Crepes with Homemade Nutella

These pictures are admittedly from the very first time I made vegan crepes for the family I was cooking for almost a year ago now.  You can tell from the first picture that the first couple were thicker than they should have been, but they were still crazy delicious!  Now you may be wondering how or why there is nutella in the middle of the crepes, since nutella isn't vegan - it contains both skim milk and whey.  That's why I made my own vegan nutella, which turned out amazingly!  It wasn't as smooth as the nutella that comes in the jar, but is was just as delicious as I remember it being, probably even more so because it was sweetened with agave and was both dairy and soy free. 

I made another  batch several weeks ago when Hubbs and I were testing smoothie recipes for our cafe.  We wanted to make a breakfast coffee chocolately smoothie and everything we had tested so far was pretty terrible to be honest.  Then I had the brilliant idea to put some of the nutella I made in it and it was crazy delicious!  Smoothie approved for the cafe!  Yay!  So, I'm not going to include the recipe for the crepes, because they came from the vegan brunch cookbook, but I am including the recipe for the vegan nutella.  Make it and soon because it is so freaking delicious!



Crepe filled with delicious chocolatey vegan nutella!


Vegan Nutella

Yields about 2 cups

8 oz. raw hazelnuts

1/2 oz. cocoa powder
2 1.2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 1/2 teaspoons canola oil
1/8 teaspoon sea salt
heaping 1/3 cup agave
heaping 1/3 cup hazelnut milk

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

2. Place the hazelnuts on a baking tray lined with parchment paper. Bake for about 15 minutes, or until the skins come off easily.
3. Allow the hazelnuts to cool for several minutes, then remove the skins.
4. Place the still warm hazelnuts in the food processor and process for several minutes, until the hazelnuts turn into a butter.
5. Add the remaining ingredients: the cocoa powder, vanilla extract, canola oil, sea salt, agave and hazelnut milk.
6. Blend for several more minutes, or until completely smooth.
7. Season to taste.
8. Place in a sealable container. Allow the mixture to cool for several hours in the refrigerator before using, to thicken.




Pile o' vegan crepes!




Look at that deliciousness!


Enjoy!

Koko

Dominican Okra Stew Over Steamed Rice with Fire Roasted Eggplant & Salad

This was a very simple recipe that came together quickly in this hot hot heat, which I really appreciated, because although I usually absolutely love the kitchen and want to spend hours upon hours there, it has been unbearably hot and uncomfortable.  Today the kitchen must have reached over 100 degrees, and I wanted to spend as little time as possible in there.  So before I started cooking of any kind, I prepped all the veggies for the okra stew and eggplant and made the entire salad and dressing.  Every couple of minutes I ran sweating for the ac in the living room, gulped some ice water and ran back into the kitchen.  Then I got the rice cooking, started roasting the eggplant and cooking the okra stew all at the same time so that everything would be done as close to the same time as possible.  It got really hot in there, but all finished within half an hour, then hubbs and I had a beautiful dinner.  Yum! 

That's the one thing I don't like about the summer - relying more on take out because it is just too miserable to cook.  But I'm not the biggest fan of places I don't really know or workers I don't know cooking my food - I'm weird like that.  I also don't like that I don't know exactly what is going in my food.  I might have sweat a lot, but damn did we enjoy a delicious dinner!  I think for dinner tomorrow I'm going to be making a tomato and tofu salad with a balsamic marinade.  My work is going through so much organic produce and throwing away thousands of pounds of food a day, which is sickening, and I am taking home as much of it as I can use.  So I have a lot of tomatoes, berries and eggplant (hence tonight's dinner!).  I made pico de gallo yesterday and had some nachos loaded with veggies and kalamata olives. Yum.  I could almost eat the pico as a soup it's that good, seriously.  I'll have to put the recipe up soon.

 

Green Salad with Balsamic Vinaigrette, Okra Stew over White
Rice, Fire Roasted Eggplant

Fire Roasted Eggplant

Serves 2-3

1 eggplant, well washed

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons sofrito

1 tablespoon tomato paste

2 teaspoons adobo with cilantro

1/8 teaspoon black pepper

1/2 teaspoon boullion

1/2 cup filtered water

Okra Stew

1.  Place washed eggplant on the stovetop directly over the flame.  Allow the eggplant to cook on all sides, turning frequently, until blackened all over.  (Keep a window open-it gets a little smoky.)

