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My 10 Favorite Recipes Of 2010

Written on December 31, 2010 by Wannabe Chef in Recipe Round-Up

It’s the last day of 2010 and I for one am excited. A new year is the perfect time for new beginnings. And I get to see Kathy Griffin and Anderson Cooper joke around in Times Square tonight; what could be better?

Before the year is over, I wanted to look back at 10 recipes that shined through in 2010. Some of these I’ve made recently, but most of them I just remembered making this list and now want to go back and make again. Enjoy!

Microwave Vegan Chocolate Fudge. I think this is the most viewed recipe page, and an obvious candidate for this lift. I have some in my refrigerator right now. That won’t be true for long.

Chocolate Orange Brownies. I don’t know if this is the best brownie recipe out there, but it’s definitely one of the best flavor pairings there ever was. And it has fruit, so that means it’s healthy! Right?

Brown Sugar Garlic Tofu. This tofu is nothing but good. It’s definitely not the kind of dish for a first date; you’ll have garlic breath for weeks. But it’s worth it.

Vegan Tofu Burgers. In my frustrating search for a veggie burger without eggs or wheat, the clear winner at the end of the day was this homemade recipe. It’s just 6 simple ingredients and a great meal to keep around.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Dessert Hummus. The new kid on the block, dessert hummus has stolen hearts with it’s sweet flavor and smooth texture. This combination of peanut butter and chocolate is a clear favorite.

The Best Quinoa Stuffing. It’s not called “The Best” for nothing. Even my 81-year old Italian great aunt liked it, and it’s hard to compete with her usual meal of Burger King and an orange shake.

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Homemade Baked Beans. It’s true: Homemade just tastes better. These might take 10 hours to make but they’re completely worth it. The deep, rich molasses flavor just gets better and better.

Vegan Truffles. These are a bit much, but they are the ultimate chocolate lover’s experience. Even if you use the cheaper method, the chocolate still tastes rich and decadent and pure. Bookmark it for Valentine’s Day.

Hazelnut Cheesecake Frozen Yogurt. I couldn’t make this list without adding an ice cream since 2010 was when I first discovered the beauty of homemade ice cream. This is rich and satisfying and tastes just like the real dessert!.

My 10th spot is an honorable mention to chocolate midnight cake from Sweet Utopia. I feel like I’ve made this 2010 times; it’s so good and my go-to chocolate cake, vegan or not.

And that’s the list! Hope you see something you like. Have a fun and safe New Years Smile

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Hot Honey Asian Chicken Marinade

Written on December 30, 2010 by Wannabe Chef in Entree

One of my parents’ favorite things to eat for dinner is chicken. It’s a nice, lean protein(because you know everyone’s always on a diet until the weekend) and it takes on flavors wonderfully. We like to keep things simple here, so a marinade is perfect; you just throw the chicken and sauce together in a bag in the morning and it’s ready to bake that night—no fuss!

This has a fun, savory flavor that’s not too abrasive but definitely not boring. It pairs perfectly with seasoned rice or steamed vegetables.

Hot Honey Asian Chicken Marinade

Ingredients:

1lb skinned and deboned chicken
3 tablespoons sesame oil
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
3 tablespoons water
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

In a large Ziploc bag, combine the sesame oil, soy sauce, honey, vinegar, water, salt, chili powder, and black pepper. Add in the chicken and shake it so that the liquid mixture covers everything. Put the chicken and marinade in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours to rest.

Preheat an oven to 350 degrees. Bake the chicken for 45 minutes in the sauce until it has cooked through.

I love it when a recipe has extra sauce so that you can pour it all over your sides and make it feel like a complete dish. This makes plenty of extra, so pour it on thick and dig in.

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Bacon-Fried Quinoa

Written on December 23, 2010 by Wannabe Chef in Entree

I love leftovers. Even though they’re already cooked and flavored, they’re so easy to make into something new and flavorful. Some foods even get better on age. I made The Best Quinoa Stuffing to bring to a party on Sunday. First of all, you wouldn’t be able to imagine how much Italian grandmothers loved quinoa, even if they couldn’t spell it for their life. Soft, flavorful and easy to chew? It was bound to be a winner with my family. With the leftovers I wanted to do something a little different; I decided to cook it like I would leftover rice, except add bacon because bacon makes it better. Chinese restaurants should take a hint from me.

Bacon-Fried Quinoa

Ingredients:

4 slices of bacon, diced
1/2 cup leftover, prepared quinoa(I used The Best Quinoa Stuffing)
1 egg
1 tablespoon soy sauce

Heat a pan over low-medium heat. Add in the diced bacon and cook it until it’s pink and starting to crisp at the edges.

