Waffles that can keep a secret

Posted on March 25, 2013 by ds331

We were visiting Tampa, where my sister in law and her family live and where we coincidentally had a wedding to attend. Bonus! This am I decided to entertain my cutie pettutie niece, Chipmunk, by having her be my sous chef. The girl’s got talent. At 4 she can work a butter knife like the best of them (she used it to cut fruit). And pour and stir. I even had her working the beater (with my hand on it) and singing to the eggs to make them beat faster (or so i told her).

What’s the secret? Zucchini and apple and spices–stuff kids don’t necessarily want in their waffles. It had us contemplating selling a line of hidden vegetable froZen kids meals.

Ingredients
2 C all purpose flour
1 C corn meal
4 eggs, separated
2 T yogurt
2/3 C oil
1 med zucchini
1 apple
1 T cardamom
1 T cinnamon
A pinch of cloves ground
Water as needed to thin batter
Fruit for a topping I used peaches and apples

The method
1. Grate zucchini and apples. Set aside in large mixing bowl
2. Separate eggs
3. Beat egg whites until they resemble what cm said was “fluffy marshmallow clouds”
4.measure out flours and oil into bowl with The zucchinis and apples.
5. Add yolks and yogurt. Mix well.
6. Grind or mortar/pestle the spices and add
7. Fold in egg whites
8. Add water if batter is too thick–shouldn’t be thin

Set aside
Chop fruit. Put in saucepan add Water cinnamon, cardamom, a T brown sugar and cook down.

Heat waffle iron and add 3 ice cream scoops of bAtter. Cook according to iron. Top with compote and enjoy

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Roasted Butternut Squash and Carrots with tahini-sriracha sauce

Posted on March 12, 2013 by ds331

Multi-colored Organic Carrots for Photo BlogsThis recipe is somewhat random…and yet it somehow works. I thought it was pretty tasty. More carrots were bought this week. Along with a butternuts squash and some golden beets….necessitating more roasting. The idea for this came from a recipe for roasted carrots with spring onions and hazlenuts. It just sounded bland…so i started thinking of ways to add more flavor…and came up with this experiment.  Maybe it was all the  facebook posts about sriracha last week.

Ingredients

  • 1 butternut squash chopped into pieces (i used a precut one)
  • 1 tbs olive oil
  • 1 tbs balsamic vinegar
  • 3 carrots
  • 1-2 Tbs tahini
  • 1-2 tbs sriracha
  • 1 handful cashews or any other nut
  • 1/2 an onion (i think green onion would be good in this)
  • 1 oz cheddar cheese (yes this is the random part)
  1. Preheat oven to 450
  2. Line a pan with parchment. Drizzle olive oil and balsamic over the butternut squash. I also sprinkled a little chili powder over it…you don’t have to. Sprinkle with salt
  3. Wrap carrots in foil
  4. toss both in the oven until they soften. The butternut squash cooked first–quickly, maybe 20 mins. the carrots took longer, almost 35-40 (Note:  wasn’t precisely timing it so go with how it feels)
  5. Cool carrots til you can touch them. chop up the carrots into bit sized pieces (note you could do this before roasting. I forgot).
  6. Saute onion in a skillet. Add the squash and carrots. Add the tahini, sriracha. Sprinkle in a little water if the sauce is too thick. Sprinkle in the cheese and mix up until cheese is melted and the flavors come together (about 7 mins).
  7. Toast the cashews and toss in.

I used this mixture as a filling for my veggie puffs recipe and I also ate it for dinner with some quinoa. versatile.

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Lentil Quinoa Veggie Burgers

Posted on March 12, 2013 by ds331

Last week the Washington Post had some great veggie recipes…this is a modification of one of them the BGR veggie burger.  BGR makes a pretty good veggie burger. I modified the recipe because I wanted to make it a tad healthier (quinoa instead of rice and I eliminated the frying step) and I used lentils because I don’t eat black beans. I also halved the recipe…they must make some FAT burgers…because I still got 10 pretty good sized ones (they said serves 12). I also didn’t feel the need to eat this on a bun.

vegbrgr 1

The ingredients:

  • 1 cup quinoa (pre cooked is fine)
  • 1 sweet potato cooked or…combo of sweet potato and accorn squash (what I used)
  • 1 cup french lentils, cooked
  • 1 T Garlic paste
  • 1 link of veggie sausage (field roast mexican chipotle was my choice) chopped up
  • 1/8-1/4 cup barbeque sauce (i used a combo of regular bbq sauce and asian bbq)
  • 1/8 cup molasses
  • salt to taste

The Method

  1. The recipe starts with pre-cooking your ingredients. Cook the quinoa (follow the instructions on your package. I boil water and then add it to the quiona and bring it down to a simmer).
  2. Cook the lentils (I did 2 cups water to 1 cup lentil over medium heat).
  3. My sweet potato and squash were pre cooked–left overs from last week. But you can toss one in the microwave for about 7 minutes (wrap it in a wet paper towel).
  4. Preheat oven to 400 (the orig recipie says 375 and 350…i think they will be too wet)
  5. Put the bbq sauces and molasses into a mixing bowl.
  6. Mix in the lentils–mash them up some. Add the sweet potato/squash–make sure that is mashed too. Add the quinoa. Mix well. Add garlic paste. Add the veggie sausage bits (chop them into fine pieces or pull apart)
  7. Line a pan with parchment and form patties on it.
  8. Bake at 400 for about 20 mins. Reduce heat to 375 or 350 and continue baking for another 10-15 mins. You want the patties to be dry to the touch on top, but still be moist (you don’t want to dry them out completely).
  9. Cool and enjoy with your favorite toppings…or just plain. I topped a patty with my next recipe post (carrots and butternut squash with tahini-sriracha sauce)
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Roasted Brussels Sprouts with cashews and caramelized onions

Posted on March 7, 2013 by ds331

I can’t say I am a brussels sprouts lover. But recently, I’ve tried braising and roasting them, mixing them with other ingredients…and I really do like them.
 The braised version caramelizes them (you do this by placing brussels sprouts halves in a big skillet with a little liquid and let it brown. add a  more liquid a little at a time. I mix these with caramelized onions, raisins, and pine nuts.

We picked up some at a cool little market in DC called “Union Market”. The roasted version is also pretty interesting….here is what I did with them:

Ingredients

  • 1 bunch of brussels sprouts, halved
  • 1/2 onion
  • a handful of cashews (toasted)
  • raisins
  • a drizzle of olive oil
  • a dash of red chilli flakes
  • salt and pepper to taste

The method

  1. Preheat oven to 400
  2. Cut brussels sprouts in half
  3. Line a baking pan with parchment paper
  4. Line the brussels sprout halves on the pan and drizzle with oil
  5. sprinkle with salt, pepper, and chili flakes
  6. Bake until golden and crispy . Careful not to burn them-watch them.
  7. while the brussels are cooking, chop onion into thin strips. Put in a pan with a little smidge of olive oil. cook until golden/caramelized.
  8. Toast cashews and raisins in the same pan (or separate).
  9. Toss with the cooked brussels sprouts.

 

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Beet salad stacks (Roasted beets with Parmesan, pistachio, arugula & carrots)

Posted on March 6, 2013 by ds331

Snowday post 2:

Along with carrots, husband brought home a bunch of red beets as well. Since I was already roasting things, I roasted these as well…and then built a tasty salad out of them…using the previous spicy sweet carrots recipe and much more. I’ve been making a slightly different version of this each day–each time using 1 beet.

Beet stack Ingredients (serves 2)

  • 1 roasted beet
  • 8 pieces of the roasted carrots (less is fine)
  • a handful of arugula (10-15 leaves?)
  • a handful of pistachios
  • 1 oz shaved parmesan

Balsamic dressing ingredients

  • 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
  • 1/8 cup olive oil
  • 1 T tahini (makes it creamy)
  • garlic paste or 1 clove of garlic
  • a dash of honey (1/2 T?)

Tools that help

  • A mandolin
  • 2″ round cookie cutter (for a mold)

The method

  1. Roast the beets (in a foil packet at 450 takes about 45 mins)
  2. Slice one beet thinly with a mandolin. a knife would work too…
  3. Mix up the dressing ingredients
  4. Start stacking! On a plate, place your 2″ cookie cutter if you have it. put down 2 beet slices. add a drizzle of dressing. add some arugula on top of this. Add the carrot slices on top of this. Add a little shaved parmesan. drizzle a little more dressing. Then add another slice or 2 of beet. add the pistachos on to p and drizzle a little more dressing.

