Weekly Lunch: Quinoa with Black Bean Hummus

Are you familiar with jicama? I have enjoyed this vegetable in restaurant salads for a few years now, but have never purchased one or cooked one myself. Actually, I don't know if anyone ever cooks them, or if they are only eaten raw.

Jicamas are kind of gnarly looking on the outside, but the flesh is crunchy, mild and slightly sweet - kind of like a cross between an apple and a potato. Jicama is a great addition to veggie trays, too, it is a sturdy vegetable and will stand up to a variety of different kinds of dips.

On Sunday I cooked up some plain quinoa, and I made a batch of black bean hummus (slightly spicy, with cilantro and lime). So, packing my lunch this week was a snap - couple handfuls of baby spinach, pile of quinoa, big scoop of black bean hummus, and some crunchy jicama and bell peppers (which I sliced ahead of time) on top. When I remembered, I drizzled some extra lime juice on top right before serving. Very refreshing.

I had extra black bean hummus, so I added it to some breakfast burritos I made for dinner one night, with scrambled eggs, bacon and leftover roasted potatoes. I love multitasking meals like this!

Black Bean Hummus
Makes about 2 cups

1 15-ounce can of cooked black beans, drained but not rinsed

Big handful of cilantro leaves
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 tablespoons tahini paste
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin seed
1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
Juice of one lime
3-4 tablespoons olive oil

Directions: Put all ingredients, except the olive oil, in a food processor or blender. Process/blend for about 10 seconds, then pour in the olive oil and continue processing until smooth.

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Rhubarb Shortcake Ice Pops

As the days are growing sunnier and warmer, I decided to break out my ice pop molds over the weekend - I haven't used them since last summer. I am excited to make more healthy frozen treats this year!

I saw a fun idea to make strawberry shortcake ice pops using layers of strawberry puree and vanilla yogurt mixed with crushed vanilla sandwich cookies. I don't usually buy packaged cookies (I prefer to make my own) but these ice pops looked so fun that I wanted to give it a try. I'm sure any crunchy cookie would work. Also, I decided to swirl rather than layer these ice pops, mostly because the shape of my molds makes it rather difficult to pour anything into them so I can't achieve neat layers.

Regardless, these were a fun and delicious treat on a hot day. The rhubarb swirl was still perfectly tart, balancing the sweet and creamy yogurt very nicely.

Rhubarb Shortcake Ice Pops
Adapted from Baker's Royale

Makes 6-8 ice pops, depending on the size of your molds

Ingredients:
3-4 stalks rhubarb (about 3/4 pound, or 12 oz), cut in 1/2" pieces
1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons sugar, divided
1 1/4 cups plain yogurt (I used Greek yogurt for a protein boost)
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

8 vanilla-flavored sandwich cookies

Directions:
Place the sandwich cookies in a plastic zip-top bag and crush them into small bits with a rolling pin or other heavy object. Set aside.
In a small saucepan (with the heat off), combine the rhubarb with 1/4 cup of the sugar and let sit for about 10 minutes to get the rhubarb juices flowing, then turn the heat on to medium low and simmer for about 20 minutes until the rhubarb is very soft. Use a stick blender or regular blender to puree the rhubarb.
In a small bowl, combine the yogurt, vanilla and remaining 2 tablespoons sugar. Stir in the cookie crumbs.
Fill your ice pop molds about 2/3 full with the yogurt mixture, then fill the rest of the way with rhubarb puree. Use a skewer or a knife to swirl the two components together and to get out any air bubbles.
Freeze for at least 6 hours before serving. Enjoy!

Butterscotch Cookie Dough Balls

I was looking around the interwebs last week, searching for a tasty treat to make. I had two criteria: first, it had to use ingredients I already had on hand (so no eggs or milk), and second, it had to be fancy enough to be given as a birthday gift. I remembered seeing a recipe for unbaked chocolate chip "cookie dough balls" on Oh She Glows and thought it sounded perfect - and easy to make, too, with a food processor on hand.