2.  Place the eggplant in a medium bowl and cover with plastic wrap.  Allow the eggplant to sweat for 10 or so minutes.

3.  Once the egggplant sweats, bring it to the sink and begin removing all of the blackened skin.  If a few pieces remain, that's ok, it will only mean more flavor.  Remove any tough spots, as well as the very top.  Use your hands to mash up the eggplant as much as possible. 

4.  Place the olive oil in a medium saute pan over medium heat and allow to become hot.  Once the oil is hot, add the sofrito and tomato paste and "fry" for several minutes, stirring frequently.  Once the mixture becomes fragrant, add the eggplant, adobo, black pepper, bouillion and water.  Bring to a simmer, and cook, stirring frequently, until the eggplant is very well flavored and some of the water has evaporated. 



Fire Roasted Eggplant
(Not the prettiest thing I know, but crazy delicious!!)

Enjoy!

Koko

A Death in the Family

Hello Everyone.  I have been away from blogging for quite a while because there has been a tragic death in the family, on my Husband's side.  His older sister Kenia passed away in the Dominican Republic on Tuesday, May 22nd at the age of 28, leaving behind three young boys.  She passed away after a relatively brief, but intense battle with cancer.  She found out at about the same time she became pregnant with her last child.  Doctors told her she needed to abort to basically save her life, because she couldn't take any kind of strong medicine or do chemo or radiation while pregnant.  She was adamant about having the baby, and consequently, the cancer got terribly worse.  The doctors said she was at a stage 3.5 after delivering the baby 2 months early, and she just got progressively worse and worse.  We kept up hope, especially after the birth of her son Ranger.  We kept getting conflicting news, which caused us to hope then be scared, hope and worry.  Then we got news several weeks ago that she had an infection in her leg, which caused her to go back to the hospital and be off chemo and radiation again.  And since we're in the States and his family is back in DR, there is always the getting of the information second-hand, so we were not really understanding the gravity of the situation.  They sent her home a little less than a week before she passed, and even though my husband's brother told us she was getting skinnier and skinnier and looking weaker and worse, we kept hoping.  We thought it was a good thing she was being sent home, but we realized that she was really being sent home to pass in the comfort of her family.



Brave & Adventurous Kenia!  October, 2010



We were actually discussing when Hubby should go home, because no one knew how much longer she would last.  I told him to call her on Monday (May 21) to talk to her and kind of feel out how she was doing.  That morning we actually got a text from Hubby's brother that he should come home right away, that Kenia didn't seem like she would make it another day.  We were shocked to say the least.  We have several things going on here, so we had to be sure Hubbs could travel.  So after we got the ok, we booked the earliest flight, which wasn't until Tuesday morning.  So we packed up his suitcase, got a couple hours of sleep and sent him on his way to DR.  We were communicating the entire time while he was making his way back home.  His mom told his sister that he was on his way, and although she could no longer speak or move at that point, she was smiling and happy.  Unfortunately, she passed away while my husband and his brother were driving to see her, about 30 minutes away. 

Hubby was able to stay there for a week and celebrate his sister's life, which was incredibly beautiful.  I am so blessed and thankful to have known Kenia for the little bit of time that I knew her and am so thankful for her love and friendship.  May she rest in peace and may God bless her soul. I wish all the best for those three little boys, aged 6, 4 and 11 months.  Her Husband is taking care of the older ones while her mom is looking after the baby.  I can't wait to go back to DR and see my beautiful family and my amazing nephews.  Love to you all! 

I love you Kenia, may you rest in peace!




Kenia, Her Husband & Two Sons, before the baby was born.

Koko

Apple Pie Crumb Cake Muffins

I decided to make these tasty muffins over the weekend along with a bunch of other tasty things and they turned out really well.  Hubbs loved them and ate two of them as soon as they came out of the oven, even though I insisted that they were much tastier when cool. ;)  This recipe comes from the Vegan with a Vengeance cookbook, with a couple modifications.  Very tasty - I've been making it for a couple years now.    And there is definitely something fun about the name Apple Pie Muffins.  Yum.  Try it, you'll agree.



So much crispy struesely topping!



