Pumpkin Spice Bread

This post has been sitting in "drafts" since last fall.  Oops.

Who has an overwhelming amount of puréed pumpkin sitting in their freezer? We do!! I didn't have the heart to discard our uncarved pumpkins this year so we roasted, pureed and froze them in one-cup portions*.

Aware of my post-Halloween situation, my aunt kindly sent me this recipe from Jody at Urban Frum Eats. As the author puts it, "It is not super-exciting but subtly sweet, paired with a morning mug of coffee or an after dinner tea, this pumpkin loaf is truly a slice of fall".  It won't win any baking awards, but it is worth sharing because it is delightful, moist, easy to make and my toddler gave it the thumbs up. Oh, and it is helping to make more room in my freezer for foods other than pumpkin...

Ingredients

• 1½ c all-purpose gluten-free flour
• ½ tsp. salt
• 1 tsp baking soda
• ½ c maple syrup
• ¼ c maple flakes or organic cane sugar
• 1 c pumpkin purée (canned or made fresh* and stored)
• ½ c olive oil
• 2 eggs, beaten
• ¼ c water
• ½ tsp nutmeg
• ½ tsp cinnamon
• Optional: 1/2 ts cloves, chopped walnuts or chocolate/carob chips

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a loaf pan. I prefer a mini loaf pan. 
2. Sift together flour, salt and baking soda.
3. In a separate bowl, mix the pumpkin, syrup, sugar, oil, eggs, water and spices together.
4. Quickly combine wet and dry ingredients. Stir in the nuts, chocolate chips if using.
5. Pour mixture into the loaf pan. Bake about 60 minutes or until knife / toothpick comes out clean.

*Pumpkin purée: cut pumpkin in half, scoop out the seeds in the middle and lie face down on a foil-lined baking sheet. Bake at 350°F until soft (about an hour.) When it has cooled, scoop out the flesh and gently puree in a blender or food processor. Freeze whatever you don't use for future use. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and place 1-cup portions on the tray. Place in the freezer until it is frozen then place pumpkins in a freezer bag.

Green Bean Casserole with Crispy French Onions (vegan and gluten free)

In a previous life, I made green bean casseroles with store-bought cream of mushroom soup, canned fried onions and other delicious yet not-so-healthy ingredients. This recipe is a superb alternative, especially for those who don't love eating green vegetables :)

Ingredients 

CASSEROLE

• 1 1/2 c. unsweetened almond milk, warmed
• 1-2 T. vegan butter or coconut oil (olive oil works too)
• 1/2 yellow onion, chopped (we added few extra green onions too)
• 2 garlic cloves
• 8 oz. cremini mushrooms, chopped
• 3/4 t. dried thyme
• 1/2 t. dried oregano
• 1/2 t. salt
• black pepper to taste 
• 2 TB nutritional yeast 
• 1 T. arrowroot or tapioca starch
• 1/4 c. cold water
• 16 oz. fresh green beans

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. 
2. Steam the green beans for about 3-4 minutes, just until bright green and slightly tender. Warm your milk.
3. Heat the oil or butter in a skillet. Saute the onions for a few minutes until soft. Add the mushrooms, thyme, oregano, salt, and pepper, and cook until most of the water has evaporated (about 5-7 minutes). Add in the garlic and cook for another minute. 
4. In a separate bowl, mix the cold water with the arrowroot/tapioca. Pour this mix into the warm milk and whisk until thickened. Pour the milk mix into the mushroom mix and heat everything for about 1 minute. Add nutritional yeast. Season to taste. 
5. Pour everything into an oiled 8 x 8 baking dish, and bake for 20 minutes. Remove, and top with the french fried onions (recipe below).

FRENCH FRIED ONIONS

 I suggest you double this recipe. These onions are delicious! 

• 2 large shallots or onions of choice, sliced into rings
• 2 t. olive oil
• salt

optional, highly recommended: several TB of sorghum flour seasoned with onion powder, garlic powder and salt.

1. Preheat the oven to 380 degrees. 
2. With oil, saute the rings for about 5 minutes.
3. If coating with flour (yum!), place onions in a bowl and lightly coat onions with seasoned sorghum flour (garlic and onion powder, salt). 
4. Place onions onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. Sprinkle them with salt, and bake the rings for about 15-20 minutes, but watch them closely or they will burn! They will crisp more as they cool too.

