Kimchi Hummus

I'm so glad it's the weekend! In the past, I always worked on the weekends and would get up extremely early (we're talking 4:30am folks) just to get to where I needed to be on time. Now, if I had the chance to redo it all over again, would I go back and change anything? No. Would I still want to do that though given the choice? Nope. I bet some of you are wondering what it was that I did to put me in such strange circumstances. I was a figure skating coach on-and-off for ten years. I loved what I did, to the point of sacrificing much of my time for it for a good chunk of my life (I was also involved in the sport long before and trained seriously for also nearly ten years) but I love what I do now even more.   

Weekends now are meant to be my downtime. Throughout the week there's shoots, meetings, events, edits, promos and let's not forget to mention the crazy amount of emails I have to go through on a daily basis. It's a constant hustle and I am not complaining in the least bit, but everybody needs to recharge their batteries and it's really good to make time for your loved ones. Healthy, even. So this is what I try to do on the two days at the end of each week. There is the occasional photo shoot or meeting that'll occur on the weekend. Last weekend I shot & styled  5 looks in one day because my main photographer, who is also my hubby, wasn't going to be available for a while due to work schedule conflicts and that's how I got sick... staying out in the cold too long freezing my butt off ha ha! Totally worth it, though.

Kimchi Hummus

photos + recipe by: Suzanne Spiegoski 

Serves 4-6

Ingredients:

16 ounces can chickpeas

¼ cups kimchi (napa cabbage chopped)

¼ cup tahini sauce

4 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

¼ cup water

Directions:

1. Add all the ingredients except kimchi a blender. Blend the ingredients on high until smooth. Add in chopped kimchi with juice, omit the juice if you want the hummus to have a thicker base. Serve with naan or pita bread.

But when I have more time I enjoy spending it at home. I love going out and exploring my city, but I love to cook and hang out with my boys. Because I've been so busy working on fresh, new fashion content for you guys (especially more on the regular lately and that it's all a one-person job - aside from my husband taking the photos) it's been rather crazy and I've had no room in my schedule to create more food content! And I know a lot of you have been missing new recipes so I'm going to try to do one once per week. We'll see how it goes and as much discipline as I have, life is unpredictable and I just have to go where the 'wind carries me'. 

On a more delicious topic, can we all get an amen to kimchi hummus?! I LOVE hummus. The rich, creamy texture paired with yummy naan bread is one of my favorite snacks. Even with veggies, like carrot or celery sticks, it's healthy and tastes heavenly. I paired it with kimchi, it's tart acidic flavor blended wonderfully together with the hummus. What's the secret to getting the ultimate creamy hummus everyone wants? The dryer the chickpeas are before you blend them is the trick. I love spiciness so I added in kimchi juice, which is why my hummus's texture is a little more smooth. I also didn't blend the chopped kimchi with the other ingredients for the hummus. 

I suggest blending the kimchi with the main ingredients if you want a creamier, paste-like texture to the hummus. I'm Korean and love kimchi and actually like the added punch it gives when you bite into it here and there. The grilled garlic naan bread goes really well with the kimchi hummus too. I didn't make the bread from scratch but you can get it at the store and grill it over the stove top or in a grill pan of some kind. I used my cast iron grill pan to give it a nice char, the smoky flavor is awesome with the garlic. I'm getting hungry again just talking about this! :) Hope you all have a nice weekend. I'll be back on Monday! 

LOVE & XX'S, 

FOLLOW MAQ + SUZ

OTHER SIMILAR POSTS

Military Latte

NYFW is one day away and when it comes to maintaining the energy of a marathon runner, I've been drinking a whole lot of what's called a military latte. Originally created in Japan and then onto Chicago, I stumbled upon an article a couple of years back about the interesting coffee concoction.

Named for its camo-like surface, the drink is made up of a matcha latte, cocoa powder, espresso and vanilla syrup. I know sometimes it is made with white chocolate but since I'm trying to avoid sugar (I think it's the culprit behind my breakouts) I opted it out of the ingredients when it came to making my own version of it! 

I would love to be one of those cool people that can create latte art such as beautiful leaves, hearts, unicorns and more. They even do 3d art now which is so amazing! This is my first attempt at any kind of latte art and I have to say it's not all that bad! What do you guys think? I also used a larger matcha bowl for aesthetic purposes. The green brings a nice accent with the dusting of the matcha powder. 

