the Sunday Special: Veggie Loaf

I created this meatless "meat loaf" from eggplant and other veggies. (As always, the measurements are estimates.) I was really pleased with the flavor and meat-like texture. It even sort of looks like meatloaf.



Veggie Loaf

Saute:
1 Tbsp (4-5 cloves)Garlic chopped
1 handful baby Mushrooms sliced
1 large leaf Red Cabbage shopped
1/2 Bok-choy
1/2 Eggplant



Sprinkle with:
Cinnamon
Chili Powder
Cumin
Fresh Dill
Sea Salt

Blend with:
1/4 cup water

Stir in:
4oz Oatmeal
2 Tbsp BBQ Sauce
3 Tbsp Squash Soup
+ 2-3 Tbsp Garbanzo Bean Flour





Coat the dish with olive oil. (I actually coated mine with coconut oil and it was fine.) Press down and smooth out the mixture into the pan, forming a loaf. (I was experimenting so I left a dividing line between the two different halves.)



Spread a thin layer of bbq sauce on the top.





Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour.







Serve with garlic sweet potato mash and steamed veggies.

the Sunday Special: Purple Patties

Here are a couple of my latest experiments. I used purple sweet potatoes to make veggie patties and pancakes.


Purple Patties

2-3 Purple Sweet Potatoes (about 2 cups mashed)
1/4 tsp Sea Salt
1/2 cup Organic Rolled Oats
1 cup Whole Wheat Flour
2 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Cinnamon
1 cup Hemp Milk
4-5 Tbsp Red Onion chopped
4-5 Tbsp Red Bell Pepper
4-5 cloves Garlic

Olive oil, spinach, sprouts, pickled okra, hemp seed, homemade bbq sauce...

Boil the potatoes until they were soft and mashable. Cook the oatmeal according to the package's instructions. Mix the dry ingredients. Add that to the mashed potato and oatmeal. Then stir in the milk. Heat the olive oil in a pan. Form the first patty (btw, they are sticky...wax paper would be handy) and press garlic, onions, and red peppers into one side.



When the oil is good and hot, place the first patty in the oil then press more goodies into the other side of the patty. Continue with the rest of the batter.





Serve warm over a bed of spinach or spring mix. Top with homemade bbq sauce, sprouts, hemp seed, maybe a little greek yogurt...and a homemade pickled okra.



The bbq sauce was actually suppose to be catchup but tastes more like bbq sauce. Which is good because I don't care too much for catchup. Kan-Grow Hydro Farm made the sauce and the amazing pickled okra.



If you'd rather have something a little sweeter, the same base recipe can be used to make pancakes. Just add a little extra liquid and sweetness.


Purple Pancakes

2-3 Purple Sweet Potatoes (about 2 cups mashed)
1/4 tsp Sea Salt
1/2 cup Organic Rolled Oats
1 cup Whole Wheat Flour
2 tsp Baking Powder
2-3 tsp Cinnamon
1 1/2-2 cups Hemp Milk
2 Tbsp Honey
Coconut Oil

Boil the potatoes until they were soft and mashable. Cook the oatmeal according to the package's instructions. Mix the dry ingredients. Add that to the mashed potato, oatmeal, and honey. Then stir in the milk. Heat the coconut oil in a pan. the oil is good and hot, pore a thin layer in. You can make traditional rounded pancake shapes or drizzle it like a funnel cake. It seems to take quite awhile to set up to be flipped. Keep yourself busy with other tasks while it's cooking. Continue with the rest of the batter.


(Pretty yummy just like this, or...)

Serve hot topped with fresh Raspberries (or compote), toasted almonds, maybe a little greek yogurt and mint.

the Sunday Special: Oatmeal Bars

Oatmeal. I have quite a bit of it. My fave grocery store was giving out 2 lb bags with purchases over $30 and well, I rarely get out of there without spending 3 or 4 times that.

Since I don't normally eat oatmeal for breakfast, I've been experimenting with different recipes that can incorporate oatmeal. So far I have made pancakes.



