Tag Archives: recipe

Naturally Green Doughnuts! (aka Baked Vanilla Doughnuts)

15 Mar

 Alternative Titles: Shrek Doughnuts, Nickelodeon Doughnuts, Kermit Doughnuts

After my two successes using beets to make a natural pink food color, once to color buttercream frosting and once to make pink sugar cookies, I started thinking about what other fruits or vegetables I could use to get colors other than pink.  I’m all for abolishing gender stereotypes in parenting my son and daughter, but, seeing as how my son wants a Ninja Turtle cake for his upcoming birthday, I’m thinking I should expand the available color palate for future baking projects.

Then I read this naturally colored rainbow cake post at Itsy Bitsy Foodies.  First I  feel like a total slacker for never attempting such an impressive kitchen experiment (check out all the colorants she screened). Then I think ‘score, someone has done all the work for me!’   I think it was Einstein (Happy Birthday, by the way, to Mr Einstein) who said “A hundred times every day, I remind myself that my inner and outer life are based on the labors of men, living and dead,and that I must exert myself in order to give in the same measure as I have received. “

 So, in the spirit of exerting myself to give as much as I have received, I took the idea of using spinach as green food coloring from the Itsy Bitsy Foodies and applied it to a baked doughnut recipe.   Because Einstein was totally talking about green doughnuts.

To make the natural green color, I juiced about 3 cups of fresh spinach.  I can’t think of a way to create a smooth, concentrated green colored liquid without a juicer, so if you are juicer-less, you can use store-bought food color or just let the doughnuts be naturally off-white.

I added spinach juice to both the batter and the frosting, but got a much bigger color impact in the frosting.   I couldn’t add more than 3 Tbsp of spinach juice to the batter without needing to compensate for the added liquid.  As you can see below, the 3 Tbsp didn’t add too much green to the finished baked good.

 If I try to make a more green baked good in the future (like, say, some Ninja Turtle green cupcakes), I will use my dehydrator to further concentrate the green spinach juice so I can get more color into the batter without adding to much liquid.  See Husband, I really do need all those random kitchen appliances.  Really.

Baked Vanilla Doughnuts with a Naturally Green Glaze

Ingredients

 1 c whole wheat pastry flour
1 c all-purpose flour
1/2 c sugar
1.5 tsp baking powder
0.5 tsp salt
3/4 c buttermilk – can also use 3/4 c milk + 1 Tbsp lemon juice
2 eggs
1/4 c honey
1 Tbsp butter, melted
2 tsp vanilla

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400F. Lightly coat a donut pan with cooking spray.

2.  Combine flours, sugar, baking powder and salt in a bowl and stir well with a whisk.

3. In a second bowl, combine buttermilk, eggs, honey, butter and vanilla, stirring well with a whisk.

4.  Add buttermilk mixture to flour mixture and mix until just combined.  Don’t over-stir, as it will make the donuts less tender.

5.  Either spoon batter into the donut pan, or, if you’re a perfectionist like me, pipe the batter into the pan using a large plastic bag with the corner cut off.  Bake for 8-10 minutes or until donuts are slightly golden on bottom.

6. Cool in pan about 5 minutes. Remove from pan and cool completely on a wire rack.

Green Glaze  

  • 1 c powdered sugar
  • 2 Tbsp fresh spinach juice (or milk, for a white glaze)

Mix sugar and juice/milk together until smooth and thick.  Add more liquid or sugar as needed to get consistency right.  Spread over cooled doughnuts.

These work equally well as muffins:

The spinach juice is absolutely taste-less in the frosting.  My husband and kids loved these and they’d be perfect for St. Patrick’s Day.

Tex Mex Tempeh and Rice Bake

28 Feb

You may have noticed that I don’t each much soy.  I haven’t come to a peace with all the conflicting soy research, so I find it easier just to avoid it.  Conflict averse – that’s me!

However, and you knew that was coming, I think some soy products are healthier than others.  Tempeh is one of those.  Tempeh is made from fermented whole soy beans.  The soybeans are fermented and pressed into a cake.  Fermentation reduces the phytic acid which allows for much better absorption of nutrients in the soybean.

You can find tempeh at most large grocery stores, generally in the produce section by the tofu, wonton wraps and other soy products like soy meat and cheeses.  I’d choose organic if available, as organic soybeans are non-gmo, which I think is particularly important for soy.

