Banana Cookies

Cream 1 stick butter with 2 very ripe bananas and 1- cup sugar. Add 1 egg and a splash of vanilla.

Dry ingredients: 2 cups flour, 1 t soda, 1/2 t each of cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg.

Combine dry into wet. Stir in 1 cup of pecans or walnuts.

Spoon dollops onto cookie sheet and place a dark chocolate Hershey kiss in the center of each. Alternatively you could add chocolate chips.

Bake at 350 for 11 minutes

Clementine Cake

Boil 3-4 whole clementines for 2 hours (you will need to add water as necessary). Cut in half and remove seeds. Put the clementines (peel and all but not the seeds) in the cuisinart and pulse. Add 1 1/4 cups sugar, 2 1/4+ cups ground almonds (I ground the almonds beforehand in a cuisinart), and 1 heaping tsp baking powder. Crack in 6 eggs. Cuisinart it all until mixed and frothy. Pour into buttered 8 inch springform cake pan and bake for 45-60 minutes at 375. Cover with foil near the end if it starts to get too brown.

Let cool, then pop open the pan and use a sifter or sieve to cover the cake with powdered sugar.

Yum

Summer tacos

These are delicious with fresh summer corn! .

Filling:
Sauté 4 cloves garlic, 1 onion chopped, 1 yellow summer squash, and a handful sliced grape tomatoes. Meanwhile simmer 3 corn on the cobs until tender. Cut kernels off corn and add  to sauté along with one can black beans and one an black eyed peas.  Salt lightly

Avocado Sauce:
Blend in a cuisinart until smooth: 3 avocados, 2 cloves garlic handful parsley, handful cilantro, juice of a lime, tablespoon of olive oil, salt, pepper, and some hot pepper flakes.

Use warmed corn tortillas and fill with the filling above,  some shredded cheddar (optional) and the avocado sauce. 

Eat many!

Crunchy, Sweet Granola

As with all granolas, this is infinitely changeable depending on what is in your cupboard. You can play with the sweeteners, such as more maple and less honey for a maple flavored granola.  You can also cut the sugar by a lot for a less sweet granola.  But for now,  here is the basic recipe:

Preheat oven to 325 or Convect 300

In a big bowl combine:

8 cups oats
3 cups of some combination of wheat germ/wheat bran/oat bran/flax meal
3-4 cups of chopped nuts (almonds, walnuts, pecans, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, hazelnuts, cashews...)
1 1/2 t salt

In a sauce pan combine:
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/2-3/4 cup honey (preferably raw local)
1 T vanilla
1 T cinnamon
1 cup oil (canola works well, but any will work, even olive oil)

Bring to a bubbling boil and then pour wet over dry and mix thoroughly to coat all the dry.

Line two or three baking sheets with parchment paper and pour the granola onto the trays.

Bake in the oven 20-30 minutes, stirring occasionally and watching that it doesn't burn.  It will continue to harden as it cools, so take it out as soon as it starts to look toasted.

Enjoy!!

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.