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Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

17 Friday Feb 2012

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Could not be easier!

Combine:

  • 3-5 mashed up over-ripe bananas
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1.5 cups flour (half whole wheat if you want)
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 egg
  • .25 cups oil (I use grape seed, light olive works, etc.)
  • handful chocolate chips (and/or walnuts – yum!)

Bake in loaf pan at 350 degrees for up to an hour. I use these mini loaf pans so they finish faster. You should be able to insert a toothpick in the middle and have it come out clean.

For a lower fat version, you can substitute .25 cups apple sauce + a dash of oil for the full quarter cup of oil. Comes out very moist and delicious!

Blueberry Tea

17 Friday Feb 2012

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Blueberry Tea is one of my favorite winter beverages – no better way to relax and warm up after a chilly day. It is also excellent for a sore throat.

Combine the following in a brandy snifter:

  • 1 oz. Grand Marnier
  • 1 oz. Amaretto
  • 2-3 oz. Hot Black Tea

This combination of liqueurs and tea will create a fruity, almost blueberry-like flavor. Start will less black tea and adjust to your taste.

By the way, if you see this recipe somewhere else that calls for Orange pekoe tea, that’s just a designation of black tea – not actually an orange flavored tea. You can also try Earl Grey tea or other.

Cheers!

Super Food Chocolate Shake

17 Friday Feb 2012

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Dark chocolate is great for you – it’s high in antioxidants, can reduce blood pressure, improve circulation and elevate mood. Plus, let’s be honest, you crave it. By using raw cacao powder in this delicious vegan shake, you get all the satisfaction and benefits of this incredible super food without the processing or additives.

I use oat milk instead of soy milk because I’m concerned about the negative impacts of too much soy on the thyroid. I love tofu so I’m saving my soy intake for that. Almond, rice and hemp milk are great options too.

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In a blender:

  • 1 Banana
  • 4 tsps Cacao Powder
  • 3 scoops Stevia (white on cacao in photo, use scoop in package)
  • ¾ cups Oat Milk
  • 5-8 Ice Cubes

Customize your shake:

Matcha Powder: Add 1 tsp or less.
Matcha (photographed with ingredients above) is finely-ground green tea with a brilliant color. It’s used in the Japanese tea ceremony as well as cooking – if you’ve seen green tea flavored ice cream, you’ve seen matcha. Because you consume the entire tea leaf, matcha offers the health benefits of green tea in a much more potent form. But if you’re sensitive to caffeine, you might avoid this in the evening.

Raw Almonds: Add about 12 nuts.
A great way to make the shake a bit more satiating, almonds are a good source of Vitamin E and have a moderately anti-inflammatory effect.

Acai Powder: Add 1 tsp plus.
Rich in antioxidants, this will add some berry flavor but very little sweetness to your shake. Acai berries were the “it” food a few years ago and now we’re seeing a backlash to some of the more extreme claims such as miraculous weight loss. Still, as a potent red berry they have plenty of good stuff for you.

Maca Powder: Add 1 tsp.
This plant thrives in the Andes where few other plants can grow. It will add a slight malty flavor to your shake. Maca’s unique nutritional profile is optimal for supporting the endocrine system – in fact, Maca has a reputation for improving libido and fertility. My advice is think twice about adding this to your diet if you take birth control.

Cinnamon: Add .5 tsp.
If you like cinnamon, it tastes great in this shake and happens to have a whole host of health benefits including anti-inflammatory properties, lowering your bad LDL cholesterol, and helping to regulate blood sugar.

Gazpacho

17 Friday Feb 2012

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Here’s something wonderfully refreshing. I’ll serve this instead of a salad with Mexican meals. Make it an hour or more ahead of time and refrigerate as gazpacho, like revenge, is a dish best served cold.

Ingredients and Instructions:

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Clockwise from top left:

  • 2 cups Tomato Juice (fresh if you have a juicer!)
  • ½ large Red Onion, chopped
  • ½ cup White Balsamic Wine Vinegar
  • ¼ cup Olive Oil (shown with vinegar)
  • 14 oz Diced Canned Tomatoes
  • 2 tbsp Cumin Powder
  • 1 tsp Chili Powder
  • Salt and Pepper, to taste
  • 3 Cloves Garlic, chopped
  • 2 Red Bell Peppers, chopped
  • 1 Cucumber, chopped

You’ll need to put ingredients in your blender in several batches because of volume. Combine ingredients so that there’s enough liquid in each batch to get a smooth consistency. Mix batches in a large serving bowl.

