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Posts Tagged ‘cashew’

Cake Batter Cashew Butter

Posted in Recipes, tagged , , on February 7, 2013| Leave a Comment »

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Remember when I went off the grid in December because I decided I was going to make all my Christmas gifts? Remember when I then spent HOURS knitting, making christmas cards, cookies, nut butters, my own lip balm, all-natural soy candles, sponge painting doily outlines onto tote bags, spray painting coke bottles, sewing when I don’t really know how to sew, and overall, losing my mind because I bit off more than I could chew?

Probably not. I managed to shield you from most of the insanity but things got crazy. There were just one too many pinterest projects I decided to tackle.

But as I stated above, one of the gifts I made for my friends was nut butters. I made a bunch, threw in a soy candles  and wrapped them all up nicely in a super cute totebag. Turns out, it was a hit. Amelia and Melinda are convinced I could make money off these they are so good. Problem is, my food processor would weep if I asked it to make that many nut butters. And I’m far too lazy

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Cake Batter Cashew Butter
from edible perspective, slightly tweaked

  • 2c raw cashews
  • 1/4-1/3t fine grain sea salt
  • 3/4 T vanilla extract
  • 1/2t almond extract
  • 1T palm sugar
  • 2T sprinkles (you get valentine’s day ones for this post cause that was the first thing I grabbed)
  1. Preheat your oven to 250*.
  2. Roast cashews on a pan for about 30min, turning 1-2x until lightly golden brown. You really want to keep an eye on them in the last 10 minutes. They go from golden to burnt very quickly.
  3. Let cool 5-10min and pour into your food processor.
  4. Turn on and let process until butter is smooth.  You will need to scrape down the bowl numerous times before this occurs.  It takes about 8-12min to smooth out.
  5. Once smooth, add in salt, vanilla extract, almond extract, and palm sugar.
  6. Process again until smooth, scraping the bowl as necessary.  ~2-4min.
  7. Empty into a bowl and place in the fridge for 15-30min until room temp or slightly cool.
  8. Stir in sprinkles.

*If you’re at the 12min mark and nothing is happening, add in 1/2T at a time of tasteless oil.

You can eat this on pretty much anything you would use peanut butter for, which is pretty much everything. And it will be delicious!

And even though this has valentines day sprinkles on it, this is not one of the valentine’s day treats I promised. I don’t know many people who would want cashew butter as a Valentine’s day gift. Actually… that’s a lie but most NORMAL people would not want cashew butter for a valentine’s day gift.

Also, can everyone do a snow dance or ritual tonight please. I would REALLY love to have the whole day off from work. Kthanks.

 

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A Fresh take on Pizza and Chips

Posted in Recipes, tagged , , , , , , , , , on November 11, 2011| 2 Comments »

True story: I like the idea of going out to eat but I very rarely do it because I can  never make up my mind where to go. Melinda was crashing at my apartment a few weekends ago and we decided we were just too lazy to make dinner and I had no food in the house. So we decided to get take out. 45 minutes later, surrounded by take out menus and coupons, we hadn’t committed to anything yet. We couldn’t decide what we were in the mood for. We couldn’t decide whether we wanted delivery or to go get it. We couldn’t decide on anything.

Basically, we just wanted someone to deliver us the best food ever without us having to decide on the food and, we wanted it to be free.

We were sort of pathetic.

This is what happens to me at least once a weekend, though, when I’m too wiped out to make dinner. I always think, “Pizza can be delivered to me in no time!” and then I see all the other options that are out there and nothing gets ordered.

But not this weekend! This weekend, I’m ready! I have this delicious autumn pizza waiting for me in my fridge. Win for me!

Autumn Apple Sage Pizza
inspired by How Sweet Eats

Dough:

2 1/4 teaspoons (1 packet) active dry yeast
3/4 cup warm water
1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour (the original recipe called for 1 c. whole wheat flour and 3/4 c. of all-purpose but I was out of whole wheat)
1 tablespoon honey (see my comments on honey and veganism here)
1/2 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt

In the bowl of your electric mixer with an attached dough hook, combine warm water, yeast, honey and oil and mix with a spoon. Let sit for 10-15 minutes until foamy, then add in flour and salt. Mix on low speed until just combined, then turn to medium speed to knead the dough for 5-6 minutes. If it seems to sticky, add a bit more flour 1 tablespoon at a time.

