Living Mostly Meatless

Sweet Corn Ice Cream

2012-08-16T01:30:00.000-05:00

I'm a little sad because this is the last post on Living Mostly Meatless... but I'm not too sad because what is coming feels a little bit more like me. For future posts, come to my new site, jessiekaufman.com, after August 20th to see the goodness. You'll be greeted with my updated portfolio- lots and lots of food photos to gawk at, and a new blog- that focuses more on clean eating that eating vegetarian. I hope to see you over there soon!

So. Corn Ice Cream. It's the one thing that if I see on a menu I know I am going to get. Up until a few weeks ago when I was testing this I hadn't made a successful batch. It's my favorite thing in the world and it was a bit depressing that I couldn't nail it. So I tried a few different things- a custard base and a typical ice cream recipe, with emulsified corn. It was ok- but I was really missing a lot of corn flavor. Next I tried coconut milk, again it was fine, but it was missing creaminess. So I regrouped, and I came up with something completely different.

I took a can of organic corn, drained it, and simmered it in a can of organic cream of coconut for a half hour, I let it come to room temperature, then used the immersion blender to blend all of the corn into the ice cream. I then strained it in a fine mesh strainer, and refrigerated it for 24 hours.

The next afternoon, I added it to my ice cream maker, followed the directions and I had perfect corn soft serve. I put it in the freezer for another two hours and topped it with cotija cheese. It's amazing. It's perfect. I am so, so, so pleased with it- so much so that I don't even have a reason to try the real thing in Puerto Rico the next time I visit.

You should make this soon. If you don't love it, you're crazy.

This post is part of an Ice Cream Social, put together by Nutmeg Nanny.

For the full recipe Please visit Nutmeg Nanny.

Sweet Corn Ice Cream
makes 1 pint
2 days

Ingredients
1 can organic sweet corn
1 can organic cream of coconut

Update

2012-08-07T12:43:00.001-05:00

You've probably noticed the lack of posts lately. That's because I'm changing things up. A new site, with a new name will debut August 20th. Stay tuned, it's gonna be awesome!

Inside Out Sofrito Stuffed Peppers

2012-07-24T12:57:00.004-05:00

Sofrito, a staple in Spanish cooking, is basically vegetables cut in small pieces that are sauteed in vegetable oil until they resemble a sauce.

The one that I usually make is garlic, green peppers, tomatoes, and bell pepper. I add annatto and parsley too.

So when I wanted to make stuffed peppers and had no rice to stuff them with, I came up with this. This is another one of those recipes that could win over any meat lover. It's so filling, and very adaptable- you could add ham chunks to the quinoa if you don't want to go without meat, and end up with an easy, healthy option for dinner. Yum. I'm probably going to be living off of this for the next few days. It's addicting.

Inside Out Sofrito Stuffed Peppers

serves 6
1 hour

1 cup quinoa

2 cups vegetable broth

1 can pigeon peas

1 cup chopped carrots

6 green bell peppers

1 15 oz can crushed tomatoes

1 tbsp parsley

2 tsp adobo

1 tsp garlic powder

3 tbsp white onion, diced fine

1 tsp crushed annato

1/4 cup mozzarella cheeese

salt & pepper to taste

1. Bring broth to a boil with quinoa and carrots. Add pigeon peas. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes or until quinoa is done.

2. While quinoa is cooking, cut tops off peppers and clean out the seeds from the inside. Place on baking sheet

3. Preheat oven to 350.

4. Add tomatoes, parsley, adobo, garlic, onion, and annatto to cooked quinoa. Remove from heat.

5. Spoon in quinoa mixture into peppers

6. Top with chunks of mozzarella cheese, salt, and pepper

7. Cook for 25 minutes on 350.

French Galette Pancake with Sweet Plaintains in a Butter Rum Sauce

2012-07-10T05:00:00.000-05:00

There’s always a few recipes floating around in my mind that I’m dying to make. This one has been simmering for about six months so you can imagine the anticipation when I finally got around to buying the ingredients to make it. I’m honored to be sharing it here with you today. It’s a very special recipe. I’m half French and my husband is half Puerto Rican. I wanted to combine our cultures to make the perfect breakfast treat. Galettes actually originated in the town that my great, great, great grandparents grew up in. (Brittany, FR) And if you’ve ever been to Puerto Rico you’ve likely tried Mofongo or Tostones which are both made with plantains.

If you’ve never tried a plantain they are sort of like a banana mixed with a potato. They tend to pick up the flavor of whatever you add to them, making them a fun ingredient to play with. Sweet plantains are just overripe plantains, so if you can’t find them, put a ripe plantain in a paper bag for about a week. It’ll ripen just like a banana, except you want this to get black before you use it.

French Galette Pancake

Serves 4

5 minutes

6 tbsp oat bran (not oat meal)

6 tbsp fromage blanc or low fat cream cheese at room temp

4 egg whites

Mix all ingredients together in a bowl. Heat a nonstick 9" skillet to medium. Take 1/4 of the mixture out of the bowl and pour into the entire bottom of your skillet. Cook like you would a pancake, wait for the bubble for form in the middle then flip. Cook for an additional minute then slide onto plate.

Spoon sweet plantains and sauce onto half of the galette, fold over other side and top with whipped cream.

Sweet Plantains in Butter Rum Sauce

For the recipe, please visit Rachel Cooks

Painting & Sherwin Williams Emerald Paint Review

2012-07-09T10:13:00.001-05:00

I bet you did not know this. I actually minored in interior design and got my start in professional photography by photographing rooms and interior design products for companies. I've been published in Architectural Digest, Southern Accents, Veranda, and Elle Decor. I like to think that I know what I'm doing when it come to interior design, which is why I was really excited when we purchased a blank slate of a house.

Our house was built in 1908. It's considered a Victorian Builders Cottage, which basically means it's Victorian leaning in the details but wasn't built by an architect. It was likely a contractor that built the house who had worked on Victorian builds in the past and sort of just threw the house together in a way that made sense to him based on what he had picked up.

This house has no hallways and every room other than the bedroom, office, and bathroom are off of this foyer, so we felt like it should be our first project.

We wanted to go with a bold paint color and are aiming to make it sort of like little sitting area/bar area/art gallery.

So, here is what we started with:

And here is the semi-finished project:

We took the green color from the palm trees on the old box. The color, Kendal Green SW6467, accents our art and furniture perfectly.

What still needs to be done: Refinishing the floors, buy a rug and ottoman, hang more art.

(if you know of a green way to refinish wood floors, please share it with me)

This is probably my favorite thing in the house. Our TV stand was too big for our living room so we repurposed it into a bar. The doors will soon be removed for a wine rack and there will be wine glass sliding holders in the open spots.

I'm not entirely sure I like that mirror there yet. I may add a large print by one of my favorite contemporary artists, Ana Tzarev. The prints on the table are by Ana Tzarev.

I love how this paint looks different in different light. These photos were taken throughout the day to show the variety of looks. (The above illustration of Kermit was done for the Detroit Institute of Arts by Henson Associates.)

Sherwin Williams Emerald Paint Review

It's very important to me to keep everything that we add to this house as green as possible. The paint that we used is from Sherwin Williams. It's a new, self priming sustainable paint with zero VOCs.

VOCs or Volatile Organic Compounds are gasses that are emitted from various things in your house. It's usually from paint or varnishes, but can come from your printer or even craft supplies like glue or permanent markers. VOCs are higher indoors for these reasons, which is why we wanted to go with a zero VOC paint.

