Farmer's Market Salad with Sprouts

The weather in the Bay Area has been nothing short of incredible the past couple of days, so this morning instead of my leisurely 10 minute bus ride to the Alemany Farmer's Market, I decided to trek over Bernal Hill and back to get my produce goodies--TOTALLY WORTH IT (even if my legs are a little sore)!

My new favorite vendor is Sprout Lady. I don't know why no one until this point (me?) had thought to MIX varieties of sprouts to get distinct flavor profiles, but Sprout Lady does an amazing job.  My current favorites? The "Sprout Garden," containing fenugreek, dill, cress, red clover and arugula; and the "Ole!" blend with cumin, garlic, radish and red clover. 

And once I got home, sweaty but happy, I threw this salad together.  It's crunchy, clean, and really lets the flavor of the sprouts shine through (when's the last time you said that about sprouts?!? I seriously love these people). 

Crunchy Spring Sprout Salad

makes 1 main or 2 sides

Ingredients

• 1 cup sprouts
• 1 cup chopped spinach (trust, chopping the spinach helps all the ingredients distribute themselves more evenly
• 1/3 english cucumber, halved and sliced
• 1/3 crisp apple, cut into fourths, then sliced
• 1/2 avocado, chopped
• juice of half a lemon
• 1 TBS olive oil

Directions

1. Roughly chop spinach and place in medium mixing bowl
2. Do the same with the cucumber and apple, and add to bowl
3. Add the sprouts and stir to distribute evenly
4. Add lemon juice and olive oil, stirl to coat
5. Lastly, fold in the chopped avocado (try not to mash it up too much)
6. Mound onto two salad plates evenly, or gobble it up alone in front of the sink (totes okay either way!)

Cleansing Bok Choy Miso Soup

Cleansing Bok Choy Miso Soup

adapted from: An Edible Mosaic

makes 2 large or 4 small servings

Ingredients

• 1 lb (large bunch) bok choy, baby bok choi, or other dark leafy
• 2 TBS olive oil
• 4 large cloves of garlic, peeled and thinly sliced
• 2 cups low-sodium chicken or vegetable stock
• 2 TBS freshly chopped ginger
• Juice of one lemon
• 1/4 tsp dried tumeric
• 2-4 TBS miso paste, lighter-colored variety (to taste)
• Chopped cilantro (to garnish)
• Sea salt (to taste)

Directions

1. Rinse the bok choy well, pulling apart to remove all grit. 
2. Peel and thinly slice garlic.
3. Remove skin from ginger, and finely chop.
4. Add olive oil, ginger, garlic and salt to medium sized stock pot, and saute a few minutes over medium-high heat.
5. Meanwhile, slice the white parts of the bok choy into 1/4 inch strips and set aside. Do the same with the  green tops.
6. Once garlic and ginger has started to become a bit translucent, add whites of bok choy. Sprinkle on the  tumeric.
7. While this cooks, add 1-2 TBS miso paste to each serving bowl.  Spreading the miso around the bowl will  help it dissolve in the hot soup with few big clumps.
8. After the ingredients in the stock pot are cooked through to your liking, add the boy choy greens and stock  of your choice. Bring this just to a bowl, then turn off burner.
9. Add soup to bowls, swirling to dissolve miso.  
10. Squeeze in lemon, garnish, and enjoy!

Homemade Bread

I’m anxiously awaiting news of a job I’d really-really like, so in the meantime I’m trying to keep my hands busy and my mind occupied as often as possible.  Additionally, money is REALLY-REALLY tight around my house these days and I couldn’t see the point in spending $3-4 on a loaf of bread when I have all the makings (ingredients and time!) at my disposal.  

And so this brings us to...ANOTHER RECIPE WITH OATMEAL AND SOBA FLOUR!  Sorry folks.  I know it’s getting excessive.  I just always have a LOT of oatmeal around (steel-cut for me and old-fashioned for my beau), and I’ve been working through this jar of soba flour I swear I’ve had 4 years now.  

Oatmeal is good for you, homes!  The main reason is all that fiber.  It helps bind LDL cholesterol in your blood stream (that’s the “bad” cholesterol), removing it from circulation.  LDL cholesterol is the kind that sticks to your blood vessels—the first step in the development of heart disease.  Heart disease is the number one killer of Americans, so integrating more oatmeal into your diet can only help! Plus fiber helps you feel fuller and keeps things moving through your GI tract.  Additionally, oatmeal is a good source of iron and protein, low in sugar and saturated fat.  ...Did I mention it’s cheap, too?

This recipe is a variation of the recipe here—I didn’t have fresh buttermilk, so I substituted 8 TBS. buttermilk powder in one cup of water.  I also didn’t have bread flour or whole wheat flour, which is where the AP flour, vital wheat gluten and soba flour comes in.  Yes, you heard right, vital wheat gluten.  It helps pack 7 GRAMS OF PROTEIN into each 1/2 inch slice of this bread.  


Buttermilk Oatmeal Soba Bread
Author: adapted slightly from Or Whatever You Do 

Ingredients

• 2 tsp yeast + ⅓ cup warm water

• 1½ cups rolled oats + 1 cup boiling water

• 1 cup water + 8 TBS. buttermilk powder (or 1½ cups buttermilk)

• ½ cup canola oil

• ½ cup cane sugar

• 2½ cups AP flour + ½ more for dusting

• 1½ cups soba flour

• 1 cup vital wheat gluten

Instructions

1. Proof the yeast and ⅓ cup of warm water. In a separate bowl combine the oats and the boiling water. Let both mixtures sit for about 10 minutes. The yeast will look foamy and creamy.  
2. Mix the buttermilk powder with water and add to oat mixture. Add the oil to the oat mixture as well and mix to combine. The buttermilk powder will probably still be a little lumpy, but that’s ok.
3. Combine all flours and sugar in a large bowl. Add the wet ingredients to dry and mix until dough starts to form.  Once the dough has begun to come together, turn out onto a floured surface. This is a wet dough and may require more flour. Knead until smooth, about 5 minutes. 
4. Turn dough out into a well oiled bowl, turn to coat the dough, and then cover and let rise for about 1 hour, or until doubled.
5. Punch down the dough and cut in half. Take one half, place on a lightly floured surface, and press into a rectangle. Now roll out into a larger rectangle. Fold into thirds, letter-style, then roll up. Pinch the seams closed and place seam side down into your prepped loaf pan. Repeat with other half of the dough.
6. Lightly brush with water and sprinkle a few additional oats onto the dough. Let rise in a warm place for an additional 30-60 minutes.
7. Bake in a preheated 375 degree oven for 30-40 minutes, or until the crust is browned and the internal temp reaches 190-200 degrees.

Butterscotch trailmix cookies

I miss summer.  I miss, miss, miss it.  Sure, I live in Oakland where it doesn’t snow or ice storm or drop below 40 degrees.

But I want swimming and bare shoulders.  I want warm night breezes and cemetery picnics.  I at least wanna be able to hike without my fingers and toes going numb.

So we have a few options to get us through the next few months before fruit and flowers and sunshine and shorts weather returns.  If you are a disciple of summer like I am, then you will be flying away to Thailand next week to visit your best friend.  The temperature in Bangkok today? 80 degrees.  For the rest of you, these trailmix cookies will help.

Doesn’t this picture *feel* like summer?  I’d like to tell you that these cookies taste like fireworks and frisbees and cold beers on the beach.  But they don’t.  THEY TASTE BETTER.

This recipe is the standard, delicious chocolate chip recipe from Cook’s Illustrated, adapted by Butter Baking blog, but with butterscotch chips and trailmix instead.  They are soft and chewy and sweet and salty and god-damn delicious.  

Butterscotch Trailmix Cookies

adapted from Butter Baking

Ingredients:

2 C. + 2 Tbs. AP flour

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

6 oz. butter (1 1/2 sticks), melted and cooled until warm

1 C. packed light or dark brown sugar

1/2 C. white sugar

1 egg

1 egg yolk

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1/2 C. butterscotch chips

3/4 C. trail mix (whatever type your heart desires! mine had: raisins, cashews, cranberries, almonds, sunflower seeds and pepitas)

Directions:

Mix together the dry ingredients in a small-ish bowl and set aside.

In a larger bowl, mix sugars and butter together. 

Add egg, egg yolk and vanilla to sugar butter bowl.  Mix all wet ingredients til well combined.

Add flour mixture to wet ingredients and mix until just combined.

Add chips and trail mix.

Refridgerate dough 30 mins (not much longer or it gets pretty hard) and preheat oven to 325 degrees.  

Scoop out dough and roll in your hands to make balls approximately 1.5-2 inches in diameter.  To give them a “bakery-made” look, you then tear the ball in equal halves, flip the torn sides to the top, and rejoin the pieces at the base.  Leave the jagged side up and place on parchment-lined baking sheets. 

Bake 12-14 minutes, rotating trays half-way. 

Enjoy!

Mango Coconut Muffins

This recipe evolved as many of my recipes do—ingredients in need of a purpose.  I had a bunch of mangoes going bad in the fridge. I’d bought some toasted wheat germ on a whim. And I wanted something breakfasty and healthy.

These muffins fit the bill pretty well.  They’re only 145 calories each, and have 3 grams of protein, 2 grams of fiber and only 9 grams of sugar.  They’re also dairy-free and not too sweet.  But between the coconut oil and the coconut flakes? Each of these puppies is clocking in at 7 grams of fat.  Not exactly ideal, but when combined with the protein and fiber in each muffin they make for a quick, filling breakfast. And didn’t you make a resolution to eat breakfast this year? Do yourself a solid by throwing in a piece of fruit and some low-fat yogurt.

Mango Coconut Muffins
makes approx. 20 muffins

Ingredients:
1 1/2 C. whole wheat pastry flour (all purpose flour will yield a muffin with slightly less fiber/protein)
3/4 C. coconut flakes
1/2 C. brown sugar, packed
1/2 C. toasted wheat germ
3/4 tsp. salt
2 T. baking powder

2 C. mango puree
3/4 C. almond milk (or soy, or regular—you could probably substitute juice as well)
2 large eggs
1/3 cup coconut oil, melted (another vegetable oil will do, and reduce the saturated fat in the recipe)
1 tsp. vanilla

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place muffin liners in baking trays or spray trays with cooking oil.
Mix all dry ingredients.  Mix all wet ingredients (note that if your wet ingredients are still cold from the refridgerator, the coconut oil will start to re-solidify, and if your coconut oil is too warm it will start to cook the eggs.  Room temp ingredients are best!).  Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix until just combined/all dry ingredients are moistened.  Quickly scoop 1/3-1/4 cup servings into muffin trays and bake 15-25 minutes, or until cooked through and slightly browned.

The Cadillac of Pancakes

Or maybe it's a poor man's souffle.  Either way, it is the best breakfast food ever (except bacon).  Yes, gentle reader, I am speaking of the formidable DUTCH BABY.  Of all the delicious foods I read about in Molly Wizenberg's wonderful book, A Homemade Life, this was the thing I made first.  Now that I think of it, I never made anything else.  I guess I just never got over that dutch baby. 

Technically a pop-over, there is no hangover this Baby can't conquer.  A strong cup of coffee and some of the aforementioned bacon are the only accoutrement required to make you feel like you are the king of life.  It also says "I love you" better than scrambled eggs and wheat toast.

Molly makes hers in a cast iron skillet.  Having only recently purchased a cast-iron skillet, I've been making mine in a souffle dish and have come to prefer them that way.  An 8-inch straight-sided souffle dish gives the Baby a real lift, and is the perfect size to split with a loved one.  I've tried many a topping on these puppies, but lemon juice, powdered sugar and blueberries is really the way to go.

Without further adieu....Dutch babies!!!

Adapted from Molly Wizenberg's blog, Orangette, February 2005.

Dutch Baby:

4 Tbs unsalted butter

4 large eggs

½ cup all-purpose flour

½ cup half-and-half

Topping:

Juice of 1 lemon, zest if yer feeling zesty

Powdered sugar

½ cup blueberries (You can also combine lemon juice and sugar with some jam or preserves if you lack fresh fruit and make a tasty sauce.  Frozen fruit also works well in this manner.)

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.  Put 4 Tbs butter in 8-inch souffle dish and allow to melt in oven.  Impress your breakfast partners by removing the hot souffle dish from the oven and swirling the butter up the sides to coat.  If your oven mitts suck, or you lack daring-do, you can use a pastry brush.

Molly would have you use a blender for the flour, half-and-half and eggs.  You can whisk them in a bowl, too, it won't hurt the Baby.  Pour thoroughly blended batter into hot souffle dish and return to oven.  Bake approximately 25-30 minutes.  It will smell DIVINE.

Remove your Dutch baby from the oven and with quick fingers or tongs transfer to a plate.  Squeeze on lemon juice, sift powdered sugar generously and toss on the fruit or fruit sauce.  Eat it fast, while it's hot.  Serves two.

note: another repost from Cooking With The Good Looking—my first blog post ever, by the way!

Uncle Buck Pancakes

Uncle Buck is one of the few movies I own, and has the best 80's fashion of any of John Hughes' movies (in my humble opinion). After having declared he'd never seen it (!!!), my good buddy Brandon and I spent a nite in with John Candy and company.

He came to two conclusions. 1. That his entire outlook on childrearing had changed, and 2. WE HAD TO MAKE THOSE PANCAKES.

And so we drove off to the restaurant supply store near Jack London Square to look for equipment. The take? A 25" pizza pan and 12" pizza peel for a spatula. Our batter recipe came courtesy of Isa Chandra Moskovitz' Vegan With A Vengance. Based upon her recipe's stated yield, I calculated that we were going to make the equivalent of SIXTY PANCAKES. We were going to have to recruit a very hungry group of friends.

However, Uncle Buck's movie magic was not on our side. All attempts at flipping pancakes the size of our makeshift griddle fell apart. We did pull off some respectably sized 13-15" beauties, though.

Attempt number two is already in the planning stages. We're trading in the pizza peel for a snow shovel. Your bum uncle would be proud.

                          

note: this is an old post from a previous blog that i’m decommissioning.  It fits in nicely over here at Obsessed with Waffles, if you ask me!