5 things to make this week

hi there. remember this iconic post when i did that cool thing with the roll-over image? yeah check that out again for these sweet potato bowls.

over the past couple of weeks i’ve been realizing how much i miss new york city autumn. like this sort of thing. any color besides the very vivid blue whenever there’s never a single cloud in the sky—which constitutes most of the week.

i can’t even remember what it was like to have lived here and see this every day. i’m revisiting, i guess.

something i haven’t done is share some link-love stuff. here’s what i’ve loved over the past week or so:

and now onto the autumnal things i’d like to make sooner or later:


1. sweet potato bowls with spiced lamb

i’ve really been loving sweet potatoes lately. i’m able to steam them in my microwave in my dorm room and just top them with almond butter, yogurt, and coconut that get warmed and gooey. weird? eh. i guess this recipe is more or less an upscale and savory version… spiced lambs, mushrooms, quick-pickle fennel and onions, and yeah, yogurt just how i like it.


2. kabocha and kale miso soba salad

i have a little bit of an obsession with the winter squash family. (couldn’t you tell from the last recipe being sweet potatoes?). i’ve been meaning to make soba salad recently, and i feel like a miso dressing is the perfect umami-salty flavor to balance out the mild sweetness of the kabocha squash. and a little added kale for good measure. need those greens, too.


3. ottolenghi’s lamb + pistachio patties

the wonderful yotam ottolenghi just released a new cookbook of simpler recipes for the amateurs like me. from the pages i’ve gotten to see (from a copy at a design book store in culver city) the recipes are, yes, simple, but uniquely flavored and have pretty minimal ingredients. like these lamb and pistachio patties! and yeah, yogurt is also featured. there’s a lot of izzy food trends happening here…


4. chicory salad with honey-mustard vinaigrette

okay! now! for! very! simple! things! sweet & bitter things. honey & chicory leaves. there’s nothing like a super simple salad for your more complicated entree. “sweet and sharp” is how bon appetit describes it. plus this photograph is just so beautiful.


5. steak tacos with cilantro-radish salsa

okay, i’ve realized that LA has really good tacos. especially street tacos. that you can’t really find in new york city, or at least, i never really tried hard enough to look. these skirt steak tacos are another addition to our simple recipe collection. a lot of savory and salty going on here: medium-rare steak, a crunchy radish salsa slaw, only the most complementary herbs, and salty cojita cheese to top it off. don’t forget lime.


i seriously need to make all these things.