Before I go on the review, let me say that neither my husband or myself are professional painters. We are amateurs at best. I like this paint a lot.

If you've ever used zero VOC paint before you probably have noticed that it's a little thinner than your typical paint. For this reason, we had to do three coats, which is my only minor issue with this paint. When hanging photos I drew pencil lines on the walls and was shocked at how easily it rubbed off with a damp sponge. The cleaning showed no water marking on the finish either.

My favorite part of this paint was how easy it was to clean. For that reason alone I'll be using it in every room of our home. We have plaster walls and I was somewhat worried about the finish I chose showing the imperfections in the walls. There's only one spot you can see and it's near the baseboard. I was expecting a lot more, so I'm very happy with this.

As far as the VOC's. This paint has very minimal odor and it dried quickly. We started painting around 6pm, were done by 10, and it was completely dry in the morning with no odor in the house.

Drips cleaned up easily off the floor and baseboards, as long as we wiped them as soon as we saw them. Overall, it's going to take you a little longer to paint three coats, but it's a great paint that cleans easily, has great environmental and indoor air benefits and the color match is the best I've seen.

Brand: Emerald: Approx $70/gallon

Color:Kendal Green

Finish: Satin/Eggshell

The Giveaway

One winner will win Emerald Paint for one room in their home. The giveaway starts Monday July 9th at 10am Central Time and ends Monday July 16 at 10am Central Time. Winner will be chosen by random.org and notified on this post. Winner has 24 hours to claim prize or new winner will be chosen.

Congrats Charisse!

To Enter:

Mandatory: Leave a comment below telling me which room in your house you'd love to paint and what color.

Additional Entries:

Please leave a comment for each additional entry. More than one entry on one comment will not be counted.

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Summer Update

2012-06-29T09:59:00.001-05:00

We moved into our house sixteen days ago. It's a 3bedroom, 2 bath 1908 Victorian Builders Cottage with a lot of character and few quirks. The quirks are mostly in the basement. It's evident that this house was built for people much smaller than us, as the basement ceiling is probably 5ft 11 inches high. There are two air ducts and one giant water pipe that I've hit my head on three times this week. I'm praising my decision to become a lifeguard when I was in my late teens because I know how spot the signs of a concussion. According to my self diagnosis, I should be fine. I have to find something to wrap those damn pipes though.

Ouch

You've probably been wondering where all the posts have been. I had good intentions of starting up again right after we moved, but sadly, it was our moving day that the angels decided to take my Grandpa to heaven. We went back to Michigan for a few days and spent it with family. The funeral was very well done. My grandfather was both a retired Detroit Police officer circa riot times and a WWII Navy veteran, so he was honored by the Detroit Police and the Veterans at he funeral. My father and brother are also fireman and grandpa was given a firetruck escort. Lights and sirens and all. Grandpa had requested before he passed that the funeral procession drive by the doughnut shop on main street in my hometown before arriving at the cemetery. The funeral director got such a kick out of it that he stopped in front of the doughnut shop for a good minute before continuing. Imagine the firetruck escort with the funeral procession stopping in front of the doughnut shop. I completely lost it then, but I thought it was very touching. The funeral director later said that he wanted to give grandpa enough time to run in if he wanted. I liked that.

I made him a Milk Bar Crack Pie three Christmases ago and he was addicted. He asked for them every chance he gotafter that.

After what felt like a whirlwind of emotional days with family- that weekend was also Father's Day and especially rough on my dad- we headed home to a house full of boxes.

I remember unpacking my crystal and thinking 'Wow, I really have more space than I think I do,' then realizing we don't have a pantry and no where to store food. So, I'm considering buying an armoir or something and putting it in the foyer and using it as a pantry. It can be used as a coat closet after we move the kitchen.

There's one more built in glass display case for china, but this is the kitchen. Look at that sink. It gives me anxiety to be in this room. We're planning on moving the entire kitchen to a different room and making this room a laundry room within the next year.

This is the foyer. Sherwin Williams sent me their newest eco friendly paint to try out and it's fantastic. One of you will get to win some for a room of your own in July.

Here are the before photos. What color would you paint it?

See those old boxes? I found them in the garage. I'll give you a hint and tell you that the color we picked for the walls is from one of those boxes. I just love them.

This is what almost all of the door knobs look like. Aren't they awesome?

And, of course I had to put this in the front window. I wish grandpa would have seen it. He would have laughed.

In the last month we've also adopted two rescue dogs.

This is Bailey. She's a 3.5 year old Long haired Dachshund/Corgi Mix.

This is Pepper. She's a 6 month old Lab/Border Collie Mix and she is a handful. We now have two cats and two dogs. Everybody has a best friend, as my husband says.

I promise to get back to my regular two post a week schedule next week. Thanks for being patient.

I hope you all have a great weekend! And don't forget to come back the second week in July to win some paint!

Kitchenaid 5-Speed Hand Blender Review

2012-06-25T09:58:00.000-05:00

A few weeks ago KitchenAid sent me their 5 speed hand blender to review. It comes in a plastic storage box, which was my favorite part of the whole thing. I don't know about you but with my lack of kitchen space I'm constantly wondering where I put a random attachment to a mixer when I need it.

In the few weeks that I've had this, I've really put it to the test. I made guacamole, salsa, chopped nuts, whipped eggs, a mole, and mixed a cheesecake.

Thoughts:
For what it is, it's a great, powerful little tool. It whips, chops, and emulsifies better than my previous blender.

It's easy to handle, cleans beautifully, looks nice, and it's dishwasher safe. I found myself utilizing the mini chopper more than anything else. I really liked it because it cleaned so easily and didn't take up as much counter space as my food processor. I was very impressed with the emulsifier too. My previous one took forever to get a good froth and this one frothed things so quickly that I pulled out the other one to make sure I did the exact same thing- this one was the winner by far.

A little note though, while this tool is great for replacing a mini chopper and using a hand held whisk it isn't for heavy lifting. You'll still need to use your food processor for larger recipes/quantities- with that being said- I use it all the time. Pick one up, it'll make your kitchen life easier.

Guest Post: Simply Roasted Potatoes

2012-06-13T05:00:00.000-05:00

Today I'm excited to introduce you to my friend Michelle. Michelle runs Confessions of a Recipe Junkie. I recently made her Grapefruit Guacamole when I was visiting my mom earlier this month. It was a big hit. Go peruse her site, say hello to her on facebook, or just leave a comment below. I know I'm going to be making these potatoes when I start eating carbs again. :) -Jessie
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Photo by Michelle

Hi! I'm so glad to be here guest posting at Jessie's blog. I am the junkie behind Confessions of a Recipe Junkie, I love all carbs and sweets, and some veggies here and there. I'm just a simple homecook who's now sharing my addiction to recipes with you. Hope you all enjoy this simple dish.

As much as I enjoy whipping up "fancy" little dinners, there is nothing like simple dishes. This weekend I craved roasted potatoes. Nothing special, nothing fancy, just deliciously simple potatoes. So on Saturday after our morning day date at a local coffee shop, we walked over to the fresh market down the street. I'm so smitten with all the fresh markets here, truly in love!

Photo by Michelle

After browsing and telling myself I can't purchase the entire market, I grabbed what we needed. Lovely red potatoes, onions, and a few other goodies for the weekend. We then made another stop for soil. No, that's not part of the recipe. I am trying to save a lavender plant I purchased earlier in the week. It's wilted, well now it's dying, but I needed to change the soil to something that wouldn't retain water. The lavender isn't going to make it, I'm now hoping it will re-bloom? I know it's not a word, just go with it.

