Bacon Pumpkin Pancakes (Anxious for fall)

I stumbled upon Paleo Parents Pumpkin and Bacon Silver Dollar Pancakes the other day when I was bored    working really hard and simultaneously jonesing for fall. Pumpkin? Bacon? Two things I enjoy. Why not combine them?

This morning was the laziest of Sundays, so seemingly perfect for a lil baking adventure. 

unfortunately it is hotter than hell outside (broke 100F today) so I am still kicking myself for turning on the firey gas range in my 500 sqft apt. I really was just trying to channel fall by filling my apartment with autumnal scents of ginger, pumpkin, and coriander. Sadly I just made it feel like a fucking sauna. 

Admittedly, I did not do the best job on these lil pancakes. Although delightfully savory they were a bit crumbly. I assume this is due to my halving the recipe and screwing the up the wet-dry ratio. 

Still delicious, I paired them with some sautéed collards and tasty grapefruit wedges. 

I altered Paleo Parent's recipe---- I nixed the maple syrup, mostly because I didn't have any. And I added a 1 tsp each of ginger and cinnamon. Also I added in the reserved bacon fat in the mix, just to fully incorporate the bacony flavor.

Pretty tasty.

Paleo meets Vegetarian.

It seems that the fates have spited me by sending me a vegetarian man-friend mere months after I abandoned my vegan ways.... My grain and legume free diet clashes with his pizza-loving belly.
Compromise and creative cooking have been high on the priority list lately, because really I can't afford to go out all the time and I love to cook (but preferably not two meals)!

So I spent a few hours one afternoon thumbing through all my yummy vegan cook books ( I miss you old friends.) for recipes that the veg and the dino can both enjoy.

The Veganomicon and Appetite for Reduction provided some great inspiration for happy tummies!

Last night's creation: Zucchini Pasta with tomato sauce, topped with Grilled Portobello Mushrooms (and a loaf of bread if you happen to be akin to that sort of thing....)

Super simple, healthy and I got the tasty seal of approval from the man who consumes more coca-cola and papa johns than I thought possible.

I'd love to share photos, but it was too tasty to wait for a photo shoot.... but here is the recipe.....


Zucchini Pasta with grilled Portos

Portobellos (adapted from Isa's Appetite for Reduction)

• 2 large portobello mushroom caps, destemmed (keep the stems, dice and add them to the sauce!)
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 2 tbls tamari
• 3 tbls balsamic vinegar
• 2-3 tbls olive oil
• 1 tsp liquid smoke

In a small bowl whisk together all ingredients. Place mushrooms, gill side up, in a small pyrex pan. Pour marinade over shrooms and let sit for 15-20 minutes. (while these guys are doin their thang, you should start the zucchini process)

Heat a cast iron pan over medium heat. Add caps, gill side down, into pan. Pour any remaining marinade over the shrooms. Cook for 5 minutes, then flip over. Cook for an additional 2-3 minutes until center is tender. Remove from pan and cut into strips.

Pasta Ingredients 

• 4 large zucchini
• salt, pepper
• 1 tbl olive oil
• 2 qts water

Using a mandolin or a spiralizer thing (oh you faaaancy), slice your zucchini into long, thin noodley strips. You don't want to use the very core of the zucchini because the squash doesn't hold up well. So slice thinly on one side until you start to see the seeds. Flip to the next side, slice again until you hit seeds. Repeat on all four sides.

Fill a large pot with water and bring to a boil. Add zucchini strips and blanch for TWO MINUTES (no more or you'll end up with mush). Dump into colander and rinse with cool water to stop the cooking. Return noodles to pot and toss with salt, pepper and oil. Set aside.


 
Saucey Sauce

So I super cheated and used a jar of Newman's Own Sockarooni spaghetti sauce. BUT my mother did teach me something: jarred spaghetti sauce is never good left alone. So. If you want my cheater recipe, see below.

1 jar sockarooni sauce
1 pound crimini mushrooms, sliced
1 yellow onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbls olive oil

Heat oil in a medium sauce pan. Add garlic and onion, saute until onion is translucent. Add mushrooms and turn up heat. Brown mushrooms and onions (5-7 minutes). Add jar of sauce. Bring to boil and then let simmer until the rest of dinner is ready.


