Tag Archives: vegetarian

(Nearly Vegan) Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

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Full disclosure: I’m an omnivore, but I have an appreciation for vegetarian and vegan cooking, thanks to having friends who have these more restrictive diets (by choice or necessity). As I have done more entertaining for friends with a variety of dietary restrictions, I’ve had to adjust some of what I put out on the dinner/buffet table so that I’m taking out everything from animal products to things with latex (bananas & kiwis), and that’s kept me on my cooking toes.

More recently, I had my annual physical and my doctor cautioned me that she was starting to get worried about my cholesterol. Ah, crap. Her advice to me included cutting back to the minimum on dairy. HOLY CRAP. I HAVE TO GIVE UP MY REGULAR CELEBRATION OF ICE CREAM O’CLOCK?! There has to be a better, way, right? It’s not like I eat a ton of red meat; easily three-quarters of the time, the meat in my meal is fish or poultry.

So, this made me think that perhaps I should look at other ways to reduce cholesterol where possible. And, having a VERY CHILLY Sunday afternoon that wasn’t consumed with running errands, I thought it might be fun to stay inside and bake. I started with a tried-and-true recipe that came courtesy of my friend, Cyndy, of DailyCynema, and I made a couple of modifications. Feel free to check out the original recipe here. And check out her other recipes, too. She’s a damn fine cook, and she’s really sweet about sharing.

To make this recipe TRULY vegan, make sure that A) your margarine is 100% free of dairy [we use a Fleischmann’s version that is completely lactose-free], and B) you use dark chocolate that’s considered vegan. I used Hershey Special Dark chips, but those have a small amount of milk in them, so that’s why this recipe is only nearly vegan.

 

Nearly Vegan Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Eat 'em before they're gone...

 

Prep Time: 15 mins

Cooking Time: 12 mins (per tray/set of trays in the oven at once)

Serves: well, that depends… (Makes about 30-32 cookies)

 

Ingredients

1/2 cup margarine (one stick), softened

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar, packed

1/4 cup Grade B maple syrup

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce

1-1/3 cups all purpose flour

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1-1/2 cups quick cooking oats

1-1/2 cups dark chocolate chips (I used Hershey Special Dark chips)

 

Make it Happen

1. Preheat the oven to 375F. If you have vents atop your range that vent out heat from the oven, place the margarine stick upright by the vents to start the softening process. (Otherwise, soften it at room temperature a few minutes prior to starting the rest of the prep work.)

2. Put the first four dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt) in a bowl and stir briefly. Set aside.

3. Mix the first three wet ingredients (margarine, white and brown sugars) on low speed in a stand mixer or by hand, until all items are well combined.

4. Add the vanilla, maple syrup and applesauce and mix/stir well to combine.

5. Add the bowl of dry ingredients and mix/stir well to combine.

6. Add the oatmeal and stir well to combine (best to do this by hand, to make sure the mixture is even).

7. Add the chips and stir well to combine.

8. Place rounded tablespoons of the cookie batter onto a non-stick baking sheet, about 2 inches or so apart.

9. Place the sheet in the oven and cook for 12 minutes, until the cookies are slightly brown on the edges and bottom.

Two Cheese Risotto (aka Super Simple Risotto)

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OK, don’t be scared. I know, I know. You hear risotto and you think of risottos that take a lot of time and effort (like the Acorn Squash one I made a few months back), and you just instinctively shake your head no. But wait! There is an easier way, I PROMISE.

This one started out with the standard Sunday night issue: what’s going on the dinner plates tonight? We had already chosen our meat (grilled scallops) but we didn’t have any sides. Veggies are easy to come by in our house, since we stock the freezer as our default when we don’t want to fuss with fresh; so, that wasn’t an issue either. DH suggested cheesy rice, and I thought that would hit the spot. So, off to the pantry I went to find a box of Rice-a-Roni. (Don’t judge – some of us have embraced boxed items as fallback positions.)

