Sunday Paper Recommends—Week of September 29, 2024
This week at The Sunday Paper, we're sharing a new rom-com series, a podcast, an important book, and a recipe that move the needle and spark inspiring change. We hope these suggestions open your heart and mind and encourage you to come together for meaningful conversations!
What We're Reading
Anu Gupta is a passionately determined lawyer, educator, and social scientist who puts his heart into helping people understand and unlearn the biases that haunt how we live and act. Now, Gupta has compiled his decades of research and experience into this new book, Breaking Bias: Where Stereotypes and Prejudices Come From and the Science-Backed Method to Unravel Them. What is so compelling about these pages is how Gupta weaves in tangible experience, Buddhist wisdom, and tools to help us reduce our conscious and unconscious bias, and he does so in such a caring, compassionate way. Breaking Bias is a book to gift yourself and those you love for its critical lessons and to get to know more of Gupta himself, a worldly human (who is incredibly warm!) making this world more inclusive, awake, and loving.
What We're Listening To
Who am I? What am I doing? How do I know my purpose? What lights me up? These are a handful of the questions radical entrepreneur Ilana Golan helps us answer for ourselves in her revered Leap Academy Podcast. Golan has done it all—build and sold companies, advised, educated leaders—and has faced challenging situations. She's determined to help people lean into their potential, increase their earnings and joy, and build their leadership, just as she's done. In her Leap Academy, she shares 25 years of experience and brings in thought leaders from around the globe for insightful conversations. If you feel stagnant, lost, underwhelmed, or simply yearning to make a giant leap, Golan and her guests will ignite you.
Best Decision in 30 Years!
What We're Watching
Nobody Wants This, the new Netflix series starring Kristen Bell and Adam Brody had us at hello: Its stars are talented, and its story weaving together love, spirituality, and religion is compelling. When we started watching it, the series expanded our hearts. The premise is about two people from wildly different backgrounds falling for each other and facing all the beauty and hardship that comes with it: family expectations, societal stigmas, and cultural dissonance. But a deeper story of faith and connection offers a fun (and funny!) view of the complexities of modern life today.
Sunday Dinner Recipe
Moroccan-Spiced Roasted Carrot and Chickpea Salad
Serves: 6
On the table in… 1 hour
Inspired by my travels to Morocco, this spiced carrot salad brings back images of the mountains of rich spices I saw in the markets of Marrakech. The blend of paprika, cinnamon, coriander, cumin, and turmeric helps bring out the natural sweetness of the carrots, along with a drizzle of date syrup and tahini. My twist? I roast the chickpeas with the carrots, which helps them crisp up and become full of flavor. When tossed with the dressing, the chickpeas act like sponges, absorbing the flavors and helping make this salad into a hearty plant-based meal. Hint: This is a great dish to make for a potluck or to ensure that the vegetarian at your dinner table gets a source of protein.
7 medium carrots, cut into 1-by-½-inch pieces
1 (14-oz) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
5 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1½ teaspoons sweet paprika
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground coriander
½ teaspoon ground cumin
¼ teaspoon ground turmeric
1 teaspoon sea salt, divided
½ teaspoon black pepper, plus more as needed
¼ cup chopped almonds
½ small red onion, thinly sliced
1½ tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon date syrup, plus more as needed
4 cups arugula
¼ cup fresh mint leaves or cilantro
2 tablespoons tahini
Preheat the oven to 400°F. Line a sheet pan with aluminum foil.
Combine the carrots and chickpeas in a bowl. Add 3 tablespoons of the olive oil, paprika, cinnamon, coriander, cumin, turmeric, ½ teaspoon of the salt, and pepper and toss until combined.
Spread out the carrots and chickpeas on the prepared sheet pan. Set the bowl aside to use later. Roast for 25 minutes, or until the carrots are tender. Add the almonds to the pan and roast for an additional 3 to 5 minutes, or until golden.
