January 11 Heart Food Box!

The Heart Food Box is a medley of thoughtfully prepared foods meant to be eaten together in whatever way feels good to you–as a grain bowl, salad, wrap, etc. Each HFB contains the magic and medicine of grounding grains, earthy legumes, vegetables, herbs, seeds, spices, citrus, and bright sauces and condiments.​

How does it work?

1. Place an order with me by 7 pm on Thursday, January 8th by following this link.

2. You pick up the Heart Food Box on Sunday, January 11th between the hours of 4-6 pm.

3. Enjoy homemade love in your fridge!

***Please make sure you or a friend can pick up your Heart Food Box on the evening of January 11th before submitting your order:)*** 

January 31 Essentials Cooking Class

This is going to be really wonderful…

Join me for an intimate cooking class and community kitchen experience at a comfortable forested home in Woodinville. Saturday, January 31 from 9:30am to 1pm.

Together we’ll prepare a collection of favorite Heart Food Song dishes. Think delicious, nourishing, economical, and fun to prepare! These are the foods I want in my fridge to sustain me through a long week.

When we’re done cooking, we’ll sit down to a beautiful table full of abundance and share a meal together.

Class will have a special emphasis on the essential skills and awareness necessary to make humble ingredients sing with ease and enjoyment. We’ll practice tuning into our senses, trusting our own felt experience, and moving with grace and efficiency in the kitchen.

I’ll also share my favorite tools and tricks for tinkering and dialing in. We want nourishing food with big flavor and satisfaction. This food will make you feel really good!

I can accommodate *most* dietary restrictions and allergies. Please reach out with any questions: amanda@heartfoodsong.com.

Menu

Bright lentil soup with cilantro and lime

Black pepper bay leaf basmati rice

Curried potatoes and cauliflower with gremolata

Peppery greens with punchy lemon Dijon vinaigrette and lots of seeds

Chipotle yogurt

Handkerchief bread

Apple lemon ginger elixir

Timeline

9:30 am Arrive, get comfortable, enjoy tea or espresso and light snacks, settle in

10 am Class begins: together we’ll cook, taste, and learn our way through the menu

12:30 pm Lunch time! Family style meal to enjoy the fruits of our labor

1 pm Wrap up!

Carrot Ginger Dressing

My oven’s been broken, so I’ve been doing minimal cooking. Many of my meals have been steamed rice, pan-fried chicken thighs, and iceberg lettuce with this dressing.

This lands on the axis of so many things I look for when cooking and searching for recipes: easy-to-find and inexpensive ingredients, simple procedure, big flavors, versatile, colorful, nourishing…it hits in all the right places.

I never knew how much I loved iceberg lettuce until I started making this. This dressing plus iceberg lettuce in the fridge equals an instant crunchy, hydrating, zippy salad and side dish. Amended with fermented carrots and julienned radishes and it’s really perfect.

The dressing lasts for a week or two and seems to get better—mellower and more cohesive—after a day or two in the fridge.

Try combining it with kewpie (4 parts carrot-ginger dressing to 1 part mayo) for a richer, more savory dressing or accompaniment to chicken or fish.

Little tricks for processing ginger as painlessly as possible: peel with a spoon, and store your peeled ginger in the freezer. Microplane it directly from frozen—it’s so much easier and far less likely to jam your microplane with ginger fibers!

7 ounces carrots, roughly chopped

4 ounces onion, roughly chopped

2 tablespoon ginger, peeled and microplaned

2 tablespoon sugar

¼ cup tamari or soy sauce

½ cup rice wine vinegar

¼ cup olive oil

Combine all ingredients together in a personal sized blender and process until mostly smooth. The texture of this dressing is always going to be a little chunky, so don’t worry about getting it perfect.

Bright Lentil Soup with Greens, Cilantro, and Lime

I’m always tinkering to create bigger, more interesting flavors with everyday ingredients—especially when working with vegan and vegetarian food. Lately I’ve been having fun stirring citrusy, herbal blends into soup after cooking to add another layer of complexity and zing.

This soup is just right for these dark days: grounding, comforting, and nourishing from earthy lentils and potatoes, yet herbaceous, green, and refreshing from plenty of cilantro, greens, and lime. I’ve been loving it with a scoop of jasmine rice, crusty toast with sharp cheddar, and julienned radishes.

