Mostly Adventurous Eating

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2013-01-30T16:18:00.003-08:00

Visit the new home of (mostly Adventurous Eating for more recipes!

Apple, Radish, and Cucumber Salad

2013-01-15T22:46:00.001-08:00

Hello. My name is Zylo, and I'm addicted to porn. I spend a great deal of time surfing food blogs and eye-fucking food porn. I can't believe how good these pictures are. They're so clear and colorful and well-composed. And mine... well, aren't. I have finally gotten to a point where I may invest in a better camera in the next year or so. However, I can't blame my trusty little camera for the rest - that's all me, boys! So I present to you an awful picture of my salad. But hark, I will be presenting you with better pictures. Later. Maybe.

Back to the salad. It's not pretty, but its fresh and a good foil for too-rich quiche. The bakery on my block has great quiche, don't get me wrong, but it was very very rich, even for me. This livened it right up. It also works well for cream heavy dishes like my recent pasta. I accidentally left out the mustard the first time and wondered why it just didn't taste right. Everything was better after it was included. This was a nice crispy salad that had a good combination of flavors to keep it interesting. I'm also a fan of anything sweet and savory, so this fit well with everything else I ate.

But now I pose a question: how do you keep your cucumbers from getting watery? I've done the salted and drained thing but that has NEVER worked for me. What am I doing wrong? If you have a tip, please let me know. Otherwise, go make some salad.

To make this lovely dish, please visit the host blog and her much hotter food porn.

Savory Breakfast Toast Pastries

2012-12-13T17:34:00.000-08:00

Sometimes things just click. Need portable breakfast. Want flavor. Trust Pioneer Woman. I meant to make these like hot pockets until I realized the amazing resemblance they had to those breakfast toaster pastries that cost a fortune and never have enough filling.

I found the base filling recipe from Pioneer Woman (who does no wrong) and decided this had to be it. Of course, I never cook without "fixing" things, so I made some additions that I pretend made it healthier. It didn't all things considered *ahempuffpastrycough* However, these were still delicious.

I followed the directions on my pastry box - bake at 350F for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. Seriously, bake yours until golden brown. I have an unnatural fear of baking puff pastry into briquettes, so I never cook them long enough and then lament it but refuse to fix it. Don't be me.

I bought one box of puff pastry and this made 6 rather large pastries. Think toaster pastry, but slightly larger and at least double the filling. It was easier for me to cut it that way, but feel free to make these any size or shape you want. You could even use a biscuit cutter which I considered, but dismissed since I wanted more filling than that could offer. Up to you.

She says add mustard. You add mustard. It DOES NOT taste the same without it. It actually reminded me of eating a honey mustard pretzel. You know, without the pretzel or the honey. I ate quite a bit before bothering to fill the pockets, but that worked out because I had easily double the filling I needed. Unless you just want some left for a side-dish, I suggest only making half a recipe which is what I've outlined below. Plus, this idea is great for making additions and substitutions.

Pioneer Breakfast Pastries
modified from this filling recipe

Filling:

6 whole Hard-boiled Eggs, Peeled And Chopped
1 cups Grated Cheddar Cheese
1/2 cup Mayonnaise
6 slices Bacon, Fried And Crumbled
up to 1/2 cup chopped vegetables
1 Tablespoon (heaping) Dijon Mustard
1/2 teaspoon Garlic Powder
1/4 teaspoon Smoked Paprika
1/4 teaspoon Cayenne Pepper
3 dashes Worcestershire Sauce

Additional Ingredients:
1 box puff pastry dough
1 egg or milk or water for sealing dough
Flour for your working surface

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350F.

Dump filling ingredients into a bowl. Mix. Don't eat too much.

Divide or cut dough into whatever size you would like. Stuff as full as you can and still close them up. Use whatever liquid you have as a sealant and press the edges with a fork.

Bake on a sheet pan or in a dish for 20-30 minutes or until golden brown. Time will vary on the size and thickness of your pastries.

Done.

Pasta with Mint, Thyme, and Rosemary Cream Sauce

2012-12-01T09:45:00.000-08:00

I read a lot of other food blogs and I'm always interested in their stories. Some go on mad searches for the perfect souffle or have been pining over something their great-grandmother made in their childhood. My methods are pretty anti-climactic in the face of that. I either have something that needs to be used or I found a recipe that called to me whether I had the ingredients or not. Hence, pasta.

Formula = have pasta, found recipe, made dinner.

And lunch. Okay, I had it for breakfast a few times too. I cook once and eat until it's gone or I can't stand it anymore. I added rosemary to this sauce because I have it and love it. Otherwise, easy peasy. I, uh, used a lot of sauce. Sue me.

Chicken Pasta with Thyme-Mint Cream Sauce from the always tasty Simply Recipes.

Quinoa Blueberry Muffins

2012-11-19T15:51:00.000-08:00

A few days before the world was consumed with Superstorm Sandy (after everyone else but me knew, of course), I was determined to actually make something to take to work for breakfast. Once I realized the world was going to end, I figured these muffins were the healthiest thing I had to survive a power outage, ranking high above jerky, peanuts, and chocolate. Mostly, I already made them because I wasn't really planning ahead. I didn't lose power except for a few flickers, but I did enjoy the muffins. Now that's how you do a storm! These muffins were moist, filling, and delicious- everything I require a breakfast muffin to be.

