Sweetsop Sorbet

What the heck is a sugar apple? That's what I first thought when my dad showed up in the kitchen with two of them, and after a quick Google search (which is where I found the pic), I found out their common name is "sweetsop". I had asked my dad to surprise me with something I had never tried in a recipe before, and I definitely had never seen OR tasted these. They taste like a strange mix between a really sweet pear, and something else, that I cant quite put my finger on. I decided to make sorbet out of it, mixed with strawberries. Delicious!

I don't have a picture...we ate it so fast that there wasn't time. To make it, 2 sweetsops, 1 cup of frozen strawberries (the last flat from the market!), 1/2 a cup of water, less than 1/4 of a cup of brown sugar.

Next time I make this (and there will be a next time believe me...) I might not use any sugar at all, it was really sweet!

Recipe Catch Up, and Vegan Cabbage Rolls

I'd like to say the reason I've been away is that I've been super busy, but I haven't really. Today I made vegan cabbage rolls which were delicious! Initially they were a bit sage-y, but after a couple bites I didn't even notice it. Maybe I'd reduce the amount by half next time.

Ingredients

1 big ol' cabbage

Filling

1 pound of mixed chickpeas, kidney and black beans

7 mushrooms, chopped

2 onions, chopped

3 cloves of garlic, chopped

2 cups of cooked mixed wild and brown rice

about a tbsp of olive oil

2 tbsp of sage (I would think about reducing it by half)

2 tsp oregano

thyme ( used the last little bit in the jar...not a measurable amount)

1 tbsp of Bragg's soy sauce

3 tbsp of water

pepper to taste

Sauce

2 tins of low sodium tomato sauce (the kind with just tomatoes...nothing fancy)

1 the juice of one large lemon

1 tsp of dill

2 tbsp of maple syrup

pepper to taste

1 tsp of chili pepper

1 tsp of garlic powder

1 tsp of onion powder

Method

Filling

Saute the oil, onion and garlic until softened.

Add mushrooms and saute for another 3-5 minutes

Add the bean mixture, and the spices, water, soy sauce, mix well.

Blend the bean mixture just a bit, DON'T PUREE IT! You want it to have the consistency of regular cabbage roll filling, not a smoothie...

Sauce

Bring the tomato sauce to a simmer on the stove, add lemon juice, spices, maple syrup. Cover and let simmer until you are ready to pour over the cabbage rolls.

Core the cabbage (I had to Google how to this)

Bring a large pot of water to a boil, and lower the cabbage into the water.

Soon the cabbage leaves will begin to come off, and using tongs, remove the leaves from the water. Let cool on a plate.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Once all the leaves are off, scoop a big spoonful of the filling and roll up like a burrito.

Place all of the cabbage rolls in a roasting pan and cover with the sauce.

Cook for about 40 minutes.

I know it seems like a lot of steps, but I had a lot of fun making these, and they were delicious.

I also tried making Jae Steel's Vegan Quiche (although I omitted the crust) and it was delicious! My family of non-vegans loved it too, so you should try it! I also tried an up and coming muffin recipe from her cookbook Ripe from Around Here. So damn good!

Blueberry Spelt Pancakes

Ingredients

2 cups of spelt flour

1 tsp of baking soda

2 cups of soy milk

1 cup of fresh blueberries

Maple Syrup

1 banana, and chopped strawberries (optional)

Method

Mix flour and baking soda in a bowl, add in soy milk (you could also use almond milk, or non-dairy milk of choice) and mix well.

Drop in your blueberries and stir.

Heat a pan to medium heat (I used a non stick pan, otherwise use a bit of oil to prevent sticking).

Drop 1/4 of a cup of the batter at a time into the pan. When you see bubbles and the edges beginning to to golden, flip the pancake. Continue on making pancakes!

When they were all done, I chopped up a banana and some strawberries, and topped off my pancakes with them as well as some maple syrup. They were pretty darn great.

Enjoy!

Brownie Points

My big sister is graduating from university! And what better way to say congrats than with a big ol' brownie? Also there's another big surprise coming for her, but she doesn't know yet! I thought these were cool because I used a sweet potato, which thickened the batter but kept it healthy. Well, they were healthy until I added the icing. Which was delicious, and how often do you graduate any way?

Ingredients

flax egg replacer (2 tbsp)

1 small sweet potato (makes 3/4 cup once cooked and blended)

1/2 cup of water

1/2 cup Canadian Maple Syrup

1/2 cup carob powder

2 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup spelt flour

3/4 cup kamut flour

1 cup brown sugar

1/4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp of cinnamon

1/4 tsp of salt

optional: a small handful each of almonds and cashews (chop them)

Icing

I ended up making too much for the brownies, so next time I would halve the recipe.

