Salad Skewers, Simple Smoky Salsa, and a Sweet Recipoem for 2025
Hello, New Year
It’s been an especially quiet holiday season in LA. I napped without the sound of helicopters infiltrating my dreams, walked our dog on Sunset Boulevard (after dark!) without swerving huge crowds, and cruised around the city to go to gatherings without any frustration over absurd amounts of traffic. Morning coffee runs and trips to the farmers’ market? A total breeze. Working from home and cooking as much as possible? Very doable. I know that sense of calm might come to an end when too many emails go unanswered and everyone who lives here returns from their frosty hometowns—like, today—but here we are in 2025, and it feels like exactly the right energy to hold onto while entering a new year: Less noise, more simplicity, softness, and stability.
With all of that in mind, there are some stress-free recipes I’d like to share. A close friend of mine recently reminded me of a way to make wonderful salsa that involves no roasting or blistering (my usual approach), but rather boiling water with dried chipotle chilis (to achieve that same smoke factor), a short list of ingredients, and a quick step of straining and blending everything in a food processor before citrus-ing and salting to taste. For dipping and delighting purposes, something I strongly suggest everyone makes in the coming months:
Simple Smoky Salsa
Serves: 4-6, plus leftovers
Time: 25 minutes
Ingredients:
3-4 dried chipotle chili peppers
3 large tomatoes
3 cloves garlic, peeled
large handful fresh cilantro
½ white onion, diced
juice of 1-2 small limes, or more, as desired
salt, to taste
Instructions:
Add dried chipotle chili peppers to a pot of cold water and bring to a boil. Once the water is boiling, add garlic and tomatoes and leave over high heat for 10 minutes. Strain, allow to cool, and add to a food processor with cilantro. Blend. Add diced white onion and pulse 4-5 times. Transfer to a bowl and stir in salt and lime juice. Taste and adjust as needed. You’ll know it’s right when after tasting it, your mouth waters.
Between cheese boards, cakes and cookies, and approximately 50 different focaccias, one thing that really seemed to hit at a holiday party—perhaps unsurprisingly—was salad skewers. A fresh bite among endless richness? Check. Something you can eat with your hands to avoid dishes? Check. An anchovy-less caesar dressing that everyone will ask you about and can be used year-round? Check.
Caesar Salad Skewers
Serves: large groups
Time: 1 hour
Ingredients:
For the dressing:
~1 cup Kewpie mayonnaise (I winged it)
juice of 2 lemons
5 cloves garlic, grated
3 dashes Worcestershire
3 dashes Tabasco
salt, to taste
black pepper, to taste (I recommend using a lot)
For the skewers:
3 heads romaine, washed and cut into uniform bite-sized squares
30 oz bacon (optional)
1 day-old loaf of bread, cut into uniform squares
salt, to taste
large chunk parmigiano reggiano, grated
Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 400. In a bowl, mix all dressing ingredients until thoroughly combined—the consistency should appear drizzle-able, but not too thin. Taste and adjust as needed, then transfer to a jar or squeeze bottle and refrigerate. If using bacon, fry it in batches until slightly crispy, then set on a paper towel-lined rack and reserve bacon fat from the pan. Once bacon has cooled, cut it into uniform bite-sized squares and set aside. Toss bread pieces in bacon fat (or, alternatively, ~2-3 tbsp olive oil or melted butter) and season with salt and any other desired seasonings. Transfer to a baking sheet and sprinkle with grated parm. Toast in the oven until crispy on the outside but not entirely crunchy. Allow to cool. Assemble your skewers (I used ones that were compostable and 3.5 inches long) in this order: parm-coated toasted bread, 2-3 pieces bacon, 4-5 pieces of romaine. Arrange skewers on a platter, drizzle each with dressing, and serve.
Earlier in December, a fun and chocolate-y cookie recipe with both “easy” and “piment d’espelette” in its title had me sold immediately. Developed by someone whose taste I admire and appreciate, this spiced dessert-slash-snack is one I’ll be returning to.
Back in 2021, on the first day of the year, Sam wrote me somewhat of a recipe—it was for vegetable tartare, and it was also rather poetic. Today, I asked him for something similar, because it made me so happy and I always think about it. This time around, it’s extra sweet:
Meyer lemon bar,
You are the lid to my jar—
I would run far,
And wide,
To have you by my side
-SM
He didn’t include any ingredients, so maybe try eating the love? And along with that, for something savory to start, I recommend making this.
Finally, some of the food-related subject lines of my inbox as of late:
L.A.’s Most Sensational Cinnamon Rolls
Coquito and kremas, a taste of the Caribbean
How to Eat Anything
The Perfect Foodie Gift!
You’re cutting it close, Chef 😅
Pommes Aligot
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Is Aquaculture the New Factory Farming?
30+ new jobs for “cook”
Cardamom Vanilla Sugar Cookies
Holiday meltdown
Eat, Drink and enjoy!
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all of the food i ate this year
A Christmas menu
This sweet and sour cauliflower is a weeknight wower
A CHRISTMAS FOCCACIA
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Chao Krung Thai wants your feedback
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want a nutritious start to the year 🌞??
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Shuck your resolutions.
RIP Caesar salad. Long live Caesar salad.
3lb. Bag Tangerines and Poppi Prebiotic Soda on Sale, Plus More!
Time for a kitchen refresh! Get set for success with our top picks.
Until next time,
xx
