Mini Blood Orange Tarts with Coconut Cream

I was so ready for spring produce after a fall and winter full of root veggies, apples, and citrus.  Strawberries are slowly starting to trickle into our markets here, but for some reason, there is still an abundance of blood oranges and other citrus.  Instead of buying early season, somewhat over-priced strawberries, I decided to get some blood oranges.  I'm glad I did because they inspired this delicious little dessert. 

These tarts have a few flavors and textures going on.  The crust is nutty and buttery while the coconut cream is light and sweet in constrast to the bright, tart slice of juicy blood orange.  And, in addition to the wonderful flavors and textures going on, these are gluten free, grain free, vegan, and refined sugar free!  So, enjoy these little cuties without any guilt, even if you eat 2 as your breakfast... 

Mini Blood Orange Tarts with Coconut Cream
notes: make sure your coconut milk is full fat (not lite) and chill it overnight or for at least 6 hours.  Also, I use un-bleached cupcake/muffin liners which release from the tart shells quite easily.   

2 cups almond meal/flour
pinch of fine grain sea salt
1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
2 tbsp maple syrup (or agave)
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

1/2 can of full fat coconut milk, chilled
splash of maple syrup
pinch of fine grain sea salt

2 small blood oranges, peel & pith removed, sliced into about 1/4" rounds

Make the tart shells: Preheat your oven to 350F.  In a bowl, mix together the almond meal and salt.  In a separate small bowl, whisk together the oil, syrup, and vanilla until combined.  Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix with a wooden spoon or spatula until the dough comes together.  It should come together into a ball and stick together.  Line a standard muffin tin with 6 liners and then divide the dough evenly between each.  Using your fingers, press the dough in the liners to create your tart shells.  Bake them for 15-20 minutes until the edges are golden.  Let them cool completely before using.

Make the coconut cream: Put your chilled coconut milk (it should be very thick) in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment (you can also do this with a hand mixer fitted with the beater attachments).  Beat the coconut milk on medium-high until it just starts to gain volume and thicken.  Stop the mixer and add the maple syrup and salt.  Start the mixer again on medium-high and beat until the coconut milk has more than doubled in volume and medium peaks form (it should be somewhere between a soft peak and a stiff peak).  Use the mixture immediately or chill until ready to use.

Assemble your mini tarts: Remove the wrappers from the tart shells.  Place a large dollop of the coconut cream in the shell, and then top with a slice or two or blood orange.  If you want to get a bit fancier, you could layer the coconut cream and slice of blood orange twice to give the dessert a bit of height.  Makes 6 mini tarts.  Enjoy!

Shredded Brussel Sprout Salad

Traveling a lot for work = eating out a lot = a growing craving for whole foods and raw vegetables/fruits.  This little equation is why I don't have any lovely baked goods for you today.  But, I promise to get on that as soon as the weekend arrives! :)

When I'm home, I don't really eat meat (I rarely buy it at the store) or processed foods.  I eat a lot of grains, fruits, and veggies.  After being gone for several days, I was craving something raw, fresh, and delicious.  This salad came together with the few things I had in my fridge, plus a homemade mustard-y vinaigrette.  It was rather simple, but a revelation in taste.  It's light, crisp, refreshing, tangy, salty, and sweet all at once.  If you've never tried a salad with shredded brussel sprouts, consider this your introduction. 


Shredded Brussel Sprout Salad
I ate this entire thing for my lunch, but it can serve 2 as a side.  To make it vegan, leave out the feta.

7 or 8 large brussel sprouts, cleaned and trimmed/core removed
1 orange
2 handfuls of sliced almonds, toasted
feta cheese (optional)
smoked sea salt or fleur de sel

1 tbsp mustard
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
3 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp agave

After you have washed and trimmed your brussel sprouts, use a sharp knife to remove the core.  Thinly slice the brussel sprouts and set them aside.  Peel your orange and cut it into segments (I did this by peeling my orange with a knife and then cutting out the wedges from between each membrane, also referred to as a "supreme").  Put the brussel sprouts in a bowl and separate the leaves with your fingers.  Top with the oranges, almonds, and feta if using.  In a small clean bowl or jar, mix the mustard, vinegar, oil, and agave.  Drizzle a bit of the dressing over the salad, sprinkle with sea salt, and Enjoy!