No dice. Or, more specifically, no (cheesy) rice. Drat.

Off to the cookbooks I went, to see if there were any options involving white or brown rice, and none of them quickly pointed to something I liked. BUT, one suggested a risotto, and the pantry did have a large bag of arborio rice. Score!

What I ended up doing was basically preparing a risotto in what I consider to be a less time-consuming fashion. Yes, there’s still effort involved, but it’s miniscule by comparison to some AND it gets you a cheesy rice AND it’s got a limited set of ingredients AND it’s far better for you than the boxed option because it’s not a complete salt lick.

Two Cheese Risotto

My new favorite replacement for a box...

Prep Time: 5 mins

Cooking Time: 30-35 mins

Serves: 4

Ingredients

1-1/2 Tb olive oil

1 small yellow onion or large shallot

2-1/2 cups low-sodium chicken broth

1/2 cup white cooking wine

1 cup arborio rice, uncooked

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

2 oz finely/”fancy” shredded Cheddar cheese

Make it Happen

1. Peel and mince the onion/shallot.

2. In a large, deep skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat.

3. Add the onion (or shallot), tossing it in the olive oil to coat. Cook for 2 minutes, stirring occasionally.

4. Add the broth and white wine to the pan. Stir well to combine. Cover and cook for 4-6 mins, until the mixture begins to boil.

5. Add the arborio rice to the pan and stir well to combine. Cover and reduce heat to low for 10 minutes, stirring at the 5 min and 10 min marks.

6. Raise the heat to medium-low and cook for another 10 minutes, again stirring at the 5 min and 10 min marks.

7. When the majority of the liquid is gone, reduce heat to low, then add both cheese and stir well to combine. Once the cheese has melted, turn off the heat and serve immediately.

Adventures in CSA (winter week 1): Baby it’s cold outside

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And so we begin again: a new cycle has started and now we’re in the Winter veggie box program. This one runs every other week, so these posts will be a little more spaced out. That’s okay – given the weather and all of the coordination/events around dd’s 5th birthday, I’m a little spaced out, too.

The fun of opening each box is in trying to figure out A) what’s in it and B) what you’re going to make with what’s in it. The difficulty of opening each box is much the same – a general exhale of “What on earth is THAT?!” and “Are those…{insert guessed fruit/veggie here}…?!” Between our cookbooks, the interwebs, and our grocery store, we typically can ID things before the week is out. Finding things to do with everything: now THAT’S a challenge. As it is, we currently have a glut of apples and winter squash in the fridge; this is mostly due to timing fiascos related to box arrival dates, apple picking, untimely nor’easters and other such shenanigans. At this point, I’m ready to start cutting things up and just throwing them into the crock pot wholesale, just to use up the boxes and see if any of the creations can work. I’m guessing they will, but I’d still like to be a tad bit more orderly about it if I can.

 

Winter CSA Week 1

Welcome to Winter...

 

So, here’s what came in this week’s veggie box, our first of the winter share:

  • Purple Kale
  • Carrots
  • Bok Choi
  • Comice Pears
  • Red Potatoes
  • Parsnips
  • Butternut Squash
  • Yukon Gold Potatoes
  • Macintosh Apples
  • Yellow Onion

 

The bok choi already got partially used in Bok-os, and the pears, apples, carrots, and some of the potatoes are crock pot-bound this week. Some of the other items may end up going into crock pots or other dishes as part of next weekend’s continued birthday festivities. It’s always so hard for me to think of squash as “party food”, but I’m sure I can rally if rallying is what’s required.

I will continue price-checking with this CSA, as with the Fall box program. The price is still the same – $20 per box. So, that’s my baseline. I ended up getting 1 box pretty much for free out of the Fall CSA, so I wonder if I can get about half a box for free out of this four-box program? Given the more pedestrian contents, I’m guessing that won’t be the case, but I’d like to try to be optimistic.