not donuts, but dinner

I’m not sure if I can post a dinner recipe ever again.  The Peanut Butter Fluff Donuts have stolen the show!

Despite the peanut buttery donutty excitement, we’re going to do a complete 180 and talk about garlic.

This dinner was loaded with garlic.

In the form of garlic scapes!  They’re baaaaaaack!!



I first heard about these beauties, from Angela last year.  I was completely intrigued with how to use them and how they would compare with garlic cloves.  Last summer, I made a garlic scape pesto and a garlic scape white bean dip.  I fell in love with this…vegetable?  I’m not sure what you would call it, but it has a slightly milder taste than actual garlic cloves.



So last night, Chris was getting home late from work and thunderstorms were looming, which seems to be a daily occurrence lately.  I didn’t want to risk hopping on my bike for a grocery run, so I had to make do with what I had.

First thought: garlic scapes need to be used

Second thought: broccoli + lettuce are growing old in the fridge

Third thought: Lundberg GF noodles in the pantry

Fourth thought: garlic scape “mac n cheese”

Fifth thought: invite Kelsey over for dinner to recipe test…well and for her amazing company ;)

I originally found this recipe from Angela, for Vegan Mac n’ Cheese and have adapted it a few different times. [Herbed Mac n’ Cheese + Smoky Noodle Casserole]  It’s such a fun recipe to change with what you have on hand.



This time, I adapted a few things from my Herbed version.  Instead of using cauliflower, I used broccoli.  Instead of garlic cloves, I used garlic scapes.  I added more fresh rosemary, because, why not?  Also, the original calls for 1.5c cashews, to make a nice creamy sauce, but I wanted to try something different.

I used 3/4 raw cashews + 1c cooked chickpeas.  I figured the chickpeas would give the sauce a nice, rich, creaminess but also lighten up the fat content a bit.  There are still plenty of cashews in this, to ensure a good dose of healthy fats to the meal as well.

The outcome was just want I was looking for!



Alongside the pasta, I made a large salad with romaine, spinach, carrots, and snap peas.

Also whipped up, was this dressing:

Garden Herb Dressing

• 1/3c olive oil


• juice from 1 lemon, ~1/4c


• 1.5t honey


• 1t mustard


• 1/2t salt


• black pepper


• 1 garlic scape, chopped


• ~12 basil leaves


• 1T fresh thyme

1. Throw everything a blender/magic bullet/etc and blend until there are no large pieces of the garlic scape.


2. Taste.  Add more honey if it’s too sour, or more oil if it’s too acidic.  If it’s bland, add a bit more s+p.

While the pasta was baking, I realized there was no protein for this meal!  Sure there is some in the veggies, pasta, and sauce, but not quite enough.

Solution:  pan sauté cubed tempeh with 1-2T olive oil, salt + pepper, over medium heat

Super simple.



Garlic Scape Noodle Casserole [adapted from Angela’s Baked Vegan Mac n’ Cheese] serves 4-6

• 3/4c raw, unsalted cashews


• 1c chickpeas, rinsed + drained


• 1 medium carrot, chopped


• 1/2 onion, chopped


• 1.5c broccoli


• 2T nutritional yeast


• 2 sprigs fresh rosemary, de-stemmed


• 1T earth balance [or butter]


• 1/4c fresh lemon juice


• 1t mustard


• 1 1/4c unsweetened almond milk


• 1t salt


• 6 garlic scapes, chopped - flowery stems discarded


• fresh ground pepper


• ~12-16oz gluten free or whole wheat pasta [depending on how saucy you like it]


• 1 slice of gf or wheat bread [optional, for a topping]

1. Steam or boil chopped carrot, onion and broccoli until just tender.  About 7-12min, depending on method.


2. *optional: Pulse 1 piece of bread in food processor [or blender] until crumbs have formed.  Set aside.


