Carrot Coconut Muffins

Aaron and I ate at Meli Cafe recently, which is an amazing example of a restaurant that does a ton of vegan and non-vegan options to please everyone. I especially like that their vegan options aren't limited to "salad," but rather they have a ton of creative options, including carrot coconut pancakes. Which I didn't get and promptly regretted, though the wrap I had was super tasty. Anyways, I was inspired to make these muffins...and I guess we'll have to go back soon to see how they compare to the pancakes!

Carrot Coconut Muffins (makes 12)

1 cup coconut milk
1/4 cup melted coconut oil
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup white sugar
1 tsp. coconut extract (use vanilla if you don't have coconut)
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
2 Tbls. flax meal
1 1/2 - 2 cups shredded carrots (2 large carrots, shredded)
1/2 cups + 2 Tbls. shredded coconut, divided
1/2 cup chopped pecans

Preheat the oven to 350 F and line a muffin tin pan with liners. In a large bowl combine the milk, oil, sugars, and extract.

Add in the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and flax and stir until not quite combined.

Stir in the carrots, 1/2 cup coconut, and pecans.

Divide into 12 muffin wells and top with the remaining shredded coconut.

Bake for 25 minutes. Yum!

Greek Pasta

Aaron and I got a grill over the summer and since our friend Greg grills pizza all the time, I wanted to give it a try. Side note: Since I was busy tending to our new roommate, Aaron was super thrilled that I was directing him at what to do with the pizza stone on our windy balcony in the night of an approaching Chicago winter. I used a Greek pizza recipe from the Moosewood Restaurant cookbook, which Aaron and I got as a wedding gift but I never looked at until now. Second side note: They have a ton of vegan-friendly cookbooks on their website.

It was amazing. And since I didn't quite roll the dough thin enough and had a ton of extra toppings leftover, I decided to make pasta out of it. It's super easy and tasty and as long as you have the feta cheese prepared ahead of time, takes only about 20 minutes to put together.

Greek Pasta (serves 4)

1 recipe feta cheese, made ahead of time
1 28 oz can diced tomatoes, drained
1 14 oz can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
1 5 oz bag baby spinach
4 servings whatever pasta you want
2 Tbls. olive oil
1 lemon, quartered and seeded
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
Pink Himalayan salt (or sea salt) and fresh cracked pepper

Start cooking the pasta according to package directions. Prepare the tomatoes and artichoke hearts.

In a large pan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Cook the tofu cheese for a few minutes to heat through.

Add in the tomatoes, artichoke hearts, spinach, and artichoke hearts.

Last, drain the pasta and add in with salt and pepper to taste. Serve top with fresh lemon juice.

Green Goodness Dressing

The food company Annie's has two amazing salad dressings: Goddess, which is vegan, and Green Goddess, which is not. When I was in high school the Green Goddess dressing was all the rage. Salads were made cool again with this ridiculously tasty dressing. While looking for a new salad dressing a couple weeks ago I pointed out the two dressings to Aaron and though he was skeptical, he agreed to try the Goddess one. He did like it but I ended up eating most of it. It's kind of expensive so I thought hey, check out the ingredients list and I'll make my own. And I made it green just for fun. I can't remember if it tastes even remotely like the Green Goddess but whatever, it's good. And super easy. Can you put ingredients in a blender? Great, you can make this dressing.

Green Goodness Dressing (makes 2 cups)

3/4 cup tahini
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup Bragg's liquid aminos/tamari/soy sauce
1/4 cup agave nectar
1 bunch parsley
1/2 bunch cilantro
2 green onions

Blend it all together and pour over your favorite salad.

Hearty Muffins

Blogging note: I wrote this recipe at the end of September, around the time when Google changed their photo uploading system. I couldn't figure it out for a while and then the early arrival of our little one put blogging on the back burner for a while. But we have figured out the photos so behold, a belated but still-tasty post!

