Beet Hummus & Edamame Hummus

Almost two months ago, I decided that it was time for my return to the blogosphere. And since then, I've posted one measly post. Where does the time go? Within two months, the weather has changed from snowy to springy, I've had several slight panic attacks while thinking about my future, I've inched this much closer to finishing my thesis that I'm incredibly burnt out on, and have daydreamed about my upcoming trip to Europe with my wonderful boyfriend. I have reached the sluggish point in my homemade cooking where I'm tired of shopping the brightly lit aisles of the supermarket and am anxiously awaiting the arrival of the farmer's market. I've become a bit...er...lazy in the kitchen (our freezer has never been so full of veggie burgers and pizza). Nonetheless, fresh-produce-season is on the horizon and I can already smell the fresh rhubarb and asparagus that will soon grace my cutting board.

Here are two bright recipes for hummus alternatives. I love love love hummus. However, I still haven't found a recipe for chickpea hummus that creates a silky comparison to Sabra. In my search, I stumbled upon several recipes for unique takes on hummus. One is made with beets and the other is made with shelled edamame. Both are really delicious served with pita chips, crackers, or spread on sandwiches.

dip me or spread me

vibrant ruby and chartreuse

welcomed change of taste

Beet Hummus

Ingredients:

• 1/2 pound beets
• 2 tablespoons tahini
• 5 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1 garlic clove, smashed
• 1 tablespoon ground cumin
• 1 tablespoon grated lemon zest
• generous pinch of salt and pepper 

Directions:

1. Cook the beets. You have some choices here. You can either scrub them clean and then place them in a saucepan, cover with slightly water, and boil about 30 minutes until they're tender. Or, you can roast them by wrapping each beet with aluminum foil and baking them for about 60 minutes at 400 degrees until they're tender. Either way, you can easily peel them once they've cooled by running them under cold water as you slide off the skin. 
2. Chop the cooked beets and place them in a food processor along with the remaining ingredients. Pulse until it reaches your desired consistency. 

Edamame Hummus

Ingredients:

• 1/2 pound frozen shelled edamame
• 1/4 cup tahini
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/2 teaspoon grated lemon zest   
• 1 lemon, juiced
• 1 garlic clove, smashed
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon ground coriander
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• generous pinch of salt

Directions:

1. Defrost the beans either in the microwave or by boiling them in salted water for about 5 minutes. Drain and cool.
2. Place all the ingredients except the olive oil into the bowl of a food processor. Pulse until smooth. With the motor running, slowly drizzle in the olive oil until the ingredients are well incorporated.

I'm back, with whole wheat chocolate chunk cookies

My gut has been telling me to come back to you, cauliflower power, for quite some time now. And right now is probably not the best time to be worrying about cooking delicious things / taking photos of said deliciousity / writing stories about said deliciousity and photo / sharing these wonderful things with you, granted my master's thesis is due in 28 days. And I have quite a ways to go with it. But because I have officially entered extreme panic mode and I don't always listen to the left side of my brain, I've decided to put my thesis off even further by returning to the blogosphere. I'm coming back to you with the most amazing cookie. Ever. Really. It's adapted from 101 Cookbooks. I'm in love with this cookie because as the title suggests, it's a whole wheat cookie. But so many recipes that claim to be "whole wheat" are actually a combination of whole wheat + white flour. This recipe calls for rolled oats, whole wheat flour, and wheat bran, so it is truly whole wheat.

chunky and wholesome

velvet chocolate peeking through

perfect crumb effect

Ingredients: 

• 1 1/2 cups rolled oats (not instant)
• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/3 cup wheat bran or germ
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 cup brown sugar (light, dark, natural cane, or a combination)
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 5 oz. semi-sweet chocolate chunks/shavings/chips

Steps:

1. Preheat then oven to 350F, with the racks placed in the middle. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or a silpat. Set prepped sheets aside.
2. In a medium bowl, combine the oats, flour, wheat bran, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Set aside. 
3. Using an electric mixer, cream the   butter until light and fluffy. Beat in the sugar for 3+ minutes, scraping down the sides a few times along the way. Add the egg and vanilla and continue to beat, scraping the sides of the bowl another time or two. Add the dry mixture, and stir until everything barely comes together. Then stir in the chocolate, mixing until it is evenly distributed throughout the dough.
4. Scoop the dough by the tablespoon into your hands and roll and flatten the dough to make thick little disks. Arrange each cookies on the prepped baking sheets, with at least 2 inches between each cookie. Bake until deeply golden on the bottom, about 15-20 minutes. Rotate the pans once about 2/3 the way through baking - back to front, top to bottom. Once ready, cool the cookies on a rack.

Makes about 16 cookies
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 15 min

Returning later

Hi everyone,

I just wanted to share that I'll be taking a break from CauliflowerPower for a little while while I focus on school and finding groundedness. Graduate school has been nothing short of overly stimulating and incredibly stress-inducing. It felt like it consumed my whole life last semester, and I felt a bit out of touch with myself and the world around me. Thus, my goal for the new year is to work on feeling rooted -- through eating more mindfully, being more active, tuning into my body, feeling a sense of purposefulness in everything I do, and being genuine in my connections with other people. I know there is a time and a place for everything, and I know that in the future I want to keep sharing my experiences -- culinary and otherwise -- with you. It has been inspiring and exciting to build this blog up so far, and I fully intend on returning to posting here later when the stresses of everyday living have died down a bit. In the meantime, I wish all of you a very happy and healthy new year, filled with wonderful people, food, and memories. And I hope that you have found healthy things to work towards in the coming year, and I wish you all the luck in those endeavors. Until next time :)

Yours truly,

Naomi

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake

It was my boyfriend's birthday on Monday, so I snatched the opportunity to make a really intense cake. He loves anything peanut butter + chocolate (who doesn't?), so I found this recipe on Smitten Kitchen, a really cool website that I recommend you guys snoop around if you have an extra couple minutes. This chocolate peanut butter cake is REALLY intense, but as my bf so nicely put it, is "the best birthday cake ever." Just make sure you have a gallon of milk handy because that's all you're going to want with this cake. There are three steps to this cake: (1) make the chocolate cake (2) make the peanut butter frosting (3) make the chocolate peanut butter ganache. That being said, set aside a good chunk of time for this cake. 

Makes an 8-inch double or triple layer cake. Serves 12-16 people.

For the cake:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2½ cups sugar
• ¾ cups unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup canola oil
• 1 cup sour cream (I used light sour cream and it worked well)
• 1½ cups water
• 2 tablespoons distilled white vinegar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 eggs

 1. Preheat the oven to 350. Butter the bottoms and sides of 2 or 3 8-inch round cake pans (this recipe made a triple layer cake, but I just made it a double layer cake). Line the bottom of each pan with a round of parchment/waxed paper and butter the paper

2. Sift the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt into a large bowl. Whisk to combine them well. Add the oil and sour cream and whisk to blend. Gradually beat in the water. Blend in the vanilla and vinegar. Whisk in the eggs and beat until well blended. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and be sure the batter is well mixed. Divide among the 2 or 3 prepared cake pans.

3. Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out almost clean. Let cool in the the pans for about 20 minutes. Invert onto wire racks, carefully peel off the paper liners, and let cool completely. (These cakes are very, very soft. I found them a lot a easier to work with after firming them up in the freezer for 30 minutes. They'll defrost quickly once assembled. You'll be glad you did this, trust me.)

For the frosting:

• 10 oz cream cheese, at room temperature (I used reduced fat cream cheese, and it worked great)
• 1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 5 cups confectioner's sugar
• 2/3 cup smooth peanut butter, preferably a commercial brand (because oil doesn't separate out)

1. In a large bowl with an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese and butter until light and fluffy. Gradually add the confectioner's sugar, 1 cup at a time, mixing thoroughly after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl often. Continue to beat on medium speed until light and fluffy, 3-4 minutes.