3. While veggies are cooking, combine nutritional yeast, cashews, chickpeas, rosemary, lemon juice, mustard, garlic scapes, almond milk, earth balance, salt, and pepper in your blender. [works better than food processor]


4. Process until smooth.


5. Drain veggies and add to blender.


6. Blend again until smooth.


7. Par-boil pasta for about 6 minutes.


8. Preheat oven to 350*.


9. Drain water + rinse with cold water to stop the cooking.


10. In a large bowl mix sauce + pasta.  It seems like a LOT of sauce, but it thickens substantially while baking.  If you want a lot of sauce, use 12oz of pasta.  If you want it less saucy use 16oz.


11. In a 1.5-2qt casserole dish, pour in the mixture and bake covered for 25min.


12. *optional: Uncover + top with breadcrumbs.  Broil on low for ~3min until nice and crispy.

*Sub 3 large garlic cloves, if you can’t find garlic scapes.

It seems like a complete sauce overload, but it really bakes in and becomes quite thick.  You could also use less of the sauce, toss with fully cooked pasta and skip the baking.  For this version, I used 12oz of Lundberg Brown Rice Penne [my favorite GF pasta] and used all but about 3/4c of the sauce.  The 3/4c of extra sauce, went on the table with a spoon, so we could all add more per our liking.  We also used it to top the tempeh.

The rosemary + garlic scape flavors were a great combination.  Although this looks like a heavy summer meal, the flavors kept it light + fresh.



The toasted breadcrumb topping is a fabulous addition, but it’s still delicious without!  My favorite part about this meal?  Everything was GREEN!  saucy noodles + dressing + salad



A definite recipe keeper and pulled off in quite the pinch!

Off to do some photography editing, hoping that Lightroom does not EAT anymore of my photo albums!

Ashley

4th of jooolyyy

After my biking episode…we got home and I was busy in the kitchen.  Natalie seemed intrigued by the vegan garlic scape pesto, so I made her a quick batch before leaving for their house!  It literally takes about 7min from start to finish.  I think this batch came out even a little better, but I’m not sure why…

mmmmm I’m in love

Also brought a watermelon that was delicious!  I had at least 7 triangles :)

Pat + Nat got me an awesome Prana computer/purse/tote that I LOVE.  It just so happens to match the yoga bag Chris got me for xmas perfectly!

Ann is sick of smiling for the camera, hehe.

Hangin’ out.  Such a fun + relaxing way to spend the 4th!

Anyone here play washers?  I had never seen this before Pat/Nat made a set.  I like it, but I think I like cornhole better!

Ann made fabulous salads, per usual! 

 

I made Emily’s vegan black bean burgers, which were a huge hit!  Everyone loved them, even the meat eaters.  One friend said this was the most delicious + healthiest cookout he’s ever been to…yay :)

My plate!  I loaded up the toppings on the bean burger.  Soooo good!!  Oh, and those bean burgers also take about 7min to make, minus cook time.  Love it!  I had a hunk of a vegan seitan “hot dog” that Nat/Pat bought.  They were pretty good…nice + spicy! 

The neighbors set off 100’sssss of dollars in fireworks…we watched!

The boyz.

Who runs from a watermelon??

Everyone does, when the neighbors blow it up with a 1/4 stick of dynamite.  It flew SO far….I think I would have rather eaten it ;)

Love these ladies!!!

Such a fun day thanks to Pat + Nat for hosting!  Off to Melissa + Matt’s now for a birthday dinner :)  The celebrating just keeps on going.  I’ll probably have a few cute pics of Jake for you too…so get ready ;)

Byeeeeeee

Ashley

hungry?

Finally!  The full details on all of the recipes I have been teasing you with! 

I whipped up a batch of Steel Cut oats the other morning.  I’ve been addicted to adding fresh blueberries in the mix.  I’ve been enjoying hot oats every morning for about a week now, thanks to my plated oats idea!  Don’t get me wrong, it’s still a hot breakfast, but it hasn’t made me sweat!

contents

• 1/4c steel cut oats
• 1 1/4c water
• 1/4 milk of any kind
• 1/2t cinnamon
• vanilla
• 1/2 banana

topped with

• handful of blueberries mixed in at the end
• Love Grown Foods granola
• a few raspberries
• cacao nibs – love these!!