Add in the leftover quinoa, egg, and soy sauce. Constantly move the ingredients around in the pan over the heat until the egg has cooked and the fat has been absorbed. Be careful as the quinoa tends to pop when the pan is dry. Serve hot.

Just like fried rice, this isn’t the prettiest dish but boy does it taste good. Adding the soy sauce and bacon elevates the flavor of the quinoa a lot; I could hardly tell this was the same dish as the leftovers.

I served it with steamed brussel sprouts with a little soy sauce, because I just love brussel sprouts and bacon. You could add more vegetables to cook with the bacon and make this into a stir-fry. Or you could forget vegetables together and add more bacon. I’m not one to judge when it comes to loving bacon.

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Dairy-Free Flourless Chocolate Cake

Written on December 21, 2010 by Wannabe Chef in Dessert

The best kind of recipes are simple recipes, or recipes that involve chocolate. This is both.

Every year at Passover my mom would make this cake for our bake sales. All the Jewish kids loved it because it doesn’t break the rule of eating leavened bread and yet it’s so airy and cake-like. Now, I’m not Jewish, but I tip my hat to any religion that favors chocolate over bread.

When I saw Jenna post the recipe a few weeks ago, I took it as a sign to bake this cake. Who doesn’t celebrate the anniversary of the Battle of Trebia every December 18th? You should. With cake.

I used the same recipe with a few alterations, like making it dairy-free. I followed the recipe to a T, messed up completely as I typically do, and still managed to bake something that held together and was delicious. I’m not sure how that last part happened but I’m so grateful it did.

Dairy-Free Flourless Chocolate Cake

I used this recipe replacing the butter with Earth Balance in a 1:1 ratio and added a hefty teaspoon of instant coffee granules.

I knew I was doing it just like Jenna when I had a mess in my sink, floor, and counter space.

This came out so well for a cake with no flour or gluten-free replacement. The structure is entirely made by eggs. I even beat mine way too long, never got them “thick” or to make ribbons, had to deflate them just to get the chocolate to mix, and the cake still turned out just fine. Now that’s a forgiving recipe.

And we all ate happily ever after.

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Double-Take Desserts

Written on December 20, 2010 by Wannabe Chef in Dessert, Highlights, Recipe Round-Up

As much as I love trying new things, I can’t get past old favorites. If a dessert is easy to throw together, I’m especially likely to keep the ingredients now “just in case” I need a sweet treat fast.

I made another batch of Peanut Butter S’mores Bars one week after my first batch. I’m obsessed. These were to bring to a Christmas party yesterday, and they were just as good as the first time. I even got requests to make them for a family birthday party in January—fine by me, any excuse to whip up another batch.

I also made another batch of microwave vegan fudge after coming home last week and realizing we had 4 pounds of earth balance. I’d like to say these were for a party or even neighbors but nope! I just made them because I was bored and craving chocolate. Don’t pretend like you wouldn’t do the same.

And now with my sugar coma I’m in awe that Christmas is just 5 days I way. I have a good idea at what some of my gifts will be and one sounds “picture perfect”. I can’t wait!

Oh, and if you thought things couldn’t get more chocolaty, just wait until tomorrow…

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No-Bake Peanut Butter S’mores Bars

Written on December 15, 2010 by Wannabe Chef in Dessert

I’m usually not an impulse shopper. I always take a list to the grocery store and would rather wait to buy a book on sale at Amazon than pay the full price at a Barnes & Nobles. Hell, I’m so cheap I’m waiting for The Social Network to play on TBS to see it. But I have my weaknesses.

Dandies brand vegan marshmallows were on sale at Whole Foods and I threw them in my cart out of habit. How could I not? They were a dollar off. Never mind that I don’t care for regular marshmallows—it was a bargain.

When I asked Twitter what to do with marshmallows, a resounding number of people said s’mores. Now, I’m not the biggest s’more fan(shocking, I know), but add peanut butter and I wouldn’t complain. Slowly but surely that lead to these bars, which are about as rich and sweet as you can imagine a dessert to be. Besides being incredibly delicious, they’re no-bake and took me about 20 minutes from start to finish. So put on a fire, make some hot cocoa, and start baking(or not).

