White Bean Dip

a perfect dip for chips or crackers or even a vegetable platter! The spices I used can easily be changed up depending on whats in your kitchen. you could use paprika, or some red pepper flakes to add spice instead of the Cayenne. also parsley would probably work instead of basil. This makes a good simple appetizer for any party.

Ingredients:

2 Cans of White beans such as Navy Beans, Butter Beans or Cannelloni Beans

2 large clove of garlic

5 basil leaves

a handful of spinach leaves (about 1/2 cup)

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

between 1/8-1/4 cup of olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

1/2 teaspoon Cayenne pepper


Preparation: Very simple just throw all the ingredients except the olive oil into a blender and start blending. Slowly pour olive oil until the mixture gets smooth and is similar in consistency to guacamole.

Vegan Banana Cookies

Sugar free and dairy free these cookies are still yummy but also healthy...and they are really easy to make!


Ingredients:

2 bananas, mashed
1/2 cup molasses
2 cups quick cooking oats
1 cup flour
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/3 cup chopped walnuts

Preparation:

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
Mix together the bananas and molasses until well combined. Add remaining ingredients and mix well.
Drop by spoonfuls onto baking sheet. Bake for 12-15 minutes until lightly browned.

Pumpkin Mousse

When your making food for the holidays it can be very stressful to get pumpkin pies made but for those who still want some pumpkin in their thanksgiving can enjoy this recipe. Although there is heavy cream its vacation so enjoy all you want! This recipe serves 6-8 people depending on the size of the serving.

Ingredients:

1 (15-ounce) can pumpkin
3 cups heavy cream
3/4 cup superfine sugar
3 teaspoons pumpkin pie spices (i used cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Ginger snaps or crystallized ginger, for garnish


Directions:

Combine pumpkin, 1 cup cream, sugar and spice in a medium saucepan. Simmer over medium heat for 5 minutes. Cool fully.
Whip remaining heavy cream and vanilla to soft peaks and fold into cooled pumpkin mixture. Pour into a serving dish and crumble the ginger snaps over top before serving. For serving dish I used wine glasses and made individual servings.

Pumpkin Souffle

Another way to do pumpkin during the fall.

This recipe has quite a few eggs and butter but becuase it makes about 8-10 individual souflees you are really only getting about one tablespoon of butter and one egg per person.










8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, plus more for pan and souffle dishes
1 can (15 ounces) pumpkin puree
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 cups milk
3 tablespoons finely chopped fresh ginger
1/2 cup granulated sugar, plus more for souffle dishes
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup packed light-brown sugar
9 large eggs, separated
Confectioners' sugar, for dusting





Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly butter a small baking sheet. Spread pumpkin puree evenly over prepared baking sheet. Bake about 20 minutes just to get a little bit of the moisture out of the pumpkin. It will still be fairly soft when finished. Transfer to a medium bowl.
Add cinnamon, ground ginger, nutmeg, cloves, salt, and vanilla extract to pumpkin mixture. You can use a pumpkin pie spice blend if you prefer becuase those are the flavors you are going for in this souffle. Stir to combine. Cool to room temperature. Cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or up to 3 days.
In a small saucepan, combine milk and fresh ginger. Bring to a boil. Remove from heat and let cool slightly. remove the ginger.
Heat oven to 400 degrees. Butter six 10-ounce souffle dishes. Dust with granulated sugar, tapping out excess.
Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir in flour and remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt until smooth. Gradually add the steeped milk, whisking constantly, and continue to cook until thickened, 2 to 3 minutes.
Add the pumpkin mixture and the brown sugar to milk mixture; stir to combine. Stir in egg yolks. Transfer to a large bowl, and place bowl in the ice-water bath to cool mixture completely.
Combine egg whites and 1/4 cup granulated sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat until soft peaks form. Add remaining 1/4 cup sugar, and beat until stiff glossy peaks form. Using a rubber spatula, fold egg whites into chilled pumpkin mixture in two stages.
Pour into prepared souffle dishes, mounding mixture slightly over the rim. Smooth surfaces of souffles with your fingertip. Bake until tops are colored and dry to the touch, 20 to 25 minutes. Dust with confectioners' sugar, and serve immediately.

Tofu Coconut Cream Pie

Don't let the Idea of tofu in a dessert keep you from trying this recipe. If you didn't tell someone that there was Tofu in the recipe they probably would never be able to guess. This a a creamy yet healthy dessert.


Making the Graham Cracker Crust:


1 Pkg. Graham Crackers (12-14 crackers)


2 Tablespoons sugar


6 Tablespoons Margarine


Preheat oven to 350. Melt margarine. In a food processor, process crackers and sugar. Place in a bowl and drizzle in margarine, mix and pat into a 9 inch spring form pan. Bake for 15 minutes and let cool.








Making the Filling:

1 14 ounce package firm Tofu, drained and rinsed

1/2 Cup light brown sugar(very lightly packed) or pure cane sugar

2-3 Tablespoons Coconut milk*

1/8 teaspoon Vanilla extract


½ Cup Toasted shredded coconut plus extra for garnish



Place the coconut on a lined baking sheet and toast in the oven until light brown. Keep an eye on this since coconut burns very quickly. Remove, put into a bowl, fluff and set aside
In the processor puree the tofu until smooth. Add the sugar, milk, vanilla and coconut. Process this on high for an additional 10 seconds. Pour into the prepared shell, and top with remaining toasted coconut. Chill for two hours or overnight. Keeps for up to a week.
This recipe may also be prepared in a square or rectangular pan and cut into individual squares.



