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One Year Anniversary

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OneandahalfSlices food blog recipes One and a half Slices Virginia eat local

Happy Anniversay OneandahalfSlices!

The first year of OneandahalfSlices was one of immense learning and creativity. From instrumenting WordPress, to logo design, amateur phone photography, Instagram recipe reels, and posting tempo. As of this writing, there are 76 well-curated recipes – some of them as old as my personal culinary history and some of them new to me in 2021. They include meat-forward and vegan meals alike, a lot of international flavors (Moroccan, Thai, Indian, Japanese, Italian), sweet things, and some staple cocktails.

To celebrate, I’ve got three things for you:

1) I asked my very talented and beautiful niece, owner of Liz Bakes, to make some custom OneandahalfSlices cookies for the occasion! Those cookies, along with the custom cat cookies she made honoring the household cats, are featured below. Find her on Insta and DM her to place an order for custom cookies for virtually any occasion. She’s based in Atlanta but ships nationwide.

2) The Year in Review. Scroll down for the Top 9 recipes (most liked, most re-created, most celebrated) from the first year of OneandahalfSlices!

3) A killer playlist for 2022. Need some new vibes to get creative, focused, vibrant? Got you covered. Just hit shuffle.

Now, onward into 2022. Sneak preview of what is to come… Tiramisu, even more ramen!, essential lasagna, even more chocolate chip cookies!, risotto, and many, many other delicious things.

Happy Cooking!

🥘

Liz Bakes Custom Cookies
The First Year in Review

Sausage Lentil Stew

Get the Recipe

Flaky Cobbler

Get the Recipe

Beautiful Berry Pavlova

Get the Recipe

Perfect French Toast

Get the Recipe

Perfect Pot Roast

Recipe & Pairing Dinner

Homemade Granola

Get the Recipe

Skillet Cornbread

Recipe & Story

Best Caesar Salad Dressing

Get the Recipe

Moroccan Chicken Tagine

Get the Recipe
🥗🍴🍻

Finally some shout-outs to those who have supported and entertained me culinarily this year!

(if you’re a Virginian, you’re going to want to read this)

  1. Longstone Farm (farm) – from your Sunday suppers, to your self-service farm stores, to your delicious, local pork, chicken, and beef, I enjoyed every moment I spent with you in 2021. You’re amazing people with an amazing mission, and an inspirational sense of purpose in our local agricultural community. 
  2. Sumac VA (restaurant) – you’ve cooked some of the tastiest meals I’ve eaten in 2021, 100% locally-sourced, in the midst of the most beautiful scenery in Sperryville, VA. Keep cooking!
  3. Patowmack Farm (restaurant) – you’re the most wonderful date night spot in Virginia, MD, and DC hands down. Elegant, inspired, Michelin-quality, locally-sourced cooking at its finest. 
  4. Spring House Farm (farm) – your farm store in Leesburg is enviable and I made a monthly trip out to you for chicken and beef for the entirety of 2021. To be continued in 2022.
  5. Potomac Vegetable Farm (farm) – thank you for being my local CSA, with ample pick-up locations, vegetable and meat options, and excellent organization. Your produce is something I feel good about eating and cooking year-round. 
  6. Whiffletree Farm (farm) – your local turkey and goose do not disappoint for the holidays and your self-service farm store in Warrenton is accessible and convenient. Your grass-fed beef is also unmatched. 
  7. Organic Butcher of McLean (market) – thank you for always having interesting meats and local products. You were the source of my 2021 boar chops, my experimentations with rabbit, and many other experimental meats in 2021.
  8. Seylou Bakery and Mill in DC (restaurant) – your locally sourced pizza on sourdough is quite honestly the best pizza I’ve ever had in my life. Worth the drive.
  9. The Dabney DC (restaurant) – you’ve become one of my favorite Michelin restaurants downtown with an elegant emphasis on local sourcing and Virginia/Maryland-based cuisine. Spending New Year’s Eve with you was unforgettable.
  10. Caboose Brewery in Vienna, VA – from locally-sourced small plates to Virginia’s best, local beer, there is truly nothing better than a Sunday morning run to your Vienna location or an after work stop-in. Plus, the comfy t-shirts!
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Pork and Apples

one and a half slices pork and apples simple recipe
OneandahalfSlices food blog recipes One and a half Slices Virginia eat local