The idea popped in my head that I should use quinoa and the blueberries in my freezer for muffins, apropos of nothing. So I went on the hunt. It yielded far more results than I was expecting, which I think is a good thing for a recipe. It allows you to pick and choose. I roughly followed the recipe, not really bothering to measure anything and it came out really well.

Recently, all my muffins have stuck stubbornly to my cupcake liners, and I can seem to get them out of the tin cups without the liners. It's a viscious, sticky circle really. So I was very disappointed to try one warm out of the oven since I only got to eat the half that I could dig out. The blogger and her reviewers mentioned that they were better the next day so I let it slide. Lo and behold, the next day they did taste better AND came out of the cups. It's magic!

Buinoa (Or Qlueberry) Muffins

Strawberry and Cream Biscuits

2012-06-24T10:34:00.000-07:00

Since I've moved into this new apartment, I've done shamefully little cooking. I was fortunate enough to have a sous chef around this weekend, so I planned at least two recipes to try out. Of course, it only ended up being one with the amazing amount of eating out that was done, but this recipe was totally worth it.

I started the hunt for the next recipe last week on Wednesday. Very fortuitous. We have a farmers market, only open on Wednesday, that's on my street. In addition, it called for farm fresh, almost overripe strawberries. I knew I could get some from the market, but Deb pointed out that they are too firm to "melt" properly. I had exactly 25 minutes before the market closed and only one stand had strawberries, but they were precious, ripe, and so sweet. In a nutshell, worth it.

Now, I've made biscuits before. I'm from Georgia. I've had most of them not end up being worth it. Too dry, not buttery enough, burnt. But these! These are intensely buttery and rich, sweet as pie from the strawberries, but not too sweet, moist, delicious. In a nutshell, worth it.

If you're left with almost dead strawberries and don't want to throw them out or drink another smoothie, whip these up. You probably have most of the ingredients on hand. You will not be sorry.

For easy to follow directions, head to Smitten Kitchen.

Double Chocolate Peanut Butter Brownies

2012-05-15T17:54:00.001-07:00

Hello everyone. I've been gone for a variety of reasons - moving, new job, changes in job, no internet - but I'm starting to come back. Slowly. Here's a bit of what I've been doing lately. Brownies.

I found this idea from a Kraft newsletter and they sounded like a good idea. However, once I looked at the recipe, I thought these sounded way too much like the dreaded Buckeye. Remember? Sounds like a good idea with a classic combination, but makes me want to vomit because it's way too sweet and tastes like a 4 year old made it? Yep.

So I went out on my own into the cold world and tried something else.

These brownies are thin but so fudgy and dense. Also, when I make from scratch brownies, I want them to taste like they're from scratch. So my brownies always have coffee and chili powder in them. That's how I roll. They don't add a discernible flavor, they just enhance the flavors there and make them taste like a grown up treat instead of a hunk of chocolate. Word.

In keeping with the trend, my peanut butter filling is simple as is the chocolate topping. Next time, I'll use unsweetened baking chocolate, with butter, and maybe a tablespoon of sugar instead of melted dark chips because I still found that to be a bit sweet.

Moral of the story: these are wow. I cut 20 pieces, but I suggest more because you don't need a giant serving. A tiny bit will satisfy.

How to make:

Make the brownie recipe from Smitten Kitchen. I played with it and added coffee and chili powder as stated above. I also cut back a bit on the sugar. Bake and cool completely.

Mix one to two cups of peanut or other nut butter with a few tablespoons of butter. I found the butter to be unnecessary later, but it does make it easier to spread. It also firms it up a bit when it's cold. The amount of peanut butter is also a matter of preference.

Melt 1/2 cup of chocolate chips with 2 T butter and 1/8 cup sugar. Again, note above the changes I would make next time if you like it even less sweet. Spread on top of peanut butter and refrigerate the whole mess until it's firm and easy to cut.

Eat what you will and take the rest out to make some new friends. I sure did.

Sweet Potato, Black Bean, and Goat Cheese Pasties

2012-01-08T14:27:00.000-08:00

If you are anything like me, you eat breakfast one-handed while you drive, dress, or otherwise frantically make your way out the door in the morning. Breakfast should be finished, neat, and ready to go - all things I am not in the morning. I like more savory items first thing and most breakfast pastries are too sweet, so I created something that fit the bill. These are a nice mix of sweet and savory, while providing a good mix of carbs and protein for the morning. Feel free to adjust the sweetness to your liking. Or hey, add some peppers in with the cayenne and start your morning off with a trip to the hospital. Whatever floats your gravy boat.

Sweet Potato, Black Bean, and Goat Cheese Pasties
makes about 30 pasties if your pastry rounds are about 3" in diameter before filling and folding.

Ingredients:
2 medium sweet potatoes
6-8 ounces goat cheese (strength it up to you - I like mine bold and tangy)
1 can black beans (I only used about 3/4 of the can, but I think all would have great too)
1-2 tsp garam masala (I like mine a bit sweeter and stronger. Taste as you go)
1/4 to 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper (I used more because mine is OLD)
1 tsp salt (or more if you want a more savory filling)
1/8 to 1/4 tsp cumin
4 refrigerated pie crusts (the pre-rolled kind or make your own if you're just that good)
1 egg, beaten

Bake your sweet potatoes with your preferred method until soft or cheat and use canned. Remove skins, then mash with all other ingredients except the last two.

