Banana Ricotta Muffins

Adapted from The Chubby Vegetarian:

2 small bananas mashed (or 1 1/2 large)
1/2 cup ricotta
1/3 cup milk
1/2 cup canola
3/4 cup sucanat
2 t vanilla

1 3/4 c whole wheat pastry flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 t salt

wet, dry, wet into dry...throw in a handful of chocolate chips if you want

Put in muffin tins.  Top with topping:

1/2 cup chopped walnuts
2 T brown sugar
pinch salt

Cook 25 min at 375.

Chocolate Carrot Cake

Adapted from Cafe Brenda

For two 9 inch round cakes (I like to divide it in half and make one)

Mix together 1 1/3 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon

Melt 2 1/2 oz bittersweet chocolate chips in a bowl  (I do this in the microwave)

Meanwhile beat 3 eggs with 1 cup honey/agave/brown rice syrup
Add 2/3 cup canola oil
Add 2 tsp vanilla
zest of one lemon

Stir in the melted chocolate

Add 3/4 cup Kefir (or yogurt or buttermilk) to the wet

Stir the dry ingredients into the wet.

Fold in 1 cup+ grated carrots

Pour into buttered and floured pans. Bake at 350 for about 35 minutes

Frosting: Melt 2 1/2 oz bittersweet chocolate with 2 T of milk (or so) in the microwave.  Stir until smooth. Add powdered sugar until desired consistency.  Add more milk or powdered sugar until it is to your liking.  Spread on COOLED cake.

Delicious!

Squash Tacos with Avocado Sauce

Saute onion, zucchini, yellow squash, cherry tomoatoes, black beans, and black-eyed peas. Boil 3 ears of corn, then cut off then cob and add to saute.

Blend until smooth 1-2 avocados with parsley, cilantro, lime, and raw garlic.

Serve the veggies and the sauce (with cheese, if you want) with warm corn tortillas.

Hint: put 6 tortillas in a stack with wet paper towels between them and microwave for 30 seconds.

Vegan Corn Chowder

Chop up and boil 4-5 small potatoes (skin on) (save 2 cups of potato water). Boil 5 ears of corn. Saute 1 onion, 2 stalks of celery, 3 cloves garlic, teaspoon dried thyme, 1 red pepper (preferably roasted!). Cut corn off cobs. Combine veggies, potatoes, and half the corn with the potato water. Add salt and pepper. Cook for 5 minutes. Blend. Add rest of corn. Add a cup and a half of unsweetened soymilk. Warm and serve. Top with fresh minced basil at the table.

Crispy, Buttery Granola

Dry:
8 Cups oats
1 cup flax meal
1 cup wheat germ
sesame seeds and sunflower seeds are optional

In a saucepan, heat up:
1 stick butter with 1 tsp salt until melted.

Stir in:
a few cups nuts (like 3 cups plus or minus). I like almonds and pecans.

Cook for a few minutes and then add:
1/3 cup honey
3/4 cup or less brown sugar

Cook until melted and combined. Turn off heat and add 1 tsp vanilla

Pour over dry ingredients. Bake at 325 for 15 minutes. Stir and then bake another 10.

Add fruit bits and cherries or any other dried fruit that suits your fancy!

Hot Cross Buns

In one bowl, combine
Yeast Mixture:
4 1/2 t of dried yeast
1 tsp white sugar
1 3/4 cups of warm milk (not hot!)

Let sit 5-10 minutes while it becomes frothy

In a bowl combine
4 cups flour (I used 2 cups all purpose and 2 cups whole wheat pastry)
pinch of salt

Then add
1/2 cup white sugar
1 t each of cinnamon, nutmeg, and all spice
a little orange peel is optional but might be nice

Work in 3.6 T of very soft but not melted butter

Add an egg into the yeast mixture

Then add the yeast/egg mixture into the dry ingredients. Throw in
1/2 cup golden raisins
1/2 cup other dried fruit (I used fruit bits)

Mix with a spatula and then with your fingers. The dough will be very sticky! Sticky is good! You can flour your hands occasionally as you work but expect the dough to stay very sticky. At no point will it be smooth and kneadable. Sticky=moist, bubbly buns!

When everything is combined, grease another bowl and pour in your sticky dough. Cover tightly with seran wrap and put in fridge overnight. If you are making all in one day, just cover with a tea towel on the counter until doubled.

Easter morning: Take out your dough and dump it on a floured board. Do not knead. Cut into 16 square buns. Put on greased cookie sheet and cover with tea towel for 30 minutes while the oven preheats to 400F.

Place buns on high part of oven (so bottom doesn't burn). Make sure they have room to rise though.

Bake 15-20 minutes (I did about 19).

Meanwhile simmmer your sugar syrup until it thickens a little (not too thick): 1/2 cup sugar, 1 t cinnamon, 1/2 t vanilla, and a scant 1/4 cup water

Make your icing for the crosses: about 1 cup powdered sugar with just enough milk (about a teaspoon or so) to make into icing.

