A Twist on Baked Beans
- Recipes, Vegan & Vegetarian
-
23 Jun 2010
It’s grilling season! What’s the one thing you always find at a summertime cookout? Baked beans.
I just tried baked beans for the first time this summer. I know – all these years, you’d think they’d have been one of my favorite foods – so sweet and smoky. But no. I thought they looked weird. Strange color. Mushy. So I never tried them. But when I finally did (since this is the Year of Trying New Foods), whaddya know – I loved ‘em. Doggone it.
So last night when I dug through my produce drawers in the fridge to see what had to be used up, imagine my glee when I found a couple corn on the cob! (Corns on the cob? Corn on the cobs? Whatever!) I’ll take any excuse these days to throw veggies on the grill.
What goes great with grilled corn on the cob? A grilled veggie burger or veggie dog, of course! (I went veggie burger, to have an excuse to try out a new jar of pickles I got at the Lockport Farmers’ Market – a spicy dill pickle). And… baked beans!
I was feeling creative as I dug through the pantry, so instead of whipping up traditional baked beans, I went with a new twist on an old favorite: BBQ baked lentils.
These took a little while to prepare, as the lentils take a half hour to cook, and then the baking process takes another hour – but really, I only spent 5 minutes or so actually tending to the prep. The rest of the time was unattended cook time. So, they’re easy! If you plan ahead just a bit to fit them into your schedule, they’re well worth the wait.
Lentils are a great source of plant-based protein (third highest behind soybeans and hemp). When not going with the traditional cookout meal, I could see having these lentils on top of a salad or in a wrap (hmmm that may have to be my lunch today!) They’d even be good mixed with some brown rice and a side of greens for a complete protein and some vitamin C to help with the absorption of all that good iron in the lentils.
Behold: a typical summertime meal!
When I look up lentils in most of my cookbooks, I'm lead down a path of soups, with the occasional cold salad thrown in for good measure. But, it's summertime as I pen this note, and I was seeking something different! Enter: barbeque baked lentils. Lentils are a great plant-based protein source (third highest behind soybeans and hemp). This recipe makes a great grilling sidekick, next to a veggie burger and some grilled corn on the cob! I prepared my lentils in my rice cooker, but you could just as well do it the old fashioned way in a saucepan on the stove (bring to a boil then simmer 30 minutes or so).
Details- Prep Time:
5 min - Cook Time:
90 min - Ready In:
1 hour, 35 min
Posted: June 23, 2010 at 12:28 pmIngredients
- 2 cups water
- 1 cup dried brown lentils
- 1/8 teaspoon sea salt
- 1/2 cup onion diced (about 1/2 of a large onion)
- 1/3 cup ketchup
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- 2 tablespoons brown mustard
- 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/8 teaspoon liquid smoke
- 1/8 teaspoon pepper
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350F.
- Put lentils and water into the rice cooker and set to cook. It should take about 30 minutes.
- Meanwhile, combine ketchup, mustard, maple syrup, ginger, vanilla, pepper, salt, and liquid smoke (all ingredients except the onion) in a small bowl.
- When the lentils are done, drain them but reserve the cooking liquid. If you have less than 1/2 cup, add water to the 1/2 cup mark.
- Add the cooking liquid/water to the sauce bowl and stir.
- Combine lentils and onion in a covered casserole dish. Add the sauce and stir to combine.
- Bake at 350F for one hour.
{Tags: bbq, grill, lentils, Recipes}
Email This Post
|
Print This Post
- Prep Time:
Grilled Banana Sandwich
- Breakfast, Recipes, Vegan & Vegetarian
-
15 Jun 2010
Oh, you sweet, decadent thing, you. You naughty, naughty thing… or maybe not so naughty! A naughty imposter.
Behold: the grilled banana sandwich.
Or, the bottom half of the grilled banana sandwich.Sweet, delicious goodness. This brunch sandwich was inspired by Caitlin’s Grilled Banana Sandwich over at Healthy Tipping Point. The only real difference is that I vegan-ized mine to avoid using eggs and dairy. This thing is like french toast and bananas all wrapped up in a sandwich!
