Coconut Bars (Grain Free)

Hi there!  I think it’s about time I posted a treat on here.  We’ve finally finished up the last of the holiday goodies that were lingering in our freezer and I’m ready to head into the brave new world of baking for 2012.  These coconut bars were just the thing to get me started.  They’re dense and rich with the perfect amount of sweetness, but the ingredients list is somewhat virtuous.  At least it’s virtuous is you’re like me and believe that coconut fat isn’t really fat…it’s a superfood.  Yes, I did eat 2 for breakfast yesterday.  And 2 more as a post-workout snack today.

They have the boyfriend’s stamp of approval, too.  Or at least I assume they do because I left the pan unattended with Jeremy and his friend for a few hours yesterday and when I got home, half of the bars were gone.

Please enjoy!  I’m off to get my clinical prep done before my earrrrrrly morning at the hospital tomorrow.

Coconut Bars
makes 16
adapted (just slightly) from Elana’s Pantry

Ingredients
- 3 eggs
- 1 cup unsweetened coconut milk beverage (I realized later that the original recipe is referring to the thick coconut milk that you get in a can.  You can choose your own calorie adventure here.)
- 1/3 cup coconut oil, melted
- 1/3 cup honey
- 1 Tbs vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup almond flour
- 2 Tbs coconut flour
- 1 1/2 cups unsweetened shredded coconut
- 1/4 tsp sea salt

1. Preheat oven to 350.  In a large bowl, mix eggs, coconut milk, coconut oil, honey, and vanilla.  The mixture may want to separate, just do your best.

2. Add almond flour, coconut flour, shredded coconut, and salt.  Mix well.

3. Pour the batter into an 8×8 and bake for 30 minutes.  Allow to cool and serve.

* I added this post to this week’s Hearth and Soul Hop, Whole Foods Wednesdays, Real Food Wednesday, These Chicks Cooked, Gluten-Free Wednesday, Traditional Tuesday, Fat Tuesday, Superfood Sunday, and Slightly Indulgent Tuesday.

Mutter Paneer

Before I moved to the foodie-land of Portland, I lived in a small Minnesota college town.  There wasn’t a lot in the way of restaurants, just the requisite pizza, sandwich shops, and a pub or two.  The one option for more worldly cuisine was an Indian restaurant and it was by far my favorite place to get dinner in town.  That was where I first learned about mutter paneer and my life hasn’t been the same since.  I immediately fell in love with the aromatic spices, sweet green peas, and chewy paneer cheese all covered in a rich and creamy sauce.  I can hardly bring myself to order anything else at an indian restaurant now that I know about it.  It’s a funny thing that I’ve never tried making it at home until this week!

I served it with Whole Foods brand naan for dinner last night to make my life easier but I mixed the leftovers with quinoa for lunch today liked that even better!  If you want to be more traditional, serve it over basmati rice.

Mutter Paneer
serves 4-6
adapted from Lisa’s Kitchen

Ingredients
- 1/4 cup water
- 2 Tbs ground coriander
- 2 tsp turmeric
- 1 tsp paprika
- 2 tsp cayenne
- 2 Tbs butter, divided
- 1 Tbs olive oil
- 8 oz fresh paneer, cubed
- 2 tsp cumin seeds
- 1/2 tsp black mustard seeds
- 1/2 tsp fennel seeds
- 2 cups tomatoes, diced (I actually Pomi brand chopped tomatoes since fresh ones aren’t in season)
-  2 cups full-fat plain yogurt
- 1 lb peas (defrost if using frozen)
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 1/2 Tbs garam masala

1. In a small bowl, mix water, coriander, turmeric, paprika, and cayenne until a paste is formed.  Set aside.

2. In a large pot heat 1 Tbs butter and olive oil over medium-high heat.  Add paneer and cook until browned on all sides, stirring constantly.  This should take 5 minutes or so.  Remove paneer from pan with a slotted spoon and set on a paper towel to drain.

