Citrus Garlic Broccolli

 Wow, this stuff is good!  This broccoli recipe has transformed me from a broccoli fearing, wannabe vegetarian into an absolute broccoli fiend.  Seriously.  It's salty, tangy, garlicky, crunchy, and, for added addictiveness, can even be a tad sweet.  I prefer this to french fries and find that if I don't make it for a few days, I start to really crave it.  I make this recipe at least a few times a week, and each time I do, I eat a whole plate of broccoli at once!  Inspired by the best vegan broccoli of my life, I took things one step further to simplify.  This is even better than the previous version!  This is my go-to, healthy, lazy, deeeleeeeshous ahhhmazing broccoli for busy, daily life.

To share in the glory of this broccoli dish, you will need:

Washed and chopped broccoli (the pre-washed and dried bags at the grocery store work really well here; if you insist on washing everything yourself, be sure you dry the broccoli quite thoroughly before roasting it!)

• Nonstick olive oil spray or olive oil, or both
• Salt (I used sea salt)
• Pepper (I used freshly ground pepper)
• Garlic (either thinly sliced or chopped fresh cloves or powder)
• Citrus fruit of choice (lemon or orange work wonders here)

1. Preheat oven to 425F.
2. Line baking sheet with aluminum foil and spray with nonstick spray.
3. Cover sheet with broccoli and garlic.  
4. Spray everything again, generously to coat (or toss with some olive oil - more fatty but very delicious!)
5. Salt and pepper everything.
6. Bake for 20 minutes or so, or until the outer edges of the broccoli are crisp and brown.
7. Cut the citrus fruit of choice in half and squeeze the juice over the broccoli.
8. Toss to coat.  Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary.
9. Enjoy!

Psychedelic broccoli?  I inverted the colors using Picasa for this photo.

Three Ingredient Quinoa Biscuits

These biscuits are delicious served warm and topped with coconut butter.

These biscuits are easy to make and quite good. They come out of the oven quickly and have a lovely golden color, a soft and crumbly texture, and a mild flavor.  Oh, and they happen to be pretty healthy too - each biscuit has approximately 130 calories!  You can make the biscuits in muffin tins (this was originally supposed to be a muffin recipe but the result was more biscuit like).  The biscuits require only three ingredients: quinoa flour, baking powder, and Sprite.  The Sprite works surprisingly well here - it has hints of citrus which make the biscuits taste a bit lighter than they might have otherwise, as they contain dense quinoa flour.  You can easily make a lower-calorie version if you substitute a sugar-free or diet soda for the Sprite.

You will need:

• 3 cups of quinoa flour (you can make your own if you can't find it)
• 2-3 spoonfuls of baking powder
• Salt to taste (optional, recommended)
• 12 oz of Sprite (I used one of the glass bottles where the soda is made with sugar rather than corn syrup.  Any lemon-lime or citrus flavored soda, including diet, would probably work well here)

1. Preheat oven to 325 F.
2. Mix the dry ingredients.
3. Add Sprite and stir until blended.  You should get a pretty thick dough.  If you don't plan on serving topped with some melted butter or oil, you may want to mix some into the batter as well.
4. Pour batter into 12 lined or greased muffin tins.
5. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean.
6. Enjoy!  They taste even better the next day.  You can split a biscuit with a knife, then nuke the biscuit halves in the microwave for 20 seconds or until warm, and then spread with some coconut butter, or better yet a salted coconut butter!

This stack of biscuits was actually much more stable than it looked!

See the nice, crumbly golden tops?

Nice texture.  Yum!

Biscuit, unwrapped!

Really, the best way to serve them - with melted salty coconut butter on top!

Bittersweet Banana Muffins

 This is banana bread in a muffin, suitable for snack time and much less sweet than than a standard banana bread.  And really, bananas are sweet enough, don't you think?  Banana breads needn't have so much added sweetness to taste delicious.  Breads for dinner and snacks can have less sugar and still have delectable taste.  I liked this variant on bananas in baked goods.  If you want a sweeter and more moist muffin, however, you can try adding some extra mashed banana or sugar to taste.

You will need:

• 1 ripe banana, mashed
• 3 cups of oat flour
• 1-3 tablespoons of baking powder
• 1 bottle of mild-flavor beer (for a gf muffin, you can use gf beer)
• cinnamon and sweetener to taste

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.
2. Mash the banana.
3. Fluff the oat flour with a spoon, along with the baking powder.
4. Mix together the banana mash and flour mixtures, along with the beer.  Stir until the clumps of flour get dissolved.
5. Add cinnamon and sweetener to taste.
6. Pour batter into lined or greased muffin tins.
7. Bake for ~20 minutes, or until tester comes out clean.
8. Enjoy!

