Cauliflower Pie

And my love affair with the flower continues. I really can't help it. I feel like this once dreaded vegetable has been cropping up the interwebs with all sorts of new surprise ideas. Surprise ideas are totally fun. They stimulate your brain cells and your taste buds.

Brownie covered cookies? Check.

Berry beer cocktail? Future check.

Cauliflower pie? Well, compared to the first two links, this may as well be slug stew. BUT...if you look at it as a balanced, healthy meal (instead of as a delicious, meal combing beer + vodka) then you're doing all right.




We ate this with crispy, roasted broccoli, which was filling if you have two portions of each. However, if you are feeding a meat-eater (meater?) then I bet you could bulk it up by adding a nice layer of ground hamburger or crumbled sausage on top of the potato layer before you add the cauliflower in. This definitely leans more towards a casserole than a pie, so feel free to adapt this to your liking. (However, the spring-form pan cooking method makes it very fancy, so we'll continue to call it a pie. Give it some integrity, people.)



Cauliflower Pie
loosely adapted from Branny Boils Over
feeds 4

Potato Crust Stuff:
3 cups peeled, grated russet potato
1/2 t. salt
1 beaten egg
1/4 cup grated onion

Cauliflower Topping:
1/2 cup grated mozzarella cheese
1/2 medium cauliflower, broken/processed into small, biteable chunks
1 cup broccoli, same size pieces as the cauliflower
2 tablespoons chopped garlic
1 dash thyme
1/2 t basil
1/2 t salt
1/2 t curry poweder
1/2 t garam masala (optional, but I liked it)
1 beaten egg
1/4 cup milk
pepper
paprika

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2. For the crust, combine the potato, salt, onion and egg in a medium bowl.

3. Press the mixture into a greased spring form pan and bake for 35 minutes until browned and solid.

3.5 Have some you time! Read your new magazine, eat a couple chocolate chips, try to guess the Jeopardy questions knowing it will be a complete fail (or is that just my life?)

4. Remove the potato crust and turn the oven down to 350.

5. Sprinkle 1/4 cup of the shredded cheese over the potato crust.

6. In a large bowl, combine the second egg with the seasonings and the milk.

7. Add the cauliflower, broccoli, and cheese to the milk mixture and mix it all together so everything is coated.

8. Pour this into the spring form pan on top of the potato crust and bake for 40 minutes until tender.

9. Let the pie cool 5 minutes before digging in.

**If you want to roast a side of broccoli, just add it in (tossed with EVOO, salt and pepper) the last 20 minutes while the pie bakes. Then while the pie is cooling for those 5 minutes, turn the oven off and the broiler on for about 3 minutes to get those broccolis nice and crispy on top.

Apricot Snack Bars

As a girl on the go, I am always looking for satisfying, tasty treats that are easily portable that I can eat on the ferry or in the car. It's an unfortunate circumstance when I find a Quaker granola bar in the bottom of my purse, chow it in 3 bites, and I'm end up even hungrier than when I started because it only wakes my stomach up even more.

As the wife of a gluten-intolerant husband, I also need to be aware of how many quick and easy snack we have on hand in the house. If there are slim pickings, the bag of shredded cheese will be gone. Or the most recent cookie batch. Not that there's anything unbalanced (cough) with those selections....but it's nice to throw in some variety sometimes.



That's where these babies come in. I've experimented with making date bars lately, using flavors based off the popular brand of Larabars. They're good, but easy to get sick of. Dates are great (ooh dang, she rhymes) but the flavor is strong.

Dried apricots, on the other hand? TOTALLY the way to go. These taste like cake. I think it's a mixture of the sweetened fruit combined with the salty cashews that just throw a big delicious party in your mouth.

Apricot Snack Bars
adapted from Shutterbean
Makes 8 bars (although I strongly encourage you to double this recipe)

1/2 cup cashews
1 cup dried apricots
1 cup dried coconut
1/3 cup rolled oats
2 tablespoons maple syrup
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoons flaxseed (not ground)
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/4 teaspoon salt

1. Line your 8-inch baking dish with parchment paper.

2. In a food processor, chop the cashews until they are in small pieces. Take out and set aside in a bowl.

3. Process your apricots until they are jelly-like - this took me about 2 minutes. They all just kind of turned into a sticky, orangy ball that twirled with the blade and I called them good.

