Jas's granola

My first foray into homemade granola came a couple years ago with my friend Jas.  She used an old family recipe and we made batch after batch to give out as Christmas gifts.  We used gluten-free oats, so this is a very simple recipe to make a delicious gluten-free treat.  It also has no sugar added, it uses honey or agave as the sweetener for the sugar-conscious ones out there.

Making granola turned out to be quick and easy, with an end result that I liked much more than anything in the store.  Baking granola has now become a weekly occurrence in my house - fresh-baked granola is a pantry staple for us!

Ingredients:

• 1 cup oats
• 1/3 cup flax meal
• 1/4 cup shredded coconut
• 1/4 cup sunflower or pumpkin seeds
• 1/4 cup powdered milk
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 2 Tbsp honey or agave syrup
• 2 Tbsp oil
• 1 Tbsp vanilla

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375.

In a large bowl, mix together oats, flax meal, coconut, seeds, powdered milk, and cinnamon.

Mix honey, oil, and vanilla in a small bowl.  Pour over oat mixture and stir until combined.

Spread on foil-lined cookie sheet.  Bake for 8-10 minutes, flipping halfway through.

Cool on paper towels.  

Add raisins, dried cranberries, and nuts if desired.

Gluten-free cheesecake bites

When Tall Dark and Nerdy was coming home from his 5-week trip, I was so excited to see him and spend time with him.  I've also been told that the way to a man's heart is through his stomach - something I like to practice constantly. Because of this, I decided it was time for another cheesecake adventure.

This time, I went with bite-size cheesecake so it would be easy to take a few to TDN's house and to an "Arrested Development" viewing party I was going to.  They were so delicious and so portable - a total win.

Ingredients:
Crust

• 1 1/2 cups gluten-free graham cracker crumbs
• 4 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 3 Tablespoons sugar

Raspberry puree

• 1 cup frozen or fresh raspberries
• 2 Tablespoons sugar

Filling

• 2 pounds cream cheese, room temperature
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• Pinch of salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 4 eggs, room temperature

Directions:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Line cupcake pans with liners.
In small bowl, combine crust ingredients with a fork until moistened and well-blended.  Spoon 1 Tbsp into each liner, then press down with a drinking glass.  Bake 5 minutes.
Combine raspberries and sugar for puree in blender until smooth.
In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese until fluffy.  Blend in sugar until smooth.  Mix in salt and vanilla, then beat in eggs slowly one at a time.
Spoon cheesecake batter over crust into each cupcake liner.  Dot raspberry puree in a few dots on top.  Using a toothpick, lightly swirl puree through the top of the cheesecake filling.
Fill a large pyrex dish with hot water and place on bottom shelf of oven.  Bake 22 minutes on middle shelf until filling is set, rotating pans halfway through.  Transfer to cooling rack until room temperature, then refrigerate at least 4 hours before serving.

Adapted from Annie's Eats

Creamy quinoa

One day MB and I were both milling around the house, and we started talking about what we were each thinking about making for dinner that night.  We had this crazy idea to actually make dinner together - crazy, I know!

 

We decided quinoa was necessary since she liked it when I made quinoa dishes and let her have leftovers.  We flipped open Betty, and she only really had one quinoa recipe, so we went with it!

 

There were so many vegetables in this dish, I know Tall Dark and Nerdy would have been proud if he had been around to see it (instead of in India).

Look at all those veggies!



This will be a great dish for summertime when I'm wanting something a little lighter, yet still filling and delicious.

 

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cups uncooked quinoa
• 3 cups water
• chicken bouillon
• 3 ounces cream cheese
• 1 Tablespoon chopped fresh basil
• 2 teaspoons butter
• 2 cloves garlic, minced or chopped
• 5 cups thinly-sliced, bite-size pieces of assorted raw vegetables - I used carrots, zucchini, squash, bell pepper, asparagus
• grated Romano cheese

Directions:

Combine bouillon and water in saucepan (to make chicken broth), add the quinoa.  Heat to boiling.  Reduce heat, cover and simmer 15-20 minutes until liquid is absorbed.

Stir in cream cheese and basil.

Melt butter over medium heat in a skillet.  Cook garlic in butter about 30 seconds, stirring constantly, until golden.  Add vegetables.  Cook 3-5 minutes, stirring frequently, until vegetables are crisp-tender.

 

Combine quinoa mixture and vegetables.  Sprinkle with Romano cheese. 

Quinoa cakes

One of Jas's birthday celebrations this winter was getting a whole group of us together for a Black and White Masquerade Ball.

It was a really cool kind of pop-up style event where we bought our tickets way in advance, knowing only the date and the time.  They emailed us a couple hours before it began to tell us the secret location - Herbst Pavilion at Fort Mason in San Francisco.

It was not just a pop-up party, but it was a pop-up dinner party!  We planned a really fun menu of food we could make ahead of time and would taste good if it wasn't totally hot.  We made grilled shish-kebabs with chicken and veggies, a delicious salad, a charcuterie plate, and personal cheesecakes with raspberry coulis for dessert.  We also tried a fun side dish - quinoa cakes.  They turned out delicious!

