FoodFash

Adventure Begins in the Kitchen

Vegan Chocolate Peanut Butter Postal Cookies

by

You know those moments when you know why your best friend is your best friend?  Like when you’re having a rotten day and things instantly get brighter because you get an email with a subject line “these look yummy” and inside is a recipe that’s so up your alley you can hardly stand it.  And then the body of the email begins with something like “and non-dairy for you!” and your smile gets grander.  And up next you read “and they look care package-able…” and you laugh so very inappropriately loud at your desk.  And by the time you recover from the slight embarrassment of looking like a crazy person, your day has gone from rotten to perfect.  Yup, that’s a best friend story right there.

So Ariel’s care package-able email was the sole inspiration for the first Postal Cookies post.  But since she was out of town while I had super baking motivation, I decided to wait on her cookie and mail out a completely different cookie to other friends across the nation (seriously).  And now that I’m on day 4 of cleansing, baking motivation turned into its most severe form of baking craving.  Needless to say, the cleanse was a bust (let’s go with I had a very successful 3-day cleanse).  Mostly because in order to modify this recipe, I had to sample the dough to see what was going on.  Really.

FoodFash Vegan Peanut Butter & Both Types of Chocolate Cookies (yields 12 cookies)

1-1/2 cups white chocolate peanut butter (or regular natural peanut butter)

1/4 cup maple syrup

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 cup brown rice flour

1/2 cup non-dairy chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  In a large mixing bowl, blend peanut butter, maple syrup, and vanilla.  Add flour and beat until thoroughly mixed.  Then fold in chocolate chips.  Roll 2″ diameter balls with your hands and place on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet.  Flatten balls with a fork and bake for 12 minutes.  Remove cookies from oven and let cool for 20-30 minutes before handling.  The cookies are very mushy and fragile when they are warm, but harden when cooled.

And then I had to sample the cookie before I packaged everything up.  You see, I didn’t wait the 20ish minutes prior to handling and the cookie I messed with completely fell apart.  But by the time I did a few dishes and satisfied my Instagram addiction, the cookies turned into cookies and I was curious.  Legitimate sample, right?

I’m not 100% sold on the way brown rice flour feels between my teeth (see crazy person reference above), so I’d be curious to try these cookies with almond meal or coconut flour.  But flavor and moistness are totally good and worth sending to your best friend, especially if she appreciates a sweet treat on the healthier side!

Patty Pan, Patty Pan…

by

If you were shopping at the downtown Austin Whole Foods today after work, half of me sincerely apologizes.  Not only did I arrive without a list, but I decided to stay on the phone with my mom as I headed to the produce department.  And since I’m one of those people that paces like a crazy person while talking on the phone, I lapped around veggies at an abnormal grocery store pace, empty basket in hand, getting in everyone’s way for a solid 15 minutes.  That part of me apologizes.

The part of me that enjoyed talking to my mom after going days without a phone call, that part doesn’t apologize one bit.  That part is actually thankful because if I hadn’t lapped around produce a gazillion times, I wouldn’t have spotted the cutest little squash ever.  And then I wouldn’t have had an almost perfect recipe that became perfect when I found a box of California Walnuts waiting for me at my doorstep.  Talk about luck.

FoodFash Patty Pan Squash

2 tablespoons coconut oil

3/4 lb patty pan squash, sliced

2 tablespoons garlic chives, chopped

1/2 cup California Walnuts, chopped

1/4 teaspoon white pepper

salt to taste

Warm coconut oil over medium heat and then add squash, garlic chives, and walnuts.  Stir until mixed and then add salt and white pepper.  Continue stirring so that the veggies don’t stick to the pan.  Cook until the squash is softened but not mushy (about 5 minutes).

I just recently cooked with chives for the first time and fell in love.  They’re an excellent way to add oniony flavor without the bulk of onions or any chance of overpowering a dish.  As far as patty pans go, other than the cuteness factor, I couldn’t really tell much difference between them and regular yellow squash.  What I could tell, is that squash, chives, and walnuts are a solid combination.

Tempeh Lettuce Wraps

by

Lettuce wraps…  The crunchy little world where warm meets cool.  It surprises me how often I forget how much I enjoy that world.

The last time I made lettuce wraps I used this VegTimes recipe.  And although I remember liking it a ton, I decided to replace tofu with tempeh this time around, thinking it would yield a texture more similar to a classic wrap.  My thoughts were spot on.

In addition to using 8 ounces of tempeh instead of 1 pound of tofu, I replaced vegetable oil with coconut oil and soy sauce with liquid aminos.  If you decide to try this recipe, I highly recommend using these modifications.

Another bonus of using tempeh, besides the whole texture thing, is nutrition.  Tempeh has substantially more protein, fiber, and vitamins than tofu, making it the obvious choice between the two for this dish.

Summer Soup

by

When people say that summertime is too hot for eating soup, I think what they really mean is summertime is too hot for eating soup in public.  I’m perfectly fine with wearing PJs, eating soup, and sweating it out in the comfort of my own home.  Twice.

I’ve been on a central market kick lately because I’m crushing hardcore on their produce department.  It lures you in with sheer beauty and then, once you realize how cheap everything is, you’re a total sucker, totally willing to sit in rush hour traffic to get your produce fix.  Two dollar-ish shitake mushrooms.  Dollar-ish bok choy, green onions, and cilantro.  Four cent serrano pepper.  Umm yeah, this gigantic boat of soup hovered around the ten dollar mark.

FoodFash Summer Soup (yields 4 servings)

12 cups of water

4 Not-Chick’n Bouillon Cubes

2 heads of baby bok choy, chopped

1/2 cup of fresh cilantro, stems removed

1 bunch of green onions, chopped

1/4 lb of shitake mushrooms, sliced

1 serrano pepper, sliced (remove seeds if you’re sensitive to spice)

juice of 4 limes

8 oz of udon noodles

Bring water to a boil and add everything but the udon noodles.  Let boil for 5 minutes and then add the noodles.  Let boil for an additional 10 minutes and then remove from heat.  Let cool for a couple minutes and then serve.

I LOVED this soup.  Spicy cilantro lime should be the basis of every soup that even thinks about getting in my belly.  It’s tangy and spicy and, even though it’s temperature hot, still maintains that freshness vibe.  The moral of this story – embrace a good summer soup and sweat it out.  It’s totally worth it.