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.

Things I've Made Lately: July 17

On Sunday, I really wanted a cheeseburger. This happened instead:



-(never home)maker's Vegetarian Juicy Lucy topped with Mama Pea's Mmmm Sauce
-Mama Pea's Coconut Curry Sweet Potato Fries
-Salad from my garden with dressing made from Mama Pea's Mmmm Sauce and vinegar

This was better.

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!

Vegan Persimmon Pudding

I realize it has been awhile. I know. I'm sorry. I have a biochemistry test tomorrow. Lots of studying to do. TONS. So right now seems like a great time for a post, right? Of course!

This recipe was actually going to be the second recipe I posted on this blog back in the Winter of 2009. Unfortunately, I was dealing with some stubborn persimmons. The persimmons I purchased became ripe, one by one, and I pureed them and stored them in my freezer. Eventually they became Chocolate Persimmon Muffins.

This fall, I bought some more persimmons, made this lovely pudding for you, uploaded the pictures, and promptly forgot about them as I was busy doing things like organic chemistry, applying to grad school, and starting two new jobs.

So, here we are. Are persimmons still around? I don't know, but if not, hopefully you'll think of this or the muffins when they pop up in the produce aisle. This isn't pudding like the pudding that comes in those cute little cups. It is closer to English Christmas Pudding. Sort of a very moist quick bread. (Sorry if you are one of those people who hates the word moist. I don't really like it either, but the thesaurus didn't give me any better options. Damp? Soggy? No thanks!)



Vegan Persimmon Pudding
Adapted from...well, actually I have no idea where. All I remember is that someone tweeted the link to it. If you know where it's from, let me know and I'll update this post. When I made it the second time, I changed it a bit and made it vegan since I was out of eggs and probably didn't have any milk (I pretty much never have any milk, except unsweetened almond milk, which I have multiple cartons of at all times. And I'm not even vegan. I'm weird like that.)

2 cups whole wheat pastry flour (or all-purpose)
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
2 cups persimmon pulp (about 3 pureed in a food processor)
1 3/4 cup almond milk (or any milk)
2 flax eggs (2 tbsp flax meal + 6 tbsp water, allow to sit a few minutes until goopy) (or 2 eggs)
1/4 cup earth balance, melted (or butter)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and grease a 9x13 pan.

Put the flour, sugar, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl and stir with a whisk until mixed together.

In a separate bowl, combine the pulp, milk, eggs, and earth balance. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and stir until combined.

Pour the batter into a pan and bake for 40-50 minutes. It should spring back when gently poked in the center.

Cut into squares and serve.

Makes 16 squares.

Double Chocolate Chip Cookies

(This is an awful photo. Oops.)

This past July I met up with some friends for some intimate shows put on by one of our favorite bands, two in New Jersey and two in Vienna, VA. In between the two New Jersey shows, my friend Laura and I headed into NYC. Laura is gluten-free and vegan, so naturally one of our stops was at Babycakes, a vegan, mostly gluten-free bakery.

I'll have to admit, I wasn't quite sure what to expect. I eat a lot of vegan food, but I'd never really had any vegan baked goods before, let alone gluten-free ones. After one bite of a carrot cupcake, I was in love. I'd gladly live the rest of my life eating only donuts, cupcakes, cookies, brownies and muffins from that bakery. If you aren't vegan, I promise you won't miss the butter or eggs at all. You'll forget they ever existed.

Yesterday I picked up the Babycakes cookbook and made these delicious cookies. They are light, crispy and have a faint coconut flavor from the coconut oil. If you aren't gluten-free, you should be able to use regular all-purpose flour and skip the xanthan gum.



Double Chocolate Chip Cookies
Adapted from the Babycakes Cookbook

1 cup coconut oil (measure when melted)
1¼ cups evaporated cane juice (or sugar)
¹⁄³ cup homemade applesauce or store-bought unsweetened applesauce
½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder (not dutch processed)
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons pure vanilla extract
1½ cups bob’s red mill gluten-free all-purpose baking flour (or regular all-purpose flour if you don't have a problem with gluten)
¼ cup flax meal
1 teaspoon baking soda
1½ teaspoons xanthan gum (skip if you use regular all-purpose flour)
1 cup vegan chocolate chips (or regular)

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.

