Super Power Cookies

In college, my girlfriends and I looked for any opportunity to dress up and have a party.  When I say dress up, I’m not referring to nice clothes; no I am referring to costumes.  And in college this all equates to an excuse to drink and decorate your dorm room.  Just like Halloween but multiple times a year.  As with Halloween, the costumes are, ahem, not the most modest. 

Sophomore year, a friend of mine was taking a course on super heroes (I know, it seems ridiculous, but I took two classes that involved quilts).  She managed to convince her professor that she should get extra credit if she threw, and documented, a “Super Heroes” party.  He agreed.  My friends all went into crazy planning mode, with mix tapes, theme drinks, and decorations. 

At the time, I found a recipe online for “power cookies” and I figured this would be appropriate fodder for keeping super powers up.  Now, this was before I had really honed my skills in the baking department, and needless to say these cookies were not very tasty.  Although, if you put enough intoxicated college students in a room with cookies – even terrible cookies – they will get eaten.

Recently, I had been thinking about those cookies.  One, because a friend mentioned that in London it is totally acceptable to have fancy dress parties, akin to our Super Heroes party, and I thought it would be wonderful if all of us know at the very end of our 20’s were to do something like that.  Ridiculous, but wonderful. 

Second, I have seen lots of recipes and even ads for something called breakfast cookies.  In looking at the ingredients or nutritional value of said cookies, I would not consider them acceptable for breakfast. And I suppose that some of these cookies probably are better than a pop tart, I still wouldn’t want to each that much sugar to start my day. 

In going back to the original power cookie recipe, I made some changes and when I tested these cookies – they were actually pretty good.  I brought them to a regatta this weekend for the rower’s to eat, and although I didn’t see too many get consumed while I was there, I heard good reports regarding the overall flavor and texture.  These cookies would be a great way to start your day, or an excellent and protein filled snack; especially if you need to keep up your super powers.

Please excuse the blurriness of this image, I took it with my phone at the regatta, while the cookies were still in the ziplock bag.

Power Cookies

As adapted from Sara Sue on allrecipes.com

I highly recommend using dried beans rather than canned beans for this.  In the original recipe, I used canned beans, and the cookies then tasted like beans.  The dried beans also yielded less moisture, so I added unsweetened, spiced, applesauce.  If you can’t find that, just get the organic unsweetened kind and add spices to the batter.

1 c. dried cannellini beans, soaked overnight, and simmer for 2 hours until soft (should yield 2 cups beans)

½ c. granulated sugar
½ c. dark brown sugar, packed
1 tsp. vanilla
1 c. unsweetened applesauce
4 cups oats
½ tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. baking soda
¼ tsp. salt
½ c. pitted dates
½ c. shredded coconut
½ c. raisins

Preheat oven to 375°. 

In a food processor, grind the oats into coarse flour.  It is not necessary for it all to be powder, as some larger bits will add texture to the cookies.  Move the flour to a bowl and add the baking powder, baking soda and salt, stir to combine.

Next, place the beans in the food processor (don’t worry about cleaning it between uses), and process until they are smooth, like a thick hummus.  Move beans into the bowl of a stand mixer.  Add sugars, vanilla and applesauce and mix until well combined. 

Add the oat flour mixture to stand mixture and mix until just combined.  Next, pulse the dates in the food processor to chop them into smaller pieces, about the size of the raisins.  Add the dates and raisins to the dough and mix until incorporated. 

Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.  Scoop dough with a heaping table spoon and loosely shape into a ball.  Press the dough down slightly on the board, but not to flatten the cookies.  The cookies will not rise or flatten while baking, so there is no need to space them out very much.

Bake for 15-17 minutes, rotating half-way through, until golden on top.  Allow to cool and store in an airtight container.

Lascivious Lentils

To begin with, I must share a little story, and then on to the post.  A friend of mine noted on last week’s recipe that he was going to cook it as he was trying to impress a vegetarian.  Now, I have acted as wing-man before and I am happy to oblige with any kind of recipe suggestions for just such a purpose.  I know that if I was a vegetarian, even if I didn’t really like kale or tofu I would be very impressed by any man cooking me a vegetarian meal.  There are certain meals, I think that can immediately upon seeing the effort that goes into them that can ‘impress’ someone.  I considered asking him to tell me after the date and dinner if he succeeded in ‘impressing’ her.  And if the answer is yes, I may start rating all of my post on a scale of how likely they are to ‘impress’ someone. (We all know what I mean by ‘impress’ right?) And, Matt, if that worked the recipe below might work as well, I rate it a 7 or 8 on the impressing scale.

