laur kam's kitchen

a place where i will be logging & annotating all my pinterest recipes

[laurkamkitchen]

Another day, another way to use up my miso paste! Since I’ve just moved into my new house, it was time to make a batch of salad dressing; you guys know tahini is my favorite, and this combined all sorts of other delicious ingredients that I find make for a yummy version to have on hand.

I halved this and used my immersion blender in an old jam jar to make it. In total I think I ended up using 4 or 5 tablespoons of water, which is about twice the amount the recipe calls for, although this may have been because I’d gotten to the clumpy bits at the bottom of the jar of tahini I had on hand. I know it’s gonna thicken a lot in the fridge, so I’ll probably add even more when it comes to future use.

This was exactly what I wanted, everything I honestly need in a salad dressing. And guys, we are making serious progress on that miso — I think I  only have enough left for one or two more recipes.

[laurkamkitchen]

What a mouthful of a title, but what a yummy salad! I made this for myself for dinner the other night before Remus and I went to the pub, and I have to say that it satisfied me in every way. It’s simple, quick, and super delicious, with a winning peanut sauce — but I wouldn’t have expected anything less from Minimalist Baker.

I halved this to make one salad using maple syrup, snap peas, and sesame seeds, and skipping the mango and optional ingredients. I suppose I could have gotten out my mini food processor to make the dressing, but it was honestly far easier skipped; I simply whisked everything together in a small bowl. I did my best to get everything into noodle-like shapes but for the most part ended up just chopping everything into bite-sized pieces, either on the cutting board or later in my salad bowl; sometimes there’s really only so much you can do.

I guess I made all my selling points up at the top, but honestly, this really was delicious and so quick to make — even for me, I think it was only a 20-minute ordeal, dressing making to serving. If you’re in the mood for something fresh, healthy, and peanut-y, this is surely it.

[laurkamkitchen]

Remake 31/7/24: Got to make this for myself using fresh, in-season Florida mango!

[laurkamkitchen]

Refreshing Honey Sweetened Fresh Cherry Limeade Recipe

Discover the ultimate summer refreshment with Honey Sweetened Fresh Cherry Limeade. Quench your thirst and enjoy a sip of summer bliss today

A Sonic happy hour cherry limeade was a staple of my childhood summers, one that I'm not sure I've returned to at all as an adult. So I thought I would try making my own batch as a little summer treat!

I made this in full using 1/3 cup of honey and 3 1/3 cups of water, as the proportions in the recipe just seemed like a lot to me. That 1/2 cup of honey might have been worth it, but I am ultimately glad I didn't water this down any more.

The taste here wasn't life-changing, but it was very refreshing and a rather fun little experiment. I liked how simple this was, though it may be worth experimenting with more for any similar hankerings in future.

[laurkamkitchen]

Fresh and Delicious Vegetable Tempeh Spring Rolls | Two Spoons

Vegetable Tempeh Spring Rolls are fresh and delicious! Made by marinated tempeh, pan frying and rolling into rice paper with fresh green veg

New spring rolls recipe! With tempeh and an almond butter sauce for something a little different.

I made roughly a third of this, but went ahead and made the tempeh in full so that I could use the leftovers on my lunch salads. Much of it fell apart while I was cooking it, but I saved the biggest surviving chunks for my purposes here and the crumbly bits for later on.

I've been using these purple rice paper sheets from Whole Foods, but to be honest, they are just not very structurally sound and not purple enough to make up for that, so I don't think I'll be purchasing them again. I was barely able to make do here.

On the whole, these were delicious, though I wasn't hugely impressed with the sauce on its own — the lemon juice just tasted out of place. I generally prefer a peanut or tahini sauce, anyway.

A fun pick at any rate, even if it didn't turn about to be a favorite!

[laurkamkitchen]

I think it’s only fitting that my first ever post on this blog, and the first recipe I’ve made this year, is this chia pudding. I have made this so many times now that it’s probably the only recipe I no longer need the instructions for (although it does help that they’re pretty straightforward).

I usually end up making a half batch of this, although I do keep the cinnamon and vanilla amounts the same as the full because, well, I love cinnamon and vanilla and they give this such great flavor.

The original recipe calls for fresh blueberries as a topping, but I’ll typically only add them if they’re in season, leaving them out and opting for other fruit that is, either as a topping or on the side depending on what it is.

