Raw Peppermint Patties

Well, it's been about a month and a half since my last post, and I'd like to say I have a good excuse but alas, I do not. Work has gotten busy, boyfriend is on "summer vacation" until medical school, etc, etc...and I'm just plain lazy?

Anyway, I actually made these suckers on Mother's (...Mother's or Mothers'??) Day and am finally getting the post up. I saw this recipe on Tastespotting, I believe, and my mom LOVES York peppermint patties so I thought I'd give them a try. I was surprised to see how much coconut is involved (oil and shredded) - since you definitely don't taste any coconut in a peppermint patty! I had also never seen coconut oil before - so that was an interesting sight. Picked it up at Whole Foods with my sister, and both of our reactions were basically "EW."

Anyway, these weren't actually very hard in the end, and definitely an interesting endeavor. Highly recommend these!

1/2 batch of raw chocolate
1/4 cup cashews
1/4 cup shredded coconut
1/4 cup coconut oil
1 tbsp honey
1/4 tsp peppermint oil (OR peppermint extract)

In a food processor, grind cashews and shredded coconut together into a fine powder. Add coconut oil, peppermint oil, and honey, and pulse until combined - be careful not to over process! Place in refrigerator to set while you make the chocolate sauce, which will need to be warmed slightly inside a bowl of hot water to ensure a liquid consistency.

Once the cream has hardened, separate nine equal portions, which can then be shaped into patties with your hands (roll the cream into a ball and press it flat). Place patties in the freezer for 10 minutes or so.

When the patties are fairly cold, dip them one at a time into the chocolate sauce, which should harden immediately. I was able to dip each patty about three times before I ran out of chocolate.
 
(**NOTE: I stored mine in the freezer and they still melted on my fingertips when I took them out. This may have been because I couldn't find raw cacao powder for the raw chocolate and had to use regular cacao powder instead, but who knows. They taste pretty good cold anyway!)

Original recipe here

Roasted Vegetable and Spinach Lasagna

I've only tried one other lasagna recipe and I don't remember it taking NEARLY as long to prepare.
This is delicious, but be warned: it takes almost 2 hours to prepare and another hour in the oven. It's definitely a good option to provide lunches/dinner for over a week (for one), but make sure you have your head in the game before you get started. I made this on a really lovely Sunday afternoon, and the whole time I was wishing I was outside.

Notes:
I just used mozzarella cheese instead of a mix, but only because I couldn't find the one called for - the mix sounds delicious though.
I don't really see any need to use frozen spinach, it was more annoying than anything - feel free to chop your own.
I did my layers: sauce, noodles, cheese mixture, veggies, sauce. I got confused. I only ended up using half of my noodles. Didn't matter in the end - do the layers however you want!

2 zucchinis, sliced 1/2 inch thick
2 red peppers, seeded and cut into thick slices (4-6 slices each pepper)
1 (375g, 13oz) package of uncooked oven ready lasagna noodles
2 cups of parmesan, mozzarella, and provolone cheese mix
1 medium onion, finely chopped
5-6 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
16 oz mushrooms
1 Tbsp dried oregano
1 Tbsp dried basil
1 tsp dried thyme
1 (156 mL, 5.5 fl oz) can of tomato paste
1 1/2 tsp paprika
1 (739mL) jar of roasted red pepper and garlic tomato sauce
475g ricotta cheese
2 300g packages of frozen chopped spinach, thawed with water rung out
2 eggs
Extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper


In a small bowl, mix the zucchini with a small amount of olive oil and salt and pepper. Place the zucchini and red pepper slices on a baking tray and bake at 450F for 25 minutes. Half way through, turn the zucchini and red peppers so that they are evenly cooked on both sides. Let cool, and roughly chop the zucchini and red peppers.

In a pan, saute the onions and garlic with some olive oil until the onions are translucent. Add the mushrooms, basil, oregano, and thyme and continue to saute until the mushrooms are cooked. Add the tomato sauce, tomato paste, paprika, zucchini, and red peppers and saute for another 10 minutes. Add some water if the mixture is too thick.

In a bowl, mix the ricotta, eggs, spinach, and a large handful of the cheese mixture. Layer the lasagna: coat the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish with the sauce mixture, place the lasagna noodles on top of the sauce until the dish is covered, spread a thin layer of the spinach mixture over top of the noodles, sprinkle the cheese mixture over top, and cover with a layer of the lasagna noodles. Add a layer of the tomato sauce mixture, sprinkle the cheese mixture over top, and cover with a layer of the lasagna noodles. Repeat until the baking dish is full and your ingredients used up. The last layer should be the tomato sauce with some cheese sprinkled over top.

Cover with aluminum foil. Bake for 50 minutes at 350F. Remove foil about 10 minutes before done cooking. Let it sit for 8-10 minutes before serving.


Original recipe here 

Taco Salad with Cilantro Lime Vinaigrette

My sister sent me a link to this recipe and a few others as part of a weekly dinner planning menu for 2 people/vegetarians. It has a bunch of good recipes, so I'd encourage you to check out the link below.

I am not one to cook every day after getting back from work (I probably cook only one weekday per week) so I just chose two of these to try. I also made the Risotto Primavera, which was interesting but didn't have much flavor. I had never made risotto before, and I'm glad I tried it, so now I know that it's a lot of effort! (Not difficult, but a lot of time standing over the stove.)

Anyway, this recipe was really easy and has a lot of my favorite foods. So, win-win!


