What's cookin'

Easy Enchilada Sauce

2011-12-12T17:59:00.000-08:00

Alright, I know I used to be able to find canned enchie sauce that didn't have a lot of gobbledy-gook in it! Not this time. I thought d'ems which stock the stores were catching on to the fact that some of us don't want to eat crap. Unless we choose to that is... *earnestly ignores bowl of yogurt-covered pretzels at her elbow*

My friend Beth chastised me loooong ago for not making my own. Now I see why. No biggie, and all from stuff you probably have in your pantry already. I have seen the light.

I made a half recipe of the Vegetarian Times' black bean and corn enchiladas (not...got lazy and just tore up 3-4 corn tortillas and layered the filling!), using a recipe for the sauce I found on About.com. S'good!

Easy Enchilada Sauce:
(slightly adapted from Jolinda Hackett's recipe on About.com)

2 tbsp vegetable oil
2 tbsp flour (I used whole grain spelt flour)
2 tbsp chili powder
1/2 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper, or to taste
2 cups water
1- 8 ounce can tomato paste (I only had a 6 oz can...do they even make 8 oz'ers?? I added some tomato puree in to flesh it out, but really, I think it must have been a typo in the orig. recipe)
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp salt
(I added a small squeeze of agave nectar, and about 1/2 tsp white vinegar...)

Heat the oil, flour and chili powder together in a large pot. Allow to cook for a minute or two.

Add the remaining ingredients and bring to a slow simmer. Stir well to combine and dissolve tomato paste in water. Cover and allow to cook for at least 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add more spices as desired.

I froze the extra sauce not used in the making of this:

Roasted Cauliflower Pasta Bake with Sage

2011-12-10T13:22:00.000-08:00

Is anyone else out there having a hard time eating their vegetables? Didn't think it'd be me, but the chill in the air has me loathe to eat anything raw- I'm having trouble with green in general.
So, to get the Monster and I through, I'll just keep putting spinach and the like in tummy warming casseroles, soups and stews...save the salads for the 100 degree days that will be here all too soon. Cauliflower and green peas are the sneaker veggies in this dinner.

Tonight…a mash up of several recipes. One I've posted about before, the other has been made 3 times now and dug into greedily without giving the camera a second glance (much less a first glance). The first half of this dually inspired recipe today is from Ricki of Diet, Dessert and Dogs. Her recipe for butternut squash baked pasta is the 3 timer. I've always amended her basic recipe, and I've loved it in each and every one of it's incarnations.

The second half is Frugal Gourmet Alissa's cauliflower risotto…well kind of. There's a dose of my roasted mashed cauliflower in there too.
I'd wanted to put some nutritional yeast in the mix below, like Alissa's original recipe has, but found my pantry lacking this morning. No matter, tastes great without it, but you could always add 2-3 TBS into the sauce if you'd like.

I'd planned on taking step by step photos of the process today, but got really distracted and blew it. Another day...
You'll just have to trust that it tastes better than it looks. :-)

Roasted Cauliflower Pasta Bake with Sage:

1 sizable head of cauliflower, washed, dried, sliced thinly (~1/8th inch thick)
4 cloves garlic, peeled and cut in half if large
olive oil
Kosher salt

1 3/4 cups milk of your choice (I used unsweetened soy, but I'll try with almond milk next time)
1 cup broth (vegetable, chicken…)
1 3/4 TBS corn starch, or arrowroot powder
~7 fresh sage leaves
~1/4 tsp fresh grated nutmeg
~1/8 tsp ground clove
1/2 cup toasted walnuts
sprinkle of garlic powder to taste
1/4 tsp+ cayenne
Kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
1 cup frozen green peas, thawed
1 1/2 cup uncooked brown rice rotini pasta (or pasta of your choice…we love Tinkyada Brand brown rice noods in all forms)
zest of one lemon

3 slices of whole grain bread (we like Alvarado St.'s sprouted grain breads)
1+ TBS olive oil

Heat oven to 450.
Toss sliced cauliflower and garlic with a couple TBS olive oil and some Kosher salt on a large sheet pan.
Roast for ~15 minutes, then toss and return to oven for about 10 more minutes.
Remove from oven and set aside.

To a high powered blender (I use a BlendTec, comparable to a Vitamix), add a packed and slightly rounded cup of roasted cauliflower with all of the roasted garlic pieces you can find.
Also add soymilk (or other milk), broth, cornstarch, sage leaves, nutmeg, clove, walnuts, garlic powder, cayenne, salt and black pepper…blend till smooth. Taste and amend salt and other spices to your liking.

In a large bowl combine, thawed peas, the uncooked pasta, the rest of the unblended roasted cauliflower left over, and the lemon zest.
Add sauce in and stir till all is incorporated.
Pour into a lightly oiled lidded casserole dish (I think the one I used must be around 1.5 qt.)

In a food processor, whiz up the whole grain bread slices, and pour a little olive oil over them while the machine is whirring. I like to add a pinch of Kosher salt too.

Heat oven to 350.
Bake casserole covered for 25-30 minutes.
Remove casserole from oven and evenly spread the bread crumbs over the surface.
Continue to bake, uncovered this time, for another 20 minutes, until the topping is golden toasty.
I like to put the whole casserole together some time during the day when I've got the time, then pop in the fridge uncooked until it's ready to go into the oven for dinner. Leave the crumb topping off of course until half-way through the baking.

Yellow Split Pea Soup with Coconut

2011-12-08T11:08:00.001-08:00

It's been an age...last post in October?? I disappeared. Once again making a visit to The Rabbit Hole (fyi: I did manage to come across a full jar of marmalade this time!).

Cozy up with a warm bowl of this soup on a cold night. You won't be sorry. Made even better with amendments...I added steamed broccoli the first night, then broc. and avocado the next day for lunch. Buy a nice rustic multi-grain baguette for dunking purposes, and add a drizzle of Sriracha sauce if you know what's good for you.

Yellow Split Pea Soup with Coconut:
(adapted from Soup Chick)

1 1/2 cups yellow split peas, picked over and rinsed
2 tbsp olive oil
2 carrots, diced
1 onion, diced
2-3 cloves garlic, smashed and minced
1-2 Tbs red curry paste
1 tsp ground cumin
5 cups water
1 cup organic veggie broth
1 1/2 tsp+ kosher salt
pepper
1 14 oz can coconut milk (I used light coconut milk)
Sriracha to top (I added in about a TBS to the actual soup, then topped each bowl with a little more)
steamed broccoli florettes if desired

In a large pot, heat a couple of tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat. Add the carrots, onions, and garlic and sweat about 3-4 minutes. Don't let them brown, just warm them up. Add a tablespoon or two of red chili paste. I used 2. Add the cumin and split peas.

Add four cups of water and 1 cup broth.
Cover pot and bring to a boil for 2o-25 minutes.
Add salt and pepper to taste (I used about a teaspoon and a half of salt and about 10 grinds of pepper), then turn the heat to low and simmer for another 10 minutes covered, stirring occasionally to avoid sticking to the bottom of the pot.

Stir in the can of coconut milk and taste the soup. Mine needed another pinch of salt and more pepper, I also added a good squeeze of Sriracha sauce at this point.
Simmer for another 15 minutes still covered, or until split peas have cooked through.

Farro Waldorf Salad

2011-10-11T10:54:00.000-07:00

I made Enlightened Cooking's recipe for a mayo-less Waldorf salad for dinner last night and it was as delicious as it was easy to make. I went ahead and topped some spinach with the salad since I hadn't eaten any greens that day, but ended up preferring it on it's own with just the baked salmon on top. I prepared Camilla's recipe as written, only using one Honey Crisp apple instead of two...seemed like plenty with just the one. Oh and I also subbed toasted walnuts for the pecans that I didn't have. The salad kept well overnight with no browning of the apple.

Whole Foods has pearled farro in their bulk section, and durn if I only bought one cups worth! Will definitely be needing to stock it in my pantry from now on.

Lentil Picadillo with Mango

2011-10-02T08:36:00.000-07:00

I like heat (on my tongue heat, not Texas summer heat), and I like olives, therefore, my lentil picadillo had to have both of those added to it in the form of cayenne pepper and Spanish green olives. Other than that, I don't think I changed much else from the original adaptation, other than lessening the amount of dried thyme and adding a little more liquid...

This is a great weeknight meal that comes together very quickly if you have a whole grain already cooked and ready to go in the freezer. For us last night, that happened to be brown rice, but you could pair this with any other whole grain...I'm sure quinoa would be great.
I used French green lentils instead of the standard brown or green, because I like that their texture holds up well after cooking.

Lentil Picadillo with Mango:
(Adapted from Eats Well with Others...who adapted a recipe for meaty picadillo from Simply Recipes)

1.5 cups French green lentils
~1 tsp kosher salt
one red onion, sliced very thinly, vertically.
~1 Tbs. olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp dried oregano (I like to use Greek oregano...not as pungent as the Mexican)
a pinch of dried thyme
cayenne pepper to taste, optional (I used about 1/2 tsp)
1 cup chunky tomato-based salsa
a good handful of pimento stuffed Spanish olives, halved
1 large mango or 2 small mangoes, peeled pitted and cubed (or if you have a MONSTER of a mango like I did, 1/2 of that!)
2 tbsp sliced almonds, toasted
2 tbsp cilantro leaves
salt and pepper to taste

Sort your lentils and wash them thoroughly.
Add lentils to a 3qt. saucepan and cover with at least 2 inches of filtered water.
Heat on high until water starts to boil, then add about 1 tsp kosher salt and reduce to a simmer, cooking uncovered for about 20 minutes.
Remove pot from heat, cover and let sit for another 5 minutes.
Drain lentils, but reserve some of the cooking water...about a cups worth.

While the lentils are cooking, heat olive oil in a non-stick skillet over medium heat.
Salt them lightly and cook for about 10 minutes or until soft and golden.
Add garlic, and spices through cayenne pepper, if using.
Cook another 2 minutes then add cooked lentils, salsa, olives, diced mango, and about 1/2 cup+ of reserved lentil cooking water.
Simmer until these last additions are heated through, then remove from heat.
Check for seasoning...adding salt and black pepper as needed.

Serve atop cooked grain of your choice, or even a bed of spinach, then garnish with cilantro and toasted almonds. We also topped with some chopped avocado.

Hatch Chile Chicken Stew

2011-10-02T07:56:00.001-07:00

I've made this twice now, and have almost used up my frozen supply of roasted hatch chiles...will be so sad to see them gone. Still pretending it's Fall around here...
This is a great stew, and even though I was too lazy to post the first time I made it, The Monster made me write down what went into it...he wanted be sure he'd get to eat it again. :-)

Hatch Chili Chicken Stew:

1+ lb organic boneless, skinless chicken thighs, patted dry, trimmed of fat and cut into 2-3 pieces each
2-3 Tbs whole spelt flour (or sub another flour)
1.5 tsp each salt and black pepper
1 tsp ground cumin
a few good shakes of garlic powder
~2 Tb olive oil
1/2 large onion, chopped
3/4 bottle of beer (first time I used Dogfish ale and the second time I used a Real Ale Oktoberfest lager)
5 cloves garlic, chopped
1 Qt. reduced salt chicken broth
~1.5 cups chopped roasted, peeled and seeded hatch chiles (I used a mix of hot and mild chiles)
~4 medium small potatoes, quartered (I used purple potatoes this time, but the first time I made this with 1 can of white beans, drained and rinsed...just use whatever strikes your fancy)
1 ears worth of fresh, corn cut off the cob
~1/4 of a large head of green cabbage, sliced thinly
handful of chopped cilantro (ok, so I was out of this the second time I made it...oops)
squeeze of lime
grated pepper jack cheese, if desired (reallllly good...ate it with this the next day)
salt and pepper to taste

Add 2+ Tb spelt flour, salt, pepper, cumin and garlic powder to a gallon sized Ziplock bag.
Dredge chicken by adding in several batches to the flour mixture and shaking well.
Heat olive oil over medium-high heat in a Dutch oven, and sear chicken for 5 min total, turning mid-way.
Remove chicken from the pot and set aside.
Add the chopped onion to the pot with a touch more oil and saute for about 5 min.
You might want to add a little beer to deglaze and keep the onions and flour residue from burning.
Add in chopped garlic and cook for 1 min more.
Add in about 3/4 of a bottle of beer, cook on high for about 2 minutes, then add 1 Qt. chicken broth, the seared chicken, the quartered potatoes (if using beans instead, wait 10 minutes then add) and the diced hot and mild hatch chiles, bring to a simmer then cook covered for 10 min.

After 10 minutes, add in green cabbage and the corn (If using white beans instead of potatoes add now), cover and simmer another 10 minutes.

Remove from heat and toss in a handful of chopped cilantro and a squeeze of lime juice...adjust salt and pepper if necessary. Top individual bowls with grated pepper-jack cheese if desired.

Warm and Spicy Cashew Tomato Soup

2011-09-23T05:53:00.000-07:00

This is a great spicy tomato soup, made better by plenty of roasting time in the oven for the 'maters. I mixed halved Romas and whole grape tomatoes on the same sheet pan and roasted for about 2.5 hrs. I did take the grape tomatoes out at about 1.5 or 2 hrs. though.
I made "croutons" of spicy sauteed cauliflower florettes and used a high powered blender for the soup instead of the suggested immersion blender as I wanted a smoother and creamier soup.
When it came to incorporating the yogurt, I whisked it in a large bowl and added the hot soup a spoonful at a time whisking all the while, until it was tempered enough to not curdle. Instead of serving with grilled cheesers, I toasted some whole wheat naan topped with cave-aged Gruyere and nigella seeds. Yum!

Warm and Spicy Cashew Tomato Soup:
(as found on Eats Well With Others)

1 1/2 lb tomatoes (I used mostly Roma tomatoes with a good handful of small grape tomatoes)
2 tsp olive oil
salt, as necessary
1 small onion, sliced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp minced ginger
1 tsp garam masala
1 tsp ground coriander
1/4 tsp chipotle chili powder
1/4 cup salted cashews (I used a Thai spiced cashew that I found in the bulk section of the grocery store)
1 tbsp tomato paste
1 1" piece of cinnamon stick
1 cardamom pod, bruised
4 cups water
1/3 cup nonfat greek yogurt

Preheat oven to 300.
Cut the tomatoes in half lengthwise, gently tossing with 1 tsp of the oil.
Sprinkle with salt.
Lay the tomatoes on a baking sheet lined with foil, cut side up.
Bake for an hour (or longer if you have the time…again, I went 2.5 hrs for the Romas).
Meanwhile, in a large pot, heat oil on medium and saute the onion until it is a nice, even golden brown, stirring often.
Once browned, add the garlic, ginger, garam masala, coriander, chili powder, cashews, and tomato paste.
Cook for a few minutes until nice and fragrant, stirring often.
Add cinnamon, cardamom pod, and water, making sure to scrape the bottom of the pot and get up any browned bits.
When the tomatoes are finished roasting, add them to the soup and stir. Simmer gently for 30 minutes. Remove the cinnamon stick and cardamom pod.
Remove soup to a blender (only fill half full and put a towel over the top holding down firmly to prevent wearing hot soup), and blend in batches. If you have a high powered blender you can probably get away with blending the whole batch at once making sure to start at a very slow speed...I did.
In a bowl large enough to hold all the soup, slowly whisk a few tbsp of soup into the yogurt. Keep adding soup slowly, whisking all the while until the soup and yogurt are fully combined as the yogurt will curdle if it gets too hot at once.
Gently reheat if necessary, though I didn't bother...
Serve with something good and cheesy...grill cheese, or cheese naan for dipping.
If you'd like to make some cauliflower "croutons" steam small florettes until just tender then sprinkle with a bit of ground cumin, ground coriander, ground black pepper and sea salt. Toss with a little olive oil, cook on med.-high heat in a saute pan til nice and toasty.

Fennel Salad with Orange, Green Olives, and Pistachios

2011-09-22T04:00:00.000-07:00

Things I dislike about this salad:

Fennel is expensive.
Pistachios are expensive.
Organic arugula that I added to it is expensive.
I really liked this salad and will have to make it again.

I only made half the posted recipe...I was not paying 8 bucks for 2 weenie fennel bulbs.
I often pair orange slices with fennel and arugula, usually adding in an avocado and some goat cheese, but we loved the olives and pistachios in this...a lot! I placed the salad on a bed of arugula since I wanted some greens with our dinner, baked a filet of wild coho salmon at 450 for 9 minutes and popped it on top of the salad for an awesome meal.

Fennel Salad with Orange, Green Olives, and Pistachios:
(Mark Bittman's recipe in Cooking Light)

1 Tablespoon grated orange rind
3/4 cup orange sections (about 2 large oranges)
3/4 cup coarsely chopped pitted green olives (about 3 ounces)
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
2 medium fennel bulbs with stalks (about 2 pounds)
1 cup shelled salted dry-roasted pistachios

Combine first 7 ingredients in a large bowl; toss gently to combine.
Trim the tough outer leaves from fennel, and mince feathery fronds to measure 2 tablespoons.
Remove and discard stalks.
Cut fennel bulb in half lengthwise and thinly slice fennel bulbs. Add fennel slices to juice
mixture, and toss gently to combine.
Sprinkle each plate with fennel fronds and nuts.

Lentil Chili with Cumin and Green Onions

2011-09-21T04:00:00.000-07:00

For any other Texas folks out there seizing on the slight morning "chill" to delude yourselves with visions of Fall...or if you just don't care what time of year you eat chili, but were unable to find ground turkey at the store (due to creepy salmonella??) for your usual turkey chili, this could be the post for you. If you're similarly addicted to smicey chipotle goodness...bonus! Easy, highly customizable, and ultra toppingable (I'm sure that's a word).

Lentil Chili with Cumin and Green Onions:
(gently amended to feed my chipotle addiction from Epicurious.com)

2 tsp olive oil
1/2 C chopped onion (I used more like 1 cup)
2 garlic cloves, minced
2T chili powder
1 tsp ground chipotle chili powder (not in original recipe...mmm...smicey)
1T ground cumin
1tsp dried oregano
1/8tsp cayenne pepper (used a little more...must be made more, and MORE smicey!)
4 C water (or more...I used 2 cups of veggie broth plus water for more flayvah)
1 C dried brown lentils, rinsed
1/2 C tomato puree (freeze the rest of the can in ice cube trays, then store in a freezer bag)
1/3C plus 2T chopped green onions

S&P to taste

Heat oil in heavy large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and saute 2 minutes. Add garlic and saute 30 seconds.
Add chili powder, ground cumin, oregano leaves, and cayenne pepper and chipotle chili powder if using; stir 30 seconds.
Add 4 cups water, lentils, and tomato puree.
Increase heat and bring to boil, skimming off any foam from surface.
Reduce heat to medium and simmer until lentils are tender, adding more water by 1/4 C as needed if dry, about 30 minutes.
Stir in 1/3 C green onions. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Roasted Sweet Potato Salad with Cranberry Chipotle Dressing

2011-09-20T04:53:00.000-07:00

A. MAY. ZING!!!! I dreamed about this manna allll night long after we had it for dinner last night. What a crumby photo of a fantastic dish. Don't let the fact that it looks like tandoori chicken in my picture dissuade you from making it. :-)

Chances are, if you get invited to our house for dinner, you'll have to eat this. Because I'm planning on making it a million bazillion more times before I die.

It's rare anymore that a recipe from Cooking Light magazine jumps out at me as something I'd be a freak for, but Mark Bittman's recipe did just that. Bookmarked it the day before, made it last night. There will be no going back.

I used frozen whole cranberries and organic sweet potatoes (love this because we eat the whole nutritious peel too). Didn't make the whole batch (kicking self for not having leftovers), but I'll post the whole recipe that is supposed to serve 8...yeah right! I did toss some feta on after taking the photo, to up the protein a bit, but it's awesome without it too. Served up with braised kale, made for two happy tummies in this house.

Roasted Sweet Potato Salad with Cranberry Chipotle Dressing:
(Mark Bittman's recipe in Cooking Light magazine)

2 1/2 pounds sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 2-inch pieces (go for organic and don't peel)
3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3/4 cup fresh or frozen cranberries
1/4 cup water
2 teaspoons honey
1 (7-ounce) can chipotle chiles in adobo sauce (put the extra chipotles and sauce in a freezer bag and store for laters)
1/2 cup raw unsalted pepitas (pumpkinseeds)
3/4 cup chopped green onions
1/4 cup fresh cilantro leaves

Preheat oven to 450°.
Place sweet potatoes on a large jelly-roll pan. Drizzle with 2 tablespoons oil, and sprinkle with salt and pepper; toss to coat. Bake at 450° for 30 minutes or until tender, turning after 15 minutes.
Place remaining 1 tablespoon oil, cranberries, water, and honey in a saucepan. Remove 1 or 2 chiles from can; finely chop to equal 1 tablespoon. Add chopped chipotle and 1 teaspoon adobo sauce to pan (reserve remaining chiles and sauce for another use). Place pan over medium-low heat; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and cook 10 minutes or until cranberries pop, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat. Mash with a potato masher or fork until chunky.
Place pepitas in a medium skillet; cook over medium heat 4 minutes or until lightly browned, shaking pan frequently.
Combine potatoes, pepitas, onions, and cilantro in a bowl. Add cranberry mixture to bowl; toss gently to coat.

Salsa de Tomatillo Asado con Chipotle: Roasted Tomatillo and Chipotle Salsa

2011-09-15T14:42:00.000-07:00

On a recent trip, I grabbed a copy of Saveur to read on the flight. Most excited about a 2 page spread of different salsas, I immediately marked at least 3 that I wanted to make upon our return home. This roasted tomatillo and chipotle is the first of those.

I wasn't sure how I felt upon first tasting this salsa. The sour of the tomatillos seemed to clash initially with the smoky chipotle flavor for me (I've made this twice now, and realize I just didn't like too much tomatillo. 0.68 lb of tomatillo :-) and upping the garlic and dried chipotle it was perfect from the get go). Could also be that I was incredibly high off the Doña success and stuck on that flavor profile. That said, this new salsa quickly grew on me and Scott liked it from the get go. Super easy to make, and I gave half of the batch a quick addition of some agave nectar to serve over salmon...keeping the rest as is to eat with chips. Delicious both ways. It doesn't make a whole bunch, but you can easily double. OH and I almost forgot, I added in a minced chipotle in adobo for extra heat, since there really wasn't much to speak of from just the dried chiles.

Salsa de Tomatillo Asado con Chipotle:
(Adapted from Saveur Magazine)

8oz+ tomatillos, husked, rinsed and left whole (I think I used 6 medium to small)
7 cloves of garlic, left whole and you can leave them in their l'il skins til done roasting
4 dried chipotle chiles
1 chipotle pepper in adobo (my addition)
1/2 tsp fine sea salt
1/2 cup water
agave if desired...try splitting the batch and only adding to half

Preheat oven to 500.
On a foil-lined baking sheet, roast tomatillos for 10 minutes, flip over, then roast 10 minutes more.
While tomatillos roast, heat a dry cast iron skillet to medium-low on the stove top.
Toast dried chiles and garlic for about 10 minutes, or until there are some charred spots on the chiles and garlic, and the garlic has softened a bit.
Place tomatillos (and any accumulated juices), garlic, dried chiles, 1 chipotle in adobo and 1/2 tsp salt and water into a blender and blend until smooth.

Doctor the salsa with some agave if you'd like...it was very nice served over salmon with black beans and squash with this addition. Without agave it's great just scooped up with tortilla chips.
Great on eggs too.