I figured this would make a good post-run meal, as it’s got a good amount of carbs (and readily-available sugars via the bananas), and a little bit of protein. (I actually pumped mine up a little by adding a tablespoon of hemp protein powder to the liquid mixture, but didn’t add that to the recipe as it was pretty specific to my workout recovery goals – but for the record, it worked just fine!)
The whole thing clocks in around 300 calories, and makes for a pretty darn huge breakfast! You could even eat it like french toast – though I don’t think any syrup would be required, as the warm grilled bananas offer plenty of gooey delicious topping. I have visions of tossing warm blueberries on top next time. This one is definitely entering the regular rotation
DetailsPosted: June 15, 2010 at 1:33 pmIngredients
Directions
Oh, you sweet, decadent thing, you. You naughty, naughty thing... or maybe not so naughty! A naughty imposter. Behold: the grilled banana sandwich.Or, the bottom half of the grilled banana sandwich.
Sweet, delicious goodness. This brunch sandwich was inspired by Caitlin's Grilled Banana Sandwich over at Healthy Tipping Point. The only real difference is that I vegan-ized mine to avoid using eggs and dairy. This thing is like french toast and bananas all wrapped up in a sandwich!
I figured this would make a good post-run meal, as it's got a good amount of carbs (and readily-available sugars via the bananas), and a little bit of protein. (I actually pumped mine up a little by adding a tablespoon of hemp protein powder to the liquid mixture, but didn't add that to the recipe as it was pretty specific to my workout recovery goals - but for the record, it worked just fine!)
The whole thing clocks in around 300 calories, and makes for a pretty darn huge breakfast! You could even eat it like french toast - though I don't think any syrup would be required, as the warm grilled bananas offer plenty of gooey delicious topping. I have visions of tossing warm blueberries on top next time. This one is definitely entering the regular rotation :)
[recipe-show recipe=grilled-banana-sandwich]
{Tags: banana, bread, Recipes}
Email This Post
|
Print This Post
Italian Eggplant over Pasta
- Recipes, Vegan & Vegetarian
-
13 Jun 2010
This week’s trip out to Whole Foods Market yielded a beautiful purple organic eggplant! I’ve never cooked with fresh eggplant – only with pre-prepared, frozen varieties. I was excited to get to work with the real thing!
I knew I was going to go Italian with this beauty (thanks to Armando for the suggestion!). I wanted to try grilling it, but rain (like Niemi) said NO! Enter: the ol’ George Foreman grill. There’s got to be a way to make eggplant on the George, right?!
Indeed! So I whipped up a simple cornmeal breading with oregano, garlic salt, and a little chili powder. Then I sliced up that eggplant and rubbed each slice with a light coating of garlic-infused olive oil. I dredged the slices through the cornmeal breading, patted them down, and tossed them onto the George Foreman grill. 5 minutes later, they smelled wonderful! I transferred the eggplant rounds to a baking dish, topped with a jar of organic basil marinara and some Daiya dairy-free mozzarella, and baked for 15 minutes until the cheese melted.
I served the eggplant and marinara over some whole-wheat pasta, and decided I could eat that dish ALL DAY LONG. Mwah! SO good!
Fresh eggplant is SO much more delicious than the frozen varieties! It tasted so fresh, but was so easy to make. And, regarding non-dairy cheese – I’ve tried quite a few brands, all of which have disappointed me. But this Daiya brand – I have found a winner! It feels a bit more moist than typical shredded cheese, but melted and stretched just like dairy cheese, and tasted wonderful! It almost had more of a parmesan taste to it, but that was fine with me. Daiya vegan cheeses are casein-free, dairy-free, have no cholesterol or trans-fats, all natural, and free of common allergens like soy, gluten, lactose, and others. Thumbs up!
I was drooling as everything came together with this meal and as such, didn’t take the time to get a picture – but this meal is definitely going into my weekly rotation!