Assembly?
Grab bowl. Scoop zucchini into bowl. Pour on saucey sauce. Add portos on top. Eat and enjoy.

Egg Foo YUMMMMMMMMM

Most DELICIOUS breakfast adventure from a few weekends ago was my own rendition of NomNom Paleo's Egg Foo Young-ish. I packed mine with carrots, onion, and chard (and of course some bacon) This blog has gotten so weird.... This falls into the treat category of paleo land... coconut flour is pretty high on the calorie chart....

This is a relatively easy weekend morning adventure.  The recipe makes several egg pancakes, that reheat fabulously. Serve with a little salsa and avocado on top and perhaps some sweet potatoes on the side :) And coffee. Lots of coffee.

Egg Foo Yummmm (Liz style)

Makes enough for you, your friend and your friend's boyfriend. Plus leftovers.

Ingredients

• 6 eggs
• 1/3 cup Coconut Flour
• 3/4 tsp Baking powder
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1/4 tsp salt (more to taste)
• 2 tbl. coconut oil
• 1 onion, minced
• 4 carrots, diced
• 3-4 leaves chard, destemmed and chopped.
• 8 strips Turkey Bacon (trader Joes has uncured, nitrate free happy bacon); chopped

Heat 1 tbl coconut oil in a large skillet over medium heat until melted (won't take long, coconut oil is magical). Saute onions, carrots and chopped bacon until bacon is cooked through and veggies start to soften. Add in chard and continue to cook until bright green and wilted.

Meanwhile, in a large mixing bowl beat the living hell out of the eggs. Whisk in coconut flour, baking soda, and spices until thoroughly combined.

Check on your veggie mixture....
Done yet?

not quite?

Try again in a few.... make some coffee in the meantime...

done now?

Good. Remove from heat and set aside to cool for a few minutes.... Use this time to enjoy the coffee you just brewed.

Pour veggies into into egg batter and gently stir to thoroughly incorporate.

Heat the remaining tablespoon of coconut oil in the same skillet over medium heat. Scoop a 1/4 cup of batter and pour into heated pan.  You may have to push down into a pancake shape, depending on the consistency of your batter. Cook for approximately 2 minutes before flipping and cooking for an additional 2min on the other side. Let cool for a hot minute and then eat up!

fashionably late... for work...

I've been neglecting my poor tiny kitchen lately.

Boot camp + Work + Rehearsal = limited cooking adventures

actually limited everything... sleep especially.

ah vell.

All part of the fun right?!

Anyway yesterday morning, whilst poaching eggs and sauteing kale, the ever-blackening pile of bananas in the fruit bowl caught my eye. I needed to do something with the mushy mess before the fruit flies found my stash. Vegan-Liz would make some sort of awesome banana chocolate chip bread cake concoction. Nom. Unfortunately, I am glutarded-Liz these days.
Eying the clock... 7:45 a.m.,  of course a half hour is plenty of time to throw together a recipe, eat breakfast, get dressed, walk the dog, brush my lashes comb my teeth etc etc etc. Yes. I am wonder woman....
Or just chronically five minutes late for work, running in looking like I've been hit by a bus. But I'm smiling!

Based loosely on Make it Paleo's banana bread, I give you.... Banana Coconut Muffins!

Wooo!

Exciting. I know.



Banana Coconut Muffins

Makes 12 delicious breakfast treats (about 150 calories per muffin, not too shabby!)

Ingredients

• 5-6 black bananas, mashed
• 6 eggs
• 3/4 coconut flour
• 1 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
• 1/4 cup flaked unsweetened coconut
• 2 tsp cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350F.
Lightly oil muffin tin.

In a large bowl, beat the bejesus out of those eggs. Add mashed bananas and mix. Sift in coconut flour, salt, baking soda and cinnamon. Stir well to combine thoroughly. Slowly mix in coconut oil. Fold in the coconut flakes. the batter should be pretty thick. If it isn't, you screwed up. may as well throw it all out. worthless.

just kidding.

kind of.

Pour batter into tins. These don't rise a lot, so don't worry about overfilling.

Bake for 20-25 minutes or until you really have to leave for work. Let cool and enjoy!

Just the Beets, no killer tofu here.

oooeeeeooooo, killer tofu.

