Lemon & Blueberry Muffins

I'm moving again! After one year in this pricey marina studio, I'm packing it up and heading to Duboce Triangle to live in a three bedroom with a couple other Tar Heel girls. While it is definitely the financially responsible thing to do, the place is also pretty great. The amenities alone are bringing me back into the 21st century. Like the good southern girl that I try to be, I whipped up a small batch of blueberry muffins for my second visit to the apartment.

There are healthy muffin recipes out there. This isn't one of them (though I did substitute in Greek yogurt for sour cream). 

Man, I'm going to miss those blue counters...False. I will not. 

The recipe I used came from Yammie's Noshery but I added lemon zest and plopped in a couple blackberries. 

Lemon & Blueberry Muffins
2/3 cup white sugar
1 large egg
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
zest from 1/2 lemon
1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup Greek yogurt
1 cup fresh blueberries

Preheat oven to 375ºF. Place eight muffin liners in the pan. Combine the sugar, egg, oil, milk, lemon zest and vanilla in a bowl and stir until well combined.

Add the flour, baking powder and salt. I stir the baking powder and salt into the flour right on top of the wet ingredients so I don't have to get out another bowl. Once the baking powder and salt are pretty well distributed in the flour, stir them into the wet ingredients until combined. Don't over-mix, but stir until it's no longer lumpy.

Stir in the yogurt just until well distributed. Fold in the blueberries (I left about half for the top so some would be visible on the crown of the muffin).

Evenly distribute the batter in the muffin tin. If you are making 8 high crowned muffins, you will be filling them all the way to the top. If you want to make shorter muffins you could probably fill 12. If you saved some berries for the top, sprinkle them on and press them in lightly. Sprinkle the tops with the 1 tablespoon of sugar for added crunch.

Bake muffins for about 25 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Easy Vegan Cinnamon Rolls with Creem Cheeze Frosting

When it's Saturday night and you're home alone, what is one supposed to do? Call their mom and ask them, obviously. My mom told me to bake. So, cinnamon rolls it is! Also these are vegan cinnamon rolls, so they must be healthy.... Oh wait, no. They're not. But they're still pretty damn good. Plus when the alternative on a Saturday night would be consuming 2-3 $13 manhattans, everything is put in perspective. 

I've always been intimidated by cinnamon rolls (aside from the break and bake version - I mastered those at an early age). This recipe from Minimalist Baker really dumbs it down to a few ingredients and straight forward steps. 

The delicate part is the chemistry behind the rolls. Yeast has to activate. Knead enough, but not too much, to make the dough elastic. Then wait...and hope... that it doubles. 

It worked! Phew. 

Gratitude Journal Entry: I'm thankful for chemistry. A lot of chemistry is used in baking. Baked goods make people happy... Chemistry makes people happy. 

Roll it out, sprinkle all the goodness, roll it up, slice. 

Your home will smell like a seasonal scented candle in the process.

I will say that vegan cream cheese isn't going to fool anyone for the real thing, but in the frosting it works just fine. 

1.5 rolls later, I can confirm that these are fluffy and delicious. 

Recipe for the rolls can be found on Minimalist Baker. The frosting recipe was my own spin...

Creem Cheeze Frosting

4 ounces Daiya dairy free cream cheese

1 cup powdered sugar

1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

3-5 tablespoons almond milk 

Bring cream cheese to room temperature and add to mixing bowl with powdered sugar, vanilla and 3 tablespoons almond milk. Stir to combine ingredients and add almond milk by the tablespoon to thin as needed. Drizzle over warm (but not piping hot) cinnamon rolls. Lick the spoon. 

Healthyish Pumpkin Pie

Happy Halloween from The Plate! I celebrated at a low-key pot-luck house party in the Richmond. Because of my love affair with all things pumpkin, I made a couple semi-homemade pumpkin pies. While we are all capable of making our own pie crust, my girl Marie Callender's has been doing this longer than I have and her recipe happens to be dairy free (bring on the lard instead!) 