Olé! 

Vegan Gravy

17 Friday Feb 2012

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This gravy is amazing! I made it for Thanksgiving with my boyfriend’s family. Everybody politely tried some at the beginning of the meal, but this was requested instead of the traditional turkey gravy for second helpings.

I found the recipe from RuthsFoods (she has a video tutorial) when learning how to use chia seeds, my new favorite toy. I should do a whole post on chia seeds, but for this recipe it’s enough to know that they are a thickening agent, absorbing liquid to form tapioca-like balls.

Ingredients and Instructions: 

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Clockwise from green bowl:

  • 1/2 white onion, minced
  • 1/2 cup vegetable broth + 1/2 cup for later to adjust thickness as needed
  • 2 tbsp chia seeds
  • 1-2 tbsp miso
  • 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
  • 1/4 tsp Celtic sea salt
  • 1/4 tsp powdered thyme (or other seasoning if you prefer)
  • Sprig of rosemary (again, or other as you like)
  • 2 tbsp oil (I’m using grape seed)
  • 3 tbsp nutritional yeast

In a large skillet, saute onions in oil until they turn translucent.

Add the nutritional yeast, salt, pepper and seasonings (thyme and rosemary, or whatever you choose) and stir so that they can absorb all the oil. Let this saute, stirring, for 5 minutes.

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Add the broth and chia seeds and mix well to avoid clumps. I like to mix the chia seeds into the broth before beginning so the have several minutes to plump up. At this point, reduce the heat to low and give the chia seeds time to absorb, stirring occasionally, for 5-10 minutes.

Adjust the thickness with the additional broth. I typically stir in another 1/4 cup or more, slowly so I can gauge. The chia will continue to thicken it, so make it just a little thinner than you really want.

Remove from heat and add the miso, mashing to fully incorporate.

Voila! 

Basic Homemade Seitan

17 Friday Feb 2012

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Seitan (say-tan) is a vegan meat made from vital wheat gluten. This is only the protein part of the wheat berry with everything else removed. It’s also used as an additive while baking to give more volume to bread. A quarter cup, about what you might eat for dinner as seitan, has approximately 23 grams of protein and 10% of your daily iron.

What’s especially fun about seitan is the potential for seasoning. You can add anything you want, and the flavor will be mixed all the way through every bite. You can also make it into any shape, from meatloaf to taco meat.

Ingredients and Instructions: 

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  • 1 to 1.25 cups of vital wheat gluten
  • Liquid is 3/4 cup water or vegetable broth + 2 tbsp Bragg Liquid Aminos
  • Seasonings are 3 tbsp nutritional yeast + 3 tbsp spices
  • 6 cups of vegetable broth or seasoned water to cook it in (not pictured)

For spices I’m using 1 tbsp onion powder + 1 tbsp garlic powder + 3/4 tbsp dried thyme + 1/4 tbsp ground black pepper. This gives it a more traditional meat flavor. Other ideas are powdered ginger and garlic for Asian dishes, or cumin and chili powder for Mexican dishes, etc.

Mix the seasonings and 1 cup of wheat gluten together well before adding any liquid, then add the liquid and stir/kneed until everything is incorporated into a dough. Sprinkle additional gluten into the dough as you kneed until it no longer feels too moist. Continue working the dough for a couple minutes to help the protein develop into a meaty texture. Let this sit for ten or more minutes while you prepare and heat the broth to cook it.

The broth can be any liquid that will support the flavors in the seitan. Vegetable broth is perfect. Or water with Braggs and more of the spices that you put in the dough. Some people also add chopped onion and garlic.

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I’m serving my seitan as medallions so I rolled the dough into a log and sliced it into rounds. You can do a whole loaf, or cut off small chunks for stir fry, etc.

Bring the cooking liquid to a boil, reduce to a simmer and add the seitan pieces. Let this simmer gently for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally to ensure it doesn’t stick to the bottom. The seitan will float to the top. Remove with tongs and press out excess liquid.

Now prepare as you would with any meat. I seared my medallions with mushrooms. This is also excellent with vegan gravy.

Enjoy!

Creamy Broccolini Soup

17 Friday Feb 2012

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This hearty soup gets its wonderful cheesy flavor from blended sweet potatoes, miso and Bragg Liquid Aminos – a lower-sodium and gluten-free alternative to soy sauce that I highly recommend for every pantry.

