Blueberry Coconut Oatmeal Pudding

Terrible photo, awesome recipe. Quick steel cut oats with coconut milk and blueberries. Mm mm mmm. Worth it even when blueberries are expensive (or you could use frozen). I skipped the rose water included in the original recipe, but if you can find it, might be worth a try! This actually makes quite a bit, so be ready to eat this for breakfast for a week or have for a snack/dessert frequently!


1 cup water
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 14-ounce can unsweetened low-fat coconut milk
2 to 4 tablespoons mild honey or agave nectar (to taste)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup quick-cooking steel-cut oats
(1/2 teaspoon rose water - if you want it/can find it)
1 cup blueberries

1. Combine the water, salt, coconut milk, honey or agave nectar and vanilla in a large (3-quart) saucepan and bring to a boil. Stir in the oatmeal and bring back to a boil, stirring. Reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in half the blueberries, cover, and cook another 5 minutes, until the oats are cooked and the mixture is creamy.

2. Stir in the rose water and the remaining blueberries. Turn off the heat, return the lid and let sit for 5 to 10 minutes. Serve right away, or spoon into serving dishes and allow to cool in the refrigerator.


Original recipe (nytimes)

Silken Chocolate Pudding

Sticking to my habit of cooking when the weather is bad - I cooked most of the day yesterday because it was rainy/hot and sticky outside, and I didn't have much else going on (except work that I should have been doing....). I decided to try a few new recipes and one old one: basil pesto; this pudding; sweet potato, apple, and chipotle soup; "vegan" cornbread; and tofu stir fry. Most of the new recipes are from the Moosewood Cooking for Health cookbook, which I am slowly falling in love with. The base of this pudding is TOFU, so how could I not try it? I thought this would be a very healthy dessert - but it is in fact very rich and high in calories. This makes about 6 servings (2.5 cups), and each serving has about 245 calories.

1 cake of silken tofu (about 16 ounces)
3 tablespoons confectioners' sugar
8 ounces semisweet chocolate
6 tablespoons water
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1. In a food processor, whirl the tofu and confectioners' sugar until well blended. In a double boiler, a small pan on low heat, or in a microwave oven, warm the chocolate, water, cocoa, and vanilla until the chocolate melts. Stir until thoroughly mixed. Pour the chocolate sauce into the food processor with the sweetened whipped tofu, and whirl again until very smooth and silky.

2. Spoon the pudding into 6 serving sups. Chill for at least an hour.

(I just put all of the pudding into one tupperware and served it later.)