Makes 12 standard size (whole grain, gluten-free, vegan, 100 calorie) muffins.

Cinnamon Raisin Celebration Muffins

These muffins look especially festive wrapped in multicolor paper!

 These muffins are delicious, satisfying, easy, and healthy.  They are easily made gluten-free, and they clock in at about 100 calories/muffin and have almost no fat.  Each muffin is fairly generously proportioned, too, and while it may taste like a traditional muffin, it won't leave you with a sugar high followed by a sudden crash.  You may choose whether to use or omit the flaxseed - it won't affect the taste much but will make the muffin a bit less crumbly than it might be otherwise.  To make the muffins, you will need:

• 3 cups oat flour
• 1-3 tablespoons baking powder
• 1 spoonful of ground flaxseed (optional, makes muffins less crumbly)
• 1 bottle of beer (for gf muffins, use a gf beer)
• salt, sweetener, and cinnamon to taste
• vanilla (optional)
• raisins to taste (I used 1.5 single serving boxes of Del Monte  raisins)

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Mix together the oat flour and baking powder (and the flaxseed, if desired); fluff with spoon.
3. Add the beer, stir until all the clumps of oat flour get dissolved.
4. Add the remaining ingredients, stir, and taste the batter.  Adjust the seasoning if necessary.
5. Pour the batter into 12 lined or greased muffin tins and bake for approximately 20 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean.
6. Enjoy!

Makes 12 muffins.

Right after they leave the oven, all ready to be eaten!

You can see a few of the raisins peeking through the surface.

Peanut Butter and Jelly Capped Carob Muffin Sliders

 Carob has been growing on me lately.  It's subtly sweet on its own, unlike chocolate, and it has a nice richness and depth without the caffeine, which means it's safe for consumption at any hour.  I decided to give carob powder a try in a beer bread recipe.  When this savory muffin flat (slider) is paired with a generous dollop of peanut butter and a mildly sweet spread such as apricot jelly or orange marmalade, the flavors complement each other in what I found were novel and tasty ways. 

This recipe is a take on the beer breads I have been making.  It represents another hack at using amaranth flour.  This time I was hoping the carob would mask it, and I was pretty satisfied with the result.  As with a few other breads I have baked for this blog, initially I did not like these muffins.  On their own they are kindof yucky.  However, when I topped them with the pb&j, as shown in the photos (or pb alone), I found them to be absolutely delicious - and adorable.  So these muffins come with a caveat - they must be dressed accordingly to achieve the proper taste combination!

To make these muffin flats, you will need:

• 2 cups of amaranth flour (quinoa flour would probably also work here)
• 1/2 cup unsweetened carob powder
• 1 bottle beer (I used New Grist)
• salt and sweetener to taste
• vanilla, cinnamon, instant coffee powder, etc. to taste (optional)

For the topping:

• peanut butter
• sweet fruit spread such as apricot jelly or orange marmalade (I don't think blueberry or strawberry jam would work well here)

*Please note that measurements here are approximate-I made this recipe a while back and failed to take good notes.  If I make these again (it's likely!) I'll update this page.

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Mix together the amaranth flour and the carob powder, and then sift them with a spoon.
3. Add the beer and stir until the lumps are all gone.
4. Add remaining flavorings, taste, and adjust as necessary.
5. Pour into greased or lined muffin tins. 
6. Bake for 20 minutes or until a tester comes out clean.
7. Top with a generous layer of peanut butter, and then a generous layer of jelly.
8. Enjoy!

The Best Broccoli of Your Life, now Vegan!

Today I ate about a pound of broccoli.  In one sitting!  This roasted broccoli with lemon, garlic, salt, and pepper was just that good.  I think the nutritional yeast flakes on top (nooch) really sealed the deal here, and if you're unsure of the nooch or don't have a source available near you, feel free to substitute a high quality salty cheese.

My instant affinity for this "best ever" broccoli surprised me.  In the past, broccoli had consistently elicited a certain gag reflex from me-of all of the vegetables on the planet, I think our dear Veggie Wonder detested this particular green veggie the most.  I had had trouble eating more than a few bites in one sitting, even when the healthy green monster had been buried in fatty cheeses, etc.  Enter Adam of Amateur Gourmet and his post on the Best Broccoli of Your Life.  Given its stellar rating and ongoing popularity in the culinary blogosphere (over several years this site has been getting some heavy hit rates, Adam how did I only find you now?!!!), I decided to give the recipe a go.  But I decided to forgo the cheese topping and I prepared the dish with a vegan twist!  I also gave it a lazy twist (bottled lemon juice instead of fresh, powdered garlic instead of chopped cloves...).  If you are feeling ambitious, you can take the slightly more hardcore approach from Adam's site.  I imagine his version tastes even better, if that's possible.  This stuff is good!

