Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread (vegan)

• 2 cups whole wheat flour (whole wheat pastry flour works well)
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
• 2/3 cup non-dairy milk
• 2/3 cup real maple syrup (this is a pretty sweet bread and this could be reduced to 1/3 cup)
• 1/4 cup oil (canola, coconut, olive - your choice)
• 2 teaspoons lemon juice
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1 1/4 cups grated zucchini
• 1/4 cup raisins
• 1/4 cup chocolate chips
• 1/3 cup finely chopped walnuts
• 1/4 cup hemp seeds (optional, adds protein, iron, and omega 3s)

1. Preheat the oven to 375º F (190º C). In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, spices, and salt. Set aside.
2. In a small bowl, combine the milk, syrup, oil, lemon juice, vanilla, and zucchini. Add to the dry mixture and stir gently to combine. Fold in the raisins, chocolate chips, walnuts, and hemp seeds.
3. Pour batter into a loaf pan* lined with parchment paper (or lightly oiled). Bake for 45-50 minutes, until lightly browned and a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.

*Note: You can also bake this as muffins. Reduce baking time to approximately 20-25 minutes.

• 3/4 cup pureed persimmon (peel and chop ~2 fuyu persimmons and puree in a blender or food processor)
• 1/2 cup non-dairy milk
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 1 Granny Smith apple, chopped
• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup + 2 tbsp rolled oats
• 2 tbsp hemp seeds (for protein and omega 3s)
• 1/4 tsp sea salt
• 1/4 tsp each: cinnamon, cardamom, fresh grated nutmeg
• 1 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• Topping: 1/4 cup chopped pecans, 1 tbsp melted margarine (Earth Balance), 1 tbsp brown sugar, 1/4 tsp cinnamon, 1 tbsp flour

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Combine the persimmon puree, non-dairy milk, vanilla, and oil in a small bowl.
2. In a medium bowl, combine the dry ingredients (all remaining ingredients except the apples and topping). Add the wet ingredients and the apples to the dry ingredients and stir until combined. Pour the batter evenly into a cake pan lined with parchment paper.
3. Melt the margarine in a small bowl or measuring cup. Add the rest of the topping ingredients and combine well. Sprinkle the topping over the batter. Bake for about 50 minutes or until browned on top and edges look done. Cool before slicing.

1. Line a bread pan (or other small pan) with plastic wrap, letting it drape over the side (you will use the plastic to lift the cheesecake out of the pan later).
2. Process all ingredients in a food processor until they start to stick together and form clumps. Press the crust into the bottom of the prepared pan.

Butterscotch
2 tablespoons Earth Balance margarine, melted
3 tablespoons brown rice syrup
3 tablespoons real maple syrup
1 teaspoon rum or butterscotch extract

1. Combine all ingredients in a small bowl, mixing well.
2. Pour into a skillet over medium heat and cook, stirring continuously, until it starts to thicken.
3. Pour butterscotch over prepared crust.

Pumpkin cheesecake
1 1/2 cups cashew ricotta
2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
3 tablespoons coconut oil or coconut butter
3 tablespoons real maple syrup
1/2 cup pumpkin puree (canned is fine)

1. Process all ingredients in a food processor until smooth. Pour over the butterscotch layer in the prepared pan. Place in freezer for several hours or overnight.
2. Remove frozen cheesecake from the freezer and lift it out of the pan using the plastic wrap. Cut the cake into ~1 inch squares and return to the freezer until the chocolate coating is ready. You may want to leave the squares in the freezer and take out only a few at a time as you're dipping them.

Chocolate coating
12 ounces of vegan chocolate, chopped (chips work too)
1 tablespoon non-hydrogenated vegetable shortening

1. Place chocolate and shortening in a glass bowl. Melt on a low power setting in the microwave (stirring every 15 seconds) or in a double boiler.
2. Dip each cheesecake square in the chocolate using a toothpick or tongs. Place the dipped squares on a wax or parchment lined baking sheet and use a spoon to pour a little more chocolate over the top.

