Spinach Strawberry Salad

I LOVE Strawberry Salads!! This one is an excellent salad. It's strawberry season, so enjoy! I got the original recipe from Happy Herbivore Meal Mentor. 

Ingredients:
4 cups fresh spinach 
2 cups sliced strawberries 
1 cored and diced apple
1-2 cups cooked white beans, rinsed 
3 tbsp walnuts

Apple Balsamic Vinaigrette 
¼ cup applesauce 
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar 
1/2 tsp Dijon mustard 
pure maple syrup, to taste

Directions:
Vinaigrette 

1. Whisk together until well combined. 

Salad

1. Toss salad ingredients with Apple Balsamic Vinaigrette until well combined.

Notes:
You can make this as a side salad for dinner, or eat it as dinner, serving 2.
Per serving: 390 calories, 9.5g fat, 62.2g carbs, 18.1g fiber, 20.1g sugars, 18.2g protein

Apple Crisp Muffins

These apple crisp muffins are so good! I had a couple, one child had a couple, and someone else had at least half dozen. I got them from Happy Herbivore Meal Mentor, which is a whole foods plant-based no oil meal plan. It's not a diet. All the same, I was told, "These don't taste like diet muffins." And I was asked to make them again. 

Ingredients:

1½ cups flour (white whole-wheat or GF) 

½ cup dry rolled oats, uncooked 

2 tsp baking powder 

1 tsp baking soda 

2 tsp ground cinnamon 

¼ tsp ground ginger 

dash of ground nutmeg 

¼ tsp salt 

½ cup raw sugar 

¼ cup brown sugar 

1 cup applesauce 

¼ cup pure maple syrup 

1 red apple, diced

Directions: 

1. Preheat oven to 350F. 
2. Mix dry ingredients together. 
3. Add remaining ingredients, mix until just combined. 
4. Spoon into lined muffin cups. 
5. Sprinkle with additional oats and brown sugar, if desired. 
6. Bake for 18-25 mins.

Notes:

Makes 12 muffins.

Per muffin: 124 calories, 0.4g fat, 28.8g carbs, 2.4g fiber, 15.4g sugars, 1.8g protein

Apple Sauce

I halved the recipe because I wanted only 3/4 cups and not to use a lot of apples. Turned out tasty for eating or for use in a recipe. Follow directions sans sugar and spice for "unsweetened" applesauce.

I love the steam coming off the freshly made applesauce, but allow to cool before eating or using.

Ingredients:

4 apples - peeled, cored and chopped

3/4 cup water

1/4 cup white sugar (sugar in the raw?)

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions:

1. In a saucepan, combine apples, water, sugar, and cinnamon. Cover, and cook over medium heat for 15 to 20 minutes, or until apples are soft. 
2. Allow to cool, then mash with a fork or potato masher.

Notes:
Original Recipe

Contest Photos

I entered a food photography contest where I made six recipes and photographed them. I did not win on any of them, and despite an announcement three weeks ago about the new photos being revealed, I can't find the winning photos where they are supposed to be.

Part of entering the contest required we not reproduce the recipes in any way. Two of the recipes I did really like and have made the unpublished Codex. The other four were not quite up to par for the Codex. And one of those four I already had a recipe that I liked better.

Obviously, with the contest, I worked harder at setting up the photos and striving for a story. What I've decided is that I need a higher calibre camera and I am going to be more careful with the food photos on my blog. Hopefully you'll find higher quality photos from now on out.

Without further ado, here are the photos.

Lemon Poppyseed Muffins

Coconut Red Lentil Dal

Lentil Mushroom Barley Stew

Mexican Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Cinnamon Frosting

No Bake Apple Crumble

Tofu Scramble

Dessert: Mini Pies!

Ryan made these mini pies with both a pumpkin and an apple filling. Kids and Ryan both loved them. The original recipe is from Heather Christo Cooks.

Ingredients:

Best Crust

2 1/4 cups flour

2 Tbs sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup butter, very cold and cut into pieces

1/2 cup shortening

1/3 cup ice water

Pumpkin Vanilla Bean Filling

15 oz can pumpkin puree

1 cup brown sugar

1 Tbs vanilla bean paste

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 nutmeg

1/2 ginger

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup cream

2 eggs

1 quart vegetable oil for frying

Directions:

Best Crust

1. In a food processor, add flour, sugar and salt. Pulse to combine. 
2. Add butter and shortening. Pulse until the dough resembles coarse crumbles.
3. Add water a little at a time and pulse until the dough comes together. Stop adding water once the dough has come together.
4. Transfer dough to a sheet of wax paper.
5. Gently press dough into a disc, wrap it in the paper and chill for about 30 minutes.
6. Take half of the recipe for pie dough, and using a small amount of flour, roll out the pie dough into a circle in between two sheets of wax paper.
7. Gently peel back one side of the wax paper and law over a pie dish.

Mini-Pies

1. Preheat oven to 350º.
2. In a 9x9 baking dish, add all the filling ingredients.
3. Combine until smooth.
4. Bake the pumpkin filling for 45 minutes. Take the filling out and leave until cooled.
5. Using a 4-inch cookie cutter, cut circles out of the chilled pie dough.
6. Spoon the chilled filling into the center of the circles.
7. Fold the pie dough over and pinch and fork tine the edges. Chill in the refrigerator while you heat the oil.
8. Heat the oil in a heavy pot over medium heat.
9. Gently fry the pumpkin mini pies until the dough is golden brown.
10. Drain for a moment on paper towels and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar.