Roll out your dough on a lightly floured surface. Cut out rounds of dough, roughly 3" in diameter.

Fill rounds with 1-2 tablespoons of filling, but don't fill them enough to overflow or break when sealing. Fold over, use your beaten egg to seal the crust. Crimp and place on parchment paper or foil covered baking sheet. You can do all many of fancy eggwashes, sugar glazes, or butter basting at this point.

Bake at 425F for 25-ish minutes. They're done when pastry is baked and lightly golden brown. Cool on rack and pack for the next day. These were good both hot and cold and reheated well in the microwave.

Vegetarian Shepards Pie

2011-11-05T11:50:00.000-07:00

I never thought something as simple as shepards pie would be so damn time consuming. I guess because I never made one before. Make broth, then stew, then mashed potatoes, then bake together. Not to mention all the chopping, shredding, timing, and cooking. To be honest, I never actually made it to the pie part. I just plopped stew and potatoes in a bowl and called it a day. Pie be damned!

I don't like parsnips. Don't. I've tried them roasted, stewed, and turned into french fries. Don't. Funky. No. However, the broth... the BROTH. So worth it. So.Worth. It. Worth it enough to spend extra time typing in caps with periods after every word. That takes time, yo. Also, celery root! Man, I don't like celery but this root business might have something to it. It did taste nutty and delicious like promised.The problem, however, was the one I got was obviously old because it wasn't crisp and shreddable, it was spongy and tough. Sigh. Still, I know now that it tastes great, so I just have to find better ones.

This recipe is pretty flexible with substitutions and that's probably a good thing since some items might be hard to find in your area. Just do the best you can. Who cares, right? For example, I couldn't find pearl onions or anything close, so I used frozen pearl onions in a cream sauce. No biggie. I think I'll try this again with winter squash and sweet potatoes for a winterized version. Doesn't that sound lovely?

Vegetarian Shepards Pie

from Epicurious

Cherry Pepper Cobbler with Spiced Oatmeal Topping

2011-10-15T15:11:00.000-07:00

Kay, so remember cherry season? It's a while back now. Well, there's this place, you see, where you can pick your own cherries. And I picked them and made them into a cobbler, you see? Then it got eaten and I was too full to blog about it, see? Yeah.

It's called Cherry Hill Orchards. I've actually been twice now and, yes, I will totally get around to telling you about the other one. Some day. Anywho, it was me, two co-workers, two kids, and a truckload of Amish people. It was a warm, breezy morning, spent petting farm cats and getting things stuck to my sticky fingers. I would just like to let the world know that I am a trooper. I was so far up in there picking cherries that I wore the tree as a hat. Seriously, I was picking cherry stems and bugs out of my hair hours later. Very cool experience and picking them yourself is CHEAP. Plus, compared to all my other "farming" experiences, this was a piece of cake because I wasn't dying in the South Georgia sun for hours. Check it out if you're in the area.

Also, can we take a break and talk about pitting cherries? I could buy a cherry-pitter, but they were soft enough that I just squeezed and they popped out. Took forever. My point here is that it took about an hour. This was an hour in which my mind went freaking WILD and tried to come up with every inappropriate comment possible (thinking about it for the rest of the week was just me). I popped about 200 cherries. By hand. I sang some tunes by Cherry Poppin' Daddies for good measure. I sang "Strange Fruit". I thought about forbidden fruit. Juicy flesh. Cleft. Cleft. Cleft, okay I'm done.

So, I bought this jam once. Hang on, totally related story coming your way. It was a cherry pepper conserve and tasted like sweet heaven. Once I got a boatload of cherries in my grubby mitts, I decided this needed to be replicated on a larger scale. With crumble topping.

I compared quite a few cherry cobbler recipes, looking for common threads that could be applied to an all-purpose recipe that is tweakable. My note taking skills are very low in this department, but I made a concerted effort to measure and do all that fancy, fiddly stuff. The end result was fantastico. It was sweet, but not overly so, with a little bite from the peppers and crunch from the topping. I think next time, I would try to thicken the cherry filling a bit more, since it was a tad runny for me. I'm also discovering that I'm not a huge fan of cardamom. Maybe it's situational, but more and more I don't like the taste it brings to foods. Look, you're reading MY foodblog. That means you can change recipes all you like to suit your tastes. I sure do. So go have fun with it!

Cherry Pepper Cobbler:

5 generous cups pitted cherries
1 T cornstarch
1-2 T flour
scant 1/2 cup sugar (or more if you like a traditional sweet cobbler)
1-2 diced hot peppers of your choice (Optional, but come on. You wouldn't make this recipe unless you wanted to add peppers)
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (optional)

Spiced Oatmeal Topping:
3/4 cup oats
3/4 cup flour
scant 1/2 c brown sugar
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp cardamom
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper (optional)
6 T melted butter

Preheat oven to 375 F.

1. Clean and pit all your cherries. Mix with the flour and corn starch. Set aside.

2. Dice and seed all your peppers. Or leave the seeds in if you're one of those crazy hot-heads. Wash your hands! I fear the day I forget this step.