Store the finished cheesecake bites in the fridge. These have a little condensation on them because they are still cold. They taste good at any temp!
Happy (early) weekend! I'm off to Lake Tahoe for a training weekend with my triathlon training group. Think warm thoughts for me, it is supposed to be COOOOLD!

For our luxury dinner, I set the table with my grandmother's China. This China has been in my family since my grandmother purchased it for her mother in the 1920s. It is a soft shade of yellow with a delicate flower pattern and gold trim:

Sharing a meal with friends and family is about more than just eating. It is about connection and sharing and bonding. My grandmother passed away at age 97 in 2006. Whenever I use this China, I almost feel like I've invited her to the table. I love that!

Some words on planning: When I was creating my menu for this dinner, I wanted to include seasonal produce but I also wanted to create some unique flavors that went well together.

My tips for pulling this off:

• Choose produce that is in season for the best flavor. Also, shop locally if possible. The closer the produce was grown to your table, the better it will taste!
• When creating your menu, select dishes that include similar ingredients. For example, my pate and soup both contain thyme; my salad and dessert are both centered around pears; etc.
• A well-planned menu should draw its variety from multiple ingredients that go well together. Varying textures (crunchy, creamy, chewy, etc.) are okay, but the foods should have similar flavor profiles. No one course on the menu should drown out the others with over-powering flavor.

On wine: With our meal, I served a light white wine (Elva from Jodar Winery which was, coincidentally, named after the vintner's grandmother). For those who prefer a sweeter flavor, an orange muscat would be great (especially with this dessert).

Cheers!

Let's get started!



We began our meal with a baby greens salad with red pears, pomegranate arils, and pine nuts. I tossed the greens in a light pear vinaigrette of my invention and the result was colorful and delicious!

For the pear vinaigrette: In a blender, combine 1 ripe pear (peeled and cored), 3 tablespoons white wine vinegar, 3 tablespoons olive oil, salt and pepper to taste. Blend until very smooth. The dressing was a pretty pale yellow that looked so much like the yellow of my China!

Allow me to pause here to talk about feeding children. My kids are two and four and they are not yet into eating so luxuriously. Planning to feed them isn't tough, though.

Here are two tips to consider when you have little people to feed:

• Younger kids prefer foods that are disassembled or in pieces. For example, instead of serving my boys a salad, I gave them a plate with pears, pomegranate arils, nuts, etc. that they could enjoy one thing at a time.
• Serve sauces on the side in a dish that facilitates dipping. Kids are sometimes suspicious of sauce, but they love to dip!

Back to our meal!



Along side the salad, I served a walnut mushroom pate. This pate was out of this world! It tasted great on the warm bread and would also make an excellent sandwich spread.



For our next course, we enjoyed a rich and velvety smooth butternut squash soup with crispy sage leaves. The fresh thyme in the soup went well with the thyme in the pate and the smell of the onions and sage cooking together for the soup was heavenly. It is one of my favorite things this time of year!

Fresh thyme in my garden.
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...but that's just part of the fun for them. The water was cold but gorgeous...



...and we had a great day at the beach!


Cooking was quick with our simple accommodations- I love the minimalism that camping forces! To make our meals easier, I did most of the food prep at home. I chopped all of the fruits and veggies and bagged them for each meal. For breakfast we had tofu scramble burritos one day (one of my veg bags contained all of veggies and a small container of pre-measured seasonings) and then instant oatmeal (we added a few goodies like peanut butter, bananas, raisins, applesauce, etc.) the next day.

Tofu scramble burrito prep on the camp stove:


Lunch was PB&J sandwiches for the kids and Indian samosas (wheat tortillas with a mixture of potatoes, peas, and Indian spices that I prepared at home) for us. For dinner I pre-made my favorite lentil recipe (red lentils with kale) so we just had to heat it up when we were camping. The second night we had pasta with sauteed veggies (pre-chopped and bagged) and, of course, vegan s'mores (we used Sweet and Sara vegan marshmallows which are fabulous)!

We also brought along tons of snacks including Larabars, zucchini bread, Super Charge Me cookies, sesame cashews, fruit, and veggies with hummus.