Lentils are apparently a super food.  Or at least I think they were at some point.  To be honest I am a bit tired of hearing about super foods.  I just like to eat food, ok? So I will eat what I like and if that happens to be extra good for me, then so be it.  But I find that when we brand something as really great for you or cancer defying or age slaying that people tend to focus too much on consuming only those products. 

Don’t get me wrong, I love the Alice and Wonderland idea of taking a tiny bite of something that says eat me and then shrinking down in size.  However, we all know it doesn’t happen that way.  And since only celebrities seem to be able to drink kale juice three times a day for a year, I choose to just stick with my original plan of eating good food that is also good for me.  Plus if I stuck to only super foods, I would probably subsist on the bad forms of them; like kale chips, sweet potato fries and blueberry muffins. 

However, if you have not tried lentils before; please do, they are lovely.  You may have even already unwittingly eaten lentils in an Indian dish.  There are so many different kinds of lentils that when recipes call for specific ones (orange, split, French and so on) it can be overwhelming, especially since my grocery store only carries one kind.  And those are just labeled “Lentils”.

These regular lentils are a bit softer and will cook faster than French lentils, and thus they can lose their shape a bit as well.  But they are cheap and readily available and I think they work very well here.  Another great thing about this recipe is that it is quick and relatively easy to make.  I like to top the whole thing with some Italian sausage (local or chicken sausage to keep it on the healthy side) but the lentils with vegetables on their own are quite tasty. 

Lentils with fennel

As adapted from Gourmet 2007
 
1 c lentils
4 c water
1 Tb olive oil
2 large carrots, diced
1 large fennel bulb with fronds, bulb diced and fronds chopped
1 medium onion 
¼ tsp fennel seeds
¼ c fresh chopped parsley
1/8 c red wine vinegar

In a medium saucepan over high heat, combine lentils, water and a large pinch of salt.  Bring to a boil and then reduce heat and simmer, uncovered for about 15-20 minutes, or until lentils are tender.  Some may split but most should still retain their shape. Reserve about ¼ c of the cooking water and drain lentils.

While the lentils are cooking, heat the olive oil in a large frying pan over medium high heat.  Sauté the carrots, fennel, onion and fennel seeds stirring occasionally.  Cover and continue cooking about 10 minutes or until the vegetables are soft.  Add in cooked lentils, fennel fronds, parsley and red wine, if the mixture looks a bit dry add in the reserved cooking water.  Season with salt and pepper.

If using sausage, prick the sausages with the tip of a knife and cook in a separate pan while the vegetables are cooking.  Once fully cooked, move the sausages to a cutting board and slice. 

Serve the lentils topped with sausages.

Terrifying Tofu

My uncle seems to think that tofu is an evil substance. He tells me that if you bless the food prior to eating and tofu is on the table it will vanish. He refuses to believe that it can be good under certain circumstances, and I am sure he is not alone on that. Although I am tempted to sneak tofu into some sort of holiday dish and not tell anyone. But don’t worry Uncle Bob, I wouldn’t do that to you.

Recently a lot of people it seems are trying to eat more vegan meals in an effort to get healthy. Well, this meal does that. In fact the only way I could convince Joe to have this meal the other night was by making a leftover package of crescent rolls from the super bowl to accompany the tofu and veggies. I’ve made this dish before and I am in love with it. When you eat a ton of it, you have that good full feeling, like when eating sushi. I love that feeling. And this dish is super easy, fairly cheap and very quick to make. You just have to get over any lingering fears of tofu first.

The trick to tofu, is to (1) buy the good stuff and (2) let it drain of most of its moisture. If you can find locally made tofu, or some other artisan brand, definitely buy that, it will have a better texture and even taste. Next, the day before you make this dish, take the tofu out of its package and set it into another container, it will help with the drying out process. To drain the tofu; slice it, then lay it out on paper towels (or kitchen towels), top with paper towels and let sit for about 10 minutes. I usually change out the paper towels once. This will ensure that once you start cooking the tofu it won’t splatter like crazy, and also that it can absorb whatever flavors you are cooking with.

So if you haven’t tried tofu, or have and it was terrible; give this recipe a shot. You might be surprised. But if you bless the food, and the tofu disappears, at least I warned you.

