Hearth Bird

Individual Yogurt and Black Raspberry Cheesecakes: Guest Post On Eat With The Seasons

2011-07-10T12:09:00.000-07:00

I had the honor of being offered a guest post on my new favorite blog "Eat With The Seasons". I anticipate I will posting here occasionally, so be on the look out for new local and wild-harvested treats coming straight from my Ohio kitchen! I'm having so much fun here!

Click here to visit this amazing blog and check out my recipe for Individual Yogurt and Black Raspberry Cheesecakes.

Ch-ch-changes!

2011-04-28T11:50:00.000-07:00

Seems there are so many right now! Including the dreamcatchers. I've reworked them a bit and I'm quite happy with the turn out. I've got big plans for these guys upon arrival to Ohio. My busy hands just keep on weaving..

What Lies Ahead

2011-04-21T21:10:00.000-07:00

Standing on some sweet Ohio soil!

In less than six weeks our journey to the forest begins! It seems all our wishing and manifesting is coming to fruition! We are both quitting our jobs (mine of eight years!) and are so ready to disconnect from the rat race! We will still need to make money, so we have some exciting things planned for when we get out there, none of which requires having a "job". Woo! I have to give a lot of credit to Tim's mom and stepdad, Terri and Randy. I feel so much gratitude for them making this adventure possible for us. And I'm so utterly excited to be welcomed into this family's arms! It's truly an honor to be a part of such a warm, loving, diverse, and interesting group of folks!

Terri and Randy's house. You can see our basement living area, the bottom floor with windows.

I mentioned a while back in this post what Tim and I have had in our dreams. We are now moving to southern Ohio in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, a place full of so much beauty! Initially, we will need some time to still purchase land and building supplies. But fortunately, Terri and Randy already live on some acreage. They have generously offered to give us a place to stay in the basement of their Amish built home for the time being. While we are living in their basement (which by the way, is gorgeous and lined with windows) we will be renovating the barn on their property into a proper living space. It's pretty large, so our area will be sectioned off into an apartment-like area. I'm pretty excited about this because it will give me great building experience for when we actually build THE dream house. AND I am being taught by one of the people I admire most.. he just so happens to be my love!

The jaw bone of a forest creature. I found this on our walk through the woods last time we visited. Next time we'll be walkin' our new home!

This is the beginning of a new cycle! We have made room for change, and indeed change is flowing in. I'm trying not to plan too much for little details. I feel like this is what sets us up for disappointment. So I am going to graciously accept the times ahead, good and bad, the things that the universe intends for us to learn about, and let it sculpt us into beings of greater light and love. I regard Los Angeles as an amazing teacher, for my time here has brought upon some interesting challenges that have given me a deeper understanding of myself. But with this sourness, I have taken in her sweetness. She is great for beaches, coastal mountains, ocean, and gorgeous drives up to the redwoods. And not to mention I have met, or perhaps reconnected, with some beautiful soul kin during my 3 year stay here. You know who you are and I will miss you so incredibly much! ...And now the time has come for us to RAMBLE ON!

Sprouted Flour Carrot Cake Muffins (vegan and sugar free)

2011-04-12T11:20:00.000-07:00

Last week, with much excitement, I posted a tutorial on how to make your own sprouted grain flour. I was thrilled at how easy it was to make the flour, but does it bake well? The answer is.. YES! Granted, I have only tried baking with it in this one recipe experiment and have yet to bake bread. But hey, it's a start. I was warned about sprouted flours baking up to complete mush. I also know that sometimes recipes containing only whole wheat flour can tend to be on the dry side. But these muffins were fantastic! Moist but not too moist. When baked, this homemade flour has a hearty cornbread texture, but without the corn taste. They're quite a contrast to your standard white flour muffins. For one, they're exceptionally healthy for containing wheat. You can read all about the nutritional benefits of sprouted grains here. And the most important thing... the flavor. Tim and I think they are lovely. He declared that they were one of his favorite things I have ever made and has been begging me to make them again! Some co-workers that sampled them described them as "very healthy tasting". I laughed and figured that meant they didn't like them. So I guess it depends on your palate. If it is wrought with refined white flour, sugar, and flavor enhancers then you might not like these. But if you're like me, you can appreciate (and prefer) something a bit more "whole tasting" with natural flavors and textures.

By the way, these are great sliced with a bit of Earth Balance on top!

Sprouted Flour Carrot Cake Muffins

2 cups sprouted wheat flour

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1 teaspoon baking soda

3 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1 cup grated carrot, packed

1/2 cup mashed banana

1/2 cup homemade applesauce (or sub sugar-free store bought)

1 teaspoon Vanilla Stevia Extract by NuNaturals (it's the best!)

1 tablespoon ener-g egg replacer (or sub ground flax)

1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk

1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

1/3 cup melted coconut oil

Preheat oven to 375

In a large bowl, mix all the dry ingredients and set aside.

In another bowl combine mashed banana, applesauce, and carrots.

In a small bowl mix together the almond milk and vinegar to curdle. Then add the stevia and egg replacer. Continually whisk well while adding the melted coconut oil.

Combine the liquid ingredients with the carrot, apple, banana mixture. Then combine the dry and wet ingredients. The batter should be a little thick. Spoon it into a lined muffin tin.

Bake for 20-25 minutes. Cool on a rack. Store in an air tight container.

Beautifully Simple Raw Applesauce

2011-04-05T20:32:00.000-07:00

First of all, I am not really an applesauce eater. Nothing against it. I just usually prefer the convenience of an apple to go in it's own handy packaging (skin). But I wanted to use applesauce in my sprouted grain muffin recipe and didn't have any. That's when you know you can count on your Vita-mix. I threw two chopped up apples (skin on) in the carafe, stomped them down into the spinning blades, and sure enough within seconds I had applesauce. I added 5 drops of vanilla stevia, 1/2 a teaspoon of cinnamon, and oh my... I think I'll start enjoying applesauce a little more often. Isn't the color divine?

DIY Sprouted Grain Flour

2011-04-04T22:16:00.000-07:00

It's been a long, winding road down the path of food and nutrition for me. Being vegan has, indeed, lead me to a supremely healthy diet. I have to admit, I've had quite a few hardships when sticking to a strictly vegan diet. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE what I eat. But being vegan hasn't been so kind to my tummy. For me, this is just a quest for further improvements. With a few diet adjustments and taking the best enzymes and probiotics you can buy, things are getting much better for me.

My sensitivity to lectins in whole grains and legumes has brought me back to a bit of research I did a while ago. Grains, legumes, seeds, and nuts are highly undigestible unless they are at least soaked, but preferably sprouted. You may or may not experience digestive upset if you eat these improperly, but you certainly are not getting nutrition from them. In fact, the phytic acid contained in these foods BLOCK nutrition from absorbing in the colon. A fatal mistake for any vegan relying on grains and legumes for all the essential aminos to comprise a complete protein. I personally have been rocked by the side affects of not knowing this vital piece of information.

In that regard, I am very excited to share this with you. I took it upon myself to make my own soaked and sprouted flour! I do thank the blogging world for schooling me on such matters. And now I would like to bring you my own version. It was really a pretty easy process. It seems labor intensive, but being able to have flour to bake with that doesn't make my stomach painfully hard and distended is pretty worth it! And I do love everything handmade.

Here's what you'll need:

-Grains of your choice, three cups filled my dehydrater

(I used organic hard red winter wheat)

-Spring water or filtered water

-Some big jars or sprouting containers

-Cheesecloth or nylon and rubber bands to cover the jars

-A food dehydrator and vita-mix blender are essential,

unless you have a grain mill and know how to dehydrate grains in the sun or oven.

-Parchment to line the dehydtarter

First you'll want to rinse the grains. Place your grains in the jars of your choice. I used about a cup of wheat to each large jar. Fasten the cloth over the top of the jar with a rubber band. Pour water into the jars and slosh it around with the grains. Remove any floaties or damaged grains that you may see. Pour the water out and rinse again a few more times.

Let the grains soak in the jar full of water for 12-24 hours.

When they are done soaking, rinse the jar of grains several more times. You should see some brown water come out. Rinse really well until the residue is gone.

Turn the jar upside down and let ALL of the water drain from the it. You now need to let the grain germinate. It needs a moist environment, but should not be sitting in a puddle of water or it could ferment and go rancid. After the water is drained, turn the jar on it's side and let the wheat begin to sprout. This could take anywhere from a couple hours to another 24 hours.

Here is what you want to see:

The very top of the sprout about to come out of the wheat. This picture was taken slightly premature, but as long as you see that little bud peeking out you are good, you can stop spouting! You don't want a full sprout otherwise your flour will turn to mush when you try to bake with it. At this point your wheat is broken down of concentrated starches and fats, rendering them as usable carbohydrates and changing the protein into free form amino acids. They are also devoid of enzyme inhibitors and phytic acid.

Next, line the tray of your dehydrator with parchment paper. Pour the wheat onto the parchment and spread it thin enough to ensure even drying.

Dehydrate at 115 degrees for 12 hours or until it is thoroughly dry.

Here comes the fun part. Milling the grain in the vita-mix! Use one cup of dehydrated wheat at a time and blend on high for no more than one minute at a time. I found that one minute on, then shaking the grain to cool it off, then turning the vita-mix back on for 30 seconds was sufficient. You don't want the wheat to get too hot and start cooking. Just enough until it looks and feels like flour. Mine seemed a bit on the grainy side, but did great when I baked with it.

Stay tuned, I'll be sharing what I baked with this flour very soon!

Mango Nori Rolls with Sesame and Coconut Parsnip Rice

2011-04-04T00:17:00.000-07:00

It's that time of year to celebrate the renewal of life with fresh new fruits and vegetables in the spring harvests. I am very excited for light, warm weather foods and the abundance of goodies at the farmers markets. Not to mention, it won't be long until Tim and I are eating out of a garden!

There really are no rules to making raw nori rolls (mostly raw anyway). They're tasty with just about any veggie. I especially like to mix fruits in there for a fun palate twist. I'm beginning to move away from most grains, especially un-sprouted ones, as my digestive system doesn't take kindly to them anymore (However, I can't resist baking every now and then as a treat). So, the parsnip "rice" was nice to have as a substitute. Sprouts work as a great filler too with the rest of your ingredients. Go crazy with some fresh spring produce!

Mango Nori Rolls with Sesame Parsnip Rice

For the rice:

2 parsnips

1/4 cup dried coconut flakes

1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil

2 teaspoons rice vinegar

a pinch of sea salt

Chop the parsnips. Add all ingredients to a food processor and pulse until it resembles grains of rice.

Other Ingredients:

Mango

Cucumber

Purple Spring Lettuces

Sesame Seeds

Sriracha Sauce

Assemble like so..

Roll them up and there you have a super tasty and healthy addition to any meal. Be sure to use a very sharp knife to cut them or it will tear your entire roll apart. Or if you're not very good at rolling (like me) you can learn to make a hand roll.

Lavender Dark Chocolate Chip Cookies

2011-03-18T15:37:00.000-07:00

I have taken up a recent obsession with dark chocolate and floral mixtures. The Dragoba Lavender Blueberry Dark Chocolate bar I purchased at the Farmacy in Athens started it all. So I made these tasty cookies (might I add crisp on the outside and chewy in the middle) and swapped the standard issue cinnamon for some fragrant crushed lavender. They were gone with in three hours of coming out of the oven! Good thing we were in Ohio with family around to help devour them.

Lavender Dark Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 cups flour

3 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons crushed lavender flowers

(crush to a powder using a mortar and pestle, or your fingers)

3/4 cup organic cane sugar

3/4 cup dark chocolate chips

1/4 cup almond milk

1/2 cup canola oil

1/4 cup soy free earth balance

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat Oven to 350

Mix together flour, baking powder, lavender, salt, and chocolate chips.

In a different bowl, mix together the sugar, almond milk, earth balance, oil, and vanilla. Mix well and combine the wet and dry ingredients.

Spoon onto ungreased cookie sheets and flaten them slightly with the back of your spoon. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes. Don't wait for them to brown or they will be too crunchy. They will harden up a bit after they cool. Move them with a spatula to cooling racks.

Strawberry Basil Smoothie (vegan)

2011-02-17T13:36:00.000-08:00

I've been experimenting with some pretty weird smoothie concoctions lately. You have to mix it up a bit when you drink a green smoothie for breakfast day after day. Log story short- I had a ton of basil getting ready to go bad. Googled basil smoothies. Tons of non-vegan recipes popped up, mostly consisting of yogurt. I'm sure you could use vegan yogurt, but it has a ton of added sugar and usually contains soy. So here is my very own vegan version of an herby, fresh, basil smoothie.. It's sounds strange, but its really super refreshing! I imagine blueberries or pineapple would be amazing with basil as well. To make it a green smoothie, add a couple handfuls of fresh spinach and a few more drops of stevia.

