February in Review

So, to review, during the month of February, I tried 6 new recipes. Three of them were wonderful, one was good, and two fell short. A few breakthroughs this month were that I started experimenting with gluten free & vegan baked goods. I also tried two recipes that had raw soaked cashews as ingredients. I feel like I'm learning some cool tricks! As I sat eating gluten-free vegan carrot cake muffins with my parents, I felt like I was dispelling a myth that many of us have bought into about the food that we eat. Food can taste great and be obtained in a compassionate way. Frosting doesn't have to be bad for you...it can be high in protein and free of refined sugars. So can the muffin being frosted. Thank you February for the light you have provided during such a dark time of year.

Thai Green Curry with Butternut Squash and Yellow Peppers - Not great

Gluten Free & Vegan Carrot Cake -Yummy!

Cashew Queso - Totally awesome

Chana Masala - I will make this again and again

Gluten Free & Vegan Banana Bread - My first gluten free recipe - good but a bit dry

Sweet Potato Soup - Not wonderful

I want to quickly mention that the last recipe for February was Thai Green Curry with Butternut Squash and Yellow Peppers. This recipe can be found on page 67 of the March 2012 Vegetarian Times magazine. I was missing a few key ingredients (garlic and basil) and the meal came out a bit bland. I also had the heat up too high and wonder if I cooked the flavor out of the green curry sauce. It wasn't a recipe that I'll repeat, but it was fun to try nonetheless and it got eaten.

Gluten Free & Vegan Carrot Cake

A friend posted this recipe on facebook and advertised it as the “best gluten-free vegan carrot cake sweetened with honey and maple syrup, with a raw cashew frosting!” Of course I had to try it…

I shared the muffins with a few people and everyone agreed that they were quite tasty! I used Bob's Red Mill all purpose gluten-free flour again, and I could taste the garbanzo bean flour. I am still hoping to find a convenient and affordable alternative.

The part of this recipe that was most interesting to me was the cashew frosting. I had no idea that such cool things could be done with cashews until this month!

Sorry I don't have any pictures, but I refrigerated my muffins and the frosting discolored slightly. I think it is because of the maple syrup in them. They don't look amazing right now but they do still taste great.

Carrot Cake

Dry Ingredients

2 ½ cups gluten-free flour
2 tsp xanthum gum
1 tsp salt
2 tsp baking soda
4 tsp baking powder
1 Tbsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground nutmeg

Wet Ingredients
1 cup almond milk
3 Tbsp flax meal
1 1/2 cups honey/maple syrup
1 cup melted coconut oil
1 Tbsp grated fresh ginger
1 cup unsweetened applesauce
3/4 pound carrot juice pulp/grated carrots (about 3 cups)

Other Ingredients
1 cup walnuts or pecans, chopped
1/2 cup chopped dates

Directions:

Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl.

In another large bowl, mix wet ingredients.

Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix well.

Add other ingredients and mix well.

Grease pans with coconut oil.

Bake at 350 for 30 minutes, depending on how many pans you put the mix in. I made muffins.

Once muffins are cool, frost them with recipe below:

Frosting – Mix all ingredients in blender.
2 cups soaked raw cashews
approx 1/4 cup water (add more if needed)
pinch salt
2 tsp. vanilla
2 Tbsp. maple syrup

Cashew Queso and Chana Masala

So, I found a new website that is going to help me meet my goal of trying at least 52 new recipes this year: theppk.com It's full of amazing vegan recipes and it's an entertaining site. This week, I tried 2 recipes from this site. Both were winners.