* Sweetened coconut milk is, of course, sweeter and has a more intense coconut flavor, however unsweetened works just as well. Try both ways and see what you prefer!

Ginger Cookies

Ginger Cookies

I didnt have any cloves when I made the recipe so I used nutmeg instead. There is quite a bit of butter in these cookies, so experiment with using less butter or some sort of substitute. Also, when i cooked them for the 5-7 minutes they seemed to still be too soft so just try to gauge if it feels like they are underdone let them go for a few more minutes.


Ingredients:
3/4 cup of butter, softened
1 cup of granulated sugar
1 egg
1/4 cup of unsulfured molasses
2-1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda


Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. In a mixing bowl beat together the butter and the sugar until creamy. Add the egg and molasses; beat until combined.l Add the remaining ingredients and mix until well combined. Roll the dough into small balls about 1-inch and place on an ungreased baking sheet. Bake for 5-7 minutes until starting to brown. Allow to cool for one minute on the baking sheet and then remove to wire racks to cool completely.

The Beginnings of a Blog

Hi everyone! Its Nikki here starting her very own recipe blog. I plan to add new recipes every week. If people have questions about any of the recipes I add, I think anyone can leave a comment and I will respond as soon as I can. Also, I will happily add your recipes if anyone has one they would like put on the blog or just in general that they think I would enjoy. I understand that some people looking at this blog are relatives and friends from around the world so I am going to write a few conversions just so they can easily use the recipes.

32 degrees F = 0 degrees C
350 degrees F is used often and that = 180 degrees C

1 cup flour is 125 grams

Zucchini Hot Cakes

Zucchini Hot Cakes

- a quick and easy recipe that will serve 3-4 people. Makes a healthy savory pancake for breakfast or a light lunch or dinner. The only thing unhealthy is the amount of oil in the skillet which can be reduced just as long as the cakes are never sticking to the bottom of the skillet. In the picture above it is served with grated Parmesan cheese and baby tomatoes.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup Flour
2 cup Shredded zucchini
3/4 teaspoon Salt
1/8 teaspoon Pepper
2 Eggs, separated

Preparation:
In a small bowl, mix flour, zucchini, salt, pepper and egg yolks. In another bowl, beat egg whites until stiff, but not dry. Then fold into zucchini mixture. Drop by tablespoons into about 1/4 inch of hot oil in your skillet. Brown on both sides. Serve immediately.

Peach Galette

Peach Galette

I guess this isn't really a healthy dish like my blogs title, but not that many desserts are. At least there is fruit involved. Its also one of the hardest recipes I'll be putting on this blog. I guess I felt like contradicting myself with this recipe.

A galette consists of a flat crust of pastry or bread dough covered with a thin layer of fruit.. In this recipe I used peaches because they were in season at the time. If I were making the recipe now I would use apples or pears. Berries also make a good filling for the galette. The outcome will look nicer then the above photo if there is a uniform layer of fruit and more even edge.

Ingredients:

Pastry Dough

depending on the fruit choice 1 1/2 cups of berries or thinly sliced peaches or 2 apples that have been peeled and cut in thin slices.

3 tablespoons of sugar

2 tablespoons butter

Preparation of dough:

Mix 1 1/4 cup of all purpose flour 1/2 teaspoon white sugar and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Cut into 1/4 inch pieces 1 stick of butter. Add the butter to the dry ingredients and use a pastry blender or two knives to chop the butter into pea sized pieces. The recipe calls for the addition of 2 tablespoons of shortening which can be substituted for 2 more tablespoons of butter. mix/chop until the mixture looks like coarse bread crumbs. Don't let it clump it should be powdery. Drizzle over the mixture 3 tablespoons of ice water. mix until the mixture looks evenly moistened and begins to form small balls. Form the dough into a round flat disk and wrap tightly in plastic. Refrigerate for 30 minutes or up to 2 days. The dough can also be frozen for up to 6 months in an airtight container.

Galette Preparation:

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Roll the dough into a round disk about 13 in. slide the dough onto a cookie sheet (its ok if the edges hang off the edge). sprinkle the dough with

with a tablespoon of sugar. Arrange the fruit around the center leaving some room to fold over the dough. if using apples sprinkle with an 1/8 teaspoon of Cinnamon. Sprinkle the rest of the sugar on top of the fruit and fold the border of dough over the fruit leaving fruit visible in the middle. lightly brush the dough with milk and bake until golden brown 25-35 minutes if using berries or peaches and 4o minutes for apples with half the apples time at 400 degrees and the other half at 350. Other fruit stays at 400 degrees.

Tuscan Chickpea Soup

Tuscan Chickpea Soup

This soup takes only 15 minutes to cook!!! It will most likely turn out a bit thick when completed,so you can add more water or broth for a thinner consistency.

Ingredients:

1/4 c. olive oil

8-10 crushed garlic cloves

2 cans chickpeas, one drained, one not

1 can water or vegetable stock

1/4 c. chopped fresh rosemary

salt & pepper

1/2 c. broken spaghetti

To prepare:

Saute garlic in olive oil until lightly browned. Add chickpeas, water or stock, 1/8 c. rosemary, salt & pepper. Bring to simmer and add spaghetti that has been snapped into inch long pieces and add remainder of rosemary. Simmer until spaghetti is cooked (8-10 minutes) and serve. Soup will thicken considerably and can be loosened by adding a little water when reheated.Note: To maintain the warm piney flavor of rosemary, add this herb at the final stage of cooking.