Spinach and Egg Bread Pudding

2011-09-09T03:23:00.000-07:00

If you live in Austin, do yourself a favor and go to Central Market, buy a loaf of the hatch chile sourdough bread (the large sliced boule) while they've still got it and pop it in your freezer for laters. It made this bread pudding extra deeeelicious. But then, I also used my favorite Kaltbach Gruyère cheese in it too and you could make a piece of cardboard taste good with a slice of that on it.

I'm digging cooking without recipes this last week. Just stir stuff together and see what I get.
All winners so far, but I didn't take a picture of the hatch chile chicken stew I made the other night.
The Monster told me to write it down after though...he wanted to make sure he'd get to eat it again sometime. Will post once I remake it as I still have both hot and mild roasted hatch chiles in the freezer.

Ok, so back to this bread pudding. We ate almost the whole thing. Just the 2 of us. :-)
Served with nothing more than sliced tomatoes.

Spinach and Egg Bread Pudding:

olive oil
~3/4 cup red onion, diced small
1 large clove garlic, chopped
~1/4 tsp dried thyme
splash of dry white wine
~10 oz organic baby spinach, chopped
salt, divided
4 eggs
1+ cup unsweetened soymilk, dairy milk, or other non-dairy (I felt I needed to add a bit more soymilk to the final mix and up 3 eggs to 4 for more custard...so just use your good sense)
garlic powder
cayenne
fresh grated nutmeg
black pepper
~1 cup (not packed) grated aged Gruyère (Kaltbach is my favorite)
~7 oz cubed bread, cut to about 3/4" (I used about 4 slices of a boule and a weenie end crust)

Preheat oven to 375.
Butter a casserole dish. I used a 1.5 quart oval enameled cast iron dish.
Saute the onion with thyme and a bit of salt in 1 Tb olive oil over medium heat for ~5 minutes.
Add garlic and cook 1 minute more.
Add a splash of white wine and cook til no liquid remains.
Add spinach and cook for ~5 minutes til no liquid remains, adding salt and pepper to taste.
Remove from heat.
In a large bowl, mix the eggs, soymilk, a bit of garlic powder, a dash of cayenne, a shower of fresh grated nutmeg, salt and pepper to taste.
Fold the cooked spinach, cheese, and cubed bread into the egg mixture until well combined, then pour into the casserole and bake for 25-30 minutes (I went 28).

Kale and Sweet Potato Soup

2011-09-07T14:10:00.000-07:00

A clean and pretty mild soup that I like to fire up with a little Siracha love.
Easy to make when you're feeling fuzzy.

Kale and Sweet Potato Soup:
(from Joy the Baker who was inspired by Food and Wine)

1-2 Tb olive oil
1 medium onion; diced
2 cloves garlic; minced
2 tsp finely grated/minced fresh ginger
3/4 tsp turmeric
~1/4 red pepper flakes (I tend to use a little more)
6 cups organic vegetable broth
1 tsp kosher salt
1.5 lbs sweet potato; diced to 3/4" pieces (peel if necessary, I leave the peel on if clean and organic)
3/4 lb organic kale; thick stems removed and chopped
~1 cup coconut milk
pepper to taste
a squeeze of lime juice is nice
2 cups cooked brown rice (you know you can make up a big batch of brown rice, or other whole grain and freeze it to use any old time right? Freeze leftovers in a ziplock bag, flattened out on a cookie sheet til frozen, then break off pieces as needed.)
Sriracha sauce to taste

Cook brown rice and set aside.
Heat olive oil in a heavy bottomed dutch oven, then add onion and cook for 5 minutes.
Add garlic, ginger, turmeric, red pepper flakes and stir for 1 minute.
Add vegetable broth and sweet potatoes, bring to a simmer, reduce heat, cover and cook for 10 minutes.
Add kale, return to a simmer, cover and cook for about 8-10 minutes more, or until sweet potatoes have cooked through.
Remove from heat, stir in coconut milk, add some lime juice if you'd like, adjust salt/pepper to your taste.
Serve with a scoop of brown rice and plenty of Sriracha sauce.

Beet and Carrot Slaw with Tahini Dressing

2011-08-14T11:40:00.000-07:00

This is another slaw recipe from Coconut and Quinoa's gorgeous blog that I've been making a lot this summer. I go for nut or seed butter-based dressings more than the mayo-based slaw dressings, and everyone I've fed this to, including the once beet fearing Monster, has liked it. Maybe I'm a weirdo (maybe??), but I even enjoy eating the leftovers for breakfast the next day.

I tend to tweak the dressing amounts from the original recipe...tasting as I go, all depending on the quantity of carrots and beets I use. I always use more than the amounts listed (except for olive oil...that I only use 1 Tbs of), but these are pretty good proportions to keep to.

Beet and Carrot Slaw with Tahini Dressing:
(Coconut and Quinoa)

1 Tb tahini
1.5 Tb cider vinegar
1 Tb olive oil
Small amount of pressed minced garlic
Sea salt to taste
Water to thin
Equal amounts of grated raw beets and raw carrots...for C&Q's recipe she uses 2 small beets to 1 medium carrot, but those must have been some tiny beets to equal 1 medium carrot.
Toasted sesame seeds to garnish

Mix tahini, cider vinegar, garlic, a good pinch of sea salt in a medium sized bowl. Thin with a bit of water.Today I used about 1.5 medium beets and 4-5 small to medium sized carrots. I didn't use all the carrots pictured above...those were juiced later. :-)

Shred both carrots and beets in a food processor if you have one.
Add them to the dressing and toss to coat.

Toast your sesame seeds (I used about 1 Tb. today) and add to slaw.
Pop it in the fridge for about an hour or two...adjust seasonings as necessary, and eat!

Green Gold: Wannabe Doña Salsa

2011-08-10T12:19:00.000-07:00

Green gold, crack sauce, call it what you will, I fell hard and fast for the Doña Salsa at our Taco Deli here in Austin from the first second it hit my tongue.

If it's too hot for you, you might want to consider moving back in with your mama. ;-)

This version will never keep us from making our weekly Saturday pilgrimage to the big TD, but it tides us over in the meantime. You can take out more seeds if it's gonna make you too painfully aware of how your innards are laid out...if you must. :-P

Oh and need I mention you'd be smart to wear gloves when dealing with the peppers? Specially if you wear contacts.

I'm submitting this to Ricki's Wellness Weekend Roundup on Dietdessertndogs...so make sure you check out the link for this week's collection of healthy, vegan recipes!

Wannabe Doña Salsa:
(Friend Debbie paved the way in knocking off this delicious concoction after we pinned down the ingredients list!)
yields ~3 cups

2 lbs jalapeños
2 large heads of garlic; broken up into cloves, but paper on cloves left intact
~1 tsp kosher salt
1/4 cup + 1-2 Tbs olive oil
1/4 cup + 1-2 Tbs canola, or grapeseed oil

After you've washed and dried your peppers and separated the cloves of garlic, preheat your oven's broiler to High with the rack in the uppermost position.

Line a heavy duty baking sheet with foil and arrange the peppers on it.
I sprayed the peppers and garlic with a light mist of canola spray, just use what you've got to oil them lightly.
Roast the peppers whole, turning as necessary, until they are sufficiently charred to peel.

You can roast the garlic right along with the peppers...I ran out of room until some of the finished peppers came off the sheet pan, so I started them in a cast iron skillet on the stove top.

Put the peppers in a bowl covered with plastic wrap to steam for about 10-15 minutes once charred.
Remove the garlic from heat once they've softened somewhat, peel and put in blender.

Once the peppers have steamed, peel them and at this point you can seed them. Really, leave a couple of them whole...you don't want a weenie Doña now do you?

Add oil (you can always add less or more oil, just keep tasting it as you go) and salt and blend the heck out it.
Done. Now quick...go find something to slather in it!

A Slight Riff on Ricki's Shredded Brussels Sprouts with Edamame

2011-08-09T18:07:00.000-07:00

The Monster and I really enjoyed this dish. I added cubed and sauteed tofu as per Ricki's suggestion and that was our dinner. Nice to have another brussels sprouts recipe in my repertoire...since I usually just roast them whole to nut brown with olive oil and kosher salt.

I was just short on the edamame called for in Ricki's recipe, so I also added in ~3/4 cup of frozen green peas. Use 'em if you got 'em I say. I was also tempted to brave the heat and go pick some basil in the back yard to add in...but dint! The Monster gave his bowl a dousing of Sriracha hot sauce, but I liked it just fine as it was. Next time I make this I'll add in a bit of fresh thyme...I just happened to use all of mine earlier in the day roasting mushrooms. :-)

If you'd rather, you can leave out the tofu and serve just the veggies with an alternate protein source. Fyi, I've since made this dish a second time using finely shredded Savoy cabbage for the Brussels sprouts and it was great.

Ricki's Shredded Brussels Sprouts with Edamame and Tofu:
(only slightly adapted from Ricki Heller's recipe on Diet Dessert and Dogs)

If adding tofu:
~1 Tbs. olive oil
1 block of extra-firm tofu (not silken); drained and pressed in a towel to dry somewhat, cubed and sprinkled with kosher salt and a nice shower of garlic powder

3/4 cup edamame; boiled 5 minutes if frozen
1/2-3/4 cup frozen green peas; thawed

1 Tbs olive oil
2-3 cloves garlic; minced
1 lb brussels sprouts; trimmed, cut in half and shredded

zest of 1/2 a lemon...zest before juicing :-)
juice of half a lemon
salt to taste

Heat 1 Tbs olive oil in non-stick skillet over med-high heat.
Saute cubed tofu until golden on several sides.
Set tofu aside and carefully wipe out skillet if necessary.

Boil your edamame and thaw the peas while the tofu sautes, then set aside.

Heat 1 Tbs olive oil in non-stick skillet over medium heat.
Saute garlic for 2 minutes, stirring constantly.
Add shredded brussels sprouts and a touch of salt and saute until bright green and just starting to soften. Taste some and see if it's done enough for you.

If it is, then add in the edamame, tofu, and peas, stirring to warm through.
Remove sprout mix from heat and mix in lemon zest and juice, adjusting salt if needed.

Casa Moro's Ajo Blanco (White Gazpacho)

2011-07-17T14:32:00.000-07:00

For when you just can't bring yourself to turn on an oven, stovetop burner, toaster or microwave...lest they raise the temperature of your house even a fraction of a degree.

I don't think I would have "gotten" this soup judging by the ingredients list alone. But, as luck would have it we were served this as the opening course for dinner at our friends' house. It was amazing.

I left their house that night with 2 borrowed Casa Moro cookbooks under my arm.

...loving that my European friends are the only ones to have commented on this recipe when it posted to Facebook. ;-)

Ajo Blanco:
(Moro, The Cookbook)

225 gr. whole blanched almonds, preferably Spanish (ok, so I made this in a pinch with ground almonds...would have preferred to use whole, but they worked)
750 ml. iced water (I didn't use all the water because I think I misinterpreted the directions and soaked the bread in a separate bowl of water)
75 gr. stale white bread, with crusts removed, soaked in the water (I used a mixed whole grain boule, crusts cut off)
3 garlic cloves, crushed to a paste with 1 level tsp. sea salt
3 Tbs olive oil
3 Tbs sherry vinegar
200 gr. white grapes, preferably Muscat (I used small seedless reds...)
sea salt and black pepper (book neglects to say when to add pepper...so I'm adding to each bowl)

In a food processor, grind the almonds until the consistency is as fine as possible.

At this point they should stick to the side of the machine.
Turn off and loosen the nuts from around the edge.
Add 5 Tbs of the iced water.

Turn the machine back on until the almonds form a paste just fluid enough to turn back on itself.
Squeeze the bread of excess water and add to the almonds along with the garlic.
Conbine until smooth.
Add the olive oil and gradually pour in the rest of the iced water, until you end up with a very smooth paste similar to single cream.
Transfer to a bowl and season with sherry vinegar and salt to taste.

According to Casa Moro, you should end up with a nice balance between the almonds, garlic and sherry vinegar.
Chill the soup for at least an hour.
Just before serving, check for seasoning again.
Ladle into bowls, distribute the grapes evenly and garnish with a drizzle of good olive oil if you wish.

I used a food processor as per the cookbook's instructions, but ended up putting the whole lot into my high-powered blender at the end, as I couldn't get enough of the liquid into the food processor without it leaking. I'll likely just use the blender from the get go next time...

I suppose we should eat something else with this, but my heat addled brain can't seem to think any further than the soup.

Cocoa Rice Crispy Treats

2011-05-12T08:25:00.000-07:00

These are super tasty and super easy to throw together. Need a quickie semi-non-guilt-inducing treat? You can have these ready in less than 30 minutes. I made a batch of these as per Alisa at One Frugal Foodie's recipe for my book club the other night. They went over well, but the Monster needed another batch just for his wee self. I thought the original recipe was great but a little too sweet, so in my adaptation I'm using less agave nectar. I didn't look at the recipe when I made my second batch and totally forgot to put in the ground flaxseed. I'll list it in the ingredients, but I really don't know what it will do to the treats given you're using dry cocoa powder and a little less agave. Might just opt to leave it out. Do try the original recipe too though. It was really great too but I was just too lazy to take photos and they disappeared too quickly.
This recipe is open to all kinds of additions. I've already bought dark chocolate covered cocoa nibs to add in to Alisa's original recipe...minus at least a Tbs. of agave that is.
I'm thinking another alternative to the agave and cashew butter would be one made with honey, tahini and no cocoa or chocolate.

Cocoa Rice Crispy Treats:
(Adapted from One Frugal Foodie's recipe)

1/4 cup roasted unsalted cashew butter
3 Tbs. agave nectar, or honey
2 Tbs. extra-virgin coconut oil
2-3 Tbs. dark unsweetened cocoa powder (I used Valrhona brand)
a pinch of sea salt (to taste)
2 cups crisp brown rice cereal (I used Whole Foods 365 Organics brand)
(1 Tbs whole flax seeds that you've ground in a spice grinder...which I didn't do for this batch)

Prepare a muffin tin by lightly oiling all 12 cups (not necessary to oil if you have a silicone pan).
Alternately, you can just oil an 8x8 cake pan and cut the treats into squares after they've come out of the freezer)
Add cashew butter, agave nectar, coconut oil, cocoa powder and sea salt to a small saucepan and warm low heat just until everything is incorporated.
Remove from heat...mix shouldn't really even be warm at this point...and fold in brown rice cereal, stirring until well coated.
Distribute the mixture between the 12 muffin cups, lightly flattening down with the spoon to level.
Place the muffin tin in the freezer for 20+ minutes, then pop them out of the tin either into your face, or into a freezer bag. Store in the freezer to keep fresh.

Mini Veggie Burgers

2011-05-11T08:18:00.000-07:00

Mini Veggie Burgers:
(Recipe by Jennifer McCann, found on The Daily Green)

2 cups cooked drained lentils (see cooking instructions below or use canned)
½ cup dry amaranth
1 tablespoon olive oil
½ cup onion, ﬁnely diced (about half a medium onion)
1 large carrot, peeled and grated
¼ teaspoon celery seeds
½ cup quick or instant oats (or old-fashioned oats pulsed in a food processor)
2 tablespoons ketchup
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast ﬂakes
½ teaspoon salt, or to taste
½ cup toasted sunﬂower seeds
I amended the original recipe with:
black pepper to taste
~1/4 tsp hot smoked paprika
a little garlic powder

To cook the lentils, add 1 cup dry lentils to 3 cups boiling water and 3/4 tsp salt, and cook until the lentils are soft, about 25 minutes minutes. Drain, measure out 2 cups of lentils and place them in a large mixing bowl (save any extra lentils for another use).
To cook the amaranth, add the amaranth to 1 cup boiling water. Lower the heat and cook, covered, until the amaranth is cooked and all the water is absorbed, about 25 minutes. Add the cooked amaranth to the mixing bowl.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking pan with parchment paper and spray with nonstick spray. Set aside. Heat the olive oil in a nonstick or cast-iron skillet over medium heat and sauté the onion, carrot and celery seeds until the carrot is soft, about 8 minutes. Add to the mixing bowl along with the oats, ketchup, nutritional yeast flakes and salt, pepper, paprika and garlic powder to taste. Grind the sunflower seeds into a coarse meal using a food processor. Add them to the mixing bowl and mix and mash everything together. Form mixture into 12 to 13 small patties (I ended up with 15), about 2 3/4 inches in diameter and 1/2 inch thick, and place them on the prepared baking sheet. Moisten your fingers with a bit of water to keep the mixture from sticking as you work.
Bake for 20 minutes, until dry on the top, then flip the patties over and bake for another 10 minutes, until firm and brown. I cooked these longer as I'd made up the burger "dough" the day before and it was cold. Serve immediately or let cool and refrigerate or freeze.

The Monster and I ate 3 each topped with the bestest feta ever. Israeli sheeps milk feta packed in liquid from CM...so good! I built salads to top with the burgers instead of eating them on buns. Photo below doesn't show the burgers doused in ketchup like we ate them in real life. :-)

Tofu Scramble

2011-04-21T06:24:00.000-07:00

I'm tired of looking at that vegan mac and cheese...so even though I've been cooking plenty of new things and just couldn't be chuffed to take quick photos, I did manage to snap one the other night, if only to banish the mac and cheese from the top of my blog!

Can't believe I just got around to making this vegan standard. Found Isa Chandra's basic recipe in my search for something "new to us" to do with tofu the other night and this recipe will be a keeper. I served it for dinner with a coconut oil slathered piece of toasted Brown Soda Bread for a very satisfying meal.

Basic Tofu Scramble:
(Isa Chandra Moskowitz)

2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp dried thyme, crushed with your fingers (I used less and used fresh)
1/4 tsp ground tumeric
1 tsp salt (used less)
3 Tbsp water
1 lb firm or extra firm tofu, crumbled (used extra-firm and our pkg was only 14oz. so I didn't use as much of the spices as listed above)
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 Tbsp olive oil
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
Fresh black pepper to taste
1 sliced red pepper
1 head of broccoli, cut into florets, stems chopped small and lightly steamed
couple of green onions, sliced
extra water

First blend the spices and salt together in a small cup. Add the water and mix. Set aside.
Preheat a large, heavy-bottomed pan over medium-high heat. Not non-stick.
Sauté the sliced red pepper, in olive oil for about 4 minutes, add garlic for 1 more minute.
Break the tofu apart into bite-size pieces and sauté for about 10 minutes, stirring often.
Get under the tofu when you are stirring, scrape the bottom, and don’t let it stick to the pan; that is where the good crispy stuff is.
Use a thin metal spatula to get the job done; a wooden or plastic one won’t really cut it
The tofu should brown on at least one side, but you don’t need to be too precise about it
The water should cook out of it and not collect too much at the bottom of the pan. If that is happening, turn the heat up and let the water evaporate. Conversely, if the scramble seems dry add splashes of water until it’s nice and moist.
Add the spice blend and mix to incorporate. Add the nutritional yeast and pepper (I had to add splashes of water at this point). Add broccoli, cook for about 5 more minutes. Serve warm.

Vegan Mac and Cheese

2011-04-01T18:51:00.000-07:00

My cousin wrote to me the other day to say that he and his wife are having some vegan company for dinner this weekend (is it just me, or did that make them sound like cannibals??). Vegan company OVER for dinner this weekend. Better?
He wanted some ideas about what they might serve as an entree, figuring they could manage all the other courses pretty handily. Well I'm no vegan, but I was able to offer up this mac n' cheese as an option since I'd been planning on posting it soon anyway. After typing up the recipe for Steve, I just wasn't going to get it out of my head until I made it. The Monster was more than happy about that, so Friday dinner at home it was. Oh man...total. Comfort. Food.
Best part, my friends just happened to bring over their hi-powered, jet engine run blender for me to try out today. It worked like a champ in making the sauce! (Thanks ladies!!)

The original recipe is from VegNews and didn't call for any nutritional yeast...a common ingredient in most vegan mac n' cheese recipes. The Monster and I however like the taste, so I added in a few tablespoons worth to up the cheesy flavor. I also use half soy milk instead of all water, add a bunch of broccoli and reduce the Earth Balance a bit.
It's really quite a delicious concoction. Do try it if your tummy is in need of a hug. :-)

Vegan Mac and Cheese:
(adapted from VegNews recipe)

4 quarts water
1 Tbs salt
~4 cups bite sized broccoli florets
8 ounces of pasta (I use Tinkyada brand brown rice rotini...great pasta and all we use!)
3-4 small slices of bread (I used Alvarado sprouted whole wheat with flax)
2 Tbs. + 1/4 cup non-hydrogenated margarine (Earth Balance)
~2 Tbs. chopped shallots (if I have them I'll use them, if not I just up the onion amt. a bit)
~1 1/4 cup peeled and diced Yukon gold potatoes (it was from a medium sized potato)
~1/3 cup diced carrots
~1/3 cup chopped onion
1 cup water
1/2 cup unsweetened soy milk
rounded 1/4 cup raw cashews
1-2 tsp sea salt (original calls for 2, I use a little more than 1 then add large flaked sea salt to finish the top)
1/4 tsp minced garlic
1/4 tsp Dijon mustard
1 Tbs fresh squeezed lemon juice
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/8+ tsp cayenne
1/4 tsp paprika
2-3 Tbs nutritional yeast flakes (or to taste since original recipe didn't call for)

In a large pot, bring the water to a boil.
Add the broccoli and blanch for about 2 minutes, then strain broc. and put it in ice water to shock it. Drain and set aside.

Once your water is back at a rolling boil, salt the water and cook pasta as directed. Rinse noodles with cold water after cooking, and set aside.

In a food processor, make breadcrumbs by pulverizing the bread and 2 Tbs of Earth Balance to a medium-fine texture. Set aside.

Preheat oven to 350.
In a sauce pan, add shallots, potatoes, carrots, onion, and ~1 cup water and bring to a boil. Cover pan and simmer for 15 minutes on low or until vegetables are very soft. Drain vegetables saving the water for later use.
In a blender, process cashews, soy milk, salt, garlic, 1/4 cup margarine, mustard, lemon juice, black pepper, paprika, and cayenne.
Add softened vegetables, and 1/2 cup (or more if needed) of the cooking water from the vegetables and process until perfectly smooth.
Add in the nutritional yeast, blend and taste. Adjust spices if necessary.
In a large bowl, toss the cooked pasta, broccoli and cheese sauce until completely coated.
Spread mixture into a medium-sized casserole dish rubbed with Earth Balance and sprinkle top with prepared breadcrumbs (not that it tasted bad by ANY means, but I may have over done it on the amt. of breadcrumbs this time).
Bake for 30-35 minutes or until the cheese sauce is bubbling and the top has turned golden brown. I actually pop this under the broiler for a couple minutes after it gets bubbly to toast the breadcrumbs. Watch carefully that they don't burn.

Chocolate Coconut Almond Bark

2011-03-31T12:02:00.000-07:00

The perfect treat! One with a built in "limit" switch! Ideal for people like ME...lacking a know when to say when button.

I am the daughter of a man who as a professor, received many boxes of See's chocolates during the course of his tenure. Let's just say that by the time I got home on the day he'd have received such a gift, to my immense frustration, BOTH levels of that box of chocolates would have been completely cleaned out....all the lovely little pinked-edge paper cups still in there proper places.

I am aaaaalmost that bad people, but not quite.

Apparently, one might feel decidedly unwell if driven to eating too much coconut oil at a time.
I've heeded that warning, practicing vast amounts of restraint (read: subbing other treats after I've reached my one piece of coconut bark per day limit) and now days later, still have the above bounty of goodness that friends brought to dinner on Saturday!