2. Add the peanut butter and beat until thoroughly blended.

3. Frost the cakes. Place one layer of cake, flat side up, on a large serving plate. Spread 2/3 cup of the frosting evenly over the top. Repeat with the next layer. Place the last layer on top and frost the top and sides of the cake with the remaining frosting.  Once the cake is fully frosted, it helps to chill it again and let firm up. The more set the peanut butter frosting is, the better drip effect you'll get from the chocolate ganache.

For the chocolate peanut butter ganache:

• 8 oz semisweet or dark chocolate, coarsely chopped
• 3 tablespoons smooth peanut butter
• 2 tablespoons light corn syrup (I replaced with honey because I didn't have corn syrup, and it worked out great)
• 1/2 cup half-and-half 

1. In the top of a double boiler or in a bowl set over simmering water, combine the chocolate, peanut butter, and corn syrup. Cook, whisking often, until the chocolate is melted and the mixture is smooth.

2. Remove from heat and whisk in the half-and-half, beating until smooth. Use while still warm.

3. Remove the cake from the fridge. Pour the ganache over the top of the cake, and spread it evenly over the top just to the edges so that it runs down the sides of the cake in long drips. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes to allow the ganache and frosting to set completely. Remove about 1 hour before serving.

Mashed sweet potatoes with vinegar-glazed shallots

I'm really sorry for the lack of blogging on my end for the past month or so. Finals just finished up last week, and life was absolute chaos for a little while. Our fridge was full of quesadilla and PB&J making ingredients. It was a sad sight. I even ate leftover lasagna on my birthday. But now that school is over for a whole 3 weeks, I expect to make up for lost time and cook some wonderful things over the holidays.

I'm posting this amazing recipe for mashed sweet potatoes, that are then mixed with balsamic vinegar glazed shallots. The combination is to die for. The recipe is from 50 Best Mashed Potatoes. You might be thinking, vinegar + sweet potatoes? But the balsamic vinegar reduces down and becomes so sweet, and it blends so well with the vibrant roasted sweet potatoes. That's the other thing, the key to making the best sweet potatoes is not boiling them, but rather roasting them and then mashing. By roasting the potatoes, the flavor and color intensify, and the potatoes adopt this incredibly deep, rich flavor. So, I say spring for the extra 30 minutes and roast the sweet potatoes; you'll see why.

Ingredients:

• 3 large sweet potatoes
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 3 large shallots, sliced
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• freshly ground pepper, to taste

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Prick the sweet potatoes all over with a fork, and place them on a baking sheet. When the oven is ready, place the potatoes in the oven and roast for about 1 hour or until soft.
2. While the potatoes bake, melt 1 tablespoon of the butter in a medium skillet over medium-low heat. Then add the shallots. Cook, stirring frequently, until the shallots are lightly browned (about 4 minutes). Then cover and cook about 6 minutes longer, or until soft.
3. Stir in the balsamic vinegar and the sugar. Cook, stirring constantly, until the vinegar reduces and the shallots are glazed (about 2 minutes). Remove from heat.
4. Remove the potatoes from the oven and let stand 5 minutes to cool. When they are cool enough to handle, remove the skins and place the potatoes in a bowl or food processor (depending if you want to mash by hand or puree in the food processor). Add the remaining 1 tablespoon of butter, salt, and pepper, and mash/puree. Stir in half of the vinegar-glazed shallots, spread into a serving dish, and garnish with the remaining shallots.

Curried Coconut Squash Soup

I found this incredibly simple, yet richly flavorful, soup on 101 Cookbooks -- an incredible blog whose author shares many of my same beliefs; that the best food is simple and wholesome, made from local and organic ingredients when possible. This soup is the kind that warms your bones and soul on a gloomy, rainy day like today, and it is so simple to make. There are only 3 ingredients in it, although the flavor is really bold and well-rounded.