Ingredients
3 tablespoons butter, ghee, or olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, smashed and chopped
½ teaspoon ground cumin
½ teaspoon ground fenugreek (optional)
5–10 generous grinds fresh black pepper
2 teaspoons Diamond Crystal kosher salt (start with half this amount if using another salt)

¾ cup black, brown, or green lentils, rinsed
1 medium potato (about 5 ounces), chopped into ½-inch cubes
1 carrot, halved lengthwise and sliced into ¼-inch half-moons
6 cups water

1 bunch spinach, Swiss chard, or kale (about 5 ounces), chopped

1 medium tomato (about 7 ounces), roughly chopped
Juice of 2 medium limes
1 small bunch cilantro, roughly chopped (stems are fine)
1 plump garlic clove
½ teaspoon salt (see note on salt above)

Topping ideas:
Lime wedges
Radishes
Salty aged cheese (Pecorino Romano or Parmesan)
Pistachios
Sesame seeds
Yogurt

Instructions

In a medium or large soup pot, combine your fat of choice, onion, garlic, cumin, fenugreek (if using), black pepper, and 2 teaspoons Diamond Crystal kosher salt. Sauté on medium-low for about 10–15 minutes, until the onions are soft and creamy.

Add the lentils, potato, carrot, and water (and chard stems if using chard—see note below). Bring to a gentle simmer and cook for 20–30 minutes, until the lentils and potatoes are soft. Stir in the spinach or greens of your choice, cook for 3 minutes more, and remove from heat.

While the soup cooks, roughly chop the tomato and combine it with the lime juice, cilantro, garlic, and ½ teaspoon salt in the blending jar of a personal blender. Let it sit and macerate while the soup simmers, then blend until fully combined.

Stir the blended cilantro mixture into the soup. Taste and adjust with more salt or lime juice as needed.

Serve yourself a piping hot bowl and top with a generous shaving of Pecorino Romano, black pepper, julienned radish, chopped pistachios—whatever sounds good to you.

Notes

• Wash your greens and cilantro thoroughly, especially if they have visible dirt. Nothing ruins soup faster than crunchy grit.

• If using chard or kale, remove the stems before chopping. Chard stems are delicious—chop finely and add with the carrot, potato, and lentils. Kale stems, in my opinion, are not so delicious; compost those.

• You can skip the blended cilantro portion if you don’t have the ingredients or inclination. If you do skip it, still add ½ teaspoon salt and the juice of 2 limes at the end so the soup has the brightness it needs to sing.

Nov 16! Cozy Creativity Sunday Supper

I would so love you to join us at our next Sunday Supper. On November 16th we gather to break bread, celebrate the enduring power of creativity, and nourish ourselves as we descend into the quiet darkness of November.

Expect a sweet, communal style experience and everything you love about a Heart Food Song menu. Vegetable forward, big flavors, grains, legumes, seeds, herbs, and citrus. The dinner will be held at Dream House, my charming 119 year old community home in North Beacon Hill.

We’ll have time and space for creative practice after dinner. Feel free to bring your current project, art supplies, a journal, or ideas to discuss. We’ll also provide some materials to inspire and encourage creative practice. You can also just soak in the energy, hang out with a cup of tea, and make some new friends.

We'll serve hot tea. You are welcome and encouraged to bring a favorite beverage (alcoholic or otherwise).

Timeline:
5:00 pm Arrive, get comfortable, enjoy a cup of tea and meet some new friends
6 pm Dinner is served! We'll fill the table with colorful dishes and enjoy a communal, family style meal
7 pm Time for creative play! Bring your own project or get busy with our materials.
8 pm Wrap up the night

Exchange: $25-45

Menu

Swiss chard, beluga lentil, and lemon soup

Herbed chicken spätzle soup

Daikon and iceberg lettuce salad with carrot ginger dressing

Curried cauliflower and Yukon Golds with gremolata

Shaved Brussels sprouts, pecans, and chevre with sesame seed vinaigrette

Purple sweet potato and sunflower seed whip with honey and pickled shallots

Coconut water steamed jasmine rice

Nigella seed Uzbek flatbread

Chipotle lime yogurt

As we navigate these unprecedented times, it feels more vital than ever to come together and draw on our shared creative strength. I truly hope to see you there.