 

 

 

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Spicy Sweet Carrots

Posted on March 6, 2013 by ds331

No snow around here (booh), but a snow day…a good time to post a backlog of recipes!

Multi-colored Organic Carrots for Photo Blogs

My husband brought a bunch of beautiful multicolored carrots home on Sunday…so it was time to find some good things to do with them. Three recipes–This and this and this were my inspiration….I took it and ran with it (modified a wee bit).

Ingredients

  • 1 bunch carrots (multicolored)
  • 1/4 Balsamic vinegar (one recipe called for 1 cup of pomegranate molases–i didn’t have it so I used a sweet balsamic we got from Greece)
  • 1 T honey or agave syrup
  • 1 T beet juice (I roasted beets while I roasted these carrots…and used that…however, it turned the whole lot a litle purple so you may not want to use it. )
  • teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1/2 t ground cardamom
  • 1/4 t nutmeg
  • 1/4 t all spice
  • 1/4 t chilli powder
  • 1 T olive oil
  • 1 handful pinenuts
  • 1 handful chopped parsley

The method

  1. I love roasting veggies–it comes out so well. So…that’s what I did. Preheat oven to 450
  2. Peel carrots, chop into quarters (baby carrot sized)
  3. Grind spices, mix with balsamic and olive oil. Add chopped carrots into the mixture
  4. Strain the carrots (save the liquid) and put into a piece of foil. Make a foil packet
  5. Roast for 1/2 hour, however long it takes to get soft and tasty.
  6. Meanwhile, heat a saucepan to medium and add the balsamic mixture and the beet juice if you are using that. reduce down. stir regularly and be careful–you don’t want to scorch it. You want it to become a thick syrup.
  7. Remove carrots from the oven. toss with the pine nuts and parsley. Mix in the balsamic syrup. Serve warm.
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Poached egg on mushrooms and toast

Posted on February 17, 2013 by ds331

This was inspired by an item I saw on a menu. I thought “I can do that”…and so for brunch yesterday, I did! Everyone (our friend, my husband, and me) seemed to like it.

Ingredient (serves 3)

  • 1 package mixed mushrooms (shitake, portabella, crimini, oyster)
  • 1 baby zucchini
  • 1/2 red bell pepper
  • 6 eggs
  • 1/2 onion
  • 3 pieces of toast
  • 1/4 cup parsley chopped
  • salt and pepper to taste

The method

  1. sautee the onion with some olive oil until it is golden.
  2. Grate the zucchini, chop the peppers into tiny pieces. Chop parsley.
  3. Add mushrooms and chopped veggies/herbs to pan with onion. cook down (prob 5-7 mins). Set aside
  4. Poach the eggs. the method I usd: Fill a saucepan with about 3 inches of water (I actually used 3 pots for the 6 eggs…this kept them separate). Bring to a low boil (just boil) and lower the flame. You want something between a simmer and a boil.
  5. Have your eggs cracked–I used small pinch bowls for each egg.
  6. Add a splash of vinegar to your saucepans.
  7. Slide your eggs in and make a swirl in the water with the back of the spoon (to bring the white together). Cover and set a timer for 4 mins. that’s the max if you want runny eggs.
  8. If you have a 2″ round cookie cutter get that out.
  9. Toast some bread. cut a 2’round in the bread. leave the cookie cutter ont he bread. it is your mold.
  10. Spoon mushroom mixture into the round.
  11. Top with 2 poached eggs. repeat. sprinkle with pepper and salt and serve with some more toast.

 

 

 

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Fatoosh Salad

Posted on February 8, 2013 by ds331

Here’s an easy twist on a Mediterranean Fatoosh Salad. We didn’t have some of the ingredients that the recipe called for, but had some other things laying around….so I reinvented the recipe.

Fatoosh Salad!

