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.

Pancake Milk Shake

Behold the ultimate healthy comfort food: the pancake milkshake.

This thick and creamy, high protein, sugar-free maple shake was born out of a mostly empty kitchen and some desperation.

It's been a busy few weeks, with less time than usual for fiddling around in the kitchen.  I also hadn't been able to go food shopping as much as I would have liked to, either.  So left without my go to breakfast cereals, limited time, and an overwhelming craving for comfort food, I began to experiment.  This shake is the delicious result of a few quick minutes of mixing one morning.  I highly recommend this shake!

You will need:

• Milk of choice (I used unsweetened almond)
• Unsweetened soy protein powder (either plain or vanilla would work)
• Maple syrup of choice (I used a sugar free variety)

Stir everything together and enjoy!  If desired, swirl in some extra maple syrup after you have mixed everything together.  The soy protein powder has a dry and flour-y consistency that makes this shake thick and satisfying.

Deep Chocolate Truffles

 I'm a huge fan of Chocolate Covered Katie, so as soon as I saw her recipe for fudge babies and friends, I knew I wanted in.  They're easy, healthy, natural, and delicious.  So one day, when I get a super high powered blender and can pulverize some walnuts, I totally plan to make them.  Several varieties of them.  However, until then, I'll be making this recipe and calling on the same CCK concepts and deliciousness in spirit.  This recipe yields a truffle that's pretty tasty in its own right.  Your truffles will also be rich and delicious.  As with the originals, you'll need no added sugar and no blender.  You only need:

• Almond butter (choose a variety according to taste - e.g. salty or not, roasted or not...)
• Mashed dates (if they are difficult to mash to the consistency of applesauce, soak them for a few hours first)
• Unsweetened cocoa powder (I used Hershey's Special Dark for rich color)
• Instant coffee powder (optional, for a mocha flavor)

1. Mix the first three ingredients in approximately equal portions with a fork (possibly use less cocoa depending on how bitter you like things, a little goes a long way here) until a chocolatey batter forms.  
2. Taste and adjust the proportions, adding some coffee granules if desired.
3. Role into balls.
4. Enjoy!

Buttery Chardonnay Brussels Sprouts

I didn't think it was possible to top my old favorite brussels sprouts.  I had so loved their strong mustard flavor and delightful balance between crunchiness and moisture.  But these brussels sprouts--they were simply amazing.  Creamy, buttery, a little sweet and a little salty, with a touch of garlic, salt, and pepper and white wine mixed into the sauce - I'm hungry just thinking about them!  I think these are now my favorite brussels sprouts ever.  I think the secret may be the white wine (I used some leftover chardonnay) and coconut butter, which made everything very rich and creamy.  I will definitely be making these brussels sprouts again!

You will need:

• Brussels sprouts
• White wine of choice (I used chardonnay)
• Coconut butter
• Raisins, sliced fresh garlic cloves, salt, and pepper to taste

1. Chop the ends off your burssels sprouts and then quarter the remaining sprouts and put them in your slow cooker.  Be sure that your slow cooker is at least 2/3 full (but not completely full!) for even cooking.
2. Toss the sprouts with a few spoonfuls of coconut butter.  If your coconut butter is solid, nuke it in the microwave for a few seconds, or until it liquifies prior to tossing with the sprouts.
3. Add remaining ingredients to taste.  Be generous with the garlic cloves and raisins-they work really well here!
4. Add wine - approximately one-two cups of wine to for every one quart of sprouts seems to work well, but this measurement is pretty flexible.
5. Cook on low (or medium, or high!) in the slow cooker until the sprouts are soft.  This may take a few hours.  Taste and adjust the seasoning.  
6. Enjoy!

The pictures don't do these sprouts justice.  They're GOOOOOOOD!

Marvellous Microwave Spaghetti Squash

Craving a giant bowl of pasta without the carb-crash?   Spaghetti squash is a good alternative.  It's fast, easy and delicious, and it gets you that extra serving of vegetables each day.  The best part is that you can do all of the prep in your microwave and with a single plate - no need to heat up your house or your stove.  I would imagine this would also be a very kid-friendly, fun dish.

You will need:

• Spaghetti squash
• Salt, pepper, and garlic powder to taste
• Olive oil (optional)

1. Cut the spaghetti squash in half lengthwise.  If this is difficult to do, microwave the whole squash on high for 2 minutes or so and then cut it.
2. Scoop out the seeds.  If you like, you can wash and bake them - they are edible and yummy!
3. Take a de-seeded squash half and put it innards-facing-down on a microwave-safe plate.  Add some water to the plate, as the squash will dry up a bit in the microwave otherwise.
4. Microwave the squash half on high for 5 minutes or until done (the amount of time this takes will vary from squash to squash and microwave to microwave).
5. Use a fork to separate the squash innards into spaghetti-like strands.
6. Add spices to taste and a small bit of olive oil, if desired.
7. Enjoy!

This was a big squash, and the first few minutes in the microwave weren't enough - everything was really clumpy.

After a second round in the microwave, everything was just right.

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.

Yellow Split Pea Soup

 I usually make this soup with green split peas, but I had a bag of yellow split peas in the cupboard and decided to give them a whirl in the slow cooker.  The result was an easy and delicious soup, with a beautiful color palette, suitable for spring.

To make the soup, you will need:

• Yellow split peas
• Salt, garlic powder, and red pepper flakes to taste

1. Rinse and sort the split peas.
2. Add peas and water to a slow cooker with approximately 1 part peas to 3 or 4 parts water, so that the cooker is ~3/4 full.
3. Cook on low, medium, or high heat until the peas are fully cooked and soft.
4. Stir in salt, garlic, and red pepper to taste.
5. Enjoy!

Green Cheeze Balls

They're cute, aren't they?

 These balls are weird.  They have no dairy butter, or animal ingredients whatsoever.  Everything in them is pretty much raw and unprocessed.  And yet... they taste distinctively cheesy.  They're loaded with protein, and a decent amount of fiber.  The fat in these balls is of the healthy, omega 3 variety...  So these cheeze balls are much healthier than regular old cheese balls.  However, at this point the flavor combination I'm giving you is a proof of concept - a proof that yes, a vegan, cheesey, easy to roll ball is possible.  And it should be very, very possible to easily make it, and to get it to taste good, and to fulfill all of your cheesy cravings.  But the exact makeup of the cheeze balls isn't there yet. 

I need some help getting things just right!  For whatever reason it is that you're avoiding cheese (or if, like me, you just enjoy the novelty of finding new combinations of ingredients to recreate some familiar flavors, with a twist), I hope this combination of ingredients inspires you to fiddle around in your kitchen.  Right now there is something kindof "off" about these cheese balls, but I'm not sure exactly what it is!  These cheese balls CAN be perfected.  And you, yes *you* can do it!  And when you get it to work, let me know! 

To start fiddling with the recipe, I recommend:

• Medium ripe avocado
• Lemon juice
• Nutritional yeast flakes
• Bran (I used rice bran)
• Protein powder (I used brown rice protein powder)
• Garlic, salt, and pepper

1. Mash the avocado to a pulp.  
2. Add some lemon juice.
3. Add remaining dry ingredients in sufficient quantities to get things to a more doughy consistency, and stir until everything is blended (use more bran or protein powder depending on what sort of flavor/nutrient profile you want.  Rice bran and brown rice protein powder both lend a nice salty/savory consistency to your cheezy dough).  
4. Taste and adjust the seasonings accordingly.
5. Sprinkle with additional nutritional yeast flakes.
6. Enjoy immediately, or chill in the fridge for a bit.

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.