Baked Beet Chips

Crunchy chips are one of my great loves so why not make it healthier & feed my obsession with beet chips instead?  As mentioned in an earlier post, I like to convince myself that certain foods are healthier because of such & such.  Well, these chips are healthier because they are baked; full of vitamins A, C, & various Bs; a vegetable; abundantly filled with antioxidants so who wouldn't want some of these puppies?

Yum!

 

Baked Beet Chips

Beets, peeled

Olive oil

Salt, to taste

- Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.

- Slice beets to no more than 2mm in thickness.

- Lightly toss beets in olive oil & salt.  (I was a little too generous with the olive oil.)

- Place on a baking sheet & bake for about 30 minutes until crispy.

Leftover Easter Candy Equals Cookies

What to do with leftover Easter candy?  What to do?  Oh, I know!  Cookies!  Yum, right?  I was perusing the aisles at Target around Easter time when I came across white chocolate M&Ms.  I do not particularly care for white chocolate (I mean it's not even real chocolate!) but I never knew they existed in M&M form so I bought a bag to try out.  As suspected, they were too sweet for my liking so I used decided to turn them into cookies - white chocolate raspberry cookies, to be exact, & what an excellent decision that was.

White Chocolate Raspberry Cookies

2 & 1/4 cups white flour
2 ts baking powder
1/2 ts salt
5/8 cup unsalted butter, cold
5/8 cup light brown sugar
5/8 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1 ts vanilla extract

1/2 cup dried raspberries

1 cup white chocolate M&Ms 

- Combine flour, baking soda & powder, & salt into a bowl.
- In a separate bowl, beat butter & sugars until creamy and fluffy. 
- Add egg & incorporate well.
- Add vanilla extract & mix.
- On low speed, add flour mixture & mix until just combined.
- Carefully add dried raspberries & white chocolate without breaking them.
- Chill dough for 24 hours.
- Preheat oven to 350F.
- Grab a spoonful of dough, roll into a golf-sized ball & place on baking sheet.
- Bake for 12-15 minutes.

Super Thin Crust

This recipe inspired me this past March so I set out to make it the same week I found the recipe but with my own take on it & it turned out absolutely delicious!  

Cherry Tomato, Coppa & Arugula Super Thin Crust Pizza

1 package Trader Joe's herb focaccia dough

1/2 cup tomato sauce

1/2 cup halved bocconcini (small mozzarella balls)

8 slices coppa

3 cups arugula

1 cup cherry tomatoes

10 fresh basil leaves

- Preheat oven to 500 degrees Fahrenheit.

- Divide dough into four equal portions.  Take each portion & roll it out on a flat surface as thin as you can without breaking the dough when you lift it up.  I was able to get mine to about 1-2mm.

- Place rolled out dough onto a baking sheet or pizza stone.

- Spread tomato sauce on all four pizzas.

- Spread the remaining ingredients equally amongst the pizzas.

- Bake for 10-12 minutes, depending on how crispy you like your crust.

NOTE: The secret to making crispy thin crust pizza is to bake them at extremely high temperatures.

Vegan Butternut Squash Bread

Going grocery shopping when you have a hungry tummy is NEVER a good idea - especially when you go to Costco where everything portioned for giants or for a family of ten.  What happens when I go to Costco on an empty stomach?  I end up purchasing almost everything that looks delicious within sight.  This time around my Costco loot included a really large container of pre-cut butternut squash.  It was never on my grocery list but I saw it & my stomach told me I had to have it despite the quantity of squash per container. What do I do with all that squash?  How about bread?  

I love my sweets but I tend to like my level of sweetness to be on the low to mid-range so if that is your level as well then you will absolutely love this bread.  Baked goods are not exactly healthy but I like to rationalize & convince myself that certain baked goods are fine.  Should one eat a chocolate chip cookie?  Well, it has chocolate which has antioxidants & that is good for our bodies.  Should one eat a scone?  Sure, the raspberries in it provide antioxidants, manganese, iron, fiber, & vitamin C! Well, how about butternut squash bread?  Um, yeah!  It has plenty of fiber, magnesium, potassium, as well as vitamins A, C, & E!  Who wouldn't want all that awesome nutrition for your body? 

So let us all make some butternut squash bread to get our nutrition!  

Vegan Butternut Squash Bread

2 & 1/2 cups cooked & pureed butternut squash
1/2 cup canola oil (or butter for vegan-less)
3 tb ground flax seed & 9 tb water (or 3 large eggs for vegan-less)
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
3 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pumpkin spice

- Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

- Lightly grease & flour two loaf pans.

- Beat sugars, oil, flax seed, & water on high for a few minutes until thoroughly combined.

- Add squash & mix on medium-low speed until thoroughly combined.

- Add the remaining ingredients & mix on low speed until thoroughly combined.

- Pour into both loaf pans & bake for about 50 minutes or a toothpick comes out clean.