A spiced pear cake.


Yeah, I know. No one saw this fun pattern I made with the pears, but it made me happy. And now you've seen it too!

(They were just covered up by this last layer of chocolaty spiced goodness before being baked to gooey perfection.)

I'm playing around with purple....pancakes? Veggie patties? We'll see.

And these guys.



Vegan Oatmeal Bars
2 cups Organic Rolled Oats
1 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Cinnomon
2 pinches of Sea Salt
1 tsp Cacoa Nibs
1 row of 72% Cocoa Dark Chocolate broken in pieces
1 heaping tsp or so Gogi Berries
1 ½ cups juice/pureed overly rip Organic Pears
Coconut Oil to grease pan

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.. If the coconut oil is solid, put a tsp or so in a dish and stick it in the oven to melt. (I melted it in a different dish and then poured it into the pan I wanted to use for baking. That way I was able to just use my finger to coat the pan and didn't have to worry about the pan being to hot to touch.)

Combine all ingredients except pears. Once that is thouroughly mixed, add the pear puree.


Pour into greased pan and bake for about 20-30 mins.

They can be cut into squares and be ready to grab on the go for breakfast or a quick snack. They have no added sugar so the sweetness is very light. (If you need extra sweetness, you could add a like brown sugar or honey.) For extra indulgence, they are amazing with vanilla ice cream and toasted almonds. But what isn't, right!

the Sunday Special - Oatmeal Pancakes

plus homemade Cranberry Compote and Candied Pecans



I made 2 different batches of oatmeal pancakes. The first came out pretty dense where the second was lighter/creamier. All measurements are rough estimates, as I don't actually measure the ingredients.


Candied Pecans
Toast pecans in a dry skillet on med/high. Once they are done toasting, add coconut oil and stir. Sprinkle/dust with brown sugar and stir. Spread out on wax paper to cool.

Cranberry Compote
Heat cranberries in a pan with a small amount of water to keep them from sticking. Heat until they burst or just pop them when they are soft. Stir. Add sugar or other sweet alternative if you like. I added a little agave and honey.

Batch #1: White Chocolate Cider Pancakes
1/2 cup Oatmeal
1 cup Whole Wheat Flour (substitute almond meal or coconut flour for gluten free)
2 tsp Cocoa
2 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 cup Apple Cider
1/4 cup chunky Peanut Butter
2 over ripe Bananas
1/2 cup Milk (use almond or coconut milk as an alternative)
1 Egg (this can be omitted since the bananas and pb bind the ingredients well)
handful of White Chocolate Chips
Coconut oil

Pulse the oatmeal in the blender 5 times if they are not quick oats. Combine oats, flour, cocoa, and baking powder in a bowl and mix well. Mix all other ingredients (except chips) in a separate bowl. Combine dry and wet ingredients then stir in chips.

Heat coconut oil in a skillet or griddle. Drop a bit of the batter in the oil. It is hot enough when it sizzles. When I flip them, I lay them done on an oiled spot, adding more oil if dry.


Batch#2: Cacao Nib Oatmeal Pancakes
2 cups Water
1 cup Oatmeal
2 very ripe Bananas
3 Tbsp whole Greek Yogurt (use coconut milk as an alternative)
1/2 tsp Almond extract
1 tsp Cinnamon
1/4 tsp Cacao nibs
1/3 of a Plum or 1/4 cup of other fruit
1/2 cup Whole Wheat Flour (substitute almond meal or coconut flour for gluten free)
1-2 tsp baking powder

I decided to cook the oatmeal this time. Follow the instructions that come with your oatmeal. My instructions were to heat 2 cups of water to boil. Add 1 cup oatmeal, lower heat, cover and simmer til water is absorbed.

In a blender, I added all the other ingredients except the flour and backing powder. In a bowl, I combined the cooked oatmeal and blended mixture. (This was sooo yummy. I could have just eaten this for breakfast, though it needed more oatmeal to less "sauce".) In a separate bowl, I mixed the remaining dry ingredients and then stirred it in with the rest.

