Black Rice Pudding

1 cup black rice
1 14oz can coconut milk
1 cup water
1/2 tsp salt
1 Tbs sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup blueberries

1) Rinse rice and soak in water overnight.
2) Drain rice and rinse again. Add to sauce pan with coconut milk, water and salt.
3) Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer for 50 minutes. Stir occasionally.
4) Reduce heat to low for an additional 10 minutes, or until the pudding has thickened.
5) Remove from heat and add sugar, vanilla and blueberries. Serve warm or chilled.

Review: I bought a bag of black rice at Trader Joe's, without any clue what to do with it! The website offered no suggestions, but the mobile app suggested rice pudding because black rice is a little sweet. I then stumbled upon a great vegan recipe, though it dramatically underestimated how long it takes to cook!! This was a labor of love, for sure. It can be made in a variety of ways. If dried fruit is desirable, add it in at the beginning so it cooks for the entire length of time. Fresh fruit, frozen fruit and nuts should be added at the end. This wasn't very sweet, and had a bit of a nutty flavor. We'll see if the rest of the family likes it tomorrow!

Gluten Free Banana, Coffee & Chocolate Scones

2 1/2 cups gluten free flour
2 tsp xanthan gum
3 Tbs King Arthur Flour cake enhancer (optional)
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 Tbs espresso powder
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 cup coconut milk (the kind in the can, not the carton)
1/2 cup honey
1 egg
2 overripe bananas, peeled & mashed
1 cup chocolate chips

1) Preheat the oven to 400F.
2) In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, xanthan gum, cake enhancer, baking powder, baking soda, salt, espresso powder and cinnamon. Set aside.
3) In a large liquid measuring cup, add the coconut milk and honey (should come up to 3/4 cup line). Add the egg and mix together.
4) Pour liquid mixture into bowl with dry ingredients. Mix thoroughly. Add bananas and again mix thoroughly. Stir in chocolate chips. The batter should be moist and without dry clumps.
5) Place batter into scone pan and bake for 22-24 minutes, until browned and internal temperature of 210F.

Review: These are amazing! Crispy on the outside, a little spongey on the inside. The banana, coffee and chocolate flavors are each well represented.

Adapted from:
http://ninjawoman.blogspot.com/2009/10/gf-sf-banana-muffins-with-carob-chips.html

Warm Lentil & Potato Salad

1 lb fingerling potatoes
1 shallot, diced
2 Tbs red wine vinegar
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbs dijon mustard
salt and pepper
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tsp capers, chopped
2 Tbs cornichons, chopped
1/2 cup fresh parsley, chopped
1 17.6 oz package of cooked lentils

1) Place potatoes in a large pot. Fill with water, ensuring at least an inch of water above the potatoes. Bring to a boil and cook for 5-10 minutes, until the potatoes can be easily pierced with a fork.
2) Meanwhile, in a large bowl, mix shallots and red wine vinegar. Set aside for five minutes.
3) Add to the large bowl: garlic, dijon mustard, dash of salt, few grinds of black pepper and olive oil. Whisk until well blended. Add capers, cornichons, lentils and parsley.
4) Once the potatoes are done, drain and chop them into 1/2-inch pieces. Add to large bowl and mix well. Serve warm.

Review: The original recipe called for cooking lentils with thyme, bay leaf and a shallot in the water. I much prefer to use the precooked lentils found in the produce section of Trader Joe's. It shaves time off of recipes and it's one less pot to clean! This recipe was not like typical potato salads. I found it to be more of a main dish and less of a side dish. It was spicy and had a bit of 'heat' to it. I loooooooove capers and cornichons, which only added to my pleasure. This was wonderfully tasty and fairly easy to make. It will definitely be made again!

Adapted from:
http://smittenkitchen.com/blog/2014/01/warm-lentil-and-potato-salad/

Avocado Sorbet

1 cup sugar
1 cup water
1 pinch salt
1 vanilla bean, split
4 ripe Hass avocados
1/2 cup lime juice

1) Bring sugar, water and salt to a boil in a saucepan; cook 1 minute, or until sugar dissolves. Remove from heat, and scrape seeds from vanilla bean into syrup (don't worry if they stick together), then add vanilla bean to syrup. Cool; remove vanilla bean from syrup, and reserve for another use.
2) Blend avocados 3 minutes in blender or food processor until very smooth. Add half of lime juice and blend until combined. Add remaining lime juice and then vanilla syrup; blend until smooth.
3) Chill, then churn in ice cream maker according to manufacturer's instructions. Transfer to 1-quart sized container and freeze at least 8 hours.