2 large handfuls of strawberries

1 small handful of basil leaves (adjust this to your liking)

1 cup non-sweetened almond milk

5 to 6 drops vanilla stevia extract

Blend on high until smooth.

Raw Banana Cream Pies With Chocolate Espresso Frosting (Sugar Free)

2011-02-16T15:06:00.000-08:00

Soooo so yummy! Full of super healthy fats and protein, and not to mention almost no sugar. The only sugar added is one tablespoon of raw honey, and of course the bananas have natural sugar. It's hard to believe that such a decadent dessert could be so good for you!

Makes 6 Mini Cream Pies

Crust

1 Tablespoon melted coconut oil

1/2 cup brazil nuts

3 tablespoons shredded unsweetened coconut

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

6 drops stevia extract

pinch of salt

Process in food processor until you have a "meal". Not pureed, but into little sticky bits. Line a cupcake tin with 6 liners. Press the crust into the liners and place it in the freezer while you prepare the rest.

Banana Cream

3 bananas

1/4 cup almond or coconut milk

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

few pinches of salt (not quite 1/4 teaspoon)

pinch of turmeric for color

1/4 cup virgin coconut oil

In a high speed blender, blend bananas, milk, vanilla, salt, and turmeric. Add the melted coconut oil and blend until combined. You should see it thicken up a bit after you add the oil. It should look have a thin pudding consistency and will firm after it is chilled.

Remove the crusts from the freezer. Spoon the Banana Cream over the crusts (about two tablespoons per pie) and then return the tin to the freezer.

Chocolate Espresso Frosting

Meat of 1 young coconut (about a heaping 1/2 cup)

1/4 cup soaked cashews

2 tablespoons cocoa powder

1/2 teaspoon espresso powder*

1 tablespoon raw honey

10 drops chocolate stevia extract

1 to 2 tablespoons reserved coconut water for processing

Blend everything in high speed blender until thick and frothy.

*You can make espresso/coffee powder in your coffee grinder. Just grind the beans until they become a very fine powder.

Chill the frosting for 10 to 15 minutes before frosting the pies. You can use a piping bag and then top with shredded coconut. Let everything firm up a bit longer in the freezer, although you will want to store them in the fridge and serve them soft (not frozen).

I used a butter knife to smooth out the texture from the cupcake liners. I don't think it was necessary though. They looks better in these photos..

The House Shelters Daydreaming, The House Protects the Dreamer..

2011-02-15T12:57:00.000-08:00

My brother recently asked if I would take some photos of the mini-garden I have growing near our back staircase outside. I can't call it a patio because it's only a 3 foot by 5 foot walkway that, somehow, I manage to grow plants on. Tim hand-built the wooden shelves that all the pots sit on to house the plants. There are various things, mostly plants that I took cuttings of and grew from babies. I even have a couple wild weeds growing in their very own pot. However, I embarked on my little photographic adventure and ended up wandering around the entire apartment snapping photos of mostly other little treasures and trinkets. So brother, here are your garden photos and then some!

Raw Walnut Crackers and Hummus

2011-02-03T09:58:00.000-08:00

Zucchini Hummus

2 small to medium zucchini, peeled

1/4 cup tahini

juice of one lemon

1 clove of garlic

sea salt to taste (about 1/2 teaspoon)

Process all ingredients in the food processor until smooth and creamy. Top with olive oil, paprika, and chopped brazil nuts (optional).

Raw Buttery Walnut Crackers

Adapted from The Rawtarian

2 cups walnuts, soaked for two hours

2 1/2 cups zucchini, cubed

1/2 a yellow bell pepper, chopped

1/2 cup ground flaxseeds

1/2 cup sunflower seeds

1 teaspoon sea salt

(Or to taste. The original recipe called for two teaspoons salt. I find that things come out saltier tasting after dehydration.)

Drain and rinse the soaking walnuts. Place them in a food processor and process until they are very small "cous cous" like pieces. Transfer to a bowl.

Place the chopped zucchini and yellow pepper in the food processor and process until you have fine bits. Don't turn it into a puree. Add to the bowl of walnuts.

Add the flaxseed, sunflower seeds, and sea salt. Stir well until all ingredients are combined. You can add a small amount of water, but I didn't need it.

Spread the mixture over the dehydrator trays. This recipe took up two trays for me because I spread it fairly thin. Dehydrate at 115 degrees for a few hours, score the crackers, and flip. Continue dehydrating until crispy (takes a long time, but the longer you go the crispier).

If you don't have a fancy Excalibur Dehydrator, you can line your round dehydrator with parchment paper like this:

Cut a cross shaped hole in the center of a square piece of parchment.

Then fit it onto the tray like this:

I've used this method with success countless times. I even recycle my parchment paper if it comes out fairly clean afterwards. The Excalibur is by far the best dehydrator you can have, but I just haven't gotten around to buying myself one. I love the convenient square shape of it, rather than my pain in the butt round dehydrator. I purchased mine, a Nesco, for $30 off craigslist and it works great (except the shape and awkward hole in center). If it isn't broken don't fix it, right?

Steamy Cauliflower Soup

2011-02-02T11:39:00.000-08:00

Fresh from the soup pot.. Simple and satisfying.

1 head of cauliflower, chopped

1/2 white onion, minced

2 carrots, minced

1 celery stalk, minced

2 leeks, whites and greens sliced

Soy Free Earth Balance

6 or 7 cups of water

2 to 3 vegan bouillon cubes

1 cup unsweetened almond milk

4 tablespoons arrowroot starch mixed with 1/2 cup water

Chives

In a large soup pot, sweat the onion, carrots, celery, and leeks in a small amount of earth balance. Add the chopped cauliflower and top with water and vegan bouillon. Bring to a low simmer, cover, and cook until cauliflower is tender.

For added creaminess, transfer half the soup to a blender and process until smooth. Return to the blended soup to the pot and add the almond milk and chives. Bring to a boil and slowly stir in the arrowroot/water mixture. Stir until thickened and remove from heat. Serve with toasted bread.

Kelp Noodle Alfredo with Wood Sorrel and Spinach Pesto

2011-01-31T09:40:00.000-08:00

Wood Sorrel is a wild edible plant that grows abundantly in California. I'm always admiring the pretty clover-like leaflets and bursts of yellow blooms in my neighbor's yard. It tastes as pretty as the blooms, bright and fresh and citrusy. Last week I decided it was time to go on a mini forage and create something beautiful to savor. If you come across wood sorrel you'd like to pick, make sure it isn't growing near a road. And if you pick it out of a yard, be sure that it isn't sprayed with weed killer (or dog urine! Agghhhh!). Sadly, most people consider this medicinal and nutritive plant an invasive "weed".

Cashew Alfredo Sauce

1/4 cup soaked cashews

1 lemon, juiced

1 teaspoon sel gris

1 tiny clove of garlic

pepper

enough water to process

Blend all ingredients in a high speed blender or food processor until creamy.

Wood Sorrel and Spinach Pesto

1 handful wood sorrel

1 handful spinach

1 handful basil

2 tablespoons hemp seeds

3 tablespoons lemon juice

3 tablespoons water (or enough to process)

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 clove garlic

sel gris and nutritional yeast to taste

Blend in food processor.

Kelp Noodles

Kelp noodles are naturally crunchy, but can be softened. Soak them in enough water to cover and add lemon juice. The acids in lemon juice are the key to make the noodles soft. Water alone will not work. Soak for several hours.

To Asssemble

Drain the softened noodles and toss them with the alfredo sauce and some chopped red bell pepper. Top with the pesto, sprinkle with additional hemp seeds and some dried spicy red peppers. Garnish with sorrel leaves and blooms.

Vegan German Chocolate Cake with Salted Chocolate Sauce

2011-01-26T11:13:00.000-08:00

Any excuse to bake something. My own birthday.. Yup, I baked myself a birthday cake. But I knew better than to keep this monster around the house. Instead I brought it to work for my co-workers to enjoy. However, I will reluctantly admit that it fed me for one whole day. You read correctly, cake alone for an entire day. THIS is why I go on no-sugar diets. My sweet tooth is mighty!

I got the actual cake recipe from allrecipes. It was tasty, but honestly I would have preferred it more moist. When I baked Tim's cake last month it turned out SUPER moist, but it was white cake. If you have a good vegan chocolate cake recipe, use it. I'm still on the hunt. Or use THIS so-so one. I baked the layers a day ahead of time, let them cool, leveled them, and then frosted the layers with coconut filling.

German Coconut Filling

1 1/2 cups unsweetened shredded coconut

1 cup pecans

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup soy-free earth balance

1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 cup arrowroot starch

1/4 cup water

Mix the arrowroot starch and water, set aside. In a saucepan, combine all the other ingredients and cook over medium heat until sugar is melted. Be sure to stir constantly to avoid burning. Pour the the arrowroot mixture in and stir until it begins to thicken. Let it cool for about 10 minutes before you frost your layers (you want it semi-warm).

Baker's Chocolate Frosting

4 squares unsweetened bakers chocolate

3 to 4 cups powdered sugar

1/2 cup soy-free earth balance

1 teaspoon coconut extract

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/3 cup unsweetened almond milk

Over very low heat, melt bakers chocolate in a sauce pan. Stir continually as it melts. Once melted, add it to a bowl and start beating in the powdered sugar. Add the almond milk, earth balance, and extracts and beat until fluffy and creamy. Let it cool for a couple minutes and frost.

Salted Chocolate Sauce

I poured this over the entire finished cake. I immediately put the cake in the fridge after pouring it on. I was really happy that the sauce cooled to a ganache texture. It was perfect and exactly what I wanted.

2 squares unsweetened baker's chocolate

1/3 cup water

1/2 cup sugar

3 tablespoons earth balance

1/4 teaspoon vanilla

Approximately 1/4 teaspoon sel gris.

I eyed this, so be careful the amount of salt you use. Sel Gris is a very mild salt. You want it salty and sweet.. not gross salty.

Melt the chocolate and water in a small saucepan over low heat stirring constantly. Add the sugar and salt and stir more until it is slightly thickened. Remove from heat and add the vanilla and earth balance. Let cool for 10 minutes and then pour it over the cake. Refrigerate immediately.

Green Apple Pie Smoothie

2011-01-25T19:24:00.000-08:00

Green Apple Pie Smoothie

1 apple, chopped

1 banana

3 handfuls of fresh spinach or kale

1 cup unsweetened almond milk

1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice (or cinnamon)

Blend on high until completely smooth. Garnish with cinnamon and apple slice.

Sowing Seeds

2011-01-20T17:04:00.000-08:00

Ever since the day Tim and I met we have been talking about living off the land. We are lovers of nature, in need to reconnect with our long lost wild mom. It's one huge thing that sewed our hearts together, perhaps the reason we met, and through it will grow. It's been a little over two years since we began sharing our dream together and we are finally getting down to business and making some solid goals. It seems as though the universe has made great change in each of our lives, little nudges to help us push our dreams into reality. In March we plan to visit Ohio, where Tim's mom has 36 acres waiting to be walked and decided over. If we choose to purchase this land (which is looking like our best option), we will be close to family and friends, have clean untreated well water, and lush deciduous forest with running creaks and streams. Not to mention we will only be about 45 minutes away from Athens, which is a culturally diverse college town with an amazing farmers market. It will surely be a wild adventure to move away from everything we spent our entire lives knowing. But life is meant for learning! Some times it still doesn't feel real and I think we're just fanciful dreamers. At other times it feels so real it's a little scary. I'm writing this post to plant some additional roots in our decision/dream making. To set intentions and to manifest big time.

Long before I met Tim I had been collecting books about hand built homes. These three above are pretty much what started it all for me. They planted the seed and now here I am. Tim and I agreed that we didn't want to make anything too hippie dippy, but still wanted it to have a unique charm. We've been discussing ideas of how we want to construct our home as a tribute to the Mother. We want to thrill her! I asked him to pull up some photos online of things he likes and then we could get together and collaborate on ideas for building our own structures. This will all be built by hand using earth, recycled materials, and Tim's carpentry skills. I will be working beside him, learning with my hands in the dirt as well. We'd like to have a few structures scattered over our land.. Our main house, a green house, an art studio, and then maybe one or two small get-a-ways for friends and family who would like to visit. This all will take loads of time and back breaking work.. trust me, we know what we are getting into (or maybe we don't- but I still don't expect it to be cake). Our inspirations are round earth alchemy labs, Asian gardens, wombs, Stonehenge, hobbit houses, the cottage in Snow White, clean modern mixed with old folk lore, classic-ancient-post-future settle for nothing stupid and make everything beautiful! Here are some of the photos we pulled up on the web. These aren't EXACTLY how we want to build, but have certain aspects that we like and can give us construction ideas..