The other day, Mama Pea posted a recipe for brownies that I knew I immediately had to try.  I had never tried vegan brownies before and was very curious.  This recipe uses no oil and all whole wheat flour.  I think you can actually get away with eating them for breakfast :)

Dry ingredients – I changed a few things from MP’s recipe, like adding 1T instant coffee.  There was a mild hint of coffee in the final product, which I loved!

The wet – I used 1/4c sucanat and 1/4 brown rice syrup, instead of 1/2c cane sugar.  It worked really well and I think the brown rice syrup helped make these brownies extra fudgey.  Next time, I would actually even reduce the the amount of sugar to 1/3c instead of 1/2c.  It’s amazing how little sugar these delicious brownies need!  I think the applesauce really helps to naturally sweeten them.

I didn’t have vegan chocolate chips on hand but I did have a non-dairy dark chocolate bar that I chopped up instead.  I have made healthy brownies with applesauce before but they have never ever turned out this good.  The recipes I’ve used in the past would call for eggs and I think the combo of eggs + applesauce made them really cakey + airy.  They were always okay, but not even a close comparison to these. 

They’re done in about 20min when they start to pull away from the edge of the pan or crack slightly.  I let them cool for a good 30min before cutting them from the pan.

I figured they would be good…but not oh.my.gawd. I can’t stop eating them, good. 

These would be a hit at ANY party!  Chris loved them!

Double Chocolate Vegan Brownies – that will blow your mind + mouth [adapted from Mama Pea]

• 3/4c whole wheat pastry flour
• 1/3c unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1T instant coffee [optional]
• 2t baking powder
• 1/2t baking soda
• 1c unsweetened applesauce
• 1/4c sucanat
• 1/4c brown rice syrup
• 2t vanilla
• 1/2c dark chocolate chunks/chips
• 1/2t salt

1. Preheat oven to 350*
2. Mix flour, cocoa, baking powder + soda, coffee, and salt together in a large bowl.
3. In a medium sized bowl combine applesauce, brown rice syrup, sucanat, and vanilla until thoroughly combined.
4. Pour the wet into the dry and mix [by hand] until combined.  Make sure to scrape the bottom of the bowl but do not over mix.  The batter will be somewhat lumpy. 
5. Let rest for a few minutes [it will become a bit foamy] and then mix in chocolate chips.
6. Pour + spread evenly into an 8x8 greased pan.
7. Bake ~20min until edges pull away from the pan or toothpick test.
8. Let cool for at least 30min before cutting out of pan.

**High Altitude instructions: 

• 1 3/4t baking powder
• oven at 375*

These are extremely flavorful.  Like I said the slight hint of coffee was awesome!  But you can definitely leave that out. 

They were thick and fudgy and definitely the furthest thing from being dry.  [trying to avoid using a certain word that starts with “M” hehe]  The only thing they didn’t have that buttery, oil + egg filled brownies have is that flakey crust on top.  But you won’t miss it a single bit!

I am usually pretty good at only eating 1 or 2 of whatever I bake but not with these.  The slight crunch from the chocolate inside is awesome as well.  I’m sure if you like nuts in your brownies that would be a good addition too.

I like nuts in bread but not brownies!  You seriously need to make these…like, yesterday!!  Definitely great for the 4th of July!

As is this.  White Bean + Garlic Scape dip!  This has some zing to it and is not lacking in flavor.

I’m completely obsessed with the garlic scape pesto and wanted to try using them for something else.  This was really good but I think I actually would just rather make the pesto and use that for a dip!  However, this packs more protein [from the beans!] and less fat [even though the pesto uses healthy fats]. 

