Papa's No-tella chocolate cake

For my dad's birthday I wanted to make something with hazelnut and chocolate his favorite combination, but it had to be something the whole family could eat so here we go with my version of a nutella cake. Caution even tough the ingredients are wholesome it is a very decadent cake and not light on calories... but it was worth every single one. Also this was a four tier cake so if you want a smaller cake cut all the ingredients in half.

cake:

3 cups spelt flour

2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

2 tsp baking soda

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1.5 cups light agave

1 Tbs vanilla extract

2 cups warm water

2/3 cup apple sauce

2 tsp apple cider vinegar

filling and glaze:

2 cups of hazelnut butter (I made my own you can substitute with the nut butter of your choice)

2 12oz. bags of vegan chocolate chips

1/4 cups of coconut (or soy) milk

1 cup of whole hazelnuts unsalted and roasted

preheat oven to 375 and lightly oil and flour 2 cake pans.

shift all the dry ingredients together and in a separate bowl mix all the wet ingredients until smooth. slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix until smooth and creamy. It should be just a bit runnier than usual cake batter. Pour it into you prepared pans and bake for about 25-30 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean. in the mean time melt the chocolate in a double boiler add half of it to the nut butter you should have a thick creamy filling. Add the coconut milk to the rest of the melted chocolate to thin it out a bit, keep it warm (but not hot) until you need to use it. when the cakes completely cool cut them in half horizontally spread some filling than cake, more filling than cake repeat until you have all your layers. Glaze the top and outside with your chocolate glaze and decorate with some whole nuts. 

sour cherry almond bars

I came across some fresh sour cherries in the market a rare find here in california and wanted to re-create my favorite summer recipe from my Mom. light and moist perfect dessert for hot summer days

3 1/2 cups of whole wheat flour
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups of light agave
1 1/3 cups of water
2/3 cups of canola oil or apple sauce
2 T apple cider vinegar
2 T vanilla
2 tsp almond extract
3 cups of fresh (or canned) sour cherries pitted and drained
3/4 cups unsalted almond slices

Preheat oven to 375 and lightly spray with oil and flour a flat 10x15 inch pan
Shift dry ingredients together in a bowl. In another bowl mix all the wet ingredients together and add to the flour mixture slowly mixing it until smooth and creamy. Bake for 25-30 minutes (depends on your oven). stick a toothpick in the middle when it comes out clean you know your cake is ready:)

after nap snack

cold cucumber salad

goes very well with any stew...

1lbs cucumber sliced super thin

2 Tbs rice vinegar

1 Tbs agave

2 cloves of garlic

1.5 cups water

2 tsp salt,

 pepper, paprika to taste

slice the cucumbers as thin as possible salt them and put it aside for about 10 minutes. make your dressing during it's marinating. in a large bowl put the water, crushed garlic, agave and taste it it should be very sweet and sour at the same time, you can add more vinegar or agave if you feel that is not sour or sweet enough add some crushed pepper. after 10 minutes squeeze the cucumber in your palms above the sink to let all the excess salt water out you can even transfer it to a colander and rinse it if you want a real low sodium version. transfer the squeezed cucumbers to the bowl with the vinegar dressing in it there should be enough liquid to cover the cucumbers. put in the fridge and chill it for at least an hour so it's nice and cold and the flavors have time to marinate the cucumbers, serve with a little paprika sprinkled on top.

mushroom stew with harvest grains blend

this is a healthier version of the traditional hungarian stew, the dudi couldn't wait to taste it long enough for me to take the picture..
1 tbs canola oil
1 medium onion
1 large bel pepper diced very small
1 large tomato diced
10-12 oz mushroom sliced
1 cup of water
seitan sliced thinly (optional)
salt, pepper, paprika to taste

warm the oil on medium heat, dice the onion very small i use a food processor, saute until golden brown, add the peppers and tomatoes, wait till it starts to release some water add the mushrooms  when they start to release water add up to a cup of water depending how "saucy" you like your stew. Add the spices and let the excess water cook off. serve with harvest grain blend (trader joe's) and a cold cucumber salad

Mamma Mia Lasagna

had to come up with a quick lunch today everyone liked it even Mia the little dude's girlfriend, Miss Mia and she is a hard one to please :)

20 oz brown rice lasagna pasta (whole wheat works just as well)
1 tbs canola oil
3 large kohlrabis
1 whole head of cauliflower
1/4 cup of flax seed meal
1/4 cup of nutritional yeast
1/4 cup of (authentic foods) garfava (garbanzo+fava bean ) flour
1/2 tsp fresh majoram leaves
salt. pepper,
6 oz soyrizo
6 oz tempeh
3 diced tomatoes
1 cup daiya "cheese"


preheat oven to 400 degrees. boil water with a little salt and oil for the pasta. put the diced kohlrabis, cauliflower and diced onions in a pot with the vegetable broth cook for about 10-15 minutes or until the vegetables are slightly softened then put it all in a blender and blend until smooth. return the sauce in the pot, add in the pressed garlic, majoram leaves, nutritional yeast, flax meal and flour bring it to boil while stirring constantly so no lumps are formed. in a bowl mix the soyrizo, crumbled tempeh and diced tomatoes. Spray a casserole dish lightly with canola oil, and start layering pasta, then white sauce, then soyrizo mix, then pasta again, repeat until you run out of ingredients always finish with pasta. sprinkle the top with the cheese and bake for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown and crispy on top.