Photos + recipe by © Suzanne Spiegoski

Military Latte

Serves 1

(Matcha green tea latte, cocoa powder and espresso)

Ingredients:

6 tablespoons coffee/espresso.

1 1/2 tablespoons matcha green powder

12 ounces milk

1 tablespoon vanilla syrup

dash of cocoa powder

Directions:

1. Mix espresso, matcha and vanilla syrup together.
2. Add warm steamed milk.
3. Sprinkle a dash of matcha and cocoa powder on top to decorate.

What's your energy booster as of late? Are you more of a coffee or a tea drinker? I love both which is why I had the idea to blend both worlds together, to begin with. You can definitely say my cooking is definitely focused on fusion cuisine! I can't wait to share more food content, but fashion week starts tomorrow so stay tuned for lot more content on that for the next couple of weeks! So much more to come, I can't WAIT to share with you what I'll be doing in the next couple of months! 

LOVE & XX'S,

FOLLOW MAQ + SUZ

OTHER SIMILAR POSTS

Veggie-Packed Kimchi Grilled Cheese Sandwich

A childhood friend of mine passed away last week. She was the eldest daughter of two families that lived next door to me. I am saddened by this and have been thinking a lot about them and that time period in my life. I think about the other people I grew up with on that block as well. The other family that lived next door to me happened to be one my mom's best friends. I too was and still am close to her, as she was the one to notify me of the unfortunate news. 

The first time I ever tried a grilled cheese sandwich of any kind came from her, my mom's best friend. It wasn't anything special. Just an open faced grilled cheese with a slice of tomato and green pepper on it. I was playing in their backyard with the kids and she brought it out for lunch. I loved it so much and even to this day, it's one of my favorite ways to eat a grilled cheese sandwich. So I put my own twist on a Korean fusion-inspired one. Because one, I've been missing creating food content and two, it's been more than THREE months since I've last done one!  

Veggie-Packed Kimchi Grilled Cheese Sandwich

Serves 2

Ingredients:

4 slices whole wheat bread 3 Tbsp butter 4 slices Colby Jack cheese 1/2 cup kimchi Few slices green, red & yellow pepper 5-6 cherry tomatoes

Directions:

1. Melt one third of butter in a large non-stick skillet (or grill pan in my case) over medium heat until foaming subsides. Add 2 slices of bread, then 2 slices of cheese on top, press firmly into pan and cook until golden brown on bottom side (approx 2 min.)
2. Char kimchi, peppers & cherry tomatoes while the bread is grilling for approx. 4-5minutes.
3. Chop up kimchi and veggies, then add on top of cheese. Remove sandwich using a flexible metal spatula. Add the remaining butter. Repeat steps 1-3 with second sandwich. Serve & enjoy immediately. :)

Twists include using a cast iron grill pan to give a nicer design on the bread. I always use whole wheat bread unless it's homemade stuffing. That's the only time I'll make an exception for white bread. I charred all the veggies while grilling the cheese and in the same skillet. It gave the cherry tomatoes and peppers a nice tiny roast, which in turn brought more flavor in my opinion. I also grilled the kimchi in the pan for a few minutes to soften the cabbage. And whenever I am making a grilled cheese sandwich I always, nine out of ten times, use Colby Jack cheese. It's a favorite aside from Havarti and Emmental. What's your favorite cheese to grill? 

I have some really exciting content coming to the blog soon! This week I'll be shooting more fashion + style content. I'll be heading down to the Financial District on Tuesday for one of them so stay tuned on my Insta Stories for some BTS! There will also be a brand new cocktail recipe posted more toward the end of the week. And lastly, I'll be attending NYFW again in the next couple of weeks but this time I'll be getting to go backstage to some pretty cool designers... I can't wait to share! Did I mention travel content is also coming to MaQ + Suz in the next few months? Clue? It's international... Looks like 2017 is off to a great start! ;) 

LOVE & XX'S,

FOLLOW MAQ + SUZ

OTHER SIMILAR POSTS

Try the World - Michelin Curated Holiday Box

Interested in having gourmet ingredients from countries around the world delivered straight to your door?  Try the World does just that, and right now they’re featuring their special Michelin Curated Box!  Please Note: Try the World sent me their Michelin box in exchange for my honest Try the World Review.

Try the World - Michelin Curated Holiday Box

WHAT IS 'TRY THE WORLD'?

