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.

Quinoa

After spending a frigid week back in Chicago after sunny San Diego, I took off for the Pacific Northwest to spend a few days cooking with my mom, sister, and stepdad. Even though it's fairly grey up here, it's refreshing to be somewhere that's not covered in ice and snow.

Today, we're heading to one of my favorite towns in the Pacific Northwest, Port Townsend. Historic homes on a hill, quaint lighthouses along the seashore, and a multitude of used bookstores to peruse, it might be one of the cutest towns on earth... seriously.

As shopping fuel, i figured something nutritious and filling would be good to bring along so I started with some quinoa and added some other wintry items to complete this awesome one pot meal.

Wintry Quinoa Salad

1 cup dry rinsed quinoa
2 white onions
1 butternut squash
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup toasted sliced almonds

First, boil the quinoa according to package directions and set aside. In the meantime, dice the onions and cook them in some olive oil over low heat until they are caramelized (30-40 minutes). Peel and shop the squash into small cubes and roast in the oven at 450 for 15 minutes or until soft and browned.

Toss everything together in a bowl with salt and pepper to taste.

That's it! Super simple, yet earthy and comforting at the same time. It also happens to be vegan :)

Eggs are for Eaton(s)

Oh hello. It's already been a month? Props to people who write in blogs religiously throughout the holiday season.

After a whirlwind road trip to Southern California, dog in tow, visiting with everyone I could possibly squeeze in, a terrible cold has taken over my life. Adding to the misery is the fact that it's almost too cold to breathe outside, I didn't get to cook nearly enough, and visiting with friends and family made me painfully, nostalgically homesick.

Okay, enough whining. Luckily, I've had this recipe from Garrett that I've been waiting to try out. Since eggs are one of my absolute favorite things to eat, I knew they'd cheer me up. I'm generally a sunny side up, over medium, runny yolks all the way type, but the addition of half and half and cheese to these scrambled eggs may've changed my mind.

They are crazy easy, but so good I couldn't stop shoveling egg into my mouth. Seriously, these eggs embody lazy sunday brunches outdoors on warm summer mornings in SoCal. I fried up some hoe cakes (recipe to come) to go along with them, and if I'd have had a bottle of champagne, a mimosa would've made this the perfect brunch to shake of the cold weather if only for a few fleeting moments...

3 eggs
2 tbsp half and half
1/2 cup of shredded cheese (cheddar/jack mix - Sargento Mexican 4 cheese is what I use)
1 pat of butter (for pan)
salt / pepper

Add butter to pan and put on medium low heat
Crack three eggs in a bowl
Add half and half, salt and pepper
Beat
Add to pan once heated
Mix/scramble as usual
Just before all eggs are cooked, add cheese
When cooked completely, plate, add more salt/pepper to taste

Voila!

Let's Make Pop Tarts

Finals are rapidly approaching and the food I've been making is getting more and more comforting as the stress builds. Honestly, at this rate I'll be eating a stick of butter for breakfast on December 7th.

I know what you're thinking, "Pop Tarts? Really?"

I used to be in the same boat, thinking that I'd never again want to eat those questionable rectangles in a package. But every once in a while I hear them whispering to me out of a random vending machine and I give in, only to be overcome by mild guilt after inhaling them.

Honestly, how many wholesome breakfast options can you think of that are covered in frosting and rainbow sprinkles?

Yes, I've eaten cupcakes for breakfast.

No, that's not what I was thinking of.

These things are better than anything out of a package and though I wouldn't necessarily call them "healthier" since there's a full stick of butter involved, they are delicious and it's ridiculously easy to make them better at home.

Crust

1 1/4 cup flour
1 stick butter (cut into small cubes and frozen for 5 minutes)
2 teaspoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg (cold)
2 tablespoons ice water

Filling

Strawberry Jam
*you can actually use anything you'd like here substituting your favorite pop tart flavor... I'm just partial to the strawberry ones myself


Frosting

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4-1 cup powdered sugar
1-2 Tablespoons milk

Crust

Whisk together dry ingredients in a bowl until combined. Then, dump the butter in all at once and work it into the dough with your fingers until there are little clumps of butter all throughout the dough.

Beat the egg with the ice water and fold into mixture until just combined. Push the whole thing together with your hands on a floured surface trying not to knead too much as you work it into a ball.

Divide the ball in half and freeze for 3-5 minutes so the butter can re-solidify.

After it's done chilling, roll each ball into a rectangle and cut into rectangles.

Make your Pop Tarts by spreading 1-2 tablespoons of jam (depending on how big your rectangles are) around the center of one of the rectangles, placing another rectangle over the jam, and pressing together with a fork. Place your completed Tarts on a cookie sheet and freeze for 10-15 minutes to re-chill the dough.

Bake at 350 for 25 minutes or until the tops and edges begin turn golden brown.

While they are baking, whisk together frosting ingredients, adding more milk as needed to get the right consistency of frosting. Once the Tarts are cooled to room temperature, frost and eat!