Super Fudgy Steel-Cut Oats

Nutty + chocolatey +... healthy?  Yes!  Cocoa + coconut oil work so well with the steel cut oats here.

Steel cut oats have a wonderful nutty flavor and a satisfying crunch.  While I generally prefer them to the standard rolled variety, I would avoid them because they were too much work.  That is, until I realized I could make steel cut oats easily in my single serving rice cooker (stay tuned for some more details in a future post!).

To make these chocolate oats, you will need:

• Plain oats of choice, cooked as you like them and warm (steel cut oats are wonderful!)
• Unsweetened cocoa powder, to taste
• Sweetener of choice, to taste (I used Splenda)
• Coconut butter, a small dab for richness or to taste

1. Mix everything together.
2. Taste and adjust ingredients as necessary.
3. Enjoy!

Hard Breakfast Oatmeal

 This morning I used up the last bit of my beloved almond milk to make oatmeal.  There wasn't enough milk left to put in almond milk in the usual ratio of 2 parts milk to 1 part oats, so I improvised and just used what I had on hand.  I think the ratio was 1 to 1.5 parts milk to 1 part oats.  The result was a delicious oatmeal, in which the oats were nicely cooked and somewhat moist and yet I could taste each oat separately.  What a tasty textural variation on the standard breakfast oatmeal!  I will definitely be making oats this way again!

To follow suit, you will need:

• rolled oats
• milk of choice (I used unsweetened almond)
• cinnamon (optional)

1. Mix rolled oats and milk in a ratio of approximately 1-1.5 parts milk for each part oats.
2. Microwave for 2 minutes, or until oats achieve desired level of doneness.
3. Sprinkle with cinnamon if desired.
4. Enjoy!

Wild Rice Pilaf with Goldenberries

 Mmmmm...  Salty, tart and yet slightly sweet, chewy, wholesome, original, filling, and beautiful, this wild rice pilaf is truly a keeper recipe.  The addition of dry goldenberries to the dish makes it just that much more delicious and unique.  The goldenberries plump out while cooking but intensify in flavor, becoming sweeter and nicely complementing the savoriness of the rice.  The pilaf comes out tasting like you've spent hours slaving over a hot stove.  Who knew it could be so easy to prepare it?

To make the pilaf, you will need:

• 1-1.5 cups of wild rice
• 2 oz. or so of dried goldenberries
• sweetener to taste (optional, I used one packet of stevia)
• 1-2 cubes of vegetable bullion
• 3-4 cups milk of choice (I used almond)

1. Put everything into a small (1.5 qt) slow cooker.  Be sure the cooker is 2/3 full.  If you want to use a different size cooker, scale your ingredients accordingly.
2. Cook on low until the wild rice achieves a desired level of doneness.
3. Stir well.
4. Enjoy!

Strawberry Mocha!

Sometimes it's the most brilliant of ideas which remain hidden in plain sight.  Such is no doubt true of the strawberry mocha.  Chocolate is of course polyamorous, and we've always known it to pair well with strawberries and with coffee.  Raspberry lattes have been en vogue for ages.  Why do we not, then, fancy strawberry lattes?  And so it was with a sudden epiphany that I read that a strawberry latte was available at local cafe, and I ordered it.  Instant, sugary and caffeinated bliss!

I will certainly make another one for myself later, using SF strawberry syrup (such as Torani), unsweetened almond milk, instant coffee granules, and unsweetened cacao powder.

Simple Italian White Bean Stew

I was craving a good old fashioned bowl of paste e fagioli, the Italian pasta and white bean soup with tomatoes that is so very good and served at most Italian joints.  Having no pasta on hand and limited prep time, I came up with this healthy slow cooker dish, which turned out to be quite tasty, satisfying, and much healthier than the original.  To make the soup you will need:

• 1 cup Dry white beans (I used fava, I think)
• 1 cup chopped tomatoes (I used frozen chopped tomatos)
• Garlic powder, salt, oregano, and black pepper to taste
• 1 spoonful of oil of choice (olive oil works well here)

1. Rinse and sort the white beans and add them to the slow cooker (I recommend a 1.5 quart cooker here - if you wish to use a larger crockpot, you'll want to scale the quantities of everything else accordingly).
2. Add tomatoes and a few shakes of the salt and spices, going a bit heavier on the garlic than on the others.
3. Add the oil and 3 cups or so of water to the pot.
4. Cook on low until the beans are tender.
5. Adjust the seasoning to taste.  You will probably want to add extra garlic, salt, and pepper.
6. Enjoy!

Magical Mint Quinoa Pudding

Quinoa for breakfast is always fun and creamy.  I decided to jazz it up recently with some mint.  The mint flakes made this all natural filling breakfast taste light and refreshing as well as satisfying.  Make some now!  You will need:
Quinoa of choice (I used basic white/yellow quinoa)

• Milk of choice (I used almond)
• Sweetener of choice
• Mint flakes
• Pinch of salt (optional)
• Vanilla (optional) 

1. Rinse and sort the quinoa, and then place it in the slow cooker with milk in a ratio of approximately 1 part quinoa to 3 or 4 parts milk, and so the slow cooker is ~3/4 full (note that this is a greater ratio of milk to quinoa than prescribed on most boxes, to get a soft, pudding-type consistency; if you want a more traditional quinoa texture, follow box directions for the proportion of milk to quinoa).
2. Add remaining ingredients to taste.
3. Cook on low overnight or until soft and creamy.
4. Stir, taste, and adjust seasoning if necessary. 
5. Enjoy!

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.