Exquisitely Delicious Meyer Lemon Cupcakes with Lemon Icing

The local stores have been selling Meyer lemons. I chose a four-pack of lemons that were medium skinned with a light orange hue. They were plump and juicy. I got a fair amount of juice from the lemons and even the juice was a richer, deeper color than regular lemons.

These were absolutely scrumptious cupcakes. I ate one right after I frosted them and I was afraid the icing was just a tad too strong for the delicate cake. But the next day, everything had mellowed a bit and they were absolutely yummy. I will make them again and try out a lighter icing to let the cake shine through. Makes 18 cupcakes.

Cake Ingredients
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 cup unbleached white flour
1-1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
-----
1/3 cup canola oil
3/4 cup pure maple syrup
2/3 cup soymilk (or milk of your choice)
1/4 cup plus 2 TB Meyer lemon juice
1 tsp Meyer lemon zest
1-1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp lemon extract
2 tsp apple cider vinegar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Get your cupcake pan ready, lined with paper cups. Sift dry ingredients into medium bowl. Add all of liquid ingredients together in large bowl and beat with mixer until well blended. Add dry ingredients and mix with spoon until well blended.

Using a ice cream scoop, scoop into cupcake liners. Bake for about 20 minutes until lightly brown and toothpick comes out clean. Let cool 5 minutes and place each cupcake on rack to finish cooling.

Icing Ingredients
2 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp Meyer lemon zest
2 TB Meyer lemon juice
Soy Milk, to thin to desired consistency

Directions for icing
Add first four ingredients and mix until smooth. Thin if needed with soy milk. Lightly ice cooled cupcakes.

Make Your Own Bean Burritos

Save some coin and yourself from processed food and make your own burritos. It's rather easy and fun especially if you have help. Then you can get an assembly line going - fast, simple and so much better than store bought! I like to make these and freeze them. When I need food fast I just reach into the freezer and heat up a burrito. It's easier than you'd think. This is a very basic bean mixture. I like to add some greenery if I have it: grated zucchini and fresh spinach are nice to add to the beans after you've mashed them up. Carrots would be good too – just add them when you sauté the onions and garlic.

Ingredients
1 cup pinto beans, soaked overnight
-----
2 tsp olive oil
1/2 onion, chopped
1-2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp coriander powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp hot pepper flakes
1/4 cup salsa
2 to 4 TB of water or broth
-----
flour tortillas, room temperature so they come apart and don't stick together!
salsa
vegan cheese, sliced or grated

Directions
Pick through beans and discard any rocks or "funny looking" beans. Put in large pan, cover in water and soak overnight. Drain soaking water, add fresh water to cover about 2 inches over the beans and cook beans until very soft. Drain and set aside.

Heat oil in large skillet, add onions and garlic and saute until soft. Add beans and mash them up. Add the spices and salsa and a bit of water or broth to thin it just a bit while you cook up the beans. Cook until they are thick and "burrito consistency."

Assemble Burritos

1) Lay down a piece of Saran Wrap and place tortilla on top of it.

2) Add about 1/4 cup of bean mixture to bottom half of tortilla

3) Add a couple pieces of cheese and salsa to taste

4) Fold tortilla UP over the beans; then fold in the SIDES;
then finish rolling up the burrito.

Finally wrap the burrito in plastic wrap and place in freezer bag.

One batch usually makes around 7-8 burritos depending in the size of tortilla and how much bean mixture you put in each burrito. My own personal burritos are rather small. I sue the small flour tortillas because I prefer less tortilla. You could even add some cooked Spanish rice into the bean mixture and make even more burritos.

Hot, Sweet & Spicy Garnet Yam Fries

Garnet yams show up regularly in the small but growing organic section of my local supermarket. I'm sure you've heard all about how sweet potatoes and yams are better for you than white potatoes. While I'm still going to be cooking and baking my beloved whites, this is a wonderful, surprising change of pace. The insides of each "fry" is soft and sweet and the outside slightly crisp (depending on how much oil you use) and SPICY! Yummy! The recipe ingredients are for about two servings; figure one yam per person and adjust accordingly.

Ingredients
2 garnet yams, peeled and sliced like french fries
2 tsp olive oil (or more if you like)
1/2 to 1-1/2 tsp chili powder*
salt to taste

Directions
Heat oven to 425 degrees. Spray cookie pan with cooking oil. Toss ingredients in bowl until well coated. Spread onto pan in single layer and bake until easily pierced with fork, about 20-25 minutes, flip half way though. You can take one out to eat and test that way too!

And if you're wondering if you could substitute sweet potatoes for the garnet yam, yeah, you could but I wouldn't. I really do like the garnet yams with their deep orange color.

*I used a seasoning mixture I bought from Summit Spice (summitspiceandtea.com) called Susitna Chile Blend. It's a mixture of chilies, garlic, oregano, cumin, coriander, cloves, paprika, cayenne, coriander, garlic, onion, cumin, ginger, oregano, epazoté. It's pretty damn good! But any good chili powder would be good in this recipe.

