Chocolate Mudballs.

 

So yum, and the kids love making these too. A cross between chia snowballs and chocolate balls.

1/2 cup natural peanut butter
1/2 cup brown rice syrup (honey or agave)
1 1/2 cups puffed millet or brown rice krispies
1/2 cup oats
1/4 cup wheat germ (or ground flax)
2 tablespoons powdered cocoa
1/4 cup chocolate chips, optional
unsweetened flaked coconut, optional

Heat the peanut butter and brown rice syrup until melted.  In a separate bowl mix cereal, oats, wheat germ, cocoa, and chocolate chips (if using).  Roll into balls using about a tablespoon of mixture.  Roll in coconut or sesame seeds if desired.  Store in refrigerator.*Or add the coconut into the mixture, then roll.

from Simply Real Food

Sweet Potato-Peanut Soup with Nutmeg-Molasses Cream.

Someday I'll get my family to love sweet potatoes as much as I do. Until then, this soup will have to be shelved. Bummer.

Beanballs.

I use these for beanball subs and beanballs with tomato-balsamic gravy but figured they needed a post of their own.

1 (20-ounce) can kidney beans, rinsed and drained (about 3 cups)
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons steak sauce or tomato paste
2 tablespoons olive oil, plus additional for frying or baking
2 garlic cloves, grated or minced finely
1/4 teaspoon grated lemon zest
1/2 cup plain bread crumbs
1/4 cup vital wheat gluten
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme

Preheat oven to 375*F.

Mash the kidney beans in a mixing bowl until no whole beans are left. You don't want them to be completely smooth, you should still be able to recognize that they are kidney beans. Add the soy sauce, steak sauce/tomato paste, 2 tablespoons of the olive oil, the garlic, lemon zest, bread crumbs, wheat gluten, and herbs, and use a fork to mix everything together. Use your hands to kneed the mixture for about a minute, until everything is really well combined and firm.

Roll the bean mixture into walnut-size balls (I use a cookie scoop so they're all uniform). But don't make them too big; smaller makes for the best texture.

Grease a rimmed baking sheet with olive oil {i spray}. Place the balls on the sheet and then drizzle them with a little more oil, to coat {i spray a liberal coat}. Bake for about 15 minutes, until lightly browned on the bottom, then flip them and bake for another 10 minutes. Remove them from the oven.

Blueberry Pie Pancakes with Glaze.

I drool over most of the stuff on Chocolate Covered Katie... including these. Though her suggestion to top with her "Glazy Doughnut Glaze" is what had me. The stuff rocks. Not even close to my own personal achilles heel that I call a blueberry donut... but it's good to be healthy.

Blueberry Pie Pancakes
(makes 12)
1 1/2 cup blueberries (I used frozen mixed berries)
1 cup flour (ww pastry, white, spelt, Bob’s gluten-free, etc.)
1/2 cup rolled oats
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
3 tablespoons agave/sugar (omit if you don’t want sweet pancakes)
1 cup nondairy milk

If you don’t like the taste of fat-free pancakes, add 2 tablespoon coconut oil or vegan butter, and reduce milk by that amount.

Combine dry ingredients in a bowl, then add wet. Mix, but don’t overmix. Cook on an oiled (or sprayed) pan, on low-medium, flipping each pancake once.

Cover with G-lazy Glaze and serve.... yum!

G-lazy Glaze
2 tablespoons mashed banana
2 tablespoons unrefined coconut oil 

Combine the two ingredients, and melt. (I used a microwave for 14 seconds.) Then stir stir stir… keep stirring for at least a minute, until the watery mess turns thick and paste-y like frosting.

It seems so simple - so how could it taste so good? But trust me, it does!!

Black Bean Taco Salad With Lime Vinaigrette & Taco Bowls.

These yummy bowls is a recipe from my friend Brooke's blog, Simply Real Foods. I think I made them the day that I saw the recipe. Everyone loved them... and the only change I made was cutting the olive oil. Awesomeness Brooke, thanks!

If you can find a good whole wheat tortilla, when you toast them into bowls - the taste is nutty and totally adds to the overall flavors.

Vinaigrette
1/4 cup chopped tomato
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon grated lime peel
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 garlic clove, peeled


Salad
1 cup chopped tomato
1 large zucchini, chopped (and/or 1 cup chopped green pepper)
1/2 cup finely diced red onion
1 cup frozen corn, partially cooked, rinsed with cold water and drained
1 (15 ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 avocado, diced
lettuce greens, torn into bite-sized pieces or shredded
crushed tortilla chips or Taco Bowls (directions below)

vinaigrette: combine first 11 ingredients in a blender or food processor, process until smooth.

salad: combine all chopped veggies except lettuce. Pour vinaigrette over top and toss well to coat.

Serve on a bed of lettuce greens. Top with crushed tortilla chips or inside a taco bowl.

Baked Taco Salad Bowls
Whole wheat flour tortillas
cooking spray
salt

Preheat oven to 425*.  Place up to 6 tortillas between damp paper towels on a microwave safe plate and microwave for 30-45 seconds, until steamed.  Arrange 6 empty metal cans or mold of your choice on a large sheet cake pan.  Drape steamed tortillas over molds and press sides down to form folds.  Spray with cooking spray and sprinkle with salt if desired.

Bake taco salad bowls in oven for 7 minutes.  Remove taco bowls from forms and turn right side up on baking sheet.  Place back in oven for about 3 minutes.  Let cool on rack.  Repeat until desired amount of bowls have been baked.

Roasted Eggplant and Spinach Muffuletta Sandwich.

When first flipping through Veganomicon, the picture of this sandwich made me totally want to try it. With it's 70's film and all (seriously needed better photography for this book!). It looked interesting. It looked good. And I really want to like eggplant. 

It wasn't the eggplant that ruined it... it was all the salty olives. I should have listened to their little forward when it said, "Only olive lovers need apply!" I like them. But I surely don't love them. And I even halved them. Still way, way too salty.

I'm tempted to try it again, without all the olives. But it may take me a year. But at least the mashed potatoes were good (they were suppose to be steak fries, but the smashed craving won over).

Veganomicon, page 100

Rainbow Tomatoes and White Beans.

I drooled over this one in Everyday with Rachael Ray magazine... I love tomatoes, white beans, capers and pine nuts - so this was a shoo-in for me. But I knew I'd be the only one eating it (sadly, no one likes tomatoes in my family except for Nolan-and I don't think he was there yet when I first made this) and so I halved it. BIG mistake. I could have eaten it all in 2 lunches. The picture had me hooked again. I swear, good food photography will get me every time. 

from the magazine... so enticing, huh!?!?

2/3 cup chopped parsley
2 tablespoons drained capers, chopped
2 teaspoons red wine vinegar
1 large clove garlic, finely chopped
Salt and pepper
1/4 cup olive oil
1 lb. multicolored tomatoes (orange, yellow, green, red), cut into thin wedges
1 can (15 oz.) cannellini beans, rinsed
1/4 cup pine nuts

In a large bowl, combine the parsley, capers, vinegar, garlic, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper; whisk in the olive oil.

Add the tomatoes, cannellini beans and pine nuts and toss to coat. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.