Brown rice crispy treats

Last week we made a great healthy version of the old marshmallow rice krispy treats recipe you might have eaten as  a child. (Think kelloggs).  Our version is high in protein, has no high fructose corn syrup, is marshmallow free and vegan!! 

What more could you ask for??

oh yes, it was delicious!

Here is the recipe.

Brown Rice syrup and nut butter rice Crispy Treats

Ingredients

2/3 cup of almond butter or cashew butter or peanut butter

2/3 cup of brown rice syrup

6 cups of brown rice crispy cereal or puffed rice cereal

2 teaspoons of vanilla extract

optional:

( Chocolate chips or dried fruit 1/2 cup or more)

**(I used dried blueberries and shredded coconut)

Directions

Put your nut butter, rice syrup, and vanilla into a small sauce pan and heat over a low heat until the mixture becomes warm and syrup like.  ( a few minutes)

While your nut butter  and syrup are heating, spray a large bowl with a little cooking spray before adding the rice cereal.  Pour the nut butter syrup over the cereal and combine until all of the rice crispies are evenly coated .  (You can use a spatula or even your hands) 

*If you are adding dries berries or fruit, add them now.  If you are adding chocolate chips, wait until the combined rice and syrup mixture has cooled a bit so that the chips do not melt.

Transfer the mixture into a baking dish (like a Pyrex) that has been lightly coated with non-stick cooking spray or use parchment paper on a cookie sheet/tray (which is what i used).  Pat them down tightly on all sides including the top and form into a rectangle.  Cut into squares once they have cooled.

YUMMMMM!  Even better than the ol' marshmallow recipe and so good for you!.

**We added with a spatula some of that melted brown rice syrup and nut butter mixture over the top of the cooled rectangle and sprinkled shredded coconut over the top and it was fabulous!!! 

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Perfect roasted chestnuts

We adore chestnuts here. I would love it if we had a fireplace and we could roast them over an open fire. But that's ok. The oven is just as good!
The other day we found an actual chestnut tree in one of our walks!
We collected these and I did not know that chestnuts actually were encased in these pods! Very neat!




After roasting them so often, I think we actually have the perfect roasting tip. So if you would like to try this ... Here is how.

Score each chestnut on the top with an "x". Try not to go too deep or the nut will totally split in the oven but make sure that the x is big so that the skins will peel.



Place on a cookie sheet with the scored tops "up".
*Sprinkle the chestnuts with water . This is actually a great tip I got from the Internet. It keeps them from drying out.

Bake at 400* for about 25-30 minutes. BUT Check at 20 minutes, at 25 and at 30. Each oven is different and you want them to be soft on the inside but not dry.




Delicious !!
I like to eat them plain but I hear people like to sprinkle them with all kinds of seasonings like salt, cayenne or even curry powder .




Soooo good!!
Enjoy!!


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Vegan almond cookies

I used to work in Chinatown in NYC teaching and one of my loveliest memories were visiting the Chinese bakeries with friends. I remember my kids bringing in goodies to class like pork buns, coconut buns, scallion pancakes and sesame cookies . Everyday before and after work I visited the corner bakery on Henry St for breakfast or snacking. Mmmmm. Fond memories. I learned a lot about food, family, and friendship during those years... and perhaps even the art of asking in restaurants... "what exactly is inside that?".

Recently I came upon this recipe for vegan almond cookies that totally took me back to those
years. I thought I'd share it.
It is slightly sweet, slightly salty and just the right crispy texture for sweet memories of moon cakes, Chinese new year and friends who are now far away west.

Enjoy!


Vegan almond cookies
From "veganomicon" by Isa Chandra Moskowitz.

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup almond meal
1 1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup canola oil
1/4 cup brown rice syrup
1/4 cup rice or soy milk
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp almond extract
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp toasted sesame oil
1/3 cup sliced blanched almonds

Preheat oven to 350*

-Place parchment paper on 2 cookie sheets.
-Sift together the flour, almond meal, baking soda and salt in one bowl.
-In a large bowl or your kitchen aid mixer, beat together the oil, brown rice syrup, rice or soy milk, sugar, extracts and sesame oil.
-Add the flour mixture in and mix until a firm dough forms.
-Roll the dough into balls using about 2 tb of dough a piece.
-Press one side of the ball into the sliced almonds . And place them on the cookie sheet at least 2" apart, almond side up.
-Flatten each ball slightly to about 1 " thick.
-Bake for 12 to 15 minutes , until slightly golden brown at the edges. Let them cool for at least 10 minutes before removing them from the cookie sheets . The cookies will be soft when they first get out of the oven but will firm up while cooling.

(before baking...)





(after baking!)

Vegan meat balls

Here's another great recipe from my recent favorite cookbook, "veganomicon".
This is a recipe for vegan meatballs... a.k.a Bean balls!
Though the recipe calls for using regular wheat spaghetti, I decided to use a spaghetti squash for the noodles and the result was fantastic !!
For those of you who have never attempted to cook a spaghetti squash, I am including a how-to.




To make the bean balls you need:

1 (20 oz) can of black beans
Rinsed and drained
2 tb soy sauce
2 tb tomato paste
2 tb olive oil
2 cloves of garlic grated or finely minced
1/4 tsp grated lemon zest
1/2 cup plain bread crumbs
1/4 cup vital wheat gluten
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp dried thyme
*I also added some finely chopped onion.