I whizzed up cashews, oats, whole wheat pastry flour and salt, then added chopped medjool dates and honey. It took only a couple of minutes to go from raw ingredients to delicious cookie dough - no baking required!

(I added a little more honey after that last picture, to help the dough come together into a ball.)

And instead of chocolate chips, I used butterscotch chips, a few handfuls of which were sitting in the cupboard after being requested specifically by Sweetie to be used in the latest batch of granola bars (which was a great idea, btw).

I mixed a handful of butterscotch chips in with the dough, and melted the rest to use as a topping. Or rather, I tried to melt them, but for some reason they just turned into a paste instead of a liquid... but I made the best of it and kind of "molded" the butterscotch paste onto the cookie dough balls. It worked well enough.

The birthday girl enjoyed them quite a bit! And so did I :) I would definitely recommend Angela's recipe if you're looking for a different kind of cookie-like treat. After all, who doesn't love raw cookie dough?

Chocolate Chip and Date Granola Bars

I've been eating a lot of dates lately. Between batches of date-cashew snack bites (á la Fat Free Vegan) and the discovery that we can make bacon-wrapped dates at home (omg!), it was only a matter of time before I thought to put them in granola bars.

My no-bake granola bars have three components - dry ingredients that get toasted in the oven (oats and nuts), dry ingredients that do not get toasted (flaxseed, wheat germ), and wet ingredients (butter, brown rice syrup, honey, almond butter). Usually I mix dried fruit with the other non-toasted dry ingredients, but because these dates were really fresh and soft, I decided to combine them with the butter and brown rice syrup, hoping that the heat would kind of "melt" the dates into the other ingredients.

I think the chocolate date granola bars might be here to stay for a while. Do you ever have chocolate for breakfast?

Chocolate Date Granola Bars
Makes a 9"x13" pan

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups oats
2 cups almonds
1/2 cup buckwheat groats
1/2 cup wheat germ
1/2 cup ground flaxseed
1/2 cup medjool dates, pitted and chopped
1 tablespoon butter
3/4 cup brown rice syrup
1/2 cup almond butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup chocolate chips, divided

Directions:

Heat oven to 350F. Chop the almonds to get a mixture of large and small pieces. Spread the oats, buckwheat, and almonds on a large baking sheet (or two smaller baking sheets) and toast in the oven for 8-10 minutes, stirring every few minutes.

In a very large bowl, combine the wheatgerm and flaxseed. Add the toasted oats, almonds and buckwheat and stir to combine. Let cool for a few minutes, then stir in about half of the chocolate chips.

Line a 9"x13" pan with wax paper, and set aside a second piece of wax paper of the same size. In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter. Add the dates and cook for 2-3 minutes, then pour in the brown rice syrup. Simmer for 3-4 minutes, then remove from the heat and stir in the almond butter and salt.

Pour the date mixture over the dry ingredients and mix very very well until thoroughly combined. Pour onto the prepared 9"x13" pan and use a spatula to spread the mixture. Sprinkle the remaining chocolate chips over the top. Put the second piece of wax paper on top of the bars, then use your hands and/or a rolling pin to flatten the bars as much as possible. Cool completely before cutting into bars.

Soft Pretzels

I took advantage of a rainy day and made something I've always wanted to make - soft pretzels. I'm a big Alton Brown fan, so I started by watching the pretzel episode of Good Eats, conveniently available on YouTube. It was really helpful to watch him go through the process, and his recipe seemed pretty simple.

 
Barley malt extract is definitely not required for soft pretzels, but it gives a certain flavor that makes them taste more like proper pretzels. (Barley malt extract is also used in bagels!)

The dough didn't take long to put together, and it rose quickly - it doubled in size in about an hour.

 

I recently got a kitchen scale recently and it really makes baking so much easier! I don't have to use as many dishes, either, which is always nice. The dough weighed about 36 oz., so I divided it into twelve 3 oz. balls.