Combine the coconut oil, evaporated cane juice, applesauce, cocoa powder, salt, and vanilla in a medium bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, flax meal, baking soda, and xanthan gum. Add the dry ingredients to the wet in two batches, mixing until just incorporated. Stir in the chocolate chips with a wooden spoon.

Form the dough into balls about 1 inch in diameter and press down slightly onto parchment covered cookie sheets. Bake for 14 minutes, turning the pans 180 degrees after 9 minutes. Let cool 10 minutes on the sheet and then transfer to a wire rack. If you don't want to bake all the cookies, you can freeze the cookie dough balls and bake later.

Makes 3 dozen cookies.

Foodie Book Club: The Butcher and the Vegetarian

The Butcher and the Vegetarian by Tara Austen Weaver was the June selection for the Foodie Book Club (Yes, June. Excuse the lateness.)

I absolutely loved this book. Weaver, a vegetarian, explores the world of meat after struggling with health problems and a few doctors suggesting she tries to eat more meat. She details her journey exploring questions like should we eat meat and if so, from where? Commercial feedlots? Sustainable, local, organic farms? How can you tell if your meat is produced 'right'? Will meat really make her feel better?

I have personally thought about these questions over and over again. I've read several books on the subject, but coming up with an answer is difficult. I am not and have never been a vegetarian, but when I was a kid, I'd almost always pass on meat, unless it was chicken fingers, bacon, or a cheeseburger. Meat on the bone? Roasted pork loin? Turkey on Thanksgiving? No, thank you. It grossed me out. I never even ate steak until I was eighteen.

Do I think it is wrong to eat meat? The answer is not as simple as yes or no. I do believe we are omnivores, with bodies meant to eat both meat and plants. However, I think eating the majority of meat that is produced in this country is wrong and the amounts in which we eat it are even worse. I have a huge problem with CAFOs and the pollution they produce, causing both the animals and humans around them to get sick. I think its wrong to keep tens of thousands of chickens crammed in hen house where each animal can barely move around. I think its wrong that we have bred animals that are so large they cannot walk more than a few steps or even reproduce naturally. But pastured cows and chickens raised on local farms? That is something I can support (as with George the chicken from my last post).

Critics say that there is no way to produce enough meat to feed the country, let alone the world, on a pastured based system. And they are probably right. But guess what? People do not need to eat meat at every meal, let alone every day. For both environmental and health reasons, this country would do a lot better for itself if it incorporated more plants into its diet. You may notice from the recipes I post here are almost all vegetarian and that is how I usually eat. I'm not perfect, but I try not eat meat at restaurants unless they are restaurants I trust. Luckily Minneapolis has plenty of restaurants with local, organic, and sustainable values (my favorites include Restaurant Alma, Common Roots Cafe, Lucia's, Brasa, and the Birchwood Cafe). If I want to prepare meat at home, I buy it from the Farmers Market or a natural foods co-op. Yes, it is more expensive to buy meat that way, but I buy it so rarely I am willing to pay the extra price. The meat that comes from a commercial feedlot is not as cheap as the price tag might indicate, its costs are externalized to subsidies, health bills, etc. There is really no such thing as cheap meat.

But anyway, I'll stop with my food beliefs and go back to the book. It was a great read, I finished it over the course of two days. It was great to read along as Weaver researched and discussed all the issues surrounding meat that I have thought of myself. There were times I cringed (like the story of the cow from a commercial feedlot that wouldn't compost...gross!) . I also related to her discussion of how to deal with eating at other people's houses. This is something I've struggled with as well. I can't really say that I'm a vegetarian, but how to explain to someone that "Yes, I eat meat, but only some meat and that meat you are serving just isn't good enough for me" and not sound like a uppity bitch? You just can't.

