Cranberry Orange Walnut Bread

Tis the season for cranberries and loaf breads!

Ingredients

• 1 cup almond meal flour
• 1 cup spelt flour
• 1 cup natural sugar
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp orange rind
• 3/4 cup orange juice
• 1 tbsp chia + 2 tbsp water (or an egg)
• 1 1/2 cups whole , fresh cranberries
• 1 cup walnuts, crushed

Instructions

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees and grease a loaf pan.

Combine the first 6 dry ingredients and mix together.  Add the orange juice, rind, and ‘egg’ and mix together.  Finally fold in the cranberries and walnuts.

Bake for about 45 minutes.

mangia!

Chickpea Potato Curry

Matt is the curry king. This one is his creation.

Ingredients

• 2 cans chick peas
• 4/5 medium size potatoes
• 2 large tomatoes
• handful of spinach
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 tsp – tumeric, curry powder, cumin, crushed fennel
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 3 cups veg stock

Instructions

Heat oil in saute pan on medium heat and cook onions, garlic until soft.  Add spices and cook for 1 minute.

Add potatoes and chick peas and cook for 1 min (until both are covered in spices).

Meanwhile, boil veg stock and combine all ingredients in slow cooker. Cook for 3 hours

Add spinach and tomatoes and cook for another hour.

Note – The longer it cooks the better it is.  When left over-night, it is great reheated as whole dish is congealed together for a tasty side or main dish. Serve with Naan bread and a little spoonful of raita.

mangia!

Sweet and Salty Rosemary Biscotti

My friend Priya is the best.  And she loves biscotti. So I told her that I would make her some.  I made these once before, for the Real Food Party we held last March (and thought I had posted them), but I guess I didnt.  They are the perfect tea cookie – lightly sweet and just enough salt.

yields about 30 small biscotti

Ingredients

• 2 1/4 cup flour
• 1 1/4 cup sugar plus extra for rolling
• 2 tablespoons cornmeal
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 8 tablespoons non hydrogenated margarine such as, earth balance
• 2 1/2 tablespoons finely chopped rosemary
• 1/2 cup tofu pureed
• 1 tablespoons water
• 1 cup rough chopped walnuts

Instructions

In mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, cornmeal, baking powder, and salt.

Add the earth balance and blend with a fork until sand-like.

Add tofu and water then walnuts and rosemary.

Make logs with the dough and roll in sugar and himalyan salt.

Bake in a 350 degree oven until just dry enough to slice, about 20 minutes.

Remove from the oven and slice into 1/4 inch cookies.

Turn off oven and return sliced cookies to oven, let sit in cooling oven for several hours until dry.

mangia!

 

Chocolate Chocolate-Chunk Peanut Butter Cookies

YUM! There is really nothing like peanut butter + chocolate.  Ok maybe marshmallows + chocolate + graham crackers (if you happen to have a campfire nearby), but for now Im happy to settle for these little morsels of goodness and chunkiness.  I have to say chunk in a cookie is a top-notch quality.  I hate cookies that are flat and have no texture.  They just dont seem to have as much flavor and richness(unless they are those huge, round cookies we used to eat in middle school for lunch! who does that?)  So moral of the story is – go for the chunky and eat up.

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 dark chocolate chunks (the big bar from TJs is great, just smash it up with a rolling pin)
• 1/4 tsp sea salt
• 1 cup spelt (or all-purpose) flour
• 3 tbsp cocoa powder
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/3 cup maple syrup or agave nectar or a mix of both (TJs has a great maple/agave blend)
• 1 tsp pure vanilla
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 1/4 cup natural peanut butter

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  In a bowl, combine the sugar, chocolate chunks, salt, flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and stir together.  In a separate bowl, combine the maple syrup, agave nectar, vanilla and oil until blended.  Add the wet mixture to the dry and stir until blended.  Take a knife and swirl the peanut butter into the batter (do it just a little so it remains in clumps).  Then, line a baking sheet with a cookie mat (a great item to invest in) or lightly grease the baking sheet and form about tbsp-size clumps of dough on the sheet (dont form into perfect balls – keep them pretty asymmetrical and clumpy as it gives them that chunky look).  Bake for about 7-10 minutes and let cool on the pan before serving.

mangia! 

Cucumber and Peanut Salad

Ingredients

• 1 large cucumber, chopped
• 1 small, green serrano chile, chopped
• 1/2 cup raw or dry-roasted peanuts
• 1/2 cup unsweetened coconut, lightly toasted
• 5-10 sprigs of cilantro, chopped
• ghee
• olive oil
• lemon juice
• raw cane sugar
• sea salt, cayenne and cumin, to taste

Instructions

In a small skillet, heat the ghee on medium heat and lightly saute (toast) the peanuts.  Set aside and repeat with the coconut.

In a medium bowl, combine the chopped cucumber, chile, cilantro and add toasted coconut and peanuts.  Just before serving, toss with lemon juice, oil, sugar and spices to taste.  Salad is best served cold, so place in fridge for 1-2 hrs if you have the time!

mangia!

