Tahini & Pomegranate Almond Cookies

Dec06

I’m not sure why the heck it took me 7 years of blogging about natural foods (that’s 7 holiday seasons) to think of using pomegranates to decorate cookies. Of course, I’ve used them atop Christmas crostini and even holiday hummus, but come on Jeanine, it’s December and what we really need are cookies! These tahini almond cookies are such yummy little treats… they also happen to be vegan and gluten free.

For this post, we’re partnering, once again, with POM Wonderful because if I haven’t stated it enough on this blog over the years – we think pomegranates ARE wonderful! 🙂 Those cute little POM POMS arils bring such a sweet pop of flavor, plus who doesn’t love a little antioxidant boost by way of dessert?

This cookie dough is made with almond flour as the base, tahini as the binder, and maple syrup as the sweetener. To enhance the almond I used almond extract instead of the vanilla that I would normally use. And to make them extra nice, I spiced them with cinnamon, cardamom, and ginger. These flavors are so lovely with the nutty tahini.

This is a super easy one-bowl recipe. Just mix the dough, scoop them, and lightly flatten them (they won’t spread too much in the oven).

And decorate them! I can’t get over the little ruby red gems. These make me so happy!

POM POMS (POM Wonderful’s brand of arils, or seeds, derived from fresh pomegranates), are available now through January in convenient 4.3 and 8-ounce packs. Find them in the cut fruit produce section of most grocery stores.

These cookies freeze well. Make an extra batch (pictured are 2 batches), and freeze any that you might have leftover. Or better yet, bring them to a holiday cookie swap to share.

Winter Fennel, Sage & Kale Pasta

Dec03

winter / main dish / pasta

This Winter Fennel, Sage & Kale Pasta makes a delicious, healthy vegetarian weeknight dinner. Hearty, comforting, and easy, too!

Happy December!

I have a confession to make. I’m really terrible at decorating for the holidays. Some years it happens, others it doesn’t… and then some years we end up with a Valentine’s Day tree because we lose track of time and the work of taking down decorations is far less fun than putting them up.

So here’s my version of holiday greenery for you – it comes in the form of a kale pasta! It’s, of course, edible, and the clean up is minimal. 🙂

This kale pasta is full of all kinds of warming wintery goodness including a base of sautéed shallots, fennel, and savory, aromatic sage. There’s a bit of briny sun dried tomato for pop and (of course) some lemon juice to add a bit of bright cheer.

I used a fancy pasta shape called toscani – I just love the way the kale wraps around the short curly noodles. If you can’t find it, you can use any short cut pasta that you like.

Aside from boiling the pasta, this recipe comes together in one large skillet (or pictured, this pretty braiser), so it’s a great one to have in your back pocket when you need to get a hearty, healthy dinner on the table this winter.

Serve with olive oil for drizzling and (not pictured, but highly recommended) freshly grated pecorino cheese!

For more healthy pasta recipes, browse the pasta section of our recipe index!

Citrus Poppyseed Lemon Cookies

Nov30

dessert / winter

These yummy lemon cookies have a delicious chewy middle, crisp edges, and a sweet citrus flavor. I love them with tea for an afternoon treat!

Say hello to my new favorite cookies. I know, you’re not surprised, because you know how much I love lemon. But these(!) lemon cookies have that bakery-perfect chewy middle with a lightly crisp edge and a perfect balance of light & bright citrus flavor. A real treat, especially now that we’re entering the holiday season, although I would happily take one of these lemon cookies any day of the year.

This lemon cookie recipe comes from my friend Melissa Coleman’s book The Minimalist Kitchen. You may know of her blog, The Faux Martha. If you don’t, go check it out – you’ll absolutely love her. She has wonderfully approachable meal-time recipes, highly do-able organizational tips (check out her pretty pantry), and, man, can that girl bake.

What I love about these lemon cookies is that they have substance – particularly from the cornmeal and poppy seeds. Plus, the mix of olive oil with butter gives them a bright flavor that brings out the citrus essence so well.

These photos actually make them look kind of small, but made with a 1/4-cup cookie scoop, these lemon cookies are a perfect 1-cookie afternoon indulgence with a cup of coffee or tea.

For more cookie recipes, check out the dessert section of our recipe index!

Creamy Celery Root Cauliflower Soup

Nov27

winter / vegan / soup

Soup season continues! While I’ve made many cauliflower soups before, this time, I have a special guest ingredient that I’ve yet to use here on the blog: celery root! I had never cooked with celery root prior to this fall, probably because I never saw it at the farmers markets in Austin. That’s been part of the fun of moving somewhere new – new city, new vegetables.

Celery root has a wonderful, savory celery-like flavor and a creamy consistency when blended. For this soup, I combined it with roasted cauliflower, sautéed mushrooms, leeks, thyme, Dijon, and a pop of lemon at the end.

I also just love celery root’s gnarly, funky shape:

This cozy celery root and cauliflower soup is winter comfort food at its best! Serve it with crusty bread or crispy croutons. I also sautéed a few mushrooms to put on top, but you’ll see in the recipe below that all of these garnishes are optional. You can keep this simple, or make it fancy.

You can also make it ahead and store it in the fridge, or freeze your leftovers (I like these glass containers) to save for a day when it’s too cold to leave the house.

For more cozy soups, take a peek at the soup section of our recipe index!

Kitchen Gift Guide + Our (New!) Shop Section

Nov25

holiday / kitchen

Happy post-Thanksgiving! I hope you all had a great meal and a relaxing long weekend. Me? I’ve been a busy bee putting the finishing touches on this new “Shop” section of our website so that we could launch it before Black Sunday or Cyber Monday or whatever-the-heck these gift-crazy days are called.

I typically write some sort of gift guide post around this time of year, but this time I’m doing things a little bit differently. Here’s why! I get tons and tons of emails about my recommendations for cookware, kitchen tools, storage containers, pretty dishes, what camera we use, etc. I usually write long emails back to each and every person, but NOW I have organized nearly everything that I own and love here on this page in one spot. This way, you can conveniently browse by categories including cookware, kitchen tools, prep/storage, tabletop, hostess gifts, and more.

I’ll keep the shop section updated throughout the year, so consider it your kitchen resource whether you’re looking to upgrade your pots and pans, you’re wondering what glass storage containers I like to freeze soups in, or you just want to know what tahini I think is best.

This section might as well be called “a peek into Jeanine’s kitchen” because everything I’ve put in here is something that I own. That means that the cookware has stood the test of time and the kitchen tools are tried and true. I also get a lot of questions about what camera we use, so there’s a photography category over there as well.

I hope this is helpful! The images in this post are just a few items that I’ve included, click here to go to the SHOP section and see the rest! If you have any requests for items that I might have missed, please let me know!

Love and Lemons

Healthy, Seasonal, Whole Food Recipes Blog

Author Archives: Jeanine Donofrio

Tahini & Pomegranate Almond Cookies

Winter Fennel, Sage & Kale Pasta

Citrus Poppyseed Lemon Cookies

Creamy Celery Root Cauliflower Soup

Kitchen Gift Guide + Our (New!) Shop Section