Nutty Raspberry Thumbprint Cookies

This weekend at the Portland VegFest I had the pleasure of organizing the prep kitchen.  Scott & I packed up the kitchen and had two wonderful days of playing with our food.  We assisted seven vegan chefs from around the country for nine chef demos.  We learned a lot, especially about working together.  I have a lot more confidence Scott & I can work as a team whichever way this vegan cooking adventure takes us.

The first chef we got to work with was Chef Del Sroufe, author of the Forks Over Knives cookbook.  I opened it at work Wednesday and chose the first recipe I saw for my "plan review" treats, Nutty Raspberry Jam Thumbprints.  They look easy and made with the oat flour, they're gluten free. Today is just a little bit tense having the budget reviewed by our superiors.  I like to break the ice with some vegan treats.  If nothing else goes well, and it will, the cookies usually cause a little smiling.

I had most the ingredients in the recipe, except some nuts.  I stopped by the grocery store after the garden last night and picked up some nice pecans.  I didn't have any applesauce handy, but an apple in the Blendtec worked out just fine.  Yesterday morning before I went to work I took some raspberries out of the freezer to thaw.  I made a little jam with some pure maple syrup and Agar and let it cool.  You can use a good pre-made jam.

My Quick Jam

About 2 cups fresh or frozen berries
3 TB pure maple syrup
1 TB Agar
1 Cup boiling water
1/4 tsp cinnamon, optional
1/4 tsp nutmeg, optional

Heat the berries with the maple syrup until they come to a gentl boil.  Add the Agar to the boiling water and dissolve.  Add the Agar mixture to the hot berry mixture, mix well, add cinnamon and nutmeg.  Bring it to a gentle boil again, remove it from the heat and let cool.  It will thicken as it cools.

Nutty Raspberry Thumbprint Cookies
     Forks Over Knives Cookbook, page 271

Makes 18 cookies

1/2 Cup unsweetened applesauce,
1/4 Cup almond butter
1/2 Cup dry sweetener:  raw cane sugar, coconut sugar, sucanat, etc.
1 TB ground flaxseeds
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups oat flour (If you're not concerned with gluten, unbleached wheat or spelt, flour will work fine)
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts, (I used pecans)
1/2 cup raspberry jam, or to taste

Preheat oven to 350º.  Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or a Silpat baking mat.

In a large mixing bowl use a  strong fork to mix the applesauce, almond butter, sweetener, and flax seeds.  Once relatively smooth, mix in vanilla.

Add the flour, baking soda, and salt and mix well.  Fold in the oats and walnuts.

Roll about 2 tablespoons of batter into a ball and place on the prepared baking sheet.  Repeat with remaining batter until you have 18 balls.  They can fit into once cookie sheet because they don't spread much at all during baking.  Moisten you thumb (or index finger) and make a deep indent in the center of each cookie.  Place about 1/2 teaspoon of jam in each indent.

Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, or until the bottoms of the cookie are golden brown. 

Remove the cookies from the oven and let them cool on the sheets for 5 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.

I sprinkled them with a bit of powdered sugar, that's optional.

Vegan Meal Plan ~ Start with Basics

A woman I've come to know through our local Vegan/Vegetarian potluck asked me to help her get started in her efforts to change her eating habits.  She wants to eat more plant based meals, but doesn't know how to get started and encourage her husband, who is not so willing to try new foods, to try the vegan meals she's cooking up.

My first thought when answering her question, "Where do I start?", was make a pot of beans.  That's how I start out each weekend.  I start with the basics, protein (beans), grains, and greens. This is what I did this morning.  I do this kind of preparation every weekend.

I put on a pot of black beans that I soaked overnight, 2 cups beans to 6 cups water. Very simple, sauteed an onion and some garlic, threw in a few spices: ground pepper, cinnamon, a little curry, and a dash of oregano. 45 minutes to 1 hour cooking.

I put on a pot of quinoa and black rice, 1 cup each. 20 - 30 minutes cooking time

With those things cooked I can make a variety of meals. I combined the rice and quinoa and added a simple citrus-pumpkin vinaigrette. I can eat it by itself or mix with veggies during the weekend.