Spicy Bamboo & Tofu Chow Ho Fun (筍子豆干炒河粉)

I present to you tonight's dinner - 筍子豆干炒河粉!  I have been craving spicy bamboo & tofu so I was originally just going to make a side dish with that but I saw 炒河粉 (rice noodle) at the market & immediately bought it to make a main dish out of the spicy bamboo & tofu.  For those of you who are not familiar with 炒河粉, it is a wide & flat rice noodle.  This noodle is quite versatile & popular in both Cantonese & Mandarin cuisine.  I grew up eating it both ways which are both equally scrumptious.  

筍子豆干炒河粉 - Spicy Bamboo & Tofu Chow Ho Fun

2 cups fresh bamboo shoot, sliced

2 cups Chinese five-spice tofu, sliced

1/2 package chow ho fun (炒河粉)

2 stalks green onion, chopped into 1" in length

1 & 1/2 tb sesame oil

2 tb chili oil

3 tb light soy sauce

- Heat oils & soy sauce on medium low heat in a saute pan.

- Add tofu & bamboo shoot.  Stir until sesame & chili oils are fragrant.

- Add chow ho fun & green onion.  Mix until the noodles are cooked.  You can cook it longer if you'd like some of the noodles slightly crispy.

I love Chinese food!  I grew up eating this cuisine & most dishes are simple to make.   

Bacon Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ooops!  Looks like I never finished posted this recipe from over a year ago!

The bacon-in-sweets craze has come upon society!  Why not join in on the festivities & make some bacon chocolate chip cookies.  I adapted this from Jacques Torres' chocolate chip cookies recipe which I had posted about here.  WARNING - This may contribute to high-cholesterol levels since I even used all the grease from the bacon in the batter.  :D

Bacon Chocolate Chip Cookies

5 strips bacon, the fattiest you can find

2 cups minus 2 tb cake flour
1 & 2/3 cups bread flour
1 & 1/4 ts baking soda
1 & 1/2 ts baking powder
1 & 1/2 ts coarse salt (I used sea salt)
1 & 1/8 cups unsalted butter, cold
1 & 1/4 cups light brown sugar
1 cup & 2 tb granulated sugar
2 eggs
2 ts vanilla extract
1 & 1/4 lb chocolate disks (at least 60% cacao)
Sea salt

- Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

- Mince bacon & fry until extra crispy.

- Separate the bacon from the grease/oil.  Important!  Keep the leftover bacon grease! 

- Combine and sift flours, baking soda & powder, and salt into a bowl.
- In a separate bowl, beat butter, bacon grease, and sugars until creamy and fluffy.  About 4-5 minutes.
- Add one egg at a time and incorporate well after each addition.
- Add vanilla extract and mix.
- On low speed, add 1/2 flour mixture & 1/2 fried bacon.  Mix until just combined.  

- Add & mix the remaining flour mixture & bacon to the dough until just combined.
- Carefully add chocolate disks without breaking them.
- Now here comes the most difficult part (especially for those with no patience like yours truly) - Chill dough for 24 hours.
- Preheat oven to 350F.
- Grab a spoonful of dough, roll into a golf-sized ball and place on baking sheet.
- Sprinkle a little sea salt on top of cookie.
- Bake for 18-20 minutes.

Vegan Chocolate Mocha Banana Bread

This is my vegan version of banana bread but ingredients can easily be substituted if you prefer dairy & eggs in your baked goods.  

Vegan Chocolate Mocha Banana Bread

4 very ripe medium bananas, peeled & mashed

1/2 cup agave syrup

1/4 cup canola oil

1/4 cup almond milk

1 tb ground flax seed + 3 tb water (or 1 egg)

1 & 1/2 cup flour

1 ts instant espresso powder

1 & 1/2 ts baking soda

1 ts sea salt

1 cup chocolate chips

- Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit & lightly grease & flour a loaf pan.

- Mix all wet ingredients together until thoroughly combined.

- Add remaining ingredients except for the chocolate chips & stir until just combined.

- Fold in chocolate chips.

- Pour into the loaf pan & bake for an hour or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean or in my case - almost clean as I like mine slightly mushy.

The espresso powder adds depth to the bread & gives me that caffeine kick to start my mornings.

 

Spicy Vegan White Chili

I have been adhering to a vegetarian diet when cooking at home so I have been coming up with different ways of making sure my body has the protein it needs.  My main source of protein has been dairy & tofu.  I absolutely love both but it's about time I venture out to other proteins so here come the beans!  This turned out wonderful & I'd make it again & again because it is easy, delicious & requires few seasonings as most of the flavor comes from the spicy Field Roast sausages.

