Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Pancakes

My kids had a snow (actually, rain/ice) day last Friday, and when my oldest daughter spotted a can of pumpkin in the pantry she requested these pancakes for breakfast.  I based it off of one of my regular pancake recipes but added pumpkin and spices and chocolate.   

Makes about 11 pancakes.

1 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup brown rice flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
Cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and ginger (just eyeball it - but heavier on the cinnamon)
2 Tbsp oil
1/3 cup water
1-1/4 cup coconut milk
2 Tbsp maple syrup
2/3 of a can of organic pumpkin
2 oz chopped nondairy semisweet chocolate

Combine dry ingredients in one bowl, wet in another, and then mix both together.  Finally add in the chocolate chunks.

Drop by 1/4 cupfuls onto a hot, oiled skillet and cook about 2 minutes on each side (just browned). 

Top with Earth Balance butter and maple syrup. 

These are tender and moist and will make you wish every day was a snow day.

Winter Kale Stew

My husband reads the newspaper every day on his break, out on the road in his grader or his dumptruck; and sometimes he brings it home for me because he found a comic, a headline, a Dear Abby, or something else he thinks I might find of interest or amusing.  Last week it was a recipe for soup.  It had kale, and it had garbanzo peas, and apparently it had Amber's Tweaking written all over it. 

2 Tbsp EVOO
3 potatoes, peeled and diced
2 onions, chopped
5 cloves garlic, chopped
2 bay leaves
1 pound kale, coarsely chopped (I didn't have quite a pound, so made up the difference with swiss chard)
1 15-oz can garbanzo beans, drained
1 big can crushed tomatoes
2 links (or more) Field Roast Smoked Apple Sage sausage, diced
4 cups veggie stock

Heat oil in a soup pot.  Add onions and potatoes.  Cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. 

Add garlic, bay leaves, and kale. 
Tip: I keep a tub of peeled garlic cloves in my freezer; whenever I need some I can just take a few out, and voila.

(I have a certain affection for bay too....)

Cover pot for a few minutes to wilt the greens. 

Add salt and pepper, beans, tomatoes, and sausage.  Bring soup to a boil, cover, and simmer until potatoes are tender.

The original recipe called for chourico, and since I didn't have any spicy sausage I should've added some paprika and other spices.  But all in all it was very good and even better when I went to put it away later (nom nom nom at the stove). There is a vegan chourico on the market, but kind of icky tasting/textured IMO; and the ingredients don't stand up to the quality of Field Roast.

At the table I added more salt and pepper and lots of nooch.  A perfect winter dinner.

A Nut Walks into a Seedy Bar...

Sorry, I couldn't resist.  And you'll have to wait a bit for the punch line.

So, there are these sesame seed bars that they sell in the bulk bins.  You know the ones I mean...they're chock full of sesame seeds, maybe sunflower and some other unidentifiable seed too, all held together by a smaller ratio of sweet, crunchy brittle.  Only problem is I'm addicted to them (and anything else sesame seed laden), and ingredient #2 is corn syrup (*shudders*) .  So, I told myself I'd just get some to keep in the car...you know, for the rare occasion I was running late or stranded somewhere and needed an emergency snack.  But as it turns out, I need an emergency snack before I even get out of my driveway and whenever I'm waiting at the bus stop too (hey, sometimes I have to wait 5 whole minutes, people!).

So, I thought to myself, "Self, you could make a slightly healthier version."  I'm not a sugar chemist, so I wasn't sure how things would turn out when I scoffed at the white sugar and corn syrup in regular brittle and replaced them with coconut palm sugar and brown rice syrup, but I just knew I had to try...to get a product lower on the Richter Scale...er...Glycemic Index.

Nutty Seedy Bars

1/2 cup water
1 cup coconut palm sugar
3/4 cup brown rice syrup
1/8 tsp baking soda
1 Tbsp Earth Balance butter
3 cups seeds and nuts (I used sesame, sunflower, and pumpkin seeds; and almonds and pistachios)

Combine the first five ingredients in a medium saucepan over med-high heat, stirring constantly, until it reaches 260 degrees (20 minutes or so).

Turn the heat off.  Add in seeds & nuts, and mix. 

Don't panic thinking the sugar will cool down and solidify - it stays VERY hot for some time.  So, just keep mixing until all the seeds and nuts are coated. 

Turn out into a buttered 9 x 13-inch pan, and spread out til flat.  I used a piece of parchment (sprayed with oil) to pack it down, but the bottom of a metal measuring cup (lightly buttered) would also work.  When it's cool enough not to be tacky to the touch, cut it into squares with a pizza cutter (I buttered this also but not sure it was really necessary at that point). 

Let cool, and keep in an airtight container with parchment between the layers.


Now for that punch line.  These bars are not for the faint of heart tooth.  Turns out I was right about not quitting my day job to become a sugar chemist, and these really aren't glove-box worthy.  They're kinda hard.

The best way to eat them, IMO, is to zap them in the microwave for 10 seconds.  And then, my friends, you have a very tasty little smackerel of perfect delicious, crunchy, chewy blissfulness.

And since they aren't 95% sesame seeds (aka not so addictive) I'm able to go a day, or at least half, without opening the lid to their container.