3. Add cumin, black mustard and fennel to the heated oil and cook until you hear the spices start popping, about 1 minute.  Immediately add another Tbs butter and the spice paste.  Cook until most of the water has evaporated.

4.  Add tomatoes and allow to bubble and thicken for about 10 minutes.  Add yogurt, peas, paneer, salt, and garam masala.  Simmer until heated through.  Serve with rice, naan, or quinoa.

* I added this post to this week’s Real Food 101, Melt in Your Mouth Monday, Fat Tuesday, Gluten-Free Wednesday, Fresh Bites Friday and Fight Back Friday.

Goodness Green-ness Soup (Vegan)

I’m not sure I would have tried this soup if I hadn’t heard its author raving about it on The Splendid Table last week.  I found the recipe online and became convinced that I should make it after I saw the healthy and inexpensive list of ingredients.  I’m so glad I did!  The taste of caramelized onion and lemon really stands out and the little bit of rice gives it a smooth, creamy texture.  I stored half the batch in the freezer and am looking forward to pulling it out as I enter another hectic week of school!

Goodness Green-ness Soup
makes 8 servings
adapted from Anna Thomas’ recipe

Ingredients
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- 2 large onions, chopped
- 1 tsp salt, divided
- 2 Tbs, plus 3 cups water, divided
- 1/4 cup arborio rice
- 1 bunch chard, de-stemmed and roughly chopped
- 1/2 lb spinach
- 4 cups vegetable broth (I used homemade leek broth)
- 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
- juice of 1 lemon

1. Heat olive oil over medium-high heat in a large stockpot.  Add onions and 1/4 tsp salt and cook until onions are beginning to brown, about 5 minutes, stirring often.  Add 2 Tbsp water, reduce heat to medium-low, and cover pot.  Allow to cook until caramelized, about an hour, stirring occasionally.

2.  Meanwhile, in a separate pot, combine rice with remaining 3 cups water and 3/4 tsp salt.  Bring to a boil and then reduce heat, cover the pot, and allow to cook for about 15 minutes.  Stir in the chard greens and simmer for about 10 minutes.  Strain remaining water out of rice and chard.

3.  Add the rice and chard to the caramelized onions, along with broth, cayenne and spinach.  Simmer just until spinach has wilted enough to be covered by the broth.

4. Puree soup with an immersion blender or in batches in a regular blender.  Stir in lemon juice.  Serve immediately with a drizzle of olive oil, if desired.

* I added this post to Sunday Night Soup Night, Weekend Gourmet Blog Carnival and Real Food 101.

Quinoa-Salmon Cakes

Let me tell you how relieved I am to finally be writing this post.  I usually have a list of recipes I want to try and then share with you.  And this week I have been busy trying…and trying…and trying.  Yesterday, there were coconut pancakes that completely flopped.  I made a batch of wonderful potato soup, ate half of it, and then froze the other half to photograph and write my post with.  When I defrosted it, it had the strangest texture I’ve ever seen in a soup. (Can somebody enlighten me about this?  Should potato soup just never be frozen for later?)  I made not one, but two batches of dehydrated kale chips and ate them so promptly that the camera never had a chance.  So you can imagine my relief last night when I made tasty AND photogenic salmon cakes for dinner.

Served with oven fries and sautéed chard.

I’m going to let you in a secret about saving money on the salmon here.  When I was at the fish counter in the grocery store looking over my options, I noticed that the cheapest way to get salmon was in the form of salmon burgers.  I asked about the ingredients (I didn’t want to pay for any “fillers”) and it turns out they were just wild-caught salmon with some herbs and spices.  It was from the exact same fish being sold as steaks and fillets.  I imagine they just use the less perfectly shaped bits to make the burgers.  So if you don’t mind having a little less control over the seasonings included in your patties, you can always look for this option.  Or you could buy canned salmon.

