Friday Favorites
Miso Maple Carrots, Hot Rabbis and Self-Care
Welcome back to Friday Favorites! I can’t wait to share this week’s scoop. This is the first week this newsletter will be sent via my Substack—I usually send it through my cooking class email list. But it’s time to share it with a broader set of friends. It’s a *very quick* glimpse at the previous week. I’ll include a fan-favorite recipe we made in a cooking class, something I’m watching, reading or listening to, a recent find and a “win for the week.”
This Week’s Recipe
I'm in the middle of teaching my six-week Basics series and this week's class was full of delicious veggie side dish recipes. We made Smashed Brussels Sprouts with Manchego, Spicy Japanese Eggplant, Miso-Roasted Carrots and Honey Roasted Butternut and Delicata Squash. Oh, and sweet potatoes baked in the Instant Pot (so easy, and they won't heat your whole house if you live in Houston, where it’s still 90 degrees). The miso carrots are so easy and have a sweet umami kick. If your ceramic baking dish or sheet pan chars a bit, fear not. After you're done, just fill it with hot, soapy water and the pan will be as good as new.
Miso-Maple Roasted Carrots
2 bushels of small organic carrots or rainbow carrots (about 12-14 total)
2 tablespoons olive or avocado oil
½ teaspoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon miso paste (I use organic mellow white miso)
2 tablespoons maple syrup
2 tablespoons rice vinegar (not seasoned, just plain rice vin)
1 tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce or tamari
1/4 cup water
Preheat the oven to 425°F.
Place the carrots on an unlined sheet pan or in a ceramic casserole dish and drizzle with the oil, turning to coat. Sprinkle with kosher salt. Place the pan in the top third of the oven and roast for 25 minutes.
While the carrots are cooking, grab a medium-sized bowl and whisk together the miso, maple syrup, rice vinegar, soy sauce and water. Set aside.
After 25 minutes, remove the carrots from the oven and drizzle on the miso mixture. Return the pan to the oven and roast for another 20 minutes or until golden and soft when pierced with a fork.
Note: I use this miso paste; most mellow white or yellow miso pastes will work great.
Currently Watching
Last week, I binged Nobody Wants This like the rest of America, and I can attest that EVERYBODY WANTS THIS! Adam Brody is sigh-worthy in this textbook meet-cute comedy.
Recent Find
From the back of an Uber in Santa Barbara last weekend, I ordered this nifty iPhone gadget to help me attach my phone to my kitchen backsplash or vent hood while filming cooking. It’s the cheapest content gadget I’ve ever invested in. My youngest niece influenced me to buy this, and I’m passing it on.
It's almost Prime Days (does it feel like this happens all the time now?!). A Prime Membership is the gift that keeps on giving, mainly because we use it for Prime Video (and there are five of us streaming at any given time).
If you're hosting Thanksgiving, next week’s Prime Days would be a prime time (see what I did there) to stock up on turkey roasters, turkey lifters, casserole dishes and a potato ricer.
Win Of The Week
Self-care can feel like an indulgent luxury, but if we don’t slow down the toll on our minds and bodies can be disastrous. Sometimes, when I'm not out-of-control busy, I feel guilty about slowing the pace. I'm not exactly sure why, and we will unpack that in my therapist's office in the coming months! But in an effort to slow down, I skipped a school coffee meeting this week that I didn't absolutely need to attend; I made an acupuncture appointment to soothe my nervous system and took some quiet morning walks with my pup. If you love to schedule everything (like me), schedule time in your calendar for yourself.