Here is a menu brainstorm that I did before planning the meals for our trip. I know this list will come in handy for me on future trips!

Breakfast:

• Pancakes
• Oatmeal
• Tofu veggie scramble with potatoes (or as burritos)
• Scones (Dreena Burton's Squirrelly Scones- YUM!)
• Cinnamon rolls
• Bagels with peanut butter or vegan cream cheese

Lunch:

• Sandwiches (PB&J, tofu or tempeh, soy cheese)
• Samosas Lentil and/or grain salad with veggies

Dinner:

• Chili and cornbread
• Veggie burgers and sweet potatoes or grilled corn
• Veg kabobs, hummus, pita bread
• Pasta with sauteed veggies
• Soup and bread
• Red lentils and kale with bread

Snacks:

• Muffins or quick bread
• Cookies
• Veggies and dip
• Fruit (incl. apples w/PB)
• Bars 
• Nuts
• S'mores!

As fall is quickly approaching, it has triggered a feeling in me that I get every year about this time. Knowing that summer is almost over sends me into a panic and I start scheduling camping trips and baking cobblers just to squeeze a few more summery things into the year. Tonight I made a light soup with farro, chickpeas, and some CSA veggies from one of my favorite cookbooks (Deborah Madison's Vegetable Soups book).

What better way to finish this meal and this day than with warm blackberry cobbler? As usual, I made up my own recipe that is lower in fat and sugar than most. I love, love, loved this cobbler and so did my husband!

Vegan Blackberry Cobbler
4-5 cups fresh blackberries
1 tbsp cornstarch or arrowroot powder
1/2 cup organic sugar, divided
1 tsp orange zest
1 cup whole wheat flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup non-hydrogenated margarine, melted
1 cup non-dairy milk (I used rice)
1/4 tsp almond extract
1/4 tsp vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 375〫F (190〫C). Gently combine blackberries, 1/4 cup sugar, cornstarch or arrowroot powder, and orange zest and set aside.
2. In another bowl, combine the remaining ingredients. Whisk to combine well but don't over-mix.
3. Lightly grease an 8x8 or 9x9 baking dish (or deep dish pie or casserole dish). Pour batter into prepared pan then pour the berries over the top (do not stir- the cake will puff up around the berries as it bakes). Bake for about 45 minutes or until golden brown.

Enjoy!

What end-of-summer things are you enjoying?

My husband and I tried five flavors: "Who's your daddy?", Rockin' Raspberry, Strawberry Fields Forever, Blueberry Thrill, and Cali Style Lemon. Picking our favorite would be like picking our favorite child- they were all excellent! I only have photos of three of them- I think we must have been too eager to snap photos of the last two before we dug in!

1. Place all ingredients except for the bananas in a blender and blend until very smooth. Add more water, if necessary- the consistency should be similar to pudding.
2. Slice the bananas and pour the chocolate sauce over the top. Enjoy!

One of my mantras for daily living is, “something is always better than nothing.” Get Natured isn't about perfection. It is about the simple pursuit of happiness. Sometimes that means watching the sunrise on a morning run. Sometimes it means forgoing my “to do” list in favor of sharing freshly baked chocolate chip cookies with my favorite person. Health and happiness are both physical and mental. I believe in feeding both.

I am a firm believer that none of our favorite foods should ever be completely off-limits. In my case, a life without chocolate or baked goods is not for me. Even us "health food nuts" have moments where we nearly trip on our own feet trying to get to the kitchen to preheat the oven after seeing recipes like these fresh-baked squares of sinful goodness on the internet.

