Buckwheat Walnut Bread

I LOVE buckwheat flour. Ever since I bought it a few weeks ago I have been making all kinds of baked goods with it! It is so healthy and delicious. Replacing part of the regular flour in a recipe with buckwheat flour does make goods denser and it gives the baked good a heartier taste.

Here's the recipe for the Buckwheat Walnut Bread that I made today.

Ingredients
1 cup warm water (about 100 - 105 degrees F)
2 teaspoons active dry yeast (1 package)
1 tablespoon soy milk
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 tablespoons agave syrup
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup buckwheat flour
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Directions
Mix water and yeast in a large bowl. Let sit about five minutes. Stir in milk, olive oil and agave. Add flours, salt and walnuts and knead 10-15 minutes until smooth and elastic. Place dough in a oiled bowl and let rise in a warm place for about 1 hour. Punch dough down and form into a loaf. Place in well oiled loaf pan and let rise another 35 minutes. Bake at 350 degrees about 30 minutes.

Bulgur with Spinach Pesto and Chickpeas

I love this dinner recipe. It is so fast, easy, healthy and delicious!

Ingredients
1 cup bulgur
6 oz spinach
2 garlic cloves
1 T olive oil
1 15 oz can garbanzo beans, washed and drained
3 oz feta

Directions
Cook bulgur according to directions on package. Preheat over to 400. Coat a 9 x 13 glass backing dish with olive oil and transfer cooked bulgur to baking dish. Pulse spinach, garlic and olive oil in a food processor until blended. Spread on top of bulgur. Spread beans on top of pesto. Sprinkle with feta. Bake at 400 about 20 minutes or until cheese just starts to brown.

Walnut Torte with Bourbon Creme Chantilly

I made this torte for Valentine's day this year. About a month ago I bought the Chez Panisse Dessert cookbook and I finally decided to try my first recipe from it this Valentine's day. I didn't want an incredibly rich dessert so after looking through the cookbook I finally decided on the Pecan Torte. I didn't have pecans but I did have walnuts so settled for a walnut torte.

The original tells you to grate the nuts in a nut grater but I chopped mine into very small, fine pieces in a food processor and it worked just fine.

Here is the recipe I used for the walnut torte (adapted from Chez Panisse Desserts)

Ingredients for torte
6 oz raw walnuts
2 T flour
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
1/8 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract

Ingredients for Bourbon Creme Chantilly
2 cups heavy whipping cream
1/4 cup bourbon
1/4 cup agave or sugar

Preheat oven to 350. Butter and flour a 9-inch springform pan. Toast walnuts in oven until they just barely start to brown, about 8 minutes. Cool and then quickly pulse in a food processor until coarsely ground. Toss together in a small bowl with the flour.

Separate the eggs and beat the egg yolks with half of the sugar, on high speed, until they form thin ribbons (about five minutes at high speed). Set aside.

Warm the egg whites over hot water until barely warm. Beat them with the cream of tartar and salt on high speed until they form thick peaks. Add remaining sugar and beat again until stiff peaks form. Fold in vanilla, egg yolk mixture and 1/4 of nut mixture. Continue folding in the nut mixture in 1/4 increments. Spread batter evenly in prepared pan and bake at 300 about 55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Beat whipping cream, bourbon and sugar on high speed until soft peaks form. Spread thickly over cooled cake. Garnish with toasted walnuts.

Vietnamese Cabbage Salad

This is one of my favorite dishes. I have been addicted to Vietnamese food for the last 10 years and I eat out at a Vietnamese restaurant at least once a week. I almost always order the combination salad - a mix of shredded cabbage and other vegetables, shrimp, fish sauce and crushed peanuts. I finally - after 10 years of only eating this dish at restaurants - decided to try making it myself. This one is pretty good and very healthy.

