Cashew Coconut Granola Bars

Wow, first post as a home-owner! I've really been out of the game for a while. I was absconding with my friend's kitchen for a while (that's where that last, beautifully photographed potato-egg post came from. Thanks Julie!! Camping/travel foods in exchange) but I've been so busy getting the house and the community together, I've hardly had time to actually USE anything!

BUT, with the Fourth of July weekend coming up, and things getting more settled, I think I'll have time to get back to some old routines and hobbies (as well as develop new ones!) One of the things I want to do is weekly/monthly, make granola bars/granola for snacks and homemade yogurt. This is my favorite way to start the day (along with a cup of green or jasmine tea) after biking into work. Perfection. This stuff would be great crumbled up into granola, I think  I'll use this as my base/starting recipe for a while and update as I go : ) Keep watching for updates!

(pictured with cheese rosemary egg souffles! #roadFood)

Cashew Coconut Granola Bars
inspired by Ina Garten's food network recipe

Ingredients:
2 cups rolled oats
1 cup chopped cashews
1 cup unsweetened coconut shreds or flakes, loosely packed
1/2 cup ground flax
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup honey
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup dried cranberries, roughly chopped
1/2 cup raisins, roughly chopped

Instructions:
1. Pre-heat oven to 350F. Combine cashews and coconut in a 13" x 9" cake pan, and toast in oven for 10-15 minutes, stirring every 3-5 mins.
2.  Once toasting is finished, turn oven down to 310F and place oat mixture in a bowl and combine with flax.
3. Combine butter, honey, vanilla, and salt in a small sauce pan and bring to a boil over medium-heat. Pour over oat mix and stir well to combine.
4. Add in cranberries and raisins and stir to incorporate.
5. Line baking pan with paper or foil, dump granola mixture into pan, and press down with a spatula hard until flat and condensed.
6. Bake for 15 minutes. Take out of oven, and press down hard again on bars with spatula to compress mixture.
7. Bake for another 10 minutes, take out and press down bars again, and bake for another 5 or until deep golden brown.
8. Take bars out of oven and let sit for a few hours before cutting into desired shape (squares or rectangles)

Vegan Cheezy Broccoli Soup

This soup was delicious and simple! You need to make sure to start the cashews soaking ahead of time, but besides that it's one of the quickest things I've made in a while. So refreshing in so many ways : )

Something that will never get old about my new place: using the Vitamix blender.

Vegan Cheezy Broccoli Soup
from lunchboxbrunch.com

2 servings

Ingredients:
3 cups broccoli
2 cups vegetable stock
3/4 cup raw cashews
1 clove garlic, minced
2 Tbs nutritional yeast (optional, for cheezy flavor)
salt and pepper, to taste
smoked paprika, to garnish

prep
Soak raw cashews in salted water over night.

Instructions:
1. Set a pot of water to boil for steaming broccoli.
2. Wash broccoli and peel stem. Cut stem pieces into 6ths width-wise (so they steam quicker) and cut the head into large florettes (these will be blended, do not need to be perfect).
3. Steam broccoli stems for 5 minutes then throw in florettes and steam for another 5 until bright green. Reserve a couple small florets for garnish, if desired.
4. Mince garlic and drain and rinse cashews.5. In a high-speed blender, blend together broccoli, vegetable stock, cashews, garlic, and nutritional yeast. Salt and pepper to taste, and garnish with paprika.

Vegan Gluten-free Dairy-free Cheesecake

Goodbyes are always difficult. It seems the more I do, the worse I get at doing them. You think there'd be an elegance or grace that one would acquire over the years, a finesse to doing this sort of thing but I've found the opposite to be true.

My manager announced that he's going to be leaving to go live down in AR before the end of the year. Not that he's leaving the company, mind you, just will be working remotely. So, there was a happy hour held to see his wife off (who's moving down before him) at a local brewery. She's dairy-free, which gave me the perfect opportunity to go crazy with my dairy-free recipes I've been stocking up, particularly this "cheese"cake one.

It came out great, and I think it was actually better on subsequent days. I would recommend soaking the cashews overnight if possible. Definitely looking forward to making all the suggested variations when I have need of a faux cheesecake again!

Vegan Gluten-free Dairy-free Cheesecake w Coconut Whipped Cream
from Chickpea Magazine, Summer 2013

Cheesecake:
2 cups cashews, soaked 2 hours - overnight, well rinsed
1/2 cup maple syrup
2 Tbs lemon juice
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp vanilla
14 oz. can full-fat coconut milk
2 Tbs coconut oil
1 tsp agar powder

Instructions:
1. Blend cashews with maple syrup, lemon juice, vanilla, and salt.
2. In a small saucepan, heat coconut milk and oil until just bubbling.
3. Whisk agar powder into coconut mixture for 1 minute.
4. Add coconut mixture to blender, and blend until velvety smooth, scraping down sides of blender as needed.