This is a wall made of recycled bottles!

Loving the ceiling here.

This house is being constructed from straw bale.

Loving the curved thatched roof. We want lots of round, womb-like shapes.

Guest house?

I REALLY love this.

Citrus Roasted Portobellos and Herbed Cauliflower Mash

2011-01-19T12:25:00.000-08:00

SOOOOO good. The vegan equivalent to a steak dinner. It's also much lighter and super healthy. A friend gave me a bag of grapefruits picked fresh from his tree, so I used some to marinade the mushrooms. They turned out so sweet and savory and delicious! I also wanted to try something different than mashed potatoes, so I pureed some cauliflower with herbs and vegan butter. It had the creamy texture of taters, but with a slightly nutty flavor. Amazing! I served the two with a side of simple roasted peppers and onions.

Citrus Roasted Portobello

2 large portobello mushrooms

juice of one fresh grapefruit

juice of one fresh tangerine

1 tablespoon olive oil

3 tablespoons water

3 cloves chopped garlic

3 tablespoons chopped cilantro

sea salt

Start out by making the marinade. In a bowl, mix all the ingredients except mushrooms. Pour it over the mushrooms and seal it up in a bag. I used a vacuum pack bag to more evenly distribute the marinade. Marinate for several hours in the fridge.

Preheat oven to 425. Remove the mushrooms from the bag and place in an oiled baking dish. Pour the remaining marinade over the mushrooms and bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until soft. Serve with remaining juices poured over top.

Roasted Peppers and Onions

I love this because there are no seasonings. It allows the flavors of the veggies to really shine and doesn't compete with the other things on the plate. No salt added and it is so flavorful and delicious!

1 red pepper, sliced

1 yellow pepper, sliced

1 red onion, sliced into rings

1 tablespoon olive oil

Combine everything in a bowl and toss with the olive oil. Lay the veggies on a foiled lined cookie sheet. Roast these in the oven with your shrooms. Same temp and about the same length of time. Half way through flip them with a spatula so they brown evenly.

Cauliflower Mash

1 head of fresh cauliflower, chopped

1 head of roasted garlic

Smart Balance Margarine

Unsweetened almond milk

Fresh Thyme

Dried Rosemary

Sea Salt

Pepper

Start out by steaming or boiling the cauliflower until soft, just enough to be pierced with a fork. Drain and let cool slightly. Next puree all your ingredients in a food processor until you get a smooth mashed potato consistency. I don't have a very large food processor so I did this in batches. I also kind of eyed it without measurements (sorry!). It went something like this: Couple handfuls of cauliflower, 1 tablespoon earth balance, couple tablespoons almond milk, pinch of salt and ground pepper, few sprigs of fresh thyme, pinch of rosemary, then puree for a minute or two. I put the mash back in the pan that I boiled the cauliflower in to heat it up a bit before serving.

Jasmine Coconut Pudding (or ice cream) and How to Open A Coconut

2011-01-17T17:53:00.000-08:00

A few days ago I finally went to a renowned ice cream shop in Los Angeles called Scoops. This is a little mom and pop place, all homemade ice creams with super inventive concoctions. I tried the Brown Bread Ice Cream and the Pistachio Jasmine. Holy ****! It was so delicious. The Pistachio Jasmine was really special. I felt a little guilty, as I'm trying to to drastically lower sugars in my diet right now. But we were in the neighborhood and I couldn't resist. I had to come up with something delicious to savor these flavors again. Something healthier and with not as much sugar.

Jasmine Coconut Pudding

(makes about four small servings)

Meat from 4 young coconuts

reserved coconut water

1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon jasmine water

1/4 teaspoon stevia (or more for sweeter flavor)

2 teaspoons raw honey

2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

chopped pistachios

dried coconut for garnish

*optional- 1/2 and avocado (This adds a great texture and color to the pudding. But, you really need to make sure the avocado is VERY fresh with a neutral flavor. Some times avocados have a "bacon" flavor. That's the only thing I can think of to describe it. If this is the case, skip it. It'll make your pudding taste funky.)

In a blender add all the ingredients except the pistachios. Use just enough reserved coconut water to help thin the pudding out slightly. Serve topped with chopped pistachios and a few pinches of dried coconut.

You can also freeze this and serve it as ice cream! Just let it thaw slightly before scooping it. I topped it with a bit of raw honey and more pistachios.

I took some photos in case you're wondering how to open a young coconut. Trust me, you can do this with ease. I'm a tiny girl and I can get these things open. My method is pretty easy.. and fun if you need to chop out some aggression with a butcher's knife.

Start by turning the coconut on it's side and slicing the top layers of skin off.

Turn the coconut upright and firmly hold it down."Soften" the top by chopping a square hole into the top of the coconut. Try to hit the blade in the same spot each time, then work your way around to form the square. Don't be afraid to use some force. Use your wrist in a swinging motion and chop hard. Be careful with those fingers! You might find that a coconut with a soft top tends to leak or spray the water out. As soon as you get any kind of hole, be sure to drain the water so you don't waste it.

As soon as you puncture through to the meat, you can take the blade of a knife and pry the top open using some leverage. This is also a good time to drain the coconut water.

After the water is reserved, pop the top and use a strong spoon to scrape the meat out.

Cacao Mint Smoothie

2011-01-15T10:38:00.000-08:00

First off, let me say this smoothie is so freaking good. Second, I must warn you. Cacao is not be eff'd around with. I won't bore you with story time, but let's just say I had some less than fun hours after consuming too much cacao in said smoothie pictured above. I've adapted this recipe to still be pretty chocolaty, minus the cocaine edge... unless you're into that sorta thing.

Cacao Mint Smoothie

2 cups packed destemmed kale

1 cup packed spinach

1 handful of fresh mint leaves

1 cup unsweetened almond milk

1/2 cup coconut water

(Coconut water adds a little extra sweetness. If you don't have some handy, use more almond milk plus a little extra honey)

3 tablespoons unsweetened coco powder

(or cacao powder if you're feeling like you want to sprint to China)

2 to 3 teaspoons raw cacao nibs

1/4 teaspoon stevia powder

1 teaspoon honey (to balance stevia flavor, add more or less if you want)

*Optional: if you want it thicker and creamier add 1/2 an avocado or a banana.

Throw all the ingredients in a blender and turn it on high. Blend for at least a couple minutes if you aren't using a high speed blender. Serve in a chilled jar and garnish with extra mint leaves and cacao nibs.

Cinnamon Apple Chips

2011-01-14T11:05:00.000-08:00

A simple recipe for a healthy snack.

Ingredients

Apples

Sucanat (or sugar of your choice)

Cinnamon

*Sucanat is made from raw cane juice and has naturally occurring vitamins and minerals. One teaspoon of sucanat contains 15 calories, 10 mg potassium, 6 mg calcium, 4 grams of sugar (complex carbohydrate).

Slice the apples into thin rings using a mandolin or sharp knife. Sprinkle with cinnamon and a small amount of sucanat. Lay the apples in a food dehydrator so that they don't overlap. Dehydrate at 115 until the apples are crisp. This could take up to 12 hours or so depending on your dehydrator. I like to put them in before I go to bed and then by morning I have fresh apple chips. Transfer immediately to an airtight container. Easy peasy.

Raw Bento Bowl

2011-01-06T10:11:00.000-08:00

A delicious assortment of marinated and pickled goodies on a bed of kelp noodles. Clockwise from the top: homemade cabbage sauerkraut, fresh pea shoots, spicy marinated carrots chips and onions, cucumber seaweed salad, and burdock pickles. I absolutely love kelp noodles. If you have never tried them I recommend giving them a shot. I've also made stir fry with them and layered them in salad. I just discovered that you can soak the noodles in a bit of water and lemon juice to soften their naturally crunchy texture. So yummy and even better with chopsticks!

The sauerkraut and burdock recipes I have shared with you in previous posts.

Pickled Burdock Root

Homemade Sauerkraut

For the Spicy Marinated Carrot Chips and Onion

1 medium sized jar

1-2 large carrots

1/2 large red onion

1 large clove of garlic

half a fresh jalepeno

1/2 cup rice vinegar

1/2 cup raw apple cider vinegar

1/4 cup Bragg's Liquid Aminos

3/4 cup water

Slice the carrots, jalepenos, and onions into discs using a mandolin or sharp knife. Chop the garlic. Pack everything into the jar in alternating layers. Pour the liquid ingredients over the top, screw the lid on and give it a gentle shake. I left mine sitting at room temperature for a few hours and then transfered it to the fridge. They're best if you can marinate them for at least 34 hours prior to serving.

Cucumber Seaweed Salad

1 small to medium cucumber, julienned

1/4 cup shredded seaweed of your choice (I used dried laver)

1 tablespoon sesame seeds

1/2 teaspoon sucanat

roughly 3 tablespoons rice vinegar (or more to taste)

a few pinches of sea salt

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and chill for 1 hour.

Kelp Noodles

You can purchase kelp noodles at Whole Foods in the refrigerated noodle section. They are simply noodles made out of seaweed. They have very little carbs and calories, next to none. They also have no flavor, so they're versatile to add to any dish that calls for noodles, cooked or raw. They also come out of the package a bit crunchy. Lemon juice is the trick to soften them. Soak the noodles in 3 tablespoons lemon juice and just enough water to cover. I also added a little Bragg's and sea salt to season them. Soak for about an hour or until they're soft. Drain and serve.

Arrange the kelp noodles at the bottom of your bowl. Top the noodles with your assortment of veggies in their own little areas. I recommend having at least one fresh, plain vegetable so I used pea shoots. Serve with your favorite chili sauce and eat with chopsticks.

Vegan Shchi Kisliye (Sour Cabbage Soup)

2011-01-05T09:13:00.000-08:00

This soup will warm your little Russian heart. I love sour, tart foods. So, naturally, I loved this soup. I'm always looking for creative things to do with my jars of homemade sauerkraut. They were screaming for soup with all this rain and chilly weather. Please try this, even if you're skeptical. The flavor reminds me of a russian version of chinese hot and sour soup. This is so nourishing and delicious... my new favorite for sure.

Russian Sour Cabbage Soup

3 cups sauerkraut

1/2 of a large cabbage, shredded

1 rib of finely chopped celery

1 onion, chopped

2 or 3 cloves of garlic, chopped

1 can of diced tomatoes with juice

1 quart vegetable broth

Juice of 1/2 a lemon

1 Tbs. Honey (trust me, it makes all the difference)

2 Tbs. Earth Balance

minced parsley and unsweetened coconut creamer to garnish

pepper to taste

Heat the Earth Balance in a soup pot and saute the celery, onion, and garlic until translucent. Place the cabbage and sauerkraut in the pot and pour the tomatoes, vegetable broth, and lemon juice over the top. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to a very low simmer. Cook until the cabbage is soft. Stir in the honey and cook for another 5 to 10 minutes. Garnish with parsley, a drizzle of coconut creamer, and fresh cracked pepper. This is amazing served with homemade Rye Bread.

Birthday Dinner

2011-01-02T11:20:00.000-08:00

Rather than going out to a restaurant, Tim wanted me to make a really nice dinner and cake for his birthday. To say the least, I've had some pretty hilarious challenges with cakes in the past. This one still didn't have the appearance of perfection (the layers started sliding when I was frosting it), but it was everything a good cake should taste like. Moist, dense, and delicious flavor. For dinner I prepared a few of his favorites. Roasted artichokes with a garlic dill aioli, mashed potatoes and gravy, and a huge fresh salad. Mission accomplished. Everything was exceedingly tasty. The birthday boy was satisfied.

I used the vegan white cake recipe from vegweb. It's by far the best and easiest I've come across. I'll definitely be using this as a base recipe for different cakes in the future. I baked three layers of this cake, leveled them, and then frosted the layers with strawberry butter cream. The frosting on the outside is vegan cream cheese frosting. Then I topped it with fresh strawberries and kept it in the fridge. It was truly amazing! I can't wait to practice more cake baking with this recipe.

The rest of dinner was pretty simple but really delicious. We make artichokes quite often and I have yet to share my recipe for the aioli. It's so, so good! I insist on using Vegenaise. It's really the best vegan mayo out there. In the past I've tried Trader Joe's mayo (the fat free one is vegan) and it didn't hold a candle to Vegenaise.

