RING IN THE NEW YEAR WITH SNACKS
Alison Roman takes the fuss out of entertaining in Nothing Fancy
In just two years, food writer Alison Roman has established herself as the creator of recipes so stylish, so bright and so achievable that they take on lives of their own.
Dishes like #thestew and #thecookies became social media phenomena.
Since publishing her hit debut book Dining In (Clarkson Potter) in 2017, she’s amassed a like-minded audience that values beautiful food made with minimal fuss.
Roman’s followup, Nothing Fancy (Clarkson Potter, 2019), is a continuation of this theme with even more of an emphasis on cooking for others.
She takes a flexible approach with both the recipes — snacks, salads, sides, mains and sweets — and the message.
The recipes are designed for mixing and matching. “I want this to serve as an inspirational roadmap,” Roman says. “It’s not like a manual.”
It’s also not a guide to entertaining. In case there was any confusion, Roman says so definitively — right at the outset — in big, bold type: “This is not a book about entertaining.”
Nothing Fancy delivers on the promise of its title.
Instead of an aspirational act that requires you to have your stuff together, it’s proof positive that feeding the people you care about needs no occasion, rules or stressful preamble: It can be as enjoyable for the cook as it is for everybody else.
“I feel a little bit old-fashioned in the way that I feel like the best things actually happen when you’re cooking and eating and feeding people,” Roman says, adding that the decision to focus on cooking for others was a natural one, since it’s how she prefers to spend her time.
“Rather than going out to a restaurant, it’s more fun for me to cook at home.”
Holder of unequivocal food opinions — including “don’t call it a crudité” and “do not confuse snacks with hors d’oeuvres or canapés” — Roman’s style is punchy and direct.
Straightforward, often short, ingredient lists are as much of a trademark as her favourite ingredients: anchovies, cheese, citrus and garlic.
In line with her use of bold flavours, the visual aspect of her food — shot by Toronto-based photographers Michael Graydon and Nikole Herriott — is just as striking.
Roman cooked and styled all the dishes depicted in the book, which she considers key to communicating their attainability.
“When you get into food styling and you have people who are making the food look nicer than it will when you make it, then that sets the reader up for disappointment,” she says.
“It’s important to me that everything that we have on the pages is going to be reflected in what you make in your own home kitchen.”
As welcome any day of the week as they would be on a special occasion, her snack recipes are ideal for New Year’s Eve. Bread sticks with platters of vegetables and dips, and little toasts or crackers with smoked fish and trout roe are low-key but inviting.
“You want to be noshing all night. For me, it’s not interesting to sit down to a full meal on New Year’s Eve because imagine the consequences the next day,” Roman says. “Also, feeling like you can pad it out with store-bought things like cheese and charcuterie … is a really nice way to balance it out and make it feel very full and resplendent, but without making it feel like you’re overwhelming yourself on a holiday.”
LABNE WITH SIZZLED SCALLIONS AND CHILI (ALMOST RANCH)
Makes: 2 cups (500 ml)
■ 1/3 cup (80 ml) olive oil
■ 4 scallions (or green garlic), white and light green parts, thinly sliced
■ 1 tsp (5 ml) crushed red pepper flakes
■ 2 tbsp (30 ml) finely chopped fresh cilantro (tender leaves and stems) or chives, plus more for garnish
■ Flaky sea salt
■ Freshly ground black pepper
■ 2 cups (500 ml) labne, full-fat Greek yogurt or sour cream
■ 2 tbsp (30 ml) fresh lemon juice
1. Heat the olive oil, scallions, crushed red pepper flakes and cilantro in a small pot over medium-low heat.
2. Cook, swirling occasionally, until the scallions and red pepper flakes start to visually and audibly sizzle and frizzle and turn the oil a bright fiery orange.
3. Remove from the heat and let cool enough to taste without burning your mouth, then season with salt and pepper.
4. Combine the labne and lemon juice in a medium bowl and season with salt and pepper. Spoon into a bowl and swirl in the sizzled scallion mixture. Top with extra cilantro if you like. Note: Sizzled scallion oil can be made up to a week ahead, wrapped tightly and refrigerated. Labne can be seasoned one week ahead, wrapped tightly and refrigerated. Combine the two just before serving.