Aunt Theresa's Grain Salad

Aaron and I visited with his dad's side of the family last weekend. Among the many reasons we had such a wonderful time was that his family was so accommodating with vegan food. They had a ton of tasty dishes, one of which was this grain salad that his Aunt Theresa made. She used couscous, which was awesome, but I changed up the grains a bit and modified the recipe for my lunch this week. She told me the ingredients for the dressing and while I don't know if the proportions are the same as what she used, it definitely came out awesome!

Aunt Theresa's Grain Salad (serves 4)

For the salad:
1 cup grains, cooked according to package directions (I used a mix of kamut, spelt, and quinoa)
2 cups chick peas, rinsed and drained
4 celery stalks, chopped
4 green onions, chopped
1 cup parsley, chopped
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/4 cup toasted pine nuts

For the dressing:
Juice of 1 lemon*
Juice of 1 orange*
2 Tbls. olive oil
1 tsp. curry powder
1/2 tsp. sea salt

*You owe it to yourself to use fresh citrus juice. The difference from the bottled stuff will astound you. And if you microwave sliced citrus for 10-15 seconds it will make it much easier to juice.

In a large bowl mix together all of the salad ingredients. In small bowl combine the juices for the dressing and then whisk in the oil, then the curry powder and salt. Combine the dressing with the salad.

PBJ Bars, Take 2

A while back (like almost a year ago) I posted about these PBJ bars. I was a little underwhelmed by them but decided to share them with the internet anyways - cooking is all about experimentation, right? I baked a lot for my co-workers this week to thank them for a wonderful fieldwork experience and these bars were a huge hit. Nothing like turning the world's greatest sandwich into a dessert, eh? I'm already feeling the need to make them again...

PBJ Bars (makes one 8x12 pan)

For the bars:
1 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 Tbls. cornstarch
1/2 tsp. salt
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
2/3 cup white sugar
2/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup canola oil
1/3 cup peanut butter, melted
1 tsp. vanilla
1/4 cup vegan butter, softened
1 1/2 cups jelly (any kind)

For the crumble topping:
1 cup oats
1/4 cup PB2 Powdered Peanut Butter
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup cold butter

Preheat the oven to 350 F. In a medium bowl mix the flour, cornstarch, salt, baking soda, and baking powder. In a large bowl mix the sugars, oil, peanut butter, vanilla, and softened butter.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix thoroughly. Spread into a greased 8x12 pan (10x7, 9x13, use what you've got) and make for 10 minutes.

While the bottom later is baking cut the cold butter into small chunks. In a small bowl mix together all of the topping ingredients with your hands until the mixture resembles large crumbs.

When the bottom layer is done, spread the jelly in an even layer on top. Depending on the consistency you may need to run it through the blender to get it more spread-able.

Then crumble on the topping in an even layer.

Ugh. Bad picture. Sorry.

Bake for 20 minutes. Cool completely at room temperature, then refrigerate for a few hours before cutting into bars.

Grain Salad with Peach Vinaigrette

Nothing exciting to say about this one - it's just another grain salad that I made for lunch :). Per usual, no fancy cooking techniques required. If you can boil water, chop things, and press "start" on your blender you can make this. It did catch the attention of my coworkers, two of whom asked for the recipe. So here you go, friends!

Grain Salad with Peach Vinaigrette (serves 4)

1 cup spelt, cooked according to package directions
2 stalks celery
1 cup parsley, chopped
1 medium shallot, chopped
4 cups spinach, chopped
1 can (15 oz) navy beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 cup chopped pecans, toasted

Combine all ingredients together and eat!

I thought I had a photo of this but I do not. Womp womp.

Mint Icing

It's my last week of fieldwork! To say thank-you to my coworkers I have been baking up a storm the past few days. Aaron's aunt made an amazing vegan chocolate cake last week using this recipe from Instructables and I used it to make the cupcakes. But to turn them into mint chocolate cupcakes you need...mint icing!