Next, I rolled out each ball into a rope about 16" long. To form the pretzel, make a U-shape, then cross the ends over each other once or twice. Fold the ends over the base of the U, then pinch the overlapping parts together.

No pictures of this part (too quick!), but you bring some water and baking soda to a boil, dip the raw pretzels in for about 30 seconds each, and drain on a rack for a few minutes. Then brush on an egg wash, sprinkle with coarse salt, and bake for about 14 minutes.

 
Chewy, salty, exactly what I was craving! The baking soda bath gave the pretzels a great toothy crust. Now I just need some mustard...

Soft Pretzels

Adapted from Alton Brown

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups warm (110 to 115 degrees F) water
• 1 tablespoon sugar (I used 2 teaspoons barley malt extract + 1 teaspoon sugar)
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 package active dry yeast
• 22 ounces all-purpose flour, approximately 4 1/2 cups (I used about 16 ounces of high-gluten bread flour and 6 ounces white whole wheat flour)
• 2 ounces unsalted butter, melted
• Vegetable oil
• 10 cups water
• 2/3 cup baking soda
• 1 large egg yolk beaten with 1 tablespoon water
• Coarse salt

Directions

Combine the water, sugar (and barley malt extract, if using) and salt in a large bowl and sprinkle the yeast on top. Let sit for 5-10 minutes or until the mixture begins to foam.

Add the flour and melted butter and stir with a wooden spoon until well combined. Turn the dough onto a floured surface and knead for about 5 minutes. Clean the bowl and then oil it well with vegetable oil. Put the dough back in the bowl, cover with plastic wrap and sit in a warm place for about an hour or until the dough has doubled in size.

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Line 2 half-sheet pans with parchment paper and lightly brush with  vegetable oil. Set aside.

Bring the 10 cups of water and the baking soda to a rolling boil in a large pot. In the meantime, turn the dough out onto a slightly oiled work surface and divide into 12 equal pieces. Roll out each piece of dough into a 16-inch rope. Make a U-shape with the rope, holding the ends of the rope, cross them over each other and press onto the bottom of the U in order to form the shape of a pretzel. Place onto the parchment-lined half sheet pan.


Place the pretzels into the boiling water, 1 by 1, for 30 seconds. Remove them from the water using a large flat spatula and let dry on a rack for a couple of minutes. Return to the half sheet pan, brush the top of each pretzel with the beaten egg yolk and water mixture and sprinkle with coarse salt. Bake until dark golden brown in color, approximately 12 to 14 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack for at least 5 minutes before serving.

Savory Pumpkin Curry Granola Bars

I've been trying to cut back on sweets a bit and have been wanting to have more savory breakfasts and snacks instead of sweet ones. I came up with a few ideas for savory granola bar flavors and this is my first attempt at making them.

This was truly an experiment. I wasn't sure what to use for the liquid component of the bars, since I normally use honey, brown rice syrup or some other liquid sweetener when I make granola bars. I decided to go with a small amount of brown rice syrup along with some pumpkin and an egg. These turned out more cakey and less chewy than I expected, but still pretty tasty and definitely worthy of further experiments!

Dry ingredients

Wet ingredients

I love the yellow color from the curry powder!

Cakey, chewy, seedy

Savory Pumpkin Curry Granola Bars

Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 cups oats
• 1 cup cashews
• 1 cup almonds
• 1/2 cup pumpkin seeds (pepitas)
• 1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
• 1/4 cup sesame seeds
• 1/4 cup hemp seeds
• 1/4 cup chia seeds
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/3 cup brown rice syrup
• 2/3 cup pumpkin puree
• 1/4 cup tahini paste
• 1 egg
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1-2 teaspoons curry powder (I used 1 tsp, which resulted in a very subtle curry flavor. Go with 2 tsp if you want a stronger flavor or if you just love curry!)

