Carrot Ginger Cake

I'm just gonna be honest and say that being allergic to walnuts and pecans sucks. It really, really sucks. Polvorones, you know? Those Mexican wedding cookies? Yeah, can't eat 'em. Carrot cake had always been off limits since so many people insist on adding walnuts, and I was never able to enjoy a nice sugar-laden slice of pecan pie. 

Cue Alton Brown and his awesome cookbooks! My parents got me the set for Christmas, and I've worked my way through several recipes so far. This has to be one of my favorites. I adjusted it slightly, added some freshly grated ginger, and toned down the sugar, but otherwise this cake as fantastic. I know I've been using pumpkin pie spice in pretty much every recipe on this blog, but it's versatile, and a lot easier than buying several different spices you might never use.

It's not as fattening as it could be, and the finished cake is really moist. So forget about walnuts (though you can add them if you really want) and make Carrot cake better at home...

Basically, you shred up some carrots

Whisk a bunch of ingredients together

And bake

and make some awesome cream cheese frosting in pyrex

Carrot Ginger Cake 

(adapted from Good Eats 2)

6-7 medium carrots, grated (about three cups shredded)

1 tbsp freshly grated ginger

1 1/2 Cups Flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1.5 tsp pumpkin pie spice

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

3/4 cup white sugar

3 eggs

1 cup plain yogurt or sour cream

1/2 cup vegetable oil

Cream Cheese Frosting

1 8oz block cream cheese, room temperature

1/2 stick of butter, softened

1 tsp vanilla extract

2-3 cups powdered sugar

Preheat the oven to 350, butter and flour two 8-inch round cake pans

Whisk together flour, pumpkin pie spice, ginger, salt, baking soda, baking powder in large bowl. Toss the grated carrots in and work with your hands until the carrots are well-coated in the flour mixture. 

Whisk together oil, sour cream, eggs, sugars, yogurt/sour cream. Fold into the carrot and flour mixture until just combined. Distribute batter evenly between two cake pans. 

Bake at 350 for 30 minutes, and then reduce temperature to 325 and bake for about another 20 minutes. Keep checking the cake after 15 minutes though, to make sure you don't over bake. 

Cool in the pan for 15 minutes, and then on a rack until completely cool. 

Cream Cheese Frosting

Whisk together cream cheese, butter, and vanilla until well-combined. Adding half a cap at a time, gradually whisk in powdered sugar until you get the consistency you want. 

Vegan Lasagna

After a few weeks into second semester, I'm starting to get those all-too-familiar cravings for good comfort food. I think it's currently being caused by oh-my-crap-i-have-to-find-a-job-this-summer-and-do-better-in-my-classes stress.

Lasagna is one of my old-school comfort foods. My mom used to make a version with ricotta and cilantro which sounds odd, but was actually pretty fantastic. My friend Susan Wong makes pretty awesome lasagna with bits of cream cheese interspersed with ground turkey and tomato sauce that I crave on a regular basis.

The problem with all these comfort food cravings is that I'm trying to re-trainsition into veganism and have started the gym again. It's hard to justify eating half a pan of lasagna if you are waking up early for spin class the next day.

Cue vegan lasagna! I bumped up the health by making noodles out of zukes and the tofu "ricotta" is so good you can't even tell the difference!

Instead of piling on globs of parmesan or of a heavily processed vegan parmesan alternative, I just made "poor man's parm" by frying up some breadcrumbs in olive oil and spices. If you omit these, this lasagna becomes gluten-free! While it's not necessarily "make it better at home" since there are some really excellent lasagnas out there, it's definitely "make it better (for you) at home."

Vegan Lasagna with Zucchini Noodles

4-5 large zucchini
1 onion
4-5 cloves garlic, minced
1 bunch fresh spinach, blanched and squeezed dry
1 bunch basil
1 jar of your favorite marinara sauce, or a large can of diced tomatoes with juice
veggie sausage (optional)
1 package firm (not extra firm) tofu
1/2 lb mushrooms
juice and zest of 1/2 an orange
salt, pepper, olive oil

First, slice the zucchini into strips lengthwise and soak in salt water for 1-2 hours. Rinse off and dry in the oven set at 150-200 degrees, checking every few minutes to make sure they don't brown.

While the zucchini are soaking, make your sauce. Saute mushrooms, onions and garlic in olive oil for 5-7 minutes and add jarred sauce or canned tomatoes, chopped up vegan sausage (if your'e using it) and simmer (if you're using a can of diced tomatoes, make sure to boil down the sauce and reduce it so the lasagna isn't super-watery).