Tex Mex Tempeh and Rice Bake

This recipe is husband approved.  I modified the recipe from a beef and rice casserole that I used to make and was very pleased at how it turned out.  Make sure to cook your rice before you start the rest of the dish.  This dish could easily be made vegan by using a non-honey sweetener and non-dairy cheese.

Ingredients

  • 1 package tempeh, grated with a cheese grater into crumbles.
  • 1 cup chopped onion
  • 1 cup chopped green bell pepper
  • 1/4 cup water
  • 1 tablespoon chili powder
  • 2 teaspoons ground cumin
  • 3 Tbsp chopped cilantro (to taste)
  • 1 teaspoons honey
  • 1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes and green chiles (Muir Glenn has a good fire-roasted version), undrained
  • 3 cups cooked brown rice
  • 1 cup sour cream
  • 1/2 cup sliced green onions
  • 2-3 Tbsp water, as needed
  • shredded cheese for topping

Preparation

  1. Preheat oven to 375°.
  2. Cook first 3 ingredients in a large skillet over medium-high heat until onion and peppers are tender. Add water and next 5 ingredients (water through tomatoes); bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes. Uncover and simmer an additional 2 minutes. Remove from heat; set aside.
  3. Combine the rice, sour cream, sliced green onions, and water in a bowl. Spoon rice mixture into a 9-inch baking dish. Top with beef mixture; sprinkle with cheese. Bake at 375° for 10 minutes or until thoroughly heated. Let stand a bit before serving.

Crunchy and Tart Broccoli Salad

7 Feb

I find that if I can muster up enough motivation to get in the kitchen early in the week and make some salads, I say mental ‘thank yous’ to that motivated self for the next few days as I enjoy the salads.  Yesterday I made a big Sunshine Salad from Peas and Thank You (I make this salad almost weekly.  It’s that good), chopped up all the carrots and celery in the fridge, made a couple of bags of ‘to be juiced’ produce, got some quinoa and chickpeas soaking, made tea for kombucha, and made this broccoli salad.  All this productivity was brought to you by the letters S and S.  I love that Sesame Street is an hour long (and commercial free! and educational!), as I can usually whip out several kitchen tasks without my 3 year old ‘helper’ underfoot.

Crunchy and Tart Broccoli Salad

This salad comes together quite quickly and keeps well for a couple of days in the fridge.

Ingredients:

  • 3 Tbsp Olive Oil
  • 3 Tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar
  • 1 Tbsp maple syrup
  • dash of each: salt, pepper, cinnamon
  • 1 bag broccoli slaw
  • 1 small apple, chopped (I like granny smith in this recipe, but any would do)
  • 1/3 cup dried cranberries
  • 1/3 cup sliced almonds

Directions:

1. Whisk together olive oil, apple cider vinegar, maple syrup and salt/pepper/cinnamon

2. Combine dressing and salad ingredients and toss well.  Let sit for at least an hour.

3. Serve cold or at room temperature

Black Bean Soup with Caramelized Onions

24 Jan

I love black bean soup.  It’s pretty easy to prepare, it’s great as leftovers, it’s a blank slate for toppings and, as a bonus, it’s  quite healthy.  Black beans are a good source of fiber and protein (like most beans), but they are also the antioxidant superstar in the bean family.  What’s not to love?

I like to cook a big batch of black beans every couple of weeks.  I soak overnight, rinse and drain and then put in the crockpot with filtered water and kombu to cook.  The kombu does wonders for making the beans, well, less musical?  Who am I kidding?  I have a three year old little boy who loves to giggle about toots and f*rts.  Thankfully when cooking beans with kombu, there is much less to giggle about.

After the beans are cooked, I usually freeze half in mason jars.  The texture of the thawed beans is a little off for dishes that feature beans eaten straight out of the can, but is perfectly fine in soups and casseroles where the beans will be cooked again.  Like this one.

Black Bean Soup with Caramelized Onions

Ingredients:

  • 1 carrot, diced
  • 1 large onion, sliced
  • 2 cloves garlic, sliced
  • 1 red pepper, sliced
  • 2 Tbsp grapeseed oil
  • 1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
  • 1 cup plain tomato sauce or puree
  • 2 cups vegetable broth (or water)
  • 2 tsp cumin
  • 1 tsp chili powder
  • 1/2 tsp dried chipotle chili powder

Directions:
  1. Heat grapeseed oil in a pan over medium heat. Reduce heat to medium low. Add onions and cook slowly until browned, stirring occasionally.  This should take about 20 minutes.  (My pan is really small)
  2. Remove onions from pan and increase heat to medium-high. Add peppers and garlic and saute for 4-5 minutes, or until soft.
  3. Add onions, peppers, garlic and all remaining ingredients to a large pot and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes.  At this point you can serve as is or puree.  I like using my hand-held immersion blender and blending the majority of the soup.
  4. Remove from heat and serve.  Great topped with chopped cilantro and avocado.