DetailsPosted: June 13, 2010 at 6:47 pmIngredients
Directions
This week's trip out to Whole Foods Market yielded a beautiful purple organic eggplant! I've never cooked with fresh eggplant - only with pre-prepared, frozen varieties. I was excited to get to work with the real thing! I knew I was going to go Italian with this beauty (thanks to Armando for the suggestion!). I wanted to try grilling it, but rain (like Niemi) said NO! Enter: the ol' George Foreman grill. There's got to be a way to make eggplant on the George, right?! Indeed! So I whipped up a simple cornmeal breading with oregano, garlic salt, and a little chili powder. Then I sliced up that eggplant and rubbed each slice with a light coating of garlic-infused olive oil. I dredged the slices through the cornmeal breading, patted them down, and tossed them onto the George Foreman grill. 5 minutes later, they smelled wonderful! I transferred the eggplant rounds to a baking dish, topped with a jar of organic basil marinara and some Daiya dairy-free mozzarella, and baked for 15 minutes until the cheese melted. I served the eggplant and marinara over some whole-wheat pasta, and decided I could eat that dish ALL DAY LONG. Mwah! SO good! Fresh eggplant is SO much more delicious than the frozen varieties! It tasted so fresh, but was so easy to make. And, regarding non-dairy cheese - I've tried quite a few brands, all of which have disappointed me. But this Daiya brand - I have found a winner! It feels a bit more moist than typical shredded cheese, but melted and stretched just like dairy cheese, and tasted wonderful! It almost had more of a parmesan taste to it, but that was fine with me. Daiya vegan cheeses are casein-free, dairy-free, have no cholesterol or trans-fats, all natural, and free of common allergens like soy, gluten, lactose, and others. Thumbs up! I was drooling as everything came together with this meal and as such, didn't take the time to get a picture - but this meal is definitely going into my weekly rotation! [recipe-show recipe=italian-eggplant-over-pasta]
{Tags: eggplant, marinara, pasta, Recipes}
Email This Post
|
Print This Post
Chocolate Cherry Green Smoothie
- Recipes, Smoothies
-
08 Jun 2010
Here’s my first attempt at a green smoothie with workout recovery benefits
DetailsPosted: June 8, 2010 at 10:39 amIngredients
Directions
Here's my first attempt at a green smoothie with workout recovery benefits :) [recipe-show recipe="chocolate-cherry-green-smoothie"]
{Tags: cherry, chocolate, Recipes, Smoothies, spinach, tomato}
Email This Post
|
Print This Post
Grilled Asparagus
- Recipes
-
02 Jun 2010
Another Frankfort farmers’ market find this week was boatloads of fresh asparagus! I’ve been on a roasting kick with asparagus, but with the official kick-off of summer last weekend, I decided to get with the season and fire up the grill!
(Of course, that meant first I had to *clean* the grill…)
Grilled asparagus is so easy to make and so delicious that I have a feeling I’m going to be firing up the grill a lot more often this summer! Go figure – I will likely use my grill more as a vegetarian than I ever did as a meat eater. Oh, the irony!
First, marinate the asparagus in a ziplock bag full of yumm (I used garlic-infused olive oil, a dash of balsamic vinegar, some Garlic Gold garlic sea salt nuggets, and a pinch of pepper).
Then, pop the asparagus on the grill. I’ve read suggestions including the use of a small wooden skewer to make it easier to handle the asparagus and prevent it from falling through the grill grates, but I didn’t have any trouble with mine (and I also didn’t have any skewers handy).
I threw a veggie burger on the grill as well. I found some great veggie burger recipes, but this is just your run of the mill out-of-a-box frozen variety. Sometimes, convenience beats nutrition.
I let the asparagus cook a tiny bit too long, and some of the smaller pieces charred, but overall, it turned out wonderfully delicious!
I will definitely be making asparagus on the grill again!DetailsPosted: June 2, 2010 at 3:15 pmIngredients
Directions
Another Frankfort farmers' market find this week was boatloads of fresh asparagus! I've been on a roasting kick with asparagus, but with the official kick-off of summer last weekend, I decided to get with the season and fire up the grill! (Of course, that meant first I had to *clean* the grill...) Grilled asparagus is so easy to make and so delicious that I have a feeling I'm going to be firing up the grill a lot more often this summer! Go figure - I will likely use my grill more as a vegetarian than I ever did as a meat eater. Oh, the irony! First, marinate the asparagus in a ziplock bag full of yumm (I used garlic-infused olive oil, a dash of balsamic vinegar, some Garlic Gold garlic sea salt nuggets, and a pinch of pepper).Then, pop the asparagus on the grill. I've read suggestions including the use of a small wooden skewer to make it easier to handle the asparagus and prevent it from falling through the grill grates, but I didn't have any trouble with mine (and I also didn't have any skewers handy).
