Hail, Caesar!

Applying heat to lettuce goes against everything I’ve ever been taught about the proper treatment of delicate leafy greens. Scared off by visions of slimy, wilted iceberg, the mere concept of tossing a few defenseless heads of romaine onto a roaring grill sounds like some nauseating joke. Heat and its transformative properties have the last laugh though; screaming-hot grates merely char the surface, imparting a bold new world of flavor in their wake while leaving the refreshingly crisp heart intact.

Bringing the Heat

In mere minutes, the outer leaves begin to blister and char around the edges, picking up a heady smokiness that no bottled dressing could ever imitate. Still, the center remains impossibly cool and crunchy, creating a study in contrasts with every bite: warm and cold, tender and crisp, bitter and sweet vegetal freshness. Drenched in a bold, punchy garlic dressing, heightened with lemon, briny capers, and enough umami to make your taste buds sing, it plays the classic tune in a new key.

Side or Centerpiece

Effortlessly elegant as side dish, it’s equally happy stealing the spotlight for dinner. You’ve got beans in the dressing for your protein, after all, if you’re worried about nutritional balance. In that case, I’d say this recipe serves one, so plan to double up or don’t plan to share. This recipe was originally printed in my best-selling cookbook, Real Food, Really Fast! and is still a regular guest at my table to this day.

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Wordless Wednesday: Soy Joy

Anh Em – Tofu Banh Mi
Blue Sushi Sake Grill – Tofu Lettuce Wraps
Bodhi Viet Vegans – Braised Tofu
Bodhi Viet Vegans – Orange Tofu
Bodhi Viet Vegans – Tofu Pudding
Bodhi Viet Vegans – Vegan Crab-Tofu Noodle Soup
Dumpling World – Spicy Tofu Potstickers
Fire Bowl Cafe – Thai Basil Vegetable Stir Fry with Soft Tofu
Franchia Vegan Cafe – Sizzling Braised Tofu with Kabocha and Eggplant
Ho Ho Chinese BBQ – Fried Tofu with Special Salt
Kuway’s Banh Mi – Zucchini Noodles with Garlic Tofu
The One Pho – Tofu Vermicelli Noodle Salad
Yellow Ranger – Popcorn Tofu

Hannah (BitterSweet)7 Comments

New Ground Rules

Ground beef is a nearly universal staple ingredient that does a lot of heavy lifting. Foundational for countless comfort foods and macro-conscious meals alike, it’s the heart and soul of sauces, soups, tacos, casseroles, and so much more. Something of a culinary chameleon, it moves fluidly between cuisines and cooking styles, anchoring dishes with richness and texture, whether it’s merely playing a supporting role or taking center stage. That’s exactly what makes it such a challenge to replace.

DIY, Don’t Buy

Many plant-based alternatives come with a price tag that makes the average Taco Tuesday feel like a splurge. Homemade versions can have wildly varying results, veering from mushy to rubbery to gritty with little warning based on glowing recipe reviews. All we want are simple ingredients, easy prep, an undeniably meaty flavor, toothsome chew, and a solid dose of protein. Is that so much to ask? I didn’t think so, which is why I took matters into my own hands.

Where’s The Beef?

Powered by Naked Pea protein powder and vital wheat gluten, this recipe transforms a handful of pantry staples into remarkably hearty vegan ground beef crumbles with an impressive nutritional profile. Nutritional yeast layers in savory depth, while mushroom broth, soy sauce, ketchup, and vegan Worcestershire sauce create a rich umami backbone that tastes far greater than the sum of its parts. Finally, a touch of beet powder provides subtle color, helping the finished crumbles look as robust as they taste. In a matter of minutes and minimal prep, they’re ready to step into virtually any role traditionally reserved for ground meat.

Everyday Essentials

Since first developing this foolproof formula, I’ve made sure I have a batch on hand at all times. It freezes beautifully and comes in clutch when throwing together a quick meal. Given the infinite number of ways you can use it, you could very well eat it everyday without getting bored, or even once repeating a recipe. Craving a giant bubbling vat of chili? Want a quick quesadilla after midnight? Feeding the fam on a budget? These crumbles rise to every occasion.

