I am finally in holiday and cookie baking mode. The temperature has dropped to about 20-somethingºF here, and all I want to do is hibernate and bake (and eat) indulgent things, and order christmas presents online. My decorations are slowing making their way out of storage, and I am well stocked with wrapping paper, tape, and little boxes to hand out all of the extra cookies I am going to be baking this year.
It's no secret, I am a little in love with the chocolate - hazelnut - almond butter combo. I'll take it any which way I can get it. In the form of a smoothie, a cake, or even these guys that I made recently, but now that I am in the holiday baking mode, I think it is most appropriate that I use my favorite sweet ingredients for cookies.
I love a GOOD cookie. I have a habit (and you might too) where once or twice a week, I sit down with a cookie and a cup of coffee at about 4:00 in the afternoon. It's my little treat to myself. When I indulge, I like all kinds of cookies, from crunchy chocolate chip, to super soft oatmeal raisin, but my favorite kind of cookie is one that is super tasty with a little bit of the guilt shaved off. Guilt in the form of loads of refined sugar and butter. I love to feel like I am being bad without actually being that bad.
This cookie, is that cookie.
These thumbprint cookies are full of crunch and flavor, all sort of things that are good and nothing that is bad. They are made without refined flours and sugars and butter, just a short list of wholesome ingredients like ground hazelnut flour, maple syrup, coconut oil, cacao, and of course, almond butter (yum).
I like to think of these cookies as a really tasty vehicle for shoveling almond butter + chocolate into my mouth.
I live a little less than a mile from the Union Square Greenmarket, which, if you're not familiar, is an open-air farmers market in NYC that is open a few days out of the week. It's where I get most of my produce.
On Mondays, I strap on some comfy shoes, grab my reusable bags, and walk (or bike) over there with my list of produce for the week. I've been doing this for several months now, so I have started to know the market well, along with some of the vendors and farmers. I have my routine down and my favorite stops.
Mondays have become my favorite day because the market is slightly less crowded in the early morning, and a couple of my favorite vendors are there on that day. One place has quickly become my #1 favorite, because they're organic produce is some of the best looking, and they always have have fun things like watercress micro greens and romanesco cauliflower.
The other day, I picked up a gorgeous head of broccoli and several cauliflower heads from them, and as I was checking out I had a little conversation with a woman who runs the farm. She told me how hard it was to organically grow broccoli and cauliflower and that in order to keep them safe from little critters without spraying them, she (herself) would go around and pick off little munching caterpillars and bugs by hand.
Really? Wow. Awesome. That's some serious dedication.
I told her that there were no words to express how much I appreciated that. I thanked her and walked away feeling grateful that there are people out there, like this lady, who care so much about the quality of food that they provide for people. She rocks.
Cauliflower has been on my grocery list pretty much every week since the Fall came around. I cannot seem to get enough of it. But this soup was not originally about the cauliflower. It actually started with the sage.
Last weekend before making my market list, I had harvested the last of the herbs from my garden - half to be frozen to use in smoothies, and the other half I was going to dry. But as I was cutting my herbs, I realized I had so much sage. So much. Probably because I hardly used sage in the summer, but now the sage needed my love.
I've beena little obsessive with the sage over the past week. Sage with roasted vegetables, sage in salad, fried sage. Yes, fried sage. It sounds un-healthy, but it really is not. Lightly frying sage just makes it a crispy and flaky and mellows out the sage-ness, so it goes really well over soups and salads.
When it comes to soup and most other things, I like lots of toppings. I love the contrast in tastes and textures. Every bite is something different, so it keeps things interesting. This soup has a lot of toppings, starting with that insanely tasty fried sage. You can add more or less depending on your tastes, but I'd err on the side of more. You'll be happy you did.
Cauliflower, sage, and hazelnuts are all such signature tastes of Fall, when you put them together, it's like a Fall explosion. They were all meant to be, together, in one big bowl, especially around this time of year.
If we're anything alike, you probably pretend that you don't care all that much about Valentine's Day, but deep down you love it and you're secretly hoping for a surprise delivery of big, beautiful bouquet of flowers.
When I was single, sometimes I would hope that some really hot guy like ..... say ..... Bradley Cooper would send an enormous lovely bouquet of flowers to my work. You know, because stuff like that happens on Valentine's Day all the time.
Now that I am happily married, I still pretend like I don't care all that much, and I still secretly hope that Michael will surprise me with flowers, or a food-related thing. And he does. He always does well.
{and ... sorry Brad, you can hold the flowers, Michael beat you to the chase.}
I love Valentine's Day. It's a holiday about love. It's another reason to show the person/people in your life that you love them. It does not have to be a romantic type of love, it can be a friendship love, a parental love, an animal love. Celebrating love is a wonderful thing.
I think one of the best ways to show someone you love them it to make something for them. And when that something is raw, vegan and loaded with super healthy vitamins and antioxidants, well then you are spreading extra special love all around.
Nothing says "I love you" like homemade chocolate truffle rolled in a powerful aphrodisiac. Yes you heard me correctly. Goji berries are known in Asian herbalism not only for their high antioxidant content, but also for their aphrodisiac qualities.
Every single ingredient in this truffle is a super ingredient with superpowers. Cacao, cinnamon, coconut oil, and hazelnuts are all great for us, especially when consumed raw.
I cannot think of a better gift than a homemade truffle that is as chocolatey and tasty as it is good for you.
Happy Valentine's Day! XO
For my first recipe of 2013, I hope you weren't expecting a salad or a smoothie.
Now is probably a good time to tell you that I don't really do resolutions. Not to discourage the cleansers and the dieters - I'm proud of you, yay! - but I do believe that we should be making good decisions to eat healthier all year round, not just in January.
I do feel it is important to take the time to reflect on the past year and think about what was good and what was maybe not so good and make slight life adjustments accordingly.
If I ate too many pieces of pie last year, maybe I try to not eat so much pie this year.
If I didn't eat enough kale last year (not really possible), maybe I try to eat more kale this year.
If I drank one too many glasses of champagne at a christmas party (that may have happened), maybe I try to drink one less next time.
Cutting things out of your life that you enjoy are only going to make you want them twice as much, at least that is what happens to me. So, I prefer to make little changes in order to create more balance.
Balance.
That's what it is all about, isn't it?
Okay, onto pancakes.
I've been on a bit of a pancake kick lately. More than normal.
I guess I was feeling like I needed some more pancakes in my life ... you know, to balance things out.
I made these pancakes with a mixture of quinoa flour and white rice flour, which turned out to be a pretty nice gluten-free blend. The only thing I would mention is that they do have a strong quinoa flavor .... so if you you want more of a subtle quinoa taste, feel free to lessen the ratio of quinoa flour. Say more like 3/4 cups of white rice flour and 1/4 cup of quinoa flour.
If you did make resolutions, I hope that they are ones that you will benefit from all year and bring balance (and maybe some extra pancakes) to your life.
