Maple Almond Butter (vegan + gluten free)

One of the things I have become addicted to recently is Justin's Maple Almond Butter. I love dipping apples or pretzel sticks into it as my after work snack. However, it is really expensive (about $10 for a 12 oz jar) and I can't afford my habit of eating a jar every week and a half.  So I decided to try to make my own almond butter. 

I hunted around online in search of instructions, and they all made it seem really easy. Toast nuts, put in food processor, process for ages and ages (usually around 10-25 minutes, depending on the processor you use) and woo-hoo, you have almond butter! So, I figured I'd try it. 

I had two failures before I got it right. Yep... two. That's a lot of wasted almonds. Now I have it figured out though, and I'll let you know what I did so you don't make the same mistakes.

On my first batch, I toasted the almonds, dumped them into the processor and blended it up. It had been on high for about 20 minutes and showed no sign of turning into butter so I thought maybe if I pour some of the maple syrup in now, it'll add moisture and help it process better. Nope. Bad, bad, bad idea. It seized up the whole batch, turning it into a playdoh type mass. It finally released it's oils, but in this nasty way of secreting them and expelling them from the mass of almond dough. 

So, rule number one: DO NOT ADD ANYTHING TO THE ALMONDS BEFORE THEY ARE A SMOOTH BUTTER. Save the salt and/or cinnamon or any other dry flavors until the end.

My second batch I was more patient. I also tried using my blendtec blended instead of the food processor to try and get a creamier consistency. It worked! My toasted almonds became a beautiful smooth butter! Then I thought, I can just add the maple syrup now. It's butter, what could go wrong?

It seized up again, but not into a dough. It lost its creaminess and turned into a texture like damp sand. It was like the oils all disappeared. This batch I was able to save as a yogurt topper, or I may try using some on an apple crisp or something. It definitely will not work as butter though.

Second rule: DO NOT ADD ANY LIQUID TO THE ALMOND BUTTER.

The way to get that maple taste is to toss the almonds in maple syrup before you toast them. The syrup dries onto the nuts, bringing its taste in the form of dry sugar crystals rather than a liquid. I'd imagine it would work the same if you wanted to use vanilla, honey, liquid smoke or any other liquid to make other flavored almonds. 

Hopefully my failures can help you, and you can avoid the same fate!

Here are the almonds of my third batch, after being toasted with the maple syrup.

  Here is a comparison of texture. The top left jar is the third batch, smooth almond butter, and the bowl is of the second batch, with the sand-like crumbles.

 I saved the crumbles batch anyway to use in my coconut yogurt with strawberries.

 Maple Almond Butter:
2 cups raw almonds
3-4 tbsp pure maple syrup
1 tsp salt

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Toss the almonds with the maple syrup to coat them. Lay them out in a single layer on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper (it keeps them from sticking to the cookie sheet and makes for super easy clean up!).

3. Bake the almonds for 10-15 minutes, until the maple syrup looks more sticky.

4. Take almonds out of the oven and allow to cool about 10 minutes. We still want them a little warm for the food processor, it makes them easier to process.

5. Break apart any chunks that have formed, and put the almonds in a food processor or high powered blender. Feel free to just eat a couple almonds, they're already delicious at this point ;)

6. Blend on high for 10-25 minutes (depending on the power of your blender/processor) It's noisy at first, but quiets down pretty quickly. It will first become crumbs, then a texture like dry sand, then like damp sand, and finally the oils will release and it will look like store bought almond butter.

7. Add in salt and mix until incorporated. Pour into a jar for storage. I like to use wide mouth half pint jars, for easy apple or pretzel dipping.

Vegan Brussels (Belgian) Waffles

Last February I discovered a wonderful podcast called Stuff You Should Know. They cover an extremely wide range of topics, and a month or so ago I listened to their podcast about Belgian Waffles. They explained that what we, in the USA, think of as "Belgian Waffles" don't actually exist in Belgium. There, they have two main types of waffles they make, and neither is referred to as a "Belgian Waffle." There is a Liege waffle, which is made with a thick and sticky batter, almost like dough, which contains chunks of sugar, that caramelize to make a crunchy coating with a doughier center. The other common waffle in Belgium is a Brussels waffle. It is a yeast batter, making the inside super light and fluffy and the outside has a nice crisp to it. (Think normal grocery store doughnuts vs. Krispy Kreme. The yeast is what makes the latter so much lighter and fluffier) I think of it kind of like a funnel cake in waffle form. They are traditionally street food, eaten with the hands with just some powdered sugar on top.