Boston Creme Pie a la Vegan and Raw

I’ve wanted to try a vegan mousse for some time, but have been quite reluctant to take the plunge because Ive been weary as to how it would taste.  Like ketchup on pizza, tofu in mousse just does not seem to fit.  However, Matt loves mousse, so for him I thought I would try.  Inspired by the cashew cream at Pure Food and Wine, a raw restaurant I enjoyed while in NY a couple weekends ago, I decided to give my best effort at the whole sha-bam.  A Chocolate  Mousse Pie with cashew cream.  So there I went -food processing away.  First, the mousse, then the cream and finally the crust.  No baking required.  For all you vegan skeptics – Im telling you – this dessert was mind-blowing.  As for the tofu in mousse, you would never know.  Really. Please forgive my attempt at a visual of this dessert – the photo does not do it justice. Just make it and try for yourself.  Its actually that good.

serves 4-6

Ingredients

For the Mousse

• 1 12 oz package of silken tofu
• 1 cup vegan chocolate chips
• 1/4 cup non-dairy milk
• 1 tsp vanilla

For the Cashew Cream Topping

• 1 cup raw cashews
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 cup non-dairy milk
• agave sweetener, to taste

For the Crust

• 5-6 dates, chopped
• 1 1/2 cups walnuts
• cinnamon, to taste

Instructions

Mousse:  Melt the chocolate chips in a medium bowl in the microwave for about 1-2- minutes.  Stir until melted and blended.  In a food processor, blend the tofu until creamy and then add the chocolate, milk and vanilla.  Process for another 1-2 minutes until blended.  Set aside in bowl and refrigerate for about 10 minutes.

Cashew Cream: In the food processor, process the cashews and water until blended.  Add the oil, agave and vanilla.  Slowly add the milk until the mixture become creamy to your liking.  Set aside in a small bowl.

Crust:  In the food processor, blend dates and nuts and add cinnamon to taste.  Process for about 1-2 minutes, just until the nuts and dates form a crumbly consistency.

Put-it-all-together:  In a pie dish, press the crust onto the bottom.  Once the mousse is chilled and thick, spread over the crust.  Top with cashew cream and fresh berries when serving.

mangia!

Banana Ice Cream

When I learned what frozen bananas do when blended in the food processor, I was shocked.  If you dont know, they turn into this amazing fluffy, whipped, light ice cream-like dessert!  Amazing. You dont even really have to be a banana-lover to try it out – it helps if you do – but there are many variations you can use to mask the banana flavor, and still enjoy this treat.  Its an awesome snack and surprisingly satisfying!

serves one

Ingredients

• 1-2 frozen bananas (bananas should be semi-ripe or very ripe and peeled before freezing) + and toppings you choose

Instructions

Break up frozen bananas into small chunks and place in food processor.  Blend in food processor for about 2-3 minutes (you will likely have to stop and clear the sides or bottom if the bananas get stuck, especially if they are very frozen. Sometimes it helps to let them thaw for just a couple minutes before blending).  Also, make sure to blend for enough time because the bananas will go through a blending process and it takes the couple minutes for it to get to the light and fluffy state (first you will see small chunks, then you will see large clumps, then it starts to turn into a whipped, light, fluffy delight).

 

Variations and toppings

The Ice Cream is great on its own, but I love to add some nuts, fruit or other toppings to spice it up! (you can opt to blend in by hand or add to food processor)

My favorites are:

1) cinnamon and walnuts

2)lemon juice and/or lemon extract with chopped almonds

3)any sort of berry

4)for dessert, you can add chocolate chips, nuts

5)peanut butter with or without chocolate

 

mangia!

 

Whole Wheat Ravioli Times Two

After a wonderful, but whirlwind of a weekend in NYC with the girls, a hearty Italian meal seemed like the perfect way to finish off the weekend.  With a recent urge to make homemade ravioli (it was my first time!), I decided this was the night to go for it.  I completely winged it (no ravioli cutter or much consultation with books, blogs or family members)  - but sometimes those meals are the best.  The ones you have no real idea of how it will turn out, but you simply surrender to the fact that its cool if it works out or not.  This time, it worked out and I even got a ‘best- raviolis-in-the-world-award’ from Matt (which I actually dont agree with, but Ill take it!).  At the least, his optimism will encourage me to make them again!

serves about 4

Ingredients for Pasta

• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 cup water (or until dough ball forms)
• dash of sea salt

Ingredients for ‘Ricotta Filling’

• 1 package tofu, crumbled
• 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
• 1 /2 package fresh spinach, cooked (or frozen spinach works too)
• lemon juice, to taste
• salt, pepper, garlic salt to taste

Ingredients for Sweet Potato Filling

• 1-2 medium-large sweet potatoes
• sea salt, cinnamon, nutmeg

Ingredients Butter Sage Sauce

• 1/2 cup Earth Balance
• 1 bunch of sage, chopped
• 1 tbsp maple syrup
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• cinnamon and nutmeg to taste

Instructions

Make the ‘Ricotta’ filling:  In a medium bowl, crumble up the tofu with a fork.  Add noosh, lemon juice and spices all to taste (For me, I tend to not measure, so its actually hard to say how much I use of each.  Thus my measurements above are an approximation, so I leave it to you to experiment as well).  Meanwhile, saute the spinach in a pan on low heat until wilted.  Gently mix in the spinach to the tofu mix and set aside.