THE Creamiest Vegan Ice Cream! (Cashews)

I'm still obsessed with making dairy-free ice cream. The good news is that it's finally ice cream weather (When I started this adventure in January, it was -25 Celsius).

My favourite Salted Caramel recipe uses a custard base. I've been experimenting with egg-free versions and haven't been satisfied with the taste and texture of coconut milk recipes. While I like the taste, I find it's overwhelming unless you are going for a coconut-flavoured treat. Even when using xanthan gum, the texture isn't smooth enough, especially the next day. Almond milk doesn't have enough fat so you end up with more ice than cream.  I recently discovered that CASHEWS are the way to go.

This cashew-based recipe, inspired by veganbaking.net, is the creamiest dairy-free and egg-free recipe out there. It's not too nutty which gives you the flexibility to flavour your ice cream any way you like. Use this recipe on its own or as a base for other flavours like espresso (see below), chocolate maple-pecan or my favourite salted caramel.  

 

Ingredients

• 1 cup unsalted, raw cashews 
• 2 ½ cups water (plus water for soaking cashews)
• 2 Tablespoons coconut oil, melted
• ½ cup coconut sugar (or sweeten to taste but remember that the frozen ice cream will be less sweet than the mixture at room temperature)
• ⅓ cup maple syrup
• 2 teaspoons melted cocoa butter (if you don't have access to cocoa butter, substitute it with 1 additional teaspoon coconut oil)
• ½ teaspoon apple cider vinegar
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract (you can use 2 vanilla beans but I wouldn't waste fresh beans on this recipe. You can't really taste it unless you use white sugar and corn syrup like the original  recipe).
• ½ teaspoon xanthan gum

Optional: You can add chopped nuts, chocolate/carob chips, cookies or other add-ins if you like. Make sure they are cold when you add to the ice cream.

 

Instructions

1. In a covered container, soak your cashews in water overnight (or for at least 4 hours). I like to keep them in the fridge.
2. Rinse the cashews and discard water. 
3. Place soaked nuts in a high speed blender with 2.5 cups of filtered water.
4. Add melted coconut oil and coconut butter, sugar, syrup, apple cider vinegar, vanilla and salt into the blender. Place the lid on the blender and blend on low-medium for 1 minute. It should be a smooth mixture with no pieces of cashews. 
5. While the blender is running on LOW, carefully remove the top cap of the blender and pour in the xanthan gum and blend for 1 minute. 
6. Transfer the mixture to a bowl and place it in the refrigerator (covered) until completely cold, about 4 hours. 
7. Process the ice cream in an ice cream maker by following the manufacturer's instructions (mine takes about 20 minutes).  
8. Transfer the ice cream to a container, packing it down to make sure there are as few air pockets as possible. Chill for several hours or until it reaches your desired consistency. 

Makes about 1 quart of ice cream.


COFFEE/MOCHA FLAVOUR 

Make 1 cup of very strong espresso and dissolve 1 TB of cocoa powder into the espresso. Instead of adding 2.5 cups of filtered water (Step #3), use 1.5 cups and add the 1 cup espresso (with cocoa) to the blender. Add more sugar/espresso to taste.

Roasted Garlic Mashed "Potatoes" (Cauliflower)

These mashed "potatoes" are ridiculously good.  For those of you who aren't big fans of cauliflower,  you won't even taste it.  I've experimented with other versions of cauliflower mash and tried hiding it in other foods like "pizza crust" --- I wasn't fooled.

This recipe by Rebecca Bohl at paleogrubs.com is a keeper. The roasted garlic flavour is superb and the smooth texture is perfect.

Ingredients

1. 1 large head of cauliflower, cut into florets
2. 1/4 cup almond milk
3. 1 tbsp vegan butter or olive oil
4. Head of garlic
5. Fresh chives, chopped
6. Salt and pepper to taste

 

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. 
2. To roast the garlic head, peel away outer layers of the garlic bulb, then cut off the top of the garlic head to expose the individual garlic cloves. Place in aluminum foil and drizzle with olive oil. Seal the foil around the garlic. Bake for 25-30 minutes, until the cloves are soft. Allow garlic to cool, then squeeze the roasted garlic cloves out of the skin.
3. Steam the cauliflower for 12-14 minutes, until completely tender. Drain and return cauliflower to pot.
4. Add roasted garlic, milk, butter, and salt to the cauliflower. Using an immersion blender or food processor, combine ingredients until smooth. Top with chives and freshly ground pepper.