I also put the ingredients to soak for trail mix cookies, raw almonds, Brazil nuts, sunflower seeds,  pumpkin seeds, and some dried plums. (Plums from my friends tree that I dried myself.)

I usually add a very large salad to the menu, with at least ten vegetables in it. For a dressing I cut up avocado very small, (that makes the oil), and the juice of one whole lemon or orange.  If I want to change it up, I'll add some balsamic vinegar or sometimes nuts and seeds or dried fruit.

Since we are doing mostly green smoothies this week, that's about all I'll cook for this weekend.   But with those things made, I have a good base for any simple meal.  Greens, grains, and protein, that's the basics for a vegan meal. The cookies make a great satisfying snack with no added sugar.  There is food already made so when that urge to eat hits, the healthy stuff is handy.

Black Rice and Red Quinoa with Citrus Pumpkin Dressing

Trail Mix Cookies - Ready Tomorrow

LV Community Vegan/Vegetarian Potluck October

Last night was the sixth Community Vegan/Vegetarian potluck in Longview and I think it was one of the nicest.  We had about the same amount of people, thirty or so, made some new friends and ate some great vegan and vegetarian food.  We didn't have very many vegetarian dishes this time or the last. It seems the potluck is going in a vegan direction all by itself.  There were lots of gluten free dishes including cookies, pumpkin scones, and brownies.  I made two batches of the popular vegan mac & cheese one with brown rice noodles and the other with quinoa noodles. I omitted the bread crumbs for gluten free mac & cheese.

All the cooks put on an impressive buffet.  Among the wonderful dishes we had were:  Black eyed pea salad with a homemade dressing, steamed cauliflower with onions, fresh frozen peas, and a sauce made with veganaise and mustard, French green lentil stew, Turkish garbanzo bean salad, a harvest grain salad, a fresh fruit bowl, spinach salad, tofu adobo, a cactus and black bean salad, a pitcher of fresh berry smoothie, and lots more.  The desserts were plentiful, all vegan, and most were gluten free:  Pumpkin spice carrot cake with cream "cheese" frosting, raw cashew chocolate, coconut fudge, Gluten free pumpkin scones, gluten free chocolate brownies, and Gluten free vegan pumpkin chocolate chip cookies.  What fun it was trying all the different dishes.  I was thinking that it was such a joy that everyone made something wonderful themselves and it was obvious that they put care into it.  I remember hosting potlucks for another organization years ago and I was usually disappointed when the store deli fried chicken and pre-made macaroni and potato salads showed up. 
Many of our guests are new to plant based eating and it's such a treat to see the joy on someone's face when they discover the many things they "can" eat that they didn't think they could before.  The gluten free folks, for example.  I know many women who are gluten intolerant or avoid it for pain issues and didn't think they'd ever get to eat baked goods again.


Our guest speaker didn't appear, but that didn't hamper our fun at all.  It was a rainy night and there may have been bad traffic.  I was told by Jill from NW Veg when I was thinking about this potluck that sometimes that happens there is no speaker, so they've often just gone around the room and introduced themselves and talked about why they are there.  So, after a lively dinner filled with the conversations about the new and interesting foods we were eating, I talked a little bit about why I suggested we start this potluck and opened up the room for questions, comments, or success and/or failure stories. We had a great discussion.  There was some sharing from a couple people about how eating a plant based diet has changed their health for the better.  There were questions about diabetes and other diseases from people who's doctors have suggested they try a plant based diet to improve their health.  It was a warm, interesting, conversation between us all.  We all got to know each other a little bit better too.   As it turned out, no one missed our speaker at all.  I've had a couple emails and phone calls today from attendees who wanted to tell me what a good time it was and that the discussion was very good.  Each one of them told me they learned something last night.  YES!  That's why I started this potluck.  Smiles and JOY!  I am hoping we can all learn more together.

Thanks everyone for your culinary efforts and for showing up!  Our next potluck will be in January, probably around the third week on a Friday night again.  I'll let you know the date.  I think I am going to round up some equipment and show Forks Over Knives after dinner.