Yields: 12 small muffins

Muffin Base:
1 1/2 cups unbleached flour
1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons organic sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon sea salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1/8 teaspoon cloves
3/4 cup almond milk
1/3 cup canola oil
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 cup peeled, chopped apples
1/2 cup peeled, grated apples

Crumb Topping:
1/4 cup unbleached flour
1/4 cup organic sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon allspice
pinch sea salt
3-4 tablespoons canola oil

1.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Either spray a cupcake/muffin pan with spray oil or line the pan with cupcake liners and set aside until ready to use.
2.  Prepare the topping first.  In a small bowl, add the flour, sugar, cinnamon, allspice and sea salt.  Stir to combine with a fork.  Add the oil - start with the smaller amount.  Stir well to combine until the topping sticks together, but is not too wet.  Set aside while preparing the batter.
3.  In a medium bowl, add the unbleached flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, sea salt, cinnamon, allspice and cloves.  Whisk together until well combined.  Add the wet ingredients: the almond milk, canola oil and vanilla extract.  Whisk together until a thick batter forms.  Add the chopped and grated apple and stir to combine. 
4.  Using a portion scoop or a 1/4 cup measuring cup, portion out the batter amongst the 12 count muffin pan.  Top each muffin with about a tablespoon of the crumb topping, being sure to cover the entire surface of the muffin.




The Muffins Topped with the Delicious Crispy Topping!

5.  Place the muffin tray in the preheated oven and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until the muffins are baked through and the center bounces back lightly when touched. 
6.  Allow muffins to cool in the pan for about 10 minutes, then remove to a cooling rack top cool the rest of the way.  If you did not use papers, this step is even more important, because if the muffins stay in the pans too long, they will become soggy.  Serve with a delicious strong cup of coffee, or better yet, an espresso!

Enjoy!

-Koko



So ridiculously tasty!



Mini Onion Cheese Tarts with Heirloom Tomatoes

This is definitely something that was time consuming but oh so worth it!  

A couple months back my mom sent me several pounds of baby onions from my Grandfather's garden back in Michigan.  Have I ever mentioned that my mom has this amazing organic garden in Michigan and is constantly overnighting me things when they are in abundance?  Well, this year my grandpa had tons and tons of these baby onions, and supposedly once you pick them, you are supposed to let them sit in the garage or some other cool place on top of newspapers until the skins completely dry out.  Once this happens, you can store them in the large mesh onion or other fruit bags and they will keep for a long period.  I still have about half a pound, although they are now in my refrigerator.  I did keep them in a bowl on the counter for a good couple months (trying to remind myself to use them!) and true to my mom's word, nothing happened to them.  They remained super fresh.

I got the idea for this recipe from my friend Brittany who made mini butter tarts (with real dairy butter) and was kind enough to share her recipe with me, which I easily converted to vegan.  So, with lots of patience and excitement (initially!)  I decided to make these bad boys and was happily rewarded when Hubbs decided to eat over 12 of them in one sitting (no joke!).  Glad he liked them, but kind of wish I had someone a little girly or foodie over so they could ooh and ahh over them like I did.  I had a great time making these, but likely will not again unless my little niece or mum help me.

Mini Onion Cheese Tarts with Heirloom Tomatoes:



The gorgeous end result!



Yields: 24 mini tarts, with a small amount of dough leftover

Butter Crust:

1 1/2 cups unbleached flour

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1/2 cup chilled earth balance

3 tablespoons ice water, or as needed

Seasoned Onions:

10-12 mini onions, ends removed, and first tough layer removed

2 tablespoons earth balance

1/4 teaspoon dried thyme

pinch sea salt and black pepper

Remaining Toppings:

Baby heirloom tomatoes, sliced

Fresh basil, Chiffonaded

Daiya, as needed

1.  Prepare the dough.  Place the flour and salt in a medium mixing bowl.  Whisk well together.  Add the earth balance and gently incorporate with hands, being careful not to over-mix and make the dough too tough.  Add the ice water, starting with the 3 tablespoons, mixing, and adding more as needed.  Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and let it chill out in the refrigerator while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.

2.  Remove the dough from the refrigerator after about half an hour.  It should be relatively firm, but still pliable.  If it is too firm, allow it to sit out for about 5-10 minutes before proceeding.  Dive the dough into 2 pieces (it's easier to work with).  Cover the half you are not currently working on back in the plastic wrap.

