summer staples
Just like candles, food and cooking can trigger feelings of nostalgia, connection, comfort, and joy. It’s something our team shares a passion for, which probably doesn’t surprise you since creating fragrance profiles requires a seasoned nose. The sensory experience that comes with cooking allows you to tap into the memories surrounding each layer of scent + flavor. Whether that means creating new ones or reminiscing on the old. Like when your house starts to fill with the warm, savory scent of your mothers famous slow-cooked brisket, and you start to recall the fondest moments of being her sous chef during the holidays. Or maybe it’s after countless hours of preparing a labor intensive pie crust, when you finally pull your masterpiece out of the oven, and the air fills with a sweet, buttery aroma. Ready to be shared with an intimate dinner party.
We’ve been indulging all summer long in our favorite recipes, and we thought, why gate-keep our staple dishes when we could share them with a community who appreciates scent + flavor just as much as we do. So get inspired, and read through our hand-picked list of seasonal recipes. Some are loosely formatted without an exact recipe (with lots of room to put your own twist) others include a step by step process.
Enjoy ~
Lailanis’s Summer Breakfast Spread:
This recipe isn’t so much a recipe as it is a template for the perfect breakfast spread. I had the pleasure of growing up in a kitchen full of Mexicans where enchiladas were the celebratory meal for the holidays and a chicken taco recipe had been passed down and evolved through generations. I also had the pleasure of growing up in a kitchen full of Palestinians. Thanks to my stepfather, I have experienced some of the best home-made food & flavors … familial recipes that have been shared amongst the women in the family which required no exact measurements - just the learned tradition of love, spices, and a little muscle memory. My most cherished experiences were the most simple; breakfast at “sitti’s” which means grandmother in Arabic. It was something I always looked forward to after spending the night at my cousin's: olive oil fried eggs, sliced tomatoes, briny feta cheese, lamb sausage, fresh bread, yogurt, spices, and more olive oil – all laid out mezze style for the entire family to indulge in. Not an ounce of guilt was placed on those plates-just pure elation and pleasure (at least that’s how I remember it). Every texture, flavor, and temperature was incorporated into each delicious, memorable bite.
Your must-haves for the perfect breakfast spread aren't so much specific ingredients as they are must-have flavors and textures. I'm talking fatty, salty, acidic, smokey, spicy, sweet, herbal, crunchy, tender - the cold and the hot, baby. A little bit of everything to make for a sensational meal for breakfast, dinner, vegans, omnivores and everything in between. This meal can be as budget friendly or extravagant as you’d like - just remember to have fun and experiment with it! And in true grandmother fashion; this recipe has no measurements- it is meant to be merely a canvas of all the possibilities and channel our playful energy & instincts. If you are unsure of how much of each ingredient to use, start with a little and adjust as you go.
Optional Ingredients ~
Eggs
Mushrooms
Onions
Garlic
Eggplant
Feta
Labneh or greek yogurt
Olives
Tomatoes (sun-dried is a great option!)
Cucumber
Sausage
Potatoes
Swiss chard, kale, or collard greens
Nuts (slivered almonds, walnuts, or pine nuts)
Acid component (lemon, apple cider vinegar, rice vinegar)
Olive oil (Sesame or neutral oils work well too)
Fresh or store bought bread (pita or sourdough)
Optional Spices & Herbs ~
Za’atar
Salt & Pepper
Red pepper flakes
Aleppo
Paprika (any type you prefer!)
Sumac
Fresh parsley
Fresh Mint
Mezze Plate Ideas ~
Lamb sausage tossed in toasted pine nuts and Aleppo spice
Mushrooms sautéed with onions in olive oil, topped with lemon and za’atar
Roasted potatoes seasoned with salt, pepper, sumac and smoked paprika
Labneh topped with olive oil & roasted garlic
Cucumber & tomato salad with feta, parsley, mint, olive oil & lemon
Olive oil fried eggs topped with salt, pepper, and za’atar
Chopped collards sautéed in oil, red pepper flakes and a touch of rice vinegar
Simmering tomatoes with olive oil & garlic under a bed of runny eggs topped with smoked paprika, red pepper flakes, and sumac.