Tofu with Kale and Sweet Potatoes

1lb. extra firm tofu, removed from liquid, sliced into ¼” pieces
2 Tb. Whole grain mustard
1 Tb. Dijon mustard
2 Tb. Olive oil, divided
2 Tb. Fresh ginger, minced
1 medium yellow onion, sliced
2 small sweet potatoes, peeled and sliced into ¼” rounds
1 large bag of kale (stems removed if still attached to leaves)
1 lime
1 Tb. Water if necessary

First, drain tofu on paper towels for at least 10 to 15 minutes. Next, in a small bowl, combine mustards and then spread on one side of the tofu slices. Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Place the tofu slices, mustard side down and sauté for about 3-4 minutes, or until the mustard has formed a golden brown crust. While the tofu is cooking, spread the other side of each slice with more of the mustard. Flip the tofu slices gently and continue cooking 3-4 minutes. Move the slices out of the pan, and set aside.

Heat the remaining tablespoon of olive oil in the same skillet. Add the onion and ginger and sauté for about 2 minutes or until fragrant. Next add sweet potato slices and as much kale as will fit in the pan. Squeeze half of the lime juice over, and toss everything to coat. Cover the pan and allow to steam about 2 minutes. Continue adding kale until all of it is in the pan. Cover and cook for 10 minutes, or until the sweet potatoes are softened. Squeeze the remaining half of the lime over everything.

To serve, place the kale and sweet potato mixture onto plates and top with tofu.

A Kilo of Spinach

Shopping overseas can be a tricky business.  You’re never quite sure if what you’re asking for makes sense, and you don’t really understand the responses you get.  This has happened to me a few times.  In visiting Mexico once with some friends, I had been prepped for some simple questions in Spanish.  Wanting to try out my newly acquired knowledge, I proudly asked our cab driver ¿Cuanto cuesta? And then stood there staring at him when he answered me in rapid fire Spanish.  My friends agreed I should work on understanding the answers to those questions.

Another time, when I was in Germany I went to get my hair cut and colored.  I had an idea for what I wanted but surprisingly, “A trip to the Hair Salon” was not one of the vocabulary units we studied.  After muddling through what I wanted, the hair stylist nodded and said no problem.  Many highlight foils and a good hour and a half later, she took out everything from my hair and called another stylist over for consultation.  I had not yet seen my hair in the mirror.  After some whispers – they both told me it looked awesome.  I was dubious.  I wound up with three very distinct highlight chunks on my head – white, brown and copper.  It was pretty shocking.  However, I did not, for the life of me, know how to tell her anything besides how awesome it was.  I finally determined that my hair was pretty cool; cooler than me, so I would just have to pretend.

And the other time shopping in a foreign language has left me with deleterious results was also in Germany.  I was walking past the gypsy farm stands behind my dorm and saw a very good price for fresh spinach.  I figured, why not.  Now, the price for spinach was by the kilogram.  When asked how much spinach I wanted, I froze. Extreme panic set in as I scrambled to try and remember what the other delineations of metric weight were.  There are milligrams, centigrams, decigrams, grams, something, something, kilograms.   I had literally no idea how much spinach I wanted nor did I know what measure I should use in the purchase.  So I told the gypsy ‘Ein Kilo’ – one kilo.  That is a lot of spinach.  After cramming a plastic shopping bag full of spinach he looked at me and told me it wasn’t quite a kilo, and did I want it anyways.  I nodded yes. (Similar to my tomato experience this summer).  I completely forgot that I could order the spinach the EXACT SAME way I do here – half a kilo, a quarter kilo, all would have worked just as well.  And if I had managed to remember hectogram I’m sure the gypsy would have thought I was even more crazy. 

So in honor of accidentally ordering way too much spinach, I would like to share the following recipe with you.

A friend of mine made this last winter, and I have been mildly obsessed with it ever since.  The original recipe is a bit different and calls for more ingredients.  Personally, I like this simple version and I don’t think you miss out on any flavor.

Green Quinoa
As adapted from Martha Rose Shulman, New York Times

1 box frozen chopped spinach, thawed
1 ¾ c water, divided
1 small onion, diced
1 Tb olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 c quinoa, rinsed if necessary
Salt

In a blender or food processor, combine spinach and ¾ cup water and puree.  There will still be some chunks of spinach, but as long as it is mostly liquefied, it will be fine.

In a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, sauté the onion in the olive oil until translucent, about 5 minutes.  Next add garlic, quinoa and a pinch of salt.  Sauté about 3 more minutes, stirring constantly to toast the quinoa.  Add in remaining one cup of water, bring to a simmer, cover and cook for about 5 minutes.  Next add in the spinach puree, and another pinch of salt.  Bring to a simmer, cover and cook for about 15 to 20 minutes, or until the quinoa is cooked and the liquid is absorbed.  Fluff with a fork , check for seasonings and serve.