When your buns are done, brush on the syrup and then make your crosses on top with the icing.

Eat warm with eggs. Happy Easter.

Blueberry Ricotta Muffins

Here's a delicious way to use that leftover ricotta

Ricotta Blueberry Muffins
Adapted from Dorie Greenspan

Ingredients

3/4 cup ricotta, preferably at room temperature
2 large eggs, preferably at room temperature
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 stick (4 ounces) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2/3 cup sugar
Finely grated zest of 1 lime
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 to 1 1/3 cups blueberries
Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Butter or spray the 12 molds in a regular-size muffin tin, or fit the molds with paper muffin cups.

Whisk the ricotta, eggs and vanilla together, then stir in the melted butter.

Working in a large bowl and using your fingertips, rub the sugar and lime zest together until the sugar is moist and fragrant. Switch to a whisk and stir in the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Put the ricotta mixture on top of the dry ingredients and, using a rubber spatula, gently but quickly stir to blend—don’t worry about being thorough. The batter will be thick and heavy and that’s fine. Fold in the blueberries.

Divide the batter evenly among the muffin molds, slide the pan into the oven and bake 20 to 25 minutes. When fully baked, the tops of the muffins will be golden, springy to the touch and a knife inserted into the center of the muffins will come out clean. Pull the pan from the oven and carefully lift each muffin out of its mold and onto a rack to cool.

Multigrain pizza dough

From Peter Reinhart:

Put the following into your cuisinart with dough blade or your mixer with dough hook or mix together by hand:
4 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cups whole wheat flour
1/4 cup rye flour
1 1/2 T honey
1 1/2 t salt
1 1/2 t instant/bread machine yeast
2 T olive oil

Press the dough button on your cuisinart and then press start. As it mixes, slowly add:

2 cups room temp water

Once it forms a bowl, let it spin around for a few seconds to knead it. You may have to remove it and knead it yourself for a few minutes if your cuisinart isn't big enough to handle the ball of dough. The dough should be tacky but not sticky. If it's sticky, add a bit more flour. If it is too stiff, add a little water.

Grease a big bowl. Form dough into a smooth ball and place in bowl. Spritz with cooking spray or rub top with oil. Put plastic wrap over the bowl so that it does not touch the dough. Let rise 30 minutes on counter then put in fridge overnight.

Two hours before you want to make your pizzas, take the dough out of the fridge. Divide into 4 parts and roll each into a smooth ball. Place them on a greased cookie sheet. Spritz dough balls with oil and cover loosely with plastic wrap. Let sit for two hours.

Preheat oven to 525 (convect if you have it)

Shape each dough ball into a crust (Drape over your hands and use your thumbs to push the dough into crust shape).

If you have a pizza peel, sprinkle some corn meal on it and lay your crust on the peel. Top with your favorite toppings (we like pesto!) and slide into oven (preferably onto a preheated pizza stone) and cook about 7 minutes.

Chocolate Applesauce Cake

1 1/2 cup sugar
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 cup cocoa
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups applesauce
1 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla

Mix dry in a bowl, then add applesauce, oil and vanilla. Pour into a greased pan (13x9 or equiv). You can halve the recipe and put it into a 9 inch round cake pan.

Bake at 350 35-40 minutes (check sooner if you halve the recipe)

Top with icing (I made a plain vanilla one with some butter, sugar, and milk) or put some pieces of chocolate on top when it comes out of the oven and then spread.

Poppy Seed Cranberry Scones

Spray or butter a baking sheet. Preheat oven to 375.

Dry:
2 cups flour (can do a mix of white and whole wheat)
1/2 cup quick cooking oats (I just used my food processor to chop up some regular oats)
1/2 cup sugar
1 T poppy seeds
1 t baking powder
1/2 t baking soda
1/4 t salt

Then cut in 2 T butter. And add 1/2 cup dried cranberries

Make a hole in your dry ingredients and drop in:
1 egg
1/2 cup pineapple juice

Mix until just mixed and then use floured hands to knead a couple times. Divide into two balls. Flatten each into 6 inch discs. Use a knife or pizza cutter to cut each disc into 8 wedges. Top with cinnamon sugar(optional). Bake 15-20 minutes

Bean Burgers

Straight from Bittman:

Bean Burgers

2 cans white beans x 16oz
1 large onion
3/4 cups rolled oats

Throw those things and salt and pepper into the food processor. Taste; if it’s too dry, add water; too wet, add more rolled oats, a tablespoon at a time.

Cook with lots of olive oil with the burner on 6 with a cover on the skillet and don't try to flip them too early. The burger can be still squishy in the middle when you serve it.

Avocado
Hamburger Buns
Tomato
Cheddar

Throw those things together. Mush the avocado with the burger if the baby is finicky.