Roasted Eggplant on Salad (vegan)

Made this a while ago and forgot to post it! Roasted eggplant (either broiled in the oven or you could toss on the BBQ with a spray of olive oil) amps up the umami of any salad. 

Here I've combined the roasted eggplant with asparagus (pour boiling water over the asparagus and let sit for 3-4 minutes then drain), and drizzled balsamic vinaigrette over the top.  For a more summer-appropriate pairing, use local eggplant and green beans (par boiled).

Slow Cooker Brothy Black Beans

I'm pretty crazy about black beans.  This is a modification of an old NY Times recipe, halved and done in a slow cooker.  With the 1/2 lb quantity, this feeds 2-3 adults, depending on what you serve it with.

Depending on how fast/hot you cook the beans they will either be whole or mushed up. The slow cooker did a nice job of keeping the beans whole but soft. When I cook on the lowest setting on the gas stove, they start to fall apart and get more mushy texture.
Method:
Soak 1/2 lb black beans in water overnight.

Drain and add soaked black beans to slow cooker pot with 1 diced yellow onion and 4 minced cloves garlic and enough water or veggie broth to cover by 3/4".

2 hours on high in a modern slow cooker. This gets it up to simmering.  At this point, add and stir: 
minced cilantro
minced oregano
epazote leaves
more garlic
salt

Cook for 2 more hours on low.

Use a slotted spoon (depending on how much water you added there may be too much liquid). 

Serve these black beans over cooked brown rice or green rice and garnish with avocado. Or in a black bean bowl with rice, pico de gallo and tali sauce. Or just simply over brown rice with cotija cheese and avocado (pictured).  Or rolled in a burrito or enchilada.

Even simpler fried rice

I've made all kinds of fried rice in my day.  Fried rice is a great way to use up odds and ends of veggies from the produce drawer. Here's the striped down version. 

Simpler Fried Rice Methodology: 

Saute minced onion, garlic and salt in olive oil.  Add thinly sliced veggies (carrot, celery, mushroom, cabbage etc.) and cook until softening. 

Push stuff to side of pan to clear up space.  Fry up beaten eggs, thne mix into the veggies. 

Toss cooked (and preferably cold/refrigerated) rice with a bit of oil (sesame or olive oil), break up large clumps.  Pour into pan and mix with veggie/egg.  Stir to combine. 

Finally add frozen green peas, and soy sauce to taste.

Lori's Banana Cake (whole wheat)

This reminds me of the banana cake at New Seasons bakery that I adore. I bet if you topped it with whipped cream/sour cream frosting it would be fantastic and just like the ones in the dessert case.  I like it as a snack cake, just plain.  This is best with ripe (or overripe) bananas. Lori found the recipe but I just had to post it again-- it's that good.

Soften:
85 g butter (less than 1 stick)

20 g coconut oil

Beat oils with 200 g sugar (white or coconut palm sugar) until fluffy. Add 1 egg and continue beating.

Add and stir:
110 g buttermilk (less than 2/3 C )
1 tea vanilla extract
2 ripe bananas, chopped (approx 225 g)

Finally add and stir until combined:
225 g whole wheat flour
3 g baking powder (approx 1 tea)
3 g baking soda (approx 1 tea)
2 g salt (approx 1/2 tea +)

Pour into 10"x10" (or larger) pan. Bake for 25-35 minutes at 325 F.

Freezes beautifully.

Summer fruit!

I'm loving the summer fruit! Topping homemade granola with Veteran peaches from Jossy Farm, and blueberries and strawberries from Crawford's farm (no web presence but this place rocks! From Hillsboro take HWY 219 out, and take a right on Tongue Lane- drive a bit and you'll see the sign on your right).

DIY Whole Wheat Hamburger Buns

 Ok this isn't typical for me. I don't eat hamburger- just can't stand it actually.  But I've discovered that hamburger buns are great for all types of sandwiches, the banh mi being my favorite. After spending way too much on hamburger buns at the store, I had a "duh" moment-- why not bake 'em myself?

I'm a fan of this book on easy artisan-style baking, so pulled up their recipe for whole wheat hamburger buns. You could easily adapt this to hotdog buns.  Just looking at them I could see them transforming to an anko-filled sweet sometime in the future (an-pan).  Yum!

Hamburger Buns
Mix in a large bowl:
2.5 C whole wheat flour
1.25 C unbleached all purpose flour
3/4 TB yeast
1/2 TB kosher salt
1/8 C vital wheat gluten

Dissolve 1/4 C honey in 1.25 C warm water.  Add 2 or 3 eggs and 1/3 C olive oil and stir.