For the Aioli:

This will serve at least a few people. In a bowl, combine 3/4 cup Vegenaise, 1 large clove of garlic (minced very fine), the juice of 1 lemon, 1 to 2 teaspoons fresh chopped dill, and some pepper. Stir it well and refrigerate while the artichokes are roasting. Serve chilled in individual cups or small ramekins.

Roasting Artichokes:

Cut stems and top off the artichokes. In a bowl, squeeze a half of a lemon over the artichoke, drizzle with a small amount of olive oil, then stuff a few cloves of garlic in between some of the leaves. You can also season with salt and pepper if you want. They're still good without it. Wrap each one individually with foil. Place the artichokes on a baking tray or dish. Bake at 425 degress for 45 minutes to an hour, depending on their size. Unwrap and serve hot with aioli.

Rye Bread

2010-12-27T18:36:00.000-08:00

I never thought I would or even could bake bread. It has always seemed like a complicated, ancient chemistry that couldn't be easily reproduced. I was wrong. After a lot of reading, some coaching from fellow kitchen witches, and some blog browsing, I successfully attempted my first loaves of bread. I have to give a huge shout out and thank you to the "Pete Bakes" blog. I found Pete's blog amazingly informative for a baking newbie. I used his recipe for Deli Style Rye Bread, which is a no-knead bread. The instructions were easy to follow and the bread turned out pretty close to perfect. Thanks Pete! You totally squashed my fear of bread baking and inspired me to walk the road of more complicated recipes. I'm currently using his recipe for a wild sourdough starter. So far everything is very bubbly and stinky... which is good, apparently.

Here's Pete's Recipe with some of my photos. Please, if you get a chance, visit his blog. It's awesome.

Deli Style Rye

(makes four loaves)

3 cups lukewarm water

1 1/2 Tbsp yeast

1 1/2 Tbsp salt

1 1/2 Tbsp caraway seeds, plus more for sprinkling

1 cup rye flour

5 1/2 cups all purpose flour

cornmeal for sprinkling

cornstarch for cornstarch wash

1. mix the yeast, salt and carawy seeds with the water in a large bowl. mix in the remaning dry ingredients without kneading. cover with a towel and allow to rest at room temperature for about 2 hours. at this point, you can prepare the dough for baking or store in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.

This is what the dough should look like when you're done mixing. Sticky and scrappy.

2. dust the surface of the dough with flour and cut off 1/4 of the dough. dust the piece with more flour and quickly shape it into a ball. elongate the ball into an oval-shaped loaf. allow it to rest and rise on a cornmeal covered surface (pizza peel if you’re going to transfer to a baking stone or a baking sheet if you’re baking right on the baking sheet) for 40 minutes.

Here's what the dough looked like just after shaping it into the loaf. I let it rise for 40 minutes, as it said in the instructions. On my second loaf, I found that a little extra rise time made for an even better and slightly chewier crumb.

3. preheat the oven to 450 F with an empty broiler tray on the shelf underneath the one you plan to bake on. heat the baking stone up with the oven if you are using one.

4. make the cornstarch wash by combining 1/2 tsp cornstartch with a small amount of water to form a paste. add 1/2 cup water, whisk and microwave for about 60 seconds. paint the top of the loaf with the cornstarch wash and then sprinkle on caraway seeds. slash with a deep parallel cuts across the loaf using a serrated bread knife.

5. bake the loaf on a baking sheet or slide it onto the hot baking stone. bake for 30 minutes. as you put the bread in the oven to bake, pour 1 cup of hot tap water into the broiler tray and quickly close the oven door. allow to cool before slicing or eating.

When I pulled my bread out of the oven my heart sank because it felt hard as a rock. I thought for certain that something had gone wrong and I just wasted so much flour. But, to my amazement, a good hour of letting the bread cool helped the moisture from the center dissipate into the rest of the loaf. Perfection! And without a convection oven or any fancy equipment. The crumb was soft and chewy and the crust was crunchy and delicious.

She's A Rainbow

2010-12-25T22:00:00.000-08:00

It's been a couple weeks since my last post. I've been pretty busy with experimental bread baking, crafting all my holiday gifts and cards, and I even baked a successful birthday cake. I also took some much needed time to just relax and have fun with my sweetie pie. We went to The Echo to see Tame Impala on the 14th (which was ear and mind blowing!), have had friends over, and made our first trip to the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles. We've also spent a lot of time cuddled up in our warm bed during all the rain storms. It's definitely been an awesome winter so far. I am feeling so much love and gratitude!

I'll be posting the projects that I've been working on, including the recycled clothing scarf I made for Tim's birthday, dreamcatchers, and of course the bread baking and cake. But before I get back into all the food pictures and recipes, I'd like to share some of the photos I took at the Natural History Museum. I collect crystals, so my favorite part was obviously the gem and mineral exhibition. They really have some extraordinary specimens there. It's a surreal feeling when you look at these creations and realize they are not manmade or from outer space, but of our very own Earth. The mother created these amazing and supernatural beings. It makes me think of the Rolling Stones song "She's A Rainbow", as well as strange german electronic music from the 70's. Aaaahh, Mama Earth... you never cease to amaze and warm my heart. I'll definitely be going back there to spend some more time gazing at all the natural curiosities. It's a day well spent if you're in the Los Angeles area. You won't be disappointed.

*click on the images to enlarge them and see the details of the stones

Pickled Burdock Root

2010-12-13T10:44:00.000-08:00

Burdock has been a long time friend of Native Americans and folk herbalists alike. The common traditional use is as a blood purifier to detoxify liver and kidneys. It also has anti-inflammatory properties and can be used as a diuretic. Personally, I just like to have them stashed in the fridge as a nutritive salty snack. This is the first time I've made my own burdock pickles. I usually get them from Dave's Korean Food at the farmer's market, where the man that works there touts them as the hangover root. This recipe was inspired by theirs, but came out nothing like it. I really just wanted simple flavors, rather than spicy or herby. They turned out really delicious right away, even though I know their flavor will only improve with time. I imagine carrots would be tasty mixed in the jar with these.

1 pound burdock roots

1/4 cup Nama Shoyu

3/4 cup raw apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup spring water

A chunk of peeled ginger

2 cloves of raw garlic, crushed

Wash and peel the burdock roots. Slice them into 2 or 3 inch long match sticks. Not to thin or they could get soggy. My roots were fairly thin, so I ended up quartering them.

Bring a pot of water to a boil and blanch the roots for 60 seconds. You still want them crunchy, just softened slightly. I also didn't want to cook them any longer in fear that I would destroy the medicine in them. Drain in a colander and rinse with cold water.

Pack the roots into a jar with the ginger and garlic. Pour the vinegar, shoyu, and water over the roots. Screw the lid on tight and give it a good shake. Leave it sit at room temperature for a short ferment before you transfer them to the fridge. 18-24 hours should do. They'll last for months in the fridge, but I don't see why they wouldn't be gone in the first week.

Perfect Blackberry Crumb Muffins

2010-12-12T16:22:00.000-08:00

Tired of the same old blueberry? Probably not, but these are surely worth a try for some variety in your life. Never had a blackberry muffin? Me neither. I love the sweet tartness of the berries and their crunchy seeds. I might recommend that your halve the berries and keep them towards the top of the batter when you're filling your muffin tins. Otherwise some of your muffins might have gooey purple holes. Other than that these are pretty darn perfect. And not to mention, only about 200 calories per muffin! Definitely not low carb, but not too bad on the sugars. I got really nerdy and calculated the ingredients into nutritional data. You're welcome :)

Muffin Batter:

1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

3/4 cup organic sugar

1/2 tsp. salt

2 tsp. baking powder

2/3 cup unsweetened almond milk

1/3 cup canola oil

1 Tbs. ground flax seed

1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

1 cup fresh blackberries

Crumb Topping:

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup flour

1/4 cup soy free Earth Balance

3 Tbs. oats

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Greese the muffin pan with a bit of oil.

Make the crumb topping first. Combine all the ingredients and mash well with a fork. It should be a course clumpy texture. Big clumps. Set aside.

Next prepare the batter. Combine all the dry ingredients in a bowl, excluding for the flax seed, and stir well with a fork.

In a separate bowl, combine all the wet ingredients. Mix the flax seed into the wet ingredients. Combine the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Stir until just combined (some lumps are good for texture). Don't be alarmed, the batter will be pretty thick. Gently fold in the blackberries.

Use a tablespoon to transfer the batter into the muffin pan. Sprinkle the top of the batter with the crumb topping. Bake for 20-25 minutes. Cool for 5 minutes in the muffin pan and then transfer the muffins to a cooling rack.

Golden Chickpea Fritters

2010-12-10T09:35:00.000-08:00

An easy yet extremely delicious dinner, or even breakfast. These are super tasty with a little ketchup or cucumber sauce. I just remembered a curry ketchup that I made a while back.. That would be amazing with these! They're great on their own too. I used carrots and green onions in the chickpea dough, but you could easily substitute other veggies like potatoes and herbs. Serve this as alight meal with a little side salad.

1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed well

2 Tbs flour

grated carrot

chopped green onion

1 1/2 tsp Bragg's Liquid Aminos

salt and pepper

Coarsely grind the chickpeas in a food processor or mash with a fork. Be careful not to turn it into a paste. You want little bits of chickpeas, not hummus. Just a few short pulses in the processor and then you're done. Place them in a bowl with the remaining ingredients and mix well. Roll into little balls and then smash them into patties. Fry in a small amount of oil in a hot pan. Serve immediately.

Chili Night

2010-12-02T14:51:00.000-08:00

Some friends from Arizona were coming into town for the Nick Cave concert. I needed to feed five, so this definitely called for big pot of hot chili. I also needed to prepare this rather easily, as I also wanted to make cornbread, salad, and baklava for dessert. I took a few Trader Joe's shortcuts, so this is by no means entirely from scratch. FYI- Trader Joe's canned foods to not contain BPA. The chili turned out extremely delicious and was fairly quick to make. I wanted it to be hearty and meaty without the use of tofu or fake meats. I opted for lentils and it worked perfectly. I also included to some kidney beans and black beans for variety. Topped with chopped green onion (would also be good with Daiya), this chili turned out perfect!

Vegan Lentil Bean Chili

2 cups dried french lentils

1 can Tj's black beans

1 can Tj's kidney beans

2 Vegetarian Chili spice packets

1 jar Tj's Salsa Verde

1 can Tomato Sauce

1 can diced tomatoes (juice included)

1 green bell pepper, chopped

1 medium onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 vegan bouillon cube

4 cups water

Olive Oil

Prior to preparing any dried beans or legumes, you should always let them soak over night. This reduces natural enzyme inhibitors in the beans and makes them more digestible. If they are more digestible then they are more nutritious and you are less likely to have a gassy belly. I still recommend taking enzymes with beans anyway.

In a heavy soup pot, saute the green pepper, garlic, and onion in a little olive oil until just soft.

Add the water, tomatoes with juice, tomato sauce, and the lentils.

Over medium heat, cook for approximately 20 minutes or until the lentils are soft.

Rinse and drain the black beans and kidney beans. Add them to the pot along with the salsa verde, bouillon cube, and chili spices.

Let cook for anywhere between 45 minutes to a couple hours. I let mine sit on super low heat for about 2-3 hours.

Top with diced green onions or Daiya cheese.

This is hearty, not very sweet cornbread. I'm not a huge fan of cornbread that tastes like you're eating cake. I used organic pastry flour, whole corn meal, and very little sugar. It turned out really moist and yummy. I also whipped up a little honey butter, which I so love having with cornbread.

Cornbread

1 cup pastry flour

1 cup cornmeal

1/4 cup organic sugar

1 cup almond milk (unsweetened)

1/4 cup olive oil

4 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons flax seed powder

6 tablespoons water

*Here's a little tip: You can buy whole flaxseeds in the bulk section of Whole Foods for really cheap. To make flax powder, grind the desired amount of seeds in a coffee grinder for a minute or so. Wha-La. You now have flax seed powder. I usually grind a bunch at once and store it in a mason jar for use in future recipes.

Preheat oven to 425.

Oil a square baking dish with a small amount of olive oil.

In a little cup, mix the flax seed powder and water together and set aside while you prepare the other steps.

In a bowl, stir together flour, cornmeal, salt, and baking powder until well combined. Add the almond milk and olive oil, then stir in the flax mixture. Beat until just combined and smooth.

Pour the mixture into your prepared baking pan. Bake for 25 minutes.

Cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Removed from pan and let cool on wire rack until ready to serve.

