vegan

White Bean and Kale Stuffed Peppers

October 26, 2012 by Erica

I think it’s finally fall.

The boots and sweaters are out, and we got our first snowfall yesterday. That means I plan on turning on my oven as often as I possibly can – starting with Wednesday’s cookies and continuing with these quinoa-stuffed peppers.

Maybe stuffed peppers are a little bit 80s, and I’m OK with that. They bring me back to my parents’ kitchen, where stuffed peppers made a regular appearance in my mom’s dinner rotation. That qualifies these as comfort food for me. Also, like any mixed-together dish, they totally make the best leftovers.

Can we talk about leftovers for a sec? As a kid, I hated them. I vowed I would never eat leftovers in my adult life, kind of like some kids said they’d stay up all night when they were grown up. (Even as a kid I don’t think I ever made that claim – I’ve always loved to sleep!) In any case, I’ve done a total 180 on the leftovers thing. Get this: You only cook once… and you get to eat more than once. Best thing ever! Plus, there’s something about a stuffed pepper in a tupperware container that is just so cute. Taking my good-looking leftovers out of the fridge at work the next day, I really feel like an adult, kind of like when I make my own stock or cook dried beans from scratch instead of using canned.

Speaking of beans and stock, both make an appearance in this recipe. The beans I did make from scratch, but they didn’t turn out very pretty. Deb from the amazing Smitten Kitchen mentioned in a post from a few years ago that she makes beans in a slow-cooker, which means no pre-soaking required. That sounds delightful to me, and I think I’ll try it next time. As for the vegetable stock, I have to admit I bought it from Whole Foods. I recently tried making my own veggie stock, but found that it didn’t turn out very well. I think I’m just used to making chicken stock, because my veggie stock seemed to be missing a little something. Duh… chicken. Anyway, I’m due for another try sometime soon, but in the meantime I’m sticking to the soup aisle.

If you’re smart, you’ll wait to make these until bell peppers go on sale at your supermarket. If you’re impatient like me and enjoy parting with your whole paycheck every time you buy produce, you’ll make these as soon as you have a craving and end up spending approximately $12 on bell peppers. Oops.

This is my first pass at these stuffed peppers, so let me tell what I would do differently next time: I would add some lemon zest, maybe a bit more rosemary, and more tomato paste for flavor. I would also add more kale (maybe double it?) because it cooked down quite a bit. If you try out those changes, leave a comment to let me know how it goes!

White Bean and Kale Stuffed Peppers

makes 6 servings

Ingredients:

1 cup quinoa
1 1/4 cup low-sodium vegetable broth

6 red bell peppers

Olive oil for pan
1/2 yellow onion, diced
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
1 tsp finely chopped fresh rosemary
2 cups packed shredded kale
3 Tbsp tomato paste
1 3/4 cup cannellini beans (or 1 15 oz can, drained and rinsed)
Juice of 1 lemon
Sprinkle of crushed red pepper
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cut the tops off the peppers and remove the membranes. Place the peppers in a baking dish and bake for 15 minutes to soften. Chop up the tops of the peppers to add in later.

Rinse quinoa and add to a small pot with the vegetable broth. (You should use the amount of liquid that usually works for you when cooking quinoa – I usually see recipes call for 1 1/2 cups, but less works better for me.) Cook for about 15 minutes or until quinoa is tender and no liquid remains.

Add a small amount of olive oil to a large pan over medium-high heat. Once hot, add the onions, garlic, and carrots and cook until soft, about 5 minutes. Stir in the rosemary. Stir in the kale and chopped bell peppers. Saute until softened, 2-3 minutes.

Remove from heat. Add the quinoa, tomato paste, beans and lemon juice (and zest if using) and stir to combine. Season to taste with crushed red pepper, salt and pepper.

Spoon the quinoa mixture into the peppers and bake at 350 for 15 minutes. Serve hot!