When we got home I got my hands dirty replanting the lavender. A little praying, a call to my dad the "gardener" of the family, and more praying I started to get hungry. Those potatoes were calling. They are so easy to make, 20 minutes later you have these gorgeous rounds. There was a little twist to how I made them, a squeeze of lime juice, and some herbs. They were just what we were craving. Just a little grilled chicken, and you've got dinner. Left overs? no problem, make scrambled eggs, grab a tortilla, add some of the potatoes and boom- breakfast taco. You're welcome.

Photo by Michelle

Simply Roasted Potatoes

1 lb red potatoes
1 large garlic clove, chopped
1/2 cup of chopped white onion
1 tbs fresh oregano chopped
3 large carrots chopped diagnoly
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 lime,juiced
salt & white pepper
olive oil
1 tbs freshly chopped cilantro

Preheat the oven to 420

Grab a baking dish and coat with some olive oil. Cut the potatoes in halves, add to the baking dish. Add the onions, garlic, carrots, oregano, cumin, mix into the potatoes. Drizzle more olive oil, the juice of the lime, and dash of salt & pepper. Cover with aluminum (make sure it's sealed) and pop in the oven for 20 minutes. They should be nice & tender. Top with fresh chopped cilantro before serving. ~M

Guest Post: Toasted Sesame Seed Hummus

2012-06-11T10:20:00.002-05:00

I'm excited to have Miriam from Tales of an Overtime Cook guest posting today. I met Miriam through twitter and through our extensive knowledge of photography. My favorite part of Miram's blog is that everything is kosher. I feel like everytime a holiday comes around I never know what to cook or how to cook it and now- I can just hop on over to Tales of an Overtime Cook. Of course- kosher cooking is just an added bonus, you can this way all year round. Doesn't this recipe look awesome? I could live off hummus.

-Jessie

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photo by Tales of an Overtime Cook

Hi everyone, I'm Miriam from Tales of an Overtime Cook. I'm excited and somewhat intimidated to by guest posting here while Jessie is moving. I am excited because I love this blog, and Jessie's recipes inspire me to want to cook healthier. (Despite what you might think from the overwhelming number of dessert recipes I post, I really do try to eat healthy as much as possible!) I say I am intimidated because Jessie's pictures are breathtakingly beautiful, and I am a novice photographer, so my pictures don't exactly compare to hers! I hope I can compensate by sharing my absolute favorite food. Oh, and the best part? It's totally healthy and vegetarian!

Let me tell you the back story. I once read an article by Anthony Bourdain about how his TV show came about. For those who don't know, he travels around the world, eating some really odd food along with the land's natives. He explained that he initially planned to create a show about good food, and was going to travel to the fanciest restaurants on this planet and document the good eats they serve. Then he realized that the best and most memorable meal a person had isn't always the fanciest and most expensive.

Photo by Tales of an Overtime Cook

That idea totally hit home. I have been to a couple of really nice restaurants in my life, eaten some superbly prepared, multi-course holiday meals, dined at events catered by some of the fanciest caterer's, and yet, when you ask me about the best meal I ever ate, I instantly know it wasn't any of those. No, the best meal I ever ate was at a little hole in the wall in the Israeli city of Tzefat. The shop was tiny, dark and very crowded, but to this day, my mouth waters when I think of the meal I ate there. I had a plate covered in a thick layer of the freshest hummus I ever had, topped with a couple of fresh-out-of-the-fryer falafel balls. The freshly baked pita and israeli salad were on a separate plate. The hummus was so fresh, so wondrously thick, yet creamy, all at the same time, that I just can't get it out of my head.

I've tried pretty much every brand of hummus I have come across since then, but none of them come close to that delicious meal I had in Tzefat. American commercialized hummus is such a world apart from the fresh, home made israeli variety, that it just won't satisfy my hummus cravings anymore. So I set out to make my own. It took me a while to get the taste and texture right, but I think I finally got it. It may not be quite as good as the hummus I had back then (after a couple of years, it's hard to remember!) but this is worlds above the packaged stuff, and I finally stopped wishing I could get on a plane and fly to Israel every time a craving hits!

Photo by Tales of an Overtime Cook

Toasted Sesame Seed Hummus:

Ingredients:

1/4 cup sesame seeds

1 clove garlic

2 cans chickpeas, drained

1/2 cup tahini paste

juice of 1 lemon (about 3 Tablespoons)

1/4 cup water

1/4 cup olive oil

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon cumin

Instructions:

To toast sesame seeds: (optional) Preheat oven to 350. Pour the sesame seeds into a small baking pan and bake for 8-12 minutes, until light golden brown. Remove from oven and set aside to cool.

To prepare the hummus: In the bowl of a food processor, fitted with the "s" blade, mince the garlic. Add the remaining ingredients (except for the sesame seeds) and puree until almost smooth, but leave a bit of texture. (If you prefer a very smooth hummus, blend it a bit more.) Remove hummus from food processor and place in a bowl. Stir in the toasted sesame seeds, reserving a few for garnish.

Enjoy!

Note: The sesame seeds add a delicious taste, as well as a textural element to the hummus. You can leave it out if your like yours smoother.

I hope you love this Hummus as much as I do! And place stop by my blog for some more fun recipes!

Vegetarian Biscuits & Gravy

2012-06-10T09:44:00.002-05:00

I don't know what it is about the hottest morning in the summer but I always crave biscuits and gravy. Hot food, hot weather, and cold orange juice just work in the morning.

There is literally no meat in my house and there hasn't been for at least a week. I'm pretty happy about that. I can feel pants getting looser, and even though it's hot, my wedding ring is starting to feel loose. Hallelujah, right?

I didn't want to ruin all of my progress this morning by eating saturated fat and salt laden sausage so I decided to come up with a veggie alternative. I'm happy to report that I've been cooking veggie enough that I'm comfortable adapting anything without using any processed junk or soy.

Full disclosure: My husband did not like this gravy. I'm learning that his most hated veggie food is almond milk, so this is probably why. We bought store bought biscuits from TJ's.

Vegetarian Biscuits & Gravy

serves 4

12 minutes

1 package of biscuits- or make your own

2 tbsp diced red onion

3 tbsp diced mushroom

1/4 cup butter

1/3 cup almond milk

1-2 tbsp flour- depending on how thick you want it

1/2 tbsp sage

salt & pepper to taste

Preheat the oven and cook your biscuits. In a saute pan, add butter mushrooms and onion. cook on low until onions start to brown, about 5-7 minutes. Add the flour and mix. It should form something that resembles a paste. Add your almond milk, sage. Stir and bring heat up to high. Cook for 2 minutes, while stirring. It should thicken up rather quickly. Lower heat and add your salt & pepper to taste.

Let me know if you try and like this. I thought it was great, I'm a big fan of sage and almond milk though.

Guest Post: Quick & Painless Jambalaya

2012-06-04T12:17:00.001-05:00

My friend Rachael is doing a blog post this week because I'm moving and all of my camera equipment is packed up.

I've known Rachael for 10+ years and if you're a fan of mine, you'll likely be a fan of hers. Rachael is a new mom and blogs about her experiences. If you're a mommy looking for support or just need someone to relate to, check out Rachael's blog here. For this post, Rachael made a Jambalaya. I remember the first time she told me she was going to make it. I am a big fan of anything spicy. This sounds fantastic, does it?