Honey Butter

2/3 cup room temperature Earth Balance (soy-free)

1 Tbs. + 2 tsp. Honey

In a small bowl, mix the ingredients until well combined. Transfer to a small ramekin and refrigerate until ready to serve.

The salad was really simple. The greens were chopped Purple Kale, Arugula, and Baby Spinach. I topped it with fresh diced tomatoes and purple carrots from the farmer's market. I sure have been enjoying these purple carrots! They are like little jewels sparkling on your cutting board.

I garnished the salad with some hearts of palm and toasted sunflower seeds. I also whipped up a light and easy Lemon Tahini dressing to have with it.

For dessert..

I never really knew how time consuming and *butter-filled* baklava was. I had committed myself to it BEFORE reading the instructions. Bad plan considering I wanted something easy and light with all the other things I was making. Oh well.. I have been craving pecan pie, but made the baklava with pecans instead. It worked out fine and was exceptionally delicious.

Vegan Pecan Baklava

1 package phyllo dough

2 cups toasted pecans

1 cup Earth Balance (soy-free)

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 1/2 cups water

1/3 cup organic sugar

1/2 cup honey

1/2 cup pure maple syrup

2 cinnamon sticks

Preheat oven to 325.

Inside a ziplock bag, crush the pecans into small bit with a rolling pin. Toss them in a bowl with the 2 teaspoons of cinnamon.

Melt the Earth Balance over very low heat. Brush the bottom of the pan with some of the melted butter. Layer four sheets of phyllo in the pan. Brush with Earth Balance and then sprinkle some of the pecans lightly on top. Layer a few more sheets of Earth Balance and phyllo, then sprinkle more pecans. Repeat these steps until the pan is almost full. Then just layer phyllo and earth balance so that the top layers are mostly crispy phyllo after it bakes. Make brush a good amount of Earth Balance on the very top.

With a sharp knife, cut diamonds into the layers of phyllo and pecans.

While it's baking, combine the sugar, water and cinnamon sticks in a small saucepan. Bring to a simmer and cook for 5 minutes. Add the honey and maple syrup and cook for another 5 minutes.

Remove from heat, discard cinnamon sticks, and let cool.

Pour the cooled syrup over the hot baklava. Let it sit a while, then transfer to cupcake liners or serve.

The whole dinner made my guests and new little friend, Magnus Drake, very pleased. He was even happy to get cleaned up afterwards :)

Blueberry Kale Smoothie

2010-11-29T22:13:00.000-08:00

A delicious alternative to my morning coconut kale smoothies. This combines blueberries, banana, and purple kale into a tasty, super healthy breakfast. Because blueberries are not in season, I purchased some local (to california) frozen blueberries. They worked fine, even though I'd prefer to have fresh.

1 cup blueberries

2 large handfuls of chopped purple kale leaves

1 ripe banana

1 cup water or almond milk

1 Tbs. really raw honey

Add all ingredients to the blender. It really helps to have a high speed blender, but if you don't just be sure to leave the it running for a few minutes to ensure that there aren't any chunky bits of kale leaves. I topped my smoothie with some dried Goji berries, that I am ever so addicted to. I hated Gojis at first, I thought they tasted like vitamins. But something clicked and now I'm hooked!

Pumpkin Gingerbread

2010-11-24T10:20:00.000-08:00

I had mounds of pumpkin puree sitting in my fridge for far too long. I couldn't bare to just toss it, so I found this tasty recipe on Oh She Glows. I had been eyeing the delicious looking gingerbread in the Whole Foods bakery for a while and wanted to attempt a vegan rendition. I've also been hearing all this chatter about gingerbread flavored lattes at conspicuous coffee chains. I sometimes fantasize about indulging in one of these syrup laden libations, but alas, the nutrition info scares me away. So now was the time to combine all these festive treats into one big loaf of bread. It turned out awesome. Moist, delicious, and spicy sweet. To be mindful of sugar intake, I opted out on the frosting (although, it was amazing fresh out of the oven with a little Earth Balance spread on top). I also didn't use the maple syrup that the recipes calls for. The amount of molasses is perfect, but just for kicks I would even add a little more next time. This is a dangerous thing to have sitting around your house. I think it was wise of me to bring it to work for my lovely coworkers.

Angela's recipe can be found here.

Cranberry Ravioli with Buttered Walnut Sauce

2010-11-17T11:27:00.000-08:00

This is the best thing I've ever created. Period. Seriously folks, I can't get over it. I'm not being pompous, I swear! This just turned out soooo good! In my non-vegetarian days back in Tempe, I used to frequent a fabulous little Italian restaurant called Cafe Boa. This post was inspired by one of their dishes, Cape Cod Ravioli. Theirs was a handmade rosemary ravioli filled with chicken, ricotta, and herbs served in a sauce of vodka, fresh cranberries, and cream. I never forgot this dish. My version is quite a bit different, being half raw and vegan, but the key savory/sweet flavors of cream and cranberries are still there with an added bonus of browned buttered walnuts. YUM!!! I thought maybe this would turn out a little too sweet, but alas, it was delicious and delicate. There are no spices because I wanted the flavors of cranberries and walnuts to really shine. The ravioli itself is made from sliced turnip. The filling is a simple cashew cheese combined with cranberries. And the sauce is crushed walnuts browned in vegan butter and olive oil.

To make the Raviolis

Slice a turnip into paper thin rounds using a mandolin. Brush with olive oil and sprinkle with pink salt. Set aside while you prepare the other ingredients.

To make Cranberry Filling

1/4 cup dried cranberries

3/4 cup cashew cream cheese

(To make cashew cream cheese: soak 1 cup cashews for 2 to 4 hours. Drain and rinse. In a high speed blender, add a few tablespoons lemon juice, some salt, and a bit of water sufficient for pureeing. Blend until smooth and creamy, but not runny.)

Soak the cranberries for 15 minutes until slightly soft. Drain. In a food processor, combine cashew cheese and cranberries. Puree until it turns a lovely pale pink with tiny bits of red cranberry.

For the Buttered Walnut Sauce

This only makes a tiny bit of sauce, a generous portion for two people eating a small meal. Double this if you're serving guests.

1/4 cup crushed walnuts

2 Tbs olive oil

1 Tbs soy free Earth Balance

1 clove of garlic, minced

I crushed the walnuts with my mortar and pestle. Feel free to use a food processor or crush them inside a bag with a rolling pin. You want a good amount of crumbs with some larger pieces.

Combine all the ingredients in a sauce pan. Saute over medium heat until the butter reduces slightly and the walnuts lightly brown. This is important to also reduce a little of the garlic flavor.

To Assemble

Place a dollop of the cranberry/cheese filling in the center of a turnip slice. Fold over to form ravioli shape. Spoon warm walnut sauce over the raviolis and garnish with chives.

I think I'll submit this to my new favorite recipe sight, GLIVING. If you haven't checked out their ultra-decadent vegan food porn, I highly suggest you should.

Celebratory Cannelloni

2010-11-14T12:06:00.000-08:00

I knew it was coming. Sooner than later my brand new Vitamix would be in my clutches. I had been telling Tim for a while that in order to make the smoothest of smoothies and the creamiest of cashew cheeses, I had to have a commercial blender. I'm not one for gadgetry or new and expensive things. I get by very happily on my all my vintagey thrift store finds. Besides, they have way more character and I feel good knowing that most of what I own is recycled. But... I wanted my Vitamix! I could totally justify it on the single fact that I make a green smoothie for myself EVERY MORNING. My old Kitchenmaid blender had been ground down to her bones. I made her work for her money and it was time to retire that old bag! Once again, Tim had a little trick up his sleeve. Don't tell him, but I've been getting kinda good at guessing his surprises. I didn't guess this one though. Until I came home to a box shaped midget aka Vitamix hiding under our sheets! I freaked. **Thank you my love** I had to celebrate and make something amazing immediately. He'll definitely be reaping the benefits of this one.

This recipe comes in four parts. It's creamy cashew ricotta, pumpkin seed pesto, and marinated tomatoes wrapped in zucchini.

Celebratory Cannelloni

For the Cannelloni

2 zucchinis

Olive Oil

salt

Slice the zucchinis lengthwise into very thin strips using a mandolin. Sprinkle with olive oil and salt and let sit while you prepare your other ingredients.

For the "Ricotta"

1 cup cashews, soaked at least 2 hours then drained and rinsed

2 teaspoons nutritional yeast

1-2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

2 teaspoons olive oil

water sufficient enough for blending (about 1/4 cup or so)

Place ingredients in your VITAMIX.. or food processor ;)

Blend until smooth, adding the water slowly until desired consistency is reached.

For the Pumpkin Pesto

2 tablespoons roasted pumpkin seeds

1 or 2 cups fresh basil leaves

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

2 tablespoons olive oil

3 tablespoons water (more or less, just enough to get the right consistency)

salt and pepper

Blend until smooth.

For the Marinated Tomatoes

2-3 medium tomatoes

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons Thyme Oregano Vinegar (balsamic is tasty too)

2 cloves garlic, minced fine

salt and pepper

Chop the tomatoes into bite size pieces. Throw them in a bowl with the rest of the ingredients and let them sit for 10 to 15 minutes until they form their juice... Or in this case it will be used as sauce.

To assemble

Overlap 3 slices of zucchini with the ends facing you. Place a dollop of ricotta, then pesto, then top with tomato bits. Roll it carefully with your hands to shape. It made it easy to transfer these from cutting board to plate using a spatula. Situate on the plate, then spoon the marinated tomato juice over the rolled cannelloni. Garnish with more tomatoes and fresh basil leaves.

White Pumpkin Pie with Chocolate Gingersnap Crust

2010-11-10T12:21:00.000-08:00

A couple weeks ago I had a bit of a pumpkin pie disaster. As some of you may know, I try my hardest to stay soy-free. Tim bought me a sugar pumpkin and I was determined to make a vegan pumpkin pie with NO tofu, as many recipes call for.. YUCK! I tried using a little arrowroot starch to thicken up the pumpkin puree. It worked.. kind of. I didn't wait long enough for it to set and it was more like pudding, rather than pie. Come to find out, you need to use ALOT of arrowroot to thicken that thing! After spending the night in the fridge it did firm up a little. But the color and the way it looked just wasn't right to me. I was still determined to make a soy-free pie, dammit! I had a plethora of gourds and pumpkins left over from Halloween, including my beloved white pumpkin (that Tim also gifted to me.. such a sweet boyfriend!). Per usual, I wanted to try something strange and different. So, I chopped up my beautiful white pumpkin and baked on of the best pumpkin pies I have ever tasted.

White Pumpkin Pie Ingredients

1 cup white pumpkin puree (or regular pumpkin puree)

1 cup So Delicious Coconut Creamer (unsweetened)

1/4 cup arrowroot starch (or cornstarch, or tapioca starch)

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup evaporated cane juice (organic sugar)

pinch of salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

To Make Pumpkin Puree

Preheat oven to 350. Cut pumpkin in half and place cut side down on an oiled baking pan. Bake for approximately 45 minutes or until the pumpkin starts to collapse. Remove from the oven and scrape the meat away from the skin. Place in food processor or high speed blender to puree. You'll have TONS leftover. Become maniacal and add pumpkin to everything.

Pie Assemblage

Mix all the ingredients together. Yes, it's that simple. Then pour it in your pie crust. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes. It will still look wet and giggly when you take it out. LET IT SET IN THE FRIDGE OVERNIGHT. Don't be impatient, you'll ruin the whole thing like I did. Remember you want pie, not pudding!

Chocolate Gingersnap Crust

1 3/4 cup ground vegan gingersnaps

3 tablespoons dark coco powder (unsweetened)

5 tablespoons soy free Earth Balance

In a bowl combine all the ingredients with a fork. You should have a sticky crumby texture. Press the mixture into a small pie pan or tart pan. Par-bake at 350 for 6 minutes. Mine collapsed durning par baking. As soon as i took it out I was able to reform it with the back of a spoon. Let it cool and pour in you pie filling.

*Perhaps it would be a good idea to refrigerate the crust before par-baking.

Galletas de Muerto

2010-10-28T22:32:00.000-07:00

I wanted to wait until I had better photos of these, but unfortunately I had to post them immediately. I hate photographing without sunlight! Anyway, I made some vegan Spider Web Shortbreads today, and while I was at it, I decided to do something a bit fancier too. Sugar skull cookies for Dia De Los Muertos! I had so much fun decorating these little dudes. I used the same shortbread from my previous post and made a simple glaze icing to top. I did the rest with decorating gel, although I'd like to try my hand at fondant icing because I'd prefer a more opaque look. They turned out really cute, nevertheless.

