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Paleo Pumpkin Pie

Written on November 29, 2011 by Wannabe Chef in Dessert

I’ll be the first to admit I hardly eat like the paleo diet; I do, however, when such tasty desserts fit the bill.

I couldn’t decide between making a pumpkin or pecan pie this year. I decided to split the difference and make a pumpkin pie with a pecan-date crust. Since gluten is out of the question, I knew I’d have to get a little creative with the recipe.

For the filling I used butternut squash puree; this tastes much more similar to canned “pumpkin” than fresh sugar pumpkin. I also added some almond butter for richness and flavor. And the maple syrup sweetener adds a nice amber sweetness.

The crust tastes like a soft Larabar. The cinnamon adds amazing flavor to the pie. I was impressed that it held up so well to being baked for an hour. You could also use it as the crust for a raw pie with a little chilling.

Paleo Pumpkin Pie

Prep time: 15 minutes

Cook time: 1 hour

Ingredients(Makes 1 pie):

1 1/4 cup pecans
8oz dates
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
2 Tablespoons water
1 1/2 cups butternut squash puree
1/2 cup maple syrup
3 eggs
1/4 cup almond butter
1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1/2 teaspoon salt, divided

Method:

In a food processor, blend the dates, pecans, cinnamon and 1/4 teaspoon of salt until the dates and pecans are finely ground.
Slowly add the water while the dough is pureeing until it comes together and forms a ball. Turn off the food processor.
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Press the dough into a pie pan so that there’s 1/4-inch of dough on the bottom and along the sides.
Mix together all of the remaining ingredients until the filling is smooth and uniform.
Pour the filling into the crust. Put the pie onto a water bath and bake for an hour or until the center has cooked through.

Don’t wait until next Thanksgiving to make this pie; it’s too good to wait. Find an excuse to make it this week. You’re almost out of leftovers, right? Right?

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Curry Roasted Chickpeas

Written on November 17, 2011 by Wannabe Chef in Snack

This is undoubtedly one of my favorite recipes of recent. After all it has maple syrup and cinnamon—what’s not to love? And I loved the way the chickpeas tasted after they had been roasted, which made me want to try more variations.

Rather than go the sweet route(since I could eat sweets all day), I wanted a savory recipe that would be just as delicious but slightly less addicting. I love the combination of maple syrup and curry in this squash recipe so it seemed like a great way to start. The maple syrup doesn’t actually make these all that sweet; rather, it intensifies the spiciness of the curry and balances its saltiness for an intense flavor combination.

Different curry spice blends have different ingredients. If you’re opposed to spiciness, look for a mild-flavored blend. Additionally, if yours is salt-free, add 1/2 teaspoon salt to the recipe.

Curry Roasted Chickpeas

Prep time: 5 minutes

Cook time: 50 minutes

Ingredients:

1 15-ounce can chickpeas, drained
1 Tablespoon maple syrup
2 teaspoons olive oil
3/4 teaspoon Indian curry spice blend

Method:

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.
Toss all of the ingredients together in a large bowl.
Lay out the chickpeas in a single layer on a baking tray and roast for 50 minutes or until nutty and crispy, shaking the pan halfway through.
Serve hot or at room temperature. Keep leftovers in the refrigerator.

You can eat these on a salad or as a side dish or just on their own as a savory snack. Roasting the chickpeas makes them crispy, crunchy, and addicting.

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Roasted Maple Cinnamon Chickpeas And Squash

Written on November 10, 2011 by Wannabe Chef in Side Dish

When it comes to food, there are two things I care about: Most importantly how it tastes, but also how it smells. A lot of people will tell you we eat with our eyes, but given how close are taste receptors and smell receptors are, it’s no question that there’s a link between taste and smell. Good food must smell good. And this smells terrific.

When I opened up my oven after this had finished cooking, the entire kitchen smelled like Christmas. You know that warm, earthy familiar smell that’s a bit nutty and complex. I got distracted for a moment and forgot that this was food to eat. The taste is just as good; the soft, sweet squash contrasts the crunchy, spicy chickpeas, and the maple syrup forms a glaze over the whole thing bringing it together. I can’t recommend this recipe enough to get a taste of the season.

