Vegan Chocolate Cake

Not going to lie. This is pretty much the best chocolate cake - vegan or not! It is moist, chocolatey, and easy to make!

Ingredients:
1.5 cups unbleached flour
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup oil (I use coconut or avocado)
1 cup chilled brewed coffee (i.e. leftover from the morning)
2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
2 TBS. apple cider vinegar

Directions:
Lightly grease and flour an 8x8 baking pan. Mix all the ingredients except the apple cider vinegar in a mixing bowl. Blend until mostly smooth. Add the cider vinegar and stir briefly. This will create a reaction with the baking soda (the reason you don't need eggs). Without wasting any time, pour the batter into the prepared pan.
Bake for 25-30 mins.
Let cool and frost if desired!

Sometimes, I like to make an easy (but non-vegan) frosting for this cake:
1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 TBS. butter
about 1/ TBS. of milk
dash of salt
1/2 tsp. of vanilla
2 oz. melted chocolate (either bittersweet or even just semisweet chocolate chips)
Mix all the ingredients (a kitchenaid mixer works well to create a frosting-like consistency)

Spicy Peanut Noodles

Yum!

Feel free to add black sesame seeds to the finished product! Great for taking to a potluck!

Ingredients:

3/4 pound of thin spaghetti, thin rice noodles, or thin quinoa noodles

2.5 TBS. sesame oil

1/3 cup roasted, salted peanuts - coarsely ground

for the sauce:

1/3 cup plus 1TBS. natural smooth peanut butter

2 TBS. tamari or soy sauce

2 TBS. rice vinegar

2.5 tsp. honey

1/2 tsp. molasses

1 TBS. minced fresh ginger

1 garlic clove, minced

1 tsp. red pepper flakes

3 TBS. chopped fresh parsley or coriander (optional, because I don't like parsley :)

1 medium carrot, peeled and grated

lemon wedges

Directions:

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook your pasta of choice just until tender. Drain and toss with the sesame oil in a large, shallow bowl.

Make the sauce: combine the peanut butter, tamari, vinegar, honey, molasses, garlic, ginger, and pepper flakes in the food processor. Pulsing to produce a smooth texture; gradually adding up to 3 or 4 TBS. of water. The finished sauce should have the consistency of thin yogurt.

Pour the sauce over the noodles and toss to coat well. There will be clumps, and you may want to use your hands to make and even coating.

Toss in the parsley or coriander and grated carrot. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

Just before serving, toss the pasta with the coarsely ground peanuts. Serve with a lemon wedge on the plate.

Courtesy of Feeding the Healthy Vegetarian Family

Simple Arugula Salad

Being back in Salt Lake City, my family and I have been experimenting with square foot gardening.

Although only 3 days ago it snowed about 4 inches, the weather is quickly warming up and it is time to start planting certain vegetables.

One of which is lettuce. I am not a huge lettuce fan, but I do enjoy arugula. It has a tangy and pungent flavor. Here is an easy arugula salad that goes well with pasta or pizza.

Ingredients:

1 bunch of arugula

1/2 fresh lemon (to be squeezed over the salad)

1/2 tsp. of fresh ground pepper

1/2 tsp. of real salt

1 TBS. balsamic vinegar

1 TBS. freshly grated parmesan cheese

Directions:

Squeeze the lemon over the arugula. Add the pepper, salt, and vinegar and toss. Sprinkle the top with the parmesan cheese. Serves 2.

Zucchini and Heirloom Tomato Galette

OK, so rather than being at the height of fresh summer produce, we are still "stuck" in winter.
This recipe will be a delicious reminder of freshly grown vegetables - only a few months away.
Courtesy of Borski Organic Farms, out of my hometown, Kaysville, Utah.

Ingredients:
1 pie crust dough, rolled into 13'' circle (doesn't need to be perfect)
4 TBS. prepared pesto
1 TBS. olive oil
1 small zucchini, sliced thin
1 small yellow summer squash, sliced thin
2-3 slices of roasted red pepper (you can buy this already prepared, or make your own)
4-6 spears of asparagus
2 heirloom tomatoes, sliced (OK, so maybe you can't find heirloom, but there are some on-the-vine hothouse tomatoes available)
1/4 cup chopped leeks or green onions
1 cup shredded cheese (parmesan, mozz., cheddar, etc.)
fresh pepper and Real salt to taste
(optional) 1 egg, beaten (to be used as egg wash)
(Optional Custard Filling: 1 large egg, lightly beaten; 1 TBS. melted butter, 1 TBS. prepared pesto, 1/4 cup half and half)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
Cover baking sheet with parchment paper or silpat liner.
In saute pan, heat olive oil and cook asparagus and leeks or green onions for 2 minutes.
Remove to paper towels to cool.
Add the zucchini and yellow squash to pan and saute for a few minutes, do no overcook.

