Spice Mix Archives | Tasty Oasis

Three Bean Turkey Chili

March 7, 2015 By Karen

I was pretty happy when the phone rang Wednesday night declaring a snow day. We’d already decided that if the call came, it was my turn to stay home with the kids, and I was pretty psyched about it. Granted, as a freelance interpreter that means I would lose 8 hours of income, but staying in my pajamas all day cuddling, cooking and baking seemed like the perfect bright spot for my week. Sure enough, the kids climbed in the bed Thursday morning, and under the fluffy white comforter we finished the graphic novel we had been reading together, El Deafo, by Cece Bell. It’s a memoir about a little girl losing her hearing at 4 years old, what it was like going to school with a giant hearing aid, feeling like an outsider, imagining herself as a superhero, and finally finding her way. It just won the Newberry Honor Award (that should tell you how good it is!), and we absolutely loved it. It appealed to the 8 year old and the 39 year old equally, and even the 4 year old got something out of it. If you don’t have experience with graphic novels, please pick this up. The words written are touching, but the drawings bring the story to life. I am in awe of such talent.

Once our little book club ended, we headed down to the couch and watched the ever colorful Jungles episode of Planet Earth, escaping the snow that was turning everything white outside our windows. Of course, that lead to the a request for Frozen….because, you know, it’s Thursday. So with TV as a babysitter (way to go, Mom!), I got my chance to finally make and photograph this Three Bean Turkey Chili for you all….

The Easiest Crockpot Ribs (and a Thank You)

August 20, 2014 By Karen

Since I officially announced Tasty Oasis on Monday with an email blast and a Facebook update, I have been overwhelmed by the response. Your messages and comments have been so kind and encouraging, and I am thrilled that so many of you have shared Tasty Oasis with your friends already. I can’t thank you enough! Creating a food blog has been something I’ve thought about for years. I think and read about food constantly. I have been collecting cookbooks for ages, and I go through them like novels, reading them from beginning to end and writing notes about what I’ll make one day. I’ve had magazine subscriptions on and off since I left college, and I have only recently tossed the towering stacks of ancient Gourmets, Bon Appetites, Cooking Lights, and Everyday Foods, saving precious recipes in binders instead. And the blogs. For the last many years I have read a ridiculous number of blogs daily. I started off with Smitten Kitchen back in her very early days, and the list just grew. With the ease of subscription services and feed readers, it’s like having my own set of food magazines every day, tailored to exactly my taste. Personally, I read everything on Feedly, and am always happy when one of my favorites has a new post up. It’s because of this hobby, or distraction, or whatever you may call it that that I decided I wanted to write my own blog. I know exactly what I like to read and see on a food blog, and now the challenge is to produce that on my own for all of you. I’m so excited to finally be doing it!

Moroccan Carrots, Garlic for a Miso Chicken, Turkey Chili and Everyday Granola Coming Soon!

Many of you wrote and asked who’s taking the photographs on Tasty Oasis. I am! It’s me! When I decided to start this project, I knew that I had to up my game and move on from my 8 year old point and shoot camera. In January I bought a Canon Rebel T3i, and have been playing with it constantly. Even though I’ve interpreted undergraduate photography classes over the years, I never really applied what I heard and always used to stick with the automatic settings. But I bought myself a food photography book, and pay close attention to other bloggers’ photography choices, and am experimenting every time I go to shoot something. The up-close macro shots seem to be working out, but if you saw the number of blurry kid photos I’ve taken you would have to laugh and wonder if it’s the same photographer! At the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens last week I experimented with flowers, and again, things that stay in one place seem to be where I have the most luck. I’m hoping with time I can actually get some good people shots though!

From the last couple of posts you have probably noticed that I use dried spices to flavor a lot of my cooking. There are a bunch of reasons, but the big ones are that they are easy, convenient and healthy. As a working mom, I often feel like I am running around with my time and brain split in 84 different directions. I am constantly looking for shortcuts, and tend to favor recipes that don’t have too many moving parts or specialty ingredients. Fresh herbs are fabulous, and you absolutely will see them frequently on Tasty Oasis, but they sadly die in my refrigerator over and over again. If I didn’t kill every plant I ever tried to grow (I know, watering would help, but that’s just another thing to remember to do), I would grow my own herbs and just snip what I needed, but I never seem to make it happen. So dried herbs and spices often come to the rescue. Plus, a spice rub means you can avoid making a heavy sauce, skipping the creams and coconut milk and the oils. Those all make things tasty, but don’t necessarily help for making a meal on the lighter side. That said, they have their place in my kitchen and when I use them I make sure to enjoy every bite.

One strategy I use to feed my family home cooked food is the crockpot. I can throw something together before leaving for work, and walk into a house that smells amazing. A lot of people think crockpot cooking is only for the winter for stews and soups, but summer is the perfect time to use the crockpot because you can avoid turning on the stove and heating up your kitchen. Living in a house that’s almost 100 years old without central air, that is brilliant. I’m such a fan of this contraption that I typically have two going on the counter at once so that I can double my recipes and freeze several extra meals at a time. This way I can have dinner ready with even less work later in the week or month. (I’ll be writing more posts about how to cook and freeze meals, so stay tuned!)…

Spice-Crusted Roasted Salmon

August 18, 2014 By Karen

Fish is one of those things that everyone says they want to make more often. I know I do. Healthy for you, fast to prepare and usually a hit, I always intend to cook it more frequently than I do. Truth be told, the reason is a matter of convenience and cost. I typically do my main grocery shopping once a week, and often at a place without a proper fish counter or one that leaves something to be desired. And when you factor in buying sustainable fish, you’re looking at wild caught varieties or the ethically farmed ones, and it can become expensive. So I fall back on tilapia most of the time, or defrost something frozen, but am always so happy when I throw fish into my kitchen rotation.

But I was on vacation last week in Maine, and seafood was a daily part of our eating. From lobster rolls, to fried clams, to haddock tacos, I was in heaven. We rented a cottage right on the water, with a tree house and plenty of rocks to climb on and tide pools to explore. Although I had a list a mile long of places to go, we ended up hanging out most of the time in this picture postcard setting.

A glass of wine at sunset in Maine, with a view of the water from our vacation cottage

With a view like this, I never wanted to leave Maine

And as luck would have it, there was an amazing deal on wild caught Alaskan Sockeye Salmon at the local market. As part of my arsenal I happened to pack a selection of spices, which worked out perfectly for this recipe which is a tried and true favorite. My sister-in-law started making a version of this years ago for family gatherings, and I’ve adapted it only slightly. As I wrote about recently, I toast and grind my own cumin and coriander for this recipe, which is such a simple step that coaxes out amazing flavor from something that can be stored in your pantry. (If this sounds like a deal breaker for you, I am all for using already ground spices so please don’t tune out!) I switch the paprika to smoked paprika, double the amount of spices, and keep it simple by just roasting the fish on its own….