A love letter to... sauces
saucy recipes, plus ways to use them.
‘A love letter to…’ is a biweekly publication relating to anything and everything kitschy. Today’s newsletter is about sauces, and all of the ways to use them. Grab your apron (and maybe a spoon) and let’s get cooking!
Before we get into recipes, here are five tips I’ve learned during my time in the kitchen, that make for better sauce action.
Over-season your dressing; I’m not saying go crazy, please don’t start spooning salt into a chimichurri. But a little more salt than you think will go a long way. Your sauce should always be a little too salty, or on the contrary, a little too sweet (if that’s your thing).
Use an emulsifier; Oil and vinegar (which is primarily water) don’t mix, so if you desire a creamy, smooth vinaigrette, without an excessive amount of whisking, try adding an emulsifier: a grated garlic clove, honey, mustard, tomato paste, or mayonnaise.
Dress according to heft; tender vegetables, such as bib lettuce, arugula, and anything ‘young’ or ‘baby’ will likely grow soggy when pre-dressed, however, salads with heft, such as slaw, anything kale-based, and grain salads, will only grow better with time.
Ignore ratio rules; this one may be controversial, but the 3:1 ratio of oil: acid, isn’t always optimal, and it can vary from palate to palate1. I encourage you to consider your salad, go beyond the realm of ratios, and adjust each dressing I’m sharing with you according to taste. Add more acid for zing, more fat to mellow, more salt for flavor, and more aluminum/herbs for depth.
Versatility is key; If you choose to meal prep these sauces, ensure that you can use them in many different ways. Make a pesto-tahini yogurt dip and serve with crudites 2; smear on a platter and top with baby cucumbers (sliced on a bias,) toasted nuts, any tender herb, thinly sliced shallots, and feta; dollop onto a salad of massaged kale, a fluffy cooked grain, radishes, feta, pickled onions, and roasted chickpeas; marinade chicken in the sauce and grill it, top with extra lemon zest and parsley.
Now that the foundations are covered, we can get into the list of sauces I’ve compiled for you in this edition. To maintain versatility, I tried my best to keep this sauce list flexible and provided ways to use each sauce; because however delicious this charoset quinoa red wine dressing is, I’m not sure how well it would fare when tossed with a simple green salad 3.
Lemon garlic dill yogurt; lemon tahini yogurt, miso tahini yogurt; harissa yogurt, tahini balsamic yogurt; creamy chipotle; pesto tahini yogurt.
Turmeric almond sauce; peanut sauce; miso tahini sauce; citrus tahini sauce; almond satay sauce; miso coconut sauce.
Chimichurri; cilantro mint tahini; tomato basil; basil avocado aioli; jalapeño garden sauce; cashew cilantro chutney; cilantro date chutney; almond cashew herb chutney; cashew ranch.
Sundried tomato white bean; basil white bean; spicy white bean; rosemary white bean; beet hummus; lemon garlic classic hummus; green goddess hummus (add 1 C tender herbs to the classic hummus); harissa hummus.
All pesto’s have the same ideal ratio, setting them apart from the herb-based category. My golden ratio 4 is 1 part nuts: 2 parts cheese: 8 parts herbs/greens: 2 parts extra virgin olive oil. I encourage you to switch it up here; use what you have on hand. If you require some inspiration, linked are my 5 favorite combinations: almond basil spinach; cardamom lime basil; cashew cilantro cojita; walnut sundried tomato; fava pistachio.
Miso citrus; curry vinaigrette; pizza dressing; shallot-y dressing.
YOGURT-BASED; I like to use whole milk Greek yogurt for these sauces, but 2% would work well too, I find a little fat is necessary to carry flavor, but you do you!
Substitute either the lemon tahini yogurt in the no-recipe - recipes that I listed above in tip #3. You could also use that same lemon tahini in a bowl of farro, sesame tamari roasted broccoli, a jammy egg, pickled radishes, and slivered scallions.
