Epic Organic

Chocolate Chip Cookies Gone Wild

Shelly — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 05:22:30 +0000

Chocolate chip cookies + peanut butter + pretzels.

Salty, sweet goodness.

‘Nuff said.

Inspired by a picture I saw on Pinterest (where I lose way too many hours of my life).

Chocolate Chip Cookies Gone Wild

by Shelly Hokanson

Prep Time: 10

Cook Time: 12

Keywords: bake dessert snack sweets vegan vegetarian pretzels chocolate chips peanut butter chips cookie

Ingredients (18 cookies)

1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
scant 2/3 cup canola oil
1/4 cup unsweetened soy or almond milk
1/2 tbsp cornstarch
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup peanut butter chips
1/2 cup crushed pretzels (about 1 large handful)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350F.

Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

Combine brown sugar, white sugar, oil, soy milk, and cornstarch in a mixing bowl. Mix at medium speed for 1-2 minutes until a syrupy consistency is reached.

Mix in vanilla.

Add baking soda, salt, and 1 cup of the flour. Mix until well combined.

Add the remaining 1/2 cup flour and mix.

Fold in chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, and pretzels.

Roll the dough into balls (a large cookie scoop works well). Flatten and place on cookie sheet.

Bake for 12-13 minutes until edges start to brown.

Cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheet, then transfer to a cooling rack.

Butternut Squash Mac n Cheeze

Shelly — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 14:10:46 +0000

Post Punk Kitchen recently posted their top 100 foodie things of 2011. This recipe from Oh She Glows made the list: Butternut Squash Mac n’ Cheeze.

I’m no stranger to vegan cheeze substitutes. Most, well, don’t taste like cheese (except for my beloved Daiya!). I happened to have a butternut squash laying around, though, so I decided to give this one a go.

Butternut Squash Mac n Cheeze

This recipe made a nice, creamy sauce, and it was tasty – but it didn’t really taste like cheese. It was more like squash and garlic. Still, it made for a good side dish, and fit the bill for warm, winter-time comfort food. I’d probably like it better if it didn’t claim to resemble cheeze. I understand the need for a more whole-foods version of the ol’ mac and cheese recipe, though, so this works.

Note that the recipe makes a TON of sauce, so you will have extra sauce to put on veggies or other things throughout the week. You could almost fill a swimming pool with it.

Chai Spice Donut Holes or Cake Pops

Shelly — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 01:06:20 +0000

So, when did “donut holes” become “cake pops?”

Things like this make me feel old.

At any rate, I bought myself a Cake Pop Bakery over the Christmas holiday and finally got around to trying out some recipes. My favorite so far: Chai Spice Donut Holes (or Cake Pops). And, they’re vegan!

Is it too much that I dunk them in chai tea?

Look at these. How could you not?

Chai Spice Donut Holes

This also gave me another excuse to use the new KitchenAid stand mixer. I’m in love!

May your breakfasts and snacks be equally dunkable!

Chai Spice Donut Holes

by Shelly Hokanson

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 7 minutes

Keywords: bake sweets snack dessert vegan vegetarian donut

Ingredients (9 large donut holes)

Single Batch (9 large donut holes)

1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup sugan
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 cup vanilla soymilk or almond milk
1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Egg Replacer for 1 Egg, prepared per package instructions, or 1 flax egg
2 tbsp Earth Balance
2 tbsp unsweetened applesauce
or, for a lower fat option, eliminate the Earth Balance and use a total of 4 tbsp applesauce instead. The result will be a more dense but equally tasty donut hole!
Note: This recipe works great doubled or tripled. It scales well!

Instructions

Preheat donut hole or cake pop maker.

In your mixer bowl, whisk together dry ingredients to combine thoroughly: flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, ginger, cardamom, allspice, and cinnamon.

In a small saucepan, mix together wet ingredients over medium-low heat until Earth Balance is melted: soymilk, vinegar, vanilla, egg replacer, and Earth Balance. Don’t let the mixture get hot; remove it from heat immediately once the Earth Balance is melted. It should be warm but not hot.

If you’re not using Earth Balance, you can skip the heating of the wet ingredients.

Add wet ingredients to dry and mix on low until a soft dough forms. It will be sticky but nice and elastic.

Spoon dough into donut baker. Don’t overfill. A medium cookie dough scoop works well for this. The top of the dough should be flat and flush with the donut hole rim or slightly below.

Bake as directed in your donut hole/cake pop maker. (Mine suggests 5-7 minutes, and for this particular recipe, 6 1/2 to 7 minutes is perfect).