  • Soups and stews: Yes, you can make one mean chili, with or without beans, thanks to this mega meaty groundwork. Brothier bowls are just as satisfying, including beef and barley soup, Italian wedding soup, and minestrone soup, just for starters.
  • Mexican Meals: Tacos, burritos, enchiladas, nachos, and quesadillas are a natural fit for these protein powerhouses. Seasoned with cumin, chili powder, smoked paprika, garlic, and a few hot chilies, no one would know there’s zero animal meat involved.
  • Pasta and sauces: From your generic ragu to hearty Bolognese, this is your new BBF (that’s Best Beef Friend, thank you very much). Don’t forget about meat lasagna, ravioli, stuffed shells, baked ziti, and even stroganoff.

  • Salads and grain bowls: Even a simple greens-and-protein combo becomes a full meal with the right toppings. Cheeseburger salads are a favorite of mine, but for something warmer, you can always make Chipotle bowls at home with seasoned rice, beans, salsa, and guacamole. I’ve used it to make an amazing soboro donburi that I plan to repeat very soon, too.
  • Casseroles: Anything goes in the cozy, slightly chaotic world of casseroles, where everything gets baked together and somehow benefits for it. Think shepherd’s pie, tater tot hot dish, tamale pie, upgraded green bean casserole, or anything involving a layer of melted vegan cheese.
  • Stuffed Vegetables: Bell peppers, zucchinis, tomatoes, eggplant, baked potatoes, mushrooms, cabbage; anything that can be hollowed out or turned into an edible wrapper can become a prime protein delivery system.
  • Bread, buns, and pockets: It’s hard to contain so much deliciousness, but you can still try by making sloppy joes, pita pockets, steamed buns, lettuce wraps, and even calzones or empanadas if you’re going all-out. Dumplings, be it wontons or gyoza, steamed or pan-fried, fit right in as another way to wrap everything up into a satisfying bite-sized package.

High Protein Whole Foods

Built with flavor and texture as the primary goals, these crumbles still pull impressive numbers when it comes to nutrition. Namely, 33 grams of protein per serving or 133 grams for the whole batch, and that’s before adding them to whatever meal you’re making. They’re already doing the bulk of the work on their own before veggies and grains enter the picture. You can also expect 2.5 grams of fiber per serving, which, while unimpressive on its own, is 2.5 grams more than conventional meat.

Beyond the Package

Store-bought meat alternatives certainly have their place, but with just a bit more planning and preparation, we can do better. Naked Pea makes that process remarkably simple. Its neutral flavor and substantial protein content provide the backbone needed to create the most beefy meatless grounds to have ever graced your plate, without requiring a chemistry degree.

The most useful ingredient in your kitchen is one that helps inspire dozens more dishes. Ground meat fits that bill and this lookalike behaves in exactly the same way. Macro goals to meet? Many mouths to feed? Your dinner destiny is in your hands.

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Hannah (BitterSweet)3 Comments

Barley There

Unlike many other ancient grains, barley has managed to maintain a modest degree of modern visibility. Most people are far more likely to recognize it in its whole grain form than as a flour. Even so, I’d wager the first thing that came to mind when I mentioned “barley” was soup. Mushroom-barley, vegetable-barley, beef-barley; it’s been pigeonholed into brothy comfort food for so long that it’s easy to forget how versatile and diverse it truly is.

Black Nile Barley is a perfect example. Past the familiar taxonomy of hulled, hulless, quick, and pearl barley lies a world of heirloom cultivars. Wrapped in a rich purple-black sheath, this dramatic variety is poised to pull barley out of the stockpot and back onto the center of the table. No mere novelty, this rare heritage grain isn’t found in your average grocery store. 

Trying Grand Teton Ancient Grains Black Nile Barley berries changed everything I thought I knew about the grain. Instead of the pale, utilitarian barley found collecting dust in bulk bags, these berries looked almost jewel-like. Cooked, they held their shape beautifully, delivering a pleasantly chewy texture and a depth of flavor that felt far more akin to wild rice or farro than the barley of my childhood.

Black Nile Barley Tabbouleh

Origin of the Original Barley

Descended from dark-pigmented barley strains historically grown in the Nile River region, evidence of wild barley dates back over 10,000 years ago in the Fertile Crescent and the Tibetan Plateau. In Ancient Egypt, Black Nile Barley was the food of the people, while emmer was reserved for nobility. Thriving alongside the Nile River, barley was abundant and affordable, feeding both humans and animals alike. While selective breeding has often prioritized yield and uniformity, it has also stripped away the vitality, nutrition, and complex flavors that once defined it.