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350F. Line a 9"x13" pan with parchment paper.
2. Roughly chop the cashews and almonds. Mix all of the dry ingredients (oats through chia seeds) in a large bowl.
3. In a small saucepan (or in the microwave), heat the olive oil and brown rice syrup over medium heat for a few minutes until the mixture is very runny. Remove from the heat and stir in the pumpkin puree, tahini, salt and curry powder.
4. Lightly whisk the egg in a small bowl. Add a spoonful of the pumpkin mixture to the egg and stir (to gently heat up the egg without "cooking" it), then add the egg to the rest of the pumpkin mixture and mix well.
5. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix thoroughly. Pour the mixture into the prepared pan and spread evenly with a spatula. Bake for about 25 minutes until the edges are golden brown.
6. Let cool completely before cutting into bars.

Nutrition facts:
I cut these into 24 snack-sized bars, about 2" squares. One of these bars contains less than 4g sugar, more than 4g fiber, and nearly 8g protein! I know that both pumpkin seeds and sesame seeds (and tahini) are high in calcium, too, so I want to look up exactly how much calcium these provide (I'm usually low on calcium so I'm always trying to add more). They are a bit high in fat, but it's all super healthy fats, lots of omega-3s, and after all, higher fat means a more satisfying snack.

Question: Have you ever eaten or made a savory snack bar? What flavors would you like to see?

My Favorite Granola Bars

When I started graduate school I started trying to make various bars to help fuel my long days (I was also working part time). I tried baked bars, unbaked bars, crunchy, chewy, you name it. Ingredients from textured vegetable protein to applesauce to wheat germ came and went as I experimented to find the combination I liked best. After many many batches of different bars, I now have a formula that I can adjust depending on my mood and what ingredients I have on hand. 

Even though I'm done with school I still love these granola bars. They are great for travel, of course, but I frequently eat them for breakfast, usually with some nonfat or 2% Greek yogurt. They are incredibly hearty (nutrition facts at the end of the post if you're interested) and this keeps me full for hours.

I make a large batch of these, enough for two people to eat them for 2-3 weeks. You can easily cut the recipe in half and use a 9"x13" pan.

The first step is to chop 3-4 cups of nuts. I typically use almonds, walnuts and hazelnuts but you could also use macadamias, pecans, cashews, or pumpkin seeds, anything that can be toasted.  Add some buckwheat or quinoa if you like, and toast it all in the oven.

Mmm, nice and toasty.

Next you toast some oats and unsweetened coconut.

While these things are toasting, you mix together some other ingredients that will not get toasted, like dried fruit and various seeds. I like chia, hemp and flaxseeds but also sometimes add sesame seeds. I usually like to add some wheat germ, although I am (in theory) trying to cut back on wheat. I use a giant 8-quart bowl to mix the ingredients.

When the nuts and oats are toasted, add them to the giant bowl and mix everything together. Then, melt some butter and different liquid sweeteners until it bubbles for a couple of minutes, then add some almond butter or other nut butter. This binds everything together and makes the bars really chewy.

Stir and stir and stir until it's all mixed together.

Dump onto a 11"x17" pan that has been lined with wax paper and spread it around with a spatula. Then cover with another piece of wax paper and use a rolling pin to flatten them. 

When they are completely cool, cut them into bars. Store them in an air-tight container between layers of wax paper.

Rachel's Favorite Granola Bars

Makes one 11"x17" pan

Ingredients (more like a formula):

Toasted ingredients:

• 3-4 cups nuts, chopped
• 1/2 cup small grain or large seed, such as buckwheat, quinoa, or sunflower or pumpkin seeds
• 5 cups oats
• 3/4 cup shredded unsweetened coconut

Untoasted ingredients:

• 1 cup small seeds, such as flax, sesame, hemp, or chia (definitely recommend a mixture)
• 1/2 cup wheat germ (can substitute for more seeds or coconut)
• 1/2-1 cup dried fruit, your preference on type and amount. I prefer 1/2-3/4 cup, usually golden raisins or dried cranberries.

