I currently have absolutely no time for blogging. You may have noticed the incredible lack of posts and so I'm trying to be a little better about that. Even if brief. So here's my latest successful recipe and boy was it a great way to start the morning!
Powerful Protein Pancakes
1 - 2 cup oats*
1 cup cottage cheese
8 egg whites
2 teaspoons vanilla
a few shakes of cinnamon
* 1 cup of oats will make eggier, fluffier pancakes but creates a thin batter which rolls all over the pan unless you have a pancake form. 2 cups of oats will make a more filling, denser pancake. Maybe start with 1 1/2 cups for your first time trying this recipe.
1) Put all ingredients in a blender and blend until mostly smooth. I like to leave some oat chunks for texture, but the level of smoothness is completely up to your individual taste. You can also put all the ingredients in a bowl and use an immersion blender** to blend ingredients.
2) Warm skillet to medium heat and grease.
3) Use about 2 tablespoon of batter to make each silver dollar sized pancake. Cook just the same as you would a regular pancake. Wait for the edges to brown on top and for small bubbles to form on top before flipping each pancake.
4) Top with your choice of healthy or not so healthy toppings, cuz hey, at least the pancake is healthy!
** Immersion blenders are my new favorite kitchen tool. After being introduced to them by my good friend Karin a few years ago, I continue to be amazed by their versatility and hardiness every time I use one! No more finicky blenders. They also feel like use hardware tools in the kitchen, it's pretty fantastic!
Sunday, July 28, 2013
Sunday, March 3, 2013
The Basic Granola
Granola is just the best for snacking! It's cheap and easy to make too! I always try to mix in nuts and dried fruit which gets me snacking on an extra dose of protein, vitamins, and antioxidants. A great food for a college student who barely has time to breathe, much less eat well. Over my past year of making granola, I've gotten my method down to one simple recipe that has a lot less sugar than most. This Basic Granola can then have different spices and ingredients added in order to get fun flavors* such as Chocolate-dipped Strawberries and Cream, Maple-Cinnamon, and Almond-Blueberry. The recipe below produces a beautiful, chunky, golden-brown granola in about an hour and a half. So before my next class, I'm going to make:
The Basic Granola
preheat the oven to 250°F
3 cups oats (old-fashioned, not quick-cook*)
1/3 cup honey
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup warm water
1 egg white
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1. Put all of the ingredients, except the oats, into a bowl and mix them together well.
2. Now add the oats and stir them using your hands, or a spoon, until they are evenly coated.
3. After lightly greasing a cookie sheet, pour all of the oats onto the sheet. Spread the oats across the pan in a thin, even layer.
4. Place the cookie sheet on a middle rack in the preheated oven and allow to bake for about 1 hour (read step 5). Don't stir the granola while it is baking, because that will keep it from clumping together.
5. As it gets to 50 minutes of cooking time, start checking the granola frequently (every two minutes) to make sure it doesn't go past just barely golden-brown. The trick with granola is that it dries out and burns very quickly after reaching the golden-brown point. It's okay to bake the granola for longer than 1 hour if it's not golden-brown enough for your liking, just be very attentive to it changing color (today this recipe took me 1 hour and 20 minutes, but usually it just takes 1 hour). Also, if I'm not sure if the granola is brown enough, I always choose to take it out even if it's a bit lighter colored because it usual browns a bit on the sheet as it cools.
6. Once you've decided to take the granola out of the oven after about an hour, let it cool completely on the pan.
7. Now comes the fun part! The granola should be stuck together in one big sheet (because of the egg white) and you now get to break it apart into whatever size chunks you like!
Store in the cupboard in a closed container and it will last about 2 weeks.
Happy snacking!
* Fun flavor variations to The Basic Granola recipe with pop up occasionally on CCCuizine, so keep an eye out!
The Basic Granola
preheat the oven to 250°F
3 cups oats (old-fashioned, not quick-cook*)
1/3 cup honey
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup warm water
1 egg white
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1. Put all of the ingredients, except the oats, into a bowl and mix them together well.
2. Now add the oats and stir them using your hands, or a spoon, until they are evenly coated.
3. After lightly greasing a cookie sheet, pour all of the oats onto the sheet. Spread the oats across the pan in a thin, even layer.
4. Place the cookie sheet on a middle rack in the preheated oven and allow to bake for about 1 hour (read step 5). Don't stir the granola while it is baking, because that will keep it from clumping together.