You make two pies so you can give one away and then have one leftover to reward yourself for your generosity with the first pie. Also, lunch dessert is a thing during the holidays. Keeping your health in mind, pumpkin pie is a slam dunk. It's about as close as a dessert gets to a salad since it is made up of mostly vegetable. Win, win, win. 

Healthyish Pumpkin Pie

Adopted from Skinny Taste

• 15 oz canned pumpkin 
• 2 tbsp whipped butter, softened (I used coconut oil)
• 3/4 cup light brown sugar, unpacked
• 1/2 cup fat free milk (I used almond milk)
• 1 large egg
• 2 large egg whites
• 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 frozen pie crust sheet

*Double recipe for (2) pies. Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly dust a large cutting board or flat surface with flour. Roll out a room temperature pie crust sheet, so that it becomes thin enough to cut off about 30%, so that your final crust is 5 oz. Place into a 9-inch pie dish, cutting off excess dough. (I didn't do this, but it cuts out a ton of calories).

Place pumpkin puree in a large bowl. Add butter/oil, and mix well. Using an electric mixer, mix in brown sugar, milk, eggs, egg whites, pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon, nutmeg and vanilla. Beat on medium speed until mixture is smooth. Pour filling into unbaked pie crust.

Bake about 70 to 75 minutes, or until knife inserted in center comes out clean. Cut into 8 slices and serve with whipped coconut cream or whipped cream if desired.

Double Chocolate Chip Avocado Cookies

I was asked the other day what autumn means to me, and what I do in autumn that makes me the happiest. To me, autumn is hands down the best cooking season. The flavors and seasonal produce, the temperature outside, the holidays - food ties it all together. I am the happiest when I'm curating new recipes to make for people I love. My mom is coming over for dinner next week and I'm already excited about the recipe hunt for that special occasion. 

In the last 10 months, I've faced a new challenge: cooking without dairy. Now that I am with someone who is allergic to dairy, I've expanded my horizons to include vegan and dairy-free blogs, and taught myself the art of substitutions. These cookies are one of my first baking attempts employing the substitution technique. Because, gosh darn it, I will bake chocolate chip cookies for my boyfriend. 

Gratitude journal entry: I'm grateful for the dairy free cooking movement. There are now so many recipes and products available to substitute out the white stuff that I can cook the things I love in creative, healthier ways and share them with N.

I spotted this recipe on True Aim. 

Double Chocolate Chip Avocado Cookies

1 Medium Ripe Avocado

4-5 tablespoon Honey (Agave, or Stevia)

1 Egg

1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract

½ cup Peanut Butter or Almond Butter

½ cup Cocoa Powder

½ cup Chocolate Chips (Cacao chips, or dark/semi sweet)
Sprinkle brown sugar

Preheat your oven to 350 and prepare a baking sheet with parchment.

Cream together the avocado and sweetener until smooth. Then add the egg and mix until no lumps remain.

Next add the peanut butter and slowly add the Cocoa Powder 2 tbs at a time. If the mixture looks too sticky, leave 1 or 2 tbs out. You want the consistency to be smooth just like the peanut butter. Stir in the Chocolate Chips by hand and put the mixture in a plastic sandwich bag. Cut a hole the size of a nickle in one corner and squeeze out 1 inch rounds onto the parchment. (Or scoop them with a spoon, like I did.) *I also sprinkled brown sugar on the top.

Bake for 10-12 minutes or until the middle of the cookies look set, not shiny. Makes 12-18 cookies. Store in the refrigerator.

