What's For Dinner?

I was contemplating dinner one night this week when this recipe popped up in my email. I had most all the ingredients except the broccoli and rice vinegar. Thankfully there was a Kroger nearby.

This was so tasty and light and easy to make.

Peanut Sauce with Tofu and Broccoli:

INGREDIENTS:
1 block extra-firm tofu, pressed, cut into squares
1 T. canola oil
2 t. soy sauce
2 t. mirin
1 head of broccoli florets, steamed
1 carrot, peeled and shredded
Peanuts, crushed (optional)
1 C. dry brown rice

Peanut dressing:
1/4 C. peanut butter
1/4 C. water
1 T. sugar
1 T. soy sauce
1 T. seasoned rice vinegar
1 t. hot chili oil (optional)
1 pinch salt

Start cooking your rice. Mix sauce ingredients until smooth and set aside.

Pan fry tofu in the oil over high heat until browned on both sides. Drain and return to hot pan (turn off the heat). Mix soy sauce and mirin together and pour over tofu, mixing well. It will form a glaze.

Plate rice, add broccoli, tofu, carrot and crushed peanuts. Drizzle with sauce and serve.

***Here is where I got the recipe: Made Just Right.

Chocolate & Pumpkin Together?

Now, we all know that chocolate and peanut butter were made for each other. But chocolate and pumpkin? I was skeptical. Until this recipe.

I made a batch of Pumpkin Quinoa Breakfast this morning, and since there was pumpkin puree left over, I decided it was as good a time as any to try this quick bread.

OH! And it's vegan.

Chocolate Pumpkin Loaf:

INGREDIENTS:

1/4 cup applesauce
2 tablespoons coconut oil (or canola oil)
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/3 cup + 2 tablespoons boiling water, divided (see note)
1 cup pumpkin puree
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chocolate chips

PREPARATION:

Preheat oven to 350 and lightly grease an 8-inch loaf pan. Boil some water in a tea kettle (no need to measure yet.)

Put applesauce, coconut oil and cocoa powder in a mixing bowl. In a separate bowl, sift together flour, spices, baking soda and salt.

Measure out 1/3 cup boiling water and pour into the bowl with the chocolate mixture, mixing quickly to make a smooth chocolate sauce. Add pumpkin, sugar and vanilla and mix well.

Dump about half of the flour mixture into the chocolate mixture and gently stir just to incorporate, then measure out 1 tablespoon of boiling water and stir again. Now add the rest of the flour mixture and another tablespoon of boiling water and stir just until smooth. Take care not to overmix. Fold in the chocolate chips.

Spoon the batter into the prepared loaf pan. Bake for 55 minutes to an hour. Stick a steak knife into the center of the loaf to check for doneness. Let cool for 10 minutes, then invert pan and place loaf on a cooling rack to cool most of the way. 

***I guess you could skip the chocolate chips if you don't have any. But why would you do that?

***I found this recipe here: Post Punk Kitchen

The Morning After... Cookies From Halloween Candy

So I had some trick-or-treaters last night. Always fun to see kids dressed up. But what to do with the leftover candy. I can't have this in my house. I searched for a recipe using Hershey Cookies & Cream candy bars. I found this....

My version

Cookies and Cream Brownie Cookies:

INGREDIENTS:
4 1/4 oz. unsweetened chocolate, chopped
1/2 C. butter
2 eggs
1 1/2 C. sugar
1 1/2 t. vanilla
1 1/2 t. baking soda
2 1/4 C. flour
2 T. unsweetened cocoa powder
12 oz. Hershey's Cookies and Cream candy bar (three 4 oz. bars)
1/2 C. mini chocolate chips

PREPARATION:
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees and line cookie sheet with parchment paper.

Place unsweetened chocolate and butter in saucepan over low heat while stirring constantly. Once melted, add in espresso granules and stir to combine. Set aside. Place eggs, sugar, vanilla, baking soda and salt in a bowl and mix to combine until glossy about 1-2 minutes. Fold in a slightly cooled chocolate mixture.

Place flour and unsweetened cocoa powder in a bowl and whisk to combine. Fold dry mixture into wet mixture until combined. Add chopped cookie & cream candy and chocolate chip to batter and fold to combine.

Bake for 10-12 minutes. Cool on wire rack.

***For 1 oz. unsweetened chocolate substitute, use 3 T. cocoa and 1 T. butter.
***I skipped the mini chocolate chips because I didn't have them.
***Orignal recipe here: Bakers Royale

I Can't Stop!

More pumpkin! I opened a can of pumpkin for that Pumpkin Quinoa Breakfast and then had to find some ways to use the remainder of the can. I went here this morning....

Vegan Pumpkin Muffins:

INGREDIENTS:
1 3/4 C. all-purpose flour
1 1/4 C. sugar
1 T. baking powder
1/4 t. salt
1 t. ground cinnamon
1/2 t. nutmeg (ground or freshly grated)
1/2 t. ground ginger
1/4 t. ground allspice
1/8 t. ground cloves
1 C. pureed pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix!)
1/2 C. soy milk (I used unsweetened original almond milk)
1/2 C. vegetable oil
2 T. molasses

PREPARATION:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Lightly grease a twelve-muffin tin.

