Love the ingredients, not the food.

Tropical Greek Yogurt Parfait

Written on March 22, 2012 by Wannabe Chef in Snack

It’s been a long time since I posted a dairy-heavy recipe. A long time. I stopped eating dairy for a while after watching foodie documentaries and getting all the info; I don’t think that was a bad choice, but recently my snacking choices have been less-than-healthy, and the idea of something tasty, high in protein, and–most importantly–tasty was too appealing to pass up.

I can’t believe how much I forgot I missed greek yogurt. Between pineapple and pomegranate Chobani and cherry Fage, I go through those 6oz containers like nobodies business. It’s becoming an expensive habit. It ends up being so much cheaper to buy the plain yogurt and flavor it myself. I don’t mind because it makes the flavor combinations almost endless.

Look for crushed pineapple—not diced or sliced—and one that has no added sugars in it to keep this naturally sweetened.

Tropical Greek Yogurt Parfait

Prep time: 5 minutes

Cook time: 0 minutes

Ingredients(Makes 1 serving):

2 Tablespoons canned crushed pineapple
6 oz plain Greek yogurt
1 Tablespoon honey
1 Tablespoon unsweetened shredded coconut

Method:

First spoon the pineapple into the bottom of a medium sized bowl.
Then pile the yogurt on top.
Drizzle on the honey and finish with coconut. Eat immediately or put back in the refrigerator for later.

Honey-Pineapple-Coconut. I’m telling you, Chobani needs to get on that flavor.

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Miso Mushroom Quinoa

Written on March 20, 2012 by Wannabe Chef in Entree

It always really surprises me when I find out people I know in real life read my blog; I’m not sure why since I have it connected to all my social media accounts, but still it does, and the support is always amazing.

One thing I almost always get asked by friends is where do the recipes come from? There are a whole slew of answers. Sometimes they just pop into my head; other times I’ll pass over one online that I can’t ignore. Over the weekend Whole Foods tweeted their quinoa, mushrooms and peas with miso from the Whole Foods recipe blog and for once I had all the ingredients on hand and knew I had to make it.

Miso is a paste made out of fermented soybeans. It’s available in most grocery stores. A container will last you months and months and it can be used in sauces and soups.

Mushroom Miso Quinoa(adapted from this recipe)

Prep time: 15 minutes

Cook time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

1 cup dry quinoa or 2 cups cooked
1 cup sliced mushrooms
3/4 cup frozen peas
2 carrots, diced
2 Tablespoons white miso
Juice and zest from 1/2 an orange
1/2 Tablespoon fresh ginger
1 Tablespoon sesame oil

Method:

Cook the quinoa according to box directions.
While the quinoa cooks, combine the rest of the ingredients in a large pan and mix over the heat.
Toss over medium heat until the vegetables have cooked through and the liquid mostly evaporates.
Pour the vegetables into the cooked quinoa and mix thoroughly. Serve hot or cold as leftovers.

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White Chocolate Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Truffles

Written on March 17, 2012 by Wannabe Chef in Dessert

Gluten-free baking is a crapshoot. Before I came out with a batch of oatmeal raisin cookies that looked halfway decent, I had a big tray of cookies that spread too much and wouldn’t hold together. That’s what you get for trying new recipes.

I couldn’t bring myself to throw away the crumbs since they tasted delicious, so I needed to think of a new way to use them up. Cake pops are fun and delicious but these are cookies and needed something slightly different. Why not cookie truffles?

I think the white chocolate compliments the flavors of the oatmeal, raisins, and cinnamon more than a dark or milk chocolate would, but you could use whichever is your favorite. Follow the directions and use only as much liquid as necessary.

White Chocolate Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Truffles

Prep time: 15 minutes

Cook time: 0 minutes

Ingredients:

1 1/2 to 2 dozen soft oatmeal cookies
1-2 Tablespoons milk*
1lb white chocolate

*Depending on how fresh your cookies are, you might not need any liquid. Follow the directions and adjust accordingly.