The recipe is apparently really easy to make, and it's delicious to boot.
I'm guessing halving the recipe would be fine, but it keeps in the refrigerator for quite a while if you'd like to work on developing YOUR willpower by making the whole batch. :-)

Chocolate Coconut Almond Bark:
(Suzanne Menuet)

6 Tbs extra virgin coconut oil
3 Tbs agave nectar
3 Tbs unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tsp pure vanilla extract

Mix well…best to heat over low flame in a small saucepan if coconut oil is solid.

Stir in:

1/4 cup unsweetened coconut flakes
~1/2 cup chopped toasted almonds

Pour into a parchment lined (so that it comes up on the two longer sides) 9x13 pan, level and place in the refrigerator.
Once solid, break into pieces of bark.
Store in the refrigerator in a sealed container, or it will melt if kept at room temp.

Cornbread and Beans Skillet

2011-03-24T04:26:00.000-07:00

This recipe has been stewing in my "to try" file for a good while and finally made it to the top of the list. The recipe is an adaptation of Modern Beet's. All I did to her adaptation was add a little agave nectar to the beans and change up the cornbread topping so as not to include any white flour. Check out Modern Beet's recipe if you'd like to just use regular non-whole grain cornmeal and white flour. I'll be making this again for sure! Must be served with a side of braised greens liberally doused in hot sauce. :-)

Cornbread and Beans Skillet:
(adapted slightly from Modern Beet's recipe)

Pinto Beans
2 1/2 c. cooked pinto beans (homemade, from about 1 c. dried beans, or store bought)
2 Tbs. olive oil, or butter
1 small (fist-sized or smaller) onion, chopped
3 large cloves garlic, chopped
2 T. tomato paste
1 T. molasses
1/2 t. cayenne
1/2 t. chili powder
1/2 t. salt (I didn't add any since my beans were salty enough, so taste before adding)
1/4 t. black pepper
1/4 -1/2 c. bean cooking liquid or water
1 1/2 t. red wine vinegar

Cornbread Topping
3/4 cup Bob's Red Mill wholemeal corn flour (not cornstarch!)
1/2 cup Bob's Red Mill fine ground corn meal
1/2 t. salt
1 t. baking soda
2 c. buttermilk (I used slightly less...try adding slowly until you get a consistency you're happy with)
1 egg, lightly beaten
2 T. butter, melted.

Special Equipment: 9 inch cast iron skillet

Preheat the oven to 400.

Heat oil in the cast iron skillet over medium heat. Add onions and garlic and saute until translucent, about 4 minutes. Add the tomato paste, molasses, cayenne, chili powder, salt if needed, pepper and mix well. Add beans and enough bean cooking liquid or water so that the mixture is slightly soupy. Reduce the heat to low and simmer mixture for about 10 minutes or until reduced enough that it's not too liquid when you add the topping. Add the red wine vinegar, and adjust seasonings. I added some agave nectar for a touch more sweet. Remove from heat and spread the beans into an even layer in the skillet.

Mix the corn flour, corn meal, salt, and baking soda in a mixing bowl and stir to combine. In a separate bowl, whisk together the buttermilk (I used 1 cup in the wet mix then added the rest into the whole batter until I reached a consistency I was happy with), egg, and melted butter, and I also added in a little more agave even though that wasn't in the original recipe. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir until thoroughly combined. Pour batter over the beans in the skillet and smooth the top.

Transfer skillet to oven and bake for about 30 minutes, until the top is golden, the cornbread starts to pull away from the skillet at the sides, and a toothpick inserted into the center of the cornbread comes out clean. Allow to cool for about 10 minutes, then slice into wedges and serve.

This should feed 4 good appetites.

Warm Butternut and Chickpea Salad with Tahini Dressing

2011-03-02T05:43:00.000-08:00

This was a great dish. You can just eat it along with a green salad for a whole meal or serve it as a side. I topped some spinach with the warm salad, but I think I like it better separate.
Ever since I got my pressure cooker, I try to keep cooked beans and chickpeas in the freezer for meals like this...taste better than canned and just as convenient for a quick weeknight dinner. The leftovers kept well too, so I'm sure the salad wouldn't suffer too much by making it ahead. Just dress lightly before serving if that's your plan...and serve the rest of the dressing on the side.

Warm Butternut and Chickpea Salad with Tahini Dressing:
(Discovered on Smitten Kitchen who adapted from Orangette, who adapted it from Casa Moro)
Yield: 4 servings

For salad:
1 medium butternut squash (about 2 to 2 1/2 pounds), peeled, seeded, and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 medium garlic clove, minced or pressed
2 tablespoons olive oil
Salt
One 15-ounce can chickpeas, drained and rinsed (1 1/2 cups)
1/4 of a medium red onion, finely chopped
1/4 cup coarsely chopped fresh cilantro or parsley

For tahini dressing:
1 medium garlic clove, finely minced with a pinch of salt
1/4 cup lemon juice
3 tablespoons well-stirred tahini
2 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons olive oil, plus more to taste

Preheat the oven to 425°F.

In a large bowl, combine the butternut squash, garlic, allspice, olive oil, and a few pinches of salt. Toss the squash pieces until evenly coated. Roast them on a baking sheet for 25 minutes, or until soft. Remove from the oven and cool.

While your squash is roasting, whisk together the garlic and lemon juice. Add the tahini, and whisk to blend.

Add the water and olive oil, whisk well, and taste for seasoning. I actually just mix all the dressing ingredients to taste and forgo measurements. Thin the dressing with more water if you want, but make sure it's good and lemony too.

To assemble the salad, combine the squash, chickpeas, onion, and cilantro or parsley in a mixing bowl. Either add the tahini dressing to taste, and toss carefully, or you could serve the salad with the dressing on the side. Serve immediately.

Next time I'll keep the squash salad and my green salad separate...

Curried Mustard Greens with Kidney Beans

2011-02-09T05:36:00.000-08:00

Apart from time involved prepping the mustard greens (I'm guessing you could buy these pre-cut/washed if you're willing to pay for the convenience) this is a great fast weeknight dinner.
I used a can of diced tomatoes instead of the tomato sauce this time and didn't like it quite as much, so stick to the can of tomato sauce due to the short cook time.
The mustard green bunches that the Monster picked up at the store were huuuuge, so I ended up using a whole can of coconut milk instead of just a half, to make the final dish saucy enough. The original recipe from Allrecipes.com used 1/2 and 1/2, but for us, the coconut milk is a great alternative.
Served the greens n' beans over a striking mix of white and black quinoa last night for more protein, but we usually just eat it over brown rice.

Curried Mustard Greens with Kidney Beans:
(adapted from Allrecipes.com)

1 Tbs ghee (clarified butter)
2 medium shallots, chopped
1 Tbs grated fresh ginger
1 clove garlic, minced
a pinch of red pepper flakes
2 bunches mustard greens, de-stemmed, chopped and washed
enough broth or water to braise greens...about 1/2 cup
Kosher salt
1.5 Tbs mild curry powder
1 (15 oz) can tomato sauce
1 (15 oz) can kidney beans
1/2+ can of coconut milk (can use lite)
1 tsp garam masala

Melt ghee in a large pot over medium-high heat.
Add shallots and cook until lightly brown.
Stir in ginger, garlic and red pepper flakes and cook for about 30 seconds more.
Add mustard greens and toss to wilt.
Once greens have cooked down, add about 1/2 cup broth or water to pot, reduce heat to low, cover and simmer greens for about 10 minutes.
Add curry powder, stir, then add tomato sauce.
Simmer uncovered for about 2-3 minutes.
Add kidney beans and coconut milk and continue simmering until heated through.
Remove from heat and stir in garam masala.
Serve over rice, or other grain.

Pureed Roasted Cauliflower with Garlic

2011-02-06T07:24:00.000-08:00

This mash used to be a house standard and I'm surprised it's been so long since I've made it. Monster requested it specifically the other night, and since I'd seemingly forgotten about it, I'm super glad he did! The recipe has morphed a lot from the way I found it originally, changes here and there until I ended up with the simple goodness below. If you do try it, just feel your way through the recipe and alter at will until it suits your specific palette.

I thought we had a reasonable sized cauli last night, but it only fed the two of us with a tiny snack leftover for the next day. Get the largest head of cauliflower you can find and just use two sheet pans to roast, so you won't be sad like I was when you don't have a whole slew of leftovers. :-)
Try serving the cauliflower with Salmon with French Lentils and Mustard Dressing, or just the lentils if you don't eat fish...it's a great combo!

Pureed Roasted Cauliflower with Garlic:

1 head of cauliflower (If you have a super huge head of cauli, just split it between two baking sheets, so you don't overcrowd one pan)
3+ cloves of garlic depending on the size of the clove and your cauliflower, cut into 2-3 chunks ea.
~2 Tbs olive oil
Kosher salt to taste
optional: more olive oil, or a pat of Earth Balance, or butter (I didn't use any this time)
warmed liquid for pureeing to your liking (I used warmed [nuked] unsweetened soymilk, but you can use a light veggie broth, or chicken broth, etc.)
pepper to taste

Pre-heat oven to 400.
Cut cauliflower into florettes then slice about 1/8-1/4" thick. The more small bits you have the more carmelization you'll get on them...a good thing!
Place on a jelly roll pan and toss with garlic and olive oil.
Sprinkle with Kosher salt to taste.
Roast for about 12 minutes, then stir.
Return to oven and roast about 12-14 minutes more, rotating your pans if using 2.
I bumped the heat up to 425 for the second leg of cooking since I wasn't getting much browning (everything was on one sheet pan).
Once the cauliflower is tender and you have some good browning (browning, not burning), transfer cauliflower and garlic to a food processor, add butter if using and start adding warmed liquid as you puree. Once you've got a texture and consistency you're happy with, taste and adjust seasoning. Add pepper, pulse it in and you're done.

Slaw with Tangy Cashew Dressing and Marinated Baked Tempeh

2011-02-02T04:43:00.000-08:00

Ok, this is officially the best slaw I've ever eaten. Very few ingredients, comes together in a flash, and the cashew butter dressing happens to be vegan. I only had regular green cabbage (unlike C&Q's two-tone plate of beauty) to use tonight, which only served to make it simpler to make.

Coconut and Quinoa's blog never fails to inspire me and both the slaw and tempeh are her recipes. I think I'll try the marinade from the tempeh recipe out on tofu next time...baking it the same way.

Chana Masala

2011-02-01T08:11:00.000-08:00

I'd cooked up a pound of chickpeas in the pressure cooker the other day and froze most of them without any plan as to how I was going to use them. Enter Smitten Kitchen's fine, fine recipe adapted from one by Madhur Jaffrey. Comes together really quickly once you've got your mis-en-place and tastes delicious. Makes great leftovers too. I cooked it the morning of the day we'd be eating it just to give the flavors a chance to marry a bit in the fridge, but that's not really necessary. I served it with a recipe for mustard greens found on Epicurious.com and it was a wonderful pairing. Our raita was missing a cucumber, but yogurt and chopped fresh mint worked just fine for us. I'll be making this recipe again and again.

Smitten Kitchen didn't have the amchur powder (dried green mango powder) that the original recipe called for, so she added the juice of a whole lemon rather than just the half.
If you have an Indian grocery near you, do try to get some. This is the first time I've used it and I can see adding it to many other dishes in the future.

Chana Masala:
(Smitten Kitchen's adaptation of Madhur Jaffrey's recipe)

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 medium onions, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger
1 fresh, hot green chili pepper, minced (leave the seeds in, and just chop the whole thing up)
1 tablespoon ground coriander
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
2 teaspoons cumin seeds, toasted and ground (I toasted them for about 4-5 minutes...careful not to burn them)
1 tablespoon amchur powder
2 teaspoons paprika
1 teaspoon garam masala
2 cups tomatoes, chopped small or 1 15-ounce can of whole tomatoes with their juices, chopped small
2/3 cup water
4 cups cooked chickpeas or 2 (15-ounce) cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 lemon (juiced)

Heat oil in a large skillet. Add onion, garlic, ginger and pepper and sauté over medium heat until browned. Turn heat down to medium-low and add the coriander, cumin, cayenne, turmeric, cumin seeds, amchur (if using it), paprika and garam masala. Cook onion mixture with spiced for a minute or two, then add the tomatoes and any accumulated juices, scraping up any bits that have stuck to the pan. Add the water and chickpeas. Simmer uncovered for 10 minutes, then stir in salt and lemon juice.

Raw Zucchini Dressing

2011-01-21T08:44:00.000-08:00

I'm usually quite happy with munching on veggies, be they raw or steamed for a snack without any extra amending, but today I had 1/2 a large zucchini in the fridge just begging to be obliterated in the blender. I found this recipe for a raw zuke dressing on Choosing Raw's blog and so I just halved it to able to use up my 1/2 zuke. It's pretty tasty, albeit not very zukey. I still haven't used it on a full on salad, but it was good as a dip for my red pepper strips today. Amounts below are for the full recipe.

Raw Zucchini Dressing:
(Choosing Raw)

1 large zucchini, chopped
½ cup lemon juice
¼ cup nutritional yeast
2 Tbs extra virgin olive oil or flax oil
1 Tbs organic mustard (optional, but I added after tasting without first)
3 pitted dates or 1 packet stevia (I used dates)
3 Tbs shoyu or tamari (I reduced sodium and used less)
3 Tbs ground flax seed
¼ cup water
½ tsp ground coriander

Blend all dressing ingredients on high till smooth and creamy. Mix salad ingredients and top with the dressing as desired.

Behold...moody veg.

Vegan Nacho Cheese Sauce/Dip

2011-01-14T11:33:00.001-08:00

Don't question this stuff...just make it. I was noodling around in the kitchen a few weekends ago and thought I'd try out this recipe just for kicks. Around lunch time I walked a bowl of it and a bag of tortilla chips into the living room where the Monster was reading. I'd only made a 1/2 batch, and that's a good thing, since we both proceeded to scarf the whole lot of it! "Guess that was our lunch." I said. ;-)
The cheese dip is pictured above served over the top of cauliflower in an effort to be a bit healthier, but really I think this will be used with nachos from here on out. So good with the chips!
My friend Debbie made the dip for her son and his friend to eat with her...they all gave it a hearty thumbs up. I've also got a Vegan Mac and Cheese recipe waiting to be tried out in the next few days. Hope it is as pleasantly surprising as this was!

I've been avoiding most dairy these dark cedar allergy ridden months, since it does my stuffiness no favors. Bonus that I'm finding such incredible dairy-free recipes to get me through to the end of February!

The quickie pilaf was thrown together with no plan to post about it, but seeing as it was so good here's the low down...
Cooked brown rice, can of black-eyed peas, lemon zest, non-marinated artichoke hearts, parsley, fresh basil, olive oil, s & p, maybe some green onions.

Nacho Cheese Dip:
(Discovered on Shmooed Food's blog)

makes about 2 cups

2 cups water
¼ cup raw cashews (Oh, I've gotta mention that although I halved the recipe when I made it, I forgot to halve the cashews! Could be why it was so good. :-) Used less the second time I made it, but still more than written here. Debbie made it as written and still liked it...so your call)
one 4 oz. jar pimentos, drained
1 cup nutritional yeast flakes
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 ½ teaspoons salt, or to taste
½ teaspoon onion powder
¼ teaspoon garlic powder
½ rounded teaspoon cumin
optional: I add a touch of cayenne pepper for a little kick

Combine all ingredients in a Vita-Mix or other blender (If using a regular blender like I do, start with less liquid when blending the cashews. Add the rest of the water once the cashews have been well blended) and blend until completely smooth. Transfer mixture to a medium saucepan and whisk constantly over medium heat until thickened, about 5 to 6 minutes.

Serve as a dip with tortilla chips and vegetables.

Variations: Add some vegetarian burger crumbles, black olives, or salsa, or my favorite...adding in some canned diced jalapenos!

Raw Cauliflower Salad with Olives

2011-01-14T10:31:00.000-08:00

I've had this recipe bookmarked for ages now and the perfect storm led me to finally make it yesterday. I just happened to have all the ingredients (almost) in the fridge with no other purposes but to be used up before we leave for a few days. The only thing I was missing was a green bell pepper and I tend not to use those much anyway. I subbed in a chunk of jicama, sliced thinly, and it was just lovely. We'll definitely be having this again...even if I have to go out and procure all the ingredients specially for it. Oh and it best part about it is you can make it in advance and it'll keep for at least a couple days. We ate it over the course of three.

Raw Cauliflower Salad with Olives:
(Found on Smitten Kitchen's blog and she adapted the recipe from Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone)

1 small firm head cauliflower or broccoflower, about 12 ounces
 1 hard-cooked egg 
Sherry vinaigrette (below) 
2 scallions, including an inch of the greens, thinly sliced 
1 cup diced celery heart with leaves 
1 small green bell pepper (I used jicama)
thinly sliced
 1 small cucumber, peeled, seeded, and chopped
 12 pimiento-stuffed Spanish green olives, halved
 1 tablespoon capers, rinsed 
1/2 cup parsley leaves

Slice the cauliflower very thinly, including the stems.
Smash the hard-cooked egg yolk with the garlic and salt when you make the vinaigrette.
Keep the dressing a little on the tart side.
Dice the egg white and toss it with the vegetables, olives, capers, and parsley. Add the vinaigrette (below) and toss again.

Sherry Vinaigrette
1 or 2 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped 
salt and freshly milled pepper 
1 1/2 tablespoons sherry vinegar or aged red wine vinegar 
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
 6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil (I used less...just add to taste)
optional: I added a touch of agave nectar to balance the dressing

Pound the garlic with 1/4 teaspoon salt in a mortar until it breaks down into a puree (add the egg yolk). Combine the garlic, vinegar, and mustard in a small bowl, then whisk in the oil and season with pepper. Taste and correct the balance.

Roasted Cabbage Wedges with Lemon

2011-01-12T11:07:00.000-08:00

Well why the heck wouldn't you roast cabbage? How come it took me so long to discover this?! It's soooo good! I found this recipe on Kalyn's Kitchen's blog and just made it for the 3rd time.
I'm composing this after having already devoured 1/2 the head of cabbage and needing to tell myself that the other half wasn't going anywhere and no, I didn't need to eat more of it right that second.
Try it...cause, you know...it's really good! :-)

Roasted Cabbage Wedges with Lemon:
(Kalyn's Kitchen)

1 large head of green cabbage, cut into 1/8ths (core intact so they don't fall apart)
2 Tbs fresh lemon juice
2 Tbs olive oil (I can get away with a bit less here)
Kosher salt to taste
Pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 450, while you prep your cabbage.
Combine lemon juice and olive oil.
Place cabbage on a large sheet pan (I gave my sheet a quick spray of canola spray first), then brush the lemon-olive oil mixture onto both sides of each wedge, salting each side as you go.

Roast for ~15 minutes, then carefully turn over each wedge.
Roast the second side for ~10-15 more minutes.

Remove from oven when done to your liking, add pepper if you desire, and eat!

Quick Whole Wheat and Molasses Bread

2011-01-07T07:56:00.000-08:00

6 ingredients that you probably have in your fridge and cupboard? Oh man...just go make this.
That's what I did right after seeing it on Joy the Baker's blog this morning. Instead of going to the gym. :-)
Monster is well pleased, well pleased. We both plowed through 2 slices a piece after waiting the 20 minutes prescribed cooling time.

I only took a photo as an afterthought...once we were each halfway through our second slice.
Go to Joy's blog for pretty pics.

Quick Whole Wheat and Molasses Bread:
(New York Times recipe via Joy the Baker)

‪1 & 2/3 cups buttermilk or plain yogurt (used low-fat buttermilk)
2 & 1/2 cups whole wheat flour (Bob's Redmill organic ww flour)
1/2 cup cornmeal (Bob's Redmill medium grind whole cornmeal)
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup molasses (Mild flavored unsulphured molasses…I find the regular stuff too strong for my tastes)

Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Grease and flour an 8x4 or 9x5-inch loaf pan. (I used a parchment paper to line the bottom and long sides of a 9x5 to make a sling, and sprayed & floured the ends of the tin)
In a large bowl, whisk together flour, cornmeal, salt and baking soda.
In a small bowl whisk together buttermilk/yogurt and molasses.
Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and fold to combine. The batter will be slightly thick, but not dry.
Spoon batter into prepared pan and place in the oven. Bake loaf for 45 minutes to an hour (mine went about 52 min.). Gently rotate mid-way if your oven heats unevenly like mine does.
When a skewer inserted in the center of the loaf comes out clean, remove the loaf from the oven and allow to cool for 20 minutes in the loaf pan. Run a butter knife along the sides of the pan and carefully invert onto a wire rack…or if you use a parchment paper sling you can lift the loaf right out of the pan.
Loaf will keep, well wrapped at room temperature for up to 4 days.

So far we've just eaten ours with unsalted butter, but it has been suggested by Joy that cream cheese and Nutella are both divine. :-) Sadly, we had neither. Although, I'm on the brink of trying a weird new recipe for a vegan cream cheese sub.

Roasted Butternut Squash with Latin Spice Mix

2010-12-28T03:00:00.000-08:00

This recipe hails from my Aunt Judy, and I'm not really sure where she found it but it's a total keeper. We ate this as a side to our black bean, corn and cheese blue masa tamales on Christmas Eve. Soooo good! I already have plans for using more of the spice mix on sweet potatoes roasted in the same fashion. I only mixed up 1/2 a batch of the spice mix, but next time I'd go ahead and make it all. Pretty sure it'd be great on most any roasted veggie. Cauliflower comes to mind as my next victim after the sweet potatoes. :-)

Roasted Butternut Squash with Latin Spice Mix:
(via Judy Deggeller)

Latin Spice Mix
1/4 cup whole cumin seeds
3 Tbs whole black peppercorns
1 Tbs whole coriander seeds
2 Tbs sugar (I used raw sugar and it worked just fine)
1 1/2 tsp sea salt

Combine cumin, peppercorns, and coriander.
Stir in a skillet over medium heat for 8 minutes.
Cool slightly.
Smash in a baggie (this doesn't really work for me, so I put it in my spice grinder and just give it a couple pulses, til crushed looking).
Stir in sugar and salt, and store in a fresh bag or clean jar.

Squash
4 lb butternut squash- peeled, seeded and cut into 1 inch cubes
1/4-1/3 cup olive oil
1.5-2 Tbs Latin Spice Mix
1/4 tsp cayenne (I didn't realize that I'd left this out until just now!...didn't miss it at all, was good and spicy without it)

Preheat oven to 400.
Toss squash in a bowl with olive oil and spice mix.
Bake on a large baking sheet, stirring occasionally for 45-60 minutes.
I added some large flake sea salt to the squash to finish since I thought it needed a bit more salt...maybe because I only used 1.5 Tbs of the spice mix.

Profiteroles au Chocolat

2010-12-27T04:34:00.000-08:00

Part of me is really missing my West coast family this holiday season. I was able to soothe myself somewhat by preparing some of the dishes we've enjoyed together this Christmas Eve for my mom and my Monster. When I was growing up Christmas Eve was a night that, if I was with my dad, would have always been spent with my Muttie, Aunties, Uncles and great cousins, and it typically ended with profiteroles filled with vanilla ice cream and topped with a goodly amount of love-filled chocolate sauce. Mmmm.
All I can say is that it's been too, too long since I've gotten to spend that special night with all those wonderful people but, making this dessert helped to take me back...just enough.

