Almost Paleo Peach Pie for One or Two

Excuse the Instagrammed photos in this post. This blog has obviously been neglected since I started grad school. Last week my husband brought home a box containing sixteen pounds of Colorado peaches. SIXTEEN POUNDS! 

Initially, I felt overwhelmed. I'm actually not a big peach person. I never buy them at the grocery store. As soon as I bit into one of these, I changed my tune. How have I been living this long without them? I started searching my favorite blogs to find recipes to use them up. I found a great recipe for single-serving peach cobbler on Joy the Baker and changed it up a bit to make it paleo-friendly and also less topping-heavy. I didn't cut out all the sugar though, because brown sugar & peaches are a match made in heaven. I also left in some of the oats because...well, I felt like it. It ended up making the perfect amount of pie topping and I served it with a small spoonful of peach ice cream (I said almooost paleo!) and whipped cream, slightly sweetened with honey. If you find yourself with sixteen pounds of peaches, or even just one, give this a try and you'll have two perfectly sized portions of peach pie in about 30 minutes. 

(Almost) Paleo Peach Pie for One or Two
Adapted from Joy the Baker

1 peach
2 tbsp almond flour
1 tbsp brown sugar
1.5 tbsp gluten free oats (you can skip these, but add 1.5 tbsp more almond flour or coconut if you do)
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 tbsp unsweetened shredded coconut
1 tbsp butter or coconut oil
pinch of salt

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

While the oven heats up, cut the peach in half and scoop out just a little bit of the inside to make room for the topping. Feel free to deposit these spoonfuls directly into your mouth. Put one half, cut-side up into a small ramekin (or you can put both halves in a small baking dish). Combine the rest of the ingredients in a small bowl and mix using your fingers. Divide the mixture in two and top each half of the peach. Bake for 20 minutes. Serve (almost) immediately. Don't burn your tongue.

If you don't have a friend to share with and can resist eating both halves at once, you can put one in the refrigerator and reheat it the next day. It will be just as good. It might keep longer, but I haven't been able to resist eating them long enough to find out.

Simple Vegan Cheesecake

Hey there, long time, no see. My hiatus was partly laziness, partly technical difficulties, but I'm back with a new computer and new photo editing software and hopefully it will be better than ever?

This week was my friend Derek's birthday. He recently went vegan and wanted some cheesecake. I took the challenge and scoured the internet for recipes, eventually settling on the first one that comes up when you google "vegan cheesecake." It seemed to have good reviews and didn't require any fancy, expensive ingredients so I was all for it.

I started this morning by making vegan graham crackers because all the ones at the store contained honey. I was afraid they wouldn't crisp up properly and some of the thicker ones didn't, but that was mostly my fault for not rolling the dough thin enough. Most of them crisped up perfectly though.



I was a little nervous about the cheesecake base setting, but it turned out perfectly. Turns out, vegan cheesecake isn't so scary after all! Give it a try for the lovely vegans in your life.



Vegan Cheesecake

Part One: Crust
From About.com

About 10 graham crackers (store bought or from recipe posted above)
1/4 cup evaporated cane juice
1/3 cup Earth Balance, melted

Put the the graham crackers in a zip lock bag and pound them with a meat hammer (ironic, no?) or a rolling pin until broken up into fine crumbs. In a bowl, combine the crumbs with the sugar, then add the Earth Balance and mix well. Press into a pie plate and chill until ready to use.


Part Two: Filling
Adapted from All Recipes

12 oz. silken firm tofu
1/2 cup almond milk (or any non-dairy milk)
1/2 cup evaporated cane sugar
1 tbsp vanilla extract
Scrapings from one vanilla bean (optional, I used one from an old jar of homemade vanilla extract
2 tbsp maple syrup (optional)

Preheat the oven to 350.

Combine all the ingredients in a blender or food processor until well combined. That's it. I almost forgot the maple syrup and tried the filling before hand it and it was definitely sweet enough on it's own. I added half the amount the original recipe called for and end result did have a subtle maple flavor. If you aren't a maple fan or want a plainer flavored cake, try adding even less or skipping it completely.



