Weeknight Pasta with Roasted Pumpkin and Parmesan

On March 21, 2024March 21, 2024 By Julie Laing | Twice As TastyIn Column, dry storedLeave a comment

When spring arrives, I start watching bulbs grow by the hour—and inspecting my storage vegetables for their waning freshness. Over time, I’ve become better at choosing varieties that keep well, curing them properly, and storing them so that they stay fresh and usable for many months. By the first day of spring, I still have dry-stored vegetables tucked away. As I dig through the stash, I usually find one surprising keeper that has held on longer than in any other year.

This year, it was winter squash, as I share this week in my Twice as Tasty column for the Flathead Beacon. I just made the column’s recipe with the last of my delicata squash, swapping it for the pumpkin. I’ve been growing long-keeping onions, which I used instead of shallots, and am still enjoying a small basket of garlic just making its first attempts to sprout. My supply of homegrown and dehydrated herbs has begun to wane but will see me through until the next crop. I can’t think of a better way to celebrate the arrival of spring than with last season’s harvest.
Learn to make Weeknight Pasta with Roasted Pumpkin and Parmesan

Harira (Moroccan Tomato Lentil Soup)

On March 15, 2024March 15, 2024 By Julie Laing | Twice As TastyIn Column, soups, WorkshopsLeave a comment

I’ve been having such fun with lentils since I taught a workshop on these little seeds at the beginning of the month for Free the Seeds. I took five varieties of lentils to the class, which means I now have five varieties at home to play with. I’ve been doing just that. In the workshop, we looked at of fermented Red Lentil and Basmati Dosa batter, so I spent a few days enjoying dosas wrapped, taco-style, around Indian-Inspired Sweet-and-Sour Potatoes or served under basted eggs.

We also looked at sprouted Puy or French lentils in the workshop, which I then baked into Crispy Sprouted Lentils. I’ve piled these on corn tortillas with avocado and Lime-Pickled Onions and even took them to a sushi workshop as a garnish. I share yet another recipe that uses green or brown lentils this week in my Twice as Tasty column for the Flathead Beacon.
Learn to make Harira (Moroccan Tomato Lentil Soup)

Mushroom-Filled Blini

On March 7, 2024March 7, 2024 By Julie Laing | Twice As TastyIn Column, grainsLeave a comment

When my Twice as Tasty column for the Flathead Beacon went live with the latest recipe, Mushroom-Filled Blini, one of the first reactions that I received focused on the mushrooms, rather than the thin pancakes I wrap around them. Although I wrote the recipe for cremini mushrooms, the brown-toned baby Portobellos that are easily found in most grocery stores, I ate delicious blini stuffed with wild mushrooms while traveling across Russia.

In my corner of Northwest Montana, spring mushroom foraging season is just around the corner. I recommend bookmarking this week’s recipe if you’ll soon be out hunting for morels, our most popular edible spring fungi. You can find more ideas for cooking your bounty in this blog post. It also links to a Flathead Beacon column I wrote in 2022 after interviewing local forager Dale Johnson, who offered tips for identifying and using your wild mushroom collection.
Learn to make Mushroom-Filled Blini

Spiced Red Lentil Dip

On February 29, 2024March 15, 2024 By Julie Laing | Twice As TastyIn Column, dips, WorkshopsLeave a comment

My free March 2 workshop on lentils will be my 10th presentation for Free the Seeds. If you’re in Northwest Montana, join us for not just my workshop but the whole daylong event to pick out free seeds, talk with local food experts, and attend the full slate of workshops on everything from successful gardening to saving seeds. If you’re not local, you can still participate in four workshops via Zoom.

I explain more about the event and my workshop in my latest Twice as Tasty column for the Flathead Beacon. I also share one of my favorite easy lentil recipes: Spiced Red Lentil Dip. In the workshop, we’ll look at the range of lentil varieties that are easy to find locally and ways to enjoy them, from cooked to spouted to fermented and from crunchy snacks to full meals.
Learn to make Spiced Red Lentil Dip

Fresh Ground Peanut Butter Cookies

On February 22, 2024March 15, 2024 By Julie Laing | Twice As TastyIn Column, cookiesLeave a comment

Every since I first encountered a bright red nut-grinding machine in a grocery store, I’ve been a fan of fresh ground peanut butter. You can see the shelled peanuts in the hopper (and often almonds in a neighboring machine) and watch them come out the dispenser as creamy nut butter. The result isn’t the ground peanut clump submerged under an inch of oil that you often find when opening jarred natural peanut butter, and it lacks the added butter, sugar, salt, and preservatives of aggressively marketed brands. It’s just nuts.

Peanut butter features in all sorts of baked goods, but as I explain this week in my Twice as Tasty column for the Flathead Beacon, many recipes were originally written for peanut butter spreads already heavy in butter and sugar. It took me several batches of cookies to adapt the recipe I grew up with for fresh ground peanut butter. It was well worth all that sampling and experimenting: these cookies are easy enough to make for everyday snacking yet tasty enough that I can add them to a holiday cookie tray.

