13

Apr

Almost #Fail Almond Milk Pancakes

One of the reasons I hardly ever bake is that I’m not good at following step-by-step directions with precise measurements. Instead, I prefer to wing it or rush it. I made that mistake this morning with the first batch of pancake batter. Lesson learned: don’t combine all the ingredients willy nilly; it’s not a salad!

My next rookie move was to cook the pancakes too quickly. Once I finally slowed down and let them sit much longer in the pan, they had that pretty golden color. (The first few were 50 shades of ivory.)

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Adapted from a blueberry pancake recipe first attempted here. (And minus the blueberries, unfortunately.)

Mix in a medium bowl:

  • 2 cups, plus 2 tablespoons flour
  • 1/4 cup brown sugar (note: recipe simply calls for sugar, but I didn’t have any)
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt

Separately, mix together; then gradually incorporate into the dry mixture above and whisk until the lumps are gone:

  • 2 cups almond milk
  • 2 eggs

Cooking in 1/4 cup spoonfuls over medium heat seemed to be slow, but less accident-prone. Makes about 8 pancakes in a smallish frying pan.

38 days ago Short URL 1 Comment

Almond milk/Breakfast/Lactose intolerance

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16

Mar

Seafood: To Can or Not to Can

Since I always struggle with stocking meat and using it before the expiration date, I decided to experiment with canned seafood. The smell is pungent and not for the fish-averse. But adding shrimp or crab to a meal is incredibly easy when it’s stored in the pantry for dinner emergencies.

Breakfast can benefit too. I made baked eggs with almond milk, spinach, and canned crab meat. For the recipe, see New Year’s Resolution-Worthy Baked Eggs.

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I also made a simple “fried rice” dish by sauteeing the canned shrimp in a pan and adding frozen peas towards the end, while cooking the rice separately. Mix it all together and serve. (Even better, try adding the shrimp to a Caesar salad.)

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66 days ago Short URL Comments

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24

Feb

Pulled Pork Pappardelle: Oscar Dinner Flashback

Four years ago we lived in San Francisco and “Dinner with David” was born in our tiny little kitchen. On Oscar night that year, I tried a milk-braised pork recipe. The following year, we feasted on fiber-rich turkey meatballs and pasta. Things haven’t changed all that much. So tonight I decided to revisit the pork recipe, this time using almond milk and pappardelle noodles.

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  • Place two halves of pork tenderloin in baking pan; sprinkle with salt, pepper, fresh nutmeg and 2 diced garlic cloves
  • Pour almond milk over the mixture until the liquid reaches the midline of the pork
  • Cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 2-3 hours, checking and rotating every 30-60 minutes
  • Once the meat falls apart at the slightest touch, then remove it from the oven
  • Cook pappardelle noodles separately; drain
  • If meat needs more moisture or sweetness, then stir with olive oil and maple syrup
  • Serve a spoonful of pork over a bed of noodles
  • Be thankful that you can eat carbs and meat without having to worry about squeezing into a red carpet gown

86 days ago Short URL Comments

Almond milk/Dairy-free/Dinner/Lactose intolerance/Recipes

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01

Jan

New Year’s Resolution-Worthy Baked Eggs

This morning I embraced resolutions to eat healthy, make more meals at home, and embrace imperfection. Inspired by a baked eggs recipe from Saveur, I made some tweaks; adding mushrooms and onions, swapping cream for almond milk, and leaving out the bacon. Despite some timing adjustments with the eggs, the result was a delicious brunch that’s deceptively healthy.

First, saute sliced mushrooms and chopped onions with olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Add spinach at the end and remove from heat. Grease two oven-safe bowls or small gratin dishes with butter.

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Next, divide mushroom mixture between two bowls. Make 2 wells in each bowl, and carefully crack 1 egg into each well. Add 4 tomato wedges and 2 spoonfuls of almond milk to each bowl. Sprinkle with parmesan, nutmeg, salt and pepper.

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Bake uncovered at 425 degrees or higher if your stoneware can handle it. Remove once the egg whites are opaque, and topping is golden brown.

