Sweet Tooth

I've been in a baking mood recently. Cookies, pies, breads...you name it. My most recent baking venture was sparked by a few zucchinis that were sitting around in the refrigerator. I'd heard of zucchini bread, perhaps even tasted it a few times, and decided to ditch the chocolate chocolate, sugar sugar approach to baking and go with something a bit more veggie.

While most people probably wouldn't feel their sweet tooth acting up when they open up the vegetable drawer in their fridge veggies are actually the foundation for many baked classics. Take the carrot cake for example or even something as simple as cornbread with a bit of fresh chopped jalapeno added to the batter (I also like to throw in some chopped cilantro). To add moisture to baked goods many recipes, even outside of the pumpkin pie, turn to mashed pumpkin or sweet potato.

Some traditional chocolate cake recipes call for about a cup of tomato sauce to be added to the batter, the acidity fleshing out tones of the chocolate much as a dash of brewed coffee would do. That particular technique brings me back to third grade when Thunder Cake, inspired by a popular children's book at the time where a grandmother helps her granddaughter overcome her fear of thunder by baking the confection, was all the rage. The chocolate cake recipe called for a 1/3 cup of pureed tomatoes. See the link for a recipe if you want to try it out.

(As a side note, though a baked good may involve vegetables in one way or another it doesn't necessarily make said baked good healthier. Sure you have a different mixture of vitamins in that bread but there's often a cup or more of sugar mixed in there meaning it's still wise to show some reserve when it comes time for taste testing.)

Perhaps as a call out to those days when the wonder of tomato sauce and chocolate was still raw I grated the left over zucchini last night and baked Blueberry Zucchini Bread (courtesy of dabblingdiva on Allrecipes.com). The recipe called for mini-loafs but I turned them into muffins for a bit more portability. And the taste, well considering that there was 2 1/4 cups of sugar called for, it covered my sweet tooth as well as an very mild earthy taste put forth by the zucchini. The ground cinnamon added another layer of richness and made the house smell like a home.

So, the next time you're thinking about baking consider those leftover veggies. It's a great way to use veggies that are on the verge of going bad and believe me, once baked, those veggie goods will fly off the counter/shelf/table. CinnamonHearts.com has a great Baking with Vegetables page for those looking to test the limits of baking with veggies. I'm looking forward to trying out the Habanero Surprise cake recipes and the sweet potato biscuits. Happy baking!

Do we need to eat fish THAT badly?

I haven't written in a long time but reading this New York Times article got me thinking like a blogging vegetarian again.

The article, headed "From Deep Pacific, Ugly and Tasty, With a Catch," talks about the Hoki fish, a white fish drawn from the seas off of New Zealand that has become a fish fillet favorite with food giants McDonald's, Denny's, Long John Silver's, etc.

While I have yet to find anyone that actually craves Long John Silver's delicacies (how exactly do all those franchises stay standing on their peg leg?) the fact that the 'ugly' Hoki fish, once undesirable eating, is now near the point of being completely eradicated only reaffirms my decision to think of alternative ways to eat good food.

Do we really need to have a daily supply of McDonald's fish fillet sandwiches, most of which sits under a heating lamp waiting to be thrown out? Is that luxury worth fish "population declines, ecosystem damage and the accidental killing of skates [rays] and sharks" as Broad writes in the article?

I don't think so, but that's just me.

Rethinking The Cold Salad

I admit it. I used to be a salad hater. This may seem odd, being that I am a vegetarian but I think the sentiment followed over from my meat eating days when a salad meant some wilted iceburg lettuce, a few tomatoes and some slices of yellow onion. Maybe there would be some bell pepper in there. The only way to make that seem interesting to me was to drench it in salad dressing at which point the healthiness of eating a salad became null and void.

After giving the cold salad a second chance over the past few years I've learned that it wasn't the food genre that is salad I was against but rather the poor representations, the bland tasting, too watery or wilted versions.

As a vegetarian the salad is sometimes the best way to get a good meal fast. I've found that a squeeze of lemon over spinach or Romaine lettuce can make a world of difference when coupled with some olive oil, salt and fresh ground pepper. Even the greens can vary. Try throwing in a handful of Arugula, red onion (instead of the yellow or sweet type) or avocado. For protein kidney beans from a can, white or red, make a great addition.

This past weekend I made a great salad for a family dinner and used a recipe from Giada De Laurentiis. Despite her penchant for low cut shirts and sensual background music, to be seen on her show Everyday Italian weekday afternoons at 4:30 p.m., De Laurentiis offers consistently delicious recipes. I whipped together the Tuscan Salad in 15 minutes. Give it a try!