Brush a separate bowl with olive oil, add dough, turning once, then set in a warm place to rise for 1 1/2-2 hours. Cover with a towel.

While your dough is rising, you can start your pesto sauce…

Sage Pesto:
adapted from the book Skinny Bitch in the Kitch  by Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouin
(makes approx. 1 cup)

1/4 cup whole almonds
2 cloves garlic
1/4 cup olive oil, plus more for storing
1 cup fresh sage leaves
1/2 cups fresh Italian parsley leaves
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper

*The original recipe called for 1/4 c. vegan cream cheese but I couldn’t find any. Feel free to include it but it wasn’t necessary

Pulse the ingredients in a food processor in the order given. Scrape down the sides as necessary and continue pulsing to achieve a uniform consistency.

If desired, place sage pesto in a container and top off with olive oil to store.

Pizza Toppings:

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1 TBS olive oil

1 large apple, very thinly sliced

1 small yellow onion, sliced

1 garlic clove, minced

3/4 c. vegan mozzarella cheese (I used Daiya)

3/4 cup vegan cheddar cheese ( I used Daiya)

Vegan Bacon (optional)

Preheat your oven 375 degrees. Spray your pizza pan lightly with cooking spray. I prefer round pizzas to square but all I had available was a square cookie sheet. (I’m sure a pizza stone would work great for this too but I’m not fancy enough for one of those!)

15 minutes for dough is ready, slice onions. Heat a skillet over medium heat and add 1/2 tablespoon olive oil, then add onions with a sprinkle of salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, until carmelized. In the last minute, add garlic and cook for 60 seconds, then set aside off heat.

When your dough is ready, remove from the bowl and place on your greased pizza pan. Stretch out evenly in pan. Top with sage pesto ( I used about half of what I made). Sprinkle with nutmeg. Add mozzarella cheese. Slice apples (a mandolin slicer would be perfect for this…but I’m not fancy enough for one of those, either) and layer on top of pesto and cheese, then add your onion/garlic mixture. Cover with cheddar cheese. 

Bake for 25-30 minutes. If you are using vegan bacon, cook in the microwave for about a minute, slice and add to pizza 5 minutes before its finished. I did this with my first round and I didn’t think the vegan bacon added much to the recipe.

But what would a pizza be without chip??

BBQ Kale Chip
from Healthful Pursuits

1 head kale

1/3 cup cashews

2-3 tbsp water

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp smoked paprika + more for sprinkling

2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp herbamare

dash of cayenne

  1. Preheat oven to 350F and take out a cookie sheet. No oiling/greasing needed.
  2. Drop all ingredients but kale in a blender and process until smooth. (I used a food processor because I had it out from the pesto. It didn’t really work well and my BBQ has cashew bits in it. It was still good though)
  3. Wash kale and remove stem – I  just rip it from the stem. Place kale in a large bowl and cover with 1/4 cup of the paprika mixture. Stir to coat before laying out on prepared cookie sheet.
  4. Sprinkle kale with extra smoked paprika and bake for 14-17 minutes (I cooked mine for 14 but it definitely could have used more time)

This was my first go-around with kale. I’ve always avoided it because the ruffles kind of creep me out. I’m not a ruffles girl. Pyramid studs- yes. Ruffles- not so much. I was pleased with the results, though! The BBQ sauce definitely had a kick to it but it had really good flavor! Unfortunately, my kale didn’t get chip-like . The edges got kind of crispy but overall, the kale was still soft. It still had great flavor, though.  I’ll cook it for a bit longer next time.

I’m a huge fan of this meal. Then again, I’m a huge fan of pizza and BBQ so I could I not be?? The pizza was light and the apples and nutmeg adds such a great fall feeling. The BBQ sauce on the kale chips was delicious. It created a great new way to eat greens!