Pork and Apples

one and a half slices pork and apples simple recipe

This Pork and Apples recipe is one of my all-time favorites especially for the new year – the month of January in particular (though it is well-suited to anytime Fall through Winter). A good solid pork roast is combined with hearty potatoes, sweet cabbage, and tangy apples for a truly delicious, surprising, filling meal. Trust me, guys, this is super delicious and unique. Many in the Midwest eat pork and sauerkraut on New Year’s Day. I tend to favor a big pot of black eyed peas myself but Pork and Apples always comes sometime between January 1st and 10th. Do go get yourself a pork roast and give it a try. Mine came from Longstone Farm in Lovettesville, VA. For you Northern Virginian-ers, Longstone has a new self-service market open now on Route 9 – check it out!

Happy New Year, everyone!

what you need

1 pork roast (I have used loin, butt, and shoulder)

3-5 small white or red potatoes, halved or quartered

2 tablespoons butter or olive oil

3 cloves garlic, sliced

1/2 head of cabbage (green or purple), cut into wedges

1 yellow onion, cut into chunks

1 1/2 small apples, cored and cut into wedges

1/8 cup apple cider vinegar

3 tablespoons dried thyme

Salt and pepper to taste

3/4 cup water or vegetable bouillon

1 tablespoon honey

 

how to make it

Preheat oven to 325. 

Stovetop, melt the butter in a large Dutch oven or other covered, oven-safe pot. Brown the roast on all sides then set it aside on a plate. Add the sliced garlic and sauté until fragrant, ~1 minute. 

Remove from heat and add the apple cider vinegar scraping any little brown bits up off the bottom to deglaze the pot. Add the honey and water/bouillon and stir. Replace the roast in the liquid sprinkling generously with dried thyme, salt, and pepper. 

Nestle 3/4 of the apple slices and all the onion slices around the roast. Secure the lid and roast in the oven for 2 full hours (note that butt and shoulder roasts will take a little longer than loins as a general rule). 

After 2 hours, remove the roast and add the remaining apple slices, the potatoes (submerging in the liquid if at all possible), and then layer the cabbage wedges over the top. You may need to add a bit of liquid if it’s looking low. Salt and pepper the cabbage generously and return to the oven for another ~45 minutes. 

Check your pork by cutting with knife and fork. It should be very tender and the vegetables should be soft but not destroyed, hence adding them later. Serve and enjoy! 
More Roasts
OneandahalfSlices roasted goose recipe simple holiday

Roasted Goose

Who else has heard of a Christmas Goose? Had the urge to make one? Okay, maybe that’s just a Mel thing, but mostly by accident, I ended up with a locally-sourced, 9-pound Goose to cook this Christmas courtesy of Whiffletree Farms of Warrenton, Virginia. Highly recommend for an elegant, unique holiday meal. It makes for a lovely table. Here it is paired with Citrus Dill Roasted Carrots, Perfect Mashed Potatoes, and Crispy Oven Brussel Sprouts. #Christmasvibes

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December 25, 2021 3 Comments
pot roast recipe one and a half slices whisky pairing

Pot Roast

This is the main course for the Whiskey Pairing Dinner and, my, what a deep, flavorful pot roast this is! Let me start by saying that I sourced a 4.6 pound chuck roast from the Spring House Farm Store to feed the four of us and had no regrets. A simple pot roast is easy enough to pull off especially if you have a slow cooker, but this really takes the flavor profile up a notch to make this velvety, sinful, fall-off-your-fork roast with plenty of fall veggies.

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November 14, 2021 3 Comments
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Roasted Goose

OneandahalfSlices roasted goose recipe simple holiday
OneandahalfSlices food blog recipes One and a half Slices Virginia eat local

Roasted Goose

OneandahalfSlices roasted goose recipe simple holiday

#Christmasvibes

Who else has heard of a Christmas Goose? Had the urge to make one? Okay, maybe that’s just a Mel thing, but mostly by accident, I ended up with a locally-sourced, 9-pound Goose to cook this Christmas courtesy of Whiffletree Farms in Warrenton, Virginia.

