Oven-Baked Sweet Unsendable Birthday Plantain

You know those moments where you've tried to send a plantain to your friend who lives in London for his birthday but the UK sucks and won't let you send ANY fruit into their country from the States EVEN if it's to celebrates someone's birth so now you're stuck with an unsendable and ever ripening birthday plantain and you're not sure what to do with it?

Well, I had that exact moment today.

But don't worry! You can rest easy because I found a perfectly delicious solution.

Oven-Baked Sweet Unsendable Birthday Plantain:

1 very ripe unsendable birthday plantain

1 tsp brown sugar

1/8 tsp cinnamon

Itty bitty pinch of salt

Cooking spray

Cut off both edges of the plantain and cut a slit length-wise. Peel back the skin.

Cut the plantain diagonally in 1/2 inch slices.

Spray baking sheet with cooking spray and arrange the plantains on top (arranging the slices in the shape of a smiley face is unnecessary, but highly recommended). Sprinkle with cinnamon, sugar, and salt.

Bake in the oven at 450 degrees for 10 minutes. Remove, flip the plantains, and return to oven for another 5 minutes.

Remove from oven. Briefly wonder if the UK would accept already cooked plantains and contemplate trying to send your creation to said London friend. Then let the wonderful smell of the plantains take its hold and instead decide to consume your plantain creation with your roommates immediately.

Optionally, you can put some peanut butter between two slices of plantain for a superbly delicious plantain sandwich...a plantainwich? Doesn't matter--whatever you call it, it's delectable.

Happy birthday, Neil! I hope your 27th year of life is as awesome as you are. Sorry the UK sucks and left you plantainless on your birthday.

Baby It's Cold(ish) Outside

Jacket: Rue21

Dress: Forever 21

Tights: Penneys (in Dublin)

Boots: Random shoe store in France

Necklace: Target

Florida decided to give me a welcome back present from France that would make me remember exactly what I was missing during my time overseas: miserably and unreasonably hot weather that lasted the ENTRE month of January. Thanks, Florida, I missed you too. This means that my attire since being home has been mostly dresses and sandals. Nothing particularly photograph worthy, and, even if it were, I don't think I could stand being outside long enough to take photos. Fortunately, I woke up this morning to discover that it was chilly enough to put on boots and a jacket. Huzzah!

So, here you have it--my very first outfit post. I've seen a few people mix up white summer dresses to make a fall/winter look. This would be my attempt.

I need to thank my lovely photographer, Rachael. I forced her out the door this morning to take photos of me before it got too hot to wear my jacket, and she did so sans complaints. Thanks, dear, you're a gem.

Sun-Dried Tomato Hummus

This is not just any hummus--it's the hummus of the gods. Never have I tasted hummus that I like, or could even find remotely bearable, before this hummus. A vehement hummus hater friend of mine calls it "tolerable" (which doesn't quite count as a "raving review," but I'll take it.)

Kendall shared this fantastic recipe with me. Props to her and her brilliant culinary skills.

Sun-Dried Tomato Hummus:

10 medium cloves garlic

3 cups drained canned cannelloni beans or great northern beans (about 2 15 oz cans)

½ cup sesame paste (tahini)

6 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

¼ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 Tbsp plus ½ tsp soy sauce

1 ½ tsp salt

1 tsp ground cumin

1-2 tsp cayenne pepper (depending on preference. I like spicy food, so I use 2 tsp.)

1/2-1 cup sun-dried tomatoes

1-2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar (not pictured, because I ran out. It can be omitted)

Directions:

Before starting the hummus, I prepare the sun-dried tomatoes. I've found that the blender is the easiest way to do this. I put one and a half - two jars of sun-dried tomatoes based on how sun-dried tomato infused I'd like this particular batch to be. I add a little bit of the sun-dried tomato oil to help with the blending.

Then I fit my awesome 80's style food processor with a steel blade.

Process the garlic cloves until finely minced, stopping the processor occasionally to scrape down the sides of the work bowl. If you are garlic obsessed, like myself, you can add about 20 cloves of garlic. It's not "pleasant breath friendly," but it sure is delicious.

Add the beans and pulse the machine a few times to chop them coarsely.

Then you add a whole lot of things that I didn't photograph, but it's fairly simple, and I have faith in your ability to figure it out. Add the sesame paste first and then run the processor at medium speed until well blended. With the motor running, pour the olive oil, lemon juice, and soy sauce through the feed tube, stopping the processor occasionally to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Process until well blended. *Note*: Rather than adding olive oil, I choose to use the oil that the Giada brand tomatoes come in. It taste better and they are pretty darn expensive, so I figure I should get my money's worth.

Stop the processor, open the lid, and add the salt, cumin, and cayenne. Process until thoroughly blended. Add the blended sun-dried tomatoes as well as the balsamic vinegar. Transfer the puree to a bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate to chill well before serving.

Voila! Jesus Hummus!

© Kendall Bock

Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie

I pinned this recipe for Chocolate Pie a while back, but completely forgot about it until last night. I had a French club event to which I needed to bring a dessert. I wanted to find one that was quick, cheap, and easy (can I get a "that's what she said?"); fortunately, being that I had most of the ingredients already, this pie fit that bill quite well.