Tim wanted to decorated one. We laughed as the shmurphy little creep face appeared from under the icing tip. So silly...

I formed the skulls by hand because I didn't have a cookie cutter. I used a wide mouthed jar to cut a circle and then trimmed and shaped them into skulls.

Simple Glaze Icing

(This is a small batch. Double it if you're making more than 8 sugar skulls.)

1 cup confectioner's sugar

2-3 tablespoons almond milk

1 teaspoon almond extract

In a bowl, wisk together the ingredients with a fork. When you lift your fork you should have "ribbons" of icing flowing from it. Glaze the cookies with the back of a spoon then decorate with the pre-made gel.

Vegan Spider Web Cookies

2010-10-28T21:59:00.000-07:00

I must say, I have been so busy! Between work, sewing a Halloween costume, and preparing for a treck across the desert to Arizona on Halloween night, I have had barely any time for my kitchen. I almost didn't make any Halloween treats. But after seeing the festive goodies that Alix created on Cute and Delicious, I just had to make time for some kitchen witchery. I baked up a batch of this simple shortbread and swirled some dark chocolate ganache spider webs on top. This is not a very sweet cookie, which is a bit refreshing with all the sickly, corn syrup laden candy that gets passed around this time of year.

Shortbread

2 cups all purpose flour

1 cup soy free Earth Balance margarine (room temperature)

1/2 cup confectioner's sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon almond extract (or just more vanilla)

In a bowl, beat the room temp margarine with a hand mixer until creamy. Add the sugar and beat together until creamy. Beat in the extracts. Then gently stir in the flour on low or mix it in by hand.

On a lightly floured surface, gently roll out the dough into a quarter inch thick and use a glass or cookie cutter to shape circles.

Place them on a cookie sheet lined with parchment. Stick the whole thing in the fridge and let it chill for about 15 minutes. This is really important so that your cookies retain their shape. Bake for 10 minutes or until the cookies are very lightly browned on the edges. Cool on a wire rack.

Icing

White Decorating Gel

2 cups vegan dark chocolate chips

6 tablespoons almond milk

1 teaspoon almond extract

Melt the chocolate chips on medium heat, stirring constantly to prevent burning. Mix in the almond extract and almond milk and keep stirring until it's very smooth. Frost each cookie with the ganache. While the ganache is still wet, make a swirl design over the top with the white gel. Run a toothpick through the swirl to create a web.

Like this:

Watch out for eager, hovering zombies tempted by the rich gooeyness of your ganache. You might not have many left by the time you're done icing them all...

The End.

Rose Geranium Cupcakes

2010-10-23T07:37:00.000-07:00

I recently acquired a bundle of various herbs at the farmer's market and wanted to do something really special with them. Opal Basil, Lemon Verbena, Sage, lavender, and..... something I had never seen before. It smelled fantastic. In fact, it smelled familiar. I grew up in the Sonoran desert, so my experience with any plants out of that environment is far and few between. It reminded me of the days when I was obsessed with rose essential oil. Real rose oil is around $200 an ounce. Because of this, many places sold rose geranium oil as "rose oil". After a little investigating, my mystery herb was indeed rose geranium.

A couple weeks after baking these (yes, I almost forgot to post them!), I was taking my dog on a stroll through the neighborhood and noticed rose geranium growing like a weed in a neighbor's yard. Hmmm... Might just have to find some other crafty things to do with one of my new favorite herbs! Wrapped in the nostalgia of scent, I present...

Rose Geranium Cupcakes

(This is an adaption of Golden Vanilla Cupcakes from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over World)

1 1/4 cup flour

2 tbs. cornstarch

3/4 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

3/4 tsp. salt

1 cup scented almond milk* (recipe below)

1 tsp. apple cider vinegar

1/3 cup canola oil

3/4 cup evaporated cane juice

2 tsp. vanilla extract

1 tsp. lemon extract

1/2 tsp. Corta's rose water

*Scented Almond Milk

The evening prior to baking your cupcakes:

Warm 1 1/4 cup of almond milk to almost a boil, as if you were making tea. The extra 1/4 cup is for good measure in case of evaporation while heating, make sure to reserve some for the buttercream. In a bowl, pour the warm almond milk over a handful of Rose Geranium leaves and let it steep overnight. Strain the leaves and squeeze all the liquid from them. Now you have rose geranium scented milk.

Preheat Oven to 350

Stir the scented milk and vinegar together and let it sit to curdle.

Mix the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into a bowl.

In a separate bowl, mix the oil, sugar, extracts and rose water.

Sift in the dry ingredients and stir until there are no lumps.

Fill cupcake liners 2/3 full and bake for 20 minutes.

Scented Buttercream:

1/4 cup non-hydrogenated shortening

1/4 cup Earth Balance

2 cups confection sugar

1 tbl. fresh lemon juice

1/2 tsp. Corta's Rose water

1 tbs. scented almond milk

With a hand held mixer, cream the shortening and margarine. Add the confection sugar in 1/2 cups. In between 1/2 cups add splashes of the lemon juice and rose water. Add almond milk and beat until smooth and creamy.

Frost cupcakes with semi-chilled buttercream. Garnish with rose geranium leaves.

If you have leftover rose geranium, you can make an herbal vinegar. I've posted instructions here.

Red Lentil Soup and Samosas

2010-10-20T23:59:00.000-07:00

It's been raining for almost a week here in Los Angeles. It's chilly and gloomy and... I love it. Hence, the second time in one week that I post about soup. This is East Indian inspired, although it has a very mild curry flavor. It's my tried and true lentil recipe. I've made it so many times I can't even remember where I originally got it from. The samosas are nontraditional. I bundled up some tasty seasoned potatoes in Thai spring roll wrappers and made a cilantro chutney. It turned out super delicious!

Red Lentil Soup

1/2 Onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, diced
1/2 teaspoon curry powder
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 vegan bullion cube
1 cup red lentils, rinsed
3 and 1/4 cups water
1 and 1/2 cups unsweetened almond milk
1/2 good sized lemon, juiced
1/4 cup chopped cilantro

Olive oil

On medium heat in a large soup pot, add a drizzle of olive oil and gently saute the onion and garlic, but don't brown it. Add the lentils and all the spices. Cook and stir for about 3 minutes. Add the bullion cube, water, and the almond milk to the pot. Cover and simmer gently until the lentils are soft and crushed looking. Probably about an hour or longer. When it's done cooking, stir in the chopped cilantro and lemon juice.

*I love to let soups rest for about an hour after they're done cooking. If you have the time for this, I really think it makes a huge difference. Just turn the burner off and let the flavors meld in the pot. Then reheat it on low and serve. In this case, you would add the cilantro and lemon after you reheat.

Chutney

These are very rough measurements. I didn't anticipate posting the chutney, but it turned out really good so I wanted to share.

In a food processor blend:

2 cups cilantro

Juice of a large lime

1/2 teaspoon honey

1/4 to 1/2 tsp. cumin

3 to 4 tablespoons water

2 tablespoons olive oil

salt to taste

Adjust to your liking. It should turn in to a thin sauce.

Samosas:

1 large potato, quartered

1 medium parsnip, chopped

1 tsp. cumin

1/2 tsp. turmeric

1/2 tsp. paprika

1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper

2 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 small red onion, minced

salt and pepper

Thai spring roll wrappers

Oil for pan frying

Boil the potato and parsnip until just tender. About 10 minutes. Drain the water and let them cool to the point of being able to handle. Chop them into tiny cubes the best you can, doesn't have to be perfect, and set aside.

In a pan, heat some olive oil and add the onion and garlic. Gently saute them, add your spices, and then potato and parsnip bits. Cook for about 10 minutes stirring occasionally and mashing the potatoes a little. season to your liking with salt and pepper. Turn the heat off and let cool.

Now it's time to wrap the spring rolls.

Position the wrapper so it looks like a diamond and spoon onto it a heaping tablespoon of the potato mixture.

Pull up the bottom corner and fold it to the center. Tuck it under the potato mixture slightly so that it's snug.

Fold the sides like you're making a burrito.

Then roll up to complete the samosa.

You can use wet fingers to seal the wrapper. It doesn't need to be too perfect as long as you face them down in the pan when frying.

Use approximately 3 tablespoons of oil in the bottom of your pan, depending how big it is. Pan fry on medium-high heat until all sides are golden brown.

Carrot Kombucha

2010-10-19T10:27:00.000-07:00

Don't be confused by my fall pumpkins in the background. No pumpkin here. This seems like more of a summer recipe, but I've been juicing lately and wanted to get crafty. I was thinking about making carrot lemonade, but decided to go this route. The carrot juice is not fermented in the kombucha. Perhaps this would be considered more of a "cooler"? Whatever it is, it's delish and healthy and you should try it!

Mix equal parts of chilled Kombucha (I used cranberry kombucha) with equal parts fresh carrot juice. Squeeze a slice of lemon in and stir. I imagine this could be tasty with fresh ginger too.

Potato Leek Soup

2010-10-17T19:37:00.000-07:00

Deliciously satisfying on a cool autumn day. This soup is way tastier than it looks in the photos. So tasty that I made it again the following day after it was gobbled up by happy boyfriend.

4 leeks, whites and greens sliced thin

1 pound gold potatoes, peeled and chopped

4 cups of water

1 vegan bullion cube

2 bay leaves
3 cloves of garlic, minced

2 cups unsweetened almond milk

1 tablespoon dill

salt and pepper to taste

chives for garnish

In a soup pot, sauté leeks and garlic in a little olive oil until they are softened (about 5 minutes). Add the bullion cube, water, and potatoes. Cover and cook over medium-low flame until the potatoes softened. Remove the soup and allow it to cool. Fish out the bay leaves. Blend half the soup in a blender and return it to the pot. Stir in the dill and almond milk and return to low heat to warm the soup. Season with salt and pepper (I like lots of pepper!) and garnish with fresh chives.

Vegan Samoas and a Cup o' Tea

2010-10-17T19:35:00.000-07:00

After a lot of fun and satisfaction with the recipes from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World, I decided I needed to embark on some different vegan baking adventures. I ordered the sister book, Vegan Cookies Take Over Your Cookie Jar. Within a few days of receiving it in the mail, I was enjoying the best freaking cookies I have ever made. Eat your heart out, girl scouts.

Cashew Ricotta Stuffed Ravioli

2010-10-11T19:17:00.000-07:00

Made with raw, marinated beet root and homemade vegan cashew cheese. My favorite kind of meal... delicious, filling, and really healthy.

For the Cashew Cheese

1 1/2 cups raw cashews, soaked for 4 hours

2 Tbs. fresh lemon juice

2 Tbs. Nutritional Yeast

3/4 tsp. salt, or to taste

Blend all ingredients in a food processor until very smooth. This could take up to a few minutes. Add more salt or lemon juice to taste.

For the Ravioli

2 beets

Olive Oil

Sea Salt

Balsamic vinegar

Lemon Juice

Chives

Use a mandolin to slice the beets paper thin. In a bowl, sprinkle the beets with salt and marinate them with balsamic and olive oil. To soften them, marinate for approximately an hour. Remove the beets and layer them with cashew cheese. Sprinkle with chives and spoon the remaining marinade over the ravioli for sauce.

Three Little Cakes

2010-10-08T19:40:00.000-07:00

I couldn't wait to post this. I spent the whole day working on these and the fruits of my labor have paid off! Well, almost. I guess we will see at the bake sale we're having at work tomorrow. They really did turn out super cute though. And they taste amazing! The majority of the recipes came from "Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World". Anything extra I will post a recipe for you if you'd like to recreate. Get the cupcake book. It freaking rocks. I've used this book so much and none of the recipes have ever disappointed. There's no way you could tell these are vegan cupcakes. Not to mention they come out way more moist than any non-vegan cupcake I've had. I try not to use soy in my diet, so I prefer to substitute almond milk when it calls for soy milk. My only exception is Tofutti cream cheese. It makes killer vegan cream cheese frosting. Honestly, if I eat anymore, I'm going to turn into a sugar cube.

Pumpkin Caramel Pecan Cupcake

I used the Pumpkin Chocolate Chip recipe from the vegan cupcake book. I substituted the chocolate chips for a 1/2 cup of pecan pieces. I used the Vegan Cream Cheese frosting recipe and added 2 teaspoons of cinnamon. I candied my own pecans and made my own vegan caramel sauce to add as a topping.

Candied Pecans

3/4 cup pecan pieces

1 Tbs. almond milk

2 Tbs. Earth Balance Margarine (soy free)

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 Tbs. cinnamon

Melt butter, sugar, cinnamon, and milk over medium heat. Add pecans. Cook and toss pecans for 3-5 minutes. Remove from heat and spread on parchment paper to cool.