3. In a small sauce pan, cook the sugar until it melts, then lower the heat to simmer. Add the diced peppers, cayenne, and vanilla. Stir until the peppers are slightly cooked and warm. This infuses the sugar with spicy flavor and dulls the peppers a bit. I think.

4. Mix into cherries and plop into baking dish. I would use a 9x9, but anything you've got that's big enough. Let it cool a bit then test the flavor and consistency. Add tasty or thickening stuff as you see if.

5. Note: most crumbly topping call for cold butter. If you can get that to work, then go for it. For me, it's just an exercise in futility adding cold butter to oats. Whatevs. If you're like me, melt your butter in the microwave.

6. In a small bowl, fumble all the topping ingredients together with the butter until you've got a pastey crumble.

7. Smooth crumble on top of cherry pepper mix and pop in the oven for about half an hour. Check after 20-25 minutes and bake until it's bubbly, thickened, and the topping has lightly browned.

Attention: Chocolate Makers

2011-10-12T07:54:00.000-07:00

Adding pop rocks to your crappy chocolate does not make it "champagne" flavored. It just makes it noisy. Please address this. K thnx.

Lightened-Up Buckeyes

2011-07-09T11:24:00.000-07:00

My best friend's mom always makes these for christmas. They sound like a great idea, but even I (Ms. I melt candy bars on cookies) can't choke down the sweetness. It's too much sugar, too little actual taste, and no texture. Plus, after a hard search for saltine truffles left me feeling unsatisfied, I felt this might be the perfect way to sneak them into candy.

I think saltines are the bee's knees. They provide texture, a salty kick (I used unsalted here though), and they add bulk that doesn't come from sugar. Plus, add crushed peanuts for a party in your mouth. This solves some of the problems I have with normal buckeyes. Still, the peanut butter filling is very sweet to me. That's where the chocolate comes in.

Maybe it's just me, but I've noticed a lot more as I get older that I'm using dark, heady chocolate to "unsweeten" desserts. I know, my life sucks right? How awesome is it that adding chocolate can temper the sweetness of a dessert. It's a topsy turvy world. I was worried that the chocolate wouldn't taste good if that's the only part you took a bite of, so I added a little milk chocolate. When I say a little, I mean 1/4 cup to the 4 oz of unsweetened. Barely sweet and perfect.

Together, they make a buckeye that still have flavor, but isn't too sweet, has some texture, and is practically a health food compared to a normal recipe. You're welcome, pancreas.

I made two batches. The one for the office looked like typical buckeyes. For these, shove a toothpick in the top and use it as a handle to dip them in the chocolate. I thought they looked funny with their one-armed toothpick salutes. Then of course they look like crazy cyclops eyes after the toothpicks are removed. Creeeepy. For my batch, I just plopped then fully in the chocolate for a richer truffle. I'm worth it.

Lightened Up Buckeyes

Truffles:
1 1/2 c peanut butter
1 c butter, room temperature

4 to 4 1/2 c confectioners sugar
1 cup crushed saltines

1/2 to 1 cup crushed peanuts
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Chocolate Coating
8 oz unsweetened bakers chocolate
1/2 cup semi-sweet chips
(really, any chocolate you want works here)

Mix peanut butter and butter together thoroughly. Then add the rest of the ingredients except for half of the powdered sugar. Keep mixing well until you get the taste you like with a thick texture, adding more sugar until you're happy with the result.

You can refridgerate the "dough" until it firms up, then roll it into balls. I found the cold dough hard to work with, so just get it pliable without being too hard. Roll into as many balls as you like. Mine made about 40 medium sized truffles. Push in your toothpick handle then freeze until they're hard- at least two hours.

Once hard, start your chocolate. You can temper it the old fashioned way, or you can cut corners like I did and microwave it for 20-30 seconds at a time, stirring between. It should take about 1 to 2 minutes for the choclate to melt.

Use the toothpicks to carefully dip and swirl each truffle until they're to your liking. If you are doing the entire batch at once, I suggest melting your choclate in a small bowl or cup and making 2 to 3 batches of the chocolate. The truffles cool the chocolate quickly so this will make it easier to work with. Once all the truffles have been coated, return to the freezer for another hour or so, until you can't wait anymore.

Dig in. Or, take some in to work for strategic favor garnering. I place my work treats in this tub.

Works every time.

Broccoli Soup

2011-06-05T06:14:00.000-07:00

Or, where can I get a field of broccoli to make this soup so I can bring about world peace. It's that good.

If you wondered whether broccoli soup without the cheese is not only something that might taste good, but also something you could serve to other people at an event, let me assure you that YES OHMYGOD YES you can. Actually, I'm not sure I ever want to eat broccoli and cheese soup again now that I know this is an option. It's easy to make, cheap, and over the top good.

If you love broccoli as much as I do, you will love this recipe. The taste is so clean and honest, in your face broccoli that's also creamy and comforting. Forget the biscuits. Forget the garlic bread. Hell, forget the rest of your meal. Just whip this up and you'll be happy as Larry. However happy he is.

The only substitution I made to this one was replacing real cream with a nut creamer I had in the fridge that needed using. It turned out perfectly, so I think this would take well to any substiutions for a vegan-friendly recipe you'd like. And, you know, it might also be good with cheese.