Liquid ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons butter, ghee, coconut oil, olive oil, walnut oil, etc., whichever you prefer
  
• 1 1/2 cups liquid sweetener, such as brown rice syrup, honey, golden syrup, maple syrup, molasses, whatever. I prefer using more than one type of sweetener, as it seems to make a chewier (and more interestingly flavored) bar.
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup nut butter, again, your choice here. I prefer almond as it has a mild flavor and doesn't overshadow the other ingredients.

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350F.
2. Chop all of the nuts, one cup at a time, and place on a 11"x17" baking sheet. Toast them, along with the small grain/large seed, at 350F for 8-10 minutes, stirring once or twice.  
3. Toast the oats (my oven is a piece of crap, you may be able to toast your nuts and oats at the same time) for another 8-10 minutes. After 3-5 minutes, add the coconut and toast it as well.
4. While you're toasting the other ingredients, mix together the small seeds, wheat germ and dried fruit in a very very large (at least 6 quarts) bowl. After the nuts and oats are cooled, add them to the bowl and mix together. Line that same 11"x17" baking sheet with wax paper, and set aside a second piece of wax paper of the same size.
5. Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add the liquid sweetener and heat until it starts to bubble, then let it simmer for about 2-3 minutes.
6. Take the pan off the heat and stir in the salt and the nut butter until it is completely blended. Pour over the dry ingredients and mix very well until thoroughly combined.
7. Pour the mixture into the prepared pan and spread fairly evenly with a spatula, pressing gently. Place the second piece of wax paper on top and use a rolling pin (or your hands, or a wine bottle) to flatten. When they are completely cooled, cut into bars. I cut them into 32 bars, but you could easily cut them smaller if you want bite-sized snacks.
8. Store in an air-tight container between layers of wax paper for up to 2 weeks (I have stored them for up to 3 weeks, their taste didn't suffer but they started to dry out).

Nerd time!

I love spreadsheets and keep a spreadsheet of all of my commonly used granola bar ingredients and their nutrition facts, acquired from either the package or NutritionData.com. Then I can keep a second spreadsheet with my current combination of ingredients and it calculates everything for me. Very handy. 

It also makes it easy to see how to change the ingredients in order to change the nutrition facts, such as using exclusively almonds (instead of other nuts) to increase the protein, cutting out the coconut to reduce the fat, or using more brown rice syrup and less honey to reduce the sugar. 

I'm thinking of trying a baked version with pumpkin and 1-2 egg whites. What's your favorite granola bar flavor? 

Apple Almond Muffin Cookies

I saw these on Oh Healthy Day and thought they sounded fantastic - seasonal with the apple, high in protein with the almond flour, and (most importantly) easy to make. I don't follow the paleo diet but I am trying to cut back on wheat flour, so I thought I'd give these a try.

Based on Maria's comments and my own preferences, I made a few changes, so I am posting the whole recipe below. The changes were designed to help the mixture stay together better and to have a texture more similar to flour-based baked foods, which is always a challenge when working with almond flour and coconut.

The first change was to add some oats into the mix. This means the recipe is no longer paleo, but I'm ok with that. I put the oats and coconut in my food processor in order to even out the texture.

This is what the oats and coconut looked like after about 20 seconds of processing. I might try processing longer next time.

Maria said hers turned out a little crumbly, so I tried chopping only half of the apple and shredding the other half to help the batter stick together. This seemed to help.

After baking, these were soft and warm like a muffin but with a tiny bit of crispiness around the edges. And easy to eat like a cookie.

I definitely to plan to experiment more with these! I can see a lot of possibilities for variations - pumpkin, banana walnut, etc.