Learn to make Fresh Ground Peanut Butter Cookies

Russian Kasha (Multigrain Hot Cereal Mix)

On February 15, 2024March 15, 2024 By Julie Laing | Twice As TastyIn Column, dry storedLeave a comment

Some recipes act less as precise instructions that need to be followed to successfully complete a dish and more as reminders for the possibilities that can be created. I share one of the latter recipes this week in my Twice as Tasty column for the Flathead Beacon.

When I adopted hot cereal into my regular meal schedule, the mix of grains I used opened up options for a range of recipes. I rarely bother to measure out portions these days, just combining the various grains by sight to come up with a blend that I not only cook into Russian kasha but also dehydrate for granola and use as a rolled oat replacement in other recipes. The various flakes add more flavor and texture than a single grain and can be easily and affordably combined at home.

Learn to make Russian Kasha (Multigrain Hot Cereal Mix)

Grilled Onion Guacamole

On February 8, 2024March 15, 2024 By Julie Laing | Twice As TastyIn Column, dipsLeave a comment

I don’t follow sports yet always know when the Super Bowl is approaching. It seems that in the week before the game, every grocery store puts avocados and tortilla chips on sale. I just bought large, not-yet-ripe ones yesterday, so it seems an apt time to share my guacamole recipe in my Twice as Tasty column for the Flathead Beacon.
For shoppers, avocados no longer have a season, as various countries cycle through their growing seasons and ship their harvest to the United States. Because they’re picked while hard and underripe for long transport, I look for unbruised avocados that have dark skin (for the variety) and an intact stem. Once you can easily push the stem free with a fingertip and see bright green flesh underneath, the avocado has hit its peak ripeness. Check for this after you’ve taken the avocado home and let it ripen on the counter for a few days, until it gives slightly under gentle pressure; popping off the stem too early affects the ripening process.

Ripe avocados have the best flavor, especially in a mild dip like guacamole. As I explain in this week’s column, mixing them with onion and garlic that have mellowed and sweetened on the grill enhances their taste.

Learn to make Grilled Onion Guacamole

Tomato, Potato, and Garlic Soup

On February 1, 2024March 15, 2024 By Julie Laing | Twice As TastyIn Column, soups4 Comments

When I’m harvesting tomatoes and other sun-ripened vegetables in summer, I look forward to enjoying them not just fresh that same day but also from the freezer midwinter in soups and other recipes. As I explain this week in my Twice as Tasty column for the Flathead Beacon, having year-round access to the flavor of produce picked at the peak of its growth is the main reason I preserve food by freezing, canning, and more. Out-of-season produce shipped thousands of miles just can’t compete.

Even if you don’t grow your own food, it’s worth seeking out in-season produce and freezing it for out-of-season use. You still capture some of that fresh flavor, and you then have a freezer full of options for soups that can be made at a moment’s notice without a trip to the store. The tomatoes in this soup are among the easiest vegetables to freeze; potatoes, onions, and garlic can be stored even more simply in a dry, dark, cool place.

Learn to make Tomato, Potato, and Garlic Soup

Twice-Baked Sourdough Pita Chips

On January 25, 2024February 22, 2024 By Julie Laing | Twice As TastyIn Column, Giveaway, sourdough2 Comments

We’re winding down this year’s Sourdough Month here at Twice as Tasty. I’ve been sending out far fewer packets than in the last couple of years, but it’s been exciting to see others sharing and receiving sourdough starter locally and through the Sharing fermented starters Facebook group. One of the things I love about this online group is that people are sharing so many ferments, with kefir grains some of the more popular at the moment. The other thing to love is that this group is active all year, around the world. So if January wasn’t your sourdough month, you can request starter within the group whenever you’re ready to join in the fermentation fun.

I put a different spin on that fun this week in my Twice as Tasty column for the Flathead Beacon. It pushes beyond soft, chewy loaves like Herb-and-Salt Sourdough Focaccia to a bake that satisfies the craving for something crispy and crunchy.
Learn to make Twice-Baked Sourdough Pita Chips

Herb-and-Salt Sourdough Focaccia

On January 18, 2024January 25, 2024 By Julie Laing | Twice As TastyIn Column, Giveaway, sourdoughLeave a comment

Since I started baking with sourdough starter and developing my own recipes, my go-to loaf has been Sourdough Cabin Bread: freeform, crusty, and the right shape and texture for everything from a sandwich or French toast to chunks for dipping in soup and cubes for turning into Panzanella. If this bread has a fault, it’s that it keeps cooking through to the center after you pull it from the oven, which means it really should cool completely before you slice it.

A desire for hot-from-the-oven bread tops my reasons for making the sourdough focaccia recipe I share this week in my Twice as Tasty column for the Flathead Beacon. Not only can it be eaten hot, but it prefers to be eaten as fresh as possible. Focaccia becomes stale quickly, so I intentionally scaled the recipe to a small pan.
Learn to make Herb-and-Salt Sourdough Focaccia