The lemon garlic yogurt is particularly delicious over seared salmon, with sautéed broccolini, and a mix of lemony herby quinoa and butterbeans as the base, or try the sauce alongside roasted fingerling potatoes and arugula or roasted asparagus, for a speedy mid-week meal.
The harissa yogurt is delicious mixed with some tahini, in a bowl of rice, chopped salad with feta and cucumbers, and roasted shawarma spiced cauliflower. For a small plates dinner, use the yogurt to marinate chicken, and serve alongside hummus, a herby bulgur pomegranate pilaf, chopped Shirazi salad, and slabs of feta.
Grate orange zest into the tahini balsamic yogurt and top with roasted carrots or brussels and toasted pistachios. For a streamlined weeknight dinner, pan-sear salmon, make a simple salad with grated carrots and mint or anything green, defrost some frozen rice, and finish everything with a hearty spoonful of tahini balsamic yogurt.
SPICY UMAMI NUTTY;
These sauces, alike their name, are a lot 5. I find all of these pair particularly well with noodles, tofu, and cabbage. They also work very well as a marinade for grilled chicken or shrimp, or a dipping sauce for carrots, and drizzled over lettuce cups.
The peanut sauce works well over a meal of sautéed sesame broccoli, torn crispy tofu, rice noodles, and finished with scallions, extra peanuts, and chili. On another night, marinate chicken thighs in that same sauce with extra ginger and sesame oil, serve alongside rice with a shaved radish, carrot, and avocado salad.
The turmeric almond sauce livens up a salad of snap peas, and dates, which you could serve alongside rice noodles, and grilled tempeh or chicken, marinated in that same dressing.
The coconut miso sauce can be thinned out with more coconut milk, and used as a shortcut curry sauce, you could use it in this coconut miso salmon curry. Later in the week toss shaved cabbage with cilantro and the coconut miso sauce, leave this salad to sit, and bake some tempeh which has been marinated in coconut aminos, serve alongside (leftover) steamed jasmine rice, and top with extra sauce.
The miso tahini sauce is wonderful in a cold noodle salad of a curly bouncy long noodle, chickpeas, thinly sliced bell pepper, cucumbers, and snap peas, top this with scallions to finish. On another night, add a little honey to the miso tahini sauce, and use it to marinate chicken thighs for at most 30 minutes, broil them alongside any long green vegetable, and serve with steamed rice.
The citrus tahini is great over a warm salad of shaved Brussels, dino kale, roasted butternut squash, and chickpeas, plus toasted pistachios and pomegranate seeds to top.
HERBY;
The chimichurri is perfect on grilled vegetables or meats, I love it on in this recipe of steamed Japanese sweet potato with lentils and yogurt, it’s also wonderful with pan-fried fish, roasted asparagus + tomatoes, and a fluffy grain.
The cilantro mint tahini pairs well alongside a whole roasted cauliflower, and served with a fresh julienned radish, snap pea, date, and feta salad, plus some flatbread if you have any on hand. On the following night, prior to warming in the oven, spread harissa over that same cauliflower, and serve with herbed lemon rice, the sauce, and some grilled white fish.
Use the tomato basil on pasta with a side salad of arugula, parmesan, and olive oil. On another night, blend it with some stale bread and top with goat cheese for a gazpacho adjacent soup. If you’re not a fan of blended soups, you could alternatively make smoky rice soup, or a bowl of pearl couscous that is sorta pasta alla norma.
Spread the basil avocado aoli onto your favorite breakfast sandwich, later on in the week use it on a grain bowl of roasted chickpeas + broccolini, hot honey drizzled brussels, pickled onions and farro.
Smear the jalapeño garden sauce onto a slice of sourdough and top with scrambled eggs. For an easy snack, stir the sauce into Greek yogurt as a dip for crudités. The next day, add it to a grain salad of golden raisins, farro, pistachios, and herbs.
That same grain salad would be just as fabulous if you were to use the cashew cilantro chutney. For a speedy weeknight dinner, the chutney works wonderfully layered into corn tortillas, with salsa, diced avocado, jalapeños and roasted chickpeas.