Mint Icing (makes 3/4 cup)

1 1/2 cup powdered sugar

2 1/2 Tbls. non-dairy milk

1 Tbls. coconut oil, melted

3/8 tsp. peppermint extract

Green food coloring (optional)*

*Food coloring is water-soluble, not fat-soluble. Ie it will dissolve in the milk but if you try and combine it with the oil it will just be little flecks of dark green and not actually mix. 

So if you are making your icing minty-green be sure to mix your ingredients in this order: Powdered sugar, milk, FOOD COLORING, oil, mint. If you are not using food coloring, just mix everything together.

Pre-oil

I put mine in a squirt bottle to make these beautiful swirls. If you're able to, refrigerate whatever you're icing to encourage the icing to harden upon placement. If it gets too hard to squeeze just microwave it for a few seconds.

Chia Pudding

I never really liked pudding as a kid. But after reading Christopher McDougal's Born to Run I jumped on the chia seed bandwagon and haven't looked back. I've been making this stuff for breakfast a lot recently because it is super tasty and takes about 2 seconds to make. If you're a vegan who cooks a lot you likely already have frozen bananas on hand but if not, freeze some now so you can have a nutritious and yummy breakfast tomorrow.

Chia Pudding (makes 1 serving)

1/2 cup non-dairy milk
1/2 frozen banana
1 Tbls. chia seed
Dash of cinnamon

Blend together the milk and banana until smooth. Stir in the chia seed and let sit in the fridge for at least 10 minutes. Stir in the cinnamon before serving.

Sometimes I've made a double batch and kept it in the fridge overnight for breakfast the next day. It was still great but I'm not sure it would last more than a day - any experience with this?

Peach Vinaigrette

Inspired by the mango vinaigrette I decided to go with a peach vinaigrette. Our friends had a housewarming party a few weeks ago and while we were there they were showing off their peaches that Trader Joe's had on sale. I tend to forget about peaches throughout the year until those magical summer months when peaches are deeelliissshhh. I used yellow peaches for this since I don't like white peaches but use whatever you prefer.

Peach Vinaigrette (makes about 2 cups)

2 peaches
2 Tbls. vinegar
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1 Tbls. balsamic vinegar
1 Tbls. olive oil
1 Tbls. apple cider vinegar

Blend everything together until smooth. Adjust acidity/sweetness to your liking, if needed.

I realized I don't have a picture of this. Fail. It looks like orange salad dressing. I'm sure you can form a sufficient mental picture.

"Kraft" Mac and Cheese

If you're like me and my siblings you ate an embarrassing amount of the stuff from the blue box when you were a kid. An embarrassing amount. I think maybe it's our parents who should be embarrassed for letting us eat so much of it, but at any rate there is no denying that nothing hits the spot quite like Kraft macaroni and cheese. Were you a shapes kid? A spirals kid? I always went for the original banana shape - the spiral noodles didn't taste as good and the cheese always got caught in weird clumps in the shapes. I made this version with regular macaroni noodles and while it is not neon orange, the taste definitely brings me back to my childhood.

"Kraft" Mac and Cheese (serves 4)

4 servings of whatever noodles you want

1/4 cup nutritional yeast

1/4 tsp. sea salt*

1/8 tsp. garlic powder

1/4 tsp. citric acid*

1/4 tsp. onion powder

1/8 tsp. turmeric

1/4 tsp. mustard powder

1 tsp. Ener G egg replacer powder

1/4 cup + 2 Tbls. soy milk

2 tsp. vegan butter

*Adjust these to your liking - citric acid gives it that sharp tang but if you use too much it is not a very pleasant experience

Start boiling the water for the noodles. While they are cooking, mix together the dry ingredients and measure out the milk and butter. 

Drain the noodles and return to the pot. Mix in the powder, milk, and butter, and stir until the butter is melted. Add veggies if you want.