-Jessie
You can also follow Rachael on Twitter here.
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Quick & Painless Jambalaya by Rachael Kelley

Photo by Rachael Kelley

The first time I made this recipe, I was sure my husband would hate it. You see, he's a very picky eater, and the only ingredient he will admit to liking is the rice. Since that first time, I've been lucky to see leftovers the next day. I took some shortcuts and sneaky cheats to avoid obvious things he claimed to hate like onions, tomatoes & green peppers, and still managed to come up with a flavorful weeknight meal.

This makes a fairly mild/medium hot batch so feel free to add more hot sauce, cajun seasoning or spicier meats to suit your taste.

Quick & Painless Jambalaya

2 TBSP olive oil
1 lb Sausage (andouille, kielbasa, other 'hot' variety), sliced
1 cup chopped sweet onion (about 1 small)
2-3 chopped green onions
1 large red bell pepper, chopped
2 TBSP tomato paste
1 TBSP minced garlic
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp "Cajun Seasoning" (I used Emeril's Bayou Blast)
1/2 tsp Louisiana Hot Sauce
2 cups chicken broth
2 cups uncooked Minute Brown Rice

Optional

1 shredded chicken breast

1/2 lb shrimp, peeled & deveined

In a large pot, or dutch oven, heat oil over medium high heat. Add sausage and sweet onion & saute for 3-4 minutes. Add green onion and red peppers, cook until just tender, about 1-2 additional minutes. Add all remaining seasonings and spices, and chicken broth. Bring to a boil. Add rice, cover and reduce heat to medium. Simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. (If you're going to use shrimp, add it in after 10 minutes to prevent over-cooking.) Remove from heat and let stand for 5 minutes uncovered. Serves 4

Basil Quinoa with Strawberries and Feta

2012-05-29T20:19:00.000-05:00

I'm a little late to the quinoa bandwagon, but let me tell you- I'm hooked. I've been making this paella from Lorna Sass for about a month and it's become a weekly staple.

I like quinoa because it's crunchy, feels like you're eating a lot of carbs (but you aren't), and it's filling. I've been exchanging it for rice too.

I was recently sent a sample of a Devo Strawberry Balsamic Vinegar and a Basil Olive Oil and as soon as I smelled it I knew that I had to make something with quinoa. I had recently tried that paella recipe (without the meat) cold on top of salad and it was great, so I wanted to play around more with the idea of cold summer salads.

This dish can be served as a side or a meal. It's healthy, feels almost like a dessert, and is full of good things. You can find this type of balsamic or olive oil at any specialty olive oil store, but I will say, Devo was smoother than others I've tried. You could probably get away with a store bought strawberry vinaigrette for this recipe too.

Basil Quinoa with Strawberries and Feta

serves 4

20 minutes cook time, 1 hour chill time

1 cup white quinoa, rinsed

1 tbsp basil olive oil

1 tbsp strawberry balsamic

1 3/4 cup water
3 tsp sugar

10 medium strawberries, medium diced

1/4 cup feta, diced the same size as your strawberries

drizzle of strawberry balsamic to finish

Bring 1 3/4 cup of water, olive oil, sugar, balsamic, and quinoa to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover, and cook for about 15 minutes. When quinoa is done the middle of the seeds will be translucent.

Remove from heat and add to serving bowl. Allow to cool to room temperature.

When cool, add strawberries and feta. Drizzle with strawberry balsamic and refrigerate for at least 45 minutes.

I was sent a free sample of olive oil and balsamic vinegar from Devo Olive Oil. I was under no obligation to use it, write a post, or give a review. All reviews are my own, and honest.

Guest Post: Everything's better with buttermilk....

2012-05-28T12:05:00.000-05:00

Today I have a very special guest post for you from two of my favorite food photographers and bloggers, Noah Fecks and Paul Wagtouicz. Noah and Paul also have a blog: http://thewayweate.net/ where they find a classic recipe, cook it, review it, and photograph it beautifully. As you'll see, their work pretty much speaks for themselves, read the post below, oogle, leave them a comment or like their Facebook fan page telling them how much you love them!

Doesn't this recipe look incredible? I don't know about you, but I'd eat these pancakes for any meal.

-Jessie

You can also find Noah and Paul here: http://noahfecks.com/ @noahfecksphoto http://wagz2it.com/ @wagz2it

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Everything's Better with Buttermilk....

by Noah Fecks & Paul Wagtouicz

Photo by Noah Fecks

If the word "buttermilk" sounds as appealing as downing a frosty glass of melted butter, consider yourself dead wrong. Buttermilk specifically refers to the milk that has been "left over" in the process of making butter, and is not as you may think loaded with butter or fat. It (generally) contains no actual butter. Although, traditional buttermilk, common in Indian Lassi & Gohl drinks, do occasionally retain a few specks of butter. As far as BAKING is concerned, Buttermilk can play an important role in how your final product turns out.

According to Taste of Home Magazine, "Because this rich-tasting milk is an acidic ingredient, like yogurt and sour cream, it also helps tenderize the gluten in batter, giving baked goods a softer texture and more body." Which is just why I prefer to make our version of pancakes with buttermilk all the way.

Now, I think this is where I should tell you that I was one of "those people." By which I mean that I really, truly, honestly believed that pancakes could not be made by mere mortals. They came from the Bisquick gods, high atop Mt. General Mills, under the Betty Crocker Sun. That's how my mom made them, and that's how I loved them. Sky High, Fluffy, Tender, but with enough body to make them far beyond crepes or crumpets. Real AMERICAN pancakes! However I had no idea that this fabulous creation that trumpeted the ingenuity of mankind and the bounty of nature's grains was something that could be created in my humble home without a team of leading scientists, home economists and flavor enhancing specialists.

Photo by Noah Fecks

Like many of my culinary revelations, the curtain of ignorance is usually lifted by none other than Gourmet Magazine. While the print magazine may be no longer published, through the magic of library liquidation and Ebay, We've been able to procure every issue of the magazine every printed. As such, no matter how foreboding the question, we're pretty sure the answer lies SOMEWHERE within the dog-eared pages of our beloved Gourmets...

Searching for pancake recipes among the many indexes, we came across a savory pancake recipe for Caviar Pancakes that called for their own Buttermilk Pancakes to be prepared for this decadent and savory dish. I noticed there was a small advisory on the recipe to "use the leftover batter for breakfast." To which, of course, I wondered if we could just do away with the caviar all together and just fast-forward to breakfast? Basically, I was interested to see if the batter would hold up if I made it on demand, and didn't offer it what would seem like a "12 hour rest."

Photo by Noah Fecks

I'm happy to report that not only was this pancake recipe the one I was dreaming of, that yielded the thick manly breakfast I desired, however it performed perfectly with no rest. The buttermilk it seemed not only imparted great flavor, but also gave a soft luxurious texture via tenderizing the gluten in the mix. I had gone from Buttermilk-fearful to Buttermilk-FANTATIC. Since my initial discovery, I've used buttermilk in baking with abandon. I've become particualry addicted the Buttermilk Sandwich Bread recipe available in the Cook's Illustrated definitive guide for baking, Baking Illustrated, that is something that should be owned in EVERY american home. However, in the meantime, you can easily get your feet wet with the fool-proof recipe from Gourmet. Thankfully, the internet gods and the good people at Epicurious.com provide this soon-to-be-family-heirloom of a recipe, free of charge at their website. My only advice, as a true kitchen-hedonist, is that these are a trillion times better when you use your own home-made Clarified Butter in lieu of vegetable oil!