Cheesy Sausage Grits with Mushroom Ragu

My family's been wanting to try grits (it's quite possible we've watched too many Chopped episodes).  So, this week I purchased a box and looked at on-line recipes to see what I could come up with that would be appreciated.  I had made polenta a few years ago, and all I can really remember is that it wasn't tasty enough to repeat.  I wanted this time to be different; however there were really only two themes revealed in my search:
1 - Grits with butter, salt and pepper.
2 - Grits with cheese, shrimp and/or sausage. 

Southerners seem to be as unwavering in their butter/S&P variation as Vermonters are with maple syrup in their oatmeal.  I can respect that, but it just doesn't sound good.  So, I decided to go cheesy.

I had a big tub of shrooms in the fridge, a teeny bit of wine leftover from another dish, and a narrow window of opportunity before dropping off and picking up daughter #1 from basketball practice, and the arrival of husband and daughter #2 home from her game.  So...cheesy grits, and I would make a ragu for the top.  Ok.  We had a plan.  Yay.

The Ragu:
EVOO
12 oz button mushrooms (or variety of your choice), sliced
1 onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 cup red wine
1/2 cup veggie stock
2 Tbsp flour mixed with a smidge of water
Salt and pepper, to taste
2 tsp Earth Balance butter

Give a saute pan a coating of olive oil.  Add onions, mushrooms, and garlic.  Cook and stir until slightly browned and tender.

Add wine and stock and simmer for a few minutes. 

Add the flour/water mixture to thicken and then butter and S&P to finish off.

The Grits:
1-1/2 cups unsweetened soy milk
2-1/2 cups water
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup organic yellow corn grits
EVOO
2 links Field Roast Smoked Apple Sage sausage
1 cup Daiya Pepperjack Style Shreds

Dice up the sausage.  In a small fry pan, add a swirl of EVOO and the sausage, tossing til crispy and browned.

Meanwhile in a large saucepan boil the milk, water, salt and grits until it's the desired consistency, about 5 minutes.

Add the Daiya and sausage, and mix until shreds are nicely melted.

Top a dollop (or two) of the grits with the ragu and serve with a side salad of baby spinach (not a bad crazy-basketball-night dinner!).  Three thumbs up from the family.  The fourth thumb is going through an "I don't like anything anymore" phase, so she doesn't count.  Two thumbs said they'd like to try the plain butter/S&P version next. *the yankee sighs*

Stay tuned...

Hungry Bear Oatmeal

 

I think I've mentioned before that I have a love-hate relationship with breakfast during the week.  Mornings are very busy, and I just don't want to take the time to make something appetizing.  So, that leaves me with unappetizing.  But today I was grizzly-bear-in-the-spring hungry, so I took 15 minutes to whip something up for myself.  I went to ohsheglows.com because she has a list of oatmeal ideas a mile long, but nothing was appealing to me.  Until I came across a sweet potato casserole dish.  I decided to nix a bunch of stuff, add a bunch of stuff, and make it on the stove top.  Because my tummy wasn't waiting another hour for a casserole to bake.  Hello?  So, this is what I concocted...

Sweet Potato Oatmeal with Yogurt and Apple Walnut Topping

The oatmeal:
1-1/2 cups almond milk
1 sm-med sweet potato, sliced/diced
1/2 cup oatmeal
2 tsp chia seeds
1/2 tsp cinnamon
Dash nutmeg
1/4 tsp vanilla
1/8 tsp salt
1 Tbsp brown rice syrup

The topping:
A drizzle of EVOO
1 peeled and thinly sliced Macintosh apple
Good dash of cinnamon
2 tsp brown sugar
1 Tbsp chopped walnuts


Heat the almond milk in a saucepan.  Add the sweet potatoes and cook til tender, about 5 minutes, on low-medium heat, stirring occasionally.

Meanwhile heat olive oil in a small saute pan, and add sliced apples.

Keep the heat on low.  Add the cinnamon, then a bit later the sugar and walnuts.  Stir occasionally til apples are tender.

Back at the saucepan, mix in oatmeal, nutmeg, salt, and cinnamon.  A few minutes later add the chia seeds. 

When good and thickened, turn off the heat and add vanilla and brown rice syrup, and mix well.

I like different textures and temperatures in my oatmeal bowls.  It's really the only time I use yogurt, and I was so happy to discover almond yogurt (fruit-sweetened and plain!) last weekend at our co-op. 

So, in your (big) bowl, pour in the sweet potato oatmeal, top with 1/2 cup of yogurt, and then spoon the apple/walnut mixture over that. 

It came out delicious (and really could've/should've fed two hungry bears, but I nibbled on that bowl all morning til it was gone!)

Baked Oatmeal

I can't get my kids excited about sitting down to a bowl of mush for breakfast, so it makes me smile inside that they go wild for this recipe.  They consider it a special treat, and I know it's doing their little hearts good (but I'll never tell). 

If you don't have non-dairy yogurt on hand (as I seldom do), just use more milk or applesauce.  For this batch I actually was out of applesauce so used extra yogurt.  Also use whatever sweetener you prefer, liquid or granular.  This recipe is uber forgiving.

