Sweet potatoes & sage

 

It's the first cool morning of Fall, and it came late this year! Apparently today is a morning of firsts, as I have my first smart phone in hand, and am making my first post in months!

I've been working on changing up my business plan lately. I started Sorella 1 year ago as an In-home Classes, Catering & Private Chefwork business. Those are all jobs that I am still interested in pursuing, in fact I love them all! But it doesn't give me much opportunity to work with the public. I have so much good food & knowledge to share that I feel strongly about having more consistent visibility with the community.

For the last few weekends I have set up a "concession stand" at local fairs selling sandwiches, snacks, salad & salsa. It went extraordinarily well. Now I am working to be a more permanent fixture in the Farmers Markets in town, and am dreaming up product lines. I am strongly considering Gluten Free Baking as a option, since there is such a great demand. We'll see!

1 Sweet Potato
1/2 red onion
handful raisins
6-8 leaves of garden sage, crumbled
sea salt
Drizzle coconut oil
handful Kale

Start with the oil. Add the diced sweet potato & salt. Once it is about halfway cooked add the rest of the ingredients, except for the Kale. Once the sweet potatoes are cooked through, remove from the pan. Add 1/2 cup of water to the hot pan, and toss in your kale. Itll be bright green and tender in under 30seconds.
Serve potatoes on top of Kale. Enjoy.

Chocolate Stuffed French Toast

French Toast - Egg free! - even better than the traditional egg battered version?! We think so!

I've got nothing against happy chickens laying happy eggs. But eating those eggs, just doesn't agree with my digestion. I didnt figure this out until "egg class" in Culinary School. We cooked eggs about 20 different ways, and since then eating them makes me nauseous. It was a bummer at first, but I manage! Anyways, enough about that! PLANT BASED FRENCH TOAST!!

BATTER up!
1 banana, fresh or frozen
1 c milk, what have you
cinnamon
pinch sea salt
vanilla
blend well

Dredge your toast of choice in this delicious concoction.. and fry it up. Baking would probably work too, but I would use parchment. Make sure your pan is nice & hot, and add a drizzle of oil. Keep your eye on these, they sometimes stick. Getting the pan hot & using oil liberally (I use coconut) will help.

Once theyre about to come off the stove, sprinkle chocolate chips on top of one slice, and place the 2nd slice on top.. like a sandwich! Those chips should be melted in no time, and its ready to eat!! With maple syrup, of course.

Banana Cacao Smoothie

Smoothie
1.5 frozen banana
2 T cacao nibs
2 T cacao powder
1 t cinnamon
1 T maca powder
2 c almond milk
1 T real maple syrup
pinch sea salt

Almond Milk
3/4 c raw almonds soaked overnight
pinch sea salt
1/2 vanilla bean
dash real maple syrup

For the Almond Milk:
Soak the almonds in a bowl of water overnight. Drain. Pop the almonds out of their skin. Discard the skin, and toss the white almond centers into a blender. Add 4c water plus the remaining ingredients and blend on super high. Pour the liquid through a fine mesh sieve and discard the almond pulp. Keep the Almond milk in the fridge for up to 5 days.

Granola with Cinnaroll Sauce

Send help! I can't.. stop... eating.. GrAnOla!! Actually, this happens about once a year... I should be able to get through it. As long as I stay hydrated & eat my greens, then granola 2-3times a day can't do any harm. Hey, its probably more whole grains & fiber than many people get a day. There ya go, I justified it. Easy.

Granola
3 c rolled oats
1/2 c raisins
1/2 c coconut
3/4 c chopped walnuts
1/2 c chopped pecans
1.5 T cinnamon
pinch sea salt

Cinnaroll Sauce
Maple Syrup 3/4 c
Dates 10-12 pitted
1/4 c water
1/2 T cinnamon
1 vanilla bean
2T Coconut oil
pinch sea salt
pinch nutmeg

Place all of the Granola ingredients into a large bowl. All of the Sauce ingredients go into a high-speed blender. Once the Sauce is creamy smooth, pour 1/2 of it onto the dry granola ingredients. Save the rest because it is freaking awesome.. and if you don't eat it all w a spoon right away, you'll find many ways to enjoy it over the next few days.

Heat the Oven to 300. Mix the sauce into the oat mixture well. Then spread it out onto a baking sheet in an even layer. Bake the mix for 25minutes, stirring a couple times. If it still seems a little wet, no worries, once it cools down it will crisp up.

I've been eating this granola with fresh banana & cashew milk. In the above photo its served with almond yogurt, cinnaroll sauce and a baked banana. Enjoy!

