Mochadoodles: Variation on a Theme

Last fall I posted a recipe for Mexican Snickerdoodle via The Post Punk Kitchen as inspired by The Ann Arbor People's Food Co-Op. This evening while I was napping, I dreamt that I made Mexidoodles with instant coffee (in the same vein as my Roti Boy recipe, so when I woke up, I decided to make them. I made some blondie ones and some choco ones, just because I wanted to see how the instant coffee behaved in the cookie (without being masked by the cocoa), but they both turned out well, so I'd advise you do the same. Makes about 18-20 cookies.

1/2 c. vegetable oil
1/4 c. maple syrup
1 t. vanilla extract
1 c. refined sugar
3 T. milk
2 t. (or 2 servings) of instant coffee crystals (I used crappy Kroger Brand)
1 t. almond milk
1 2/3 c. flour
1/4 c. cocoa powder.
1/4 t. salt
1/2 t. cinnamon

a couple more teaspoons of sugar and some cinnamon for the sugary topping.

Preheat oven to 350. Mix the oil, syrup, vanilla, sugar together. Dissolve the crystals in the almond milk, and add that. Stir briskly until blended. Slowly sift in the flour. Add in the baking soda, salt, cinnamon and just one heaping tsp of the cocoa powder. Set the rest of the cocoa powder aside. Stir until blending. Roll walnut-sized balls of dough, press into a mixture of cinnamon and sugar (ratio of your choice) and bake for about 7-10 minutes. The tops will get crackly. Be careful, as this recipe will turn crispy fast if you overcook them (I prefer chewy). After the first batch (9 cookies on my cookie sheet), add in the rest of the cocoa powder and finish the rest of the dough balls.

Yum.

"beer" battered "burger"

Going along with the below recipes, Sam and I have continued our deep-frying spree. I have balanced this spree with 4 miles a day of running, and eating Kashi Go Lean instead of other unhealthy food... because the amount of frying we've been doing could lead to obesity. Anyhow, VegNews ran a decent recipe this issue for beer battered tempeh fish, that we modified and made last night.

1 c. quinoa flour
1 T. baking powder
1.5 t. salt
1 t. cayenne pepper
0.5 t. garlic powder
0.5 t. black pepper
12 oz. something carbonated like beer(truth be told, we don't ever drink beer so we used lime seltzer...)
0.25 c. vinegar
1 T. agave
A dusting of cornstarch for the tempeh (0.25 c.?)
tempeh patties or strips- one package
hot sauce (optional)
oil for frying

Mix together flour, baking powder, seasoning with beer/carbonated beverage. It should be pancake batter consistency. Steam the tempeh for 5-10 minutes until it is thoroughly warmed. Combine agave and vinegar in a shallow dish. Wash over steamed tempeh. Warm oil over medium heat. Dust tempeh in cornstarch, dip in batter and fry until golden brown. This batter is awesome because it puffs up (as you can see in the picture... our patties were regular veggie-burger thickness).

Serve with hot sauce. A bunch of it.

Onion/Spinach Pakoras

Sam's sister got him this "Indian Street Food" book that is very, very tasty and most recipes can be veganized without too much trouble. The book is by a photographer, and I didn't read enough of it to see where she got the recipes. The pictures are great as well as the recipe.

We adapted the pakora recipe as follows:

-bag of frozen spinach, thawed
-onion large onion, coarsely chopped
-1.5 c. chick pea flour
-1/2 tsp baking powder
-2 t. chili powder (to taste)
-1 t. salt
-1 t. curry powder
-dash of cayenne to taste
-water
-vegetable oil for frying

mix the flour, seasonings, baking powder together. Add water until it is the consistency of cake batter (runny). Preheat the frying oil in a small pot over low-medium heat (depending on your stove... ours seems to be directly connected to the earth's core so we have to set it very very low since magma is very hot). Test the oil by dipping an onion in the batter and then holding it in the oil. It should sizzle around the edges immediately. Take some spinach and onion, about a pingpong ball size, and coat it in the batter. Drop it in the oil and fry for 3-4 minutes until golden brown.