DIY Veggie Patties

The spring break hiatus has ended and so has my writing drought.

Today I had a yummy meal of handmade veggie patties tonight and decided to link the recipe for all of you creative eaters out there for those times when Boca won't cut it. Nothing against Boca; they make some great eats but making your own veggie patties is a good experience.

I like this recipe (from Guy Fieri of the Food Network) because it's simple and it's the equivalent of fresh hamburger meat for us non-meat-eaters. It has a cool story too. Apparently Guy decided to make the patty after his vegtarian sister (Morgan) was dissatisfied with frozen alternatives (I watch waaaay too much Food Network, I know).

There's a little bit of dicing involved with the bell peppers and artichokes for example but other items, like olives, can be bought diced and canned. Throw it together and you have get to see exactly what goes into the vegetarian version of the hamburger.

One tip that Fieri offered when he made the recipe during the show involved shaping the veggie patty in a small, round left-over container. Line the Tupperware (or whatever brand you have) with plastic wrap, place the patty mixture in, place another layer of plastic wrap over the top of the patty and press the patty into shape.

I sandwiched my patty with a Publix bakery French roll and topped it with lettuce, tomato, onion, mustard and a garlic/mayonnaise mix. Tater tots for the side. Only regret: I forgot to buy ketchup :(

New Favorite Beer

I stopped by the East Colonial Total Wine store this afternoon with Glen (previously referred to as 'boyfriend' but I guess I'll use his name now). I picked up some cosmopolitan mixings for a jewelry party I'm hosting tomorrow - with a five minute delay at the counter b/c a manager had to double check that my 21-year-old I.D. wasn't fake - and Glen picked up some beer. Nothing out of the ordinary.

We got home, he made some margarita pizza (I'll throw the recipe out there once we perfect it) and popped open a couple of bottles of the beer. Again, nothing out of the ordinary. But let me tell you that this beer was good. I mean good. The kind of beer you can drink and when you have that last little bit of warm, backwash beer at the end it's still good (I suppose that's my beer ranking strategy).

The name you ask? Samuel Adam's Blackberry Witbier. Around 52,000 beer drinkers voted the beer it the "Beer Lover's Choice" out of the Sam Adam's lineup last year. I have to agree. It plays up some fruit tones (blackberries shipped out from Oregon according to the bottle's label...whatever) without letting the fruitiness taking over. Some other beers, like Leinenkugel's Sunset Wheat or what a friend of Glen's first introduced to the both of us as Fruity Pebbles beer, take the fruit flavor and let it dominate the palette. While I enjoy a cold bottle of Sunset Wheat I can't help but feel I'm drinking a wine cooler at times. Blackberry Witbier has a background of berry and an incredible smell that only adds to the beer's flavor, but there's also that familiar bite that all beers share. Plus, it's always nice to have an American beer that has a little body, that tastes and feels a little less like fermented water and more like, well, beer.

Kudos to Glen on this find. Sam Adam's has had the Blackberry Witbier out in six packs since January and says that it will be available in their "Samuel Adams Summer Styles collection available in April/May." Keep an eye out for it.

Peanut Butter Jelly Time

I remember the first time I had 'natural' peanut butter. I was at a Whole Foods and I wanted to press the button on their natural peanut butter maker just to see what would happen. I wound up walking out of there with a 1/2 pound of natural peanut butter. The stuff was pretty good but I thought I could make better.

So last night I made my first batch of peanut butter from scratch in my food processor (it was my coveted Christmas gift this year). It was actually pretty easy and I'm sure you could whip it up in a blender if you have one, though it might take a bit longer.

You need:

- 1.5 c. peanuts, non-salted
- 2 tbs. peanut oil
- 1.5 tsp. sugar

1.) Roast the nuts! I threw my peanuts (which went against the recipe and were the light salted Planter's cocktail variety - it's what I had) into a pan and toasted them on the stove top for about 7-10 minutes or until the smell of peanuts filled the downstairs portion of my townhouse.
2.) Throw the nuts in the processor. Blend to chop.
3.) Keep the processor on and add oil slowly (again I used vegetable oil in my version last night and it came out fine - peanut oil will probably add more flavor). Blend for about 5-7 minutes.
4.) When mixture begins to resemble peanut butter add that sugar in and then blend some more until you reach the consistency you like. The sugar tones down a sort of bitterness that homemade peanut butter can have.

Pretty easy right?

I'm tweeting now...

For those of you who like to obsess at Internet's length over the movements of others I've opened up a Twitter account. Just search my name, find me and be a socially accepted creeper.