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Cape Cod Trail Mix

Written on March 12, 2013 by Wannabe Chef in Snack

New England doesn’t have a standard cuisine but it certainly could. Between the apple cider doughnuts, glazed Dunkin Donut’s munchkins with jimmies and Boston cream pies there’s a lot to love(mostly carbs).

And then there’s this trail mix. You won’t find the typical gang of peanuts and raisins; instead we have cashews and almonds with dried cranberries. White chocolate instead of milk chocolate adds a sweetness to match the tartness of the berries. The flavors are simple but purely addictive, especially paired with some local apples and Vermont cheddar slices.

You could use raw almonds but I think roasted just have such a better flavor and texture. Similarly you could use raw cashews but I think you need something salted in the recipe to add a balance to the sweet.

Cape Cod Trail Mix

Prep time: 5 minutes

Cook time: 0 minutes

Ingredients(Makes about 3 1/2 cups)

1 cup roasted, salted cashews
1 cup roasted almonds
3/4 cup craisins
1/2 cup white chocolate chunks

Method:

In a large bowl, combine and mix all of the ingredients together.
Keep in an air-tight container at room temperature when not eating.

All that’s missing is a bag of Cape Cod potato chips—never the baked or reduced salt kind.

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3 Favorite Dips

Written on March 10, 2013 by Wannabe Chef in Recipe Round-Up

The funny thing about being a food blogger is that you make recipes for 4 or 8 or 12 and sometimes end up eating them all by yourself. That’s not a problem when the recipe’s good at least.

All of these dips I can say I’ve eaten half to entire portions of(not in one sitting… usually) and yet I keep making them again and again. They tend to get a lot of hits from Pinterest or Facebook because of how quick and easy they are—two things I always look for in recipes, too—so I thought I’d share them again because you can never have too much of a good thing.

Fruity Peanut Butter Yogurt Dip—Is it yogurt? Is it a spread? It’s somewhere in between; it’s a dip and a tasty one at that. But my favorite thing about this recipe isn’t how easy it is. It’s how many different ways you can make it. I’ve had this with strawberry yogurt, vanilla yogurt, and plain yogurt with nutella and each time it comes out equally good. But as fun as it is as a dip it’s usually always better with a spoon so keep that in mind.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Dessert Hummus—Out of all the times I’ve put beans into a dessert, this is probably the weirdest but also the tastiest. The texture and flavor is a lot like raw cookie dough except without all of the flour, refined sugars, and raw eggs. I’ve been obsessed lately with using this in place of peanut butter in pb&j sandwiches; if you’ve never tried something like this you’d be surprised how much you’ll love it.

Vegetarian Buffalo Chicken Dip—Finally something savory. I made this dip for Superbowl Sunday and have wanted to make it every weekend since. It’s creamy, spicy, and a little tangy all at once. If you’re a new vegetarian or still love eating meat you won’t know the chicken is gone at all. The next day put the leftovers into some warm tortillas and you’ll have a whole new meal.

Enjoy! I hope you’ll find one you like.

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Gluten-Free Chobani Pancakes

Written on March 6, 2013 by Wannabe Chef in Breakfast

Gluten-Free Chobani Pancakes

Pancakes are always a good breakfast choice. I’ve never found a recipe though where the first one or two comes out as good as the last; mine are always misshapen and burnt. But by the 3rd pancake the pan is seasoned and magic starts happening and they come out the perfect color and texture every time. Maybe that’s just a feature of pancake recipes in general.

This recipe uses almond flour, which gives it a slightly nutty flavor. I prefer using almond flour here to most other gluten-free flours because it doesn’t have a strange flavor when you taste the raw batter(and somehow that always ends up happening). Besides that there’s just Greek yogurt and eggs; it couldn’t be much simpler.

Chobani sent me their newest flavors to taste and play around with in the kitchen: banana, pear, raspberry chocolate chunk and pineapple with caramel bits. I really couldn’t pick one that I preferred over the others; they were all amazing. I made this recipe with the raspberry chocolate chunk and it had a hint of those flavors. I could imagine that any of these would be good in the pancakes. It all depends what you’re in the mood for!

