Tomatillo And White Bean Soup

September 30, 2021 Nora Dummer

This tomatillo and white bean soup was inspired by a surplus of the nightshade from a friends’ garden, my desire to break into my stunning Royal Coronas from Rancho Gordo, and the mismatched contents of my crisper. Add some pork and hominy and you’ve got a nice variation of pozole stew, freeze it and you’ve got a soothing meal waiting for you in the depth of winter, blend it up and you’ve got a creamy soup approved by adults and babies alike (though be warned, the latter will show their approval by five-finger flicking it both into their mouths and onto your face).

(Recipe for Tomatillo And White Bean Soup follows)

Creamy Corn Chowder With Coriander Oil

September 2, 2021 Nora Dummer

The nice thing about a creamy soup is that you don’t have to spend much time meticulously chopping your ingredients. That, and you could absolutely load this soup up with all sorts of vegetables - kale, cauliflower, sweet potatoes - and no picky eater would ever know. I used beans in place of potatoes in this recipe to add more fiber and protein as well as thicken the soup without the addition of flour. Read on, cook on.

(Recipe for Creamy Corn Chowder With Coriander Oil follows)

Gluten-Free Quinoa Oat Pancakes

August 26, 2021 Nora Dummer

These gluten-free pancakes are the first recipe in a series specifically designed to nourish those going through their 4th trimester. The postpartum period is a time of vulnerability, exhaustion, elation, and healing; it’s a sacred chapter in the birthing person’s life that often gets overshadowed by the demanding needs of the new baby. These recipes focus on nutrient dense and anti-inflammatory foods with specific emphasis on healthy fats, high protein, essential micronutrients and plenty of galactagogues to help increase milk production. They are meant to nourish, to restore, and to delight.

(Recipe for Gluten-Free Quinoa Oat Pancakes follows)

Black Sesame Paste with Maple and Coconut

June 15, 2021 Nora Dummer

There are fewer crops steeped in more history and lore than the humble sesame seed. Not only is it the oldest known plant grown for its seed and oil, it’s rumored to be adored by the gods. In Assyrian mythology, the gods got drunk on sesame wine the night before they created the earth. In Hindu mythology, the seed is blessed by the god of death, Yama, and symbolizes immortality; today, Hindus often use them in their funeral rituals. Additionally, sesame seeds make an appearance in Qing dynasty legend as a holy medication for immortality, were used to make perfumes in Babylon, and was mentioned for their medicinal properties in the 1550 BC Egyptian book of medicine, Papyrus Ebers.

(Recipe for Black Sesame Paste with Maple and Coconut follows)

The Ultimate Recovery Congee

May 18, 2021 Nora Dummer

I wrote this poem when he was just a couple of months old, when the night seeped into the day like an oil spill in fresh water, when our needs were an inseparable tangle of basics, when it was just the two of us at 4 in the morning, nursing in a dimly lit room. Having no free hands, I would roll the words around in my mouth, fitting them together like puzzle pieces, repeating them over and over to remember for a time when I had a pen, so in awe of the fact that this was a being who very shortly before, simply wasn’t.

(Recipe for The Ultimate Recovery Congee follows)

Sweet Potato Peanut Soup

January 25, 2021 Nora Dummer

I started working on my post-partum freezer when I was about 38 weeks pregnant. I’d like to say that by that point, the hospital bag was packed, the nursery was put together, the clothes were all neatly hanging with month-by-month dividers, but that just wasn’t the case. Our minds were frantic and our preparations mirrored that - half finished projects cluttered our small apartment. We were not ready for our new roommate.

(Recipe for Sweet Potato Peanut Soup follows)

Vegan Chocolate Tart with Walnut-Date Crust

December 13, 2020 Nora Dummer

In times like these, turning to the simplest recipes is not only a preference, it’s a requirement. That’s why I’ll be making this tart for the holidays. With a prep time of less than a half hour and less than 10 ingredients, I can make something deceivingly simply but seemingly decadent. If you’re short on time these days, I suggest you do the same.