The recipe is in my copy of our family cookbook, put together 20 years ago by my step-monster.
Many thanks to her for doing so, as I still go to it for comfort from time to time.
Maybe it's time for me to start working on a new edition for Christmas next year? It would be wonderful to see how our collective "favorites" have changed over the years.
I put my own little spin on the chocolate sauce this year, since we were having tamales for dinner. A touch of cinnamon and a little almond extract in the sauce made it really special and just a little south of the border.

The profiteroles can be made ahead and frozen in a freezer Ziplock bag for up to a month.
I made the chocolate sauce right before serving, but I think it could be stored in a wide-mouth jar in the freezer and spooned out at will. Will have to test this theory. :-)

Profiteroles au Chocolat:
(Butler Family Cookbook; compiled by Antoinette Butler 1991)

Profiteroles
1/2 cup flour
1/4 cup (4TB) butter
1/2 boiling water
2 large eggs

Preheat oven to 425.
Heat water to boiling in a heavy saucepan (I used a 3 quart pot).
Add butter, stir to melt.
Reduce heat and add flour all at once, stirring rapidly with a wooden spoon until incorporated.
Remove from heat.
Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each.
Beat the mixture until it's satiny and breaks off when spoon is raised.
Drop mixture from a teaspoon onto an ungreased cookie sheet in about 1 inch mounds (I used my Air Bake insulated non-stick cookie sheets with great success, I think parchment paper would be a good idea if you don't have these, but don't use butter or spray as it will interfere with the rise of your cream puffs).
Bake ~20 minutes until golden brown.
Cool them completely on a baking rack.
At this point you can either serve them by cutting off the tops and filling them with vanilla ice cream and topping with warmed chocolate sauce, or you can freeze them.
If freezing, place them in a large Ziplock freezer bag and place the bag flat on a cookie sheet that will fit in your freezer. Once frozen you can take the sheet out from under them.
To serve from freezer, place them on a baking sheet in a 350 oven for about 8-10 minutes to crisp them up again.

Chocolate Sauce
3 oz unsweetened chocolate
5 Tb butter (I had unsalted, but I added a pinch of fine sea salt to the mix)
3 cups sifted confectioners sugar
1 cup undiluted evaporated milk (not sweetened condensed)

Melt chocolate and butter in a saucepan (make sure you use a large enough pan that your sauce won't boil over. I made 1.5x this recipe and had to change pots midway!)
Remove from heat.
Add sifted confectioners sugar alternately with the evaporated milk; blending well after each addition.
Return to heat and bring to a boil over medium heat stirring constantly.
Cook and stir until mixture becomes thick and creamy, about 8 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla (and if you want to do what I did, ~1/2 tsp ground cinnamon and a small amount ~1/8-1/4 tsp? almond extract).
Serve warm.

And Now Back to Our Regularly Scheduled Holiday Crap: Chewy Chocolate Coconut Macaroons

2010-12-22T05:00:00.000-08:00

I've been really good lately in the avoidance-of-too-many-treats department. Got back on track for a good couple weeks after Thanksgiving. Alas, when one has a dinner party to go to...what is one to do?? Bring gnarly desserts of course! I like to tell myself that it's the LEAST I can do. ;-)
All of these suckers are getting left behind after we walk out the door.
These puppies are in the oven right now and I'll I can say is it's a good thing my Pop isn't here to smell them baking. They'd never get a chance to cool down before he wolfed 'em all up!
I used 2 baking sheets placed on 2 different racks to cook as many as possible in one go. But, I think they'd have fared much better all cooking on the same rack. When I baked a third sheet to use up the batter, the finished macaroon looked more like the Cooking Light photo, having spread a bit more than the first ones that went in.

The Verdict:
I could have eaten the whole bowl of batter before cooking these. The end result after baking, good, but not completely swoon worthy. I'll bet if I added some booze (rum? creme de cacao?) that would do the trick!
Oh and that dinner party got cancelled, but I got to leave most of these with my skinny friends anyway...whew! :-)

Chewy Chocolate-Coconut Macaroons:
(Cooking Light) recipe makes about 3 dozen

2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
1/2 cup sifted cake flour (I subbed 7 Tbs unbleached flour + 1 Tbs cornstarch and I might use a bit less flour if I make these again)
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 cups lightly packed flaked sweetened coconut
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (I'd try adding the same amount of a complimentary liquor next time too)
1 (14-ounce) can fat-free sweetened condensed milk (couldn't find the fat-free stuff)

Preheat oven to 250º.

Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper, and secure with masking tape.

Place unsweetened chocolate in a medium sized microwave-safe bowl. Microwave at high for 1 minute or until almost melted. Remove from microwave; stir until chocolate is completely melted. Mix in sweetened condensed milk and vanilla, stirring to combine.

Spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Combine cake flour, unsweetened cocoa, and salt in a large bowl. Add coconut, and toss well.

Stir melted chocolate mixture into the coconut mixture (the mixture will be stiff).

Drop by level tablespoons 2 inches apart (I think you could put them closer together more like an inch apart) onto prepared baking sheet. Using a 1 Tb cookie scoop makes this go so much more easily). Bake at 250º for 45 minutes or until edges of cookies are firm and center of cookies are soft, rotating baking sheet once during baking time. Remove from oven, and cool 10 minutes on pan on a wire rack. Remove the cookies from the parchment paper, and cool completely on rack. Store in an airtight container.

(If you manage to find the fat-free sweetened condensed milk each cookie will be ~84 calories)

Roasted Mushrooms with Garlic,Thyme and Balsamic Vinegar

2010-12-21T11:13:00.000-08:00

Ok, this completely breaks Monster's "No Mushies EVER Law". But, I'm ok with that. It took me a long time to come to the realization that I could prepare stuff he didn't like at home for MYSELF.
It started with eggplant...pan roasting it with thyme til soft and delicious, then sprinkled with lemon juice. They could be eaten at my leisure, for a quick nosh during the day, reheated as a side that just didn't show up on his plate, etc.
Now, enter the mushroom. I'm really partial to portabellas. I always order them when we're in a restaurant since I don't cook mushrooms at home. Make that DIDN'T. The other day at Costco, I succumbed to a large 24oz. package of "baby bellas", ie. criminis. Not one to start out small like...
With just shy of a pounds worth, I made up a batch of vegetarian soup in the pressure cooker using sliced criminis, whole spelt and a nice touch of sherry. House smelled wonderful. Best thing of all, I just froze what I didn't eat for dinner. Money in the bank. That left me with about 10 oz of mushrooms. Enter Kalyn's Kitchen's recipe for roasted mushies. So simple, so good, and divine eaten alongside my French green lentils and leeks for lunch.
And so, I must encourage those out there that may have a partner/spouse that doesn't like something they do to say "So what!". And make it anyway. :-)

Roasted Mushrooms with Garlic, Thyme, and Balsamic Vinegar:

(Makes 4 side-dish servings, recipe found at Kalyn's Kitchen adapted slightly from Vegetables Every Day by Jack Bishop.)

1 lb. mushrooms (I used brown Crimini mushrooms)
2 T + 1 tsp. olive oil
salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
1 T finely minced garlic
1 T balsamic vinegar
2 T finely chopped fresh thyme leaves
1 T chopped fresh parsley (optional, for garnish)

Preheat oven to 400F/200C. Wash and dry mushrooms. Pull out stems and cut them in half.
Cut the caps into halves (or quarters if the mushrooms are large, which I did.)
Put mushrooms into bowl and toss with 2 T olive oil, salt, and fresh ground black pepper.
Give a baking sheet a quick spray of canola cooking spray (or a light coating of olive oil) then arrange mushrooms on the pan in a single layer. Spread them out as much as you can.

Roast mushrooms 15 minutes. While mushrooms cook, finely chop fresh thyme, then mix with minced garlic, balsamic vinegar, and the tsp. of olive oil.

After 15 minutes, drain off any liquid that has accumulated (this wasn't necessary with mine). Then toss the hot mushrooms into the bowl with garlic-thyme mixture.
Arrange back on roasting pan and cook about 10 minutes more. Serve hot, sprinkled with chopped fresh parsley if desired.

Eggless Salad Sammies

2010-12-19T05:14:00.000-08:00

I was on my own the other night, so thought I'd whip up some eggless salad for a quick dinner sammie. I used The Happy Herbivore's recipe, following exactly as written this time. Next time I'd go ahead and add seasonings more slowly and just to my taste. Oh wait, one small change I made was in adding a couple dashes of Tabasco sauce. Because that's just how I roll.
The Monster and I enjoyed the rest for lunch the next day on a nice soft alternative grains bakery loaf and it was really great. Personally, I think a softer bread is the way to go with egg salad, be it eggless or eggy. The sprouted rye I ate it on originally was good, but not quite the same.

Eggless Salad:
(The Happy Herbivore)

12 ounces extra-firm tofu
1 Tbs low sodium soy sauce
1 whole celery stalk, minced
1¼ Tbs nutritional yeast (not the same stuff you'd use for baking for goodness sake :-)
1½ Tbs Dijon mustard
2 Tbs relish
½ tsp turmeric
¼ tsp mild curry powder
¼ tsp garlic powder
¼ tsp onion powder
½ tsp black salt (add salt judiciously to taste since there's already low sodium soy in this…oh and I just used sea salt)
2 Tbs vegan mayo (I use Spectrum brand lite vegan mayo)

If using firm tofu, press for at least 20 minutes. Give exrta-firm tofu a good squeeze before starting. Crumble tofu into a large mixing bowl. Add remaining ingredients and stir until well combined. Let set for a few minutes (this allows the flavor to merge but also enhances the yellow coloring). Stir again. Taste, adjusting spices as necessary. Add black pepper to taste and serve.

Mediterranean Style Spaghetti Squash

2010-12-18T04:02:00.000-08:00

This was so unbelievably good. Even though I left out the olives! Didn't realize that I did until just now when I warmed some up for "second breakfast". :-)
As far I was was concerned, the sketti squash was the star and the chicken we ate with it could have all gone on the Monster's plate. This is super easy and you can toss in whatever veggies you'd like really. I think I'd planned on putting some shredded zucchini in, but ended up doing a quick saute on some spinach with the tomatoes. The original recipe was found on All Recipes and it's gonna be a keeper.

Mediterranean Style Spaghetti Squash:

1 spaghetti squash
~2 Tbs olive oil
1 onion (I didn't have the recipe in front of me and used 1/2 a red onion), chopped
1-2 cloves of garlic, minced
~12 cherry tomatoes, halved or equivalent of ripe tomato, chopped
baby spinach, coarsely chopped (I grabbed about 3 big handfuls, then chopped)
crumbled feta (original calls for 3/4 cup, but I know I used less than that)
~2 Tbs fresh basil, chopped
~3 Tbs black olives (I guess I'd planned on putting Kalamatas in, but blew that...great without)
salt and pepper

Heat oven to 375.
In a 9x13 baking dish, place squash halves cut-side down.
Fill dish with ~1/2 inch of water, cover with foil and bake for about 40-45 minutes.
Turn squash cut side up test for doneness with a knife, if not done continue cooking cut side up for ~10+ more minutes. You don't want this to be underdone, but if it's overdone it won't scrape into "noodles" when you scrape out the flesh with the tines of a fork.
When done, set aside until it's cool enough to handle. I prepared everything else, while this was cooling a bit.
Heat the oil in a skillet over med-high heat.
Saute onions with a touch of salt until soft, 8-10 min., then add garlic and saute just until fragrant, about a minute.
Add chopped tomatoes or halved cherry tomatoes and chopped spinach and cook only about 2-3 minutes more.
Remove from heat and place in a large bowl.
Add feta, basil and olives.
Drag a fork gently through the squash, teasing forth the strands of "noodly" goodness.
Add squash to tomato mixture and toss with salt and pepper to taste.

Salade sans Niçoises

2010-12-16T06:42:00.000-08:00

Well, YOU can feel free to use real Niçoise olives in this meal, but I just happen to like Kalamatas better and have made a substitution. Hence my title…Salad Without Niçoises.

When I was a kid, my dad must have made a Salade Niçoise for dinner at least a couple times per month, hollering "à table!" to call the troops to the dining room. Always a favorite, I can't believe it's been so long since I've made one. This is a nice salad to throw together on a weeknight using canned tuna, or if you're feeling fancy you can buy sushi grade tuna steaks and do a quick sear on them. As written, my recipe makes enough for 2 large dinner portions.

Salade sans Niçoises:

2 Tbs red wine vinegar
1/2 tsp dijon mustard
1/2 tsp fresh minced tarragon
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
a touch of agave nectar if you'd like
~1 Tbs olive oil

1 6oz can of tuna, drained
2 hardboiled eggs (start eggs in cold water, when it comes to a boil, cover pot, turn off flame and let sit for 11 min…you won't get grey rings around your yolks)
~1/2 lb green beans
a couple of smallish Yukon gold potatoes
as many Kalamata olives as you'd like…or if you must, Niçoise. ;-)
salad greens, enough for 2 salads (I used Romaine this time)
optional: thinly sliced red onions are always nice if you like 'em...Monster, not a fan of the raw onion.

Mix red wine vinegar through olive oil to make your dressing.
Bring a pot of water to the boil and cook green beans until crisp tender, remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.Add potatoes to boiling water and cook for 8-10 minutes, or until they are easily pierced with a fork.I like to place the greens on the plate and toss with a little dressing first.
Then add the green beans to the dressing bowl and toss to coat. Add that to the center of your greens. Then same goes for the potatoes…roll in dressing bowl then arrange on the greens. Add the tuna, eggs, and olives to your salad and add any extra dressing to the top of those. Add a few more drops of olive oil on top if you care to.

Vegan Gingerbread French Toast

2010-12-13T06:11:00.001-08:00

I was searching for recipes the other day for something that might be suitable to make for a quickie Christmas morning breakfast. Something that felt holiday-y, but wasn't just awash with empty calories.
We gave this recipe from the Happy Herbavore a dry run on Sunday and although it felt like a treat, it didn't leave us feeling heavy for the rest of the day. I've never loved the egginess of typical French toast. Must be the sweet-eggy combo I don't like. Vegan recipe to the rescue!
Give it a try. Specially if you're out of eggs. :-) I might try it with an artisan whole grain boule next time. (update: Had this again Christmas morning and it was so nice with made with aforementioned crusty whole-grain boule...let it soak up the batter well and it'll be wonderful)

On another note...jeez, I'd better get back in the habit of posting my kitchen adventures before I forget 'em. I made a super simple dish the other night that I'm calling Swiss Chard Nabe (nah-beh). Probably completely misnamed, but I had a bowl of comfort from a Japanese fusion restaurant in Austin that they called Take Nabe...made my toes curl from the goodness. A bowl of sushi rice, topped with enoki mushrooms, a gooey egg, lemon zest, and dancing, prancing bonito flakes. Ohmydog. So good.
I WILL be making my at home version from last night again soon and must write up the oh-so- simple "recipe". Did I take a picture last night? Of course not.

And so...

Vegan Gingerbread French Toast:
(The Happy Herbavore)

8 whole wheat bread slices (we used 6 slices)
1 cup unsweetened plain soy milk
¼ cup pure maple syrup
¼ cup chickpea flour (I'll pass through fine mesh sieve first next time since mine seemed courser than normal and a lot of it sank to the bottom of the batter bowl and didn't stick...oh and look for this in an Indian grocery store [or Fiesta in Texas] under the name Besan Flour)
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
½ tsp fresh ground nutmeg
¼ tsp cloves (I used less)

Heat griddle to 350 (or heat a regular pan over med-high heat after you've mixed your batter).

Whisk all ingredients (except bread) together and pour into a shallow dish.

Soak bread slices in the milk mixture and then transfer to the heated, oiled/Earth Balanced griddle. Cook each side for about two minutes or until slightly brown and crisp.

Great topped with chopped crystalized ginger, pecans and Greek yogurt (decidedly NOT vegan).

Spaghetti Squash Casserole

2010-11-17T05:38:00.000-08:00

I had a spaghetti squash sitting on my counter that was in need of some love the other day. This is what resulted. Ate as a side for baked wild salmon one night and by itself with brown rice the next night. Goot and will make again.
Took much less time to put together since I'd roasted the squash and scooped it the day before when I had the time. I'm guessing this would be ok to make ahead of time and just bake it the day you'll be eating it...maybe add the bread crumbs right before baking though (and it would take longer to come to point of being bubbly when baking).

Spaghetti Squash Casserole:

1 spaghetti squash, halved lengthwise
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 small onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
~2 Tbs fresh chopped basil, or teaspoon dried basil
2 plum tomatoes, chopped or equivalent in cherry tomatoes
1 cup low fat cottage cheese
1/2 cup mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup chopped parsley
1/4 teaspoon salt or to taste
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
3 tablespoons seasoned bread crumbs (I used whole wheat crumbs that I added Italian seasoning and garlic powder to)
Optional: I had some fresh spinach to use up, so I wilted the wet leaves in a skillet for a few minutes, squeezed out the water then chopped and added to the vegetable mix

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Using a sharp knife, cut the squash in half lengthwise and place, cut side down, in a baking dish. Add enough water to come 1/2-inch up the sides of the baking dish and cover with aluminum foil.Bake for 45 minutes, until the squash is easily pierced with a paring knife. Turn squash over and cover with foil again and continue to cook another 10-15 minutes, until the squash is tender. Remove from the oven, uncover, and allow to cool slightly. Using a spoon, remove the seeds and discard. Using a fork, gently pull the strands of squash away from the peel and place the squash strands into a mixing bowl.

Just want to mention that my squashes always seem to take different times to cook. Check after 45...it might surprise you and be done.

Raise oven temp to 400.

Meanwhile, warm the oil in a medium skillet set over medium heat.
Add the onion, garlic and basil.
Cook for 4-5 minutes or until the onion is soft.
Add the tomatoes.
Cook for 3 to 4 minutes, or until the mixture is dry.
Add spinach if using.
To the bowl with the squash, add the cottage cheese, mozzarella, parsley, salt and the onion mixture.
Stir well to mix all ingredients.
Spray a 9x13 baking dish with cooking spray.
Pour mixture into prepared dish.
Sprinkle with the Parmesan cheese and bread crumbs.
Bake for 30 minutes or until bubbly and heated through.

Cranberry Orange Cornmeal Scones

2010-11-14T09:33:00.000-08:00

Oh goodness. Well, some day I'll have to try to make these again with the amount of butter called for in the recipe.
2 extra Tbs. went into ours this morning! I'm not complaining about my mistake...too loudly. Seeing as they were so delicious and all. Probably wouldn't have spread quite so much with less butter, but man were they tender.
I went looking for a cornmeal scone recipe online the other day, since we'd enjoyed some really amazing ones from a bakery in Portland, OR. over the summer.
These weren't quite the same, but they sure were good! And, now I have the perfect excuse to make them again...the RIGHT way.

Cranberry Orange Cornmeal Scones:

1 cup unbleached flour
1/2 cup stone ground whole grain cornmeal (I used a combo of fine and medium Bob's Redmill)
1/3 cup granulated sugar (I used turbinado raw sugar)
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
6 Tbs cold butter
3/4 cup dried cranberries
1/3 cup chopped pecans (I used toasted walnuts)
2 tsp orange zest
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 Tbs orange juice
more turbinado sugar to sprinkle on top

Heat oven to 400°. Lightly grease and flour a scone pan or baking sheet.
In a food processor or large bowl, combine the flour, cornmeal, 1/3 cup sugar, baking powder, soda, and salt. If using the food processor, pulse a few times to combine.
Cut butter into pieces and add to the dry ingredients. Pulse until the mixture is like a coarse meal. Alternately, this can be done by cutting the butter into the dry ingredients with a pastry blender.
If using the processor, transfer the meal-like mixture to a large bowl.
Stir in dried cranberries, chopped pecans, and orange zest.
With a fork, mix in buttermilk just until dry ingredients are moistened.
With floured fingers, pat into a greased and floured 6-wedge scone pan or pat into a round on a lightly floured surface and cut into 6 even wedges; place on a greased baking sheet (I just used an ungreased air-bake cookie sheet).
With fingers or a pastry brush, brush with orange juice just to moisten tops. Sprinkle with sugar.
Bake for about 15 minutes, or until golden brown.

Chocolate Sweet Potato Torte

2010-10-28T08:18:00.000-07:00

This is such a lovely cake...well, maybe lovely isn't the word as it doesn't seem much to look at, but it tastes wonderful. I reduced the amount of sugar by a quarter cup both times I made this as my sweet potatoes were plenty sweet. Folks I served it to had no idea it was a "healthier" cake until I told them. No butter, no oil, and as it happens no flour if you're looking for a recipe that is gluten-free (make sure you use gluten-free chocolate if that's what you're going for).

Chocolate Sweet Potato Torte:
(Vegetarian Times Magazine)
Serves 12

1 1/4 cups sugar, divided (original recipe calls for 1 1/2...1 being added to the sweet potato cocoa mix, the other 1/2 to the egg whites. I used evaporated cane juice crystals.)
1 cup packed cooked, mashed orange-fleshed sweet potato, such as Beauregard, garnet, or jewel (I roasted them wrapped in foil at 400 for about an hour, till soft, then peeled once cool)
1 cup almond flour
1/2 cup unsweetened dark-chocolate cocoa powder
1/8 tsp. salt
4 large eggs
2 oz. bittersweet chocolate
2 Tbs. soymilk

Preheat oven to 375°F. Coat 9-inch springform pan with cooking spray.
Blend sweet potato, 3/4 cup sugar, almond flour, cocoa, and salt in food processor 30 seconds, or until smooth, scraping bowl as necessary.
Separate 3 eggs, placing whites in bowl of electric mixer. Add 3 yolks and remaining whole egg to sweet potato mixture; pulse to combine. Transfer sweet potato mixture to large bowl.
Beat egg whites with electric mixer at high speed until soft peaks form. Add remaining 1/2 cup sugar; beat 2 minutes more, or until stiff, glossy peaks form.
Fold one-third egg white mixture into sweet potato mixture with spatula. Gently fold in remaining whites. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake 35-45 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean (mine was done at 40 min). Cool 10 minutes in pan on wire rack. Remove springform sides; cool completely.
Melt chocolate in small saucepan over medium-low heat. Stir in soymilk. Alternately, you can just put both chocolate and soymilk in a bowl in the microwave for ~15-20 seconds taking care not to burn the chocolate. Spread chocolate mixture over top of cake. Let stand until chocolate sets.

Per slice: Calories: 227, Protein: 6g, Total fat: 9g, Saturated fat: 2g, Carbs: 37g, Cholesterol: 71mg, Sodium: 61mg, Fiber: 3g, Sugars: 29g

Pumpkin Hotcakes

2010-10-25T05:40:00.001-07:00

Nothing says Fall like punkin' anything. I've been thinking about cooking with it for weeks now and finally got around to doing so this weekend. I'm sure the fact that EVERY food blog I've read lately has featured pumpkin recipes has had nothing to do with my thought processes. :-)
Thankfully, I was too lazy to get out of bed Saturday night when I remembered I hadn't soaked the oats in buttermilk for for our standard Oatmeal Pancakes and had to search for something new to try out. Pinch My Salt had just the homey recipe I was looking for.
I'd just bought a new bag of white whole wheat flour so decided I'd sub that for both the regular whole wheat and cake flour she used in her pancakes. They were a resounding success...yums all 'round. The recipe made 12 pancakes for us. We each ate 4 (plus 1/2 ea. of the "test meatball"...you know, the one meatball/pancake you have to try to see if it's done?), but I should have stopped at 3 max. Very filling! I'll be making these babies again for sure.