To learn more about safe and environmentally-friendly fish choices, have a look at this quick guide from the Environmental Defense Fund.  It rates fish based on sustainability and levels of mercury or PCBs.

Quinoa-Salmon Patties
makes 6 patties
adapted from the Whole Life Nutrition Kitchen 

Ingredients
- 2 Tbs fresh chives
- 1 large handful cilantro
- zest from 1 lemon
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp cayenne
- 1 lb wild salmon (skinned and de-boned if necessary)
- 1 cup cooked quinoa
- 1-2 Tbs olive oil

1.  In a food processor with an “S” blade, pulse herbs and spices several times until minced.

2. Add salmon and quinoa and pulse together until evenly mixed.  Form into patties and set aside.

3. Heat olive oil over medium-high heat in a large skillet.  Add salmon patties (I could only fit 3 at a time) and cook for 3-4 minutes on each side, until lightly browned and cooked through.

* This post is part of the Weekend Gourmet Blog Carnival, Melt in Your Mouth Monday, Real Food 101, Fat Tuesday, Slightly Indulgent Tuesday, Traditional Tuesday, Hearth and Soul Hop, Gluten-Free Wednesday, Frugal Days, Sustainable Ways, Real Food Wednesday, and Monday Mania.

Simple Arugula Salad with Olives and Avocado

Scrolling back through the last few weeks of my posts here, I notice a definite trend: veggies.  One reason for this is that we’ve entered the new year.  It feels like a good time to lighten things up after the holidays and work on habits that will (hopefully) stay put as resolution-making time gets farther behind us.  The other reason is not nearly as virtuous.  We have a cupboard full of treats that were mailed to us by Jeremy’s mom and grandmother.  There are brownies with a layer of toffee in the middle (I know!  Genius!), rice krispy treats, candied pecans, and truffles.  In the freezer, I have a stash of poundcake and molasses-espresso cake we have yet to get to.  I won’t be needing to whip up treats for a little while yet.

When I do, you’ll be the first to know.  For now, I’ve got an amazingly simple and satisfying salad to share with you.  Peppery arugula, salty olives, and creamy avocado come together with an easy lemon vinaigrette.  I had this for lunch today and even ended up throwing some smoked salmon on the top…definitely not necessary but I think the protein gave the whole thing a bit more staying power.  I have enough ingredients left over to have it again tomorrow and I can’t wait!

Simple Arugula Salad with Olives and Avocado
serves 2
Adapted from The Food Lover’s Primal Palate

Ingredients:

For the salad
- 3-4 cups arugula
- 1 avocado, cubed
- 20 kalamata olives, halved

For the dressing
- juice from half a lemon
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- pinch of salt
- pinch of dried rosemary

1. With a fork, mix dressing ingredients until well combined.

2. On a large plate (or in your take-to-work tupperware!), layer arugula, avocado, and olives.  Drizzle with dressing.

* I added this link to this week’s Full Plate Thursday Simple Lives Thursday, Fresh Bites Friday, Fight Back Friday, and Pennywise Platter.

Green Dreamsicle Smoothie

After a month-long(!) break, I finally headed back to classes this morning.  Slowly, I’m remembering what it’s like to have to get up before 10am, that a “reading list” means more than just the novels and cookbooks I’m requesting from the library, and the general anxiety that comes with projects, tests, and grades.  Not that I’m complaining.  Over the last month, I’ve realized that I can actually be a very lazy person when there are no outside motivators to get me up and out in the world.  I don’t want to be a lazy person.  And from the looks of my course syllabi, that will not be a problem for me this semester.

This calls for a green smoothie.  It’s a green Dreamsicle smoothie that I hope you will love as much as I do.  I had it for breakfast this morning and went to class feeling satisfied and energized.  If you haven’t ever added greens to your smoothie, I highly recommend that you give it a try.  For novices, spinach is a good place to start.  It blends up nicely, leaving no “crunchy” bits and it doesn’t have much of a taste to it.  As you get bolder, you can experiment with the cruciferous greens like kale and collard greens.  These veggies have wonderful health benefits but are also more likely to add a distinctive “green” taste to your concoction.  I don’t usually mind it but can see that it could be off-putting for a newbie.

