As I’ve journeyed through the low fat craze of the 90’s to being a proselytizing vegetarian (of the carob-chip cookie variety while going to college in Boulder, no less), arriving in the farming world a staunch supporter of grass fed everything (from butter to delicious four-legged creature), to dabbling in every craze in-between and, yes, even paleo – I’ve finally come home to what I’ve been orbiting around all along:

Plant-based foods.

I am happily back on the bean & rice train, ample multi-ingredient salads, occasional meats, and tons of fruit. Whole grains float my boat, and yes, I love nuts and especially coconut. It seems that my natural cravings have finally come of age, even in the realm of sweets!

Enter the plant-based dessert. I must admit, I’m pretty giddy about the potential for some real innovation, inspiration and turning some conventions upside-down here. For my first installment on this topic, I present to you the cashew cheesecake! I don’t even really want to call it a cheesecake – it’s so much more elegant than the heavy, dairy rich cookie crust sugar bomb we all know and cringeingly love – this is light, nourishing, creamy, silky, full of flavor and nuance, and, dare I say, healthy?! I think you’re gonna love it, and I know you’re going to feel like a kitchen wizard once you make it and then you’re going to feel no guilt when you share it with your loved ones because you gave them something beautiful that’s good for them. Or, maybe you kept it all to yourself and didn’t share it, either way – I’d say you’re in the clear in the guilt department. Go ahead, make it, this might just become your own personal fad.

Creamy dreamy cake of your cakey dreams

Makes 2 small springform pans or one 8″ pie plate or one 7″ springform pan

Inspiration from mynewroots.org

• 1/2 c. Pecans or almonds or a mixture of both
• 1/2 c. Pitted dates
• Pinch sea salt
• 1-1/2 cups cashews (soaked overnight and drained before use)
• 1/3 c. Coconut oil
• 1/3 c. Honey
• 1 c. Raspberries (fresh or thawed frozen)
• 1 tsp. Almond or vanilla extract

Blend together in a food processor the pecans and/or almonds with the dates and salt until they are a semi-fine consistency. Press the mixture into the bottom of your pan (I used a glass). If you are using a pie plate, line first with plastic wrap.

Warm coconut oil and honey together in a small saucepan on the stove.

In the most powerful blender you own (Vitamix is the star here, but I don’t have that so I used my mother-in-law’s hand-me-down Osterizer with great results!), dump the  cashews, extract and warmed liquids and blend until creamy. If you need to add a little water so it blends better, go right ahead.

Pour 2/3 of this creamy dreamy filling into your shell and smooth the top and sides with a spatula.  
Blend the remaining 1/3 of the filling with the raspberries until there are no chunks. Pour this beautiful pink filling on top of your first layer. Smooth it as before. 
Freeze on a tray to keep level until completely solid; approximately 4-6 hours.

Pull cake out of the freezer 30 minutes before you want to serve. When ready to serve, you should run a thin knife around the edge before unmolding. 

Cut, serve, eat!

I think I’m going to store it in the freezer for now, though I suspect once it’s set, the fridge would be fine.

It’s beautiful, delicious, the texture is so creamy, and – it’s made up nearly entirely of plants, which I think is pretty rad! The flavor combinations are endless here, so go crazy and don’t forget to tell me all about it! Better yet, let’s share a slice! Enjoy!

Related Images:

Fluffy pancakes

You know what they say – with great power comes great responsibility. I don’t consider myself having much power, but when I stumbled upon this recipe I felt like I unlocked a secret code that needed to be shared. So, here you go – the finale to the tale of a pancake lover’s journey from immediate gratification of that cakey breakfast goodness to 20 minutes later being starving again to finding this recipe: loaded with whole grains and protein that will become your go-to filling, sustaining, sweet breakfast Excalibur. Oh yeah. It’s also gluten-free. You’re welcome.

PROTEIN PANCAKES
makes 12, serves 2

• 2 eggs
• 2/3 c. old-fashioned rolled oats
• 1 c. cottage cheese
• 1 tsp. extract of your choice – I like vanilla or almond

1. Put everything all at once into a blender or mix with your immersion blender in a bowl.
2. Mix until you have a pancake batter consistency – don’t go too thin. If you need to thin it at all, use liquid of your choice to do so.
3. Let batter sit for 2-5 minutes.
4. Pour directly from blender onto hot greased skillet, cook as normal for pancakes.
5. Clean-up is a snap as you only have a blender to clean!

