Guest Post: Kiran's Spiced Orange Chocolate Chip Cookies

I have such a special treat for you all today - my friend Kiran graciously agreed to contribute a guest post to this little blog!

There are several reasons why this should make you super excited. First, Kiran is an excellent chef. Her partner, Hannah, is gluten intolerant, so Kiran has mastered the art of gluten-free cooking in a way that I can only dream of. Plus, Kiran and and Hannah's apartment is impossibly adorable and they are some of the best hostesses I've had the pleasure of visiting, so I knew this recipe was guaranteed to be beautiful and cozy and wonderful, and of course I was right.

So without further ado, Kiran's amazing Mestizaje Cookies!

Greetings to everyone! It is an honor to be a guest on Justyna’s slice of the interwebs. Justyna and I met because of our mutual friend, Steph (Justyna’s roomie) and her discovery that the two of us were destined to be soul sisters. From our common interests in running, international education, pickling, baking, cooking, crafting, yoga, House of Cards, and of course more foodie related activities, we have endless topics to discuss and bond over. Lucky for me, Justyna and Steph recently moved in a couple blocks from Hannah and my apartment so we got to try her magic brownies first hand.

I’m not quite sure I can compare to this woman’s baking magic, but these cookies have been very healing to the long icy winter we’ve had in D.C. They are a beautiful mestizaje of a classic chocolate chip cookie, mulling spices, and the simmer pot they have going at Williams Sonoma.

Orange Spiced Chocolate Chip Cookies (gluten-free and vegan)

2 ½ cups of almond flour

1 cup gluten-free oats

¼ tsp sea salt

¼ tsp baking soda

10 tbsp coconut oil

1 tbsp vanilla extract

½ cup agave

1 cup of Enjoy Life vegan chocolate chunks (finely chopped)

½ tsp cinnamon

¼ tsp ground cloves

¼ tsp nutmeg

orange zest (one full orange)

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. 

2. Combine all the dry ingredients (flour, oats, salt, baking soda, chocolate chunks, and spices) in a large bowl.
3. Stir together wet ingredient (coconut oil, vanilla, and agave) and mix into dry ingredients.
4. Form balls and flatten onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Feel free to sprinkle some extra sea salt on top if you truly fancy the sweet/salty combo. 
5. Bake for 10-12 minutes.
6. Cool for 5-10 minutes as they may break easily.
7. Enjoy with a glass of almond milk, a warm blanket, and some Netflix episodes!

(Cauli)flower Children

Hello, friends! Did you all have a good Valentine's Day? I spent mine eating Thai take-out and binge watching the new season of House of Cards. I can only hope yours was equally satisfying.

This past week, the ladyfriend's mom sent her a very vintage vegan cookbook from the late 70s, which I promptly "borrowed". If you've ever wondered what hippies were eating between all those anti-war protests and drug-fueled music festivals, I can now confidently answer: Cauliflower Broccoli Cheese Bake.

Flowers and all!

"Wait," I can hear you protest. "I thought vegans couldn't eat cheese?" Well, we can't...but allow me to introduce you to my dear friend, nutritional yeast.

Nutritional yeast is a vegan staple for 2 reasons. First of all, it provides many of the B vitamins that are hard to get when you're not eating animal products. Equally importantly, it's sooo good. Nutritional yeast has a slightly nutty flavor and is often used to thicken up soups and curries, or to make sauces and pasta dishes with a "cheesy" taste and texture. I promise it's not as weird as it sounds! Whole Foods usually stocks nutritional yeast in bulk bins, which is perfect if you want to try it out without committing to a huge jar.

My shameless promotion of weird vegan things aside, you have to try this recipe - the creamy sauce perfectly complements the crunchy veggies, and between the nutritional yeast, the broccoli, and the cauliflower, you're also getting an insane amount of important vitamins and minerals in each bite. If you can't find nutritional yeast or you're just too skeptical right now, you can also use this mushroom gravy instead - I made a big batch for Thanksgiving and it was delicious, even though I'm not normally a fan of mushrooms!

Claire Underwood would undoubtedly hate this recipe as much as she loves tailored dresses and political backstabbing, but I suppose that's something I'll have to live with. Cheers!