Green Power!

Same smoothie without the spinach.

Enjoy!

Green Dreamsicle Smoothie
serves 1

Ingredients
- 1 tangelo, peeled and seeded
- 1/2 banana
- a few handfuls spinach
- 1/3 cup plain greek yogurt
- about 1/4 cup hemp (or other) milk (hemp milk recipe here)
- 1/2 tsp vanilla

Blend all ingredients in a high-power blender.  Some blenders may not be up to the task of liquefying a whole tangelo, in which case you may want to experiment with OJ instead.  In that case, leave out the milk and consider adding more greek yogurt and/or banana to thicken.

* I added this post to this week’s Slightly Indulgent Tuesday, Traditional Tuesday, Frugal Days, Sustainable Ways, Gluten-Free Wednesday, Whole Foods Wednesday, Real Food Wednesday, These Chicks Cooked, and Fat Tuesday.

Danish(?) Trabak

I love family recipes.  There’s something so cozy and comforting about connecting to one’s parents, grandparents, and even great-grandparents through food.  One recipe I always enjoyed though we seldom made was danish trabak.  I only remember having it a couple of times when I was a kid but it obviously made a lasting impression.  It’s similar to biscotti in appearance but has a finer texture and is topped with a magical blend of cinnamon and sugar.  A trabak experience is not complete unless you dunk the cookies in coffee or milk and so I believe that this counts as a legitimate breakfast.

This year, I decided to reconnect with my ancestry and bring danish trabak into my kitchen.  Problem was…the recipe was nowhere to be found.  I talked to my mom but she didn’t seem to have in anywhere.  I did numerous google searches with all kinds of crazy alternative spellings and descriptive terms.  Nothing.  I thumbed through a scandinavian baking book looking for recipes that resembled what I imagined my trabak would look like.  Nada.  (Fun fact: Most danish cookies are really just the same dough formed into fun new shapes.  Spritz!  Sugar pretzels!  Vanilla wreaths!  If you don’t believe me, just buy yourself a tin of danish butter cookies.)  My search seemed to have hit a dead end.  Even a real, live Danish food blogger who I consulted on the matter had never heard of such a thing.

The breakthrough came when my dad got involved.  The recipe is from his side of the family and he knows it’s for real because he remembers eating it when he was younger.  He called my grandmother who referred him to my aunt who was finally able to dig it up in a 1970s Bethlehem Lutheran Church of Spencer, Iowa cookbook.  The recipe had been submitted to the cookbook by my grandmother who got it from her mother-in-law, Mary.  I think.

While the complete absence of this recipe from any other corner of the world throws some serious doubt on it’s legitimacy as a traditional food, I still choose to believe in it.  Otherwise, I’d be calling great-grandma Mary a liar.  And that’s just not nice.  So here it is, the first publicly available trabak recipe since the one that surfaced in 1970s Iowa.  Now I’ll never lose it again.

Trabak

Ingredients
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 2 cups plus 2 Tbsp sugar
- 4-5 cups of flour
- 4 tsp baking  powder
- 1 cup butter, softened plus a 2 Tbsp, melted
- 3 eggs, beaten
- 1 cup milk
- 1 tsp vanilla

1.  Preheat oven to 325F.  In a small bowl, mix together 2 Tbsp sugar and cinnamon.  Set aside.

2. In a separate bowl, combine 4 cups flour and baking powder.

3. In a large mixing bowl, cream sugar and butter.  Add eggs and beat until fluffy, a few minutes.

4. Add milk and vanilla to sugar and butter mixture.  Mix until well-incorporated.  Slowly add flour mixture, mixing continually until a soft dough forms.  Add remaining flour until the dough has a slightly firm but pliable texture.  The dough really will not become too firm, it just needs to be able to hold its shape.

