Biscuits (GF,V, and yeast-free!)

How many of you have problems digesting yeast? I never seemed to until recently. Needless to say, I didn't think that I was going to be able to enjoy most breads ever again. I couldn't accept that fate. What kind of life would I be living? But... I came across a recipe that used Bob's Red Mill AP GF flour mix, which I don't usually have on hand. I did, however, have Pamela's GF Bread Mix (which is vegan, unlike her baking and pancake mix which has buttermilk powder in it, if I remember correctly).

So, I figured I could sub in Pamela's mix for Bobs Red Mill. And you know what... it worked! These lil biscuits were seriously so good I ate the majority of them within 24 hours of making them! No joke. These are perfect. And oh so good smothered with jam!

• 2 cups Pamela's GF Bread Mix
• 1 Tbsp. baking powder
• 1/3 cup vegan butter (Earth balance)
• 3/4 cup almond milk, rice milk, other nondairy milk
• FYI: Pamela's mix already has xanthan gum and salt mixed in! Score!

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 450F. Line a baking sheet (or 2) with parchment paper. 
2. In large bowl, combine all dry ingredients. Cut the vegan butter into the dry mixture until crumbly. I just used a fork. If you are super fancy and having a pastry cutter use that right here!
3. In the middle of the bowl pour in the milk. Stir to combine.
4. Flour a work surface. Turn the dough onto floured surface and knead a few times. Pat the dough down until about 1/2" in thickness. 
5. Using a small glass, cut circles out of the dough. Place dough on parchment paper.
6. Bake 11 minutes, or until light golden brown in color. 

Chocolate Granola (GF,V) - Vegan MoFo continues...

I eat granola for breakfast every.single.day. I do get a bit tired of it every now and then, and with the colder weather creeping up on us... I'll probably switch to making oatmeal in the morning. For a little bit. I am just simply not a morning person and the last thing I want to do when I wake up is cook. Even if it does just mean boiling some water and stirring. 


But I always come back to my favorite breakfast food of all time. Tried and true, reliable and crunchy.  GRA-NO-LAHHH

Ingredients

• 4 cups GF rolled oats
• 1/4 cup flax seeds
• 1/4 cup sesame seeds (optional)
• 1/2 cup slivered almonds
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/2 cup canola oil
• 1/2 cup maple syrup
• 1/4 cup peanut butter
• 1/4 cup chocolate hazelnut butter (optional), if using this, omit salt
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup vegan chocolate chips (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350F degrees.

2. In a large bowl, stir together dry ingredients. In small saucepan, heat up all liquid ingredients until peanut butter is melted. Add vanilla extract at end after removing pan from heat. 

3. Pour heated liquid ingredients into bowl with dry ingredients. Mix well. Spread onto prepared baking pan. I use a 9x13 cake pan lined with parchment paper. 

4. Bake for 35-40 minutes, making sure to stir at about 20 minutes. Add chocolate chips after the granola has cooled. Unless you like that melted chocolate sorta thing ; )

Roasted Golden Beets and Sweet Potato

I used to hate beets. Well to be completely honest, I never gave them a fair chance. I assumed that I hated them. You know, those canned red beets that have the consistency (and look) of jello? Eww. But not these little gems...

Golden Beets

I had never been properly introduced, you see. After spending more than my fair share of time at the Whole Foods salad bar this past year (I never had access to a Whole Foods before where I lived, tragic, I know), I decided to try out the roasted red beets they always seem to offer. Hmm... not too bad. Earthy. Slightly sweet. Strangely pleasing to my palate. Now pair them with some roasted sweet potatoes... and we're talking business! Woo hoo!

Ingredients

• 1 bunch of beets, or 5-6 medium beets, leaves removed
• 2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into cubes
• some olive oil (or other vegetable oil), I didn't measure
• 1/2 medium-sized onion, chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced (1 tsp.)
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. black pepper
• 1 tsp. brown sugar
• any other spices or herbs you might like (rosemary, thyme, etc.)

Tops of beets cut off. 

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400F degrees.
2. If you haven't peeled the beets and sweet potatoes, do so now.
3. In a small bowl, toss the beets with approx. 1 Tbsp. olive oil. Spread the beets out on a cooking tray lined with parchment paper (or a greased tray). Place in oven and bake for about 17 minutes. 
4. Now mix together some olive oil (3 Tbsp?), and any spices you are using along with the garlic and onion. Now throw in the sweet potato. Mix all up.
5. Remove tray with beets from oven, and add the sweet potatoes to them. Return to oven and bake an additional 35-40 minutes.

What to do with these beet greens? Eat them, of course.

Wash them, chop 'em up, boil in water for a minute or two. (steam or even sautee). Drain.

Season with salt and pepper, and maybe even some vegan butter!