Avocolada Chia Pudding

pineapple, about 2 1/2-3 cups
coconut water, 2 cups
2 bananas, keep separate
avocado, save the pit
2T coconut butter
pinch of salt
juice of 1 lime
3T chia seeds

 Place all the ingredients, except the chia and 1 banana, into the blender and puree. Then, stir in the chia seeds, the avocado pit and the other banana sliced. The pit will help keep the avocado fresh for a few days. Place in the fridge and enjoy a few hours later.

raw Blueberry Dream Chia Pudding

1 pkg fresh bloobs
1 banana
3 oranges, juiced
2 T chia seeds
vanilla

Toss the bloobs, banana and oj in the blender and blend on low. You dont want a perfect puree (or do you?) so leave it a little chunky. Stir in the vanilla and chia seeds. Refrigerate and enjoy a few hours later. I sprinkle a little Bee Pollen on mine.

Mochi Waffles

Mochi Waffle Breakfast Spread

Apple Cinnamon veganButter, Lavender Blueberry veganButter, Orange Almond Syrup. Maple Syrup, Raw Honey, Raw Cashew Butter 

What is Mochi?? Mochi is rice, that has been pounded into a paste, then dried into blocks/ sheets/ what have you. When you heat it, it puffs up. Puffed mochi can be used as dumplings, you can toss it into a stir fry, eat it like a snack, dip it into your favorite condiments & sauces, fill it with ice cream, drizzle honey or a sweet syrup on top, aaand you can make mochi waffles!!!

Its as simple as cutting it into tiny squares and setting it into a hot waffle iron. The inside gets chewy, but the outside crisps up and gets toasty. Perfect for waffles!

Mochi squares melting into the waffle iron

Mochi Waffle with Apple Cinnamon veganButter, Cashew Butter, Banana & Maple Syrup

Mochi Waffle with Lavender Blueberry veganButter, Orange Almond Syrup & Banana

The recipes for the vegan compound butters are in a previous post, you can find those by clicking here.

 Blood Mandarin, Navel orange, Valencia Orange, and Seville Orange

Orange Almond Syrup
4 c Orange juice
1/4 c honey
1 T almond extract
1 seeded vanilla bean, just the empty pod (you should keep these stored in your freezer)
pinch of sea salt

Simmer and reduce to 1 cup. Should take about an hour.

raw Strawberry Banana Chia Pudding w Coconut Cashew Creme

A treat any time of day, garnished with Bee Pollen

Good Goddess, this was a stroke of kitchen genius. Thats what happens when you spend over 35hours a week in your own kitchen.. genius. It went something like this...
Uh oh these strawberries are gonna go bad if I don't use em soon. I'm not a huge fan of fruit smoothies.. so that's out. I dont want to just eat em on their own... thats too easy.  I want to make some strawberry fruit roll-ups in my dehydrator but cant find my "fruit roll-up trays" aaaanywheeere. Hey.. its been a while since I made a chia pudding. Theres bananas in the freezer. I bet a strawberry-banana chia pudding would rock. YES IT DOES. yep.

WHY CHIA SEEDS? Theyre a source of complete protein, iron, calcium, B vitamins and polyunsaturated fats. They're dry little seeds until you add some liquid then they plump up and soften like tapioca, only theyre more gel-ly. A good ratio to work with is 9parts liquid- 1 part chia seed. 

Strawberry Banana Chia Pudding
1/2 c fresh apple juice
10 strawberries
1 1/2 frozen banana
2-3 T chia seeds
vanilla, a dash

Blend all of the ingredients, besides the seeds. I left my mix a little chunky for texture. Add the seeds after blending then let it sit over night. Once morning comes... dig in.  

Coconut Cashew Creme
1 c cashews, soaked 2-3 hours
3/4 c cream from can of coconut milk
vanilla, 1/2 bean seeded
maple syrup to taste

Blend all the ingredients well, until super smooth. It may be a little thin, but it will set in the fridge and get super thick, rich and creamy. The cream from the top of a can of coconut milk... isnt exactly raw, but I had it on hand and it was perfect. Alternatively you could scoop out the flesh of a young coconut and use that.