Pumpkin Hotcakes:
(Adapted only slightly from Pinch My Salt's blog)

1 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg (I used about 1/4 tsp fresh ground)
1 cup+ buttermilk (you'll likely need more than 1 cup of buttermilk and you'll still have a thick batter)
1 cup canned pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 Tbs oil
1 tsp vanilla
2 Tbs dark brown sugar (I used 1 Tbs mild flavor molasses and 1 Tbs Sucanat)

Heat a pancake griddle to 325.
In a bowl, whisk together white whole wheat (Pinch My Salt uses 1 cup regular whole wheat and 1/2 cup cake flour) through nutmeg.
In another bowl, combine buttermilk through dark brown sugar, stirring to combine.
Add wet ingredients to your dry ingredients bowl stirring until just combined. Some lumps are fine. My batter was waaaaaay thick at this point so I added some more buttermilk.

Drop by 1/4 cupfuls onto your griddle, flipping the pancakes when the sides have started to dry out. Then cook the other side for several more minutes. Our pancakes were really thick, so make sure you give them enough time on the griddle to cook all the way through.
Place pancakes in oven at low temp to keep warm until all are finished.

Serve with whatever toppings you generally like on your hotcakes. I went for walnuts, pure maple syrup and some Greek yogurt dolloped on each. YUM.

Acorn Squash Toad-in-the-Holes

2010-10-20T05:26:00.000-07:00

I loved this idea when I came across it on Proud Italian Cook's blog. Now, after making these newfangled toad-in-the-holes last night, I like the idea even more!
I went a different route with the spices on ours, choosing instead to blend whole corriander, whole cumin, chunky grey salt and whole peppercorns to a course grind in my spice mill (read: coffee grinder that has never seen coffee). We ate these with braised collards for dinner, but they'd make a great dish for brunch as Proud Italian Cook suggested.

Acorn Squash Toad-in-the-Holes:
(adapted from Proud Italian Cook's recipe)

1 large washed acorn squash (you can eat the skin)
olive oil
~1 tsp whole corriander
~1 tsp whole cumin
~1/2 tsp whole black pepper corns
~1/2 tsp grey salt
eggs
Optional:
grated Pecorino Romano
parsley to garnish

Preheat oven to 400.
Course grind corriander, cumin, black pepper and grey salt, then set aside.
Slice an acorn squash into rings (yeah, try getting them all the same thickness...impossible!) withOUT cutting any extraneous bits off your hands (wait a minute...wouldn't "extraneous" suggest that you've got extra bits that you could afford to lop off? Hm, better make that "without cutting ANY bits off your hands" full stop).

Lightly coat squash rings with olive oil, sprinkle as much spice as you'd like on each side of rings.

Bake for ~20-25 minutes at 400, or until tender (the preceding can be done ahead of time if need be...which I did, and then reheated the rings in the microwave for 1 minute before starting the next step).

Move oven rack to top of oven and pre-heat the broiler on High.
Heat a non-stick pan (that can go into the oven) with a little olive oil on med-high.
Place squash rings in pan, crack eggs into the centers (add salt and pepper to eggs), then once the eggs have set on the bottom, about a minute, transfer to the broiler and cook until tops set. Try to cook the eggs so the white is done, but the yolks remain liquid.
Remove from oven, sprinkle lightly with Pecorino Romano and parsley, and serve immediately.

Brutti Ma Buoni Cookies

2010-10-18T16:17:00.001-07:00

I was baking with my friends today...the requisite Ogre Toe cookies for Halloween, but I wanted to squeeze these into the day's baking frenzy too.
I've wanted to make these gnarly dudes since I copied the recipe from a copy of Food and Wine on a recent visit to my grandmothers, but felt I needed a place to leave most of them given my propensity towards eating entire batches of sweets all by my wee self. Today seemed the perfect occasion to make them (although I still brought more home than I should have).
The name Brutti Ma Buoni is Italian for "ugly but good". Now who couldn't fall in love with something of that name? Like the homeliest sweet mutt at the pound, I can't see how you wouldn't fall hard and fast for these cookies. Who needs a frou-frou, fawned over iced sugar cookie? Give me brutti ma buoni any day over cute. I'd also venture to say the name should be upgraded to Ugly But Great!

Brutti Ma Buoni (ugly but good):
(Food and Wine Magazine)

1 1/2 cups hazelnuts (8oz)
1 1/2 cups confectioners sugar
pinch of salt
1 large egg white, lightly beaten
2 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 400.
Roast hazelnuts for ~12 minutes til fragrant and skins blister.
Transfer to a kitchen towel, cool, and rub the skins off as best you can.

Process nuts, sugar and salt til finely chopped.
Scrape into a medium bowl and stir in egg and vanilla.

Line baking sheet with parchment.
Spoon Tbs.-sized mounds of hazelnut dough onto the prepped sheet one inch apart.
Bake cookies in center of oven for 14 minutes, until browned in spots (about 13 minutes for chewy cookies and 15 for slightly crisp).
Let cookies cool on the sheet before serving.

Can be stored in an air-tight container for 4 days.

Chocolate Mint-Chip Cookies

2010-10-15T14:27:00.001-07:00

Don't ask yourself if you should, just make these cookies already!

Chocolate Chip-Mint Cookies:
(Mollie Katzen's Still Life with Menu)

3/4 cup (1.5 sticks) room temperature unsalted butter
1/2 cup (packed) brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp peppermint extract
1 1/2 cups unbleached white flour (I used white whole wheat flour with good results)
1/4 Dutched unsweetened cocoa
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup chocolate chips (I used white chocolate chips)

Pre-heat oven to 350.
Lightly grease a cookie sheet (not necessary with air bake non-stick pans of course)
Cream together butter and sugars with an electric mixer on high.
Beat in the egg.
Stir in the vanilla and peppermint extracts.
Sift together the dry ingredients, and add this to the butter mixture along with the chocolate chips. Stir until well combined.
Drop by rounded teaspoons (know that I didn't want to muck around in the kitchen for too long making these so I pretty much doubled the size of the cookies, baking for about 16 minutes. I ended up with 18 cookies baked 9 per sheet, rather than 2 1/2 dozen) onto the cookie sheet.
Bake 12-15 minutes at 350.
Remove from sheet immediately after baking, and cool on a rack.
I like them a tad underdone when they come out, or they dry out a bit.

I can totally see making ice cream sammies with these bad boys.

Slow Oven Roasted Tomatoes

2010-10-13T15:44:00.000-07:00

Just look at those wrinkly beauties! Delicious, and all you need is time.

Slow Oven Roasted Tomatoes:
(inspired by Aunt Susan and her burgeoning vegetable garden)

I started with 2 lbs of Campari tomatoes (they were about 1.5" inches in diameter), then proceeded to cut them in half, seed, then toss in a little olive oil. I laid them out on a sheet of parchment, salted them with big flaky Maldon sea salt, put them in the oven at 200 for oh...bout 7-8 hrs. That's all there was to it. Might want to use more tomatoes if you do this since they shrink so much.
Now use them on sammies, pizza, in pasta, on salads, etc....yum.

Pizza with Zucchini, Slow-Roasted Tomatoes and Pesto

2010-10-06T17:44:00.000-07:00

If you have these things, you must make pizza. It is the law of the land...

Slow oven roasted tomatoes (I used Campari tomatoes that I seeded first, with just olive oil and sea salt roasted for hours and hours at 200 degrees...must have been 6+ hrs?...just keep going til they are utterly delicious)

A monster basil plant threatening to take over your backyard and hence, Basil-Almond Pesto
I only used 1-2 cloves of garlic though, for Pete's sake.

This recipe for Pizza Dough

It won't hurt your pie any if you broil 1/4" slices of zucchini and have slices of a big hunk of fresh mozzarella to pile on there too!

Cocoa Cream Cheese and Whipped Cream Frosting

2010-10-04T11:50:00.000-07:00

This is just the most awesome frosting! I've made it several times without the cocoa as the original recipe was printed, but this time I had one gnarlsbad deep-sea angler fish to frost so I tossed 3 Tbs. of unsweetened Valrhona cocoa powder into the mix. I spose I should have taken step by step shots, but all my efforts went into creating the crazy cake that would be receiving the frosting.
You can pipe this quite nicely as I've done in the past, and it's nice and light due to the incorporated whipped cream. Yum, yum, yum! That said, when it came to eating the above cake, I'd already eaten waaaaaay too much frosting to even consider a slice without turning green. ;-)

Cocoa Cream Cheese and Whipped Cream Frosting:

1 1/2 cups well-chilled heavy whipping cream
1 8oz package of softened cream cheese (I used 1/3 less fat Philly)
1 cup granulated sugar (I used evap. cane juice crystals)
1 tsp vanilla
3 Tbs dark unsweetened cocoa powder

Chill the bowl and the beater of your mixer in the freezer till it's good and cold.
Whip the cream to firm peaks and set aside in the fridge.

In the bowl of your mixer, add softened cream cheese, sugar, vanilla, and cocoa powder. Mix on high until smooth and no longer grainy from the sugar.
Retrieve your whipped cream from the fridge and now carefully fold it into the cream cheese mix until blended.
Cover bowl with plastic wrap and return to the fridge until you're ready to use it...trust me and don't even TRY it, or you'll have a lot less for your cake!

Alternately, you can just make this a white frosting by leaving out the cocoa.

I'm pretty sure Daniel (the 6 year old recipient of the cake) is gonna NEED this t-shirt!

Feta Stuffed Zucchini

2010-09-30T05:41:00.000-07:00

I hadn't made these guys in a long while even though they are a particular favorite of the Monster. Mostly because they are a bit fussier than I like (I feel the same about stuffed tomatoes...what a pain). I mean, with the scooping of the zuke innards, the chopping and sauteeing of said innards, the cooling of the innards, then the stuffing of the zuke shells. C'mon, can't we just have sauteed zucchini and call it a day??
But, he does like them. And, I'd mistakenly bought a second container of feta when we already had a new one in the fridge....so.
They really are lovely though. :-)

Feta Stuffed Zucchini:

2 large zucchini (you might want to make more if you're going to the trouble and all...)
1 Tbs butter
1 large shallot, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 egg
1 1/2 Tbs flour (I used brown rice flour and I think I'll reduce this amt. next time since the stuffing kind of pulled away from the shell)
2 oz. crumbled feta
dash of salt and pepper to taste
paprika

Preheat oven to 350. Lightly grease an ovenproof dish.
Cut the zukes lengthwise, then scoop out the insides, leaving about 1/4" shell.
Save the zuke scoopings and chop them.
Melt the butter in a skillet, add the chopped zucchini scoopings, shallot, garlic and salt and saute until soft.
Let the mixture cool a bit, so you don't cook the egg in the next step.
In a small bowl, beat the egg lightly.
Stir in flour, feta, and cooked zuke/shallot mixture and little black pepper.
I like to sprinkle a little salt inside the zuke shells then fill them with your mixture.
Sprinkle tops of filled zucchini with paprika.
Bake for about 40-45 minutes, then pop them under the broiler for a few minutes.

Spinach and Rice Casserole

2010-09-26T13:20:00.000-07:00

Lovely comfort food that's not too unhealthy...I'll definitely be making this casserole as a Turkey Day side dish. Great, quick-to-put-together weeknight dish that can be a vegetarian meal in and of itself, or as we served it, with chicken sausages and some sliced tomatoes. This is another casserole that hails from Mollie Katzen's Moosewood Cookbook...a book I've been happily rediscovering of late.
We had brown rice already cooked and in the freezer which made putting this together a snap, but because of that I don't have a firm amount on the rice I used. I think using the recipe as written might end up using a higher ratio of rice to spinach? But heck, it IS a casserole. Just use what looks good to you! :-)
I halved the recipe the recipe as printed in the book because we were eating it as a side dish last night. Had plenty for a nice lunch the next day too. I'm writing up the halved version, so just double and use a 9x13 in. pan if you want more.

Spinach and Rice Casserole:
(Moosewood Cookbook; Mollie Katzen)

1 cup uncooked brown rice (I used a combo of brown and a little red)
1 Tbs olive oil
1 cup onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 lb fresh spinach, finely chopped (I screwed up and cooked it first, then chopped, but I think that was a less messy way to do it in the end)
1/2 tsp Kosher salt, or to taste
1/4 cup raw sunflower seeds, divided (I questioned the use of these, but they really added a great texture! They also up the protein content if this is your whole meal)
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp cayenne
fresh black pepper to taste
1/2 cup low-fat milk (I used unsweetened soymilk)
1 egg, beaten
3/4 cup grated cheese (I used Cave-aged Gruyere, but recipe suggests cheddar)
paprika
Optional: we enjoyed topping our servings with Cholula hot sauce. :-)

Cook brown rice as per package instructions.
Preheat oven to 350 and butter a 1 quart casserole (I think!...I just used what looked like half of a 9x13).
Heat oil in a deep skillet (I used a Dutch oven) on med-high heat.
Saute onion for about 5-8 minutes until soft; add garlic, spinach and salt and cook about 5 minutes more over medium heat, stirring frequently.
Add to the rice, along with nutmeg, cayenne, black pepper and half (2 TBS) of the sunflower seeds.
Beat together egg and milk and add to the spinach-rice mixture.
Add in cheese and transfer to your buttered casserole dish.
Sprinkle with remaining sunflower seeds and dust with sweet paprika.
Bake uncovered for ~35 minutes, or until heated through and lightly brown on top.

Rosemary Fig Confit

2010-09-14T11:25:00.000-07:00

I made this once, years ago...but with figs all around me in the store figured it was about time for another batch. I add balsamic to taste (probably ~2+Tbs) and a touch of sea salt as the figs simmer. I find it's awfully flat without those additions, but you can be the judge.
The original recipe is for using in sammies made with brie and prosciutto on ciabatta rolls, but I remember liking a wee sammie made with either melty Manchego cheese or Cave-aged Gruyere and just the confit much, much better. So that's how we'll be using this loverly goo tonight. Think I'll make mini panini with Kaltbach Gruyere and the confit as a nice side to soup for dinner.
Fyi...this is awesome stirred into Greek yogurt for breakie!

Rosemary Fig Confit:
(Gourmet, July 1995)

1 cup dried Calimyrna figs, chopped fine
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup water
3 Tbs honey
1 tsp chopped fresh rosemary
(add balsamic and sea salt to taste as figs simmer)

In a heavy saucepan stir together ingredients and simmer, covered, 20 minutes.
Remove lid and continue to simmer mixture, stirring occasionally, until most liquid is evaporated and mixture is thickened.

In a food processor coursely purée fig mixture.
Confit may be made 5 days ahead and chilled, covered.

Bring confit to room temp before using. Makes about 1 1/4 cups.

Chilaquile Casserole

2010-08-31T11:59:00.000-07:00

I have to hurry and post this casserole while Hatch chile peppers are still in season!
I made this on Sunday and talk about comfort food. So good, quick and easy, and I just happened to have all the stuff to make it in the fridge! Gotta love that. I'd already made a salsa with a bunch of my roasted chile stash...it was living quite happily in the freezer, just waiting for a yummy recipe like this to go on top of. The best part about this casserole, is that you can really just put anything you think sounds good in it. My tortillas had been purchased to make enchies with and they'd broken in half by the time I'd gotten them home from the store! Those sad tortillas had been sitting in the fridge for at least a week without a purpose, destined for the dustbin. But! They were just perfect for this recipe...they came right back to life. I'll type up the basic recipe then tell you what else got added in.

I guess I'd better type up the salsa recipe too. Even though there's no photo to go with...
You can just buy salsa verde, but homemade is so easy, and always much better.

Chilaquile Casserole:
(Still Life with Menu Cookbook by Mollie Katzen)

12 uncooked corn tortillas
about 1/2-3/4 cup diced roasted Hatch chiles (I used a combo of hot and mild...you could also just use 2 cans of diced green chiles)
2-3 cups grated Jack cheese (I used a combo of sharp cheddar and jalapeno queso fresco)
4 eggs
2 cups lo-fat buttermilk
salsa verde (recipe follows)

Optional additions:
1-2 cups of pinto beans, drained
a touch of cumin
1 cup chopped onion, sauteed until soft
1-2 med. sized cloves garlic, sauteed
1 small diced zucchini, lightly sauteed

I used 1 can of cannellini beans, zucchini and garlic sauteed in a little butter and olive oil with a dash of cumin and a little salt.

Preheat oven to 375.
Butter or oil a 2-quart casserole or a 9x13 inch pan
Tear 6 tortillas into bite-sized pieces and place them evenly into the greased casserole.
Distribute the chiles, then half of the cheese. Now add your beans, zucchini and garlic (or anything extra you chose to put in) evenly over the cheese.
Tear the remaining tortillas and spread them on top.
Follow with remaining cheese.
Beat the buttermilk and eggs together and add salt and pepper to taste.
Slowly pour this custard over the casserole.
Bake uncovered for 35 minutes.
Serve hot, warm, or at room temperature.
Serve with salsa verde.

Hatch Salsa Verde:

5 roasted, skinned and seeded roasted Hatch chiles (I used 2 hot and 3 mild)
6 decent sized tomatillos, cut in quarters
1 clove of garlic
1/4 cup chopped cilanto
juice of 1/2 a lime
salt to taste

Whiz it all up in a blender. Done! :-)

Zydeco Beans

2010-08-15T05:40:00.001-07:00

The Monster usually packs a couple pepperoncini in his lunch every day, so I thought I'd try this recipe for pickled haricots verts from Coconut and Lime's blog as a little change up for him. Figure he must get tired of the same ol' same ol' so I try to come of up with little changes to his daily routine lunch so things don't get tooooo boring.

We cracked open a jar (I made 1/2 the recipe...3 jars) yesterday and they've been deemed worthy. The beans remain nice and crunchy and are dilly with a little spice from the red pepper flakes. I think it'd be fun to do a non-dill version with slices of jalapenos instead of the red pepper flakes sometime.

All in all, a fun experiment...that given better canning equipment (read: didn't have a big enough pot for more than 3 jars, and couldn't find my canning tongs), I'd repeat!

Cashew Cream

2010-08-12T15:20:00.000-07:00

I had some girlfriends over for lunch today (fish and chickpea burgers with tartar sauce...yum!), and one of them brought some gorgeous fruit for dessert. Better yet, she brought her Vitamix so that we could experiment making cashew cream to top the fruit with! This recipe is all over the internet in some form or another, but here it is again...cause it's sooo yummy! The recipe I used said that you could use a food processor to make this, just add 1/4 cup of water to start, then add the other 1/4 cup once stuff really gets good and moving. The Vitamix makes this a no-brainer. Just toss everything in and let'er rip.

Cashew Cream:

1 1/3 cups whole raw cashews; soaked then drained (preferably soaked overnight in the fridge covered with filtered water, but I had to speed things up by pouring boiling water over them and just leaving them on the counter from about 8am to 1pm)
1/2 cup water
2-3 Tbs agave nectar or 1-2 dates (our fruit was really sweet so I would add sweetener slowly next time...that said, it went over REALLY well with 3 TBS of agave ;-)
1/2 of a whole vanilla bean or 1 tsp vanilla extract
a squeeze of fresh lemon juice

Toss all the ingredients in a Vitamix or other high-powered blender and blend til nice and creamy. If making in a food processor, add 1/4 cup of water to start, then add 1/4 cup more after the ingredients have had a chance to come together, scraping down the sides frequently.

Should keep well covered in the fridge for several days.

Organization!

2010-08-11T15:45:00.000-07:00

I finished this project over two weeks ago and it still makes me all wiggly every time I open a kitchen cupboard. Finally! All those wretched little bulk spice bags...gone! That and anything else I buy in bulk that's cupboard worthy (all those stinkin' bags full of different flours are still hiding shamefully at the back of our fridge). I spent 2+ days tossing old stuff, buying fresh stuff, procuring the necessary bottles and jars, filling said bottles and jars, and labeling. I tell you, all those little spice bottles are a sight to behold. The rest of our house may look like heck, but hey those cupboards are organized!

I didn't alphabetize the spices since there were over 50 of them...just tried to place them with spices they'd likely be used with, putting the ones I use often towards the front.
I can't tell you how nice it's been to be able to locate things quickly when cooking, rather than the usual shuffle through a pile of wee bags (most that would eventually develop small cuts and leak all over the place!). I love buying spices in the bulk section. You save a ton of money and don't end up with more than you can use before it expires.

The bottom shelf has always housed vinegars, some dry/wet condiments, hot sauces, etc., but no matter how often I put them in order, they'd squirrel their way out of that order all too quickly. Ok, lazy Susan? A concept it only took me a lifetime to wrap my brain around.

In another cupboard I've got all my baking requirements on the SAME shelf. What a concept! ;-)
Whole grains and legumes live above the baking shelf. Again, no more plastic bulk baggies piled one on top of the other.
On the top shelf lives cake decorating stuff and a few more lesser used items.
Cans live on the bottom shelf.

Lastly, we've got a long pantry with pull-out shelves by the fridge...All. Baggies. Gone!! :-)

I didn't write up this post to inspire you, nor did I compose it to gloat. I'm pretty sure I just wanted to be able to look at these cupboard innards even when I'm not in the kitchen opening a door. Ahhh...now I can see all my lovely organized goodies from anywhere in the house. Thank you ITouch! ;-)

Pepita Sauce

2010-08-10T13:50:00.000-07:00

Admittedly, this lunch was a little weird. I neglected to take a picture of last night's dinner featuring yet another yummy Casa de Luz sauce, so you get to see it yummifying some, perhaps incongruous (tofu, steamed cauliflower, and spaghetti squash), stuff I ate for lunch. Casa's suggested use is on braised greens and any kind of grain too. Pepita Sauce is yet another good all round and easy to make condiment from Casa's repertoire.
One thing I'll mention is that after tasting the sauce, I knew I didn't want to add any salt to the veggies during cooking. Think of the sauce as your salt...you likely won't want any extra.

Pepita Sauce:
(Casa de Luz)

1 cup unroasted, unsalted pepitas (pumpkin seeds) 
1 clove garlic
 1 tsp. oregano (I used milder Greek oregano)
 1 Tbs. flax oil (I used canola)
 2 tsp. shoyu (I used reduced-sodium tamari...be careful this doesn't get too salty for you)
 1 Tbs. ume vinegar
 1 cup filtered water

Pan-roast pumkin sees in a stainless steel skillet, stirring constantly. Remove from heat when seeds are lightly browned, puffed, fragrant, and sound slightly hollow when stirred. Place roasted seeds and remaining ingredients in blender, mix well, and serve.