I thought it would go about like a turkey and then started reading recipes – man, was I wrong. Goose is super intimidating. It’s heavier than both chicken and turkey, and is technically more akin to duck, which means the breasts should be served medium rare with the rest of the bird cooked through. Some light Googling of recipes had me panicked about two-day preparation routines, de-skinning my goose, or dismembering my goose for a staged cooking enterprise. This was not what I intended to sign up for.

Finally I landed on a recipe that didn’t look too difficult. I ended up with a variation on the theme of Gordon Ramsay and I do not regret a single moment of my Christmas Goose endeavor. Highly recommend for an elegant, unique holiday meal. It makes for a lovely table. Here it is paired with Citrus Dill Roasted Carrots, Perfect Mashed Potatoes, and Crispy Oven Cranberry Brussel Sprouts. The wine pairing is a Georgian Saperavi – a medium-bodied red with sweet, red berry flavors. 

🎄

what you need

1 whole goose (7-10 pounds, giblets and excess fat removed)

1 bundle of fresh herbs (I used three large sprigs of rosemary)

1 lemon, zested with zest set aside, then cut in half

3-5 garlic cloves, peeled and cut in half

2-3 shallots, peeled and cut in half

3 tablespoons dried thyme

Plenty of sea salt

5-7 short stalks of celery

3 tablespoons of honey 

2 tablespoons paprika

1 tablespoon chili powder

how to make it

Prepare. Preheat oven to 450. First, remove giblets and excess fat from your goose. Rinse it in cold water, place it in its roasting vessel, and pat it dry with paper towels.

Season. Combine lemon zest, sea salt, dried thyme, paprika, and chili powder in a dish. Run generously into the goose skin, sprinkling some inside the goose cavity.

Stuff. Stuff the goose from back to front: half the lemon, half the garlic cloves, half the shallots, the herb bundle, the celery stalks, the remaining garlic and shallots, and finally the remaining lemon half. 

Roast. Roast the goose for 10 minutes at 450 then lower the oven temperature to 375. You want to cook your goose for 28 minutes per kilogram of weight. For a 9-pound goose, that is right around 1 hour and 45 minutes. Baste the goose once after the first hour,  drizzle on the honey, and cover with foil. There will be a lot of fat rendered off the goose. You’re aiming for an internal goose temperature of around 140-150 degrees at the breast, and 160+ everywhere else. You’re also looking for that crispy, golden brown skin, so feel free to finish it under the broiler if the skin doesn’t get there (but it should). 

Rest. Your goose is tired from all that roasting. Give it a break. Remove foil, let it steam, then tent it with foil for 30 minutes while you finish off your side dishes. This will make it easy to cut and serve.  
🦃More from the 2021 Holiday Collection🎄
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Vegetable Soup

vegetable soup recipe simple weeknight one and a half slices
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Easy Vegetable Soup

one and a half slices vegetable soup easy recipe

***update! For the original tomato-y, Minestrone-esque recipe, keep scrolling. Here is the latest variation on the theme which is more like a chicken noodle-style soup.

Sauté some combination of shallots, onions, sliced garlic, and celery in olive oil until soft. Season generously with salt, black pepper, and red pepper flakes. Throw in a tied bundle of herbs and a bay leaf. Add 6 cups of water, 1 tablespoon of tomato paste, 1 chicken bullion cube, and 1/2 cup white wine, and bring to a rolling, generous boil for ~10 minutes. At this point, you can add some combination of: diced carrots, small diced potatoes, yellow or white lentils, peas, or any other vegetation that gives you pleasure. Simmer, covered, for 45-60 minutes. When you’re 10 minutes out, throw in some super thin or large wavy egg noodles. Serve hot, spicy, and comforting.

🥣
vegetable soup recipe simple weeknight one and a half slices

So… for those who follow the blog, you know that last weekend was luxurious. I mean, decadent to the point of “oh my gosh, all I want is a large bottle of water and some mashed potatoes” on Sunday afternoon, decadent. We also had about 10 million vegetables in the fridge from the CSA that we hadn’t touched (this time of year provides an overload of sweet potatoes and other root vegetables). So we decided to throw together a soup with… whatever was left in the fridge. With this recipe, literally anything goes. Whatever you’ve got in the fridge. Whatever is left over. It can be vegan/vegetarian or use leftover meat. It can be super starchy and hearty, or lighter and more vegetable-forward. In any form, it is simple, warming, and humble – a subtle reminder that we are fortunate to be able to indulge in anything more than this on a regular basis. This was how people cooked 200 years ago in America… in Italy, in France, in Morocco. Peasant food. Make-it-through-the-winter food. I am just as appreciative for dishes like these (and beef stew, and homemade beans, and tagine) as I am for Pot Roast and Pavlova. Also, if anyone else spent their childhood at Medieval Times, this is totally the soup they serve!