Cooked them in coconut oil like the first batch.

Top with cranberry compote, candied pecans, a little light agave syrup.



The thick consistency (of the first batch especially) lends to making fun shapes. Just in time to let your sweetheart know how much you care (breakfast in bed...hello!!).

the Sunday Special - Gluten-free Vegan Cornbread

I made a huge batch of cheese dip recently that was sooo yummy. I didn't want to keep eating just cheese dip for dinner....well, I DID want to but know I should be consuming a few more veggies than that. I decided to use the leftovers as a base for some vegetarian chili (which turned out great!) and of course, chili is not complete without cornbread. I used a traditional recipe as a guide and substituted or left out ingredients I didn't have or want to include.


Gluten-Free Vegan Cornbread

1 1/4 cups Garbanzo Bean flour (organic)
3/4 cup Polenta (organic)
2 tsp baking powder (non-alum)
1/8-ish tsp ground sea salt
1 cup unsweetened Hemp Milk
1/4 cup Grapeseed Oil
1-2 TBs Agave Nectar light (organic)
1 tsp coconut oil (organic)

Mix dry ingredients. Stir in milk and oil until dry ingredients are moist. Swirl in the agave nectar.

Coat glass loaf pan with coconut oil. Pour in batter and bake 15-20 mins at 400F.



I ended bringing these to a vegan potluck so I made a second batch. I doubled the recipe and used my donut stone. I put the coconut oil in the stone and stuck it in the oven while it was preheating. Then did a tilt-a-whirl action to coat the inside of the stone. There was a pool of oil in the bottom and I debated whether to pour it into the batter or just leave it on the bottom. I decided to leave it. I poured in the batter and drizzled on the agave nectar without stirring it.



I ended up baking it for 20 minutes at 350F (because I just plain forgot I had done the first batch at 400F).



I just put a flat stone on top of it, flipped it over, and it came right out.

The Sunday Special - Green Tomato Slab Pie

A few weeks ago I was volunteering at an organic farm here in Kansas. (So happy to find one! I feel like my life here has started to parallel my life back in Tahoe.) The first frost had come in and it was time to harvest just about everything that was left. There were quite a few green tomatoes and neither of us (me or my farmer friend Jimmy) had any experience cooking them. Luckily, a fellow farmer shared a green tomato slab pie recipe with him and he shared the pie making and eating with me. =)

There were actually two pie making sessions, both somehow ended with us eating pie at 1:30 in the morning. The first time we used a store bought crust and the second time we made it completely from scratch. Oh my, soooo much butter, but so good and crispy.


Green Tomato Slab Pie

Crust
3 3/4 cups of whole wheat flour
1 1/2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons fine ground sea salt
3 sticks very cold unsalted butter chopped into 1/2 inch chunks
3/4 cup very cold water

Filling
4-6 cups green tomatoes chopped into approximately 1/2 inch chunks
2 teaspoons sugar
2/3 cup brown sugar (more if you like it sweeter. This is the perfect pairing with icecream.)
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice

To finish
1 egg beaten


Making the Crust: Whisk together flour, sugar, and salt in the bottom of a large wide bowl. Using a pastry blender, two forks, or your fingertips, work the butter into the flour until the biggest pieces of butter are the size of tiny peas. Gently stir in the water with a rubber spatula. Once the water is absorbed, use your hands to form the balls, kneading it as little as possible. Divide the dough in half. (recipe suggested to: Wrap each half in plastic wrap and flatten a bit, like a disc. Chill in fridge for at least an hour or up to 2 days or slip into freezer bag and freeze for up to 1 to 2 months. To defrost, leave in fridge for 1 day.)

Prepare filling: In a medium colander, toss diced tomatoes with 2 teaspoons sugar and let drain for at least 30 minutes. The longer the better. The second time, we let them drain for 3-4 days. Press out the juice by pressing down on the tomatoes. In a large mixing bowl, combine the cornstarch and spices. Add the tomatoes and toss until thoroughly coated.