Noah Fecks + Paul Wagtouicz

Hibiscus Agua Fresca (Agua de Jamaica)

2012-05-23T02:30:00.000-05:00

I'm guest posting over at Cooking With Books today, so if you'd like the recipe click this link.

For this post I wanted to share something near and dear to me. The first time I had this drink I was on my honeymoon. I asked a lady at the spa how to make it and when we came home I walked a few blocks to the Mexican grocery store, bought some dried hibiscus, and it's been a staple in our house ever since. It is really is good and refreshing, but my favorite part is that hibiscus is so good for you.

This recipe is an agua fresca. Literally translated: fresh water, agua fresca's are Mexico's version of fruit punch. They all start with one ingredient. It can be seeds, fruits, or in this case, flowers. They are then steeped sort of like a tea in boiling water, sugar, and sometimes added spices. If you've ever visited Mexico it's likely that you've seen stands where people are selling their versions of agua fresca. Tamarind is another favorite.

Almond Milk

2012-05-17T14:55:00.000-05:00

Remember how I said I didn't want to buy groceries because we're moving? Well, we ran out of milk on Monday and used up the powdered milk yesterday. I thought I should use up the almonds today.

I don't know about you, but I'd happily give up milk for almond milk for the rest of my life. I love the nutty flavor it lends to everything. And the chocolate. YUM! This stuff is a dreamy in your coffee. You can scale this recipe accordingly, or add a couple tbsp of cocoa for a chocolate version.

Almond Milk

soak overnight

10 minutes blending & straining time

makes 8 cups

2 cups unsalted almonds

1/3 cup dates

8 cups water

2 tsp vanilla

Add the almonds to a medium bowl, cover them with water and soak overnight. Once soaked, strain the almonds, add them to a blender with the water. Blend for about two minutes. It'll start to froth like milk. Add the vanilla and dates. Blend for another minute. Using a small mesh strainer pour your almond mixture into pitcher.

Refrigerate and enjoy. This can be used immediately.

Btw, the leftover almonds from when you stain can still be used. I plan on using mine to encrust some fish for dinner.

Banana Pound Cake... without the pounds

2012-05-15T13:29:00.001-05:00

The professor and I are moving in a few weeks and I am trying to use up all of our groceries.You know what that means? Forced recipe development. I spent the entire day on Sunday cleaning the kitchen so it could be packed and I deserved a reward in the form of cake. I'm going to lie an tell you I wanted to make a healthy pound cake, but the truth is, I didn't have any butter.

Banana Pound Cake

serves 8

1 hour 10 minutes

1 1/2 cups your favorite flavored yogurt (I used banana)

1 1/4 cup packed brown sugar

2/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

3 eggs

2 3/4 cup cake flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

pinch of pumpkin spice

Mix the yogurt, brown sugar, olive oil, and eggs together. Add the flour, baking soda, salt and pumpkin spice and mix until incorporated. Pour into a floured spring form pan and cook at 350 for 1 hour.

Serve with fresh berries drizzled on top.

Faux Garlic Mashed Potatoes

2012-05-11T13:29:00.000-05:00

I have been dying to eat mashed potatoes lately and since I'm not really eating that many carbs these days I knew I had to come up with an alternative or I'd cave. I've heard of people subbing cauliflower for potatoes and figured I'd give it a try. I used my regular mashed potato recipe, took out the milk, reduced the butter, and subbed in the cauliflower. If I didn't know this was cauliflower and was served these at a restaurant I wouldn't know the difference. They taste a lot like Outback's garlic mashed potatoes.

Faux Garlic Mashed Potatoes

serves 4
15 minutes

1 medium head cauliflower

1 large clove of garlic

1 tbsp cream cheese

4 tbsp Parmesan cheese

2 tbsp unsalted butter

salt & pepper to taste

Steam cauliflower until soft, add all ingredients to a food processor and process until they resemble mashed potatoes. Easy peasy, and most importantly, less carbs!

Cranberry Almond Biscotti

2012-05-08T12:41:00.000-05:00

cranberry almond biscotti

In case you don't remember, my husband is an English professor. This is the last week of class before exams and graduation. I wanted to send a little pick me up to the English Department because everyone is likely buried in grading homework and essays. I needed to make something that would last a few days and still taste great and thought biscotti would be perfect.

Cranberry Almond Biscotti

1 hour

makes about 16-24 pieces depending on how thick you cut them

400 grams cake flour, plus more for dusting

180 grams brown sugar

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp vanilla

3 eggs

3-4 tbsp milk
90 grams slivered almonds
90 grams chopped dried cranberries

Preheat the oven to 350.

Combine the flour, brown sugar, and baking powder in a medium bowl. Mix well. In a small bowl whisk egg, 2 tbsp milk, and vanilla together. Add to your flour mixture. I've found that depending on the temperature/moisture in the air this may be enough milk. If your dough is still dry, add more milk 1 tbsp at a time, until it's resembles a firm cookie dough. If it's too wet, add more flour.

Cut the dough in 4 equal pieces. Shape them into 6" x 2" logs and place on a greased cookie sheet. Instead of greasing, I used a Silpat. Cook for 35 minutes and remove from oven. Lower the oven temperature to 300.

Once the biscotti is cool enough to touch, cut each log one by one diagonally into 4-6 pieces. Place cut pieces flat side down on your cookie sheet again and return to oven. Cook on 300 for about 20 more minutes or until they are crispy.

I drizzled half of mine with Royal Icing.

Tea Infused Blueberry Rice Pudding

2012-05-02T16:10:00.001-05:00

I've done something sort of crazy lately that is completely out of my character.

Two weeks ago I basically stopped drinking coffee.

It was right around then that I discovered Stash Tea. If you're like me and have been drinking supermarket brands your whole life, you've probably never thought much about the flavor. This tea is like discovering beef carpaccio when you're whole life you've thought burgers were the best way to eat beef.

Stash Tea was nice enough to sponsor a giveaway for this post. One winner will get:
(1) Orange Spice 20 ct box
(1) Blueberry Superfruit Caffeine Free 20 ct box
(1) Mangosteen with Matcha 18 ct Box
(1) Moroccan Mint 20 ct box

My husband and I both love the Blueberry. Ok. We love all of them, but the Blueberry is amazing. I would probably drink it instead of water if I had an endless supply. I wanted to make something to do it justice and my friend Garrett suggested rice pudding. I'd never made it before, but was a little obsessed with a store in NYC that only served rice pudding. I thought I had a pretty good idea for what it should taste like. This is nice and creamy with a big blueberry flavor. I hope you like it.

Tea Infused Blueberry Rice Pudding

serves 8

45 minutes, plus 3 hr chill time

3 cups of water

4 Blueberry Superfruit tea bags

1 cup sushi rice

2 cups whole milk

1/2 cup half & half

1tbsp cornstarch

1/3 cup brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 pint blueberries

Cook the rice with 3 cups of water and 3 teabags as you would normally. Once rice is done, add milk, leaving the teabags in this mixture. Open your remaining tea bag and add the contents to this mixture. Cook for five minutes on medium heat, it will slightly thicken up. Add the cornstarch to your half and half and mix. Once lumps are gone add half and half to your rice. Remove the tea bags. Add vanilla, sugar, and blueberries and cook for 10 minutes on medium. Remove from heat, spoon pudding into a storage bowl and chill for at least three hours. Serve cold.

