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 [...]

It’s well past kumquat season here, but I’ve been saving a few lonely specimens in my fridge for a rainy sunny day. The problem is that unlike fine wine, fresh fruit doesn’t always cooperate when you try to “save” it. As far as these kumquats and I were concerned, the time was now or never. I’d been planning to turn the winter’s last kumquats into a citrusy glaze to serve atop golden brown potatoes, and that’s just what I did. [...]

I was thinking of calling this a tropical fruit sorbet, but I guess there’s nothing too tropical about pomegranates and oranges, since they both grow locally in our lovely Mediterranean climate. Coconut, however, is another story. I’m finding coconut cream adds a nice texture to my non-dairy, vegan sorbets. In this case, it’s a surprising taste alongside our local fruits. As a bonus, this sorbet came out a gorgeous fuchsia.

This is one of my favorite ways to make waffles.