Ingredients

  • 1 Green Onion
  • 1 yellow bell pepper
  • 1/4 red onion
  • 1/2 bulb of fennel
  • 1 rib of celery
  • 1/4 of a poblano pepper (alternate…use a little chilli powder or cayenne powder)
  • 3 Tbs Red Wine Vinegar
  • 3 Tbs Lime (or lemon) juice
  • 1 1/2 Tbs Olive Oil
  • 1 Tbs agave syrup (sugar is fine)
  • 1/4 cup parsley (or dried parsley)
  • 1/8 cup basil (optional)
  • 1 cup of salad greens (i used a bagged mix of romaine, mesculin, raddiccho, and arugula)
  • 1 avocado
  • 2 pieces of pita (I used sandwich thins…they got crispy)
  • 8 pieces of Gardein brand crispy chick’n (fake chicken…i didn’t use the sauce)
  • 5-7 pistachios
  • sprinkle of Parmesan cheese

Fixins

The Method

  1. Toast the bread until it is extra crispy. You could add olive oil and zatar. I didn’t.
  2. Crisp the chick’n in a  non-stick skillet. no oil needed.
  3. Chop the green onions, onion, peppers, celery, poblano, and fennel into thin, small pieces. Chop avocado into tiny squares. (mine was very ripe)
  4. In a salad bowl, toss in the salad greens (chop them finer if you wish). Add the chopped veggies.
  5. Make dressing: In a small bowl, whisk the olive oil, red wine vinegar, agave and lime juice. Add in the basil & parsley.
  6. When you are ready to eat, break up the bread into bite sized pieces. Toss in the bowl. Add in the chikn. Toss with the dressing and enjoy. (don’t let this sit too long…you don’t want it to get soggy!)

 

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Polenta with Chard, sun dried tomatoes, and caremelized onions

Posted on February 4, 2013 by ds331

This is the last of my cooking for tonight (I cook in bursts–I actually made one more dish too, daal makhni). I saw a vegetarian times recipe for grits with kale and caramelized onions. I took that and played with it–I had cornmeal but no grits so I made polenta. (the NYT happens to have a good polenta recipe up, which is where I got the idea for the rest of this). This was what I did with the chard I bought.

Ingredients

  • 1 cup cornmeal
  • 2 cups water
  • 3/4 sweet onion
  • 2 bunches of chard
  • 6 sundried tomatoes chopped
  • leftover blue cheese sauce from yesterday (2 oz blue cheese, 1/2 cup milk, 1 Tbs flour)
  • handful of pine nuts

The method

  1. In a saucepan, bring 2 cups of water to a boil. Reduce to medium and add the cornmeal slowly. Whisk quickly for 3 minutes. Reduce to low, cover, and stir every 10 mins for about 3o-40 mins. Add extra water if it seems too thick.
  2. Rinse chard and remove the leaves from the stems. Chop into 2 inch pieces. Place in a deep skillet with a little olive oil. Cover and let steam for 5-7 mins or until wilted. set aside.
  3. In skillet, add olive oil. Chop onions into thin slivers. Add to oil and stir. Cover and let caramelize (15 mins?). Stirring occasonally, careful not to burn.
  4. Mix the chard, onions, and blue cheese sauce. Toss in the pine nuts
  5. Preheat oven to 350. Line a baking pan with parchment and spray with cooking spray. Pour on half of the polenta and spread. Pour on the chard mix and spread flat. Top with remaining polenta.
  6. Bake for 15-20 mins. Remove and eat.
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Mushrooms and kale with faro

Posted on February 4, 2013 by ds331

I bought some kale and chard yesterday and was looking for something to do. I’ve also never tried faro so I bought some yesterday. Faro and kale seem all the rage lately. I couldn’t understand why…but with this dish, it worked. The lacinto kale isn’t too kaley. and the faro had a nice bite. I like.

Ingredients

  • 1 bunch lacinto kale
  • 1 package (8 oz) mixed mushrooms (“gourmet mushrooms” from Wholefoods is what I used)
  • 6 cloves of garlic (yes, really, that’s what the recipe I based this on called for)
  • 1 cup of faro
  • 2 cups of water
  • 1 oz blue cheese
  • 1 handful pine nuts
  • 1 handful raisins
  • salt and pepper to taste
  1. Wash and remove the stems from the kale. Chop into 1″ pieces.
  2. In a large pan, add olive oil and sautee garlic for 5 mins. (you can use some onion too if you wish). Add the mushrooms and cook for 5-7 mins until golden. Season with salt and pepper. Add pine nuts and raisins and cook for a few mins. Set aside
  3. Add a little olive oil and the kale. Cover and steam for 5-7 mins until wilted and cooked. Set aside
  4. In the same pan, add the water and faro. cover and cook (follow the directions….mine took about 20-25 mins).
  5. Mix all of the ingredients together with the blue cheese.