Chef Appearance: Gazpacho with Summer Salad, Grilled Chicken in Tomato & Olive Sauce, Stone Fruit Galette

This past weekend my parents and our family friends were in town visiting San Francisco. Sunday night Marty, the chef of the group, and I cooked dinner for everyone. This was an all day affair involving a delicious trip to the farmer’s market and Whole Foods. The menu was extensive:

Blue Cheese, Fig & Salami Crostini

Gazpacho with Summer Salad

Grilled Chicken in Tomato & Olive Sauce over Creamed Corn and Sautéed Kale

Stone Fruit Galette

He worked as a chef works – from memory and taste – so unfortunately, I do not have recipes for these. However, similar versions can be found via Google. Let these be inspiration to try something you’ve never tried. They were a lot easier than you might think!

Chocolate Chip Cookies topped with Warm Banana

My mom always said “you should always have the ingredients on hand to make chocolate chip cookies.” She actually does say that. And to my credit, I consistently keep the ingredients stocked. You can never predict when the chocolate chip cookie craving will strike, but when it does, you’ll be glad you were prepared. Just this morning when I was reading the news (and when I say the news, I mean HuffPost Taste) and LA’s M Street Kitchen was being recognized for their “Chocolate Banana Cookie” which was essentially a large chocolate chip cookie topped with sliced banana – simple but freaking genius. So yeah, that had to happen today.

Don’t feel like trying to find 20 mouths to finish off 50 chocolate chip cookies that typically come out of one batch? Here’s the halved recipe below. Also, I wrapped the second half of the dough in tin foil and threw it in the freezer to make freshly baked chocolate chip cookies off the cuff at a later date.

Banana atop Chocolate Chip Cookie

1 stick butter, room temperature
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup bakers sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
6 ounces (1 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons flour)
~shallow 1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

1 banana, thinly sliced

Preheat oven to 360. Cream butter and sugars until combined and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla and beat until smooth. In a separate bowl, whisk flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda together. Slowly beat in flour mixture until the entire batch is incorporated into sugar mixture. Stir in chocolate chips.

Drop 2 tablespoons worth of batter balls onto greased baking sheet. Bake for 9-10 minutes, or until edges are lightly brown but center is doughy. Remove and top cookies with banana slices. Bake for remaining 2-3 minutes, until cookies are desired level of doneness. Eat and smile, you’re in chocolate banana heaven.

SK Marbled Pumpkin Gingersnap Tart

Merry Christmas! We’re one of those new-agey, change-the-rules-because-we-wanna families that open our gifts on Christmas eve night by the fire, after a lovely dinner out, savoring a slice of marbled pumpkin gingersnap tart. Growing up I spent Christmas morning at my grandparents house, and Christmas eve at my Oma’s house – so this new tradition didn’t turn my world upside down. Now Christmas day is spent making and eating brunch, and flying back to SF to get back to the daily grind on the 26th. Reality was bound to catch back up with me. Plus, now I have a million Starbucks gift card dollars, so at least I’ll be well caffeinated for re-entry.

Though this looks like an overwhelmingly indulgent and rich dessert, it is surprisingly light - in taste, not necessarily in calorie. We tactfully made ours into bars that we could hand over to the neighbors at their Christmas pot luck tomorrow night.

Once the tart is pressed into the pan, prepare the two batters, and “marble” together. The result is oh-so pretty.

Marbled Pumpkin Gingersnap Tart

Crust
16 gingersnap cookies
5.5 honey graham crackers
4 tablespoons butter, melted

Cheesecake batter
4 ounces cream cheese
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 large egg yolk

Pumpkin batter
1 egg white
1 egg
1 1/4 cup pumpkin puree
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
pinch of nutmeg
1 cup heavy cream

crust: finely grind the ginger snaps and graham crackers together in food processor and add melted butter until cookies are moist. Spread and firmly press into your tart pan.

Batters: in a medium sized bowl, combine cheesecake ingredients and blend until smooth. In another bowl, beat egg and egg white until fluffy. Whisk in pumpkin, sugars and spices until incorporated. Gradually whisk in heavy cream and pour mixture into crust. Scoop cheesecake batter into batter and marble with a knife, avoiding scrapping the crust on the bottom.

Baking: Preheat oven to 425. Bake for 10 minutes at 425, then turn temperature down to 350 and cook for 30-40 more minutes, or until center is set and toothpick comes out clean. Cool completely before serving.