Fall Quinoa with Roasted Butternut Squash and Onions

12 Jan

I’ve been making this dish for about a year and I tend to add something each time I make it.  I started with steamed sweet potato cubes and those morphed into oven roasted sweet potatoes and/or butternut squash, as I love the extra flavor the oven roasting develops.  I threw in some onions with the roasting squash and loved the addition.  We’ll see what gets added next time – I’m thinking a few roasted apple cubes might be nice….

Fall Quinoa with Roasted Butternut Squash and Onions

  • 1 cup quinoa, rinsed and drained (bonus points if you soak it first)
  • 2 cups butternut squash chunks
  • 1 onion, cut in large chunks
  • Olive Oil, salt, pepper
  • 2 cups water or broth
  • 3/4 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp pepper
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/3 c dried cranberries
  • 1/2 c slivered almonds, toasted
Directions
  1. Preheat oven to 400F.  Toss butternut squash and onions with olive oil (about 2 Tbsp) and a dash of salt and pepper.  Place in a shallow pan or baking dish and roast for 30 minutes, stirring a couple of times.
  2. While roasting, place quinoa, broth/water, salt, pepper and cinnamon in a pan and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to simmer and cook until all liquid is absorbed, about 10 minutes.
  3. Let quinoa and the roasted vegetables cool a bit and toss together, along with cranberries.
  4. Top with slivered almonds.

Even though the flavors are a bit fall-like, I eat this dish through the winter too.  A rule breaker – that’s me!

Here is me contributing this very dish to our big family Thanksgiving spread, spreading the quinoa love:

 

Lemon Blueberry Donuts

8 Dec


Sometimes during November and December I need a break from baked goods with cinnamon, pumpkin, ginger, apples, nutmeg and/or cloves.  Sometimes I also need a break from laundry, whining and stepping on legos, but that’s not as easy to remedy.

Don’t get me wrong, I love fall/winter flavors (proof: pumpkin bread, cinnamon sugar donuts, pumpkin chocolate chip energy bars), but when you are all cinnamon-ed out, give these a try.  You could also make in muffin form. No, blueberries aren’t in season, but frozen blueberries are available year-round.  In order to keep the blueberries from dying the batter, I placed them in each donut by hand after I had spread the batter in the pan.

Lemon Blueberry Donuts

  • 1 cup whole wheat flour
  • 1 cup white flour
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1.5 tsp baking powder
  • 2 tsp grated lemon zest
  • 0.5 tsp salt
  • 3/4 cup buttermilk
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/4 cup honey
  • 2 tsp vanilla
  • 2 Tbsp melted butter
  • 1/2 cup blueberries, fresh or frozen (more to taste)

Lemon Sugar Glaze (stir until smooth)

  • 1 c powdered sugar
  • 1 Tbsp lemon juice
1. Preheat oven to 425.  Spray donut or muffin pan with cooking spray.
2.  Combine flours through salt in a large bowl and stir well with a whisk.
3.  In a separate bowl, combine buttermilk, eggs, honey, butter and vanilla and stir well with a whisk.
4. Add liquid mixture to dry mixture and stir until just combined.  Gently stir in blueberries if you don’t mind color streaking.  If you do, wait to put in the blueberries after the batter is in the pan.
5.  Put batter into prepared pan and bake about 8 minutes, or until batter springs back when lightly touched.
6. Let cool on a wire rack.  When completely cool, top with lemon sugar glaze.

Tart, tender and not a cinnamon clove or pumpkin can in sight….

Are you needing a break from cinnamon and ginger too?  

Oven Baked Lentils and Brown Rice

7 Nov

Alternative Title in Honor of Minnesota: Lentil and Brown Rice Hot Dish

I’ve been making this recipe for a few years now and thought I’d share it.