I threw a veggie burger on the grill as well. I found some great veggie burger recipes, but this is just your run of the mill out-of-a-box frozen variety. Sometimes, convenience beats nutrition.
I let the asparagus cook a tiny bit too long, and some of the smaller pieces charred, but overall, it turned out wonderfully delicious!
I will definitely be making asparagus on the grill again!
[recipe-show recipe=grilled-asparagus]
{Tags: asparagus, grill}
Email This Post
|
Print This Post
Vanilla Rhubarb Muffins
- Recipes
-
02 Jun 2010
I made my first visit to the Frankfort farmers’ market this past weekend, and got myself one of the seasonal treasures of spring – rhubarb!
Truth be told – I didn’t even know what rhubarb was when I bought it. But, true to my New Year’s Resolution, I’m on a mission to try just about every fruit and veggie I can get my hands on. This week’s adventure started with rhubarb (which I learned is actually a vegetable, even though it is used as a fruit for most culinary purposes).
A search for rhubarb recipes came up with a lot of rhubarb pies and rhubarb bars, and even a rhubarb cheesecake (which I just may try making someday), but none of these ideas struck me – at least not with the ingredients I had on hand. (I did almost run to the store in order to try my hand at a vegan cheesecake, but decided that should wait until I had time to dedicate to the cause). So, I decided to make up a recipe: vanilla rhubarb muffins!
Rhubarb to me looks like red celery. It’s a tart sort of flavor, and depending how bad your sweet tooth is, you might want to add a little bit more sugar to this recipe. I don’t have much of a sweet tooth at all, and enjoyed it as-is! These are very easy to throw together, and come in at a nice, low 109 calories per muffin – a great breakfast or snack treat!
DetailsPosted: June 2, 2010 at 2:54 pmIngredients
Directions
I made my first visit to the Frankfort farmers' market this past weekend, and got myself one of the seasonal treasures of spring - rhubarb! Truth be told - I didn't even know what rhubarb was when I bought it. But, true to my New Year's Resolution, I'm on a mission to try just about every fruit and veggie I can get my hands on. This week's adventure started with rhubarb (which I learned is actually a vegetable, even though it is used as a fruit for most culinary purposes). A search for rhubarb recipes came up with a lot of rhubarb pies and rhubarb bars, and even a rhubarb cheesecake (which I just may try making someday), but none of these ideas struck me - at least not with the ingredients I had on hand. (I did almost run to the store in order to try my hand at a vegan cheesecake, but decided that should wait until I had time to dedicate to the cause). So, I decided to make up a recipe: vanilla rhubarb muffins! Rhubarb to me looks like red celery. It's a tart sort of flavor, and depending how bad your sweet tooth is, you might want to add a little bit more sugar to this recipe. I don't have much of a sweet tooth at all, and enjoyed it as-is! These are very easy to throw together, and come in at a nice, low 109 calories per muffin - a great breakfast or snack treat!
[recipe-show recipe=vanilla-rhubarb-muffins]
{Tags: muffins, rhubarb}
Email This Post
|
Print This Post
Vegan Pancakes
- Breakfast, Recipes, Vegan & Vegetarian
-
23 May 2010
I’ve been craving pancakes for about a week now. It all started last weekend when I made a breakfast crumble-cake that called for pancake mix in the ingredients. I don’t keep much of the pre-made stuff in my house these days, so I found a recipe to make my own pancake mix. The leftover mix has been sitting on my kitchen counter taunting me ever since.
This morning, I decided to remedy that situation! I used my homemade pancake mix and made some vegan-friendly pancakes. Now that they are happily in my tummy, I can declare with confidence that you do NOT need that chemical-laden crap-in-a-box to make a fluffy, tasty pancake – and my tummy is even happier knowing that no animals were harmed in the making of this breakfast.
