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.

Carrot Cake

Aaron has been talking about making carrot cake for over a year. Why it took us so long to make it is beyond me, though we've had no trouble buying it from Blind Faith Cafe (shh, don't tell our wedding cake we sometimes cheat on it). He had a long day the other day so I surprised him by working on this recipe, and we've nearly devoured it. And of course, there is a cream cheese frosting. How carrot cake came to traditionally have cream cheese frosting I have no idea, since I don't think carrots and cream cheese are foods that are typically served together, but who cares, because it is tasty. I made this one plain but I think it would be good with raisins and/or walnuts too.

Carrot Cake (serves 12-16)

For the cake:
1/2 Tbls. chia seeds, crushed as best as you can
1/4 cup water
1 large carrot
3 Tbls. vegan butter, softened
1 1/2 cups flour, sifted (measure first, then sift)
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/8 tsp. nutmeg
1/8 tsp. ground cloves
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
1/2 cup coconut milk
1 Tbls. canola oil
2 tsp. vinegar

For the frosting:

1/2 cup cashews, soaked in water for a few hours or overnight
Juice of one small slice of lemon (about 1/8 of a lemon)
2 Tbls. water
1/2 cup powdered sugar
Pinch of salt.

Preheat the oven to 350 F. In a small bowl combine your chia seeds and water. Pop in the fridge while you continue to prepare the cake. It will turn into a gel in about 10 minutes and mimic the function of the egg in the cake.

Shred/grate the carrot and set aside.

In a medium bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices.

In a large bowl, cream together the butter, sugars, oil, coconut milk, vinegar, and chia gel.

Gently fold in the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients until almost mixed.

Fold in the carrot.

Spread the batter into a 8x8 square pan (or something roughly equivalent in size). Bake for 30 minutes.

While the cake is baking, make the frosting by blending all the frosting ingredients together. Be sure to drain and rinse the cashews first. Frost the cake when cool.

Nom nom nom (enjoying the very last piece as I write this post).