Cauliflower Broccoli Cheese Bake

Adapted from The Cookbook for People Who Love Animals

Serves 6 to 8

1 medium head of cauliflower, cut into bite-sized florets
1 medium broccoli crown, cut into bite-sized florets
3 cloves garlic, diced
1½ onions, diced
2 tablespoons soy sauce
salt, to taste
olive oil to coat your pan

1½ cups vegetable stock
1 cup nutritional yeast
½ cup tahini
2 cloves garlic, diced
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon cumin
salt, to taste

4 scallions, chopped (optional)
1 cup fried onions (optional, but who doesn't love these greasy little things?)

Preheat your oven to 400 F. Heat a little olive oil in the biggest pan you own over medium-high heat, then add all your veggies and sauté for about 5 minutes, or until the onions are translucent. Add the soy sauce and cook for another 3 minutes or so. Take your veggies off the heat and set aside while you prepare the sauce. 

Did you know purple cauliflower was a thing?? I did not, but it's beautiful!

To make your nutritional yeast gravy, pour the vegetable stock, nutritional yeast, and tahini into a blender and go to town. You'll want to let this whir around on puree for at least a minute, so that the mixture gets nice and airy. Add the garlic, soy sauce, and spices, and blend again until you have a smooth liquid. The consistency should be similar to....well, gravy! You can add some extra stock if it seems too thick, or another dollop of tahini if it looks a little watery. 

Much colorful! Very wow!

Grab an 8 x 12 baking dish and pour in just enough gravy to coat the bottom. Spread a layer of vegetables on top of them, then pour on another coat of gravy. Keep alternating veggies and sauce until the dish is full, making sure to end with a layer of gravy. The whole concoction will look really soupy and you'll wonder if those damn vegan hippies led you astray, but hang in there! Once you've used up all your veggies, you can get a little creative with the toppings - the original recipe calls for a sprinkling of extra nutritional yeast and paprika on top of the bake, but I opted for a stinkier version with fried onions and scallions. I bet a healthy portion of bread crumbs would also be delicious!

Mm gravy. 

Put your masterpiece in the oven and bake for about 30 minutes, or until the vegetables on top are starting to brown and the gravy is thick and bubbly. Let the bake stand for about 5 minutes once it's done cooking so that it has a chance to set a little; try (in vain) to keep your girlfriend from picking all the fried onions off the top. Serve and enjoy!

The Other Kind of "Magic" Brownie

Sometimes I feel like being vegan is an exercise in seeing what kind of weird shit you can sneak into seemingly normal dishes without anyone calling you out on it. This week the answer is beans! Beans are almost always the answer, actually, but today we're specifically talking about black beans in the form of rich, chocolatey brownies that will knock your socks off.

I've been hearing mythical stories about black bean brownies for ages, but I had never actually tried one, much less made a batch myself. When a couple of neighborhood friends invited me to potluck brunch this weekend, I spent an unreasonably long time trying to figure out what to bring. Kiran and Hannah routinely churn out beautiful and delicious dishes for various get-togethers, so I was inspired to step up my game and try something new. And holy crap, I'm so glad I did!

You wouldn't think black beans would do well in dessert form, but you would be so sadly mistaken. I'm not going to pretend to understand the food magic that allows this to happen, but somehow the end result of this recipe is an incredibly thick, chocolatey batch of brownies that A) do not actually taste like beans, and B) will disappear in seconds once you serve them. Plus, the recipe has a grand total of 5 steps and you probably have all the ingredients in your pantry already! So go ahead, gather your beans and make yourself some brownies.

Black Bean Brownies
(slightly adapted from Lauren Goslin's Oatmeal With a Fork)

Makes 20 two-bite brownies.

1 can of black beans, rinsed thoroughly and drained
½ cup cocoa powder
½ cup oats
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon baking powder
¼ cup sugar
½ cup maple syrup
¼ cup coconut oil (you can also use vegetable or canola oil - whatever you have on hand is fine!)
2 teaspoons vanilla

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and grease an 8 x 8 inch baking dish with a bit of vegetable oil. Throw all your ingredients into a blender or food processor and liquefy that shit. Your batter should be just a little bit runnier than frosting; you can add more oats if it's too thin, or a tablespoon of water if it's too thick.

Blender full of beans. 

Pour the batter into your pan and bake for 20 minutes. To see if the brownies are done, stab them with a toothpick or knife - it should come out clean.

Raw...

The one and only downside of this brownies is that you can't just inhale them when they're still hot - since they're super fudgy, they need to cool before you cut them or you'll end up with a chocolatey mess. Once the pan is cool enough to handle, stick it in the fridge for about an hour.

...baked! You can tell I got a little overenthusiastic with the stabbing. 