When I heard this podcast, I decided I needed to get a waffle iron (with deep pockets, made for Brussels waffles) and make some Brussels waffles. Light and fluffy? Yes, please!

Last weekend I found a perfect waffle iron at Macy's on clearance and I snatched it up and started hunting down a recipe. I was dismayed to find that there doesn't seem to be a single vegan Brussels waffle recipe anywhere on the internet. So, I read through a bunch of authentic Brussels recipes and tried veganizing one myself. I was afraid they'd turn out horrible, but I had to give it a shot. I was super pleased to find that they turned out very well! These will be a new staple in our weekend diet.
 

 

We had some leftover raspberry compote from the pears I made earlier this week, which made a great topping for the waffles. Though they were delicious even with just the powdered sugar.

Look how fluffy that inside is! Mmm...

Vegan Brussels (Belgian) Waffles
Makes about 20 waffles

9 tsp Ener-G egg replacer, divided
9 tbsp water, divided
2 tbsp sugar
1 1/2 c plant based milk, warmed (not hot)
1 packet dry active yeast (or 2 1/4 tsp if you have a jar of it)
1 1/2 c room temperature carbonated water
3 1/2 c white all purpose flour (don't substitute whole wheat, it will keep them from being fluffy!)
4 1/2 tsp baking powder
5 oz dairy free butter, melted
a pinch of salt

1. Mix 4 1/2 tsp egg replacer with 3 tbsp water in a small bowl. Mix the other 4 1/2 tsp egg replacer with 6 tbsp water in another bowl and whip with a mixer to make a foam like egg white with very soft peaks. Set theses two bowls aside.

2. Combine warm milk, yeast and sugar. Allow to bloom for about 10 minutes.

3. Lightly beat the first (less water) bowl of egg replacer into the yeast mixture. Add the water and gently stir to combine. Add flour and baking powder and mix with a mixer until there are no clumps.

4. Melt the butter in a sauce pan or microwave, then beat into mixture. Gently fold in the second egg replacer bowl contents, and add a pinch of salt.

5. Allow the batter to rise for 30 minutes, turning the waffle iron on about 5 minutes before it is done so it is nice an hot by the time the dough is ready.

6. Melt a little butter in a bowl and use a pastry brush to lightly coat the waffle iron so it doesn't stick.

7. Pour batter into each waffle square and spread out with a spatula before closing. Depending on the size of your iron, you'll have to experiment a bit with how much batter to put into each waffle spot and how long to cook them. Mine had about 1/2 c in each spot, and cooked for 7 minutes. The outsides will brown quicker than the insides will cook, so don't take them off too soon. If you poke at a waffle with a fork it should feel firm inside, not soft.

If you make the waffles quicker than you and your family can eat them, put them on a cooling rack rather than piling up on a plate as they cool. That will keep the outsides nice and crisp. I couldn't find my cooling rack, so I just used the rack from my convection oven to cool them on.

Update: I tossed some left over waffles into a baggie in the freezer, and they reheat wonderfully! Just put them in a toaster and they will reheat and crisp up the outside again while keeping their fluffy center. Now, every time I make these waffles I make at least a double batch, sometimes triple, and just keep the rest in the freezer! So much better than store bought frozen waffles!

Hello Fresh review

I kept seeing ads all over Facebook for a website called Hello Fresh. Every week they come up with three meat based meals and three vegetarian meals, and they ship you the recipe and all the ingredients for the three meals. You can order a box for two servings per meal or four servings per meal. I always thought this would be a cool idea, ever since I heard of Blue Apron, but they didn't deliver to our area so I could never try it. So, when I saw a coupon code for Hello Fresh on facebook for $35 off, I figured I'd give it a try. They don't have any option to customize your food, like to make it vegan, however since they just send you all the ingredients we were able to just make the meals without adding the dairy products.