5. Form the dough into 6-8 loaves and place on greased cookie sheets.  Brush with melted butter and top generously with cinnamon and sugar mixture.  Bake for 1 hour.

6. Remove loaves from the oven and allow to cool just enough to be handled.  Reduce oven temperature to 200F.  Cut loaves at a diagonal in slices that are about an inch thick.  Lay slices on their sides and return to the oven for about another hour, flipping halfway through.  They are done when they are nice and crispy.

7. Dip in your morning coffee and enjoy!

* I added this post to Melt in Your Mouth Monday.

Asian Sesame Slaw (Vegan, Gluten-free)

Good morning!  How are everyone’s New Year’s resolutions going?  We’re almost a week into the new year and so I hope they’re still going strong!  My resolutions are about the same every year, which should give you an idea of about how successful I am at keeping them.  :)  I like to think that I’m inching closer to my goals, though.  For example, when I make a resolution to “eat healthy food”, I have an image of myself always choosing broccoli over ice cream and never, ever stuffing myself with pizza to the point that I just want to go lay down.  That image is just not my reality and may not ever be.  But I do think that I’m doing better than last year and believe I can do even better than this year.  Maybe it’s best to just think of resolutions as friendly reminders rather than commandments set in stone.  Just a thought…how do you make your resolutions useful?

Well, because eating healthy food usually involves some vegetables (or LOTS of vegetables), here’s a recipe to help extend those healthy resolutions into another week of 2012.  This Asian Sesame Slaw contains a good deal of cabbage, a lovely cruciferous vegetable that has been found to have anti-cancer properties when eaten raw.  Since different varieties of cabbage contain different cancer-figthing compounds (called glucosinolates) you’ll maximize your health benefits by eating a variety of cabbage types.  This recipe uses red cabbage and savoy cabbage so your bases will be covered.

Eat up for a healthy new year!

Asian Sesame Slaw
serves at least 10
adapted from My New Roots 

Ingredients
- 3 cups red cabbage, thinly sliced or shredded (I used the slicer blade on my food processor and got the perfect “slaw” consistency)
- 1 cup savoy cabbage, thinly sliced or shredded
- about 5 leaves lacinato kale, thinly sliced
- 2 carrots, thinly sliced or shredded
- 2 scallions, finely sliced
- 1 cup flat leaf parsley, chopped
- 1/2 cup toasted sesame seeds
- 2 Tbs olive oil
- 1 Tbs lemon juice
- 2 Tbs rice vinegar
- 1 Tbs honey
- 1/3 cup tahini
- a few pinches of salt, to taste

1. In a large bowl, combine cabbage, kale, carrots, scallions, parsley, and sesame seeds.

2. In a smaller bowl, whisk together olive oil, lemon juice vinegar, honey, tahini, and salt.

3. Pour dressing over salad and toss.  Alternatively, you can plate the salad and add the dressing afterward.  This will help the leftovers to stay crunchy in the fridge for a few days.

* This post is part of this week’s Whole Foods Wednesday, Fight Back Friday, Lunchbox Love, Wellness Weekend, Fresh Bites Friday, Real Food 101, and Monday Mania.

Homemade Hemp Milk

I remember when hemp milk started popping up on the shelves of natural and health food stores.  I was a soy milk devotee at the time but I was intrigued by this newcomer on the scene.  The health benefits looked legitimate, it had attractive packaging (I’ll admit, I’m a sucker for that), and the price was…out of my budget.  My curiosity finally got the better of my frugality and when I bought some to try it, I loved it!  Even so, I can probably count on one hand the number of times I’ve had the stuff in my kitchen simply because it’s one of the most expensive non-dairy milks around.