Lemon Cashew Nectar Bars

2010-08-01T13:52:00.000-07:00

Huzzah! Third try was the charm! Yes, this is my third attempt in just about as many years to try replicating Cliff's Lemon Cashew Nectar Bars. I'd had great luck in making a nice version of the Cocoa Nectar Bars, but my other favorite was a sticky mess. The stumbling block in attempts one and two? The lack of a good lemon concentrate. I tried lemon juice, lemon zest, lemon oil...all no-go's. Enter True Lemon. A crystallized lemon product for mixing into water or whatever else you've a mind to mix it into (I tossed some onto peaches I'd cut up to go into bran muffins the other day). My mom brought me 3 little envelopes to try...she's the one that finally came up with this solution. Today was the day to try again.
I bought myself some beauteous medjool dates from Costco, some raw cashews and some goji berries from the bulk section of the grocery store, all that remained was the True Lemon and a touch of vanilla. After processing, the resulting mix was very sticky and I ended up having to cheat a bit by putting some cornstarch on both the rolling mat and my hands. Otherwise this whole experiment would have gone nowhere. Again. I'm guessing that you could use arrowroot if you've got a problem with cornstarch. You'll likely have to use something, or the mass will be impossible to roll and shape.
I'm open to any alternative de-stickifying suggestions if anyone out there has any :-)

Lemon Cashew Nectar Bars:
(Inspired by Cliff Nectar Bar ingredient label)

1 cup pitted medjool dates
a generous 1/3 cup raw unsalted cashews
~2 Tbs goji berries
3 envelopes True Lemon
~1/2 tsp vanilla extract
cornstarch as needed

Put about 1/2 of the cashews into a food processor and chop finely, but not to the point that they get oily. Remove and set aside on a sheet of wax paper.
Chop the remaining cashews by hand for more texture, and place with others on wax paper.
Chop goji berries roughly (in half), add to the nuts.
Place pitted dates into food processor and chop. This will end up a gooey mess, just do the best you can.
Spread date goo on top of your bed of nuts and gojis. If you sprinkle some on top, of the dates along with having some on the bottom of the mass it's less likely to stick right away.
Sprinkle True Lemon and vanilla over the top and start to incorporate all as best you can.
This is where the cornstarch came in really handy. I sparingly put some on my hands and some on the wax paper and rolled the date mass into a log that was about 3/4" thick. Cut that piece into 6 lengths. Flatten each piece into a bar, then wrap individually in clean pieces of wax paper for storing. I put them in a ziplock container to store for the Monster's lunches/snacks.

Almond and Sweet Potato Sauce

2010-07-28T19:13:00.000-07:00

A Casa de Luz sauce strikes again. With goodness that is!! Man, those people know how to make simple food taste awesome. I halved the recipe and used only one sweet potato, but instead of using 1/2 cup of almond butter, I used just over 1/4 cup and found it to be plenty.
The sweet potato I used, must have been particularly sweet. The Monster tasted the sauce and thought I'd slipped in some dulce de leche! A friend just gave us a tub of the stuff and honestly that probably wouldn't be beneath me by any means. You can adjust the sweetness by adding more lime juice, etc. if you want. One of these days I'm going to have to buy Casa's durn cookbook instead of trolling the internet for their recipes. :-)

Almond and Sweet Potato Sauce:
(Casa de Luz)

2 medium sweet potatoes (about 3 cups)
1 cup unsalted roasted almond butter (used less...just over 1/4 cup for half of the recipe)
 2 tsp. shoyu or tamari
 2 Tbs. lime juice
 Pinch of sea salt
 Filtered water as needed

Update:
When we ate the rest of the sauce the next night I added a touch of rice wine vinegar, a bit of sambal oelek (chili sauce), and some more lime juice. YUM.

Wash sweet potatoes and cut into 2" chunks. Place in a heavy pan with 3/4 cup of water. Bring to a simmer, add pinch of sea salt, and cover (I roasted the sweet potato wrapped in foil at 400 for about an hour, then peeled once cool).
Let potatoes simmer over low heat until tender. Remove from heat, reserve any leftover cooking water, and allow to cool, Leftover baked sweet potatoes may be used instead.
Place cooled sweet potatoes, almond butter, shoyu/tamari, and lime juice in a blender with some of the water and puree until smooth. Add a more water until you achieve a consistency you're pleased with. Serve over greens or grains. I served it with lemon and herb baked tofu over quinoa and braised kale.

Casa de Luz' Sun Cheese

2010-07-18T07:28:00.000-07:00

Or would that be Sun Cheeze? Not cheese by any stretch of the imagination, just a really awesome topping for veggies (especially greens), grains, enchiladas, pasta...etc. Easy to make and easier to eat! A great healthful condiment to have stashed in your fridge.
I fell in love with this stuff long ago at Casa de Luz' Sunday brunch (CdL serves wonderful macrobiotic meals here in Austin), and had never thought of searching for the recipe til yesterday. Sure enough there it was, right there in the innertubes.

Sun Cheese:
(Casa de Luz Community Cookbook)

1 1/4 cup hulled organic sunflower seeds, soaked 4-6 hours or overnight
1 clove garlic
2 Tbs umeboshi vinegar (Central Market has this if you're in Austin)
2 Tbs lemon juice
1+ cup filtered water

Place seeds in bowl and cover with water to soak. Allow seeds to soak 4-6 hours or overnight (I just soaked for about 6 hrs.)

Rub seeds between hands to loosen skins. Skins will float to the top of the soaking water (so they said!). Pour out skins and soaking water. Rinse seeds, cover with water and repeat the process until most of the skins have been removed and poured out. The more skins you remove, the whiter the sauce will be.

Place seeds in a blender with garlic, lemon juice and umeboshi vinegar and add 1 cup of water.
Blend until desired consistency. I just let mixture blend until it was as smooth as I could get it.
For a thinner consistency, add up to 1/2 cup more water.
I just used the 1 cup for a thicker sauce, figuring I'd be using it for different things and could always add more water later.

Place sauce in a bowl and refrigerate. I like to think it got better in the fridge...after the flavors had a chance to marry.

Vegan Thai Coconut Pineapple Banana Muffins

2010-07-13T12:31:00.000-07:00

Hey, I finally made the Thai Coconut Pineapple Banana Bread healthier! I actually used my vegan nanner bread recipe, but added in all the goodies from the Thai style recipe. Very nice!
Will be even "nicer" next time when I follow the recipe below, but also add in chunks of Lindt's coconut white chocolate bar. That addition totally negates the recipe's veganess, btw. ;-)
I don't have a picture of these, because they went right into the freezer...lest I gobble them all up at once!

Vegan Thai Coconut Pineapple Banana Muffins:
(Makes 10 regular size muffins)

3 ripe bananas
3 Tbs extra-virgin coconut oil, melted (can use canola if you want, but I liked the extra coconuttiness, plus e.v. coconut oil is supposed to be really good fer ya)
1/2 cup agave nectar
~1/4+ cup unsweetened dried coconut
1 Tbs lime juice
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 1/2+ cups whole grain spelt flour (I added a bit more to the recipe after seeing it was a bit wet)
2 Tbs coconut cream powder (Central Market in Austin has this in Asian section)
3 Tbp mild curry powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp fine sea salt
1/2 cup chopped pineapple, fresh, or canned in juice
~1/3 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
turbinado sugar to sprinkle on tops for sweet-crispitty-crunchy-goodness!

Heat oven to 350.
Oil muffin tin.
In a bowl, mash bananas then add melted extra-virgin coconut oil, agave, dried coconut, lime juice and vanilla.
In a separate bowl, sift together spelt flour, coconut cream powder, mild curry powder, baking soda, and salt.
Blend the wet and dry mixtures, then fold in pineapple and nuts.
Pour into oiled muffin, sprinkle with turbinado sugar and bake for about 23-28 minutes, or until tops just spring back upon applying gentle pressure and a toothpick comes out cleanly.
Remove from oven and let cool in tin for about 5 minutes, then remove from tin to cool on a rack.

Rosemary Blondies

2010-06-22T07:05:00.000-07:00

My friend Debbie threw an elaborate wedding shower last weekend and I helped her out in the kitchen with just a few of the many dishes she prepared. We've been getting together with another friend and baking/cooking every couple weeks or so and it's been super fun, if a little chaotic for this uni-tasker. :-) This was a recipe that I mixed up the batter for and let me tell you...so not figure friendly...but...SOOOO GOOD!!! The addition of rosemary was amazing. I skimped a little on the 2.5 Tbs, just because it sure seemed like a lot (I think I ended up with 2.25 Tbs). Each blondie was topped with a piped dollop of chocolate ganache, but I wasn't there for that step. Really not necessary in my opinion, but then I didn't try them with their over the top topping. May I remain blissfully ignorant, because these sweeties were just perfect in all their nakedness. Even the Monster, who eschews the pecan, enjoyed the heck out of 'em.

Rosemary Blondies:
(Cookie Swap)

Makes ~4 dozen 1 1/2" squares

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/2 Tbs chopped fresh rosemary leaves
2 tsp baking powder
3/8 tsp salt
1 1/4 cups (that's 2 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter
2 1/4 cups firmly packed light brown sugar
3 large eggs, room temp
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups pecan halves, toasted, cooled, and coarsely chopped
1 cup premium milk or semi-sweet chocolate chips (semi)

Read your recipe all the way through, so you won't measure the flour into a stand mixer instead of a food processor like I did. :-)

1. Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350.
Line a 10x15x1 inch jelly-roll pan with foil, leaving a 1 inch overhang around the top edge of the pan. Smooth out any big wrinkles in the foil and then lightly coat with nonstick cooking spray.

2. Combine the flour, rosemary, baking powder and salt together in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade.
Process until the rosemary is reduced to very small pieces. (If the rosemary isn't chopped before going into the processor, it will be harder to finely grind). Set aside for use in step 4.

3. Place the butter in a med. (3-qt) saucepan over low heat. Once the butter has fully melted, remove it from the heat and stir in the brown sugar, mixing until smooth. (Don't be surprised if the butter and sugar do not completely come together at this point; some separation is normal). Cool a few minutes and then add the eggs one at a time, whisking well after each addition.

4. Stir in the vanilla extract. Gradually add the flour mixture, whisking all the while to keep the batter lump-free.
Cool before stirring in the pecans and chocolate chips, otherwise the chocolate chips will melt.

Spoon the batter evenly into the prepared pan and level with a small offset spatula. The batter will be less than 1 inch thick, but it will rise to the top of the pan.

5. Bake until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out with moist crumbs on it and the brownie is just starting to pull away from the sides, about 22 to 24 minutes. Loosen the sides with a knife then cool completely in the pan.

Once cool, place pan in the freezer for ~30 minutes to facilitate cutting.
Remove from freezer and transfer to a large cutting board. Remove foil, then trim off uneven edges before cutting into 1 1/2" squares.

Optional Indulgence....a piped dollop of chocolate ganache on top of each!

Tarted Up Chocolate Avocado Push-Pop:

2010-06-18T20:07:00.000-07:00

Success! They worked and were really quite tasty! Of the two we ate tonight I favored the one with the pear liqueur, vanilla and sea salt additions. The Monster ate and enjoyed the Ginger liqueur with sea salt pop. Will definitely make these again. Not quite the yogurt push-ups I grew up with. Superfudgygoodness!

Avocado and Chocolate Experimentin'

2010-06-17T08:44:00.000-07:00

This post on Veggie Wedgie's blog really piqued my interest. When faced with a bag of 5 large avocados at Costco, I knew what I had to do. I'm not sure what size her avocados in Greece were so I just ended up using 2 large ones and playing with the other ingredients until it tasted "right" (I started with half of all the other ingredients, but added more). I just used Valrhona cocoa powder since I didn't have the raw cocao powder called for in the recipe.
Now if this project didn't painfully illustrate my "need" for a Vitamix blender, I don't know what else would. Took a while to get the thick mixture to blend completely in my antique, but finally, one ozone-filled kitchen later, it happened...with the aid of a spatula of course.
My mom just happened to bring me a whole slew of liquor from my grandmother's old house.
This merited an experiment! Not all of the booze is what I would deem viable...who knows how long it sat in her cupboards. The Chambord that I thought would be a winner, smelled way too reminiscent of cherry cough syrup to bother with. The pear liqueur was quite lovely though, so it went into one of the trials. The Monster has a nice bottle of Ginger liqueur that I thought might work nicely with chocolate...in it went. I think I added sea salt flakes to each of the 3 that I altered. It deepened and rounded out the flavors nicely. Had to add vanilla to one of them too. I did make one sample straight up for comparison's sake.
Here's the breakdown:

Green- straight initial recipe ingredients...avocado, unsweetened cocoa powder, agave nectar, water (although I had to play with amounts)
Pink- ~1/4 tsp vanilla extract and a pinch of sea salt flakes
Yellow- ~1/2 tsp pear liqueur added to the vanilla-sea salt batch
Orange- ~1/2+ tsp ginger liqueur + a pinch of sea salt flakes

Who knows what will come out of the freezer in 8 hours...will update with our findings!

Indian Sprouted Lentil Salad

2010-05-12T16:46:00.001-07:00

I'm on my own tonight as the Monster has a bidness dinner out. As soon as I learned he'd be gone I started brewing up a jar of lentil sprouts in anticipation of eating solo. Sprouting requires very little work and you end up with a more nutritious and easily digestible legume for your small effort.

To start, you'll need to rinse 6-8 Tbs of lentils and soak them overnight on the counter in a bowl of filtered water.
The next morning, carefully drain and rinse the soaked lentils. Transfer them to a clean jar (I use a recycled glass quart sized yogurt jar), cover the opening of the jar with cheesecloth and secure it with a rubber band. Now put the jar in a dark cabinet propped at a 45 degree angle, mouth of the jar pointing downward. I like to place a tea towel under the jar to absorb any moisture and keep the jar from slipping. You'll need to carefully rinse and drain the lentils twice daily until their sprouts are about 1/2" long. I think I started this on Monday night and it's now Wednesday...so give yourself a couple days. Once the sprouts are long enough, transfer the jar to the refrigerator and eat them whenever you feel like a nosh. Best eaten within the next few days though.

I didn't use the whole amount of sprouts in my salad since it's just li'l ol' me, so hopefully I'll have enough for a sprouted lentil dal tomorrow.

Indian Sprouted Lentil Salad:
(found on Recipezaar)

1 1/2 cups sprouted lentils
1/2 cup seeded and chopped cucumber
1/2 cup diced seeded tomato
1/3 cup thinly sliced green onion
2 tablespoons chopped cilantro (durn...no viable cilantro tonight so had to sub parsley)
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano (I only used a little more than 1/2 tsp of Greek oreg.)
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 1/2 teaspoons curry powder
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
1/2 cup small quartered red radish (optional)
salt and pepper to taste

Carefully rinse the sprouted lentils in a colander.
Add the chopped vegetables to a bowl and lightly toss them with the sprouted lentils.
In a small bowl, whisk together the remaining ingredients.
Drizzle the dressing over the vegetable mixture and toss gently again.
Allow the flavors to blend for 20 to 30 minutes before serving.

Fresh Greek-Style Salsa

2010-05-10T14:18:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure why this Cooking Light recipe I found was named "Italian-style" Salsa. The kalamata olives and feta make it seem more Greek to me. So Italian-style salsa...consider yourself renamed!
Takes all of 5 minutes to dress up a simple broiled fish fillet with this yummy stuff. In my book, that makes it a total keeper. I just riff on the amounts listed below depending on whether it's just the Monster and me, or more. And, I know for a fact that I don't put in as much red onion and raw garlic. Just make it however you like and it's sure to be good.

"Greek-Style" Salsa:
(Cooking Light)

4 plum tomatoes, chopped (I used tomatoes on the vine)
1/2 small red onion, finely chopped
12 kalamata olives, pitted and chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 teaspoons drained capers
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese (optional)

Stir together first 10 ingredients, and, if desired, feta cheese, in a medium bowl. Cover and chill until ready to serve.

Beet Tzatziki

2010-05-07T13:28:00.000-07:00

Buoyed by my latest successes preparing beets in ways OTHER than roasting/marinating them, undaunted by the prospect of future "Jeez, you must really like beets!" comments, and being seemingly unable to pass by a nice bunch by at the store without tossing it in my cart, I find myself with a new keeper recipe. Tzatziki...love it. Beet tzatziki, how could I not? Turns out it is really good, AND the most gorgeous shade of fuscia to boot. The original recipe calls for using a mortar and pestle to grind the garlic with salt to make a paste. Lacking said mortar and pestle, I just used the flat edge of a large chef's knife and mashed them both on the cutting board. Just use whatever you've got. I'll be serving this up with whole wheat pita and broiled rainbow trout dressed with a fresh Greek salsa (in the next post).

Beet Tzatziki:
(NYT Online)

1 lb beets roasted and shredded (roast unpeeled beets wrapped in foil on a foil-lined sheet pan at at 400 for ~1 hour, let cool, peel, then shred on a box shredder or with a food processor)
2 cloves garlic, green shoots removed from centers
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp lemon juice (I used more)
2 cups low fat Greek Yogurt
1 Tbs finely chopped fresh dill
fresh ground black pepper and more salt to taste

Make a paste with the garlic and salt, using a mortar and pestle or a knife and a cutting board.
If using the mortar and pestle add lemon juice and let it sit for 10 min.
If using board, scrape garlic paste into a bowl that you'll be able to fit the rest of the recipe into and let sit 10 min.
In a bowl, combine lemon, garlic, salt mixture and stir to combine. Add black pepper and adjust salt if needed.
Add in shredded beets and dill, stir until thoroughly combined.
Will keep for 3-4 days in the refrigerator.

Cold Pea Salad

2010-05-06T18:29:00.000-07:00

Here's a recipe from Simply Recipes that's been languishing needlessly in my "to try" file. We really enjoyed this salad as a quick side and I can see making it often in the hot, hot summer to come. Freezy peas and bits of water chestnut, spiced with a bit of curry powder and enhanced with the slight smokiness of the almonds...yum and yum. I halved the amount of almonds and lessened the mayo from the original recipe. I used a light vegan canola mayo that we really like, to which I added a touch of fresh lemon juice for a little more perk.

We ate the cold pea salad as a side to lemon and herb baked tofu and some quinoa mixed with braised kohlrabi greens. I'd never even seen the greens before, but the kohlrabi we got at the farmers market still had the tops on...figured surely you could eat them. I munched a piece, double checked online to make sure they weren't akin to d'em pizzinous rhubarb greens, then braised them with some olive oil, garlic, tamari and a bit of water.

Cold Pea Salad:
(slightly adapted from the recipe discovered on Simply Recipes blog)

16-ounces frozen petite peas (do not thaw)
3 ounces smokehouse almonds, chopped preferably by hand (tamari almonds would also be great in this)
1/2 cup chopped green onions
6-8 ounces chopped water chestnuts (a can is 8oz., but I added less since I was unsure if the Monster would like them. I'd put the whole amount in next time)
a very scant 1/2 cup vegan canola mayonnaise (I only made 1/2 the recipe and used a scant 1/4 cup, so go by that if doubling)
2 tsp yellow curry powder
~1 tsp fresh lemon juice
freshly ground pepper to taste
salt only if needed

In a bowl mix together frozen peas, chestnuts, green onions and almonds.
In a separate small bowl stir together mayonnaise, lemon juice, and curry powder.
Add mayo mixture to pea mixture.
Add pepper to taste, and you most likely will not need any added salt due to the almonds.
Serve immediately.
If making ahead, leave almonds out until just before serving. Best the day of.

Warm Mustard Green Salad with Black-eyed Peas

2010-05-04T05:35:00.000-07:00

We bought a luscious monster bunch of mustard greens at the farmer's market last weekend and they didn't disappoint in this flavorful recipe. I'd only made it once before, but figured it merited another go. The original incarnation has 2 strips of bacon in it (and sauteing the greens in the rendered fat) but I didn't go that route. I opted instead for sauteing the greens first in about a tablespoon of olive oil, then I added ~1/4-1/3 cup of broth, reduced the heat, covered and braised for about 5 minutes. I followed the original recipe from that point, apart from adding the bacon back in at the end that is...
It does have quite a lot of balsamic in it, so if you're not too keen on tart you might reduce the amount a bit. The vinegar serves to cut the bitterness of the greens nicely though.
I baked some Alaskan cod (at 450 for 10 minutes on a foil coated baking sheet) that I'd lightly coated with olive oil, and sprinkled with blackening spices. Made a great pairing with the salad.

Warm Mustard Greens Salad with Black-eyed Peas:
(adapted from Cooking Light)

~2 Tbs extra-virgin olive oil, divided
12 cups torn mustard greens, stems removed (about 12 ounces)
~1/4-1/3 cup veggie, or chicken broth
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 cup chopped green onions
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 jalapeño pepper, seeded and chopped (I used a serrano)
1 (16-ounce) can black-eyed peas, rinsed and drained
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

Heat ~1 Tbs olive oil in a Dutch oven, or equivalent (that you have a cover for), on medium-high. Add greens, sauteing until wilted, then add broth, reduce heat to simmer, cover and cook for about 5 minute.

Combine greens, salt, and black pepper in a large bowl, set aside.

Add another Tbs oil to pan. Stir in onions, garlic, and jalapeño/serrano and cook 1 minute. Add peas and cook 1 minute. Stir in vinegar, and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and add greens back into mixture, stirring to combine.

Serve warm.

Moroccan Carrot Soup

2010-04-29T06:52:00.001-07:00

This soup completed a nice quick meal. Tossed a couple artichokes into the pressure cooker (done in 8 minutes), whipped up a loaf of my new favorite addiction (brown soda bread) and dinner was done. Think I'll double this recipe next time...

Moroccan Carrot Soup:
(slightly adapted from Bon Appetit, Apr. '10)

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup chopped white onion
1 large clove garlic, chopped
1 pound large carrots, peeled, cut into 1/2-inch dice (about 2 2/3 cups)
2 1/2 cups low-salt chicken broth, or veggie broth
1 1/2 teaspoons cumin seeds
1 tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice (I used a little more)
1/8 teaspoon ground allspice
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup plain yogurt, stirred to loosen (Greek yogurt)

Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion and garlic; sauté 2 minutes. Mix in carrots. Add broth; bring to boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer until carrots are very tender, about 20 minutes.

Stir cumin seeds in small skillet over medium-high heat until fragrant, 4 to 5 minutes; cool. Finely grind in spice mill.

Remove soup from heat. Puree in batches in blender until smooth. Return to same pan. Whisk in honey, lemon juice, and allspice. Season with salt and pepper.

Ladle soup into bowls. Drizzle yogurt over; sprinkle generously with cumin. I liked stirring the cumin into each bowl better than just sprinkling it on top.

Beet Rosti with Rosemary

2010-04-23T10:40:00.000-07:00

I've been a little beet crazy around here lately...just can't seem to get enough of 'em. The Monster, not so much a fan. Well, I think I've finally found a recipe that will allow both of us to enjoy them!
I was skeptical, but after reading all of the rave reviews following Mark Bittman's recipe in the New York Times, I figured I'd better give it a go. Ah butter. You just make everything that much better.
That's what it takes folks. Butter. Maybe not the healthiest way I fix beets, but it was yummy and with the aid of a shredder blade on a food processor, the recipe is a cinch to make.
I only made half of the recipe...using 1 lb of beets instead of 2. I did use the full amount of butter in the pan though! In fact, I followed one commenter's advice and added another pat to the pan after the first side was done and before re-adding the pancake to the pan to cook the second side. The trick is to cook over a moderate heat so that you get a nice crusty exterior, but don't cook it so fast that the interior is left uncooked.
We ate this with a salad for dinner and I had a little slice left for my lunch today. Even though I halved the recipe I still used a 12" pan like the original recipe called for...seemed to work just fine.

Beet Rosti with Rosemary:
(Mark Bittman-NYT)

2 lbs of beets, peeled and shredded
1/2 cup flour (I used whole wheat pastry flour)
2 tsp chopped fresh rosemary
salt and pepper to taste
2 TBS unsalted butter (I used closer to 3...adding one more and browning before I cooked the second side)

topping ideas: chopped parsley, Greek yogurt, chevre.

In a large bowl, toss shredded beets with rosemary and 1/2 of the flour; mix well. Add the rest of the flour; mix again.
Add salt and pepper to taste.
Heat 2 Tbs butter in a 12" non-stick skillet over moderate heat. Let butter brown, but not burn.
Add beet mixture to pan once butter is nut brown and form into a thick pancake with a spatula.
Cook for 8-10 minutes over moderate heat.
When first side is crisped, slide pancake onto a plate. Place another plate on top of the pancake and flip.
Heat another pat of butter in pan and brown a bit.
Now slide the pancake back into the pan and cook second side for about another 10 minutes.
Serve hot or at room temperature.