Pour into the graham cracker crust and bake for 40 minutes or until the middle is just barely jiggly.

Put in the fridge and allow to chill completely. Garnish with fresh berries, chocolate, or whatever else you can come up with!

Sautéed Bananas

Ninety-percent of the time I make pancakes, it's for the bananas. Warm, slightly caramelized bananas. I can't think of any other time I eat warm bananas and I have no idea why because they are delicious. Well, actually I get warm bananas every Christmas Eve when my father makes Bananas Foster. In fact, this dish reminds me a lot of that, but (I assume) much healthier. I had it last week when I was visiting them in Illinois and made them dinner from one of my mother's Moosewood cookbooks (or Moosehead, as my father repeatedly called it). The sidebar suggested I serve this for dessert after the curried chickpeas and coconut rice I had chosen. Since then, I've made it three more times.

It's. Good.

The recipe is incredibly fast, simple (as in under 5 minutes), and healthy, yet tastes like something much richer. It's great served on top of vanilla ice cream or on its own with a dollop of whipped cream. Or eat it straight out of the pan like I just did. In your pajamas. I won't judge.

Sautéed Bananas
Adapted from...um...a Moosewood Cookbook (I can't remember which one it was)

2 bananas, sliced
1 tbsp butter*
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 tbsp frozen orange juice concentrate
1 tbsp orange liqueur such as Grand Marnier (optional)

*I'm sure you could easily veganize this and use Earth Balance instead, but I haven't done it myself.

Melt the butter in a small pan over medium heat. Add the cinnamon and stir until incorporated. Add the orange juice concentrate and stir until melted. Stir in the liqueur, if desired. Add in the banana slices, stir until coated, and cook for about 30 seconds. Serve immediately.

Makes 4 servings.

Roasted Rhubarb with White Wine

(I think this was taken before it was cooked, because it looks nothing like that now. I must have been too excited to eat it. Oops.)

My friend Alex had been waiting very impatiently for rhubarb to arrive in the produce section. When she first mentioned her intense need for rhubarb right-that-minute, I thought "Hmm, yes, rhubarb is good, but I can wait." It wasn't until I read Molly's latest post on Orangette that I needed it.

A week or so later, Alex and I walked into the store and she exclaimed "Look!" and then I yelped. I yelped. In public. Over rhubarb. One of the employees turned around to see if something was wrong, but just saw two girls excitedly stuffing produce bags with rhubarb.

There are only four ingredients, but making this recipe, for me at least, was way too complicated. I made it the day after we had started moving and it took 2 trips to the old apartment and one to Target to finally have all the equipment I needed. But that first rhubarb of the spring? So worth it.



Roasted Rhubarb with White Wine
From Orangette, adapted from Canal House Cooking Volume 3

2 lb. rhubarb, cut into small pieces
1/2 cup white wine
1/2 cup sugar
1 vanilla bean, split

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Mix the ingredients in a dutch oven or deep pan. Bake for 30 minutes, stirring once halfway. Serve warm or cold. I suggest serving it over vanilla ice cream.

Makes 4-6 servings.

Butternut Cookies

I randomly flipped to this recipe in my Moosewood Restaurant's Cooking for Health cookbook (that I am clearly obsessed with) and decided these cookies needed to be made immediately. I had some leftover squash in the freezer (I'm pretty sure it was acorn, but may have been butternut, who knows?) that was dying to be made into these little things. Plus, I had every single ingredient. Every single one. If fate was not calling, then I don't know who was.

The cookies themselves are not incredibly sweet (the chocolate chips help with that) but they are jam packed with healthy goods: squash, pumpkin seeds, nuts, raisins. Okay, yes, they are still cookies, but as far as cookies go, these babies are pretty damn healthy. According to the nutrition info provided with each recipe, they are just 103 calories a pop. Not bad, little cookies, not bad at all. This recipe is also easy to alter. If you don't have any of the add-ins or don't want to use nuts, for example, just double the amount of something else, like the raisins or chocolate chips. Anything goes!

