Best.Salad.Ever

O.M.G.

I had this for dinner tonight and it was absolutely amazing. It made such an impression, I raced to my computer to update this blog. I admit, I've had a dry spell. But believe me, this recipe more than makes up for it.

Roasted Butternut Squash Salad with Warm Cider Vinaigrette
Ingredients
1 (1 1/2 lb) butternut squash, pealed and diced (3/4 inch)
Good olive oil
1 TBS pure maple syrup
Salt and pepper
3 TBS dried cranberries
3/4 cup apple cider or apple juice
2 TBS cider vinegar
2 TBS minced shallots
2 tsp dijon mustard
4 oz arugala (I used a spinach and arugala mix)
1/2 cup toasted walnuts

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400.
2. Place the squash onto a baking sheet. Add 2 TBS olive oil, the maple syrup, S&P, and toss (mix together).
3. Roast squash for 15-20 minutes, turning once, until tender.
4. In the last 5 minutes, add the cranberries.
5. While the squash is roasting, combine apple cider, vinegar, and shallots in a small saucepan and bring to boil over medium-high heat.
6. Cook for 6-8 minutes, until the cider is reduced to about 1/4 cup.
7. Off the heat, whisk in mustard, 1/2 cup olive oil, and S&P to taste.
8. Put salad greens in a large bowl and add squash mixture and walnuts.
9. Spoon just enough vinaigrette to moisten the salad and toss well.
10. Sprinkle with vegan parmesan cheese if desired.

Yes, it's a warm salad, and it is SOOOOOOOOOOOO good. Please make it ASAP. :-D

Amazon Bars

Holey Moley! This is a treat I grew up with: rich with condensed milk, gooey chocolate, crumbly graham cracker crust... This was the BEST treat ever. And guess what...it's now vegan friendly. :-)

Amazon Bars
Ingredients
1 14 oz can coconut milk
2/3 cup brown sugar (or 2/3 cup white sugar and enough molasses to turn mixture brown)
2 cups graham cracker crumbs (or chocolate wafer crumbs)
2 TBS sugar
1 stick margarine (1/2 cup)
1 1/2 cup chocolate chips
2 cups shredded sweetened coconut
1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans or nut of your choice

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350. Line a 13x9x2 baking dish with parchment paper or foil.
2. Put coconut milk and brown sugar into a small pot. Bring mixture to a boil and mix until all sugar is melted. Turn heat down to low and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
3. Melt margarine. Mix with graham cracker crumbs and sugar so that everything is moist.
4. Press graham cracker crumbs into the baking dish. The more you press, the firmer the crust, the easier it will be to cut the bars!
5. Pour the coconut mixture over the crust.
6. Evenly distribute chocolate chips, coconut, and nuts (in that order).
7. Bake for 28-30 minutes.
8. Cool on a rack for 15 minutes. Put in fridge and let it cool for 4 hours.
9. Cut into desired size bars. Put back in fridge.
10. EAT! You deserve a piece after waiting so long!
3.

Coconut Lime Cupcakes

True Story: These were inspired by the Key Lime Pie I didn't order for dessert the other day...

Coconut Lime Cupcakes

Ingredients
1/3 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup coconut milk
1/4 cup soy milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 TBS lightly packed lime zest
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup shredded coconut

Direction

1. Preheat overn to 350. Line cupcake pan with liners.
2. In a medium bowl, mix together the oil and sugar. Add the coconut milk, soy milk, vanilla, and lime zest. Mix to combine.
3. Add the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Mix until smooth. Add the coconut and mix.
4. Bake for 23-25 minutes.
5. Cool completely before icing.

Icing

1. Beat 1/2 cup nonhydrogenated shortening and 1/2 cup (1 stick) of nonhydrogenated margarine until fluffy.
2. Add 3 1/2 cups powdered sugar and beat for 3 more minutes.
3. Add 1 tsp of vanilla extract and 1/4 cup fresh lime juice. Beat for another 5-7 minutes.
4. Top the cupcakes with icing and shredded coconut.

And it's done. Amazing. And a crowd pleaser. Seriously, everyone was raving, so make these today!


Some notes...my icing was a little watery because I had a very juicy lime. So that meant that the icing didn't "stack" on itself like the icings you see on store cupcakes. The shredded coconut in the cupcakes add for some unexpected goodness.

not-so-new recipe

So on cold days like this (yes, it reached 35 in Houston!), I love nothing more than to snuggle up with a big mug of hot chocolate!

