The Recipe Box

Room Temperature Hericots Verts with Black Truffle + Sesame

Who knew Aleppo Chile Flakes and Black Truffle Salt went together so well? Vanessa Seder did. This recipe from Vanessa's cookbook 'Eat Cool: Good Food for Hot Days' had us convinced it was the best version of haricot verts we've ever had. Haricot verts are the more refined version of green beans; they are thinner, longer and straighter and more refined in taste. This dish is great for summer or fall parties because it can be served room temperature or even cold, and the beans stay firm throughout the party. Enjoy!

Grilled Vegetables with Tuscan Oil + Herb Dressing

This herb and spice blend dressing is delicious on grilled vegetables or a traditional salad. The Tuscan Oil Blend has a medium heat because of the crushed red pepper flakes - adjust for your taste. We've listed the vegetables we used (what we had in our pantry/garden), but you can use whatever vegetables you like. Asparagus, eggplant, green onions, or bell peppers would also be delicious.

Gulf Shrimp Skewers

Gulf Seafood Seasoning and shrimp inspired by the Gulf Coast.... a delicious meal. Throw them in a tortilla for delicious shrimp tacos!

Carrots Roasted with Maple Salmon Rub (Vegan)

Another delicious way to use our most popular spice blend, Maple Salmon Rub, is on roasted root vegetables. These are the most delicious carrots ever! Keep an eye on them, the granulated maple can darken quickly at the end of cooking time.

Great Dane (An Aquavit Salty Dog) Cocktail

What a fun cocktail for camping! We love the use of Vanilla Bean Sea Salt to amp up the flavor with zero added effort. From one of our most popular summer cookbooks, author Emily Vikre has won us over with this one.

Smashed Cucumber with Tahini and Everything Chile Oil

"A surprising juxtaposition of texture and flavor -- fresh, palate-cleansing cucumbers paired with an earthy sesame dressing, enlivened by a daring spicy oil." - Hetty McKinnon, To Asia, With Love

This simple salad is great to serve as a snack or as a side to a bowl of noodles. Smashing the cucumbers tenderizes them, while a sprinkling of salt delivers a lovely pickle-like quality. It was delicious!

Everything Chile Oil

"This is my version of Szechuan Chile oil (sometimes called mala hot sauce), which I have called 'everything oil' because, well, it makes everything taste better." - Hetty McKinnon, To Asia, With Love

Hetty has never led us wrong before, so we made the oil and have now used it three times since! Mixed into mayonnaise on corn on the cob, as a marinade for grilled eggplant, and as a dumpling dipping sauce. It was a ton of fun to work with such unique ingredients... Korean Chile flakes (G ochugaru), Szechuan P eppercorns, S tar A nise, and more. A serious flavor bomb...

Piri Piri Chicken Sandwich

This spicy chicken sandwich has become one of our favorite grilling choices. It has the unique flavor of Thai Bird Chiles from our Piri Piri Seasoning, which when combined with a wide range of condiments and accompaniments, lets you dress up the sandwich in so many ways. Be creative and enjoy!

Grilled Mexican Street Corn (Elote) with Adobo Seasoning

Elotes are the best way to eat corn. Big statement, but I stand by it. The sweet corn topped with aromatic Adobo Spice Blend (Mexican oregano, freshly ground cumin, and more), mayonnaise, lime juice, and cotija cheese is a combination we can't get enough of. We make this close to once a week in the summer - it's so easy!

Strawberry + Tomato Salad with Sizzled Mustard Seed Halloumi

This recipe is from the new cookbook Cook This Book, written by Molly Baz (of Bon Appetit's YouTube fame). With a massive chapter on Salads and Molly Baz's self-proclaimed love for Caesar salads, we had high expectations. The whole family loved it! We will definitely be making it again this summer. It was fresh, flavorful, and unique. Her recipe calls for peaches but we couldn't get our hands on them this early in the season in Maine so we substituted strawberries.

Summer Margaritas with Royal Rose Simple Syrup

A friend made these margaritas at a recent girls night and they were the perfect kick off to a night of cooking and carbs. Her recipe is below and the great news is, you can't go wrong with this list of ingredients. The Royal Rose syrups balance with the sharp citrus and soften the tequila. Give them a try! They won't disappoint.

Chargrilled Summer Vegetables with a Dhana-Jeera Dressing

Every year, as soon as it is warm enough outside, we fire up the grill. I love grilled veggies and was so excited to find a great base recipe in Meera Sodha's cookbook East: 120 Vegan and Vegetarian Recipes from Bangalore to Beijing. We used SKORDO's Thai Seasoning to spice up our dressing without a lot of additional heat for the perfect balance.