Roasted Maple Cinnamon Chickpeas And Squash

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 70 minutes

Ingredients(Makes 4 servings):

1 15-ounce can chickpeas, drained
2 cups cubed butternut squash
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 Tablespoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt

Method:

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.
Combine all of the ingredients together in a big bowl and mix them until the wet ingredients and spices cover the squash and chickpeas.
Lay the squash and chickpeas out on a baking tray and spread them out keeping it as close to one layer as possible.
Roast for 70 minutes until the squash is fork-tender and the chickpeas slightly nutty.
Serve hot or cold. Keep leftovers in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

Now if only someone would invent smell-o-vision, maybe I could better convince you.

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Maple-Curry Acorn Squash

Written on October 13, 2011 by Wannabe Chef in Side Dish

One of my favorite things is when readers make recipes from really old posts on this site. A lot of the time they’re recipes I’ve forgotten about. More importantly, I’ve forgotten how good some of the recipes are, too.

When Danielle made my maple-curry squash recipe I immediately added it to the list of foods to make. The unexpected combination of maple and curry powder work surprisingly well together for a squash that’s spicy and earthy.

Another reason I like remaking old recipes is it gives me a chance to take better pictures. Over the past year, I’ve learned a lot about what goes into a good food photo. While I still have a lot to learn in terms of lighting and styling, I can look at these and not cringe like I do some of the photos I published when I first started writing this blog.

Maple-Curry Acorn Squash

Prep time: 5 minutes

Cook time: 45 minutes

Ingredients(Makes 3 servings):

1 Large acorn squash
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 Tablespoon curry powder
1/2 teaspoon salt*

*omit if your curry powder is already salted.

Method:

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees and line a baking tray
Cut the squash in half to remove all the seeds. Once de-seeded, cut along the ridges into thin wedges.
In a large bowl, toss the wedges with the maple syrup, curry powder, and salt.
Lay the squash out on the baking tray and roast for 45 minutes or until fork tender.
Remove from the oven and serve hot.

Maple syrup and curry powder—who would’ve thunk it?

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Nutmeg Roasted Acorn Squash

Written on September 13, 2011 by Wannabe Chef in Side Dish

I’m already excited for Fall, not because of the weather or anything but because of the food. Roasted squash is comfort food to me. When they come into season there’s suddenly a treasure trove of new food to eat–acorn, pumpkin, butternut, spaghetti. All different and all delicious in their own way.

This recipe uses nutmeg, which is one of the more aggressive spices. It’s so aggressive it’s poisonous in large amounts, so you might want to have a light hand when seasoning this. The cinnamon helps to smooth out the flavor. By the end of cooking it smells like someone’s just baked a pie; that’s a smell that’s always welcomed in my house.

Nutmeg Roasted Acorn Squash

Prep time: 5 minutes

Cook time: 45 minutes

Ingredients:

1 acorn squash
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt

Method:

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.
Cut the squash in half and remove the stringy inner seeds.
Cut the squash along each ridge into long strips.
In a mixing bowl, toss the squash, maple syrup, nutmeg, cinnamon, and salt until the squash is completely covered.
Lay the squash out on a baking tray and roast for 45 minutes. Serve hot.

Despite the maple syrup, this recipe isn’t very sweet; it’s mostly spicy. There’ll be a lot of leftover spiced maple syrup in the mixing bowl. You can either pour it on top of the squash before roasting or reserve it as a finishing touch on the plate.

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Chocolate Peanut Butter Swirl Brownies

Written on August 23, 2011 by Wannabe Chef in Dessert

The last time I posted was 5 days ago. There’s a reason for my absence. I spent all week in Philadelphia at the Healthy Living Summit living it up with some great friends. I learned and did so many things in Philly that I can’t wait to share. But not yet. I got home late last night and my head(and bedroom floor) are currently a mess.