Gluten-Free Chobani Pancakes

Prep time: 5 minutes

Cook time: 5 minutes

Ingredients(Makes 1 serving):

1/2 cup almond flour
4oz flavored Chobani greek style yogurt
1 egg
1/4 teaspoon baking soda

Method:

Heat a frying pan over low-medium heat with a little oil or non-stick cooking spray.
In a medium-sized bowl, beat together all of the ingredients until mixed.
Pour 1/4 cup of batter into the center of the pan. Cook for about 30 seconds until the bottom is set and bubbles come through the center.
Flip the pancake and cook the other side until it’s cooked through. Remove from the pan.
Continue cooking until all of the batter is used up.
Serve hot with butter and maple syrup.

I would definitely recommend doubling or tripling the recipe for a crowd. You can substitute any nut flour for almond flour in a pinch but not coconut flour since that’s something different entirely.

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White Chocolate Peppermint Brownies

Written on February 27, 2013 by Wannabe Chef in Dessert

I don’t often try to mess with perfection when I think I’ve found it. For almost two years now I always return to this brownie recipe because I haven’t tried any that are better. But lately I’ve been on a white chocolate kick and needed a way to enjoy that along with my favorite brownies.

These are basically that same brownie recipe with some white chocolate thrown in. I also added peppermint because even though it’s almost March the temperatures have been below freezing and there’s snow on the ground so it feels a lot like December. Besides, white chocolate and peppermint just go together; I’m pretty sure there are about 10 Starbucks drinks that confirm that.

These grain-free brownies are made with almond flour to keep them moist and fudgy. They’re very rich and keep well refrigerated or frozen for an anytime treat.

White Chocolate Peppermint Brownies

Prep time:

Cook time:

Ingredients(Makes one pan):

3/4 cup almond flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup sugar
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon peppermint extract
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chips
1/4 cup white chocolate chips

Method:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
Mix together the almond flour, salt, cocoa powder, and baking soda and set aside.
In a separate bowl, melt together the 1/2 cup chocolate chips with the butter.
While the chocolate is melting, beat together the eggs, sugar, and peppermint extract.
Slowly pour the melted chocolate and butter into the egg/sugar mixture while whisking until fully incorporated. Don’t go too fast so that the raw eggs don’t cook upon contact.
Add the chocolate mixture in with the dry ingredients and mix completely.
Pour the batter in an 8 x 8 pan.
Sprinkle the top with the white chocolate chips and gently press them into the batter.
Bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick poked into the center comes out clean. Let these cool completely before cutting in.

Perfection

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Homemade Honey Roasted Cashews

Written on February 13, 2013 by Wannabe Chef in Snack

I’m not sure when but at some point nuts became one of the most expensive items in the grocery store. It’s a shame. They’re one of the healthy foods that are naturally delicious, but dressing them up never hurts.

These have become my go-to afternoon snack. They’re perfect for a slight sweet craving or to throw on yogurt or even a tofu stir-fry.

I’m not sure if the egg white is completely necessary for this recipe but I love the texture of the sugar on the cashews after they’re baked. You can spice these up easily by adding in some cinnamon.

Homemade Honey Roasted Cashews

Prep time: 5 minutes

Cook time: 15-20 minutes

Ingredients:

2 cups cashews
1 Tablespoon egg white
1 Tablespoon honey
3 Tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt

Homemade Honey Roasted Cashews Roasted

Method:

Preheat you oven to 325 degrees.
In a small bowl, mix together the egg white, honey, sugar and salt until the sugar and salt have dissolved.
Mix the cashews with the wet ingredients until they are covered.
Lay the cashews out on a non-stick surface in a single layer.
Roast for 15-20 minutes until the edges begin to darken slightly, taking care not to burn them.
Remove the cashews from the oven and let them cool completely.
Break the cashews apart and store them in an air-tight container at room temperature.