Method:

Either by hand or in a food processor, mash the cookies into crumbs. If your cookies are dry, slowly add milk until the dough is moist and sticks to itself.
Melt the white chocolate carefully in a microwave or over a double boiler making sure not to burn it.
Break off cookie dough by the ounce and roll it into a ball in your hands. With a spoon, dip the truffle into the chocolate and move it around to cover all sides. Lift out of the chocolate and place on a non-stick surface.
Repeat until all the dough and chocolate is used up.
Store in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.

Next time I might try adding cinnamon into the white chocolate coating; you can never have too much cinnamon.

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Gluten-Free Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Written on March 15, 2012 by Wannabe Chef in Dessert

I really love oatmeal raisin cookies. It always surprises me to learn that so many people hate them, and hate even more biting into one of them thinking it’s chocolate chip only to find out it’s oatmeal raisin. I actually think I prefer oatmeal raisin to chocolate chip any day; they’re just better.

I love the cinnamon in the dough, the saltiness complimenting the sweet fruit, and the chewiness of the oats. I don’t make gluten-free cookie recipes often since they can be a hassle and a disaster, but these seemed worth it.

Make sure the oats you buy are tested gluten-free if serving these to someone with allergies.

Gluten-Free Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Prep time: 20 minutes

Cook time: 15 minutes

Ingredients(Makes 1 1/2 dozen):

1 1/4 cup brown rice flour
1 1/2 cups gluten-free oats
1/2 cups raisins
3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3 eggs
1/2 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup milk or water

Method:

Mix together the brown rice flour, oats, raisins, sugar, cinnamon, salt, and baking soda.
Mix in the eggs, butter, and liquid and mix completely.
Refrigerate the dough for about 20 minutes until it sticks to itself.
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
Spoon about an ounce of dough into a small mound on a non-stick baking tray leaving about 3-inches apart for the cookies to spread. Repeat with all the dough.
Bake for 12-15 minutes until the centers of the cookies are form. Remove from the oven and let cool before lifting off the tray.

When these first came out of the oven, they were a little cakey but once they cooled the texture got chewier.

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Triple Nut Bark

Written on March 13, 2012 by Wannabe Chef in Dessert

Thanks so much for your feedback on my last post; cover photo #2 was the clear winner. I probably would have picked #3 myself so I’m glad I asked and got different opinions.

On Sunday I wanted to make bark but couldn’t think of what recipe to make. Then I remembered one I made way back at the start of this blog that sounded delicious and decided it’d be a perfect chance to update the recipe and the photos.

It’s funny to think the last time I made this I was using a point + shoot and now I have a digital camera with 4 different lenses. It’s definitely an expensive hobby, but so much fun to get into.

Don’t have parchment paper? You can use a brown paper bag as a non-stick surface. It’s saved me from sticking chocolate many many times.

Triple Nut Bark

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 0 Minutes

Ingredients(Makes 15-20 servings):

12oz semi-sweet chocolate or chocolate chips
3oz(3/4 cup) peanuts*
3oz(3/4 cup) almonds*
3oz(3/4 cup) cashews*
Coarse sea salt(optional)

*Roasted nuts will be more flavorful than raw one, but either will yield a tasty result

Method:

Melt the chocolate in a microwave or over a double boiler.
Spread the chocolate out in a thin layer on a non-stick surface.
Evenly distribute the peanuts, almonds, and cashews over the chocolate and press them in lightly.
Sprinkle with coarse sea salt.
Refrigerate for 10-20 minutes until the bark has hardened. Remove it and break the bark into individual servings.
Store refrigerated for up to 2 weeks.

The more sea salt on this, the better. It’s totally optional but a must if you love salty-sweet desserts.

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Looking For Feedback

Written on March 11, 2012 by Wannabe Chef in Miscellaneous

Did you know this blog has a Facebook page? Well, now you do, and I encourage you to “like” it for updates of posts if you spend a lot of time on Facebook like me ~~playing Bejeweled~~.

