BEST. FROSTING. EVER. The tart balsamic vinegar is the perfect offset to the sugar.

Scale to servings

1½ cups	powdered sugar
1 stick	butter, room temperature
2 tbsp	olive oil
3 tbsp	balsamic vinegar

Beat butter and sugar until creamy. Add olive oil and vinegar and beat for another minute. Add more powdered sugar if necessary for stiffness.

Om nom nom! Make two for each person you expect to feed!

Scale to servings

14 oz	lite coconut milk
1¾ tsp	apple cider vinegar
½ cup	olive oil
1 1/3 cups	sugar
2¼ cups	flour, scant ¼ cup
4 tsp	vanilla
3½ tbsp	cornstarch
1 1/3 tsp	baking powder
7/8 tsp	baking soda
7/8 tsp	salt
3½ tbsp	curry powder
	Frosting
5 oz	cream cheese, room temperature
0.63 stick	butter, room temperature
2 1/3 cups	powdered sugar
1¾ tsp	lemon zest
3½ tsp	lemon juice

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Whisk the coconut milk and vinegar and set aside for a few minutes to curdle in the bowl of a stand mixer.

Beat in the oil, sugar, and vanilla.

Sift in the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and curry powder, and mix until no large lumps remain.

Fill cupcake liners 2/3 full. Bake 20-22 minutes. Cool on a rack.

Frosting

With an electric mixer on medium, beat the cream cheese and butter until softened. Slowly add the sugar, zest, and juice and beat until creamy, about 3 minutes.

Slightly sweet, slightly licoricey, very nibble-inducing. A grown-up cookie.

Scale to servings

1 stick	butter, room temp
¾ cup	sugar
1½ tbsp	fennel seed, ground
½ tsp	fennel pollen (reduce seeds by 1/2 tbsp)
¼ tsp	salt
1	egg
1¾ cups	flour
3 tbsp	chickpea flour, or cornmeal
1½ tsp	baking powder

Cream the butter and sugar together in a large bowl. Add the fennel seeds, fennel pollen, salt and egg and beat the mixture together.

In another bowl, combine the flour, chickpea flour and baking powder and whisk to combine.

Stirring all the time, add the dry ingredients slowly to the wet. Shape the dough into a log, cover in plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight — this is important, because you need the chickpea flour to incorporate the moisture of the other ingredients. Skip this step and you will have gritty cookies.

The next day, preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Slice off small cylinders of the log, roll them into a ball with your hands (warming the butter), then flatten them into a cylinder again. Squash each cylinder flat with a the bottom of a glass. They should be about 3/8" thick.

Bake until they begin to color on the edges. Remove and cool on a rack. Eat.

Make this with canned sweet potatoes if you're pressed for time.

Scale to servings

1½ lbs	sweet potatoes, up to 2 lb
14 oz	chickpeas
2 cloves	garlic
2 tbsp	olive oil
1 tsp	tahini
1 tbsp	ginger, mashed
1 tbsp	lemon juice
¼ tsp	salt
2 pinchs	cinnamon
1 pinch	cardamom
1 pinch	cloves
1 pinch	nutmeg
1 pinch	allspice

Peel the potatoes and chop into 1" cubes. Steam for about 10 minutes.

Drain water from the can of chick peas into a small bowl and reserve.

In a food processor or blender, blend all the ingredients. Add some of the reserved liquid from beans for correct consistency.

Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before serving to allow the flavors to meld and strengthen.

Serve With

Pita chips, french onion Sun chips, and celery sticks.

Johanna loves this.

Scale to servings

1 head	cabbage, small
1½ cups	peanutss, roasted
1 bunch	green onion
1 bunch	cilantro, chopped (amount is fairly arbitrary)
	Dressing
½ cup	vegetable oil, light - canola or olive
3 tbsp	rice vinegar
1 tbsp	brown sugar
1 tbsp	sesame oil
1 tsp	soy sauce

Shred the cabbage very finely. The fineness of the shredded cabbage is really what makes this salad; you want it in in threads, almost, and with the threads chopped into bite-size lengths.

Toss with the peanuts in a large bowl. Chop the scallions, including the green and white parts.

Toss the scallions and chopped cilantro with the cabbage, seasoning very lightly with salt and pepper.

Whisk the dressing until emulsified, then taste and adjust to your own preferences of sweetness and saltiness.

Toss with the cabbage. Garnish with a few more peanuts and serve.