Purely addicting.

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Scrambled Tofu

Written on February 11, 2013 by Wannabe Chef in Breakfast

This recipe is an oldie but a goodie.

If I had to recommend one dish for someone who wants to eat less animal products it would be scrambled tofu. It looks just like eggs and you can really flavor it however you like. Not to mention it only takes about 10 minutes from start to finish.

I started eating less scrambled eggs and more scrambled tofu after watching Vegucated on Netflix. I won’t go into personal ethics on why I made the switch but it’s a good documentary to watch on Netflix in between marathons of Being Human and United States of Tara.

You can easily change this recipe to make it more flavorful by adding herbs and sautéed vegetables into the mix. I usually use curry powder to make mine a little spicy.

Scrambled Tofu

Prep time: 5 minutes

Cook time: 5 minutes

Ingredients(Makes 2 servings):

1 block extra firm tofu
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon onion powder

Method:

In a large bowl, mash the tofu with a fork lightly until it’s textured to resemble scrambled eggs.
Heat the oil in a pan over medium heat.
Mix the turmeric, salt, pepper, garlic and onion powder in with the tofu until it’s evenly coated.
Sauté the tofu in the oil until it’s heated through and takes on a vibrant color.
Remove from the pan and serve hot.

Afterwards I put a big pile of ketchup on the side of the plate. What’re eggs and hash browns without ketchup?

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Brown Rice Flour Banana Bread

Written on February 4, 2013 by Wannabe Chef in Breakfast

I’ll be the first to admit that gluten-free baking is tougher than baking with flour. Instead of just wheat you have a hundred different varieties of flour and starches to work with and if you’ve never used them before you have no idea how they work in recipes. It’s a hassle.

I’m always drawn to making recipes that use just one type of flour because I don’t like to have to go out and buy 6 or 7 to make a single loaf of bread. This recipe only uses brown rice flour, which is a gluten-free whole grain flour that bakes well and doesn’t overpower any of the other flavors. You’ll have a hard time telling this bread is gluten-free.

I used Bob’s Red Mill’s brown rice flour for this recipe which is the least grainy I’ve found and has a great texture when baked. In baking, weight’s always the most reliable measure so if you can

Gluten-Free Peanut Butter Banana Bread

Prep time: 15 minutes

Cook time: 60 minutes

Ingredients(Makes 1 loaf):

2 large bananas
4 eggs
3/4 cups sugar
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups(240 grams) brown rice flour
1/2 Tablespoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup water

Method:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
Mash the bananas until they’re completely smooth.
In a large bowl, stir together the bananas, eggs, sugar, peanut butter, and oil until mixed.
Add in the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, vanilla, and chocolate chips and stir.
Slowly add the water until the batter has a loose consistency.
Grease a 9-inch loaf pan.
Pour the batter into the loaf pan and bake for 60 minutes until the center has set.
Remove from the oven and let the loaf cool before cutting in.

I found my loaf got stale sitting on the counter after a day but microwaving a slice for 60 seconds between two paper towels made it taste fresh out of the oven.

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Vegetarian Buffalo Chicken Dip

Written on January 30, 2013 by Wannabe Chef in Miscellaneous, Side Dish

I’ve never been a vegetarian who claims he doesn’t miss certain food. I used to love buffalo chicken dip; what’s a Superbowl party without it? This year I finally got fed up with being dip-less and decided to make my own.

Too often the impulse for making meat-free dishes is to reach for something with tofu or the name “fak’n” in front of it. Beans are a great substitute that are also cheap, tasty, and something everyone can recognize.

To lighten this dip up slightly you can use a reduced fat cream cheese instead of full-fat. I would avoid fat-free because the taste and texture would be off. Similarly you can swap in reduced fat cheese as well.

