So, I had some ripe bananas, finals and stress.
What better way to beat the two, but to bake some bread.
I baked some guilt free, vegan, banana, walnut, coconut, and dark chocolate bread with white and whole wheat flour and ate guilelessly, while I stressed out over my finals!
I followed the recipe almost to a T.
You can find the full recipe here.
I slacked off in 2016. But that is understandable. My schedule was so busy, that I had less time to try new recipes. I did try some new, retried several old, and tasty recipes!
Here are some favorite recipes from 2016.
In January, I kicked off the year, with some another fun Black-eyed Peas and Collard Greens recipes. This one is a keeper!
I even tried two roll recipes: Jalapeno, Scallion and Garlic and Sun-dried Tomato and Jalapeno. Both were so delicious, that I continued to make them throughout the year!
I attempted the 21-day beach body diet in early 2016, and here’s my version of Bulghur Wheat Upma, designed to meet the container requirement (Disclaimer: I am not a certified Beach Body coach, so use at your own discretion!)
Another fun recipe in February from the beach body diet was the Brown Rice Paella.
March was all about Cauliflower Nirvana. Period!
Come April, I put all else aside for a two week vacation down under. What an incredible trip!
May is always, typically about Cherries.
I also experimented with other recipes like Mango Coconut Scones
And learnt to make Bagels… Sun Dried Tomato and Jalapeno bagels, of course 🙂
Summertime, to beat the heat, I experimented with many Popsicle recipes, many of them with mango or cherries: my two favorite fruits.
I maintained a scant patio garden this summer, which was plagued by over zealous squirrels. The most exciting vegetable from my patio garden this year was zucchini!
August was about Savory Sun-dried Tomato Kalamata Olive and Jalapeno bread.
Two fun recipes from September included, plunging into Cauliflower Rice and Stir Fried Vegetables.
And these delicious Cherry Friands!
And another variation of the Quinoa Bisibele Bath.
October, I found Mango Chia Pudding, and it was terrific. It has fast become my go-to breakfast items!
November was incredibly busy. Come December, I did try the Tian.
But, December is all about the holidays… about Airplane Cookies!
Have a very Happy New Year!
Hope to see you back here next year!
I have been wanting to try this bread for sometime. While I was reluctant to turn on the oven considering the temperatures, I am glad I finally did recently…
The only change I made to the original recipe, is to add 1 chopped jalapeno and reduce the cheese in the recipe.
It’s savory, fun and delicious with some soup for that office day meal!
Go here for the recipe.
Enjoy!
Links:
Check out A Soup A Week for some delicious soup recipes!
Okay, I admit, I have never eaten this combination ever.
Except this past weekend. If you know me, you know this is my favorite combination.
Every time we headed out of town back in CA, we loved to pick up assorted bagels and cream cheese: Jalapeno, Sun dried tomato, blue berry, strawberry and more. California bakeries also were renowned for assorted cream cheese and assorted bagels.
But, I have never come across a Jalapeno and Sun dried bagel. Until recently. My recipe is loosely based on this one.
Ingredients:
3/4 cup warm water
2 tsp active yeast
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tbsp sugar
2 jalapenos, minced (de-seeded, optional)
1/2 cup sun dried tomatoes, soaked and sliced
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup white flour
Pre- heat oven to 400 degrees.
Combine warm water, yeast, salt and 1 tablespoon sugar. Add flour, jalapenos; mix into a ball.
Knead for 10 to 12 minutes, adding more flour if necessary, until dough is stiff. Let dough rest for 10 minutes.
Divide into 6 equal pieces and form into balls. Punch a hole in middle with floured finger and gently pull to enlarge hole to 2 inches.
Place bagels on greased baking sheet; cover with tea towel and allow to rise for 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, heat oven to broil. Prepare water bath and put it on to boil.
After bagels have risen for 20 minutes, broil for 1 1⁄2 minutes on each side.
Once water bath is boiling, reduce heat. Place bagels, 3 at a time, in water for 1 1⁄2 minutes, turning after 45 seconds.
Drain and place on greased baking sheet. If desired, brush with egg wash (beat egg with 1 tablespoon water).
Bake at 400°F for 18 to 20 minutes.
Enjoy warm with your favorite cream cheese!
I am off to a good start in 2016. The black-eyed peas and collard green soup was just perfect.
Healthy, filled with all the good of beans and greens to jump start the New Year.
This is my first time baking rolls, and the jalapeno rolls with part whole wheat turned out totally awesome!
I just couldn’t stop eating them, once I got them off the oven 🙂
I am always looking for jalapeno bread recipes without any cheese, and this was an easy to follow recipe.
I followed the recipe as-is from Vegan Richa’s website, with only one minor change: I used a whole jalapeno. You can find the recipe here. Makes six delicious jalapeno rolls!
I had a lot of fun in 2015 trying new recipes from around the world. There are many keepers in the list that i cooked over and over again, and I expect, will continue to do so.
