2011 | The Wannabe Chef

Yearly Archives: 2011

Double Take: Almond Flour Chocolate Chip Cookies

Written on November 4, 2011 by Wannabe Chef in Dessert, Photography

One of my most popular recipes on this site is the almond flour chocolate chip cookies. I never understood why it was so popular; sure, it’s a good recipe. But it didn’t get too much attention when I posted it and the pictures weren’t that great. It all made sense one day when I realized it was the #1 google search result for “almond flour cookies” and “almond flour chocolate chip cookies”. Well I felt humbled.

Ever since I found that out, I’ve been wanting to make these again and take better photos. I mean, if people I don’t know are visiting this website, it’s good to make the best first impression you can, right?

It also so happens that this week was one of my good friend’s birthday, and homemade baked goods sounded like a great gift from someone whose home is 2000 miles away from campus. So cookies it was, with about twice as many chocolate chips as the recipe calls for because who wouldn’t love that for their birthday?

A funny thing happened when I made these this time around: They didn’t spread out nearly as much as I expected, making more of a doughball than a cookie. The taste and texture was nearly the same cooked either way: Crispy on the outside and soft and chewy on the inside. As long as they taste good, I don’t mind so much how they came out.

And then I held on to them just long enough to get these photographs + more before I gift wrapped them and handed them off to the birthday girl. If you want to see more photographs and the recipe, click over to the original recipe page. These make great birthday cookies or just anytime cookies. Of course they’re gluten-free, and also fairly low in sugar for a cookie(since almond flour is naturally sweet) and grain-free, too.

39 Comments - Leave a comment!

Savory Pumpkin Quinoa

Written on November 3, 2011 by Wannabe Chef in Side Dish

It really shouldn’t surprise you that I’m posting a pumpkin recipe this week, with 3 1/2 pounds of homemade pumpkin puree in my refrigerator. ‘Tis the season, I suppose.

Actually, this pumpkin quinoa is one of my favorite savory dishes. I made it a lot last year and was waiting for the weather to get cool to start making it again. The earthiness from the pumpkin combined with herbs makes for an irresistibly savory and comforting dish that’s perfect served hot on a cold night.

If you don’t have herbes de Provence on hand, you can use a mixture of savory herbs that you do have such as equal parts thyme, rosemary, and sage.

Savory Pumpkin Quinoa

Prep time: 5 minutes

Cook time: 20 minutes

Ingredients(Makes 4 servings):

1 cup uncooked quinoa
2 1/4 cups water
1 onion, diced
1 green pepper, diced
2 Tablespoons oil
1 cup pumpkin puree
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon herbes de Provence

Method:

Wash and drain the quinoa. Combine it with 2 1/4 cups of fresh water in a pot and bring it to a boil.
Cover the quinoa with a lid and turn off the heat. Let it sit for 10-15 minutes to absorb the water and cook.
While the quinoa is cooking, bring the oil up to heat in a large pan over a burner set to medium-high.
Once the oil is hot, add in the pepper and onion and sauté for 5-10 minutes, until the onion is translucent and the pepper slightly charred.
Once the quinoa is done cooking, add in the pumpkin puree, onion, pepper, salt, and herbs. Mix thoroughly and heat it back up if the quinoa has cooled at all. Serve hot.

Comfort food is usually something you grew up with; I never grew up eating quinoa, but this is definitely comfort food. It reminds me of a thick risotto. If you want you can add nutritional yeast, parmesan, or shredded cheddar to give it a sharp, cheesy flavor and make something reminiscent of mac n’ cheese.

23 Comments - Leave a comment!

Healthy Breakfast Tortillas

Written on November 2, 2011 by Wannabe Chef in Breakfast, Entree

Some things are almost so easy that they don’t really require a recipe. But I love these so you’re getting one.

My new favorite find at the grocery store is corn tortillas. Everyone and their mother has probably bought these before but I really never had noticed them until last weekend. They’re cheap(perfect for a college student), whole-grain, naturally gluten-free and vegan. That’s an all around win in my book.

So now I have these tortillas; but what to do with them? Well, I went the obvious route and stuffed them with piping hot scrambled eggs, a slightly spicy salsa, and cool, ripe avocado. Difficult? No. Delicious? Yes.

Make sure your avocado is ripe for this recipe. A ripe avocado makes all the difference. The skin should be a reddish brown and the flesh should give easily to pressure.