A small plate of olive oil paired with a plate of za’atar and warm pita. Repeat after me: bread, olive oil, za’atar, repeat. (can you tell I love za’atar?)
Don’t. Forget. The. Bread
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Carly’s Seasonal Dishes:
“Elote” Corn Salad:
Always a tasty addition to any Mexican-inspired meal. This is a summer favorite because grilling the corn really goes the extra mile, and there’s nothing like grilling in the summertime. It’s sweet, salty, smokey, with a touch of freshness and acidity. I always recommend using fresh corn on the cob to get that smokey char.
Ingredients ~
2 corn ears
Butter or olive oil
Chili powder
Smoked paprika
Salt
Diced red onion
Cotija cheese
Cilantro
Lime juice
Add some butter to your fresh corn ears and pop them on the grill until they have a light char. Once they’re fully cooked on all sides, allow them to cool before cutting off the kernels. Mix loose kernels in a bowl with the remaining ingredients. Serve hot or cold, as a topping on tacos, salads, burritos, or on the side as an extra dipping component to a salsa or guac spread.
Shakshouka with Summer Tomatoes:
My roommate turned me on to shakshouka right when we started living together, and ever since, I’ve found myself going through phases where I make in constantly, usually around summertime into fall. A favorite dish for when tomatoes are in peak season, for extra flavor and juiciness. I usually cook this intuitively, without measuring anything, so writing this out was actually pretty challenging! You can follow these steps loosely, depending on how spicy you want it.
Ingredients ~
2-4 tablespoons of olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
1 green pepper, or a half a green pepper + a hot pepper of your choice. i usually use jalapeño or serrano if I have it on hand. diced.
A sh*t ton of tomatoes. I usually use whatever variety I have on hand, diced, and don’t throw away the juices. you could also use a 28oz can of tomatoes in any variety. or a mix of both. I don’t follow an exact recipe for this and it’s really hard to mess up shakshouka, so whatever you have will work!
2 cloves of garlic, finely diced.
Tablespoon of tomato paste (if you have it)
Half inch of grated ginger, can skip if you don’t have it
A half cup of whatever herbs you have on hand. parsley, cilantro, mint, basil will
Spice blend of your choice, within the range of turmeric, chili powder, cumin, curry powder.
4 large eggs
Crusty bread, naan, roti, or whatever dipping bread you like.
Salt / pep
Steps:
1. Sauté diced veggies
Add olive oil to a large sauce pan over medium heat. add onions and peppers, cook for about 5 minutes until onions are translucent. add spice blend and garlic. sauté until veggies are evenly covered, add tomato paste.
2. Add tomatoes
Add whatever blend of tomatoes you choose into sauce pan. if you are using a can of whole peeled tomatoes you can either break these down by crushing them with your hands before added to the pan, or with a large spoon/spatula. there shouldn’t be large chunks, but it also shouldn’t be completely blended or soup-like. add salt/pep, taste after completely mixed in and adjust seasoning as needed.
4. Allow it to cook down
Bring it to a low heat, allowing it to simmer and cook down. you want the liquids to cook out.
5. Add eggs
You’ll know it’s ready for the eggs once you try to create little wells for them to cook inside of that don’t immediately fill with tomato liquid. add each egg to their own individual well. cover pan and let cook until whites are completely cooked. if you like your eggs extra runny, keep an eye on it as they will continue to cook as they are being served in the hot pan. add a few extra minutes if you like your eggs on the jammier side.
7. Toast bread
Depending on what kind of bread you choose, toast it during the last 5-8 minutes. roti cooks pretty fast so this could be done after you garnish, but for more crusty bread, toast while eggs are being cooked.
