Vegan Copycat In-N-Out Animal Style Fries

Ingredients

• 2ish pounds fries (I make my own oven fries using Smitten Kitchen’s amazing recipe. Alternatively you can buy frozen!)

• 2 yellow onions, sliced into 1/4” width

• 3 tbsp olive oil

• 1/2 cup vegan mayo

• 3 tbsp ketchup

• 1.5 tsp distilled white vinegar

• 1.5 tsp sugar

• Pinch of kosher salt

• 1 cup shredded vegan cheddar cheese

• 1/4 cup sliced pepperoncini

• Flaky salt

What to Do ⁣

1. Set a large pan over medium heat with olive oil and add sliced onions. Cook and stir every 5ish minutes until deep golden brown in color. About 30 minutes. Cool and chop. ⁣
2. Prep In-N-Out “spread” copycat sauce from Kenji Lopez-Alt. Add mayo, ketchup, pickle relish, vinegar, sugar, and salt to a bowl and mix. And taste! Pretty dead on.
3. Prep your fries! Pull straight from oven as soon as they’re done cooking (with either recipe). Sprinkle vegan cheese all over the whole sheet tray. Cover with another sheet tray and pop back in the oven for 3 minutes to melt.⁣
4. Pulled them out and cover in caramelized onions, spread, then pepperoncini. Finish with flaky salt!

Quinoa Crispies

Ingredients

• 4 ish cups cooked quinoa

• 4 tbsp olive oil

• Salt and pepper

• Nutritional yeast

What to Do

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. You could do the following in a separate bowl, but I... can’t be bothered.

2. Spread cooked quinoa onto a baking sheet. Add olive oil and a laaaarge pinch of salt and a few big turns of fresh cracker pepper.

3. Toss well to coat and use hands to spread in a very thin layer on the baking sheet.

4. Bake in 10 minute increments, tossing to ensure even browning. Cook until deep golden brown and crispy!

5. Remove from oven and generously sprinkle with nutritional yeast.

6. Toss to coat and taste for additional salt.

Butternut Squash Quinoa Tots

Ingredients

• 1 cup cooked quinoa

• 1 very large handful of spinach, chopped

• 2 cups cooked butternut squash or sweet potato

• 2 eggs

• 2 tbsp cheddar cheese

• 1/2 tsp garlic powder

• 1/2 tsp turmeric

• Salt to taste

• Sprinkle of flour as needed

What to Do

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease two baking sheets with olive oil or nonstick spray.

2. In a large bowl, mix quinoa, spinach, and butternut squash together, smashing with your hands to combine.

3. Add eggs, cheese, garlic powder, turmeric, and salt to taste. Combine with your hands!

4. The consistency will be pretty wet, so add a couple five finger pinches of flour and mix until you can easily mold a ping pong size amount of batter into a 2 inch-ish tot. If it's really sticky and you're struggling to mold, add more flour! Just add in slow increments to avoid making the batter super dry.

5. Place tots at least an inch apart on the baking sheet (not too close or they'll steam each other). Bake for 10-12 minutes, until you can flip them with little resistance, getting the other side a chance to crisp. Bake for another 10.

6. Cool a bit before dipping in any sauce of your choosing.

Caramelized Onion White Bean Dip

Ingredients

• 4 tbsp. olive oil, divided

• 1 large yellow onion, thinly sliced

• 1 15 oz. can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed

• 2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced

• Kosher salt

• Pepper

• Juice of 1 lemon

• Couple sprigs of dill for garnish

What to Do

1. In a large pan, heat 2 tbsp. olive oil over medium heat.

2. Add onion and stir to evenly distribute around the pan, cook and stir until they start to become translucent.

3. Turn heat down to medium low, and stir every couple of minutes to encourage even cooking and browning.

4. Stir and cook and stir and cook until desired amber color! Around 30 minutes was my sweet spot. I could have gone longer for deeeep caramelized onions, but frankly did not have the time. Transfer onions to a plate and wipe pan clean.