I made this handy-dandy nutrition label for the recipe – I used 2% milkfat cottage cheese for this label – the fat count will be much lower if you use nonfat cottage cheese. Look at the amount of protein in these puppies. Can’t go wrong with these, they fluff up even with no leavening, and they taste good too. Enjoy!

Related Images:

On the menu for the week, my trusty sidekick and partner-for-life Spencer and I decided was a lot of BLTs, as it was now finally heirloom tomato season (hallelujia!), and we also noted in the fridge clean-out process on Friday, that we have an incredible amount of mayo in our fridge – BLTs it is. What does this have to do with blanching, you ask? Nothing, except that I like to multi-task, and baking bacon takes exactly as long as it takes to blanch a bunch of other food, so there you have it!

We farmers love a solid breakfast, and hardboiled eggs are at the top of the list for easy fast protein in the morning. We tend to boil 12 eggs every week to keep us fueled – and that is essentially blanching, so those make this post as well!

Also on the list are many fun salads with lots of crunchy, flavorful things in it – like beans, and beets. So, that’s what Sunday prep has in store! Onward!

First, we boil water – then toss in beans and beets. Eggs, we bring to a boil in cold water. Once the veggies are boiling, simmer for no longer than 3 minutes, then shock in an ice water bath! Once eggs are boiling, turn them off, cover and let sit in hot water for 10-12 minutes, then cool in an ice water bath.

Beautiful beans keep their gorgeous green snappy color when blanched & shocked… even if you saute them later!

Eggs like to sit in ice water for a bit before peeling. If you are keeping them for the week, put back into a labeled carton “hardboiled” and the date. Peel as needed. Sometimes, eggs require cracking and sitting in a bowl of warmish water to peel properly. Eggs continue to be mysterious.

Beets want to cool in an ice bath after becoming fork-tender in a boil long enough to release their skins when persuaded ever so slightly…

I kind of give each beet an “Indian burn” (sorry for the insensitive reference, but I think of this every time I peel beets!), sort of wringing each beet to rid it of the skin.

It does work beautifully…

Perfectly skinned beets ready for any salad of the week!

I always de-stem my beans after the blanching and shocking process, as it is quicker and easier.

Beautiful beans ready for salads and dinners throughout the week!

Are you been baking your bacon? Why not? Now is the time! On a rack on a baking sheet – 350°F for 20 minutes, then rotate pan and bake until crispy.

And – that’s how it’s done. Perfect for BLTs all week! Enjoy!

Related Images:

Yulekake. This word instantly creates two feelings in me: hunger and fulfillment. Hunger because even the thought of the aroma of this bread makes me happy, and ready to smear some salted butter on one of these perfect rolls. Fulfillment because everyone that eats this bread feels loved. That’s just the way it is. A gift of yulekake is a gift of love, devotion, and it means that you are special enough to make someone put their kneading muscles on and bake a loaf, braid, or pan of rolls for you.

My mother’s side is Norwegian, Polish, French in heritage, and my mom, Maureen Plourd Sandoval, related the story of her mother, Marie Knudsen Plourd, getting her Norwegian grandmother, Borghild Gudmunsen Knudsen, to describe how she made yulekake, and then my grandmother made the conversions to cups, tsp, etc. What she created from memory is the exact replica of what everyone on that side of my family makes today. Growing up in Colorado where there was always chile on every plate, including the Christmas plate, we can now never have a Thanksgiving or Christmas without yulekake playing the support role of sandwich bread for leftover turkey, ham or beef from the holiday meal; a little meat plus some green chiles makes a great leftover sandwich, with the slightly sweet cardamom-y bread completing the package. 

I decided to attempt making yulekake for the first time this Thanksgiving, and with the support crew of my mom and sister texting back and forth in times of uncertainty, I succeeded in making my first batch of my favorite family bread, and had the joy of sharing it with many people that could feel the love. Make this the bread that graces your holiday table, and you will definitely want it there for every feast holiday – if it’s not on your table, you will feel like something’s missing. Enjoy, and God Jul (Merry Christmas)!

Yulekake
makes one 9×13 pan of rolls or 2 large braids

• 2 cups scalded milk
• ½ c. butter
• 1 c. sugar
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 beaten egg
• 3 c. all-purpose flour to start
• 1 tsp. ground cardamom
• 1 pkg. yeast

Find your copy of the recipe. This is my sister’s. I had her email me a picture of it!

