What can I say about Yosemite that hasn’t already been said? We got to see the beginnings of fall colors, with vibrant yellow and orange leaves contrasted with the towering granite grays and misty white waterfalls…

Sun glinting through the pine trees as if they were daytime fireworks…

And of course, the always heart-stopping view of that most famous of Yosemite landmarks, Half Dome.

The icing on the cake: dinner in the dining room of what is ostensibly the masterpiece of all national park lodges, the 1927 WPA-era Ahwahnee Hotel, and a brandy by the oversized fireplace to top off the evening.

Recipe: Granola Bars with Dried Cherries, Almonds, & Cocoa Nibs
makes about 16 granola bars

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 cups rolled oats (not quick-cooking)
• 1/4 cup sunflower seeds
• 1/4 cup wheat germ
• 1/2 cup sliced or slivered almonds
• 1/2 cup almond butter
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 1 Tblsp flaxseed oil
• 1/4 cup dark brown sugar
• 1 tsp freshly grated ginger root
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup cocoa nibs
• 1/2 cup dried cherries (cut in half if they are large)

METHOD:

• Preheat oven to 350 F. Prepare a baking sheet with parchment or foil.
• Combine oats, sunflower seeds, wheat germ, and almonds. Spread on baking pan and toast in the oven for 8 minutes. Remove from oven and pour into a large mixing bowl.
• Meanwhile, combine almond butter, honey, maple syrup, flaxseed oil, brown sugar, ginger, cinnamon, and salt in a saucepan. Heat over medium heat, whisking, until the mixture is melted together and fully combined.
• Pour melted mixture into oats. Add cocoa nibs and dried cherries and mix everything together until fully combined.
• Lightly oil your hands. Press mixture on to the baking sheet, pressing the mixture down and squishing it tightly together, forming an even rectangle that’s about 18 inches by 24 inches.
• Bake 25 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool for at least 2 hours.
• Use a large sharp knife to cut into bars. Store in an airtight container , with pieces of parchment, saran wrap, or foil in between.

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I also think barley is an unsung hero among better-known grains. While newer arrivals to the scene like quinoa and wheat berries are getting all the play, good ol’ barley has been around for ages, the workhorse of the whole grain world, just minding its business and keeping quiet in the background. This recipe is an old one that my Mom has been making for years, and it still wows guests as a savory, creamy, satisfying side dish.

Easy Oven Barley Risotto
serves 6 as a side dish

INGREDIENTS:

• 4 Tblsp butter
• 1 yellow onion, chopped finely
• 2 large or 3 small cloves garlic, chopped finely
• 1 1/2 cups crimini or brown mushrooms, chopped finely
• 1 1/2 cups pearl barley
• 4 cups chicken broth, mushroom broth, or vegetable broth

METHOD:

• Preheat oven to 350.
• Heat an oven-proof dish, melt the butter and add onions, garlic, and mushrooms. Cook, stirring, until onions are soft and translucent and mushrooms are browned. Add barley and saute to toast, stirring, about 3-5 minutes more.
• Add broth and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and put a lid on the pot.
• Put the pot in the oven and cook for about 1 hour, until barley is soft and cooked through.
• Stir the barley and remove to a serving dish. Serve immediately.

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If you’ve ever read a tech blog, then you are surely aware of the tech blogger’s absurd fetish for unboxing. Unboxing, which is the act of videotaping oneself taking a new gadget out of a box and putting it on the internet, has been referred to as “geek porn”. You may not know this about me, but I used to write for a geeky techie blog called Technabob. So I think there’s a little bit of that geeky unboxing drive still left inside, although since this is soy sauce and not an iPhone, I opted for a few still shots instead of a video. Inside the box was a pretty brown bottle that kind of looked medicinal, like a hydrogen peroxide bottle. Food geek porn?

I looked up white soy sauce on the trusty internets to try to learn more about it, but mostly found conflicting information. Here is what I do know: It’s a Japanese product, called shiro shoyu (shiro=white, shoyu=soy.) This website says that dark soy sauce is made from 80% soybeans and 20% wheat, while white soy sauce is the opposite–20% soybeans and 80% wheat.