3.  Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

The dough rolled out

4.  Sprinkle your work surface with flour and sprinkle the top of the dough as well.  flatten lightly with your hand.  Use a rolling pin to roll out the dough evenly and use a cookie cutter or other round object, also dusted in flour to cut out the pieces needed for the tarts.



The circles for the tarts cut out.

5.  Lightly oil a mini muffin pan with spray olive oil or whatever you have on hand.  Press the cut out pieces of dough into the pan, being sure to press into the edges.  




The dough all pressed into the pan!



5.  Partially bake the dough base in the oven for about 10-12 minutes, or until the dough is cooked and golden.

6.  Meanwhile, in a saute pan add the earth balance over medium heat and allow it to both melt and become hot.  Once it is hot, add the dried thyme and let it sizzle for a minute or so.  Add the onion slices, separating into rings as you place them in the pan.  Sprinkle with sea salt and black pepper, stirring frequently, just until the onions begin to soften - you still want them to have texture.  Season to taste.

7.  Remove the baked crusts from the oven and add several of the onion slices, followed by two slices of the heirloom tomatoes, a couple pieces of daiya and bake, just until the daiya melts. 

8.  Once the tarts cool slightly, top with the basil pieces.  Be sure not to do this when the tarts are still hot or the basil will shrivel and turn brown right away.

Here are those yummy onions!

Enjoy!

-Koko

Toasted Pinenut Quinoa Salad

This is a super simple, super easy salad recipe I made up on the fly when I wanted something really quickly and fresh for lunch.  Quinoa is one of my definite go-to grains to cook when I don't want any fuss.  So,  I opened the fridge, saw what was available and decided on this.  I had a small container of toasted pinenuts left over from a class from a couple weeks back and decided to use it up.  (I know there's the scary thing with pinenut mouth going on right now, but these were definitely organic and definitely real pinenuts - they should be at $30 per pound!).  You could (and probably should) add some chopped parsley or cilantro for color, but I didn't have any. 

Toasted Pinenut Quinoa Salad:

Serves: 4 large servings or 6-8 small servings

2 1/2 cups cooked quinoa

2 tablespoons olive oil
juice of 1 lemon
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
2 pinches cayenne pepper
1 garlic clove, minced

1 roma tomato, chopped, about 1/2 cup

1/2 cup small diced red onion

1/3 cup toasted pinenuts

1.  In a medium bowl, add the olive oil, lemon juice, sea salt, black pepper, cayenne pepper and minced garlic.  Toss ingredients to coat with a rubber spatula. 

2.  Add the cooked quinoa, chopped tomato, onion and toasted pinenuts.  Toss ingredients to coat again.  Season to taste with additional salt, lemon juice or olive oil, as needed. 

3.  Serve cool or at room temperature.

Enjoy!

-Koko

Hubby's Invention: Noodle Vegetable Soup

This is something the Hubby made for me several days ago when I was working late.  Until we get a couple more people in the department I am working in, I have been and will continue working crazy shifts that span all hours of the day.  Some days I do not finish work until 8 or 9 pm and will not have eaten all day, so my loevely Hubbs will make a nice dinner for me.  What a sweetie!  This time was a variation of a soup that he makes pretty often.  I love that he put slices of the corn on the cob in the soup - that was really fun to eat (and messy!)

Noodle Vegetable Soup

Serves 4

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

1/2 small onion, chopped

1 celery stalk, sliced in half down the middle and chopped

4 sprigs cilantro, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 corn on the cob, sliced into 4 circles

1 potato, peeled and chunked

filtered water to cover

unchicken boullion

3/4 cup thin pasta, broken into pieces

black pepper to taste

1.  In a medium pot over medium-high heat, add the olive oil and allow to become hot.  Once the oil is hot, add the onion, celery, cilantro and garlic.  Cook, stirring frequently, until fragrant. 

2.  Add the corn on the cob and potato and stir.  Add enough filtered water to cover all of the ingredients, plus 2-3".  Add the unchicken boullion and bring contents to a boil.  Once the contents are boiling, lower heat, and allow to simmer for about 15 minutes, or until the potatoes and corn are tender. 

3.  Add the pasta and stir into the simmering soup.  Cook for about 8 or so more minutes, or until the pasta is cooked through.  Serve.

Enjoy!

-Koko