Review: I was too cheap/lazy to use real vanilla beans and substituted a 1/2 tsp of vanilla extract. It worked well. I did have difficulties in blending the avocados, which is no easy feat in a blender. Stick with using a food processor and it'll be much easier. As you can see from the picture, it doesn't look very appealing in color or texture. However, it is quite delightful. It has the creaminess of avocados, cut with a hint of sweet. I can't even taste the lime, which is likely just there to prevent the whole thing from turning brown. Unfortunately, I made this two days before my tonsillectomy and was told the day of surgery to avoid citrus juices. As I type this on 1/23/2014, I still haven't been cleared to eat this. I'm glad I sampled it while it was in the ice cream machine and can't wait to this weekend when I'll be in the clear to eat as much as I want!!

Adapted from:
http://www.vegetariantimes.com/recipe/avocado-sorbet/

Hibiscus-Blackberry Popsicles

1 hibiscus tea bag
1/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup blackberry juice

1) In a small saucepan, heat 1 cup water until just bubbling (not a full boil). Remove from heat and add hibiscus tea bag. Steep for five minutes.
2) Remove tea bag and mix in sugar. Stir until sugar is fully dissolved.
3) Pour in blackberry juice and stir to mix.
4) Pour into popsicle molds and freeze for at least 8 hours.

Review: In preparation of getting my tonsils out (1/8/2014), I planned to make popsicles and sorbets ahead of time. I found a wonderful recipe for a hibiscus-blackberry sorbet. However, the instructions stated the blackberries needed to be pureed in a food processor, but without chopping the seeds. HOW?! The seeds and pulp would later be strained off, but I couldn't figure out how to prevent cutting up the seeds. So, instead I decided to tweak the recipe idea and come up with a popsicle recipe. The hibiscus tea I used was from Republic of Tea, but it seems a lot of recipes call for Red Zinger. I don't like using Red Zinger because I read stuff about Celestial Seasoning's use of pesticides, but also it has a lot of added flavors. Republic of Tea's hibiscus tea has fewer ingredients. It also has Stevia in it, so I think I could get away with making this without sugar. For the blackberry juice, I used Trader Joe's Blackberry Crush. It has other juices, but still has a strong blackberry flavor (and is totally affordable). The end result was a flowery, berry flavor. It's amazing.

Adapted from:
http://www.vegetariantimes.com/recipe/blackberry-hibiscus-sorbet/

Almond Cake

3 cups almond meal
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp sea salt
2 large eggs
1/2 cup maple sugar
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
6oz container of vanilla cultured coconut milk ("yogurt")
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup sliced honey roasted almonds

1) Preheat oven to 350F. In a mixing bowl, combine almond meal, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
2) In a separate bowl, mix eggs and sugar together using a hand blender on medium speed until creamy consistency is achieved. Thoroughly combine applesauce, cultured coconut milk and vanilla with the egg mixture. Add to almond meal and mix to create batter.
3) Lightly spray a 9" round cake pan (or springform pan) with baking spray. Add batter and top with sliced honey roasted almonds. Bake for 30 minutes.

Review: This recipe uses maple sugar, which Trader Joe's used to carry at an affordable price. However, they no longer carry it and Whole Foods sold it for about $16. Eesh. I read online that I could substitute the entire amount with maple syrup, or just add some maple extract to regular sugar. I didn't have maple extract and figured maple syrup wouldn't work in a cake. So, I used 3/8 cup sugar and 1/8 cup maple syrup. My cake sunk in the middle and was moistly dense. I think it would have been more cake-like if I'd just skipped the maple component (not like I tasted it anyway!). This was a big hit with the family. It wasn't very gritty and had a wonderful almond flavor.

Adapted from:
http://www.traderjoes.com/Recipes/recipe/174

Holiday Quinoa

1 cup quinoa
2 cups water
2 cups frozen chopped kale
1 1/2 cups fresh cranberries
3 Tbs extra virgin olive oil
2 Tbs honey
1/2 cup pistachios
1/2 cup mint, fresh
1/2 cup pomegranate arils

1) Bring 2 cups of water to a boil in a medium saucepan. Add quinoa and return to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to low and continue to cook until the water is gone and quinoa is cooked (about 12-15 minutes).
2) Add frozen kale to still warm quinoa and mix, allowing the kale to fully defrost. Set aside to cool.
3) In a food processor, add cranberries, pistachios, mint, olive oil and honey. Pulse until chopped into medium sized chunks.
4) In a large bowl, mix the contents of the saucepan and food processor. Add pomegranate arils and mix gently. Refrigerate and serve cold.

Review: A similar recipe was circulating the internet/pinterest/facebook and my mother-in-law sent it to me. I tried it and thought it was tasty, but there were too many competing flavors. I tweaked it and focused on the colors being only red and green so I could serve it for Christmas. This was a much better flavor combination and was liked by many. It was super easy and quick to make (I also made stuffing and a pie). It's sweet and tangy, and a lot healthier than most holiday fare!

Adapted from:
http://familyspice.com/recipes/recipe/?recipe_id=570