Xoxo,

Amanda

Herbed Chicken Soup and Coconut Water Jasmine Rice

Herbed Chicken Soup

Punchy, herbaceous, hydrating, and balancing, this soup tunes my system and makes the perfect afternoon pick-me up. I’ve been loving it with a scoop of jasmine rice steamed with coconut water.

Preparation of this soup is a gentle meditation and comes together in less than 30 minutes. Take your time with each step: chop your veg uniformly and wash your herbs with care. Take a moment to taste and adjust.

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 onion (any color although I prefer white), finely diced

6 plump garlic cloves, smashed and roughly chopped 

2 teaspoons Diamond Crystal salt, divided (if using a finer grain salt, start with half the amount)

8 healthy grinds black pepper

Optional pinch of red chili flakes

2 large stalks celery, chopped ¼ inch (it’s fine/preferable to keep the leaves on) (about 1 ½ cups)

2 medium carrots, chopped ¼ inch cubes (it’s fine to keep the skin on) (about 1 ½ cups)

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken thighs, chopped into ½ inch chunks

6 cups water

1 cup chopped fresh herbs (some combo of parsley, dill, cilantro, and/or basil is great)

Juice 1 lemon

Combine the olive oil, onion, garlic, salt, black pepper, and chili flakes in a large or medium stock pot. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon, until the alliums are translucent, very soft, and melting but not burning, about 10 minutes.

Add the celery, carrots, chicken, and water and the remaining 1 teaspoon of salt. Bring to a simmer and cook at a simmer for about 10 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through.

Remove the pot from the heat. Stir in the herbs and lemon juice. Serve with a sprinkle of sesame seeds.

Coconut Water Jasmine Rice

Subtly sweet and slightly sticky, I love this so much. My recipe uses an instant pot, but you can swap out coconut water for water in a 1:1 ratio and use whatever rice cooking method you’re comfortable with.

2 cups jasmine rice, rinsed and drained well

2 1/3 cups coconut water

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 teaspoon salt

Combine all ingredients in an instant pot and cook on rice setting or pressure cook for 12 minutes. Allow to sit at pressure for 5 minutes after cooking, release the pressure, and enjoy.

Sold Out! October 5 Dinner at Dream House!

Sold Out!

We’re at capacity for Sunday! Sign-up for my newsletter here to be the first to hear about future dinners, classes, and events!

I have so loved hosting Heart Food Song gatherings at Dream House this last year: Sunday Supper, Indigo Dyeing Pizza Lunch, The Party That Everyone Needs, and our Fall Equinox Party. So much joy!

I'm excited for more big parties and...I'm craving something a little different. Smaller, more intimate gatherings. More casual and more in tune with the rhythm of my everyday life.

I'm excited to announce our first Dinner at Dream House. Less of a party, we are simply breaking bread together. We’ll wrap up by 7 pm so everyone can get home nice and early on a Sunday evening.

This Sunday is the first one! Dinner is limited to 10 people and we'll be seated around the dining room table. Because we're keeping things more contained, I get to be a little more creative and dynamic with my menus.

Also, I get to make dessert! I'm excited to dust off some of my favorite recipes.

Menu

Purple sweet potato and frisee salad with feta, pickled shallots, and pepitas

Marcona almond pesto, arugula, and sesame seed rigatoni

Grilled zucchini and cashews with chimichurri vinaigrette

Roasted carrots and red onion with dill and garlic chickpeas

Manchego and caramelized leek focaccia

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Celery, orange, lime elixir

Chamomile honey tea

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Buttermilk biscuits with blackberry compote and vanilla crème fraiche

I would so love you to join us! 

All my best,

Amanda

This food changed my life

The style of cooking I have honed in the last decade–plant heavy, anchored by grains and legumes, big flavors, citrusy and punchy–has changed my life.

I’ve always loved food and found great pleasure from eating. For much of my life, concurrent to that pleasure was a somewhat painful relationship. What I ate, when I ate it, how much I ate–these questions took up a lot of brain space. Food was an obsession that, at times, haunted me.

