Posts from the ‘Cookbook’ Category

A bunch of you have expressed distress over my lack of recipe posts recently. Well fear not beloved kitchen vixens! Nate and I bring you the only dinner recipe you’ll ever need. Sure to impress friends, neighbors, mothers-in-law, and even kids. It’s been in my repertoire for about a decade and it never fails to perform.

Since I don’t really like Valentine’s Day that much, (too much pressure) the only thing we had planned for the day was make a nice dinner together. Appetizer, entrée, and dessert. (We love cooking together, if you are new to the blog.) After waking up late and planning our dinner menu we allowed a quick diversion to go shop for bicycles for each other. (Sidenote: They say riding a bike just “comes back to you” and I’d like to just say a big fat “not really” to whoever started that ridiculous statement because, while I can get on and balance enough to stay upright, I can hardly start or stop without losing control. And don’t get me started on turns or narrow spaces. Needless to say, I’m a bit comical on it right now.)

Post bicycle shopping were still grocery-less, so we decided to break the bikes in by riding them to the Publix by the lake downtown (about a mile away). Minus a few near-disastrous spills and one really awkward traffic mishap we made it home alive with all the necessary ingredients for our feast.

Then it was time to make what Nate has dubbed “Mexintine’s Dinner“. It’s our own Mexican Lasagna, and it’s delicious! If you’d like to try it for yourself (which you totally should) you can download this recipe card here, made especially for you. (Who loves ya baby?) For those that need more step by step guidance (and lots of photos), read on…

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Remember how I have been lamenting about the lack of pumpkin in the grocery stores? Well, just a few weeks short of Thanksgiving, my local spot finally stocked its shelves with the heavenly squash and I got my hands on as many cans as I could fit in my pantry. I have a plethora of pumpkin recipes that I’m just waiting to have enough free time to whip up, but I decided on this one first because it’s just so quick and easy.

This is one of my favorites. Really, soup in general, is one of my favorites. It is so quick and easy and so perfect for fall/winter as it’s got a bit of warmth to it. It’s thick and creamy and extremely satisfying. I have no idea where I found the original recipe but this has been tweaked over time to become this delicious finished product. I hadn’t posted a recipe in a while and so I decided to take over Nate’s Tuesday with this recipe.

(Plus, he forgot it was Tuesday. Shhh…)

Ingredients

1 tbs. nonhydrogenated butter substitute (I like Earth Balance Vegan Butter)
1 heaping tbs. curry
1 tbs. cumin
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1 tbsp. flour
1 c. soymilk
1 1/2 c. low sodium organic vegetable broth
1 can organic pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix!)
1/2 can black beans, drained
1 tsp. cayenne
1 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. onion powder
1 tsp. fresh ground black pepper

1. Melt butter in a pot. Add curry, cumin, salt, soymilk, and broth and saute for 1 minute.
2. Whisk in flour and all other ingredients.
3. Bring to a boil, stirring continually.
4. Reduce heat to a simmer and simmer 5 minutes.
5. Process in batches in a blender until smooth.

October is a special month to me for many reasons. One of the least of which is because it’s the month of  VEGANMOFO which stands for the Vegan Month of Food. Two years ago I joined in on the fun for the first time and enjoyed it so much that last year I did it again, posting almost a recipe a day, all vegan. (Let me digress for a moment to say that I’m not a vegan. I’m a vegetarian who sometimes eats seafood. But I do think that there are evident health benefits to keeping animal products out of one’s diet so I try to be creative with keeping dairy to a minimum. Especially when eating at home.) It’s challenging and fun (not to mention healthy) and hundreds and thousands of bloggers join in so there is an unlimited stream of delicious recipes flooding the interwebs in October each year. Sadly, this year I haven’t been able to find canned pumpkin in the stores so I’ve been forced out of my normal fall cooking box. (aka, pumpkin EVERYTHING) and have had to find other recipes to try. At Whole Foods the other day I got a little box of Cauliflower Bake from the deli and LOVED it. I decided I would try my hand at it, and try to keep it animal free.