At the end of the book, Weaver commits herself to two-week long experiments: one week of eating meat 3 times a day and one week going totally raw. The meat week leaves her feeling gross and dreading meals. She decided to go raw for a week as a sort of detox and the first few days she says she was always hungry, but the food wasn't bad at all...and then a few days later? She starts to feel better. Energized. She realizes that for the first time in years, she isn't exhausted all the time. It's the raw diet that ends up working for her. I found myself almost laughing at the end, reading the whole book about meat to leave with her becoming a semi-raw foodist. She says it probably isn't for everybody, but that is what works for her and she finally figured it out.

The one thing I didn't really like is the fact that the title and the cover illustration led me to believe there was a love story involved, that she would eventually marry a butcher or something like that. Every time she talked about some meat loving man (like Biggles who writes a meat blog), I kept waiting for the romance, but it never came. I'm not saying there needed to be a romance, but I found that to be a little misleading and distracting. Also, the book jacket mentions a butcher daring her to eat her way through the meat counter, so I also was expecting her to try everything at the butcher and go through it piece by piece. I did enjoy the book, but these bits were a little misleading and not everyone who takes a quick glance at it might end up satisfied.

Titles and false expectations aside, the book inspired me to get in the kitchen twice. The first time I made flank steak with the chimichurri sauce she mentions so often. I would have posted that recipe here, but I almost burned the house down when I made it, not realizing there were some plastic pieces on my new roasting pan (why? I have no idea, but I didn't see them and remove them before broiling the steak the house filled with smoke). But it was delicious. After finishing the book, I was intrigued by the raw kale salad she mentions at the end. I have heard that kale can be eaten raw and is quite good if you massage it with salt until it wilts, but I never mustered up the courage to do so (as Weaver says, it sounds too "aggressively healthy" to be good). I was surprised how good it ended up being. I know it sounds scary, but try it! It's actually quite delicious.



Raw Kale Salad
From Tara Austen Weaver's site

Dressing:
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp flax oil (I don't have any so I used walnut. I'm sure you could also double the olive oil instead.)
1 tbsp light miso
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp mustard powder
1 clove garlic, crushed or chopped
cayenne pepper to taste

Whisk all the ingredients together until combined.

Salad:

About 3 leaves kale, with stems removed and cut into ribbons
1 cup cabbage, shredded
1/2 avocado
sea salt
1 tbsp red onion, chopped
1 tbsp jalopeno, chopped (optional)

Sprinkle the sea salt onto the kale and massage in until slightly wilted.



Toss with the other ingredients, add dressing, and eat!

Strawberry Banana Soft Serve

If you are into vegan or raw foods, or even if you're not and you just read a lot of food blogs, you may have come across this post about making raw vegan "ice cream" by simply sticking a frozen banana or two in the food processor. I tried it several weeks ago and it's true! It is the perfect substitution if you don't eat dairy. Don't get me wrong, I still love the real stuff, but this is a perfect healthy (and cheaper!) alternative for when it is so hot you want to eat ice cream every. single. day. And a great way give brown bananas a new life.

Since I started making this myself, both Ashley at (never home)maker and Ashley at The Edible Perspective have posted some variations, including adding things in like cherries, peanut butter, and cookies.

Today I was inspired to try something new. As I as putting my bag of frozen bananas back in the freezer, I saw my GIANT bag of frozen local strawberries I have been adding to as strawberry season comes to a close. I grabbed a small handful, threw them in, and voila: PINK soft serve. The perfect thing to cheer you up when you have unexpected, last minute wedding-planning chaos. Even more perfect if you eat it with a brownie!

Strawberry Banana Soft Serve

1.5 frozen bananas
About 1/4 cup frozen strawberries (I'm guessing fresh would work too)

Put ingredients in food processor until texture is ice cream like. Yup. That's it.

Makes 1 large serving.

Vegan Banana Coconut Oatmeal Pancakes

I'd been planning to make this recipe straight out of the book, but I was out of milk and lazy. I decided if I was going to use the soy or almond milk in my fridge, I might as well ditch the eggs too and veganize the whole thing. As I was waiting for the skillet to heat up, I spied my glass jar of unsweetened shredded coconut and decided to add some in at the last minute. These pancakes are a lot different than the light, fluffy type I usually go for. The oat flour and oatmeal make them especially dense and...well, oatmealy. Different, but delicious. I also highly recommend chocolate chips.