Learning how to turn simple, nourishing, affordable ingredients into delicious meals has shifted my orientation towards food and self—from a fraught push and pull dynamic to an easeful dance. Learning how to work with the full spectrum of nature’s medicine—seeds, nuts, spices, citrus, herbs, grains, vegetables, legumes—is life-changing.

A few bites of basmati rice, chickpeas, and chard with a pinch of salt and squeeze of lime during an afternoon slump can completely re-tune my nervous system, bring me into my body, and calm my thoughts. When I live in intimate relationship with these plant medicines, my life feels so much better.

The other thing about this food is–it’s not all I eat. I love going to restaurants: wood-fired margherita pizza, carne asada burritos from my neighborhood taco truck, fried chicken sandwiches at Milk Drunk. I love it all. I love cornflakes and oreos with milk and Australian licorice. And I eat it! 

But by staying close to my food–the grains, legumes, and vegetables that I call friends–my ability to digest and take nourishment from all food expands tremendously.

This food is the pulse. It is not a restriction, it is not the only thing I eat, but it is my foundation. It is what I return to and it holds me.

It seems very simple, and in many ways, it is. But it is also incredibly intentional. 

Through years of careful study, I know exactly what I’m going for. I want my braised greens to sing, chickpeas cooked to perfect creaminess, flatbread chewy and charred, and basmati rice just the right texture. And I know how to coax that perfect note with every decision I make in the kitchen. This food is dialed in, and its deliciousness is precisely what makes it such a powerful tool for my well-being. 

This is what I want to share with you. When I teach cooking, I’m teaching how to transform our most basic plant allies into companions, how to weave them into the fabric of your life. I teach the way I taste and notice and experiment–how to move and dance with your kitchen. This orientation has been the biggest gift in my life. I’m so excited to share it with you.

More info and ticketing for my October 4th Favorites! Cooking Class here…

Sept 21 Fall Equinox Party!

Flyer by the talented Lauren Lyon!

Expect a sweet, communal style experience and everything you love about a Heart Food Song menu. Vegetable forward, big flavors, flatbread, grains, legumes, seeds, herbs, citrus. The dinner will be held at Dream House, my charming 119 year old community home in North Beacon Hill.

We'll serve hot tea. You are welcome and encouraged to bring a favorite beverage (alcoholic or otherwise).

Menu:
Shallot and black mustard seed basmati rice

Khoresh-e Karafs (Persian celery and white bean stew)

Lauren's big beautiful salad

Polina's chakhokhbili (Georgian chicken, herb, and tomato stew)

Roasted carrots and fennel with fermented chili peppers and lime

Heirloom tomato, cucumber, and white onion salad

Tahini beet yogurt

Smoked eggplant spread

Red lentil, sunflower seed hummus

Za’atar flatbread

White cheese, herbs, citrus, seeds

Timeline:
5 pm Arrive, get comfortable, enjoy a cup of tea and meet some new friends
6 pm Dinner is served! We'll fill the table with colorful dishes and enjoy a communal, family style meal
7 pm Music by Ahrod
9 pm Wrap up the night!

Exchange: $25-45

Questions? Email amanda@heartfoodsong.com

Foundations Cooking Class Oct 4

REGISTRATION IS CLOSED! Sign-up for my email list here to be the first to know about future classes, dinners, and events.

This is going to be really wonderful…

Join me for an intimate cooking class and community kitchen experience at a beautiful forested home in Woodinville.

Together we’ll prepare a collection of favorite Heart Food Song dishes. Think delicious, nourishing, economical, and fun to prepare! These are the foods I want in my fridge to sustain me through a long week.

When we’re done cooking, we’ll sit down to a beautiful table full of abundance and share a meal together.

Class will have a special emphasis on tuning into our senses, trusting our own felt experience, and moving with grace and efficiency in the kitchen.

I’ll also share my favorite tools and tricks for tinkering and dialing in. We want nourishing food with big flavor and satisfaction. This food will make you feel really good!

I can accommodate many dietary restrictions and allergies. Please reach out with any questions amanda@heartfoodsong.com.

Timeline:

9:30 am Arrive, get comfortable, enjoy tea or espresso, settle in

10 am Class begins: together we’ll cook, taste, and learn our way through the menu

12:30 pm Lunch time! Family style meal to enjoy the fruits of our labor

1 pm Wrap up, optional forest walk (weather permitting)

For grocery planning purposes, registration closes Wednesday, October 1st.