Cinna-Apple Maple Banana Oats

1/2 c steel cut oats
1 1/2- 2 c water and/or milk (its nice to mix the two, if so add milk at end)
1 apple diced
1 T coconut oil
3 T almond or peanut butter
1 banana, chopped
cinnamon
raisins
pinch salt
serve with maple syrup

In a saucepan heat the coconut oil and add the oats, stir to toast the oats for 2min. Add water then bring to a simmer, add the apples, cinnamon, raisins, and salt then cover. Simmer on low for 20min. Add the banana and stir in the nutbutter, then continue to cook for at  least 5 more minutes or until you reach the desired consistensy. Garnish with maple syrup & enjoy

Creamy Cran-Orange Pistachio Farina

1 c water
pinch salt
1/3c Cream of Rice Farina (Bobs Red Mill)
vanilla, dash
1 orange, supremed  (See post, Supreme Citrus)
dry cranberries
pistachios
maple syrup, light drizzle

Bring 1 c of water and a pinch of salt to a boil. Stir in the Rice Farina then add cranberries and a dash of vanilla extract. Turn the heat to low and while it cooks you can supreme your orange.
Once the water has cooked in, this should only take a couple of minutes, serve with the oranges, their juice, pistachios and a light drizzle of maple syrup. Then enjoy the rest of your day!!

Orange Blossom Porridge

In this recipe I used Creamy Brown Rice Farina by Bob's Red Mill. Once you boil the water, or milk, the farina cooks in 5minutes. Farina is a milled cereal grain, like polenta or cream of wheat. You can actually make your own by toasting rice (or almost any grain) then milling it in a good blender or spice grinder.

1/4 c brown rice farina
3/4 c milk product, or water
pinch salt
1 tangerine, I used Neopolitan which I think is the best of the season!
1/2 t orange blossom water, or to taste
1 T orange blossom honey
toasted pistachios, chopped
heaping teaspoon of Cashew creme or Marscapone

Bring your liquid to a boil. Stir in the farina, salt and orange blossom water then cook for 5-8 minutes. Top with the pistachios, tangerine, honey and creme.

Blubanana Steel Cut Oats

I just moved into my new place this past weekend, and this has been breakfast every morning since!

1/3 c Steel Cut Oats
1/2 c water
1/2 c almond milk
pinch salt
blueberries
baby bananas
raw organic butter

We've got two balconies in the new place. This one overlooks one of the Austin Greenbelts. It makes me so happy. So does this breakfast.

Apple Cran Banana Oats

For 2 Servings

3/4 Apple grated
1/4 c water
handful raisins
handful cranberries
1/4- 1/2 in grated ginger
drizzle maple syrup
1 banana
cinnamon
1/4 orange juiced

1/2 c SteelCut Oats
2c liquid (I did 1/2 almond milk, 1/2 water)
pinch salt

Bring the oats to a boil, then reduce to a low simmer and cover. Stir frequently and add more liquid if necessary. Cook until they reach your desired consistency. I cooked mine for over 1/2 an hour.

Meanwhile... In a pan, heat the water and add apples and all the ingredients except the orange juice & banana. Simmer on low until it is bubbling and the water begins to reduce. Dice up the banana and stir it in, cook for an additional minute, then deglaze the pan by squeezing the juice of 1/4 of an orange.

Finally, stir the fruit fixins into the oatmeal and serve. You could also stir in a pat of butter just before digging in or top with yogurt... yes!!!

French Toast stuffed w Banana Cashew Creme

Banana Cashew Cream

1 c cashews
2 baked bananas
1/4 vanilla bean pod scraped
water to desired creaminess
maple syrup to desired sweetness, a little goes a long way

Bake the bananas in their peel until the peel is completely black and juice is beginning to ooze out

Puree above ingredients in blender until Smooth

Berry Syrup
strawberries
cherries
blueberries, raspberries, whatever you want
1 meyer lemon juiced
dash of balsamic vinegar
pinch of salt

Heat in saucepan, and simmer on low until the juicy sugars in the fruit release and get all syrupy beautiful.

Breakfast Tacos

This is the kind of meal that happens when Anna and I share a morning off work.
We've got 4 fresh whole grain tortillas from Central Market (our mutual employer.)
Plus:
scrambled eggs
fresh avacado
black bean dip (homemade recipe follows)
diced sauteed veggies
-bell peppers
-zuchinni
-onion
shredded cheddar & habanero cheddar
salsa

with some roasted potatoes on the side (pictured in the aluminum foil)

Homemade Black Bean Dip:

Soak dry black beans overnight then boil for 2 hours or until soft
(or use ready to use canned beans)
2c cooked beans

Sautee half an onion in oil with 2-3 cloves garlic. Once soft, add with the black beans into a blender or food processor, with the juice of half a lemon OR a Tablespoon apple cider vinegar. Puree and slowly add in oil until you reach your desired consistency. Add salt to taste. I also like to add cumin, paprika and cayenne.

Birthday Pancakes with a Blue Lavender Lemon Syrup

Blueberry Chocolate Chip Meyer Lemon Pancakes

Traditionally, Anna is the pancake maker in the family. But, for her birthday I took over the breakfast duties.
For the pancakes, simply add frozen/fresh blueberries, chocolate chips and the zest of one Meyer lemon to your favorite "from scratch" Buttermilk Pancake recipe.