2 flour tortillas
3 cups of romaine lettuce, chopped
1 cup frozen corn
1 cup black beans
1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
1/2 red bell pepper, chopped
15 cherry tomatoes, halved
½ avocado, chopped

Vinaigrette Ingredients:
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1 tablespoon cilantro, finely chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
½ tsp salt
Pinch of pepper


Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Using an oven safe, glass bowl, place bowl upside down on a baking sheet. Use hands to mold flour tortilla to bowl and bake for 10 minutes or until tortilla is golden brown. Repeat with second tortilla (or use two bowls).

While tortillas are baking, whisk together lime juice, olive oil, vinegar, salt and pepper to form cilantro lime vinaigrette. Once tortillas are baked, fill shell with beans, corn, lettuce, tomatoes, pepper, cheese, avocado, and top with vinaigrette.


Original recipe here

Sugar Snap Pea & Cherry Tomato Pasta Salad

Unfortunately I didn't get a very good photo of this - I had to take this at work, on my desk! Sad face. Had to post this though, because it's totally delicious. I'll try to get a better photo next time. This is another pick from the Eating Well in Season cookbook.


1/2 cup low-fat cottage cheese
1/2 cup nonfat buttermilk (or sour milk - add 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice or vinegar to 1/2 cup milk)
1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
2 tbsp chopped fresh dill
2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
2.5 tbsp freshly grated Parmesan cheese (or however much you like!)
1 tsp freshly grated lemon zest
1 tsp lemon juice
1/4 tsp salt
Freshly ground pepper
8 oz whole-wheat bowtie pasta
8 oz fresh sugar snap peas, trimmed
2 cups cherry or grape tomatoes (I used orange), halved
4 scallions, trimmed and thinly sliced (I left these out)

I did all of these steps at about the same time, so start wherever!

Puree cottage cheese until smooth in a blender or mini food processor. Add buttermilk and oil; process until smooth. Stir in dill, parsley, Parmesan, lemon zest and lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper.

Cook pasta in boiling water until just al dente, about 10 minutes. Add peas and cook until crisp-tender, about 1 minute. Drain and rinse under cold running water.

Toss pasta and peas with tomatoes and scallions, and toss with dressing just before serving.

Spinach Soup

This recipe is written to include making rosemary croutons...but, who has the time to do THAT?! It's from the cookbook "Eating Well in Season," and of course this is a Spring recipe. You might think spinach soup would be really brothy/watery, but the potatoes give this good thickness. I made this at Dave's place, without thinking, and did my first pureed soup in a regular blender. It's always scared me to do that; that's why I have an immersion blender and no regular blender! Good news: it's not nearly as scary as it sounds.


1 tbsp butter
1 medium onion, coarsely chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp dried rosemary
1/4 tsp salt
Freshly ground pepper to taste
2 cups diced peeled red potatoes
4 cups reduced-sodium broth or water
6 cups fresh spinach, tough stems removed

Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion, garlic, rosemary, salt and pepper, reduce heat to medium-low and cook, stirring occasionally, for 3 minutes. Pour in broth (or water). Bring to a simmer over medium heat and cook until the potatoes are soft, about 15 minutes. Stir in spinach and continue to simmer until tender, about 10 minutes more. Puree the soup with an immersion blender or regular blender, leaving it a little chunky if desired.

Southwestern Black Bean Burgers

This recipe received this comment from my number one top taster (Dave):
"This is the best thing you've ever made."

Yes, I was shocked too. From the man who loves meat - the best thing I've ever made is a VEGGIE BURGER?! You heard it here first.

I swear I'm going to have to try every recipe in the Moosewood cookbook, because every single one I have made so far has been so amazingly delicious (and healthy!).

If you want to try making your first veggie burger - start here. But use a food processor for the chips. An immersion blender doesn't work well for solids (unless you really enjoy having pieces of tortilla chips in every corner of your kitchen. That's when I decided I needed to ask for a food processor for my birthday. Oops.).


2 teaspoons olive oil
1 cup chopped onions
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1/4 teaspoon salt
dash of ground black pepper
1 cup finely chopped mushrooms
1 cup grated carrots
1 fresh chile, minced; or 1/4 teaspoon cayenne
1/4 cup orange juice
1 cup ground tortilla chips*
2 15-ounce cans black beans, rinsed and drained
1 large egg, lightly beaten

*Whirl tortilla chips in a food processor until they reach the consistency of coarse meal.


Warm the oil in a skillet on medium-high heat. Add the onions and cook for 5 minutes, stirring often. Stir in the cumin, coriander, salt, and pepper and cook until the onions soften, a couple of minutes. Add the mushrooms, carrots, chiles, and orange juice, lower the heat to medium, cover, and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 8 minutes.

While the vegetables cook, combine the ground tortilla chips, beans, and egg in a large bowl and mash well with a potato masher, or pulse in a food processor and then transfer to a bowl. When the vegetables are tender, drain, and stir into the bean mixture.

Form the burger mixture into six patties and place on a lightly oiled baking sheet. Bake in a preheated 375 degree oven for 25 minutes, until firm and lightly crusted.



From "Moosewood Restaurant Cooking for Health"

NPR Poll: Are Your Friends Bombarding You With 'Food Porn'?

I sent a photo of my carrot cake to a friend on Saturday and received this text message back:
"ugh cake porn! that looks soooo good!!!"

I was unfamiliar with the term "cake porn," and was relatively unfamiliar with the word "food porn," until I found this article on NPR:
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2012/04/23/151230939/poll-are-your-friends-bombarding-you-with-food-porn

I don't spend a lot of time taking photos of my recipes; I do try to make them look a little bit pretty, but ultimately I think it's easier to make a recipe when you can see what it's supposed to look like. I wish I had the ability/time to take really artsy photos of my recipes, but that seems to be a waste of time to me when you can spend that time EATING!!