Vegan and Gluten free Brownie Pancakes

A challenge arose the other day...one of my lovely co-workers is gluten and dairy free, and pregnant, so obviously hungry, so I needed to come up with something delicious and good for her.  After searching for a while I stumbled upon these amazing brownie pancakes.  Besides, who can go wrong with chocolate!? These pancakes were delicious and it took so much will power to not eat the whole batch before I brought them to her  at work!

Brownie Pancakes

• 1/4 C. + 1 1/2 T Flour of your choice (I obviously used gluten free flour in the ones I baked, but if you are not gluten free, there is no need to spend extra money on that flour)
• 1/4 t. baking powder
• 1 T. Hershey's unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 T. + 1 t. Sugar (the original recipe called for 1 1/2 packets Stevia or another artificial sweetener, but I like to stay away from all that)
• Pinch of Salt (optional)
• 1 1/2 T. Unsweetened Applesauce (I ended up using the same quantity of oil because I ran out of applesauce and had no time to make an emergency store run...obviously the pancakes were not as healthy, but...)
• 1 t. Vanilla extract
• 5 1/2 T. non-dairy milk of your choice (or milk if you don't need to go dairy free or vegan...though eliminating a bit of animal products from your diet every so often can be beneficial to your health, so what better way than in some already delicious pancakes where you will not taste the difference!)

1. Thoroughly mix all the dry ingredients.
2. Add the wet ingredients and stir well.
3. Heat skillet to just a notch below medium.
4. Cook pancakes!
5. Remove and enjoy plain, with caramel, or your favorite toppings!

Inspiration courtesy of: http://www.skinnytaste.com/2011/12/brownie-batter-pancakes.html

Kale Chips

I have been seeing a lot of posts lately about kale chips being baked in the oven.  After seeing the pictures enough times, I decided to finally cave in and give it a go to see if all the hype was worth it.  They are way healthier than potato chips while at the same time providing that valuable and sometimes necessary salty crunch that we all crave.  So, I headed off to my nearest (and only) Sunflower market to buy a bunch of kale for $1, which surprisingly, after baking it all, made a ton of chips.

The final verdict, they are definitely worth the hype that has been produced about them.  While they don't 'replace' potato chips, they do provide a delicious salty crunch while providing a ton of vitamins and minerals.  I will definitely be making these again.

Kale Chips

1 bunch kale
salt and pepper to taste
splash of oil per batch of chips.

Preheat oven to 250 F.

Wash and dry kale thoroughly.

Remove the kale from the stem and tear into 'chip' size pieces.

Place into a bowl and drizzle with oil.  Add salt and pepper to taste and toss the kale gently until each piece is coated with the oil, salt and pepper.

Place on a cookie sheet, but not too close together or you will steam your kale instead of baking it.

Bake for 5-8 minutes or until slightly brown and crunchy.  Flip and continue to cook kale until crispy.
 

Remove from oven and either let cool and enjoy or eat fresh from the oven!

Black Bean Hummus

I love hummus, but you know, sometimes change is good, so what better way to change things up than change the bean that goes into the hummus that I so dearly love?  So, surprise, black bean hummus!

And without further ado...

Black Bean Hummus

1 15oz. can Black Beans drained
1 clove garlic finely chopped
2 T. lemon juice
1 1/2 T. tahini
3/4 t. ground cumin
1/2 t. salt
1/4 t. cayenne pepper
1/4 t. paprika

In a food processor or blender, add all ingredients and blend until very smooth.  Remove from blender and place in a beautiful serving dish to enjoy your oh so delicious and nutritious black bean hummus with your favorite veggies, chips or pita chips/bread.

Inspiration courtesy of: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/black-bean-hummus/

Sweet Potato and Rhubarb Sauce Pizza

It is only April (remember I live in Colorado) (well, when I started writing this and cooked the pizza) and I already have fruits and veggies sprouting in my garden (alright, my parent's garden, but I like to reap the benefits from it).  There is a ton of rhubarb already in my garden, so I what was I to do.  (Yes, I realize it is green...if you want the real red rhubarb, apparently you need to buy the quality seeds and not the cheap ones, but the green rhubarb is still deliciously tart, you just won't have the signature red to go with the tart goodness).  Sweet Potatoes are also still on sale and I can't seem to get enough of them.  I also found a super easy recipe for homemade flatbread pizza crust in the Gazette newspaper the other day, so all these perfect ingredients were calling my name.  (You can use any pizza crust you like, including the premade kind for this, just follow the cooking directions for the crust that you use)

This recipe does take a bit longer than the others that I have posted, but it is totally worth the wait with the unique flavor combination and the quantity of food that you get out of the cooking process.

Serves 1-2

Sweet Potato and Rhubarb Sauce Pizza

Pizza Crust (Yield 2 large pizzas)
1 C. 6 T. lukewarm Water
3/4 T. Yeast
3/4 T. Salt
1/2 T. Sugar
2 1/2 T. Olive Oil
31/4 C. All Purpose Flour (or a mix of All Purpose Flour and Whole Wheat Flour to make a healthier version)

Rhubarb Sauce

3 C. Rhubarb chopped
1/2 C. Sugar
1 T. Water

Pizza

1/3 of the homemade Pizza Crust
1/4 C. Rhubarb Sauce
1/4 Onion
1/3 Sweet Potato
1/4 C. Shredded Part-Skim Mozzarella Cheese

To Prepare the Pizza Crust


Mix water, yeast, salt, sugar and oil in a large mixing bowl.

Add flour and mix until just combined (do no knead).

Cover and let rest for 2 hours at room temperature. (after this stage the dough can be refrigerated for up to 12 days)

When ready to cook, preheat oven to 425 F.  Pinch off amount of dough desired and form into a pizza shape.  Cover hands with flour because the dough will be sticky.  Add desired toppings and bake until the cheese is melted...about 10 minutes.

To prepare the Rhubarb Sauce

Finely chop the rhubarb.

In a sauce pan on medium high, add the chopped rhubarb, sugar and water.  Cook for 5 minutes or until mushed together.

To prepare the Pizza!


To begin with, cook your sweet potato in the microwave for 5-8 minutes until soft.  Remove from microwave, peel and slice into desired size.

While the sweet potato is cooking, chop up the onion and saute in a pan on medium for 5-7 minutes or until the onion becomes translucent.

Flatten a desired amount of pizza dough for your pizza



Spread a thin layer of the Rhubarb Sauce on the Pizza Crust.

Add the sauteed onions on top of the sauce.



Add the chopped sweet potatoes and shredded cheese.

Bake at 425 F for 10-12 minutes or until a golden brown crust and the cheese has melted.



Remove from the oven, slice, serve, and enjoy!