Caramel Sauce

1 Tbs. Earth Balance Margarine (soy free)

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 Tbs. almond milk

Melt margarine on medium heat and then add the sugar. Stir continuously until it all melts together. Be careful not to burn the sugar. Remove from heat and stir in the almond milk. Wait until it has cooled to top the cupcakes.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcake

Chocolate cupcake, chocolate ganache, and peanut buttercream recipes from the vegan cupcake book. I shaved some dark chocolate on top for decoration.

Lemon Drizzle Cupcake

Lemony vanilla cupcake and lemon buttercream from the recipe book. When these were fresh out of the oven, I poked holes and drizzled a lemon glaze over the top before they cooled. I was inspired by some really delicious mini lemon bunt cakes I recently enjoyed, prepared by my friend Erika (an awesome little baker!). She was kind enough to share her recipe with me, but I decided to play it safe with the conversions and use an actual cupcake recipe.

Lemon Drizzle

2 Tbs. Earth Balance Margarine, melted

1 cup confectioner's sugar

3-4 Tbs. lemon juice

Mix together ingredients. It should look slightly runny. Using a toothpick, prick holes in the top of the cupcakes and spoon over with glaze.

Lettuce Tacos with Jicama Slaw and Avocado Cream

2010-10-05T11:00:00.000-07:00

These are super yummy, low calorie, and raw/vegan. Don't be intimidated by the "meat" filling. It's simple to prepare and you'll be surprised at how meat-like it really is.

For Taco "Meat"

1 medium portobello mushroom

1/2 cup raw walnuts

6 sun dried tomatoes, soaked

2 teaspoons cumin

1 teaspoon chili powder

1 teaspoon garlic powder

2 teaspoons Bragg's liquid aminos

1 tablespoon leftover soaking water from sun dried tomatoes or plain water

Puree ingredients in the food processor until its semi-smooth and crumbly. Line a dehydrator with parchment paper and spread the taco mixture on top. Dehydrate for 2 hours on 115 degrees. It will darken and shrink slightly. Crumble to make a "ground beef" texture.

Jicama Slaw

2 cups shredded Jicama

Juice of 1 medium lime

1/2 small onion, diced

1 teaspoon cumin

1/2 teaspoon chili powder

sea salt and cracked pepper to taste

Combine ingredients and let rest in the fridge for an hour.

Avocado Cream

1 medium avocado

Juice of 1 small lemon

Handful of fresh cilantro

1 teaspoon olive oil

2 teaspoons water

sea salt to taste

Blend ingredients in a food processor until ultra smooth and becomes the texture of sour cream.

To Assemble Tacos

In a fresh lettuce leaf, layer from bottom to top:

Jicama Slaw

Taco Meat

Diced Tomatoes

Top with Avocado Cream

(you can fill a ziplock bag with the avocado creme and snip a corner off with scissors for a fake piping bag)

Serve with lime.

Coconut Kale Smoothie

2010-10-03T09:37:00.000-07:00

The other day I had the pleasure of enjoying the most incredible and healthy smoothie I have ever tasted. I was running errands on my bike in Silver Lake. Hungry, hot and thirsty, I stopped in at Naturewell. As I stood and read the menu, the coconut kale was recommended to me by TWO different customers. Now I understand why... So delicious! The coconut meat and water masks the strong flavors of kale fairly well. I asked for no agave and it was still amazing. I highly recommend you support this awesome little juice bar. They also have a bulk bin for snacks if you're hungry or need to stock up (I love bulk bins!). I will definitely be visiting Naturewell when I'm meandering Silver Lake again. Here is my recreation of their smoothie if you'd like to make it yourself.

(Serves two)

In a blender combine:

2 young coconuts, meat and water

1 cup of chopped kale

A few teaspoons of honey (or more if you want it sweeter)

Blend away! If you're not using a high powered blender, let that bag dog run for at least a couple minutes until everything is smooth.

Bramble On

2010-10-02T15:05:00.000-07:00

Recently I posted about a camping trip to the Redwoods and picking a ton of wild blackberries. I had a few ideas about what to do with them, but decided to make Tim's favorite.. Blackberry Pie. I don't have a ton of experience with pie making, so I referenced a few recipes and came up with something vegan. We were shocked with the results. This pie was so delicious and way surpassed our expectations. Tim's first bite exclamation was "sweet honey pie make me wanna cry". I really feel that because the berries were so fresh and wild it really made all the difference. But you could use fresh or frozen berries from the store as well.

Wild Blackberry Pie

Ingredients

Your favorite vegan pie crust recipe

4 cups blackberries

1 cup organic sugar

1/2 cup flour

1 TBS Earth Balance margarine

Instructions

Preheat oven to 450

Mix blackberries, sugar, and flour together and set aside.

From what I read, in order to make good crust, all the ingredients should be kept chilled constantly. Prepare your pastry dough and let it chill in the freezer for a few minutes. Cut the dough in half and roll out the bottom layer. It should be larger in diameter than your pie dish. Drape it over the top and press the crust into the dish. Fill the crust with the blackberry mixture. Cut up the tablespoon of Earth Balance and crumble it on top of the filling.

Roll out the second half of of the pastry crust in the same diameter for the top layer. Drape the crust over the top of the pie and start folding the edges under. Pinch the crusts together to form the edges. Make slits in the top for ventilation while baking. My explanation is pretty vague, so if you've never made pie from scratch watch this video.

Bake the pie for 10 minutes at 450. Then reduce heat to 350 and bake for an additional 35-45 minutes. I ended up baking it for an additional 10 minutes, but I would check on it periodically depending on your oven.

We were really craving some whipped cream to accompany this. I had some leftover Tofutti Sour Cream that Tim's aunt bought for us. I don't usually purchase fakey soy products, but I didn't want it to go to waste. I mixed a few tablespoons with some honey for a strudel-like topping.

I still had leftover berries so I threw some in vinegar to infuse. If you want to read about how to make infused or herbal vinegars read my post about it here.

Summer Heirloom Wrap

2010-09-29T18:03:00.000-07:00

There was a 113 degree heat wave in Los Angeles the other day. Heat like that doesn't leave me in much of a mood to eat anything, let alone prepare stuff in a hot kitchen. This cold, simple, delicious snack hit the spot.

2 parts baby heirloom tomatoes, halved

2 parts cucumber, sliced

1 part capers

1 part red onion, sliced

Splash of balsamic

Drizzle of olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

Romaine lettuce leaves for wrapping
Hummus for a spread

Mix all the ingredients together. Spread hummus on the lettuce leaves and top with the mixed ingredients. You can also serve it as a salad alone without the leaves and hummus.

Campfire Song

2010-09-27T22:48:00.000-07:00

On a recent trip up the coast to visit Tim's aunt and uncle, we stopped in Mendocino to do some much needed camping. It really is one of nature's best therapies. I won't bore you with the entire story, but I will say that the Redwood Forest is one of my new favorite places in the whole wide world. We drove up the 128 and camped at Dimmick. Not the most primitive campsite, but smothered in beauty regardless. We sang songs under the moon, drank wine from the local wineries, and cooked some awesome campfire food. Tim's soup was the best! There's something about a campfire that really heals the heart.

First night's dinner. Chili, baked potatoes, vegan sour cream and chives.

Tim's awesome soup. The smokey fire really gave it a great flavor.

Vegan chocolate chip pancakes... before we burned the ever loving crap out of them. Too bad.

The next breakfast completely made up for the pancakes. Nothing does taters better than an open fire.

Close your eyes strict vegans... I couldn't shut up about how much I miss indulging in fine cheeses. Particularly Cypress Grove's "Humboldt Fog". It's local to the area so we saw it EVERYWHERE. We were frequenting Corners Of The Mouth (a super rad health food store converted from an old church in 1978) to pick up our daily groceries. Tim took a little longer inside the store one day as I chatted outside with some local folk. He walked outside and surprised me with an array of local organic cheeses and crackers. This gift was a real honor coming from a long time vegan. He actually took all that time carefully selecting cheese for me! I suppose he was either being really nice or he was tired of my whining. Probably just being the nicest, most thoughtful boyfriend that he is. Check out that sweet vein of ash running through the center and the creamy gooey rind. You gotta splurge every now and then. Thanks babe!

And last but not least, my favorite part of our adventure. A free gift from Mama Earth. Wild Blackberries!! Our campsite was covered in brambles. I gathered as much as I could carry, acquired poison oak while doing it, and found a way to transport them all the way home to make blackberry pie.

Thank you, Spirit, for such abundance.

Offerings to the Mother...

Black Bean and Brown Rice Burgers

2010-09-27T19:35:00.000-07:00

Healthy, delicious, cruelty free complete proteins. Top with homemade guac and serve with greens or your favorite bun and standard condiments. Not much more to say about that! Except yum.

One thing to note: make your burger patties the day before you need to cook them. They really need to rest in the fridge overnight so they don't break apart when you cook them.

Black Bean and Brown Rice Burgers

Ingredients:

1 cup cooked brown rice
2 cups cooked black beans
1/4 cup bread crumbs (I made my own from crumbled Ezekial Bread)
1/2 small onion, diced and sautéed
2 cloves of garlic, minced and sautéed with onions
1 tsp chilli powder
1 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp. oregano
corn starch or flour
salt and pepper to taste
cooking oil of your choice

In a bowl, mash all your ingredients together (except cooking oil and cornstarch) until you have an semi-smooth, dough like texture. Taste your mixture. This is how it will taste when it's cooked, so adjust your seasonings to your liking.

Form the dough into balls and then flatten into patties no more than 1/2 inch thick. Dust both sides with cornstarch.

Place the patties between sheets of parchment paper and store in the fridge overnight. Fry the burgers in a bit oil until browned on each side and warm in the center. Approximately 10 minutes depending on the size.

Kitchen Alchemy: Sauerkraut

2010-09-25T13:52:00.000-07:00

A good friend of mine used to tease me about my love of salty, pickled "funk food", as she would call it. I'd say my adventurous spirit in trying new things has taken me far in my culinary exploration. But I dont think sauerkraut is so strange, is it? It's super delicious and the health benifits are vast. Making it at home is ridiculously easy and beats any canned kraut for many reasons. It is rich in beneficial bacteria (probiotics) and enzymes. It's fresh and raw and unpasteurized, unlike it's store bought cousin. I eat it in salads, on sandwiches, or just nibbled by itself out of the jar. There are a variety of vegetables you can use in addition to cabbage. I've thrown in carrots, beets, ginger, and onions on seperate occasions. In the photo above you can see red cabbage layered with apple slices and green onions. Simply put, kraut rocks. So don't let the fermentation process intimidate you. It's not as scary as you think. Botulism is nearly an impossible risk, unlike the heating and canning process of many fruits and vegetables. If you don't believe me, watch this awesome video by Sandor Elix Katz.

If you're just beginning your lacto-fermentation adventure (that means you, Lorenzo!), sauerkraut is THE thing to start with. Lacto-fermenation is, sadly, becoming a lost tradition in our corporate, industrialized "food system". Keep this ancient, nourishing, alchemical transformation of food alive. Shred a cabbage and let the crocks bubble..

Basic Sauerkraut Recipe

Tools:

Jars, many jars. Or one to two big jars.

Something to shred cabbage with. I use a mandolin, but a knife works fine too.

A big ol' bowl

Ingredients:

Two organic cabbages, color of your choice. In the photos below I will be using both purple and green cabbage to make layers of color in my jar.

Sea Salt

Caraway Seeds

Instructions:

-Rinse Cabbage.

-Shred it. You can use a knife, food processor, or mandolin. I like it shredded thin, you may like it a bit thicker. It's up to you. You'll need approximately 10 cups of shredded cabbage.

-In your bowl, mix the cabbage with 1 heaping tablespoon of salt. I ruined my very first batch of kraut because I made it way too salty. Start with a little salt and taste as you go. You want it pretty darn salty, but not to the point where it tastes inedible.

-Add a tablespoon or two of Caraway seeds. This gives incredible flavor and preserves a bit of crunch in the cabbage.

-With your clean hands, massage the salt and seeds into the cabbage. You'll feel a juice starting to form. This is your brine. You want as much brine as possible, so keep massaging. You can also let the cabbage rest for a while in the salt to let more juice form.

-Here is where it gets interesting. Now you have to "pack" the cabbage and brine into the jars. Use your fingers or small mashing tool to do this. Pack it firmly into the jar. As you do this, allow the brine to rise up over the cabbage. You want the cabbage completely immersed under the brine during the fermentation process to prevent rot or mold from forming on top. Here is my derfy hand showing you how much brine I was able to get out of my juicy salted cabbages without adding any water.

