If you're not from these parts, you might not be familiar with "L.A.'s favorite modern cafeteria," Lemonade. It's a local chain of fast casual restaurants from chef Alan Jackson. They serve sandwiches and salads and soups and...(surprise!)...lemonade made of high quality seasonal ingredients. Everybody loves it.
The cookbook is as adorable as the cafe, and as moderately vegan-friendly. I marked a bunch of salads to try that I thought might be good for Thanksgiving, like Sweet Potato, Parsley, Pistachio Vinaigrette, and Kohlrabi, Granny Smith, Apple, Chive, Sesame Oil, ooh, and Farro, Spaghetti Squash, Pomegranate Vinaigrette. Each of those recipes is vegan, save a sprinke of feta in the last one. There are some really interesting salad dressing recipes here and a lot of smart, simple food. I like it.
I have dough for the fig bars (not vegan, easily adapted) chilling in the fridge right now, along with two jars of this cranberry relish. With a perfect balance of sweet and tart, the children hate it, and I've been looking for excuses to slather it on anything. Last night I ran out and bought a package of tofurky slices just so that we could have easy pre-Thanksgiving sandwiches for dinner. We mashed a thick layer of cranberry relish into vegenaise on good bread and piled on smoked tofurky and avocado and lettuce, but can I tell you something I'm not totally proud of? Next time I'll skip the avocado and lettuce. They just diluted that all important tofurkey/cranberry contrast.
Cranberry Relish
From The Lemonade Cookbook: Southern California Comfort Food from L.A.'s Favorite Modern Cafeteria
- 1 pound frozen whole cranberries, thawed
- 1/4 cup dried cranberries
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 teaspoons peeled and grated fresh ginger
- pinch of cinnamon
- juice and finely grated zest of 1 orange
- 1/4 cup water
In the bowl of a food processor, combine the whole and dried cranberries, sugar, ginger, cinnamon, and orange juice and zest. Pulse to break down the cranberries and incorporate the ingredients; it should still be a bit chunky. Add the water, little by little, and pulse until the mixture reaches a chunky relish consistency.
Allow the cranberry relish to sit at room temperature for at least 1 hour, so the sugar dissolves and the flavors can marry. The cranberry relish can easily be prepared in advance, covered, and refrigerated.