You get way more fiber and protein with a 1/3 less calories in these pancakes versus the standard stuff from a box. Huzzah! I served mine with blueberries and a drizzle of 100% pure maple syrup. I don’t have a photo to share, but that’s mostly due to embarrassment over my pancake-flipping abilities. I could use some practice in that arena.
DetailsPosted: May 23, 2010 at 11:21 amIngredients
Directions
I've been craving pancakes for about a week now. It all started last weekend when I made a breakfast crumble-cake that called for pancake mix in the ingredients. I don't keep much of the pre-made stuff in my house these days, so I found a recipe to make my own pancake mix. The leftover mix has been sitting on my kitchen counter taunting me ever since. This morning, I decided to remedy that situation! I used my homemade pancake mix and made some vegan-friendly pancakes. Now that they are happily in my tummy, I can declare with confidence that you do NOT need that chemical-laden crap-in-a-box to make a fluffy, tasty pancake - and my tummy is even happier knowing that no animals were harmed in the making of this breakfast. You get way more fiber and protein with a 1/3 less calories in these pancakes versus the standard stuff from a box. Huzzah! I served mine with blueberries and a drizzle of 100% pure maple syrup. I don't have a photo to share, but that's mostly due to embarrassment over my pancake-flipping abilities. I could use some practice in that arena. [recipe-show recipe=vegan-pancakes]
Email This Post
|
Print This Post
No-Mess Sweet & Sour Tofu
- Recipes, Vegan & Vegetarian
-
07 May 2010
I just received my first issue of Vegetarian Times magazine (I love magazines!!), and was excited to see a section with some recipes made using FOIL! Recently, my sister-in-law Amanda suggested I try roasting veggies and such with foil for easy clean-up. I hadn’t thought of that (I’m new to this “cooking” thing, remember?!) So when VT came to my rescue with some recipes, I barely waited a day to try one out.
My first foil adventure is with the Sweet & Sour Tofu Packets recipe from the May/June 2010 edition of Vegetarian Times. I adapted the recipe to what I had on hand, leaving out a few spices and using a bag of frozen organic tri-colored peppers instead of the recommended fresh red and green ones. Still, it turned out really good!
I’m totally hooked on these Garlic Gold nuggets from Kath’s Open Sky Store. They’re tasty and crunchy and organic!
I’m also totally digging tofu. It’s so versatile! And it takes on the flavor of whatever you cook it with. This recipe originally called for Asian-marinated tofu, but as hungry as I was, I just couldn’t bring myself to commit to the hour or so required for a proper soaking. I knew, however, that the tofu would pick up the wonderful flavors of the pineapple and coconut milk, so I wasn’t worried.I learned a tofu trick from Colleen Patrick-Goudreau’s “Food for Thought” podcast over at Compassionate Cooks. She recommends freezing the firm varieties of tofu, then thawing them before using. It makes the tofu much easier to drain (you can almost wring it out!) – no more stacking towels and books on your tofu blocks. It worked really well for this recipe and saved me a good 20 minutes or so.
Here’s a packet, ready to fold up and pop into the oven! Tofu, veggies, pineapple, and a sweet-and-sour coconut milk sauce. I learned some cool things about coconut milk from another recent book purchase – Thrive: The Vegan Nutrition Guide by Brendan Brazier. He explains how that while coconut milk is high in saturated fat, it is made up of short-chain and medium-chain fatty acids that the body quickly turns into energy instead of storing as fat. That’s a good thing for people looking for a quick energy boost or for weight loss. It also contains lots of vitamins, minerals, and electrolytes.
Tada! My packets turned out a little runny – I drained off some of the liquid before storing the remaining leftovers, but hadn’t figured that out in time for this plate! I served the sweet and sour tofu over brown rice. It was exactly what I was expecting – yummy, sweet, and sour. This meal came together really quickly and had very little clean-up due to the use of the foil packets. Thumbs up!I consider it a win when I have most of the ingredients for a recipe on hand, as was the case today when I grabbed my new Vegetarian Times magazine fresh from the mailbox and embarked upon their "Sweet and Sour Tofu Packets" recipe. I adapted this recipe based on what I had in the pantry. The use of foil makes for easy clean-up!