-Top the jar with a loose fitting lid. You want a tiny bit of air to get in, but not to the point of being completely exposed to dust or bugs. (This amazing jar was a gift shipped to me from some friends in Ohio. Isn't it pretty?!)

-Place the jars in an undisturbed area away from direct sunlight.

-Check on your kraut daily if you can, just to make sure it is staying fairly submerged under the brine. You'll see the cabbage, in it's gastronomical glory, rising above the liquid. Use clean fingers to pack it back down underneath. If you can't keep up on it, inevitably, it will get a little funky on top or possibly mold. I've read this is okay because you can scoop off the top layer, even though it wastes quite a bit. The cabbage underneath is fine to eat.

-Now you just wait. Fermentation time depends on the time of year and temperature inside your house. Warmer temps ferment faster, while colder temps ferment much slower. If you used red cabbage, you'll notice the kraut will change from purple to bright magenta as it nears the end of it's process. Don't be afraid to sample and let your senses be your guide. It's nearing fall and my ferments have been taking about two weeks.

Here are some photos of other sauerkraut variations:

Purple Cabbage after a week of fermentation. It turns a gorgeous magenta color.

Carrot and Cabbage Kraut

Seaweed Sauerkraut

Moth Mama

2010-09-18T14:38:00.000-07:00

When you buy organic produce, inevitably, you're going to take home some new friends. By this I mean bugs, silly. I never really experienced this before shopping at the farmers market. However, I kinda like it. It puts my heart at ease to know that the food is pesticide free, full of life, and good enough for any of nature's creatures to eat. Needless to say, these fruits and veggies come straight out of the earth as they are. No "pest" removal, no need for polishing up with waxes and special lights to enhance their colors.

I recently got some beautiful purple and green heirloom cabbages. I went to pull the outer leaves back and there squirmed two little green worms thoroughly enjoying the juicy cabbage. I felt bad detaching them from their food source and putting them in the trash. It wasn't their fault they ended up in my kitchen. So I stuffed them and some of their leaves in a plastic bag with the intent of taking a walk later to release them outdoors. Things got busy and I became distracted to say the least. I forgot about my little worms. A few days passed before I remembered I needed to take them outside. As I grabbed the bag and headed out the door, I noticed the worms looked very different. Cocoons had been spun! They weren't worms, but caterpillars. I decided to leave them undisturbed. I checked everyday to see what was going on in their little plastic world.

It was probably the fifth day when I looked in that bag and I finally received a look back.

All the proper stages of metamorphosis took place in my kitchen and now I had moths to behold. I opened the bag and they immediately crawled out to fan their wings in the fresh air. They trembled with every stretch of their new limbs. After spending the morning observing this precious tiny miracle, I opened the window screen and watched them fly to a neighbors citrus tree next door. Freedom. I felt blessed to witness it and couldn't help but think it was symbolic in some way.

Kimchi!

2010-09-17T15:33:00.000-07:00

Kimchi is older than the bible. I'm not kidding. I did a little reading and found that the first recorded history of it dates back 3,000 years ago. And that doesn't even count how long the recipe was passed around orally. For those of you who have never tried Kimchi, it's a delicious fermented Korean pickle. Vegetables are stuffed into crocks or jars and buried under the earth for weeks and sometimes months or longer. During this time the naturally occurring beneficial bacteria proliferate, creating magical flavors and healthful probiotics. If that sounds gross to you, consider how many common foods you consume that are fermented. Beer, wine, cheese, bread, and CHOCOLATE. Yes, your beloved chocolate is a fermented food. I am personally enamored with the life force of these miraculous microscopic organisms. They are alive everywhere and do WAY more than what we give them credit for, or even acknowledge. We literally would not be alive today without them. Consider this simple fact: 80 percent of our immune system relies on the healthy microflora living in your gut. 80 percent! Not to mention all the beneficial bacteria that thrives on the largest organ of your body: your skin. These organisims are our ancient companions, living symbiotically with us from the time of birth until we are dead, shielding us from disease. And the sad thing is we are killing them with poor diets, antibacterial soaps, sanitizers, and the over use of antibiotics. But that's a different topic. This is about Kimchi, after all. I just have to give credit where credit is deserved.

Speaking of giving credit, I would like to say that a huge part of my passion and adventure in fermenting is inspired by Sandor Elix Katz. I felt thoroughly enlightened after reading his book "Wild Fermentation". It's not just a recipe book, but a beautifully written compilation of science, history, social activism, and nutrition. This book is a treasure and I highly recommend it to anyone interested in healthy eating.

This is my own version of Sandor's recipe for Kimchi.

Things you'll need:

Fairly large pickle jar

Big mixing bowl

Mortar and pestle or something to grind spices

Ingredients:

Sea Salt
1 med. napa cabbage or a few bok choy
1 daikon radish
A few green onions
4 or more garlic cloves
Approximately 1/4 cup of korean red chili powder (This is loose measurement- I eyed it until it looked right and added more at the end of mixing)
2 TBS freshly grated ginger

Before you begin, I must warn you not to substitute anything for Korean Chili Powder. The first time I made this, I thought I could use Thai chili. Huge face-melting mistake. Bad bad bad. Ruined the whole thing. I made a well worth it pilgrimage to a Korean market to purchase real Korean chili. It was confusing and I ended up pacing the store for a while. There were so many different kinds of chili. I couldn't figure out which one and whether to get and a paste or a powder. Ironically, I saw a lady that worked there preparing a gigantic bowl of kimchi in the deli area. She was nice enough to show me what kind she uses. And she also said to never use a pre-made paste. Powder it was, hand picked by a pro. I was very pleased with my second batch. So get this stuff:

Directions:

Roughly chop your veggies and put them in the bowl. Mix a brine of 1 heaping TBS sea salt to 2 cups of spring water. Multiply the measurement of salt and spring water so you have enough brine to completely cover your vegetables in the bowl. Make sure salt is completely dissolved in the water. Soak the vegetables in the brine over night with a heavy plate on top to hold them down.

Next you can prepare your spices. Using a mortar and Pestle, grind the garlic, ginger, and chili powder into a mealy, coarse paste.

Drain the brine off the veggies. Reserve the brine! Mix the spices into the vegetables and stuff it into your big jar. Pack and press it down with your fingers until juices rise over the vegetables. If the juice is not quite covering the vegetables, add a little of your reserved brine. Loosely screw the lid on and check everyday to make sure your vegetables stay under the brine. Push them under with clean hands if they float to the top. Let sit at room temperature until ??? before you transfer it to the refrigerator. About a few days to 4 weeks? Summer temps ferment things faster. Winter is slower. Keep it out of direct sunlight. Smell and taste until its right. Your senses will know when it's done. Keep your chopsticks handy for frequent pickle trips to the fridge.

Healthy Vegan Coconut Cream Pie

2010-09-07T21:40:00.000-07:00

This little slice of pie doesn't look like much, but the flavor WAY over powers it's appearance. It tastes of real, fresh coconut. The texture is just as smooth, rich, and creamy as any standard issue Marie's. I was pretty skeptical about the banana, but I really feel it bestows a great flavor and texture. I've made a few of these and each time I can't keep my darn spoon out of the fridge. I was sneaking pie! And yes, I said "healthy" and "pie" in the same title. Granted it's still dessert, it's probably one of the healthier ways to enjoy dessert. Raw. Packed with healthy fats and nutrients.

Crust:

1/2 cup brazil nuts

1/2 cup almonds

1/4 cup dried coconut

2 Tbs. virgin coconut oil

1 Tbs. raw honey

3 or more dates, seeds removed (depending how sweet you want it)

Pinch of salt

Blend nuts, coconut, oil, dates, and salt in the food processor. Add honey just until it becomes semi-sticky. Line the pan with plastic wrap and press the crust into the pan. Stick it in the freezer to set.

*Note: It's important to use coconut oil because when it gets cold it hardens. This will make the crust and pie set. And it also gives that extra rich coconutty flavor.

Filling:

The meat of 4 young coconuts (with the water reserved separately)

1/2 cup virgin coconut oil

2 bananas, sliced thick

3 Tbs. raw honey (or to taste)

1/4 cup coconut water

1/4 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

It's best to start out with all your ingredients room temperature. If you don't your coconut oil with harden while you're trying to blend and it just won't work. First, line the bottom of the frozen pie crust with the sliced bananas. Next, blend all the remaining ingredients in a blender or food processor until it's really smooth. This could take up to a few minutes, so just keep blending until you have a really creamy texture. Pour the mixture into the pie crust and let it set in the freezer for a couple hours. After the pie sets, move it to the fridge where it will last a few days... if you can keep your fingers out of it.

Herbal Vinegars

2010-09-01T09:36:00.000-07:00

This summer is creeping to closure, which means after fall harvest there will be a little less selection at the farmer's market. Preparing herbal vinegar is a simple way to preserve the freshness of summer for when the cooler months come along. It also acts as a tincture to extract the many medicinal properties herbs have. Even your common house herbs have special healing and restorative properties that concentrate into your vinegars. Not to mention, they make very delicious salad dressings mixed with your favorite oil and greens.

A recipe isn't really necessary, but you will need:

-Glass Jars. I get pretty excited to polish off whatever comes in a jar.. just to have a shiny new one to reuse for something different. There isn't a jar that goes to waste. We don't have glasses in our cupboards, just recycled jars. And they're great storage for dried seeds, nuts, and legumes. Just make sure you save the lids.

-Plastic wrap. Before you cap your brews, it's important to know that vinegar oxidizes and corrodes metal. Before you screw it on you'll want to put a barrier between your lid and the vinegar with some plastic wrap.

-Vinegar. A lot of recipes say to use just plain old distilled vinegar. Personally, I don't like the word distilled when it comes to food, or most things for that matter. I like what I eat to be full of life. I would highly recommend using raw, unfiltered and unpasteurized Apple Cider Vinegar. It is teeming with probiotics and enzymes. It's been touted as a folk remedy to cure numerous ailments. I lust love the thought of all those happy microflora living and mingling with the herbs. I prefer Bragg's Vinegar. It's cheap and the label makes me smile... "With the mother".

-Herbs! Tons and tons of them. Pick whatever is in season and smells good to you. Play around with flavor concoctions. Have fun and don't worry too much about it.

Directions:

It's Pretty Basic.

First, Rinse your herbs and dry them off. Stuff them into the jar so that its almost completely full of the herbs. Below are Thyme and Oregano.

Top with vinegar. It's that simple! It take about a few weeks for the flavors to become really prominent in the vinegar. When it's reached it's desired flavor, strain off the vinegar and bottle without the plant matter. It will last indefinitely.

Don't forget to make your plastic barrier before you screw the lid on! Again, vinegar corrodes metal and you'll have a nasty rusty mess if you don't.

Here are two other flavors jarred with the herbs from the market. Strawberry season is on it's way out too, so I couldn't resist getting an entire flat to make some jam. Fruit is great in vinegar as well! I'd like to experiment with other combinations of fruit vinegars. Raspberry or plum comes to mind. Since I got both strawberries and lemon balm, I had to give it a try in some vinegar.

I found cinnamon basil at the market too. It was a difficult choice between that or opal basil. Opal basil reminded me of thai basil, so I went with the rich, spicy scent of the cinnamon.

Submitted to GLIVING. Check out this amazing website for more delicious recipes.

First Post!

2010-08-31T09:19:00.000-07:00

This will be my spot to share the collection of musings, brewing, cooking, and un-cooking that have encompassed my heart. I've been compiling photos, recipes, and lists of ideas for quite sometime now. I'm excited to finally be able to share "hearth craft". Whether you consider the kitchen a magial place or not, you can't deny that cooking is chemistry. At least a few steps of alchemy take place in the kitchen. The fifth step being my favorite- fermentation!

I eat mostly vegan because I live in Los Angeles. I do not have access to meat and dairy that I can trust to be humane and sustainable. However, I have found good eggs. So I will cook them for myself occasionally. My boyfriend is a strict vegan and has been vegetarian 16 years. His love and dedication to animals and the planet is something that I deeply respect. He inspires me, so naturally I adore preparing meals for him. I do a great percentage of our shopping at farmers markets. It's a bit of an obsession. I frequent many markets around town to ogle over all the beautiful and unique produce that you cannot find in grocery stores. Not only are the foods organic, but the plants are grown with respect, love and honor of the seasons. I believe growing, cooking and eating like this reverberates that love into our beings. The saying is so true.. "We are what we eat".