At the end of March, Facebook is requiring that all fan pages switch to the new timeline layout, which means the addition of a cover photo. As much as I love the cover photo idea in theory, it’s been a hassle picking one that I like that best describes this blog. I spent some time working in Lightroom and Paint(only the finest photoshopping software used here) and came up with a few different options. I really can’t decide which is best and so I’m looking for any feedback or preferences you might have.

Option #1: 3 Food photos. No slogan or logo.

Option #2: 2 food photos and a larger version of the Facebook avatar.

Option #3: 2 food photos and the logo without a blog title.

If you have a favorite, I’d love to hear which one it is and why in the comments section.

If you think none of these work and can give me constructive criticism on something else you’d like to see, I’m all ears for that, too.

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Tempting Trail Mix Cookies

Written on March 9, 2012 by Wannabe Chef in Dessert

Trader Joe’s makes the best trail mix. It’s called Tempting Trail Mix. The name really doesn’t do it justice; it won’t last long enough in your pantry to be tempting. Normally with trail mix I’ll just pick out the chocolate bits until there’s only fruit and nuts left, but not this one. It has chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, peanuts, cashews, almonds, and dried cherries. What’s not to love?

See, nothing but good.

Obviously these needed to be made into cookies to be enjoyed all the time. I mixed some of the trail mix into a super simple gluten-free peanut butter cookie batter; the peanuts and peanut butter chips in the trail mix and peanut butter in the cookie dough make for a delicious triple dose of peanuts.

I used 2 egg whites in place of the egg since I wanted to use up a container of egg whites and the cookies were slightly puffier and softer than normal and the batter was also looser to work with. I wouldn’t say one version was better than the other but I would be aware that subtle changes like that can change the end result.

Tempting Trail Mix Cookies

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 15-20 minutes

Ingredients(Makes 20 cookies):

1 cup peanut butter
2/3 cup cane sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup Tempting Trail Mix

Method:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a large mixing bowl, mix all of the ingredients together.
Take off pieces of dough and roll into 1-inch balls. place the balls on a lined baking tray and flatten lightly. Repeat with all of the dough.
Bake for 15-17 minutes until the tops of the cookie are firm to the touch.
Remove from the oven and let cool slightly before moving.

These came out just as good—if not better—than the trail mix. I had trouble not just eating the batter. The chocolate chips melted perfectly in the oven and had just the right bitter flavor for the lightly-sweet dough. I also can’t get enough of how easy a Silpat mat makes baking. I don’t know what took me so long getting with the times.

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Cranberry Cashew Quinoa

Written on March 7, 2012 by Wannabe Chef in Side Dish

It’s been a while since I posted a quinoa recipe. Not because I haven’t been eating it, but because I haven’t been doing anything interesting with it except covering it in store-bought sauce. At some point I forgot to go grocery shopping and had to get crafty and a recipe came out of it.

When I was growing up we always had fish for Friday during Lent. Actually, we usually had pizza because I didn’t like fish, but there was definitely an offering of fish. Usually it was white fish with lemon and dill. Now I don’t eat fish and I’m not Catholic, so fish on Fridays is clearly out. But the bright side of being a vegetarian is discovering new foods, and quinoa on any day is clearly in.

This quinoa recipe like most others is fairly versatile. You can eat it as a side dish with something light like fish or beans, or toss it on a salad of green vegetables and eat it as an entrée.

Cranberry Cashew Quinoa

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 15 minutes

Ingredients(Makes 4-6 servings):

1 cup dry quinoa, cooked to box’s directions
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup cashews, raw or roasted
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
2 Tablespoons dried dill or parsley
3/4 teaspoon salt
Honey to taste(optional)

Method:

Rinse and wash your quinoa before cooking.
Cook using the manufacturer’s directions for water and time.
When the quinoa has finished cooking, remove it from the heat.
Add into the pot the rest of the ingredients and mix until evenly combined.
Serve hot or cold as a side with fish or beans.