The Party That Everyone Needs!

Join us on Saturday, July 26th as we gather together to feast and dance under the stars!

Live music, original poetry, and beautiful food at Dream House in North Beacon Hill.

Carrots and potatoes in lemon parmesan broth

I’ve been making some version of this on repeat lately. We build flavor and depth by layering everyday ingredients. You can follow this recipe exactly, or you can read through my notes and perhaps find inspiration for how to build bigger flavors in your vegetable forward cooking.

I’ve been eating this with a scoop of sticky calrose rice cooked in coconut water and lightly dressed raw carrot ribbons (I received a little spiralizer at a white elephant gift exchange this December and I’m having fun with it!) It’s deeply satisfying. I can’t tell you how happy this is making my body right now.

This encapsulates so much of what I love in food and the cooking process. Taking simple, affordable ingredients, putting in care and a little elbow grease, building and layering flavors and paying attention to the details. The result is so much greater than the sum of its parts–kitchen alchemy!

This is also an example of how we create depth and richness in light vegetarian cooking. We need to extend a little more effort to create something satisfying because our ingredients are so humble. Mixing fats (butter and olive oil) helps to build roundess. Miso is a great way to add complexity. Parmesan and lemon really make this shine. And of course, fresh herbs do so much to uplift. 

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon butter

1 bunch green onions, finely chopped (I use the entire stem, right down to the dark green end)

8 cloves garlic, finely chopped (I like to smash the garlic with the side of my knife, pull off the skin, and then slice thinly)

1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt (I use Diamond Kosher–if you’re using a finer salt go easy–you likely won’t need the entire amount)

8 healthy grinds of black pepper

¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes, or to taste

6 cups water

1 tablespoon miso

2 large carrot, cut into ¼ inch cubes (about 12 oz or 3 cups chopped)

2 medium waxy potatoes, cut into ½ inch cubes (about 12 oz or 3 cups chopped) (really any potato will work fine/great here–even a russet. I tend not to peel my potatoes!)

1.5  oz parmesan or pecorino romano, microplaned (about 1 heaping cup lightly packed microplaned cheese)

2 heaping tablespoons chopped fresh soft herbs (I used parsley and dill)

Juice and zest of ½ small lemon (lately I’ve been adding citrus zest to just about everything I’m already adding juice to. Citrus are expensive, and I think adding the zest helps to stretch the uplifting medicine of citrus)

Heat a medium stock pot over medium heat. Add the olive oil and butter, green onions, garlic, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes. 

Saute while stirring occasionally until the garlic is just starting to lightly brown. Immediately add 6 cups of water and the miso. Bring to a simmer and add the carrots and potatoes. Cook for 10 to 15 minutes at a simmer, until the potatoes are nice and tender but not falling apart.

Remove the soup from the heat. Stir in the cheese, herbs***, and lemon. Taste! Is it bright and round and refreshing? If not, add more salt, miso, cheese, herbs, or lemon until you’re happy. Don’t know quite what it needs? Spoon a few tablespoons into a ramekin and experiment with adding more salt, miso, etc. This is such a great way to train your palette into understanding how to tinker and control flavor and experience.

Top with some sesame seeds, aleppo pepper, and another grating of parmesan cheese and maybe a little pat of butter or drizzle of olive oil. Enjoy with rice, toast, some dressed greens or raw shaved carrots, or all by it’s lonesome self.  

Okay phew, a lot of words for such a simple recipe. I share all of this because ultimately, I want you to feel confident in understanding why we do certain things in the kitchen and how our decisions affect flavor and experience.

***My little note on working with fresh herbs: If you don’t have dill, it would be good with just parsley, or some cilantro, or maybe mint. Maybe some chives or basil, too. One thing about working with soft herbs is that it’s actually pretty difficult to overdo it. If you’re worried that you won’t use that whole bunch of parsley in your fridge before it turns, go ahead and double, triple, quadruple…whatever the amount of herbs. They’re so good for us, so healing and balancing. For the most part, I say use them up rather than let them liquify in the fridge. However, I wouldn’t necessarily say this holds true for more assertive herbs such as rosemary or oregano where a little goes a long way.