The original instructions call for you to blend the initial ingredients, but I’ve found that if your almond butter is runny enough, a little whisking will still do the trick.

The same goes for adding almond milk upon consumption; when I make this at school, where the almond butter brand I buy tends to be more runny, it’s not usually necessary, but at home, where it tends to be much thicker, I usually add a lot and then stir. At the end of the day, it’s really all about personal preference and experimentation.

[laurkamkitchen]

Remake 18/7/22: Omitted the maple syrup here since it just kind of seemed like an expensive non-necessity. It did make a difference, but enough to justify keeping it. Will be syrupless from here on out.

[laurkamkitchen]

Spicy Chipotle Hummus (10 Minutes!)

Oh, hummus. You never let us down! This chipotle hummus takes all the creamy, savory satisfaction of regular hummus and kicks it up a few no

I absolutely loved the pumpkin chipotle hummus that I made back in November, so with another can of chipotle peppers to use up and a new batch of hummus needed, I set out to try and find a non-pumpkin version. Minimalist Baker rarely steers me wrong, so this seemed perfect.

I made this in full using three of the peppers. I started off with two as I didn't want this to be too spicy, but, honestly, I think I could have gone up to four just fine. Admittedly, I didn't really read the instructions, so I did not actually reserve any of the aquafaba. Thus, mainly due to the sheer amount of tahini involved, this was a very thick batch of hummus. Next time, I need to remember to reserve.

Thickness aside, this was still delicious and a great go-to for chipotle hummus moving forward.

[laurkamkitchen]

Vegan Protein Pancakes - Delight Fuel

These fluffy vegan protein pancakes are not only incredibly tasty but also 100% plant-based. No need for eggs, dairy, or gluten to enjoy a d

My Sunday was in need of some thick, yummy protein pancakes, and this recipe seemed pretty straightfoward! I halved this, serving with toasted coconut flakes and extra maple syrup.

I was honestly a bit skeptical of how well these would turn out, given the pictures and how heavily the recipe relies on oat flour, but I have to say, these were insanely good. Even being gluten free, the texture was excellent, nice and fluffy, and they had just the right amount of sweetness to them. A perfect, protein-packed Sunday pick.

[laurkamkitchen]

Honey Chipotle Chicken Bowls

Honey Chipotle Chicken Bowls with the most delicious spicy lime tahini dressing make the perfect meal for a healthy lunch or dinner.

Another chipotle chicken bowl recipe! One that uses actual chipotle peppers this time.

I made this in full, but halved the dressing, as I could tell it was going to make a lot, serving with quinoa, lettuce, cilantro, avocado, shaved carrots, and my favorite pickled red onions. Marinating my chicken a couple of hours in advance definitely helped cut down on the prep time here, which was good, as cooking chicken breasts always takes longer than I think it will!

I don't think these were particularly memorable, but they were delicious — at the end of the day, literally, I really just love a good bowl dinner.

[laurkamkitchen]

Brown Butter Sweet Potato Gnocchi with Sausage and Kale - Chasing Cravings

This pasta dish has pillowy sweet potato gnocchi made from just 4 ingredients which is then toasted in brown butter with sweet Italian sausa

Normal gnocchi doesn't really do a lot for me, but my mom made a dish very similar to this a while back, and I simply loved the idea of sweet potato gnocchi! This recipe seemed like a perfect family dinner pick.

I made this in full. Be warned that it is a little time-consuming, but I think it was totally worth it. The gnocchi-making process was so satisfying, especially when they all started floating to the top! (Though this took quite a bit longer than 2 minutes for me.)

In future, I would probably make smaller gnocchi pieces, as they do expand quite a bit once cooked, and also cut the sausage into smaller chunks to make for crispier, more satisfying pieces. But overall this was so delicious, such a great combination of texture and flavors. I just love sweet potato gnocchi so much!

[laurkamkitchen]

Flourless Oatmeal Almond Butter Cookies

Easy ALMOND BUTTER COOKIES you can mix together in no time. Hundreds of 5-STAR REVIEWS, these cookies are naturally gluten-free!

It's been a hot minute since I've made chocolate chip cookies, and I thought I would try something new and a little more experimental.

I made this in full, ending up with 12 larger cookies. I, in fact, should have thought about their size a little more when it came time to actually baking them. I pulled them right at 9 minutes, as the edges were looking a bit done, and I prefer my cookies on the softer side.