how to throw this one together

(everything in bold went into my soup)

Broth 

Place 6-8 cups of water, 2-3 chicken or vegetable bullion cubes, and 1 16oz can of chopped tomatoes in their juices into a large pot stovetop. This will be your soup base. Now you’re going to want to season it.

Let’s go with 2 cloves of garlic, sliced; 2 shallots, diced (or an onion); a handful of chopped parsley from the garden; and a bundle of errant thyme and rosemary sprigs from the fridge. Diced celery will also go nicely. Season generously with salt, and less generously with black pepper and red chili flakes (unless you’re like the Piemaker and would prefer to chop up the world’s hottest pepper and throw that in there as well). Lemon zest would also be cool.

Bulk

Here you have several options for how to expand your soup. An Italian version would have you add noodles – I am partial to those extra wide egg noodles. You could also throw in some fresh barley (another favorite, but we were out), brown rice, and/or potatoes. If you go with brown rice, I suggest cooking it separately and pouring the soup over it at the end. Everything else can be thrown right into the pot as it simmers away on medium heat.

I chopped up 4-5 small potatoes from the CSA and also added about 1/2 cup of lentils I had lying around. We also threw in a can of pinto beans, but it could have just as easily been red beans or kidney beans. Now is the time to add leftover chicken or sausage you may have if so inclined. 

Vegetables 

Lastly, send in the veggies after your soup has come to a healthy simmer for about 20 minutes. Also, keep the lid on as much as possible so the liquid doesn’t evaporate.

I added chopped carrots, additional celery, additional onion, and a handful of brussels sprouts that were leftover from the whiskey pairing event last weekend. You could also add a deep green like swiss chard or kale.

And that, my dear friends, was it! Lid on, heat low, simmer for 1-1 1/2 hours. Serve with crusty bread, or over rice, or just by itself. We are having the leftovers tonight with a batch of fresh cornbread… because Monday.    

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Pot Roast

pot roast recipe one and a half slices whisky pairing
OneandahalfSlices food blog recipes One and a half Slices Virginia eat local

OneandahalfSlices Pot Roast

From the @whiskey_CA_mmelier Collaboration Dinner

pot roast recipe one and a half slices whisky pairing

This is the main course for the Whiskey Pairing Dinner and, my, what a deep, flavorful pot roast this is! Let me start by saying that I sourced a 4.6 pound chuck roast from the Spring House Farm Store to feed the four of us and had no regrets. A simple pot roast is easy enough to pull off especially if you have a slow cooker, but this really takes the flavor profile up a notch to make this velvety, sinful, fall-off-your-fork roast with plenty of fall veggies. Pairing. For the roast, @whiskey_CA_mmelier wanted something to play with bourbon (all of our fav), especially since we went rogue and kicked off the evening with a scotch pairing (how dare we). He selected several aged bourbons that were exceptional but definitely dominated the roast. It wasn’t until we made our way around to the milder Noah’s Mill that things started to make sense. Noah’s Mill from the Willet Distillery- those who haven’t tried it are missing out. And it complemented this roast perfectly.

what you need

A 3-5 pound chuck roast

2 onions, 1/2 diced and the rest quartered 

4-6 thick carrots, cut into chunks

4-5 celery stalks, 2 stalks cut into chunks, 2 stalks diced

4-5 red potatoes, peeled and quartered 

3 cloves garlic, sliced finely 

1 bundle of fresh thyme

1 bundle of fresh rosemary

2 bay leaves

2 table spoons Worcestershire sauce

2 tablespoons tomato paste

1 1/2-2 cups good red wine

2 cups beef broth

3 tablespoons black coffee 

1 tablespoon soy sauce or Tamari

3 tablespoons olive oil

Salt and Pepper to taste

Pairing.  Noah’s Mill Small Batch Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey from the renowned Willet Distillery.

how to make it

Heat oven to 325 and heat 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a Dutch oven over high heat. Truss the roast (in other words, tie it up) and brown it on all sides. Remove from Dutch oven and set aside on a plate. 

