Piece of cake, piece of pie..

Anyone who’s seen Enough might be able to finish that quote.

I made my first ever pie last night! A PUMPKIN pie!

Nomnomnom!

I used to hate pumpkin pie. I know, I know. But I have seen the error in my ways and realize that I just hate store bought pumpkin pie.

I came across a fantasmic recipe over on Mama Pea’s blog! With her substitution suggestions I was able to convert her recipe to the pumpkin pie of my dreams.

Wait, is it just me that dreams about a peanut butter pie crust?

The recipe can be found on her blog. I followed it to the T, only subbing out natural peanut butter for the butter in the dough and 1/2 cup of maple syrup for the brown sugar (I reduced the almond milk to ~2/3 cup to make up for the liquid content). Vegan AND refined sugar free!

I think I may have under baked it just a bit but I’m still pretty impressed for my very first pie!

Happy Tuesday!

Get Your Beta-Carotene Here!

Holy Moley Roley Poley! I’ve discovered a soup that I love better than tomato basil. Better than chicken noodle. A bold claim, I know.

I had been seeing carrot soup crop up everywhere. In one day, I noticed a recipe in my google reader, a recipe on Joy’s website AND a recipe on Guy’s Big Bite. I took it as a sign.

My what a delicious sign it was.

Taking a little something from each recipe I saw, I used the recipe instructions from Joy the Baker. I made the soup the night before I planned on serving it to the suspecting Kyle. This way the soup had a chance to cool so I could blend it in batches in my shnazzy Bullet Blender. I also think that letting the soup sit overnight allowed the flavors to meld together even better.

This soup is great cold or piping hot. The perfect summer soup. Since Mother Nature has insisted on switching from Winter to Summer while skipping my friend Spring.

Is there anything better than bright orange soup?

I didn’t think so.

Carrot Ginger Soup (adapted from Joy the Baker)
1-2 tablespoons olive oil
1 vidalia onion, roughly chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons grated fresh ginger
1 large red potato, peeled and chopped
4 cups sliced carrots
2 cups vegetable broth
2 cups water
pinch of nutmeg, salt and pepper
fresh cilantro and paprika for garnish

Heat oil in a large pan over medium. Add in onions and cook about 15 minutes or until they start to caramelize a bit. Add ginger, garlic and spices and cook for 3-5 minutes. Add in potato and carrots and cook for 5-10 minutes.

Turn up the heat to medium high and add the broth and water. Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce the heat to low and simmer 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until the carrots and potato are softened to your liking. Remove from the flame and allow to cool.

When the soup is cooled, puree in a blender and refrigerate overnight. The next day pour the soup into a large pot and heat over low heat, stirring constantly. Garnish with fresh cilantro and paprika.

Nom nom nom!

Holy Buckwheat Groats, Batman!

This morning I discovered a new love. A love that might turn out to be stronger than the one I hold for oatmeal.

It makes me sad that I didn’t even pick up a full pound at Whole Foods. I don’t know if the amount I did buy will last the week.

Only time will tell.

See, for months I’ve been drooling over the buckwheat bakes on the Edible Perspective. The one that truly caught my eye was, of course, the pumpkin version. Oooh yes. Pumpkin. And buckwheat.

I stayed true to the recipe, only switching 1 tablespoon of flax meal and 1 tablespoon of quick cooking bulgur wheat for the chia seeds.

I topped my bake with some TJs peanut flour made into “peanut butter” and some unsweetened coconut. I knew I’d found a winner even before the first bite. I will DEFINITELY be making this again tomorrow morning.

Heaven on a plate, I tell you. =)

SOS Adzuki Cakes

One of the really nifty blogs I follow, Diet, Dessert and Dogs, hosts a challenge every month called the SOS Challenge. This month’s ingredient is none other than my favorite bean: the adzuki! Well of course I had to participate!

I went over and over recipes in my head. I still have a few back there I’ll create at a later date. This recipe was perfect since I had everything on hand!

