Coconut Molasses Bread

Delish Savory Coconut Molasses Bread

This bread came about a bit by accident but we really loved the outcome. The coconut milk gives it a fabulous mouth feel, the molasses is sweet but nowhere near too sweet, and the extra flaxmeal fluffs it up fabulously! I set out to make raspberry muffins with molasses and lime zest but realized after prepping all the ingredients that our raspberries had been consumed since my last venture into the fridge. Oh well, happy accidents! I put strawberries on one loaf and cinnamon sprinkled apples on the other. Earthy, filling, fabulous bread.

ingredients     DRY 1 3/4 cups whole wheat flour, 2 1/2 tsp baking powder, 3/4 tsp salt, 1/4 cup oats, 1 T cinnamon     WET 1/4 cup blackstrap molasses, 6 T ground flaxmeal + 1 1/4 cup water, 1/2 can coconut milk, 1/3 cup coconut oil

This recipe is easily doubled and yields two small loafs of bread. One usually being slightly bigger for some reason.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

Mix flaxmeal mixture first so it can set up while you mix all the other ingredients. Combine 6 T ground flaxmeal with the 1 1/4 cup water, whisk well with a fork and set aside for 5 to 10 minutes until it achieves a thickish “eggy” texture. Sometimes I put it in the freezer to speed up the process; not necessary but works if you’re in a hurry. Don’t let it get too cold or it’ll effect your baking temperature. Should look like this.

Sift dry ingredients together and combine well, adding oats last so they aren’t stuck in the sifter.

In a blender or large bowl combine coconut milk, room temperature coconut oil, & molasses. Mix well then add the wet to the dry ingredients. Combine until almost completely mixed. Last add the flaxmeal mixture and fold in well. Fill oiled or “buttered” loaf pan a little over half way. Put whatever you want on top, great drizzled with lots more molasses! Bake 400 degrees 40-45 minutes. Let cool at least 15 minutes in the loaf pan then cool on a wood block or cooling rack. Yum!

Great with soups, toasted with nut butters, for breakfast with jam, delish. Also delightful with raisins and double the cinnamon!

Cinnamon Steel Cut Oats with Peaches & Green Apple

Good Morning!! Cinnamon Steel Cut Oats with Apples, Molasses, & Peaches

I know making steel cut oats isn’t a biggie, but here’s how I love them. Any leftover fruits around are a great topper. Molasses & Peanut Butter on top. An amazing way to start the day! I’m always shocked how much energy this breakfast packs!

ingredients     1 cup steel cut oats, 2 cups unsweetened almond milk, 2 cups filtered water, 1 T cinnamon, 1 tsp molasses + some drizzle at the end, fruit of your choice

Boil the liquid and then add the oats, stirring often. Let cook with lid about 25 minutes until soft and creamy. Add molasses and cinnamon, stir. If the oats seem a little thick just add another splash of almond milk.

Put oats in bowl, top with sliced fruit (love it with apples!), another splash almond milk (for cooling capabilities), and a dollop of good natural peanut butter. Drizzle with a bit more molasses and enjoy.

Make your oats ahead of time for the week! Lasts 7 days in the fridge at least! Just reheat in the morning with a bit more liquid. Fast, healthy, delicious, full of energy! Perfect!

Pan Fried Orzo with Squash & Kale

Today’s Lunch!!! Pan Fried Orzo with Butternut Squash, Kale, Veggies, & Basil!

We really really needed to use up some free veggies we scored from a local community program here in Bloomington. We had a lovely butternut squash that needed used along with leftover orzo and some random veggies. I’ve been craving fried rice like a mad woman lately which is very hard to find vegan friendly…so I decided to make a very fall happy squash filled orzo version. I let the veggies fry up in the frying pan until slightly overdone and crunchy, then added the cooked orzo and touch more oil and seared it up! Normally I highly condone barely cooking your veggies for full nutritional value, but garlic & pasta fried in oil..today it just had to happen. Delish!

ingredients     1 1/2 cups orzo pasta, 3 cloves garlic, 1/2 red onion, 1 medium parsnip, 1/2 butternut squash, 1 zucchini, 1 yellow squash, 1 large carrot,  1/4 cup sweet corn, 1 bunch kale, large handful fresh basil, 1 lime, 1/4 cup olive oil, 1/4 cup red wine vinegar, sea salt & pepper, drizzle of tahini (optional but amazing)

Cook up orzo like you would any pasta. Bring enough water to cover the orzo to a boil and then add the orzo. It won’t take long to cook so keep an eye on it. 5-8 minutes. You want it to be slightly underdone if anything since it will be thrown in the frying pan a few minutes and cooked further.