Whole Foods Trail Mix Cookies

October 24, 2012 by Erica

Whole Foods has been known to inspire food addictions in me. Sprouted wheat “seeduction” bread, Justin’s almond butter, red quinoa… it is a magical wonderland, and I could wander around for hours. Unfortunately, my wallet can only support about 10 minutes…

My most recent obsession is their “mighty omega-3 trail mix,” which was the inspiration for these cookies. Dark chocolate, almonds, walnuts, cranberries, blueberries. What’s not to love? Probably just the fact that I can eat about a pound of it in one sitting, and keep opening the bag back up once I put it away. Actually, let’s not discuss that right now, because I’m too full of cookies to even think about it.

Yeah, so I don’t know that these cookies are really the solution to my problem of stuffing my face with trail mix on a regular basis. They are, however, super delicious, vegan, and a great excuse to eat more dark chocolate and dried cranberries.

Let’s get this straight, though – they are not a healthy cookie. They have sugar and vegan butter in them. Guys, this is one of my first attempts at vegan baking. Let’s not try to make it super healthy baking or anything, OK? I’ve got to evolve slowly.

As a base for this cookie, I used my all-time favorite cookie recipe – Joanne Chang’s Chunky Lolas. Here in Utah they somehow became my signature cookie (not like I was trying to make friends or anything), and Nate asks for them pretty much weekly, even when I’m in the middle or baking something else. (Don’t worry, I made them for his birthday a few weeks ago.) I have plans to veganize those soon, and maybe even healthy them up a little bit! But in the meantime, although that recipe didn’t provide the healthiest base, I decided to use it for a cookie I knew would turn out delicious – and it didn’t fail me.

These are like a yummy chocolate chip cookie with some extra chewiness and crunchiness mixed in. You can definitely switch up the mix-ins to match your favorite trail mix.

I should mention something about timing: These cookies are somewhat frustrating in that you must mix the batter and then let it sit in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours before baking. Don’t skip this step, though – you don’t want to go through all the effort and then get flat, crispy cookies! That would just be sad, so plan ahead and they’ll come out perfectly.

Last but not least, I realized that of 3 recipes I’ve now posted on this blog, all 3 are sweet! I swear I really do cook dinner, too. And to prove it, there is a savory recipe coming up later this week!

Whole Foods Trail Mix Cookies

Adapted from Joanne Chang’s fabulous Flour cookbook

Makes about 18-20 cookies

Ingredients:

1 1/2 sticks Earth Balance, at room temperature
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup almond milk (or other non-dairy milk)
1 Tbsp ground flax seed

1 1/4 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1 3/4 cup old fashioned oats
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

8-10 oz dark chocolate chunks or bittersweet chocolate chips
1 cup whole almonds
1/2 cup walnut halves
1 1/4 cups dried cranberries
1/4 cup dried blueberries (if you can’t find these, simply omit or sub with cranberries or other dried fruit)

Directions:

First, toast the nuts. Preheat oven to 350 and spread almonds out on a baking sheet. Toast for 2 minutes, then add the walnuts and toast for another 5-8 minutes. This will vary a lot by oven, so keep a close eye on them. Once the nuts are a few shades darker, remove from the oven, allow to cool for a few minutes, and chop them.

In a large bowl, beat together the butter and both types of sugar with a hand mixer. (You can also use a KitchenAid mixer for this step if you have one.) Beat together until light and fluffy, about 3-5 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl occasionally. Add the vanilla, almond milk and flax seeds and beat until just combined.

In a medium-sized bowl, mix together the dry ingredients (flour through salt). Add in all of the mix-ins (chocolate through blueberries) and stir until thoroughly combined.

Dump the dry mixture into the large bowl with the wet mixture. Stir until the dough is evenly mixed. At this point, sampling is mandatory. Anyone else in the vicinity would probably appreciate a sample, too. But leaving some dough to bake later is also mandatory, so don’t get carried away! Cover with plastic wrap and place in refrigerator for at least 3 hours and up to a few days.

When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Line several cookie sheets with parchment paper. Remove cookie dough from fridge and scoop out in 1/4 cup balls. Flatten each ball slightly with the palm of your hand. These cookies hold together nicely and won’t spread too much, but keep a few inches between them just in case. Bake for 15-18 minutes or until cookies are a light golden brown. Remove from oven and cool the entire sheet on a cooling rack for a few minutes. Finally, remove cookies from the sheet and place directly on the rack to finish cooling.

