I dicovered this at Yola, a cute new yogurt/juice/salad bar in DC. Red, Matt and I made it yesterday for breakfast, but it could easily be dessert!
Ingredients
Blend in bullet or blender and enjoy!
mangia!
These are a couple of my go-to salads lately. They are fairly simple to put together and have quite a bit of flavor, crunch and texture.
Super Green Salad
Ingredients
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350F. Drizzle kale with olive oil, salt and pepper and place in oven for 7-10 minutes.
Meanwhile, chop all ingredients in place into a bowl. When kale is crispy, add to the salad.
For the dressing: Mix olive oil, nutritional yeast, lemon juice, salt, pepper and cayenne until blended. Pour over salad and give it a shake so the salad is coated with all the dressing.
Sweet Asian Salad with Soy-Lime Dressing
Ingredients
For the Dressing:
For the salad: Prepare the kale as explained above, and chop the remaining ingredients. Add the kale to the salad.
For the Dressing: Blend all ingredients together and then pour the dressing over the salad. Shake and coat and enjoy!
mangia!
I’ve been into juicing for a while now, but recently Matt has gone a little juice crazy. We drink a green juice almost every morning, but as of last week we’ve been experimenting with all sorts of combinations. Some of you have been asking for recipes, so I thought it would be helpful to post some of the delicious combinations we’ve come up with. Also, if you are interested in why juicing is good for you, check out ‘Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead‘ or read Kris Carr’s ‘Crazy Sexy Diet‘.
Note: To make this juice, you will need a juicer. The Breville Ikon Juice Fountain is a good middle-ground juicer, but depending on your budget there are others that work nicely both more expensive or cheaper.
All these recipes make about 16oz of juice.
Super Green Juice
Purple Sunrise Juice
Spicy Green Juice
Rainbow Juice
Apple Pie Juice
Niki got me an ice cream maker for Christmas. I love ice cream, but what I love more is that now I can make whatever flavor I want. I typically do this on a Friday night (wild). Since January, Ive experimented with four recipes. The first, I decided, had to be simple and classic – Vanilla Cardamom. I’m obsessed with Cardamom, so I thought it sounded like a delightful combination with the classic vanilla. The second, I went for the dynamic choc + PB combo when I whipped up a batch for our reunited Supper Clubs! – Chocolate Peanut Butter Pretzel. The third was a bit of an experiment – Coconut Ginger Almond (got rave reviews from this one.) The most recent batch I made was to celebrate the 29th year of Meagan Metzger. In honor of her love of coffee I tried out a Cappuccino Chunk. I have to admit, this process of ice cream making will definitely take some work, but I was able to conjure up a helpful tip from Betty Wilson, Meggie’s southern-cookin grandma who lives in North Carolina….Put a dash of alcohol in the ice cream because it lowers the freezing temperature and make its smooth and creamy to serve. We shall see! I have yet to try it out, but will do soon. Recipes are below and all inspired from ‘The Vegan Scoop’ by Wheeler del Torro. I know what you are thinking, I’m so wild and crazy these days. Well at least you got some ice cream recipes out of it!
Vanilla Cardamom
Ingredients
Instructions
In a small bowl, combine 1/4 cup almond milk with arrowroot powder and set aside.
Mix the soy creamer, remaining almond milk and sugar in a saucepan and cook over low heat. Once the mixture begins to boil, remove from heat and immediately add the arrowroot mixture. This will cause the liquid to thinken fairly quickly.
Add vanilla extract and cardamom.
Refrigerate mixture until chilled, approximately 2-3 hours (This step is pretty important. The mixture has to be very cold before putting it into the ice cream maker).
Place the mixture into your ice cream maker, and follow manufacturers instructions from there.
Chocolate Peanut Butter Pretzel
Ingredients
Instructions
In a small bowl, combine 1/4 cup almond milk with arrowroot powder and set aside.
Mix the soy creamer, remaining almond milk, sugar and cocoa powder in a saucepan and cook over low heat. Once the mixture begins to boil, remove from heat and immediately add the arrowroot mixture. This will cause the liquid to thinken fairly quickly.
Add vanilla extract.
Refrigerate mixture until chilled, approximately 2-3 hours.