Dressing
juice from 4 limes
2 Tablespoons fish sauce
2 Tablespoons water
1 Tablespoon agave syrup
1 minced garlic clove

Salad
1/2 head green cabbage
4 large carrots
1/4 cup chopped fresh mint leaves
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
1/4 cup chopped basil
8 oz extra firm tofu
crushed peanuts

Combine all dressing ingredients in a bowl and set aside. Dressing should sit for about 30 minutes before using.

Shred cabbage and carrots. I like to cut thin ribbons of carrot with a vegetable peeler.
Chop mint, cilantro, and basil. Combine all veggies in a large bowl.

Chop tofu into small cubes and pat dry with paper towels. In a nonstick frying pan heat 1 - 3 teaspoons sesame oil. When oil is hot toss in tofu and stir fry until golden brown all around. Season with salt and let cool slightly.

Crush peanuts or chop into tiny pieces and set aside.

Toss shredded veggies with the amount of dressing that you like. The dressing recipe for the dressing above makes more than you will need. Top with cooled tofu and crushed peanuts.

Brownies from "Baked"

This is the perfect brownie recipe for when you need a dessert to bring to an event or party. The brownie is delicious and looks beautiful. The recipe is yields a very rich, fudge-like brownie that is easy to cut into perfect squares. I think the brownies taste especially good chilled in the fridge!

I found this recipe posted in The San Francisco Chronicle. The recipe is from the Baked: New Frontiers in Baking," by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafit. Their bakery is located in Brooklyn, NYC and I am dying to go!

Ingredients
Makes 24 brownies
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons dark unsweetened cocoa powder
11 ounces dark chocolate (60 to 72% cocoa), coarsely chopped
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 teaspoon instant espresso powder
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
5 large eggs, at room temperature
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350°. Butter the sides and bottom of a 9-by-13-inch glass or light-colored metal baking pan. In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, salt and cocoa powder together.

Put the chocolate, butter and instant espresso powder in a large bowl and set it over a saucepan of simmering water, stirring occasionally, until the chocolate and butter are completely melted and smooth. Turn off the heat, but keep the bowl over the water and add the sugars. Whisk until completely combined, then remove the bowl from the pan. The mixture should be room temperature.

Add 3 eggs to the chocolate mixture and whisk until combined. Add the remaining eggs and whisk until combined. Add the vanilla and stir until combined. Do not overbeat the batter at this stage or your brownies will be cakey. Sprinkle the flour mixture over the chocolate mixture. Using a spatula (not a whisk), fold the flour mixture into the chocolate until just a bit of the flour mixture is visible.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake in the center of the oven for 30 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through the baking time, until a toothpick inserted into the center of the brownies comes out with a few moist crumbs sticking to it.

Let the brownies cool completely, then cut them into squares and serve. Tightly covered with plastic wrap, the brownies keep at room temperature for up to 3 days.

Nutrition
Per serving - 235 calories, 3 g protein, 31 g carbohydrate, 12 g fat (7 g saturated), 65 mg cholesterol, 117 mg sodium, 0 fiber

Vegan Chocolate Cake

This is a truly amazing vegan chocolate cake recipe. It is moist, rich in flavor and much healthier than most chocolate cake recipes. The cake is wonderful without a frosting but adding a vegan ganache is a great way to dress it up. This cake is also the perfect base for a rich chocolate layer cake or chocolate cupcakes. If you don't mind making a non-vegan cake, this cake would probably be amazing sliced into two layers and filled and frosted with a rich dark chocolate buttercream frosting. I recommend storing the cake in the fridge, but it also freezes very well! I actually thought the cake tasted best chilled in the fridge and eaten the day after baking it.

Recipe
http://www.theppk.com/recipes/dbrecipes/index.php?RecipeID=124

Vegan Ganache
8 oz. vegan chocolate
3/4 cup soy milk

Chop chocolate into small pieces. In a saucepan heat soymilk over low heat. Add chocolate and stir until melted. Pour immediately over cooled cake. Use an offset metal spatula to smooth out frosting.