November Life
plus a recipe from The Year Long Pantry!
November 29th is the deadline to submit your products / services to the subscriber Freak My Week Gift Guide. A roundup of all the cool things you are doing and making. Don’t be shy…showoff what you do! And you don’t need to be a paid subscriber to be included. Details here.
Hi,
This will be the last recipe of the year! Next month, I’ll be sending out all the cool things you are doing in our subscriber roundup. Remember to submit by November 29th. All the details here.
We’re closing it out with a recipe from Erin Alderson’s newest book (The Year Long Pantry) and a mini Freak My Week roundup below.
Thank you for being here.
Love,
Jessica
The Things That Freaked My Week
Some things I’m currently into…
Botanical Interest Seed Shakers
A genius idea to wildflowers and ground covers. Great for a new gardener or just wanting to throw down some seeds and see what happens. The Butterfly Mix has so many great flowers.
The New Grocer via Snaxshot
A really great read on the state of choice, high-end groceries, and the Erwhon of it all.
Aris Moore
After being absent from social media for over a year, I felt compelled to see what was happening there the day after the election. I logged on and promptly left. But one of the first posts I saw was this one. Aris’s art captures so many feelings in such a subtle way. If there was one benefit of logging on it was seeing this.
Veneda Clark Rings
I want one bad.
Do You Need A Menopause Doula? via The Times
I love this line from the piece: “Perimenopausal women, she explains “are often in a great deal of distress, overwhelm and exhaustion. They’re at odds with the world, with a need to be away from people. Yet the world requires them to be present, holding it together with a nice smile.”
The queen Sharon Horgan talked about her menopause doula in a recent Vanity Fair article and her choice to include it in the new season of Bad Sisters.
Edie Parker Tulip Bag
Red or blue?
Tostadas with Salsa Negra Tempeh and Quick Curtido from The Yearlong Pantry: Bright, Bold Vegetarian Recipes to Transform Everyday Staples
I’ve always been a fan of Erin Alderson’s recipes – they’re straight forward yet still super unique (and I generally have all the ingredients for them already). And her newest book The Yearlong Pantry is all the reasons why I’m a fan.
The Yearlong Pantry is part how-to cooking manual and part cookbook full of all the ways to cook beans, grains, legumes, nuts, and seeds. There are so many recipes I’m excited about, but chose this Salsa Negra Tempeh because I love all the little parts involved in making it. When a recipe has a ton of steps, I generally shy away from them…but Erin makes all the steps easy and doesn’t require you to buy a million ingredients.
Add this to the list of Best Cookbooks of 2024! Congrats, Erin.
Tostadas with Salsa Negra Tempeh and Quick Curtido
Serves 3 - 4
TORTILLAS
½ cup packed (75 g) masa harina
½ cup (120 g) warm, 100˚F (38˚C) water, or as needed
½ cup (120 ml) avocado oil or other neutral high-heat oil for frying
SALSA NEGRA
2 dried medium-heat chiles, such as mulato, stemmed and seeded
1 to 2 dried hot chiles, such as chiles de árbol, stemmed and seeded
8 to 10 garlic cloves, smashed
1 tablespoon white sesame seeds
1 tablespoon dark brown sugar
2 teaspoons rice vinegar
1½ teaspoons kosher salt
TEMPEH
4 ounces (115 g) tempeh
1 tablespoon avocado oil or other neutral high-heat oil
PREPARATION:
Make the tortillas: In a medium bowl, combine the masa harina and warm water. Stir and knead until well combined and smooth, cover, and let rest for 5 minutes.
Preheat a cast-iron skillet or comal to medium heat. Divide the dough into eight pieces and shape into balls. Using a tortilla press (or something similar if you’re feeling crafty), press one ball into a 4-inch (10 cm) tortilla.
Transfer the tortilla to the preheated surface and cook for 20 seconds, then flip and cook for another 20 seconds. Flip once more, allowing the tortilla to puff, then transfer to a plate. Repeat with the remaining balls of dough.
Pour the avocado oil into an 8-inch (20 cm) skillet over medium heat. Once the oil is hot, add one tortilla and fry until crisp and golden, about 45 seconds per side. Drain on a wire rack and repeat with the remaining tortillas. Set aside.
Make the salsa: Add the chiles to the same skillet with the remaining oil from frying the tortillas. Cook over medium heat until starting to brown, 1 to 2 minutes. Turn off the heat and add the garlic and sesame seeds. Let cool slightly. Transfer to a blender or food processor. Add the sugar, vinegar, and salt and puree. Set aside.
Prepare the tempeh: Bring a few inches of water to a boil in a saucepan fitted with a steamer basket. Put the tempeh in the steamer basket and steam for 10 minutes. Remove from the steamer, let cool enough to handle, then crumble.
Heat the oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add the crumbled tempeh and fry, stirring occasionally, until golden, 3 to 4 minutes. Stir in a few spoonfuls of salsa and set aside.
Make the curtido: Combine the cabbage, carrot, scallions, vinegar, oregano, and salt in a medium bowl and massage until the cabbage is slightly wilted.
To serve: Peel and pit the avocados and smash in a small bowl. Spread a bit of avocado onto each of the fried tortillas, then layer with spoonfuls of the tempeh. Finish with a bit of the curtido and serve with lime wedges.
Excerpted with permission from The Yearlong Pantry by Erin Alderson, published by Hardie Grant Publishing, October 22, 2024.
And some books by me:
One Part Plant: A Guide to Eating Real One Meal At a Time
Know Your Endo: An Empowering Guide To Health + Hope With Endometriosis