Place the mixture into your ice cream maker, and follow manufacturers instructions from there. Just in the last minutes of churning, swirl in the peanut butter and pretzels.
Coconut Ginger Almond
Ingredients
Instructions
In a small bowl, combine 1/4 cup coconut milk with arrowroot powder and set aside.
Mix the remaining coconut milk and sugar in a saucepan and cook over low heat. Once the mixture begins to boil, remove from heat and immediately add the arrowroot mixture. This will cause the liquid to thinken fairly quickly.
Add vanilla and coconut extracts.
Refrigerate mixture until chilled, approximately 2-3 hours.
Place the mixture into your ice cream maker, and follow manufacturers instructions from there. Just in the last minutes of churning, swirl in the ginger pieces, coconut and almonds.
Cappuccino Chunk
Ingredients
Instructions
To make cappuccino: Make espresso and then place into a saucepan with cinnamon and cocoa powder. Stir until boiling and set aside.
To make ice cream: In a small bowl, combine 1/4 cup almond milk with arrowroot powder and set aside.
Mix the soy creamer, cappuccino, remaining almond milk, and sugar in a saucepan and cook over low heat. Once the mixture begins to boil, remove from heat and immediately add the arrowroot mixture. This will cause the liquid to thinken fairly quickly.
Add vanilla extract.
Refrigerate mixture until chilled, approximately 2-3 hours.
Place the mixture into your ice cream maker, and follow manufacturers instructions from there. Just in the last minutes of churning, swirl in the chocolate chunks.
mangia!
They say ‘greens’ are the best nutrition we can get. So, drink up and start your day off right!
serves 1
Ingredients
yields about 8 servings
Ingredients
Instructions
Preheat oven to 250 degree.
Combine oats, almonds and coconut in a large bowl and set aside.
Combine the wet ingredients in a separate large bowl. If you have kitchen gloves or plastic baggies, cover your hands with them and for about 10 minutes (or until the oil is completely saturated into the sugar) massage the wet mixture. It should form into a molasses-type sugar mixture.
Add the wet mixture to the oat mixture and continue to coat the oats until completed covered.
Spray 2-3 cookie sheets with cooking spray and divide oat mixture evenly. Bake in the oven for 60 minutes total, but turning the oats every 20 minutes (so you will turn them 3 times).
Once they are browned and cool, add cranberries and store in an air-tight container.
mangia!
For me, bagels have been one of those foods that I never imagined making myself. There is no way I could ever replicate what I enjoy so much from at the bagel shops, I would say. Well, after spending some time mastering the breads, I decided it was time to tackle the bagel (or baa-gul, as my friends suggest I say it). Being forced inside by Irene for 24 hours + provided the perfect opportunity to go for it. Note: This adapted recipe from The Bread Bakers Apprentice by Peter Reinhart isnt so complicated, but it does require about a 3-4 step process over a 2-day period. Thus, if you’re planning to make these (especially for others) its important to plan ahead and have the time.
yields 6 round, fluffy bagels (matt stole one before the photo shoot)
Ingredients
For the Sponge
For the Dough
For the Finish
Instructions
To make the sponge, stir the yeast into the flour in a large mixing bowl. Add the water, whisking or stirring only until it forms a smooth, sticky batter (like pancake batter). Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and leave at room temperature for approximately 2 hours, or untiil the mixture becomes very foamy and bubbly. It should swell to nearly double in size and collapse when the bowl is tapped on the countertop.
To make the dough, add the additional yeast to the sponge and stir. Then add 3 cups of the flour and all of the salt, malt, sugar and cinnamon. Stir (or mix on low speed with the dough hook) until the ingredients form a ball, slowly working in the remaining ¾ cup flour to stiffen the dough.
Transfer the dough to the counter and knead for at least 10 minutes (or for 6 minutes by machine), adding the raisins during the final 2 minutes. The dough should be firm, stiffer than French bread dough, but still pliable and smooth. There should be no raw flour – all the ingredients should be hydrated. If the dough seems too dry and rips, add a few drops of water and continue kneading. If the dough seems tacky or sticky, add more flour to achiever the stiffness required. The kneaded dough should feel satiny and pliable but not be tacky.
Immediately divide the dough into 4 ounce pieces for standard bagels. Form the pieces into rolls. Cover the rolls with a damp towel and allow them to rest for approximately 20 minutes.