If you're feeling extra adventurous, you could throw them into the blender with some frozen fruit for a super healthy green smoothie.

Almond Sesame Cabbage Salad

This salad is tangy and nutty, with a slight hint of sweetness! After going gluten-free I missed this salad. I especially missed the crunchy gluten-filled ramen noodles that are commonly sprinkled throughout this salad. The toasted almonds give a nice crunch that helps replace the ramen noodles that I miss so dearly...

Ingredients

• 1 head napa cabbage, shredded
• ½ head of green cabbage, shredded
• ½ cup sliced almonds, toasted
• ¼ cup sesame seeds, toasted
• 5 green onions, chopped
• optional: could also throw in some red cabbage!

Dressing

• ½ cup vegetable oil, I have used both canola and olive oils
• 1/4 to ½ cup brown sugar
• 1 Tbsp. toasted sesame oil
• 2 Tbsp. Tamari
• 3 Tbsp. rice vinegar (or apple cider vinegar)

Directions

Dressing:

1. Combine all liquid ingredients together in a small saucepan. Bring the mixture to a boil, let boil for 1 minute (just so the sugar fully dissolves). Remove the pan from heat and let cool.
2. Toast the almonds and sesame seeds (in separate pans). 
3. In a large bowl, combine the cabbage, almonds, and green onions.
4. When ready to serve the salad, add the dressing and mix well. Sprinkle sesame seeds over the top (if using).

Berry Scones - VeganMoFo Day 1

Happy Vegan MoFo everyone! 

This is another awesome recipe I've tried from the Flying Apron GF and vegan baking book. Although the recipe's title is officially Berry Tea Biscuits in the book, I would say that these turned out way too moist to be called "biscuits". Anyways, it doesn't matter what you call them because they will be super delicious either way!

Pre-oven!

I'm still slowly working my way through the book! Has anyone else tried any Flying Apron recipes?

Blueberry Spinach Smoothie

Starting on October 1st (this Saturday), Vegan MoFo 2011 begins! In case you'd never heard of this (don't worry, I hadn't until just last year), it is a month-long event where bloggers around the globe pledge to blog about all things vegan at least 20 days out of the month of October. Needless to say, this is going to take some work! But it should be fun!

 

I'm excited to see what other bloggers will be posting, not to mention all the giveaways that are in abundance during Vegan MoFo (from what I've read). Since this is my first year participating, I really don't know what to expect. So... be on the lookout this month while I try to pack in as many posts I can this month! If you'd like more info about Vegan MoFo, check out their website. You can also search for blogs by category, I believe they are adding a gluten-free one this year!

On a smoothie note, check out this one chock-full of phytonutrients and antioxidants!

Ingredients

• 3 cups spinach, packed
• 1 cup frozen blueberries
• 1-2 cups filtered water, (adjust depending on how thick you like smoothies)
• 1 chopped frozen banana
• optional: 2 Tbsp. hemp protein powder

1. Put spinach in blender with water and blend.
2. Add blueberries and blend again.
3. Lastly, add the frozen banana and hemp protein. (Both of these tend to thicken my smoothies up substantially, so I like to add them last)

Peanut Butter Chocolate Cookies

After a damn-near 2-month absence from my blog, I present you with: more peanut butter awesome-ness! These cookies are seriously addictive! And I am seriously addicted to peanut butter. Sorry. Not really ; )

Based off a peanut butter ball recipe in the 30-Minute Vegan cookbook, which calls for spelt flour (which isn't really gluten free, right?), I subbed some oat flour and brown rice flour for the spelt. So, here we go:

Ingredients

• 1.5 cups peanut butter
• 3/4 cup pure maple syrup
• 1.5 tsp. raw apple cider vinegar
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup GF oat flour
• 1/4 cup brown rice flour
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 cup GF rolled oats
• 1/2 cup vegan chocolate chips (NOT optional)
• I use Enjoy Life brand GF choco chips

L: liquid ingredients, melted together
R: dry ingredients

Directions

Nom nom.

1. Preheat oven to 350F. In a small saucepan, mix together the peanut butter, maple syrup, and apple cider vinegar. Place on stove over low heat until the peanut butter is melted and mix together. Add vanilla extract. Stir. Remove from heat.
2. In a bowl, mix together the oat flour and brown rice flour along with the baking soda, GF oats, and chocolate chippies (if using).
3. Combine the wet and dry ingredients.
4. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Or lightly spray a nonstick aluminum baking sheet. Scoop out your desired amount of "dough" and form a small ball. 
5. Place on cooking tray. Flatten the ball just a bit, because it will not melt down in the oven (according to the original recipe). 
6. Bake for 8-10 minutes. I know that seems like such a short period of time. I thought the same thing but I took mine out around 10 minutes and they were ready. You may have to experiment a bit.
7. Cool before eating.