Sift together flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and spices. In a separate bowl, whisk together pumpkin, soy milk, oil and molasses. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and mix.

Fill the muffin cups two-thirds full. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes, until a toothpick or knife inserted in the center comes out clean.

***This made 12 regular size muffins and then 12 mini muffins, at least in the size tins I have.

***I found this recipe by Isa Chandra here: The Post Punk Kitchen.

The Best New Breakfast I've Had In A While

I found this recipe while browsing Zite on my iPad. (I find far too many delicious sounding recipes this way.) Since it's fall, which puts me in a pumpkin mood, I had to try this one. I normally make oatmeal with almond milk in the microwave for breakfast. This recipe required a few extra minutes to make, which is tough in the morning if you're not really awake. But it was worth it. So good.

This serves four, so I made one-fourth of it as a single serving.

Pumpkin Quinoa Breakfast:

INGREDIENTS:
1 C. milk (I used almond milk, vegan!)
1 C. water
1 C. rinsed quinoa
1/3 C. pumpkin
1/2 t. cinnamon
1/8 t. ground nutmeg
1/8 t. ground ginger
Pinch of ground cloves
1/4 C. brown sugar
1/3 C. chopped pecans
1/4 C. dried cranberries

Directions:
Combine milk, water and quinoa in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low; cover and simmer 15 minutes or until most of the liquid is absorbed. Turn off heat; let stand covered 5 minutes. Stir in pumpkin, spices, and brown sugar. Transfer to four bowls and top with pecans and dried cranberries. Serve warm.

***The pecans are what put this dish over the top for me. Holy goodness.
***The original recipe can be found here: Make And Takes.

Fall Is For Soup

I love new recipes. And I love soups on fall days. I found this new soup recipe in my ReadyMade magazine, when it was still being printed (let's not talk about that).

It tasted amazing and had wonderful colors (don't you love colorful foods?).

My version

Sweet Potato & Black Bean Stew:

INGREDIENTS:
1 T canola oil
2 sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped into 1-inch cubes
1 onion, peeled and roughly diced
1 red pepper, seeds removed and chopped into 1/2-inch pieces
1 jalapeño, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 T chili powder
1 t cumin
1 t cayenne pepper
3 c vegetable broth
14.5-oz can black beans, rinsed and drained
14.5-oz can diced tomatoes with juices
1 c frozen corn
1/4 c fresh cilantro, chopped
1/4 c freshly squeezed lime juice

PREPARATION:
Heat canola oil in a large, heavy-bottom stock pot over medium high heat. Add sweet potatoes, onion, red pepper, jalapeño, and garlic, stirring to coat. Sauté until onion and peppers are soft, about 4 minutes.

Add chili powder, cumin, and cayenne pepper and stir well. Reduce heat to medium, cover pot, and allow sweet potatoes to soften, about 7 to 8 minutes, stirring occasionally.

After sweet potatoes are fork tender, add vegetable broth, black beans, and tomatoes. Bring stew to a boil, stirring well and scraping the bottom of pot to incorporate all of the spices. Add frozen corn, reduce heat to a simmer, and cook for an additional 15 minutes.

Before serving, stir in cilantro and lime juice. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve stew with additional cilantro, if desired.

***The recipe allows for shredded cheddar cheese. But I went the vegan route.
***You can find the recipe here.

It's Fall! That Means Pumpkins!

I love fall. I love fall in Michigan. I love fall in Tennessee. I love fall. Fall means "pumpkins, gourds and corn," as my sister-in-law would say.

After spending my summer in Michigan and out West, I'm back in my house in Nashville (it's still for sale!) so I can get back to my baking and cooking. I decided my inaugural fall baking should be something with pumpkin. So I pulled out Vegan Planet and looked up "pumpkin" in the index. There were only a couple entries and because it wasn't a Saturday morning, making pumpkin pancakes didn't seem right. I chose the pumpkin biscuits - an easy, quick recipe involving pumpkin.

These turned out delicious! Warm with some EarthBalance, holy goodness!

My version

Vegan Pumpkin Biscuits

INGREDIENTS:
2 C. flour
1 T. baking powder
3/4 t. salt
1/2 t. ground allspice*
3/4 C. canned pumpkin
1/2 C. soy milk or other dairy-free milk
3 T. corn oil
1 T. maple syrup

PREPARATION:
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Lightly oil a baking sheet and set aside.

In a large bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, salt and allspice, and set aside. In a medium bowl, combine pumpkin, soy milk (almond milk in my case), corn oil (canola oil in my case) and maple syrup, and blend until smooth. Combine the pumpkin mixture with the flour mixture, stirring until the doug is just mixed and holds together.

Transfer to lightly floured surface and roll out to 1/2-inch thick and place on baking sheet. Reroll dough and cut out more biscuits.

Bake for 12-14 minutes until golden brown on top. Makes 20 biscuits.**

*Substitute for ground allspice: Equal parts cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and black pepper mixed together, 1/8 t. each for this recipe.

**I must have cut mine too big because I only got 14 from the recipe.

From Vegan Planet by Robin Robertson, published by The Harvard Common Press, 2003, page 482.