Butternut Cookies
Adapted from Moosewood Restaurant's Cooking for Health

1 1/2 cups pureed cooked butternut squash (or 12 oz frozen winter squash)
1/3 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup olive oil
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup chpped toasted nuts (walnuts, almonds, peanuts, or pecans)
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped raisins or dried cranberries (I used golden raisins)
1/2 cup sunflower seeds or chopped pumpkin seeds (I used whole pumpkins seeds because I'm lazy like that)
2 tbsp sesame seeds (optional, I did not use)



Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Mix the squash, sugar, oil, egg, and vanilla in a bowl. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add the dry ingredients into the wet. Stir in the nuts, chocolate chips, dried fruit, sunflower seeds, and sesame seeds (if using).



Cover a cookie sheet with parchment paper and use about a tablespoon of batter for each cookie. Mine didn't spread at all, so you can fit about 18 per sheet. Bake for 10-15 minutes. Makes 36 cookies.

Christmas Pudding with Caramel Sauce

Dating further back than the Spinach-Orange Muffins for Thanksgiving is the tradition of the Burton Christmas Pudding. Similarly, you usually don't tell people the main ingredients until after they have taken a bite and fallen in love. My mother found this recipe in Redbook in 1984 and has made it every year since.

The main ingredients? Potatoes and carrots. The key? Overcook the crap out of it. Otherwise it will fall apart when you take it out of the pan. Even if it is the driest thing ever, the caramel sauce brings it back to life. It is kind of like a carrot cake covered in caramely goodness, so how can you really go wrong?

By the way, taking a picture of all the ingredients measured out is really handy, as it can serve as visual confirmation that you forgot to put in the nutmeg. But fear not, my mistake was realized in time.

Christmas Pudding with Caramel Sauce

(Adapted from a 1984 issue of Redbook)

1 tsp baking soda

1 cup raw, finely grated carrots

1 cup raw, finely grated potatoes

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 cup flour

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp nutmeg

1 tsp ground cloves

1/4 tsp salt

1 cup raisins, rinsed in hot water and drained

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix baking soda, carrots, and potatoes in a bowl. Set aside.

In another bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light. Then beat in eggs one at a time until smooth. Sift in flour, spices, and salt over wet mixture. Add the raisins and the carrots and potatoes.

Place batter in 5 cup buttered and floured mold. Place mold in a larger baking pan that is filled with about 1-2 inches of water. Bake for 50-60 minutes (BUT PROBABLY LONGER...OVERCOOK IT DAMNIT) until pudding is moist, but set and starting to separate from the sides of the mold. Set on rack to cool and remove onto serving plate while still warm.

Caramel Sauce

1 cup light brown sugar

1/2 cup butter

1 cup heavy cream

1 tsp vanilla extract

Melt sugar and butter on top of double boiler over low heat. Add cream slowly, stirring well. Remove pan from heat. Stir in vanilla. Serve warm, poured over slices of pudding.

Oatmeal Dark Chocolate Chip Cookies

My plan for my second post has been foiled by persimmons that have yet to become ripe, so that recipe will have to wait. Oh well, it will give me more time to decide between persimmon pudding and persimmon tea cake. So instead, I directed my baking urge last night to oatmeal chocolate chip cookies care of Orangette. They came out perfectly and keeping the percentage of recipes I've tried from Molly's blog and book at 100%. The only change I made was using dark chocolate chips.

Hopefully I will grace you with something delicious and persimmon related soon, that is, if the three persimmons sitting on my kitchen decide to cooperate.



Oatmeal Dark Chocolate Chip Cookies
From Orangette

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tbsp vanilla
1 egg plus 1 egg yolk
1 and 1/2 cups dark chocolate chips
1 and 1/2 cups quick oats

1. Sift together dry ingredients.

2. Cream together butter and sugars with an electric mixer. Beat in the vanilla, egg, and egg yolk. Add dry ingredients.

3. Stir in chocolate chips and oatmeal. Preheat oven to 325 F. Refrigerate dough 30-60 minutes.

4. Bake cookies for 25 minutes. Cool on wire racks.

Makes 2 dozen cookies.