Lower stove heat to low. Add one more glug of olive oil, the sliced garlic, the minced onion, and the diced celery to the pot (I also added a few diced shallots for good measure). Season with salt and black pepper. Sautee for a minute or two. Deglaze the pan with the soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, tomato paste, and coffee, scraping up all the brown bits from the bottom as you stir and bring the mixture to a simmer (might need to raise heat to low-medium).

Toss in the bay leaves, the bundle of rosemary/thyme, and the beef broth, and bring the liquid to a light boil. Situate the roast back in the liquid trying not to let the roast pin the herb bundle to the bottom.

Place half the chunked carrots, celery, onions, and potatoes around the roast, which should be sticking out of the liquid just a bit. Top with another glug of wine, and season generously with salt and pepper. Secure the lid on the Dutch oven and throw the whole shooting match in the oven for 2 1/2 ish hours depending on the size of your roast (my 4.6 pound roast took 3 1/2 hours but a smaller roast will likely take less time). 

Remove from oven and serve warm. The liquid should be mostly cooked down by now to a sort of gravy. You may have to spoon some fat off the top which is perfectly normal. 
More from the Collab Dinner
one and a half slices sazerac rye whiskey rcipe

Sazerac

This is the opening cocktail for the Whiskey Pairing Dinner. The Rye Sazerac is one of the oldest, prohibition-era cocktails. It’s classic, elegant, and simple. With rye whiskey, lemon, absinthe, and bitters, a Sazerac is as refined as a cocktail can be. Here we present this  simple cocktail recipe as a forward to the rest of a classic meal. The absinthe on the nose provides an interesting twist to a classically whiskey-based cocktail. We used Sazerac Rye as the base.

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November 13, 2021 3 Comments
brussels sprout recipe whiskey pairing whisky one and a half slices

Spicy Brussels

Brussels Sprouts are one of our favorite falltime veggies, especially when they’re made crispy. There are so many unique toppings for sprouts (sprouts!) that they’ll never get boring. Here they are paired with a round, fruit-forward Orkney Island Scotch Whiskey to really accentuate their sweetness.

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November 14, 2021 2 Comments
pecan pie recipe maple bourbon one and a half slices

Pecan Pie

This is the dessert for the Whiskey Pairing Dinner generously provided by The Piemaker. I’ve never been a huge pecan pie fan (nor was I a big Key Lime Pie fan) until The Piemaker came into my life. This pecan pie is as ‘from scratch’ as it comes, with hints of bourbon and maple folded into the filling, served with a luxurious maple cinnamon cream. This is a decadent dessert – decadent is an understatement. But if you’re looking to level up your Holiday meal game, this is the place to start. We definitely felt the need to eat one and a half slices… 😃

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November 15, 2021 3 Comments
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whiskey_ca_mellier Dinner

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OneandahalfSlices food blog recipes One and a half Slices Virginia eat local

Whisky Pairing Dinner!

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+

whiskey_ca_mmelier Instagram one and a half slices collaboration pairing dinner recipes
one and a half slices dinner table recipe collaboration whiskey pairing

We have some exciting news for Fall 2021 (and… ahem… some even more exciting news for Fall 2022… but more on that later). OneandahalfSlices is hosting its first collaboration event with whiskey blogger @whiskey_ca_mellier (ca_me·lier(səməlˈyā(n)))! Here is what you need to know:

  1. If you don’t follow OneandahalfSlices on Instagram, go do that now!
  2. If you don’t follow whiskey_ca_mellier on Instagram and want to constantly be learning about new and delicious bourbon, go follow him now!
  3. Okay, now that all the following is out of the way… the dinner. On Saturday, 13 November 2021, we will be cooking a three course dinner here at OneandahalfSlices Global HQ and serving it up with a perfect whiskey pairing – bourbon, scotch, and rye all fair game. We will then roll out the recipes for each course and the respective pairing right here on OneandahalfSlices and on both Instagram accounts. 
Menu Reveal

To Start. Rye Sazerac.

The Opener. Spicy Brussel Sprouts + Lightly Peated Scotch.