Ingredients:

• 2 cups uncooked quinoa
• 3 cups water
• 4 large eggs, beaten
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/3 cup chopped chives
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1/2 cup goat cheese
• 3 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
• 1 cup bread crumbs (we crumbled gluten-free bread to make this Jas friendly)
• Water
• 1 Tablespoon olive oil

Directions:
Ahead of time, bring 2 cups uncooked quinoa and 3 cups water to a boil in a kettle, cover.  Turn heat to low, simmer 25-30 minutes, or until water is absorbed.  Remove from heat.  Let cool to room temperature before assembling quinoa cakes.
Combine the room temperature quinoa, eggs, and salt in a large bowl.  Add the chives, onion, cheese, and garlic.  Stir in the bread crumbs, the let sit for a few minutes so they can absorb the moisture.
The mixture should be nice and moist, but able to be formed into patties.  (Add more breadcrumbs if it's too wet, or a little water if it's too dry.)
Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-low heat.  Add patties, cover, and cook 7-10 minutes, or until the bottoms are deeply browned.  If they're not browning after 10 minutes, turn up the heat.
Flip the cakes with a spatula and cook the other side for another 7 minutes or so, until golden.
Cool on a wire rack.

Adapted from Epicurious

Pizza quinoa casserole

I have realized this year that I love quinoa (now that I know what it is).  Add that to my Midwestern-ness, and I've started to have fun with quinoa in casserole form.  This is one of my new favorite casseroles, and it can be made as a side dish or a main dish.  Since I like making casseroles that are almost an entire meal on their own, I usually add ground beef or turkey to this and just add a veggie - like yummy Brussels sprouts - on the side.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup uncooked quinoa (and 2 cups water)
• 1-1.5 pounds ground beef or turkey
• 6oz can tomato paste
• 3 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
• 1/2 onion, chopped
• 2 Tablespoons water
• 2 Tablespoons olive oil
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• 1 teaspoon basil
• 1 Tablespoon dried parsley
• 1/4 teaspoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 cup shredded cheese (I've used parmesan, mozzarella, and a Mexican blend, and all are good)

Directions:
Combine quinoa and water in a pot over high heat.  Bring to a boil, then cover, turn heat to low and simmer for 15 minutes or until all the liquid is absorbed.  Remove from heat and leave covered.
While quinoa is cooking, brown ground beef or turkey in a skillet.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease a casserole dish and set aside.
In a large bowl, combine tomato paste, garlic, onion, water, and olive oil well.  Add seasonings and mix again.  Add quinoa and meat, combine.  Mix in some of the cheese if you want.
Spread everything in the casserole dish, sprinkle with cheese, and place in the oven.
Bake 30-35 minutes until cheese is lightly browning.

Adapted from Food Doodles

 

Gluten-free Baked Apples

As you know, one of my friends/coworkers/neighbors is gluten-intolerant, which has been a learning experience for me.  I also had apples sitting around and a dessert craving, so I decided to try a recipe that will be easy to make gluten-free for Jazzy.  Alas, baked apples!

Ingredients:

• 2 apples
• 1/2 cup gluten-free oats
• 2 Tablespoons brown sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 2 Tablespoons maple syrup

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Core apples and cut in half.  Place on a baking sheet cut side up (lined with aluminum foil for easy cleanup).
In a small bowl, combine oats, brown sugar, cinnamon, and syrup.
Divide oat mixture among apple halves. 
Bake 30 minutes.

I'm excited to play around with this and try honey instead of syrup for a different flavor next time, and maybe add in raisins or something fun.

Adapted from With Style and Grace

 

Buffalo chicken lettuce cups

Along with my other Chinese food loves (that I talked about here), chicken lettuce cups are my favorite appetizer at Chinese and Thai restaurants by far.  They're just so delicious.  And I was very intrigued by the idea of a lettuce leaf as a dish/wrap/whatever it is.  Coming across a recipe that used a crock pot (my favorite kitchen gadget of late) AND involved that silly lettuce cup concept sounded like something fun to try!

My only concern was that I wouldn't like the buffalo nature of the "buffalo chicken lettuce cups."  I really enjoy spicy food and like the flavors that it brings, but often find buffalo-flavored things to be unnecessarily spicy without much flavor.  To my delight, this chicken was exactly what I wanted, with some spice and yet not too buffalo-y.

The one thing about this that made me sad was that I have no idea how the restaurants have such perfect lettuce leaves to use as lettuce cups.  Mom suggested that I need a left-handed head of lettuce, but I tried that, too, with no luck.  I'm just resigned to believing that my lettuce will never be the right shape, but these were so delicious I quickly got over it.

Ingredients:

• 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
• 3 celery stalks
• 1/2 onion, diced
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 can (16 oz) chicken broth
• 1/2 cup buffalo sauce (or hot cayenne pepper sauce)
• large lettuce leaves
• ranch dressing
• 2 carrots

Directions:

Tiny carrot and celery matchsticks

In a crock pot, combine chicken, onions, one celery stalk (I diced it first, but you can put it in whole), garlic, and broth.  If chicken isn't covered, add water to cover the chicken.  Cover and cook on high 4 hours.