I love eating these cookies while still warm, although they will keep for several days in a sealed container.

Enjoy!

Vegan Pumpkin Muffins with Banana and Carrot

October 18, 2012 by Erica

Muffins! If you didn’t know already, I’m telling you: You need a fall muffin recipe, and this is it.

This definitely falls into the category of “write this recipe down so I don’t forget it myself” blog posts. I wasn’t really setting out to create something new when I baked these muffins this weekend, but they were so good that I just have to share!

I had planned on making pumpkin pancakes for Saturday morning… but woke up feeling decidedly anti-pancake. Nate suggested muffins – sounded much more delicious – so I scanned my breakfast Pinterest board for muffin recipes. I wanted pumpkin (did I get carried away when I bought several huge cans at Smith’s the other day? hmmm) but I couldn’t really find anything that I had the ingredients for and looked tasty. So I mashed up these summery muffins from Eat, Live, Run with what I had in my fridge, and the result was delicious! These are kind of like banana bread meets carrot cake meets pumpkin muffin. And bonus – they’re vegan and you would NEVER know it. I didn’t use any walnuts here, but will probably add a half cup next time!

Vegan Pumpkin Muffins with Banana and Carrot

Adapted from Eat, Live, Run, who adapted it from The Black Dog Summer on the Vineyard Cookbook

makes 9-10 muffins

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cup spelt flour

3/4 cup old fashioned oats

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp clove

2 ripe to overripe bananas

1/3 cup canned pumpkin

1/2 cup maple syrup

1/2 cup vegetable oil (I used canola)

2 medium-sized carrots, grated

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, mix together the dry ingredients (flour, oats, baking soda, salt and spices).

In another bowl, mash the bananas (with a fork is fine). Add the pumpkin, maple syrup and oil and stir until combined.

Add the wet mixture to the dry mixture and stir to combine. Gently mix in the grated carrots.

Grease muffin tins and fill 90% of the way full with batter. Bake for about 25 minutes until golden brown. Remove from oven and serve.

Enjoy!

Chocolate Coconut Energy Bites

October 3, 2012 by Erica

There’s a new love in my life – sorry Nate. Luckily, there’s room here for both of you.

(I take that back… our kitchen is about 18 square feet. There’s no room for anyone but the cook in here!)

But I’m talking, of course, about my new food processor. I finally broke down and bought one about a month ago, after pinning one too many delicious hummus recipes that I couldn’t wait any longer to try. Before I got into food blogs, I thought I could hold out until I got married someday and registered for a food processor… then more recently, I told myself I’d just ask for one for Christmas… and next thing you know I was on Amazon with my credit card in hand.

Anyway, this thing is magical, and I can’t believe I waited so long to pull the trigger. I’ve spent hours in the kitchen every weekend since, making hummus after bean dip after hummus to take full advantage. But the #1 most delicious recipe I’ve processed up so far has been these chocolate coconut energy bites.

After trying out several other energy bite recipes, some with chocolate and some with coconut, I couldn’t believe I hadn’t come across one that combined the two. So I tossed all my favorite ingredients in the bowl of my new Cuisinart and processed it up!

Chocolate Coconut Energy Bites

makes 10-12 bites

Ingredients:

1/2 cup raw almonds

12 medjool dates, pitted

1/2 cup rolled oats

1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut, plus extra for rolling

3 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder

1 tsp vanilla

3 tbsp chocolate chips (optional)

pinch of kosher or sea salt

1/4 to 1/2 cup water, as needed

Directions:

In a food processor, process almonds until finely chopped.

Add in oats, coconut, cocoa powder and vanilla and process until crumbly. Add in the chocolate chips and pinch of salt and pulse until the chocolate chips are chopped.

Now, with the food processor running, pour water slowly in through the feed tube until the dough balls up on the blade of the food processor. (This took about a 1/2 cup water in my case, but can vary.)

Done processing! Add your extra shredded coconut to a small bowl for rolling. Scoop out about a tablespoon of the dough at a time, roll in the coconut, and place in a tupperware or plastic bag. I like to wet my hands between every 3 bites or so to keep them tacky so the coconut sticks.

Store in the refrigerator. They will keep for a week or more, if you can keep your little paws off them!

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