I was devastated to see that the beautiful puffs they'd had in the oven deflated after a few minutes of cooling, and I quickly realized that they were also far too soft and underbaked. I mean, these were gooey, barely any structure to them. And this is far from the first time I've made this same mistake in my cookie baking, even if it's been a while.

But whatever their texture, these were insanely delicious. I mean, truly divine. I will absolutely be making these again, and next time I'll actually let them bake for longer.

[laurkamkitchen]

Remus and I were having venison burgers and roasted potatoes as our farmers’ market dinner this month, which I thought we needed a vegetable side to accompany it. Rather than opting for my usual roasted purple cabbage, I dug through my Pinterest archive and resurfaced with this recipe, which combined plenty of in-season veggies, including cauliflower, and promised to be super flavorful.

I halved this using plenty of fresh dill. It does take quite some time, purely because of how much chopping there is to do, so not the quickest side you could conjure.

I had originally planned to quarter the dressing, as I find these kinds of recipes tend to call for it in excess, but I am so glad I did not. Even with the full amount, this really did not have the kind of creamy egg/potato/chicken salad texture I was hoping for; you’d definitely need to at least double it to get that. This contains a lot of rather unforgiving veggies in terms of flavor and texture, so you’re really counting on the dressing to give you a little more here than it does as written.

In future, I’d also definitely use either fresh or panko breadcrumbs, rather than the golden ones I opted for, as they didn’t give this quite the right kind of texture.

I was so excited to try this, but was ultimately, pretty disappointed. But the improvements here are clear, so if I ever wanted to go down this route again, I know just what to do.

[laurkamkitchen]

Remake 8/7/25: Remade to go with Remus's shrimp rolls!

[laurkamkitchen]

Spicy Chipotle Hummus (10 Minutes!)

Oh, hummus. You never let us down! This chipotle hummus takes all the creamy, savory satisfaction of regular hummus and kicks it up a few no

I absolutely loved the pumpkin chipotle hummus that I made back in November, so with another can of chipotle peppers to use up and a new batch of hummus needed, I set out to try and find a non-pumpkin version. Minimalist Baker rarely steers me wrong, so this seemed perfect.

I made this in full using three of the peppers. I started off with two as I didn't want this to be too spicy, but, honestly, I think I could have gone up to four just fine. Admittedly, I didn't really read the instructions, so I did not actually reserve any of the aquafaba. Thus, mainly due to the sheer amount of tahini involved, this was a very thick batch of hummus. Next time, I need to remember to reserve.

Thickness aside, this was still delicious and a great go-to for chipotle hummus moving forward.

[laurkamkitchen]

Remake 11/2/25: Remake to use up the last of my most recent can of chipotles in adobo sauce!

Unfortunately, I was using up a can of chickpeas that I'd already opened, so I didn't have any aquafaba to thin this out. Instead, I went for a little extra lemon juice and about 1/4 cup of cold water which made for what I think is actually the perfect consistency.

[laurkamkitchen]

Vanilla Glazed Blackberry Peach Coffee Cake.

Vanilla Glazed Blackberry Peach Coffee Cake: fresh blackberries, cream cheese & topped with sweet peaches...the essence of summer! @halfbake

Fresh wild blackberries are always a staple of our Freedom Week experience, and thus the perfect time to break out a new blackberry recipe from my Pinterest archive.

I doubled this to make for our big group, skipping the vanilla glaze and baking it in an ovular ceramic casserole dish. Between the six layers and the sheer volume I was working with, this turned out to be a lot more time-consuming than I had anticipated. It's a good thing I had prudently decided to make it the day before.

It took ages to bake, so long that I lost track, but it had to have taken close to 90 minutes. Again, the volume was really the kicker here.

Unfortunately, the top was ultimately a little too done, but the bottom layers were still quite soft. The cream cheese layer was much thicker than I had anticipated, and I'm typically not a big cream cheese person anyways, so I think next time I'd skip it.

This was not the best coffee cake I've ever made, but the people really seemed to enjoy it, and it's always a treat to work with freshly picked ingredients. I'm not quite sure this was ultimately worth the effort at this volume, but for a smaller batch, I might be willing to return to it.