Make the Sweet Potato Filling:  On medium heat, boil peeled potatoes in about 2 cups of water.  Once cooked (about 10-15 minutes), strain and mash with fork in a medium bowl.  Add spices and Earth balance to taste.  Set filling aside.

Back to the pasta:  Divide the dough into 4 small balls.  Flour your surface and roll out dough into a square about 1/4 inch thick (or the thickness of a pie crust).  Take whichever filling you choose and scoop about 1-2 tbsp of filling on the bottom pasta layer.  Leave about 1-2 inches between each filling scoop so there is enough room to cut out your ravioli.  See picture below.

Next, place another layer of pasta on top and seam the outer edges together (like you would a pie crust) and also lightly press around each filling to start to shape the individual ravioli.  To cut the ravioli you can opt to simply use a knife or use the top of a glass and cut them into 3-inch circles.  Once you cut them out, continue to seam the edges to ensure that there are no holes (it becomes a ravioli disaster if the filling comes out once boiling).

And here are your homemade ravi prior to boiling!

Make the Sauce/s (simultaneous to cooking pasta): For the Butter Sage Sauce, combine all ingredients into a small saucepan on low heat.  Let it stay warm on low heat until you are ready to pour over the Sweet Potato Ravioli.

For the Marinara: Try this one – Muma’s Homemade Sauce (or if its just too much, you can always use jarred sauce – which I do not prefer, but understand if there is too much going on already.  Just add some fresh basil to the sauce before lathering on Ricotta Ravioli and it will be an acceptable stand in).

Time to cook and bring it all together: Once all the ravioli are prepared, boil about 4 cups of water in a large sauce pan (if you arent sure which size to use opt for the bigger pan).  Once the water is boiled, gently drop in and cover.  They should boil about 5-10 minutes or until they begin to float to the top of the water.  Strain and let them dry off a few minutes before topping with Butter Sage Sauce or marinara.

Pictured below is the Sweet Potato-filled Ravioli with Butter Sage Sauce

mangia!

A Rustic Loaf

My dad started the bread-baking trend many years back, wowing our family with his picture-perfect loaves to compliment the antipasto at holiday meals.  And so, all of a sudden (sometime within the recent year) the daughters + mother have started attempting to perfect our own loaves of bread.  I think its been a quest mainly out of curiosity and also a desire to be able to nourish ourselves with fresh, homemade loaves of bread when not in the presence of our father.  For me,  I started my bread-baking expedition a couple years ago by purchasing a bread-maker (ie throw in the yeast, water, flour and extras and let the machine do its thing).  And dont get me wrong, it was a great purchase for a quick loaf and a good first step.  However, in recent months, I thought it was time to try out the real thing for myself.  A real, homemade loaf of bread.  This recipe was found and first made by Niki and so Im taking no credit.  However, in the 4 times I have made this bread, it has exceeded my expectations. Its flavorful, crusty on the outside, yet doughy on the inside. Despite the pre-planning (it needs 18 hours to rise), this loaf recipe is one of the best Ive had.  And now Matt claims, ‘we never have to buy bread again!’

Ingredients

• 3 cups all-purpose or bread flour, extra for dusting
• 1/4 tsp instant yeast
• 1 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 5/8 cup water

Instructions

In a large bowl, combine flour, yeast and salt.  Add the water and stir until blended.  Dough will be shaggy and sticky.  Cover with plastic wrap and let dough sit for at least 12-18 hours, at room temperature.  When dough is ready, its surface will be dotted with bubbles.

Next, lightly flour a work surface and place dough on it.  Sprinkle it with a little more flour and fold it over on itself once or twice.  Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rest about 15 minutes.  Using just enough flour to keep dough from sticking to work surface or your fingers, gently and quickly shape dough into a ball (you do not want to handle the dough too much).  Generously coat a cotton towel with flour, put dough ball seam side down and cover with towel.  Let the dough rise for about 2 hours.  When it is ready, it will be more than double in size.

At least a half-hour before dough is ready, heat oven to 450 degrees. Put a 6- to 8-quart heavy covered pot (cast iron, enamel, Pyrex or ceramic) in oven as it heats. When dough is ready, carefully remove pot from oven. Slide your hand under towel and turn dough over into pot, seam side up; it may look like a mess, but that is ok. Shake pan once or twice if dough is unevenly distributed; it will straighten out as it bakes. Cover with lid and bake 30 minutes, then remove lid and bake another 15 to 30 minutes, until loaf is beautifully browned. Cool on a rack.

mangia!

For the Love of Real Food

Inspired by a desire to celebrate good food with our favorite people, my friends and I decided to host a small dinner gathering.  And now after the planning, shopping, cooking and baking are done, all the hard work has proved its worth.  The food was as delicious as we’d hoped and everything was enjoyed by all. As a fun favor (and way to share our recipes), we printed recipe cards for each dish so that our guests could take home recipes of their favorite dishes.

Some of the night’s highlights follow…