Spicy Vegetarian White Chili

1/2 cup white beans
1/2 cup pinto beans
4 Field Roast Mexican Chipotle sausages, sliced
1/2 cup frozen carrots, cubed
2 cups baby kale
1/2 onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tb dried parsley
1 ts celery seed
7 cups water
2 & 1/2 cups vegetable broth

- Toss everything into a slow cooker 7-8 hours on low.

See, I told you it's easy!  I love my slow cooker.  Whoever invented it, you're genius!!!

Modified 韭菜盒子- Jiucai Hezi - Chinese Chive Pastries (Without the Pastry)

One of my favorite foods is 韭菜盒子, also known as Chinese chive pastries.  The smell & taste of Chinese chive pastries always bring back such sweet memories of my grandmother in the kitchen.  I consider her to be my muse whenever I cook mainland Chinese & Taiwanese food.  I always try to make my food as good as hers but I have never managed to succeed in doing so - it must be because I'm missing that secret & awesome grandma ingredient. 

I decided to recreate a healthier version 韭菜盒子 by omitting the meat & pastry as well as replacing bean thread / Chinese vermicelli with quinoa (the leftover quinoa from my vegan sweet potato & quinoa muffin foray).  Turned out so delicious!  I will post my actual 韭菜盒子 recipe sometime in the near future.

As you all know, I am making an effort to eat healthier (of which I have failed to do on several occasions) so that I can beat my friends in this weight throwdown, gloat in their faces, & donate the winnings to Not For Sale - a non-profit organization that aims to bring awareness to modern-day slavery.  I highly recommend everyone to take a moment to educate themselves on modern-day slavery.  So many of us lead extremely blessed lives because we have the freedom to be happy but not everyone has such freedom.  We, humans, are compassionate creatures & should care for one another - not take advantage of one another for our own benefits. 

Modified 韭菜盒子- Jiucai Hezi -  Chinese Chive Filling

1 & 1/4 cups quinoa, cooked

1/2 lb Chinese chives(韭菜 - jiucai), chopped

4 squares Chinese five-spice tofu (豆干 - dougan), chopped

4 eggs, scrambled

3 ts salt

1 tb sesame oil

1/4 ts white pepper

- Saute everything together on medium-low heat until Chinese chives are fragrant.

So easy!

Vegan Sweet Potato & Quinoa Muffins

I'm sure it is quite obvious that I love carbohydrates so I made another attempt to at least put a little bit of "health" into my carbs.  I had a lonely sweet potato that had been left out of my quiche with sweet potato crust so I decided to make vegan sweet potato & quinoa muffins.  *Nomnomnom*  Of course I ended up with left over quinoa so a savory quinoa recipe will follow this one.  

Vegan Sweet Potato & Quinoa Muffins

1 & 1/4 cups wheat flour

2/3 cups brown sugar

1 ts pumpkin spice
1 ts baking powder

1 ts salt
3/4 cup cooked quinoa
1 cup almond milk
1 sweet potato, cooked & mashed (skin discarded)

4 tb Earth Balance spread, melted
2 ts vanilla extract
1 tb canola oil

Topping

1/3 cup slivered almonds
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 tb wheat flour
1/2 ts pumpkin spice
2 tb Earth Balance spread, melted 

Makes 12 muffins.

- Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.

- Combine wheat flour, brown sugar, pumpkin spice, baking powder, & salt in a bowl.

- Thoroughly mix sweet potato, almond milk, Earth Balance spread, vanilla extract, & canola oil in a separate bowl.  

- Slowly mid the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients.  Stir until just combined.

- Fold in cooked quinoa.

- In a separate bowl, combine all the topping ingredients.

- Either grease & flour a muffin pan or use cupcake liners.

- Fill 3/4 of each compartment with the batter & top with the almond topping.

- Bake for 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into a muffin comes out clean.

Yuuuummmmmm!!!

Black Sesame Yogurt Pound Cake

I have been on an Asian kick lately so here's a modified black sesame version of the matcha yogurt pound cake. 

 

Black Sesame Yogurt Pound Cake

1 & 1/2 cups yogurt

2 & 1/4 cups sifted wheat flour, plus more for flouring the pan

1 cup ground black sesame
1⁄2 ts salt
1⁄2 ts baking soda
1 & 1/2 cups sugar
4 large eggs

 2 ts vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk (you can also make buttermilk by mixing 1 cup milk & 2 tb vinegar & letting it rest 5 minutes)

- Preheat oven to 300 degrees Fahrenheit.

- Grease & flour a bundt pan.

- Combine flour, black sesame, salt, & baking soda in a bowl.

- Beat yogurt & sugar together until well combined in a separate bowl. 

- Add eggs in & beat until well combined.

- Mix in vanilla.

- Add a third of the flour mixture into the yogurt mixture & beat on low speed until well combined.

- Add a third of the buttermilk in & beat on low speed until well combined.

- Repeat the above two steps until all the flour mixture & buttermilk are well incorporated into the batter.

- Bake in the oven for 60 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.