Join Me for Merienda: End of the Year post: V,GF- Organic Kidney Bean and Beet Hummus

Well....

Yes, I need to catch up on these posts, again!

So, before 2015 is gone in my part of the world, here is a post that I promised someone that I'd write about, a few months ago. I first made this after my brother told me about a beet hummus that he had purchased at Trader Joe's and really enjoyed. I personally hadn't tried the beet hummus, but I like beets and I like hummus; so it would probably be a winner. 

After the first batch of this beet hummus that I made; I knew that it would be joining the ranks of the other hummus varieties that I make =)

I know that the deep magenta color may confuse some people (or even scare some of them), but encourage them to give it a try. Even the people who don't normally like beets may enjoy this one.

This is a super nutritious and delicious hummus and I hope that you will give it a try some day.

V, GF- Organic Kidney Bean and Beet Hummus

Ingredients:

1 Can of drained Organic Kidney Beans
About a 1/2C of steamed and peeled Beets

1 Clove of Garlic minced

1/4C Canola or any other neutral oil
1tsp of Tahini

Juice of half a Lemon

Himilayan Pink Sea salt to taste

A grind of fresh Black Pepper

On this batch, I topped it with some shelled hemp seeds and sesame seeds. Yummy!

Method:

Simply combine everything into your blending apparatus of choice (blender, nutribullet (just watch those 'max fill,' lines) food processor and blend until homogenized. It should take less than 2 minutes depending on your appliance.

You can serve it straight away or store it in an airtight container in the fridge. I would eat it within 3-5 days, but honestly it doesn't last that long in my household. Eat it with fresh cut veggies, on pita bread and crackers etc.

I wish you all a very happy new year and I hope that it will be filled with good health, wellness, love and happiness for you all. I certainly always hope for a more peaceful world and for everybody to be compassionate to one another as well as themselves.

Love,

Jessica  <3<3<3

Join Me For Merienda: Jesscafé - V,GF- Toasted Quinoa Salad

Hello everybody!

I hope that for most of you that spring has already begun and shown its signs. Over here, where I reside, it's still cold and in fact snowing at the moment =0 

The following recipe was requested a few months ago and I had it in queue, but didn't get to have all of the components to post it until now, but here we go =)

This is a multiple step recipe, but it is still a really easy one to put together, especially if you prepare some of the components in advance. It's also pretty simple because I use an electric rice cooker to get a near perfect quinoa cooked before adding in more flavorful ingredients, which create a simple dish with depth and complexity of flavor.

Jesscafé -Vegan and Gluten Free Toasted Quinoa Salad

Ingredients:

2 C Toasted Organic Quinoa*
3 1/2 C Filtered Water
1 TB Good Olive Oil 

1 Bay leaf

1 TB Shawarma spice or other favorite spice blend of your choice

1 Tsp Turmeric

1 Tsp Sumac
1 Tsp  Toasted Cumin Seeds
Dash of Himalayan Pink Sea Salt
Freshly Ground Black Pepper to your taste

2-3 generous pinches of:

Organic- Basil, Oregano, Dill etc. (Use the herbs that you like)

Organic Dried Apricots/Cherries/Currants/Cranberries etc. (Your choice)

Toasted Sunflower Seeds/Pepitas/Sliced Almonds/Walnuts/ orPine nuts if you're feeling fancy ;p

Sauteed Vegetables-

Carmelized Red Onion

Variety of Bell Peppers chopped
Organic carrots chopped

Garlic

Vinaigrette:

1/3 C Apple Cider Vinegar

1 C  or less
Organic Extra Virgin Olive oil or any good quality oil

2-3 Tsp Good quality mustard
The rest of the herbs

Himalayan Pink Sea Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Pinch of Organic Sugar or organic fruit preserve of your choice (I have used an orange marmalade before)

* You could make this recipe without toasting the quinoa first and it will taste good, but it will not have the same nutty flavor and texture to it.

Method:

In order to expedite this recipe, you might consider making the vinaigrette, cooking the vegetables and caramelizing the onions the day before you cook the quinoa.

Caramelizing the red onions should be pretty straight forward, I cut the oinions into half moons, separate the rings, saute them in a good amount of olive oil, tossed with a tiny pinch of Himilayan pink salt and set to medium low heat and cook it down for about 20-25 minutes.

Making the vinaigrette is also fairly simple, just put everything together in a glass jar with a lid and shake vigorously. Stick it in the fridge. Done.