You will need:

• Chopped, raw broccoli floret chunks (I used one of the bags of pre-washed broccoli you can get at most supermarkets - again, this recipe has a lazy twist!)
• Black pepper (freshly ground is nice, if you have it)
• Garlic powder (or fresh cloves, if you are feeling ambitious!)
• Salt
• Olive oil and olive oil cooking spray
• Lemon juice
• Nutritional yeast flakes

1. Preheat oven to 425.
2. Dry the broccoli floret chunks carefully, then toss them with a combination of olive oil and nonstick spray (depending on how much fat content is a factor for you; I used about 2 tablespoons of olive oil for a 1 lb bag of broccoli).
3. Salt and pepper the mixture to taste (you can add these spices pretty liberally).  Also sprinkle on a generous bit of garlic.
4. Put the broccoli on a baking tray and bake or roast for 20-25 minutes, until the broccoli gets somewhat brown and crunchy on the outside (it will still be soft and tender on the inside).
5. Remove the broccoli from the oven, and toss it with some lemon juice and a few spoonfuls of nutritional yeast flakes.
6. Enjoy!  This stuff is good!!!

Chocolate Blueberry Bread with Quinoa and Amaranth Flours

This is a healthy, nutty tasting bar, I think from the amaranth flour.  Like something "decadent" you might get in the vegan section of a health foods store.  If you like amaranth, you will almost certainly enjoy this bread, and even if you're not a fan, you still might like it.  I had bought the amaranth flour a few weeks back and been planning to experiment with it for a while.  Finally, I had some free time so I opened the bag of amaranth flour, and I realized that I don't like the smell of amaranth.  For this reason, even when baked, the bread seemed slightly less appealing to me than it might otherwise have been.  However, I love, love, love blueberries and chocolate, so I was able to tolerate the first slice or so of the bread.  I then left it out on the kitchen counter, and I guess overnight the smell dissipated and the flavors melded, and so the next day, I thought it tasted good, and the third day, I thought the bread tasted delicious - still healthy, though - it looks like a dessert but doesn't taste like one!

The gooey-ness of the blueberries and chocolate in the final loaf was retained for a few days after the baking process was complete.  This is a moist, healthy and nutty-tasting loaf.

To make it, you'll need:

• 1 1/2 cups oat flour
• 3/4 cup quinoa flour
• 3/4 cup amaranth flour
• 2-3 tablespoons baking powder
• 1 container beer (I used New Grist)
• Blueberries (I used ~1 cup frozen)
• Chocolate chunks (I used 1/2 of a 90% cacao Lindt bar) 
• Salt and sweetener to taste

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Mix the first 4 dry ingredients and fluff with a fork.  Add the beer and stir until clumps dissolve.  
3. Add remaining ingredients, then taste and adjust seasoning if necessary.
4. Pour into greased loaf pan and bake for 50-60 minutes, or until tester comes out without bread on it (some chocolate or blueberry will be inevitable).
5. Enjoy!  

If you enjoyed this recipe, you may also like our wild blueberry bread or spiced plum muffins!

Rosemary Apricot Bread

This bread is delicious!  The flavoring and moistness are, I think just right, a blend of sweet and savory, with the apricot bits providing the perfect taste of tart decadence.  Overall, the switch from 3/4 cup to 1/2 cup of oat bran was a good decision (this bread is a variation on our high fiber oat bread).  However, this time the loaf was a bit too crumbly, so if I make the loaf again I'll want to try adding some flax or an egg white to improve the overall cohesion of the loaf.  Also, I found that the apricots often sank to the bottom of the loaf.  Perhaps next time if I cut them into finer pieces, this will happen less frequently.

You will need:

• 2 cups oat flour
• 1/2 cup oat bran
• 2-3 tablespoons baking powder
• 1 spoonful of oil (optional)
• 1 bottle beer (can use GF beer for a GF loaf)
• 10-20 diced apricots, or to taste
• A generous sprinkling of rosemary, or to taste
• Salt and sweetener to taste

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Combine first three dry ingredients and fluff with fork.
3. Add beer and stir until everything gets dissolved.
4. Stir in remaining ingredients.  Taste batter and adjust seasoning, etc. as necessary.
5. Pour batter into greased loaf pan.
6. Bake for 50-60 minutes, or until tester comes out clean.
7. Enjoy!

If you enjoyed this post, also check out: Gluten-Free Beer Bread, High Fiber Oat Bread, and Wild Blueberry Bread!