Broccoli Soup
from the Neely's on FoodNetwork

Ingredients

4 tablespoons butter, room temperature

1 1/2 pounds fresh broccoli

1 large onion, chopped

1 carrot, chopped

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

4 cups low-sodium chicken broth

1/2 cup cream

Homemade Croutons, recipe follows

Directions

Melt 4 tablespoons butter in heavy medium pot over medium-high heat. Add broccoli, onion, carrot, salt and pepper and saute until onion is translucent, about 6 minutes. Add the flour and cook for 1 minute, until the flour reaches a blonde color. Add stock and bring to boil.
Simmer uncovered until broccoli is tender, about 15 minutes. Pour in cream. With an immersion blender, puree the soup. Add salt and pepper, to taste, and then replace the lid back on the pot.

They also have a recipe for homemade croutons if you're into that kind of thing. Enjoy!

Thai Peanut Seitan with Broccoli and Pineapple

2011-05-02T06:38:00.000-07:00

Let's just get this out of the way. The cubed seitan I bought looks like dog food. Kay? Moving on. I'd never worked with it before, and it tastes like tofu after it's cooked. Not so scary. Plus, every time I've seen it spelled phonetically it's say-tan, which is too funny because I love saying I just ate Satan with broccoli. I'm very easy to please. (The taste of say-tan compels you!) If it's s-eye-tan, I don't want to know.

Aside from my adventures in fake meat, I almost made it without because there's broccoli! and pineapple! in thai peanut sauce! I was excited from the get-go. This recipe is great because it's just as easy and flexible as a stir fry for when you're sick of stir-frys and can't eat another one. You probably have the basics on hand and you can sub in any vegetable or meat combo you'd like to good results. It's a winner. Unfortunately, I didn't get to take any pictures because it went fast. I guess that's a good sign.

You may think the cookbook is familiar. There was another one I checked out ages ago that was the Go Vegetarian sister book. Both are excellent, though I think I'm a bit more partial to the vegetarian cookbook.

Seitan Saute with Pineapple
from Student's Go Vegan Cookbook

2 tsp oil
1/2 medium onion, chopped (about 1/2 cup)
2 minced garlic cloves
1 tsp garam masala
1/2 c chopped red bell pepper (used green with good results)
2 1/2 c bite-sized broccoli florets
4 oz finely chopped seitan (compels you!)
10 oz can crushed pineapple, unsweetened
1 T peanut butter
1/4 c light coconut milk
salt and pepper
roasted peanuts, garnish
chopped cilantro, garnish

Saute onion in the oil over medium heat for 3-5 minutes or until translucent. Add garlic and garam masala and saute another minute, stirring constantly.

Stir in bell pepper, broccoli, and seitan!, and cook for 1-2 minutes. Add pineapple, peanut butter, and coconut milk. Simmer over medium heat for 8-10 minutes, or until vegetables are tender crisp and sauce begins to thicken slightly.

Add salt and pepper to taste and garnish if you like. As a side note, the sauce is beige. Satan! is beige. The pineapple and onions look beigey. Your broccoli will be your only stand-out if you use green pepper. I'm not one to turn my nose up at ugly food, you know me, but a dash of red bell pepper is nice here. Just fyi.

Vegan Pumpkin Whoopie Pies

2011-04-23T18:49:00.000-07:00

You heard right. We're back on whoopie pies chez Z and we're doing it vegan-style this time. Whoopie pie remix.

If you thought I'd had enough of them last time, you were wrong. Once I figured out that they tasted so much better without gobs (heh) of filling, I'm ready for more. Plus, this is an excuse to buy vegan cream cheese. Oh fake cream cheese, can you be as satisfying as your namesake?

Quick answer is no.

But it does have it's only qualities that don't make it suck. For instance, in this filling you can't tell it's not cream cheese. When mixed with other things, including lemon juice which gives it that nice tart cream cheese flavor, you wouldn't know it's vegan. (I decided to add some raw cacao powder to this batch, because pumpkin and chocolate are made in heaven.) On it's own, it's a different story. It doesn't taste bad, but it's not something I'd smear on a bagel and eat on it's own. However, you throw some chives and toasted sesame seeds on the same bagel with it and it's a party. Plus, it's easier to work with straight from the refrigerator since it's not as hard.

Overall, these whoopies were EXCELLENT. I loved the texture of the pies. One thing that may have made these so deliciously moist was replacing the oil with apple sauce and using more, you guessed it, buckwheat flour. I also cut the sugar in the pies in half. These are so decadent, I couldn't tell the difference. So can you make vegan whoopie pies that are the shit? Yes you can. And you should. If you are so inclined to try, check out the recipe I used here. Happy dairy-free baking.

Roasted Chickpea Crunchies

2011-04-21T17:17:00.000-07:00

Sometimes you just find a recipe that's so awesome you fall in love and have to share. Then you share until it's annoying for the people around you and they tell you to shut up. This is that new recipe for me. All I wanted was a little snack, something to tide me over. These recipe challenges so often end up with lots of real food but no munchies. To remedy that I decided to make these.

And proceeded to get annoying.