Stash Tea Giveaway HAS ENDED

~~Giveaway Starts Wednesday May 2nd, 2012 and ends Wednesday May 9th at 11:59pm CST~~
~~Winner Chosen by Random.org~~

~~To enter:~~

~~Mandatory: Leave a comment below telling me your favorite tea~~

~~Additional Entries:~~

~~Follow Stash Tea on twitter~~

~~Like Living Mostly Meatless on Facebook~~

~~RePin this Recipe On Pintrest~~

WINNER: MARY

Disclaimer: I was provided free samples of the four mentioned teas above to review. I was under no obligation to write a review or to give a positive review. All opinions on this site are honest and my own.

Pasta Salad

2012-04-29T15:21:00.002-05:00

I like to eat salad for dinner sometimes and it's really hard to feel full if you're not using meat. That's how I came up with this.

It's simple, easy, and chock full of good things to make you feel full and healthy.

Pasta Salad

Serves 6

cook & prep: 30 minutes

chill 1 hour

1 box of jumbo shells

6 cups romaine

2 cups of chopped zucchini

1 cup chopped hearts of palm

4 medium tomatoes chopped

2 tbsp parsley

1/4 cup olive oil

juice of 1 lemon

salt & pepper to taste

feta cheese

Italian dressing

Boil shells (I had 18) until done. About 15 minutes. Combine zucchini, hearts of palm, tomatoes, and parsley in a large bowl. In a measuring cup, add lemon juice, salt and pepper to your olive oil and stir with a for for 20 seconds, or until incorporated. Pour this mixture into your veggie bowl and mix.

Rinse cooked shells with cold water. Once cool enough to touch, gently stuff them with this veggie mixture. Add them to a casserole dish and chill for at least one hour.

Serve over a bed of romaine sprinkled with feta and drizzled with Italian dressing.

I recommend three noodles per salad.

Enjoy!

Vegan Red Lentil Dip & Rye Crackers

2012-04-24T12:26:00.002-05:00

I remembered this white bean dip that Melissa Clark did for the New York Times a few years ago. It was one of the last recipes I made in our old apartment as I was trying to use up all the food before we moved. I'm not the biggest fan of cannellini beans, but I really enjoyed the consistency of this dip. So today, when I was thinking about what I could make with red lentils I thought of that dip. I wanted to give it more of an Indian flavor, which, turns more into a Mediterranean flavor once it's chilled and works remarkably well with the rye chips.
I'm pretty proud of this.

There's other news too. Bob's Red Mill is going to give three(3!) winners one product each of their choice. You can choose from Red Lentils, Dark Rye Flour, or Semolina Flour.

Isn't that awesome of them?

Red Lentil Dip

serves 6

40 minutes

8 ounces Bob's Red Mill Red Lentils

3 cups water

1 tsp olive oil (I used Frantoia)

8 cloves of garlic, roasted

1 tsp salt

2 tsp dry parsley

1 1/2 tsp cumin

juice of 1/2 lemon

Preheat oven to 350. Once preheated, to roast garlic, add garlic cloves to a pan and cook, skin on for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and remove garlic skins. Add to food processor.

Bring water to a boil. Add lentils. Boil for five minutes, stirring constantly. Reduce to a simmer and simmer for 20 minutes. Once soft, drain in a mesh colander. There should be a few tablespoons of liquid that comes out, if it's not coming out, shake it around. Once most of the extra liquid is strained add lentils to food processor with garlic. Add olive oil, parsley, and cumin. Blend until smooth.

Serve warm or chilled.

Note: the initial smell of this while it's warm very Indian, so if you're not a fan of Indian foods, thoroughly chill this before serving with the rye crackers. When chilled, it tastes more like hummus.

Rye Crackers
adapted from Margaret Palca via The Brooklyn Cookbook

makes ~60 2 inch crackers

30 minutes

1 cup of Bob's Red Mill Dark Rye Flour

3/4 cup Bob's Red Mill Whole Wheat Flour

1 tsp salt

3 tsp caraway seeds

4 tbsp Earth Balance

1 tsp molasses

1/2 cup warm water

Preheat oven to 350.

In a medium bowl mix flours and salt. In a measuring cup, measure 1/2 cup warm water, stir in 1 tsp molasses and keep stirring until it dissolves. Add seeds to flour mixture. Cut in butter to flour mixture. I did this by hand and it took about two minutes. You should have a dough resembling crumbs when it's incorporated enough. Slowly add water. Once incorporated, dust hands with flour. Dough will be sticky. Work the dough in your hands until it no longer sticks. About 3 minutes.

Cut the dough in three pieces and roll one out on a piece of plastic wrap. It should not stick to your roller at all if you worked it enough.

Roll out your dough to about the size of a cookie sheet or until it's 1/16 inch thick. Scour the dough in to 2 square inch pieces with a pizza cutter.

Pick up your plastic wrap on by each edge, being careful no to drop any of the dough. Flip it over onto your cookie sheet and remove plastic.

Dough should be flat on the bottom of an non greased pan.

Cook for 18 minutes on 350. Let cool for 10 minutes, then break any that need help.

This Giveaway has ended
Winners:

#8 Bonnie #13 Athena #49 Micaela

~~Three winners get an item of their choice: Red Lentils, Dark Rye Flour, or Semolina Flour from Bob's Red Mill.~~

~~Giveaway starts Tuesday April 24th at noon CST and Ends Tuesday May 2nd at 11:59pm. Winners will be chosen by Random.org on Wednesday, May 3rd. Come back to see if you've won.~~

~~To Enter:~~

Mandatory: Leave a comment below telling me which item you'd pick if you won: Red Lentils, Dark Rye Flour, or Semolina Flour and what you'd make with it.

~~Additional Entries:~~

~~Like Bob's Red Mill on Facebook~~

~~Follow Bob's Red Mill on Twitter~~

~~Like Living Mostly Meatless on Facebook~~

~~Please leave an additional comment for each entry. Entries on the same line will not be counted. Entries without Mandatory entry will not be counted.~~
~~Winners have 48 hours to claim their prize. If winner does not claim prize within 48 hours a new winner will be chosen.~~

Don't forget to enter the Green Wean Giveaway by April 30th!

Disclaimer: I received free products from Bob's Red Mill to review. I was under no obligation to give a review, post, or positive review. All opinions are honest and my own.

Sesame Semolina Bread

2012-04-21T15:07:00.002-05:00

Remember when I did the No-Knead Semolina Bread?

I revisited it last night. My husband's favorite bread is the Sesame Semolina bread from Panera, and I wanted to replicate it for him.

It's bouncier, has the nice crunch of the seeds, and looks amazing.

No Knead Sesame Semolina Bread
Adapted from Jim Lahey
Makes 1 loaf

1 cup of Bob's Red Mill Semolina Flour
1.5 cup of all purpose flour
1/4 tsp of instant yeast
1.5 tsp of salt
1 1/4 cups of water
2 tbsp roasted sesame seeds

Throw everything but water into a bowl, mix, add water. Cover for 12-18 hours. I make mine after dinner and cook it in the morning.

Heat an oven with a covered dutch oven or similar dish to 500 degrees.

Flour a surface, lightly coat dough with flour and form a round loaf. Add to pan and cover.

Cook 30 minutes, remove lid, and cook an additional 15 minutes. Remove from oven and pan and let cool on wire wrack for at least 1 hour.

