Cilantro Cumin Sauce

The original inspiration for this recipe was created by Ilene Rosen (Check out her book Saladish) and I stumbled across it via this New York Times Cooking recipe adapted by Melissa Clark. In my version below, I’m adding roasted sesame oil, skipping the MSG and otherwise unrefining it—let’s make a small batch and skip the hassle of the food processor!

This combination is mouthwatering and I’m excited to eat this up. Try it over rice noodles and thinly sliced kale with tofu, or over your grilled or roasted protein or veggies, as a salad dressing, or as a dip for crackers, crusty bread, naan or other flatbread. So many possibilities!

INGREDIENTS

1/4 toasted sesame oil (or a blend of extra virgin olive oil and toasted sesame oil)

2 heaping teaspoons of cumin seeds (or 1 1/2 tsp ground cumin)

1 cup fresh cilantro, finely chopped

2 tbs rice vinegar

1 tsp Dijon mustard or ground mustard seed

1 pinch chile, optional (could be cayenne, or of course, in my case, chiltepin)

1 tsp miso paste (optional, but adds good flavor!)

salt and pepper, to taste

sweetener, to taste (we have so much citrus, I’m using the juice of 1/2 a tangerine. You could also go with a little bit of honey or sugar.)

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Heat oil and cumin seeds in a small pan over medium-low heat for 2 to 3 minutes.

2. Let oil cool, then mix in the cilantro, vinegar, mustard, miso and chile

3. Add in the salt, pepper and sweetener to taste

Dig in or serve it up!

Guava Reduction Sauce

Here’s an overview of some of the benefits of consuming guava. Note that you can make tea with the leaves and that it grows very well in our region!

In pre-pandemic days, the long guayaba (guava) season in San Diego gave my dearest Sinaloa relatives ample time to visit and stock up on guayabas to take home and cook up batches and batches of guayabate (a type of guava jam or paste). My dad especially loved this sweet treat. Seeing so many of my very loved aging relatives struggle with diabetes, I felt very conflicted about being the abundant source of such a sugar-loaded treat. I loved the excuse to have them visit, but hesitated as I couldn’t help but think about the after-effects of the visit. While guayabate certainly has its place in my home and heart, I have been looking for other ways to consume this delicious fruit.

On its own, guava fruit (and leaves!) are packed with healthy vitamins, minerals and medicinal properties. After you’ve had your fill of this fresh fruit, you can always cook with it! Here’s a recipe that uses far less sugar, seems quite versatile and is much quicker to prepare. (Guayabate in its paste form takes hours to cook down, then days to dehydrate via our oven in very low heat.) You can use this reduction sauce over your favorite protein (be it tofu, tempeh, salmon, poultry or lamb) or spread it over your next grilled cheese sandwich!

INGREDIENTS

3 to 5 ripe guavas (to yield about 1 cup guava puree)

1/3 cup tangerine juice (can sub with orange juice or water and 1/8 cup honey or sugar if need be)

1 splash of lemon or lime juice (totally optional!)

1 tbs honey or sugar (also optional, but even with the honey, this is a pretty low-sugar recipe compared to other recipes out there! You can always increase sweetener amount to your liking.)

a splash of red wine vinegar (also completely optional!)

a sprinkle of salt

INSTRUCTIONS

Chop guava into pieces and transfer into a small pot along with the tangerine juice and honey.

Bring to a boil over medium heat, then reduce to a simmer for 5 minutes or so. You want the guava to cook down to a mush, but not get so dry that you can’t push through a strainer to remove the seeds later.

Remove from heat, add the splash of lemon or lime and then pour through a metal strainer over a cup or bowl. Use a spoon to stir and push the puree through while seeds remain in the strainer. Discard seeds.

Stir in the sprinkle of salt and taste. Here’s where you can the splash of red wine vinegar and extra honey if need be. If you want the sauce to further thicken, transfer back into the pot and simmer some more until you get your desired consistency.

Slather it over your protein of choice (tofu, tempeh, salmon, poultry, lamb…) or transfer it to a small jar and save it for your next grilled cheese sandwich. It will keep in the fridge for the better part of a week.

Vegan Cashew Cheese

The fact that this recipe exists in my repertoire is due, in part, to our beloved Kooki and the secrets he’s gathered along his life journey and shared with us—one of which is just what makes this vegan cashew “cheese” so superior to other vegan cheese substitutes. He might tell you it’s the ground mustard seed. I, being (not strictly vegan, but still) generally anti-creaminess in many of my foods (read: extremely anti-mayonnaise/ equally anti-sour cream) love this stuff and would credit the beautiful balance between the tofu, cashew and nutritional yeast. Even if you do love the above-mentioned creamy foods, set your love for those aside and give this creamy food a try. I hesitate to call this ‘cheese’ because it really isn’t. It’s in a delicious category of its own and won’t leave you feeling heavy the way other cheeses and wannabee cheeses could. Smother some pasta and veggies with it (which is what I’m thinking to do with my leftover batch and this week’s broccoli and spinach) or use it on vegan pizza or in a vegan lasagna. It’s a project, so get ready, but when I made it last night, it managed to transform my grumpy six-year-old’s complaints that he doesn’t like cauliflower and will NEVER eat it to, and I quote(!), “This is magical, Mom. I love it so much, it makes the cauliflower and sprouts taste so yummy, it’s magical, I love you mom.” Yup. If you have little kids that sometimes refuse to eat their veggies, try it. Ok, here goes:

INGREDIENTS

1 medium onion

3 or 4 cloves garlic (peeled and chopped)

12oz soft or silken tofu (I use the unrefrigerated 12 oz nigari silken tofu boxes available at Sprouts— they keep a long time on the shelf and blend smoothly)

2 cups roasted and salted cashew pieces (½ 16oz bag from trader joes) or 1 cup (about half a jar) cashew butter

1/2 cup nutritional yeast

<½ cup lemon juice (or about 2 limes)

2 tsp ground yellow mustard seed

1tbs ground pepper

1 tsp Paprika

1 tsp turmeric

6 tbs soy sauce

INSTRUCTIONS

Slice up the onion and sauté in little olive oil until translucent and slightly brown.

Add onion and rest of ingredients to a food processor and blend until smooth.

Scrape out the sauce and use as you wish! Again, think pizza, lasagna, a dip for raw veggies and more. Last night, we had quinoa-brown rice pasta with steamed cauliflower and spinach, smothered in this cashew sauce and topped with tatsoi microgreens. Magical, remember?!