Healthy Breakfast Tortillas

Prep time: 5 minutes

Cook time: 10 minutes

Ingredients(Enough for 2 people):

4 whole-grain corn tortillas(or whole-wheat if gluten isn’t an issue)
8 medium eggs
1/4 cup salsa
1 large ripe avocado, sliced into thin wedges

Method:

Heat up a frying pan over a burner set to medium-high heat.
Crack and beat the eggs into a large bowl.
Pour the scrambled eggs into a hot pan. Cook for about a minute scraping occasionally until most of the egg is cooked(leave it a little liquidy as the egg will continue to cook once it’s off the heat).
Heat up the tortillas and stuff them each with a quarter of the scrambled eggs.
Top with salsa and sliced avocado. Serve hot.

healthy-breakfast-tortillas-salsa

I found this salsa at Trader Joe’s also over the weekend. I was a little worried I wouldn’t like it since I usually go for really spicy salsas and this one advertises itself as having a medium heat. What it lacks for in spiciness it makes up for in tomato and chili flavor; it’s really good and the bottle is almost half gone. I can’t keep my tortillas out of it.

22 Comments - Leave a comment!

How To Make Pumpkin Puree

Written on November 1, 2011 by Wannabe Chef in How To

Now that it’s officially November, chances are there are a lot of pies in our future. Pumpkin pie is iconic for American Thanksgiving. I wrote a post on making your own pumpkin puree last year but figured I should rewrite it again since it’s definitely a skill that comes in handy for you and me to know.

Some people will argue that the type of pumpkin you roast makes all the difference. I’m not going to say one way or the other since I haven’t tried many varieties out; I simply go down to the store and pick up what’s usually called a “Sugar pumpkin” or “Pumpkin pie pumpkin” because the sign tells me that’s what to buy for roasting your own pumpkin.

To roast it, start by cutting the pumpkins in half and remove the seeds and stringy filling. You can save the seeds to clean them and roast them.

After that, preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Lay the pumpkins out face down on a roasting tray and bake for 70-90 minutes. When they’re done the skin should have the appearance and texture of a deflated football.

Remove the skin(it should peel off fairly easily) and scoop out the insides into a food processor. Blend and pulse until it’s completely smooth. Move the puree into air-tight containers for storing in the refrigerator or freezer.

From 2 small-medium sugar pumpkins that cost $1.50 each I got just over 3 1/2 pounds of pumpkin puree, which would cost around $5-6 for canned pumpkin puree. You’re not going to be able to retire off of making your own pumpkin puree but it’s undoubtedly cheaper, not a lot of work, and an impressive boast to say you made something completely from scratch. It should keep around 5 days in the refrigerator and much longer if frozen.

Of course you don’t have to make a pumpkin pie with this puree; I sure as hell haven’t yet this year. There are plenty of other uses for pumpkin puree such as pumpkin breakfast quinoa, Keep in mind, too, that pumpkin’s a squash just like butternut or acorn and you can substitute it for other squash purees in soup or mashes with very little change in taste or texture.

9 Comments - Leave a comment!

The Best Red Potatoes

Written on October 31, 2011 by Wannabe Chef in Side Dish

Happy Halloween! I love Halloween; it’s hard not to love a holiday that encourages dressing up and accepting candy from strangers. But since you can’t really make a meal out of candy corn and Reese’s(well, you can, and that would be my idea of heaven, but I won’t) I was cooking a lot through the relaxing weekend including these potatoes I had to use up.

I picked up red potatoes from my farmers’ market. After having them baked plain one night, I remembered I really wasn’t a fan of red potatoes. They don’t seem as starchy as other varieties, and if I’m having a potato I’m looking for that warm, starchy comfort food.

Since I had almost a pound to use up, I knew I’d need to find a way to make them taste irresistible. This method of soaking + roasting with garlic makes the potatoes soft, crispy, and full of flavor. Red potatoes still aren’t my favorite, but this recipe makes me like them a whole lot more.

The Best Red Potatoes

Prep time: 30 minutes

Cook time: 45 minutes

Ingredients:

1lb red potatoes
2 Tablespoons olive oil
5 cloves garlic, sliced thinly
3/4 teaspoon salt
Diced chives(optional)

Method:

Wash the red potatoes thoroughly but keep the skin on.
Cut the potatoes into halves or quarters depending how big they are into bite-sized wedges.
Soak the wedges in hot water for 20-30 minutes
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
Drain the potatoes from the water but don’t dry them. Toss with the olive oil, garlic, and salt until evenly covered.
Lay the potatoes out on a roasting tray and roast for 45 minutes or until the potatoes have started to brown and wrinkle.
Remove from the oven and serve hot. Garnish with chives if desired.

