I'm Craving Carrots
Hi friends,
Welcome to This Needs Hot Sauce (And Other Food Thoughts), a newsletter sharing something to cook, somewhere to eat out, and something to read. I'm a native New Yorker who spends far too much time thinking and reading about food. I love helping people find better things to eat and solving problems, so let me know how I can help. Let's dive in.
This week, I saw two fantastic movies: Get Out and Black Panther. Highly recommend both if you haven't seen them. The Black Panther soundtrack is incredible. And you need to see this twitter thread on Get Out. I've also eaten lots of eggs for dinner and want to cook more in the upcoming week and eat outside. Let's do it together, okay?
Something to make:
I started craving this salad today and it's perfect for this time of year, hearty with some citrus and ingredients that are easy to find. I used to make this all the time for potlucks in Guatemala and it's a great side dish or could be part of a lunch with the addition of some black beans or soft boiled eggs. Just add the avocado right before you eat.
Roasted Carrot and Avocado Salad (heavily adapted from this NYTimes recipe inspired by ABC Kitchen)
4-6 servings
Ingredients:
3 garlic cloves, peeled and grated or finely chopped
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves (don't stress if you don't have these)
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (more to make it spicier)
1/4 teaspoon cayenne (optional)
Salt and ground black pepper
1 tablespoon red wine or apple cider vinegar
4 tablespoons olive oil
1 pound medium-size carrots (4-6 depending on the size), peeled and cut into coins
1 orange, halved
2 lemon or limes, halved
2 avocados, pitted, peeled and cut into slices
3 tablespoons toasted pumpkin seeds
(Buy them raw and toast them in a dry skillet until fragrant, watching closely so they don't burn. It just takes a few minutes).
1. Heat oven to 400 degrees. In a small bowl, mix the grated garlic with the cumin, thyme, red pepper flakes, cayenne if using, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt and 3/4 teaspoon pepper to make a paste. Up the spice amounts if you like it hotter. Add the vinegar and 2 tablespoons of the oil, and mix well.
2. Arrange carrots in a roasting pan or rimmed cookie sheet and spread spice paste on top. Place orange, lime and lemon halves cut side down on the sheet with carrots. Roast until carrots are tender and starting to brown, about 45 minutes.
3. Place the carrots in a serving bowl. With a dishtowel to protect your hands (they'll be hot), squeeze juice from the roasted orange and lemon/lemon halves into a measuring cup. You should have about 1/2 cup mixed citrus juice. Beat in remaining 2 tablespoons oil to make a sort of dressing. Season with salt and pepper. Drizzle some of this sauce over the carrots. Add the avocados slices and serve, topping with the toasted pumpkin seeds for a crunch. Taste and add more dressing if needed.
I'm a huge cabbage fan and really want to try this stirfry with peanut sauce.
My mom made this delicious cannellini bean farro stew for dinner on Friday, and if you have a crockpot, you should give it a try. It's really flavorful, full of spinach, and the leftovers are excellent with a fried egg on top.
I had a carrot ginger soup at a coffee shop today which definitely sparked the carrot craving you see above. I hate using a blender but may give it a go to recreate this soup.
Inspired to add kimchi to my favorite cauliflower quesadillas.
Food writer Lukas Volger is doing a #28daysofoatmeal challenge on instagram and the combinations have me drizzling tahini on everything.
Something to order:
My favorite meal of the week was at Ops, in Bushwick right off the DeKalb stop. It's a pizza place with a ton of natural wines (what is natural wine? Read this) and a lowkey atmosphere that makes you want to hang for a while. They use upside down tomato cans as stands for the plates and all the wine costs the same by the glass, so you sample until you find one you like. We tried a chilled red from an island near Sicily and then an orange wine from Northern Italy that our waitress recommended (we stuck to Italian wines after an extensive recap of how much we all loved Call Me By Your Name). Get the square pie (it takes a little longer but is worth it) and whatever salad they have. The non-pizza items are ever-rotating but solid, especially the cheese plate. It's walk-in only and we didn't wait for a table around 7:30 on a Saturday night. Bonus: tips are included and service is great so you can get a really nice meal and know how much you're spending.