(Recipe for Vegan Chocolate Tart with Walnut-Date Crust follows)

Carrot, Ginger and Lentil Soup

December 10, 2020 Nora Dummer

For a few weeks now, I’ve been planning to make this post about my recent experience with the labor of my son. The three days of contractions. The transferring to the birth center. The laboring in the water. The stalling of contractions. The transferring to the hospital. The submitting to all of the drugs and all of the interventions and all of the bright lighting that was absolutely, positively in no way a part of my original “birth plan”. The stalling of contractions (again). The eventual emergency c-section. The ups, the downs, the exhaustion. The surrender. This post was going to be about all of that. But, sometimes things don’t go as planned.

(Recipe for Carrot, Ginger, and Lentil Soup follows)

No-Bake Peanut Butter Chocolate Lactation Bars

November 1, 2020 Nora Dummer

In chapter 5 of Dostoyevsky’s The Idiot, a story is told of a man with five minutes left to live. Knowing this, he decides to intentionally divide his time into precious segments - two minutes to bid farewell to his companions, two minutes to examine his own life, and one minute to take a last look around. Recognizing that soon he would cease to be anything, he decides it fitting to concentrate on the glittering light emitted from the gilded spire of a distant church, willing himself to become one with it during the transition from life to death.

Three days out from the due date of birthing my first child, I feel a bit like this man…

(Recipe for No-Bake Peanut Butter Chocolate Lactation Bars follows)

Creamy Cashew, Dulse & Miso Dip

September 16, 2020 Nora Dummer

Most people’s nesting urge manifests in building cribs and cleaning out closets. Well, our crib is still in pieces and don’t even get me started on the state of the closets. However, this doesn’t mean that I haven’t acted on this inevitable preparative cleansing - mine just looks a little different. 33 weeks pregnant, and my nesting urge has translated to food. Stocking my pantry with the most superist of “super foods”. Filling my freezer with bone broth. Cooking the most nutrient dense meals I can imagine. It’s like I’m nesting, but INSIDE MY BODY. The closets will just have to wait.

(Recipe for Creamy Cashew, Dulse & Miso Dip follows)

Pandemic-Inspired Cardamom-Rose Pistachio Butter

August 29, 2020 Nora Dummer

This pandemic has forced many of us to look inward. Maybe we’re exploring a new sense of self because we can no longer identify ourselves with a job, or scrutinizing our social tendencies because society is largely off limits, or examining our contribution to the entrenched and broken systems of our current politics. Or maybe, we’re simply looking inward into the depths of our pantries for something to eat.

(Recipe for Cardamom-Rose Pistachio Butter follows)

Chocolate Tahini Cookies In The Age Of Chemical Weapons

July 31, 2020 Nora Dummer

Chocolate Chip, Tahini & Espresso Cookie

As a nutritionist, I tend to try to solve all of life’s problems with food. It’s like a weird superpower. Are you depressed? Add some probiotics. Worried about climate change? Decrease your consumption of conventional red meat and dairy. How about declining bee populations? Choose organic. Concerned for your local economy? Eat local, from farmers and restaurants you believe in. Want to connect with your family? Make a meal together. And so on, and so on. That’s the encompassing power of food - it ties into everything. Absolutely everything.

Of course, this mindset can also be an idealist trap. Problems don’t exist in a vacuum. Not all depression can be resolved by kimchi. Abstaining from almonds isn’t going to put even the slightest dent in the damage from the 100 companies that contribute 71% of global emissions. You can’t fix a broken bones with kale. And yet, I feel compelled to at least try. After all, it’s one of the rare powers I’ve got. I have to believe that the choices I make can have a positive change, otherwise, what am I even doing here? What are any of us doing here?

So, it follows that I could attempt to use this lens to target a growing health problem within our American population: exposure to chemical weapons.

(Recipe for Chewy Chocolate Chip Tahini Cookies follows)

Add some variety to nights at home, with a virtual cooking class.