spice rack #10

recs! and a spring-to-summer recipe

I ended my job at the end of April, which made May my month of funemployment before a quick trip to Greece and heading home before med school. With all the unstructured time I’ve had this past year, I expected to be writing and creating much more than usual but that didn’t really happen. Unless the pages of my journal (read: notes app) count as writing – in that case, get me a gold star because I was incredibly prolific! Writing in my journal doesn’t change anything, but there is a boldness to confronting reality and allowing myself to get messy, which my younger self didn’t do enough. Her journal was filled with lists and goals and dreams (the sleeping kind, which was fun) instead of feelings, so it’s almost as if I’m making up for skipping the teenage angst phase. 

More videos, more recipes, more essays – that was the intention, but I am starting to wonder what I wanted out of more. Sometimes I just don’t feel like being a person on the internet! At least not as regularly as before, but creating is not synonymous with “be active, like that comment, reply to that DM.” The two are conflated in a digital landscape that rewards speed, but how nice would it be to make something just to make something, without its destination in mind, and sit with it! Which reminds me of what many people have echoed about music criticism lately, where critics offer hasty opinions after a couple of listens to an album, which is rarely enough to have formative thoughts about it. 

Of course, there is a balance to be found, as putting out nothing due to fear that it isn’t ready also stifles creativity. I’ve started essays on topics that I used to write about more often (i.e. food justice), but pressed pause if I sensed it wasn’t well-researched enough or it wasn't saying anything new. But I think I need to understand that the stakes are low. There are only a thousand of you. (Almost!) If it’s bad, you guys can tell me. If it’s not a useful addition to the internet, well, hopefully it was still a stepping stone to something else. 

Instead, I posted to stay relevant enough for people to come to my in-person events, which is what I found myself gravitating toward these past few seasons. These events are definitely too much work for too little pay, but hosting them feels almost euphoric and I can afford to do so right now. I’m not too sure about later, which is why I feel like I need to do them right now. I’ve always wanted to experience a food service job, so this is a natural alternative. 

At my supper club this weekend, I’m mostly serving recipes that are confirmed hits, which saved me from recipe testing. I’m riffing on tomato bell pepper chutney, mushroom matar korma, corn panzanella, and more. I know the food will come together – what I’m stressed about is the VIBES. How do I transform my building’s fluorescent lounge into a dreamy summer dinner party? Where should I get more serving platters/plates/utensils/etc. from? Will my hodge podge of mismatched ceramics and my roommates’ Target plates look nice? 

I’ll share photos/recipes after this weekend. Until then, here are some recs, followed by a recipe I loved creating for my pop up at Farm to People!

reading  

James by Percival Everett: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn told from Jim’s perspective. Such a powerful reframing of a familiar story!

Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano: A modern Little Women that once again reminded me that it would be soooo nice to have a sister. 

Better Than the Movies by Lynn Painter: So high school…but in a really good way.  

The Right to Sex by Amia Srinivasan: I hear that people who are well-versed in feminine studies weren’t too blown away but for me, it was a great place to start. 

All About Love: New Visions by bell hooks: Oscillated between resonating with the words and feeling thrown off by other aspects of the book (i.e. overemphasizing the gender divide) 

I also came across this Palestine reading list recently and started with Freedom is a Constant Struggle by Angela Y. Davis. 

eating  

I wrote some of this in the last newsletter, which also included some NYC spots I’ve been loving!

for breakfast: 

This was how I felt a few weeks ago but now…now having smoothies for breakfast means my summer personality is coming out of its shell. The other day I even had some ICE CREAM as a smoothie bowl topping! Who is she!

for lunch: 

A French bakery near me bakes baguettes daily so I got a baguette and made a sandwich – sauteed kale with lots of nutritional yeast is fab. Very into snap peas and maitakes on toast with leftover tofu ricotta. And big bowls of everything with focaccia I still have in my freezer. 

for dinner: 

Lots of tempeh. I like slicing into rectangles, steaming for 10 minutes, maybe crumbling, and stir frying with veggies. Lately I’ve been using lots of spring garlic, carrots, cauliflower, and cabbage, and since starting An Everlasting Meal by Tamar Adler, I’ve turned to boiling my vegetables and feel like I’m at the cusp of innovation every day because of it. 