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White Chocolate Thin Mints

Written on March 5, 2012 by Wannabe Chef in Dessert

After I made my first batch of gluten-free thin mints, I still had half the batter to bake and no chocolate chips left to coat them with. All I had was a white chocolate baker’s bar, so I used that. And I’m really happy I did.

Typically I’m skeptical of white chocolate. I don’t like it most of the time, but I think there’s something about pairing it with mint that makes it much more palatable. Coating the white chocolate onto the cookies is a little more challenging because where it’s too thin you can see the cookie part coming through; but I don’t think this is really a problem. If anything it adds to the homemade quality of the cookies.

I provided a link in the ingredients to the recipe for the chocolate cookies I used but you can use any that you prefer, or even store-bought cookies.

White Chocolate Thin Mints

Prep time: 15 minutes

Cook time: 0 minutes

Ingredients(Makes 24 cookies):

24 chocolate shortbread cookies such as these or your preferred thin mint cookie recipe
12oz white chocolate
1/2 teaspoon mint extract

Method:

Gently melt the white chocolate in a microwave or over a double boiler.
When the chocolate has melted, mix in the extract until it is smooth and incorporated.
If you’re baking the cookies from scratch, be sure to let them cool to room temperature before coating in chocolate.
Dip the cookie into to chocolate, coating both sides. Smooth with a knife if necessary.
Put the cookie on a non-stick surface and repeat until all of the cookies and chocolate are used up.
Keep in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.

I can’t believe I’m saying this but I actually preferred these to the dark chocolate Thin Mints. The white chocolate added a butteriness to the cookie that was missing in the others.

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Gluten-Free Thin Mints

Written on March 2, 2012 by Wannabe Chef in Dessert

It’s Girl Scout cookie time again. At first I wanted to resist it; but then seeing the flood of tweets and Facebook statuses about them I knew I couldn’t and would have to give in. If the Girl Scouts ever start selling a gluten-free cookie, I’d be happy to support them; until then I guess I’ll be making my own. That feels like dangerous knowledge.

My favorite Girl Scout cookie has always been the Thin Mints. Have you ever eaten one straight out of a freezer? That’s good stuff. I also liked the lemon cream-filled shortbread cookies, but I hear they stopped making those. That doesn’t seem like a smart business plan, Girl Scouts.

To make these I used coconut and almond flour, which are two of my favorite gluten-free flours to bake with. They also happen to be grain-free and could presumably pass as a “paleo dessert” even though that’s a bit of an oxymoron. Remember to give yourself a little extra time making these because the dough needs to chill before it can be baked.

Gluten-Free Thin Mints

Prep time: 45 minutes

Cook time: 20 minutes + more to coat

Ingredients(Makes 24 cookies):

1 cup almond flour
1/4 cup coconut flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1 stick(4oz) butter, melted
1 bag(12oz) semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chips
1 teaspoon peppermint extract, divided

Method:

Sift together the almond flour, coconut flour, cocoa powder, salt, and sugar until it’s all mixed.
Add in the egg, butter, and 1/2 teaspoon of peppermint extract and mix until it forms a dough.
Roll the dough into a log on some parchment paper and put in the refrigerator or freezer to chill.
Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.
When the dough is solid, using a sharp knife, cut out cookies that are roughly 3/8-inch thick. Lay the cookies out on a baking tray(don’t worry if they’re close together since they don’t really really spread)
Bake for 18-20 minutes.
Remove the cookies from the oven. Let them cool until they’ve hardened.
Make the coating by melting the chocolate chips and mixing in the remaining 1/2 teaspoon of extract.
One by one, dip the cookies into the melted chocolate to coat both sides. The chocolate should be fairly runny and only coat in a small layer. If the chocolate is thicker, heat it up until it melts more.
Lay the cookies onto parchment paper and refrigerate to fully harden. These will keep 2 weeks in the refrigerator.

What’s your favorite Girl Scout cookie? While I love thin mints, Tagalongs are a close second. I get the sense I might have to try my hand at making those.

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