Cookie Starts with C! Kooky does not.

Well hello there!

I’ve been pretty lax with recipes lately.

Sorry about that. I spent all day Sunday watching the first season of True Blood. A friend at work turned me on to it and now I can’t get enough. Yes a bit gorey and unnecessary at points (hey it is HBO), but a truly interesting story. I’ve placed a hold on the second season for when it gets returned to the library. Fingers crossed that it’s this week!

Anyhow, Sunday night left me baking a “cheesy” broccoli casserole!

I’m still working on the flavor, it was a little bland for my taste. That’s why I jazzed up the top with some sriracha! <3

However, last night I got the urge to make cookies. I didn't want to wait for the oven to heat up so I looked up waffle iron cookies! Using the recipe for these yummy looking treats as a guide, I came up with a vegan version!

I was feeling ambitious. Crazy ambitious.

Sriracha-y!

I divided the batter into thirds, leaving one third plain, adding some sriracha to one third and then some dried wild blueberries and dried sage to the last third.

Blueberry and sage-y!

Nom nom nom!

Vegan Waffle Iron Cookies (makes 18-20 small-ish cookies)
1/4 cup earth balance
3 tablespoons maple syrup
1 tablespoon soy milk
1 flax egg (1 tablespoon flax meal mixed with 3 tablespoons water)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup cornmeal
1/2 – 1 ounce (square) unsweetened baking chocolate, chopped up

Heat waffle iron according to instructions.
In a coffee mug, melt earth balance in the microwave. Add in maple syrup, soy milk, flax egg and extract. In a large bowl, combine flour, cornmeal and baking soda. Stir in chocolate pieces. At this point if you want to section the dough and make different flavors, go ahead and do so! Use your imagination and go wild! If not, well, it’s time to make some cookies!

Open the waffle iron, spray lightly with non-stick cooking spray. Using a tablespoon (or smaller), drop dough onto hot waffle iron and close. Cook for about 3 minutes or until they start to look crispy! Carefully remove from waffle iron and cool completely on a rack before storing!

They’re great for snacking. They’re even greater on top of oatmeal.

Or even my “oatmeal”. After seeing an awesome use for textured vegetable protein as “oatmeal”, I created my own version this morning. Unfortunately I did not bookmark the site where I found it and cannot find it through searching.

But man oh man it was SO yummy!

Cran-banana “Oatmeal”
1/4 cup TVP
1 tablespoon pearled barley
1 tablespoon flax meal
2 tablespoons fresh cranberries
1/2 banana, sliced
3/4 cup unsweetened soy milk
1/2 cup water

Heat milk, water, banana and cranberries in a pot on the stove over medium heat until the milk is heated. Add in TVP, barley and flax meal and bring to a simmer. Make sure you keep an eye on the pot, it will boil over if given the chance! Cook the “oatmeal” until the barley is cooked to your liking. I cooked mine for about 10 minutes.

Top with walnut pecan butter and a waffle iron cookie!

Mmmmm!

Fiesta in a Casserole Dish

“Can you help me search for a recipe? I want to make a vegetarian dish to bring to the lock-in,” Kyle says to me Friday afternoon.

Not one to turn down a recipe search, I accepted the challenge.

My first, and as it turned out, final, stop was the vegetarian section of Simply Recipes. I’ve followed Elise’s blog for years. Everything I’ve ever made from her website has turned out beautifully. Whenever someone asks me for a recipe reference, I point them in the direction of her site. So when Kyle asked me for a vegetarian recipe, I linked him her Polenta Casserole recipe. Little did I know that this would spark my own creative juices flowing.

Once I started digging through my pantry and fridge, I realized I didn’t have half of her listed ingredients. Never fear! Its in my DNA to substitute everything and anything in a recipe. Really, my mom does it, my Grandma does it… we’ve been trying for years upon years to recreate Grandma’s spaghetti sauce recipe. We still haven’t figured it out.

Mom says she spits in her sauce… I’ll bet that’s the secret…

Anyway, I pinched here, tweaked there, added some sauteed pork and came out with a Mexican inspired casserole recipe. Deliciouso!

Mexican Grits Casserole
1 pork chop, seared in a hot pan with celery salt and pepper and chopped
3 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 vidalia onion, chopped
1 large pablano pepper, chopped
1/2 cup kale, chopped
1/2 cup chopped mushrooms (I used dried shitake, since that’s all I had on hand)
4 garlic cloves, minced and divided in half
1 14.5 ounce can diced tomatoes
3 cups water
1 cup grits
1 cup grated cheese (just use your favorite, I used Mexican melting cheese)
Celery salt and pepper to taste

Heat olive oil in a large saucepan on medium heat and saute onion, kale, pablano and mushrooms, seasoned with celery salt and pepper, until onion starts to turn clear and kale starts to shrink down. Add in tomatoes, pork and 2 garlic cloves. Simmer for about 5 minutes, remove from heat and set aside.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, brush an 8×8 glass baking dish with canola oil and set aside.

In a large saucepan, bring water to a boil. Add in garlic and a pinch of celery salt. Reduce heat to low, whisk in grits and cook until thick and cooked through. Be sure to wear socks during this step of the recipe… I burnt my foot from the spluttering grits!!

In prepared baking dish, spread 1/3 of the tomato mixture. Pour half the grits mixture on top of the tomato mixture, smoothing into corners. Sprinkle the grits layer with cheese. Repeat this process again, then top with the last bit of tomato sauce. I had a little cheese leftover, so I just piled it on top of the last layer.

Bake about 25 to 30 minutes and let cool about 15 minutes before serving. Like real live lasagna, this dish tastes delicious after sitting for a few days in the fridge.

Curried Grits with Peas

As is usually my dilemma after work, what to whip up for dinner? I kept running options through my head; peanut butter quinoa, rice cakes with peanut butter (I’ve been craving peanut butter lately) when I settled on something completely different. I wanted a pilaf type dish, but have no rice. I opened the cabinet and there they were staring at me – grits! This oddball dish was so surprisingly wonderful that I know it will soon become a staple.

Curried Grits with Peas
1/2 cup grits
1 cup milk plus 1/2 cup water
1/2 cup frozen peas
1/4 teaspoon curry powder
4 dried shitake mushrooms, broken up
Palmful kosher salt
1/4 cup cheese, I used monterey jack but I think asiago would be excellent too

Add grits, milk, water, peas, curry powder, mushrooms, and salt to pot and bring to a boil. Keep boiling for 5 minutes, stirring to keep from grits from clumping, or until mixture thickens. Remove from heat and stir in cheese. Serve hot and enjoy!