These things are too easy. I've made them twice now and I'm about to start branching out and trying them with other beans. The recipe calls for canned chickpeas which was great. I think I like them from dried beans better though. I can't tell a difference in taste, but I love the texture difference. Also, if you're not into the corn-nut kind of crunch that these can get, just cook them a few minutes less for a less intense crunch and lovely chew.

Plus, these are crazy flexible. You can try any combo of herbs and spices you can dream of. The only one I've tried so far (because I love it as much as these) is a smoked sweet paprika, cumin, cayenne, black pepper, and brown sugar. Oh, touch me.

Throw out those potato chips! What are you waiting for? Click here to get the recipe and go wild.

Vegan Garlic Naan

2011-04-17T10:36:00.000-07:00

I was little hesitant about this. I made naan previously for a potluck and it was kinda suck. They were flat, too hard, and not helpful with the scooping of delicious things. Approaching this recipe with an open mind was a bit difficult, but I had a few new ideas. One reason my last batch didn't do so well was because my oven was too low and they cooked too long. Now, I could try it again with higher heat, or I could go the pan route. I chose Saute Pan as my weapon of choice.

This was a very wise decision, indeed. Maybe a hearty, toothsome, almost chewy naan isn't to your taste, but oh crap was it to mine! I had no idea that's what I wanted until I took a bite. This is no piddling bread to go with better food. This is NAAN. Not only was it delicious ripped apart and eaten alone, but I loved making open-faced sandwhiches with my stewed tomatoes and lentils on top. The coriander made this a much more flavorful, savory bread then I was expecting, but it really raised the bar. It goes suprisingly well with many more food combinations that you'd imagine.
Drawback: my pan looks like I tried to kill it. Anything cooked on my stovetop looks like that now. I think a heavy bottom skillet with more oil than the smidge I used would work wonders. Or, I bet a cast iron skillet without oil would work too. I'm sure there's a way to get them puffy in a skillet, but I haven't gotten there yet. Let me know if you have any tips.

Here is the base recipe. I went ahead and added the minced garlic, but about half of the recommended. I could have handled more since I used a mix of whole wheat and buckwheat for these, and the flour gave it a darker, more robust flavor. Also, I left out the vegan sour cream because I couldn't find any. I just substituted a little more almond/coconut milk with a tad of lemon juice. Does anyone have a favorite recipe for naan?

I know I'm all kinds of behind on vegan recipes. Ugh. What's up with this? I'll try harder, especially since I've found some amazing ones. Next time.

Vegan Stewed Lentils and Tomatoes

2011-04-14T15:24:00.000-07:00

Ugh! I know I'm slacking again on recipes. I've made a bunch of stuff with more on the way. Long, boring story that you don't want to hear, so let's start of easy. Actually, I meant to tell you about this forever ago. Once upon a dinner party, a friend from work and I made this Smitten Kitchen recipe. It was fabulous. The end.

Seriously, I made this at home in the same week and have been dreaming about it since. Vegan month is a great way to explore some new bean and rice dishes. I held off making them for gluten free so I wouldn't get sick to death of them. But it's vegan time! No guilt in making them now, so please join me and believe me when I say they're perfect for vegans, vegetarians, and meat-eaters alike. Word.

I've had them a little different every time. The first time, my friend put the carrots in hers. Of course, I don't do carrots, so I left them out the second time around, along with the food processing step. But this time, oooh this time! It could be that the anticipation made them taste more phenomenal than ever. Or it could be that I processed my onions, garlic, and tomatoes after sauteing then topped with a double dose of black pepper for a slightly spicy, tangy masterpiece over rice. Whatev.

Please make these. Seriously. I might cry if you don't.

To make this awesomeness, go to Smitten Kitchen.

March Gluten-Free Challenge Recap

2011-04-02T21:25:00.001-07:00

Well, the last month has really opened my eyes. The general public is becoming more aware of gluten intolerance, especially if they're avid food blog readers. What I couldn't have guessed before is that nearly everyone either knows someone who has Celiac disease or is a friend of a friend. It's amazing to me because it's almost the perverse new trend. With everything I've been reading about wheat and processed foods lately, I guess it shouldn't be too much of a shock.

Speaking of food intolerance, my April challenge is vegan recipes. Since I've started gearing up for that and winding down with gluten-free, I've never been so aware of the growing number of people with special dietary restrictions - both voluntary and not. It's made me so much more grateful that I decided to take this challenge in the first place. Word to the wise, if you don't know someone with a special diet now, you will. Soon. Now more than ever, there's a huge, delicious world of "alternative" recipes. Why don't you try out a few and pin them down so that next time, when it's actually necessary, you won't be the person to show up to dinner with some inedible health food that you thought might be okay for weird-eating people. You don't want that and neither do they. /off soapbox

This leads me in to thinking about flour. I love trying new kinds and have more than my fair share on my pantry shelf. However, most of the time I get stuck thinking about them as novelty items. This relegates them to once-in-a-while recipes that are "special" and further segregates them in my mind. What is even more amazing is that most of these flours have been around for a long time. Either they weren't big in my part of the world, or we forgot how to use them, or we've succumb to the brainwashing that is advertising, believing wheat is the only flour. So to help straighten my mind out, I've had to learn how to work with them. My major three were sorghum, brown rice, and buckwheat flour.