Remove chicken from crock pot.  Reserve 1/2 cup broth and discard the rest.

Shred the chicken with two forks.  Return to crock pot with the 1/2 cup reserved broth and the buffalo sauce.  Cook on high 30 minutes.

To prepare lettuce cups:  Cut other 2 celery stalks and carrots into 2-inch matchsticks.  Place buffalo chicken in each leaf, top with dressing, carrots, and celery.  Wrap up, prepare to get messy hands, and enjoy!

Adapted from Skinny Taste

Banana Coconut Muffins

Part 2 of the birthday brunch muffins were these beautiful banana coconut muffins.  I don't like bananas and hated mashing them up, but everyone at the party said these were delicious.  And, my apartment did smell like delicious banana bread (a smell I do like) all day!  It was totally worth it.

Again, the original recipe was glutenous, but these cooked perfectly with gluten-free flour, and I can't imagine the taste or texture being any better with regular flour.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/4 cups gluten-free flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 very ripe bananas, mashed 
• 1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 3/4 cup sweetened flaked coconut

Directions:

Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl.  

Whisk together bananas, butter, sugar, egg, vanilla, and 1/2 cup coconut in a large bowl until combined well.  Fold in flour mixture until flour is just moistened.

Divide batter among lined muffin cups and sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup coconut.

Bake until muffins are puffed and golden, about 25 minutes.

Transfer to a rack and cool slightly.

Adapted from Epicurious

Cinnamon Blueberry Muffins

A couple weeks ago was my friend's birthday, and we celebrated with a mimosa birthday brunch...that lasted all day.  It was wonderful.  Since I was off work, I got to make the muffins, gluten-free, of course.  This recipe made beautiful, dark blueberry muffins, but they were a little flat on the top because of how juicy the blueberries were.

The original recipe called for regular, all-purpose flour, but I was very happy to find that these muffins cooked just the same with the gluten-free flour.

Ingredients:

• 3/4 stick (6 Tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted and cool
• 1 cup packed dark brown sugar
• 1/2 cup whole milk
• 1 large egg
• 1 1/2 cups gluten-free flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups blueberries

Directions:

Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Put liners in muffin cups.

Whisk together butter, brown sugar, milk, and egg in a bowl until combined well.

Whisk together flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt in a large bowl.  Add milk mixture and stir until just combined.  Gently fold in blueberries.

Divide batter among lined muffin cups and bake until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into center of a muffin comes out clean, about 25-30 minutes.

Adapted from Epicurious

Diane chicken

I have no idea who Diane is, but this was my college roommate's standby recipe.  I was the luckiest girl in the world:  I'd walk into our shared apartment after a long day of classes and a hard crew practice to the smell of her Diane chicken on the stove just about ready to eat!

This is such an easy recipe, but the chicken is so tasty and makes great leftovers.  She always made it with Uncle Ben's long-grain wild rice and steamed mixed veggies, and I try to stick to that.  It's great with plain brown rice too with a little of the extra sauce on top.

Ingredients:

• 3 thawed boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 1 cup water
• 1/3 cup soy sauce
• 3 Tablespoons sugar

Directions:

Mix up the water, soy sauce, and sugar.

Put the chicken in a saucepan.  Pour the sauce over the top.

Cover and simmer on medium-high heat for 30 minutes.

Quinoa stuffed peppers

This has apparently become my specialty, according to Jas and the girls upstairs.  I think they just really enjoy the meal and want me to keep making it.


Ingredients (today):

• 8 peppers (any color, but it's best if they sort of stand on their own)
• 1 1/4 pounds ground turkey
• 1 cup chopped onion (roughly 1/2 large onion)
• 1/2 cup chopped carrot (1 large carrot will do)
• 2 stalks chopped celery
• 2 cloves garlic
• Salt
• Pepper
• 3 medium tomatoes (I like to use romas)
• 1 cup uncooked quinoa
• 2 cups water
• Shredded cheese

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Cut the tops off the peppers, remove the pulp and seeds.  Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil, and add the first half of the peppers.  Boil for 5 minutes, then remove the peppers from the water and set aside.  Repeat for remaining peppers.

Cook quinoa according to package directions.  Add quinoa and water to pot, bring to boil.  Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 15 minutes or until water is absorbed.

Brown the ground turkey in a large skillet over medium-high heat.  Remove meat and set aside.

Add the onion, carrot, celery, and garlic to the pan.  Cook 4-5 minutes, until vegetables are tender.

Return the meat to the pan, and add the cooked quinoa, tomatoes, salt, and pepper.  Continue cooking for 3-4 minutes, until heated through.  Remove from the heat.  **Next time I plan to mix in some shredded cheese here so there is a little cheese in every bite.

Place the peppers in a baking dish and fill each with the quinoa mixture.  Bake for 15 minutes.

Set the oven to Broil.  Sprinkle cheese over the stuffed peppers and broil for 2 minutes, until lightly browned.

Adapted from about.com

UPDATE:  I have been informed that these work as perfect pocket snacks for a day on the mountain thanks to my very own Tall Dark and Nerdy.