Wild Rice Salad & Honey Ginger Dressing

I feel like it's been ages since I last posted, but it's only been 5 days.  I haven't had much time to bake and test for my shop this week, which means I have not made anything for this here blog.  The time that I did have to bake was last night and I had not one but two fails.  It was a bit discouraging, as it always is, but I can only continue to plug along, knowing that at some point, I will get it right.  I have found that the mistakes, flops, and fails only make me want to do this more.  My first reaction is to get upset and frustrated, but once that subsides, I have this desire to do it again (and again and again, if necessary) until I get it right.  It's the perfectionist in me but it's also my love for baking and wanting to succeed. 

I actually made and photographed this recipe a couple of weeks ago, and had been setting it aside until it was needed.  It might be the last actual recipe for a little while because I will be out of town this weekend and most of the following week.  This recipe is a relatively easy salad that holds up well in the fridge for several days so it's perfect for busy weeks or weekends when you can't find much time to be in the kitchen.  It's completely gluten free and vegan if you use another sweetener in the dressing besides the honey.  Though easy, the recipe does require a few different steps but you can totally spread it out over 2 days to make it even easier.  And, if you don't have wild rice, feel free to use any grain that is convenient.



Wild Rice Salad & Honey-Ginger Dressing
**loosely adapted from this recipe

notes: I ate this topped with some fresh basil one day, and then fresh avocado the next.  Both were equally delicious! 

1/2 cup wild rice, rinsed
1 cup coconut milk plus 1 cup of water

1 cup of freshly grated carrots
1 1/2 cups sugar snap peas, sliced on the diagonal
2 tbsp toasted sesame seeds
1/3 cup toasted flaked coconut (unsweetened)

14-oz package of extra firm tofu, drained and patted dry
splash of soy sauce
1 tbsp coconut oil for pan

1 inch piece of ginger, peeled
2 tbsp honey (or other liquid sweetener such as brown rice syrup)
2 tbsp rice wine vinegar (or apple cider vinegar)
2 tbsp soy sauce or shoyu
1 tbsp liquid coconut oil

For the rice: put the water and coconut milk in a large sauce pan and bring to a boil.  Add the rice, reduce to a simmer, and cover.  Cook it 35-40 minutes, stirring occasionally, until all the liquid is absorbed and the rice is cooked (you will know it's cooked when the grain looks split and white tufts are popping out). 

For the tofu: heat a tbsp of coconut oil over medium heat in a cast iron skillet.  While the skillet is heating, cube the tofu into 1 to 1 1/2 inch cubes.  Add the cubed tofu to the skillet and cook until the bottoms become golden, then flip them over and add a splash or two of soy sauce.  Keep flipping the cubes until all sides are golden and starting to crisp, about 8-10 minutes total. 

For the dressing: using a microplane, grate the ginger into a bowl or small jar.  Add the honey, vinegar, soy sauce or shoyu, and oil.  Whisk or shake until combined, then taste and adjust for seasoning. 

Put it together: toss the rice, tofu, veggies, sesame seeds, coconut, and dressing together until combined.  Serve at room temperature or chilled.  Serves 2-4 people.  Enjoy!

Honeyed Poppyseed Oat Biscuits & Lemony Strawberry Jam

Technically, the first day of spring isn't until Tuesday, but spring has definitely sprung.  Trees and flowers are a-blooming and everything is starting to look lush and green.  I noticed this weekend that the dewberry vines are sprouting their little white flowers which only means one thing:  dewberries aren't far off!!  I just finished off the last of the stash that was in my freezer so until I can get my hands on some more, I'll be anxiously awaiting their arrival. 