Try the World is an international food delivery service that sends out subscription boxes with food from different countries. It's definitely going to save you the trouble and time at many grocery stores pondering over what to get let alone if it's even in English. Most well known for their mint 'Signature Box', the Signature Box is country-specific (for example, last month's Italy Box), and comes with 7-8 gourmet-quality food items. They also offer a less expensive, non-country-specific snack box and pantry box, and an online store to let you restock on the goodies you've tried and now love. 

Every once in a while though, Try the World offers a specialty box. And this special edition I received is completely curated by Michelin – the food-curating, gourmet-loving company that keeps chefs all over the world competing for excellence. This holiday box includes 8 items: Mexican hot chocolate disks, Israeli date spread, South African salted toffee, French spice cake mix, British lemon curd, Taiwan pineapple cakes, Italian truffle sauce, and Canadian Maple shortbread cookies.  Today I'll be sharing with you my ideas on what to make with each item. 

1. KEKUA MEXICAN HOT CHOCOLATE

What I loved about this particular hot chocolate is that it did not come in powder but rather, more like cookies! Perfectly designed for easy melting and incorporating the chocolate into other chocolates or sweets. Great pairings with this is of course, milk, but given I'm such a coffee fanatic lately, I'd also try making a mocha. Imagine the richness of a chocolate frosting/icing when using this!

2. YOFFI DATE SPREAD

The sweetness of the date would go wonderfully in a batch of traditional cinnamon rolls. I don't know about you folks, but given this time of the year when the weather starts to get colder, I love to hunker down and enjoy a rich snack/dessert. Besides cinnamon rolls, cookies or any kind of bread/cake would also be splendid with the Israeli date spread. The smell is intoxicating just by itself!

3. DARLING SWEET TOFFEE

The South African toffee is simply delicious on its own, but even dropping a couple of them in a hot cocoa and letting them melt with their oooey-gooey wonderfulness would also be pretty amazing. And if you're a fan of Christmas brittle/bark, these little cuties will definitely help achieve the most awesome snack/dessert. 

4. MARLETTE ARTISINAL FLOUR

The French spice cake mix would be lovely in bite-size form, such as mini-cakes or muffins! And a lil' date spread on top? A match made in heaven. The spices would also complement with pumpkin, nutmeg and cinnamon very well. Can anyone smell fall bread in the kitchen? Thanksgiving is right around the corner and this flour mix is the perfect starter for any meal, big or small!

5. FOX GOURMET FOOD LEMON CURD

What can I say about lemon curd? We get along like peas and carrots. I normally don't eat a lot of fish during the winter time, but it's so healthy to eat it once a week and I try to keep that a weekly habit. I'd use this curd in an easy-peasy white fish recipe I bake in the oven. It's fresh and light, and wonderful all year round. Let me know if you'd like a recipe up on the blog! Also, if you really want a challenge in cooking, try make some lemon soufflés with this curd. ;)

6. TAIWAN MINI PINEAPPLE CAKES

Are you a fan of banana pudding? Why not put a twist on those boring vanilla wafers and mix it up with mini pineapple cakes?! They're small in size and are packed with a full-crunch. The citrusy aftertaste will leave your tongue tingling and full of delight. Of course, if you're impatient like me, you'll quickly devour them before using it for any recipe. And how cute is the packaging of their box? Tropical and festive, I simply loved these mini cakes. 

7. TARTUFATA TRUFFLE SAUCE

I'm not going to lie. When I saw this in the box, I squealed with excitement. There's no artificial flavor, it's the real deal! Yes, there's actual truffle inside! I'd fold this into an alfredo or any other kind of pasta your foodie heart can dream of. I mean, tell me someone who doesn't like Italian truffle! Oh so good, yum!

8. SPRUCEWOOD HANDMADE COOKIE CO. CLASSIC SHORTBREAD

I could eat these straight from the box. (Looking pretty cozy paired with the hot chocolate...) But these cookies can be crumbled onto a pie or cake as part of the topping. It'll bring an added flavor with its texture. And Canadian Maple?! I would even experiment this with pancakes or french toast, talk about a dreamy holiday breakfast.  

Interested in trying this holiday box out for yourself? Start your journey with a FREE BOX when you subscribe! The Michelin curated holiday box is perfect for any food lover and such a lovely gift to give to someone who appreciates trying new things. Cheers to new experiences in your kitchen! You can also get $10 off a pantry box using promo code, 'EARLYADOPTER'.