1/2 cup Earth Balance vegan margarine

1/2 cup of maple syrup

1/2 cup of carob powder

vanilla, almond, and maple extracts.

Play around with the consistency of the ingredients, you want the mixture spreadable and not runny, but also not too buttery. You may have to add more carob powder.

Blend all ingredients together, spread on your cooled brownies and refrigerate.

Method

Preheat oven to 350F

Peel, chop into small pieces, and cook the sweet potato.

Blend with a hand blender and measure out 3/4 of a cup worth

Blend together sweet potato, water, maple syrup, carob powder (you may also use cacao) flax egg mix, and vanilla.

In another bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Stir together, then add in the blended wet mixture. Once it is all mixed well, you may add the optional nuts.

Prepare a small square baking pan (I used an 8 by 9 pan) and pour mixture into the pan. Pop into the oven and let bake for about 40 minutes, or until a test stick comes out clean. Let cool.

Enjoy!

Wow it's definitely been a while! In the last two weeks I've barely left my bed because of the crazy fever I've had. I've made some interesting "fever soups" which I can only say were born out of feverish, hungry thoughts that weren't too picky what I ate, as long as it was warm, vegan, and warm. But I'm on the road to recovery, and felt like doing a little proper baking.

I'm really pleased with the results of these cookies, I didn't use a set recipe, rather a bunch of different inspirations online. I'll try to remember what I did.

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups of kamut and spelt flours (equal mix)
1/4 of a cup corn starch
1/2 cup of carob powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 a banana, blended
1/2 a tsp salt
carob nibs (about 2 handfuls)

1/2 cup canola oil
about 1/2 cup maple syrup
1/2 cup apple sauce
1/2 cup of coffee (I used decaf)
about 2 handfuls of carob and chocolate chips

Method

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
Mix dry ingredients in a bowl.
Mix wet ingredients, including blended banana in another bowl.
Add wet to dry, and add in carob nibs.

Grease a baking pan, scoop about a tbsp at a time on to the pan.
Bake for about 12 minutes, let cool and enjoy!

Raw Sping Salad

I've been sick for the last little while, so I've been slacking off on cooking and trying new recipes, I thought up this one while I was at work today. This was a quick, but extremely tasty salad to make. I soaked the frozen corn and peas before hand, grated carrot and raw beet, chopped up two green onions, about 1/4 of a large tomato, fresh parsley, as well as a navel orange. I used a small scoop of Dijon mustard for dressing, and was thinking about adding some sunflower or pumpkin seeds too.

Baaaack!

The last 6 days were some of the most kick ass days I've had in a looong time! A couple of my friends and I headed back to Asbury Park and New York, with our trip centered around a couple shows: the Gaslight Anthem (opening bands the Good Old War and Pela), and the Bouncing Souls (Black President, the Loved Ones).

For Gaslight, we stayed in Asbury Park, NJ. I loved that place, we found an amazing restaurant called the Twisted Tree, which served delicious vegetarian and vegan food (with gluten free options too!). The staff was friendly, and apparently on certain days musicians played in a little corner. If you're vegan and in Asbury, check it out!

In New York I relied on a lot of nuts for my meals, but we went to a great place called Risotteria, which was a gluten free restaurant. Not a lot was vegan, but I ordered the same delicious salad I offered the year before, and once again I was not disappointed! We also were able to find some gluten free beer, which was a nice way to end off the trip. We also went to an amazing bakery called Babycakes. We went there last year, and loved it so much we made sure to go back again. One of my pals loves these cupcakes so much, she bought a cookbook, so I can't wait to reap the benefits!!

Here are the chocolate, gluten free, vegan cupcakes I enjoyed:

Unfortunately for me, I feel like a donkey is trying to kick its way out of my head, and I had a fever of 100degrees F last night. So I'm laying low today. But here's yesterday's quick dinner: my attempt at fresh rolls!

Just use rice paper (soak) and finely chopped vegetables (I used red, yellow and orange peppers, a green mango, green onions, and parsley). To dip I made a quickie version similar to the ones I've tasted in restaurants: something sweet, spicy and vinegary.

Enjoy!

Here are the links to the two restaurants and Babycakes

http://www.twistedtreecafe.com/

http://www.risotteria.com/

http://www.babycakesnyc.com/