Peachy Keen Green

We bumped into Elsa the other evening on a walk, and asked how she uses  Candied Buddha's Hand . She makes biscotti! Larry turned to me and said, "Biscotti, please." I found a recipe for vegan orange almond biscotti by Minimalist Baker  and made a few small adaptations (like adding orange juice as holycowvegan does). After experimenting with various flours (whole wheat, almond, and oat flour), eventually I landed on just white flour and cornmeal, which holds together well and is still yummy! Ingredients Wet: 1/2 C vegan butter 3/4 C sugar 2 flax eggs (2 T flax meal, 6 T warm water) 1 tsp vanilla extract Zest from 1 orange Juice from 1/2 orange Dry: 1 3/4 C flour  1/2 C fine cornmeal 1 1/2 tsp baking powder 1/4 tsp sea salt 1/2 C sliced almonds, toasted 1/2 C  candied buddha's hands  (optional) 3/4 C chocolate chips (optional) Instructions Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Mix flax eggs in a small bowl and set aside to gel for a few minute...

Our friends Pat and Allen have a Buddha's Hand Tree, and offered us a chance to harvest a couple of the fruits! Pat also shared her recipe for delicious candied Buddha's citron. It's yummy as candy or in cookies -- and it makes your kitchen smell heavenly as you cook it up.  Ingredients 1-2 Buddha's hand citron, washed well, and chopped (as described below). For every 3 C chopped buddha's hand (I often have 6-9 C), use: - 2 C water (takes longer to reduce the more water you use) - 3 C granulated sugar (sometimes I use 2 C and it seems to work fine) Instructions Dice the citron, taking care to use only the portions that include the zest and some pith. Discard interior pith portion that has no zest. Option: To reduce cooking time below, place diced citron in saucepan covered with water, bring to boil and simmer 30-40 min; drain. Put candy thermometer in a pan, add the diced citron and the water and sugar. Put it on medium heat and wait for it to boil, stirring...

Jeff made some delicious sweet potatoes for Thanksgiving in Nebraska. We ate them so fast that a couple days later I asked him to help me make them again, and I took pictures. I made them again for Christmas, slightly tweaked to include vegan butter - a nice addition. Here's the super easy, yummy recipe! Ingredients 2 lb bag of sweet potatoes 2 T vegan butter 1/2 cup vegetable broth 1/3 cup brown sugar (not packed) salt & pepper Instructions Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Peel the sweet potatoes and cut them up in large chunks. Put in large baking pan all on one layer (not stacked). Add vegetable broth and grind fresh salt and pepper over them. Cover with foil and bake for 50 minutes. Remove from oven and sprinkle on brown sugar. Put back in oven without foil cover for another 15 minutes. Remove and eat!

Shelley shared a delicious chocolate pudding with us today, packed with healthy ingredients! It's super easy to make, too. She recommends a dark cocoa like Hershey's Dark or Guittard Dutched Cocoa rather than regular cocoa, as it makes it taste more fudgy. She also used TJs soy creamer because she thinks it tastes more neutral than nut milks or coconut creamers. I used this recipe to make a pudding pie, and that was also delish! I vote for graham cracker crust if you go the pie route. Ingredients 1 really big yam (or two medium yams) 2 T almond butter 4 T soy creamer (or nondairy milk) 4 T dark cocoa powder  5 pitted dates If making pie version: Pie crust (regular or graham cracker) sliced strawberries powdered sugar glaze made with 1 T melted vegan butter and 1 T rum Instructions Wash the yam, but don't peel it. Roast yam at 425 until syrup leaks out, up to 1 hour 20 minutes. Let it cool, and then carefully peel off the skin. Mix the yam and other ingre...