a must read for everyone

http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/05/31/chemical.dangers/index.html

brown rice pudding

here is a healthier version of this traditional dessert....

the rice
1 cup brown rice
3 cups unsweetened vanilla rice milk
1 tbs agave
1 tbs vanilla extract

the pudding
1 cup water
2 tbs agar agar
14 oz extra firm ( wild wood) sprout tofu
1 tbs vanilla extract
1 tsp grated lemon peel
1 tbs agave

bring the rice milk to boil add the well rinsed brown rice, reduce the heat add the agave, vanilla and stir well let it cook, even over cook a little bit. wile the rice is cooking in a small pot bring 1 cup of water to boil add the agar agar and stir until it's clear
and thick set aside to cool a bit. put the tofu, and all the other ingredients in a blender or food processor add the agar and blend until smooth put it in the fridge to cool. when the rice is done fold in the creamy tofu pudding and chill it. serve it cold with fresh fruit or for a winter version keep it warm add a pinch of cinnamon and some dried fruits like raisins or cranberries.

spring pea soup

i've been searching for the kind of peas i grew up with in hungary for a while now, they are easy to pop open and there are large crunchy sweet peas inside but you can not eat the shells. i just found out they are called french peas and are almost non existent in the us. so i opted for some fresh organic peas instead and enjoy the extra fiber the shells add and try to come as close as possible to one of my childhood favorites...

soup
1/2 onion
1 tbs earth balance vegan butter
1.5 lbs washed, cleaned and cut sugar snap peas
1 lbs carrots
4 cps of vegetable stock
6 cups of water
1/4 tsp tarragon
salt, pepper and paprika to taste
whole wheat spaetzle

melt the "butter" on medium heat and saute the onions until they became clear, then add the carrots and continue to cook for about 10 minutes stirring it frequently. Add the peas then the water and stock. Add the tarragon pepper and paprika to taste, and add the salt when the vegetables are almost done (they should be crisp and not overdone). It's always a good idea to add the salt almost at the end this way you will use less of it as the flavors will be more prominent by than. Serve with with whole wheat spaetzle.

whole wheat spaetzle.

1.5 cups of whole wheat flour
1 cup of water
1/4 cup of nutritional yeast
2 tbs canola oil
1 tsp salt

in a large pot boil some water with a pinch of salt and 1 tbs of oil. In a bowl mix all the ingredients together and let it rest for about 5-10 minutes. When your water is boiling either use a spaetzle board or hold a large holed colander or slotted spoon over the simmering water and push the dough through the holes with a spatula or spoon. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes or until the spaetzle floats to the surface, stirring gently to prevent sticking. Dump the spaetzle into a colander and give it a quick rinse with cool water.

Hi Fennel, it's nice to meet you!

I went to the farmers market with the dudie this morning and after a mini train ride, tasting all the sample fruits, all of a sudden he points at something, "what is this mama?" it was a white bulb with a fuzzy top... I couldn't remember the name of that vegetable it is a hmmmm.. oh it's a fennel! so he replied "I like fennel" and I thought well good for you specially that you never had it but even worse I never had it so it was time to get to know that veggie better. So once at home I googled and roasted and we had a fantastic fennel salad, some italian spicy tofu dogs, and roasted orange bell peppers poolside..

roasted fennel salad

2 medium size fennels sliced
1 medium yellow onion
canola oil
salt + pepper
1 head of green lettuce
1/4 cup toasted pine nuts
2 tbs orange cranberry (trader joe's)

dressing

1/4 olive oil
2 Tbs flax seed oil
1/4 cup orange muscat champagne vinegar
2 Tbs agave
1/4 tsp thyme
1/4 tsp tarragon
1 tsp salt

preheat oven to 375, cut the onions into quarters and place them on a baking sheet along with the sliced fennels bake for about 25 min. in the meantime put all the dressing ingredients into a blender (I used my beloved vitamix) and once the onions are done put them into the blender as well and blend until smooth. then place in the fridge to chill. put the fennel aside to let it cool try to keep it on a rack so it keeps crisp. Cut the lettuce into bite size, add the cranberries, pine nuts fennel and dressing.

my "Bible"

http://www.thechinastudy.com/about.html

Helpful tips to go vegan

http://www.nutritionmd.org/nutrition_tips/nutrition_tips_go_vegetarian/dairy_free.html