The box the food came in was very well packed. It had an insulating liner around all the food, and two big ice packs to keep everything cold. All the food was divided by meal, into three boxes. It also came with a nice booklet with the instructions for each recipe.

This week's menu for vegetarians was:
1. Potato Latke's, with Beet Salad
2. Israeli Black Eyed Peas, with Fenugreek and Eggplant
3. Quinoa Veggie Loaf with Baked Radishes and Broccoli

The photos I have are of the Quinoa Veggie Loaf, which was our favorite of the three.

Here is the box the meal came in:

 All the ingredients from the box:

 The competed meal:

The loaf wasn't very solid, like the sliced pieces in their photos, but it tasted very good. That may have partially been because we didn't use the pack of Parmesan cheese which may have been a binder for it. We also used our own ketchup (Full Circle organic) for the sauce, since they sent a mini bottle of Heinz ketchup which has high fructose corn syrup in it. Other than that, though, the rest of the food was very fresh and healthy. I'll definitely be repeating this recipe with my own ingredients.

The Potato Latke's meal was plain, but tasty. I used vegan butter instead of the sour cream that came with it. The beet salad side dish with it was a bit too beety for us, but my mom tried it and loved it so she took it home with her.

The Eggplant meal was great, the only part of that meal I wasn't crazy about was the tomatoes in it. I'm not a big fan of tomatoes and there was quite a bit in there. I may try remaking it sometime with some organic fire roasted tomatoes and halving the quantity. Then I think I'll really like it.

Overall, I really liked the food and loved the convenience of Hello Fresh. Although, I don't think I'll continue getting it on a regular basis for two main reasons. Firstly, I can't really afford to pay essentially $10 per person per meal, which is what the standard cost of the meals is when you don't have a coupon. If I'm going to pay $10 for one meal, I'd rather it be a night out where I don't have to cook it. Also, many of their vegetarian meals would not be able to veganize. For example, they do versions of grilled cheese quite often, which would make my plan of just leaving out the dairy impossible.

Really, I think it's a better idea to just use their recipes and buy the ingredients myself. WAY cheaper, and then I can get organic produce and vegan cheeses (if necessary) all while supporting my local suppliers.

Also, if someone really wanted to have the ingredients delivered to them as well, they could just order the ingredients from the ingredient list on the recipes online from a grocery store that delivers and then even with the delivery charge it'd still end up costing far less money. Plus then you can get whatever else you want to snack on as well besides the main meals included in that delivery.
So, unless they dramatically drop the price, I won't be ordering from them again. However, I do like their recipes and will be using those with ingredients I buy myself from time to time.

Vanilla Poached Pears with Raspberry Compote (Vegan)

 

I'm loving fall. Last year I was in Spain from September until the end of January, so I completely missed my favorite season, and with it some of my favorite fall foods. Right now is peak raspberry season, and I found some gorgeous little organic pears at our local coop that are in season now too. I bought the pears on a whim, figuring I would come up with something I could do with them. Then my one of my relatives with a big garden gave my mom a big bowl of raspberries, and she split them with me. Thanks mama ;)

So what could I do with these two things? How about poached pears and a raspberry sauce? I pitched the idea to Ryan and he was all for it, so I improvised this recipe. It turned out very tasty.... I especially love the compote.

 Don't those raspberries look amazing? So juice and delicious! The compote turned out so tasty, I may make extra next time to use as jam on pancakes or mix into ice cream.

 The pears were pretty small, so I got 12 of them. They make for a nice little snack, but took awhile to core and peel.

Here are the pears after being poached, and the compote with the raspberries added reducing in the pot.

Vanilla Poached Pears with Raspberry Compote

12 small pears or 6 large pears, cored (from the bottom) and peeled, leaving stems intact
2 cups water
1 cup white wine (I used chardonnay)
1 vanilla bean, halved lengthwise and insides scraped out and added to pot
3/4 cup sugar
2 cups raspberries, mashed

1. Put the wine, water, vanilla bean and sugar in a pot and turn heat to high. Stir while it heats to dissolve the sugar.

2. Once it starts to boil, reduce the heat to a simmer and add the pears. The stems make a great little handle to lower them in. The liquid should come at least half way up the pears if you're using the right sized pot. Cover and simmer for 25 minutes.