Chocolate Pie Crust:

1 7oz package Newman's Own Alphabet Cookies (which are both vegan and slave-free--get it, Newman! For more information on slave-free chocolate brands, click here)

1/3 cup vegan butter (I use earth balance)

Chocolate Peanut Butter Filling:

1 (12.3-oz) package silken tofu, drained

12 oz of chocolate chips (or 1 ½ cups), melted

1/2 cup peanut butter

2 Tbsp non-dairy milk (I used soy)

3 Tbsp powdered sugar

1 tsp cocoa powder

1 tsp vanilla extract

pinch of salt

Pie Toppings

2 tsp peanut butter

2 tsp powdered sugar

Chocolate shavings

Okey doke, for the pie crust:

Blend the cookies in a food processor until very fine.

Melt the butter and mix with the processed cookies.

Put into a pie plate and press the mixture in. Let chill in fridge before you put the filling inside.

Onto the pie filling:

Put all the ingredients in a food processor. Blend until smooth.

Pour the mixture into your pie crust

Put in the fridge to chill until you're ready to serve it. Seriously, it's that easy.

Now, onto the toppings:

I tried making coconut whipped cream...and failed epically. It was nothing more than coconut milk with some sugar added. Delicious, sure, but definitely not good enough to use as a pie topping.

Instead, I mixed peanut butter and powdered sugar...

and sprinkled it on the pie.

I also added some chocolate shavings, 'cause, well, why the heck not? Plus, using chocolate shavings makes me feel fancy.

And there you have it!

All in all, I thought this pie was pretty good. It might not be able to pass as an exact replica of a non-vegan chocolate peanut butter pie, but it was still rather delicious. Plus, I don't think the goal in vegan cooking needs to be to make something that tastes exactly like its non-vegan counterpart, but just something that tastes wonderful. This pie does that quite well.

Lemon-Poppyseed Chamomile Tea Muffins

Like Valerie mentioned in an earlier post, we have an epic amount of tea that we are trying to go through before we graduate and leave in May:

Really, we weren't kidding. This is what results when two roommates work at Starbucks for 3+ years and often take advantage of their 1 free box of tea per week but rarely actually make tea.

Anyhow, I've been loooking for ways to use up our tea that don't necessarily mean just drinking it. I was quite excited when my friend posted this recipe on pinterest and I thought I'd give it a whirl, making muffins instead of bread. Unfortunately, when I first made this them, they turned out more like lemon-poppyseed chamomile hockey pucks. No matter how delicious of hockey pucks they were, it was definitely not what I was going for. So, I combined/veganized a few different lemon muffin recipe I found online, added poppyseed and chamomile tea, and ended up with this wonderfully delicious result.

Lemon-Poppyseed Chamomile Tea Muffins:

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup white sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

Zest from 1 lemon

3 Tbsp lemon juice

1 cup milk

1/2 cup chamomile tea, steeped dark and cooled (3 bags)

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1/4 cup applesauce

2 Tbsp poppy seed

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

Lemon Glaze:

2 Tbsp agave nectar

1 Tbsp lemon juice

1 Tbsp chamomile tea

1 tsp powdered sugar

Zest from half a lemon

Directions:

Steep your chamomile tea in a little over 1/2 cup of water (so you have enough for both the muffins and the glaze). I let the tea steep for 5 minutes, then I removed the tea bags and stuck the tea in the freezer so it would be cool enough once I needed to use it.

Now, zest/juice your lemons. For the muffins and the glaze, you'll need in total zest from 1 1/2 lemons as well as 3 Tbsp lemon juice.

Next, combine flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt in a bowl.

Mix the rest of the ingredients in a separate bowl.

Add the liquids ingredients to the dry ones and mix with a wooden spoon.

Pour batter into muffin tins, filling each one a little 3/4 of the way.

Bake at 375 for 20 minutes (or until you insert a knife and it comes out clean).

While your muffins are baking, prepare your glaze by mixing all the ingredients together.

Take your muffins out of the oven and pour some glaze over each on. I cut a slit in each of my muffins with a knife so the glaze would sink into the center. Let cool before removing from muffin tins.

Enjoy!

Berry Awesome Protein Smoothie

I be up in the gym just working on my fitness! Christy and I have been attending various classes at the gym and I love a good weight lifting session. But after the gym your body is not only craving some healthy carbs, but you also need protein to build those sweet muscles. I normally drink whey protein in regular old almond milk. I decided to switch it up and make a smoothie with my protein powder and it was delicious.

Ingredients:

- Blender

- 1 cup raspberries

- 1/2 cup blueberries

- 3/4 cup almond milk

- 1/2 cup ice

- 1 Tblspn Light Agave Nectar

- 1 scoop (about 1/2 cup) vanilla whey protein powder (I used EAS Vanilla Whey)

I buy my whey protein in bulk and it lasts forever!

Thanks Christy for letting me use your fancy new Magic Bullet!

Directions:

Put all of the ingredients into blender and blend. Then drink. Very simple and super yummy. And you've just consumed over 23 grams of protein! Now go get fit and fancy.