Finely chop garlic, red onion, carrot, and parsnip and add to frying pan with half the olive oil. Cook over medium high heat until onions are starting to get transparent. Cut all squash into smallish bite size pieces. I sliced the butternut squash a bit thin so it would cook quickly. Remember to peel & seed the butternut. Add squash to pan. Continue to cook over medium high heat until veggies are tender and starting to brown.

Now add the cooked orzo to the pan along with the juice of one lime, the other half of the red wine vinegar, and the rest of the olive oil. Combine the orzo and veggies and cook on high heat until the orzo is starting to brown and fry up.

Take off the heat and add the rest of the red wine vinegar, the sweet corn, chopped kale, and basil. Salt & Pepper to taste. Combine. Drizzle with tahini, serve. I toasted up a big chunk of ciabatta bread and made a simple salad for the side. My boyfriend snarfed it. Enjoy!

PS this recipe would, of course, also be fabulous with brown rice.

Rosemary Balsamic Orzo Salad

Amazing Comforting Rosemary Balsamic Orzo….mmmmm.

This recipe is great subbing canellini beans instead of orzo or even doing a combo of the two. White beans make it more of a cold potluck type salad but with the orzo service can be warm or cold. Warm with a chunk of pumpernickel on a chilly night is amazing.

ingredients     3 cups orzo, 2 bunches green onion, 2 red bell peppers, 1 can black olives, 2 carrots, 2 T fresh rosemary, 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar, 1/4 cup olive oil, zest and juice of 1 lemon, 2 T honey or maple syrup, sea salt & pepper to taste, toasted walnuts (optional)

Orzo is a small fast cooking pasta. Cook it like you would any pasta by boiling water and then dumping it in. It only takes 5-8 minutes to cook though, so keep your eye on it!

Cook orzo pasta, drain, and set aside to cool. Chop olives and red peppers and add to orzo. Julienne carrots and add to orzo. Slice green onion on the diagonal and add as well.

In a small bowl combine balsamic vinegar, olive oil, lemon juice, and honey with whisk. Add to orzo.

Finely chop rosemary and add to orzo along with lemon zest. Stir, salt and pepper to taste. Yum!

to make extra special toast some walnuts in a dry frying pan over medium heat for a few minutes and toss them in….heck yea.

Summer Quinoa Salad

the most perfect….Summer Quinoa Salad!

This is just delightful, the blend of roasted veggies and citrus make a wonderful summer palate in your mouth. This recipe is also a great way to use up veggies in the fridge! Sweet corn gives it a lovely sweet summer finish. I make this a lot for cookouts and potlucks, it is always a super hit! As vegans we eat a ton of quinoa and this is one variation we never ever get sick of. Enjoy!

ingredients     3 cups quinoa, 1 zucchini, 1 yellow squash, 1 red onion, 1 red pepper, 6 cloves garlic, 1 carrot, 1 fennel bulb, 1/2 bunch kale, 1 bag frozen sweet corn or two ears, 1 box grape tomatoes, 6 oz. red wine vinegar, 2 T olive oil, the zest and juice of one lemon, the zest of one orange, sea salt & pepper to taste

Preheat oven 350

Quinoa: Put 3 cups quinoa into large pot and add 6 cups water. Use a lid and high heat until quinoa comes to a boil. Turn to a simmer and keep lid on. Quinoa is done when puffed up in middle of pot and al dente to taste. I don’t stir my quinoa until it has cooled, this makes it fluffier. Takes about 20 minutes to cook.

Veggies: Chop onion, zucchini, carrot, squash, pepper, and fennel into small pieces, chop garlic finely. Put veggies and garlic into a roasting pan with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Bake 350 degrees for 10 minutes. You want the veggies just cooked through but still very fresh.

If using corn on the cob; cut the corn from the cob and heat it on the stove a few minutes; if frozen then empty the bag into the bottom of a large bowl and when the veggies come out of the oven dump them on top of the corn to thaw.

It’s important that the veggies and quinoa both be relatively cool before you combine and dress the salad. This prevents any chance of mushiness. This salad is best served light and fluffy!