LOVE & XX'S,

SHOP THE PRODUCT

FOLLOW MAQ + SUZ

OTHER SIMILAR POSTS

Gameday Kimchi Sweet Potato Guacamole Bites with Bacon

Sponsored Post: This post is sponsored by GOODFOODS but the content and opinions expressed here are my own. 

---

Hi, everyone! I have to admit - this week hasn't been my best week. I've had all sorts of technical issues when it comes to work, but I just keep telling myself,

"Chill. It's just a camera, not an arm or a leg."

However, having one of my 'babies' behave erratically during an already chaotic time is not exactly in my favor. And I also experienced, once again, the lesson of saving your work every five minutes. I know, I know. Before you lecture me about this, writers, perhaps, have a tendency to get in 'the zone' and will automatically forget to save every few minutes. I know, hit CTL + S and you're good to go - alas, when I did, my computer crashed and needed to restart. So three hours of (IMO) a pretty snazzy article had to be redone from the start. Dislike button, much? Ugh, it really irks me when too much is happening all at once and you feel like you'll never finish anything. But with discipline & hard-earned perseverance, there's nothing I cannot do! I will overcome and conquer! It's all about knowing what's really important and keep on keeping on, right?  

Which is why I partnered with GOODFOODS and had to #SHARETHEGOODNESS of fresh, never artificial-anything, ingredients when it comes to pre-made foods. Whenever it get absolutely crazy around the Spiegoski-Decamps house, I try and 'cheat' my way around certain steps when it comes to cooking. No, nothing like a tv-dinner, but rather, shortcuts or an alternative way to get through a recipe and save time & energy. Yet still remaining true to healthy eating and incorporating that into our lifestyle daily. 

Gameday Kimchi Sweet Potato Guacamole Bites with Bacon

photos + recipe by: Suzanne Spiegoski 

Serves 4-6

Ingredients:

2 large Sweet Potato, cooked, unpeeled and mashed

4 slices Bacon, cooked

4-5 GOODFOODS Grab N' Go Chunky Guacamole

1/4c. Kimchi, chopped

1/4c. chicken broth

salt & pepper, evoo

Directions:

1. Clean sweet potatoes leaving skin on. Place in a large pot and cover with water. Boil potatoes for about 20 minutes until tender.
2. Remove potatoes from water and cool. Peel and smash with fork. Mix in chicken broth, evoo, and s&p.
3. Plate tortilla chips down on serving plate. Use a dollop of mashed sweet potato on each chip, followed by GOODFOODS Chunky Guacamole, bacon and kimchi.
4. Serve immediately or refrigerate for later.

What I loved about GOODFOODS's Grab & Go Chunky Guacamole was not only did it come with tortilla chips perfect for appetizers along with the freshness of the guacamole, but its high quality taste. When you think of anything pre-made, your first instinct would be, 'no', but you want to know what is on their ingredients label? Hass avocados, tomatoes, red onions, jalapeño peppers, cilantro, lime juice, sea salt and garlic. Doesn't get anymore fresh than that! And this appetizer is perfect for any game day, no matter the team or sport, the combined flavors will leave everyone happy! Can make it for any tailgate or just an everyday snack too! I have to admit though, I'm more of a basketball fan rather than my husband's fascination with football. Boys.. ;)

You can find other GOODFOODS products here. They have different kinds of guacamole and other dips like a Greek yogurt one. Does artichoke jalapeño or feta cucumber sound enticing? Trust me when I say this, you won't be disappointed when you #SHARETHEGOODNESS with #GOODFOODS. To find a GOODFOODS store near you go here.

This post is sponsored by GOODFOODS, but the content and opinions expressed here are my own.

---

PHOTOS + VIDEOGRAPHY BY: SUZANNE SPIEGOSKI 

{NEW VIDEO PRESS PLAY} The latest on our YouTube channel - How to Make Gameday Kimchi Sweet Potato Guacamole Bites with Bacon! Mmmmm... Catch the RECIPE at www.suzannespiegoski.com Be sure to #Subscribe for new videos every week to see more of my style, food & cooking, beauty tutorials and more!

LOVE & XX'S,

SHOP THE PRODUCT

FOLLOW MAQ + SUZ

OTHER SIMILAR POSTS