The first recipe was cashew queso. This is basically a cheese dip, like the one sold in the chip aisle at the supermarket labeled "Salsa con Queso". The crazy thing is that this recipe is totally vegan. It's made with cashews! I was a tiny bit skeptical, but after reading all of the great reviews by people who had tried the recipe, I decided to go for it. I was not disappointed. I brought some to my lactose-intolerant boyfriend and he loved it. This dip is spicey, has a great consistency, and might actually be good for you! I'm posting a link to the site, rather than the recipe, with the hope that you will go check theppk.com out!

http://www.theppk.com/2011/11/cashew-queso/

The second recipe from this site was Chana Masala, a chickpea dish with Indian flavors. After buying all the ingredients I had the realization that it was awfully similar to the chickpea tagine I made in January. However, there were some differences which made it stand out - including TONS of cumin! I really enjoyed it, and will make it again. My favorite part of the recipe is that it introduced me to the wonders of cooking with coconut oil.

http://www.theppk.com/2011/08/chana-masala/

Gluten Free & Vegan Banana Bread

After a few weeks of terrible digestive pain, I decided it was time to try cutting gluten out of my diet again. There's an excellent gluten-free bakery near me, but buying their delicious bread is an expensive habit. So, this week, I decided to try baking something gluten free...and, just for the fun of it...vegan.

I chose banana bread for 2 main reasons: it seemed harder to mess up than a yeast bread and there's a banana bread recipe in one of my cookbooks I've always wanted to try.

So, I dug out Blue Moon Soup by Gary Goss and found the recipe for banana bread, which is found below. The substitutions I made were:

flour = Bob's Red Mill All purpose gluten-free flour

1 egg = 1 Tbsp. ground flaxmeal soaked for 3 minutes in 3 Tbsp. water

I also added 3/4 tsp. xanthum gum to this recipe, since it was recommended to do so on the bag of flour.

The verdict: I like banana bread. I did not like that I could taste the garbanzo flour. Next time, I will try adding more banana and either some vanilla or coconut extract. I may also try a different gluten-free flour. The bread was a little bit crumbly, but not too bad for my first gluten-free recipe. I mean, after all, I ate the entire loaf.

Annabanana Bread

2 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 cup butter or shortening at room temp (I used vegetable shortening)

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

2 bananas, mashed (1 cup)

1/3 cup milk

1 tsp. fresh lemon juice

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

1. Preheat oven to 350.

2. In a mixing bowl, sift the flour with the baking soda and salt.

3. In another bowl, gradually add the sugar to the shortening, mixing well.

4. Mix the eggs and bananas.

5. In a third bowl, mix the milk and lemon juice.

6. In alternating turns, add the flour mixture and the milk mixture to the banana mixture, staring and ending with the flour mixture.

7. Stir in the nuts.

8. Grease the bottom of a bread pan, and pour in the batter.

9. Bake for 60 to 70 minutes, until the bread springs back when lightly touched in the center.

10. Remove the bread from the pan to a plat and let cool before serving.

Parsnip Potato Soup

One of my favorite soups is Potato Turnip soup. After the smashing success of my parsnip muffins (coworkers loved them) I decided to try substituting parsnips for turnips in this favorite recipe of mine. It's good. I have to admit I prefer the pungency of the turnip version a little more than the sweetness of the parsnip version. However, this was a tasty soup with a nice creamy texture despite the lack of milk or cream.

Potato Parsnip Soup

6 Tbsp. butter

2-3 large onions (4 cups), thinly sliced

3 lb parsnips (7 cups), peeled and thinly sliced

1 ½ lb potatoes (4 cups), peeled and thinly sliced

Salt

6 cups vegetable broth

¼ tsp. ground nutmeg

1. In a large heavy stockpot, melt the butter until it foams. When the foam subsides, add the onions and cook over moderate heat until softened but not browned, about 5 minutes.

2. Add the parsnips, carrots, and potatoes, and stir to coat with butter. Add 2 tsp. salt.

3. Cover and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are tender, about 20 minutes.

4. Stir in the stock and bring to a simmer. Cover partially and cook over moderate heat until the vegetables are very tender, about 10 minutes.

5. Working in batches, puree the soup in a blender until perfectly smooth. Return to the pot and season with salt and nutmeg.

Serves 6-8