Allow donut holes to cool completely before frosting or decorating, if desired.

These little bites are so flavorful that I prefer them without frosting, but if you’re so inclined, here are some ideas:

The Frosting

Icing:

Whisk together 1/2 cup powdered sugar with 1 tbsp vanilla soymilk. Dunk donut holes to coat and let drip dry on a cooling rack (with parchment underneath).

Chocolate Frosting:

Melt 6oz of sweet or semi-sweet vegan chocolate chips or dark chocolate in the microwave (stirring every 15-30 seconds until smooth) or double boiler. Dip each donut hole in the chocolate and let drip dry on a cooling rack (with parchment underneath).

Other ideas: Roll donut holes in cocoa powder or cinnamon and sugar. Dip iced or chocolate frosted donut holes in sprinkles or crushed nuts. Experiment with different frostings.

If you want to turn these into cake pops, dip the end of a wooden skewer into frosting and then insert into the center of the donut hole. (The frosting will help secure the cake to the stick).

Pesto Veggie Lasagna

Shelly — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 22:40:31 +0000

This might be my favorite lasagna ever – and it’s vegan! I know – I’ve been making a lot of “best ever” claims lately, but I’ve really been on a roll in the kitchen. While this recipe is a little bit labor intensive, it’s easy labor – and the end result is beyond worth it.

I made this dish for my family’s Christmas get together in Chicago last week (though it was just vegetarian for them and not vegan, as I couldn’t find Daiya on short notice Christmas eve). It almost didn’t happen; do you have any idea how hard it is to find lasagna noodles at 4pm on Christmas Eve? We had to go to 2 stores, and I got the very last package on the shelf at store #2 (thank you, Target!) It was well worth the search. This lasagna got thumbs-up reviews from even the meat eaters, and I enjoyed it so much that I made it again at home for New Years.

This recipe makes a 9×13″ dish of lasagna – good for 8 serious servings (which in my case means, a freezer full of lasagna!) For the record, it does freeze and reheat very well. If you plan to go that route, let it cool down a bit then portion it out into freezer-safe containers and freeze. You can also make this a day ahead of time and refrigerate it prior to baking, then toss it in the oven when it’s time to make dinner. Just add 5-10 minutes if you’re starting with cold lasagna.

Without further ado, my favorite lasagna recipe of all times:

Pesto Veggie Lasagna

by Shelly Hokanson

Prep Time: 30

Cook Time: 35

Ingredients (8 servings)

Lasagna

1 pkg lasagna noodles (12+ noodles – no-boil are fine)
1 cup pesto – see recipe below
5 – 6 cloves garlic, peeled & minced
5 cups grilled or sautéed veggies – choose from zucchini, eggplant, red or green bell peppers, portobello mushrooms, broccoli, or your favorites. My favorite mix: 1 red pepper – diced, 1 zucchini – cut into half moons, and 1 head of broccoli florets.
2 cups fresh baby spinach
1 lb or 1 – 14oz package herbed tofu, firm or extra firm (Italian herbed tofu works great here), pressed and crumbled
2-3 medium tomatoes, sliced (8 slices)
1 package (8 oz) Daiya mozzarella or other vegan shredded cheese
1 jar of your favorite marinara

Pesto

1/4 cup walnut halves or pieces
1/4 cup pine nuts (or, replace with additional 1/4 cup walnuts)
2 cloves garlic
2 cups fresh basil
2 tablespoons fresh thyme
1 teaspoon salt
pinch of black pepper
1/4 cup water
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast flakes
1/4 cup olive oil, scant
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Instructions

This first step is optional, but highly recommended. Preheat a large heavy-bottomed skillet (such as a cast iron skillet) over medium-low heat. Add the walnuts to the dry skillet and toast for 5 minutes, tossing often. Then add the pine nuts and toast an additional 5 minutes. (If using all walnuts, add them all at the start and toast for 10 minutes).

Set toasted nuts aside to cool.

Prep the Veggies

Preheat the oven to 350F.

In a large saute pan, heat 2 tbsp olive oil over medium heat. Add onion and garlic and saute for 5 minutes.

As you chop up the rest of your veggies, add them to the pan, stirring often. If the pan dries out, add a tablespoon or two of water to deglaze the pan and keep on saute-ing.

Continue to saute the veggies while preparing the pesto.

Prep the Pesto

Add the toasted nuts to a food processor.

Add the minced garlic, basil, thyme, salt, pepper, and nutritional yeast until the basil leaves are well blended, scraping down the sides of the food processor as necessary.