This is a recipe for a toasted quinoa salad, so you need to toast the quinoa first as well as the cumin seeds.I am not going to go into detail about pan toasting right now, but if you really want one in the future, I'll consider writing a future post about it. Here's a photo of the toasted quinoa:

Let the toasted quinoa cool slightly before putting it into your insert pot for the rice cooker, along with the bay leaf, toasted cumin seeds, shawarma spice, turmeric,sumac, half  the total amount of the herbs, 3 1/2 cups of filtered water, Himalayan pink Salt, freshly ground black pepper and olive oil. Stir together and then close the lid, select the 'White Rice,' setting and let it run its cycle. Once cycle is over, open up and check to see that the quinoa is done, you should be able to crush the grain easily, but it should still have some body to it (this is what the toasting lends to the quinoa, aside from a nuttier taste as well). Fluff the quinoa and then let it sit uncovered for 5 minutes more.

At this point, you could either leave the quinoa in the cooking pot or move it into another big mixing bowl.
Personally, as long as I have room and the heat doesn't bother the next components of the recipe, I'd rather keep it where it is, rather than dirtying another bowl/dish. My original toasted quinoa salad incorporated the vinaigrette, but you really could skip the vinaigrette all together and just mix in the sauteed vegetables and rest of the herbs and season to taste; if that's what you would prefer to do.

Fluff the quinoa again and then add in the vinaigrett in small increments and mix it in gently, taste the quinoa before adding in more vinaigrette. You don't want the quinoa swimming in it! Once you get it to the taste you want, you can then add in the cooked bell peppers,caroots, carmelized red onions, toasted sunflower seeds, dried fruit of your choice and add more herbs; if you desire. Keep tasting it as you're adding in the different components. Adjust your seasoning as you see fit. The residual heat of the quinoa helps the vinaigrette to be absorbed, but remember that as the quinoa cools down, the flavors will intensify.

I didn't add in any further fresh herbs to this mix because it was for a party and I wasn't sure if they enjoyed cilantro or not. You could always put some on the side as a option though =)

If you want a bit more herbal taste for the salad, you could add in some chopped flat leaf parsley/mint/cilantro (if you're not afraid of it ;p), probably an hour to 2 hours prior to serving,

You will be using a rice cooker for this recipe, but if you don't have a rice cooker, you can by all means cook it using the standard stovetop, just follow the directions on the package except for the water measurements, I would still use less than recommended. The usual ratio is for every 1 cup of Quinoa, use 2 cups of water, but in my recipe I suggest that you only use 3 1/2 cups of  filtered water for the 2 cups of dry Quinoa.

I bought this rice cooker (that also has a steam basket) for  a little under dollars. It's been a very good investment because I use it all the time, for a multitude of different dishes. 

My rice cooker has buttons for different settings, but you can still do this in a simpler rice cooker that only has an on/off switch, just check on it after it decides that it's 'done,' with its first cycle, if it still looks uncooked then go ahead and push the on switch again, but check it halfway during the cycle.

The flavors will keep on deepening as it sits overnight in the fridge. I would only mix in the final garnishes prior to serving at your gathering. I would also recommend letting the salad warm up a bit (not all the way to room temperature) before serving; so that all the flavors can be fully tasted.

I am sure that I may have skipped something, but I am more than happy to fill in any blanks. Please feel free to ask questions in the comment section.

May you all be well and enjoy this dish with your friends and loved ones!

Love,
Jessica

Join Me for Merienda: V,GF- Jesscafé Nog aka a 'Hug in a mug.'

      It's almost the end of this year and I wanted to share a hug full of love with you all. Around this time of year people are gathering and celebrating and sometimes when you have restrictions; you may not  feel like you can fully participate in all of the fun, but fear not, there are many ways to join in the festivities. I don't know how popular Egg Nog, is as a beverage these days, but when I was younger, I did enjoy having it, sparingly because it could sometimes be cloyingly sweet. At present, I've only had Egg Nog-like beverages a few times over the years since and the vegan ones that I've tried are good and I don't think that my version of Nog could replace the ones on the market, but it's definitely more economical and you can make as much or as little as you want of it.

I don't own a clear mug; so here is the top view from my ceramic mug. I don't think that this is the prettiest shot of the Nog, but if you could smell it through the screen; you wouldn't care either ;p

V and GF- Jesscafé Nog

Ingredients:

3C Unsweetened Coconut Milk Beverage

A few dashes of Saigon Cinnamon

A dash of Nutmeg

1tsp Pure Vanilla Extract

1/3C or less of Organic Cane or Coconut Sugar

Tiny pinch of Himalayan pink sea salt

Method:

In a tall pot, mix all of the ingredients together, except for the pure vanilla extract. Carefully bring it to a simmer, stirring it constantly (it WILL boil over; if you leave it unattended). I recommend cooking it for at least 10-12 minutes. You should taste it and adjust to your liking, add in the pure vanilla extract after cooking and incorporate it well.