On floured surface, roll your pie to to a 13'' circle and transfer to the lined baking sheet, don't worry about overhang.
Without cutting through the dough, make a 9'' circle, which will be used as a guide for where the filling goes.
Spread pesto evenly over the 9'' circle, and sprinkle with 1/3 of the cheese.
Place zucchini and squash in the circle, overlapping where needed.
Sprinkle with salt and pepper, and some more of the cheese.
Arrange tomatoes, peppers, and asparagus on top and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Top off with remaining cheese, leeks or onions.
Moisten the edges of the crust and gently fold up, pressing and pinching in the edges in a rustic, gathered pattern. Brush the pastry with egg wash (optional).
Bake at 400 degrees F for 30 mins. While baking, whisk together ingredients for filling (optional). After the 30 mins of baking, gently pour the filling into the center of the galette. (if the galette has a lot of vegetable juices, you can spoon some out to make room for the custard filling).
Continue baking an additional 15-20 mins.
Remove from the oven and let set 10 mins before cutting.

Sour Cream Banana Coffee Cake

For a little while, I followed a gluten-free diet. During that time I was trying many recipes to see which ones "worked" when they were prepared with gluten alternatives. This is a breakfast bread, or a dessert - and it worked well!

Ingredients:

1/4 cup butter

8 TBS. sugar (unrefined)

1 egg

1/4 tsp. gluten free vanilla extract

1 ripe banana, mashed

1/4 cup sour cream

1 cup gluten-free flour (if there is one you like cooking with, i.e. almond flour, or rice flour that is fine. There are some gluten-free blended flours on the market, too. )

1/2 tsp. gluten free baking powder

1/2 tsp. gluten free baking soda

1/8 tsp. salt

1/4 cup chopped walnuts

1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon

Directions:

1. In a small mixing bowl, cream butter and 6 of the TBS of sugar. Beat in egg and vanilla. Stir in banana and sour cream. Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt; gradually add to creamed mixture. In a separate bowl, combine the cinnamon, walnuts, and remaining 2 TBS. sugar.

2. Spoon half of the batter into a greased bread pan. Sprinkle with the walnut/cinnamon/sugar mixture. Spoon on the remainder of the batter. Bake @ 350 degrees for 30-38 mins, or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan 10 mins then remove to a wire rack!

Black Bean Chili Soup

This is an easy recipe to make in the crock-pot.

Ingredients:

1 15oz. can of black beans, drained and rinsed
1 14.5 oz. can of mexican stewed tomatoes (i.e. tomatoes with green chilies), undrained
1 14.5 oz. can of regular diced tomatoes, undrained
1 11oz can of whole kernel corn, drained
16 ozs. of veggie broth or broth of your choice
4 green onions, sliced
1 small green pepper, sliced
3 ribs celery, thinly sliced
1TBS chili powder
1 tsp cumin
1-2 cloves garlic, minced

Directions:
Place all ingredients in slow-cooker and cook for 5-6 hours on low heat.
When I made this, I had the crock pot on "high" and it was getting too hot and depleting the fluids.
The first night I ate this I added some tortilla chips to my soup bowl and had a "tortilla soup."
The next day, (because you will have leftovers) I made a grilled cheese sandwich and dipped it into the soup. It's nice on a cold day.

Bean and Vegetable Soup with Fancy Beans

I was inspired to make this soup because the weather has been cold and wintery lately. Also, I have been reading Barbara Kingsolver's book Animal Vegetable Miracle which features an heirloom variety of beans on the cover called Christmas Lima Beans.
Yesterday while I was at the store, I saw those beans and bought a bag. I also bought a bag of mixed dry beans and lentils.

Ingredients (for 4-6 servings)
about 1.5 cups of mixed dry beans and lentils
2-3 boullion cubes (your choice of flavor)
1 carrot peeled and cut into thin slices
3 stalks celery cut into thin slices
3 red potatoes peeled and cut into little cubes
1 yellow onion, diced
1-2 cloves garlic, mashed
1 can crushed or diced tomatoes with juice (optional)
1tsp. mild chili powder
salt and pepper to taste
2 TBS. butter

Directions
1. Put dry beans in a bowl and cover them with boiling water. Cover and soak for 1 hour.
2. Drain and rinse beans, place in pan of the crock pot.
3. Add all the cut-up veggies (except the onion) to the crock pot. Also dissolve the boullion in water, and add enough water to the crock pot to cover the veggies and beans. Once all that is added, turn on the crock pot on the "high" setting for 1 hour.
4. In a medium sauce pan, saute the onion and garlic in the butter, until onion is translucent.
5. Add the onion and garlic mixture to the crock pot. Also add the chili powder and any other spices you might like. Also add the can of tomatoes (optional).
6. Once the crock pot as cooked on "high" for 1 hour, turn setting to low and simmer for 4-6 hours until all ingredients become tender.