Gluten-Free Vegan Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Our community potluck is coming up next Friday and I'd like to bring some seasonal goodies.  It's October and time to cook some pumpkin.  I've got two new pumpkin recipes to try:  pumpkin chocolate chip cookies and a pumpkin carrot cake. I didn't get very many pumpkins from my garden this year.  I am lucky to know some local organic farmers, Mike and Ruth from Willow Grove Gardens.  They have a very large portion of their farm dedicated to pumpkins.  They host a large part of the community every day through October.  They bring the animals out for a little petting zoo and have a pretty nice hay cart ride out to the fields where there are hundreds and hundreds of pumpkins to choose from.

I cooked up two of them today thinking I wouldn't have enough purée.  I ended up with about 5 quarts. Half made it into the freezer, the other half will be pumpkin carrot cake and pumpkin chocolate chip cookies.

These cookies are from the latest Food Issue of the VegNews Magazine.  They're vegan and gluten-free.  I've been practicing with gluten free more and more since my granddaughter has been advised by her doctor to try to avoid gluten.  We have quite a few guests at the potluck who are sensitive to gluten and avoid it.  These are a light cake like cookie.   I tried a batch and I'll make another and freeze them right away.  They'll be perfect if I take them out of the freezer Friday morning and that will give me some more time to work on that pumpkin carrot cake with a vegan creme cheese frosting.

I didn't have enough almond butter, but I do have some pumpkin seed butter.  It worked out great. The recipe called for white vegan chocolate chips.  I am lucky to find regular vegan chocolate chips at our stores.  I just used dark ones and only 3/4 of a cup.  I also used cinnamon, fresh ground nutmeg, and a dash of cloves for the pumpkin pie spice.

Gluten-Free Double Chip Pumpkin Cookies

                  Beverly Lynn Bennett

1/2 cup water
3 tablespoons ground flaxseeds
1 1/3 cups brown sugar, packed
2/3 cup canned pumpkin, (I used fresh pumpkin)
1/2 cup nut butter of choice
3 tablespoons sunflower oil
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups gluten-free flour
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon xanthan gum
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup each vegan gluten-free white and dark chocolate chips

1.  Preheat oven to 375º degrees.  Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper or Silpat liners.  In a large bowl, stir together water and flax seeds and set aside for 5 minutes.  Add brown sugar, pumpkin, nut butter, sunflower oil, and vanilla, and stir well to combine.

2.  In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking powder, xanthan gum, and salt.  Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and stir well to combine.  Fold in chocolate chips.

3.  Portion cookie dough using a 2-inch scoop or heaping 2 tablespoonfuls onto the prepared cookie sheets, spacing 2 inches apart.  Bake for 12 to 14 minutes or until very lightly brown on the bottom.  Let cool slightly before transferring to a rack to cool completely.

Using a 2-inch scoop this recipe yields three dozen cookies.  I noticed they weren't spreading out any.  I didn't want pumpkin balls. I flattened them a little with a piece of parchment paper and my hand about 6 minutes into cooking.  Then I cooked them another 8 minutes.

Da Kine No-Bake Chocolate Cookies ~ Vegan

This is an EZ no-bake recipe for Chocolate Cookies from The Vegan World Fuisine Cuisine cookbook, one of my most favorite vegan cookbooks.   They are full of chewy good things like chocolate, pecans, raisins, and coconut.

Da Kine No Bake Chocolate Cookies

2 C Chocolate or Carob chips, vegan
1/2 C Raisins
1/4 C Pecans or macadamia nuts, toasted
1/2 C Coconut flakes, toasted
1/4 C Almond or peanut butter
2 TB Maple Syrup
1 tsp Vanilla extract, alcohol free
1/8 tsp cinnamon
Pinch of Cardamom powder

Place chocolate chips in double boiler on medium high heat until chips are melted, stirring frequently.  Place in a large bowl.  Set aside 1/4 C of the toasted coconut to sprinkle on top of cookies.  Add remaining ingredients to the melted chocolate and mix well.  Shape cookies and place on a parchment paper lined or well oiled baking sheet.  Top with remaining 1/4 C coconut.  Refrigerate until cool.

Not much cooking involved here.

Chocolate Maple Ginger Bliss Cookies

This was the result of team work, Grandpa and Granddaughter had a good time in the kitchen too.  We were proud of our work. 