My version of Nog, will not have that same thick mouth feel that true nog or the commercially sold vegan nog have, but it is still tasty =)

You can modify the same ingredients for my Nog and turn it into a vegan custard mixture to make vegan french toast/bread pudding. I will post a recipe for that tomorrow because afterall, what would a new year be without a good toast? ;p

Wishing you all very happy holiday and hoping that the new year will bring you many wonderful and good things for your lives including good health and happiness <3

Love,

Jessica

Join Me for Merienda: Double Edition - V,GF - Green Papaya Salad and a recipe for an Italian Style herbed Vinaigrette

I really am not a huge fan of ripe papaya. I always liked the juice (so did my late Lola Frances), but the ripe fruit on its own was a little 'close,' for my liking. However green papaya, is in a different league. It's crunchy and versatile and can be used for pickles and salads. I have been making different variations on this kind of Green Papaya Salad for the past year now. I recently made it for a family gathering and a lot of people were requesting a recipe for it; so here it is. 

It is loosely based off of the Thai Som Tam, but obviously I have not used all the traditional ingredients because a few of them are not vegan (aka Nam Pla/Fish sauce). Some people have commented that it is similar tasting to Atsara (a Filipino style of sweet and sour pickle, using a variety of different vegetables). 

Whatever you think it tastes like, it is a very light and refreshing salad. The crispness of the shredded green papaya and carrot play nicely together in the sweet, sour, salty flavorful dressing.

This is one of many permutations of my Green Papaya Salad. This version includes the turmeric and red pepper flakes.

V,GF-  Jess' Green Papaya Salad 

Ingredients:

1 Large Green Papaya

3-4 Organic Carrots

For the Dressing-

3-4 Minced Garlic cloves

3-5 Chopped Green Onions/Scallions

1/3C Raw Apple Cider Vinegar

1/4C Canola/Safflower/Rice Bran Oil (any neutral oil)

2-3 Tb of Organic Agave,Organic Cane Sugar or Organic Palm Sugar

Generous Pinch of Himalayan Pink Sea Salt and or 1 Tb GF Tamari

Fresh Ground Black Pepper to taste

*Dash of Sesame Oil

*Pinch of Turmeric

*Pinch of Red Pepper Flakes

*Coarsley chopped Organic Cilantro to Garnish

* A squeeze of lemon or lime juice

*Optional Items

This is the special peeler that I use to 'grate,' the papaya and carrots.

A close up of the blade

Method:

Grate the Papaya using a special serrated peeler. I bought mine from a local Asian market for a little under 3 dollars, but if you can't find one of these; you can just cut the papaya into big strips and julienne them with a chef knife. I've also seen people do a very fancy method of hacking at the whole papaya to make tons of indentations and then cutting it vertically, but I'm not an expert; so I just stick to using my peeler. (They do sell pre-grated green papaya at some Asian markets, but it can be a bit pricey, my local market sells it for around 2.99 a pound, but buying it whole is only 99 cents a pound; so you can see the difference.

Do the same thing for the carrots and set them aside in a big bowl. If you're not going to make the salad straight away; then I would recommened rinsing the papaya strips and carrots strips under cold water and then salting them (as if you were going to start making some sort of pickle). You can let it rest overnight either outside of in the fridge.

To make the dressing, you just need to mix the minced garlic, chopped green onions, raw apple cider vinegar, agave or sugar,pink salt, black pepper, canola oil. Blend them together and let it sit for a few minutes and then taste it to adjust for seasoning. Then combine with the grated papaya and carrot, toss using gloved hands in order to distribute the dressing through and through. You could eat it straight away, but this salad only gets better as it ages (if you haven't eaten it already ;p

In an airtight container I've been able to keep it fresh for a little more than a week. You just need to keep it in the coldest part of your fridge.

I like to eat this salad with a little crushed peanut, raw cashews or raw sunflower seeds, but it tastes awesome, all on its own as well. 

Bonus Recipe

Shiny and golden from the Extra Virgin Olive Oil

This dressing was made the other day for a dinner with some friends and they really enjoyed it; so I've tried to encapsulate it here. As always you can always play around with ingredients to come up with something that is just right for your own tastes.