1. Preheat the oven to 375.
2. Halve two acorn squash (or some other pumpkin or small winter squash) and scoop out the seeds and goopy insides. Place the cleaned halves in a baking pan, skin side down, and rub the squash with butter and season with salt and pepper. Bake in the oven until tender, about one hour.
3. When the squash is cooked, remove from the oven and let cool. Meanwhile, put a medium saucepan on the stovetop and add:

• 14-ounce can of coconut milk (I used 'light' coconut milk, and it was perfectly creamy, if you're looking to save some calories)
• 1 teaspoon (or more) of red Thai curry paste (available at most grocery stores in the Thai food section; it's sold in little jars)

4. Spoon the cooked squash flesh and add to the coconut milk. Bring the mixture to a simmer, and let it simmer for about 10 minutes so the flavors can mingle. Transfer the squash/coconut mixture to a food processor (or use a handheld immersion blender) and puree until creamy. Add about a cup or more of water to the soup until it has reached your desired consistency. A mild vegetable stock can be used instead of water. Add salt, pepper, and more curry paste to taste (depending on how spicy you'd like the soup).

Korean roasted chicken wings (tong dak)

My fingers are sticking to the keys ever so slightly as I'm typing. I could barely lick my fingers clean before I ran over to my computer to share this out-of-this-freakin-world recipe with everyone. The sauce is the perfect balance of sweet and spicy -- a blend of garlic, ginger, honey, soy sauce, sesame, and red pepper paste for the kick. Yesterday, I went on a little ethnic market tour around Iowa City with some friends, so I tried to find some simple recipes before going and that's how I came across this recipe. It is from www.koreanfood.about.com. For anyone who likes Asian inspired foods and/or wings, these wings will blow your taste buds. 

1. First, make the marinade. In a medium bowl, combine:

• 1 inch piece of fresh ginger, minced
• 5 garlic cloves, minced
• ½ small onion, minced
• 2 teaspoons sesame oil
• 6 tablespoons soy sauce
• 3 tablespoons honey
• 3 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon red pepper paste (known as kochujang, which I found at a Korean market in town)

2. Place 2 lbs. of chicken wings and drumettes into the marinade. Mix the chicken to coat, and then place the bowl in the fridge for several hours. 

3. When the chicken is done marinating, preheat the oven to 400. 

4. Heat a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. When the pan is hot, add the wings and drumettes to the pan and brown the chicken on all sides (about 2 minutes per side), reserving the rest of the marinade.

5. Transfer the chicken to a shallow baking dish and pour the reserved marinade over the chicken. Place the dish in the preheated oven. Roast for 40 minutes, turning the chicken to coat halfway through cooking. 

Serves 3. 

We made some spicy sweet potato fries on the side and the flavors went way too well together. So when (not if) you make these, I really suggest making some sweet potatoes too!

Popovers with rosemary lemon butter

Last weekend was Halloween, and I had some friends over for a potluck and pumpkin carving. It was really exciting for me because it was the first time I had so many people in my little apartment, but I love having people over and a really wonderful time was had. For the potluck, I made a big pot of apricot rum punch, apple crisp, and popovers. Everyone loved the popovers and have been talking about them since, so I decided to post the recipe for them for all my friends and for everyone else who wants to make the people in their lives really happy. The recipe is from Mollie Katzen's Moosewood cookbook, my all time favorite. For those of you who are unfamiliar with popovers, they are these ridiculously eggy, bready balls of amazingness that puff up in the oven so they are full of air and delicate layers of custardy goodness. I remember Mirabelle's, a breakfast cafe in Burlington,VT, that served giant popovers that were split in half and filled with herbed scrambled eggs; that was one of the best breakfasts I had ever had. I made some rosemary lemon butter to go with the popovers and it was deeelish. I don't have a picture of the butter, but I'll tell you how to make it because it is way too easy and it can be used on anything.

For the popovers:
1. Preheat the oven to 375. Brush the insides of 12 muffin cups with melted butter (about 2 tablespoons of melted butter is sufficient).
2. Beat together in a medium sized bowl:

• 2, 3, or 4 eggs (I've always used 4 and I love them that way; the more eggs, the more custardy they are) 
• 1¼ cups milk

3. Add to the eggs and milk:

• 1¼ cups flour
• ½ teaspoon salt

4. Beat with a whisk until reasonably well blended. It's fine if the batter has a few lumps.
5. Fill each muffin cup about 2/3 full. Bake for 35 minutes. Try to refrain from opening the oven during baking.
6. Remove the popovers from the pan immediately, and prick each with a fork to let the steam escape. This helps them hold their shape. Serve as soon as possible, either plain or with butter or jam.