Scald your milk and butter. Scalding means heat it to just before boiling. Set aside and let cool to a little warmer than room temperature. Do this first so that you let it get cool enough. You don’t want to add this hot to your yeast mixture or you’ll kill your yeast.

Either use ground cardamom, or grind your own. I urge you to grind your own. Aroma heaven.

Mortar and pestle is tough. Don’t be a hero. I ended up using my coffee grinder.

Place all your dry ingredients in a bowl. This is the 3 c. flour, cardamom, yeast, salt.

Add your beaten egg to the flour mixture.

Add your cooled scalded milk mixture. Stir with a fork, then a wooden spoon.
This is when it starts to smell awesome!

It’ll be gloopy like this. Add flour until it is work-able. Dump out on your working surface and keep adding flour and kneading until it looks like…

…this. It was the most enjoyable bread to knead! My sister swears by her huge Kitchen-Aid mixer for this job, but I absolutely LOVED kneading it until it looked perfectly silky.

Coat a bowl with some butter, coat the ball in a little butter. Cover with a towel or plastic wrap, put in a warmish place to rise for as long as it takes to double. Mine took around 2 hours. I was shocked how long it took, but it is a really dense dough… the ticket here is that it needs to be doubled – this may be dependent on your region – high or low altitude, cold or warm kitchen. Let it take as long as it takes to double.

Punch down and form into balls or braids.

Cover with towel or plastic wrap and let rise one more time to double again. This took almost 2 hours this time as well, perhaps a little less.

Preheat oven to 350°F, and bake for 30 minutes, then baste with melted butter. Rotate pan. Bake for 30 minutes more. Baste with more butter. Keep doing this process until desired level of brown is achieved. Err on the side of honey-brown,
as any less done will yield a gummy bread.

Serve warm, or reheat in slices in a toaster, or wrap in foil and toss in oven to reheat. This bread keeps exceptionally well in the freezer – I’ve had re-heated frozen yulekake 1-2 years old that was in incredibly good condition. Bake a lot of it and give as a hostess gift, or hoard it all for yourself for yulekake french toast, or top toasted slices with gjetost…
the possibilities are endless! Enjoy!

Related Images:

Squash Blossom Fritters with Taleggio, Truffle Oil and Honey

Serves 4

• 8 c. canola oil
• 2½ c. all-purpose flour
• 1½ c. soda water
• 4 ice cubes
• 12 squash blossoms
• 4 ounces Taleggio or Brie cheese cut into 12 equal pieces
• ¼ c. white truffle oil, or to taste
• ½ c. Vermont honey, or to taste

1. Place the oil in a heavy-bottomed stockpot and heat to 350º F.
2. In a medium bowl stir together 2 cups of the flour and the soda water until the mixture resembles a thin pancake batter. Add the ice cubes and set aside.
3. Place the remaining ½ cup flour in a shallow bowl. Carefully open the squash blossoms and remove the stamen (tweezers work well) from inside the blossom. Stuff each blossom with a piece of cheese and gently twist the end of the blossom to enclose the cheese. Dredge the blossoms in ht flour then quickly dip in the batter to thinly coat.
4. Immediately place three or four blossoms in the hot oil and fry until golden brown, about 2 minutes per side.  Using a slotted spoon, remove the blossoms and drain on paper towels. Season with salt to taste. Repeat with the remaining blossoms. Place three squash blossom fritters on each serving plate, drizzle with the truffle oil and honey, and serve immediately.

Related Images:

Silver Chicken

I eat a lot of Asian food in the winter. I am not sure what it is – perhaps it’s the promise of lots of veggies in the meal, perhaps it’s the super-satisfying hot, sour, salty and sweet tastes on my palate. Whatever it is, there’s something addictive and nourishing about Asian food. Take silver chicken, for example. It’s also known as foil chicken and it has all the hallmarks of satisfaction – chunks of meat, sour salty sweet sauce, and all the heat you want. I love silver chicken, and was introduced to it by my Mom, who had a great little take-out Chinese restaurant/laundromat right by her house for years. Sunny’s Chinese is now long gone, but this recipe comes really close to bringing it back home. Enjoy!

Silver Chicken aka Gee Bow Gai
makes 18 parcels

Adapted from Bon Appétit  | September 1995

• ½ cup brown sugar
• 5 tablespoons soy sauce
• ¼ cup minced green onions
• ¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 3 tablespoons hoisin sauce
• 2 tablespoons dry Sherry
• 2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil
• 4 teaspoons minced peeled fresh ginger
• 2 teaspoons minced garlic
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon five-spice powder (optional)
• 1 pound chicken tenders or boneless skinless chicken thighs

Combine first 12 ingredients in large bowl and stir to blend.