Spring's arrival also means different produce.  Not that I don't love citrus fruits, but they do get old after a while.  Strawberries are slowly starting to come into season, so I thought I would try to incorporate some into a quick jam to serve with some biscuits I had been thinking about baking for a while.  I made a quick jam with only strawberries, a bit of honey, and meyer lemon zest and juice.  To go with this sweet and tart jam, I made some honeyed poppyseed oat biscuits that are gluten free and vegan if you swap another sweetener for the honey.  They have a lovely sweetness from the oats and the honey as well as a little crunch from the poppyseeds.  Since I used coconut oil and coconut milk, they also have a hint of coconut.  If both recipes look a little intimidating together, simply make the jam ahead of time and store it in a jar in the refrigerator until ready to use. 

Honeyed Poppyseed Oat Biscuits
notes: If you don't have oat flour, but have whole rolled oats, you can grind them into a flour in your food processor.  Just put them in and grind away until you have a flour-like consistency. 

6 oz (by weight) oat flour, plus a bit more for rolling out the dough
3 oz arrowroot starch or tapioca starch
1 1/2 tsp ground flax seed
1 3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp fine grain sea salt
3 oz cold coconut oil (you can put it in the refrigerator about 30 minutes prior to using it)
6 oz cold coconut milk
2 tbsp honey (or agave if making it vegan)
1 tbsp poppyseeds

Preheat your oven to 350F and line a baking sheet with parchment.  Whisk together the oat flour, arrowroot, flax seed, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl until combined.  Add the cold coconut oil and cut it into the flour mixture with your fingers until the dough looks sandy and crumbly.  Add the coconut milk, poppyseeds, and honey and bring the dough together with a wooden spoon (I like to use a wooden spoon here because it gets quite messy).  The dough should hold together but be a bit sticky.  Generously flour your work surface and dump the dough out onto it.  Sprinkle a bit of flour on the dough and then knead it a few times to bring it together.  Using a rolling pin, roll out the dough to 3/4" to 1" thickness and cut out the biscuits with a circular cutter (I used a 2 5/8" cutter and got 8 biscuits).  Place the biscuits on your lined sheet about 1 1/2 inches apart (they will puff up and spread a bit) and bake for 15 to 20 minutes until they are puffed and the bottoms/edges are golden.  Yields 8 biscuits using a 2 5/8' cutter.  Enjoy!

Quick Lemony Strawberry Jam
this makes roughly a half cup of jam, or enough for the 8 biscuits

1 cup diced fresh strawberries
zest of 1 small lemon
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
about 1 1/2 tbsp honey or agave

Combine everything in a small sauce pan and cook it over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally until the fruits begins to break down and form a thick, jam-like consistency.  This will take around 20 to 25 minutes.  When the jam is done, store it in an airtight container in your refrigerator until you are ready to use it.  Enjoy!

 

Hazelnut + Chocolate Chunk Muffins

Is it just me or is nutella the latest baking trend?  I see recipes daily using nutella in anything from cookies to cakes to brownies.  Even though it's been around for quite a while I guess everyone is starting to take notice.  There's even a commercial with a mom saying nutella provides a "healthy" breakfast for her kids when spread over whole wheat toast.  What the what??!  That's like saying your kids are eating healthy vegetables when you drown fresh broccoli in a pound of fake cheesey sauce.  But, I digress.

I guess the reason I brought up nutella is that it pairs chocolate and hazelnuts together, and if you have ever had this combination, you'll know they were made for each other.  It's kind of like peanut butter and jelly, or broccoli and cheese sauce.... JUST KIDDING!  Seeing as I had a bag of hazelnuts just waiting to be used, and I had been craving something sweet (when am I not??), I made some muffins.  I used both hazelnut meal and toasted chopped hazelnuts, and threw in some coarsely chopped dark chocolate for good measure.  These are more hazelnutty than chocolatey, but you can definitely add more chocolate if you want.  And, I made them gluten free and have listed the vegan substitution in the recipe below.  Let's get to muffin baking!

Hazelnut + Chocolate Chunk Muffins
The measurements below are by weight, so you will need a kitchen scale.  I've been baking a lot lately by weight because it's more accurate and easier to make baked goods gluten free/vegan so go purchase one if you haven't already!

