Roasted Kalettes with Beets and Cranberries

The past few months I have been hearing about Kalettes that are brand new vegetable — a hybrid between kale and Brussels Sprouts. There is some discussion on whether this should be called BrusselKale, Kale Sprouts (that is what Trader Joes is calling them), or Kalletes.  But Kalette seems apt, since the florets look like mini kale bunches. Kalettes are rich in Vitamin C, K and B6.

This recipe is adapted from here. There are more recipes posted there if you want to experiment with kalettes.

Ingredients:

1 bag (8 oz) Kalettes
1/2 golden beet sliced
1/2 red beet sliced
1/2 cup cranberries
1/3 cup walnuts
2 tbsp olive oil
2-3 garlic cloves minced
salt and pepper to taste
a little Balsamic vinegar
blue cheese

Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees.

Toss kalettes, beets, walnuts and garlic with some olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Can also add a few red pepper flakes. Lay out on a rimmed baking sheet and bake for 10-15 minutes.

Add cranberries and bake for an additional 4-5 minutes.

Remove from oven and transfer to a serving bowl. Drizzle a little Balsamic vinegar and top with blue cheese and serve warm.

Lemon, Banana and Cranberry Cake

I came across this recipe a few weeks back and have been wanting to bake it. During my first attempt, I used all whole wheat flour, and it went straight to the trash! So this time I decided to stay with all-purpose flour. I would have replaced it with some amaranth flour if I had some.

Ingredients:

2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1/3 cup oil
1 large ripe banana
1/2 cup cranberries
1/2 cup pecans
1/2 cup milk or apple sauce (I used milk since I did not have apple sauce)
1 tbsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 tbsp lemon jest

For the glaze:

1 cup powdered sugar
2 tbsp lemon juice

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl or stand mixer whisk together banana, oil, eggs, milk, and sugar until smooth. Add flour, baking powder and salt and mix well.

Fold in cranberries and pecans and mix well. Pour into a 9in square pan and bake for 30-35 minutes until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.

Cool on the rack.

Meanwhile whisk together the powdered sugar and lemon juice and spread evenly on the cake once it is cooled. Allow to set before slicing. Enjoy with a hot cup of tea!

Mango and Cranberry Cake

It’s fall and cranberries are available in abundance in grocery stories. I picked up a box of them this week and the first thought in my mind was to make cake with mango!

So…. here goes…

Ingredients:

1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 cup almond meal
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 mango diced
1 cup fresh cranberries
1/2 cup coconut flakes
1 1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla essence
2 eggs
1/2 stick unsalted butter
1/3 cup milk

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees F.

In a large bowl, mix flour, almond meal, salt and baking powder. In a separate bowl whisk sugar and eggs until thick. Add essence. Fold in melted butter and milk and whisk together. Add to dry ingredients and mix well.

Set aside a handful of cranberries and add the rest to the batter along with the diced mango. Optionally can add some walnuts. Mix well. Pour into a well greased baking pan. Arrange the remaining cranberries on top of the cake batter.

Bake for 30-40 minutes until golden and an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Serve warm with a dollop of ice cream or whipped cream or stand alone with some warm spicy chai.

See Also:

Apricot and Cranberry Cake
Cranberry Pumpkin Loaf
Whole Wheat Cranberry Orange Loaf
Cranberry Orange Bread
Cherry Cake

Cranberry Pumpkin Loaf

This is the time of the year when cranberries and pumpkin proliferate grocery stories. While pumpkins are the rage in October with many new soup and pie recipes, cranberries take over in November.

Armed with some leftover pumpkin puree from the Whole Wheat Pumpkin Spice Muffin Mix I made a few days ago and fresh cranberries, I scoured the web for an interesting recipe that used both the ingredients. What I found looked delicious, as always I varied mine a little.

Here’s how I made my loaf:

Ingredients:
1 cup all purpose flour
2/3 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
2 eggs
1/2 cup orange juice
1 cup pumpkin puree
1 cup chopped cranberries
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp orange zest
1 tsp vanilla essence
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ginger powder
1/4 tsp ground cloves
pumpkin seeds (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a 9×15 loaf pan.

In a large bowl mix together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, ground cinnamon, ground cloves, ground ginger, and orange zest.

In a separate bowl or in the kitchen aid bowl, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time and continue beating. Add vanilla essence, pumpkin puree and orange juice and continue beating on low speed or whisk by hand. Fold in the walnuts and cranberries and mix well. Pour into loaf pan. Bake for 55-60 minutes or until the toothpick test passes.

Cool on the rack for 10 minutes, before removing from pan. Serve warm or cool with some spiced cider or herb tea. It’s fall after all.

And birthday week continues 🙂