It is not:

  • fancy
  • gourmet
  • particularly photogenic
It is:
  • simple
  • easy
  • cheap
  • comforting
  • kid-friendly
I’m particularly drawn to the cheap part right now.  As the holidays hit and money starts to flow out the door, I always feel the need to tighten up the grocery budget a bit.  I think lentils, beans, rice and other grains will be on frequent rotation in our kitchen.  I may also have to ban myself from Whole Foods.  Anyone else feeling the budget pinch?
Oven Baked Lentil and Brown Rice Casserole
  • 3 cups vegetable broth or water (or combination of both)
  • 3/4 cup uncooked lentils, rinsed and sorted
  • 1/2 cup uncooked brown rice
  • 3/4 cup diced onion
  • 1/2 cup chopped carrots
  • 1/2 cup chopped celery
  • 2 cloves garlic, chopped
  • 1 tsp italian seasoning
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • Optional: bay leaf + salt if using water instead of broth, rosemary, basil, any herbs to your liking
  1. Preheat oven to 325F
  2. Mix all ingredients in a 2 qt baking dish.
  3. Cover with lid or foil and bake for about an hour, or until most of the liquid is absorbed.
  4. That’s all.  See – so easy!
It’s good topped with crushed red pepper, nutritional yeast, parmesan cheese and/or gomasio.  I usually serve it with some bread for a simple but filling and tasty dinner.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Energy Bars

4 Nov

Look – I used a photo prop!  It may be the one and only time I do, so please, look again….

I like to have bars on hand to grab when I’m running out the door.  Or just have the munchies.  Both of which happen quite often.  I combined a few recipes to come up with these and they’ve been a constant presence in my kitchen for a few weeks.  I wish I could say they don’t leave crumbs in your car, but, well, that would be a lie.  

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Energy Bars

  • 3 Tbsp ground flaxseeds
  • 1/4 c water
  • 2 c dry rolled oats
  • 1/2 c whole wheat flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/3 c sugar
  • 1/3 c chocolate chips
  • 1/4 c maple syrup
  • 1/4 c almond butter
  • 1/3 c pumpkin puree (could use applesauce)
1. Preheat oven to 375F
2.  Mix flaxseeds and water in a small bowl, set aside.
3.  Mix dry ingredients (oats-chocolate chips) in a large bowl.
4.  Mix wet ingredients in a small bowl (maple syrup – pumpkin).  Stir in flax/water mixture.
5. Combine wet and dry ingredients and mix well.
6.  Pour into a greased 8×8 pan and bake 15 minutes, or until set.
7.  Let cool completely before slicing into bars. Make about 12 bars (depending on how you cut).

 

Happy Friday everyone!

Hatch Green Chile, Sweet Potato and Red Lentil Tortilla Bake

3 Oct

It was Hatch Chile season a few weeks ago (see the Smart Kitchen’s witty writeup) and I was seduced by the smell of freshly roasting chilies outside of the grocery store and picked up a still warm bag of roasted chilies.  We had company that weekend, so the bag got tossed in the fridge and I remembered them 3 days later.  I pondered what to make and came up with this tortilla bake.  It was really good, but not too kid friendly (at least to my spice-averse munchkins) due to the heat.

It is a bit time intensive.  I prepared it in shifts and you could easily make the components the day before.

Green Salsa

First, make a green salsa.  Or buy one.  I won’t tell, heck, I won’t even know.

If you want to make one, I used  this Tyler Florence recipe for the green salsa portion and followed it exactly. Since I made no changes, I’m not posting the recipe.  I think Tyler Florence has more money than me and I don’t want any lawsuits for copyright infringement.  First the tomatillos, onion and jalapeno are boiled together.

Before

After

The cooked tomatillos, onions and jalapenos were blended with cilantro and lime juice to make over 4 cups of salsa.  I saved 2.5 cups for future use.

Red Lentil, Hatch Chile and Sweet Potato Filling

Ingredients:

  • 1 medium onion, sliced
  • 2 Tbsp grapeseed or olive oil
  • 4 cloves garlic, chopped
  • 1.5 tsp cumin
  • 0.5 tsp chili powder
  • 1 1/4 c diced yellow squash
  • 1 1/2 c cubed sweet potatoes
  • 1 c red lentils, rinsed and sorted
  • 2 c water (or veggie broth)
  • Salt and Pepper to taste
  • 1 c chopped, peeled roasted green chilies (I used Roasted Hatch Chilies)
  • 1 c cilantro (less if you aren’t addicted to cilantro like I am)

Directions:

1. Heat oil over medium heat and add onions.  Cook slowly until browned.

2.  Increase heat to medium high.  Add garlic, cumin and chili powder and saute for about 1 minute to slightly toast the spices.