Meanwhile, in the bowl you set aside, combine the red onion, apple cider vinegar, date syrup, remaining ½ teaspoon salt, and pepper and mix well. Let sit for 5 minutes. Add the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil and mix well. This helps reduce the sharpness of the raw onion.
Add the chickpea and carrot mixture to the red onion mixture and toss to combine.
Place the arugula in a serving bowl. Top with the carrot mixture and drizzle any excess dressing over the salad. Top with the mint and drizzle with the tahini and additional date syrup.
Note: To prepare in advance, make the carrot mixture and dressing and store separately. Just before serving, toss the carrot mixture and dressing with the arugula, mint, tahini, and date syrup to taste.
Variation: Use cubed sweet potatoes in place of the carrots.
How to Temper Sharp-Flavored Onions
If you find that raw onions are too sharp or pungent, try soaking them in ice water for 5 to 10 minutes. Drain and add them to your dish. Alternatively, add the sliced raw onion directly to your salad dressing, and let it marinate for 5 to 10 minutes. Toss directly with the salad. This helps soften the sharp flavor while infusing the dressing into the onion.
Sweet and Spicy Harissa Hasselback Squash with Chickpeas
Serves: 4 to 6
On the table in… 1 hour 30 minutes
I’m constantly looking for vegetable-focused recipes that don’t need to pretend to be something else, that everyone will love, and that can be the centerpiece of any holiday meal. Many people are intimidated by squash, wondering how to peel it, prepare it, and what to make with it. Luckily, most squash skin is edible, butternut squash included, meaning you can save a step (and headache) by leaving it unpeeled. The combination of sweet butternut squash and spicy, smoky harissa is balanced out with tart lemon juice, for an appealingly sweet and sour dish. The secret to this recipe is date syrup, or silan, a sweet, molasses-like complex flavor that tastes less sweet than honey or agave.
1 medium (about 1½-lb) unpeeled butternut squash
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more as needed
2 tablespoons harissa powder
¼ cup date syrup
4 tablespoons lemon juice, divided
¼ teaspoon sea salt
1 (14-oz) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
⅓ cup feta cheese, crumbled
¼ cup chopped pumpkin seeds
½ cup chopped fresh parsley
Preheat the oven to 400°F.
Halve the squash lengthwise. Use a spoon to scoop out the seeds. Rub the skin of the squash with oil. Place the squash, flesh side down, in a 9-by-13-inch baking dish and roast for 20 minutes, or until it begins to soften slightly. If using a smaller honeynut squash, you can skip this step.
Meanwhile, combine the harissa seasoning, 3 tablespoons olive oil, date syrup, 2 tablespoons of the lemon juice, and sea salt in a small bowl and mix well.
Remove the squash from the oven. Place the squash cut side down on a cutting board.
Using a sharp knife, cut through the skin side of the squash crosswise, being careful not to cut all the way through. Continue to cut the rest of the squash into ⅛-inch slices. Try putting chopsticks or wooden spoon handles on either side of the squash to prevent cutting through.
Return the squash to the baking dish, scored side up. Add the chickpeas to the baking dish. Use a pastry brush to brush the oil mixture over the top of the squash, allowing it to get into each slice. Reserve the remaining mixture.
Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, or until softened, spooning any excess syrup mixture over the chickpeas halfway through.
Top with crumbled feta (if using), pumpkin seeds, parsley, and the remaining 2 tablespoons of lemon juice.
Note: This dish can also be served at room temperature. Make it 2 hours in advance. Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
Variations: Use sweet potatoes or honeynut squash in place of butternut to create a single-serving side dish. Omit the feta if vegan, and sprinkle with hemp seeds or vegan feta cheese. If you can’t find date syrup, use maple syrup instead.
What Is Harissa?
This North African spice blend or paste is made primarily of hot chili peppers. It is commonly used in vegetable dishes and stews, and lends a smoky, spicy flavor to dishes. While harissa varies from region to region, it nearly always contains red pepper, chili pepper, and a variety of spices or even rose petals.
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