Add chicken and turn to coat. Cover and refrigerate at least 30 minutes,
but this will be much better marinating overnight.
Stir occasionally.

Preheat oven to 350° F. Make 12 inch square foil pieces.

Fold each square of foil into quarters. Place 1 Tbs. chicken mixture in center of foil.
Fold bottom corner over chicken.
Fold sides in. Repeat with remaining chicken and foil. Discard remaining marinade.

Place all parcels on a baking sheet, and cook in oven for 30-45 minutes.
Alternatively, you can deep fry them.

Careful opening hot parcels!  They are very steamy.
Enjoy with rice and vegetables, or alone as an appetizer.

Related Images:

CHERRY TOMATO KETCHUP

NYT: By MELISSA CLARK, June 29, 2012

Related Images:

Yes, I know. Lettuce and cooking sound like they should never be in the same sentence. That is… until you try them grilled. Then you wonder how could it be that you have never tried this before? It is crunchy, but toasty, refreshing and satisfying. Try with any head of lettuce that is crunchy: romaine, crisp, iceberg are all great candidates – save the Bostons, bibbs and buttercrunches for your Niçoise salad and larb gai – far to tender for this application.  Once you have this down, you can expand your repertoire and start grilling chicories: escarole, frisée, radicchio – the sky is really the limit! We find this a great way to have a summer salad that is different than your run-of-the-mill mesclun mix, and a great way to get your veggies into your meal! Enjoy!

Grilled Lettuces

Serves 4

• 2 heads of crispy lettuce: iceberg, romaine or crisp lettuce is good
• olive oil
• salt
• pepper
• dressing of your choice (we like balsamic dressing)

Related Images:

To that end, we grow hundreds of hot pepper plants at the farm, including, but not limited to chiles de arbol, hot paper lanterns, numex joe e. parkers, poblanos, bhut jolokia (yep, that’s the ghost pepper), rocotillo, aji, jalapeños, chiltepins, really anything you can think of.  It’s an obsession – and one that I am proud to share with anyone that will care to walk down that fiery path with me. I have often heard naysayers proclaim, “food that is too spicy is just not fun – I can’t enjoy the flavor of the food”. Ponder this: perhaps food that has anywhere from a sparkle to an inferno is really elevating the food to another level. It is worth trying again – you can start with just a dab.

Chile Garlic Paste

Makes ¼ cup

• 20 dried chiles de arbol pods (or other dried hot chile)
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tsp. white vinegar
• ½ tsp. salt
• 1 T. water

1. De-stem and de-seed chile pods and place in a small bowl.
2. Cover pods with enough water to cover. Let re-hydrate for 20 minutes or so.
3. Drain chiles and add to a bullet blender
4. Add remaining ingredients and blend.
5. Spoon into jar that seals tight.

Related Images:

Caldo Verde, serves 4

• 1# lacinato kale, mid-ribs removed and leaves chiffonaded
• ½# Spanish dry-cured chorizo, or linguiça sausage, about 1 package
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 T. olive oil
• 1 pound peeled, cubed russet potatoes
• 1 quart chicken stock
• 1 quart water
• salt and pepper to taste

Heat stock pot on medium heat with 1 T. olive oil, until it shimmers.
Add chorizo to oil and saute until it has released some of its
red oil into the olive oil, and become fragrant.
Using a slotted spoon, remove chorizo and set aside.

Add remaining 1 T. olive oil to pan (yes, add oil to the oil)
and saute the onions and garlic until transluscent.
Add ¼ tsp. each salt and pepper at this time.

Add chopped potatoes to oily onions and garlic, stir to coat.
Add chicken stock and bring up to boiling.
Simmer for 15-20 minutes or until potatoes are fork-tender.

Using a potato masher, mash approximately half the potatoes in the pan,
creating a creamy look to the soup.
Leave half the potatoes chunky.

Add chiffonaded kale to the pot, and stir to coat.
This will take 2 batches since the kale has so much volume.
Add water and chorizo to the pot (reserving a few chunks to
top when serving), and bring to a boil.
Reduce heat, cover, and simmer until you can’t stand it anymore.
Season to taste – it will need salt.

Serve topped with a few chunks reserved chorizo for crunchiness,
and with some hot crusty bread and butter for happiness.
Really nice with a pinot noir. Enjoy!

Related Images: