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Tropical Steel Cut Oats
April 8th, 2010 |
| From An Opera Singer in the Kitchen |
I realized this morning that I did not post this recipe on my blog from an amazing breakfast I had yesterday morning. I also realized that I had not been posting my excellent exercising routines….right, because there have not been many.
Lately I have been playing racquetball with Ryan up to three times a week. The last few weeks we have been having great weather so I have been walking and at one point I rode my bike twice, but now this week it has been quite rainy and dreary. Have you heard about the fact that if you wear your work out clothes during the day that you will feel more inspired to workout? Sometimes it works and sometimes it does not. It just feels like you are in comfy clothes. LOL Either way, I have been trying to make mental notes the night before concerning the type of workouts I want to do the next day and somehow that works on certain days.
I believe I am going to start writing them down and posting them at the doorposts so that I know what workout regimen I am going to do THAT day. How do YOU get motivated daily?
Yesterday morning I had a big bowl of papaya but then realized that perhaps this fruit was NOT quite in season. The papaya seemed to be ripe and ready to be peeled and cleaned but I bit right into it and it was SUPER flavorless. SO disappointing. I am going to be making a blended tropical drink tomorrow morning.
I have tried squirting lime juice to offset the lack of flavor the fruit had but it failed. I then decided to make some steel cut oats.
I have always eaten oatmeal with the rolled oats but steel cut oats are healthier from what I read. Ryan prefers to have his with rolled oats, brown sugar, and raisins. I told him this morning that he needed to try this new recipe of mine tomorrow. A few weeks ago I was at Trader Joes in Ann Arbor and I picked up some natural peanut butter with roasted flaxseeds. It sounded so delicious and I had yet to try it. I added some to my oats and it was SOOOO good. If you have never added peanut butter or almond butter to your oats it is a must!
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| From An Opera Singer in the Kitchen |
Tropical Steel Cut Oats
serves 2
1 cup steel cut oats
1 1/2cups water
1/4 cup goji berries
1 Tbsp cacao nibs
1 Tbsp shredded unsweetened coconut
1 Tbsp Trader Joe’s Peanut Butter w/ roasted flaxseed
2 Tbsp coconut milk
1 Tbsp agave nectar
Soak oats in 1 cup water for 30 minutes. After soaking time, add oats and water and remaining 1/2 cup water to medium pot. Cook on medium heat for 10-15 minutes.
Remove from heat and add coconut milk,goji berries and agave. Mix well.
Serve and top with coconut, nibs, and peanut butter.
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In-Season Vegetable Pasta
April 6th, 2010
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| From An Opera Singer in the Kitchen |
In-Season Vegetable Pastaserves 4
1/2 pound thin spaghetti pasta
1/4 pound asparagus (1/2 a bunch)
2 on-the vine tomatoes, chopped
1 1/4 cups baby portabella mushrooms,sliced
1 cup spinach leaves
1/2 cup onion, sliced
3 garlic cloves
2 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 tsp crushed red pepper
1 1/2 tsp Italian seasonings
1 tsp salt
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| From An Opera Singer in the Kitchen |
Heat olive oil in a large sauce pan. Add onions, tomatoes and garlic and fry for 5 minutes.
Meanwhile, cook spaghetti according to package instructions. Cook until 1 before being al dente so probably 8 minutes. Drain pasta.
Add mushrooms and asparagus and saute’ for 7-10 minutes. Add seasonings and cook for another 7 minutes. Add pasta and cook for a minute.
Serve while hot! Sprinkle a little Parma! vegan cheese on this for extra flavor.
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Coconut Custard Tarts with Dark Chocolate
April 5th, 2010 |
| From An Opera Singer in the Kitchen |
I pray that everyone had a great Easter! It is nice to have had a nice weekend full of rest and reflection. We were not able to worship with our church family since Ryan played the organ for an Episcopal church. After our service, we enjoyed the sunny day on our way home and picked up the vegan quiche and dessert I made for our Easter lunch with the graduate students. From what I heard, it was the 2nd annual lunch and it had been deemed it would be at Carolyn’s house from then on. She had a great place and we had 24 people!
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| From An Opera Singer in the Kitchen |
Her place was decorated with Easter decorations and tons of different flowers, like tulips, peonies, and orchids. It was spring inside her home!
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| From An Opera Singer in the Kitchen |
We all sat down for a great potluck provided by all our friends, but you know what that meant; always bring something that a vegan can consume, is my motto! I decided to bring my Sun-Dried and Leek Quiche that I prepared several weeks ago and then last minute, I was inspired to make a dessert. Two days ago I read a nice post by one of my Canadian bloggers showing a great recipe for a coconut banana pie that was completely vegan. Even though I did not have all the ingredients I was sure I could make up a recipe similar to Kirsten’s pie recipe.Since I was also going to a party, I also wanted to make the dessert appealing and creative so I decided to make mini pies. I was perusing TJMaxx and I found a great mini muffin pan that I also knew I could use for mini quiches or mini pies. I was sold. I got home and started on the recipe immediately. When I finished, I was VERY happy with the results. It was a pretty quick dessert to prepare and I noticed it could become a nice gourmet dessert recipe.
What makes this dessert vegan? No dairy products and no eggs involved! The custard part was made using agar agar flakes, which is a vegetable gelatin derived from wild sea vegetables, like red algae. How bizarre but yet so amazing! Alicia Silverstone incorporates this in some of her recipes in The Kind Diet by making fruity kanten, which is a jello-like dish. I had been wanting to use my little packet of agar agar for a while that I was thankful for Kirsten posting such a great recipe. Make sure to visit her site for some other great recipes!
As far as the chocolate part of the dessert, I decided to use a bar of 85% Dark Chocolate that Alter Eco packed in my goodie box.
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| From An Opera Singer in the Kitchen |
It was packaged in 1-inch pieces which I cut in half and decorated on each mini pie. It made for a delicious combination. This is a keeper folks!
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| From An Opera Singer in the Kitchen |
Coconut Custard Tarts with Dark Chocolate
2 dozen mini pies or one 9-inch pie
Crust
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| From An Opera Singer in the Kitchen |
Bake for 15 minutes and remove from oven and cool. Prepare filling.
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| From An Opera Singer in the Kitchen |
Filling
In a medium sauce pan, add the flour, vegan sugar and agar flakes to pan. Whisk until combined. Add coconut milk and place on medium heat and continue whisking until mixture thickens. There should not be any clumps but the mixture will continue to be smooth while whisking.
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| From An Opera Singer in the Kitchen |
As soon as the mixture thickens (7-10 minutes), remove from heat and add agave nectar and coconut extract.
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| From An Opera Singer in the Kitchen |
Place filling in a glass bowl and chill over ice water for 10-15 minutes. Remove from water and add shredded coconut.
Place filling in a sandwich bag and cut the edge of the bag with scissors, making a medium opening. Pipe filling into each mini pie crust. Cut a half inch piece of your favorite chocolate and place in the middle of each pie.
Can be refrigerated before serving and can also be prepared the night before.
Coconut Custard Tarts With Dark Chocolate
Filling
1/3 cup flour
2/3 cup vegan sugar
3 Tbsp agave nectar
2 1/2 tsp agar agar flakes
1 14-ounce can “lite” coconut milk
2 tsp coconut extract
1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconutCrust
1 cup whole wheat white flour
1/3 cup coconut oil
1/2 tsp salt
6- 8 Tbsp waterPreheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Spray a 2 dozen mini muffin pan with coconut spray or a 9-inch pie plate.
In a small bowl, combine salt and flour. With a pastry cutter, blend in coconut oil with flour until it resembles coarse sand. Add the water a little at a time and blend and for in a ball. (Do not overwork)
Split dough using a tablespoon of dough for each mini muffin section until evenly distributed.
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Alter Eco’s Black Jasmine and Purple Rice
April 2nd, 2010 |
| From An Opera Singer in the Kitchen |
A few weeks ago I received several products from Alter Eco Fair Trade. If you can tell, I received 4 different types of rice, 4 different types of chocolate, and some olive oil. I have not been able to find the time to make some rice, but this past week I was able to try the Black Jasmine Rice and the Purple Jasmine Rice. Sounds exotic right? It is!
While Alter Eco is located in San Francisco, they offer certified fair trade coffee, rice, olive oil, quinoa, and chocolate. Their rice is on special right now, FYI!