Most of the garlic burns by the time the potatoes are ready. You can pick them out and discard them; by now the garlic flavor has totally soaked in. I’ll admit: It’s a lot of garlic. If you have plans to be in public later or dress up like a vampire, you may want to save this for another time.

Luckily I wasn’t a vampire. Who was I? Ron Swanson.

This may be hard to believe, but that’s not my actual facial hair(I know—absorb the shock). And now I have 10 extra fake mustaches to wear whenever I feel like it. Cool beans. I also like to think Ron Swanson would enjoy these potatoes, even if he wouldn’t care at all how they’re made and insist on eating them with all the bacon and eggs he has.

What were you/will you be for Halloween?

14 Comments - Leave a comment!

Chili Lime Butternut Squash

Written on October 28, 2011 by Wannabe Chef in Side Dish

It’s gotten to the time of year when I’m in denial that Summer’s gone. I’ve had a week full of midterm exams and now there’s talk of snow. SNOW. I’ve still got a marathon to run next month; I can’t begin to think about running across slippery pavement again. So I’m doing the totally normal thing about it all and going into denial.

When the seasons change I find so do our taste buds usually. I’ve started to like earthier tasting foods like cinnamon in banana quinoa bakes, nutmeg in mashed squash, and candy corn in just about everything else. This week though I’ve looked back to Summer for more spicy and bright flavors like the chili and lime on this squash. Maybe it’s a little “off” to put lime on squash but there isn’t exactly anything right about snow on Halloween and the butternut here has just a mellow enough flavor to highlight the seasonings.

Chili Lime Butternut Squash

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 40 minutes

Ingredients:

Trunk(i.e. the part without seeds in the center) from a medium butternut squash
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 Tablespoon lime juice, plus more for finishing
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

Method:

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees and line a baking tray.
Cut the squash down the middle into two semi-circle halves. Slice each half across into 1/2-inch wedges.
Toss the wedges with olive oil, lime juice, chili powder, and salt until covered.
Lay the wedges out in a single layer on the baking tray and roast for 40 minutes until a fork easily passes through.
Finish with an extra touch of lime juice.

As if I couldn’t be more confused, I’m listening to Bing Crosby Christmas music as I write this. What can I say? It’s been a long week and I’m starting to think Summer ain’t coming back.

9 Comments - Leave a comment!

Quinoa With Butternut Squash, Craisins, and Almonds

Written on October 26, 2011 by Wannabe Chef in Side Dish

Last week I watched Forks Over Knives one night during dinner(it’s streaming on Netflix). Have you seen it? It’s a documentary that follows the careers of two scientists studying the effects of a plant-based diet on humans and sharing the comparative data from around the world. It’s a lot of information to take in at once, but a very compelling and thought provoking film.

The movie left me with a lot to think about. I already eat vegetarian and mostly dairy-free, both of which the film promotes. But it had me thinking more about the other parts of my diet that I don’t tend to question, specifically protein. I like most people grew up with an emphasis on protein with every meal; even now I almost always make sure my meals revolve around eggs or tempeh. But the film makes the point that, if eating a whole foods diet, a person doesn’t have to worry about a protein deficiency since all whole foods have some amount of protein in them. It’s only since we’ve started eating processed and refined food that protein has become a problem.

While I’m not quite sure what to do with all the information from the film, I think it has a good point about protein and what “needs” to be on our plates at meal time. Since watching I’ve tried eating alternative meals that fit the Engine 2 Diet, like this quinoa bowl. It would make a great side dish to chicken or tofu, but it also makes a hearty and satisfying meal by itself.

I made this using leftover quinoa and pre-cooked butternut squash. Expect for the time to be longer if you’re starting with raw ingredients.

Quinoa With Butternut Squash, Craisins, and Almonds

Prep time: 5 minutes

Cook time: 0 minutes

Ingredients(Makes 4 side servings or 2 entrees):

2 cups cooked quinoa
2 cups cooked and diced butternut squash
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup crushed or sliced almonds
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 Tablespoon honey or agave nectar
1/2 Tablespoon white vinegar

Method:

Combine all of the ingredients and mix thoroughly.
Serve hot or at room temperature.