3.  Add the yellow squash and saute 2 minutes.

4. Add the rinsed lentils and sweet potatoes, along with the water or broth.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to simmer and cook, covered for 15-20 minutes or until lentils and sweet potatoes are tender.

5.  Turn off heat and stir in cilantro and the roasted chilies.  Remove from heat.

Corn Tortilla Layer

I tried a similar recipe a month or so ago and used corn tortillas straight out of the package.  They ended up a little soggy in the final product (both the filling and salsa are pretty liquid-y), so I used this technique for this recipe.  Baking the tortillas dries them out a little and allows them to maintain some texture in the final dish.

Ingredients:

  • 8-10 small corn tortillas
  • Cooking Spray

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 350.
  2.  Cut tortillas into eights.  Arrange on a greased cookie sheet and spray lightly with cooking spray.
  3. Bake 8-10 minutes, turning once, or until slightly crispy.

Once you’ve got your three components prepared, the recipe gets pretty easy.

Hatch Green Chile, Sweet Potato and Red Lentil Tortilla Bake

Ingredients:

  • 8-10 corn tortillas, baked as described above
  • 1.5 cups green salsa
  • 2 cups Red Lentil, Sweet Potato and Hatch Chile filling
  • 1/2 c shredded cheese
Directions:
  1. Place a layer of 1/3 of the corn tortillas, followed by 1/3 of the green salsa and 1/3 of the filling.

2. Repeat two more times, ending with chile filling on top.

3. Top with cheese.

4. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes, or until cheese starts to brown and casserole starts to bubble a bit.

Dinner is served!

As a bonus, you’ll have leftover green salsa and chile, sweet potato filling.  I froze the filling to use in a future dinner and we’ve been enjoying the salsa with chips and atop dinners.

Cinnamon Sugar Donuts

16 Sep

We lived in Minnesota from 2002-2008.  I miss many, many things from our time there and most of those things (like our friends, the spring/summer/fall, my job, the culture, the lakes and the state fair) are not able to be recreated.  However, last week I was able to recreate one of the things I miss, the cinnamon sugar mini donuts that we’d buy at the Mill City Farmer’s Market.

Mill City Farmer’s Market – Rooster and My Girl – July 2007

We were there  the summer the market started and went most Saturday mornings throughout the summers.  Each week we’d pick up produce and a little brown sack of freshly fried cinnamon sugar mini donuts made by the pastry chef at Spoonriver Restaurant.  The grease would stain the bag.  The cinnamon sugar topping would coat our fingers.  We’d hope for a number of donuts that was divisible by 3 so we’d all get an equal amount.  It was greatness.

These donuts are not mini (although the could be if you had a mini-donut pan).  They are not fried.  They are not made by a pastry chef and sold on the banks of the Mississippi next to the Guthrie Theater.  Still, for coming out a home kitchen in San Antonio, they aren’t so bad.  Just wish I could eat them with some of my MN friends.  Only not during the winter.  Minnesota winters are the one thing I do not miss.

Baked Cinnamon Sugar Donuts
Ingredients:

1 c whole wheat pastry flour
1 c all-purpose flour
1/2 c sugar
1.5 tsp baking powder
0.5 tsp salt
3/4 c buttermilk
2 eggs
1/4 c honey
1 Tbsp butter, melted
2 tsp vanilla

2 Tbsp melted butter – for topping application

Cinnamon Sugar Topping (mix together):

1/4 c sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400F. Lightly coat a donut pan with cooking spray.

2.  Combine flours, sugar, baking powder and salt in a bowl and stir well with a whisk.

3. In a second bowl, combine buttermilk, eggs, honey, butter and vanilla, stirring well with a whisk.

4.  Add buttermilk mixture to flour mixture and mix until just combined.  Don’t over-stir, as it will make the donuts less tender.

5.  Either spoon batter into the donut pan, or, if you’re a perfectionist like me, pipe the batter into the pan using a large plastic bag with the corner cut off.  Bake for 8-10 minutes or until donuts are slightly golden on bottom.

6. Cool in pan about 5 minutes.

7.  While donuts are still warm, brush melted butter over donuts and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar mixture.

8.  Enjoy.

Happy Friday everyone!  Hope you have a great weekend.

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