The best recipes are the ones you don't expect to discover, like this one for Sambal Tofu Quinoa Bowl in James Beard award-winning food writer Carolynn Carreno. The idea behind her book are recipes for healthy whole grain meals that you can serve in a bowl. There is this huge popularity for meals in a bowl, such as the ones you can find in chains, Chipotle or CoreLife Eatery.
I have a recipe that I regularly use for tofu, but it is always worth trying something new. Let's see if it is any good!
Yay or Nay: Yay
Like I gave away in the beginning of this post, this was a surprisingly delicious recipe for marinated tofu. The extra sauce leftover, used as a dressing, was definitely a winner as quinoa can taste quite bland, even when you pep up all the other elements of the dish. I would make this again in a heartbeat - a perfect summery dish.
I've been holding on to this recipe for Raw Cookie Dough Bars from A Modern Way To Cook for a while, mainly because of the end of the school year/birthdays/Father's Day meant that there were plenty of sweet treats to go around.
I love energy balls, so this seemed like a different version of the same healthy-ish indulgences. The ingredients seem simple enough, I haven't worked with Brazil nuts so I'm intrigued to how it might taste.
Yay or Nay: Nay
Thoroughly disappointed in this, I really had high expectations for this recipe. I figured this would be a new version of energy ball/bar that I could put into rotation but it failed massively. Sure, it was simple to make, but the measurements seemed off and I'm sure it affected the taste. It was waaaaay too coconut oily for me, greasy to the touch and taste, and I love anything coconut. I'm just upset I wasted chocolate for this!
I feel like I know of A Modern Way To Cook's author Anna Jones. Not in a, she's my mate, kind of way but more like she is on my consciousness for some reason. Rambling aside, I picked up this cookbook at my local library and after a quick flick through I figured this would be a good place to start after my hiatus.
Anna Jones' recipe is similar to one I've made by Deliciously Ella however the idea is to cook the 'crumble' in a pan rather than bake in the oven.
Yay or Nay: Yay
This was definitely easier and quicker than an oven version. It was delicious as you can tell as there is no end picture. Unfortunately, it is a running theme on this blog, if it doesn't have a result picture it either means it was eaten immediately OR took too long to make and I couldn't be bothered to take a picture! Luckily, this was on the yummy side!
I'm always on the hunt for healthy, sweet, chocolately snacks. Yes, I know you can buy versions of chocolate treats at your local whole foods/natural food stores but I'm always slightly dubious as I don't really know how much of each ingredient they have put in, plus the price is never worth it!
I've had puffed quinoa before and it reminds me of rice crispies, so when I saw a bag of quinoa for sale and knowing I had some left over raw cacao powder, I knew I wanted to make Deliciously Ella's Quinoa and Cacao Cripsy Treats.
Yay or Nay: Nay
I made the puffed quinoa myself three times, which is two times too many. It didn't look any different to regular quinoa, it was still hard to the bite and definitely did not look puffed! The chocolate mixture itself is ok, nothing special, I was excited about the addition of nut butter but I think the badly puffed quinoa put me off the whole thing. I'm glad I only made 6 of these!
TIP: I used almond butter but the recipe doesn't specify any in particular. Also, I made waaay less than the recipe stated as I wanted to try before making a ton of them!
Thinking of inexpensive but thoughtful Christmas gifts for co-workers I came across this recipe for Gingerbread Granola. Now, I'm a die-hard fan of Deliciously Ella's Granola but it wasn't very Christmassy! When I think of Christmas I think of Mince Pies, Christmas Pudding and more recently Gingerbread (very American not British!) so hopefully The Healthful Ideas's recipe for Gingerbread Granola would be a mouthful of Christmas first thing in the morning!