8. Garnish + serve
Finally, add your herb blend on top of everything, serve the pan on top of a heat resistant mat (I usually just use a towel). spoon out two eggs per person, with an extra scoop of tomato mixture. enjoy with toasted bread
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Elaines “Cherries 3 Ways”
I have a special love for fruit, perhaps made all the more obsessive growing up in a place where I couldn’t always get what I wanted fresh and in season. We have a real bounty here in Michigan during the summer, with blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, figs, strawberries, peaches, apples and more all popping up over the course of a few months. Cherries have come to be one of my favorites, perhaps because it feels so unique to Michigan (whatever, Washington) with Traverse City being the “Cherry Capital of the World” - proven! by its annual Cherry Festival that brings in thousands of people every year to enjoy this sweet, tart treat that can be used in myriad ways. Speaking of all it’s uses, I just made cherry pie but while I set out to make one dish, I ended up enjoying three, so here’s my process to getting the most out of these ruby delights while they’re fresh:
1. Michigan cherries all on their own. The nostalgia of spitting out cherry pits can’t be matched - it’s summer, it’s playful, it’s a lil messy and not all that sexy but bursting with flavor. I’m here for it.
2. Cherry pie - my favorite pie crust from Inspired Taste (made with the hand method - makes two crusts) with the following:
Fresh cherries, pitted (I poke a chopstick through the center and push out the pit, it does the job but beware - there will be lots of cherry juice!)
Brown Sugar (turbinado or cane will work fine)
Spices (I went a little cold-weather to mix things up with cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom and black pepper - but choose what you like, have fun!)
Salted butter (to dot the pie in addition to what you’ll use for the pie crust)
Vanilla extract
Salt
Cornstarch (or arrowroot, tapioca, flour)
Cream cheese (room temp)
Egg
If I’m being honest, I rarely follow a single recipe when baking. I tend to use multiple recipes to pull inspiration or simply let my senses take over and see what I can make that will either turn out great or at the very worst, good but not what I was going for. Do ratios matter? Yes. But so does enjoying the process. Here’s what I can recall but feel it out, be playful, and enjoy - you’re dealing with fruit & sugar, whatever you make will taste good!
1. Make the pie crust one day in advance according to the guidelines from Inspired Taste
2. Put on a podcast or your favorite playlist and pit your cherries. I probably pit 2 lbs (empty your pitted cherries into a bowl that is similar in size to your pie plate, this will help you to determine how many to pit. I like to make sure it’s heaping over 1-2 inches so you’re not short on filling!) This took me about an hour, for reference.
3. Assemble the filling - add ½ teaspoon of vanilla extract and your spices, including salt, to your cherries, then mix in about ¾ cup of sugar and ¾ cup cornstarch and mix completely. If the cherries are more tart than sweet, make it 1 cup of sugar.
4. Roll out your pie crust and onto your pie plate. Layer at least half of a stick of Philly cream cheese on the base of the pie (or more!), being careful not to disturb the pie crust.
5. Add in your filling, then dot with 1-inch or so cubes of butter throughout the top of the filling.
6. Roll out the second pie crust and create a lattice top (or whatever style you want). You can find plenty of methods/processes for this online.
7. Beat the egg then brush on top pie crust so that it has a nice glossy finish (this gives it a nice golden brown, crispy texture).
8. Sprinkle some sugar all over the top for an extra special touch.
Freeze for 15 minutes. Preheat your oven to 450 degrees. I like to bake my pie on top of a cookie sheet to catch all the juices that are about to spill over. You can also lay down some aluminum foil. Once ready, bake for 15-20 minutes, until the pie is golden brown. Turn the temperature down to 350 degrees and bake for 1-1.5 hours or until pie juices are bubbling in the center.
3. Reverse Cherry a la mode - keep some reserve filling from the pie and dump it on some vanilla ice cream for the dog days.