Dairy-Free Zucchini Bread

I've been experimenting with coconut oil in my baking lately as a substitute for butter and shortening. It's naturally dairy-free and avoids the trans-fats in margarine. And--I was happy to discover--doesn't seem to make everything taste like coconut.

On a side note, we always have unrefined coconut oil in the house because I regularly use it to moisturize my daughter's super curly hair. I'm not sure what seems odder to me: that I use a food item on her hair, or that I cook with a hair product.

This is a basic zucchini bread using coconut oil, with a little whole wheat pastry flour slipped in for that whole grain goodness. Best enjoyed on the deck in the morning sun with a cup of good coffee.

Recipe below; printable version here.

Quinoa Salad with Sugar Snap Peas

Lots of sugar snap peas in the box lately! We eat most of them raw, nibbled as snacks or accompanying meals. But I've been looking for other uses for them.

This quinoa salad seemed like a simple summer side dish, one that would taste good cold. It went together fairly quickly.

Blanch snap peas and cut into one inch segments

Boil up some quinoa and let cool to room temperature

Toss quinoa and peas together with chives,
pumpkin seeds and a vinaigrette

I don't know what I was thinking when I pulled this recipe. I like quinoa, I like snap peas, I like olive oil...but I don't much like vinegar (with the notable exception of sea salt and vinegar Kettle Chips). This recipe uses a healthy chug of white wine vinegar as a major flavor. So why was I surprised not to like the taste of this salad much?

The Husband said it was good. The Girl seemed to like it. You'll have to take their word for it.

Recipe below; printable version here.

Cooking with Kids: Watermelon-Raspberry Slush

The Boy love love loves finding his monthly Highlights High Five magazine in the mail. Seriously one of the most genius Christmas gifts he's gotten (thank you Great-Grandma!).

It often includes a kid-friendly recipe that preschoolers can make (with a little adult help, of course). The August issue featured raspberry-watermelon slush. Think convenience store icees, only without the high-fructose corn syrup and artificial colors. In fact, this one uses nothing but fruit and a touch of lemon juice.

Blend 1/2 cup raspberries...	...with 2 cups watermelon and a splash of lemon juice.
Freeze in a 2 quart dish...	...stirring with a fork every 30 minutes.

After about 90 minutes it was thick and slushy, ready to be dished up. So tasty on a warm summer evening! And The Boy was so proud that he had made us all dessert.

A healthier berry crisp

Fruit crisps are delightful all year round, don't you think? Warm apples in the autumn, tart berries over ice cream in the summer. And so easy to make, which always scores a dessert a gold star in my book.

This particular crisp is dairy-free, so The Girl can enjoy it, too. With the usual generous butter in the topping side-stepped, it also becomes low-fat: four grams fat per serving, compared to twelve in my standard fruit crisp recipe.

Mix fruit together with brown sugar and tapioca	Combine oats, flour, brown sugar and cinnamon for the topping
Stir together with egg white, vanilla, juice and just a bit of oil	Coat berries with topping, bake and enjoy!

Recipe below; printable version here.

(PS I like to double the cinnamon and add a touch of nutmeg.)

Baked Egg Rolls

I was scheming up ways to use up the other half of the Napa cabbage, when I thought of egg rolls. One my my favorite appetizers! I haven't the foggiest idea how to deep fat fry (nor the inclination to learn), so I hunted down a baked egg roll recipe to try.

Sorry about the blurry pictures!

Begin by pulsing celery and carrots in a food processor until finely chopped. Mix in shredded cabbage and throw into the microwave to steam. (The recipe suggested covering the mixture with plastic wrap, but the thought of microwaving plastic was a little worrisome to me, so I put an upside down bowl on top instead. It seemed to work just fine.) While the cabbage mixture is steaming, begin sautéing onions, ginger and garlic in a large skillet. I doubled the amount of ginger and garlic, because the original struck me as a little conservative on those flavors.


Add ground turkey (or pork) and continue cooking. When the meat is cooked through, add the cabbage mixture and stir in soy sauce and ground pepper. Chill briefly.


Time to roll! The original recipe gave tedious rolling instructions that involved cutting off the two side corners. Who has the patience for that sort of detail on an egg roll? I did a couple the recipe's way, but didn't see any advantage to it, so I switched to a different method: add filling to the bottom quadrant, fold bottom corner towards center, fold side corners toward center, roll up toward the top corner and seal with a brushing of egg white.


And you have one small egg roll.

Lay the rolls seam side down on a greased baking sheet, brush with oil and bake until golden brown.  Serve warm with your favorite dipping sauce.

I measured out the three tablespoons of filling per wrapper just as the recipe called for and ended up with eight rolls, a far cry from the fourteen it claimed to make. They were delicious, although they definitely tasted like egg rolls made with ground turkey instead of the more common chicken or pork--a touch of the healthy vibe, if you know what I mean.

I froze a set of uncooked egg rolls as an experiment. If they freeze well, this could be a great way to preserve cabbage--especially since baking in the summer isn't always the most attractive option. When I try baking them, I'll let you know how it goes!

Recipe below or printable version here.