I looked up a few different recipes online and combined my favorite parts of them, removed all dairy, and then added a few touches of my own. I think it turned out fabulously and is an easy way to consume a bunch of cauliflower (which is a surprisingly versatile veggie, I learned). The cauliflower is soft and similar in consistency to baked potatoes and the creamy sauce is the perfect addition. Top it off with crispy bread crumbs and you’ve got a side dish so good it could easily take over as the star of dinner or a meal on its own. (And I don’t have kids, but I bet that this would be the perfect way to get your kids to eat their veggies!) Continue reading for the full recipe and step by step photo instructions.

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Yes. Re-read that sentence. Chocolate. Breakfast. Soft Serve. (And it’s vegan. Did I just blow your mind?) I was understandably skeptical. I’m not gonna lie. When I read about it on my friend Lindsey’s blog, Sound Eats, I was all, “There’s no way in hell that will actually be good. Those poor vegans and their sad ice cream substitutes.” (Before you think I’m a total jerk, let me just tell you that I was completely lactose intolerant until my teens and have tried just about every dairy-free frozen dessert and found that there is really nothing that stands up to the real deal. And I’m kind of an ice cream addict. If there was a 12 step program, I’d fall off the wagon around step 2.)

I happened to have two bananas on my counter and decided to at least give it a try. Lindsey had gone on and on about how amazing it was and I generally agree with her opinions of foods. (She is the first to admit if something tastes like crap, which I appreciate in a vegan food blogger.) Let me tell you, I was blown away by how good this was! And with an ingredient list composed of cocoa powder, frozen bananas, a dash of vanilla, and a spoonful of peanut butter, you really can’t go wrong health-wise. So… try it for yourself and see why I plan on eating chocolate soft serve for breakfast as often as I can! Continue reading to see the full recipe…

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I am an ice cream addict. Call it what you like… ice cream, ice milk, gelato, gelati, frozen yogurt, fro-yo…whatever. I am head over heels addicted to it. I have been known to, on more than one occasion, make the declaration, “There will never be a time when I don’t want ice cream.” So…it’s no surprise that I have my own ice cream machine (and have had it since high school graduation) and love to find recipes to try out myself. You may remember when Nate and I decided to make our own Nutella Ice Cream a few months ago. (It was heavenly decadence and I was all, “Good Lord my taste buds may all commit suicide tonight because nothing will ever be this delicious again and they have no reason to live.”) I digress…

In New York I fell in love with Pinkberry. A frozen yogurt shop with a characteristicly tart flavored confection. They were the first of their kind and for the longest time there was nothing in our area similar. Nothing, that is, until Gurtzberry popped up on the Winter Park scene with a striking resemblance to Pinkberry. Then… oh, my friends…then the heavens parted and Menchie’s appeared (cue the hallelujah chorus)! I can’t even begin to describe Menchie’s to you because I know I’ll babble incoherently, high on dreams of cheesecake flavored low fat frozen yogurt and you’ll all get bored (and think I need counseling) and I’ll feel inadequate because Menchie’s is anything but boring (or crazy) so I’ll just say… it’s the closest thing to nirvana you can get.

The other day I saw someone online talking about making their own Pinkberry-style frozen yogurt and I was instantly intrigued. I decided to give it a try. And while the results aren’t really Pinkberry-esque (and no where near Menchie’s calibre) they are pretty delicious and fairly healthy comparatively. Plus, it’s quick and really versatile! Enjoy…

DIY Frozen Yogurt

Ingredients:
3 c. Greek Style plain yogurt
3/4 c. sugar
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

1. Mix everything together until sugar is dissolved.
2. Chill 1 hour.
3. Freeze in your ice cream maker according to manufacturer’s instructions.
4. Add your own toppings and ENJOY!

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