I was blessed to experience ramp season on the east coast, and followed Justine Snacks’ recipe to make ramp butter and oil. Turned the ramp butter into kale and ramp pasta, topped with lemon pepper dill walnuts!

some honorable NYC mentions: 

Ro’s Diner, an all-vegan diner with really fire chick’n and waffles. (East Williamsburg)

B&H Dairy for a pierogi + soup special that is so comforting. (East Village)

Ayat for Palestinian food. We had the vegan platter with a variety of sides! They have some more traditional offerings for nonvegans. (East Village, multiple locations)

Popup Bagels. Annoying menu (you have to buy a minimum of 3 bagels with the schmear separately) but warm, wonderful bagels perfect for sharing! (West Village)

Ozakaya. A Japanese restaurant with a few stellar vegan options. I had the vegetable donburi and seaweed salad. The next day I tried to mimic the donburi at home with a gingery miso coconut sauce and it was great. (Prospect Heights)

other treats: 

I attended my last of four Brooklyn cookbook clubs, organized by my friend Steph. I made the sweet carrot ukoy from Abi Balingit’s Mayumu, a Filipino-American dessert book. I ate a total of four treats because that’s all that was vegan (shoutout to Alex’s spelt scallion buns), but cookbook club isn’t really about eating as much as it’s about gathering with people who want to talk home cooking and food and more. This group has been a consistent pocket of community for me, but I recently connected with someone organizing a cookbook club in LA, so I’m excited for that.

I also made a matcha strawberry coconut cake for my roommate’s birthday! I usually do circular cakes for birthdays, but I thought a rectangle would look cool. The base was this vegan vanilla cake, baked in a 9 x 13 pan, cut into three rectangles, and stacked on top of each other. The frosting was made with random amounts of coconut cream, vegan cream cheese, vegan butter, and powdered sugar. I reserved half of it to place in between the layers and then added matcha to the rest for the outside of the cake. 

listening

I can never just find a cool playlist on Spotify and hit play and move on. No. I need to be on aux. For myself. I must deliberately queue every song and switch up the order every 10 minutes for absolutely no reason other than I think the moment (me on my bed at night, that’s the moment) will be slightly better with the altered order. Anyways, here are a few playlists on repeat, created through my highly inefficient yet pleasing strategy. 

• hungover from your words (on being remembered. my favorite playlist of the year maybe? birthed by many dramatic subway rides) 

• that’s that me decaffo (my pop girl playlist, marking my transition from bursting into ‘cuz i’m a singerrrrr’ to ‘i’m everywhere i’m so julia, ah ah ah ah’) 

• bleeding // sweet (a playlist that swings from the grief type of sad to the yearning type of sad. The exact divider currently starts at track 19)  

I’ve been on this app called Superfan for the last 6 months and it’s not the most accurate but I still find it so fun. The ‘vibe this week’ is a very amusing use of AI. 

like they really took the artists and made sure there was an element of each

I was on my third podcast about the Kendrick-Drake battle so I could participate in the discourse but I was running and the podcasts were making me more tired so no more for me. Instead I’d recommend:

Vibe Check. A recent favorite: this episode about the anti-war protests on college campuses and an analysis of Zendaya’s career. 

Voices of Palestinian Farmers from Whetstone Audio Dispatch

Switched on Pop. Here is the episode about the Billie Eilish album, which I predictably loved.  (Also I just noticed they have a joint episode with Gastropod about restaurant playlists? Will be listening.) 

Culture Study Podcast. A recent favorite: Why Do We Get So Mad At Celebrities?

The Big Picture. Just the film podcast I listen to every time I finish watching a movie. The episodes are really long! If I’m ever worried about my attention span while watching a movie and failing to say interesting things about it after, this podcast is a crutch. (Not that you should fake it. But maybe sometimes.)

watching 

For once in my life, I feel up-to-date on what’s in theaters. Here’s everything I saw (plus some I streamed) from most-to-least favorite. (You can be my 4th Letterboxd friend if you want.) 

Challengers - The only review that matters to me. It was NICE! Let’s do more house music at the movies! I liked the part where there was tennis but tennis is actually just heavy breathing and desire!

Love Lies Bleeding - Kristen Stewart falls in love with a female bodybuilder in New Mexico. They get entwined with the former’s shady family, commit some crimes themselves, and run. So fun and campy.

