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Chickpea Taco Bowl with Green Chile, Tomato and Cheddar

black bowl on white background full of chickpeas, cheese and lettuce taco bowl

I have to be honest, it seems so trite to simply share a recipe right now while so many people are fighting for their most fundamental rights. This past weekend I felt so helpless and frustrated. Sure we donated to organizations supporting refugees and immigrants, but it didn’t feel like enough. It’s difficult to know how to move forward with life when our brothers and sisters are having their lives ripped away from them. But here we are. We all need to eat and take care of ourselves and follow our best instincts to care for and support one another. This is what we do and will continue to do. So here’s a delicious, quick and pretty cheap recipe.

It’s the winter and I just never want to eat salad in the winter. It just seems too cold! I want vegetables, but I want them warm, so I was totally taken with this wonderful simple idea for a taco bowl that my lovely friend Alex Stafford shared over at food 52. Of course I love that she suggests cooking the chickpeas from dried, which I totally encourage you to do if you eat chickpeas regularly. I wanted to make something similar right away using what I had in the cupboard, and lo and behold I had a can of chickpeas. I was just going to enjoy this creation for lunch and call it a day, but it turned out so delicious and easy I thought I’d share with you. So here is a bowl of warm chickpeas flavored with my favorite hatch chiles, tomatoes, onion and cheddar and tossed with shredded lettuce for added crunch. If you have sour cream, tortilla chips, avocado or anything like that to add, this bowl will only get better. And it’s possible that if you are not a pregnant lady this may feed more than one person 😉

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Brioche Cheddar Cheese Buns

When I was a kid my Mum used to take us almost weekly to our favorite bakery, Bee Bell Bakery, in Edmonton, AB, Canada where I grew up. It was always jam-packed and smelled incredible. I loved looking in the glass cases at all the treats while my Mum took a number and waited to make her order. We rarely got the cakes or tarts that looked so exciting to me then, but very often my Mum would bless us with an order of the cheese buns. Cheese buns don’t really do justice to these incredible morsels. They were not round and domed like a traditional bun, but more the shape of a popover, and shot through with a ton of bright orange cheddar. The best were the ones that had cheese spilling out the side that had gotten baked and crispy. Or the ones where cheese had burst through the bottom and it was shiny with orange cheese grease, oh man.

Sadly Bee Bell closed its doors a few years ago so no one can get these beautiful buns anymore. With my strong memories as guide I set out this week to make a copy-cat version at home and I am incredibly happy with the result. So today I’m sharing with you a lightly sweet brioche dough, stuffed with cheddar cheese and cooked in a muffin tin for the same crazy shape I remember as a kid. These are a special, uber-cheesy treat. They take a bit of time, but were fairly easy to shape and work with so don’t be afraid if you are a beginner baker.

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Cheddar and Potato Perogies

pan-fried pierogi with sour cream and scallions

This recipe is from Good and Cheap.

Good and Cheap cover 2nd edition

Good and Cheap is a gorgeous cookbook for people with limited income, particularly on a $4/day food stamps budget. The PDF is free (ahora en Español!) and has been downloaded more than 15,000,000 times. I have more cookbooks, too!

Still looking to maximize friend and family time in this zone between Christmas and New Years? Cooking and baking together can be so much fun, and perogy-making is the perfect project to do in groups! And hearty, cheesy, starchy, satisfying perogies are just what your body craves during the cold months. In my hometown, Edmonton there is a big Ukrainian population and Ukrainian grandmothers often gather in church basements to make the most delicious perogies together. So let’s be inspired by them and have a perogy-making party! The best part is that everyone can leave with a bag or two of these delicious cheddar and potato perogies for the freezer.

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Creamy, Spicy, Cauliflower Soup

cauliflower soup topped with cheddar and scallions with sliced baguette

This recipe is from From Scratch.

From Scratch cover 2nd edition

My first book! From Scratch is a vegetarian cookbook intended for people just becoming comfortable in their own kitchens. Just like with Good and Cheap, the PDF is free. Print copies are a pricier than you might expect because this book is printed on demand (1 copy at a time).

Another classic from the archives while I’m away for the holidays. This Cauliflower soup is also from my first cookbook, From Scratch. I put it in with my middle sister, Emily, in mind and it totally worked, she makes it all the time (or so she claims!). It’s right for her because she is always trying to eat more vegetables, but they are not her favorite thing. This soup is almost pure vegetables, but it’s also creamy and warm and satisfying and a little spicy and cheesy; just right for the reluctant vegetable eater.

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Leanne Brown

Hi, I'm Leanne Brown. I’m a bestselling cookbook author. I want to help you find peace, healing and freedom through cooking.

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Good Enough cover

My newest creation, Good Enough, is a self-care cookbook that offers personal and vulnerable storytelling, delicious recipes, and encouraging advice to teach you how to accept yourself, love yourself, and find peace through the act of cooking. Learn more here!

Good and Cheap cover 2nd edition

Good and Cheap is a gorgeous cookbook for people with limited income, particularly on a $4/day food stamps budget. The PDF is free (ahora en Español!) and has been downloaded over 15,000,000 times. For more info, see All About Good and Cheap and Donation Impact.

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