V,GF- Italian Herb Vinaigrette

1/3 C Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1/4 C Apple Cider Vinegar

Favorite dried herbs: Oregano, Basil, Rosemary,Thyme

Freshly Ground Black Pepper

1 Tb Organic Sugar/Agave Nectar

Pinch of Himalayan Pink Salt

2 Diced tomatoes

2-3 minced garlic cloves

2-3 chopped green onions

*pinch of smoked spanish paprika

*Optional 

Method:

Mix all of the ingredients together and let them marinate for at least a few hours up until overnight before serving.

Okay, well those are some pretty simple recipes for Salads and their dressings. I hope that you'll give them a try someday. 

Until my next post, peace, good eating and happy cooking!

Love,

Jessica

Join Me for Merienda: Jessified Hasselback Style Potatoes

Hello again blogosphere and hungry people out there who have been patiently waiting for this post.

The first thing I should tell you is that my version was inspired by a segment of America's Test Kitchen; which is a neat show with good information (even though the host is sometimes a bit annoying ;p). I would have linked directly to the site, but it is a paid membership site; so it doesn't allow you to access any information without that aforementioned paid membership. Anyway, kudos to the ATK team for the inspiration and tips.

Potatoes: There are so many varieties out there, yet the most popular preparation of them in the U.S. is cut up and fried. I'm not saying that fries are bad because I think that most of us have a hankering for them every now and then, but there are so many ways to prepare all manner of potatoes; so why don't we try something different for once?

Hasselback potatoes originated in Hasselbacken, Sweden (hence the name). I'm not going to give a culinary history lesson right now, but basically it boils down to some chefs who were bored at this restaurant and wanted to come up with a new way to prepare potatoes et voila, the rest is history.

What exactly makes these Hasselback style potatoes, so appealing? Well, the manner in which they are prepared makes them both crispy and tender. The outer is crisp and crunchy  while the interior remains moist and tender. They are also basted in olive oil and dusted with sea salt and freshly ground pepper and that alone makes them quite attractive to my taste buds. The original recipe calls for the potatoes to be covered in a topping of buttered crumbs, cheese and herbs, but I prefer to keep them plain; so that I can top, them as I like and to order of my guests. 

The original batch

Jessified Hasselback Style Potatoes- V, GF

Ingredients:

6-10 Organic Russet Potatoes

Olive Oil

Himalayan Pink or Sea Salt

Freshly Ground Black Pepper

Kitchen equipment needed:

Roasting pan

Cutting Board

Chef's Knife

Tongs

1 pair of plain Bamboo chopsticks

1 Large mixing bowl

1 Microwaveable plate

Brush for basting

Method:

Preheat oven to 380F

Scrub and wash the potatoes very well and dry them off. Figuring out which side of the potato is the flattest, cut off 1/4 inch from the bottom of the potato. Proceed to cut off 1/4 inch of both ends of the potato.( I don't throw away the removed portions. I put them a bowl of cold water and save them for another recipe. Center the potato between a pair of chopsticks (serving as a guard to prevent you from slicing all the way through the potato) and slice about 1/4 inch equidistantly, end to end. 

This potato has a flat bottom, but wasn't insulted by this observation.

This potato looks like it's either on stilts or crutches.

This looks like some kind of magic trick.

You will have to 'sacrifice' a pair of chopsticks for this preparation;  so don't use your fancy lacquered  pair!

As you finish slicing each potato, place it into a large bowl with cold water in it. Once you've prepared the potatoes, you should make sure to individually swish each potato around in the water, making sure to wash out any excess starch, especially between the cut slices. If you skip this step; the excess starch will act as a glue and the slices will not splay properly or at all, when you bake them.

Cut potato going for a bath.

 Pat the potatoes dry slightly and place them on a microwaveable plate and cook them for about 12 minutes. Let the potatoes cool a few minutes before placing them on the roasting pan (I use tongs to move them from the plate to the pan). Brush olive oil on each potato, making sure to get between the slices. Season the potatoes with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Bake for 30-40 minutes on the middle rack of your oven. 

In the microwave getting par-cooked.

After the ride in the microwave.

These potatoes are all oiled up and have somewhere hot to go.

The potatoes should look nicely splayed and golden. At this point, you could potentially top it with the traditional topping and then put them back under the broiler for a few minutes until the Vegan cheese melts and gets slightly bubbly, but as I mentioned earlier; I like to have options =)

I dressed one of the original batch with some Daiya brand Vegan Cheddar and my homemade Parsley and Almond Pesto. Delicious =)

2nd batch with a few slices waving hello.