5. Add remaining olive oil to pan and heat over medium heat.

6. Add garlic and cook until they start to take on some color. 2-3ish minutes.

7. Add beans! Mix and season with salt and pepper. Turn down to medium low.

8. Cook and stir occasionally until things start to juuuust start to thicken up, around 10 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool until they're no longer piping hot.

9. In a blender, add beans and lemon juice. Blend until desired consistency. Scoop out into a bowl.

10. Roughly chop caramelized onions and add to bowl o' beans. Stir and season to taste. Garnish with a splash of good olive oil, dill, flaky salt, and more cracked pepper!

Best Bucatini with Simplest Tomato Sauce

Recipe inspired by Bon Appétit
Serves: 4 people who aren’t afraid of carbs

Ingredients

• 16 oz. bucatini

• Kosher salt

• 1 28-oz. can whole peeled or diced or crushed tomatoes

• 3 garlic cloves, smashed

• 5 tablespoons olive oil

• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter

• Parmesan, for serving
  *lots of pasta recipes call for 12 oz. of noodles, this one doesn’t because I don’t like super saucy pasta. If you do, use only 12 oz.

What to Do

1. Fill a large stock pot with water and add salt until the water tastes salty! Like a handful of salt or more. Set to boil on high.

2. Meanwhile, add tomatoes, olive oil, garlic, and five-finger pinch of salt to a heavy bottom pot. If using whole tomatoes, crush and break apart into bite sized pieces (they’ll cook down, so don’t worry about getting uniform sizes).

3. Bring to a boil then reduce to medium, and cook for 20ish minutes, stirring every couple minutes until sauce is reduced by about a third. When sauce is done, set to low.

4. Once pasta is just about al dente (somewhere around 2-3 minutes short of package cooking suggestions), reserve 1/2 cup of pasta water before draining.

5. Add pasta to sauce pot, set to medium low, and toss, toss, toss with tongs, coating all pasta in the sauce. Add water in increments to bring it all together.

6. Add butter and keep tossing until everything is looking luxurious and fully incorporated. Taste for any needed salt. Don’t forget you’re serving with Parm.

7. Serve with freshly shaved Parmesan. Enjoy!

Udon Stir Fry

Serves: 8 (We're a big family these days. Halve the recipe for more standard portions! Or don't and have real great leftovers.)

Sauce Ingredients*

• 5 tbsp dark soy sauce

• 6 tbsp vegetarian oyster sauce

• 3 tbsp mirin

• 2 tbsp teaspoons brown sugar

• 1 tbsp rice wine vinegar

  *this recipe makes a little bit extra sauce, use it all for super saucy noodles or reserve some so people can add more if they’d like at the table

Stir Fry Ingredients

• 3 packets udon noodles

• ½ lb white or brown mushrooms (one of those small cartons), thickly sliced

• 1/3 head green cabbage, thinly sliced

• 6 bok choy, chopped into thirds, crosswise

• 1 small white onion, sliced

• 6 scallions, chopped into pretty diagonal slices, for serving

• 1 lb. baked tofu, sliced into 1/4" slices (alternatively, you can buy uncooked extra firm tofu, slice it, and bake it at 400 degrees for 20 minutes)

• 2 tbsp vegetable oil

What to Do

1. Prepare udon noodles according to package directions. In my experience, the less time in the water, the better. So I usually dunk in boiling water for no more than a minute, rinse under the tap, and add a bit of vegetable oil to prevent them from sticking.

2. Let a large nonstick skillet get hot over medium high heat (the bigger the better! If you have a wok, you are golden). Once hot, add mushrooms, bokchoy, and cabbage and cook until slightly softened. (No oil just yet! This allows the vegetables to char up a bit without releasing a bunch of water. Cooked veggies without the mush!) Place vegetables into a heat proof bowl and set aside.

3. In the same skillet, add vegetable oil. Once hot, add onion and tofu. Cook until onions juuuust begin to soften. About 8-10 minutes.