Who else loves the combination of matcha and adzuki? It’s a pretty common combo in asian sweets and boy do I LOVE asian sweets. Every time I go to H-Mart I can’t help but buy another red bean cake. I’ve even got a black sesame version in the freezer. Mmm..
This recipe is a combination of a vegan marble cake and one of those chewy asian rice delights. The only thing I would do differently is to mash up the beans a little before adding them to the batter.

If you want more of a typical cake texture, you can use regular flour instead of the rice flour. Me? I love the unique chewiness. Chewy.. nom nom nom.

Check out Diet, Dessert and Dogs, she’s got some awesome recipes out there!

Adzuki Matcha Cakes
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
2 tablespoons glutinous rice flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 1/2 tablespoons oil (I used olive oil but coconut oil would be yummy)
1/3 cup (scant) brown rice syrup
1/2 cup plus 1 teaspoon unsweetened almond milk
1 teaspoon matcha powder
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated ginger
3/4 cup cooked adzuki beans, slightly mashed

Preheat oven to 350.

In a medium bowl, combine flours and baking soda. In a separate bowl whisk together oil, milk and brown rice syrup. Pour wet mixture into dry and stir to combine. Divide the batter in half, adding matcha and ginger to one part and adzuki beans to the other part.

Lightly grease a mini muffin tin. Spoon batter into tins, alternating matcha and bean flavors. Bake 15-25 minutes or until the cakes start to pull away from the sides of the tin. Cool 5 minutes in the tin and the rest of the way on a cooling rack.

This recipe made 12 mini muffins for me. There was a little batter left over, so I spooned it into a little dish and microwaved it for a quick treat. That seems to happen a lot. =)

One of my all time favorites!

Another treat added to my friend’s goodie box!

I can’t believe I’ve gone almost a year without making these cookies! Well, actually, I can believe it. I’m not allowed to make peanut butter cookies. Especially not peanut butter ginger cookies. Why? Well.. because all that’s usually left are crumbs on the plate. I mean it uses my favorite peanut butter cookie recipe from Simply Recipes and it is my favorite exotic flavor combo.

These bad boys are pretty safe, though. They are for Amy. She won’t miss the two I ate to make sure they weren’t poisoned, right?

If you’re looking for something to liven up your peanut butter cookies, give ginger a shot! You won’t be let down!

Peanut Butter Ginger Cookies
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon molasses
1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/3 cup peanut butter (I used natural chunky)
1 egg
~1 tablespoon ginger root juice (I squeezed my fresh ginger with a garlic press to get the juice)
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda, heaping
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon sea salt

Cream butter until it starts to fluff up. Add in sugar and molasses, whipping until well combined. Add in egg, peanut butter and ginger juice, mixing well. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Slowly add dry mixture into wet mixture, making sure the dough is well combined. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

On baking day, preheat oven to 300 (375 for crisp cookies). Shape dough into 1/2 inch balls (roughly, just make sure they’re all the same size), place on an ungreased cookie sheet and flatten gently with a fork. Bake 15 minutes (9-10 if you’re baking crispy cookies at 375) or until the cookies just start to turn brown on the bottoms.

Disappearing Act

**update: I found the pictures! They were still on my camera! Whoops! I added them to the post like I originally had planned!**

So I must be losing it. I’ve searched through all the pictures in my computer and cannot find the picture I know I took of my delicious smoothie covered in Grape Nuts. Oh well – it might scare some people anyway being so green and all! It was downright delicious and I got the idea from Peas and Thank You. I just concocted my own mixture for the smoothie base (while breaking my blender in the process… come to think of it, I even took a picture of that poor blender in the trashcan… where DID my photos disappear to??)

I also added the Grape Nuts. This kept me full for hours! Oh do I love Grape Nuts. Best invention ever, in my opinion!

Speaking of great inventions, I discovered a new favorite soap! It smells so incredibly good that I was even stopped coming out of Starbucks one morning and asked what I was wearing! Oh yeah, it’s that yummy! Feast your eyes on:

THE MAGIC SOAP!!