Top with chopped parsley, Greek yogurt or chevre.

Spicy Ethiopian Red Lentil Stew

2010-04-13T11:00:00.000-07:00

The Monster zoned in on this recipe from the current issue of Cooking Light and I had to agree it looked good. Aside from difficulties in finding Berbere spice, it was a great addition to my recipe trove. If you can't find Berbere, Google online recipes for making your own. Or, just do what I did and buy a spice blend that has pretty much everything you'd need in it and just add the rest of the missing ingredients...in my case it happened to buy a Thai spice blend from Whole Foods to which I added allspice, cinnamon and cloves.

Our collards were spiked with some extra spices too. I think I tossed in tumeric, nutmeg and maybe a little cinnamon? Can't remember, but they were great too. If I'd had a batch of niter-kebbeh made up, I'd have just used that instead.

This was even better the next day...as with so many stews. Would be great to make up a double batch and freeze half. I'm assuming freezing it would work fine, but our leftovers all got eaten up!

Spicy Eithopian Red Lentil Stew:
(Cooking Light May 2010)

2 tsp canola oil
2 cups chopped red onion
1 Tbs minced peeled fresh ginger
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 Tbs tomato paste
1 1/2 Tbs Berbere spice
3 cups organic vegetable broth
1 cup dried red lentils
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh cilantro

Heat oil in a large Dutch oven over med. heat. Add onion to pan; cook 15 minutes until tender (uh yeah...good luck not burning them cooking for that long in that little oil...I think I only cooked them ~10 minutes), stirring occasionally.
Add ginger and garlic; cook 5 minutes, stirring frequently (again, good luck cooking this long...just do your best and know it probably won't be 5 minutes).
Stir in tomato paste and Berbere spice; cook 1 minute, stirring to combine.
Gradually add broth, stirring with a whisk until blended. Increase heat to med-high; bring to a simmer.

Rinse the lentils under cold water; drain.
Add lentils to broth mixture; simmer partially covered, 35 minutes or until lentils are tender, stirring occasionally.
Stir in salt.
Sprinkle with cilantro; serve over brown rice, quick injera, or in a pinch...with whole wheat naan bread that you've thawed from your freezer! :-)

Warm Berries with Stovetop Dumplings

2010-04-12T05:40:00.000-07:00

Oh man, you just know these are gonna be good. We had berrylicious dumplings instead of our usual oatmeal pancakes on Sunday morning and were not disappointed. So easy to make and also rustic and cool to boot. The original recipe comes from Martha Stewart, but I found it on Joy the Baker's blog. What?? She's not in your blogroll?? Amend, post-haste!

The original recipe calls for using white flour...I subbed whole spelt flour with stellar results.
Other changes I made were to use Sucanat for the white sugar and add a 1/2 tsp of vanilla to the batter. I think you'll be wanting more fruit than the original recipe calls for, so if you find yourself with extra in the fridge, might want to just toss that in to the pan too. I didn't increase any of the other ingredients when I added about 1/2 of a small container of fresh blackberries I had hanging out in the fridge.

We each ate two dumplings topped with our favorite 2% Greek yogurt for breakie, then both had one for a snack later in the day...yay! Guess we'd need to make these in a bigger pan for company!

Warm Berries with Stovetop Dumplings:
(Martha Stewart via Joy the Baker)

1 pound frozen mixed berries (I also added about 1/2 a small container of fresh blackberries)
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
6 tablespoons, divided; plus 1 teaspoon Sucanat, or sugar
1 cup whole grain spelt flour, spooned and leveled (use whole wheat pastry flour or AP if you prefer)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1/2 cup low-fat buttermilk
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Greek yogurt (optional)

In a medium skillet, cook berries, lemon juice, 4 tablespoons Sucanat/sugar, and 1/4 cup water over medium until slightly thickened, 11 to 13 minutes.
Berries may still look watery. Don’t worry, they’ll cook down when you add the dumplings.

Meanwhile, in a bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and 2 tablespoons Sucanat/sugar.
Melt butter in the microwave in a cereal-sized bowl then add in vanilla and buttermilk.
Add wet ingredients to dry and stir until a moist dough forms.
Dividing evenly, spoon 6 dollops of dough over fruit.
Combine cinnamon and 1 teaspoon sugar, and sprinkle over dough.

Cover pan tightly with foil, and cook over medium-low until dumplings are set and tops are dry to the touch, about 15 minutes. Serve warm.

Kichadi with Brown Rice

2010-04-08T06:17:00.000-07:00

I knew I wanted to make this upon reading the recipe on Coconut and Quinoa's awesome blog. Looked so homey and comforting. A nice break after Easter Ham-Fest. Smells great while it's simmering away in your kitchen too. Just make sure that you give yourself time to soak the mung beans and rice overnight. I actually just put them on to soak at about 7 am. then started cooking at 5pm, which is just fine if you don't mind eating at around 7:30. Very little actual hands on time...most of the time involved with this recipe is while it's burbling away on the stovetop. The original recipe adds tamari sauce to season, but I wasn't too keen on adding that with the Indian spices. In fact, the Monster added a little to his serving and I plain didn't like it in there. When I ate it for lunch the next day it was way more fabulous just topped with Sriracha sauce, avocado and sliced almonds or sunflower seeds, so that's how I've written it.

Kichadi with Brown Rice:
(slightly adapted from Coconut and Quinoa)

1 cup brown basmati rice
 ½ cup mung beans
 1 tablespoon extra-virgin coconut oil, or ghee
 1 tablespoon minced ginger 
2 teaspoons cumin seeds
 15 curry leaves, if available (I subbed 1 tsp of mild curry powder)
1 tsp brown mustard seeds
 ½ cinnamon stick
 6 cups boiling water 
1 teaspoon turmeric
 2 inch piece kombu (bought in the Asian section at Central Market)
 sea salt
 optional goodies for topping:
Sriracha sauce
avocado
sliced almonds, or roasted sunflower seeds, etc.

Combine basmati rice and mung beans in a bowl and wash thoughly. Drain and cover with 2 inches of filtered water. Soak over night. Drain and rinse again.

Warm coconut oil/ghee in a large pot over medium heat. Add minced ginger, cumin,curry leaves (curry powder), mustard seeds and cinnamon stick. Sauté for a few minutes until fragrant then stir in the drained rice and mung beans.

Increase heat to high and add boiling water, turmeric and kombu. Once mixture is boiling, reduce heat as low as possible, cover and simmer 1 hour. Add a large pinch of sea salt and simmer for another hour, stirring ever 20 minutes to prevent sticking.

Remove from heat and let sit at least 10 minutes before serving. Top with avocado, sliced almonds and Siracha sauce.

Pictured as we ate it the first night...but I liked it much better as served in the photo at the top!

The Guilded Fork's Silky Spring Beet Soup

2010-04-06T19:22:00.000-07:00

I've had this recipe printed out and filed for at LEAST a year now. Glad I made it out of my marinated roasted beets rut long enough to finally make this yummy soup.
Guess I just never tried it since it's just going to be me eating it. The Monster is not one for the beet. I figure, if I can't finish the soup in the next couple days, I'll pop the rest in the freezer. I just ate a cup chilled tonight since it's being so muggy out. Maybe I'll try it warmed up tomorrow...
Be picky in your beet selection at the market. Look for beets with nice happy green tops. They're too delicious to toss out!

Silky Spring Beet Soup:
(very slightly adapted from The Guilded Fork's recipe...I use 2 cups less liquid)

1 tablespoon olive oil
beets (about 1 ½ pounds), peeled and chopped (one bunch of 3 large beets was all I needed)
1 medium potato, peeled and chopped (I used the equivalent of baby Dutch yellow potatoes and I didn't peel them)
1 medium onion, chopped (used one small onion and a shallot)
1 teaspoon sweet paprika
4 cups vegetable stock
1 tablespoon honey
½ teaspoon kosher salt
¼ cup crème fraîche, for garnish (I used 2% Greek yogurt)
2 tablespoons finely chopped chives, for garnish (I used fresh tarragon)

In a heavy-bottomed soup pot, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add beets, potatoes, onion and paprika, and stirring often, cook for about 8 minutes or until onions are softened.
Add stock, honey and salt; bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium-low; cover and simmer for about 25 minutes or until vegetables are tender.

In blender, purée beet mixture, in batches (filling the carafe no more than 1/2 full each time), until smooth. (Soup can be prepared to this point and refrigerated in airtight container for up to 2 days or frozen for up to 1 month.)

Either return the soup to a clean saucepan and reheat without boiling, or chill to serve cold.
I dolloped some Fage yogurt on top of cooled soup and sprinkled with fresh chopped tarragon, but fresh dill or chives would be great options too. Yum!

Ok, now you saved those beautiful beet greens didn't you??
After you've rinsed them well, grab a skillet, turn on that flame and add a little water to the pan.
Layer in those greens, stems and all and slap on the lid. Once the water starts to simmer, cook only for ~2 minutes. Remove from the pan and squeeze a little lemon juice over them, some salt maybe and your done!
Now hopefully, you've got some awesome leftovers like I did to layer on top of those yummy greens. This is Mediterranean baked cod from last night's meal...so easy and so good. Man, I love leftovers!!

Baked Honey and Mustard Butter Beans

2010-04-05T06:39:00.001-07:00

I've loved the idea of baking beans ever since I discovered my favorite recipe for preparing limas.
I guess this recipe is just another extension of that. I'm wondering however, if Scottish tinned butter beans are different from US butter beans? These weren't anywhere near as pretty as A Wee Bit of Cooking's beans. I'll try again with another type of bean as I'm sure this is a sound recipe!
Tasty, but I wanted to love them just a little more than I did.

Baked Honey and Mustard Butter Beans:
(A Wee Bit of Cooking's blog)

1 can of butter beans, drained, rinsed and dried
1 Tbs honey
1 tsp dijon mustard
1 tsp wholegrain mustard (I didn't have this, so used Country Dijon for both teaspoons of 'tard)
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
A few thyme sprigs

Preheat oven to 375
Mix the honey, mustard, a glug of olive oil, salt and pepper in a bowl. Add the butter beans and toss well.
Add beans to a oven proof dish and scatter across thyme. Bake for 30 minutes, or until golden on top.

Steamed Asparagus with Chopped Eggs and Herbed Dressing

2010-04-04T05:11:00.000-07:00

We had a lighter supper last night in preparation for the throw-down that is Easter. I served this with some baked honey and mustard butter beans that I found on A Wee Bit of Cooking's blog.

Steamed Asparagus with Chopped Egg and Herbed Dressing:

1 bunch of asparagus, trimmed and steamed until crisp tender
2 hard boiled eggs, chopped (cover eggs in cold water and heat until the water starts to boil, then turn off heat and keep covered for 12 minutes, then rinse under cold water. No gray outsides on your yolks!)
~1 Tbs fresh tarragon, chopped
~1 tsp capers, chopped
~1 tsp whole grain mustard
a good squeeze of fresh lemon juice
(I'm just now realizing how yummy a little lemon zest would have been in there too, so you might try some of that too)
salt and fresh ground black pepper
olive oil
a tiny bit of agave nectar (or not)

Plate your asparagus and top with chopped eggs.
Combine tarragon through salt and pepper and mix well.
Slowly add oil while stirring, to emulsify the dressing.
Taste, and tweak in any way you'd like, adding a touch of agave or other sweet to balance if needed.
Drizzle dressing over asparagus and eggs.
Serve with an extra wedge of lemon.

Flax Seed Thin Crisps

2010-04-03T20:06:00.000-07:00

I had the most amazing flax seed cone for my frozen yoghurt when I was in California last month. This dude makes them and Culture fro-yo offers them up at their counter. I'm dying to keep playing with these...this is my first attempt. I liked them just fine as is, but I'll update with an actual recipe once I've tweaked it a little more. These were really nice, not what I ate in Cali, but still good. I'm not sure I'd even try to replicate a cone. These lightly sweet and cinnamony thin crisps are a super addition to a bowl of Greek yogurt topped with macerated strawberries.

Cold Sesame Noodles with Asparagus

2010-04-02T14:42:00.000-07:00

Asparagus is plentiful in the stores right now. I had 3 whole bunches of it in the fridge. Book club tonight, so in went 2 of the bundles into my noodly dish. I think this recipe originally came from my cousin's wife, who got it from someone else, and so on and so on. Make it your own in any way you'd like.

Cold Sesame Noodles with Asparagus:

7 Tbs sesame oil
7 Tbs soy sauce
3 Tbs rice wine vinegar
1 Tbs minced ginger
1 large clove garlic
3 1/2 Tbs dark brown sugar
2 tsp sambal oelek or use chili oil if you've got it
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
2 bunches of asparagus, trimmed and thinly sliced on a diagonal
14 oz of Chinese egg noodles
1 bunch of scallions, thinly sliced on the diagonal
1/3 cup lightly toasted sesame seeds (I used sesame Gomasio)

Bring a large pot of water to the boil and while you're waiting for it to boil...
In a large bowl, combine sesame oil through cilantro and mix to dissolve sugar.

Once your water's boiling add asparagus and cook until it's bright green and still slightly crisp (about 2 minutes) .
Remove asparagus with a sieve so that you can use the water to cook the noodles.
Place asparagus in a colander and run it immediately under cold water to stop the cooking.

Once the water has come to a boil again, add noodles breaking them up (and making a big mess) with your fingers to separate them somewhat. Stir once they're in the water to further separate the noodles. Cook as per package instructions...about 5 minutes only, then drain and rinse in cold water.

Add cooked noodles, most of the asparagus, most of the onions and sesame seeds to the dressing. Toss to coat.
Mound on a platter or in a bowl and garnish with remaining, asparagus, onions, and sesame seeds.

Shrimp with Roasted Peppers and Black Beans

2010-03-23T13:25:00.000-07:00

To make this you should have some lovely NYT-style black beans in your freezer to thaw out like I did. Maybe a nice cache of roasted poblano and red bell peppers too. That way it would be really easy for you to throw this together!
I guess you could always open a can of black beans and saute add them to some sauteed onions, garlic and cilantro, but how nice would it be if you had a whole bunch of home-cooked beans in your freezer just waiting on you to love them? This dream is even easier to make come true if you've got yourself a pressure cooker. Which I now do! Finally got over my parent-induced fear of those beasts. You never forget the top of one of those suckers blowing sky high when you're nine. These days there are safety features in place that won't allow the pots to be opened while still under pressure. And, my electric one doesn't make all the scary noises I remember emanating from my mother's steam breathing monster.

Ok, back to the recipe...you could also use non-roasted poblanos and just saute them up with the corn and roasted red peppers. AND, you could also just buy jarred red peppers to use in the sauce and to dice. So, a lot of short cuts you can take if you're short on time.

I had to make something with shrimp even though I'd gone to the store to buy fish fillets. When my fishmonger calls me to tell me they've got fresh Gulf shrimp in, I'd best follow up. Takes a lot of work to cultivate that kind of relationship and I don't wanna mess it up!

There are no real quantities here folks, just add stuff to taste.

Shrimp with Roasted Peppers and Black Beans:

A pot of NYT black beans (or canned beans added to sauteed onion/garlic/cilantro)
however many largish shrimp you've got, peeled and deveined
a couple cloves of garlic, chopped
a dash of chili powder (go easy on this one)
a touch of cumin
kosher salt
olive oil
roasted (or not, if not roasted saute these before adding shrimp to skillet) poblano peppers, diced
roasted red bell pepper, diced
frozen corn, thawed
roasted red pepper sauce (recipe follows)
optional: diced jalapeno or serrano, seeded
queso fresco (with jalapeno), grated
fresh lime wedges
fresh cilantro

Heat pot of beans.
In a bowl, toss shrimp with garlic, chili powder, cumin and salt.
Heat oil in non-stick skillet and add shrimp, cooking ~1-2 minutes on first side, then flip.
Add in poblanos, red peppers, corn and jalapeno if using and heat through while second side of shrimp cooks.
Toss with grated queso fresco and remove to a bowl. Add in some roasted red pepper sauce and toss to coat. You don't want to heat the sauce in the skillet or the yogurt might curdle.
To serve, layer beans topped with shrimp mixture, fresh cilantro and a nice squeeze of lime.

Red Pepper Sauce:
(adapted from Biscuits, Pancakes and Quick Breads)

2 large roasted red bell peppers
1 Tbs canola oil
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1/2-1 tsp Asian chile-garlic sauce
1/4 tsp ground cumin
1 cup low sodium chicken broth (I made this a second time with veggie broth)
1/4 tsp salt, or to taste
freshly ground black pepper to taste
1/2 cup 2% Greek yogurt (Fage...original recipe uses sour cream)
(original recipe also used 1 Tbs chopped cilantro added after taken off heat)

Finely mince 1 1/2 of the peppers (dice the remaining 1/2 pepper to add in to your shrimp hash).
Heat oil in a saucepan over medium-high heat.
Add onion, minced peppers, chile-garlic sauce, and cumin. Reduce heat to medium and cook, stirring, for about 2-3 minutes, until onions begin to soften.
Stir in the broth and simmer for 3-5 minutes, until reduced somewhat.
I blended it at this point with a stick blender in a smaller bowl. You could also use a regular blender.
Wait for the sauce to cool, then whisk in your yogurt and season with salt and pepper if needed.
If you're making the sauce in advance and plan to use it later, refrigerate it; reheat gently without letting the sauce come to a boil.

Yields about 1 1/2 cups of sauce

Brown Soda Bread with Fish Stew

2010-03-22T18:44:00.000-07:00

Don't tell anyone how unbelievably easy this is to make, just let them continue to think you kitchen goddess or god. Lightly toasted and buttered...Nom! Don't worry about lining the ends of the pan with parchment. Just make a sling that will span the width of the pan and end up lining the long sides and bottom. Makes it easy to take out of the pan. Visit your grocery store's bulk section for the wheat germ if you don't usually keep it on hand.

I'm also reposting the fish stew I made to go with it that happens to fall into the same category; super easy and muy delicioso. Tonight's stew was made with wild Alaskan cod.

Brown Soda Bread:
(Mar. 2010 issue Cooking Light)

11.25 ounces whole-wheat flour (about 2 1/2 cups)
2.25 ounces all-purpose flour (about 1/2 cup)
1/2 cup steel-cut oats (such as McCann's)
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon wheat germ (I used toasted wheat germ)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt (I used fine sea salt, and next time I'd add a bit more since we use unsalted butter)
2 cups low-fat buttermilk
1 large egg, lightly beaten

Preheat oven to 325°.

Coat a 9 x 5–inch loaf pan with cooking spray. Line the pan with parchment paper, and coat with cooking spray.

Weigh or lightly spoon flours into dry measuring cups, and level with a knife. Combine flours and next 6 ingredients (through salt). Combine buttermilk and egg; add to flour mixture. Stir just until combined.

Spoon the mixture into prepared pan. Bake at 325° for 1 hour and 5 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean (I think I baked for about 10 minutes extra before the pick came out cleanly, but check at an hour and five). Invert bread onto a wire rack; remove parchment; cool completely then slice away.

Fish Stew:
(Simply Recipes)

2-3 Tbsp olive oil (original recipe calls for 6)
1 cup of chopped onions
2 large garlic cloves, chopped
2/3 cup fresh parsley, chopped
~1 cup of fresh chopped tomato (I use 2 medium-large sized tomatoes)
2 tsp of tomato paste.
8 oz bottle of clam juice (or shellfish stock)
2/3 cup dry white wine
1 1/2 lb fish fillets (use halibut, cod, sole, red snapper, sea bass), cut into 2-inch pieces
Touch of Tabasco, a couple sprigs of fresh thyme, black pepper
Salt

Heat olive oil in heavy large pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add chopped onion and garlic and sauté 4 minutes. Add parsley and stir 2 minutes. Add tomato, tomato paste and cook 2 minutes longer.

Add clam juice, dry white wine, and fish (and fresh thyme sprigs if using) and simmer until fish is cooked through, less than 10 minutes. Add seasoning. Salt to taste. Ladle into bowls and serve. I drizzled a little more olive oil on top of each of our bowls.

Serves 3-4.

Risotto with Kale and Beets (Barley version):

2010-03-22T12:59:00.000-07:00

Well, I wish I hadn't goobered up my photo with that blob of chevre on top of the risotto, but too late now. This alternate version to the Beet and Kale Risotto I posted about last week was really good. A chewier consistency due to the barley, but it's a more nutritious grain.
Unlike the photo shows, I prefered the leftovers with the addition of a queso fresco with jalapenos to the chevre. Very nice. I also liked it mixed with some fresh spinach or baby arugula.
I went with golden beets rather than the red, but it's pretty either way.
I also felt the kale could use with some braising rather than just wilting it. Really only takes a few more minutes to do and you wind up with a nicer consistency on the kale.

Barley Risotto with Beets and Kale:
(based on Austin's Olivia restaurant's recipe)

1 pound golden beets
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon fresh tarragon
agave nectar to taste (I added this in because the red wine vinegar needed something to mellow it out a little)
3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 teaspoon minced garlic
6 cups chopped kale (about 1 bunch)
3 cups+ ~1/4-1/3 cup vegetable broth, or reduced salt chicken broth; divided
2 cups water
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 cup pearled barley
1/2 cup white wine
1/2 tsp+ salt

Preheat oven to 350°

Leave root and 1-inch stem on beets; scrub with a brush. Wrap beets in heavy-duty aluminum foil. Bake at 350° for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until tender. Remove from oven; cool. Trim off beet roots and stems; rub off skins. Cut beets into quarters. Place beets, vinegar, tarragon, and 1 tablespoon oil in a blender. Process until smooth; balance flavors with a little agave nectar if you feel it's needed; set aside.

Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Heat 1 Tbs oil in pan and add garlic; cook 30 seconds, stirring constantly. Add kale to pan; cook until kale wilts, stirring frequently, add about 1/4-1/3 cup of broth, cover and reduce heat to low for about 10 minutes. Remove kale mixture from pan; wipe pan clean.

Bring 3 cups broth and 2 cups water to a simmer in a small saucepan (do not boil). Keep warm over low heat (I actually nuked the broth in a 4 cup glass measuring cup and renuked if needed throughout).

Heat remaining tablespoon of oil in skillet over medium heat. Add onion; cook 5 minutes or until tender, stirring occasionally. Add barley; cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Stir in wine; cook until the liquid is absorbed, stirring constantly.

Add broth mixture, 1/2 cup at a time, stirring frequently until each portion of broth is absorbed before adding the next, until all broth has been used. Should take around 30-40 minutes. Test the barley after you've added all the liquid and if you feel it could take more just heat up a bit more broth and keep stirring away.

Stir in pureed beet mixture, kale, and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Top with slices of queso fresco, or whatever else floats your boat...again nice on top of some fresh baby spinach or baby arugula.

Risotto with Beets and Kale:

2010-03-19T04:55:00.000-07:00

On a recent trip I grabbed the latest copy of Cooking Light magazine to read on the plane. What did I find inside but an article featuring the restaurant the Monster had taken me to for my birthday a few weeks prior. In the magazine, the restaurant shared a recipe for beet risotto that caught my attention. Gorgeous color and met the requirements of appearing tasty and fairly healthy.

I was lucky enough to see an old friend for the first time in about 20 years on my visit.
We got a little snap happy. :-)

She just happens to share her life with a wonderful cook (she's pretty amazing in this dept. too) AND an immense Wolf range. Long story short, after walking to Whole Foods and braving a freako hail storm (in SF?!) on the way home, we made the risotto recipe.
The only thing I'd suggest doing differently from what you'll see in the photos is to cook the risotto in a non-reactive pan. Stick with a good stainless steel pan for this one.