No this is not an anti-bean curd post, just childhood reminiscing. Doug, anyone?

I was whistling the lovely theme song as I mandolined my beets in preparation for a tasty afternoon snack.

Stuck in your head yet?


In spite of the ungodly temperature of my apartment, I decided I had no choice but to crank up my little firecracker of an oven yesterday afternoon in order to satiate my need for beet chips.

Luckily, my fantastic Organics to You order arrived and had some beautiful beets ready for my every beet need.

So, I mandolined these beauties (definitely surprised by their candy cane striped innards), tossed them in a few tablespoons of olive oil and finished with a few dashes of sea salt and fresh ground pepper.

While they were baking and simultaneously making my apartment hotter than mordor, I lounged in my back yard with a mason jar of gin and lime seltzer. This last part is essential. 

Glorious.

Simple Beet Chips

2 Golden Beets (slightly smaller than a baseball)

2 tablespoons olive oil

Few dashes salt and pepper to taste.

Preheat oven to 325F

Using a mandolin, slice beets into very thin rounds and place in large bowl. Soak up extra moisture by squeezing beets in paper towels. 

Drizzle oil and spices over dry beets, and toss to coat. 

Place in a single layer on a parchment paper covered baking sheet.

Bake for 30-35 minutes, until crisp. 

Meanwhile, enjoy a beverage of your choice. Perhaps read a book. Play with the dog. etc. 

Remove from oven and let cool for about five minutes before devouring. 

Masters of being F-ing Awesome.

In moderately not food related news, I've decided I have to go grad school. 

Or at least try. 

No, not just try.  

I will go.

If I don't I will probably shrivel up and die from lack of spotlights. Well. I've got the dramatic part down.

WOOOOOT. 

I am super inspired by my friend the singing llama, Danielle, who is blessing USC with her amazing talent this fall. 

I am throwing caution and practicality to the wind and am pursuing the stage. I'd like to start a program, pursuing my MFA or MM by fall 2013 or 2014. I know sure thats at least a year and half away. But really I have work to doooo! So for the next 9-18 months, I am spending all of my extra time, money and energy pursuing this; burying my nose in scripts, scores and taking breaks to go to the dance studio/ gym and being extra conscious of my dietary regimen. 

Boston Conservatory and NYU Steinhardt are at the top of my list, making it very clear that I will have to marry for money to get out from under the mountain of debt I'll accrue.... so I have my work cut out for me, if I even want to get in, let alone get scholarships. 

I am terrified and excited and terrified. but mostly excited. 

Did I mention terrified? 

This will be good. 

Pin Pin Nom Nom

I had the lovely opportunity to cook for my fabulous former roommates, the Suz and Kimkim, the other night. I took a risk and tried out some recipes I'd pinned :)
Pretty tasty (if I do say so myself, but they are probably the ones to ask).

I made Nom Nom Paleo's Chicken Cacciatore in the slow cooker.

I love this recipe because I threw it all in a pot, left for work and came home to the smell of deliciousness wafting through my apartment. This gave me time to quick do all the dishes I'd ignored the day before.... and also herd the flock of dust bunnies threatening to take over my living room... Living alone and working 12 hour days has its ups and downs.
While it was tasty, it was less like other cacciatore I've had, in that it was more of a soup than saucy chicken business. Nom Nom addresses this at the very bottom of the recipe, noting that people make a roux with flour or tapioca starch. But by the time I read that, it was too late to repair and I felt especially stupid for putting an entire 14oz  can of chicken broth instead of just the half cup Nom Nom called for.... whoops.
I also have this terrible habit of not measuring red pepper flakes... I just throw them in there and hope for the best... I think I nearly sweat Kim out of the apartment. 2 tbls. is far more than 1/2 a tsp. whoops. I like the spice... though I suppose its not for the faint of heart.

Chicken was paired with a hazelnut, pear salad with a homemade balsamic vinaigrette, and mashed ginger-spiced sweet potatoes and free flowing vino.

nom. nom. liz.

The scariest new dish I battled was from Whole Family Fare. I made her amazing Raw Cashew Cheesecake. She has beautiful pictures of this dish (like below!), so I definitely recommend checking out her blog.

I served this with strawberry lemon compote, which lightened it up a bit.