Maple Vanilla Cake with Streusel

This recipe is from awhile ago.  It's simple but very fluffy and delicious.  I tend to use half and half whole wheat and white flour in most of my dessert recipe but you can easily do all one or the other.

Maple Vanilla Cake with Streusel

Makes 9 large squares or 16 small

Takes about 45 minutes

Cake Ingredients:

2/3 cup whole wheat flour

2/3 cup white flour

1 tbsp cornstarch

1 ½ tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

¼ tsp salt

1/3 cup vegetable oil (peanut works well)

1 ½ tbsp white vinegar

1 tbsp vanilla

2/3 cup maple syrup

Streusal:

5 tbsp white flour

½ tsp cinnamon

2 tbsp sugar

2 tbsp margarine

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

2. Mix together the dry cake ingredients in a bowl.  Stir thoroughly.  If needed, sift the flour.  Add the oil, vinegar, vanilla, and maple syrup and stir well (but don’t overstir or the batter will turn rubbery).  Pour the batter into an oiled 9-inch square baking pan and spread evenly.

3. In a separate bowl, make the streusel.  Combine the flour, cinnamon, and sugar together.  Mix well and then add the margarine.  Use your fingers to work the margarine into the flour mixture until you get a crumbly mixture.

4. Sprinkle the streusel over the top of the cake.  Put the cake in the oven and bake for 25 minutes or until lightly browned.  Turn during baking once or twice to insure even cooking.  Cake will probably puff up a lot during baking and deflate a little when taken out of the oven.  This is normal.  Allow cake to cool before cutting.

French Onion Soup w/ Croutons

 I honestly don't really like onions but I had to use a whole lot that we had sitting around the kitchen.  The broth on this soup is just delicious.  I don't think I really cooked the onions quite long enough so I changed the directions from what I did to reflect that.  Nutritional yeasts adds a cheesy taste to the croutons.

French Onion Soup w/ Croutons

Serves 4

Takes about 45 minutes

Traditional French onion soup with the twist of Asian fusion: a little miso really enhances the flavor of the broth and makes the soup more rich.  If you are using an already very flavorful broth, you can probably ditch the miso but I just used boullion powder and the miso sealed the deal.  There may be more croutons than needed from a whole loaf of French bread but they are great on salad or in other soups.

Ingredients:

Croutons:

1 loaf French bread, diced into cubes

2 ½ tbsp olive oil

2 tsp nutritional yeast

2 tsp garlic powder

Soup:

1 ½ lbs sliced onions

2 tbsp margarine

2 tbsp olive oil

4 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 cup white wine

3 cups vegetable broth

1 tsp garlic powder

1 ½ tsp thyme

½ tsp oregano

½ tsp sage

1 tsp sugar

2 tbsp miso

1. To make the croutons, preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Toss the bread cubes with the olive oil, yeast, and garlic powder until evenly coated.  Spread them on a baking pan and bake for 10 minutes or until lightly browned and crusty.  Remove from the oven and set aside.

2. To make the soup, heat the margarine and oil in a pot over medium high heat.  Add the onions and sauté until onions begin to caramelize (10 – 15 minutes).  Add wine and bring to a boil.  Lower to a simmer and cook for 5 minutes.

3. Add the vegetable broth, bring to a boil again and then simmer for 12 – 15 minutes or until onions are completely caramelized.  While the soup is simmering, add the rest of the ingredients except the miso.

4. When the soup is done cooking, turn off the heat.  Scoop out about ½ cup of the broth and place it into a different bowl.  Dissolve the miso into this broth, stirring until there are no lumps and then transfer the mixture back to the soup.  Stir to homogenize.

5. Serve the soup hot with croutons in it.

Baked Polenta with Leek-Tomato Sauce

I love leeks, with the result being that I try to stick them in just about everything.  Leeks go amazingly well with both polenta and red peppers.  This dish is extremely colorful - yellow, green, and red.

Baked Polenta with Leek-Tomato Sauce

About 3 hours from start to finish, much inactive

Serves 3 as a main meal, 5-6 as a side

Ingredients:

Polenta:

5 cups water

1 1/3 cup coarse corn meal

3 cloves of garlic, minced

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tsp salt

Sauce:

3 tbsp olive oil

1 leek, chopped and washed

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes

1 roasted red or yellow pepper, diced

1 tbsp lemon juice

1 ½ tsp dried rosemary

¾ tsp salt

1 tsp molasses

1 tsp dried tarragon (optional)

1. In a pot, bring the water to a boil.  Add the garlic, olive oil, and salt.  Slowly stir in the corn meal.  Cook on medium heat for 20 minutes, uncovered, stirring frequently until polenta is thick and smooth.  Pour polenta into a 10 inch pie pan (or other shallow dish).  Let set for at least 45 minutes or overnight.

2. Once polenta has set, cut it into thick slices (like a pie).  Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Coat polenta slices in olive oil and lay out on a baking sheet.  Bake for 15 minutes, then flip slices with a spatula and bake for another 10 minutes.

3. While polenta is baking, make the sauce.  Heat the olive oil in a pan and once hot, add leeks.  Saute for a minute or two and then add garlic.  Saute for another minute, then add the diced tomatoes and the roasted red pepper. 

4. Cook over medium heat for about 10-15 minutes to bring out the juices from the tomatoes and peppers.  While the sauce is cooking, add the lemon juice, rosemary, salt, molasses, and tarragon.

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Mediterranean Couscous Stew

I made up this recipe while I was at college so I can attest to the fact that it can be made without a lot of special ingredients and in only one pot.