Slowly stream in the olive oil and process until well combined.

Blend in the lemon juice.

Assemble the Lasagna

In a 13×19″ dish, coat the bottom of the dish with a layer of marinara.

Place one layer of lasagna noodles on the bottom of the dish.

Layer more marinara on top of the noodles.

Then, add the baby spinach over the noodles.

Crumble the tofu on top of the spinach.

Sprinkle a layer of shredded Daiya over the tofu, then add a second layer of noodles.

Coat the noodles with another marinara layer.

Add the veggies to the next layer and top with a generous layer of pesto.

Add the last layer of noodles and coat with remaining marinara.

Add the rest of the shredded cheese. Place 8 dollops of pesto across the top, and add a tomato slice onto each dollop of pesto.

Cover the dish with foil and bake for 35-40 minutes at 350F, until the lasagna is warmed through and the cheese is melted.

Took My Own Advice

Shelly — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 13:36:39 +0000

Remember when I posted the peanut butter truffles recipe and said that somebody had to make them?

I took my own advice. I would say that these are the best things I’ve ever made, if I hadn’t already said that about the donuts.

Step 1:

PB balls - bring on the chocolate!

Step 2:

PB truffles, ready for the fridge

Step 3:

Peanut Butter Truffles

Step 4: Nom.

Memories

Shelly — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 20:36:29 +0000

Though I’m not eating sandwiches on my fruit/veggie reboot plan, that doesn’t mean I can’t drool over sandwiches past:

Pesto Grilled Cheese (Daiya Mozz)

Pictured: two slices of homemade bread cradling a generous bit of Post Punk Kitchen’s Bestest Pesto and ooey, gooey melted Daiya mozzarella vegan cheese… lovingly grilled on the Griddler panini press.

It was magnificently wonderful.

Going Green

Shelly — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 20:21:37 +0000

So, it’s been about 2 weeks since I ran my last half marathon. That race was the culmination of a whole lot of chaos in my life: moving cross-country, starting a new (and thankfully awesome!) job, going to school for my MFA full time (12 credit hours, yikes!), and of course – another round of long-race training. Needless to say, upon completion of that race, I needed a break – so I took one. I took a break from running, and indulged in some holiday goodies in the form of way too much chocolate and pizza.

The result: I caught my first sickness in 2 years (ugh – still fighting it off), gained 5 pounds, and felt like absolute crap!

While I’m glad I took a break from all things healthy (I needed it mentally more than anything – I’ve been going at this healthy lifestyle thing for 2 years now!), it definitely demonstrated that feeling good is so much more enjoyable than eating junk food. I couldn’t wait till the new year to get back to eating right, so I started the day I got home from the holidays. I started yesterday. (The exercise is going to have to wait until I stop hacking up lungs).

Since my pre-planned junk food binge was pretty extreme (at least relatively speaking), I decided to embark upon a similarly relatively extreme detox: 5 days of only fruits and veggies.

I considered a juice fast, a la Jason Vale (the JuiceMaster), but decided I’d have a much more enjoyable experience with something like Reboot Your Life (a la Joe Cross, the guy that made the film Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead). I like Jason’s juice recipes more, though, so I’m basically drinking Jason’s juices and eating fruits and veggies as described in Joe’s Reboot Entry program.

So far, so good! I’m on day 2 of 5.

The first day, I was starving… All. The. Time. I was also pretty dehydrated from a week of holiday madness (and wine, ahem), and dehydration feels a lot like hunger, so I probably wasn’t actually hungry for food. Still, I felt like I went to bed hungry (booo).

Ironically, though, when I woke up this morning, I wasn’t hungry at all. I felt good (well, except for this plague of a cold I caught in Chicago over Christmas). I haven’t felt hungry today, and – knock on wood – my body seems to be fighting off this cold.

My basic plan is to:

drink juice concoctions and smoothies made with my Breville juicer (including a Vega protein shake each day).
eat fruit (bananas, strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries), green soups, and green salads.
drink lots of water and some tea.

Now, that does mean I’m also eating salad dressing. Sorry – I can’t live without my daily giant bowl of greens, and to that end, I can’t live without salad dressing. I also used a dab of olive oil to saute the veggies I used in today’s soup recipe (below). But those are the only non-whole-foods, non-fruit-or-veggie things I’m eating for these 5 days.

I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t looking forward to busting out that loaf of bread I baked last week or mashing together a great new veggie burger recipe… but that day will come soon enough, and I’m already feeling the positive effects of this junk food detox. Ahhh, to feel normal again!

