Easy Dairy Free Orange Almond Cake

I often have requests for cakes that are either dairy free or gluten free. So I decided to make a cake with orange juice and egg whites. The result, a cake that was not too sweet, a perfect accompaniment to afternoon tea or coffee!

You will need:
1 cup of Odwalla orange juice.
Two and a half cups of Trader Joe's Multi-grain Baking mix.
2 tbsp powdered almonds.
1/4 cup cane sugar (brown).
1 tbsp honey.
1 tsp cake spice from Penzeys.
1/3 cup egg whites.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Mix the flour, almond powder and cake spice in a large bowl. Whip the egg whites and orange juice together, add the honey and sugar, mix thoroughly. Pour this liquid mixture into the dry ingredients, mixing constantly to avoid any lumps. Pour the cake batter in a round cake pan or in an eight inch by eight inch, baking dish. Bake until a toothpick or a fork comes out clean when inserted in the cake. Note that this cake is not very sweet, and has a decidedly spicy flavor to it. Just increase the amount of sugar by another 1/4 cup if you prefer a sweeter version of this cake.

Cool, cut into pieces and serve with Chai or Coffee. Enjoy!

Butternut Squash and Apple Soup

Just to continue with my theme on soups and stews to pacify a cold, here is another recipe that combines the sweetness of butternut squash and the slight tartness of gala apples. Again, this recipe is a hit with little children and I tend to show my toddler all the ingredients that go into the soup, especially the apples. Yum, yum. Need I add that butternut squash, is an all time favorite with most little children? I use frozen butternut squash on most occasions, given that I have a ton of things to do around the house. I also am extremely loyal to a specific brand of frozen butternut squash, which was introduced to me by a friend and is produced by Stahlbush Island Farms. It is by far, the best frozen butternut squash that I have found in the grocery store.

For the soup, you will need:
A quarter large red onion, diced.
One bag of butternut squash.
Two small gala apples, cut, cooked.
1 tbsp butter.
Salt and black pepper to taste.
A handful of cilantro.
Two cups of water.

I normally cut the apples and cook them in very little water. I place the cut apples in a saucepan and cover them with enough water so that the apple pieces are just below the level of water.

Heat the butter in a large saucepan to just melt it. Now add the diced onions and saute them until they turn pink and translucent. Now add some black pepper, stir, and add the frozen butternut squash cubes. Mix the squash and the onions thoroughly. Pour about two cups of water into the saucepan and bring it to a boil. Simmer, cover the saucepan, and cook until the squash begins to melt into the water. Remove the lid and add the apples, cooking for another two minutes or so. Finally add the salt and chopped cilantro. Let the soup cool. Blend it and transfer it to the saucepan again. Heat it before serving. Enjoy this refreshing soup with some toasted whole wheat bread!

Cauliflower-Onion Stew

Its flu season and everyone I know seems to have the sniffles! Being down with a bad bug is just awful and nothing makes me feel better than a hot bowl of soup or stew. Since I rarely eat chicken, I wanted to make a stew with vegetables that was full of the goodness of garlic and slightly on the spicier side to clear up the sinuses. So here is what I came up with, a simple stew made with cauliflower florets and onions. My little toddler ate it to, and asked for more. Here is the recipe and its super easy to make.

You will need:

One cauliflower chopped into florets.
Half a large onion, sliced.
Four cloves of garlic, crushed, sliced.
Sweet curry powder and bay leaves from Penzeys.
Salt and black pepper to taste.
Butter and olive oil to saute the onion slices.
One tbsp of brown rice flour mixed in a quarter cup of water.
Water to provide a base for the stew.

Use a large saucepan to saute the onions in about 2 tbsp of olive oil and 1 tbsp of butter. First, add the olive oil and butter to the pan. Once the butter melts, add two bay leaves and the sliced onions. The onions should sizzle if the oil and butter are hot enough. Now saute the onions until they are transparent. Add the garlic and saute until the garlic and onion turn a nice golden  At this point, add the cauliflower florets, stir them to coat them with the onions and garlic and add about 4 cups of water to the pan. Bring it to a boil, simmer and cover the pan to cook the cauliflower florets until they are just tender. This is when you add the curry powder to your stew. I normally add about 1/2-1 tsp but I leave this to you, vary the proportion to suit your spice level. Also add salt and black pepper to taste. Finally, add the rice flour and water paste to the pan, stirring constantly so that no lumps form in the broth. Cover, cook until the stew thickens and serve hot with rustic pita bread.