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Note: It took me much longer than the 5 minutes (under a broiler) that the recipe suggested, to cook the eggs through. In fact, I discovered there was still clear liquid on the bottom layer, so I put them back in until I felt safer about the finished result. In total, I probably cooked them for 20 minutes or so, but it will ultimately depend on your risk tolerance, oven and cookware.

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Delicious when served and scooped with sourdough toast!

Ingredient list:

  • Olive oil, salt and pepper
  • Sliced mushrooms (4-6 buttons)
  • 1 small onion, chopped
  • Handful of fresh spinach
  • Butter or nonstick spray
  • 4 eggs
  • 1 tomato, cut into 8 wedges
  • 4 spoonfuls of almond milk
  • 2 handfuls of shredded parmesan
  • Nutmeg
  • Toast, optional

140 days ago Short URL Comments

Almond milk/Breakfast/Budget/Healthy/Lactose intolerance

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29

Dec

Goat Cheese Pizza

Why should mozzarella have all the fun? After watching my Christmas hosts make pizza at home, David was determined to try it in our kitchen. I was equally determined to find a shreddable goat cheese.

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Trader Joe’s is where we got the goods. You can pick up the dough, bell peppers, olives, sausage, mushrooms, and marinara sauce for less than the price of delivery. And I found Goat’s Milk Cheddar Cheese, which turned out to be a perfect substitute for mozzarella.

The only tricky part is cooking the pizza long enough to make sure the dough is cooked through. Ours took twice as long as the package suggested, which meant crispier toppings than we would have liked. I’d recommend reducing the heat slightly to help cook evenly.

143 days ago Short URL Comments

Budget/Goats milk/Lactose intolerance

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29

Nov

Desperately Seeking Lasagna

My supply of vegetables was rather sad, and after setting my sights on lasagna, I realized the ground turkey had expired four days ago. In these situations, my instinct is to experiment and hope all goes well.

For this particular veggie lasagna, I simmered diced tomatoes seasoned with salt and pepper; and went to work on a sauce. I started by boiling frozen corn in chicken broth, to which I added some leftover goat cheese, a scoop of plain yogurt, and a generous amount of almond milk.

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For the architecture of the lasagna, layer 1/3 tomatoes, followed by 1/3 corn mixture; sprinkle a layer of Parmesan, followed by three no-bake lasagna noodles. Repeat three times. Finish with more almond milk and parmesan to cover the top layer of noodles. (My top layer of noodles dried out, so make sure they’re covered in liquid.) Bake covered for 30 minutes at 350 degrees.

173 days ago Short URL Comments

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17

Sep

Cleaning out the Fridge: Turkey Lasagna with Yogurt Bechamel

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Lasagna noodles saved dinner, once again. Hidden in the bowels in the cupboard, they’ve come to the rescue many times before, paired with unexpected partners like beans, goat cheese and butternut squash.

This time around, I used ground turkey, spinach and crushed tomatoes for the bolognese; and yogurt and almond milk to make a bechamel sauce, inspired by this eHow recipe. The sleeper hit? Cinnamon…

Turkey Lasagna with Yogurt Bechamel

In a large pan, sauté 1 chopped onion in 4 tbsp butter. Add fresh spinach by handfuls, and simmer on low.

In a separate nonstick pan, brown ground turkey. Add 1/4 tsp each of cinnamon and pepper; and 2 cans crushed/diced tomatoes. Reduce heat and bring to simmer. Add 1 cup almond milk and 1 tsp salt.

Combine turkey with spinach, simmer on low.

Meanwhile prep yogurt béchamel sauce:

In a sauce pan over medium heat, whisk together 4 tbsp olive oil and 4 tbsp white flour. Stir constantly until the mixture starts to bubble and turn a light golden color. Turn off heat.

Mix in 2 cups cold almond milk and 1 cup of yogurt. Stir constantly and turn a medium-high heat until the mixture starts to boil.

Add 1/3 cup of grated Gruyere cheese and 1/3 cup of Parmesan. Add 1/2 teaspoon of salt, and a sprinkling of nutmeg and black pepper. Mix together until melted and remove from heat.