Garnet Yam

Susan's Lite Goddess Dressing

It would appear that all I eat is treats - at least that's all I blog about! But I really do try to eat healthy and I'm always scouring the blogs for tasty food to try out. I love salads with healthy, low fat, quick-to-make dressings. One of my new favorite dressings is Susan's Lite Goddess Dressing. I make a batch and it lasts for several days in the refrigerator. This recipe is a knock-off of Annie's Goddess dressing. I don't have to tell you how much commercial dressings cost and you can make this for less than a couple of bucks. Susan always has interesting commentary and great recipes. Here is the link for this fabulous dressing:

http://blog.fatfreevegan.com/2007/01/susans-lite-goddess-dressing.html

One last note: it makes a difference which tofu you use: soft or firm. I'm always switching tofu type depending on what I have on hand. This recipe calls for FIRM tofu (in the box). You can use SOFT, but I warn you, it will be thin and a bit watery. If you follow the recipe and use FIRM, it will be nice and thick. Either way, it's still tasty. Enjoy!

Chocolate Chip Muesli Cookies

A couple of my co-workers have been raving about Bob's Red Mill Muesli cereal. Of course, I had to try it out. In case you don't know, Bob's muesli consists of whole grain rolled oats, wheat, rye, triticale and barley, dates, raisins, sunflower seeds, almonds and walnuts. While I adore steel-cut oats for breakfast I found I didn't care for the nuts in my hot cereal. There was a recipe for chocolate chip muesli cookies on the bag – sounds more my style. I have replaced the egg with a flax seed mixture and fussed a bit with the recipe. The little gems are lightly sweet and would be perfect to take along if you go for a hike. Makes about 36 cookies.

Ingredients
2 TB ground flax meal
3 TB water
-----
3/4 cup white whole wheat flour
1 TB tapioca flour or starch
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
-----
2 TB walnut or canola oil
1/2 cup apple sauce
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
-----
1 cup Bob's Red Mill Muesli cereal
3/4 cup vegan chocolate chips

Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix flax seed and water in small bowl and set aside. Mix flour, tapioca, baking soda and salt in another small bowl and set aside.

In medium bowl, mix oil, apple sauce, brown sugar and vanilla together. Add flax seed mixture and beat well. Add flour mixture, stir to mix. Add muesli and chocolate chips.

Spoon on to parchment covered cookie sheet. I like to use a tablespoon size ice cream style scoop. Lightly flatten each cookie and bake for about 10 minutes until lightly browned. Cool on rack.

Dark Chocolate Truffles Rolled in Cocoa and Coconut

These are considered "raw" treats. I generally avoid "raw" recipes because they can be time consuming. The only time consuming aspect of making these delicious little fat bombs is soaking the dates and letting the ingredients chill for several hours before rolling them into balls. But they are very easy. Since this is a small recipe, you will need a small blender or processor to make them. Makes about 12-14 truffles.

Ingredients
2 TB plus 2 tsp virgin coconut oil, melted
2 medjool dates, pitted and chopped
1/4 cup pure maple syrup
3 TB cocoa powder
pinch of salt
-----
1-2 TB cocoa powder, for rolling
1-2 TB flaked raw unsweetened coconut, for rolling

Directions
Combine the coconut oil and dates in very small bowl and let sit for 30 minutes (this softens the dates). Transfer to blender with syrup, cocoa and salt. Process until smooth, periodically scraping down. Place in small bowl and let chill for several hours.

Scoop out about 3/4 tsp of mixture, and roll into ball. Roll in cocoa or coconut flakes and place in small paper cup. Continue until done. Chill truffles for about an hour before serving. Keeps for a week in refrigerator.

Chocolate "Moose" Ice Cream in Hamilton Beach Half Pint Soft-Serve Ice Cream Maker

I love, love, love ice cream, new kitchen gadgets and appliances. Target had this mini-size ice cream maker on sale for $27.99 and who was I to resist? I already have a perfectly fine Cuisinart ice cream maker but I've realized that home made ice cream is best served fresh. The texture after it's been frozen is generally rock hard. This little puppy is "soft serve" meaning the ice cream is not going to be as firm as store bought but guess what? It doesn't matter, it's delicious and you are in control of all the ingredients. The directions instruct you to churn for 5 to 8 minutes; next time I'm going to stop mixing right when it starts to stick to the sides, about 5 minutes. I think then it will be perfect. This recipe makes 2-4 servings.

Chocolate "Moose" Ice Cream
3/4 cups chocolate rice milk or soy milk
3/4 cups semi-sweet vegan chocolate chips
6 oz (or 1/2 package) of Mori-Nu firm silken tofu
4-1/2 tsp Kahlua
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp chocolate extract

Freeze ice cream maker bowl for a minimum of 8 hours before making this ice cream. Overnight is even better. I like to make the ice cream and let it chill overnight too.

Heat milk in small saucepan until it begins to simmer. Take off heat and add chocolate chips, stirring constantly until melted. Have the rest of the ingredients ready and waiting in a small blender. Add the milk/chocolate mixture to blender and process until smooth. Put in container and chill for at least 2 hours.

If you are using the Half Pint Ice Cream maker, take freezer bowl out of freezer. Process in ice cream maker until it's the desired consistency – soft serve! Enjoy.

Note: If you're wondering what to do with the rest of the package of Mori-Nu tofu, see my March 3, 2011 post about Susan's Lite Goddess Dressing – the recipe calls for 6 ounces of Mori-Nu tofu.