Where has September gone? I've made these muffins twice so far this month and am deciding when to make them again. Though Aaron is in the kitchen right now making me a birthday cake and it has an Oreo crust, so I keep on heading over to grab Oreos instead. (Yes, Oreos are vegan.) These muffins are super tasty and super crunchy (slang-wise, not texture-wise, although they do have great texture). This recipe takes a little planning ahead but isn't difficult. Substitute other seeds, grains, nuts, and/or dried fruit if you're so inclined.

Hearty Muffins (makes 12)

2 Tbls. each:

• Wheat berries
• Amaranth
• Millet
• Chia seeds
• Shredded coconut
• Flax seed

1/2 cup dried cranberries

1 cup almond milk

1/3 cup chopped walnuts

1 1/2 cups flour

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

1/3 cup sugar

2 Tbls. molasses

2 Tbls. canola oil

2 Tbls. maple syrup

3 Tbls. oats

Soak the wheat berries, amaranth, millet, and cranberries in hot water and let sit at room temperature for a few hours. This will soften them to make them more palatable in the baking process. 

Next, combine the chia seeds and almond milk and let them hang out in the fridge while the grains and fruit are soaking. They will turn into a chia gel.

When you're ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350 F. In a medium bowl combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.

In a large bowl, whisk together the chia gel, sugar, molasses, oil, and maple syrup.

Gradually stir in the flour mixture until about half combined. Then drain everything that's been soaking and toss that in along with the coconut, flax seed, and walnuts.

Line your muffin tin and divide the batter evenly. Top with the oats and bake for 30 minutes.

Butternut Squash and Sage Pasta

Not that this blog has any kind of robust readership whatsoever (sorry, Mom), but I'm back! Family life has gone through some wonderfully crazy changes the past month but since Aaron and our new little one are now snoozing on the couch while watching football, I wanted to take the time to blog about my lunch I'm currently eating. The inspiration for this recipe came eight years ago...I know, that's a long time to think about cooking something. I was traveling internationally and staying with a co-worker whose husband made the most amazing butternut squash sauce over pasta. The thought of this dish's tastiness has clearly not left me because I finally made it the other day. My friend Amy (of Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookie fame) was over and also loved this sauce. She suggested using it as a ravioli filling so...if anyone knows how to make vegan ravioli from scratch, holler!

Butternut Squash and Sage Pasta (serves 6-8)

1 medium butternut squash*
1 sweet onion, coarsely chopped
4 cloves garlic, peeled smashed
20-30 leaves fresh sage (I used 30 and it is delightfully sage-y)
1/4 cup olive oil
2 Tbls. vegan butter, cut into small chunks
Salt and pepper
6-8 servings of whatever pasta you want
Vegetable broth (optional)

*If you're using the pre-cut kind, I honestly have no idea how many cups I used. Take a look at the picture and use your best visual estimation skills :)

Preheat the oven to 400 F. Using a fork, poke some holes in the squash and microwave it for 4-6 minutes to soften. While it is microwaving, prepare the onion and garlic and place in a large baking dish.

Using a vegetable peeler or a knife, peel the squash. Cut in half lengthwise, scoop out the seeds (do something with them if you're fancy), and cut the flesh into large chunks. Add to the onion and garlic along with the sage.

Drizzle the olive oil and sprinkle liberally with salt pepper. Mix it all together with your hands and add in the butter chunks on top.

Cover with tin foil and bake for 45 minutes.

When there are 10-15 minutes left of baking, start boiling the pasta water. Cook the pasta according to package directions, under-cooking by 1-2 minutes.

Add all the veggies and juices to a blender and blend away. The sauce will be pretty thick so if you want it thinner, add veggie broth to your liking. I didn't add any for this one and loved the way it turned out, but do as you please.

Add the sauce to a large pot and add in the pasta, cooking it all together for a few minutes.

EAT! If you don't want to cook all the pasta at once you can save some of the sauce for later enjoyment.

Bean Salad

Aaron's mom makes an incredibly tasty bean salad. Well I think it's tasty, Aaron doesn't like it because he doesn't like beans. Weirdo. His parents are always so conscientious about cooking vegan for me and the first time I visited his mom had every meal planned and prepped, this salad being one of them. I loved it so much that she's made it for me ever since...poor Aaron. Hopefully he's at least happy about the fact that his mom and I like each other ;). The past week at work I brought this salad over spinach accompanied by a hearty muffin and was quite happy with it. I tweaked her recipe a tiny bit but thanks, Barbara, for providing the original!