No-Bake Peanut Butter S’mores Bars

For the crust:

16 graham crackers or 8oz graham crackers crumbs
3 tablespoons butter(or non-dairy alternative such as Earth Balance)
6 tablespoons natural style peanut butter
1/2 cup powdered sugar

For the filling:

1/3 cup natural style peanut butter
2 tablespoons butter(or non-dairy alternative such as Earth Balance)
2 tablespoons powdered sugar
1/2 cup mini-marshmallows, or 1 cup regular marshmallows cut into bite-sized pieces

For the top:

6oz(about 3/4 cup) chocolate chips
1 tablespoon butter(or non-dairy alternative such as Earth Balance)

Melt together the butter and peanut butter until it’s thin and creamy.

Break the graham crackers to coarse crumbs. You might want to use a food process for this. In a large bowl, add the peanut butter mixture to the graham cracker crumbs and sift in the powdered sugar. Work the dough until the ingredients have come together and press it into an 8×8 pan.

To make the filling, melt together the peanut butter and butter again. Sift in the powdered sugar, and pour the mixture over your crust. Spread it out to cover all parts. Next, press in the marshmallows over all parts of the filling.

Lastly, for the top, melt together the chocolate chips and butter. Pour it on top of the dessert in an even layer. The less you have to spread it to cover all parts, the better. Put this in the refrigerator to harden. Cut cold and serve at room temperature for best results.

This is everything a dessert should be: rich, sweet, chocolate and peanut butter. It’s really hard not to want to eat the whole pan. You can use different brands of graham crackers to make it gluten-free and/or vegan depending on who you’re making these for. And no one will leave disappointed.

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Roasted Golden Beets

Written on December 14, 2010 by Wannabe Chef in Side Dish

Let me tell you a little story. Nowadays I love beets because of their sweet flavor. Doug was speaking the truth when he called them nature’s candy. The first time that I tried them, I really fell in love with them and ate them as often as I could. But, you see, no one told me of their nasty side effect where everything comes out the same color it went in. And so for 2 weeks I thought I was dying, unknowing that my “grave condition” was—in fact—beet juice, until I confessed my problem and asked to be taken to the hospital.

The lesson of the story? Eat golden beets. Because no one gets worried when their pee is a little too yellow. They also taste like candy from their natural sweetness, and when mixed with a little salt and vinegar become the perfect side dish for any meal.

Roasted Golden Beets

Ingredients:

1 bunch golden beets
2-3 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 teaspoon salt
a splash of white vinegar

To start, trim the stems from the beets and peel off the outer skin with a sharp paring knife. Preheat an oven to 375 degrees.

Cut the beets into vertical slices about 1/4 inch thick. Be careful not to cut yourself. Use a non-slip board and a sharpened knife for the easiest cutting.

Next, lay the beets out on a single layer on a baking tray and drizzle the olive oil over them. Toss to coat. Roast the beets for 30-35 minutes, or until a fork goes in tender.

Lastly, drain off any excess oil and toss the cooked beats with salt and a splash of white vinegar. Serve hot.

Now we can just ignore that embarrassing story I told you and eat golden beets, right?

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Sweet And Spicy Tofu With Steamed Kale

Written on December 13, 2010 by Wannabe Chef in Entree

They say you need to eat a food 12 times before you learn to like it. I’m not quite sure how true that is, because last time I checked people don’t need that much convincing to like chocolate or peanut butter. But tofu is something I’m still learning to like, even after years of eating it. It can either taste delicious or fake depending on how it’s cooked. This is a great recipe because it’s flavorful and can be made in about 10 minutes with no pressing involved. This is one recipe that has helped me learn to love tofu.

Sweet And Spicy Tofu With Steamed Kale

Ingredients:

1 block of firm or extra-firm tofu, cubed
2-3 tablespoons sesame oil
2 tablespoons honey
1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce
1/4 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 tablespoon white vinegar
a pinch of salt
1 bunch of kale, washed

Start by making your sauce. Whisk together honey, soy sauce, vinegar, salt, and chili powder until it has emulsified.

Heat a pan over medium heat with enough sesame oil to cover the bottom. Once the pan has become hot, add in your tofu and cook for about 5 minutes until the outside starts browning and the tofu is heated through.

Pour in your sauce and mix the pan to coat the tofu. Continue cooking while the sauce boils down and thickens. As it cooks, the tofu should absorb the liquid and become a golden brown color. It will be done when all the sauce is absorbed.

You can either steam your kale on the side, in the microwave, or(like I did), add it on top of the pan in the last few minutes of cooking. Steam it until it has reduced to about half its original volume.

Serve hot and season with salt and pepper.

What about you? Tofu lover or hater? Any way in particular you like it?

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