This week, the turn from August to September, was hard.
By the time the weekend rolled around, I was mentally exhausted.
And my only job was to get out of my head, be present, and celebrate my husband.
Saturday morning, Jon went to watch his favorite soccer team, and I went to the farmers market to wander and pick up some last-minute birthday gifts.
No plan. No agenda.
Just a beautiful, 75° and sunny morning.
The market was abundant. I stood in line for a bag of coffee beans and, somewhere between the vegetables and the people and the sunshine, I felt the weight on my shoulders lift.
I could literally feel my jaw unclench.
And then came this overwhelming feeling of love and gratitude.
For my husband. For my friends and family. For the people around me, choosing to shop local.
Getting out of my head required getting back into my life.
There is no timeline. There is no plan.
All we have is right now. The day in front of us.
So this week, we’re keeping it simple.
No big existential metaphor. No life lesson disguised as a recipe.
Just good food, a very good farmers market haul, and a reminder that sometimes you don’t need to know exactly where you’re going.
Sometimes you just need to wander around and see what looks good.
This Week’s Snackagories
This weeks haul included: shishito peppers, skinny green beans, purple cauliflower, yellow cauliflower, a zucchini and a handful of hot peppers.
Basically, September said eat your vegetables and I listened.
🥣 Savory Dip / Spread
Lemon Cumin Hummus
I’m taking a container of plain hummus and giving it a quick upgrade with fresh lemon, olive oil, and a ton of earthy cumin. Serve it with blistered shishito peppers and whatever else sounds good.
Or spread it on a sandwich / eat it off the spoon. No judgement here.
Ingredints
1 container plain hummus
1 lemon, zested and juice
1-2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp smoked paprika
Salt + pepper to taste
Niknack Tip: Start with less cumin than you think you need. Letting the hummus sit for 15-20 minutes before eating gives the lemon and cumin time to come together.
🍞 Grab + Go Pantry Snack
[Copycat] Coconut Peanut Butter Perfect Bars
Whenever i’m on the go and need a quick snack, I grab a perfect bar. I had one this week and immediately thought “I need to make these myself again.”
Creamy peanut butter, coconut, oats, honey, and a little vanilla come together into soft, chewy bars that live in the fridge and are whenever the snack craving hits.
Snack bars like these are my favorite examples of the Snack Prep Method: make one thing once, and future-you gets snacks all week.
Ingredients
Creamy peanut butter
Unsweetened shredded coconut
Oat flour [or finely blended oats]
Vanilla protein powder [use code NIKNACK for 15% off]
Honey or pure maple syrup
Vanilla
Salt
Optional: mini chocolate chips or chopped peanuts / walnuts
🥕 Fresh Produce
Crispy Sesame Green Beans
These skinny little green beans looked too good to leave behind at the market. I want them blistered and crispy, tossed with seasame oil, soy sauce, rice vinegar and sesame seeds.
They’re technically a vegetable. But they also happen to be extremely snackable.
Summer veggies are everywhere, but I’m starting to crave the crispy. roasted, salty things that make cooler-weather cooking so exciting.
Ingredients
Skinny green beans
Sesame oil
Soy sauce
Rice vinegar
Sesame seeds
Garlic powder
Optional: chili crisp
Niknack Tip: Don’t crowd the pan. If the beans are piled up on top of each other, they’ll steam instead of blister. Give them space and let them get a little charred.
Tip #2: cook them in bacon grease and thank me later.
🍫 Sweet Tooth Snack
Double Chocolate Tahini Cookies
Because it’s my husbands birthday weekend, and the man loves chocolate.
These are rich, fudgy, deeply chocolatey cookies with tahini mixed into the dough for a little nuttiness and a chewy texture.
Basically, this ia chocolate cookie for people who don’t believe one form of chocolate is enough.
Ingredients
Tahini
Butter
Brown sugar
Egg
Vanilla
All-purpose flour
Cocoa powder
Baking soda
Salt
Chocolate chips or chopped chocolate
Niknack Tip: Sprinkle the tops with flaky salt before baking. It makes the chocolate taste even more chocolatey :)
🍗 Bulk Protein Source
Roasted Cauliflower + Lemon Tahini Chicken Thighs
This is where those beautiful purple and yellow cauliflower heads come in.
I’m roasting both until they’re deeply browned and crispy, then pairing them with juicy chicken thighs and a bright lemon-tahini sauce.
And because we’re practicing the Snacks Prep Method, I’m making extra sauce. One batch gets used as the chicken marinade. Another gets saved for drizzling over grain bowls. Thin it with a little water and you’ve got a dressing or dipping sauce for veggies, too.
Ingredients
For the chicken + cauliflower:
Boneless, skinless chicken thighs
Purple cauliflower
Yellow cauliflower
Olive oil
Salt + pepper
Cumin
Garlic powder
For the lemon tahini sauce:
Tahini
Fresh lemon juice
Lemon zest
Garlic
Olive oil
Honey
Water
Salt + pepper
Cumin
For serving:
Cooked grains
Greens
Fresh herbs
Extra lemon
Lemon tahini sauce
Niknack Tip: Make the tahini sauce first and divide it before adding the chicken. That way, you have a clean batch to use as your dressing and dip throughout the week.
Maybe We Don’t Need a Plan
I’ve spent a lot of time lately thinking about what comes next.
And I’m realizing that sometimes the more desperately I try to figure out the next 5 years, the less present I am for the actual five minutes in front of me.
Yesterday, I went to the farmers market with no plan.
I bought peppers because they looked good.
I bought cauliflower because it was pretty.
And then I went home to celebrate my husband.
Maybe that’s enough for now.
Maybe we’ll keep wandering.
Whatever we do, we’ll definitely figure it out as we go.
Thanks for reading this week’s SubSnack <3
Until next time,
Niknack
I need to learn how to use more of these beans. I'm great with other beans, but green beans remain illusive. More recipes containing those please!