Maple Miso Tofu

Maple miso sauce is often paired with black cod. It works just as well with tofu, if not better. This quick dish requires little preparation and is very toddler friendly.

Thanks to Amanda Garbutt for this recipe.

Ingredients

• 1 block firm tofu, sliced into ½ - inch thick slabs
• ¼ cup white miso (I used brown)
• ¼ cup maple syrup
• ¼ cup gluten-free tamari
• 2 tablespoons unseasoned rice vinegar
• 1 tablespoon chili sauce
• 1 tablespoons sesame oil
• Sesame seeds
• Olive oil

Instructions

1. Preheat the broiler to high. Cover a baking sheet with tin foil. Lightly oil the sheet so the tofu does not stick to it.  
2. In a bowl, whisk together the miso, maple syrup, tamari, rice wine vinegar and chili sauce (I skipped the chili sauce so my toddler could eat the dish. I drizzled the chili sauce onto my plate of tofu instead).
3. Arrange the tofu in a single layer and brush with half the marinade. Place under the broiler for 5-8 minutes until browned. Flip the tofu, brush with remaining marinade and broil for another 5-8 minutes until crisp.
4. Remove from the oven and drizzle with sesame oil. Sprinkle with sesame seeds. Serve warm.

Classic Rice Crispy Treats

I haven't eaten a "real" marshmallow since I was a kid. This classic recipe from Fettlevegan.com uses vegan marshmallows (Dandies) that are just like the real thing!

I've already posted a vegan rice crispy treat that uses flax and nut butter.  This classic recipe isn't as healthy but it's definitely a fun treat.
  
Ingredients:

• 6 cups crisped rice cereal
• 1-10 oz. bag Dandies marshmallows (vanilla)
• 3 tablespoons Earth Balance butter (or other vegan butter)

 

Instructions:

1. Lightly grease a 13x9 in. (or slightly smaller) glass or ceramic baking dish.
2. In a large saucepan on low to medium heat, melt your butter. Add the entire bag of marshmallows to the melted butter and stir.
3. Once the marshmallows have completely softened and combined with the butter, add in the crisped rice cereal. Add a cup or so at a time with a wooden spoon to evenly distribute. Be sure to stir quickly so you don't end up with a giant clump. 
4. Once the cereal is evenly covered in the marshmallow mixture, press into the prepared baking dish using the back of a wooden spoon.
5. Let cool, then cut into squares.

Vegan Scallops

I don't think I have ever eaten real scallops but my husband was highly impressed with the texture of this vegan side dish served at V-note in NYC. We both agreed they were delicious and loved the creative use of King Oyster mushrooms.

I tried this recipe from lunchboxbunch.com. The cooking instructions were simple and the texture was similar to V-note. Next time, I would leave out the sweetener to make it a savoury dish instead of a sweet one. Serve it to guests, they will be impressed! 
 
Serves 2

Ingredients

• 4 wide-stemmed king oyster mushrooms, sliced into 3/4" thick circles
• 2-3 tsp olive oil
• 2 Tbsp gluten-free tamari
• 2 tsp liquid sweetener like maple syrup (or leave it out if you don't want it sweet)
• black pepper to taste
• optional: 1 Tbsp diced shallot, a few drops of liquid smoke, splash of white wine or Vermouth

 

Instructions

1. Slice your mushrooms. If you choose to rinse them, dry them well.  
2. Add your mushroom rounds to a bowl and add the tamari, sweetener and pepper. Add optional diced shallots and toss well. 
3. Add oil to a cast iron skillet - heat over med-high heat. Wait until oil is hot.
4. Place the mushrooms flat side down in the pan. They should sizzle. Allow to cook for about a minute - do not move them around too much as this will interrupt the sear. Add black pepper onto the mushrooms while they cook.
5. Flip the mushrooms. You can now pour any leftover liquid from the bowl into the pan. Add the optional liquid smoke and white wine now.
6. Tilt the pan so that all the liquid dips to one side in a pool. Then using a large tablespoon, gather the liquid and quickly pour it over top the scallops. Do this over and over again and watch as the mushrooms absorb and caramelize with the liquid. This technique helps to cook the mushrooms while also keeping them from drying out in the pan.
7. Flip your mushrooms again and add more black pepper to taste. Turn off heat. Allow them to sit in the pan for a minute or two.
8. Serve hot mushrooms on a plate garnished with parsley and drizzled with spicy Harissa sauce.