Meanwhile, make the "ricotta." Crumble up the tofu with your hands into a big bowl. Add spinach, chopped basil, 1 tbsp of olive oil, orange juice and zest, salt, and pepper to taste. Mix vigorously until well combined.

Once the zucchini are done, begin layering your lasagna. Start with a layer of zucchini, then tomato sauce, then tofu mixture and repeat.

If you'd like, you can pulse whatever bread you have around and fry the breadcrumbs in 2 tbsp of olive oil, salt and pepper to make a parmesan substitute to sprinkle over the top.

Bake the whole thing, covered, at 375 for 50 minutes. After 30 minutes, check how watery it is and drain out the extra water if necessary.

Red Velvet Cupcakes

I've been trying to cook healthier this year, trying to do away with processed foods, and cook clean. Yeah, I'm not quite there yet. I'm sure by the end of 2011, I'll have an all natural vegan and beet-dyed version of these, but they are pretty fantastic just the way they are. Besides, it's been below zero for the past few days, and sometimes you just need a little cupcake in your life.

Sure, you could hit up your local cupcake shop and spend 3, 4, or 5 bucks on a single cupcake, or you could make an entire batch of them and eat them all yourself. Luckily, it was my friend Keshia's birthday this week and I had an excuse to share.

This started out as a Cake Doctor recipe years ago, but has morphed into my own after making these so many times. Make sure you use the almond extract, it makes all the difference.

Red Velvet Cupcakes with Almond Cream Cheese Frosting

Cupcakes

1 package German Chocolate Cake mix
1/2 Cup flour
1 small package vanilla pudding mix
1 cup sour cream
1/3 cup water
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup white vinegar
3 eggs
1 bottle RED food coloring (the big ones in the spice section, not the little bottle with the pointy top)

Almond Frosting

1 brick cream cheese, room temperature
1 stick butter, room temperature
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp - 1 tbsp almond extract (to taste)
3-4 cups powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350.

Whisk dry ingredients until well combined before adding in wet ingredients. Once everything is well mixed, add the food coloring. Be careful, it stains!

Fill cupcake liners 2/3 full and bake for 19-22 minutes until tops of cupcakes are firm.

Cool for at least 30 minutes before frosting.

To make frosting, cream together butter, cream cheese, vanilla, and almond extract. Slowly add powdered sugar, 1/2 cup at a time while whisking vigorously. Start with 1tsp of almond extract, and increase to taste.

Snowpocalypse Casserole

What is it about casseroles that's so comforting? Growing up, we'd only really have them at Thanksgiving, and that was because my grandma used to make this amazing concoction of sour cream, cream of mushroom, and zucchinis. In my recent quest to try and eliminate processed and packaged foods from my life, it's been a little hard to throw together a casserole with a can of good ol' cream of mushroom. 

I saw something similar on the Kitchn blog (which you should check out if you haven't already) and figured I could turn it into a one pot meal kind of thing. After shoveling for hours and surviving the great Chicago Blizzard of 2011, it was time for some comforting food.

This dish is pretty fantastic because it omits the can of soup, and adds shallots. You should eat more shallots. They are somewhere between garlic and onion, but milder and really flavorful. Feel free to substitute stuff, add different veggies, or make it meatless.

Turkey and Chickpea Casserole with yogurt and shallots

1 pkg ground turkey

1 can chickpeas, rinsed and drained

3 slices bread (whatever you have around)

2 cups plain yogurt

2 eggs, lightly beaten

3 - 4 small shallots, minced

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 bunch parsley, minced

2 Tsp. rosemary (fresh or dried)

Zest of 1 lemon

2 Tbsp lemon juice

1 Tbsp bouillon (or that "better than bouillon stuff")

1 cup grated parmesan 

salt, pepper, olive oil

Preheat oven to 375

Brown the turkey meat in a pan and toss in a large bowl with chickpeas

Next, add garlic, shallots, parsley, eggs, yogurt, herbs, zest and juice. 

 Stir really well, and add half of the parmesan

Next, pulse the bread in a food processor until you get small breadcrumbs. Alternatively, you can double toast the bread and crumble it with your hands. Toss together with black pepper and the remaining parmesan. 

Pour the turkey and chickpea mixture into a casserole pan and top with breadcrumbs and cheese

*note, i used gruyere which was ok but a little too stinky for this recipe. Parm would definitely be the way to go

Bake for an hour and let rest for 5-10 minutes before serving.