But is the soy sauce really white? No. More like the color of a nice amber ale. And a little fizzy too.

So what about the taste? I think the white soy sauce is more subtle, less salty, with less umami, and a little sweeter. I wanted to experiment so I thought that it would be fun to pair white soy sauce with black rice.

Why? Well… it actually came to me because when I was a kid I used to love the Paul McCartney/Stevie Wonder song “Ebony and Ivory” A LOT. I was 6 years old when it first topped the charts, and it really made a lasting impression on me. Thanks to the magic of the internet, I can share this message of racial harmony and bad hairstyles with you. I also very much appreciate how Stevie Wonder has on a black shirt and white vest, while McCartney is sporting a white shirt and black vest. They didn’t miss a single opportunity to highlight the song’s theme, did they?

One more thing: if your local store doesn’t happen to carry things like $18 soy sauce, you can buy it on Amazon. Of course, you could also just make this recipe with regular soy sauce, and I bet it will still taste good.

Black Rice Salad with White Soy Sauce

Ingredients:

• 2 tsp vegetable oil
• 1/2 head red cabbage, cored and sliced thinly
• 2 tsp rice vinegar
• 1 Tbsp sesame oil, divided
• 2 carrots, peeled and chopped in small cubes
• 2 medium shallots, chopped finely
• 5 cups cooked black (forbidden) rice
• 2-3 Tbsp white soy sauce
• 4 scallions, finely chopped
• 1 Tblsp roasted sesame seeds
• 1/4 cup chopped roasted cashews

Method:

• Heat the vegetable oil in a large saute pan over high heat. Add the cabbage and a large pinch of salt and saute for 3-5 minutes, until cabbage is softened but still bright purple and with a slight bite. Turn off heat and toss with rice vinegar. Spread around the rim of a large serving platter.
• In the same pan, heat 1 tsp sesame oil. Add the carrots and cook about 5 minutes, until they start to brown. Add the shallots and cook until carrots are soft and shallots are translucent.
• Add the cooked rice, 2 tsp sesame oil, the white soy sauce, the chopped scallions, and the sesame seeds. Cook for about 5 minutes to heat through.
• Arrange the rice in the middle of the cabbage and garnish with cashwews. Serve immediately.

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I made dinner for some friends who couldn’t have any dairy, so I thought this would be a fun departure from the average lactose-lacking side dish. Since forbidden rice doesn’t have the same starch structure as arborio or carnaroli rice (the typical Italian rice types used for risotto) this doesn’t get quite as creamy as a traditional risotto. On the plus side, it’s dairy free, vegan, and delicious. I served it with these excellent sweet chili baby back ribs from Steamy Kitchen. A hit all around!

Asian Forbidden Risotto

Ingredients:

• 1 Tblsp olive oil
• 2 shallots, chopped finely
• 2 cups forbidden rice
• 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
• 1/4 cup white miso
• 2 Tblsp rice vinegar
• 1 Tblsp soy sauce
• 2 lemongrass stalks, cut into a few pieces
• 1 inch piece ginger, peeled and chopped in a few pieces
• chili flakes (if desired)
• 4 cups chicken or vegetable stock
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 1 bunch asparagus, chopped into 1/2 inch pieces
• 3 scallions, chopped
• 1/2 large or 1 small red bell pepper, sliced thinly and chopped into 1 inch pieces
• sesame seeds for garnish

Method:

• Heat olive oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add shallots and cook until soft. Add rice and garlic and cook 1 minute, until garlic is fragrant.
• Dissolve miso in rice vinegar and soy sauce. Add into rice, along with lemongrass and ginger. (Count the pieces of lemongrass and ginger so you know how many to fish out at the end!) Add chili flakes to taste if desired.
• Add about a cup of stock and lower the heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, until stock has mostly been absorbed. Add stock in this manner until rice is cooked through. If it’s not fully cooked after you’ve added all the stock, add water a bit at a time until cooked through.
• Meanwhile, saute the chopped asparagus in the teaspoon of sesame oil just until it begins to brown. When rice is cooked, stir asparagus, scallions, and bell peppers into the rice.
• Sprinkle sesame seeds on top. Serve immediately.