Since one of my goals for 2012 is to make as much of my food from scratch as possible, I thought now would be a good time to try my own hemp milk.  I have a fancy schmancy Vitamix blender and so I really had no excuse not to give it a try.  The verdict: success!

Hemp milk turns out to be incredibly easy and inexpensive to make.  I bought the hemp seeds from the bulk bin at my co-op and only needed a half cup of it for the recipe.  I chose to make mine unflavored and unsweetened but I imagine that a tablespoon or so of sweetener and some vanilla would make the final product more similar to what you buy in the grocery store.  I’ve used it in smoothies and hot chocolate so far and found it to be tasty in both.

Hemp Milk
makes 3-6 cups

Ingredients
- 1/2 cup shelled hemp seeds
- 3 cups water
- 1/4 tsp salt
- sweetener to taste (optional)

-  up to 3 more cups of water, depending on the consistency and caloric content you’re going for

1. Blend hemp seeds, 3 cups water, salt and sweetener in a high-powered blender for 2 minutes.

2. Strain liquid through a fine mesh or sieve into storage container.

3. Add up to 3 extra cups of remaining water.  Doing this will make the caloric content much more similar to other milk substitutes (about 100 calories per cup, unsweetened).  If your looking for more of a cream substitute, you can opt out of adding extra water but you’ll end up with a milk that contains 300 calories per cup.  It just depends on your preference and how you plan on using your hemp milk.

4. Store in the refrigerator for up to one week.  Stir or shake before using.

Happy blending!

* This post is included in this week’s Hearth and Soul Hop at Premeditated Leftovers, Slightly Indulgent Tuesday at Simply Sugar and Gluten Free, Frugal Days, Sustainable Ways at Frugally Sustainable, Gluten Free Wednesdays at The Gluten Free Homemaker, Simple Lives Thursday at GNOWFGLINS, and Pennywise Platter at the Nourishing Gourmet, and Traditional Tuesdays at Delicious Obsessions.

Creamed Collards for the New Year

Hi everyone!  I’m back from a loooong family vacation in Minnesota and am so excited to be blogging again.  Today I’ve got the perfect recipe to kick off the new year.  These creamed collard greens have the perfect combination of veggie goodness and rich decadent cream to make a satisfying side dish.  I served them along with a pot of garlicky grits and black-eyed peas sautéed with garlic and smoked tofu for a wonderful southern New Years Eve dinner.  Everything got a stamp of approval from my Kentucky-raised boyfriend.  Oh and I shouldn’t forget the poundcake mailed from Jeremy’s mom in Georgia that we had for dessert.

Factoid: Black-eyed peas and collard greens are a New Year’s tradition in the southern United States.  The black-eyed peas symbolize good luck and the greens represent money.  So everyone who eats these foods will probably win the lottery this year!

Bonus: Leftover creamed collards topped with a fried egg are perfect for breakfast after a night of celebration.

Happy New Year!

Creamed Collard Greens
adapted from The Nourished Kitchen
serves 6

Ingredients
- 2 tbsps butter
- 1 medium yellow onion, sliced and diced
- 2 bunches collard greens, stems removed, cut into bite sized pieces
- 1 cup heavy cream (if you can find it, use cream from grass-fed cows; it will have a much better “good fat” profile)
- sea salt, to taste

1. Melt butter in a large skillet (I used a big wok) a sauté onions until very soft and beginning to brown, about 10 minutes.

2. Add collard greens and cook until slightly wilted, about 2 minutes.

3. Reduce heat to medium and stir in cream.  Cook until cream is a bit reduced, 6-8 minutes.  Season with salt and serve.

*This post is is included in this week’s Melt in Your Mouth Monday at Make Ahead Meals for Busy Moms, Real Food 101 at Ruth’s Real Food, Weekend Gourmet at Hartke is Online, Fat Tuesday at Real Food Forager, Full Plate Thursday at Miz Helen’s Country Cottage and Monday Mania at the Healthy Home Economist.