It was even on sale at K3 Natural Foods! Score!

Green Smoothie with Grape Nuts
3/4 – 1 cup frozen spinach, defrosted
1 granny smith apple, chopped
1/4 cup fresh blueberries
1 teaspoon ginger
1/2 cup skim milk
1/2 cup Grape Nuts cereal

In a blender or food processor, combine spinach, apple, blueberries, ginger and milk until smooth. Pour into a bowl and top with Grape Nuts.

Lavender Carrot Biscotti… sort of…

The Italians certainly have it right: cookies for breakfast!

I am absolutely head over heels for biscotti. Every year for Christmas, a really close family friend makes her famous Cappucino Biscotti for my dad and I. We usually take turns hiding the bag so we can have the last delicious morsel.

Well it’s not really Christmas, but I’m in the mood for some crunchy Italian treats. With the temperatures rising, I wanted to bake something a bit lighter tasting than the rich flavors of cocoa and coffee. I opted for a mix of carrot with lavender and a hint of ginger.

Well, the result was a little more scone-like, but without the butter! Next time perhaps I’ll try adding in an egg white or using only egg whites to keep it less moist. The flavor is still awfully delicious, though!

Lavender Carrot Biscotti
2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup millet flour
1/3 cup walnut pieces
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground ginger
Pinch of nutmeg
2 eggs
1 teaspoon almond extract
2 tablespoons very hot water
1/2 teaspoon lavender buds
2 medium carrots, roughly grated

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Oil a cookie sheet liberally with canola oil and set aside. Place the lavender buds in the hot water and allow to soak for at least 10 minutes. In a large bowl, combine flours, walnuts, baking powder, salt, ginger and nutmeg. In mixer bowl using paddle attachment, add carrot, lavender mixture, extract and egg. Beat until well combined. Add flour and mix well. Switch to kneading hook and knead dough for about 2 minutes, or until the dough pulls away from sides of the bowl. Shape into a log on the cookie sheet. For smaller cookies, and probably crisper results, shape into 2 logs. Bake 40 minutes. Remove from oven and cool for 10 minutes. Slice on a slight diagonal and place flat on cookie sheet. Bake for 10 minutes or until desired crispness is achieved. Cool completely before storing.

Cherry Ginger Muffins

It’s been a while since I’ve posted, I know. Things have been crazybusy! But I’m back with a unique breakfast muffin that I’ve been enjoying for several days. They’re filling, delicious, and exotic! Plus I actually mixed this recipe by hand – unusual for me. I adapted the recipe a bit from one I had found using apricot preserves. All I had in the house was cherry jam (thanks to the discovery of an ethnic grocery store on one of my many road trips). I swapped ingredients and substituted some whole wheat flour for some of the all purpose flour and VOILA! Deliciousness!

Cherry Ginger Muffins
1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 cup buttermilk (1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar plus enough milk to equal one cup)
3 tablespoons canola oil
1 egg
1/3 cup cherry jam (or your favorite flavor of jam or preserves)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line muffin pan with paper liners.

In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and ginger. In another bowl combine buttermilk, oil, egg and jam. Stir wet ingredients into flour mixture until just moistened. Fill the muffin liners most of the way, leaving enough room for the muffins to bake into their “tops”. Bake 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out nice and clean.

Mango Lassi

I was watching the Food Network yesterday and saw a guest on Bobby Flay’s Grill It make a mango lassi. My mouth started watering.. then it hit me: I have a mango at home! And some yogurt! I don’t have cardamom, but cinnamon will work.. done! So yesterday afternoon I whipped one up. It was pretty delish, let me tell you. There’s no photo because the mug I put it in was camera shy. Next time I’ll post a picture!

Mango Lassi
1/2 mango, cubed
5 tablespoons milk (more if you like it a bit thinner)
4 tablespoons plain yogurt
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon fresh ginger
Agave nectar to taste

Add all ingredients in blender and puree until smooth. Pour over ice and enjoy!