Apple Crisp with Oatmeal Crumb Topping

Another test run for the Thanksgiving feast – apple crisp! We had a friendsgiving on Monday and I brought the apple crisp with vanilla ice cream. Classic and American.

The entire meal was incredible. Michaela and Laura outdid themselves: roasted turkey chicken, homemade cranberry sauce, butternut squash soup, green beans, sweet potato gratin, kale salad, gravy, on and on… I didn’t eat breakfast until 10:30 am the next morning.

Apple Crisp with Oatmeal Crumb Topping

3 apples (2 gala, 1 granny smith), sliced thinly
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 teaspoon maple syrup
1 tablespoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup oats
1/3 cup flour
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
dash of salt
4 tablespoons cold butter

vanilla ice cream (optional – but not really)

Preheat oven to 350. In a large bowl, combine apple slices through lemon juice and toss to coat. Dump into non-stick cake/pie pan or 8x8 baking dish. In the same bowl, combine remaining ingredients and crumble together with your hands until mixture forms a cohesive crumbly mixture. Pat crumble on top of apple slices and bake for about 50 minutes, or until browned on top and bubbly. Let cool for at least 15 minutes and serve with vanilla ice cream!!

Spicy, Nutty Shrimp Lettuce Wraps

10 days of modified Paleo have resulted in a number of interesting meals and potentially the loss of a pound or two. I, too, doubted my survival without sweet or cheese or Wheat Thins, but I have been just fine. Maybe a little low on energy around the middle of the day, when I’m hungry – but how many apples or almonds can a girl eat in a day? I’m confident I’ve surpassed the appropriate amount. Dinners have remained exciting and creative. Check out some highlights:

~ Frozen chocolate, almond, banana “bark”
(3 blocks unsweetened chocolate, 2 packets stevia, 1 banana, 1 tablespoon almond butter, 1 tablespoon mixed nuts, sea salt)

~ Coconut breaded fish with kim chi, sweet potato puree and zucchini sticks

~ Asian fish “tacos”
(Baked cayenne/ginger/curry seasoned tilapia with roasted onion, bell pepper, green onions, mung bean sprouts and plain yogurt in lettuce leaves)

~ Spicy, nutty shrimp lettuce wraps

Spicy, Nutty Shrimp Lettuce Wraps

1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 pound shrimp
dash cayenne, ground ginger, salt and pepper
4 green onions
4 large lettuce leaves
mung bean sprouts
1/4 bell pepper, sliced

2 tablespoons almond butter
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon hot sauce
1 teaspoon garlic, minced
1 tablespoon olive oil
salt and pepper

Heat olive oil in a medium skillet. Season the shrimp with spices and add to pan with the green onions. Flip the shrimp once and remove from pan once cooked through. Leave green onions for a few minutes longer to soften. Mix almond butter through salt and pepper together in a small bowl and toss in shrimp to coat. Assemble lettuce wraps with shrimp, green onions, bell pepper and bean sprouts.

Kahlua Chocolate Chip Krispie Treats

Like anyone who just moved to a new city, I am in the market for making friends. When I was invited to a random guy’s going away picnic in Berkeley, naturally I jumped at the opportunity for a. a picnic, and b. meet new people. The bars were actually not initially intended for the picnic, but I brought the leftovers and they were very popular.

We wound up the hills of Berkeley to a little community park with a great spread of dips, strata, chicken, veggies, and beer, among other things. I never strayed too far from the table and grazed for a few hours, and then came the cake.

Farewell Andrew, best of luck at your new position at J Street.

On the way back, we stopped at Indian Rock which has a great view all the way to the city. (It’s out there in the haze) Followed by some light rock climbing, before heading home to some leftover soup and closing ceremonies!

Go Heels, Go America!