The Primary. Traditional Pot Roast + Aged Bourbon.

The Sweet. Pecan Pie with Maple Cream + Rye Whiskey.
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Pasta Pomodoro

pasta recipe pomodoro red creamy simple easy sauce
OneandahalfSlices food blog recipes One and a half Slices Virginia eat local

Simple Pomodoro (tomato) Sauce

pasta recipe pomodoro red creamy simple easy sauce

There is a lot to be said for simple, staple recipes. The French five mother sauces are said to be like the First Principles of cooking. Master these five sauces and you can make any sauce. The five French sauces are: Béchamel, Velouté, Espagnole, Tomato, and Hollandaise. All excluding the latter begin with a simple Roux (fat source, like butter or meat drippings, plus flour – what Americans know as the most basic gravy). 

The béchamel is the dairy-based sauce – think fettuccine alfredo. The velouté is a different kind of white sauce where the creaminess comes from an animal fat like chicken or pork drippings, not milk or cream.  This can be one kind of gravy. The Espagnole is the second kind of gravy, where the drippings come from a red meat. The tomato sauce is, well… tomato. And Hollandaise, from which we get its sister Béarnaise, is a butter, egg yolk, and lemon-based sauce. 

Pomodoro sauce is the Italian name for the simple tomato-based mother sauce, as “pomodoro” means “tomato” in Italian. It is meant to be the quickest, simplest pasta topper and I give it to you here in five simple steps that will keep you away from canned pasta sauce for life (as will my meat-hearty Bolognese sauce). 

🍅

what you need

1/2 onion, diced finely

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 tablespoons good olive oil

2-3 handfuls of cherry or roma tomatoes, diced finely, with all their juices

1 handful of fresh basil

1 splash cream or half and half

how to make it

First. Sauté the onion and garlic in 1 tablespoon of olive oil over medium-high heat until fragrant, ~3 minutes.

Second. Add 1 more tablespoon of olive oil and the tomatoes (and juices), stirring to combine and cooking for an additional ~5 minutes.

Third. Puree the tomatoes in a food processor and then strain back into the pan to remove the seeds.

Fourth. Add the splash of cream and stir over medium heat until hot.

Fifth. Top with fresh basil and grilled chicken, if desired, then spoon over pasta.
Other Pasta Dishes

Spaghetti Al Limone

This is a fresh, light, summery pasta dish I have wanted to try for a long time in keeping with my predilection for lemon things (like my equally as simple Little Lemon Cake). Pasta al Limone is an Italian classic. It requires just a handful of ingredients and only takes as long to make as it does to boil pasta. I like it with a piece of lemon-marinated, grilled chicken on top. Lemon and Pasta may not seem like two things that go together but, trust me, they do. It has an elegant simplicity to it that is perfect for a summery Sunday afternoon, a weeknight, or a date night. Do something different. Lemon Pasta. 🍋

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September 4, 2021 2 Comments
one and a half slices fettucine alfredo recipe

Fettuccine Alfredo

Creamy, comforting Fettucine Alfredo is hard to beat. Fettucine Alfredo is one of those “authentic” Italian classics that should be made with reserve pasta water, a little butter, and parmesan, but old habits die hard and I make my alfredo just like my mother. So, yeah, don’t eat a gallon of this stuff, but by all means, throw some steamed broccoli or sliced chicken onto a bed of this dreamy creaminess and float on off to heaven. Any which way, this is pure comfort in a pasta bowl, and perfect for my Sunday afternoon.

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September 17, 2022 2 Comments
one and a half slices zucchini parmesan girl dinner pasta delicious

Girl Dinner

I’m entering my level up era and I’ve been eating a lot of girl dinner. Yes, I know, girl dinner is french fries and a pornstar martini. But this girl dinner is a fraction of the cost and it takes like 15 minutes to make. At home. So you can continue doing #levelup things (or play videogames, either).

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August 23, 2024 2 Comments
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Creamy Sweet Potato Stew

creamy coconut sweet potato soup recipe oneandahalfslices
OneandahalfSlices food blog recipes One and a half Slices Virginia eat local

Creamy Coconut Sweet Potato Stew

As we bring October to a close and launch into November, we are still sticking to vegan weekdays and meat-friendly weekends. We’ve been out and about to The Restaurant at Patowmack Farm, Clarity, and Founding Farmer’s for our non-vegan exploits, and are soon headed to try Kinship’s sister prix-fix locale Métier.

