our students, now and beyond college. They care about the whole student, which includes the intersection of career goals, personal passions, faith, family, and culture. They spend their time actively listening to the needs of students and responding with compassion and gentle wisdom. They go above and beyond to champion others. They’ve made it their jobs! 

I am blessed to work with these people and blessed to share my chocolate cloud with them too. On a day when students were off campus, we had a team potluck for lunch. The theme? Charcuterie board. My contribution? This cake. And I’m thankful to say it was swiftly consumed in full that afternoon. 

As I looked around the room at these comrades eating cheese and meats, munching on olives, forking a bite of chocolate cake, I felt nothing but gratitude. Gratitude to work alongside them, to learn from them, and to contribute as well. I’ve said it before, there’s something particularly special about contributing to the nourishment, the physical sustaining, of people you care about. I’ve learned not to underestimate the power of sharing a homemade chocolate cake, especially because of this project.

163 recipes cooked, 62 to go.

Garlicky Broccoli and Greens with Hazelnut and Coriander by Alison Roman

Here we have another simple-to-make side that goes well with pretty much any main dish you can think of. Its ingredients are few and flexible, and it’s bursting with flavor and texture. This recipe comes from nothing fancy. 

The tenets of this dish are the greens - broccoli and kale, olive oil, garlic, lemon, a crunchy nut, and chopped coriander seed. Alison tells you that both grilling and roasting the greens are viable options. I’m confident that grilling would be delightful - I’d love to have taste some char marks on the broccoli stems. But alas, I don’t own a grill. Oven roasting it is. 

The torn kale and heads of broccoli are quartered - stem included! - tossed with oil, and roasted until slightly crispy. The inclusion of the stem was a relatively new choice for me - I usually get rid of it because it can be tough to chew and lacks flavor. Because of this dish, I’m no longer afraid of serving broccoli stems. When quartered, roasted and seasoned, they are a filling, tender bite of green that doesn’t overwhelm you with the fact that it’s a hunk of broccoli stem. Cutting them into quarters is really the right call here. 

Quartered broccoli & kale before they get crispy in the oven

While the greens are roasting, the garlic, hazelnuts, olive oil and coriander seeds get mixed together to prepare a seasoning bath into which the greens will eventually dive and relax. A few comments on the titular ingredients, hazelnuts and coriander seeds. 

I just don’t like hazelnuts. Their taste is revolting to me. I think I’ve always disliked them, but I didn’t consciously realize it until last year. I was travelling for work and had an hour to get lunch in the airport before my flight. Since the company was paying, I chose a sit-down restaurant. I ordered a beet and arugula salad with goat cheese and hazelnuts. After the first few bites, I noticed my mouth was scowling. Something in this salad tasted funky. I tried each ingredient separately to deduce the issue, and lo and behold, the hazelnuts were infecting the whole dish. It’s difficult to describe exactly what’s so off-putting to me. The only word that comes to mind is musty? Now that I know about my hazelnut aversion, I understand why I thought Nutella was gross as a kid. 

Anywho, if you too think hazelnuts taste musty, then I say swap those puppies for another nut like chopped almonds or pistachios, and call it a good day. 

If you’ve never purchased coriander seeds (found often at Whole Foods or in the bulk spice section of a place like Sprouts), now is the time. The crunchy texture of these tiny chopped seeds are the X factor in this dish, making it not your ordinary vegetable side. Coriander seeds don’t have to be one of those spices that you bought for one particular recipe and then languish on your shelf for the next 5 years, untouched. Once I discovered coriander seeds a few years ago, I’ve found myself reaching for them frequently. You just have to try them to fall in love. 

Alison tells us one more lovely thing about this side dish: it is still delicious when served at room temp. If you’re like me and you find it stressful to time your cooking so that all parts of your meal are simultaneously piping hot, then put your mind at ease, and make this dish first. It can sit on the table well ahead of mealtime, watching you prep its fellow delicious partners. 

3 recipes cooked, 222 recipes to go.