Kahlua Chocolate Chip Krispie Treats

1 12 oz. box rice krispies
1 10 oz. package mini marshmallows
1/2 stick butter (1/4 cup)
1/4 cup kahlua
1/2 package mini chocolate chips

In a large pot, melt butter over medium-low heat. Add marshmallows and a handful of chocolate chips and stir until melted. Stir in rice krispies until coated in marshmallow mixture. Spread into a 9x17 pan layered with wax paper. Press mixture down with another piece of wax paper until tightly packed, then spread remaining chocolate chips on top. Chill or wait until hard before cutting into bars.

Froyo Mango Granola Pie

The day before I left for Ghana, I invited a group of girls over for a going away dinner party. The theme was A Tapas Picnic, so everyone brought over an appetizer and we spread out on a blanket in the middle of our living room. I came up with this dessert in my head a while ago that’s basically the dessert version of my typical breakfast. Yogurt, fruit and granola. It turned out to be a great choice before Africa since it was the last cold dairy food that I had for about a month.

Froyo Mango Granola Pie

2 cups granola
1/2 cup pecans
4 tablespoons butter, melted
1 tablespoon maple syrup

1 pint frozen yogurt
1 large mango, diced

Preheat oven to 350. In a food processor, blend first four ingredients until well combined. Press mixture into a greased pie dish and bake for 10 minutes. Cool completely.

In a saucepan, heat mango over low heat until fruit starts to breakdown and becomes a chunky sauce. Remove from heat and cool completely.

Slightly thaw frozen yogurt and spread into pie crust. Top with cooled fruit and freeze for 1-2 hours or until frozen.

Crabs, Quinoa and Boxed Brownies

I had the luxury of getting to go play in Annapolis this weekend and pick crabs for the first time. Apparently “picking crabs” does not mean looking into a tank, picking your favorite, and getting it made into a crab cake. You actually attack the steamed crabs with a mallet and shiv, put in a heck of a lot of effort, and smell like crab for the next 24 hours for an incredibly delicious, albeit precious, amount of crab meat. It's pretty awesome. I managed to fill up off of 3 extra large crabs... with the help of liquid butter, hush puppies, fries, sweet potato fries and oysters. If you're in the area, Cantler's is worth checking out.

Because it's Monday, a couple of us got together at my house for wine, Bach and brownies. I planned ahead and made a healthy dinner to even the score a little. I had a southwestern quinoa salad and stuffed sweet potato.

Southwestern Quinoa Salad

black quinoa, cooked
corn
mushrooms
black beans
cherry tomatoes, halved
spinach/spring mix
feta cheese
avocado
cucumber
salsa
Greek yogurt
salt and pepper

Stuffed Sweet Potato

1 sweet potato
1 ounce goat cheese
craisins
green apple, diced
sprinkle olive oil
salt and pepper

In my opinion, there is one baked good that is not worth your time to make from scratch. That is brownies. They are almost always better when made from a box. But not any box - the Ghirardelli Double Chocolate brownies. Make sure you have a lot of friends around when you decide to make these because leftover brownies don't exist. 

I have this weird need to eat dessert with a spoon, so I put my molten lava scoop of brownie (waiting until they cool to cut is not necessary) in a ramekin with Greek yogurt and a little peanut butter. And the addiction is resuscitated…

Strawberry Nutella Crepe Cake

Happy Valentine’s Day! I was more excited for this day than usual this year, and it’s probably because I got to try a new recipe I’ve been eyeing for a while: The Crepe Cake. Quin and I hosted a couple girls over for a “Galentine’s Day” dinner (is that the worst thing you’ve ever heard?) Quin was in charge of making a chicken, artichoke and spinach lasagna-eque entre, I made dessert, Melissa brought wine and Kat brought a spinach salad. I made the crepes the night before and it took over an hour and a half to make about 30 crepes. I wanted this thing to be tall.

When I got home I made the vanilla whipped cream, covered and let it chill, while I cleaned up the house - and myself. Then the fun part, assembling: crepe, nutella, crepe, whipped cream, crepe, nutella with sliced strawberries... Isn’t she pretty?