Here are some of my most favorite recipes…
APPETIZERS & SNACKS
GRAINS:
BEANS & LENTILS
Cauliflower, Kale, Chickpea Curry Pot
Black-Eyed Peas and Greens with Navrattan Spices
JAMS & JELLIES
Anise Flavored Kumquat Marmalade
DIPS & SAUCES
Sun-dried Tomato and Jalapeno Hummus
WRAPS & SANDWICHES
CASSEROLE
Zucchini and Yellow Tomato Gratin
DESSERTS
Cherry Swirl with Dark Chocolate & Cherry Bits
BREADS, COOKIES & CAKES
Farro and Sun-dried Tomato Foccacia
JUICES & SMOOTHIES
CURRIES & MORE
SALADS
SIDES
Honey and Sriracha Roasted Brussels Sprouts
SOUPS
WHAT’S POPULAR WITH YOU?
Spicy Chickpea and Brussels Sprouts Soup
HAPPY HOLIDAYS!
If I were to name a fruit that was my most favorite one, then Mango and Cherry would be neck to neck. While mangoes in some variety are available year round, cherries have a short shelf life. More importantly, they are super expensive especially in the east coast.
I miss those days when we went cherry picking, eating all we could. Or the days when I could grab a pound at 99 cents back in CA. I make up for it, by grabbing the cheapest I can, while they last.
In addition to eating them fresh, I also love trying new recipes such as this cake.
Ingredients:
1 cups fresh cherries, pitted
1.5 cup all purpose flour
2 eggs
1/2 cup softened butter
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla essence
2 cardamon pods, crushed
1 tsp baking powder
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
In a bowl, beat butter, sugar and vanilla essence till fluffy. Add eggs, flour, cardamon, and then milk and continue to beat until combined.
Add half the cherries and mix together. Transfer to a greased cake pan. Press rest of the cherries on top of the batter.
Bake for 30-35 minutes until golden. Cool on a wire rack, before serving.
Goes well with the Cherry Swirl Ice cream. Stay tuned for the recipe 🙂
Mediterranean in May
I used part of the Big Pizza Dough to make this… I made them as an accompaniment to the Stuffed Tomato. The Pizza was a failure, but the bread-sticks turned out fine. Point to note, I made the bread-sticks on the day, I prepared the dough, where as I froze and thawed the dough to try the pizza. Must have done something wrong!
Ingredients:
1/4 Big Pizza Dough
1-2 tbsp cup olive oil
1-2 tsp fresh chopped Rosemary
Kosher salt
Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
Roll out the amount of pizza dough you want to use into a roll and twist. Layout the strip onto baking pan. Brush with oil, rosemary, and salt.
Bake until the breadsticks are golden, about 15 minutes.
Enjoy.
Mediterranean in May
From the book Vegetarian Times Cooks Mediterranean.
Ingredients:
1 1/3 cup lukewarm water
1 packet active dry yeast
1 tsp salt
2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 cups wheat flour
Pour water in a large bowl or kitchen aid mixer. Sprinkle with yeast. Whisk to dissolve. Add salt and stir. Add the flours. Stir until dough forms into a ball.
Turn dough onto a lightly floured board and knead for 5-8 minutes or use a kitchen aid mixer.
Lightly grease a bowl with oil. Transfer dough to the bowl. Cover with a wet towel in a warm place and let rise for an hour.
Mediterranean in May
I’ve been wanting to bake foccacia bread for a while, so this recipe from the Vegetarian Times Cooks Mediterranean was a perfect one to try. Not only is it healthy incorporating farro into it, but also turned out quite tasty. The farro in the bread gives a nice chewy texture.
I only made half the prescribed quantity. Here is my adapted version.
Ingredients:
1/4 cup farro
1/2 cup warm water
1/2 pkg yeast
1-2 tbsp olive oil
1/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes, minced and oil-packed
1 cup all purpose flour, plus additional for kneading
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp brown sugar
kosher or coarse salt for the top
dried oregano, for the top
dry red pepper flakes for the top (optional)
Place the farro in a bowl, cover with water and let sit overnight.
Drain and rinse the farro, add transfer to a saucepan. Cover with 2 inches of water and bring the mixture to a boil over high heat. Reduce flame, and let simmer for about 45 minutes, until the farro is cooked. Add water as needed to prevent burning.
Meanwhile, combine warm water and yeast in a small bowl. Let sit for 5-10 minutes. Add 1 tbsp olive oil, minced sun-dried tomatoes, and sugar and mix well.
In a large bowl, mix the flours, and salt. Add the yeast mix and drained, cooked and drained Farro and mix well. Turn the flour onto a well floured surface and knead for 5 minutes, adding any flour as needed if it is sticky. Shape the flour into a ball and roll into a circle and place on a lightly oiled baking sheet. Cover with a towel and let it rise in a warm place for 40 minutes.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
Make dimples on the surface of the dough, drizzle some olive oil, sprinkle kosher salt, oregano and red pepper flakes. Bake for 20-25 minutes until the top is golden. Cut into wedges and serve warm.
Fly 'n Cook 