Yay or Nay: Nay
This was fairly easy to make, I'd say pretty similar to the Deliciously Ella one. However the ingredients didn't really clump together like you see in the shops. On the plus side, the addition of nut butter gave it a richer taste but I was surprised by the 1tsp of ginger powder. I don't know about you, but gingerbread screams a ton of ginger to me so I ignored the recipe on this front and went for three! I figured the recipe as it currently stands wouldn't have a strong enough gingerbread taste and I didn't want to tell people it was 'gingerbread granola' and for it to taste nothing like that! Even with the change there still isn't a strong ginger taste but there is a little hint of spice. BTW MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!
I first heard of Chrissy Teigan when I randomly read a gossip mag and realised she was married to singer John Legend. I think I was more taken with the fact that she was half-Thai and that she had turned from swimsuit model to food blogger to daytime TV cook. Personally, I am not a 100% convinced on her credentials, but maybe her new cookbook would reveal all.
I was eager to get my hands on her cookbook, Cravings, to see what she came up with, and I must say the recipes were too decadent for me. The only recipe that stuck out was her Sesame Chicken Noodles which I figured were pretty healthy and easy enough to make to put on the rotation, that is, if it is any good.
Yay or Nay: Nay
To be honest, it's not like I hadn't made a version of this recipe before, I think I was expecting something different from the ginger peanut sauces I have made in the past. The tahini does add a earthy depth but overall it is nothing special. I did use different noodles as I forgot to buy flat noodles so it does look different to the book pic but it doesn't really affect the taste. Sorry Chrissy, stick to the day job.
This is going to be a quick post as the holiday weekend was pretty full and I'm writing this just before bed. As you know I've been on a sugar cut-back, I would like to say that I am going cold turkey but it's not always realistic!
I picked up some rhubarb at the public market and immediately I thought of stewed rhubarb mixed in with yogurt or crumble. Crumble won out so I immediately grabbed Deliciously Ella's cookbook as I remember seeing a crumble recipe in there. In the past I make my crumble with mainly flour, oats and butter so I was intrigued about Blackberry, Apple and Maple Crumble as it had less dairy/fat but a little more sugar than I was hoping for. It was worth a try however I knew I wouldn't make the same filling as rhubarb is one of my faves!
Yay or Nay: Yay
Deceptively, I managed to fool the Husband into thinking it was a similar recipe to my original. He had no idea there was no flour or butter in it, though I bet if I mentioned it he would say he could taste it! It was so yummy it barely lasted a couple of days! Result!
I stewed my rhubarb and added some honey as it can be really tart and although I was apprehensive about adding honey to the topping, I think it helped bind the ingredients together. I wonder what it would be like using just coconut oil instead as a binding ingredient. Also, I never usually add cinnamon to my topping as I'm not the greatest fan of it but it worked well with the rhubarb so I guess I'm a convert.
Back home I loved Dorset Cereal's Mueslis however now I'm in Upstate New York it is definitely harder to find this brand. Dorset Cereal's were pretty much natural and sugar free so finding an alternative is a bit of a chore especially with all that ingredient list reading. Now I know granola is a completely different bowl entirely but every now and then I need that crunch without all the gunk!
At lunch I'll usually have plain Greek yoghurt with raw seeds, nut and unsweetened coconut flakes but to mix it up I figured sykr yoghurt with homemade granola would be an alternative. Deliciously Ella's recipe for Cinnamon and Pecan Granola looked enticing and most importantly healthy. As a plus I could control the amount of sugar if necessary.
Yay or Nay: 50/50
This one had me torn, I admit that I kind of doctored the recipe as I didn't want to make a ton (mostly because I didn't have the right quantity for some of the ingredients) in case it didn't turn out how I thought it would. In actual fact I think I was pretty close but I halved all the ingredients to try balance it out. I also substituted maple syrup for honey (plus put slightly less in) but I think that's why it didn't clump together that well. I also put less cinnamon in as I don't like a ton of it but the final result is a slight hint of sweetness and cinnamony-ness! However I do think 30 mins in the oven is a bit too long (I only put it in for 25 stirring at the 12 minute mark) as I ended up with slightly burnt pecan pieces which can taste horribly bitter! I would try this again though but I might stick with the recipe to see if there is a difference!