I have never personally tried Black and Purple Jasmine Rice, but I know I like regular brown jasmine. Alter Eco describes the black jasmine rice as
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| From An Opera Singer in the Kitchen |
I made the rice as instructed: 1cup of rice to 2 cups of water. I left it cooking for 25 minutes but found out it took 45 minutes instead. I might have disrupted something with the pressure. I served it with some roasted garlic broccoli and some vegan “beef” and I have to say that the flavor was delicious! It had a nutty flavor and it was so filling! It almost reminded me of the wild rice variety but this was quicker to prepare.
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| From An Opera Singer in the Kitchen |
Earlier in the week I made the Purple Jasmine rice that ended up being more of a stickier rice. Alter Eco describes this rice
“is a unique purple grain that is glutinous when cooked and has a delicate, sweet palate. Due to its rich taste and aesthetic appeal, this traditional rice is used by local communities for feasts and celebrations. It is grown exclusively in the fertile soil of the Esan Plateau, in the East of Thailand, situated close to the Cambodian border. This particular region has the ideal combination of soil and climatic conditions to produce nutritious and flavorful rice.”
I felt like making beans and rice for a Sunday dinner, something that was nice and quick. I prepared the purple rice as instructed and then warmed some black beans and added a can of Rotel and some seasonings. It was super tasty and even more delicious than most rice I have tasted.
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| From An Opera Singer in the Kitchen |
Please make sure to visit Alter Eco’s website and try out some of their products! It supports farmers and their foods from all over the world! They DO have STORE LOCATOR on their website, so if you are wondering whether they carry it at Whole Foods, it looks like they do!!
Make sure to visit Tanya’s website for a great Le Creuset giveaway:
@http://tanyascooking.blogspot.com/2010/04/my-first-giveaway.html
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Double Layer Chocolate Banana Bars
March 31st, 2010 |
| From An Opera Singer in the Kitchen |
The last few days have been nice and gorgeous. I cannot believe that we are going to be reaching a near 70 degrees tomorrow! Along with the nice weather are the birds I get to see outside my window. Well, birds and squirrels.
I recently found out that our neighborhood squirrels have been rummaging around in our trash bin like a couple of raccoons? Me thinks they did not store up enough food during the harvest! 🙂 I check the trash bin and find out that there is a gaping hole in the back and they have been making holes in our trash bags. We decided that we would start using the bin right next to it because I DO NOT feel like intruding a squirrel in our trash. I can only picture the scene in Monty Phython’s Quest for the Holy Grail where the rabid rabbit is attacking the village. LOL
On a lighter note, here is a picture of the lovely robins lingering in our yard.
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| From An Opera Singer in the Kitchen |
If you have not noticed, I have been baking alot of items with chocolate and bananas. I buy bananas for Ryan and I but Ryan will only consume them if they are slightly green and I cannot eat so many at a time. I usually like to freeze them and use them in a smoothie, but sometimes I just want to bake something with them.
I called this recipe a bar because I can cut them in sqaures but they are more cakey than a gooey bar. It came out super delicious with an even flavor of chocolate and bananas. I chose to go with peanuts than the normal walnut or pecan fare just because I know my husband likes it. He was happy. 😉
The recipe has flaxseed meal and whole wheat pastry flour for a healthier kick! Enjoy this with a cup of delicious coffee!
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| From An Opera Singer in the Kitchen |
Double Layer Chocolate Banana Bars
makes 12 bars
1/2 cup Earth Balance margarine
1 cup vegan sugar
1 1/2 tsp Ener-G egg replacer
2 Tbsp water
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups mashed banana (about 3 medium bananas)
1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1 Tbsp flaxseed meal
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup Green & Black unsweetened cocoa
1 cup vegan chocolate chips
1 cup crushed peanuts
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease a 9 by 9 square glass dish.
In a small bowl, cream margarine and sugar until creamy. Mix egg replacer with water and mix well and add to sugar mix along with the vanilla. Add mashed bananas and mix well.
In a medium bowl, mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix well. Divide batter in half.
Add cocoa to one half of the batter and mix well until blended. Add that chocolate batter to the glass dish and smooth over. Sprinkle 1/2 cup of the chocolate chips and 1/2 cup of peanuts on top of the layer.
Cover with the light banana batter and sprinkle with remaining chocolate chips and peants.
Bake for 40 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.
Double Layer Chocolate Banana Bars