A Hearty Vegetable Pasta Sauce

Are you always trying to get your toddler to eat vegetables? This vegetable pasta sauce is sure to get not only the little ones, but even grown-ups all excited about dinner. To make the sauce, you will need:

One yellow bell pepper chopped.
Two tomatoes, seeds removed, chopped.
Half of a large yellow onion, chopped.
One carrot, chopped.
One tbsp garlic powder.
One tsp fresh, ground pepper.
Two tbsp tomato ketchup.
One tsp of dried basil and oregano each.
Salt to taste and a pinch of sugar.
Two tbsp of olive oil/canola oil to saute.

Cook about two cups of whole wheat pasta and set aside. Reserve the water in which the pasta was cooked to add to the sauce. I normally add a dash of salt and olive oil to the water when I cook the pasta.

In a pan, heat the oil and add the chopped onions. Once the onions turn translucent or are golden-brown, add the garlic powder and black pepper. Saute for about 30 seconds, then add the chopped carrot and the bell pepper. Let the vegetables cook in the oil for about two minutes. Now add the chopped tomatoes, stir, cover and cook for another two minutes. The tomatoes should begin to cook. Lift the cover, add the basil and oregano. Stir thoroughly and add the ketchup. At this point you also want to add about 1/2 cup of the water in which you cooked the pasta. Cover and cook until the vegetables are cooked. Now add the salt and sugar. Cool, blend the sauce and transfer it again to the saucepan. Warm up this sauce and add the cooked pasta. Stir, serve hot!

You can add shredded cheese on top as an option. I prefer this pasta without cheese! A salad on the side and you have a meal. Scale up the ingredients for more servings. This recipe should suffice for a family of three, two grown-ups and a toddler if you have a side dish.

Enjoy.

Decadent Pineapple-Coconut-Macadamia Nut Cake

Hello World! Its been so long since I posted a new recipe. I have been very busy with family and it has been a hectic two years. I have been cooking, a lot actually, but with little time to devote to my collection here. Life has now returned to a slightly slower pace so I am back, with more recipes for the vegetarian palate.

I have been baking for quite some time now, and some time ago, a friend of mine mentioned to me that her daughters love to eat cake. Well, which young kid doesn't right? But I needed to whip up something without using eggs. So I decided to bake a cake with pineapple juice, coconut and macadamia nuts, a classic combination in my opinion. The cake came out beautifully and and my friend's kids loved it. We did too, and it was all polished off in a couple of days.

Here are the ingredients:

1 cup - whole wheat pastry flour.
1/4 cup - all purpose flour.
1 can of condensed milk.
1 tsp baking powder.
1/2 tsp baking soda.
1/4 tsp cardamom powder.
1/4 tsp salt.
1/4 cup melted butter.
1/2 cup pure pineapple juice.
1/2 cup unsweetened coconut (I use the one from Bob's Red Mill).
1/4 cup chopped (toasted) macadamia nuts (and walnuts if you like).
Note - all the sugar comes from the sweetened condensed milk for this recipe.

Grease a cake pan with some melted butter and preheat the oven to 350 degree Celsius. In a large mixing bowl, combine the flours, the baking soda, baking powder, cardamom powder, salt and the unsweetened coconut. Mix thoroughly. In a separate bowl, combine the condensed milk, melted butter and pineapple juice. Now, pour this liquid mixture slowly into the mixed dry ingredients and blend together with a spatula. Pour this cake mixture into the cake pan and top off with the macadamia nuts. Bake until cooked, i.e. when a toothpick comes out clean when inserted in the baked cake.

Enjoy with some vanilla ice cream if you wish. We ate it straight and it was delicious.