4. Add noodles and vegetables back to the skillet. Mix to combine.

5. Once well-combined, add sauce in large spoonfuls at a time, until desired sauciness. Taste as you go!

6. Toss, toss, toss.

7. Turn off heat and mix in scallions, reserving a five finger pinch for garnish. Plate up, garnish with reserve scallion. Eat!
   
   

Farro Salad with Honeynut Squash and Miso Maple Vinaigrette

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Serves: 8

INGREDIENTS

FARRO SALAD

• 4 cups cooked farro⁣

• 2 honeynut squash, chopped and roasted with olive oil at 400 degrees until tender⁣

• 1 cup chopped parsley (not packed)⁣

• 1/8 cup minced shallot (let mine sit in a bowl with cold water for a few minutes to take the sting off)⁣

• 1/2 cup pomegranate seeds⁣

• 1/4 cup chopped roasted walnuts⁣, chopped

VINAIGRETTE
(Admittedly my original dressing turned out salty, so guessing the correct adjustments here. Don't sue me)⁣

• Juice of 1 lemon⁣

• 2 teaspoons mild miso⁣

• 1/4 cup olive oil ⁣

• 2 tablespoons maple syrup⁣

WHAT TO DO

1. Begin with dressing: whisk miso with just a splash of warm water until well dissolved. Add lemon juice and stir. Slowly stream olive oil in while whisking until dressing comes together. Mix in maple syrup. Taste and adjust. ⁣⁣

2. Mix ingredients in a large bowl with fresh cracked pepper. Mix in dressing. Taste and adjust!

Best Oven Fries

Serves: 4
Recipe from Smitten Kitchen

I N G R E D I E N T S

• 3 medium Russet potatoes, scrubbed

• 3 to 4 tablespoons olive oil

• Kosher salt

W H A T T O D O

1. Heat oven to 450°.

2. Slice potatoes into 3/4” spears.

3. Place in large pot and cover with an inch-ish of water; set to high and turn off after 10 minutes (keep watch, want them super al dente and not going mush).

4. Meanwhile, coat a large baking sheet with 2 to 3 tablespoons of olive oil and place it in the oven for a few minutes to get the oil real hot; remove.

5. Put drained potatoes on the hot pan, cover in 1 tbsp oil and sprinkle with salt; place back in oven for 20 minutes.

6. Remove and toss around for even browning; place back in for 5 minutes, repeating as necessary for desired crispiness and color.

7. Remove and season with more salt.

Whole Roasted Cauliflower with Walnuts and Herbs

I N G R E D I E N T S

• 1 medium head cauliflower

• 1/4 cup olive oil

• 2 bay leaves

• 1 teaspoon red chili flake

• 1 tablespoon butter

• 1/4 cup dry white wine (optional)

• kosher salt

• 1 cup vegan sour cream

• 1/2 cup finely chopped tender herb (parsley, cilantro, dill, or a combo), packed

• 2 lemons

• 1/4 cup roasted walnuts, chopped

• Flaky sea salt for serving

W H A T T O D O

1. Preheat oven to 400°.

2. Trim leaves and excess core if protruding from cauliflower. Add to a large stock pot.

3. To the stockpot, add olive oil, bay leaves, chili flake, butter, 2 five-finger pinches of salt, wine, and enough water to barely cover the cauliflower.

4. Set pot on high. Once boiling, reduce down to low, turning cauliflower about every 8-10 minutes until just tender, roughly 20 minutes.

5. Using large tongs, a pair of slotted spoons, or a combo of whatever kitchen utensils can do the job, remove cauliflower from water and place on a rimmed baking sheet.

6. Bake cauliflower until deeply golden all over, about 30 minutes. Remove from oven to cool slightly.

7. Meanwhile, mix sour cream with herbs and juice of 1 lemon. Season with salt.

8. When you’re ready to serve, place a large spoonful of sour cream mixture in the center of a platter. Use the back of your spoon to swoosh it around the plate. Place cauliflower on top of sour cream swoosh. Top with walnuts, squeeze of lemon juice, and flaky salt.