Chop fresh kale into bite sized pieces and add it to the bowl of veggies. Halve grape tomatoes and do the same. When quinoa is cool enough add it to the veggies as well. To dress the salad add red wine vinegar, lemon zest and the juice from one lemon, and last the orange zest. Salt and vinegar to taste.

I mentioned that this recipe is good for cleaning out the fridge because just about any combination of vegetables works well. If you don’t have all available just use what you’ve got. What makes it great to me is the kale, corn, and citrus…everything else is up to interpretation. Have fun!

Oatmeal Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Muffins

Oatmeal Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Muffins! Oh My!

These are amazing. Really really great. And not all that terrible for you. I do find they need to bake a bit longer than suspected but the tops will get wonderfully tough and crunchy while the inside stays soft and perfect. They need to sit about 20 minutes in the muffin tin once out of the oven to set up. I prefer them eaten about an hour or so after baking. Very very hard to resist grabbing one immediately though! I recommend breaking a hot one up over some coconut ice cream. OMG.

ingredients DRY 2 cups whole wheat pastry flour (or spelt), 2 cups oats, 2 T baking powder, 1 t salt, 2 T cinnamon, 1 t nutmeg, 1 t ginger, 1 cup vegan chocolate chips (i like grain sweetened)     WET 1 cup + 2 T honey or maple syrup, 1 cup safflower oil (coconut oil for truly decadent muffins), 1 1/2 cups unsweetened almond milk, 6 T flaxmeal + 1 cup water (see below), 2 T vanilla extract, 1 cup good all natural peanut butter   bake 325 degrees 40 minutes    yields 8-12 muffins (recipe doubles easily)

Mix flaxmeal mixture first so it can set up while you do everything else. The flax mixture will serve as your “eggs.” Combine 6 T ground flaxmeal with 1 cup of water. Whisk with a fork until well combined and beginning to thicken. Let sit 5 to 10 minutes until very thick and egg-like. Put in freezer a bit to hasten the process.

Sift whole wheat pastry flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger. Add oats and combine.

In blender or large bowl mix honey, safflower oil, room temperature almond milk, vanilla, and peanut butter until just mixed. Pour wet ingredients into dry and stir until almost fully combined. Add flaxmeal mixture and chocolate chips and fold until well incorporated. Fill muffin tins all the way up, rotate half way through baking and enjoy!! They’re done when you push on the muffin top and you feel resistance. Remember to let cool! Yum!

Blueberry Cornmeal Muffins

Mmmmmmm…….Blueberry Cornmeal Muffins!

I love this recipe and use it all the time, it is a great basis for variations as well! Don’t have blueberries?? Use any fruit in the house, try strawberries with almond butter or fresh ginger and peaches! I prefer the spelt flour in this recipe but whole wheat pastry flour makes a nice muffin as well. You might need a touch more liquid if using whole wheat.

ingredients DRY 2 cups spelt flour, 2 cups cornmeal (fine, or medium for more texture), 2 T baking powder, 1 t fine sea salt WET 1 cup + 2 T honey or maple syrup, 1 cup safflower oil (coconut oil can be subbed), 1 1/2 cups unsweetened almond milk, 6 T ground flaxmeal + 1 cup water (see below), 2 t vanilla extract, zest of two lemons, frozen or fresh blueberries   bake 325 degrees 30 minutes

Flaxmeal mixture as “eggs”

Combine 6 T ground flaxmeal with 1 cup water. Whisk together with a fork and let sit 5 to 10 minutes (while you do everything else!) until thick and egg-like. Sometimes I put the mixture in the freezer for a few minutes to hasten the process. In general 1 T flaxmeal and 3 T water will harness you one “egg.” I use flaxmeal in all my baking, it yields fluffy wonderful baked goods.

Preheat oven to 325.

Sift spelt flour, baking powder, and sea salt. Add cornmeal and combine well leaving a well in the center of the bowl.

I like to mix my wet ingredients in the blender, but a large bowl works too! Combine honey, safflower oil, room temperature almond milk, and vanilla until just mixed in the blender. Save the flaxmeal and lemon zest until later. Pour wet ingredients into dry and stir until almost combined. Add flaxmeal mixture and lemon zest, fold until fully combined. Fold in blueberries. Fill muffin tins all the way up for big awesome muffin top muffins. Rotate halfway during baking. Enjoy!!!