Vinegar-Roasted Beets with Spring Onions by Alison Roman

The summer after I graduated college, I lived in a friend’s basement for a month while trying to find my own place. Kate and her husband and two children, had a local farmer’s produce subscription box that she picked up at the local farmer’s market every other Saturday morning. That box was our entertainment all week long. Kate made it an activity to find creative ways to use up all of the vegetables in the box before they went bad. Every night I came from work and she’d be chopping up a rutabaga or slicing a yellow squash for the third night that week, and we’d talk about her strategy for that night’s veggie variation. One of the most common vegetables included were beets. I knew practically nothing about them at the start, but over that  month, I helped chop, peel, roast, boil, and slice more beets than I thought possible. And I fell in love with them.

Alison has two beet recipes and both are great. The first is her Beets with Buttermilk and Walnuts, which my friends still talk about as “life-changing.” The second are her vinegar-roasted beets which I think I like even more.

The first step is to roast the beets whole and unpeeled in tin foil packets, doused in white distilled vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper. Once a fork can easily pierce them, they’re ready to cool. After letting them lose their too-hot-to-handle status, it’s safe to grab a paper towel and shrug the outer skin off. The skin on my beets clung a little more tightly, so I used a paring knife to shave off the stubborn parts.

Since these beets were planned as a side dish to a larger meal that required lots of oven time, I chose to roast these first and let them cool completely while I prepared the other dishes. Alison doesn’t mention anything about serving the beets cold, but I can tell you that it worked wonderfully.

Closer to dinner time, I seared the scallions in my cast iron and mixed the yogurt and lime juice at the bottom of my serving bowl. I placed the quartered beats onto the yogurt and scattered the scallions and lots of dill over everything.

The beets were a hit! They were the only dish to be finished completely on the table. I served them with Alison’s Sour Cream Flatbreads, and most people chose to dip their breads into the yogurt mixture at the bottom of the beet bowl after the beets were all served. I enjoyed it so much that I decided to buy more beets for this coming week to repeat the dish. And that’s saying something.

217 recipes cooked, 8 to go.

Coconut-Braised Chicken with Chickpeas and Lime by Alison Roman

I’ll admit I came to this recipe with a bit of healthy skepticism. An Indian-Korean fusion dish sounded nice in theory, but could gochujang and cumin really go well together? Thank goodness it’s in Alison we trust (at least when it comes to cooking). I didn’t have to taste this dish to know my doubts were laid to rest. I simply had to smell it… 

This recipe calls for a mix of bone-in, skin-on chicken parts. Instead of trying to cut up a whole chicken myself this time, I bought 1.7 pounds each of legs and breasts. Which turned out to be a good call. With so much rich coconut milk, a darker meat, like thighs, would have felt too heavy. The whiter meat soaked in the fatty coconut and strong spices nicely. But I’m getting ahead of myself… 

The first twenty minutes were spent browning the chicken in my dutch oven, trying to render as much fat as possible. Sadly, much of the skin stuck to my pot, ripping off the skin as I took it out. I kept the heat at medium, like Alison says, and used canola oil too. Perhaps it’s my pot? Maybe the heat was still too high? 

With the chicken browned and the fat rendered, the chicken lies in waiting on a plate while garlic and onion spend time softening in the fat. Then joins the spice brigade: gochujang (Korean chili paste -- find this at Whole Foods or H-Mart), ginger (freshly grated), turmeric (I used the ground kind), cumin, and red pepper flakes. This is one powerful combination, and each spice is essential to the end result, adding dynamic heat, floral and earthy tones, and acidic tang (gochujang is fermented). The spices took no time at all to become fragrant. I added two cans of coconut milk next, along with chicken broth. I’ve recently taken after my pal Margaret and stopped buying cartons of chicken broth. Instead, I bought a Costco-sized jar of Better Than Bouillion and add one teaspoon at a time to boiling water before I start any recipe that requires chicken broth. It takes no time at all to make my own, plus it’s more fridge-space efficient and environmentally friendly! 

I submerged the chicken in the liquid, and sprinkled in a drained can of chickpeas. Now for the fun part: put on the lid and walk away. Forty-five minutes later, the smells of spice and coconut are frankly irresistible. But the stew needs more time. I removed the lid and let everything simmer for another half hour. You’ll know it’s ready when the chicken meat can practically fall off the bone with the smallest nudge. 

Toppings can make or break a dish. Good thing Alison’s suggestions make this dish a hundred times better: namely lime juice (use it liberally), fresh cilantro (sprinkle it freely), and thinly sliced red onions (enjoy). These three elements elevated the dish from being too heavily dominated by the coconut milk and chicken fat. I made the effort to chop up more for leftovers too – they’re that essential. For the record, Alison suggests fish sauce and peanuts as well, but I felt they were unnecessary. 

This dish is hands-down in my top three Alison-chicken dishes. It requires moderate effort and skill for such flavorful and filling results. Plus, I’m a huge fan of Indian and Korean flavors, so it’s no surprise that this dish won me over. The other top two are her Slow-Roasted Oregano Chicken with Buttered Tomatoes (no surprise there), and Crispy Chicken Legs with Rosemary, Tiny Potatoes, and Sour Cream. I also love when a dish makes enough for leftovers. Quick tip: before storing the rest in a container, try separating all of the chicken from the bones. It takes about ten minutes, but it makes eating leftovers effortless, and less messy. You’ll thank yourself later. 

140 recipes cooked, 85 to go.

Grilled Shrimp with Crushed Fresh Tomatoes and Lots of Lime by Alison Roman

Shrimp just doesn’t do it for me. That’s what I decided after making this recipe. Don’t get me wrong - the flavors were awesome, and the whole thing was very simple to make. If you like shrimp, you’ll love this dish. But no matter the flavors, shrimp’s chewy texture and less than appealing shape will always be roadblocks for me. I just had to put that out there. 

new Chicago kitchen!