3 cups oats
1 cup raisins (optional - my kids opt out)
1/4 cup maple syrup (plus 2 Tbsp for drizzling on the top)
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp cinnamon (plus more for dashing on the top)
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup applesauce
1/2 cup plain non-dairy yogurt (I used almond)
1/2 cup non-dairy milk (I used coconut)
2 Tbsp oil
2 Tbsp flax seed meal mixed with 1/3 cup water
2 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350. 
Whisk dry ingredients together in one bowl.  Whisk wet ingredients in another.  Then combine the two. 

Pour into an 8 x 8-inch pan that's been coated with baking spray.  Top with cinnamon and 2 Tbsp maple syrup. 

Bake for about 30 minutes.  Cool to warm before cutting.

Serve with non-dairy yogurt and fruit, or just grab a square and go.

Veggie Stir-Fried Rice

It was Sunday.  The in-laws were coming for dinner.  I had a full to-do list and didn't want to spend all afternoon in the kitchen.  I also needed something that would please eyebrow-raising omnis and vegans alike.  It's one thing to experiment on your husband and kids, because if they don't like it - there's the pantry door to the cereal boxes.  But you can't really say that to your mother-in-law and expect good things for the future.  So, I thought rice...and then I thought stir-fry.  And then I thought of combining the two.  Yeah, everyone likes fried rice.   It was my meal and a side to their venison.  I also roasted a pan of cauliflower and red peppers, but I'll roast and post for you something along those lines in the future.  I doubled this recipe to feed 5 or 6 and to insure leftovers for the week. 

3 cups cooked long-grain brown rice
1 onion, diced
3 carrots, shaved
1/2 cup cabbage, chopped
1/10 of a brick of extra-firm tofu, diced
1/2 cup canned or frozen peas
3 Tbsp sunflower oil
3 Tbsp low-sodium tamari or soy sauce
1/2 tsp sage or Bell's seasoning
1/2 tsp thyme
1/4 tsp tumeric
1/4 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp ginger

Chop all your veggies and tofu. 

(once you go Vermont Soy, you'll never go back)

Heat 1-2 Tbsp of the oil in your wok or large saute pan til steaming hot. 
Add veggies (except for peas), and stir til tender. 
Add tofu, tamari, and seasonings.  Fry until heated through.

Spoon the veggie mixture onto one side of the wok. 
Add more oil to the empty side, followed by rice a cup at a time, heating and browning and adding to the veggie side.

Finally, add the peas, tossing all to heat through.

I never did make a dent in my to-do list, but good food and good company last night made the leftover chores today worthwhile.

Creamy Lemon Avocado Spaghetti

The other night I whipped up a super easy pasta.  It comes from Ohsheglows.com.  She called it "15 Minute Creamy Avocado Pasta," but I wanted to include "lemon" in the title since it's a very prominent flavor.  I was surprised how flavorful and zesty this dish was, but it's very smooth and comforting at the same time.  It's super fast, and I absolutely loved it.  It'll definitely be one of my go-to recipes from now on.  This makes two servings. 

Boil 4-6 oz of rice spaghetti (5-7 minutes).

Meanwhile, zest half a lemon and set aside.

In food processor, blend:
Juice of that half a lemon
1 clove garlic (or 2 or 3 if you really like garlic)
2 Tbsp EVOO

Then add, and blend til creamy:
1 avocado
1 Tbsp dried basil (or 1/4 cup fresh)
1/2 tsp salt

Stir into hot pasta.  Top with the lemon zest and black pepper.  Oh, and garnish with parsley if you're feelin' fancy. 

Blondies on the Fly

Last evening after working on and off all day, with a few more hours still to put in, it hit me out of the blue - a wicked craving for brownies!  I tried to shun it, but I kept finding myself looking for recipe options online.  I'd distract myself with laundry, dishes, other housework, the kids' homework...only to find myself peering into the container of cocoa.  There wasn't enough.  And my tubs and bags of flour were nil too.  I had fava bean flour, garbanzo bean flour, millet flour, and others...but I'm not confident enough in the gluten-free world just yet to throw such lovelies together and expect a palatable and structurally sound outcome.  I finally found a crumpled bag of King Arthur in the back of my cupboard...just enough white whole wheat flour for half a batch of blondies.  So away I went with my whisk at 7 PM.  I knew I would not sleep otherwise, with visions of chocolate chunks surrounded by moist sweet crumbs dancing in my head.

The following is what I used last night.  Syrup/sugar, flour, oil, non-dairy milk can be swapped out for what you have enough of in *your*  pantry/fridge.

Preheat oven to 350.  Spray an 8 x 8-inch baking dish with baking spray.

1-3/4 cups white whole wheat flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup sunflower oil
1/4 cup applesauce
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup coconut milk
1/2 cup nondairy semisweet chocolate chunks

Mix dry ingredients in one bowl.  Mix wet ingredients in another. 
Add wet to dry, along with the chocolate chunks, mixing until just blended. 

Pour into prepared pan and bake for 25-30 minutes.

Enjoy warm with a cool, frothy glass of almond milk.  Contentment at last.