Memento (2000) - Perhaps the first Christopher Nolan movie I loved. The form quite literally demands a rewatch.

I Saw the TV Glow - Comforting horror with a lot of trans subtext that I didn’t fully pick up on until I listened to this podcast episode about the movie. With a Phoebe Bridgers and Sloppy Jane cameo? Yes. 

La Chimera - Josh O’Connor is a rugged British man in Italy looking for his lover and also digging up stolen treasures? Confusing arthouse film but the vibes were immaculate.

Cruel Intentions (1999) - They simply do not make trash this delicious anymore…

Civil War - Mostly reminded me to reread It’s What I Do by Lynsey Addario, a book that says more about my favorite aspect of this movie (the photojournalist’s perspective on war and conflict) than the movie does

Monkey Man - Action isn’t really my thing but loved to see an entirely South Asian cast in Hollywood 

Bones and All (2022) - cannibalism, Timothee Chalamet, mostly watched to follow up Love Lies Bleeding 

Anyone But You - “Unwritten” as the theme song was the only redeemable quality of this movie

extra spice - tamarind-glazed carrots on herby scallion & pea tofu ricotta 

For my pop up at Farm to People, I tried to create something that meshed well with their menu, which features a variety of cultural influences and seasonal produce. As we transition from spring to summer, I wanted to highlight spring produce, but this dish would be so good in the summer as well.

I’ve always loved the sweet tamarind chutney we use on chaat but wanted to employ tamarind beyond the chutney, so the carrots are roasted with tamarind paste, maple syrup, ground ginger, and chaat masala. I was intimidated by making tamarind paste, but it was actually really easy once I watched a video. You can also use store-bought paste of course.

The carrots are sweet, tart, and savory, paired with the cool whipped tofu ricotta. I make some version of tofu ricotta all year long because it’s much more affordable than using almonds or cashews. (And I think I like it more anyways.) This one has charred scallions, peas, dill, mint, and parsley, but basil and cilantro also work. At the pop up, we topped it off with dill, pistachio dukkah, preserved lemons, ramp oil, and pickled ramps. Wild, I know. Just call me little miss first-spring-on-the-east-coast!

tamarind-glazed carrots

1 lb carrots

3 tbsp tamarind paste (reduce if yours is highly concentrated!)

1½ tbsp maple syrup

1 tbsp neutral oil like avocado oil

½ tsp ground ginger

1 tsp chaat masala

½ tsp salt, plus more to taste

¼ tsp black pepper

scallion & pea tofu ricotta

14 oz. block of extra firm tofu

4-5 scallion stalks

1 cup fresh or frozen peas

1 cup mixed herbs (parsley, dill, mint - you can also use basil and cilantro)

2 garlic cloves

3 tbsp coconut oil, melted

2 tbsp lemon juice

1 tbsp apple cider vinegar

01½ tbsp white miso

2 tbsp nutritional yeast

salt to taste

pinch of pepper

1. Preheat the oven to 400 F. Grease a baking sheet.

2. Cut the carrots diagonally into ~ 1-inch thick pieces and place on the greased baking sheet. Press the tofu for about 15 minutes with a heavy object or simply squeeze out excess moisture if it is already on the firmer side.

3. In a small bowl, combine the rest of the ingredients for the carrots: tamarind paste, maple syrup, oil, ginger, chaat masala, salt and pepper. Taste and adjust – you might need less tamarind paste and more/less maple syrup depending on how tart your tamarind paste is.

4. Coat the carrots and bake for 25-30 minutes or until they are done. Check once at the half way mark and flipping the carrots.

5. For the tofu ricotta, char your scallions in a pan over medium heat. It should take about 5 minutes per side.

6. To a small food processor, add the tofu, charred scallions, peas, herbs, and garlic. Everything may not fit at first, so just add as much as will fit, process a little, and then add the rest. Then add the rest of the ingredients: coconut oil, lemon juice, apple cider vinegar, miso, nutritional yeast, and a pinch of salt and pepper. Blend until smooth and creamy!

7. You can enjoy this immediately, but I like the tofu ricotta even more once it has chilled in the fridge for a bit. It stays good for a week!

8. To assemble: add a few spoons of tofu ricotta on a plate and spread it out. Add the carrots on top followed by any toppings of your choice. I'd recommend warm dates, dill, and pistachio dukkah!