-Mash the beans in a bowl until no whole beans are left.




-Add all of the ingredients into the bowl with the beans and knead by hand for about a minute, until everything is really well combined and firm.




-Roll the mixture into walnut sized balls. ( do not make them too big, they will be difficult to cook.)




-Put a bit of olive oil to coat the whole pan and cook them at medium heat until they are browned . Remember to flip them and cook the other sides.




(Here they are cooked)




Now, to bake the spaghetti squash...

-Slice the spaghetti squash in half. Gently scoop out all the seeds from the inside.




-Bake (inside down/ peel up) in a pre-heated oven at 375* for about 45 to 50 minutes. (Depends on your oven. Mine heats too quickly, so I need less time.)




- Once the squash cools a bit, use a fork to scrape the spaghetti strands off from the squash. You can do that by pulling the fork away from the peel. It is actually quite amazing !! All these spaghetti like stands !!!!







I added a homemade marinara sauce using San Marzano tomatoes and called the dish "veggie spaghetti and bean balls". The whole family gobbled it up happily. :)








Delicious!!

Autumn latkes

We made these delicious autumn latkes from the book "veganomicon" by Isa Chandra Moskowitz. They are perfect for fall and maybe even as an appetizer for the thanksgiving table. Daddy and I ate ours with the vegan horseradish-dill sour cream and honeypie ate hers with ... Ketchup.
I wanted to share the recipe.









Autumn latkes

From veganomicon by Isa Chandra Moskowitz

2 cups peeled and shredded beets
1 cup peeled and shredded carrots
1 cup peeled and shredded sweet potato
1 shallot finely chopped
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/2 tsp salt ( I used more)
Pinch of black pepper
1 tsp fennel seeds chopped ( I did not use these... I know what my kid will not eat...)
1/4 cup water ( I did not use that since my veggies were already quite wet.. You have to form this dough into patties and if the dough is too wet, the shape will not hold)
Olive oil for pan frying

Put some paper towels on a plate to absorb the oil on the latkes once they are done.
Combine all the shredded veggies in a large mixing bowl. Add the shallots, salt, pepper, flour and corn starch. Mix well.
Add a bit of the water to help the flour mix with all the veggies.
Preheat a non stick pan with a bit of olive oil. (She calls for 1/4 " but that is waaaaay toooo much.) I just used enough to coat the pan lightly. The pan is already non stick so you really don't need to add unneeded calories .
Form the veggie dough into patties. Pan fry the patties at medium high heat for about 4-5 minutes on one side ... A bit less on the other side but check for brown and crispy like texture.
Transfer to the paper towels.
Done!

Now for the horseradish sour cream! (which is amazing !!)

For the horseradish sour cream you need:

1 lb of soft tofu
2 tb fresh grated horseradish
1 tb of apple cider vinegar
1 tb of agave syrup or maple syrup
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup chopped fresh dill

I placed all this in a bowl and blended it with my handheld blender.
Done.

But that is a short cut...

What she calls for is this...

Take 1/4 cup of grapeseed oil and 3 chopped cloves of garlic
And cook in a pan till lightly browned. Remove the garlic from the oil and discard. Place the oil into the bowl with the other ingredients and blend. Add the dill and blend again. The sour cream should have a light green color. Adjust salt or vinegar to taste. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

^_^

Great recipe!!









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Some vegan hits ...

Getting a kid to eat veggies sometimes can be as much fun as a trip to the dentist for a root canal. I mean... I'm talking about my kid. She can be quite adventurous or very choosy depending on the weather. Though she finds some things like pesto delicious, whether walnut- kale or basil - pinenut, she will frown at mushrooms. She might say yes to butternut squash soup or quinoa stew but no to green or red peppers...
figure that. Hmmm.
Kids can be picky.
So my going vegan has made home meals more complex and obviously veggie based and it has been a challenge to see what passes as "great" for honeypie. She is still eating some dairy, eggs and the occasional turkey meatball which she loves for lunch or breakfast but I've made dinner strictly veggie based for ALL.
So last week I worked from the awesome book "veganomicon" by Isa Chandra Moskowitz, as well as her "Vegan Brunch" and Terry Romero's "Viva Vegan" and these were some great hits for everyone.




Chickpea, potato and spinash enchiladas with a tomatillo sauce. (honeypie ate hers without the tomatillo or spinash ...)








These were awesome !!!!! Sooooo delicious that everyone must have had 4 a piece !
Potato pancake samosas ( Indian spiced but not hot). Amazing ! Eaten with a mango chutney and a vegan lime mayo.





This was a good soup. Butternut squash with adzuki beans and shiiitake garnish, spiced with Ginger, cloves, cinnamon. Honeypie really liked this but minus the shiitake.




And of course dessert...
Great vegan chocolate almond cookies. Filled our cookie jar for the week.




These were pumpkin chocolate brownies... Spiced with a bit of cayenne!




So all in all...
Getting there with broadening honeypie's palette.
If it was up to her...
It would probably be pasta day everyday...
So cooking and choosing together our meals might be a good way for her to keep an open mind.


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