Mediterranean Black Nile Barley Salad

Barley a Difference

What about black barley? Black barley isn’t a single variety, but rather a broad category encompassing any barley with a naturally dark outer bran. Black Nile Barley is one such variety, distinguished by its origin and heirloom pedigree. While all Black Nile Barley is black barley, not all black barley is Black Nile Barley. Other black barley cultivars are grown throughout Asia, Africa, and Europe, each with its own history, flavor, and growing characteristics. The distinction is similar to that between apples and Honeycrisp apples or rice and Carolina Gold rice. Black Nile Barley, such as that grown by Grand Teton Ancient Grains, preserves the defining characteristics of this historic cultivar that make it so special.

Black Nile Barley Pitaya Porridge

Nutritional Dark Horse

Even the most impoverished Egyptians found great nourishment in Black Nile Barley. Distinguished by its naturally dark indigo bran, the color comes from anthocyanins, the same family of pigments that gives blueberries, black rice, and purple corn their dramatic hues, along with a impressive dose of antioxidants. Aside from the arresting color, even more notable is remarkable amount of manganese in every 1/2 cup (cooked) serving, to the tune of 97% of your RDA. It’s also a great source of thiamine, selenium, magnesium, riboflavin, niacin, iron, phosphorus, potassium, zinc, and copper. Who needs supplements when you can eat your vitamins?

In case you’re worried more about the bigger picture of macronutrients, don’t worry; Black Nile Barley has you covered. Barley has more fiber and protein than modern wheat, at a whopping 16 grams and 11 – 12 grams, respectively. Because the outer bran remains intact, you get many more nutritional benefits than pearl barley, too. The only dietary caution is that it does contain gluten, and is thus unsuitable for our celiac friends.

Black Nile Barley and Vegetable Soup

What Does Black Nile Barley Taste Like?

Pearl barley is prized for its mild, subtly sweet, and agreeable taste that plays well with all herbs and spices. Black Nile Barley has a bolder character that isn’t afraid to make itself known. Possessing an incredible depth of flavor that leads with notes of roasted nuts, bitter cacao, and freshly brewed coffee, it unfolds into a rich, earthy complexity with a lingering finish reminiscent of dark toast and molasses. Bold yet balanced, it’s a grain that refuses to stay in the background, bringing character and intensity to every dish it touches.

How to Cook Black Nile Barley

Like all unprocessed whole grains, Black Nile Barley rewards a little patience. On the plus side, it’s much harder to overcook, and grains remain firm and toothsome for a wide range of possible uses. Rinsing the grains before cooking is a good idea to remove any dust or field debris, but soaking isn’t necessary.

  • Stove Top: Combine 1 cup of Black Nile Barley with 3 cups of water or broth. Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce the heat to maintain a gentle simmer. Cover and cook for 45 – 60 minutes, or until the grains are tender but still pleasantly chewy. If any liquid remains, simply drain it before serving. Letting the barley rest for 5 to 10 minutes off the heat allows the grains to firm up slightly and absorb any remaining moisture.
  • Pressure Cooker: Combine 1 cup of Black Nile Barley with 2 1/2 cups of water or broth and cook on High Pressure for 20 – 25 minutes. Allow the pressure to release naturally for about 10 minutes before venting any remaining pressure. Drain if needed. The result is evenly cooked barley with a tender interior and satisfying bite.

Black Nile Barley Veggie Burger

Black Nile Barley Uses and Recipe Ideas

Anywhere you’d reach for farro, wheat berries, brown rice, or even quinoa, Black Nile Barley can step in just as easily. Lending both visual appeal and satisfying bite to everything from simple side dishes to hearty mains, it’s a remarkably versatile ingredient that deserves far more than a supporting role.

  • Grain bowls: Build a hearty meal by topping cooked Black Nile Barley with roasted vegetables, crispy tofu, beans, avocado, or a drizzle of tahini. Its chewy texture holds up well under warm and cold toppings alike.
  • Grain salads: Toss cooled barley with fresh herbs, cucumbers, tomatoes, roasted vegetables, nuts, vegan cheese, or a bright vinaigrette. Unlike softer grains, it stays pleasantly firm even after a day in the refrigerator. That makes it especially great fodder for packed school lunches, travel, picnics, and potlucks.
  • Pilafs: Sauté onions, garlic, and mushrooms before simmering the barley in vegetable broth. Finish with fresh herbs for a simple yet deeply flavorful side dish.
  • Soups and stews: While Black Nile Barley is versatile enough to move beyond soup, it still excels in its most familiar role. The grains absorb broth without losing their shape, making them ideal for vegetable, mushroom, or bean-based soups.
  • Breakfast porridge: Cook the barley until tender, then serve with your favorite non-dairy milk, cinnamon, maple syrup or agave, toasted nuts, and fresh or dried fruit for a hearty alternative to oatmeal.
  • Stuffed vegetables: Mix cooked barley with sautéed vegetables, herbs, vegan cheese, and/or meatless grounds before stuffing cabbage, peppers, tomatoes, zucchini, or winter squash. 
  • Veggie burgers: Fold cooked barley into bean- or lentil-based burger mixtures to add texture, structure, and a satisfying chew.
  • Risotto, AKA barlotto: Swap Arborio rice for barley to create a rustic variation on risotto with any seasonal vegetables on hand.
  • Bread: Typically used alongside at least some wheat flour, barley flour by itself makes incredibly dense loaves. Best served toasted or alongside brothy dishes where it can soak up liquid, this bread leans into heft rather than levity, often improved by a touch of moisture or fat to soften its naturally tight crumb.
  • Pilaf: Simply cooked with broth, olive oil, butter, or fresh herbs, Black Nile Barley makes an excellent side dish to pair with your favorite plant-based protein. If you want to spice things up, consider adding curry powder, toasted cashews, and fresh cilantro to make a biryani-inspired variation.

The Stuff(ing) of Legends

Barley has culinary potential that far exceeds its traditional trappings of soup and stew, but there’s still merit in those classic parings. Deeply comforting, tried-and-true, mushroom-barley soup is the unshakable foundation that inspired these stuffed peppers. Instead of watering things down with a half gallon of broth, the same earthy flavors are concentrated into a hearty filling of sautéed onions, mushrooms, herbs, and chewy Black Nile Barley. Tucked inside sweet bell peppers and baked until tender, they capture everything that makes the classic pairing so enduring while proving that barley deserves a place well beyond the stock pot.

What’s Old is New Again

Black Nile Barley is a bridge to the past. Cultivated for millennia yet largely absent from modern menus, the fresh crop from Grand Teton Ancient Grains offers a rare opportunity to reconnect with one of humanity’s oldest cultivated grains. Its remarkable history is reason enough to seek it out, but its rich, nutty flavor, satisfying chew, and remarkable versatility are what earn it a permanent place in my pantry.

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Hannah (BitterSweet)6 Comments

Shout It From The Rooftops

Some experiments are born from necessity, others from unbound curiosity. Then, there are those born purely of heatstroke-induced insanity, or so it would seem when the idea first struck me. With forecasts hovering at a scorching 106 degrees and the sun pounding down without an ounce of mercy, I had to do something with all that heat. If I could fry vegan eggs on the sidewalk, bake cookies in a car, and cook lasagna in a mailbox, could I go bigger? Could I bake a whole pizza… On the roof?

Getting Baked

Sure, conventional ovens are reliable, fast, and hygienic. However, when the summer heat sets in, baking the entire earth itself, why waste more energy and jack up the temperature inside the house, too? Let nature do the heavy lifting, especially when the ambient heat is already intense enough to melt the soles off your sneakers.

While 106 degrees is impressive for a forecast, it isn’t even close to hot enough to bake a whole pizza from scratch. Professional pizza ovens can easily reach 900 degrees or more, while a home oven tops out around 500. If this was going to work, I was going to need to bring in the heavy artillery, in the form of cast iron.

Cooking Time 0:00

Heavy Metal Pizza Party

Did you think I was about to just toss a whole pie up there a la Breaking Bad? I was originally planning on using a sheet pan just to keep things clean, but then I realized my trusty cast iron skillet could do more than just contain the mess. While direct sunlight delivers a steady stream of radiant energy, a dark, sturdy cooking vessel can absorb and retain some of it.

It takes a 12-inch cast iron skillet to contain the average frozen pizza, which is what we’re working with here. It can’t have a rising crust or start from raw dough for this to work at all. A thin, already par-baked frozen pizza is the best candidate because we’re really reheating and finishing it, rather than asking the sun to perform the considerably more demanding task of baking raw dough from scratch. A prepared shelf-stable crust could work in a pinch, too, although I personally find most of them about as appetizing as cardboard. Flavor may be a secondary objective here, but it still counts.

Don’t Be Like Walter White in Breaking Bad

Sun-Kissed Skillet

By placing the empty skillet in direct, unobstructed sunlight, it can effectively preheat while the sun reaches its peak. The shingles underneath play an important role, too. A dark roof sitting in direct summer sunlight can become dramatically hotter than the surrounding air, effectively turning the entire surface into a giant solar collector.

