Cruciferous Recommends Vol. 1

A few things I'm loving right now

I enjoy getting recommendations from friends, so I wanted to try sharing a few recs of my own with you every 5th Cruciferous newsletter.

Listeners of the Local Mouthful podcast I cohosted with Marisa McClellan may recall our segment “What We’re Loving.” We always got positive feedback and had fun recording these short love letters to our favorite things. So consider this my way of bringing some Local Mouthful flavor into this project. 

A recipe:

Green Tofu Gnudi via Washington Post

I set out to make this recipe with doubt in my heart. A lot of times when a recipe sounds too good to be true, it is. But I’m a long-time fan of tofu ricotta, the stuff can work miracles, so I had enough hope for this recipe that I was excited to try it. 

Wow! These gnudi exceeded my expectations. The recipe says you can form the gnudi with “two large spoons” but in my opinion what you really need (if you want to be set up for success) is a #40 disher. It takes all the frustration out of working with the wet, sticky batter. 

Also: the sauce recipe provided is a lemon butter sauce. But when you read the accompanying article, the writer says: “Gnudi are often served with marinara. I opted for a simple lemon butter sauce, mostly because I didn’t want to hide the beautiful green color of the dumplings.” I have tried these both ways. Marinara sauce is superior. 

A tool: 

The #40 disher

A disher is like an ice cream scoop with a built-in sweeper to move the food out of the bowl. I have several sizes (a smaller one for truffles, a larger one for vegetable cakes) but the #40 probably gets the heaviest use in my kitchen.

It’s perfect for cookies, energy bites, dumplings, the above gnudi, and about a million other little jobs around the kitchen. They’re small, they’re cheap, and they will make your kitchen life easier and happier.

An ingredient:

Sometimes I just want to add the lightest touch of oil to something. Maybe I’m air-frying tofu destined for a rich peanut- or tahini-based sauce. Maybe I’m roasting mushrooms I want to use in a cashew-creamy pasta. Maybe I want the barest film on popcorn to give my nutritional yeast and salt something to stick to.

Enter a spray oil. I’ve been using this one from Colavita because it’s 100% extra-virgin olive oil and comes in a non-aerosol spray bottle that actually works and doesn’t constantly clog and spurt.

It’s true that my husband Dan, ever the conservationist, hates the packaging. I’ll go back to my refillable spray bottle with a less-than-ideal spray pattern when I run out. But I thought you may like it in your home kitchen for keeping dishes less greasy or helping things crisp up without an oil bath. 

I’d love it if you’d share something you’re loving right now here in the comments with our micro Cruciferous community. We can all benefit.