The cilantro date chutney would be great over spiced grilled cauliflower steaks, a simple lemon olive oil arugula salad, and steamed rice.
Spoon the almond cashew herb chutney over a butternut kidney bean coconut curry, And with any leftover spices, make a chana masala 6 and stuff into sweet potatoes with extra cilantro and lime to top.
Drizzle the vegan ranch over this sheet pan meal, and sticking with that theme of ease, it also works great with a buffalo cauliflower rice bake, and topped with thinly sliced quick-pickled cucumber and red onion
BEAN-BASED;
All of these are great as a salad dressing if you thin them out with some water, olive oil, taste, and maybe add a little extra salt and acid. Tomorrow, use any as a base for a roasted vegetable grain salad- cube zucchini, peppers, and red onion and then roast with EVOO, salt, and pepper until crispy, stir through farro and top with some feta, as a snack, chop some crudités and make za’atar pita chips choose your dip and serve. For a quick lunch, layer any bean-based dip between two slices of sourdough and top with roasted vegetables. Later in the week, make naan pizza with the dip, roasted zucchini, and kalamata olives.
PESTO:
Stir the almond basil spinach pesto through roasted Brussels with extra chopped almonds. In the morning, stir into scrambled eggs at the last moment and serve alongside pan-fried sourdough. For a hands-off dinner, top carrot soup with the pesto and serve alongside slightly warmed flatbread.
Add cardamom lime basil pesto to a curly pasta, top your bowl with pistachio crumbs and lime zest. Alternatively, serve alongside pan-fried gnocchi and seared broccolini.
Top a bowl of black beans, steamed rice, pickled onions, salsa, and shaved cabbage with cashew cilantro cojita pesto. With your leftovers, make tacos with avocado, pesto, black beans, salsa, and roasted bell peppers and onions.
Layer the almond sundried tomato pesto into a sandwich of sourdough, mozzarella, arugula, and salted heirlooms. Use it to zuzzh up roasted vegetables. For a more brunchy vibe layer onto puff pastry and top with thinly sliced vegetables, serve alongside a simple arugula salad, plus some mimosas if that’s your thing.
Add steamed new potatoes to a bowl alongside feta, mint and the fava and pistachio pesto, or layer the pesto beneath thinly sliced fennel and quickly sautéed asparagus, top with feta, serve alongside some good sourdough (or more flatbread, if that’s what you have) to mop this all up.
OIL BASED;
The olive oil based dressings work particularly well with bright seasonal salads; think radicchio, arugula, shaved parm, and golden raisins in winter; asparagus, avocado, little gem, radish, and feta in the spring; a bright greek salad of tomatoes, olives, mint, green bell pepper, Persian cucumbers, and cubed feta in summer; arugula, roasted grapes, toasted almonds, and shaved parm in fall.
The miso citrus dressing works well as a marinade spooned over broiled salmon served alongside a cabbage slaw with segmented citrus and steamed rice. Alternatively, make a cold noodle salad with toasted cashews, stir-fried vegetables, and tempeh (or shrimp.)
The curry vinaigrette works great over a salad of slivered spinach, roasted broccoli, sliced apple, and chewy dates (here is a recipe incredibly similar). Bonus points if you throw a toasted nut or seed in there!
My sauce list is far from exhausted, but I will leave you with these ideas in an attempt to not drone on about sauces for far too long (which anyone who knows me can vouch that I tend to do). If you’re interested in receiving more love letters, subscribe to be sent bi-weekly emails, and hit the heart button just below, until next time, happy cooking!
I like to use a ratio of 1:1 for any vinaigrette since I prefer my dressings to be bright and light.
I find crunchy vegetables: carrots, radishes, and celery work best for meal prep, just store them in cold water, and refresh every couple of days.
Wine-based sauces typically favor being absorbed- think; chicken piccata and mashed potatoes.
Which I learnt from this video of Carla Lalli Music.
But in a good way, you know?
I love to wilt in chopped spinach to anything tomato-based.
These sound delicious, I can’t wait to try them!