Bean Salad (serves 8-10)

3 cans any beans you want (I used garbanzo, kidney, and great northern)
2 cups shredded carrots
4-5 green onions, chopped
1 cup corn kernels (optional)
1/4 cup + 2 Tbls. olive oil
1/4 cup + 2 Tbls. apple cider vinegar
3 Tbls. sugar
Salt & pepper to taste

In a large bowl whisk together the oil, vinegar, and sugar to make the dressing.

Drain and rinse the beans.  Toss together with the carrots, onions, and corn (if using) in the dressing. Season to taste.

Mac and Cheese Bake, #2

Aaron had his first day of work/school today and since I don't go back until next week, I decided to make dinner for us (which I haven't done in a while...I've been lazy). I was in the mood for mac and cheese and despite having a bunch of other recipes already on the blog, I decided to create a new one. This one is amazing. I think it tastes the most like cheese and has the best texture of any other ones I've made. Plus it was actually pretty easy to do, with very little measuring of a million random ingredients. I didn't add extra veggies to this one, though the sauce is vegetable-based, but if you want to, cut the pasta serving down to 4 and add in 1-2 cups of whatever veggies you want.

Mac and Cheese Bake, #2 (serves 6)

6 servings macaroni noodles, cooked according to package directions
1 cup cauliflower florets (I used orange cauliflower for the color)
1 large carrot, peeled and coarsely chopped
1 cup veggie broth
1/2 yellow sweet onion, coarsely chopped
2 cloves garlic, smashed
1 Tbls. olive oil
1 medium yellow potato
3 Tbls. vegan butter, divided
2 Tbls. coconut milk
1/4 cup flour
1/2 cup cashews, soaked in water for a few hours
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1/4 cup umeboshi paste*
1/4 cup breadcrumbs
Large dashes each of basil, oregano, parsley, salt, and pepper

*Umeboshi paste is a Japanese condiment made from salted, pickled plums. It is quite assertive but works amazing in this recipe to replicate the tanginess and saltiness of cheddar cheese. I started with 1 tsp. of it and added it gradually, checking the taste, and was surprised by how much I actually needed to get the taste right. I get it at Whole Foods in the aisle with other ethnic foods, or you could try a market that specializes in Asian or Japanese foods. If you can't find it, the saltiness and tanginess is what you'll need to replace, so try vinegar, citric acid, salt, and/or miso paste. Or if you're planning a few days in advance, order it from Amazon as it doesn't need to be refrigerated until opened.

Heat the oil in large pan. Saute the onion and garlic over low heat until translucent and just starting to brown. This will take about 15 minutes, so start this first and prepare the rest of the dish while they're cooking.

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Start boiling the water for the pasta and cook according to package directions. When finished, drain and set aside.

Microwave the potato for 3 minutes and cut into large chunks.

While the potato is in the microwave, chop the cauliflower and peel and chop the carrot into large chunks. Add to a bowl with the veggie broth and microwave for 3 minutes. Set aside.

While the cauliflower and carrots are microwaving, heat 2 Tbls. of the butter and coconut oil in a small pot until boiling. Lower the heat and stir in the flour so it makes a paste, stirring until it just starts to color.

Okay, blending time now. Drain and rinse the cashews. Add to the blender with the onions, garlic, cauliflower, carrots, vegetable broth that you cooked them in, potato, flour paste, nutritional yeast, and umeboshi paste.

Combine in a large bowl with the macaroni.

You could just eat this now...

Combine the breadcrumbs and seasonings. With the remaining tablespoon of butter, grease the sides of a large baking dish. Spread in the pasta and sprinkle with the breadcrumb mixture. Dab small blobs of the remaining butter on top.

Bake for 1 hour. Then broil for 1-2 minutes to brown the top, watching it so it doesn't burn.

Slice and serve.