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It’s a pretty easy recipe- I do the noodles and the broccoli in the same pot, and the sauce is just a food processor thing, so you can make this from start to finish in under 20 minutes. Of course, any vegetables of your liking will work. It’s a good dish to make for vegetarian company. Actually, I totally just realized this is VEGAN. I can’t believe I like something vegan! I think I just saw a pig fly. A delicious, delectable little pig. Mmmmm. Bacon.

Nutty Thai Noodle Salad
serves 3-4

Ingredients:

• 1 clove garlic, peeled
• 3 inch piece of ginger, peeled
• 1/4 cup peanut butter
• 1/4 cup almond butter (or just use more peanut butter)
• 1/4 cup hot water
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1 Tblsp sesame oil
• 2 Tblsp white wine vinegar
• 2 Tblsp honey
• 2 tsp dijon mustard (smooth, not grainy)
• 1 bunch broccoli or baby broccoli, trimmed and chopped
• 1 large or 2 small red bell peppers, seeded and sliced into thin strips
• 1 bunch scallions, white and light green parts finely chopped
• 12 oz. buckwheat soba noodles
• red pepper flakes or sriracha to taste
• sesame seeds to taste

Method:

• Put garlic and ginger in a food processor and pulse to chop. Add nut butters, hot water, soy sauce, oil, vinegar, honey and mustard and chop in the food processor until well mixed. Add red pepper flakes or sriracha to taste if desired and pulse again. Set aside.
• Heat a large pot of salted water on the stove. Add the broccoli and cook until tender, about 5 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon, rinse with cool water, drain, and set aside.
• In the same pot of water, add the soba noodles and cook according to package. Drain and rinse with cool water.
• In a bowl, combine noodles, broccoli, scallions, bell peppers, and dressing. Toss everything together to coat evenly. Sprinkle with a small handful of sesame seeds if desired and toss again. Serve immediately.
• This keeps for about a day if you want to eat the leftovers, but after that the noodles start to get a bit broken down.

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Divine! Although I did dump it out and realize it wasn’t done yet, so I had to re-upside-down it, cook it some more, then re-un-upside-down it. It worked surprisingly well in the end although there was a period of severe swearing that involved liquid hot caramel magma all over the kitchen and my pants, but the cake looked good after all that so no big deal in the end.

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Spicy Thai Noodle Bowl for One

Ingredients:

• 4 oz fresh whole wheat fettucine
• ½ tsp vegetable oil
• ¼ cup chopped white, yellow, or red onion
• 1 Tblsp torn cilantro leaves
• ~10 cracked coriander seeds
• 1 pack liquid chicken broth concentrate or 1/2 cup chicken broth
• 1/2 cup coconut milk
• salt and freshly ground pepper
• juice from 1 small lime
• 1 scallion, finely chopped
• sambal oelek or sriracha to taste

Method:

• Cook fettucine in salted boiling water until tender. Drain and reserve about 2 Tblsp pasta water.
• Meanwhile, heat oil in a small sauté pan. Add onion, cilantro, and coriander seeds and sauté until soft and fragrant, and onion just starts to brown.
• Add broth and coconut milk, plus a large pinch of salt and about 3-4 grinds of pepper, and reduce over medium high heat until thick and creamy.
• Add fettucine and reserved pasta water to pan and cook over medium high heat until sauce coats the noodles, about 3-5 minutes.
• Turn off heat and stir in lime juice and scallions.
• Pour into bowl and top with sambal oelek or sriracha to taste. If you put the amount shown here you will be in for some serious heat!
• This recipe can easily be made vegetarian by substituting vegetable broth for the chicken broth.

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