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1 day ago  /  0 notes

From Field to Freezer: Vegan Blueberry Sorbet

 
I was stocking up on vegetables this morning during our weekly trip to the AB Farmer’s Market while @isitvegan scanned the stalls for the vegan muffin lady. Unfortunately, the giant bagel reigns supreme at this market and no vegan muffins were found. As I loaded up my shopping bag with purple bell peppers and pea tendrils I kept eyeing the pints of native berries on all the tables. I almost picked up a pint but then I thought that picking our own berries would be way more fun.
 

Turns out this was a great idea and an economical one at that.  The pints of blueberries were going for about $5 at the market. We picked 7lbs of blueberries at Indian Head Farm for about $18. All it took was our ability to brave the 90 degree heat and walk into the grove of net covered blueberry bushes.
 

Once we got home I started washing, drying and freezing part of our bounty. Frozen blueberries are perfect for breakfast smoothies, but I couldn’t decide on what delicious blueberry treat to make and with the summer heat  I wasn’t exactly motivated to turn on the oven. Then it hit me… sorbet!
 
One quick Google Search later and I was up to date on sorbets. Most of recipes were fairly similar in nature but I decided on this really simple sounding recipe at myrecipes.com. There were two reasons I chose this particular recipe. One, it was dead simple and two, it calls for culinary lavender, a bottle of which has been sitting in my pantry for 2 months unopened. First you make a lavender infused simple syrup and then blend it together with fresh blueberries and lemon juice.

You’ll notice I upped the sugar ratio from the original recipe. Why? Well in my quick research I found this article from Cook’s Illustrated which basically says that increased sugar content is what makes a creamy ice cream like texture.
 
Also- as much as I like lavender you could certainly omit this ingredient or change it up with something different. We recently had a Blueberry-Basil sorbet at MDI Ice Cream in Portland, ME that was fantastic.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon  dried culinary lavender (optional)
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3  pints fresh or frozen blueberries (6 cups)
• 3 tablespoons  fresh lemon juice

Preparation

1. In a saucepan, bring sugar, 1 cup water, and lavender, if using, to a boil. Add salt and simmer 2 minutes. Transfer sugar syrup to a metal bowl and let cool to room temperature. Strain and discard lavender.
2. In a blender, purée sugar syrup, blueberries, and lemon juice. Strain and discard seeds and skin. Cover and chill sorbet mixture at least 30 minutes and up to overnight.
3. Freeze in an ice cream maker according to manufacturer’s instructions. Transfer to a freezer-safe dish, cover, and freeze until hard, at least 1 hour and up to overnight.

1 year ago  /  0 notes

How To: Make Homemade Granola

Granola is one of those staple foods in our house. @isitvegan is pretty wild about it for breakfast, and honestly, when I’m not enjoying one of my favorite smoothies, I like it too. For years (yes literally years) we bought boxed granola from Trader Joe’s. Not just any granola would do, mind you. For one, few store bought granolas are actually vegan, as most contain honey and or whey. Secondly, it can be really expensive. And number three, not all of them taste great.
 
One night we were watching Diners Drive-Ins and Dives on the Food Network, and Guy Fieri was watching this “diner chick” make her own granola for the whole diner. It struck me at that moment that I could totally do that, and probably already had the ingredients in the pantry. I gave it a shot the next day and we’ve been off Trader Joe’s Granny Smith Granola ever since.
 

I love this recipe because it is easy and you get to be creative. There is a lot of give with this. You can change up the nut/berry mix or the extracts to get the flavor combo you like most. Now I make up a batch about once a week and store it in an airtight container. It makes a great breakfast and dessert topping. (Fruit, granola and vegan cream parfaits anyone?)

