This is our house granola, because it is both delicious and adaptable. Swap out the nuts, sub in seeds, mix in whatever dried fruit you want. I’ve even made it with maple syrup instead of date molasses. But this is the version we like best. The date molasses and tahini swathe each morsel in an addictive, salty-sweet coating that is hard to stop snacking on. We spoon this granola onto yogurt, use it to top fruit crumbles, layer it in parfaits, and eat it out of hand throughout the day.
If you like your granola on the chewy side, bake it for less time (35 to 45 minutes) and pack it more tightly in the baking sheet; for crispier granola, bake it longer (40 to 50 minutes) and spread it out in a thinner, more even layer. As always, much depends on your individual oven.
Some salads are supporting actors; this salad is a star. It’s worth your attention and stomach space on a table full of other foods— yes, even (and especially) like Thanksgiving. I like to keep the farro, olive, and cheese treasures at the bottom of the serving bowl, with the leaves layered on the top for a fun surprise every time someone scoops.
This recipe is flexible, so don’t get flustered if you don’t have both endives and radicchio or Castelfranco. Just one type of leaf is fine! Don’t have Parm? Swap in feta or even blue cheese. If you want to skip the nuts, go for it, but I’d strongly advise you keep the olives in. And, you could even add in a sweet element, like a dried cranberry, golden raisin, or sliced pear, if that’s your kind of thing.
Gujaratis love a good handheld snack. Muddy buddies, or puppy chow, is the kind of snack you can grab a fistful of and throw into your mouth while on the move! Traditionally muddy buddies use peanut butter, but I substitute it with pistachio butter and add a healthy dose of cardamom to really make it sing. They are insanely addictive with their salty, sweet combo, making them the perfect party snack!
Choose as many varieties of beets as you can find for a truly spectacular, colorful salad. We typically use a mixture of red beets and golden beets, but when we can also find pretty Chioggia (striped) beets, we throw them in as well. Make sure you roast the golden or striped beets separately from the red beets, which will color them red. (Red beets make a great natural Easter egg dye!)
Frangipane is something I have always enjoyed: the intense almond flavour and very delicate texture is simply delicious. In this recipe I have added another texture, encasing the frangipane with crispy filo pastry, while a nutty base gives it a lovely crunch.
This set-it-and-forget-it dessert is easy to make, and a perfect surprise for friends. We like to eat these frozen banana pops on ice pop sticks, but if you don’t have any, you can just use your hands—it’ll be messier, but every bit as tasty. After you’ve dipped the bananas in their chocolate shell, feel free to get creative with the toppings and decorations. We love the combination of crushed pistachios and chopped freeze-dried strawberries, but anything that adds crunch and color would be up for the task!
This velvety carrot pudding thickened with sweetened condensed milk and paneer, an Indian cow's milk cheese similar to farmer cheese, is subtly spiced with cardamom and garnished with pistachios. It's wintertime comfort food in Punjab where frigid temperatures are no match for this warm dessert that is traditionally made from red Punjabi carrots, which are only available in the winter photo. In spite of its simplicity, this sweet feels celebratory and is often served at Indian temple festivals and during the winter holiday of Diwali, the festival of lights. Diyas, traditional clay oil lamps, light the homes of millions of Indian families during Diwali, and although it's a Hindu festival, it's enjoyed by people from all denominations
If you have spent some time in Venice, you may have noticed yellow, often
log-shaped, biscuits called zaleti in pastry shop windows. As the towns along
the west coast of Istria were part of the Republic of Venice for some 500 years,
the foods were heavily influenced by those of Venice.
There is no incorrect way to layer falooda, the milky, traditionally rose-flavored dessert beloved in India, Pakistan, and other parts of South Asia. Everyone has their own preference on how to stack the components—but agree that falooda is always best built in a tall glass. This dessert stars bouncy cubes of rose jelly suspended in rose syrup–sweetened milk over layers of tender corn vermicelli and chewy chia seeds. A crowning scoop of vanilla ice cream adds a creamy finish. With its beguiling mix of textures, the Royal Falooda belongs to a category of colorful, cooling desserts that appear throughout Asia which are hard to label but extremely easy to eat.
I love mixing textures of cooked and raw vegetables in salads. In this case, soft wilted spinach with shaved fennel and apple that add sweetness and crunch, while the pistachio butter adds nutty creaminess. I also throw a few crushed, deeply toasted fennel seeds in to add a bit more interest.