Pour liquid into dry ingredients, stir. It will be quite wet- that's how you want it.

Cover and let sit for 2 hours at room temp. After 2 hours, move to fridge. The dough can stay in the fridge for up to 5 days (freeze if it will be any longer).


When ready to bake, cut dough into 8 pieces. Gently shape into flattened rolls with extra flour. Don't overwork the dough- it will be really soft but that's ok.  Place on cookie sheet and let rise for 20 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 F.  Brush buns with egg wash (1 egg beaten really well), then sprinkle on sesame seeds.

Bake buns for 20 minutes.  Makes 8 buns.

Apple Chunk Muffins (whole wheat, vegan)

Great way to use up apples! The original recipe had a ton more sugar- glad I reduced it. Feel free to further reduce sugar- I bed removing the 1/3 C brown sugar wouldn't impact it too much.

Mix:
1.5 C whole wheat flour
1/2 C oats
1/3 C brown sugar (or omit for less sweet muffin) 
2 tea baking powder
1 tea baking soda
1/4 tea salt
2 tea cinnamon
1/4 tea nutmeg
1/8 tea ground ginger

Now add and stir to combine into a batter:
1 C unsweetened applesauce
1/8 C maple syrup

Fold in 1 C chopped or diced apples.

Pour into greased muffin pan.  Optional: top with turbinado sugar or oat flakes.

Bake at 350 F for 18-25 minutes.

Freezes well- good as a lunch box treat or brunch/breakfast. 

Kale/Swiss Chard Wheat Berry Salad with Raisins

This would be good for potlucks or packed lunches as it keeps well and actually improves as it sits in the dressing.  Use any leafy green like kale or swiss chard (mustard greens or similar greens from the farmer's market would do well).

Here's the general idea:
Cook 1 cup wheat berries (use slow cooker or pressure cooker or boil) and drain. Chill.

Finely chop leafy greens (kale, swiss chard, mustard greens etc) and toss in a vinaigrette:
lemon juice
salt
pepper
white wine vinegar

Toss the chilled cooked wheat berries along with raisins (or dried currants etc) into the bowl with kale and dressing. Toss and serve, or refridgerate and serve later.

Canned Vanilla Bean Applesauce

My favorite applesauce apples are Gravensteins, which is heavily influenced by my grandmother who is an avid apple conneiseur. This is a quarter batch of a larger recipe, because my largest pan is 6 quarts, and can only hold 4 lbs of apples at one time!

I realized after the fact that the silky thick texture was due to using the apple peels. Since the apple peels were blended instead of removed, they add their pectin, which gave the resulting applesauce body that normal applesauce lacks. Happy accident!!

Method:
Sterilize 4 pint jars.

Core and quarter 4 lbs of apples.

Add cut apples and 1.5 C water to large pan (6 quarts) and simmer with lid on for about 20 minutes, smooshing apples and stirring occasionally, until apples are soft and falling apart.

Process the cooked apple mixture and 1 vanilla bean (whole) in blender (in two batches) until smooth.

Return mixture to the pan, add 1.5 TB lemon juice and bring up to a small boil. Optional add cinnamon or peeled ginger.
 
Pour applesauce into sterilized pint jars, leaving 1/2 inch headspace. Seal with lids, and boil the filled pint jars in boiling water bath for 15 minutes. 

Blackberry Walnut Buckle

This is a summery cake, and if you make it in a brownie ban you can cut it into bar cookies. And be warned: this is quite addictive stuff. The original recipe called for doing these in ramekins which would be cute. But I like getting to cut a slab off! This would be excellent for a party or potluck, or a brunch or breakfast splay.

Method:
Process to a paste in food processor:
1/4 C walnuts
4 TB butter
1/4 C sugar
1/4 tea salt

Now add to food processor and mix until smooth:
1/3 C buttermilk, non dairy milk or cream
2 eggs
1 tea vanilla

Finally add 3/4 C whole wheat flour and 1/2 tea baking powder.

Fold in 3-4 C blackberries.

Pour into baking dish (8x8" or 8x11" would work).  Optional: dust with chunky turbinao sugar.

Bake at 375 for 20-35 minutes or until golden brown and not wobbly.

Best eaten when it cools slightly (too hot and it doesn't taste as sweet). Would also be fabulous with vanilla ice cream on top (ala mode).