Well friends, I wouldn't have expected it, but its been over a year since my ode to hot sauces at my old blog, and it seems the sauces making their way out of my kitchen have come a long way. Last week I shared my long time favorite green salsa, Creamy Tomatillo Salsa, and this week, we're looking at a Halloween-y habañero.

 A friend introduced me to this bright orange habañero sauce and recipe, which he found nestled among other gems, I'm sure, at the self-respectingly self-deprecating, refreshingly unfrilly blog, foodpeoplewant.com. As long as you're into the heat, this sauce is the whole reason to keep eating whatever you put it on. Also, it was modeled after the ubiquitously loved habañero sauce by Portland's own Secret Aardvark, which is kind of saying a lot.

I adapted the recipe by dialing down the sugar in exchange for amping up the carrots and adding a yam. Also, less water means we can add less vinegar; and why bother with prepared mustard when we can go straight for some vibrant mustard seed powder? The end result is just as sultry, with a little more body, for folks who aren't shy of heat that you can slather on.

Scary Good Habañero Hot Sauce (GF, vegan)

1 can (14.5 oz) of diced tomatoes, including juice
1 cup apple cider vinegar
2 cups of peeled and grated carrots (packed into the measuring cup)
2 cups of finely diced white onion
2 tablespoons mustard seed powder
1 1/2 cups shredded Yam
9 habaneros, seeded
1/2 head garlic
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon of black pepper
2 teaspoons curry powder
1/4 c honey (or sugar)
1 cup of water or just enough to cover

Throw all of the ingredients in a pot and simmer for 2-3 hours until all the veggies are soft and the flavors are well mixed. Unceremoniously, throw this thick soup into a blender and let 'er loose--blending to your liking. Jar it up and share with friends!

I haven't yet had the good fortune to have too many tomatillos, but I look forward to the day when it happens.  I'll delightedly rush out to buy some canning jars and savor the opportunity to use my sister-in-law's simple, brilliantly delicious and family-famous tomatillo salsa recipe. (My talented mother offered up the recipe to the collective consciousness at the blog of the charming, family-owned myownlabels website, if you're interested. What rad ladies, my mom and sis-in-law are, really.)

Happily though, I've always had just the right amount of tomatillos to make a certain amazing fresh tomatillo salsa, the recipe for which fortuitously accompanied my first handful of the sour green fruit. Thus, the arc of my relationship with tomatillos, is embedded firmly in this creamy, spicy sauce. While this is the only tomatillo salsa I've ever made, it's among the best I've ever tried, which is a testament really only to the recipe. Whenever I share this salsa, I'm always, always asked for the recipe and told this is someone's new favorite green salsa.

The real game-changer here is the avocado, which means that you'll have to eat it within a few days--not a difficult task. The sauce is flavorful, yet light, and tasty on pretty much anything, so it's never really around long enough to shift away from it's bright creaminess.

Creamy Tomatillo Salsa

1/2 dozen tomatillos, outer skins removed and washed
2-3 jalapeño or serrano peppers, whole, but with stems removed
1 small onion or 1/2 large onion, roughly diced
1 large avocado or two small avocados
juice of about 1 lime, to taste
1-2 teaspoons salt, to taste
1 bunch of cilantro, washed and roughly chopped

Combine the tomatillos and peppers in a pot and just barely cover with water.* Boil until the skins of the tomatillos burst open and allow to cool slightly while you prepare the onion, avocado, lime, and some salt, placing them all into a blender. Pour the tomatillos and peppers, along with the water they boiled in, into the blender and pureé until smooth, adding more salt or lime to taste. Once you've got the sour-salty-creamy balance is just right, add the cilantro and pulse until the dark green leaves are incorporated but not pulverized. Works best if used fresh (uncooked) to accompany just about anything; chips, rice & beans, enchiladas and chilaquiles are the first to spring to mind.

*Heat is so hard to control with fresh ingredients. If you're not the type to roll with the pepper punches, you can boil the peppers separately and add them a little at a time to the blender mixture until you get a heat that you're comfortable with.

Well, friends welcome back to the school year, and the start of another blog year!

It was a dinner party that Ryan and I hosted for his family last Sunday that expedited the return of Sweet Allium. Not one, but two (two!) family matriarchs asked for my quiche recipe, and when a matriarch asks for a recipe, there's only one thing to do: blog about it.

Quiches have been a staple of my school lunches for years now, for a handful of reasons. They,

• are full of healthy fat and protein to keep hungry students full for the day
• are a great way to hide greens in your food
• take roasted veggies really well, packing the fiber and phytonutrients into the diet
• taste great with anything you're into at the moment--any protein, any vegetable any cheese
• can take on any flavor profile, Thai, Indian, tex mex, Italian, herbs de provence, the flavors of your backyard, etc.
• won't spill and leak in your bike bag
• can be made deliciously dairy free, gluten free, or both...or neither

Because quiche is so delightfully adaptable, I'm including a generic recipe for a 10-incher, but below that is the quiche requested by the matriarchs.

Any Old Awesome Quiche (GF, dairy free, vegan, or not)

1/2 recipe of either of the pie crust recipes here at Sweet Allium (gluten free dairy free, or traditional) or a shell of your favorite pie crust
3/4 cup shredded cheese (optional)
2 cups cooked vegetables (or protein); fried, roasted, boiled, you know, whatever you and the veggies decide is best
1 cup uncooked greens
5 eggs
1 cup almond milk (or any kind of milk)
1/2 teaspoon salt
herbs and spices

Evenly distribute the cheese into the in the uncooked pie shell, followed by the cooked veggies, and lastly the uncooked greens. Whisk together the eggs, milk, salt, herbs/spices and slowly pour this mixture over the greens in the pie shell. Fill the shell so that the level of the egg is 1/4 to 1/2 inch below the inner rim of the pie shell. Bake at 350˚F until the center is dry to the touch, about 35-45 minutes.

Early Fall Chanterelle Quiche (GF, vegetarian)

1/2 recipe of gluten free dairy free pastry crust
3/4 cup shredded extra sharp cheddar
1/2 fried red onion
1/3 lb shredded and dry fried chanterelles
stems of 3 large beets chopped and fried
greens of 3 large beets chopped
5 eggs
1 cup almond milk
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon fresh ground pepper

Evenly distribute the cheese into the in the uncooked pie shell, followed by the chanterelles, then the onions, the beet stems, and lastly the uncooked greens. Whisk together the eggs, milk, salt, nutmeg and pepper and slowly pour this mixture over the greens in the pie shell. Fill the shell so that the level of the egg is 1/4 to 1/2 inch below the inner rim of the pie shell. Bake at 350˚F until the center is dry to the touch, about 35-45 minutes.