So how do I handle this? Sometimes a bowl of fresh berries will do the trick. Sometimes not. For those times when only fresh-baked will do, I try my best to modify the recipe to make it lower in fat and sugar. These bars sound A-M-A-Z-I-N-G, but even my soul doesn't need that much butter and sugar. Here is my "health-nut-ified" version of the recipe:

My "health-nut-ified" cookie bars:
3/4 cup + 2 Tbsp white whole wheat flour
1/2 cup ground oats (grind 1/2 cup oats in a blender or food processor)
1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 Tbsp canola oil
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/4 cup real maple syrup
1/4 brown sugar, packed
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
2 Tbsp non-dairy milk
1 Tbsp ground flax or chia seeds
1/2 cup semi-sweet (vegan) chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda, salt, chocolate chips, and nuts in a large bowl. Set aside.
2. In another bowl, whisk together flax or chia seeds and non-dairy milk. Let sit for 5 minutes then whisk again. Add the canola oil, applesauce, maple syrup, brown sugar, and vanilla and stir well.
3. Add the wet mixture to the dry and stir gently until combined. Don't over-mix!
   
4. Line an 8 X 8 pan with parchment (or spray with non-stick spray) and gently press the batter evenly into the pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until the top is golden brown. Let cool completely before cutting into squares. If you are using parchment, lift the bars out of the pan by the edges of the paper and place on a cooling rack (this will help to prevent them from drying out).

Note: Because of the lower fat and sugar content, the texture of these bars is more muffin-like than I imagine the original recipe results to be.

1. Combine the oats and chia seeds in a bowl and top with the fruit.
2. Blend the water, dates, cashews, and vanilla on high until smooth (should be milk-like). Pour over the fruit and oat mix.

I ate this quickly with an almost-two-year old climbing on me, so I don't have any photos, sorry!

Answer: Raw cashews! Here is the recipe:

Vegan Mint Chip Ice Cream
1/2 cup vegan chocolate chips, chopped
1 1/2 cups raw cashews
1 1/2 cups water
3/4 cup real maple syrup
1/2 vanilla bean (or 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract)
1/8 tsp almond extract
2 tsp peppermint extract (optional)

1. Combine the cashews, water, syrup, and extracts in a blender (VitaMix works excellent for this!). Blend on high until silky smooth, at least 1 minute.
2. Place the blender container in the freezer for 40 minutes or in the fridge for 1 hour (or up to overnight). Pour the mixture into an ice cream freezer and freeze according to the manufacturer's instructions. Add the chocolate chips just before the ice cream is finished freezing. Enjoy immediately for a soft-serve texture or freeze (in the freezer) for firmer ice cream.

This recipe was adapted from one in a book called Vice Cream.

The imminent arrival of summer already has me thinking about hammocks and homemade ice cream. My toenails are painted a shimmery red and my tea is on ice. So how does a "health nut" make ice cream? Before I tell you, take a look at my first batch of the year. Can you guess what the main ingredient is?

Hint: this ice cream does not contain milk (dairy or non-dairy) or soy.
I will share the answer to this question as well as a recipe tomorrow!

I mixed my açaí puree with vanilla soy yogurt for extra protein. I think next time I might try reducing the amount of yogurt and adding 1/2 a frozen banana to the mix to keep it a bit thicker. Here is my recipe from today, feel free to tweak it as you wish!

Allison's Açaí Bowl
Serves 1

1 packet frozen açaí puree
1/2 - 1 cup vanilla soy yogurt
1/2 cup granola (vanilla flavor is extra good)
1 sliced banana
4 sliced strawberries

1. Using a blender, combine the açaí and yogurt. Pour mixture into a bowl and top with granola and sliced bananas and strawberries.

Some ideas for recipe tweaks:

1. Reduce the yogurt to 1/4-1/2 cup and add 1/2 a frozen banana to the puree. Add a splash of apple juice, if necessary, to make blending easier but keep the mixture thick.
2. Drizzle agave nectar or honey over the top of the berries and bananas if you like things a little sweeter.
3. Add 1 Tbsp of hemp seeds for extra protein and iron (either to the puree or sprinkled over the top).
4. Use tropical fruit such as mango, pineapple, or papaya instead of banana and strawberries. Top with a sprinkle of shredded coconut.

A note on sustainability: Because açaí is grown in the Amazon rainforest, it is important to consider the environmental aspects of getting this berry from Brazil to your breakfast table. While it isn't possible for most of us to buy local açaí, we can do our best to support companies that practice sustainable farming. Take a look at the Sambazon website, here, for more information.