The Meyer Lemon is in season! They are hybrids of a lemon and a mandarin (some say orange) with none of the tartness of a lemon. You can only find them in stores Nov-April (roughly) but they are GREAT for cooking and drinking!!

The Syrup
I just threw this together, so the recipe is an estimate :) Don't worry, it is nearly impossible to mess up, unless you add too much lavender or overheat it.

In a small pot on medium-low heat add about 3/4 c Blueberries.
1/3c Maple Syrup
1/4c Honey
pinch of Lavender
juice of 1 Meyer Lemon
dash of Balsamic Vinegar

Reduce by half. You can make this in advance and stick it in the fridge or serve warm with the pancakes! We ate every singe one of those pancakes in the picture above.

Oatmeal Fit For a Queen

Okay, for all you oatmeal-phobics and drab plain-oatmeal-eaters.. this ones for you.
I make this every morning. It is easy to go to your grocer's bulk section to keep the main ingredients on hand for a small price. Also, you can change this up to suit whatever you have on hand in your pantry.


Oatmeal for 1
1/4c dry oats
1/2 c milk (I prefer unsweetend almond milk)
1 banana sliced into 1/2in chunks
drop of almond extract (or vanilla if you prefer)
raisins, cranberries, and dry goji berries
lots of cinnamon
(more moisture if needed)

The day I took this picture I happened to have some coconut yoghurt and blackberries on hand, but those aren't regulars in my lineup.
If you've got a sweet tooth drizzle some maple syrup or brown sugar.
Want some crunch? Add nuts.
Enjoy!

Egg in the Grass

So good, so healthy, I'm going to make this dish again and again.

I actually made twice this much.. and ate all of it.

1/4c brown rice

1/2c water

-bring to boil, then lower to simmer until the rice is fluffy and the water is all soaked in. Keep a tight fitting lid on your pot the whole time.

Now for the fun part

1/2 small yellow onion

1 very small yellow bell pepper

2 cloves garlic

4 sun dried tomatoes

1/2 bunch of spinach (use a lot, because it will cook down)

4 crimini mushrooms

2 eggs

The sun dried tomatoes I used were heavily salted, so I didn't have to add any salt to this recipe. Actually.. I am really excited about these sun dried toms! Central Market, the amazing store that Anna and I work/shop at has them in bulk! A jar of them usually costs at least 7$! I paid 38cents for 4 of them. YES!

Start with a little oil in your pan, and saute the onion and yellow bell until soft. Turn down the heat and add the garlic, so it doesnt burn. After about a minute, add the sun dried toms (dice em up) and 1/2 c water to hydrate them. Once the water heats up, toss in all your spinach, and cover the pan. After a minute, stir as needed until all the spinach wilts. Add your chopped mushrooms (they'll cook quickly) and use a spoon to make 2 "wells" into the greens. This is where you'll drop the eggs. Make sure the walls around your "well" are high enough so that the egg doesnt spill over. Re-cover the pan. This should baste your egg. If it isnt cooking in a few minutes, start basting the egg with the hot liquid in the pan. This should speed up the process.

That's it!! I loooveed it mmmm!! Enjoy

Garden Vegetable Quiche

Something I've never done before! This is a crust-less version of a quiche, and was a big hit at dinner last night with Anna's family.

-roasted potatoes
-paprika
-scallion
-1/2 onion
-1bell pepper
-1yellow squash
-handful cherry toms
-chard/kale/spinach
-5 eggs
-cheddar & parmesan
-breadcrumbs
-fresh herbs

start by dicing all the vegetables into small pieces. I cooked the potatoes separately from the rest of the vegetables, they take the longest to cook.
In one pan, with a couple T oil, add the potatoes and cook on high heat, once they start to brown, you can lower the temp.
In another pan saute the onion for several min, until transparent, then add the squash and bell pepper. Cook until tender, then add the whole cherry toms, and the finely chopped greens.
Season everything with salt and pepper, and add some paprika and chopped scallions to the potatoes.
Grease a pie pan, and place the potatoes in the dish. Top off with the sauteed vegetables, and leave room for egg. I had quite a bit of the vegs left over, to save for another meal.
Blend the eggs well, in a blender or food processor. Once the Pie pan is full bake at 350 for about 45 min, until firm. At this point, I spread the shredded cheese on top and sprinkled with bread crumbs & fresh herbs, then let it melt for a minute at a low broil.

I served this with the roasted pepper sauce recipe that follows.