5. As it gets to 50 minutes of cooking time, start checking the granola frequently (every two minutes) to make sure it doesn't go past just barely golden-brown. The trick with granola is that it dries out and burns very quickly after reaching the golden-brown point. It's okay to bake the granola for longer than 1 hour if it's not golden-brown enough for your liking, just be very attentive to it changing color (today this recipe took me 1 hour and 20 minutes, but usually it just takes 1 hour). Also, if I'm not sure if the granola is brown enough, I always choose to take it out even if it's a bit lighter colored because it usual browns a bit on the sheet as it cools.
6. Once you've decided to take the granola out of the oven after about an hour, let it cool completely on the pan.
7. Now comes the fun part! The granola should be stuck together in one big sheet (because of the egg white) and you now get to break it apart into whatever size chunks you like!
Store in the cupboard in a closed container and it will last about 2 weeks.
Happy snacking!
* Fun flavor variations to The Basic Granola recipe with pop up occasionally on CCCuizine, so keep an eye out!
Garlic Hummus (no blender!)
First and foremost, I must rant a bit. The internet has told me time and again that it is a-okay to put garbanzo beans (chickpeas) in a blender, along with some liquids, in order to make hummus. In a time of dire need for hummus and lack of a food processor, I tried making hummus in a blender against my better judgement. Maybe I needed a better blender than the $5 garage sale one we have at our house, maybe I'm just not as skilled as all those other internet cooks. I just don't know. But I do know that I about killed our blender and then had to spend nearly an hour getting the garbanzo beans out of the blender and cleaning the wretched thing. So add this to your list of
Golden Cooking Rules:
Blenders are for foods that can become liquid-like (e.g. fruit, yogurt, ice).
Food processors are for everything else, and unlike blenders can handle foods that turn into pastes (e.g. garbanzo beans, thick pesto).
Now, that I feel I've done my moral duty by informing the world about the evils of garbanzo beans in blenders, here's my hummus recipe! The starting point for this recipe came from two places: "Hummus" on About.com http://mideastfood.about.com/od/appetizerssnacks/r/hummusbitahini.htm and "Smooth Simple Hummus Recipe" on Inspired Taste http://www.inspiredtaste.net/15938/easy-and-smooth-hummus-recipe/.
By combining these two approaches, I was able to come up with a recipe which tastes similar, yet better, than the hummus you buy at the store! Encouraged by the results from Inspired Taste, I made my hummus without skinning my chickpeas and it came out beautifully smooth. I also used their idea of adding cumin, which worked well for cutting out some of the earthy garbanzo bean taste. But the base of my recipe came from About.com and here it is:
Garlic Hummus (no blender!)
1 (16 oz.) can of garbanzo beans (chickpeas)
1/4 cup of water saved from the garbanzo bean can
2 tbsp. olive oil
1 1/2 tbsp. tahini
1/2 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp. salt
3 tbsp. lemon juice
a large dash of freshly ground black pepper
2 cloves of garlic
1. Strain garbanzo beans over a bowl in order to save the garbanzo bean water for later.
2. Put garbanzo beans and olive oil in a food processor and blend until smooth. Stop the processor every once in a while to move the smooth parts of the hummus away from the blades and the chunky parts towards the blades. This step can also be done in sections so as not to overwhelm your food processor and to ensure a smooth finished product. I like to have my food processor about half full, so I did 1/4 of the garbanzo beans and 1/2 tbsp. of olive oil at a time. When that 1/4 was done I put it into a mixing bowl and moved on to the next 1/4 of garbanzo beans.
3. Once all of the garbanzo beans and olive oil had been food processed into a delicious looking paste, I moved all of the mixture into my Kitchen-Aid mixer (you can use a handheld electric mixer instead). Now I added the tahini, cumin, salt, pepper, and lemon juice and mixed it all together in the Kitchen-Aid for about 30 seconds.
4. The last step is to chop up your 2 cloves of garlic real finely and then toss the garlic in a pan of a little hot oil for about 2 minutes. This just brings out the flavor of the garlic and softens it a bit before you add it to your hummus. You can then pour the little bit of oil and the garlic from the pan directly into the Kitchen-Aid mixer. Give the hummus a final mix until everything looks evenly distributed and and smooth.