 

 

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Stuffed Sweet Potato Skins (another superbowl dish)

Posted on February 4, 2013 by ds331

The last of last night’s superbowl dishes was: Stuffed sweet potato skins. A melding of 2 different recipes that is a little time consuming but rather tasty.

Ingredients

  • 2 sweet potatoes
  • 1 link of “Field Roast” mexican chipotle fake sausage, crumbled into pieces
  • 2 oz cheddar cheese, grated
  • 1 tsp chilli powder
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 tsp kosher salt
  • 1/2 bunch of scallions, chopped

The method

  1. Preheat oven to 450 (helps to be baking other things, too)
  2. Cut the sweet potatoes in half lengthwise.
  3. Wrap the sweet potatoes in foil. Bake for about 30-35 minutes–unitl you can cut them in half and scoop out the flesh without disturbing the skin. Too long and it will be hard to save the skin. Save the inside of the sweet potato in a bowl.
  4. Mix the spices. sprinkle them on both sides of the sweet potato skins.
  5. Toss in half of the grated cheese over the 4 skins.
  6. Bake for 15 minutes (careful, they may burn, so take them out if they are getting dark). That said I charred mine by accident and people liked it.
  7. While the skins are baking, mix up the sweet potato insides with a little cinnamon, scallions, and the sausage pieces.
  8. Stuff the skins with filling, top with remaining cheese and bake again for 15 mins. Yes really, a 3rd time.
  9. top with guacamole or sour cream or anything else you wish.

 

 

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Wholegrain Cranberry Fig Muffins

Posted on February 3, 2013 by ds331

I saw a tasty recipe for fig cornmeal muffins in the New York Times and I tinkered with it.

  • photo1 cup figs
  • 1/2 cup cranberries (mine happen to be frozen–bought too many fresh cranberries at thanksgiving, but they are coming in useful now)
  • 1 C almond meal
  • 1/2 C cornmeal
  • 1/4 cup oatmeal
  • 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
  • 1T Baking powder
  • 1 t baking soda
  • 1/2 cup orange juice
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 cup yogurt (i used blueberry because that’s what we had. plain would be ok)
  • 3 T agave syrup
  1. Beat eggs.
  2. Add baking powder & baking soda.
  3. Add flours.
  4. Add orange juice Stir until moist (you may need to add a little water). Add agave, figs, and cranberries
  5. mix well with a fork
  6. Fill muffin  cups lined with papers.
  7. Bake at 350 for 30 mins until golden.
  8. Serves 12.
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Mushroom Lentil Burgers and Mango lentils

Posted on February 3, 2013 by ds331

Mango lentils, you ask? It’s a wee bit sweet, but our verdict was that it was tasty. We then turned that into a veggie burger. (photo coming later when we make this again)

Part 1: Mango lentils

Ingredients

  • 1/2 c french lentils (black lentils would work too)
  • 1 cup water
  • 1 stick cinnamon
  • 1 T jeera (cumin seeds)
  • 1 T coriander seeds
  • 1 t asofedita (hing)
  • 1 t turmeric
  • 1 t chilli powder
  • 1 raw mango (don’t use a sweet mango–the raw becomes sweet as it is!)
  • 1/2 onion sliced
  • 1 t ginger
  • 2 cloves of garlic

The method part I

  1. Chop the onions and garlic. Sautee in a saucepan with a little bit of olive oil.
  2. Grind the cumin and corainder. Add to the pan with the onions. Add turmeric, chili powder, and asofedita. Sautee for a few mins (til aromatic)
  3. Add lentils and water.
  4. Cube the mango and add to the pot.
  5. Cover and let come to a boil. Reduce to simmer for about a half hour (or as long as it takes for the lentils to get soft.