One thing I can share is this brownie recipe. Like the almond flour brownie recipe, I baked these and packed them up to bring to Philly and share with bloggers. Most of all I was excited to share these with Cynthia, who also has food allergies(gluten, soy, almond, hazelnut, refined sugar, and dairy). I didn’t have a recipe that avoided all of those allergens, so I made one up and said a little prayer. At first I worried they came out too cakey for my preference, but one taste and I was sold. The only question remaining was how would other people like them.

The response to these was overwhelming. As soon as I tweeted out, the brownies started selling like hotcakes(but way better because they’re brownies, duh). Cynthia really enjoyed them, as did Meghann, Julie, and too many other bloggers to count. I don’t care how good food tastes; nothing feels as good as sharing it with others.

If you’re baking for someone with a peanut or tree nut allergy, sunflower seed butter makes a great substitute for peanut butter.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Swirl Brownies

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 40 minutes

Ingredients(makes 16 brownies):

4.5oz unsweetened baking chocolate(I used Scharffen Berger because it’s soy-free)
1 3/4 cups maple syrup, divided
1 cup unsweetened peanut butter, divided
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 cup all-purpose flour(I used Bob’s Red Mill gluten-free all purpose flour)
1/4 cup cocoa powder
3 eggs
1/3 cup water

Method:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
Melt the chocolate and whisk in 1 1/4 cup maple syrup and 1/2 cup peanut butter. Set aside.
In a large bowl, sift together the baking powder, salt, flour, and cocoa powder. Whisk in 2 eggs and 1/3 cup of water.
Mix the chocolate-peanut butter mixture into flour and eggs until completely combines. Pour this into a greased 8×8 baking pan. If the batter is too thick to pour, add extra water until it’s runny but still thick.
Make the peanut butter part by whisking together the remaining maple syrup, peanut butter, and egg.
Pour the peanut butter mixture on top of the brownies and lightly swirl the two batters together a couple times, making sure not to over mix them.
Bake for 40 minutes or until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean.
Cool completely before cutting.

Make sure to share these after making them. That way they’ll taste all the better.

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Spicy Maple Baked Beans

Written on July 28, 2011 by Wannabe Chef in Entree

I really love making beans from scratch. It’s kind of like the vegetarian version of roasting a chicken: You take something from inedible to edible making the whole house smell great in the process. I probably hadn’t made this recipe for a good year, which is a shame because I liked it so much the first time. The flavor is incomparable to store-bought brands—truly unique. It’s sweet with a spicy kick that lingers.

There’s also a homemade Worcestershire sauce recipe at the bottom since looking for a bottled vegetarian/gluten-free sauce is sort of like looking for the Holy Grail.

Spicy Maple Baked Beans

Ingredients:

1lb dry white beans
1 yellow onion, peeled and halved
2 bayleaves
1 6oz can of tomato paste
2/3 cup maple syrup
1/3 cup Worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup white vinegar
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon ground mustard seed
1/2 tablespoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon cayenne
3/4 teaspoon paprika

Method:

Soak the beans in water for 8 hours or overnight. Drain the water and put the beans in a large pot with new water, the bayleaves, and the onion.
Boil the beans for 70-80 minutes, scooping off the foam that forms on top of the water. Once done boiling, remove the pot from the stove and drain the beans from the water, also removing the bayleaves.
Combine the beans with the rest of the ingredients in an oven-safe pot or a Crockpot. Bake at 350 degrees for 3 hours or simmer on high for the same period of time until the beans have darkened and most of the moisture has evaporated. If the beans dry out too much, add 1/2 cup of water and continue cooking.
Remove from the oven and serve hot when ready.

Homemade Worcestershire Sauce

Ingredients(Makes about 1/3-1/2 cup):

1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup soy sauce or wheat-free tamari
1 tablespoon cane sugar
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon pepper

Method:

Combine all of the ingredients in a small pot over the stove.
Keep between a boil and a simmer for 8-10 minutes until reduced to half its original volume.
Use immediately or store in the refrigerator for up to a week.

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The Best Grilled Tofu

Written on July 11, 2011 by Wannabe Chef in Entree

Tofu gets such a bad rap. And you know what? It kind of deserves it. Just eaten plain, tofu is bland and a little disgusting.