Preheat oven at 375 degrees F.

Assemble pie: On a lightly floured surface, roll one of the dough halves into an 18-by-13 inch rectangle. (Ours was no where near this big. Needless to say, we probably had double thick crust. With crust that thin, you can use up to 8 cups of tomatoes.) Work as fast as you can to keep the butter from melting. Transfer the crust to the pan. The dough should be big enough to cover the bottom and fold up the sides. Use your hands to quickly form the sides by pressing in the corners and along the sides. Pour in the tomato mixture and spread evenly.

Roll out the second dough half to about 1/4 inch thick. Then use a butter knife or pizza cutter to cut it into equally wide strips. Use these strips to decorate the top of the pie such as a lattice pattern. Brush the egg onto the top crust. Bake about 40-45 minutes, until crust is golden and filling is bubbling. (Supposedly, you are to let it cool on a wire rack for 45 minutes, but who has that kind of control?) We let it cool, maybe 5 minutes and then served it up.



With vanilla ice cream. Of course!

the Sunday Special - If an Artichoke was a Potato

I have a hard time resisting the urge to buy new veggies that pop up in the produce department or local farmers market. Although I asked the grocer what this fella was, I immediately forgot the name.



No worries. I didn't bother to look up how to cook it anyways. I just placed it in a glass bread pan, put the lid on, and baked it at 350 degrees for ....hmmm, probably 45min to an hour. I took it out when the little bit of juice was starting to really bake on the pan and I didn't want it to bake on any harder. Seriously, who wants to spend their time scrubbing pans.



With the first one, I sliced it. The outside was still really hard even after being baked but the inside was soft so I knew it had to be done. I started peeling off the outside because it was super woody and not edible.



The second one, I peeled first then sliced it.



Of course, like most new veggies, the grocer only bought one shipment of them. Luckily, a friend of mine has a diverse knowledge bank of vegetables. Any guesses as to what this is?

The green color, the choke-y inedible peel, the savory meaty center all reminded me of an artichoke. The shape and consistency reminded me of a potato. The best of both worlds. The rich flavor, but much less work than an artichoke.

Wikipedia compares it to broccoli stem. Yeah, I can see that.

If you are interested in trying one, keep your eyes out for a .... kohlrabi.

the Sunday Special - Mochi

Always up for trying new foods, especially healthy-er ones.

Found this in the refrigerated section of my favorite grocery store. It's called Mochi, pronounced Mo' Chee. It's a Japanese food made from organic whole grain sweet brown rice, filtered water, raisins, cinnamon, and sea salt. Five ingredients I can pronounce and identify, woohoo!






Step 1: Must be cut into 1 to 2 inch squares to bake properly.




Step 2: Place pieces atleast 1 inch apart on a non-stick baking pan (I used a stone and they stuck). Bake 8-10 minutes at 450 degrees until pieces puff up and brown.




Step 3: Let cool for a minute. Then use a sharp knife to cut a slit in the top and slide in a piece of dark chocolate. Let that get nice and melty then add other fillings: Honey, Figs, Ginger, Peanut butter and Mint.




3 ways:
1. Dark Chocolate, PB, (a drop of Honey if both of the previous two ingredients are unsweetened), Figs
2.Dark Chocolate, PB, (a drop of Honey if both of the previous two ingredients are unsweetened), Ginger
3.Dark Chocolate, PB, (a drop of Honey if both of the previous two ingredients are unsweetened), Mint

(The package suggested Cream Cheese, Nuts and Honey.)


Eat them right away while they're warm.

the Sunday Special - Banana Milk

Chocolate hemp milk is sooo good. To take it a step healthier, I started buying the unsweetened original hemp milk and making chocolate, as well as other flavors, at home.




So far, I have tried Banana, Chocolate Banana, and Strawberry Chocolate Banana.

Just throw all the ingredients in a blender and enjoy!