Year of the Noodle: Week 36

John likes the ugly ones.

Wait, that didn’t make me sound very good.  I’m talking about tomatoes here.  When we go to the market, he always wants to take home the ugliest heirloom tomato you have ever seen.  Not just the lumpy ones or the oddly colored, but the ones that have grown into a shape you don’t know how to slice and a color that would make a sauce that people would turn down.  The really ugly ones.  Fortunately I deterred him from the super weird ones this past weekend, and we ended up with some pale pink and lumpy heirlooms perfect for my tomato sauce.

I really wanted to make homemade spaghetti and meatballs entirely from scratch.  I didn’t make the noodles from scratch so I could focus on the sauce and meatballs.  I think the last time I made meatballs was as a kid with my grandmother.  (Don’t get too nostalgic, I’m pretty sure they were just ground beef and breadcrumbs and went into a dish called Tater Tot Casserole.  My grandmother was a terrible cook.)  So I had little room for comparison for these meatballs, but I thought they turned out really well.  A little garlicky, but yummy.  Even better leftover the next day.  Enjoy! Continue reading »

Another winner from the vegan challenge.  Yummy chocolate chip cookies that stay chewy on the inside while getting a bit crispy on the outside.  The flax seed replaces your egg, and adds some excellent health benefits.  I made these a second time with whole wheat pastry flour (mostly because we were out of regular all purpose flour) and they were a bit dry.  Maybe try a mix if you want to go whole wheat.  Yum yum.

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 Cup Unbleached All Purpose Flour
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1/2 Cup Brown Sugar
• 1/4 Cup (White) Vegan Sugar
• 1 Stick (1/2 Cup) of Soy Butter (Earth Balance)
• 2 TBS of ground flax mixed with 3 TBS of Warm Water (allow to sit for 2 minutes)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 Cup Vegan Chocolate Chips

 Directions

Preheat your oven to 300 degrees*

Sift your dry stuff. (A) Get all your wet stuff ingredients together. (B) Whisk or mix your wet stuff thoroughly with a spatula. (C) Mix your wet stuff and dry stuff together.  (D) You should have a nice stiff mousse-like dough. (E) Mix in your vegan chocolate chips. (F) Form your cookie dough and place (with a good amount space between them) on a greased cookie sheet. Bake for 20 – 23 minutes at 300 degrees until golden brown.

Source: SuperVegan

Year of the Noodle: Week 35

John and I went vegan for three weeks.  It was his idea, I swear.  Even thought he is the biggest carnivore I know, he wanted to take the challenge of going vegan.  Through the course of three weeks I cooked loads of food to keep him full and happy, made his lunch every day, and even found yummy vegan desserts.  But I only managed to find one good noodle recipe to make during that time.  This noodle salad with peanut sauce is delicious – yummy veggies, tasty sauce, and some added tofu chicken strips made for a yummy meal.  Whether you are vegan or not, enjoy this one!

Ingredients

• 1/2 c. light coconut milk
• 1/2 c. fire-roasted tomatoes in juice (i.e. Muir Glen Organic Fire Roasted Tomatoes)
• 1/4 c. natural peanut butter
• 3 T. reduced sodium soy sauce
• juice of 1 lime
• 2 t.. minced ginger
• 1 t. minced garlic
• 1 T. agave or maple syrup or 1 packet of stevia
• sriracha to taste (optional)
• 8 oz. rice noodles
• 1 red bell pepper, chopped
• 2 c. bok choy, chopped
• 2 c. edamame, frozen or fresh
• 1/4 c. fresh cilantro, chopped (optional)
• 1/4 c. peanuts, chopped Continue reading »

This was the second of two chocolate mousse related desserts made for John’s birthday last weekend.  This one has a lighter feel with the fresh fruit and light tart dough.  Still completely delicious and truly gorgeous.

Note that I actually omitted the jam/lemon juice glaze on the fruit because I discovered the jam I thought was strawberry actually was raspberry.  Rather than confuse the flavors, I opted to leave the fruit bare.  It still looked and tasted great, so I wouldn’t worry if you don’t want to do that final step.  Enjoy!

Strawberry and White Chocolate Mousse Tart

Ingredients

All he asked for was chocolate mousse.  No further descriptors than that.  And thus, with that single clue, I set out to make two delicious desserts for John’s birthday party last weekend.

This first one is a more classic interpretation of chocolate mousse – the chocolate mousse cake.  The bottom layer is almost like a brownie.  It’s very rich and solid, making it an excellent base for the light mousse.  This dessert was a hit with all the chocolate lovers at our party.  They devoured it completely and left nothing behind.  Ignore the high quantities of cream and butter and make this dessert anyway :)

Triple Chocolate Mousse Cake

Ingredients

For the Cake:

• 2 sticks butter
• 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 4 large eggs
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 cup flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

For the Mousse:

• 8 ounces semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
• 8 ounces milk chocolate, coarsely chopped
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract, separated
• Salt
• 1 1/3 cups heavy cream
• 2 2/3 cups heavy cream, separated Continue reading »