Berry Cherry White Tea Popsicles

At Whole Foods yesterday I saw white tea berry cherry popsicles...that were crazy expensive. No thank you. I'm making these myself. Aaron and I got popsicle molds a while ago but haven't been too consistent about making them. So this was a good one to try, and I'm a fan!

Berry Cherry White Tea Popsicles (makes 6 1/3 cup popsicles - adjust depending on the size of your molds)

1 cup white tea
1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen mixed berries (I used 1/2 cup each of blueberries, raspberries, and strawberries)
1/2 cup fresh or frozen cherries
Agave nectar and/or lemon juice, to taste

Blend all ingredients together, adding agave nectar if it's not sweet enough and lemon juice if it's not tart enough.

Pour into popsicle molds and freeze.

Enjoy!

Smoky Cheddar Cheese Spread/Dip

At a work meeting yesterday someone brought cheese and crackers as a snack and I couldn't stop staring. I'm chalking it up to the baby hormones, as lately I've been loving looking at cheese but maintaining my lack of interest in actually eating it. Sometimes I google pictures of cheese. I once put that cubed, cocktail cheese in our grocery cart so I could look at it while we shopped and then made Aaron put it back on the shelf when we were checking out. But I've never wanted to actually eat it. Making sliceable vegan cheddar cheese takes a few days and ain't nobody got time for that. So I looked up a cheddar cheese spread recipe, made it, and...it was not good. So I made my own today. Eating it now. Getting food all over my computer. Don't care.

Smoky Cheddar Cheese Spread/Dip (makes 1 1/2 cups)

1 cup cashews, soaked in water for several hours
2 sun dried tomatoes, soaked in water for several hours (use the large flat dry kind, not the oil-packed kind)
1 Tbls. white vinegar
1 tsp. yellow mustard
2 Tbls. nutritional yeast
1 Tbls. tahini
1/2 Tbls. Bragg's liquid aminos
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1/8 tsp. turmeric powder
1/8 tsp. smoked paprika (if you don't want it "smoky," leave this out, or use regular paprika)
1/4 tsp. citric acid
1/8 tsp. sea salt
1/4 cup water

Drain and rinse the cashews and tomatoes. Blend all ingredients together until smooth. Refrigerate.

Yummy on a cracker (Bite-Size Everything Crackers from Trader Joe's).

This is what one's kitchen looks like after trying to invent vegan cheese.

Hunky Monkey Ice Cream

When thinking of a new ice cream flavor to make a few days ago, I suggested banana bread to Aaron. He came back with Ben & Jerry's Chunky Monkey (insert all copyright/trademark info here...I'm not trying to steal your thunder, Vermont!). A lengthy discussion then ensued about how I don't like large chocolate chunks in my ice cream because they get too cold and hard to eat and could we please do a fudge swirl instead but when we've tried fudge before it never comes out right because we're not patient and this time we're going to do it right.

Enough talking. I bring you...the tastiest ice cream ever. Inspired and enjoyed by Aaron, my hunky monkey. (PS Ben and Jerry's is going to start catering to the dairy-free soon)

Hunky Monkey Ice Cream

2 frozen bananas
2 cups non-dairy creamer
1 cup coconut milk
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 recipe chocolate fudge sauce
1-1 1/2 cups chopped walnuts, lightly toasted

Before you begin, decide what container you will use to hold your ice cream and make sure there is space in your freezer for it to lay flat.

Blend together the bananas, creamer, coconut milk, and sugar. Batter = done.

Make according to your ice cream maker's directions, adding in the walnuts in the last few minutes of churning. Spread evenly in whatever container you're using and freeze for a few hours, until pretty thick but not rock-solid.

While the ice cream is churning, make the chocolate sauce and refrigerate.

Once the ice cream is good to go, glob the fudge sauce on top.

Using a fork, gently distribute the sauce into the ice cream. You want to swirl it, not fully combine it. Both the ice cream and the fudge sauce need to be as cold as possible while still being able to "move," otherwise they will melt together too much (which if you want it that way, obvs fine, just not how I wanted this one.)

Freeze again until solid. Make sure it is flat in your freezer, otherwise it will get too swirled together (unless you want it that way!)