2 oz millet flour
2 oz sorghum flour
3 oz hazelnut meal
1 oz tapioca starch or arrowroot starch
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp fine grain sea salt
1 tsp ground flax or chia seed
8 oz rice milk (or other milk)
4 oz neutral tasting oil such as safflower or grapeseed
2 eggs or 4 oz mashed bananas
4 oz date sugar
1/2 cup dark chocolate, coarsely chopped into chunks (use vegan friendly chocolate if making it vegan)
1/2 cup toasted chopped hazelnuts

Preheat your oven to 350F and line a muffin tin with paper liners.

 Whisk together the flours, baking powder, salt, and ground flax seed.  In a separate bowl, whisk together the milk, eggs, and oil until combined.  Whisk the date sugar into the wet ingredients until it is combined and smooth.  Slowly mix the wet ingredients into the dry until the batter just comes together.  Carefully fold in the hazelnuts and chocolate.  Fill the lined cups about 3/4 full, then bake for 25-35 minutes until the tops are firm and spring back when touched and a tester inserted into the middle comes out clean.  This recipe made 11 muffins in my muffin tin.  Enjoy!

Latest Shop Addition - Dewberry Buckwheat Thumbprints

After what seems like a million tests, my gluten free dewberry buckwheat thumbprints are now available in my shop!  Head on over to check 'em out.

I'll be back later this week with a recipe so stay tuned!

Orange + Carrot Pancakes

As promised, I have a recipe!  I've been trying to focus some time on my etsy shop which means my blog doesn't get as much attention.  I'm hoping to add some new items to my shop in the coming weeks, but I will still (hopefully) be posting a couple of recipes every week. 

Let's get down to pancake business.  I didn't really love pancakes growing up because I think the ones I ate tended to be made from the bisquick box.  Do they even still make bisquick??  I'm shuddering just thinking about that yellow box.  The pancakes weren't terrible, but they weren't great either.  I've seen a lot of healthy pancake mixes popping up on store shelves, but I usually don't spend money on them because I keep a well stocked pantry and the mix would seem a bit superfluous.  Even if you don't have a well stocked pantry, making homemade pancakes from sratch are quite easy, plus, they just taste better to me than a mix.  Maybe it's my mind playing tricks on me or perhaps I am onto something... I'll let you decide.

My mom visited me this past weekend and these pancakes were like my little send off after her lovely visit.  The combination of carrot and orange was inspired by one of my favorite juice combinations (carrot/grapefruit/ginger).  The zestiness and brightness of the orange balances out the sweetness of the carrot and creates quite a lovely combination.  I used teff flour in these so they are quite dark in color, but you can use any combination of flours as long as you keep the total weight the same.  As I made them, they are gluten free, vegan, and refined sugar free. 

Orange + Carrot Whole Grain Pancakes
The batter for these is quite thick, so be sure to flatten it out/spread it out immediately after putting it in the pan.  Once the first side cooks up, it easily flips and is good to go!  I used 2-3 tbsp of batter per pancake, which made about 12 three inch pancakes.  I think it's better to leave these smaller because the thickness of the batter gives them the tendency to want to fall apart.  If you leave them smaller, you'll have no problems :)

4 oz teff flour
2 oz brown rice flour
2 oz millet flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp fine grain sea salt
1/2 tsp ground ginger
4 oz mashed bananas (or 2 eggs)
2 tbsp brown rice syrup
4 oz fresh carrot juice
4 oz rice milk
2 oz warmed coconut oil
zest of 2 small oranges
more oil for cooking the pancakes

Whisk together the flours, baking powder, salt, ginger, and orange zest in a large bowl until combined.  In a separate smaller bowl, whisk together the mashed bananas, brown rice syrup, carrot juice, rice milk, and coconut oil until combined.  Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix until the batter just comes together.  It will be quite thick.  In a skillet over medium heat, add a bit of extra oil and then 2 to 3 tbsp of the batter.  Quickly smooth out the batter (it won't spread much by itself) into a circle and cook until bubbles are showing and the top is puffed, about 2-3 minutes.  Carefully flip the pancake and cook on the other side an additional 1-2 minutes until golden brown.  Continue until the rest of the batter is gone.  Makes about 12 three-inch pancakes.  Enjoy!

Jams on Sale!