After Ops, Old Stanley's is the move. It's a (cash only) dive bar with lots of space, really cheap drinks, and free peanuts. The bar stools even have backs, which is probably part of the reason we stayed so long.
A totally different bar vibe can be found at the very chic Lobby Bar at the Made Hotel. The drinks are pricey but very well made and the Nebbiolo red is really good. If you go, sit at the real chairs, not the bar stools, because they're super uncomfortable (the little footrest is very low unless you're nearly 6 feet tall). 
Consider this an official recommendation for morning movies and sneaking bagels into said movies. Julia suggested it and the people both next to and in front of us had the same idea. Double bag them to evade searches and carry in your iced coffee with confidence.
It was over 70 this week (scary), which called for an ice cream cone from Davey's. I got cookies and cream and they also make a great strong coffee. The kid's size is the perfect amount.
The adult version of eating ice cream to celebrate warm weather is drinking outside. I did that with the neighborhood crew in the backyard of Post No Bills. Their grapefruit margarita is super refreshing (and healthy, I assume because of the vitamin c levels) and their pickle backs are made with pickled pepper juice for a lil kick.
Something to read
My bagel-loving friends (so all of you, right?) will appreciate this history of New York's bagel making scene. It was intense (via Deb's newsletter)
Such cool packaging *hair flip*
Winter in Alaska means longing for fresh produce
A themed menu for the Oscars
Olympic tourists are missing out on Korean food
Molly Yeh went to the Olympics and fangirled over the skaters and food
20 bivalve recipes for the brave cooks among us
This food went viral even though you can't actually get it anywhere
Related: is instagram ruining croissants?
This essay by Gabrielle Hamilton is so old but still absolutely wonderful. Her book Blood, Bones, and Butter is really one of the best chef memoirs out there.
What Deb of Smitten Kitchen can't live without
The data is overwhelming: Tipping encourages racism, sexism, harassment, and exploitation. The Case Against Tipping.
Last week I asked you guys about eating outside and the answers got me so ready for summer. Thanks so much for sharing!
I really love eating outside at Forrest Point, which has surprisingly affordable brunch, and Roberta's, bc DUH. - Emma
Unconventional pick, but I LOVE picking up a BEC + avocado and an iced coffee at a bodega then walking to Maria Hernandez Park to eat it outside. I like watching the dogs in the dog park, the skateboarders & the short men playing volleyball while I eat. - Alicia (subscribe to her amazing SheSpends newsletter)
Restaurants with awesome outdoor seating in the hood: Santos Anne, Sage, Testo, its lesser brother Il Passatore (better outdoor seating but not as good as Testo). I also love a park picnic: I used to meet Ian for lunch every day in Battery Park City (I'm not talking tip of Manhattan Battery Park but rather Battery Park on the west side in Tribeca). They have tables in this little Alice in Wonderland themed park and your view is of Jersey City over the river. Super relaxing! - Julianne
My two favorite outdoor LA spots are Salazar in Frogtown and Rose Cafe in Venice. They both do "large colorful patio with creative cocktails" but so so differently. Salazar gets bonus points for being dog-friendly (and the best damn tacos) and Rose wins for brunch and swoon-worthy pastries. - Nicole
This week, let's talk about foods that mean you're home. When I went home to Queens on Friday night, my mom made challah, something we always made together when I was a kid (and still do for Rosh Hashana), and it's still my favorite, especially with a drizzle of local honey. Shabbat is the best.
What's that food that's waiting for you when you get in off the plane/train/subway/bus, the dish whose presence signals your arrival more than the sight of your shoes by the door? Reply to this email and let me know.
Have a good week and let's hope it stops raining! Tomorrow is my half birthday so please have a cookie and drink some wine to celebrate.
Happy eating and thanks for reading.
xo,
Abigail
P.S. PIZZA OPPORTUNITY AHEAD. Let's be friends irl. I have two spots left in a party of 6 for Rubirosa on March 12th. Reply to this email to claim your seat and come hang :)