[laurkamkitchen]

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ice Cream Sandwiches

These chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream sandwiches are a must-try before the summer is up! A few Fridays ago my husband and I were going

I was inspired by Remus's love of ice cream sandwiches to make a homemade batch as a special, summery farm treat!

I made this in full using Breyer's vanilla ice cream. I was concerned when I went to spread the cookie dough in the pan that I was going to have to spread it pretty thin, but the final product actually had a decently thick layer on either side, so no complaints there.

I did, however, make one very critical error. I thought I would be a little more economical by folding the excess parchment paper I had used for my bottom layer over top of it, then smoothing the second layer over top. It occurred to me as I was doing this that it would make removing the top layer rather difficult, but I went ahead and did it anyway. Sure enough, I was right. Both layers broke into all kinds of pieces and I essentially had to press them back together to varying degrees of mess. I never was able to get the pieces to fit back together correctly.

Breyer's ice cream does have a lot of the stabilizers that other ice creams have, which is good, but didn't exactly serve my purposes here. By the time I had pieced the bottom layer back together, it had gotten a little too soft and was starting to seriously melt by the time I had everything fully assembled.

But by the miracle of the freezer, two hours later, these sliced beautifully. They were still a little uneven and messy due to previous breakage, but the refreeze really counteracted many of my earlier sins.

And whatever they looked like, these were insanely delicious. Like, possibly the best cookie dough ever. The people absolutely loved them, and 16 little sandwiches weren't nearly enough! Despite my earlier failings, I was so pleased with how these turned out in the end. I've definiely learned a few lessons here, namely that next year I ought to make a much bigger batch!

[laurkamkitchen]

Oil-Free Lemon Tahini Dressing - Thank You Berry Much

This oil-free lemon tahini dressing is beyond flavorful, creamy, sweet & savory. Use it in salads, grain bowls, & on top of roasted veggies.

A super simple lemon tahini dressing!

I made this in full using rather clumpy honey in lieu of the maple syrup, so I ended up adding quite a bit of water to get it to the consistency I wanted. This did make it slightly more bland than I would have perhaps preferred, but overall, no complaints here. This was quick, simple, and yummy, exactly what I was looking for.

[laurkamkitchen]

Chicken Pesto Stuffed Sweet Potatoes {Paleo, Whole30}

These chicken pesto stuffed sweet potatoes are seriously tasty, filling and easy to make!  A paleo and Whole30 compliant pesto is mixed with

This has been tucked away in my Pinterest archive for years. It seemed like the perfect pick to make for a family dinner.

I made this in full using five smaller sweet potatoes and subbing parmesan for the nutritional yeast and about half of the basil with extra spinach, as we simply did not have enough of the latter. The package of raw chicken I bought was actually two pounds instead of one, but the pesto made enough to coat it well. That being said, if you're going with one pound of chicken, I'd half the amount of pesto.

I had Remus cook the chicken for me, so all I had to do was toss the sweet potatoes in the oven and whiz all the pesto ingredients through the blender. Roasting whole sweet potatoes and cooking chicken can both be pretty time-consuming, but with just three simple elements here, I still think this was pretty easy.

This was not the best meal or the best pesto I've ever made, but it was still deliciously hearty. I just love baked sweet potato so much, no matter what they're stuffed with.

[laurkamkitchen]

I think it’s only fitting that my first ever post on this blog, and the first recipe I’ve made this year, is this chia pudding. I have made this so many times now that it’s probably the only recipe I no longer need the instructions for (although it does help that they’re pretty straightforward).

I usually end up making a half batch of this, although I do keep the cinnamon and vanilla amounts the same as the full because, well, I love cinnamon and vanilla and they give this such great flavor.

The original recipe calls for fresh blueberries as a topping, but I’ll typically only add them if they’re in season, leaving them out and opting for other fruit that is, either as a topping or on the side depending on what it is.

The original instructions call for you to blend the initial ingredients, but I’ve found that if your almond butter is runny enough, a little whisking will still do the trick.

The same goes for adding almond milk upon consumption; when I make this at school, where the almond butter brand I buy tends to be more runny, it’s not usually necessary, but at home, where it tends to be much thicker, I usually add a lot and then stir. At the end of the day, it’s really all about personal preference and experimentation.

[laurkamkitchen]

Remake 18/7/22: Omitted the maple syrup here since it just kind of seemed like an expensive non-necessity. It did make a difference, but enough to justify keeping it. Will be syrupless from here on out.