Details- Prep Time:
10 min - Cook Time:
30 min - Ready In:
40 min
Posted: May 7, 2010 at 8:10 pmIngredients
- 1 package extra firm tofu (14 oz)
- 2 cups pineapple diced or crushed - save the juice
- 1 medium red pepper
- 1 medium green pepper
- 1 cup coconut milk
- 1/4 cup fruit spread (I used grape jelly).
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 2 tablespoons ketchup
- 1 teaspoon Garlic Gold nuggets or other garlic seasoning
- 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
Directions
- Preheat oven to 400F.
- Cut four 16" lengths of foil. Fold then in half, then unfold and fashion one side into a sort of bowl, with a 1/2" lip around the sides.
- Drain the tofu and cut it into small cubes.
- Divide the tofu amongst the foil packets.
- Top each with 1/2 cup pineapple and 1/4 cup each of red and green peppers.
- Whisk together the coconut milk, leftover pineapple juice, fruit spread, apple cider vinegar, ketchup, garlic seasoning, and chili powder.
- Divide the sauce amongst the packets.
- Fold over the foil top and crimp over the sides of the packets. Flip the packets over and bunch up the sides firmly to prevent spilling.
- Place packets on a baking sheet. Bake for 30 minutes. Be careful opening the packets when they're done - steam will escape and it will be hot!
{Tags: coconut milk, foil, peppers, pineapple, Recipes, rice, tofu}
Email This Post
|
Print This Post
- Prep Time:
Soft Pretzel Bites
- Recipes
-
03 May 2010
This gem comes to you courtesy of the No Nutritional Value Whatsoever department – it’s just a mouth-poppin’ bunch of YUM!
I stumbled across a recipe for these soft pretzel bites today over at Marcella’s when I was catching up on my blog reading. I love me some soft pretzels, and couldn’t resist the temptation of making an organic, vegan-friendly version at home. I mean, pretzels aren’t exactly healthy, but they’re not terrible, right?
Boy, was I in trouble. These things were easy to make, and GOOD. I made a garlic-y nutritional yeast based sauce to dip them in, and while I knew I was blowing a few hundred calories with my little snack of delicious goodness, I hadn’t yet input the recipe into my nutrition calculator. YIKES!! I ate about 2 servings’ worth and gobbled up 800 calories of nutritionally devoid carbo-bliss. Oh well. Good thing I’ve taken up running!
I have a feeling my memory card for my Canon G9 is going bad. (I do most of my food shooting with the G9, part out of being too lazy to go grab my real camera, and part out of not wanting to touch my real camera with sticky hands or spill something on it or drop it in a pot of boiling water). The last few image imports, half of my images have been completely garbled. At least, it had better be the memory card and not the actual camera! I guess the only way to find out is to try a new memory card.
But enough with the techno-babble and the woe-is-me calorie-count lamenting. Let’s get on with the pretzel making, shall we?!
To make this recipe vegan-friendly, I eliminated the egg wash (the part that makes pretzels turn all nice and brown) and swapped the butter for Earth Balance spread. I used all organic ingredients, so while this isn’t the most nutritious snack in the world, at least it is clean food! No crazy chemicals or preservatives or pesticides or other junk.
First up, I used my bread machine on its Dough setting to prepare the dough. The original recipe suggested a mixer with a dough hook, and while getting one of those is almost my #1 reason for wanting to get married, alas, I have not made it down the aisle and therefore have no mixer with a dough hook. (Well, not really “alas,” but that’s another story!)
Here’s my bread machine, after it did its magic. I let the dough rise for an hour.
Next up, the dough was to be split into 8 sections of about 4.5 ounces each – about the size of a small fistful or a baseball. I used my food scale to be sure, but that was more of me just being a kitchen gadget geek than anything.
Each dough-ball was stretched and rolled out into a dough-rope. The original recipe called for 22″ ropes, but I could only get mine to be about a foot long. I’d have pretzel bites the size of 2 bites – no biggie!