Makes 12.

For the rosemary lemon butter:
1. Soften a stick of butter (leave out at room temperature for a couple hours).
2. Place the softened butter in a bowl. Add:

• ½ tablespoon of dried rosemary
• ¼ teaspoon of lemon zest
• ¼ teaspoon of garlic powder

3. Blend together well with a fork. Take out a piece of wax paper. Spoon the butter mixture onto the wax paper, and roll the wax paper so the butter takes the shape of a log. Twist the ends of the wax paper like a candy. Put the butter log into the fridge for an hour or so until it hardens again. Voila!

Carrot apple muffins

The irresponsible side of me decided to make muffins instead of studying this afternoon. But I have an arguably good excuse: my apples were rapidly approaching their final days, so I needed to reincarnate them into something more palatable than what they would have been in their raw form. But because I do have too much studying to attend to, this very short introduction to tickle your taste buds, a simple recipe, and a few pictures is all I can offer.

1. Preheat oven to 350. Grease 24 muffin cups (2 muffin tins).
2. In a large bowl, combine:

• 2 cups flour
• 1¼ cups sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• ½ salt
• pinch of powdered ginger 
• 2 teaspoons cinammon

3. In another large bowl, combine:

• ½ cup unsweetened shredded coconut
• ½ cup raisins
• ½ cup chopped nuts
• 2 cups finely grated carrots
• 1 grated apple

4. In another medium bowl, whisk together:

• 3 eggs
• 1/3 cup milk
• 2/3 cup canola oil
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

5.  Pour the egg mixture into the carrot-apple mixture and mix until well combined.
6. Make a well in the center of the flour, then add the egg-carrot-apple mixture. Mix until just combined. Fill the muffin cups 3/4 of the way with the batter. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Turkey and three bean chili

I have been wanting to make chili for a long long time, but was waiting around for the perfect recipe. There's something about the approach of fall that has inspired me to sit down and finally find that recipe. I found a great looking recipe on epicurious.com called "Turkey Chili with White Beans," which was published in the February 1997 issue of Bon Appetit magazine. The chili that I made is a take on this recipe, although I made some of my own minor adjustments, like reducing the amount of chili powder (since my chili powder is really spicy), using crushed tomatoes instead of whole tomatoes, and using 3 different kinds of beans instead of just white beans. I made this a few days ago and it's still just as good the day after (and the next day, and the day after that, etc.). But you better be in the mood for chili, because you're going to have tonsss of this.

1. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a heavy large pot over medium heat. Add:

• 2 medium onions, chopped

2. Sautee until translucent, about 10 minutes. Then add:

• 1½ tablespoons dried oregano
• 1½ tablespoons ground cumin

3. Stir about 1 minute. Increase the heat to medium-high, then add:

• 1½ pounds lean ground turkey

4. Stir until no longer pink, breaking up the turkey with the back of large spoon. Stir in:

• ¼ cup chili powder (this may be a lot depending on how hot your chili powder is, so definitely lessen this if you're not a big fan of spicy food or have really hot chili powder...remember, you can always add more at the end if you need a little more kick, but if you put too much in now, be prepared to be stuck with it)
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1½ teaspoons salt
• ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon

5. Once the spices are incorporated, add:

• 28 oz. can of crushed tomatoes with their juices
• 3 cups beef, chicken, or veggie broth
• 1 cup tomato sauce

6. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 45 minutes, stirring occasionally. Then add:

• 3 15 oz. cans of beans (I used kidney, great northern, and black beans)

7. Simmer until the flavors blend, about 10 minutes. Discard the bay leaves. Serve with a dollop of sour cream and a side of cornbread.