That's it! Delicious hummus, done as simply as possible* so that you can enjoy the healthy benefits of snacking on hummus without paying for more expensive versions at the grocery store.
* if your food processor is big enough to hold the rest of the ingredients on top of the smoothly processed garbanzo beans, then you can eliminate mixing things in a Kitchen-Aid and just do all of the mixing in a food processor.
Additional notes:
- Hummus lasts for about 2 weeks in the fridge.
- Tahini is expensive and comes in large quantities, but lasts in the cupboard for a very long time.
- Tahini is also difficult to mix, so here's some tips: 1) use a butter knife to break up the solid layer at the bottom of the can 2) when enough of the solids have broken loose, do your best to mix them with the oil 3) once it gets to be too frustrating, just stop and toss abut equal parts solids and oil into the food processor or mixer.
Like life, it all smooths out in the end :)
Golden Cooking Rules:
Blenders are for foods that can become liquid-like (e.g. fruit, yogurt, ice).
Food processors are for everything else, and unlike blenders can handle foods that turn into pastes (e.g. garbanzo beans, thick pesto).
Now, that I feel I've done my moral duty by informing the world about the evils of garbanzo beans in blenders, here's my hummus recipe! The starting point for this recipe came from two places: "Hummus" on About.com http://mideastfood.about.com/od/appetizerssnacks/r/hummusbitahini.htm and "Smooth Simple Hummus Recipe" on Inspired Taste http://www.inspiredtaste.net/15938/easy-and-smooth-hummus-recipe/.
By combining these two approaches, I was able to come up with a recipe which tastes similar, yet better, than the hummus you buy at the store! Encouraged by the results from Inspired Taste, I made my hummus without skinning my chickpeas and it came out beautifully smooth. I also used their idea of adding cumin, which worked well for cutting out some of the earthy garbanzo bean taste. But the base of my recipe came from About.com and here it is:
Garlic Hummus (no blender!)
1 (16 oz.) can of garbanzo beans (chickpeas)
1/4 cup of water saved from the garbanzo bean can
2 tbsp. olive oil
1 1/2 tbsp. tahini
1/2 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp. salt
3 tbsp. lemon juice
a large dash of freshly ground black pepper
2 cloves of garlic
1. Strain garbanzo beans over a bowl in order to save the garbanzo bean water for later.
2. Put garbanzo beans and olive oil in a food processor and blend until smooth. Stop the processor every once in a while to move the smooth parts of the hummus away from the blades and the chunky parts towards the blades. This step can also be done in sections so as not to overwhelm your food processor and to ensure a smooth finished product. I like to have my food processor about half full, so I did 1/4 of the garbanzo beans and 1/2 tbsp. of olive oil at a time. When that 1/4 was done I put it into a mixing bowl and moved on to the next 1/4 of garbanzo beans.
3. Once all of the garbanzo beans and olive oil had been food processed into a delicious looking paste, I moved all of the mixture into my Kitchen-Aid mixer (you can use a handheld electric mixer instead). Now I added the tahini, cumin, salt, pepper, and lemon juice and mixed it all together in the Kitchen-Aid for about 30 seconds.
4. The last step is to chop up your 2 cloves of garlic real finely and then toss the garlic in a pan of a little hot oil for about 2 minutes. This just brings out the flavor of the garlic and softens it a bit before you add it to your hummus. You can then pour the little bit of oil and the garlic from the pan directly into the Kitchen-Aid mixer. Give the hummus a final mix until everything looks evenly distributed and and smooth.
That's it! Delicious hummus, done as simply as possible* so that you can enjoy the healthy benefits of snacking on hummus without paying for more expensive versions at the grocery store.
* if your food processor is big enough to hold the rest of the ingredients on top of the smoothly processed garbanzo beans, then you can eliminate mixing things in a Kitchen-Aid and just do all of the mixing in a food processor.
Additional notes:
- Hummus lasts for about 2 weeks in the fridge.
- Tahini is expensive and comes in large quantities, but lasts in the cupboard for a very long time.
- Tahini is also difficult to mix, so here's some tips: 1) use a butter knife to break up the solid layer at the bottom of the can 2) when enough of the solids have broken loose, do your best to mix them with the oil 3) once it gets to be too frustrating, just stop and toss abut equal parts solids and oil into the food processor or mixer.