PS. Save that extra BBQ sauce. I have a yummy way to use that leftovers that I’ll post on Weds

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oh, Hello Cold

Posted in Recipes, tagged , , , , , , on October 19, 2011| 3 Comments »

So here’s the thing with being a 20-something at an entry-level job living in a city- you don’t have a ton of money. At least not with a degree in english and art history and a nasty Starbucks habit you can’t kick.

This means that I have to be stingy- I can’t purchase that studded Burberry purse that I’ve been drooling over for over a year. (Ms. Lindsey-I-have-no-job-but-800-outstanding-lawsuits-Lohan gets one though. WHATEVER!) That trip to Disney World so I can go to the halloween night 5 days in a row and wear 5 different costumes ain’t happening. Decorating my kitchen with gadgets from Crate and Barrel will have to wait…until I’m married…and they are purchased for me.

This frugal attitude also extends to my apartment. My very drafty apartment. The roommates and I do our best to keep the heat down low. Which means from mid-October until May my house is cold. Sometimes very cold. Like, sleep-in-multiple-layers-and-gloves cold.  Though no one will come visit us and we walk around in full length sleeping bag/body suit things, it does helps us save money so we aren’t eating only Ramen Noodles (and I can save for a trip to Italy).

Though we avoid the Ramen, soup does helps fight off the chill, which is already starting to creep into the apartment. This mushroom onion soup is definitely going to be in rotation this winter. PLUS, it may give me a legitimate excuse to buy an immersion blender. Yeah! one gadget I don’t have to wait for my wedding day for!

Vegan Cream of Mushroom Soup with Cashew Cream

from JoytheBaker.com

2 TBS olive oil

1 medium yellow onion, chopped

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 pound of cremini mushrooms. cleaned and sliced

1 TBS soy sauce

1 TBS vegan Worcestershire sauce

about 1 tsp course ground black pepper

3 cups vegetable broth

salt to taste

For the Cashew Cream*:

1/2 cup raw cashews

1/2 cup water

*you may substitute the Cashew Cream with 3/4 cup half and half or 8 oz. of silken tofu

Cream from just cashews and water. How cool is that?!

In a large pot, heat olive oil over medium heat.  Add onions to hot oil and saute until translucent and slightly browned, about 5 minutes.  Add garlic, stir, and cook for 1 minute more.  Add the mushrooms, soy sauce and Worcestershire sauce and cook until mushrooms are cooked and broken down, about 5 minutes.  Stir occasionally.  Add cracked pepper and  vegetable stock and cook at a simmer until mushrooms are completely soft.  This took me about 10 to 15 minutes.

While the soup simmers, prepare the cashew cream.  In a blender, combine raw cashews and water.  Blend on high until smooth.  Pour into a measuring cup and set aside.  Don’t worry about washing the blender… we’re going to use it to blend the soup.

When mushrooms are cooked through, add about one third of the soup to the blender.  Hot soup rises high in the blender so definitely be careful how high you fill the blender.  Blend soup on low, increasing the speed to high, until no large mushroom chunks remain.  Pour blended soup into a clean pot or large bowl.  Blend the remaining soup in batches.  *If using silken tofu instead of cashew cream.  Blend the silken tofu in with the mushrooms and broth.

Add the cashew cream to the blended soup and stir to incorporate.

Place a fine mesh strainer over the pot that you cooked the soup in.  In batches, pour the blended soup into the fine mesh strainer and work the soup through the strainer with a rubber spatula.  Don’t use a wooden spoon… you could get splinters in your soup… seriously.  Heat and serve the strained soup.  Or place in a freezer safe container for a few weeks down the road.

This recipe was delicious! And how cool is the cashew cream thing?! Cashew’s have such a subtle taste to them that it didn’t overwhelm the onion and mushroom taste. Also, I didn’t bother straining it. The blender did a good enough job and, honestly, I don’t have a strainer that fine. If you don’t have a blender or aren’t into soup that sort of resembles baby food, that’s cool. I tried a bite of the soup before it went into the blender, with just the onions, mushrooms and broth all cooked together, and it was amazing! It was sort of a different twist on a french onion soup.

So, technically, this soup recipe could actually be considered two soup recipes- a vegan cream of mushroom AND a French Onion Mushroom soup, depending on how you prepare it. Don’t you just love this blog =)

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