Ingredients and Instructions:

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Sauté for 5 minutes:

  • 2 tbsp.  Grape Seed Oil
  • 4 tbsp.  Onion, chopped
  • 2 tbsp.  Garlic, minced
  • 2 tbsp.  Ginger Root, minced

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Add and sauté for 5 minutes:

  • 1           Sweet Potato, peeled and chopped
  • 2 cups   Broccolini, chopped (using stems, saving florets for stir fry!)
  • ½ cup    Red Pepper, chopped

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Add and bring to boil for 10 minutes:

  • 1 cup     Water
  • 2 tbsp.   Bragg Liquid Aminos

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Remove from heat and add:

  • 2 tbsp.   Brown Miso
  • 1 cup     Water (mix in miso first for easier incorporation)

Place all in blender and blend until smooth. Serve and enjoy!

Can add for a cheesier flavor:

  • ¼ cup    Nutritional Yeast

Great Scott Minestrone Soup

17 Friday Feb 2012

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This recipe comes from my friend’s husband, Scott, who became an exceptional cook while combating boredom and the local cuisine in the Peace Corps in Bulgaria. His sacrifice, our enjoyment!

Ingredients and Instructions: 

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Sauté for 5 minutes:

  • ¼ cup   Grape Seed Oil
  • 1           Medium Onion, chopped
  • 5           Cloves Garlic, minced

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Add and sauté for 5 minutes:

  • 2           Carrots, chopped
  • 2           Celery Ribs, chopped

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Add and sauté for 5-10 minutes:

  • 1           Small Parsnip, chopped
  • 1           Small Turnip, chopped
  • ½ cup    Red Wine
  • 1 tbsp.   Dried Oregano
  • 1 tbsp.   Dried Thyme
  • 1 tbsp.   Rosemary, chopped or dry
  • 2            Bay Leaves
  • 1 tbsp.   Ground Black Pepper
  • 1 tbsp.   Kosher Salt

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Add, bring to boil and reduce to simmer for 30+ minutes until pasta is soft:

  • 1 qt.      Vegetable Broth
  • 14 oz.    Can Diced Tomatoes
  • 14 oz.    Can Diced Tomatoes, pureed
  • 14 oz.    Can Kidney Beans, rinsed
  • 14 oz.    Can White Beans, rinsed
  • 1 cup     Pasta (fusilli, bow tie, etc.)
  • ½ cup    Red Wine

Homemade Indian Curry Paste

15 Wednesday Feb 2012

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Curry Paste

Homemade Curry Paste

This is a flavorful base that you can use for many different Indian curry dishes to take advantage of the ingredients you have at home or are craving. You can adjust the different spices to your own taste. For example, this recipe has enough cinnamon to be noticeable so dial that back if you like less.

Ingredients:

  • .25 tsp fenugreek seed
  • .25 tsp fennel seed (optional)
  • .25 tsp cinnamon powder
  • .75 tsp mustard seed
  • .75 tsp chili powder
  • 1.25 tsp turmeric powder
  • 1.25 tsp cumin powder
  • 1.5 inches ginger root, peeled and chopped
  • 10 cloves garlic
  • 1-2 tbsp grape seed oil – enough to pull other ingredients together
  • 1 tbsp tomato paste (optional here, I add to my curry separately)

Curry Paste Ingredients

Toast the fenugreek, fennel and mustard seeds in a dry pan over medium heat until they become fragrant and darken in color, maybe 5 minutes.

Transfer seeds into food processor and pulse several times.

Add all other ingredients except oil and tomato paste and process until a consistent texture.

Add oil and tomato paste and process again to achieve the desired texture.

Here’s an example of how to use – Curried Lentils:

  • Heat 3 tbsp grape seed oil in large pot over med heat.
  • Season oil with 2 bay leaves, 15 peppercorns, .25 tsp crushed red pepper (or more if you like, or use finely chopped jalapeno), and 2 tsp Celtic sea salt
  • Add 2 finely chopped onions and cook 5 mins
  • Stir in curry paste from above (and the tomato paste if not incorporated)
  • Add .5 cups water, 3 chopped carrots, 1 chopped red bell pepper
  • Add 1.5 cups water and .5 cups lentils
  • Cook until lentils are done
  • Remove from heat, serve over basmati rice if you like, and sprinkle with fresh chopped cilantro
  • Consider including tofu, mushrooms or sweet potatoes. Try serving over spinach instead of rice