The biggest challenges were getting the dough on the inside to cook thoroughly. if yours are raw in the middle, try 3 things: 1) reducing the heat on the oil, 2) making your pakoras a bit smaller, 3) watering down your batter a bit.

We dipped our in Sri Rocha with some curry powder and garlic salt mixed in.

Eat More Vegetables.

So, I bought a copy of Veg News the other day (because it had a vegan bucket list and the nerdy girl from The Big Bang Theory aka Blossom had an article in it) and read a statistic that only 26% of Americans eat 3 or more servings of vegetables a day. I didn't believe it, since they are pushing their radical vegan agenda, so I consulted the USDA website, and Healthy People 2010 fact sheets. It was TRUE and that totally grossed me out. The USDA also has some interesting (though sadly predictable) breakdowns of their data by gender, SES, income, age, and BMI. Here is a link to the USDA fact sheet I read: here (warning it's a 10 page PDF).

So, here are some recipes (aka my dinner tonight) for more vegetables. Probably my favorite vegetables. Besides spinach. And snap peas. And sprouts. And carrots.

Steamed Kale

Kale always intimidated me to cook because it's so chewy/tough, and I thought only level 8 night elf vegans were allowed to be good at kale. But I love it. The Detroit Zen Center has this totally badass raw kale/quinoa/sesame salad at their illegal supper clubs. They just started selling it at the food co-op but it's like $5.49 for one large serving, so I swallowed my kale fears and decided to just go for it.

-1 bunch kale
-1 c. water
-1 T. nutritional yeast
-1 t. sesame seeds
-1 T. Balsamic vinegar
-2 T. Bragg's (or soy sauce)
-splash of lime juice
-pepper and basil to taste

Rip all the kale off the tough stalks. Discard stalks. Rinse kale thoroughly and place in metal colander, that is set in a covered pot that has about 1.5 inches of boiling water at the bottom. Steam like that for 15-20 minutes. Mixed the nutritional yeast, sesame seeds, liquids, and spices in a little bowl and let set until the kale is done steaming. Test it-- it should be tender but not soggy. Remove from ghettosteamer and let set out in the open for a minute or 2 so some of the extra moisture can escape. Dump the kale into a large mixing bowls and stir in the seasoning liquid. I added about a teaspoon of water at this point, but I have no reason why.

Roasted Brussel Sprouts (aka Bruzzel Spruzzels)
-1.5 T. earth balance
-1 t. salt
-1 t. pepper
-cayenne pepper to taste
-garlic powder to taste
-1 16 oz carton of brussel sprouts.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cut the little butt-end off all the sprouts, and slice them all in half. Chop the 1.5 T. of earth balance up into some small squares and put them in a pan with the sliced sprouts-- either a pyrex baking dish, a loaf pan, or a cake pan. I always include all the little leaves that come off the sprouts while you chop them because they get crispy/brown/extra tasty and I like that. Throw the unmelted butter/sprouts into the oven for 3-4 minutes. Remove, stir up (the butter should be melted), and add seasoning. Return to the oven to coo for about 30 minutes (or until brown) stiring every 10 minutes or so so they brown evenly.

Baby Portabella Mushroom Pilaf
-1 carton baby portabella mushrooms
-1 T. earth balance
-3 T. Bragg's
-1-2 t. dried basil to taste
-pepper to taste
-1/4 c. cooked brown rice (more if you like rice... I don't)
-raw cashews for garnish (photo was taking pre-cashew garnish)

Melt the earth balance in a skillet on medium heat, add mushrooms and cook for about 5 minutes, reduce heat and add Bragg's, simmer for a little longer and add the seasoning to taste. For the last 2 minutes, stir in cooked rice. If you like rice, add more... I just don't much care for rice. I would've just ate the mushrooms except for all the extra liquid that needed soaking. Garnish with some chopped up raw cashews.