Tonight I plan on making a version using golden beets and barley in lieu of the red beets and arborio rice from the first round...will update with the alternative recipe if it works out!

Risotto with Beets and Kale:
(slightly adapted from Olivia restaurant's recipe)

1 pound red beets
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon fresh tarragon
3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 teaspoon minced garlic
6 cups chopped kale (about 1 bunch)
2 cups vegetable broth, or reduced salt chicken broth
2 cups water
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 cup Arborio rice
1/4 cup white wine
1/2 tsp+ salt
Optional...not: chevre or other nice fresh goat cheese. Fyi, Humbolt Fog is awesome with it.

Preheat oven to 350°

Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Heat 1 Tbs oil in pan and add garlic; cook 30 seconds, stirring constantly. Add kale to pan; cook 5 minutes or until kale wilts, stirring frequently. Remove kale mixture from pan; wipe pan clean.

Bring broth and 2 cups water to a simmer in a small saucepan (do not boil). Keep warm over low heat.

Heat remaining tablespoon of oil in skillet over medium heat. Add onion; cook 5 minutes or until tender, stirring occasionally. Add rice; cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Stir in wine; cook until the liquid is absorbed, stirring constantly.

Add broth mixture, 1/2 cup at a time, stirring constantly until each portion of broth is absorbed before adding the next, until all broth has been used. Should take around 20 minutes.

Stir in pureed beet mixture, kale, and 1/2 teaspoon salt.

Remove from pan and serve topped with a bit of nice fresh goat cheese on each plate if you know what's good fer ya.

Roasted Cauliflower with Chickpeas and Olives

2010-03-18T07:55:00.001-07:00

I knew this would be a winner when I came across the recipe in March's issue of Cooking Light.
All of the ingredients are things that I love. This is a great easy side dish for fish. In last night's case, wild Alaskan cod rubbed with a bit of olive oil, sprinkled with smoked sweet paprika, garlic powder, kosher salt, pepper and thinly sliced lemon, then baked at 450 for about 10 minutes.
Finish off the meal with a simple arugula salad...perfection.

Roasted Cauliflower with Chickpeas and Olives:
(Cooking Light Mar. 2010)

1 large head of cauliflower, sliced at about 1/4 inch...try to get them all about the same width
1 can of chickpeas, rinsed and drained (2nd time making this I dried the chickpeas off with paper toweling and they got nice and crispitty...awesome!)
24 Spanish olives, halved
8 cloves of garlic, coursely chopped
3 Tbs good olive oil
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
~1/2-1 tsp kosher salt
3 Tbs chopped parsley

Preheat oven to 450.
Place all ingredients, but the parsley on a large baking sheet and toss to coat.
Roast for ~12 min. then stir.
Continue roasting for about another 12 min., then remove from oven and toss with parsley.
Serve warm.

If making fish, you can just pop the fish in the same oven after you stir the cauliflower at 12 minutes and they'll be done about the same time.

Langues de Gene Simmons (aka. Olive Oil Crackers) 2 Ways:

2010-03-04T05:33:00.000-08:00

Debbie and I got crazy in the kitchen with a borrowed pasta machine the other day and whipped up 2 kinds of lovely rustic crackers. Much fun! First recipe we made was found on a blog I read and uses white unbleached flour. Not my favorite thing to use in the kitchen as my tastes run more towards whole grains. That doesn't mean they weren't fantastic crackers though. We added some fresh rosemary from my garden and fresh cracked black pepper to the dough too. Fabulous.
I had to try another batch using my favorite spelt flour, so we mixed up a 1/2 batch using the spelt and a mix of seeds. Yum!
All this to say...you really need to be making your own damn crackers people! So much fun, so easy, and you'll knock your friends socks off (this has not been proven). Put whatever you'd like in them and they'll be awesome. You sure don't need a pasta machine to make them, but it was fun to use. A rolling pin would work well too I'm sure. You will however need a scale if you go by the recipe I'm posting, since all Nourish Me's instructions were in metric grams.

Rosemary and Black Pepper Olive Oil Crackers:
(base recipe from Nourish Me's blog)

250g of sifted unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp chopped fresh rosemary
1/2 tsp fresh cracked black pepper
125 ml of water
2 Tbs good olive oil + more for brushing
flaked sea salt

Sift flour and baking powder into a bowl (or the bowl of a mixer), then add rosemary and pepper.
Make a well in the center and pour in water and olive oil.
Either mix by hand or use the paddle attachment on your mixer to work to a dough.
Turn out onto a very lightly floured bench and knead until smooth.
Wrap in Saran wrap or a clean tea towel and rest in fridge for 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 425.
Dust the bench and keep flour close at hand.
Cut off or pull off walnut-sized blobs and roll them out in long, thin tongues if using a rolling pin. Or alternately, use a pasta machine going to ~5 thinness. We took them all the way to 6, but I found I liked the slightly thicker ones much better.

Arrange on a parchment lined baking sheet and brush liberally with good olive oil. Lightly sprinkle each with flaked sea salt. Less is more we found. Bake in batches for 6-8 minutes.
Look for a pale gold but no darker...Nourish Me says pale gold is good; deep gold is burnt.

Seedy Spelt Olive Oil Crackers:

250g whole spelt flour
1 tsp baking powder
2 Tbs sesame seeds (we actually used sesame Gomasio, but I'm not sure about the seaweed flavor)
2 Tbs chia seeds
2 Tbs flax seeds
1/2 tsp garlic powder
125g water (might need about 1 Tbs more)
2 Tbs olive oil

Sift spelt flour and baking powder into a bowl. Add seeds and stir.
Make a well at the center and add water and olive oil. Mix until all comes together as a dough.
You won't really have to knead this one. Just make sure there's enough water and olive oil to bring it together in a smoothish dough.
Wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 425.
Follow instructions for recipe above at this point...rolling out into long thin tongues of dough, brushing liberally with good olive oil, and sprinkling lightly with flaked sea salt. If using a pasta machine, you'll only be able to take these to about a 4 thinness. The seeds will get stuck and rip the dough beyond that.
Bake until lightly gold...or as near as you can tell, given it'll be a darker cracker. Make sure you're standing at the oven as they can go from perfect to burnt fairly quickly.
We ate these with curried green pea soup. 5 ingredients...you've gotta try it. Delish!

Sun-dried Tomato Relish over Salmon

2010-03-03T05:24:00.000-08:00

I don't know what possessed the Monster and I to buy a humongous jar of sun-dried tomatoes at Costco, but buy it we did. Not having cooked with sun-dried tomatoes all that often, I see many an internet recipe search in my near future. But, even if I don't come across any others that strike my fancy I'd be perfectly happy making more batches of this goodness. A quick relish that comes together in no time using a food processor, this sauce would be perfect with most anything...pasta, chicken, fish, thinned out a bit with some water and added balsamic for salad dressing, or even a bruschetta topping with goat cheese (the wrap I made for lunch with 2 leftover turkey and spinach meatballs in a spelt tortilla was fantastic with the relish!).
We ate the relish on top of wild Alaskan salmon (baked at 450 for 12 min. per inch). It also tasted great on the asparagus we paired with the fish.

Sun-dried Tomato Relish:
(Kalyn's Kitchen who slightly adapted it from Fine Cooking Magazine)

1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil
1/4 cup drained and pitted kalamata olives
1 T chopped red onion
1 T capers
2 T chopped parsley (or more)
(original recipe had chopped oregano too)
2 1/2 T fresh lemon juice
5 T extra virgin olive oil
sea salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste

Put sun-dried tomatoes into food processor with steel blade, and process about 30 seconds. Add olives, red onion, and capers, and process about 30 seconds more. Add all remaining ingredients and process about one minute, or until ingredients are uniform size and well combined. Serve over baked/grilled fish, or whatever else suits your fancy.

Roast Squash, Caramelized Onion and Goat Cheese Tart

2010-02-18T05:50:00.000-08:00

I brought this to bookclub last time we met and it was well received.
Realize before making this that it will take you a bit of time, but a worthy endeavor it shall be. Make sure you read the recipe clear through so you get an idea of all the steps first.
I'm thinking that if you can plan your meals ahead and carmelize a bunch of onions a day before making this, it'd take a load off the time involved in making this the day of. Also, if you can find it (I couldn't), it'd be well worth the money spent in buying pre-cut butternut squash for this! Those can be real boogers to take down.
The crust for this would be wonderful in any number of savory dishes. Really great, not too unhealthy, and super easy/foolproof. Right up my alley, as I have NO skillz in the pastry making department.

Roast Squash, Caramelized Onion and Goat Cheese Tart:
(Amy Chaplin's fabulous blog Quinoa and Coconut)

Crust
 1 cup rolled oats 
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour, or whole spelt flour (I used whole spelt...delicious!)
 1/2 tsp sea salt
 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
 5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, or melted butter ( I used a 50/50 combination)
 2-3 tablespoons soymilk, cow's milk, or filtered water (I used unsweetened almond milk)

Filling:
2 large red onions, sliced (bi-sected top to bottom, then sliced in ~1/4" slices in the other direction...like you'd cut onion rings)
 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil, divided 
sea salt 
2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar 
1 large butternut or red kuri squash, 2 1/2 to 3 pounds, peeled and seeded
 fresh black pepper 
3 or 4 sprigs of fresh thyme, leaves removed
 1/4 pound fresh goat cheese 
arugula to serve

Pre-heat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. 
Pulse oats in a food processor until coarsely ground, place in a bowl with flour, salt and baking powder, mix well. Melt butter (if using) in a small sauce pan over medium heat, add olive oil and brush a little into a 9 inch tart pan with a removable bottom, pour the rest into oat-flour mixture. Mix with a fork until all the butter and oil is combined, drizzle in milk/water and mix until pastry holds together, it shouldn’t be too wet. Press crust into tart pan and pre-bake for 20 minutes, remove from oven and set aside.

Place onions and 2 tablespoons of the olive oil into a wide skillet or frying pan and cook over medium-high heat, stirring every few minutes until they begin to brown, about 10 minutes. Lower heat to medium-low and cook until caramalized, this takes a good 30 minutes, if they begin to stick turn heat down a little. Stir in a large pinch of sea salt and the balsamic vinegar, cook another few minutes. Remove from heat and set aside. (I usually add a small touch of agave nectar when I add the balsamic, and I do add a pinch of salt when first adding the onions to the pan)

Raise oven temperature to 375 degrees. 
Cut squash into 3/4 inches chunks, spread on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, drizzle with remaining olive oil, a large pinch of sea salt and pepper, toss well. Roast for 30 to 35 minutes or until golden brown, remove from oven and set aside to cool. In a large bowl combine caramelized onions, roasted squash and thyme leaves. Crumble half of the goat cheese into the bowl and gently toss. Crumble remaining goat cheese over the bottom of the pre-baked tart shell, top with squash mixture and return to oven for another 20 minutes until goat cheese is golden and slightly melted. Allow to cool before serving.

Nutella Inspiration Waffles

2010-02-07T08:43:00.001-08:00

I discovered a wonderful blog by Amy Chaplin called Coconut and Quinoa in a search for a waffle recipe that included nut meal and cocoa. This recipe was my jumping off point. I do hope to make it as written someday, but this morning I was fulfilling a long ago made request for chocolate waffles. I've made Amy's Roasted Squash, Carmelized Onion and Goat Cheese Tart and it was to die for good. Hopefully, she'll let me repost the recipe...although truth be told, it's looking at her photos that will convince you to make it.
Ok, back to the waffles. Nutella. So good. I had hazelnut meal in the fridge that needed using up, so thought immediately of pairing it with cocoa. I've left the orange in from the original recipe for a more grown up flavor, but you could leave that out if it doesn't appeal (I SO wanted to spell that "appeel") to you. I stuck with a more neutral flavored oil instead of extra virgin olive oil, added some vanilla, and a bit of dried espresso to deepen the chocolate flavor all the more. To drive home the Nutella goodness, I mixed about 1 Tbs into some fat-free Greek yogurt to top the waffles.
True confession time now. I also mixed in homemade agave sweetened coconut cream. Decidedly not fat-free. Wow.

Nutella Inspiration Waffles:

1 Cup whole spelt flour
1/4 cup good quality unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp sea salt
3/4 cup hazelnut meal (almond meal would be great too)
2 eggs (separated)
optional: ~1 tsp orange zest
1/2 cup fresh squeezed orange juice
3/4 cup almond milk, soymilk, regular milk, etc. (I poured 1 tsp of vanilla into the measuring cup and then filled to 3/4 full with the milk)
1/4 cup canola oil, or other neutral flavored oil
1/2 tsp dried espresso powder (optional)
2+ Tbs Sucanat

Topping:
Mix together-
(~1/4 cup Coconut cream...only because I had it, but man was this good!)
Greek yogurt
~1 Tbs Nutella
Agave nectar to taste

Heat a Belgian waffle iron.

Sift spelt flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, salt into a medium sized mixing bowl. Stir in hazelnut meal and set aside.

In another bowl, whisk together, egg yolks, orange zest if using, orange juice, vanilla/milk combo, espresso powder if using, Sucanat, and oil.

Whisk the egg whites to stiff peaks in a third bowl.
Stir the milk/juice mix into the dry ingredients. Then, gently fold the egg whites into the batter.

Brush heated waffle iron with oil and go forth and waffle! Cook waffles until little to no steam is coming out...we used a large Belgian waffle iron for this. Best eaten directly off the iron, but we did keep most of them warm in a low oven. Alas, they lose their crispness doing this. Delicious all the same. Top waffle with yogurt/Nutella/agave mixture....mmmmmmmm....

Spaghetti with Bechamel Kale Sauce and Sweet Potato Balls

2010-02-06T07:28:00.000-08:00

I was following a recipe when I began this one, after making the sweet potato kale mash I was a little unimpressed.
Knowing it should and could be better, I postponed this dinner until the next night after feeling a bit let down by the kale sweet potato mash I'd made. The original recipe was vegan. My version is still vegetarian, but with the added ricotta, Parmesan, a bit of egg, balsamic and nutmeg the balls were really super tasty. The original recipe served the balls with a tomato based pasta sauce. Well, I went to the trouble of making a fresh tomato sauce, but it just didn't feel right.
Popped that in the freezer and decided to go with an easy bechamel instead. Tossed in a whole bunch of braised kale and it was a stellar meal.

Now when I made this, I cooked the onions and kale for the balls separately from the onions and kale that went in the sauce. No reason to do this...so if you're making the whole meal just go ahead and cook the full amount of kale and onions together, then divide between the balls and sauce.

One more quick note...
If the Monster wasn't so opposed to pecans, I'd have included some chopped toasted pecan pieces in the balls for added texture.

Sweet Potato Kale Balls:
2 medium sweet potatoes, washed well and diced (If the skin is nice, don't bother peeling them)
1 medium onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic
~6 leaves of kale, chopped into small pieces
~1 tsp+ balsamic vinegar
~1/4 cup Parmesan Reggiano crumbles (I tossed a chunk of Parm into the food processor to make small crumbles)
~1/3-1/2 a tub of part-skim ricotta cheese
I also added about 1/2 an egg...will need to make this again and will update exact amounts!
kosher salt
pepper
whole wheat bread crumbs
olive oil

Preheat oven to 400.
On a sheet pan, drizzle sweet potato pieces with some olive oil, salt and pepper. Toss to coat then roast for about 20-30 minutes, or until soft when poked with a fork. Remove from heat and set aside.

While potatoes are roasting, saute onions in about 2 tsp olive oil over medium heat. Add the onions and after about 5 minutes of cooking, reduce the heat to low. Stir about every 3 minutes until evenly browned.
Bring heat back to medium and add in minced garlic.
Cook garlic for ~1 minute, then add in kale, a pinch of red pepper flakes, and a pinch of salt. Saute until kale has cooked down a bit, then add a touch of veggie broth or water, reduce heat and cover. Cook for ~4 minutes or until kale is tender. Finish with balsamic vinegar. Remove from heat.

In a bowl, mash sweet potato pieces then add in kale and onion mixture.
Let it cool, before adding in part of an egg, ricotta, and Parm.
Add salt, pepper, and a touch of fresh ground nutmeg to taste.
Roll mixture into 1 inch balls, then roll them in bread crumbs.
Place on and olive oiled baking sheet (I spritzed the balls with a bit of canola cooking spray on tops) and bake for 25-30 minutes, flipping them over after 15 minutes.
Let cool a bit, then serve.

Spaghetti with Kale and Bechamel:
Brown rice spaghetti or whatever spaghetti you like (Tinkyada makes excellent brown rice noods)
1 bunch of kale; destemmed, chopped small
~1/2 med. onion, chopped
red pepper flakes
salt/pepper
1 1/4 cup unsweetened almond milk (or any other milk you'd like to use)
2 Tbs butter
2 Tbs whole spelt flour (or other flour you'd like to use)
garlic powder
fresh ground nutmeg
salt/pepper
~2 Tbs grated Parm if you'd like

Cook spaghetti...and while it's boilling:

Heat ~1 Tbs olive oil a large skillet or Dutch oven over med-high heat.
Saute onion for about 5 minutes.
Add kale, a pinch of salt and toss to coat, cook down for about 1-2 minutes.
Add ~1/3 cup veggie broth, cover and reduce heat to low.
Braise for ~7+ minutes, or until tender.
Add a touch of balsamic and anything else you feel it needs...more salt, some pepper (black and or red pepper flakes).
Remove from heat and set aside.

Heat milk in a glass measuring cup in microwave until steaming, but not boiling (take care not to scald it.
In a sauce pan, heat butter til foamy over med. heat.
Add flour and stir, cooking for several minutes.
Slowly add in heated milk, whisking all the while.
Cook over med. low heat until thickened.
Add in spices to your taste. Stir in Parm if using.
Stir in kale and onion mixture and cooked spaghetti noodles, tossing to coat.

If you've made the sweet potato kale balls too, serve with them on top of the sketti.
Wow...kind of seemed like a lot of work, but it was worth it! I'm sure this will go faster the next time. Now that I know what I'm doing! :-)

Cabbage Dal: a big ol' bowl of comfort

2010-01-19T09:35:00.000-08:00

This was a lovely simple dal recipe that I found in...jeez, I can't find the source anywhere. Lame.
The dal was too yummy not to post though. Ladle the dal on top of brown rice, quinoa or millet and you've got yourself a total bowl of comfort.
The only change I made to the recipe as written below was to add a touch more cumin, corriander, and tumeric.

Cabbage Dal
Serves 4

2 tablespoons olive oil + more to cook ginger/chili/mustard seed mixture
1 large onion, finely chopped
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 a large head of cabbage, finely shredded
200g (split) red lentils, washed and drained
2 teaspoons whole black mustard seeds
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger
3 small red chillis, finely sliced (I used 2 serrano peppers sliced in thin rounds)

Heat 2 Tbs oil in a large, heavy-based pan, add the onion, cumin, coriander and turmeric and stir fry for about 5 mins on a medium heat until the onion is slightly browned.
Add the cabbage and continue cooking and stirring until the cabbage is covered in spices, slightly wilted but not yet cooked through.
Add the red lentils and cook for another 2 – 3 minutes while stirring to coat the lentils with all the spices. Add about 4 cups of water, bring to the boil and then turn the heat down as low as possible.
Put the lid on the pan and simmer for about 30 – 40 minutes (until lentils are cooked), stirring occasionally to prevent them sticking to the bottom of the pan. You may need to add a bit more water if it’s looking too thick.
Once the dal is cooked, heat about 1 to 1 1/2 (called for 2, but seemed a little oily the more I ate) more tablespoons of oil in a small saucepan. When hot put in the mustard seeds first, and then about 2 seconds later add the bay leaf, ginger and chillis. This mixture will pop and fizz away and it only needs to cook for about 10 seconds. Add mixture to the dal, stir, then cover immediately and leave for about 5 minutes before serving to let all the flavors combine.
This makes enough for 4 people. The recipe said that it freezes really well in case you'd like to make a larger quantity to save.

Gingerbread Popcorn: Streetname...G-Crack

2009-12-31T13:54:00.000-08:00

I'm loathe to even reprint this heinous recipe. Especially since it's after Christmas and there's absolutely no call, NO CALL I tell you, for making this. Just don't go there. Don't do it.
Weeeeelllll, you could just try a 1/3 of the recipe. Maybe 1/2 since it's easier to figure that way. ;-)

G-Crack:
(gleaned from Culinary in the Desert's blog)

15 cups of popped popcorn (I used 3 bags of Central Market's All Natural microwave popcorn)
2 cups of packed brown sugar
1 cup butter (2 sticks)
1/4 cup molasses
1/4 cup corn syrup
1 tablespoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Preheat oven to 250

Line 2 large baking dishes (I used 9 X 13 glass pans) with foil and coat with cooking spray. Fill each with 7 1/2 cups popcorn.

Combine butter, brown sugar, molasses, corn syrup, ginger, cinnamon, and salt in a large, heavy bottom saucepan. Heat over medium heat until mixture boils. Boil for 5 minutes; stirring frequently. Remove from heat and add baking soda. Pour over popcorn; toss to coat.

Bake at 250 for one hour, carefully stirring the warm mixture about every 15 minutes. Cool completely then store in an airtight container.

Vegan Spelt Banana Nut or Chocolate Muffins

2009-12-31T08:55:00.001-08:00

What's a gal to do when there are too many nanners in the house to eat up? Duh.

These are so scrummy! I just love whole spelt flour...tastes so much better than wheat in my opinion. The Monster isn't a fan of walnuts or pecans, either of which are very nice in this, so I made half (4) with walnuts for me, and half with some luxe organic dark chocolate chips for him.
If you'd rather bake up a loaf, this fits nicely in an 4.5" x 8.5" loaf pan and would cook in about 42 minutes according to the original (pre-tweeking) recipe I found on Recipe Zaar.
This made 8 regular sized muffins for me. After "samples", 6 for the freezer!

Update: This has been my go-to banana bread recipe since the first time I made it. I know they're not vegan when made this way, but I now usually add 3/4 of a bar of Lindt "Touch of Sea Salt" chocolate; chopped, and about 1/3 cup nuts (if the Monster lets me get away with it).

Vegan Spelt Banana Nut or Chocolate Muffins:

3 ripe bananas (I had small organic nanners...I used 4 1/2 totalling about 1 1/4 cups mashed?)
1/2 cup agave nectar or maple syrup (I use agave and I use 1/3 of a cup to make it plenty sweet)
3 Tbs canola oil (I've been using extra-virgin coconut oil lately...yum!)
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 1/2 cups whole spelt flour
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp fine sea salt
~3/4 cup walnuts or pecans (I've made this recipe so many times now and settled on using a combo of 8 squares chopped Lindt Touch of Sea Salt dark chocolate bar + ~1/3 cup walnuts)

Heat oven to 350.
Oil muffin tin (or loaf pan...cooking for ~42 min).
In a bowl, mash bananas then add agave/maple, canola oil, and vanilla.
In a separate bowl, sift together spelt flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon.
Blend the wet and dry mixtures, then fold in nuts or chocolate chips.
Pour into oiled muffin and bake for about 22-23 minutes, or until tops just spring back upon applying gentle pressure and or a toothpick comes out cleanly.
Remove from oven and let cool in tin for about 5 minutes.
Remove from tin and place on a rack to finish cooling.
I do highly recommend at least one or 2 "sample" muffins eaten warm.