Hello there, folks. I did a lot of experimenting this weekend. I cooked a lot of things. I cooked with coconut oil for the first time. I ran in a new pair of shoes (that might seem trivial but my old pair I've had over a year and 1000 miles). I went to the movies with Brian last night - Side Effects. I snuggled my dogs. I read. I didn't work on my ACE.
First things first. I made a baked good this weekend that was simply put - delicious. I don't really think baked goods count towards my "15 new vegetarian recipes." Coconut oil used to be "a thing that is very bad for you." However, that opinion was due to the prevailing view that saturated fats are bad - and I'm not sure that's entirely true if you eat them in moderation. Trans fats are definitely bad - so never never never eat fast food, frozen packaged foods, margarine, or donuts. The reason that trans fats are bad is that like saturated fats, they increase your bad cholesterol, but actually decrease your good cholesterol, too. Very, very bad. Coconut oil doesn't have trans fasts, but it does have some saturated fat. It kind of tastes like chap-stick to me - I definitely like butter better but this is cool for some things. Despite the fact that health food people are now championing coconut oil for it's health benefits, I think the jury is definitely still out. For good fats - that is - Omega 3's - stick to fish, nuts, beans, spinach.
Side note: I just re-read that bit about running in a new pair of shoes - I'm so boring I can't even stand it.
Back to recipes. I'm not going to count this coconut thing because who puts meat into baked goods & it's surely not healthy, but I am going to share it with you.
Double Coconut White Chocolate Chip Muffins:
1/2 cup virgin coconut oil
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1.5 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup full fat Greek yogurt
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup raw, unsweetened flaked coconut
1 cup white chocolate chips
Mix together the flours, baking powder, salt, sugar, chocolate chips, and 1/2 cup of the coconut into a large bowl. Allow your egg and yogurt to come to room temperature - otherwise they re-solidify the coconut oil and it's really hard to stir. Melt your coconut oil in a small saucepan - this happens really quick - what I did was just heat my saucepan up for a minute with nothing in it then add my coconut oil and it all melted in about 20 seconds. Mix together the coconut oil, yogurt, vanilla, and egg in another bowl and then combine with the dry ingredients. The mixture is very cookie-doughesque and not cake-batteresque. Spoon into muffin tin and top with the remaining coconut - you could top with a macadamia like I did. Bake it at 375 for 15-20 minutes.
Shout out to Deb Perelman @ the Smitten Kitchen for this recipe. I absolutely love coconut. Absolutely love it.
http://smittenkitchen.com/blog/2012/02/double-coconut-muffins/
Now for the healthy thing I made TWICE this weekend because it was so good.
Vegetarian recipe #7 - Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Tahini, Lemon, and Smoked Sweet Paprika:
- Peel your sprouts so all the gross outer leaves are off (I can almost guarantee my mother does not do this because she's just Oregoney and earthy) - I on the other hand don't like the gross outer leaves.
- Cut your sprouts in half
- Line a cookie tray with some olive oil, coconut oil, or butter
- Toss your sprouts onto the tray and shake em' around
- Roast at 350 for 15-20 minutes - shaking every so often
Top warm sprouts by drizzling with a tablespoon of raw tahini then juice from about 1/3 of a lemon. Sprinkle a dusting of smoked spanish paprika - a thing I very much like on everything.
I'd like to talk about tahini for a moment. It's a common ingredient in middle eastern food. It's made out of pureed sesame seeds and has a texture similar to peanut butter but much runnier. The first time I tasted it I was not sold - it wasn't what I expected. I expected sweet or salty - tahini is just...tahini. It is a tad bitter and sort of lemony and savory. I now enjoy it so much that it has completely replaced peanut butter for me - which is good because I can't have peanut butter in the house because I have no self control when I know it's just a spoon away. You can make salad dressings with it, marinades, put it straight onto sandwiches like mustard or mayo. It's also good as a dip for vegetables.
When I was a child I used to feed Mundi Brussel's Sprouts under the table. I also once hid them in my socks and thew said socks down the laundry shoot where they were subsequently washed, dried, and turned into a very strange powdery green material.
I now love Brussels Sprouts. They are good and good for you. I had no appreciation for anything being good for me back then. Really, though, these sprouts are SO GOOD. Make 'em - you'll like 'em.
I also crossed 1000 mile marker for my last pair of running shoes - Nike Free's - RIP. I did my first 2 runs in my new Brooks Pure Flows2 - which I very much like. I had no calf pain, toe joint pain, or heel pain - which are all things that sometimes happen when I get new shoes (which is why I rarely get new shoes).
Have a fantastic evening!
Carpe diem,
J
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