Vegan Banana Coconut Oatmeal Pancakes
Adapted from Good to the Grain

Dry:
3/4 cup oat flour
1 cup all-purpose flour (whole wheat pastry would work too)
2 tbsp sugar
2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp kosher salt
1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut

Wet:
2 tbsp canola oil
1 1/4 cups nondairy milk (I used soy)
1 cup cooked oatmeal
1 tbsp unsulphured molasses (not blackstrap)
1 banana, mashed

Chocolate chips (optional)

Sift the dry ingredients together and set aside. In a separate bowl, whisk together the oil, milk, oatmeal, molasses, and banana. Fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and be careful not to overmix. If not using immediately, it can be kept in the fridge overnight, but may need to be thinned with milk.



Heat a skillet over medium heat. When hot, scoop the batter (about 1/4 cup at a time) and cook until bubbles form and then flip.

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.

Broccoli Spinach Soup

After all those cakes and cupcakes, I really needed something green. So the other day when Joy the Baker posted this lovely little Broccoli Arugula soup, I ran over to the Seward Co-op to gather the ingredients. While I do love arugula, once I was there I decided I would rather not buy an entire package of it and be forced to eat arugula every day until I resented it. So instead, I went with spinach, which comes in bulk and the amount for this recipes came out to about fifty cents (and was probably more than a cup since I am terrible at eyeballing such things). That and broccoli were all I needed, the rest of the ingredients are staples I always keep on hand.

There aren't any pictures of the finished product. You know what that means: It. was. good. I gobbled it up before I could remember to grab my camera (and also before I added the squeeze of lemon, but that was rectified for the last half of the bowl at least). Keep this recipe in mind if you ever make an Irish Car Bomb Cake and need some vegetables in your system to counteract the sugar, stat.

Broccoli Spinach Soup
Adapted from Joy the Baker's Broccoli Arugula Soup who adapted it from goop.com

1 tbsp olive oil
1 small yellow onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 head of broccoli, cut into florets
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp ground pepper
1 tsp ground cumin
2 1/2 cups vegetable stock, chicken stock, or water (I used 2 cups veggie stock with .5 cups water. I definitely recommend using stock over water in any recipe.)
1 cup baby spinach
splash of lemon juice (fresh is best)

Heat the olive oil in a sauce pan over medium heat. Add the onions and cook until soft, about 4 minutes. Add the garlic and broccoli and cook until the broccoli is bright green. Add the cumin, salt, pepper, and stock or water and simmer for 8-10 minutes, until the broccoli is tender.

Transfer the contents into a food processor or blender (two batches might work best, I did one in my food processor but made a little mess), add in the spinach, and blend until smooth. Makes two servings. Serve with a squeeze of lemon juice mixed in and a dollop of sour cream or creme fraiche.

PS- I did grab this shot of the leftovers the next day:

Tempeh-Quinoa Burgers

I want you to close your eyes and imagine a veggie burger. Yes, do it right now. What do you see? Is it a frozen, perfectly hockey-puck shaped gardenburger with no real discernible taste? Yes, that it what I used to see too. I've eaten my fair share of those and never thought they were bad, but I never thought they were great either. I've never called myself a vegetarian, but I believe the majority of my veggie burger eating days were during a phase of being deathly afraid of getting mad cow disease in middle school/junior high. Even last year I kept a box of frozen patties in the freezer for days when I couldn't think of anything else to eat for lunch. But like I said, they were never anything to get excited about.

Those days are over, thanks to the Moosewood Restaurant's Cooking for Health. There are five burger recipes, all completely different. I already posted about the Spinach Tofu Burgers and now I bring you the Tempeh Quinoa Burgers which are made primarily out of two of my favorite things: quinoa and sweet potatoes. They come together easily and are great to freeze and reheat later, and let me tell you, having homemade veggie burgers in your freezer is one of the greatest ideas of all time (probably second to Joy the Baker inspiring me to keep frozen cookie dough balls in there too). Plus, did I mention that these are delicious and nothing at all like the bland variety found in the freezer aisle at the grocery store. Make these once and you'll never go back.