3. Move the pears from the pot onto a plate. Remove the vanilla bean pieces and add the raspberries to the left over liquid. Turn heat to high and reduce the liquid, stirring occasionally, for 20 minutes. It will thicken more as it cools, so don't worry if it is sill a little thin.

4. Either serve immediately, or refrigerate pears and compote separately. Combine and reheat when ready to serve.


 

Roasted Red Pepper Pasta (vegan + gluten free options)

So, I have a tendency to see pretty fruits and veggies at the grocery store and get all excited to use them, so I buy them, and bring them home with no particular plan for them in mind. This was the case a couple weeks ago with some beautiful red peppers. Of course, they made their way into my fridge and I completely forgot that I had them and they got really soft. However, since I really hate wasting food I did not want to throw them away.
What could I possibly make with really soft red bell peppers? Pasta sauce of course! If they're going to be pureed anyway, it doesn't matter if they've lost their crunch.

As usual, I started by making a fresh batch of almond milk to use for the recipe, leaving it thicker than usual. Then, once I finished using what I needed for the pasta sauce, I added more water to the rest of the milk to make it more like I usually drink.

I also had about 8 ounces of baby portabella mushrooms in the fridge as well, so I figured they'd make a great addition to the pasta. Though, by the time I was done with it I wish I had added way more mushrooms! I made a batch of this big enough to feed both me and my boyfriend, Ryan, for the whole work week as our dinner, along with some herbed carrots and what was left over of his birthday brownies I made last Sunday. So, in the recipe I'll list the amount of mushrooms I wish I had used, rather than how much I actually used.

 It's a good idea to speed things up a bit by baking the peppers first, then letting the pasta cook while you saute the garlic and onions and let the peppers steam. This picture is of a double batch, so don't worry if yours looks like less!

Vegan Roasted Red Pepper Pasta
Makes about 14 cups. I had 2 cups per serving, Ryan had 3 cups.

12-14 oz pasta of choice, whatever the box size is (feel free to get gluten free pasta)
2 red bell pepper, whole
2-3 tbsp olive oil, or water to water saute
1/2 of a large yellow onion, roughly chopped
5 cloves garlic, whole
salt and pepper, to taste (I like a lot of salt in this one)
1 1/2 cups unsweetened almond milk (or other plant based milk)
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
2 tbsp cornstarch (if you are gluten intolerant, make sure it is pure, non-GMO to insure no gluten traces)
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes (more if you want the heat noticeable)
1/2 tsp smoked paprika

Optional:
2-3 tbsp of any of your favorite fresh herbs. I used sage, parsley, and thyme.
vegan parmesan cheese, to serve
1 lb baby portabella mushrooms, cleaned and sliced (recipe below)

1. Broil the whole peppers directly on the rack until blackened/blistered on all sides, rotating to evenly cook, about 20 minutes. They will look collapsed, and become soft. Wrap the hot peppers in tin foil, or but in a container with a lid to steam themselves (I just used a pot with a lid).

2. Start cooking the pasta.

3. Roughly chop the onion. Heat a pan and add oil if you are using it. Put the onions and garlic in and saute until golden with some brown spots. If you are water sauteing, just pour in a few tablespoons of water once in awhile when the onions start to stick, and stir to loosen from the pan. It is essentially a mini deglazing process. Remove from heat.

4. By now the pasta should be done, so drain it. Don't rinse it, and don't add oil to it, it keeps the sauce from sticking!

5. Take the peppers out of their steaming vessel and pull or cut the stem and seeds out. Peel the charred skin off. Put the prepared peppers in a blender along with the onions and garlic. Add the rest of the ingredients (except the pasta, of course!) and blend until smooth.

6. Pour sauce onto pasta and stir, add any of the optional add-ons, and enjoy!


Sauteed mushrooms
Clean and slice the baby portabella mushrooms. Heat a pan to medium high and add 1-2 tbsp of olive oil. Add the mushrooms, leaving space between them so they saute and don't steam themselves. Flip after a minute or two, once they have browned on the bottom side. Cook another minute and remove from pan. Add salt and pepper to taste. Use to top pasta or stir them right into it.