Vegetarian Buffalo Chicken Dip

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 25 minutes

Ingredients(Serves 8-12 people):

8oz cream cheese
1/2 cup hot sauce
8oz shredded cheddar or Mexican-blend cheese, divided
1 15oz can white beans, rinsed and drained

Method:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
In a large bowl, beat together the hot sauce, cream cheese, and 6 ounces(about 1 1/2 cups) of shredded until mixed.
Fold in the beans, adding a little bit of water if necessary until fully incorporated.
Scoop the dip into an oven-safe bowl and spread out the remaining cheese on top to cover it.
Bake for 20-25 minutes until the cheese begins to brown and the center is hot.
Remove from the oven and serve hot with crudité and nachos.

You will not miss the chicken; I swear it.

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Coconut Pistachio Bark

Written on January 23, 2013 by Wannabe Chef in Dessert

I know Christmas was almost a month ago but bear with me for one more Christmas recipe. It’s easy to find delicious red food but green? Not so much. Unless you want to sneak spinach, kale, or peppers into a dessert, it’s hard to get the red and green theme naturally.

This bark looks like Christmas. The coconut seems like snow on the ground while the green and red toppings make it fun and festive. And it’s as fun to eat as it is to look at. The meaty pistachios and coconut match up against the tart craisins and bitter chocolate.

This bark shouldn’t last long, but if you happen to have leftovers make sure to keep them in the refrigerator to keep the chocolate solid.

Coconut Pistachio Bark

Prep time: 15 minutes

Cook time: 10 minutes

Ingredients(Makes about 16 servings):

8.5oz dark chocolate OR 1 cup chocolate chips
1/4 cup sweetened shredded coconut
3 Tablespoons dried cranberries
3 Tablespoons pistachios

Method:

Melt the chocolate in a microwave or over a double boiler.
Spread the melted chocolate out on a sheet of wax paper or other non-stick surface.
Sprinkle the coconut, cranberries and pistachios out along the surface of the chocolate.
Gently press the toppings into the bark to make sure they stick to the chocolate.
Refrigerate the chocolate for 20-30 minutes until it has set.
Remove the bark from the wax paper and break it apart into 16-20 uneven pieces.

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Loaded Coconut Cake Squares

Written on January 9, 2013 by Wannabe Chef in Dessert

As I’ve been eating my way through yogurt that Chobani sent me, I’ve been trying to get creative on new ways to cook with it. Everyone knows yogurt is a great low-fat alternative for baking so I took that as my starting point and took off from there.

While a good base recipe is essential, a lot of the fun of cakes and brownies is what you put inside or on top of them. Chocolate chips and coconut are among my favorites. These might not seem healthy but with Greek yogurt in place of oil and butter and craisins and coconut filling it up(in addition to some chocolate chips, of course) these won’t do you wrong or steer you off your New Year resolutions.

If you want to make this more of a healthy snack, swap in 1/2 cup of crushed walnuts or slivered almonds in for the chocolate chips. Either way it’ll taste great.

Loaded Coconut Cake Squares

Prep time: 15 minutes

Cook time: 30 minutes

Ingredients(Makes 1 8 x 8 pan):

1 1/2 cups gluten-free all-purpose flour
1/2 Tablespoon baking powder
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup sweetened shredded coconut
1/4 cup white chocolate chips
1/4 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 cup vanilla Chobani greek yogurt
2 eggs

Method:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
In a large bowl sift together the gluten-free flour and baking powder.
Add in the craisins, 1/4 cup shredded coconut, white and dark chocolate chips and mix.
In a separate bowl, mix together the yogurt, brown sugar, and eggs until homogenous.
Mix the wet ingredients in with the dry until the batter is well mixed.
Lightly grease an 8 x 8 baking pan.
Pour the batter into the pan and press down evenly.
Sprinkle the remaining 1/4 cup coconut on top of the batter and press in lightly.
Bake for 25-30 minutes until the center of the cake has set and the coconut on top begins to toast.
Remove from the oven and let cool before cutting into squares.

Don’t forget to add caramel or fudge sauce just in case this doesn’t have enough flavors going on for you.

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