Just wanted to pop in and let everyone know that all of my jams are now on sale for only $5.00 so that I can make room for new inventory.  Since spring is here, a lot of lovely produce will be cropping up (pun intended!) and I have a ton of ideas mulling around in my head for jam flavors!  I currently have 3 jars of the spiced pear preserves, 2 jars of the meyer lemon and blueberry jam, and one jar of the wild dewberry jam left.  Head on over to the sweet miscellany etsy shop to check them out!

A Spring Picnic Treasury

Here's a little treasury I created on etsy inspired by a spring picnic.  You can see more of my treasuries here.  Oh, and stay tuned in the next few days for a lovely pancake recipe! 

Photo Updates - Cashew Butter Cookies

I had time to take some new photos of my cashew butter cookies this past weekend.  Slowly but surely my photography skills are improving, but it's still a work in progress. 

In addition to being delicious, the cookies are gluten free, dairy free, and can be made vegan by swapping out the honey per your request.  Check out these cookies below and in my etsy shop!

Cheesey Baked Grains with Caramelized Shallots

I've been meaning to post this recipe for the past few days, but I've been busy with other things, you know, life and such.  It's funny how a few small things can happen and throw things completely out of whack.  Not that things are completely out of whack around here, but It's as though I've had a lot to take care of lately. 

Instead of boring you with the details, I'll share a recipe filled with cheesey goodness.  This recipe is sort of an amalgam of baked macaroni and cheese and a lovely recipe I found on the yellow house blog.  I guess I went through a bit of an obsession with cheesey baked things for a bit because I made this a couple of times, as well as homemade macaroni and cheese in the span of about 2 weeks.  Oh well.  I like cheese.  So, if you are fond of cheese, make this and tell me how you like it!

Cheesey Baked Grains with Caramelized Shallots & Thyme
This recipe has several steps in order to make all of the components, but none of them are hard.  To save time, you can cook your grains a couple of days ahead of time and store them in the fridge.  Also, feel free to toss in any greens you want.  In this version, I used a bit of arugula I had left over, but you can omit the greens altogether.

2 cups cooked grains (rice, quinoa, millet, etc.)
2 large shallots, sliced
about 1/2 tbsp of olive oil
1 tbsp fresh thyme leaves
1 tbsp unsalted butter
2 tbsp spelt flour (or brown rice flour if making gluten free)
1 cup rice milk (or any other kind of milk)
1 1/2 cups grated medium or sharp cheddar cheese (I like the Tillamook brand)
1/2 cup greek yogurt
2 eggs
salt and pepper

Caramelize the shallots --> Heat the olive oil in a pan over medium-low heat.  Add the shallots and a sprinkle of salt and cook, stirring occasionally for about 8-10 minutes until they are brown and caramelized.  Stir in the thyme and then remove from the heat and set aside. 

Make the cheese sauce --> Heat the butter in a sauce pan over medium-low heat until melted, then whisk in the flour.  Keep whisking and cooking the flour and butter for about 1 to 2 minutes, then whisk in the rice milk.  Continue to whisk until everything is smooth and the sauce begins to thicken.  Season it with a bit of salt and pepper.  Add 1 1/4 cups of the grated cheese and whisk the sauce until the cheese is melted and the sauce it smooth.  Turn off the heat.

Mix together the yogurt topping --> Pre-heat your oven to 375F and lightly oil a medium sized baking dish (I used one of my pie plates).  In a small bowl, mix together the yogurt, 1 of the eggs, and the rest of the grated cheese until combined.  Season with a bit of salt and set aside. 

Put everything together --> In a large bowl, toss together the cooked grains, the remaining egg, the cheese sauce, and the caramelized shallots/thyme mixture.  At this point you can add 2 cups of raw baby spinach or arugula if you want.  Spread this mixture out evenly into your prepared baking dish.  Next, spread the yogurt mixture over the top of the grains, making sure to cover the entire surface evenly.  Bake for 25-30 minutes until the sauce is bubbly and the topping is set.  If you want the topping to brown a bit, you can place the dish under your broiler for an additional 2 minutes or so.  This will serve 4-6 people.  Enjoy! 

**Serving suggestion: I ate a wedge of this paired with a nice leafy green salad to balance it out.