4. To the apricots in the processor, add in the coconut, oats, syrup, olive oil, flax seeds, ginger, and salt; process it all together.

5. Add in the cashews and process until it's all thoroughly combined.

6. Press the mixture into your parchment-lined dish, using the bottom of a measuring cup to flatten it out. Place in the freezer overnight, or at least an hour to harden. Take out using the parchment paper and cut into bars.

7. Repeat, because they'll be gone before you know it.

*Store these in the fridge so they maintain their shape.

Cauliflower Pizza

January came and went, and I survived yet another year of Vegan-O-Con. That's 30 days of eating a Vegan diet, which excludes cheese, dairy, honey, Eggo waffles, hot chocolate packets and countless other food products that I hold near and dear to my ticker. Given that it sounds generally strange for me to suddenly embrace such a dark, twisted world (a lifestyle that millions of other people adhere to regularly), here me out.

All through December, I continuously trash my body. I'm not necessarily an unhealthy eater, but I definitely have a difficult time saying no to all the holiday treats and eats that are constantly orbiting around my vicinity. I truly have zero self-control when it comes to December. And it works, because I know that when January rolls it's enlarged belly around, I will pay. And I will regain my personal standard of healthy by cancelling out the butter, sugar and grossly portions of chocolate with absurd amounts of kale chips, nutritional yeast, and grape tomatoes.

It's strange, but this is totally a system that works for me. Yes, I had two cheat instances (heelllo Tony's pizza and mini-cupcakes) but I didn't beat myself up for it. I got right back on track and dedicated myself to plant-based foods the next meal.

I also find that it sets the tone for the remainder of the year. If I eat super clean in January, I enter February with a strong mindset of what healthy meals should consist of. Meals that make me feel good and leave me with energy. Meals that will include cheese and milk, but will still include veggies and healthy protein. I also find that my cravings for sugar dwindle almost down to nothing. This is saying a lot, given that I am a human female.

Oddly enough (psych) I was completely counting on a nice hearty slice of PIZZA this first week to initiate my non-vegan diet. Quite coincidentally I came across this recipe that used veggies in a way I've never imagined before. As pizza crust. It had to happen.

Cauliflower Crust Pizza
adapted from Eat.Drink.Smile.
makes 2 medium pizzas

3 cups riced cauliflower (one small cauliflower - read Beth's ricing instructions)
2 eggs, whisked
2 cups shredded cheese (I used half mozzarella, half cheddar)
1/2 cup almond meal
3 teaspoons dried oregano
2 tablespoons minced garlic
salt and pepper, to taste
any toppings you want!

1. Preheat your oven to 450 degrees and grease your baking sheets

2. In a large mixing bowl, combine the cauliflower, eggs, cheese, and flax meal.

3. Once fully combine, add in the oregano, garlic and S&P. Stir stir stir!

4. Once all the ingredients are fully incorporated, divide into two equal-sized balls and flatten onto the baking sheets to a 1/4 inch width.

5. Place in the oven on the middle rack for about 20 minutes. These babies will begin to smell heaaaavenly, and will make you so excited to see how they turn out. Is cauliflower crust truly possible?

6. Once the crust is hardened but not burned, take them out and turn off the heat and the broiler setting on.

7. Add your toppings - we went with a Mediterranean themed pie, complete with sundried tomatoes, olives, caramelized onions and capers with a pesto sauce. The second was marinera-based, with a bean-puree, onions and cheddar sauce.

8. Place under the broil until the cheese begins to bubble - about 5 minutes.

9. Remove from oven and let sit for about a minute. This may be the hardest things you've ever done.

I really dug this! It's not quite pizza, as the crust IS made of cauliflower, so a fork was required for some bites. The flavor was excellent though, and i felt just as satisfied as if I had eaten real pizza. This will be happening again!

Vegan Grapefruit Scones and time

Well hey there! I took a brief hiatus but have returned to ask for your forgiveness. For awhile I had some thoughts about this blog that were essentially geared toward me "not having enough time." And that if I didn't have "enough time," then why bother writing only when I did feel like I had "enough time, " which may only be once a week?



I started thinking too hard about this endeavor. Running this blog is supposed to be enjoyable; not another responsibility that I need to add to the daily list. I don't want to make an excuse not doing something for something that is my own idea, something that I like to put my energy towards and incorporate into any day that I feel like it can work in.

This concept of not "enough time" is interesting because I seem to make time for everything else. I eat (a lot). I run. I read. There's always time, I guess it 's just what you choose to do with it. How you prioritize.

From here on out, if I don't blog, it's not because there's not "enough time." It's because:

a. I feel it's small fries compared to everything else I need to fit into my day. Sometimes I get home from work at 8, and all I want to do is eat some cocoa pebbles leftovers, watch Seinfeld, and get my feet rubbed by my husband (yeah you're right, that won't happen. Stinky office work feet? Naaah).

b. There might be a day that I get home early, or it's Saturday, and I need to RUN. and tidy up the house. and go to the post office. and then Amanda calls and wants to get together. and so I go there. and then before I know it - it's Sunday. That's just life. It's what's lived. Blogging can wait another day.

So that is my long, drawn-out answer to the question I've asked myself: to blog, or not to blog? and then: BLOG ON!

I can't believe you're still here. You deserve a recipe.



Grapefruit Scones - Vegan
Adapted from Isa Moskowitz

5 oz non-dairy milk (I used rice)
1/2 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1.5 cups GF flour
3 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons EVOO
2 tablespoons grated grapefruit zest (make sure you don't eat the grapefruit yet - you want some juice for the glaze!)

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees and grease your baking sheet.

2. In a glass measuring cup, combine the milk and vinegar. Set aside.

3. In a large bowl, whisk together your GF flour, sugar, baking powder & salt.

3. Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients and pour in your milk mixture, the EVOO and the grapefruit zest; thoroughly combine.

4. Using a "big spoon" (you know, the spoon you use to eat frosted "mini" wheats = not so mini), scoop out the dough (it will be light and airy) and place on the baking sheet. I made my scones various sizes, since sometime I just want a bite vs. a whole thing.

5. Bake for about 12 minutes, until slightly browned on the top and have a firm top.

6. Take off the cookie sheet and transfer to a wire cooling rack. Once they're cool, drizzle the grapefruit glaze on top and garnish with a little more grapefruit zest.


Grapefruit Glaze

1 cup powdered sugar
2 tablespoons melted margarine
2 tablespoons grapefruit juice (from the grapefruit you zested from)
1 tablespoon grated grapefruit zest

Do it: With a fork, mix together all the ingredients. Drizzle on the scones and take a big ol' bite.

Vegetarian Tortilla Soup

I can't lie about the fact I am slightly excited about Fall being around.

I think it's the season that has life the hardest - it immediately follows everyone's beloved summer, it gives shorter days, and it means you can't walk around in your bathing suit top at 9pm because you're SO HOT. It's easy to hate on Fall.

However, somewhere between your first pumpkin spiced latte and smelling fresh chimney spoke, you succumb to the idea that Fall can't be too bad. Longer, dark nights to hunker down and not feel bad about watching It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia on repeat? Jumbo pumpkin cookies? 80's style Halloween parties?

Poor Fall - it spends half it's days trying it's damdest to awaken your senses to its glory, and then when we do, it's just about winter.

It's cold season around here - it seems like everywhere I go, there's someone fighting or getting over one. Including our household. We crossed our fingers, hoping it was just allergies, it will work out in the morning. But no, this girls has got a full-on stuffed nose with a sore throat that nothing but soup can soothe.

Hence, Fall's Vegetarian Tortilla Soup made it's way onto our stove this evening, and thank goodness for that. True, Fall may bring a few more germs, but if you get a gastronomical treat like this in exchange, it's allll goooood.

Vegetarian Tortilla Soup
adapted from Epicurious

1 small white onion, diced
1 heaping tablespoon garlic
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon taco seasoning
 2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 quart vegetarian broth
1 cup black beans
1 head broccoli, cute into bite-sized pieces
1 can fire-roasted diced tomatoes
1/2 cup frozen corn
3 tablespoons diced jalapenos
6 six-inch corn tortillas, sliced into 1/2 strips
cilantro, for garnish
S&P, to taste
Hot sauce

1. In a dutch oven or large soup pot, soften the onion and garlic in Pam over medium heat for about 3 minutes; stir in 1/2 cup broth, the tomato paste, the cumin, and the taco seasoning.

2. Add broth, black beans, broccoli, tomatoes with juice, corn and jalapenos. At this point, I also added 2 tomato can-fulls of hot tap water so I can get more broth. More broth = happy (un)sore throat. Crank the heat up to a boil; once it boils, turn back down to medium until the broccoli are soft; about 5 minutes.

**A note here about the fire-roasted tomatoes - you can use any kind of tomato you wish, but I strongly recommend these bad boys. They contribute so much more flavor, but not in a selfish, all-eyes-on-me way. Subtle, roasted flava. Get 'em. Try 'em. Stick with 'em or not.

3. Once the broccoli are tender, add in the tortilla strips. Give the pot a quick stir to ensure all the strips get dunked in, and let cook a few minute more until the tortillas are soft.

4. Once soft, sprinkle in some S&P and ladle into mixing bowls. Garnish with cilantro and add some of your favorite hot sauce. Relax, and enjoy your over-sized bowl of Fall.

Blackberries: All Up Everywhere

My name is Brittani, and I'm an addict. To blackberries. My hands are scratched, my tennis shoes are black, and my teeth have seeds in them. Which makes me not only a person with an unhealthy obsession, but a frightening one that you would rather not see running from points A-F around your city.

The blackberry obsession started innocently enough. I began to take note of their fruitful locations on points here and there on my runs. I casually stopped, snacked, and carried on. I don't know when this apathetic attitude crossed over to the darkness of insanity, but it sure didn't take long. Soon I was running this way and that, just so I could scout out more blackberry bushes. Yea, the road runner is a perfect example.


So I showed THEM the Friday afternoon before the glorious 3-day weekend. I took a large bowl, got in my car, and drove around to all my per-determined blackberry stops. I stopped on the side of the road, waved to the unsmiling watchful neighbors, picked as many ripe ones as possible, and hopped back in my car. (**Please note, if your emotions run this wild, bring a towel to wipe your hands on. Your steering wheel will thank you.)

What's rather ironic about the whole ordeal, is that while I knew I had to have these gems, I really had no idea what I was going to do with them.

Plan to acquire blackberries? Spot on. Plan to use them? Fail.


So that's how I came up with three blackberry recipes in three days, with the end results being gone by the end of third day.

2/3 of the fruits of my labor. On Labor Day. Fruits of Labor Day.

Blackberry Lemon Corn Muffins
adapted from Isa Moskowitz
Makes 1 dozen muffins

These were darn tasty - soft, juicy, and with a nice gritty, corn texture.

1 cup of your favorite GF flour blend
1 cup cornmeal
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup applesauce
3/4 cup soy milk
2 tablespoons yogurt
1 teaspoon vanilla
grated lemon zest
1 1/4 cup blackberries

1. Turn oven on to 400F and grease your muffin tin.

2. Whisk together the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, salt and sugar in a medium bowl.

3. In another bowl, whisk the oil, applesauce, milk, yogurt, vanilla, and lemon zest.

4. Fold the wet ingredients into the dry, lightly mix, and add the blackberries. Give a quick, gentle mix to incorporate the blackberries.

5. Fill each muffin tin 3/4 full and bake for about 20 minutes. Enjoy warrrrrrm.

Corn muffs

Vegan Blackberry Scones
Makes about 8 medium scones

*These were my favorite recipe of the bunch. The scones turned out light, but still had that signature biscuit-like bite. They are mildly sweetened, which is balanced out by those bomb blackberries.

1 1/2 cups GF flour
2 tablespoons baking powder
1/8 cup sugar
2 tablespoons vegan margarine (I love Earth Balance)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/3 cup milk
1 cup blackberries
2 tablespoons raw sugar (optional)

1. Heat oven to 375F; grease a baking sheet or prepare with a Silpat.

2. Mix flour, baking powder, and sugar together in a medium bowl.

3. Cut in the margarine in with the dry business using a pastry cutter or 2 knives until the whole mess is crumbly and the margarine is pretty much incorporated.

4. Add the vanilla and milk to the mix and stir together with a wooden spoon.

5. Take a bit of dough (you decide how big - they're your scones!) and flatten to about 1/4 inch thick and place it on the baking sheet. Add some blackberries on top to cover the surface, and add another flattened piece of dough the same size to make it's top. I sort of melded the top and bottom doughs together, just to the blackberries know they're not going anywhere.

6. Repeat step 5 until the dough's gone, sprinkle with some raw sugar, and pop them in the oven for about 15 minutes. Let cool slightly before eating; proceed to eat all but one.

Yeah, whatever Blackberry Festival.

Blackberry Pear Cobbler
Fills one pie dish

This one snuck it's way up to me on the fly. We had pears that were practically disintegrating on our counter top, which the fruit flies loved and I did not. This cobbler is a little more on the juicy side, and would go fantastically with ice cream...like everything else in the world.

For the filling:
1 cup blackberries
3 peeled, sliced pears
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup corn starch

For the top:
1 cup GF oats
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
6 tablespoons vegan margarine, divided


1. Preheat oven to 350F.

2. In the pie dish, mix together the oats, brown sugar and cinnamon; cut in 4 tablespoons of the margarine so the entire mixture is slightly sticking together.

3. Shake the topping over the blackberry filling; cut and dot the remaining 2 tablespoons of margarine on top of the entire cobbler.

4. Cover with tinfoil and place in the oven for 12 minutes. After 12 minutes, take off the foil and bake for another 10 minutes.

Summertime foods

So there you have it - my labor day lovefest. Let me know how they turn out for you!

Saucy Style 'Ladas

Oh, geez. Another enchilada recipe.

I'm not cheatin' you, pinky swear. This one is different, mainly because it's saucy, like those pink heels you wore that one day running errands. But this recipe is cheezy saucy, which is totally not an adjective I would use to describe any pair of high heels. Unless they're making out with a movie star, then yes. Totally cheesy.

I picked up a new blog that is brilliantly constructed by Mama Pea. I have bookmarked her recipe page and don't ever plan on not looking at less than twice a day. What I should do is back down on the double negatives.

These enchiladas are great - I like my food juicy, and since juicy sure as heck ain't coming from a burger, then I'm going to stuff all in a casserole dish. Also, a quick word about corn tortillas. I really got out of the habit of making them because they would always fall apart if I didn't fry them in bajillion amounts of oil first. However, I found a solid (literally) brand that will let you heat them up in the microwave and still stay in tact when you roll them up with the goods - all without saturating them in oil first. This magical brand is Don Pancho, and I found him at Freddies. Always Freddies. 

Cheezy Enchiladas
inspired by Mama Pea

Cheeze Sauce
everything as in the link above, plus I added 1/2 teaspoon of cumin for a little more Mexican flair

Enchiladas
8-10 corn tortillas
1 20 oz. can enchilada sauce
1 can refried beans
1.5 cups cooked white or brown rice
chopped jalapenos, amount to your preference
1 cup shredded green cabbage
1/4 of a small white onion, diced
shredded mozzarella cheese

1. Heat a small amount of olive oil in a skillet over medium hear; add onion and saute until soft, about 3 minutes.

2. Add shredded cabbage to the onion in the skillet and saute until it's all soft and smells good, about 5 more minutes.

3. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

4. Bust our your baking dish of choice and add about 1/4 of the enchilada sauce to the bottom.

5. In a mixing bowl, mix together the beans, rice and a smaller amount of the cheeze sauce; eyeball the cheeze amount and of course add more if you feel it's necessary, which it probably is.

6. Microwave the corn tortillas in a damp paper towel about 30-45 seconds.

7. Begin stuffing the tortillas, starting with the saucy cheezy mixture, then the jalapenos, and finally the cabbage and onion mixture. At this point, you can also add your hot sauce of choice.

8. Roll your tortillas and place face down in the casserole dish; continue until they're all lined up and ready to go.

9. Pour the remaining enchilada sauce over your lovely creations, and sprinkle with mozzarella cheese. You can see that I made 2 separate pans - a reeeeeal cheese and one sprinkled with leftover cabbage. Guess which is for who.

10. Pop in the oven for about 20 minutes until it's all hot and, well, saucy.