A vegan variation on a cake recipe by my college roommate Elizabeth, with orange promoted to a primary flavor -- increasing the zest in the cake from 1/2 tsp to at least a tablespoon, and adding a very zesty orange glaze. Yum! Larry loved it. And as cakes go, it's fairly healthy, with whole wheat flour, apples, and walnuts as main ingredients and not much oil. Ingredients Wet: 1/2 cup soft vegan butter (or oil is ok) 1 1/4 cup brown sugar 2 flax eggs (2 T flaxmeal, 6 T water) 3/4 cup dairy-free milk + 1 tsp vinegar 2 cups applesauce OR pureed apple 1 tsp vanilla 1 T grated orange or tangerine rind Dry: 3 cup whole wheat flour, or a mix of whole grains 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa 1/2 tsp salt 2 tsp baking powder 1 tsp soda 1 tsp cinnamon 1/2 tsp allspice 1/2 tsp nutmeg 1+ cup chopped walnuts Glaze (optional) 1 cup powdered/confectioners sugar 1+ tsp orange zest (I like more!) 2+ T orange juice (additional water, as needed) Instructions Preheat the oven to 3...

Figs! We have so many figs. Larry is picking a dozen a day, scrambling onto the roof to get half of them from the top of the tree. During an afternoon get-together, Shuchi tells us that she gets a lot of different fruits off her trees and dries them -- the sugar concentrates, and they taste like candy! She keeps them in jars on her counter and they snack on them for days. So we bought a Cuisinart dehydrator  and tried it out with some figs and pears and other fruits. Figs are pretty juicy and took a lot longer to dry than the others, so we decided they were better when cut into smaller sizes, and perhaps dried by themselves - or if you do other fruits, just check the others earlier. Ingredients Fresh figs, a dozen or more Instructions Figs are pretty juicy, so slice them into quarters at minimum, and into eighths if you can (i.e., they still have integrity). Place them on dehydrator shelves, skin side down so they don't stick to the shelf. We put our dehydrator on our outdoor...

We've had some really good buffalo cauliflower at Vegenation in Las Vegas, and I finally got around to trying to make it. It was tasty! Here's what a did - which is a combination of a recipe in Vegan Comfort Classics and some recipes I found on the web, like  this one that has a nice video . Yum! Ingredient s 1 large (or 2 small) head cauliflower 2 cups bread crumbs 1/2 cup wheat germ (optional) Batter: 3/4 cup flour 2 tsp garlic powder 2 tsp onion powder (optional) 1 tsp cumin 1 tsp paprika 1/2 tsp each salt & pepper 1 1/3 cup nondairy milk Buffalo sauce: 2 T vegan butter 1/4 cup Sriracha (or more; 1/3 ?) 1/4 cup ketchup 1 T maple syrup Ranch dressing: 1/2 cup vegan mayo 2 tsp apple cider 1 T chopped fresh dill or 2 tsp dried 1 T chopped chives 1 tsp onion powder (optional) 1/4 cup nondairy milk (optional; if you like it a little thinner; I do) salt and pepper to taste chopped chives for topping (optional) Instructions Clean and cut up the ...

Last month we went for a walk on the beach near Half Moon Bay, where Larry proposed 22 years ago. Along the way, we came across a small tapas place and had some delicious  gazpacho. Googling for a good recipe, I came across this Best Gazpacho  in the New York Times that looks just like what we had. I tried this with a regular green pepper, sherry vinegar, some scallions and tomatoes from our garden, and cucumber from our neighbor Elsa's garden. We used our Ninja blender, didn't strain it, and only chilled 15 minutes. It was delish! Ingredients 2 pounds ripe red tomatoes 1 long, light green pepper (e.g., cubanelle) if you can get it - or a regular green bell pepper is ok 1 cucumber, about 8 inches long, partly peeled 1 small mild onion (white or red) 2 cloves garlic 1 tsp salt (some may want more) 1/2 tsp cumin (optional!) 2 tsp sherry vinegar (or substitute with a sweet white, apple, or rice wine vinegar) 1/3 C extra-virgin olive oil Instructions Cut tomatoes, ...

