By the books

My mom’s cousin (my second cousin? first cousin once removed?) very generously gifted me a lot of (used) cookbooks recently.  And although I haven’t looked through all of them yet, the few I have browsed through look awesome.

In fact, last night’s dinner came from this one.

I modified it some, and it was definitely a winner.  Of all the cookbooks I got, I’ve bookmarked the most to try in 500 Best Quinoa Recipes.  They’re all gluten free and creative, but still simple and whole foods based.  And even though they aren’t all vegetarian or vegan, there are a lot that are (and many of the rest can be easily modified to be made meat and/or dairy free).

I’ll (maybe?) share my revised version of this mushroom miso & butternut squash soup later.

But backing up to the previous night…

Kyle and I went over to aforementioned cousins’ for dinner (and see their new casa) on Monday.

All the recipes were vegan and came from this cookbook.

We had black bean & bulgur burgers, which we topped with home-made mayo and coleslaw (also from the book).

The burger recipe was good, but definitely needed the acid of the slaw and mayo.  We had them on Rudi’s whole wheat buns.

I had seconds of the coleslaw but I forgot to take my antacid before going to their house so I has some reflux issues later on.  🙁

On the side, we had a couscous salad with cucumbers, mint, melon, and toasted nuts.

I thought the toasted pumpkin seeds and almonds were pretty awesome.  Definitely a unique couscous dish.

But dessert was the unanimous favorite (as well as the most surprising use of grains in a recipe).

Chocolate with dried cherries and puffed amaranth!

The amaranth was crunchy and reminded me a little bit of rice cakes in flavor.  But the dominant flavor was chocolate.  Mega chocolate.  Kyle was in heaven.  He probably had half the tray (no, seriously).  We took a few home, which are shockingly not gone.

It may have something to do with the fact that I made these earlier today.

First recipe of the week that’s not from a book!  Hopefully they’re good!?  I haven’t tried them yet, so the jury is still out…they’re definitely not your typical cookie though.  Since I used chia seeds as an egg replacement, they’re more chewy than crumbly.

[Update: After scarfing two last night, Kyle asked me to stop him from eating any more.  I’m considering that a positive review.]

Carob & Chocolate Kiss Cookies [vegan, makes 8 cookies]

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup coconut oil
• 1 tbsp chia seeds + 1/4 cup water (+/- 1-2 tbsp)*
• 1/4 tsp vanilla
• 1/3 cup + 1 tbsp cane sugar
• 1 1/3 cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 2 tbsp carob powder
• pinch salt
• 8 chocolate kisses

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F.

Melt coconut oil and combine with vanilla, sugar, and chia seed “egg”.  Beat until well mixed and semi-fluffy.

In a separate bowl, combine the rest of the ingredients (except the kisses), and then stir into the oil/sugar/egg mix.

Chill the dough in the fridge for ~10 minutes.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper (or spray with non-stick).  Scoop dough into 8 balls, then place chocolate kiss in the center, pressing it into the dough slightly.

Bake for 10 minutes.

Remove and let cool.

Notes:

Coconut sugar or sucanat will work in place of cane sugar.

If you prefer, you can use 1 tbsp ground flax seeds + 1/4 cup water instead of the chia seed “egg.”  I’m not sure how a real egg would alter the cookie, but if you try it, let me know.

Feel free to sub cocoa powder for the carob.  I like carob and was in the mood for a different kind of cookie.

*Depending on the texture of the dough, you may have to add 1-2 extra tbsp of water.  Since I don’t measure flour by weight in my recipes, it’s not super accurate.  Just know that the dough has a pretty thick and sticky consistency.

Feel free to eat the batter uncooked.  It’s vegan, so it’s safe.  🙂