Now, you can totally call it quits at this point and you'll be the happy owner of a big batch of incredible brownies. I was feeling fancy, though, so I decided to add some flair! I combined powdered sugar (2 cups), coconut milk (¼ cup), vanilla (1 teaspoon), and flaked coconut (1 cup) in a small bowl and mixed everything until I had a smooth, thick frosting. Then I spread that coconutty goodness evenly over my brownies, cut them into little rectangles, and decorated each one with an almond. Voila! Almond Joy black bean brownies.

Tempting Tempeh

My sister recently brought it to my attention that I have yet to post a recipe for a real meal. Desserts, brunch items, and sides have all made an appearance, but what if you've invited a cute vegan girl over for dinner? As Jesus said, "queers cannot live on scones alone" (or something), so today I've got you covered with a full-on vegan dinner: lemon pepper tempeh and mashed sweet potatoes.

First, let's talk about tempeh. Tempeh is incredible. It's made from soybeans, like tofu, but the little beans are kept whole instead of pressed into a paste. See what I mean?

This is awesome for two reasons. First, tempeh has a firm, crumbly texture that will appeal to anyone who gets a little freaked out by how chewy and jiggly tofu can be. Second, the way soybeans are fermented for tempeh actually means that they retain more protein and dietary fiber than they do in tofu. You can normally find tempeh next to tofu at any major grocery store; my personal favorite is Lightlife's flax tempeh because it has a great nutty flavor, but any kind will work just fine!

And sweet potatoes? Everyone loves sweet potatoes. Sweet potato fries, sweet potato pie, baked sweet potato with a little brown sugar and cinnamon...MM! These little guys have a ton of Vitamin A, which is good for your eyeballs and skin. Sweet potatoes are also slightly softer when cooked than regular ones, which makes them ideal for creating smooth, creamy mashed potatoes without adding milk.

Okay, enough out of me - your date is waiting, so on to the recipes!

Mashed Sweet Potatoes and Lemon Pepper Tempeh
(both adapted from Kathy Palatsky's Lunchbox Bunch)

Serves 2

Mashed Sweet Potatoes

2 medium sweet potatoes
olive oil to grease your potatoes and coat your pan
½ cup chopped onion
2 tablespoons Earth Balance
2 teaspoons chopped parsley
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
salt and pepper, to taste

To cook your potatoes, preheat your oven to 425 F. Prick the potatoes all over with a fork, rub them with a little bit of olive oil, and wrap them up tight in aluminum foil. Now toss them in the oven and go pour your lady friend a glass of wine - the potatoes will need about 1 hour to bake.

Yams in a blanket.

Check to see if the sweet potatoes are done by piercing them with a fork. If they're soft and steamy, they're ready to go! Unwrap them and let them cool for a few minutes while you deal with the next couple of steps.

You can practically see the vitamins. 

Pour a little bit of oil into a saucepan over medium heat. Once the oil is hot, add the chopped onions and sauté until the onion bits are translucent and soft. In a bowl, combine the onions, Earth Balance, thyme, garlic powder, and cayenne pepper. Then carefully peel the skin off your sweet potatoes and add those to the bowl as well. 

Everything's better with (vegan) butter. 

Using a fork,  mash everything up until you don't have any errant globs of vegan butter or chunks of potato left over. Add salt and pepper to taste, then cover the bowl with aluminum foil to keep it hot while you make your tempeh.

Lemon Pepper Tempeh

1 block tempeh, cut into cubes
juice from 2 lemons (about 4 tablespoons)
¼ cup vegetable broth
2 teaspoons maple syrup
1 teaspoon salt (optional - the veggie broth will add some salt, so adjust accordingly)
freshly ground black pepper, to taste
olive oil to coat your pan

Heat your olive oil in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the lemon juice and vegetable broth to the pan and let that heat up as well. When you see the mixture start to sizzle a bit, throw in your tempeh and sauté it for 2 minutes or so.

Salty sour tempeh goodness. 

Add the maple syrup, salt, and about half of your black pepper, and cook until most of the liquid has evaporated from the pan and your tempeh is starting to look a little brown on the edges. Turn off the heat, throw the rest of the pepper into the pan, and stir your tempeh around so that the pepper evenly coats the little cubes.

Add the spice...

That's it, you're ready to go! Bust out the fancy plates for this and garnish your beautiful meal with a spring of parsley or a thin slice of lemon. Lez eat!