Parte Deux: The mushroom-lentil burgers

  • equipment needed: Food processor

Ingredients: (this is based on a recipe)

  • 1 egg
  • 5 slices of bread or….1 cup of breadcrumbs ( i used cornbread stuffing that I crushed in the food processor)
  • 2 Portabella mushroom caps
  • 1/2 red onion
  • the mango lentils
  • 1 oz grated cheddar cheese

The Method

  1. In the food processor, crumble up the bread or breadcrumbs until fine. Add one mushroom (save the other for later in the recipe (item 7) and crumble those too.
  2. Add the lentils and puree. Remove lid.
  3. Test to see if you can form patties. If not, add more bread crumbs.
  4. Form round patties. Heat a skillet/griddle to medium high. Add a little olive oil. Cook patties about 4 minutes on each side.
  5. Chop the remaining mushrooms and onion. Heat skillet with a little olive oil. Sautee onions and mushrooms. Add a little balsamic olive oil to the pan.
  6. Serve burgers with the mushroom onion topping, a little cheddar cheese, and a little fresh tomato.
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Test kitchen 1: Edamame ginger dip

Posted on February 3, 2013 by ds331

These are recipes I’d like to try
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/spicy-ginger-and-coconut-edamame-dip-recipe/index.html

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Superbowl “Buffalo” Cauliflower

Posted on February 3, 2013 by ds331

Why Buffalo cauliflower, you ask? We saw the recipe and were curious. And it turned out to be tasty!Ingredients

  • 1 head of cauliflower broken into florets
  • 1/8 cup Sriracha (less if you wish)
  • 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
  • 1/8 cup water
  • 4-6 oz blue cheese
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 1 Tablespoon flour
  • 1/4 red onion
  • 2 ribs celery

The Method

  1. Preheat oven to 450
  2. Line a pan with parchement paper.
  3. lay florets of cauliflower on pan and spray with cooking spray. Place in oven and roast until it browns/is crispy
  4. Put sriracha, balsamic, and water in a bowl and mix around.
  5. Heat 1/2 c milk in a saucepan. Add blue cheese and mix around until melted. Add flour and mix well. Let cook for a few more minutes. cool.
  6. When the cauliflower is done, combine with the sriracha sauce. mix well. add 1/2 of the blue cheese sauce and mix.
  7. Chop celery and onion into fine pieces. Mix into dish.
  8. Enjoy!

 

 

 

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Superbowl inspired Jalapeno Soft Pretzels

Posted on February 3, 2013 by ds331

Inspiration and base recipe from Smitten Kitchen…with a few little tweaks. We weren’t sure how these would turn out….but the verdict was that they are awesome. There are only 2 left on the plate!

Ingredients (note: one adaptation was to halve the original recipe)

Makes 20 mini soft pretzels

  • 1 Cup warm water (100-110 degrees)
  • 2 Tablespoons quick yeast (the kind you use with bread machines–this is an adaptation in amount–doubled it to make the rise quicker) and ingredient–she called for active dry yeast)
  • 1 Tablespoon sugar
  • 2 1/2 Cups pastry flour
  • 1 T baking soda
  • 1/2 jalapeno chopped finely (use more if you want it spicier)

The method

1) Combine the water, yeast and sugar. Whisk and set aside for 10 minutes. It will froth and rise.

2) Add the flour to the yeast. Mix well. Cover with a kitchen towel and set aside. (anywhere from 1/2 hour to 1 hour). It will double or triple.

3) While it is rising, line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper. Spray with cooking spray. (this saves you from scrubbing the pan later).

4) Punch down the dough (to get rid of bubbles). Mix in the jalapenos.

5) Pinch off pieces of dough to make a long thin rope. Sprinkle flour over the top  of the dough as needed. (my dough was sticky).

6) Place the rope of dough on a cookie sheet. Make a  twisted heart shape(a pretzel shape)…repeat.

7) Heat up a large saucepan with 2 inches of water. Bring to a boil and then reduce to medium. Add 1 Tablespoon salt and 1 Tablespoon of baking soda. be careful. (the water level rises quickly)

8) Add 3-4 pretzels into the saucepan. Poach about 1 min on each side. Remove and place on a cookie sheet.

9) Preheat an oven to 450. Place cookie sheets in the oven and bake til golden brown. (15 mins).

Serve with honey mustard and any other sauce you wish.

