Cafe Liz

It’s a simple black bean soup, but with a citrus tang — from oranges, kumquats or both. I first encountered a similar recipe about 10 years ago, and while I’ve long since forgotten which cookbook it was in, the mix of flavors has etched itself a place in my mind. Most such recipes call for orange juice, but I see no reason not to throw in the whole fruit — the zest goes in during the cooking stage, then I [...]

My friend Kazue is visiting from Japan, and her favorite food here just happens to be hummus. So I whipped up a batch or three. Hummus is quite possibly one of the simplest things to make, full of rich, creamy flavor — so long as you use fresh chickpeas. That canned stuff with the weird metallic aftertaste just isn’t as good. This requires a bit of advance planning, and a lot of passive cooking time. The chickpeas soak overnight, and [...]

I wasn’t going to post another soup, since they all kind of look the same, but this one came out really well. The cinnamon adds a nice touch, and all that spinach adds good flavor. In any case, I think it’s great to show what you can do without soup mix or premade broth — it’d be nice if certain restaurants were to catch on that you really don’t need these things in proper cooking.

It’s suddenly gotten cold — cold enough I’m sleeping in a sweatshirt, bundled under the comforter. I guess that’s making me want heavier food, because today I had a craving for a hearty pie with a chili filling, and decided on a cornbread crust.