In the spirit of going green, here’s the recipe for the soup I had for lunch! Super tasty. I love kale!

Green Veggie Soup

by Shelly

Prep Time: 10

Cook Time: 30

Keywords: soup/stew kale broccoli zucchini garlic

Ingredients (4-6 servings)

2 tbsp olive oil
1 sweet onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 head broccoli florets
1 medium zucchini, cut into half moons
2 cups kale, roughly chopped
4 leaves basil, plus 3 tbsp chopped
1 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp fresh ground pepper
6 cups water

Instructions

In a large stock pot, heat olive oil over medium high heat.

Add onion and garlic and sauté for 5 minutes.

Add broccoli, basil leaves, zucchini, spinach, salt, and pepper.

Stir and cook for 5 minutes.

Add water and bring to a boil.

Lower heat and simmer 15 minutes.

Remove from heat and stir in chopped basil.

Pizza Burger

Shelly — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 14:30:27 +0000

Back in the day, when my friends and I would spend inordinate amounts of time hanging out at Olympic Star restaurant discussing life, love, and the pursuit of happiness (or something like that), I ate pizza burgers. Lots of pizza burgers.

Now, at Olympic Star, a pizza burger was nothing more than an overcooked hamburger slathered in their one-size-fits-all marinara (you know, the same meat sauce that went with the spaghetti and the lasagna and anything else that was served with a red meat sauce), with a slice of some sort of white cheese on a cheap burger bun.

I can’t even say it tasted all that good (it really was some un-magnificent meat), but it tasted unique, and it was messy, and it was cheap. To a teenage palate, that works.

I’m a bit more picky these days. I prefer to eat food that tastes good, and I prefer to eat food that didn’t moo before it ended up on my plate. I’m still a big fan of a big, messy burger that tastes kind of like pizza, though.

Enter: another recipe from The Best Veggie Burgers on the Planet. If you like burgers, this really is a fun cookbook. I have now made 5 or 6 burgers out of this book (and one of the bun recipes, too), and they’ve all been stellar. This time, I tried out the Pizza Burger recipe.

The premise here is that the burger is flavored to taste like pepperoni pizza. I did not have any anise seed, which might have been a critical pepperoni-flavor-component; I’m not sure. I don’t know what anise seed tastes like. I also knew from previous experience that the recipes in this book tend to pack a punch on the spicy side, so I decided to dial the spicy components way back.

The result was a veggie burger with a mild kick and enough pizza flavor to warrant the name Pizza Burger (though maybe not specifically Pepperoni Pizza Burger).

Here’s how it went:

So Delicious mint chocolate coconut milk

Hello there, tasty holiday beverage! (Hey, we all need inspiration sometimes).

Cooking up some pizza veggie burgers

Welcome back, Favorite Cow Towel!

Pizza burgers, ready to go into the oven

I love my little plastic burger press. These burgers are ready to bake!

Pizza burger on whole wheat kaiser roll

It’s a burger, baby.

The recipe (as I made it):

Pizza (Veggie) Burger

by Shelly

Prep Time: 15

Cook Time: 30

Keywords: bake sandwich burger vegetarian vegan

Adapted from The Best Veggie Burgers on the Planet

Ingredients (4 large or 6 small burgers)

1 tbsp black pepper
1 tbsp paprika
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp dried basil
1 tbsp garlic powder
1 cup TVP
1 cup water
2 tbsp liquid smoke
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, plus scant 1/4 cup (divided)
7 oz (half can) diced tomatoes
1 cup vital wheat gluten flour
1/3 cup non-dairy sour cream (such as, Tofutti)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350F.

In a microwave-safe bowl, combine the pepper, paprika, salt, red pepper flakes, sugar, basil, garlic powder, TVP, water, liquid smoke, and 2 tbsp olive oil.

Cover and microwave on high for 5 minutes. Then, let cool for a few minutes.

Add the tomatoes, flour, remaining olive oil, and sour cream.

Mix together for several minutes until mixture thickens and is well incorporated.

Form into 4-6 burger patties.

Place patties on a baking sheet (lined with parchment, if desired).

Bake at 350F for 30 minutes, flipping half way through.

Easy Turtles

Shelly — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 20:07:30 +0000

Last week, my mother suggested to me that I get some turtles candies for my grandmother this holiday season. Mmmm, turtles! I loves me some chocolate and caramel.

Seeing as I’m on Christmas break (and have waaaaaay too much time on my hands!), I thought, why not try to make my own turtles? Coming up with no good reasons, I took a stab at it.