I find sorghum flour to be a bit mealy and it doesn't seem to hold moisture as well. Buckwheat has an almost dirt-like flavor (as you've guessed by my last posts), but seemed to grow on me. Brown rice is by far my favorite. It was versatile, moist, not too crumbly, and cheaper than some of the others I've seen. This is only a small sampling and I've got more to try. I can't wait.

Now, for those of you who wondered about me cheating: I did. After the first week and a half, I realized that I was about to throw away or give away perfectly good food just to do this challenge. That seems silly to me, especially on a stipend. It made me reassess why I did this in the first place. I was bored cooking the same types of things. I wanted to try new recipes. Bam. Let me eat my leftovers and bits in peace, but expand my horizons. This was a perfect balance for me and one I intend to carry into April.

Overall: This month was really rewarding. Even after a rocky start and a lot of frustration with eating out (free bread everywhere!), I started to get into the groove. I've got a growing list of gluten-free foods that are appetizing, satisfying, and easily adaptable to lots of food allergies. Plus, I've got a few more tricks up my sleeve than before. What more could I ask for?

If you'd like to venture on a similar journey or could use more sites to help you along, I recommend these, in no particular order:

Gluten Free Girl and The Chef
Gluten Free Goddess
Simply Gluten Free
Gluten Free Mommy

GF Batter Fried Fish and Mushrooms

2011-04-01T15:23:00.000-07:00

Totally.

I could go into a bunch of backstory and crap, but let's cut to the chase here.

1) I used buckwheat flour so it looks like mud.

2) Whoever came up with this recipe is a GENIUS! No struggling to create a crushed Chex-mix or cornmeal batter, just smooth sailing and good results.

I am a staunch fried seafood fan, but I don't make it at home. Why? You can't get crazy puffy batter fried to a greasy crisp fish like a fast food restaurant at home. Until now. Oil spill, why must you be so far away! I could put you to good use!

I guess I should also add 3) I ran out of oil and couldn't use my deep fryer. So I used less oil on lower heat and got totally greasy, greasified, Grease Fish. Which is fine with me.

Try. Fry. Eat with gluten free tartar sauce and Hooter's sauce. You were totally gonna forget the Hooter's weren't you. It's okay. I remind you. Don't worry that you've eaten nothing nutritionally sound and focus on the fact that fish is healthy! So are mushrooms! Win!

GF Graham Crackers

2011-03-31T15:09:00.000-07:00

Graham crackers are one of those classic snacks that I never think of unless I want a s'more. Seriously, there are quite a few things that everyone else seems to eat that are not in my lexicon'o food. In light of this, I'm not quite sure what inspired my hankering for some good old fashioned crackers. Whatever the case, I set out to make them.

And totally failed.

Now, my interpretation of failure is different than yours might be. See, the main ingredient flip was in the flour. I ran out of the last tiny bit of brown rice flour and subbed in buckwheat flour. Don't let the name fool you, it's gluten free. It's also dark brown and sort of makes everything look like dirt. It also has an earthy taste to it that makes some people think it tastes like dirt. Great start. Add to the fact that I'm LAZY and couldn't be fucked to properly roll them out and you have one recipe that has all the makings of graham crackers but is certainly not.

Now my first bite made me cringe a bit. It wasn't at all what I was expecting. Hilariously, I made a friend try them. At first she was intimidated to try them, then absolutely scared after she took a bite and let out a half-terrified "Ew!" Thanks, Julie. However, these grew on me in ways I couldn't have imagined. For one, I'm not fond of the graham cracker taste, to a point that I refuse to use it as pie crust and scrape it off. But after you get used to the buckwheat, it allows you to enjoy the sweetness of the honey and sugar without being overwhelmingly sweet.

Also, by not making these cracker-thin, they turned out soft with a melt-in-your-mouth crumb feel that is so addicting for me- very similar to a scone. I think this might be a base for an amazing cookie bar or something. Either way, my fail probably turned out for the best, since this is yet another recipe I wanted to make that I figured out later I'm not quite fond of. Such is life.

If you'd like to try your hand at the actual recipe, you can find it here. If you're looking for something a bit different, I originally wanted to make this graham cracker recipe, but didn't have all the ingredients. Or you can do it my way, by not following a recipe and ending up better for it.

Just saying.

GF Cinnamon Swirl Bread [Now with banana!]

2011-03-30T15:24:00.000-07:00

Yes you can have totally tasty quickbreads! Knew it. Few quick notes, I used 3/4 sorghum flour and 1/4 buckwheat flour for this and it turned out well. Also note that the 3/4 and 1/4 don't refer to cups, just proportions. Plus, the usual applesauce for oil deal and a banana that was ripe and waiting. Mixy-mixy, bake, and pack for lunch.

Got to run for the day, but I've still got a few gluten free recipes to cram in, so stay tuned.

Cinnamon Swirl Bread

taken from here

GF Chicken, Lentil, and Corn Enchiladas

2011-03-28T15:26:00.000-07:00

Does anyone cook Mexican food on a regular basis? I mean, it sounds like a good idea. Lots of corn and tomatoes and rice and... jazz or whatever. But Mexican food never tastes as good as it should, you know? Why is Taco Bell near the top of my Tex-Mex food list?! When I want a quick meal, especially if I need it cheap, I fall back on Italian, Southern food, Indian. But not our Southern border cuisine.