I chose a reasonably flat, level section of roof with maximum sun exposure. A sloped roof might be more architecturally interesting, but it’s a terrible place to balance several pounds of screaming-hot cookware. If your skillet starts slowly migrating toward the gutter, the experiment has officially gone too far.

Once the skillet had spent some time soaking up the midday sun, I added the frozen pizza and covered it with a clear glass lid. Heat-safe plastic wrap would work as well, if you don’t have a matching set. The idea is to create a miniature greenhouse, allowing sunlight to pass through the clear cover, while the enclosed air and accumulated heat can’t escape as readily. It also provides a critical secondary function: keeping the flies off. Even rooftop pizza attracts freeloaders.

Cooking Time 0:50

Let There Be Light

Timing is crucial. I started the experiment around noon, when the sun was approaching its strongest point. A clear day is essential; clouds may not lower the air temperature much, but they can dramatically reduce the radiant energy reaching your setup. This is also where patience becomes mandatory. An oven can cook a pizza in minutes, while the sun will take hours.

After about an hour, the cheese had begun to glisten, starting to sweat under scrutiny. After 2 hours, it was reasonably liquefied. Given how notoriously difficult it is to melt vegan cheese to a reasonable degree, this marks a huge success. The crust, of course, remained pale as a ghost, but at least it looked dry, if rather floppy.

The roof itself reached over 170 degrees, and with the combination of direct sunlight, dark cast iron, and the greenhouse effect from the clear cover, the enclosed cooking environment likely climbed to around 200 degrees or more. That’s still nowhere near standard cooking temperatures, but it was enough to gradually heat the pizza through.

Cooking Time 1:55

Notes From the Field

A few things became very clear over the course of this ridiculous experiment:

  • Peak sun matters. Start around noon and take advantage of the strongest sunlight between roughly 12 and 3 PM. Don’t expect the same results if you start late in the afternoon, even if it’s still brutally hot.
  • Clouds are the enemy. This experiment depends on direct solar radiation, not simply hot air. Wait for the clearest day you can find.
  • Flat is not optional. A level roof keeps the skillet where you put it. A pitched roof turns your solar oven into a potential pizza sled.
  • Use a dark, heavy pan. Cast iron absorbs and retains heat far better than a lightweight, shiny baking sheet, making it much better suited to this slow solar bake.
  • Give the skillet time to preheat. Put the empty pan out before adding the pizza, ideally for at least 1 hour, allowing it to absorb as much heat as possible before the pizza enters the picture.
  • Keep it covered. The clear lid or plastic wrap traps heat and creates the greenhouse effect while keeping insects, dust, leaves, and other rooftop debris out of your lunch.
  • Choose your pizza carefully. Thin crust and already par-baked are essential. Skip raw dough, rising crusts, deep dish, and anything heavily loaded with wet toppings. The sun has limits.
  • Use an infrared thermometer. The weather forecast tells you the air temperature. The thermometer tells you what your pizza is actually dealing with. Check the roof, pan, and pizza itself periodically.
  • Be patient. Commit somewhere between 2 – 3 hours for this project. Conditions will vary, so think of the clock as a guideline rather than a guarantee.
  • Don’t leave it unattended. This is a heavy, hot piece of cookware sitting on a roof. Keep an eye on the setup, especially if there’s any wind, and only attempt the experiment somewhere you can safely access and where the surface can support you and the equipment.
  • Protect yourself. Always use potholders, even after the lower-intensity preheating stage. That also means to apply sunscreen liberally, stay in the shade when you can, and drink plenty of water! Spend too much time out there with your pizza, and you’ll start cooking, too.

Nothing New Under The Sun

Unsurprisingly, this method will never produce the best pizza you’ve ever had. It won’t even produce the most acceptable pizza you’ve ever had. It will, however, give you an edible pizza-like substance, albeit completely lacking in structural integrity. Similar to the effect of tossing a day-old slice in the microwave for 30 seconds, but with a few hours of work and the risk of heat exhaustion, it’s objectively one of the least satisfying ways to prepare dinner.

At least I’m not one to be deterred by impracticality. If anything, the sheer absurdity of the whole concept is what made it so appealing. Once I got it into my head, I simply had to see the plan in action. What else am I supposed to do when it’s too hot to leave the house, after all? I’m sure my neighbors already think I’m a little strange, but crouching on the roof in the middle of a heatwave with a cast iron skillet and a camera probably didn’t do much to dispel that notion.

Maybe next heatwave, I’ll have a better idea, or at least one that doesn’t require explaining myself to the nice people living next door.

Hannah (BitterSweet)13 Comments