P.S. Don't forget to enter the Wean Green Glass Storage Giveaway

Cooler Cleanse & Giveaway

2012-04-13T13:10:00.003-05:00

Today I started a 3-day Cooler Cleanse. It's a raw juice (only) diet. You drink six specially formulated juices each day over the corse of three days to detox. Light exercise and sauna time is encouraged.

I've always been one of those people that's curious about juicing. I also think it'll be a great way to continue with my diet.

Check to back to see my progress for the next three days and enter the giveaway below to win a 3 Day Cooler Cleanse for yourself.

Day 1: Eating the Cooler Way
Cooler cleanse recommends that you eat the "Cooler Way" for three days before your cleanse, but insists you at least do one. I chose to do one, and started yesterday. Yesterday I ate salads, yucca, and for full disclosure, had a cocktail or two. (They don't recommend the cocktails) I know I'm used to eating vegetarian, but for some reason didn't get around to cooking anything I really wanted to eat yesterday, so I went to bed pretty hungry.

Day 2: First Cleanse Day
I woke up around 7 this morning and had two glasses of water with lemon, as Cooler Cleanse recommends. I read the New York Times and answered emails while I waited for the FedEx package to arrive. Cooler Cleanse ships over night, and you start your cleanse as soon as you get it. Mine came around 11am, so I was pretty hungry at that point. I started out with the Sweet Green. It sort of tasted like bananas, and I really don't like bananas so I was put off... once I read the ingredients and saw that there were none, I talked myself into thinking that flavor was the apple and spinach. Overall, it was ok. Right now I'm drinking the watermelon & lime. It's really good. It'd be even better with a little tequila. I'm not feeling tired or hungry, and the juices are pretty filling. So far, so good.

*It's 2:30 and I'm waiting until my next juice @3:00. I have a slight headache. I'm not sure if I'm hungry or if I just want french fries. I've been wanting french fries for days.
*5:30 I cheated and had a little bit to eat. My headache was too intense and I wasn't prepared to take a tylenol without something in my stomach. I don't feel worse, but my headache has dissipated, and for that I'm grateful. I also just had the Young Coconut Water. I'm really surprise now nutty it is. I like it. I haven't had a problem with any of the three other juices I've drank so far today.
*11:00pm I'm having cravings for the most ridiculous foods. Like Chic-fil-A, I haven't had that since College. Day 2 ended fine. I'm not hungry at all, but I miss the satisfaction that I get from eating. There's no 'Wow- this is really good!' when you're drinking juice.

Day 3:
I woke up not really hungry still, and I braved the scale and I'm down two full pounds. That's motivation enough to keep going for me. Two things- I did not sleep well at all last night, and my face is breaking out.
*1:30 I've been doing my typical weekend cleaning, dusting, laundry, vacuuming, dishes- nothing crazy, and have noticed that I'm sweating a lot. Nothing I'm doing should warrant sweating- it is really humid in Chicagoland today, so that could be playing a role. I'm also feeling very present. If you've read any of Eckhart Tolle's books you'll know how he talks about living in the now. That's exactly what it feels like. Still not hungry. I've had two juices so far today, I'll be drinking my third in a half hour.
*5:30 half hour until my 5th juice. I'm feeling tired. I was hungry earlier and had two big glasses of water. That helped a lot.

Day 4:
I slept really well last night, despite there being thunderstorms. I also did a mud mask before I went to bed last night and my face has cleared up. As far as weight loss- I didn't lose anything yesterday. Which is odd, because I was moving around a lot yesterday. Today I decided that I'm going to keep this going by transitioning into 10 days of mostly vegan, 100% vegetarian. Usually when I'm doing my 5-meatless days I'm craving beef. With this cleanse I'm craving salad. I figure, it's a perfect opportunity to take advantage of that.
*4:00 again with the unnecessary sweating, dizzy, and really hot. I ate an all-fruit popsicle after this and it stopped.
*8:00 just drank the last juice.
I can see a sandwich in my future.

Day 5: Overall thoughts & total weight loss
After doing this cleanse, I've thought about two things- 1. I get too much of my satisfaction from what I eat. Even if I make a healthy salad, I try to make it one of the best salads I've ever tasted. I've really gotten into a routine of making something that is really hard for dinner -knowing it'll be good and feeling happy, excited, etc about it. I really noticed that when dinner was juice. 2. Cravings will go away. Usually I succumb to them if it's been a day or two, and on cleanse day 4, they had all basically stopped. Overall, I lost 4lbs. The biggest side effect was the dizziness. Keep in in mind I have an inner ear problem and was taking my medication, but I don't know if the juicing interacted with that. I'd probably do it again, if I found myself needing a reset. I also want to note, some of the reviews that I read about Cooler Cleanse said some of the juices tasted horrible. Other than one, the Brazil Nut Juice, I didn't think any tasted bad.

THIS GIVEAWAY HAS ENDED

~~To enter the giveaway to win your own 3-Day Cleanse leave a comment below for each entry. Keep in mind there is one mandatory entry and you must complete it to win.~~

~~Giveaway opens Friday, April 13th and ends Sunday April 22nd at Midnight Eastern Time.~~

~~Winner will be announced Sunday April 22nd.~~

~~1. Mandatory: Leave a comment below telling me why you'd like to try this cleanse~~

~~additional entries~~
~~2. Like Cooler Cleanse on Facebook or Follow them on twitter~~
~~3. Come back on Saturday April 14, or Sunday April 15th and cheer me on~~

~~4. Share this giveaway with your friends on Facebook or Twitter. Please leave a link to the tweet and directly share the giveaway on Facebook from Living Mostly Meatless. (2 available entries)~~
Winner:
Congrats Kristen!
Please email me your shipping address at livingmostlymeatless@gmail.com
Winner has 48 hours to claim their cleanse, if the winner doesn't contact Living Mostly Meatless within 48 hours a new winner will be chosen.

*don't forget to go to the homepage and enter the newest giveaway :)

There's a total of 6 entries per person here. Please remember to leave a separate comment for each.

Disclaimer: I was provided a free 3-day Cooler Cleanse for this review, but was under no obligation to give a review, or to give a positive review. All views are honest, and my own. Please consult your Doctor before trying any new diet or cleanse.

Cheesy Chipotle Yucca

2012-04-11T13:57:00.003-05:00

You know that American Classic Cheesy Potato dish that everyone has for any holiday in which a pot luck is involved? You know. Frozen potatoes. Onion. Peppers. Lots of cheese. Last Christmas, my mother in law, who is Puerto Rican, and a very good at adapting any recipe to be a little more Latin, decided to switch out the potato with yucca and add chipotle. It was so good.

I've been craving yucca lately, but if you remember, I'm also on a diet. So I wanted to make the dish as calorie friendly as possible.

I subbed the sour cream and cream cheese with a cheese roux. And instead of all cheddar, I used half Edam and an Extra Sharp Cheddar. I also used skim milk and completely omitted the condensed chicken soup. (my family uses the soup, my mother in law doesn't.)

I'm not even completely sure if a cheese roux actually has less calories, but it's French, and so am I. I tend to gravitate towards foods that I feel my ancestors could have made.

As far as yucca goes, you can usually find it in your grocers freezer near the ethnic food. Sometimes it's near the Goya products, sometimes it is near the Indian where it's called Cassava. If you can't find it there, it's likely near the potatoes in the produce section. You'll just have to peel and cut it yourself. If you do this, get the hardest yuccas you can find. When you cut them they should have no little black lines inside, if you find this, the yucca is bad. Don't use it. It should be completely cream colored. See the photo below.