Pasta With Beans and Greens

I had never tried pairing pasta with beans as a main dish until earlier this year. (Pasta e fagioli, if you're feeling fancy.) But when I saw a few versions while cookbook browsing, I was intrigued.

Together, the grains and beans are a complete protein source, making it a tidy meatless meal.

It's a simple two-pot dish. In one pot, cook up some chunky pasta, some shape that can hold its own against the beans. We picked orecchiette, which looks like adorable wee turtle shells. The name actually means "small ear," but the thought of a bowl full of ears squigs me out. I'm sticking with turtle shells.

Meanwhile, get some garlic and onions going in a skillet.

Add chopped greens and cook, covered, for a few minutes. Add beans and basil and cook for a few minutes more.


Toss with the pasta and squeeze a lemon over it all to counter the bitterness of the greens. Although the recipe didn't call for it, we added a little grated Parmesan.

The kids were smitten with the orecchiette. "It's helmets, Mama! Little construction helmets! Like Bob the Builder," said The Boy. "Hats!" cried The Girl. But they diligently picked over every single bean and bit of kale on their plates, so it was kind of a failure in that regard. The new score: me: 1; kale: 1.

The Husband and I gave it a B. Although I liked the touch of lemon in this recipe, we have a version that uses tomatoes that I like better. But it was worth a try.

Recipe below; printable version here.

Homemade refried beans

Since I learned how to cook and freeze dried beans we've pretty much stopped buying canned beans. So much cheaper and no worries of BPA nastiness. But it never occurred to me to make our own refried beans until another blogger mentioned it.

We gave it a try the other month and, holy smokes, I think I'm ruined for canned refried beans forever. Not only was it less expensive to make our own, but they tasted so much better. Now we've got a  few frozen batches stashed away and ready to go the next time burrito night rolls around. A pint container holds about the same amount as a standard can.

I'm still experimenting with some different recipes, but the one below is the one we are using at the moment. It's a mild, plain flavor, just like you want out of your basic refried beans. It suggests smashing the beans with a potato masher, but I like going at them with my immersion blender instead. Much more like the familiar texture of the canned version that way!

Now to figure out how to recreate the green chile and lime refried beans. Mmmm.

Recipe below; printable version here.

Freezing pizza dough

Homemade pizza has become something of a weekly tradition in our house. The kids love it and making it at home lets us have a dairy-free version for The Girl (hello, soy "mozzarella"!). It's a fair sight cheaper--and less greasy--than ordering it in, too.

After experimenting with some different healthier crust recipes, I settled on a favorite from one of my Moosewood Cookbooks.  It's low on sugar and oil, uses some whole wheat flour without tasting too "healthy," and incorporates rolled oats for a little bit of texture. I typically make it that day in our bread machine using the Dough setting. But when I have more time--or an antsy child who needs to work out some energy pounding dough--I make up a big batch and freeze it in dinner-size portions.

Mix the yeast with warm water and set it aside to do its bubbly thing. The recipe calls for a teaspoon of sugar, but sometimes I feed the yeast with a half-teaspoon of honey instead.

Now you get to make your own oat flour! Whirl rolled oats in a blender or food processor until they've become a coarse flour. I like to leave it pretty chunky for the texture it gives the dough.

By this point your yeast should be foamy and ready. Add the oat flour, whole wheat flour, salt, olive oil and enough of the white flour to make a stiff dough. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead until stretchy and smooth, about ten minutes, adding more flour as needed. This is a great time to get the kids involved! Little fists are great for pounding on dough.


You know the drill: put the dough in a greased bowl, cover and set in a warm place until doubled in size.


Time to punch down the dough--The Boy's favorite step! If you're using it right away, roll out your crust and get your pizza on. If freezing, work quickly to wrap it up and pop it into the freezer before it starts to rise again. I wrap it in plastic wrap then put the frozen dough balls into a freezer zipper bag. If I pull the frozen dough out in the morning and leave it on the counter, it's ready to use by dinner time. If you were more on top of things than I am, you could probably defrost it overnight in the refrigerator instead. Frozen bread dough usually lasts just fine about three months in the freezer.

This recipe makes a little over a pound of dough, which makes a 12-inch crust (a medium at most pizza places). It's just a bit more than enough for one meal our family--the Girl puts away more pizza than I do!

Recipe below, or view a printable version here.

Banana Bundt Cake

I cleaned out our kitchen freezer the other day and found several frozen, shriveled bananas. You know, the dark overripe ones you toss in the freezer thinking you'll do something with them later? I decided it must be later.

I'd show you a picture of my frozen banana stash, but overripe bananas gross me out a little. I just have to remind myself of the tasty baked goods that come of them!

The Girl's dairy allergy always has me on the lookout for dairy-free cake recipes. I do a lot of substituting for milk and butter in other recipes, but one that's dairy-free from the beginning always has the best chance of success.

We love this Banana Bundt Cake. It's not only dairy-free, but fairly low fat. One slice has just 140 calories and a little under 6 grams of fat. Not too shabby for tasty cake. The mashed bananas and applesauce make up for the small amount of oil. It's dense enough to eat from your hand (great for picnics). If you want to dress it up, you can brush on a basic glaze.

Yum!

Recipe below.