Fine, I thought. Damn it. I've got a handful of stuff that needs to be used, including chicken and way too much cheese (vegan April, remember?) and I've never made enchiladas. They sound good. They fit the bill. But will they really give me what I want? I vowed to find out.

So, lets bake all the chicken that needs going until it falls off the bone. Check. Rip off crispy skin and eat as a snack. Check.

[Edit: What the flippy-floppy? I was trying to add the pictures I'd taken, but can't find them. I suspect I only took them in my head. Okay, picture a cassarole dish smothered in cheese. Bam.]

[P.S. Edit: Flippy-floppy is my new favorite phrase. Thanks Julie.]

Scrounge up everything in kitchen that's about to die. Check. Add some protein filler with lentils. Check. Grate cheese until I have filled my workout quota for the week and break my cheese grater to holy hell. Double Check. Assemble. Eat.

Let me also note that this is a many person recipe, not a one person for dinner/lunch thing. Do you guys remember the episode of I Love Lucy where Ricki and Fred decided that most people could eat a pound of rice, so multiplied that by the number of people they were serving? Or the time Lucy made BREAD and nearly suffered from BREAD DEATH? I'm that guy. So I used the full amount of filling and toppings to too few tortillas in a too small 8x8" dish. Don't be me.

But what would you know? This was really tasty. Did I overcome my total predjudice against corn tortillas? Nope. Not even with frying. They fell apart and had a funny texture. But enchiladas with flour tortillas... I long for you.

Come to me now.

Bring salsa.

Chicken Enchiladas

3 cups cooked chicken
1 cup corn
1-2 cups cooked lentils
chopped green onions
Many corn tortillas- as many as you need. Or more. Go crazy.
1 1/2 cup enchilada sauce*
1/2 c cream sauce (or something creamy. I used a few dollops of raw cheddar spread and some horseradish dipping sauce because I had it)
3 cups cheese (I used a colby, cheddar, goat cheese cheddar mix. Yep.)

Lightly fry tortillas seperately in a dab of vegetable oil. Set aside.

Mix chicken, corn, cooked lentils, and any other fixins you can dream of. Or anything that needs to be used before it goes bad in the refrigerator. Put a few tablespoons of the chicken mix in each tortilla, wrap, and place in baking dish. Smother with sauce then top with cheese.

Bake at 350-400 F for 15-25 minutes, until cheese melts and you can't wait any longer.

No-Cook Make-Do Enchilada Sauce
Inspired by this recipe

1 (14.5 oz) can of tomatoes, mine already had onion and garlic
1-2 T of flour (sorghum for me)
Cayenne and cumin to taste.

Toss everything and whiz in a food processor. Um... I'm not sure why you add the flour except to thicken it. Meh. Tasted good anyway, plus I'm sure it's much healthier than store bought.

Done. How can a recipe be better than that?

GF Mushroom, Olive, and Double Cheese Pizza

2011-03-26T20:07:00.000-07:00

Yep yep yep. I tackled gluten-free pizza and I won. Of course, like with mac and cheese, I think any bread with tomato sauce and cheese can't fail, so maybe I'm biased. I flirted with this pizza dough recipe for a while, but didn't want to buy more ingredients. Instead I stole a dough recipe from this blog to start. My only problem with it was my own fault. I should have split it into two dishes instead of one (for double the pizza!) because the crust was very thick and took longer to bake then I would have liked.

Next top with homemade pizza sauce. For mine, I cracked open a small can of tomato sauce and simmered with onion powder, basil, chopped garlic, salt, and a crack-ton of black pepper. It was perfect and spicy, ready to be topped with cheese. In case you missed the double part, I topped the sauce with slabs of colby jack, mushrooms, black olives, and then TOPPED the top with sharp white cheddar. Cheese sandwich on crust, yes sir.

As baked, it was like a deep dish tangy, cheesy, satisfying slice of pizza heaven. Then again, I've never met a pizza I didn't like. Hmmm.

GF Mac and Cheese of Ultimate Awesomeness

2011-03-24T16:56:00.000-07:00

Okay, this post is not meant to show you the definitive mac and cheese recipe, though this one was damn good. This is to clear gluten-free pasta of it's bad name. So far, I've had quinoa and corn, brown rice, and white rice pasta. They all had tiny quirks, but overall I've been hugely impressed. So when it comes to one of America's favorite comfort foods, don't be afraid to cut the cheese. *snort*

For my mac, I decided to try a brown rice twist pasta. The recipe I used called for a bit of parboiling, which I thought would be safer. You know what? My pasta didn't fall apart. If you overcook any pasta it will get too soft, so don't be overzealous. Just treat it like normal pasta and you'll be cool. For the cheesy bits, I used mostly medium cheddar with some colby, feta, and parm. Use whatever you have, though personally I stay away from sharp cheddars. Whatever your preference, use a ton of it.

I've heard a lot lately about the sub-par... ness of gluten free pasta. Maybe I'm not experienced enough with it. Maybe I have no clue about what I'm saying. But why don't you give it a try for yourself. Perhaps you'll look at the starchy stuff in a new light or find a new favorite everyone can live with. Mkay.