Cheesy Chipotle Yucca

serves 8 as a side

great leftovers

Cook time 1.5 hours

Yucca:

total time 1 hour

6 cups of fresh yucca (note, if you use frozen, just defrost it in the microwave and skip the boiling step, this will cut your cook time down by 1 hour)

a large pot of boiling, generously salted water

Peel yucca with a knife or sturdy vegetable peeler. Cut into 1 inch by 3 inch chunks. Add to boiling water and cook for one hour, or until tender- as if you were cooking mashed potatoes. Even though Yucca is a root, it tastes a lot like a potato.

Chipotle Roux:

Total time 15 minutes

*you will have about 1 cup of extra roux. You can use it for Mac-n-Cheese, dip chips in it, pour it over broccoli.

4 tbsp butter

1/4 cup all purpose flour

1/2 cup cold skim milk (must be cold)

1 1/2 cups cold skim milk

pinch nutmeg

1/4 tsp Cayenne (add more if you want it spicy)

3 tbsp chipotle sauce

4 ounces Extra Sharp Cheddar Cheese, shredded

4 ounces Edam Cheese, shredded

pinch of salt

pinch of pepper

Place the butter in a medium saucepan and heat until it starts to foam. Add 1/4 cup of flour, whisk, and cook on low heat for 2-3 minutes- or until it turns blond. Whisk in 1/2 cup of cold milk- this will thicken really quick, so make sure you have your Mise en place ready to go. Add the remaining 1.5 cups of cold milk with a pinch of nutmeg, and your Cayenne. Simmer on low for 5-6 minutes. Add in cheeses a handful at a time. Whisk in and incorporate before adding more. When cheese is added and incorporated, add the chipote sauce. I personally am not a fan of a lot of chipotle flavor so I kept the flavor generally mild for the recipe. Feel free to add more if you're someone that loves it, just taste as you go.

Add your salt.

Preheat oven to 350. Drain and roughly mash your yucca. Medium chunks are ok. Add this to a medium casserole dish. Pour 2 cups of your roux over the yucca. Fold in the sauce. Top wish freshly grated pepper. You can also add a little more shredded cheese to the top if you want.

Cook in the oven, for 30 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

Vegan Chocolate Fudge Cake

2012-04-10T14:05:00.000-05:00

Vegan Chocolate Cake with Edible Rose Petals

I hope that post title got your attention.

This is a story about a cake that never was.

I wanted to make a cake for our Passover Sedar [April 6-April 14]. As you may know Jewish people aren't allowed to eat anything that has been leavened or something that is considered Chametz for the entire holiday. This includes most beers, bread, cereal, wheat, barley, oats, rye, spelt, ... you get the idea. It wasn't until halfway into my planning processed when I remembered that we also do not eat Kitniyot- beans, millet, legumes, rice, and seeds. And that's about where that Kosher for Passover cake ended. My frosting is made of soy. And I didn't really want a flourless cake anyway.

So. I made this for Easter instead. ;)

Vegan Chocolate Fudge Cake

adapted from Tea with Bea

serves 8

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 3/4 almond milk

3/4 cup organic unsweetened cocoa powder

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

2 teaspoons red wine vinegar

1 2/3 cups superfine sugar

6 ounces of cold-not melted, coconut oil, plus more for the pan

2 tablespoons vanilla extract

a pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 350 and line bottom with paper. Grease the sides of two 9 inch round cake pan with coconut oil. Flour the pans.

*Mix the flour and salt in a large bowl.

In another large bowl, or stand mixer, cream together sugar, coconut oil, vanilla, and almond milk. Add the cocoa powder. Mix until incorporated. In a small bowl, add the vinegar to your baking soda and powder. Add it to your sugar mixture. Add your flour mixture 1/3 cup at a time . Mix until incorporated. About 2-3 minutes.

Pour evenly into two cake pans. Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean.

Frosting

It's the filling for my Vegan 'Gloy' Pie

Make it as directed without the crust while your cake is cooling, and refrigerate. When the cake is cool and the tofu has firmed up enough to be spread, spread it in between your layers and the top/outside. (it'll take about an hour for the tofu to firm up)

Garnish with edible rose petals if you can find them.

Refrigerate for 6 hours before serving, serve cold, store in the refrigerator. Do not skip this step. It's crucial that the tofu firms up even more to make this cake rich.

*I found by testing this a few times that if you scald the almond milk and whisk the cocoa into it you'll get tiny chunks of chocolate in your batter. The recipe above is for a cake without those little chunks, so if you want them, scald the milk, whisk in the cocoa and 1/3 cup of flour, then add that mixture to your sugar mixture, then add the remaining flour.

Living Mostly Meatless

Sweet Corn Ice Cream

Update

Inside Out Sofrito Stuffed Peppers

French Galette Pancake with Sweet Plaintains in a Butter Rum Sauce

Painting & Sherwin Williams Emerald Paint Review

Summer Update

Kitchenaid 5-Speed Hand Blender Review

Guest Post: Simply Roasted Potatoes

Guest Post: Toasted Sesame Seed Hummus

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Guest Post: Quick & Painless Jambalaya

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Guest Post: Everything's better with buttermilk....

Hibiscus Agua Fresca (Agua de Jamaica)

Almond Milk

Banana Pound Cake... without the pounds

Faux Garlic Mashed Potatoes

Cranberry Almond Biscotti

Tea Infused Blueberry Rice Pudding

Pasta Salad

Vegan Red Lentil Dip & Rye Crackers

This Giveaway has ended
Winners:

#8 Bonnie #13 Athena #49 Micaela

Sesame Semolina Bread

© 2012 Jessie Kaufman

Cooler Cleanse & Giveaway

© 2012 Jessie Kaufman

Cheesy Chipotle Yucca

© 2012 Jessie Kaufman

Vegan Chocolate Fudge Cake

© 2012 Jessie Kaufman

Living Mostly Meatless

Sweet Corn Ice Cream

Update

Inside Out Sofrito Stuffed Peppers

French Galette Pancake with Sweet Plaintains in a Butter Rum Sauce

Painting & Sherwin Williams Emerald Paint Review

Summer Update

Kitchenaid 5-Speed Hand Blender Review

Guest Post: Simply Roasted Potatoes

Guest Post: Toasted Sesame Seed Hummus

Vegetarian Biscuits & Gravy

Guest Post: Quick & Painless Jambalaya

Basil Quinoa with Strawberries and Feta

Guest Post: Everything's better with buttermilk....

Hibiscus Agua Fresca (Agua de Jamaica)

Almond Milk

Banana Pound Cake... without the pounds

Faux Garlic Mashed Potatoes

Cranberry Almond Biscotti

Tea Infused Blueberry Rice Pudding

Pasta Salad

Vegan Red Lentil Dip & Rye Crackers

This Giveaway has ended Winners: #8 Bonnie #13 Athena #49 Micaela

Sesame Semolina Bread

© 2012 Jessie Kaufman

Cooler Cleanse & Giveaway

© 2012 Jessie Kaufman

Cheesy Chipotle Yucca

© 2012 Jessie Kaufman

Vegan Chocolate Fudge Cake

© 2012 Jessie Kaufman

This Giveaway has ended
Winners:

#8 Bonnie #13 Athena #49 Micaela