To pull off vegan weekdays and still keep the gentlemen appeased, I have relied heavily on Laura Wright of The First Mess, arguably my favorite vegan food blog. I’ll get a vegan gravy recipe up here on the blog soon that you won’t possibly believe is vegan – it’s the best gravy I’ve ever had.

But for now, we are a little tired of lentils and were looking for something to do with copious amounts of sweet potatoes (yes, we’ve made Sweet Potato Pie). Hence this little gem was discovered. Creamy with coconut milk, almost like curry. Spiced with flavors of the same. Hearty with sweet potato and flourished with kale. Yes, there are still a few lentils, but they are hardly the stars of the show. This soup is light enough for any season and feels perfectly at home here at the end of October. 🧡

what you need

1 tablespoon coconut oil

1 onion, diced

(optional) 1-2 shallots, diced

1 tablespoon dried chili flakes or 1 hot chili, minced

1/2 teaspoon coriander

1/2 teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon turmeric

1 small knob of fresh ginger root, minced or grated

1 garlic clove, minced or grated

1 extra large sweet potato, peeled and diced (option here to sub some sweet potato for carrot)

1/2 cup French lentils

4 cups vegetable broth

1 can (13 oz) coconut milk (I used slightly less than 1 can)

1 bunch of kale, swiss chard, or mustard greens, de-ribbed and cut into thin strips

Fresh cilantro, lime wedges, naan wedges, and more chili flakes to garnish 

how to make it

Melt the coconut oil over medium heat on the stove in a Dutch oven. Add the onion and the shallots, and sauté until translucent, ~3-5 minutes. Add the chili flakes, spices, ginger, garlic, plus a hefty pinch of salt. Let sit in pot for another ~1 minute, then stir, scraping any brown bits up off the bottom. 

Add the sweet potatoes/carrots and lentils, stirring everything to combine. Once combined, add the vegetable broth and simmer, covered, for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, check to ensure the sweet potatoes are tender. 

Add the coconut milk and the kale to the pot, and simmer another 5 minutes. Spoon into bowls and top with fresh cilantro, a squeeze from a lime wedge, and more chili flakes. 

Note: I like to buy store-bought naan; cut it into strips or wedges; top with olive oil, salt, and black pepper; and broil for a few minutes in the oven, flipping once. This makes nice little crispy strips to garnish any stew!

🌶🧅🍲
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Lemon Chickpea Stew

stew soup recipe fall One and a Half Slices lemon chickpea vegan dish
OneandahalfSlices food blog recipes One and a half Slices Virginia eat local

Lemon Chickpea Stew

stew soup recipe fall One and a Half Slices lemon chickpea vegan dish

If you didn’t catch my Mushroom Lentil Stew of last week, this vegan beauty came right on its heels. Welcoming Fall in vegan/vegetarian style, the theme of this October is lentils and other legumes. The chickpea is a protein-packed, fiber saturated, hearty meal staple. This soup recipe boasts a super unique flavor comprised of lemon zest, really good olive oil, red chili flakes, and the lowly potato. Just one more example of how fresh, local, in-season produce carries all the flavor you’ll ever need. This stew is filling yet humble. It is bold; it isn’t fancy. It doesn’t require an exotic cocktail pairing… it’s just a simple stew for a simple weeknight to remind you to be thankful for a warm stomach, an engaged palette, and a full plate … (or bowl, in this instance).

Looking for more ways to use chickpeas? Try my Moroccan Tagine.   

what you need

1 1/2 cups chickpeas (if canned, rinsed and drained; if fresh, soaked and boiled)

4 small white potatoes, diced small

1 large carrot, diced small

1 large celery stalk, diced small

1 medium yellow onion, diced small

4 cups vegetable broth

Lemon juice from half a lemon

1 tablespoon lemon zest

2-3 garlic cloves, minced

1 chili pepper, minced (or chili pepper flakes)

Olive oil

Fresh thyme

Salt, pepper, and paprika to taste 

4 cups thinly sliced swiss chard or baby spinach

how to make it

Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat. Add onions and sauté until translucent, ~5 minutes.  Add garlic and chili pepper, and cook ~1 minute more. Add carrots and celery, and cook ~7 minutes more. Add thyme, salt, pepper, and lemon zest, and stir until combined. 