Holy Guacamole!

Ah an excuse to eat Tex-Mex food and drink coronas, not that you need an excuse, but it is nice to have one every now and again. Any holiday with an emphasis on food is ok by me. So really, most holidays are ok by me.

I think I really managed to get into the celebration of Cinco de Mayo while in college, because various bars would offer large quantities of Coronas in a bucket for one very low price. This of course is not the true meaning of Cinco de Mayo, but who am I to complain?

In case you don’t have such beverage opportunities where you are, and you plan to stay in and celebrate, I have a recipe for you. You see a couple of summer’s ago, my friends decided to have a guacamole competition – a Guacamol-off.

I traveled from Maine down to the Jersey shore bringing with me knives, bowls, cutting boards, spoons and one profane apron I received as a gift; all the necessary accoutrements to produce a winning guacamole. Yes, that’s right I said winning.

Now, don’t think I took this lightly. I made 4 different versions of guacamole and forced my coworkers to sample and rate each and every one before I determined what my entry into the Guacamol-off would be. And, if you have ever tried to purchase avocados in Maine, this was no cheap feat. Plus my indecisiveness and waffling between recipes made this whole process far more all-encompassing than necessary.

All the entries in the Guacamol-off

However, when the time came, we got down to business. There was guacamole making on counters, tables, chairs and ledges both inside and outside. Voting was based on appearance, flavor and something else (I forgot), then the totals were tallied and winners announced. I know it was a close contest, and that I only won by one or two points (and I’m sure that forcing your boyfriend to vote for you doesn’t hurt either). But I am confident that you will like this guacamole. Oh and in case you were wondering if I won anything - my prizes included maracas, a sombrero, mardi gras beads, and a bottle of tequila. 

The winning guagamole

A lot of good guacamole was had that day, and in honor of guacamole and Cinco de Mayo I have decided to share this recipe with you. The inspiration for it came from a coworker of Joe’s while we were in California. He had brought in a mango to work and sprinkled it with the Chipotle flavored Tabasco sauce. When Joe tried it, he fell in love. I thought it might be a nice addition to my standard guacamole. So if you too are entered into a guacamole competition, feel free to use this recipe; as long as you are willing to share your winnings with me.

Mango Chipotle Guacamole

2 large cloves of garlic
1 tsp. kosher salt
3 ripe avocados
1/3 c. finely diced red onion
1/2 bunch cilantro, chopped
1 ripe mango, in a small dice*
Juice of 2 limes (or more if necessary)
½ tsp. Chipotle Tabasco sauce

Crush the garlic with the side of your knife and remove the skin. Roughly chop the garlic and then sprinkle salt over it. Using the side of your knife, work the salt into the garlic until a paste forms. Scoop this up and place in a bowl.

To use the avocados, run your knife all the way around the avocado, while touching the pit. Then twist the two halves and pull apart. To remove the pit, firmly whack your knife into the center of the pit, and then twist the pit and pull it out of the avocado while it is attached to your knife. Then, you can slip the pit off the blade and repeat with the other avocado. Scoop the avocado flesh into the bowl with the garlic and salt mixture. Begin to mash the avocado with a fork or potato masher.

Next, add the red onion, cilantro and mango. Stir slightly to combine. Then add in the lime juice and Tabasco. Taste, and add more lime juice, Tabasco or salt if necessary. Serve immediately or sprinkle with more lime juice, and cover with plastic wrap so that the plastic touches the top of the guacamole and refrigerate until ready to serve.


*To cut the mango, hold the mango so that the narrow side is facing you. Run your knife parallel to the length of the mango, moving it out if you hit the pit. Once you know where the pit is, cut the remaining 3 sides of the mango in the same manner.

Then, score the mango into the size chunks you want, being careful to not piece the skin. Pull the skin down, like you are trying to open the mango, and the squares of flesh should pull apart from one another. Then use your knife to cut along the skin and the cut squares of mango should release. You can then cut these squares smaller if so desired.

Stuffing To Impress

First, let me apologize for the potential dirtiness of this post’s title. I don’t mean it that way. Rather, I am talking about trying to impress people with your culinary skills. Stuffing one food item into another food item is always impressive. It can be a duck stuffed inside a chicken stuffed inside a turkey, or something simpler like stuffed artichokes or stuffed peppers. However you stuff it – it’s always impressive.