Other details:

• Preparation time: 20 minutes
• Cooking time: 1 hours
• Makes 12 pies

Breakfast: Overnight Apple Musli

I tried this recipe out of Robin Asbell's The New Whole Grains Cookbook. I may have been the only person in the family to eat it, but I really liked it. It's pretty easy to make, lasts awhile, and tastes good. Make at the beginning of the week for breakfasts all week.

Ingredients:

1/2 c. slivered almonds

2 medium apples

1 1/2 c. nut milk, or other milk

2 T. maple syrup

1 1/2 c. thick rolled oats

1/4 c. soy protein powder (optional)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325ºF and spread almonds on a baking pan. Bake for 10 minutes or until golden. Let cool.
2. Get out a large storage tub or bowl and quarter the apples, removing the cores but leaving the skin. Grate the apples into the bowl, and then add all of the remaining ingredients, including almonds. Stir. Cover tightly and place in refrigerator overnight, or for at least 8 hours.
3. Stir and serve cold, or microwave for 2 minutes per bowl.

Other Details:

• Makes about 4 cups. 
• Nutrition given per 1/2 cup, which I found to be a good serving size. 
• I did not use soy protein powder. 
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Dessert: Longaberger Apple Pie and Pie Crust

I'm downright un-American - I don't like apple pie. I want to like it, but I just do not. However, members of my family like apple pie. So, a few weeks ago, I made my first apple pie. I got it right first try. What did I make? I made a recipe from Longaberger. Full disclosure: I was a Longaberger Consultant for a couple years in 2003-05 or so. This is not a difficult pie to make, even with the crust from scratch. It was baked in a Longaberger Pottery Pie Plate.

 The recipe is given in 2 parts. The pie crust can be used for anything that you need a pie crust for.
Longaberger Pie Crust

Ingredients:

2 cups flour
1/2 T. sugar
3/4 tsp. salt
3/4 cup lard
1 small egg, beaten
1/2 T. vinegar
1/4 cup water

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, sift together flour, sugar and salt. With a pastry blender or two knives, cut in lard until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Mix together egg, vinegar and water, then add to flour mixture. Mix until dough is moist enough to form a ball. 
2. Wrap in plastic and chill for 30 minutes.
3. Divide dough in half. On a floured surface, roll one half into a 12-inch circle. Press dough into pie plate. Crimp to form decorative border, then prick bottom with fork. 
4. Place in freezer while preparing pie filling. Makes one double crust pie.

Longaberger Apple Pie

Ingredients:

3 cups pared, cored and sliced apples (about 3 apples, really good with granny smiths)
3 T. flour
1 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
2 T. butter
3 T. milk

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375ºF. 
2. Mix apples, flour, sugar and cinnamon. Stir gently. Pour into unbaked pie shell. Dab with butter and pour milk over filling. 
3. Roll top crust same as bottom and lift onto filled pie or decorate with woven lattice top. Bake 40-45 minutes. Filling for one pie.

Other Details:

• Makes 1 pie. 
• Cut to 6-8 slices. 
• Nutrition given for 1/6 of pie.
• Hint: I cut it open warm. All the innards spill out when you do this. Letting it cool to room temperature will allow the insides to stick together better. (I know there are words for that, but they all sound gross when speaking of food.)
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Dessert: Apple Streusel Topped Pumpkin Cake

When I made this, my family loved it. My daughter described it as "apple pie on top of pumpkin pie." I would love to have loved it, but I don't care for cooked fruit and the apple streusel topping is exactly the sort of thing I don't like. The pumpkin part was not particularly special on its own, but if my family is to be believed, it was fabulous together.

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons plus 1/2 cup unsalted butter, divided
4 large Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, and thinly sliced
5 tablespoons granulated white sugar, divided
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 1/4 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup canned pumpkin
1/3 cup sour cream
2 large eggs

Directions:

1. Butter and flour a 9-inch-across, 3-inch-deep springform pan. In a large sauté pan, melt 3 tablespoons of the butter, then sauté the apples over medium-high heat until softened and browned in spots, about 5 minutes. Mix 3 tablespoons of the white sugar and the cinnamon in a cup and sprinkle over the apples, then toss and cook until the liquids are thick and bubbly.
2. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
3. Dice the remaining 1/2 cup of butter, and let it come to room temperature. In a stand mixer, combine the flour, brown sugar, and salt, and mix. Toss in the diced butter and mix until the butter is broken into small bits. Measure 2/3 cup of the mixture into a small bowl, and stir into that the remaining 2 tablespoons white sugar and pie spice to make the streusel.
4. To the mixer, add the baking soda and mix, then add the pumpkin, sour cream, and eggs, beating until smooth. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan.
5. Distribute the apple sauté over the batter, then sprinkle the streusel topping over that.
6. Bake for 40 to 50 minutes, until a skewer inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Cool on a rack.

Other Details:

• From Robin Asbell's The New Whole Grain Cookbook  
• Serves 8
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