Tempeh-Quinoa Burgers

Adapted from the Moosewood Restaurant's Cooking for Health

1/2 cup quinoa

2 cups thinly sliced peeled sweet potatoes (I used about 1/2 to 2/3 of a large sweet potato and roasted the rest with rosemary and thyme as a side)

1 cup water

1/2 tsp salt

1 tbsp olive oil

1 cup diced onions

1 cup minced bell peppers

2 garlic cloves, minced or pressed

8 oz tempeh, diced

1 tsp dried oregano

1/4 tsp ground black pepper

4 tsp soy sauce

2 tbsp tomato paste, ketchup, or tomato salsa (I used ketchup)

1 tbsp dark sesame oil (optional)

2 tsp dijon mustard

1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro (I think I forgot the cilantro this time, if you don't have any, you can skip it)

1/4 cup sesame seeds (I skipped these because I was out)

Preheat the Oven to 375 degrees. I also recommend chopping and dicing everything beforehand, it will save you a lot of hassle.

Rinse the quinoa in a fine strainer and combine with the water and sweet potatoes in a sauce pan. Add 1/4 tsp of the salt. Cover and bring to a boil, then reduce heat and let simmer until the quinoa is soft and the sweet potatoes are tender, about 15 minutes.

While the quinoa and sweet potatoes cook, heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the onions, the rest of the salt, and cook until the onions are soft, about 5 minutes. Stir in the bell peppers and garlic, cover, and cook for another 3 mintues. Add the tempeh, oregano, black pepper, and soy sauce, cover, and cook for 7-8 minutes stirring occasionally. Transfer to a bowl and set aside.

When the sweet potatoes and quinoa are finished, mash them in the saucepan and then add to the bowl with the vegetables (Note: The quinoa/sweet potato mashed together is delicious on its own. I plan to make this as a side for another meal someday). Mix in the ketchup, sesame oil, mustard, and cilantro and refrigerate until cool enough to handle. Then shape the mixture into burgers (1/2 cup each) and sprinkle each side with sesame seeds. Place on a lightly oiled baking sheet and bake until firm and golden, about 35 minutes.

Serve in a pita, on whole grain toast, rice, or salad greens. Top with guacamole, avocado, or anything you'd like. It is your burger after all.

Vegan Chocolate Avocado Cake

Sometimes, a girl really needs some chocolate cake.

Sometimes, the girl is out of some of the integral chocolate cake ingredients, like eggs and butter. But don't worry, she has....avocados?

Wait a minute, please. Don't stop reading. I know it sounds a bit strange. I had the same thoughts when I randomly saw this on Joy the Baker's recipe index. But I was intrigued. And out of eggs.

Maybe what you need to do to accept this combination is reimagine your idea of an avocado. Yes, the first thing you might think of when you see an avocado is guacamole, but take a step back. The avocado is a fruit. Strawberries, raspberries, oranges, bananas...they all get to hang out with chocolate all the time. They never invite the avocado. The avocado feels left out. It's sad. But it doesn't need to be. One bite of this cake and you will agree with me. Really, I promise.

And yes, that is also avocado frosting. It is not bad. It does taste like avocados, but also like sugar. Lots of sugar. It's probably not a combination you've ever tasted before and if you don't like something about this cake, it would probably be the frosting. It's probably not for everyone, but I like it. The cake, however, is delicious and you cannot taste the avocado at all. Feel free to swap the avocado frosting for chocolate or vanilla or whatever your frosting of choice may be. But if you ever find yourself sans eggs, plus avocado, don't be afraid! Let the avocado have some fun for once.



Vegan Chocolate Avocado Cake
Adapted from Joy the Baker

3 cups white whole wheat flour (you can use all-purpose or whole wheat pastry if you would prefer)
6 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
1/t tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp baking soda
2 cups granulated sugar
1/4 cup walnut oil (you can also use vegetable oil)
1 medium mashed avocado (use the ripest avocado possible)
2 cups water
2 tbsp white vinegar
2 tsp vanilla extract

Frosting:
2 medium, very soft avocados, mashed
2 tsp lemon juice
1 lb. powdered sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour two round cake pans (8 or 9 inches).