But like any girl wearing glasses and overalls in a cliché 90s movie, tofu can get dressed up and steal the show. It takes on any flavor added to it, and when cooked properly has a “meaty” texture.

There’s no reason for tofu-eaters to be left behind during grilling season. With the right marinade tofu makes a tasty grilled entrée. And this is the best(and simplest!) marinade I’ve ever tried. All it takes is time and patience for the flavors to be absorbed. It works well baked, too, but in the Summer there’s no other way to go than grilled.

The Best Grilled Tofu

Ingredients:

1 block firm tofu, sliced 3/4 inch thick
1/3 cup soy sauce
1/3 cup maple syrup
2 Tablespoons lemon juice
1 Tablespoon toasted sesame oil

Combine all of the liquid ingredients and marinate the sliced tofu in the mixture for at least 3 hours, preferably overnight.

Heat a grill to high and lay the strips of tofu out. Flip after 3-5 minutes once the bottom side has grill marks and cook for another 3-5 minutes. Serve hot or refrigerate and serve cold.

You can reuse the marinating liquid again and again since there’s a very low risk of spreading bacteria with tofu. Either add more tofu to the marinade immediately or freeze it until using again.

I can’t get enough of this. I could easily eat a block of tofu in one sitting. That’s what makes it the best.

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The Only Omelet Recipe You’ll Ever Need

Written on June 22, 2011 by Wannabe Chef in Breakfast

I’m careful never to overuse superlatives, so believe me when I say this is the best omelet I’ve ever had. It’s filling and meaty with a salty-sweet kick. The maple syrup takes this to a new level that other omelets just can’t compete with. In fact, if chocolate and peanut butter didn’t exist, I’d probably eat this for dessert, too. You could add melted goat cheese or cuts of smoked bacon but honestly this omelet doesn’t need either of those; it has so much flavor on its own.

Caramelized Onion, Mushroom, and Maple Syrup Omelet

Ingredients:

1/2 yellow onion, julienned
1/3 cup sliced and washed mushrooms
1 Tablespoon oil
1 1/2 Tablespoons maple syrup
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 eggs, beaten together
Extra oil for greasing

Heat the oil in a pan over medium heat.

Add in the onions, mushrooms, maple syrup, and salt and sauté the vegetables until the onions have caramelized and mushrooms cook a golden brown. Move the vegetables to a plate and heat enough oil in the same pan for the omelet.

Beat together the 3 eggs and pour them into the pan. Add the cooked vegetables on top of the omelet and cover the pan to let the eggs cook. When the omelet egg has mostly cooked, fold it over once and let it rest in the pan for a minute. Plate and serve hot.

I’ll start heating up the pan; how many should I make?

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Maple Cayenne Ketchup

Written on May 26, 2011 by Wannabe Chef in Miscellaneous

Ketchup is the most perfect food. It’s sweet; it’s salty; it’s tangy; it’s savory; it’s delicious. Some days I choose a meal based on if I can add ketchup to it. Who doesn’t do that?

I’ve been wanting to make my own ketchup for a while and finally got around to it after months of putting it off. I figured since I waited this long I wouldn’t make just ordinary ketchup; instead I’d go for something with a defined flavor and a kick. The maple syrup in this adds a little more depth to the taste and the cayenne definitely hits you in the end. Ketchup becomes a staple food in the Summer so I have no doubt I’ll be making more of this to slather on whatever’s being grilled.

Maple Cayenne Ketchup

Ingredients(Makes a little over 2 cups):

56oz tomato puree*
1/2 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup white vinegar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon paprika

*If you can’t find tomato puree, look for whole skinned tomatoes and puree them yourself using a food processor or high-powered blender.

Combine all of the ingredients together in a large pot and mix. Cook over medium heat for 60 minutes stirring occasionally until the puree reaches a thick consistency.

Store in a sealed container in the refrigerator for 2-4 weeks.

Obviously I had to make a scrambled egg breakfast sandwich with chickpea flour crepes the next morning to try it out. This ketchup is spot on, ya’ll. It doesn’t look quite as smooth as store-bought ketchup but their flavor can’t compete.

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