Chocolate Maple Ginger Bliss Cookies
     ~Vegan World Fusion Cuisine pg 162

Wet Ingredients:

1/2 cup sucanot
1/3 cup safflower oil
3 TB maple syrup
2 TB ginger juice
4 tsp molasses
4 tsp applesauce

Dry Ingredients:

1 1/3 cup spelt flour (or any whole grain flour)
2 tsp flax seeds, ground
2 tsp Arrowroot powder
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon powder
1/4 tsp sea salt
Pinch ground allspice
Pinch ground cardamom

Preheat oven to 400°

Mix wet ingredients in large bowl.  Sift dry ingredients in separate bowl.  Add dry to wet and mix together well.  Refrigerate dough for 10 minutes.  Form cookies about 2 inches apart on parchment lined cookie sheet and bake for 10 minutes.

"Love is Our Guide" ~ Samandhi Lotus

Pumpkin Spice Delights

Pumpkin Spice Delights

Follow this link above to the recipe

Birthday at work and there are lots of allergies among my coworkers. I made these with soy and brown rice flour for a gluten free cookie.  Dairy Free and this time I used Xylitol  instead of the turbinado sugar.  A lower glycemic cookie, my diabetic friend can have some too. I also used pecans instead of walnuts and dried currants instead of raisins. I toasted the coconut and the pecans. They're a soft cookie, kind of like a little pumpkin cake.

I just found out someone else is allergic to coconut.  I almost omitted the coconut, but then remembered I had used 1/2 cup coconut oil with 1/2 cup vegan margarine because I didn't have enough vegan margarine already made up.  I'll make something without coconut next time for Cathy.

Triple Ginger Gingersnap Cookies

This is a recipe out of the VegNews Food Issue this month.  It's a small cookie with lots of flavor. It's a recipe by Beverly Lynn Bennett, a vegan chef and baker, and author of The complete Idiot's Guide to Vegan Cooking.  I might have to buy it.  The recipe was simple, easy, and tasty. 

Date sugar, ground ginger, cinnamon, safflower oil, egg replacer, molasses, grated fresh ginger, whole wheat pastry flour, baking soda, fresh ground allspice, black pepper, a dash of salt, and some finely chopped crystallized ginger.

I have a pretty tense meeting tomorrow, thought this might sweeten the gang.

Peanut Butter Granola Bonbons

I received some more sneak peek recipes from The Flexitarian Cookbook.  This one was pretty easy. It only took a few minutes to mix together. Then they cool overnight. Nice whole grain dessert, a no-bake granola cookie.

Peanut Butter Granola Bon Bons

Sugar (I use sucanot)
Fresh Peanut butter
Almond milk
Agave
Organic Dark chocolate chocolate chips
Granola
Raw oats
Flaked Coconut

Easy Eggplant, Vegan Potato Salad, Carrot Ginger Oatmeal Cookies

I'm having some eggplant for dinner tonight. I probably already lost some of you with that first sentence. I think eggplant has a bad reputation. We aren't programmed to eat purple food much less something growing out of the ground that sounds like it might taste or look like an egg. Yikes!

Eggplant is low in saturated fat and cholesterol. It is also a good source of Vitamin K, thiamine, vitamin B6, Folate, Potassium and Manganese, and a very good source of dietary fiber. It also has only 33 calories in a cup cooked. Raw, it has only 20 calories per cup.

A friend of mine gave me a great recipe last week. She had never tried eggplant, but became a big fan after preparing it this way. This is an easy dish to prepare and by alternating the ingredients in the eggplant slices, there are different flavors in each bite. My husband doesn't like eggplant, he doesn't mind it raw in a salad, but I will probably be eating the whole dish I made. I am not disappointed about that. I used one and a half large eggplants. I use the fourth half for our salad this week.

Easy Baked Eggplant

It looks really pretty before being roasted. That is a head of garlic in the pan. I threw it in to roast at the same time. I squeeze out the garlic paste and use as a garlic spread.

After roasting - At the end of the process a topping with Parmesan cheese, breadcrumbs, and oregano is added to the top and lightly browned.

I am also enjoying some vegan potato salad. The sunshine Saturday got me to thinking about eating outdoors. So I made some traditional outdoor food.