Like life, it all smooths out in the end :)
Wednesday, September 5, 2012
Quinoa Pizza Crust
Hey there curious cookers, I want to share a recipe with you all because it solved one of my greatest conundrums and I thought it might help you too! How to make pizza healthier while keeping it close to the classic pizza we all love?? After a year and a half of watching my housemate make and consume delicious homemade pizzas every other week or so, I just couldn't stand it anymore! I needed some gosh dang pizza. It's wonderfully cheap and it makes such good leftovers, a pretty ideal college kid food. So I started hunting. I found a recipe for quinoa pizza crust on the blog Positively Healthy and while I was cooking I made a few adjustments based on how I know how to work with quinoa. It came out even better than I ever could've hoped for a healthy alternative! The crust gets golden and crispy on the outside and, because I like doughy pizza crust, it can be thick enough to be soft on the the inside. Topped with gooey mozarella, bell peppers, onions, and basil it was to die for! This quinoa pizza finally satisfied my craving for pizza while feeding my body something I knew would be good for it. So, here's the recipe, I hope it helps you to indulge in all the delicious varieties of pizza:
Quinoa Pizza Crust
(this recipe is for a 12-inch cast iron pan. though it can also be done on a regular pan or cookie sheet.)
1/2 cup quinoa
1 cup water
1 tbsp olive oil or non-stick cooking spray
1 tsp Italian seasoning (oregano, basil, garlic, thyme, etc.)
1/4 tsp salt
1 egg
1. Combine quinoa and water in pot or rice cooker and steam as you normally would to prepare quinoa.
2. Coat a cast iron pan in the tablespoon of olive oil and put it in the oven to preheat to 450 degrees.
3. Once the quinoa finishes cooking, take it out of your pot and put it in a food processor. Toss in the Italian seasoning (whatever combination you want that adds up to 1 tsp), salt, and egg. Food process these ingredients together until the quinoa comes together like a dough (rather than it's usually rice-like texture).
4. Take the quinoa pizza dough out of the food processor and put it on a piece of wax paper. Flatten into a circular shape that will fit into the cast iron pan. Keep it thicker (at least a 1/4 inch) for a doughy crust, roll it thin for a crispy crust.
5. Once the oven finishes preheating, flip your rolled-out pizza crust into the pan. Cook for 10 minutes. Then grab a spatula, open the oven, flip your crust and cook for another 10 minutes.
6. Finally, open the oven and quickly layer pizza sauce, cheese, veggies, and meat (whatever you want to put on your pizza really. go crazy. try anything. great use for random leftovers!) onto the crust. Cook for another 5-7 minutes.
Hope you all have fun making tasty quinoa pizza creations!
Please, let me know how it works for you and feel free to post any questions you might have.
P.s. I'll put up pictures shortly, but I have to go write a essay now...
Quinoa Pizza Crust
(this recipe is for a 12-inch cast iron pan. though it can also be done on a regular pan or cookie sheet.)
1/2 cup quinoa
1 cup water
1 tbsp olive oil or non-stick cooking spray
1 tsp Italian seasoning (oregano, basil, garlic, thyme, etc.)
1/4 tsp salt
1 egg
1. Combine quinoa and water in pot or rice cooker and steam as you normally would to prepare quinoa.
2. Coat a cast iron pan in the tablespoon of olive oil and put it in the oven to preheat to 450 degrees.
3. Once the quinoa finishes cooking, take it out of your pot and put it in a food processor. Toss in the Italian seasoning (whatever combination you want that adds up to 1 tsp), salt, and egg. Food process these ingredients together until the quinoa comes together like a dough (rather than it's usually rice-like texture).
4. Take the quinoa pizza dough out of the food processor and put it on a piece of wax paper. Flatten into a circular shape that will fit into the cast iron pan. Keep it thicker (at least a 1/4 inch) for a doughy crust, roll it thin for a crispy crust.
5. Once the oven finishes preheating, flip your rolled-out pizza crust into the pan. Cook for 10 minutes. Then grab a spatula, open the oven, flip your crust and cook for another 10 minutes.
6. Finally, open the oven and quickly layer pizza sauce, cheese, veggies, and meat (whatever you want to put on your pizza really. go crazy. try anything. great use for random leftovers!) onto the crust. Cook for another 5-7 minutes.
Hope you all have fun making tasty quinoa pizza creations!
Please, let me know how it works for you and feel free to post any questions you might have.
P.s. I'll put up pictures shortly, but I have to go write a essay now...
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