Assemble in a big/giant bowl:
3 Cups Rolled Oats
1 Cup Chopped Raw Nuts (pecans and slivered almonds are our favs but walnuts would work)
1 Cup Unsweetened Shredded  Coconut
1 Cup Dried Fruit (cranberries, cherries, blueberries, raisins, currents, dried apple, whatever you dig)
3/4 Cup Brown Sugar
3/4 Cup Vegetable Oil
1/2 Cup Maple Syrup
1/2 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
1/2 Teaspoon Almond Extract
Dash of salt
 
Preheat the oven to 325. Assemble all the ingredients in a giant bowl and mix thoroughly using your hands or a rubber spatula making sure that everything is coated well and sticky. Pour the mixture onto a jellyroll pan (cookie sheet with a lip) and even out the mixture. Bake for 12 minutes. Remove the pan and use your spatula to mix up the granola so that all of it has a chance to get nice and golden. Make sure to close your oven door while you mix. Then place back in the over for another 5-7 minutes. Let it cool and then store in an air tight container.  

Flavor combo ideas:
Northwest: Cherry-almond
Tropical: Coconut-mango-macadamia
New England: Cranberry-walnut
Across the pond: Current-pecan
Winter: Maple-pecan

1 year ago  /  2 notes

Review: Are You Sure That’s Vegan Cookbook by Claire Gosse

Special update. This week’s review was created by my lovely wife, @maia_melissa. She’s the best!

Nutty Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
Via “Are You Sure That’s Vegan” by Claire Gosse of vegancooking.com
@isitvegan’s review: 9.5/10

A few weeks ago @isitvegan mentioned that he had received a vegan e-cookbook. He was pretty excited to get into this new set of vegan recipes devoted to sweets. He mentioned that he could really get on board with author Claire Gosse’s personal baking philosophy, “I just want tasty vegan desserts that impress my friends and family, vegan or otherwise.” He also approved of the “non-hippy” ingredients: no milk thistle, rose hips, … After all, desserts need to taste delicious, whether they are vegan or not. My personal goal is always to make things that everyone can enjoy.

Anyway, he asked if I’d be willing to use one of these recipes to make some cookies. My response: “Of course!” Here’s a secret you may not know…@isitvegan and I have a bit of a deal going… I cook and he does the dishes. I think we instituted this deal back in college and it’s just something that stuck. His cooking skills may be a bit underdeveloped…but watch out Mr. Clean because his dish washing skills are unparalleled. To be fair, he was the chocolate grater, pecan chopper and errand boy for this recipe test. It’s very hard to make cookies when you have no margarine!

We decided on this recipe for Nutty Oatmeal Chip Cookies and were glad we did. All the deliciousness of a classic chocolate chip cookie married with chopped pecans and filled with the good for you fiber of oats.  

In the past, I have to admit to failing “vegan cookies 101.” They always seem to come out flat and oily. But not these cookies. I think the bulk of the whole wheat and oat flour plus the combination of baking soda and powder made these rise up nicely. They are not overly sweet, and the recipe makes a ton of cookies. I think we ended up with close to 50 decent sized cookies.

We actually made the recipe twice  The first time we shared them at our respective offices (with NO vegans), and they were given rave reviews. The second batch was shared at a house warming party with some vegans, and I can happily say we came home with empty plates. The one modification we made was to dial back the amount of chocolate and nuts from the original recipe, but thinking back I liked the packed-to-the-gills version better.    

I’m eager to try out a few more recipes from the cookbook. Boston Cream Cupcakes or Keylime Cheesecake may be next. Our collective advice…download it now or check out vegancooking.com for some of her other recipes.

1 year ago  /  2 notes

amandastosz asked: I want to make that dish with the rice, artichokes, tomatoes, and greenbeans. how'd you cook the veggies?

Good one. I’d steam the greenbeans for a bit, get them a little soft. If you are using fresh artichokes, I’d do the same for them too. Get them soft. Then I’d slightly pan fry the artichokes with the greenbeans. Not too long. At the last minute, I’d throw in the tomatoes. Just long enough to get them warmed up and flavors melding.

Good luck!

1 year ago  /  0 notes