Mediterranean Couscous Stew

Serves 4

Takes about 30 minutes

Simple and fast but delicious, this stew can be made using mostly ingredients that you're likely to have in your cabinets or you can make it a little fancier by adding eggplant.  Israeli couscous comes in larger pearls than normal couscous for a really pleasant texture.  You could probably use regular couscous in this recipe, as well, but the texture would be much different.

¾ cup dried Israeli couscous

2 cups of water

1 small eggplant, peeled and diced (optional)

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes

1 (14.5 oz) can garbanzo beans

3 tbsp margarine

1 tsp coriander

2 tsp onion powder

1 ½ tsp cumin powder

2 tsp dried dill

½ tsp turmeric

1 tsp salt

1. Boil the water in a pot.  Once the water is boiling, add the Israeli couscous, eggplant, and garlic.  Bring back to a boil then lower to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes, covered.

2. Stir in the margarine until it melts.  Add tomatoes, garbanzos, and spices.  Bring to a boil.  Lower heat and simmer, uncovered for about 10 minutes

3. Serve hot.

Banana Carob Bundt Cake

 This cake has taken several tries to get right but I finally present the finished version!  A major key to making a good banana cake is not over-working the bananas (just mash them).  I use whole wheat flour for this cake and it's not noticeable but I assume you could easily substitute in white flour without any problem.

Banana-Carob Bundt Cake

Serves 10

About 1 hour, 10 minutes

Marbling always makes cakes look fancy.  Carob has a distinctly different taste than chocolate but still tastes very nice with banana.  Mash the bananas, don’t blend them, or your cake will be rubbery.  I usually make this as a bundt cake but it is fairly versatile – it could also be made as a layer cake (2 thin 8-inch circle cakes with icing in between) or cupcakes.

Ingredients:

2 ripe, peeled bananas

½ cup canola oil

1 cup + 3 tbsp soy milk

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tbsp white vinegar

1 ¼ cup sugar

2 ½ cups whole wheat flour

1 ½ tsp baking powder

½ tsp baking soda

½ tsp salt

2 tbsp ground flax seed

1/3 cup carob

Icing:

½ ripe banana

2 tbsp soy milk

½ cup + 1/3 cup confectioners’ sugar

1 tbsp melted margarine

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

2. Mash the bananas in a bowl.  Add the canola oil, 1 cup of soy milk, vanilla extract, and vinegar and use a fork or an egg beater to mix well so that the mixture is smooth and there are no huge banana chunks. 

3. Mix in the sugar and stir.  Then add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and flax seed.  Stir to mix but don’t over stir.

3. Pour half of the batter into a different bowl.  Add carob and last 3 tbsp of soy milk to one half of the batter.  In a 10-inch bundt cake pan, marble the carob and the banana batter.  Bake for 50 – 60 minutes until lightly browned.

4. To make the icing, blend the banana with the soy milk.  Stir in the melted margarine and the sugar.  Icing will be somewhat thin like a glaze (add more sugar for a stiffer icing).  Once refrigerated, the icing will be somewhat thicker.  Pour or spread over cake.

Variation: This recipe can also make cupcakes.  Bake for 25 – 30 minutes until a toothpick can be inserted and removed cleanly.

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Aloo Gobi (Curried Potatos and Cauliflower)

Yay, Indian food!  This is an easy to make dish.  I made it the other night after trying to decide what to do with a cauliflower.

Aloo Gobi

Serves 4 – 5

Takes about 45 minutes

Aloo Gobi is an Indian dish of curried potatoes and cauliflower.  It is a fairly simple recipe but does require a stock of a few Indian spices.  My father, whose repertoire is limited to a few dishes, used to make this all the time when we were children but it always tasted delicious; even as picky children, we would eat this.  I am not a fan of very spicy food but you can add as much or as little cayenne as you want.  Serve with white or brown basmati rice.

Ingredients:

2 lbs of potatoes, diced

¾ head of cauliflower, cut into small florets

1 tbsp canola oil

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp mustard seeds

1 cup water

1 tsp curry powder

1 tsp ground cumin

¾ tsp turmeric

½ tsp ground coriander

1 tsp chili powder

1 tsp salt

¼ tsp ground cayenne pepper (or to taste)

1 (15 oz) can diced tomatoes

1. Heat the canola oil in a pan.  Add the garlic and mustard seeds.  Cook over medium high heat until the mustard seeds start to pop.  Add the potatoes and water and bring to a boil.

2. While the water is coming to a boil, add the rest of the spices.  When water boils, lower heat and cook, uncovered, at medium heat for 5 minutes.

3. Add cauliflower and diced tomatoes.  Continue to cook at medium heat, covered, for 10 minutes until both the potatoes and cauliflower are soft (try not to overcook the cauliflower).  Serve immediately.

Cinnamon-Almond Granola

I figured I'd put one more in to start out.  Granola is so easy to make but yummy and filling.  It is way cheaper to make your own than to buy it at the natural foods store.  This recipe is pretty flexible - you can change out some of my ingredients with your own favorite granola ingredients.  Good as a snack or for breakfast.

Cinnamon-Almond Granola

Makes 4-5 servings

Takes about 30 minutes

2 cups oats

2 cups rice crispies or 1 cup extra oats

1 cup sliced almonds

1 cup craisins or raisins or both

2 tbsp whole flax seed (optional)

1 ½ tsp cinnamon

½ tsp nutmeg

½ tsp salt

1 tbsp molasses

2 tbsp maple syrup

1 tsp almond extract (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Mix all the ingredients together in a large bowl.  Spread the granola out on a cookie sheet.  Bake for about 15 minutes, until granola is lightly browned.  Turn the pan a couple times during baking to ensure even cooking.

Variation: Use walnuts instead of almonds.

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