Scoop and serve.

Snickerdoodle Ice Cream

Trader Joe's never ceases to amaze me. It's a shot in the dark if they'll have say, basil, but the selection of "accidentally" vegan novelty grocery items they have is quite fantastic (for the full list, see here). My mom found snickerdoodle cookies that are both vegan and gluten free, and they are so good. I like softer cookies and these are so melt-in-your-mouth chewy and delicious. I was in the mood to do something different with ice cream so I added these to a new kind of ice cream batter* and was quite pleased with the result. I don't have my own vegan snickerdoodle recipe but if Trader Joe's isn't in your future, Google can help you find plenty.

*I mean new for me, I highly doubt I'm the first person to make ice cream this way.

Snickerdoodle Ice Cream

1 cup cashews, soaked in water for several hours or overnight
1 can coconut milk
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp. cinnamon extract
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
3/4 cup crushed snickerdoodle cookies (6 if you're using the ones from Trader Joe's)

Drain and rinse the cashews. Blend all ingredients (except the cookies) together until smooth.

Make according to your ice cream maker's directions. Freeze the cookies while the batter is churning and add in during the last few minutes.

Chocolate Coffee Almond Cake

We had family over for lunch the other day and I was inspired by this ice cream currently in our freezer to make this cake for dessert. As a side note, when I was a kid I wouldn't even try coffee cake because I thought it was coffee-flavored. Needless to say I missed out on some tasty desserts of my childhood. But this cake does taste like coffee - the perfect amount, with chocolate and almonds too. My mom took one bite and asked eagerly "You're going to blog about this, right?!?" So for my mother and all other chocolate/coffee/almond lovers out there, this one's for you.

Chocolate Coffee Almond Cake (serves 12-16)

For the cake:
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
2 Tbls. cocoa powder
1/2 Tbls. chia seeds, crushed
1 oz. unsweetened baking chocolate
3 Tbls. vegan butter, softened
1/4 tsp. almond butter (I used plain almonds, with no added seasonings)
2 tsp. apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup strong coffee, divided*
1/4 cup almond milk
1/4 tsp. each of chocolate, almond, and coffee extracts
2/3 cups sugar

For the frosting:
3/4 cup blanched almonds, soaked in water for a few hours**
1/4 cup strong coffee*
1/4 cup almond milk
1 Tbls. cocoa powder
1/4 cup chocolate chips
3/4 - 1 cup powdered sugar

* 1/2 cup + 2 Tbls. total strong coffee. Make a pot and sip the rest as you bake :)

**You can buy blanched almonds at the store but if you're like me and inadvertently do things the hard way, here's how to blanch almonds that still have their skin on:

First, boil the almonds for 1-2 minutes. I think they smell like earl grey tea when they boil...anyone else?

Strain and rinse under cold water. The skin will be wrinkly and may be starting to come off. This is good.

Pinch the almond at either end between your thumb and forefinger until the skin pops off. Discard the skin.

Repeat with all of your almonds. Then demand a hand massage from someone. preferably someone who will later be enjoying the fruits of your labor.

Soak the almonds in water. If you do this first thing when you start the recipe they should be good to go by frosting time. And if you're using pre-blanched almonds, this is where you start.

Okay, now onto the recipe.

Preheat your oven to 350 F. Start by combining the chia seeds with 1/4 cup of the coffee to make a chia gel. Refrigerate so it can gel while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.

In a medium bowl sift the flour and combine with the baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cocoa powder.

In a large bowl melt the baking chocolate. Beat together with the rest of the cake ingredients (except for the dry mix you just made), and adding in your chia gel.

Gently fold in the dry ingredients to the wet.

Spread in a small rectangular cake pan and bake for 30 minutes.

I forgot to take a picture post-baking but it looks like chocolate cake. Use your imagination.

The cake needs to be cooled before you frost it so depending on how long your almonds have been soaking and how long it takes to cool, make your frosting at some point. Drain the almonds and blend with the remaining frosting ingredients until smooth. Yummmmm. Frost the cake, assuming you haven't eaten all of the frosting.

Slice and serve.