For the layering, I used no-bake lasagna noodles, in the following order:

Bolognese
Parmesan
Béchamel
Noodles
Bolognese
Parmesan
Béchamel
Noodles
Bolognese
Parmesan
Béchamel
Noodles
Béchamel
Parmesan

Bake covered with foil at 375 degrees for 30 minutes. Enjoy the smell of cinnamon throughout the house, and every time you heat up the leftovers!

246 days ago Short URL 2 Comments

Dinner/Lactose intolerance/Recipes

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23

Jul

Recipe Remix: “Hamburger” Casserole with Goat Cheese

Here’s another healthy take on the traditional hamburger sour cream casserole, this time using yogurt and goat cheese in place of sour cream and cream cheese. I also swapped in ground turkey, like last time. Can you tell my kitchen lighting and iPhone camera pixels have improved?!

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“Hamburger” Casserole with Goat Cheese

Brown 1+ pound of ground turkey in skillet with 1 minced garlic clove. Add two cans of tomato sauce or crushed tomatoes, and simmer for 20 minutes or so. Meanwhile, boil a bag’s worth of egg noodles and drain. Next, stir together one bunch worth of sliced green onions with a 5 oz. cube of goat cheese and 1+ cup of yogurt, or enough to create a sauce. Layer all three (meat, noodles, sauce) in a casserole dish, and bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes. Stir halfway through baking so the noodles don’t get too try.

Bonus: leftovers for a couple of nights, depending on how hungry you are!

302 days ago Short URL Comments

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11

Jul

Cleaning out the fridge: goat cheese lasagna

In this installment of making dinner from scraps, I whip up a simple yet flavorful lasagna with goat cheese, gruyere and butternut squash pasta sauce. I took inspiration for the goat cheese sauce from Fine Cooking, the layering from Keep it Luce, and I used about half a bottle of Dave’s Gourmet Butternut Squash Pasta Sauce (which is delicious and dairy-free; I highly recommend it on gnocchi).

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Instructions:

To make the goat cheese sauce, I whisked 1/4 cup of flour in a sauce pan with 2 tbsp of olive oil (butter would have been better, but of course I didn’t have any). Next, I whisked in 3 cups of unsweetened almond milk and let it thicken for about 10 minutes or so. From there, I stirred in 5 oz. of goat cheese, 1/2 cup shredded gruyere, 1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg, 1 tsp salt, and a couple clicks from the pepper mill.

Meanwhile, I toasted raw walnuts at 375 degrees in the oven, and then crushed them under foil with a rolling pin.

Then came the construction of the lasagna, using no-bake lasagna noodles. I used a 9×13 pan, but my lasagna came out very thin, so better to go with a smaller pan or double the recipe.

First, I layered 1/3 of the goat cheese sauce, followed by noodles, and 1/2 the butternut squash pasta sauce. Next, I added another layer of goat cheese sauce, noodles, and the pasta sauce. Then, I added a layer of toasted walnuts. (Note: I was also conservative with only one layer of toasted walnuts, but next time I would double it.)

After one final layer of noodles, goat cheese sauce, and pasta sauce, I sprinkled a healthy dose of grated gruyere on top. I baked it in the oven, covered with foil, at 375 degrees for about 40 minutes or until bubbly. I finished off a few extra minutes without foil at the end to melt the gruyere.

Delicious, easy and David-approved!

314 days ago Short URL Comments

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06

Jul

Meal ‘n Steal: $5 Arugula, Peach and Goat Cheese Salad

A $5 salad might not seem like a steal, but unlike it’s wimpier counterparts, this bowl full of wild rocket arugula, Cypress Grove goat cheese, sliced almonds and fresh peaches will actually fill you up. (There’s nothing worse than saving a buck and being hungry afterwards.)

Wild Rocket Arugula, White Peach, Cypress Grove Goat Cheese, Toasted Almonds @ Bair Island Tap & Eatery

If you’re not able to make it to Bair Island Tap & Eatery in San Carlos, you could easily make your own hearty version at home. In general, I’ve discovered goat cheese really coats dishes (and your stomach) well. And you can’t go wrong with nuts, dark leafy greens and tree fruit in any combination.

319 days ago Short URL Comments

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