Apple Almond Muffin Cookies
Adapted from KnitFit via Oh Healthy Day

Ingredients:

• 1 cup almond meal
• 3/4 cup finely shredded unsweetened coconut
• 1/4 cup oats
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp cardamom
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 eggs
• 1 tablespoon almond butter
• 1/4 cup brown rice syrup
• 2 tablespoons walnut oil
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon almond extract (optional)
• 1 large apple

Directions:

1. In a food processor, combine coconut and oats and process until finely ground (I would probably process longer next time)
2. Add almond meal, salt and spices and pulse a few times to mix.
3. In another bowl, mix eggs, almond butter, brown rice syrup, walnut oil and extracts. You may need to heat your almond butter slightly if it is very cold.
4. Peel the apple and cut it in half. Shred one half and cut the other half into a fine dice. Mix all of the apple into the wet ingredients.
5. Combine dry and wet ingredients and mix until just combined. Scoop scant 1/4 cups of the mixture onto a parchment-lined baking sheet, then bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for about 15-20 minutes until golden.

Travel Food

I had a short layover on my trip last week, too short to pick up lunch, so I brought a simple lentil salad to eat on the plane. I packed it in a disposable (recyclable) plastic container so I didn't have to worry about bringing it back with me.

I mixed some green lentils with some of my favorite balsamic-roasted delicata squash and a few toasted walnuts. I was inspired by Laura Jayne to mix tahini with yogurt for a dressing. I also added white wine vinegar and a touch of olive oil. A dollop of extra dressing on top. This was such a nice meal to have on hand during my flight!

Maybe because of all of the crappy weather this week, I was paranoid and brought tons of snacks just in case I got stuck in an airport for a while. I brought almond butter, an apple, a packet of oatmeal, a tiny packet of honey (for the oatmeal!), my water bottle, some chips, and some homemade granola bars (I will be sharing the recipe very soon!). I didn't end up eating half of this stuff but I'm okay with lugging around extra snacks when I travel.

Do you have any favorite travel snacks? 

Pumpkin Oat Bars

I bought a few cans of pumpkin puree over a month ago, and I haven't used any of it yet. Being the start of a new year and all, I wanted to make something healthy, with whole grains and minimal sweetener. I browsed other recipes for a while and combined a few.

Love Walnuts

Dry Ingredients

Wet Ingredients

All Together  Now

Fresh Out of the Oven

They turned out pretty well - I'm still going to experiment with the recipe a bit, but I like how hearty and chewy they are. They are moderately sweet, and I'm thinking molasses would be great as a substitute for either the brown rice syrup or the brown sugar.



Pumpkin Oat Bars
Inspired by Bob's Red Mill and Two Peas and Their Pod

Ingredients:

3 cups oats
1/2 cup wheat germ
1/4 cup ground flaxseed
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp cinnamon

3/4 cup pumpkin puree
1 egg
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup brown rice syrup
1/4 cup walnut oil (a mild olive oil would work too)

1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/3 cup dried cranberries

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350F. Line a 9x9 inch baking dish with lightly greased parchment paper.

In a medium bowl, whisk together dry ingredients (oats through spices). In a large bowl mix together the pumpkin, slightly beaten egg, sweeteners, and oil. Add the dry ingredients to the pumpkin mixture, mixing until just combined. Stir in the walnuts and cranberries.

Pour the batter into the prepared dish, using a spatula to level the top. Bake for 25-30 minutes until the center is set and the edges are barely golden. Let cool on a wire rack for 5 minutes, then remove from the pan and cut into bars.

Nectarine-Loganberry Yogurt Pops

 Over the summer I made several batches of ice pops all based on a single formula - yogurt, fresh fruit (frozen fruit works just as well), and a bit of sweetener if necessary. I like to use plain Greek yogurt to boost the protein content and also so I can customize the sweetness level to account for the sweetness of the fruit.

I had a couple of nectarines sitting around, so I made one last batch to celebrate a few days of nice weather. This time I used:

• 1 cup 2% plain Greek yogurt
• 2 medium nectarines, cut in 1" pieces (about 2 cups)
• 1 tbs loganberry jam
• 1 tbs honey

Directions: put the nectarines in a blender or food processor and blend/process for 20-30 seconds until mostly smooth. Add the yogurt, jam and honey and continue blending until it reaches your desired level of smoothness, scraping down the sides as necessary. Pour into ice pop molds. Freeze at least four hours. Run molds under warm water for 30 seconds before serving.