Add potatoes, chickpeas, and vegetable broth, and simmer on low, covered, for ~30-45 minutes. Uncover and check stew for taste, adding more spices as needed. Ladle about half the stew into a blender and puree until smooth. Add the pureed stew back to the pot. Add lemon juice and chard/spinach, stir, and cook, uncovered, ~15 minutes more. 

Ladle into bowls and serve with toasted naan or crusty bread. Drizzle 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil on top (don’t skip this! adds to flavor, especially if you have good olive oil) and sprinkle with red pepper flakes. Enjoy!
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I have been SO excited to release this post!!! Why? Because this is your new weeknight dinner. It will impress your family, fill your stomach, warm your heart, and make your house smell like North African spices. I started making tagine years ago when I first moved to DC and came across a tagine in World Market. I was instantly and aesthetically intrigued, and purchased the thing on the spot not having a clue what I would do with it. Well… figured that one out. A tagine is the OG slow cooker.  And whatever you put inside – lamb, chicken, chickpeas, rabbit, potatoes – you will taste the spicy exoticism. If you don’t have a tagine, no worries. You can make it in a Dutch oven, stovetop or, yes, in a slow cooker. And before you think this is just chicken slow roasted in tomato sauce… keep reading…

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Veggie

Mushroom Lentil Stew

mushroom stew lentil OneandahalfSlices One and a Half Slices weeknight recipe easy
OneandahalfSlices food blog recipes One and a half Slices Virginia eat local

Mushroom Lentil Stew

mushroom stew lentil OneandahalfSlices One and a Half Slices weeknight recipe easy

In recent weeks rolling out of the summer months, I’ve been feeling overindulgent when it comes to food. Too much, too extravagant, not enough appreciation for simple, vibrant flavors and how they nourish a body. So I’m rolling back to simple, hearty, (mostly) vegan foods until Thanksgiving. Queue up the following series of fall-esque, hearty, healthy, locally-sourced, (mostly) vegan/vegetarian dishes. Take this stew for example. It has all the body and personality of a meat-based stew conceived of French lentils, soy sauce, white wine, hearty greens, and an unabashed serving of mixed mushrooms. (and yes, I sprinkled some Parmesan cheese on top for good measure) WELCOME TO FALL! 🍂🍁🍄 And shout out to The First Mess for the base recipe! 

what you need

1 cup French lentils, rinsed

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 finely diced shallots

2 finely diced garlic cloves

~1 pound mixed mushrooms! (any mushrooms! all mushrooms! bring them all!)

2 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves

1/4 cup white wine

2 tablespoons soy sauce or tamari

2 cups vegetable broth

1 tablespoon red pepper flakes

1/3 cup plant-based milk (I use Macadamia) or whole milk

3-4 stalks of kale, Swiss chard, or mustard greens

(optional) grated parmesan  cheese for topping

(optional) crusty bread for toasts!

🍵

how to make it

Boil lentils until tender, ~20 minutes. Drain and set aside.

While lentils cook, pour olive oil into stew pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add shallots and cook until translucent, ~4 minutes. Add all the sliced mixed mushrooms to the pot and cook for 1-2 minutes more, until mushrooms begin to glisten. Season the mixture liberally with salt, black pepper, the thyme, the garlic, and the red pepper flakes. Give it a good stir and let sit for 1 minute more.

🧅🧄🍄

Add the white wine and the soy sauce (I use tamari) and stir, cooking for ~3 minutes more. Add the drained lentils, the vegetable stock, and the plant-based milk, and bring the mixture to a slight boil, perhaps increasing the heat to medium-high.  After the mixture boils lightly for 5-7 minutes, ladle half the soup into a blender and puree until smooth. Return the smooth mixture to the soup pot and stir until combined. 

🍾🥄

Slice the kale into thin strips and add to the pot, stirring the entire mixture together. Cover and let simmer for anywhere from 5-15 minutes. The mixture should be thick and creamy, but you are welcome to thin it out with additional broth. Check for seasoning adding salt and pepper as desired. Serve with a sprinkle of parmesan cheese on top and a slice of crust hearth bread!

 

 

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