I ate mine cold with some kale and avocado and it was a perfectly satisfying meal.

16 Comments - Leave a comment!

Salt And Pepper Pumpkin Seeds

Written on October 25, 2011 by Wannabe Chef in Snack

It’s impossible for me to say “salt and pepper” without finishing it up with an “Ah, push it. Push it good.” Anyone else? No? Just me? Never mind then.

These really are good. Maybe not push-it-good, but good nonetheless.

I’ve roasted a few pumpkins so far this season and every time kept the seeds. I really just want to throw them away because they feel like a hassle but why do that when you can make something delicious with them?

Salt And Pepper Pumpkin Seeds

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 50 minutes

Ingredients:

Seeds from 1 large pumpkin
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon crushed black pepper

Method:

Clean and rinse the pumpkin seeds to remain any lingering pumpkin on them.
Lay the seeds out and dry them on a paper towel
Preheat your oven to 375 degrees
Toss the seeds with the olive oil, salt, and pepper.
Lay the seeds out in a single layer on a baking pan
Roast until the seeds are dry and crispy, about 50 minutes depending on how wet your seeds are.
Remove from the oven and let cool before touching.

These are addictive on their own, but even better on a salad or mixed with popcorn for a savory snack.

21 Comments - Leave a comment!

Hot Pumpkin Breakfast Quinoa

Written on October 24, 2011 by Wannabe Chef in Breakfast

I’m glad so many people have liked and tried the hot banana breakfast quinoa recipe. In 2 weeks I don’t think I can count the number of times I’ve eaten that on just my hands. It’s too easy and too tasty not to get in a rut over.

One change I have tried is this pumpkin version of the same breakfast topped with creamy almond butter and crushed raw almonds for a crunchy chew. It’s just as healthy and quick and easy to make. The only difference I noted was that it rises and falls more in the microwave than the banana version, so be careful not to fill the bowl too much.

Hot Pumpkin Breakfast Quinoa

Prep time: 5 minutes

Cook time: 3 minutes

Ingredients(Makes one serving):

1/3 cup cooked quinoa
1/3 cup pumpkin puree
2 eggs
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1 Tablespoon maple syrup(optional)
Nuts, nut butter, and dried fruit for topping

Method:

Mix the pumpkin, quinoa, eggs, salt, spice, and sweetener if using in a small bowl.
Pour into a ramekin or other microwave-safe bowl and microwave on high for 3 minutes until the center is cooked through.
Remove from the microwave. The top will fall slightly. Top with nuts, nut butter, or dried fruit.

The pumpkin breakfast quinoa is slightly denser and less sweet than the banana version without the optional maple syrup. Personally I prefer the banana but this brings a nice seasonal twist to breakfast.

38 Comments - Leave a comment!

Hot Banana Breakfast Quinoa

Written on October 21, 2011 by Wannabe Chef in Breakfast

Pretty much as soon as I made Banana Breakfast Quinoa I knew I wanted to try a hot, cooked version of it. I really like eggs in the morning so adding them and cooking it in the microwave seemed to be the easiest way to make something tasty. What resulted is a warm, hearty breakfast reminiscent of banana bread that’s both delicious and filling.

This has quickly become my new favorite breakfast, one that I eat most days of the week. It doesn’t take more than 10 minutes to make start to finish so even on my busy mornings I have time to throw it together. And it’s filling and healthy, too. A bowl with 2 tablespoons of peanut butter clocks in at around 25 grams of protein and no added sugar.

Hot Banana Breakfast Quinoa

Prep time: 5 minutes

Cook time: 3 minutes

Ingredients(For 1 serving):

1 banana, mashed
1/3 cup cooked quinoa
2 eggs
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
Nuts, nut butter, dried fruit, or sweetener for toppings

Method:

Combine the mashed banana, quinoa, eggs, salt, and cinnamon together in a small bowl and mix thoroughly.
Transfer the batter to a ramekin or other microwave-safe bowl, leaving a little room at the top to prevent overflow.
Microwave on high for 3 minutes or until the center is cooked through and set.
Top with nuts, dried fruit, and/or sweetener and eat hot.

The texture, as you can see, is soft and spongy almost like a baked bread pudding. You could also try baking it in the oven for 12-15 minutes which would result in a similar texture and flavor.

41 Comments - Leave a comment!