Peppermint Hot Chocolate

Ingredients
1 cup soy milk (or your favorite non-dairy milk)
Cocoa Powder
Sugar
Vanilla Extract
Peppermint Extract
Tiny pinch of salt

Directions
1. Pour cup of milk into microwave safe liquid measuring cup (or bowl, if you want to be ghetto lol)
2. Microwave milk for 1 minute 30 seconds.
3. While milk is heating up, take a regular spoon and put in 2 equal spoonfulls of sugar and 2 equal spoonfuls of cocoa powder into a large mug. Put tiny pinch of salt into the cup.
4. When milk is heated, slowly pour into sugar mixture. Mix thoroughly with a fork.
5. After everything is mixed, pour in a dash of vanilla extract and a pinch of peppermint extract.

Yummmmmmm. So good on a cold day. Snuggle up and enjoy with a good TV show.

Baked Apples

This is a dish my dad started making on cold winter nights. It's super simple and very yummy. And it's easy to make into a crumble!

Baked Apples

Ingredients
(#) apples, cored (the number of people is the number of apples you'll use)
Raisins (or other dried fruit, like craisins)
Brown sugar
Chopped nuts of your choice

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Put cored apples into individual oven-safe dishes.
3. Mix brown sugar, raisins, and chopped nuts. Stuff into apples.
4. Bake until apple is tender, about 20-30 minutes.

Crumble

Ingredients
Margarine
Brown sugar
Oats

Directions
1. Using 2 knives in a crossing motion, work together margarine, brown sugar, and oats.
2. Pack on top of individual apples.
or
3. Slice apples up and mix with dried fruit, and nuts. Top put mixture into baking dishes. Top with crumble.

Either way, you'll get a really yummy result. :-D

Cleaning out the fridge

Do you ever find yourself with a variety of almost-gone veggies but have no idea what to do with them? I have a simple way to cook up your veggies and have a great meal, and perhaps even have leftovers for tomorrow's lunch! And I'll even throw in a recipe for garlic bread. YUM!

Pasta My Way

Ingredients
Any veggie combo you want
Olive Oil (also canola, grape, etc)
Seasoning of your choice
Whole grain pasta of your choice (I like small cuts like penne)

Directions
1. Chop your veggies in bite size pieces.
2. Put in a pan (glass pan or big baking sheet.
3. Drizzle with olive oil. Mix it together with the veggies.
4. Mix in seasoning of your choice.
5. Pop veggies in a 400 degree over for 30-40 minutes.
6. Cook pasta.
7. Mix pasta and veggies together. Add whatever sauce/salad dressing you like.

Garlic Bread

Ingredients
Whole wheat French bread (or anything similar will work too)
1 head of garlic
Olive Oil
Margerine (optional)

Directions
1. Cut the top off of the head of garlic, exposing the cloves.
2. Put the head of garlic in foil.
3. Drizzle olive oil onto the garlic.
4. Wrap the foil over the head of garlic.
5. Put foil pack in a 400 degree oven. Let it cook for about an hour.
6. Slice up the bread.
7. Drizzle olive oil on the bread and put on a baking sheet.
8. Put a little salt and pepper onto the bread to season it. (Just a tiny pinch)
9. Put in the oven for about 10 minutes.
There are two options:
1. When garlic is done roasting, just take a clove and smash it onto each piece of bread. SO GOOD!
2. Smash roasted garlic with some margerine. Spread onto the bread. Pop bread back in the oven for no more htan 5 minutes.

Sorry I don't have pics....we ate it all up before I thought of taking pictures. But trust me, it's good!

Baking Secrets

So this is a not-so-secret secret, considering it's printed right on the bag....

Looking for an easier way to bake vegan, but can't find vegan friendly egg substitute? Take a hint from Bob's Red Mill Whole Ground Flaxseed Meal:

Flaxseed Meal makes a great egg substitute for most recipes. For one egg, simply mix 1 TBS flaxseed eal with 3 TBS water in a small bowl and let sit for two minutes. Add to a recipe as you would an egg.

I found this brand of Flaxseed Meal at my local Kroger, which means you should be able to find it even if you're in a smaller town.

So for those baking needs, try substituting non-dairy milk and ground flaxseed mix!