The next phase was to boil the bites for 30 seconds. I did this in batches. While one batch boiled, I quickly rolled and cut the next dough-rope. Lather, rinse, repeat until they’re all boiled.The pretzel swimming pool:
Some pretzel bites, post-boiling:
I’m not entirely sure what the point of boiling them is – I just follow directions. But it seemed like the boiling made them puff up a bit.Once I had boiled all of the bites, I arranged them on 2 baking sheets so that they weren’t touching each other (all the while picturing my little brother waving his finger in front of my nose taunting, “I’m not touching you! I’m not touching you!”). Then, I sprinkled a bit of salt over them and some Garlic Gold garlic nuggets (a discovery I came across while reading Kath’s KERF blog – yummy!)
I ended up baking them for about 16 minutes and they came out perfectly! They did not brown up like “regular” pretzels, because I eliminated the egg wash step (which makes them brown), but they tasted DIVINE and I ate way too many of them, warm and fresh from the oven!
I served mine with “cheast” sauce (yes, stealing the term from Emily @ The Front Burner) – a faux cheese sauce made with nutritional yeast (great for vegetarians for its abundance of B vitamins). Here’s Emily’s recipe for Cheast Sauce – I eliminated the ground mustard, and used ordinary organic all-purpose flour instead of millet flour, but otherwise followed her recipe. It was garlic-y and wonderfully delish!So, while I think I will have to cut my serving size in half to make this a calorie-affordable snack, it totally hit the spot. I was thinking it would be a great snack for parties. Very easy to make and very yummy. I love finger foods! I’m sure my thoughts toward these soft pretzel bites will turn more aggressive and dark when I’m out on the trails running them off.
But until then… nom nom nom!
DetailsPosted: May 3, 2010 at 11:19 pmIngredients
Directions
This gem comes to you courtesy of the No Nutritional Value Whatsoever department - it's just a mouth-poppin' bunch of YUM! I stumbled across a recipe for these soft pretzel bites today over at Marcella's when I was catching up on my blog reading. I love me some soft pretzels, and couldn't resist the temptation of making an organic, vegan-friendly version at home. I mean, pretzels aren't exactly healthy, but they're not terrible, right? Boy, was I in trouble. These things were easy to make, and GOOD. I made a garlic-y nutritional yeast based sauce to dip them in, and while I knew I was blowing a few hundred calories with my little snack of delicious goodness, I hadn't yet input the recipe into my nutrition calculator. YIKES!! I ate about 2 servings' worth and gobbled up 800 calories of nutritionally devoid carbo-bliss. Oh well. Good thing I've taken up running! I have a feeling my memory card for my Canon G9 is going bad. (I do most of my food shooting with the G9, part out of being too lazy to go grab my real camera, and part out of not wanting to touch my real camera with sticky hands or spill something on it or drop it in a pot of boiling water). The last few image imports, half of my images have been completely garbled. At least, it had better be the memory card and not the actual camera! I guess the only way to find out is to try a new memory card. But enough with the techno-babble and the woe-is-me calorie-count lamenting. Let's get on with the pretzel making, shall we?! To make this recipe vegan-friendly, I eliminated the egg wash (the part that makes pretzels turn all nice and brown) and swapped the butter for Earth Balance spread. I used all organic ingredients, so while this isn't the most nutritious snack in the world, at least it is clean food! No crazy chemicals or preservatives or pesticides or other junk. First up, I used my bread machine on its Dough setting to prepare the dough. The original recipe suggested a mixer with a dough hook, and while getting one of those is almost my #1 reason for wanting to get married, alas, I have not made it down the aisle and therefore have no mixer with a dough hook. (Well, not really "alas," but that's another story!) Here's my bread machine, after it did its magic. I let the dough rise for an hour.
Next up, the dough was to be split into 8 sections of about 4.5 ounces each - about the size of a small fistful or a baseball. I used my food scale to be sure, but that was more of me just being a kitchen gadget geek than anything.
Each dough-ball was stretched and rolled out into a dough-rope. The original recipe called for 22" ropes, but I could only get mine to be about a foot long. I'd have pretzel bites the size of 2 bites - no biggie!
The next phase was to boil the bites for 30 seconds. I did this in batches. While one batch boiled, I quickly rolled and cut the next dough-rope. Lather, rinse, repeat until they're all boiled.