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Wholegrain berry pancakes with Bananas Foster toping

Posted on February 3, 2013 by ds331

I love brunch and so I try new recipes each Saturday (or sometimes go back to old standards). Last Saturday, I tried out a new recipe on my husband, one that appears successful!

Ingredients for the pancakes

  • 1/3 c oat flour
  • 1/3 c. cornmeal
  • 1/3 c whole wheat flour
  • 1 egg
  • 1 T baking powder
  • 1 t baking soda
  • 1/3 c water
  • 1 handful blueberries
  • 1 handful frozen cranberries
  • 1 T almond extract
  • 1 T vanilla extract
  • 1 T cinnamon
  • 1 dash nutmeg
  • 1 dash allspice

Method for the pancakes

Beat the egg. Add the dry ingredients into it. Add water and stir/whisk until smooth (add more or less water depending on how thick you want the pancakes). Add in the extracts, flavorings, and then the berries. let sit for a few minutes while you heat a griddle with a little olive oil rubbed on. Pour pancakes, turning when you see bubbles on the topisde. flip and cook until golden.

Topping

  • 2 ripe bananans
  • 1/4 cup brown sugar
  • 1 handful walnuts or pecans
  • dashes of cinnamon, all spice and nutmeg

Cook down the bananas with the sugar and spices in a small saucepan on medium heat. Add a dash of water if you feel like it is sticking to the pan. Cook until the bananas let out water and become  runny (6 mins approx). That’s it!

Top pancakes with banana topping and eat. You may need a little syrup.

nutrition analysis

  • servings: 2
  • calories: 300
  • 3 g fat
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New Years Day Wholegrain Biscuits

Posted on February 3, 2013 by ds331

It’s been a long fallow period, but starting now , I will begin posting more regularly 🙂

We returned from a 3 week trip to India on New Years Eve. So when we woke up on New Years Day hungry there wasn’t much in the house. We wanted to start the year off right, though we decided on eggs and biscuits. I found a recipe that I modifed to make it wholegrain (and still really tasty and moist)

**Note, post amended with a few things I originally forgot. Water–the dough needs to come together. I am pondering a teaspoon of baking soda. My attempt today was tasty but did not rise much (less than the new years day version)….still soft but could use a little more rise.

Ingredients

  • 1/3 cup whole wheat pastry flour
  • 1/3 cup oat flour
  • 1/3 cup corn flour (could try a different one)
  • 4 Tablespoons powdered milk
  • 1/4 C olive oil
  • 1 1/2 T Baking powder
  • 1 Tablespoon flax seeds
  • 1 Tablespoon sesame seeds
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/3 cup water (more/less as needed–add a little at a time)

The method

Mix up all the ingredients. roll out and cut with a 2″ round cookie cutter or just roll into a round, press flat. Bake at 350 until golden.

nutrition analysis (from calorie count recipes):

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Thanksgiving Pizza (pre-thanksgiving experiment #2)

Posted on November 19, 2012 by ds331

What does one do with a large cooked squash and a mound of veggies and stuffing? A pizza, duh! At this point, you might be thinking “huh?” but really, that’s what came to mind as I was on my way home tonight. And it was good!

Ingredients

toppings

  • Pineapple salsa ( i bought this from whole foods yesterday. It makes a good complementary sauce)
  • 2 Tablespoons pesto
  • 1 cup cooked butternut squash sliced into thin pieces
  • 1 cup of c00ked veggie mixes from yesterday (or sautee a mix of mushrooms, onions, scallions, red bell pepper, a veggie sausage, and a jalapeno)
  • Cheese (i used what we had in the fridge–which is a jack cheese with dill. pretty sure good ol mozzarella would be good too)
  • basil

crust (thanks Mark Bittman)

  • 1 1/2 cups Flour
  • 2 Tablespoons Active Yeast (not quick)
  • 2 Tablespoons olive oil
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 1 T salt

♠ Equipment: Pizza stone, stand mixer  or food processor (not required)