Line 1 sheet pan with parchment paper and mist lightly with spray oil. Shape the bagels in one of the following two ways:
1. Poke a hole in a ball of bagel dough and gently rotate your thumb around the inside of the hole to widen it to approximately 2½ inches in diameter. The dough should be as evenly stretched as possible (try to avoid thick and thin spots).
2. Roll out the dough into an 8-inch-long rope. Wrap the dough around the palm and back of your hand, between the thumb and forefinger, ovrlapping the ends by several inches. Press the overlapping ends on the counter with the palm of your hand, rocking back and forth to seal.
Place each of the shaped pieces 2 inches apart on the pans. Mist the bagels very lightly with the spray oil and slip each pan into a food-grade plastic bag, or cover loosely with plastic wrap. Let the pans sit at room temperature for about 20 minutes.
Check to see if the bagels are ready to be retarded in thee refrigerator by using the “float test”. Fill a small bowl with cool or room-temperature water. The bagels are ready to be retarded when they float within 10 seconds of being droppd into the water. Take one bagel and test it. If it floats, immediately return the tester bagel to the pan, pat it dry, covr the pan, and place it in the refrigerator overnight (it can stay in the refrigerator for up to 2 days). If the bagel does not float, return it to the pan and continue to proof the dough at room temperature, checking back every 10 to 20 minutes or so until a tester floats. The time needed to accomplish the float will vary, depending on the ambient temperature and the stiffness of the dough.
The following day (or when you are ready to bake the bagels), preheat the oven to 500°F with the two racks set in the middle of the oven. Bring a large pot of water to a boil (the wider the pot the better), and add the baking soda. Have a slotted spoon or skimmer nearby.
Remove the bagels from the refrigerator and gently drop them into the water, boiling only as many as comfortably fit (they should float within 10 seconds). After 1 minute flip them ovr and boil for another minute. If you like very chewy bagels, you can extend the boiling to 2 minutes per side. While the bagels are boiling, sprinkle the same parchment-lined sheet pans with cornmeal or semolina flour.
When all the bagels have ben boiled, place the pan on the middle shelf in the oven. Bake for approximately 5 minutes, then rotate the pan, giving the pan a 180-degree rotation. After the rotation, lower the oven setting to 450F and continue baking for about 5 minutes, or until the bagels turn light golden brown. You may bake them darker if you prefer.
Remove the pans from the oven and let the bagels cool on a rack for 15 minutes or longer before serving.
mangia!
I’ve really been enjoying peaches this summer and thankfully there has been a wonderful abundance at the markets. I’ve also been working on incorporating Ayurdevic healing spices* into my diet as much as possible because, especially for Vata-types like me, these spices get the digestive juices flowing and aids in better digestion. I also just love sweet + spicy as a combo. So this morning, I decided to try something thats got it all: a spicy peach smoothie. My almost-rottening peaches needed to be eaten, so in went the peaches with the usual banana base. Then added cardamom and a touch of cayenne. It was the perfect start to a wonderful hump-day.
Ingredients
Im making brunch for a friend this morning. A friend who just got her dream job and so its time to celebrate! A sweet occasion calls for a sweet summer brunch, so on the menu includes Berry Pancakes, a virgin-attempt at a vegan French Toast (recipe not ready for a post, but stay tuned!), Apple Pie Muffins and a side of fresh, local berries. I concocted this sauce to serve with the pancakes. It started as a Lemon-Mint Sauce, but I didn’t like its chalky white color, so to offer a more aestectically-pleasing sauce I add some blueberries, which ended up being a good move because now its pretty and tastes better too.
Ingredients
Its unfortunate that I dont have a photo of this because its quite beautiful to look at. Its also quite delicious to eat, so perhaps thats the reason why I wasn’t quick enough with the camera when Red, Mikey and I were picnicking yesterday, amidst our adventure and eventful bike ride along the river! I know I will be making this again before the heirloom tomatoes and peaches trickle out of season, so Ill be sure to snap a photo then. Until then, use your colorful imagination as you find yourself heading to your local farmers market to grab your produce and whip up this simple, summer pleasure.
serves 3 hungry, bike-riding adventurers
Ingredients