The pretzel swimming pool:
Some pretzel bites, post-boiling:
I'm not entirely sure what the point of boiling them is - I just follow directions. But it seemed like the boiling made them puff up a bit.
Once I had boiled all of the bites, I arranged them on 2 baking sheets so that they weren't touching each other (all the while picturing my little brother waving his finger in front of my nose taunting, "I'm not touching you! I'm not touching you!"). Then, I sprinkled a bit of salt over them and some Garlic Gold garlic nuggets (a discovery I came across while reading Kath's KERF blog - yummy!)
I ended up baking them for about 16 minutes and they came out perfectly! They did not brown up like "regular" pretzels, because I eliminated the egg wash step (which makes them brown), but they tasted DIVINE and I ate way too many of them, warm and fresh from the oven!
I served mine with "cheast" sauce (yes, stealing the term from Emily @ The Front Burner) - a faux cheese sauce made with nutritional yeast (great for vegetarians for its abundance of B vitamins). Here's Emily's recipe for Cheast Sauce - I eliminated the ground mustard, and used ordinary organic all-purpose flour instead of millet flour, but otherwise followed her recipe. It was garlic-y and wonderfully delish!
So, while I think I will have to cut my serving size in half to make this a calorie-affordable snack, it totally hit the spot. I was thinking it would be a great snack for parties. Very easy to make and very yummy. I love finger foods! I'm sure my thoughts toward these soft pretzel bites will turn more aggressive and dark when I'm out on the trails running them off.
But until then... nom nom nom!
[recipe-show recipe="soft-pretzel-bites"]
EpicOrganic.net
{Tags: bread}
Email This Post
|
Print This Post
Garden Lentil Burgers
- Gnowfglins, Recipes
-
09 Apr 2010
Who needs meat when the lentil burgers taste this good?!
I’m sitting out of the GNOWFGLINS e-course this week, as they’re covering chicken and I’m now 3 weeks into eating vegetarian, but I still did some cooking in the traditional vein. I made a recipe from the GNOWFGLINS web site – garden lentil patties – which I made into garden lentil burgers! They turned out incredibly flavorful and filling. This recipe is definitely a keeper!
First, I soaked dried lentils overnight with some raw apple cider vinegar. (This helps to neutralize the phytic acid in them and improves the absorption of the lentils’ nutrients). I’m new to lentils – to my knowledge, I’ve never had them before, so I had no idea what to expect.
Then I drained and rinsed the lentils and put them on the stove with some fresh water to simmer. While they simmered, I prepped the veggies: carrots, celery, red pepper, and… dang it, I forgot the onion. Oh well. It made for a very colorful bowl of yum, though!
Once the lentils were done, I added the rest of the ingredients – some oats, some Italian seasoning, salt and pepper, tomato paste, extra virgin olive oil – and mixed it all up. My hands were way too messy to get any pictures!I tried my best to mash the mix into patties, but I wasn’t having very good luck. Most of my patties fell apart on the baking sheet. I guess I’m not a very strong patty-maker. Maybe a little more oats would have helped hold them together? I’m not sure. Here’s what they looked like after their first half of time in the oven:
I then flipped them over, and only a few survived the flip. I had mostly lentil crumbles instead of lentil patties! A couple did stick together pretty well. Not sure what my magic trick was on those ones!The recipe made 13 patties – I probably should have cut it in half, since I’m only feeding moi. I put one of the better-looking patties on an organic whole wheat bun (Rudi’s ftw!) and added a little veganaise and onion seasoning on top (since I forgot the onions). Served it with some organic spring greens with a little organic caesar dressing, and voila: dinner!
They may not look pretty, but this burger was delicious! It will definitely make it into regular rotation in my kitchen.Each patty has about 200 calories (assuming you get 13 out of your recipe, like I did), 6g fat, 29g carbs (8g fiber), 9g protein, and a boatload of vitamins – 45% of your daily Vitamin A, 32% Vitamin C, and 15% of your Iron, amongst others. Yum!
Posted: April 9, 2010 at 8:58 pm
{Tags: carrot, celery, Gnowfglins, lentils, oats, onion, red pepper, soaking}
Email This Post
|
Print This Post