♠ The Method

  1. Put the pizza stone on the bottom rack and preheat your oven to 500 degrees.
  2. Start with the crust.
  3. In your mixer bowl, put in the flour, yeast, olive oil, and salt. Start the mixer on low.
  4. Add in the water and let it mix until the dough forms into a ball
  5. Wrap the dough ball in saran wrap. Set aside for 20 minutes…or 2 hours…

when the dough has risen some…

  1. put it between 2 pieces of parchment paper and roll out thinly ( i like thin crust pizza)
  2. remove top layer of parchment.
  3. Put the parchment with the dough on it onto a pizza peel if you have one.
  4. Top with 1-2 spoons of the salsa (I tried to use the solid portions and leave out the water–you don’t want it to get soggy).
  5. Sprinkle on the veggie mix and then the cheese, distributing evenly.
  6. I use a pizza peel to slide the whole thing into the oven.
  7. bake about 20 mins or until the crust is golden on the edges and cooked & crispy.

And there you have it. A pizza to give thanks over.

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butternut squash veggie tofurkeyducken (now with recipe)!

Posted on November 18, 2012 by ds331

Remember the Turducken? Well obviously that’s not happening in my vegetarian kitchen or on my parent’s vegetarian table.

But we do love to be creative and try new things–every year we have a little challenge (my sister, cousins, mom, and our various in laws) to find and make a new creative recipe. We send out links to new recipes the NY Times Thanksgiving recipes, the Washington Posts, Food & Wine, Food TV, and Vegetarian Times…and pick the ones we think are the best.

This year’s has promise of:

  • An eggplant soup
  • pumpkin ravioli
  • butternut lasagna
  • jalapeno cornbread
  • a casserole featuring veggies, cranberries, and other ingredients…

This year, one of my entries was found by my husband. He found a cooking channel video for a vegetarian version of a turducken–a squash stuffed with a sweet potato, stuffed with leeks, stuffing and other items. I decided it was too simple (flavor wise) for our table..so I flavored it up. In went pesto, various mushrooms, a cornbread stuffing and jalapenos, among other things….oh yes. It was good. it will make an appearance on the table.

The recipe…
(aka, how does one do that and why?)

  • 1 butternut squash
  • 1 bunch of scallions
  • 1 portabella mushroom
  • 1 onion
  • 3 chanterelle mushrooms
  • 3 oyster mushrooms
  • pesto
  • 1 jalapeno pepper
  • 2 Field Roast Mexican Chipotle veggie “sausages”
  • 1/2 red bell pepper
  • 1 sweet potato
  • cornbread stuffing mix (or stuffing mix…or stuffing from scratch, which was my original plan)
  • 2 cups of vegetable stock
  • 1 apple
  • 1/8 cup pecans
  1. Preheat the oven to 450
  2. Peel the butternut squash and wrap in foil (you can pre-cook in the microwave if you want to bake it for less time).
  3. Wrap the sweet potato in foil too
  4. Chop the onion and scallion and saute until golden in a drizzle of olive oil. set aside.
  5. Chop the mushrooms into 1″ pieces and sautee those too. Set aside.
  6. Chop the red bell pepper and jalapeno and sautee. Set aside.
  7. chop the sausages and cook for 5 mins.
  8. Chop the apples and pecans.
  9. Now…to prepare the stuffing: Toss  1/2 a package of stuffing mix, apples, pecans, and 1/2 of the scallion/leek, bell pepper/jalapeno, and sausage mixtures.
  10. The oven should be hot by now. Throw the stuffing into a bakeproof (corning-like) pan and put it into the oven, along with the wrapped sweet potato and butternut squashes too. Bake all of it about 40 mins. Pull all of it out of the oven (but leave the oven on…you’ll need it in a fewminutes)
  11. After 4o mins check the squash to see if you can cut into it. If you can…cut off the bulb end and spoon out the seeds. Cut the squash in 1/2 lengthwise.
  12. Lay 1/2 of the squash in a baking dish. Drizzle a layer of pesto. Then spoon a layer of scallion/onion mix, jalapeno/pepper mix, mushroom mix, then stuffing.
  13. Slice the sweet potato into wedges and add on top. Push down.
  14. Repeat the layers until you run out (i did 2 layers)
  15. Put some foil on top of the baking dish and put back into the oven.

Bake again 20-30 minutes.

Suggestions/hints:

  • consider using smaller individual serving squashes–the big one is a little hard to cut/serve neatly
  • we considered marinading the squash…maybe next time.
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