* whips out Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle weapons *

Well, not really. But these were super easy to make and super delicious. I used walnuts, because I didn’t have any pecans on hand, but I will be making future batches with pecans. Yum!

Easy Vegan Turtles

by Shelly

Prep Time: 10

Cook Time: 30

Keywords: chill sweets vegetarian vegan chocolate nuts

Ingredients (12 turtles)

2 tbsp Earth Balance
1/2 to 3/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla soymilk
3/4 – 1 cup sweet or semi-sweet vegan chocolate chips (or 4 oz. vegan baking chocolate)
2 cups pecan halves or walnut pieces

Instructions

Prepare a baking sheet lined with parchment and make room in the fridge.

In a small saucepan, melt Earth Balance over medium-low heat and add brown sugar one tablespoon at a time, whisking constantly. Add 1 tbsp of soymilk to help dissolve the sugar, if necessary. Continue to add brown sugar until the mixture looks like caramel.

Remove from heat. Allow to cool. (Place your caramel mixture briefly in the fridge or freezer if you can. This will help thicken it).

Melt chocolate, either in the microwave (stirring every 15-30 seconds until smooth) or in a double boiler.

On the lined baking sheet, make little clumps of a few pecans or walnuts.

Spoon a bit of melted chocolate onto each clump of nuts. Then, spoon some caramel onto each. Lastly, spoon one more coat of chocolate on top.

Transfer to the fridge to firm up, about 30 minutes.

Store in the refrigerator.

The One Where I Made Donuts

Shelly — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 19:01:36 +0000

This may be the most delicious baked good I’ve ever made in my life.

No joke, people.

Chocolate frosted donut

Donuts!

Some backstory: my favorite food bloggers have been taunting me with baked donut recipes for ages. There’s this apple cider donut recipe from Peas & Thank You. Then, there’s this mini donut recipe from Vegan Yum Yum. I loved donuts as a kid, but have avoided them like the plague for the last few years (because, well, I can only run off so many calories, people!) Baked donuts – and homemade ones, particularly – don’t have to be so evil.

Upon deciding that I might be able to find some homemade donut wiggle-room in my diet, I set out to find donut baking pans – which were surprisingly hard to find! I eventually snagged this 6-donut pan at Bed Bath and Beyond, but don’t get too excited if you’re seeking your own; they’ve been out of stock for a while. Unfortunately, I only bought one. I should have bought at least 2 – maybe 4!

Armed with my one 6-donut pan, I knew someday I’d make some donuts.

It wasn’t until this glorious beast graced my kitchen counter that I found myself inspired to embark on donut-making:

New KitchenAid Pro 550HD Stand Mixer

I got a really great deal at Costco – $269! This is the KitchenAid Pro 550HD 5.5 quart stand mixer. It’s got the commercial-style bowl lift (instead of the tilt-head, like the Artisan models). I’ve wanted a stand mixer pretty much my whole life, but could never justify spending the money. My plan was to get married and put it on my Gift Registry. As it turns out, I could be waiting a very long time for a stand mixer… so, Merry Christmas to Me!

Using this mixer gives me flashbacks to standing on a chair in my grandma’s kitchen, helping her bake cookies. I’ve got memories of her mixer that I haven’t recalled for 30 years – but in a deja-vu moment, raising the lever that lifts the mixer bowl brought me straight back to gram’s kitchen. It was pretty wild!

Now properly armed, I got to work making the donut recipe from Vegan Yum Yum. I was reading it out of the cookbook, but the one on the web site is the same.

Happy disaster

I was also simultaneously working on a cookie recipe and a bread recipe. Ahhh, the happy disaster known as my kitchen! I love my kitchen! I especially like that lift-up cabinet door. Turns out, it’s really convenient! I just leave it open while I’m working, and my spices and gadgets are easy to get to but out of the way. I wish the cabinet above it was easier to reach. I’m too short.

But check out the view of the mountains in the background! Love love love. Virginia is beautiful.

Getting back to the baking. OK, don’t shoot me for the Splenda/sugar mix. I know Splenda is evil, but so are junk food calories – and I bought this bag of Splenda baking mix before I went whole-foods organic, and couldn’t bear to throw it away when I was cleaning out my cabinets of processed crap. So I still bake with it sometimes… and when it’s gone, it’s gone. I swear.

/end confession

The important thing is that these donuts are insanely delicious and absolutely perfect in their flavors. I can’t even begin to describe how heavenly tasty they are. You must make them. Now.

Donuts!

Even if you totally fail at drizzling chocolate on top, like I did:

Iced donut with chocolate

They still taste amazing.