 This is a vegan version of deli potato salad. Not too much different than most people make. I used red potatoes, diced red onion, celery, a diced red bell pepper, garlic, chopped parsley, a tablespoon of spicy deli mustard, sweet pickle relish, 2 oz flax seed oil, 1 oz garlic chili fax seed oil, and Celtic sea salt to taste. This salad has a nice fresh taste to it. Since there is no mayo or eggs, it travels well too.

I made some Carrot Ginger Oat cookies this weekend too. I thought I would look on my own blog to see how easy it was to get a recipe. I found a nice vegan cookie recipe on the 101 Cookbooks Link, Carrot Ginger Oat Cookies. I had decided to make it and realized that I'd seen that recipe before somewhere. I already had a recipe very similar to this one except mine uses maple syrup and bananas as sweetener and thickener and a tablespoon of fresh ginger and some fresh ground cardamom. I also mixed up my flours, I used WW pastry flour, oat flour, and some Teff flour. It's a very small grain, the smallest on the planet. It is very high in dietary fiber, iron, and provides protein and calcium. It's very similar to quinoa or millet. I put the grains in a coffee grinder to make the flour. Bob's Red Mill sells it. I am not sure if they have the flour, but they do have the grain. I omitted the nuts and used dried cranberries instead of raisins. They are very light and cake-like. They didn't photograph too well, in my opinion. But, they are good, low fat, high fiber, and dairy free.

Carrot Ginger Oat Cookies and Almond Milk with fresh ground nutmeg

What's for Dinner?

What a beautiful day, we had some "outside time" today. It was almost like spring in February. I even had a tank top on for a short time today, a very short time, but I did feel some warmth outside. Did a little yard cleanup and got some bulbs planted and enjoyed being outside. I planted some Ranunculus and Tigridia. Looks like the daffodils are showing their faces too. Pretty soon,there will be many colors popping up everywhere in my yard.

Last weekend I didn't get our salad made until Monday night. Even though there were plenty of healthy choices for my lunch, I did miss the raw vegetables. I couldn't wait to get home from work and make our salad Monday night.

What's in it this week?

Swiss Chard
Beets and beet greens
leeks
collard greens
chopped fennel bulb
onion sprouts
grated carrots
broccoli
avocado
roasted pumpkin seeds
dried cranberries
the juice from an orange
and a dash of balsamic vinegar and
a dash of garlic/chili flax oil

I also got to wondering if we get enough whole grains. So this weekend I sauteed some red onions with some dill, sea salt, ground pepper, coriander, and some crushed basil. Then I added some fresh broccoli and caulflower flowerettswith a diced red bell pepper. I sauteed them just until they were tender, but still crisp. Then I added some steamed whole grain brown rice. When I fluffed the rice, I added a little garlic chili flax oil. Then tossed it all together.

My beans this week are cooked with leeks and potatoes. I used the 13 bean mixture from the bulk foods. I soaked them for a few hours, seasoned them with salt, pepper, garlic, lavender, and ground dried basil. I diced the potatoes very small so that some of them dissolved creating a creamy consistency. Combined with the red lentils and peas in the bean mixture, it made a nice creamy bean soup. My beans may look the same to some of you week after week, but they are different. I think I have managed to go about six weeks at least without repeating a bean recipe. I might have done baked beans twice, but used different beans each time.

 

All of the above make a complete meal in themselves. But, if I do decide to bring home some fish or make another entree, they all make a nice sidedish.

Then I made a nice surprise this week, Vegan Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookies. These could almost qualify as an energy bar; Whole Wheat Pastry flour, barley flour, sweetened with dark Agavi syrup and bananas. I toasted the walnuts myself so I know they don't have any added salt or sugar. No animal products so no cholesterol in these cookies.

Why did I make so many cookies? I am thinking I should drop by Vernie's and meet some new friends. I post my weekly menu on another forum and the members like to get together to meet once a month. I think I will check it out. Homemade cookies are always  add to a welcome greeting especially when meeting new friends.

Thought I'd share something I found in the backyard today. The groundhogs and their counterparts around the country predicted six more weeks of winter. But the new life popping up all over my yard tells me spring is coming.