Crust:
1 cup walnuts
1/2 cup almonds
1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
10 dates
1/2 tsp vanilla
pinch salt

Instructions:
1. Combine all ingredients in food processor and pulse together until finely chopped and starts to clump.
2. Firmly press mixture into bottom and slighly up side walls of 9" a spring-form pan. Set aside.

Blueberry Swirl:
1 cup blueberries
1 Tbs. lemon juice
1/2 Tbs chia seeds

Instructions:
1. Add all ingredients to small saucepan, heat over medium heat until blueberries burst.
2. Use immersion blender to blend until smooth.  Set aside.

Lemon Coconut Whipped Coconut Cream:
1 can full-fat coconut milk, refrigerated overnight
 2 Tbs lemon juice
1 Tbs maple syrup

Instructions:
1. Turn can of coconut milk upside down, open, and pour off coconut water into separate container to safe for another applications.
2. Scoop out coconut cream into a medium bowl. Combine with lemon juice and maple syrup, and whisk together with hand mixer until creamy.

To compile:
1. Pour cashew cheesecake base into prepared crust. Dot blueberry mixture onto th etop of the cheesecake, and use a knife to swirl the blueberries into the cake.
2. Refridgerate for 4 hours until chilled and firm.
3. Serve with dallop of coconut whipped cream and garnish with fresh blueberries.

Possible alterations:
Toasted Hazlenut Chocolate Chip
- Replace walnuts with toasted hazelnuts in the crust. Omit lemon juice and bluebrry swirl from cheesecake base and add 1/4 cup mini chocolate chips. Cool and top cheesecake with chocolate ganache (1 cup chocolate chips, 2 Tbs coconut milk, 1 Tbs coconut oil, melted together in double boiler). Garnish with chopped hazlenuts.

Peanut Butter with Chocolate Drizzle
- Omit lemon juice and blackbery swirl, add 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter to cashew cheesecake base. Drizzle top with chocolate ganache (recipe above). Garnish with chopped peanuts

Raspberry Lemon
- Add zest of 1 lemon to cheesecake base, omit blueberry swirl. Sprinkle 1/2 cup fresh raspberries over bottom of crust before pouring cheesecake base in. Serve with dollop of whipped cream, fresh raspberries, and sprinkle of finely grated lemon zest.

Coconut Quiona and Kale with Cilantro Pesto

Delicious detox food, exactly what I needed after Halloween weekend (part 1). My friends and I went to the haunted corn maze *insert maize pun here* Saturday night, then came back here for home-made hot chocolate spiked with baileys and played cards. Well, after the hot chocolate ran out, then there was....
THE KRAKEN
It's basically just rum that comes in a cool bottle and has pictures of the kraken on it, but it's pretty sweet stuff : )

This is my first experience with both kale and quiona, and I'm quite pleased with both. My friend Sam, who dines with me (and helps split grocery costs : D) I didn't happen to have red onion, so I omitted that, and I had shredded coconut on hand (not flakes) so I used that instead, but I think I would have slightly preferred the flakes for their crunchy texture. If anyone else tries this, let me know what you think!

Coconut Quiona and Kale with Cilantro Pesto
adapted from Cookie and Katie

Ingredients:
1 cup quiona, well rinsed
1 cup coconut milk
1 small bunch kale, stems removed and finely chopped (~4 cups)
1/2 small/medium red onion, chopped (optional)
1/3 cup coconut flakes, un-sweetened

Cilantro Cashew Pesto
2 cups cilantro, packed
1/2 cup cashews, toasted/roasted (salted or unsalted)
4 cloves garlic
1/2 lime, juiced
pinch red pepper flakes
1/3 cup olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:
1. In a medium sauce pan, combine coconut milk and 1 cup water, and bring to a boil. Add quinoa, cover, and simmer for 15-17 mins (until the water is absorbed). Remove from heat and fluff with a fork. Cover and set aside.
2. Add cilantro, cashews, garlic, lime juice, and red pepper flakes to a food processor and process together, slowly drizzling in the olive oil. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
3. In a medium mixing bowl, combine quinoa, kale, onion, and pesto. Mix well to combine, and add more salt and pepper to taste.
4. In a small skillet over medium-heat, toast coconut until golden brown, stirring often. Top salad with toasted coconut and serve warm.