Mmmmm....

Look at those gorgeous golden bottoms. The potatoes are suing me for harassment.

I also tried a batch with regular standard sweet potatoes and they came out okay, but I think that I want to try some other varieties of sweet potato; to find the the best one for the Hasselback preparation =)

The sweet potato batch experiment.

Sweet potato looking sweet, but I'm still look for the 'one.'

If you have any leftovers (which is highly unlikely; if you've got guests with you); they do keep well for a few days, but the best time to eat them is when they're fresh out of the oven. If you do have to reheat them; I would recommend reviving them in the oven, but I have also tried reheating them in the microwave and they do come out decently, but the oven would be the better choice =)

This is a very simple recipe albeit a bit labor intensive in preparation, but it's a labor of love if you appreciate a beautiful and delicious end result ;)


Wishing you all good health and happy cooking!


Love,
Jessica

My Garlic Chive Sesame Rice Pancakes

Hello Again,

Thanks for sticking around! 

The following is an entry I transferred over from one of my facebook notes.

 Hooray for copy/paste!

Hope that you enjoy it!

Hello Everybody,

I received quite a few requests for this recipe so I'm sharing it with you now.

I recently made a batch of these to bring as a treat to one of my friends who has only in the last year been diagnosed with celiac disease. She actually called me up the other day to tell me how much she enjoyed them. I'm always glad when I can help make somebody's day better and I think that's true for all of us, right? 

Why not try and make a batch of these and share them with your friends and family?

If you do make a batch of them; do share some photos!

Sharing is caring =)

Hot off the press!

Jessica's Garlic Chive Sesame Rice Pancakes - GF + DF

1 C Sweet Rice Flour*

1/4 C Garlic Chives** cut finely

1/8 C Toasted Natural Sesame Seeds

1 tsp GF Baking Powder

Pinch of Turmeric

1 tsp Sesame Oil

1 Brown Organic Egg (or 1T Flax Eggs*** if you want to keep it vegan)

1 T Organic Agave Nectar

1/2 C or less of Filtered Water (depending on the humidity you will need more or less of water)

Sea Salt and Freshly Ground Black Pepper to taste

*The type of rice flour you use makes a big difference both in texture and in taste.

You could use regular rice flour, but it will not be the same. It'll still taste good, but it will be a much harder pancake.

You can find Sweet Rice Flour in most supermarkets these days. You may find it listed as: Glutinous Flour, Malagkit or Mochiko.

Blue Star is a popular Japanese brand of sweet rice flour. Go ahead an buy a box of this if you can't find it otherwise, but usually the other brands are cheaper and no less in quality. I usually use brands that come in bags of 14-16oz and they usually originate from Thailand. If you manage to find the 3-5lb bags from any Korean brand those ones will probably be your best buy.

** You can find Garlic Chives in most Asian Markets. They may be called : Chinese Chives, Ku chai, Chinese leeks or Nira. They're very fragrant and the type that I used in these are the flat leafed variety.See picture below

Garlic Chives. Make sure that you wash the chives well as they're grown in sandy soil and you don't really want to eat any grit with your pancakes =)

*** To make Flax Eggs: for every egg you need, mix 1T of Flax Meal with 3 T of water and let it sit for a few minutes before using.

Mix all the wet ingredients together and blend well. Then add in all the dry ingredients. Let it sit a few minutes and in the meantime get your pan ready. Heat a large skillet/fry pan with a teaspoon of oil. I like to use either Canola or Olive Oil, but you can just use whatever you have in your cupboards; it should be fine as long as it's not a strong tasting oil.

When the pan, is hot ladle in the amount of batter that you want ( a few tablespoons for tinier pancakes and maybe a little less than one ladleful for bigger pancakes). Just like any other pancake when you see the bubbles start to form on the surface you know it's time to flip it to the other side which will take far less time than the first side. Once you flip the pancake; it probably takes about 1 minute more ( you'll see the steam rising from the surface). Stack the pancake on top of each other so that they keep warm while you're cooking the rest of the batch.

These pancakes are good on their own and really don't need much else, but you could definitely pair these up with a number of different things. If you thin out the batter a bit more you could make a spongy crepe out of them and use them as a wrap for your other nibbles. A way to make healthy fast food that is good for you!

If you have any questions about the recipe; feel free to ask.

Enjoy!

Lonely triangles of pancake sitting on a plate =p