Dinner was wonderful, and topped off with a glass of champagne. Recipe for the chicken, artichoke and spinach lasagna coming tomorrow…

Nutella Strawberry Crepe Cake

3 cups flour|
6 eggs
1 ½ cups milk
1 ½ cups water
½ teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons sugar
6 tablespoons melted butter

1 carton heavy whipping cream
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Nutella
Strawberries, sliced

Blend ingredients thoroughly with beaters or in blender until very smooth. Ladle approximately ¼ cup mixture into nonstick skillet, and swirl until batter covers bottom of pan in one thin layer. Cook until light brown on the bottom, and flip. Repeat until all the batter is used. If making ahead, cover and chill in refrigerator overnight. (Though I don’t recommend, the crepes are not as fresh)

Using beaters, whip the cream, sugar and vanilla until stiff peaks form. Chill until ready to use. Lay crepe on base of cake pedestal or plate, spread with layer of nutella, top with crepe, spread with whipped cream, add crepe, layer of nutella with sliced strawberries, and so on. Chill until ready to serve.

PB Chocolate Banana Cups

The uses for wonton wrappers are infinite, but combining banana, peanut butter and chocolate chips has to be one of the best. More specifically, two slices of banana, teaspoon of peanut butter and 4-5 chocolate chips. Bake at 375 for 7-10 minutes and serve with Greek yogurt and cinnamon.

Two turned into four really quickly…

Vegetable Lentil Stew & Banana Fudge Pots

I’m not the biggest fan of Sundays. It’s important to fill them up with good things to sugarcoat the fact that the weekend is over. Tonight, Quin and I decided to plan a big healthy dinner with crusty bread, open one of our WSJ wine club bottles and watch The Help using the new DVD player we got at Target. Alas, the DVD player only played in black and white (that’s what we get for buying the cheapest one) so we opted for making a healthy-ish dessert instead- courtesy of Chocolate Covered Katie.

Vegetable Lentil Stew

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, diced
1 bell pepper, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 carrots, diced
1 sweet potato (microwaved for 4 minutes) diced
1 cup peas
1 can diced tomatoes
3 14.5 ounce cans vegetable broth
1 cup water
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon cayenne
1 teaspoon cumin
salt and pepper to taste
1 cup French lentils
1/2 cup quinoa
mozzarella cheese

In a large pot over medium high heat, sauté onion, bell pepper for a minute or two. Add garlic, carrot and sweet potato and cook another couple minutes. Add remaining ingredients and stir to combine. Bring to a boil then lower heat and cover for 20-25 minutes or until lentils and quinoa are cooked. Top with mozzarella cheese.

Banana Fudge Pots

1 banana, sliced thin
1 package firm tofu
1 cup chocolate chips
1 teaspoon cocoa powder
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoons nondairy milk
dash salt
2 tablespoons sweetener (agave, corn syrup, sugar)
Greek yogurt

Melt chocolate chips. In a food processor, combine all ingredients except Greek yogurt and blend until smooth. Layer banana slices on the bottom of 6 ramekins, then divide chocolate mixture into ramekins and chill until ready to serve. Top with Greek yogurt. 

Fall Feast, part deux

Enough pumpkin recipes? Never enough! 

This was one of those recipes I'd starred a while ago, just waiting for the right opportunity to make it. Book club is the perfect time to fulfill many of my cooking wishlist items. And a fall feast theme, no less! You can pretty much wing this recipe as long as you taste as you go, you can't really mess it up. 

As for the rest of the feast, we had Trader Joe's butternut squash soup, toasted bread, TJ’s sweet potato pecan bites…and finally, TJ’s pumpkin soufflés.

Spiced Pumpkin Dip

1 Fage 0% fat yogurt cup (6 ounces)
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons maple syrup
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
pinch pumpkin pie spice

Stir all together. Serve with apple slices (ideally Honey Crisp).