In a large bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Set aside.

In a separate bowl, mix together the mashed avocado, water, oil, and vinegar. Then add the sugar. Mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients all at once and beat with a whisk until smooth.

Pour batter into the cake pans and bake for 30-40 minutes. Let cool in pans for 15 minutes, then remove and let cool completely on wire racks before frosting.



While the cake is in the oven, put the mashed avocados for the frosting into a bowl with the lemon juice. Mix with an electric mixer until smooth. Then add the powdered sugar a little at a time and mix until incorporated.

Spinach-Tofu Burgers

My family has developed a somewhat strange Christmas tradition. It was started by my father several years ago. He would be handed a present and read the label aloud "To Dad, From Santa" and then say "Oh, I wonder what this could be...oh my gosh, look at THIS! This is GREAT! How did Santa know?" while my mother, sister, and I would look at each other trying to figure out who had gotten this gift. We'd then realized none of us had, and that he had, in fact, purchased the item for himself. In the years since, we have all given into this gag (except for my little sister). I remember the first time I indulged. It was a black lacy Free People skirt that I found while buying a purse for my sister. I couldn't resist.

The same thing happened this year. I should've known it was dangerous to enter the cookbook section at Barnes and Noble to find something for my sister. I saw the Moosewood Restaurant's Cooking for Health. I barely even looked through it, just picked it up in some sort of cookbook trance. I brought it home, wrapped it up, and snuck it under the tree.

It was definitely a good decision. Everything I have made from it so far as been absolutley amazing. Well...I've only made 3 recipes, but I am deeply in love with them all and plan to make them over and over for the rest of my life. The Banana Maple Oatlmeal I made this morning? I don't think I can ever make any other type of oatmeal again. Tempeh-Quinoa burgers with Sweet Potatoes? Perfection.

And here, I give you the Spinach Tofu Burgers. The recipe makes 6 and I froze the rest. They are great reheated, between two slices of whole wheat toast, and drenched in ketchup (I loooooove my ketchup). I used leeks instead of scallions because the scallions I had in the fridge had been there a lot longer than I realized...oops. Also, make sure you have precooked brown rice on hand, or else you will have to take a 45 minute intermission...not that I did that or anything. No, I am always incredibly prepared. Mmmhmm...



Moosewood Restaurant's Spinach-Tofu Burgers
(Adapted from Moosewood Restaurant's Cooking for Health)

10 oz fresh spinach (frozen chopped spinach works too)
1 tbsp olive oil
1 cup chopped scallions (or leeks)
1/2 cup grated carrot
1/2 tsp dried oregano (or 1 1/2 tsp fresh)
1-2 garlic cloves, pressed or minced
1/2 cup walnuts
1/2 cup cooked brown rice
16oz firm tofu (1 cake)
1 tbsp dijon mustard
2 tbsp light miso
Dash of ground black pepper
2 tbsp copped fresh dill or basil (I used dill)



Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Steam the spinach and drain it well. Set aside.

Warm the olive oil in a saucepan on medium-high heat and cook the scallions (or leeks), carrots, oregano, and garlic until soft (about 3-4 minutes).

Pulse the walnuts and brown rice in a food processor until crumbly. Set aside in a mixing bowl. Pulse half the tofu and half the spinach until well combined. Add this mixture to the bowl. Pulse the rest of the tofu and spinach and add the mustard, miso, black pepper, and dill (or basil) until well blended. Add the scallion/carrot/garlic mixture and mix well. Feel free to add some more miso or soy sauce to taste (I added a bit of soy sauce).



Shape the mixture into 6 burgers (about 1/2 cup each) and arrange on a lightly greased baking sheet. Bake for about 35 minutes until puffed and browned (I would recommend flipping them at some point. The bottoms of mine weren't brown and fell apart a bit when I lifted then off the pan).



PS- They are completely vegan!