White Bean Garlic Scape Dip

• 4 chopped garlic scapes, flowery end removed
• juice from 1 medium lemon
• 1/2t coarse sea salt
• pepper to taste
• 1 can rinsed + drained cannellini beans
• 1/4c olive oil
• 2-5T water

1. Add chopped scapes and lemon to your food processor.  Process until finely grated, scraping the bowl as needed.
2. Add beans, salt + pepper and process.
3. Stream in olive oil 1T at a time, alternating with water 1T at a time until desired consistency is reached. 
4. Process + scrape down bowl as needed.
5. Add more s+p to taste.

Super easy!  Even though I prefer the pesto, this is still delicious!  I enjoyed it with crackers and on top of a salad but I think it would be awesome with fresh veggies.  It is extremely flavorful!

Pizza Sauce

• 28oz can whole peeled tomatoes, drained + chopped [saving the liquid in a bowl]
• 2 cloves minced garlic
• 2T olive oil
• 1/4-1/2t salt
• pepper to taste
• 1T sugar [I used sucanat]
• 3T tomato paste
• 2t dried oregano
• 2t dried basil
• 1t dried thyme
• ~1/4c tomato liquid

1. Heat olive oil in a large pot, just over medium heat.
2. Add in the chopped tomatoes, being extremely careful from the oil splashing.  Do not just plop them in!  Use a ladle to lower them into the pot.
3. Let cook for ~5min.
4. Add in seasonings, tomato paste, and 1/4c tomato liquid.
5. Reduce heat to simmer for about 20-30min, stirring every 5min or so.
6. Take off heat and leave chunky, puree with hand blender, or throw in a blender or food processor until desired consistency is reached.

I like use my hand blender and like the sauce pretty thick.  If it’s too thick, then out with more tomato juice and also season more according to your taste.  The flavors will enhance even more the next day.

This is SO worth making.  It blows ANY canned pizza sauce right out of the water.  Trust me!  It’s basically a slight adaptation of the pasta sauce I came up with about a year ago.  I definitely can eat this by the spoonful!!  Enjoy!

I also prepared homemade pizza dough for Chris’s arrival!  It was my first time making pizza from scratch since living in Colorado.  It really is not that hard.  You just need to have the time to allow for it to rise.  During it’s first 1hr rise, I went for a 1hr bike ride.  Perrrrrfect!

I used dry active yeast and here is what it will look like if your yeast is still active.  This happens after about 10min.

I kneaded the dough with my Cuisinart dough hook but you could also knead by hand for about 8min.

go go go!

Dough hunk.

After the first rise.

After deflating from the 2nd rice I split the dough into 2 balls, wrapped in plastic and stored them in the fridge.

Crunchy WW Pizza Dough adapted from All Recipes

• 3 1/4c stoneground whole wheat flour [or regular wwf]
• 1t sugar
• 1 1/2c warm water [~110*]
• 1T active dry yeast
• 2T olive oil
• 1t salt

1. Dissolve sugar in warm water. [I used sucanat for the sugar]
2. Sprinkle yeast over water/sugar mixture and let sit for ~10min until fully activated + foamy. [do not stir]
3. Stir olive oil + salt into the yeast mixture.
4. In your stand mixer bowl or large kitchen bowl add in the flour.
5. Next, add in yeast mixture and stir until the it starts to come together.
6. Turn your stand mixer on medium – med/high for about 5min with the dough hook or turn out onto a floured surface and knead by hand for about 8-10min.
7. Shape into a ball and rub with a very light coating of olive oil.
8. Set dough in a large bowl and cover with a kitchen towel to rise for 1hr.
9. After 1hr, punch the dough down, forming into another ball.  Cover with towel and let rise for another 45min.
10. Punch dough down again, separate into 4 smaller balls and roll out onto a floured surface into desired pizza shape.
11. Bake at 425-450* for about 10min.

This will make 4 medium sized, thin crust pizzas or 2 larger thicker crust pizzas.  I guess it all depends on how thinly you roll out your dough.  I would say I rolled this to about 1/8” thick and it let to a perfectly crispy crust all throughout the pizza.  It was perfect!

Final pizza photos coming soon!

Now I’m off for some exercise…booyah!

~Ashley