But let’s move on to the recipe itself. Because again, shrimp lovers should definitely make this one. 

It starts with the crushing of a large tomato in your hands. Enjoy it -- this may be the only truly playful moment of your day. Let your hands squeeze every last bit of tomato pulp until no large chunks are left. Then mix in four grated garlic cloves, salt, and pepper. 

Next, shrimp in their shells (my first time buying shelled shrimp!) spend time in a large skillet. Only a few minutes, though. Shrimp cooks quickly! The recipe gives options for a grill and a skillet, but I am sadly grill-less once more. Piping hot and opaque, the cooked shrimp get tossed with crushed tomatoes, and doused with lime juice. And don’t forget, 2 tablespoons of butter get added, too. The steam from the shrimp melt the butter, adding a necessary richness to offset the thinness of the tomato juices. 

I served the shrimp over rice with roasted carrots. It was a lovely meal, but with Jordan and I not loving shrimp, we didn’t finish it, and sadly, chose not to save the leftovers. I hate few things more than wasting food. And I also know myself. I know that that leftover shrimp will never get eaten. So we let it go right away. 

Ultimately, butter, tomato, garlic, and lime juice are good friends. Let them dress your shrimp, your squid, your fish, your tortilla chips. Trust in their friendship, no matter what you pair them with. 

136 recipes cooked, 94 to go.

Double-Crusted Peach Pie with Honey, Ginger, and Lime by Alison Roman

It’s been a minute! I just took a full two weeks off of this project to relax, reconnect with my husband, and spend time in nature. We spent a few days up in Northern Minnesota in the Boundary Waters, which is a collection of over 1,000 lakes and many islands between the Minnesota and Canadian borders. To get to our campsite, it took eight miles of canoeing and six different portage sites where we had to move all our gear, including the canoes, from one side of an island to another. It was hard work, but very rewarding. 

We spent our second week of vacation mostly in Door County, WI. We biked, hiked, sailed, and ate some surprisingly fantastic meals. I even discovered what Jordan calls “my spirit restaurant.” A magical, thoughtful, incredibly delicious place called Trixie’s. It was so good that we ate there on two different nights. I plan to write about it at some point because it really was that special. 

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Alright, now back to our regularly scheduled programming. Because what you’re really here for is pie. A peach pie. A double-crusted peach pie. A double-crusted peach pie with honey, ginger, and lime. A pie for the summer, for standing apart from other regular fruit pies, for making a statement. 

As per usual, I made both pie crust discs from King Arthur’s Gluten-Free Pie Crust recipe. It’s become a reliable staple for me as I venture further on this gluten-less journey, and I recommend it to all others who find themselves on the same gluten-less road. Once I prepared the dough and let it chill for about two hours, I followed Alison’s suggestion to roll both discs out to roughly 14-inch rounds and then stuck both of them back in the fridge to cool. It was a really hot day, so the butter seemed glad to spend maximum time in the cold. 

Meanwhile, I prepared the filling, which consists of 4 lbs. of ripe peaches, sugar, honey, lime zest and juice, cornstarch, and a good bit of freshly grated ginger. Unlike some of Alison’s other fruit desserts, I actually followed the suggested amount of peaches. In the past, I’ve found that for whatever reason, her quantities of fruit far surpass the capacity of my baking dishes. So I’ve ended up with anywhere from 1-2 lbs. of extra sliced fruit. Not the worst problem to have, but not ideal either. But this time around, I had a feeling that the pie could handle a piled-high mound of slices. And so it could. 

The rest of the process was rather straightforward as far as pie construction goes. One crust on the bottom, filling added, another crust on top with three slices into the dough to allow steam to escape. The whole thing is covered in egg wash and a third cup of Demerara sugar. The tough part is the time! The pie spends roughly an hour and forty-five minutes in the oven, and then it needs three hours to cool! Talk about an opportunity for character development. The pie most certainly tested my patience. 

But boy, the reward was worth it. As I said in the beginning, this is no ordinary fruit pie. The lime zest and ginger, though simple, add complexity and elevate the peaches to a tangy, snappy sweetness. The ginger mellowed out a bit by day two of leftover pie, but it was still the strongest flavor. If you don’t love ginger, don’t cut it out completely, just cut it in half, or reduce it by a third. In my opinion, ginger is the key to a non-boring peach pie. And you don’t want to be boring, right? 

125 recipes cooked, 100 to go!!!!!

Spicy Red Cabbage with Sweet Onion and Lime by Alison Roman

I’ll say it right out. I was disappointed with this one. Not with the recipe, per se, but with the stubborn flavor of raw red cabbage. I had hoped that Alison’s additions of lime juice, sweet onion, honey, jalapeño, red pepper flakes, and sumac would bring this cruciferous vegetable to life. The ingredients certainly helped some, but I didn’t get the same soft, thoroughly tangy effect of a good ole coleslaw that I wanted. Partially, I think it’s because red cabbage is more… difficult than green cabbage. It’s more rigid in structure and prominent in cabbage-y flavor. And unlike most coleslaws, this recipe didn’t call for anything creamy like mayonnaise to soften things up.

Alison says she hates the word ‘coleslaw’ and is adamant that this is a SALAD recipe. So you see where the tension lies. Alison delivered on a salad with a strong cabbage flavor and little resemblance to a slaw. It’s just that that’s not what I was craving. If I make this again, I’ll try it with green cabbage, and add a 1/4th cup of mayonnaise. Sorry, Alison. 

66 recipes cooked, 159 to go.