This is a good point to keep in mind especially when you really want some oohs and ahhs the next time you bring a dish to a potluck or host a party. And let’s be honest, sometimes you just want a few marveled guests to stare at you incredulously as they bite into the spectacular stuffed dish you produced.

The only problem to this end result is of course actually producing something spectacular. I find that when I need to bring something to a party I either, give myself zero time, have ten other things I am supposed to do prior to or during the party or I completely blank on something to make and wind up bringing something safe.

Well, my friends, here is a recipe to use in those kinds of situations! Granted, this does take a lot of time to do, but you can space it out over a few days which will ease the labor a bit. I have made these now approximately 3 times. Each time, specifically to impress people.

The first time was around my college graduation. I was making appetizers to bring over to an extended relative’s house for a mini graduation party. This might not seem too bad, except I had invited my new boyfriend’s parents over as well. Not only did I need to plan the party, and make the appetizers, but I had to seem effortless at it. I think I managed to pull it off, since only a select few people saw me choking on a burger while running from work, to pick up graduation tickets, to run home to shower to meet my parents to go for a drink at the cookbook author’s house and then to go to dinner with friends and family. Somewhere in between all those things, I managed to make these.

The next time I made these, was to impress now steady boyfriend’s extended family at Thanksgiving dinner across the country. Being in California, I felt I needed to be a bit snooty about presentation and the dish itself, so this worked out perfectly. I needn’t have worried about this as much, because after helping to make many of the side dishes for the night and after washing a very large pile of dishes, I proved my worth.

And then, most recently I made these this past weekend. Not to impress people, but just for something different and a little fancy. I know this doesn’t seem like a lot of recipe testing, but I promise the end result does not disappoint.

So as we approach the season for graduations, bridal showers and baby showers, keep this recipe in mind. A platter of these will impress even the most calloused of guests.

Middle Eastern Stuffed Grape Leaves
As adapted from The New American Cooking by Joan Nathan
I have not quite figured out the prefect ratio of filling to leaves. I recommend you buy two jars of leaves, or halve the amount of ingredients. But I like the filling, and tend to eat it as a side dish for other meals. The recipe is not difficult, but it takes a long time. So if you can, make the rice the evening before and then roll the leaves and steam them.

Makes about 50 grape leaves. Oh and by the way, this recipe happens to be vegan.

¾ c. olive oil
3 medium onions, diced (about 2 cups)
2 cups brown rice
½ c. pine nuts
1/3 c. dried currants
5 cups water
1 Tb. dried mint
2 Tb. dried dill
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. all spice
1 tsp. ground pepper
1 Tb. salt
2 tsp. sugar
2 16 oz. jars of grape leaves
2 ½ lemons

In a large pot, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Sauté the onions until translucent, about 5 minutes and add rice, stirring regularly about 10 minutes. Add 4 cups water and simmer, covered about 15 minutes, then add the pine nuts and currants, continue to simmer another 25 minutes, until rice is cooked and most of the water is absorbed. Add spices and sugar, stir to combine.

Cover the pot with a paper towel, and then replace the lid. Allow to cool, about 30 minutes, or overnight.

Drain and rinse leaves, carefully separating each leaf. Soak leaves in a bowl of cold water for about 5 minutes. Drain leaves, and sprinkle with lemon juice from one of the lemons. While separating the leaves, keep aside any torn leaves. Use these to line the bottom of a large heavy bottomed pot, with the dull side of the leaves facing up.

To stuff a grape leaf, place it dull side up on your work surface with the stem closest to you. Spoon some of the rice mixture (about 1 tsp, or less depending on the size of the leaf) into the bottom third, center of the leaf.

Fold up the stem side of the leaf over the rice, then fold each side of the leaf in towards the center over the rice mixture. While holding these in place on the rice, gently roll the leaf away from you. Place the bundle seam side down into the pan. As you continue to roll the leaves, place them snugly next to each other, until one layer is complete. Then place new leaves in a second layer alternating from the bottom layer (like bricks). Sprinkle with the juice of one lemon. Add in the remaining 1 cup of water, and use a few of the remaining leaves to cover the rolled ones. Place a small plate on top to weigh them all down.

Cover the pot with its lid, and simmer over medium-low heat for 30 minutes. Allow to cool in pot until ready to serve. When ready to serve, move grape leaves to a platter and sprinkle with juice of ½ a lemon.