We have SO many blackberries we can't keep up. I started putting cups and cups of them in bags in our freezer - which is getting WAY too full. I got an idea: What if I try to use up some of these by making a blackberry syrup? I found this recipe for homemade blackberry syrup from daring gourmet . Oh. My. Flying. Spaghetti. Monster. It's incredible . I'll NEVER complain about too many blackberries again! The following recipe (slightly adapted with a bit less sugar) makes about 1.5 cups syrup. Try it over pancakes or (vegan) ice cream! Double if you can! Oh, and put on an apron -- or wear clothes you don't mind getting stained! Ingredients 4-5 cups blackberries (fresh or frozen) 1 cup extra fine sugar 1 T lemon juice 1 tsp pectin Instructions Place the blackberries in a medium-sized pot and bring them to a boil over medium-high heat.  Once boiling, reduce the heat and simmer for 15-20 minutes until very soft and mushy.  Remove from heat and mash with a potato ...

Shelley followed up the wonderful mango guacamole with a fresh pea soup and this fantastic masala lentil salad , which is pretty easy to make if you buy the lentils & arugula ready to eat at trader Joes. Roast the carrots ahead of time and toss it all together! Ingredients 1 1/2 pounds carrots, sliced into 1/2-inch rounds 2 T olive oil 1 T maple syrup 1 1/2 tsp ground cumin 1 cup lentils (use precooked from Trader Joe's) 2 cups packed baby arugula Salt and freshly ground black pepper (optional) 1/3 cup chopped fresh mint leaves Masala Dressing: 3 T extra-virgin olive oil 1 clove garlic, minced 1 tsp minced ginger 1 tsp garam masala 2 T apple cider vinegar 1/2 tsp salt Freshly ground black pepper (optional) Pomegranate molasses OR squeeze some juice out of pomegranate seeds (optional) Toasted pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, or pine nuts Instructions Roast carrots: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Put the carrots in a large bowl. Drizzle with the oil and map...

Shelley made this mango guacamole and served it with pita chips and sliced jicama. Delish! Ingredients 3 large avocados, peeled and pitted 1 small red onion, chopped 1 mango - peeled, pitted, and chopped 1 lime, juiced 1 tablespoon minced garlic 1 tablespoon salt 3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro For serving: pita chips sliced jicama Instructions  Mash avocados in a medium bowl to a lumpy consistency. Mix onion, mango, lime juice, garlic, salt, and cilantro into avocado.

Wanda shared a chocolate chip apricot bar recipe with me more than a decade ago, when I made it for our SRI chili cookoff and it won best dessert! The recipe is adapted from a  Gourmet 1995  recipe. I forgot about it until yesterday, when I was thinking about what dessert to take to a neighbor's barbecue. I mentioned to my dad that I thought I'd take cookies, and he said, "Chocolate chip? Those would disappear!" He's right! But this is an interesting twist on that -- with just a tweak to the butter to make it vegan, and reducing the brown sugar a bit (it's pretty sweet as is). Ingredients For apricot filling: 6 oz dried apricots (~1 cup packed), chopped fine 1/4 cup granulated sugar 3/4 cup water 1 teaspoon vanilla For chocolate chip mixture: 1 1/3 cups pecans  1 cup all-purpose flour 1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips  1/2 to 2/3 cup vegan butter (like Miyokos or Earth Balance) ...

I made these cookies to bring to Munira & Vinod's for dinner because I know they love ginger. The recipe is a cross between my grad roommate Elizabeth's Molasses Crinkles and Vegan with a Vengeance's Sparkled Ginger Cookies. I put in more ginger than called for in either. They were really good! But Munira said add more ginger - and use fresh ginger! Don't be shy. (Elizabeth's had 1 tsp dry ginger; Vengeance had 3 tsp; I tried 2 tsp dry + 2 T ginger paste, and then later, just changed to using all fresh grated ginger!). Makes about 3 dozen cookies. Sometimes I double it and freeze some (as formed raw cookie dough dipped in sugar) to bake later. Ingredients 2 C flour 2 tsp baking soda 1/4 tsp salt 1 tsp cinnamon 1/2 tsp cloves Wet: 3+ T fresh grated ginger (or 3 tsp ground) 1/2 C canola oil or vegan butter 1/4 C molasses 1/4 C soy or almond milk 1 C brown sugar 1 tsp vanilla extract Topping: granulated sugar (coarse if you have it) Instruction...