Author Archives: Sharon Lee Davies-Tight, artist, writer/author, animal-free chef, activist

CARAMELIZED WALNUTS

CARAMELIZED WALNUTS Easy and delicious! Walnuts, extra virgin olive oil, water, brown sugar and baking soda, cooked till caramelized and cooled till crispy! Great for topping salads or side dishes! Makes enough to top 4 salads, or side dishes 1/2 c. walnut halves or pieces 1-2 T. extra virgin olive oil 2 T. water 1/4Continue reading “CARAMELIZED WALNUTS”

How To Make: HOMEMADE ANIMAL-FREE BUTTER THAT MELTS

HOMEMADE ANIMAL-FREE BUTTER THAT MELTS Requires only 3 widely available ingredients: Roland Classic Coconut Milk, extra virgin olive oil and salt! Melts and tastes like dairy butter!  Makes a little over 2 cups

MAKING CUCUMBER CANOES

The standard garden-variety cucumber is the seediest. So when you don’t want the seeds to complicate the texture achievement of your recipe, you simply remove them. Peel the cucumber, then cut each end off. Cut the cucumber in half from end to end. Put one half cucumber cupped in your hand, seed side up. TakeContinue reading “MAKING CUCUMBER CANOES”

TOASTING SESAME SEEDS

Toasting sesame seeds is much like toasting coconut. It doesn’t take long. Place sesame seeds in dry skillet, without overlapping much. Turn heat to low. Watch carefully for the first signs of browning, then shake skillet till most are lightly browned and the nut aroma in the air is prominent. Remove skillet immediately from heatContinue reading “TOASTING SESAME SEEDS”

SEEDING FRESH TOMATOES

Seeding a tomato actually means removing the seeds with the pulp, leaving the skin and the fleshy part attached to the skin. In other words, you don’t have to pick through the pulp to remove the seeds. The pulp goes out with the seeds. Seeding tomatoes is easy to do once you do it. NoContinue reading “SEEDING FRESH TOMATOES”

PRE-SLICED MUSHROOMS

PRE-SLICED MUSHROOMS. It’s always best to buy whole mushrooms and to slice your own. It’s not difficult, nor does it take much time. This way you control the thickness, and if you want to cube or quarter them, you have that option. More often than not, groceries slice them too thin, then keep them tooContinue reading “PRE-SLICED MUSHROOMS”

How To Make: PICKLED ROASTED YELLOW PEPPERS

PICKLED ROASTED YELLOW PEPPERS Sweet yellow peppers roasted with extra virgin olive oil, then packed in jars with apple cider vinegar, fresh sprigs of rosemary, garlic and whole cloves. Use as a side dish condiment, on sandwiches, in salads (potato, bean, rice, pasta, greens) or in hot rice or bean dishes! Versatile and delicious! PicklesContinue reading “How To Make: PICKLED ROASTED YELLOW PEPPERS”

TASTING

TASTING. Taste and/or smell each ingredient before you add it to a dish, then taste and smell the dish to which you’ve added it, so that you become familiar with the way in which the flavor, texture, color and aroma achievements progress. Cooking is not only an art, but a science as well. Knowing how oneContinue reading “TASTING”

SQUEEZING LEMONS AND LIMES

SQUEEZING LEMONS AND LIMES Always squeeze lemons and limes into a cup or bowl, then remove the seeds and add juice to the recipe. If squeezed into the hand to let the juice run through the fingers, the possibility always exists that a seed will slip through too, unbeknownst to you, until one of yourContinue reading “SQUEEZING LEMONS AND LIMES”

SEEDING CANNED TOMATOES

SEEDING CANNED TOMATOES. Hold each tomato (one at a time) under cold, slowly running water. Slit lengthwise with your thumb nail. Open tomato; pull pulp up and out, rinsing pulp and seeds into sink. Drain tomato meat that remains, and either chunk, dice or chop for your recipe. This is a very simple procedure that makesContinue reading “SEEDING CANNED TOMATOES”

SEEDING AN AVOCADO

SEEDING AN AVOCADO. Using a long, sharp knife, cut lengthwise (from tip to tip) all around the avocado, through the skin and far enough into the meat to touch the seed. Insert blade of knife into the cut you’ve made, then twist the knife to separate the two halves. Take the knife and smack the sharpContinue reading “SEEDING AN AVOCADO”

SCALLIONS

SCALLIONS. Just because you have scallion in the refrigerator doesn’t mean you should garnish every dish with it. However, if you really like scallion with everything, then try varying the cut: some tiny, thin rings, some sliced the long way into 2 inch long matchstick width or smaller. Try frying up thick round disks of theContinue reading “SCALLIONS”

SALT

SALT. There’s a difference between Morton’s (or similar) table salt and sea salt. To achieve the same salt taste, it takes a little more sea salt. You be the judge, since there are also differences among sea salts. Re: Kosher salt–the rock kind. All the chefs on the food network use it. I’ve tried it, and don’tContinue reading “SALT”

PLATE PRESENTATION

PLATE PRESENTATION. How does your plate look after you’ve arranged your food on it? Garnishing illuminates a dish, but be sure that you want what’s on your plate illuminated. Food piled or thrown on like slop gives an undesirable appearance; and appearances do count. No matter what you’re serving, arrange it on the plate in aContinue reading “PLATE PRESENTATION”

PEACHES AND NECTARINES, HOW TO CUT INTO SEGMENTS

PEACHES AND NECTARINES, HOW TO CUT INTO SEGMENTS. Do this by holding the peach/nectarine in the palm of your hand, then using a small sharp knife, running the knife from end to end against the pit, making a crescent size slice that measures about 1/4 inch, or any size you want, at the widest part ofContinue reading “PEACHES AND NECTARINES, HOW TO CUT INTO SEGMENTS”

PASTA

PASTA. Cooking pasta need not require oil added to the water. It’s more important that you use lots of water, and the pasta is stirred continuously from the time of insertion until past the initial melting stage (when the starch softens and individual pastas tend to stick together). Beyond this and in the presence of aContinue reading “PASTA”