Let Them Eat Cake!

Oh hi guys!

It's been awhile...

I want to make it up to you.

So how about some cake?

This cake began with good intentions. There was a zucchini. There was a loaf pan. There were dreams of toasting slices and topping them with peanut butter for breakfast.

But those things didn't happen because I remembered that I had a bunch of tiny round baking pans for making multi-layer mini cakes, and those pans had been nesting together in their box in mint condition since I received them as a bridal shower gift from a lovely coworker about a year ago.

And also because chocolate.

So here you go, mon petit Spatulettes! I hope you have your cake and eat it too!

p.s. You can still eat this for breakfast. It is Breakfast Tested, Breakfast Approved. Nobody can tell you not to. Being a grownup is awesome.

Almost Healthy Chocolate Cake

Makes 7 generous slices of a mini 4 tier cake

Here's What You'll Need:

For the Cake:

1 medium zucchini (250 grams)

1/2 cup applesauce

1/3 cup oil (I used sunflower)

1 1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar

1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

3/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/3 cup and 2 tbsp sugar (I used raw)

2 tbsp cocoa powder (I used raw cacao powder)

A whole bunch of chocolate chips (I just found the best dairy-free ones at Sprouts!)

For the Frosting:

1/2 cup tofutti cream cheese (thought I suppose regular would work)

1/3 cup stick margarine (I used Earth Balance)

3 cups and a bit more powdered sugar

A sprinkle of dried coconut

Here's What You Do:

Preheat the oven to 325.

Finely chop or make quick work of your zucchini by shredding it in a food processor. A cheese grater would work in a pinch.

Combine shredded zucchini, applesauce, oil, vinegar, and vanilla in a mixing bowl. Mix it up and let it sit for a few minutes while assembling the dry ingredients.

Mix all your dry ingredients together, except for the chocolate chips.

Combine your wet and dry mixtures. I used my beloved yellow Kitchen Aid on low speed. Add in chocolate chips.

Grease your pan(s) and fill them with cake batter. You can use mini pans like mine  in which case you'll use 4 of them. Any pan will do though. This might change your baking time, so be careful.

Bake for 35-45 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Remove cakes from mini pans and cool on a wire rack for a few hours.

Once the cake has cooled and you're ready to frost, mix all the frosting ingredients together in a bowl (electric or hand mixing is fine).  The more powdered sugar you use, the thicker the frosting will be.

You can top your cake with coconut, or even more chocolate chips, or walnuts. Go wild!

My cake chilled in the fridge for a few hours before we dug in.  

It kept well in the fridge for the 3 days that it existed before we at it all. 

It was a mini cake  yet enjoyed by many; including my Aunt Kathleen who came all the way from the east coast and THEN braved California public transportation along with my Nana Jane to come check out our new house and have some cake.

'til next time! Keep on cooking, peeps! 

Nana Jane finally named my kitchen chicken! He's now Henry, if you please! Photo Credit: Aunt K.

Cake recipe adapted from amazing recipe blog here

Frosting recipe adapted from another amazing recipe blog here

Don't Judge an Eggplant Lasagna By Its Cover

I would be lying if I said I never pre-judged a recipe by it's picture.  But we all know, sometimes that beautiful roast turkey is bone dry, and sometimes the prettiest salad is hiding something you can't stand (i'm talking to you, frisee). 

But sometimes, just sometimes, the opposite happens.

Sometimes, the carefully planned dish you're spent days dreaming of and gathering ingredients, and choosing a nice bottle of wine to go with, and cleaning your house so it looks nice when your future in-laws come over for dinner, and imagining how pretty and wonderful it will be to post pictures of it on The Yellow Spatula; just looks like a pile of mush!

But then, it makes your whole house smell so wonderful while it cooks and you can't wait to try it even though it looks a little crazy. So you serve it up and dig in, and it's half gone even before you can take a picture of it!

This is the story of the next dish.  I call it:

Don't Judge an Eggplant Lasagna By Its Cover

Serves 4 with plenty of leftovers

Here's what you'll need:

1 peeled eggplant, sliced in long, thin pieces (I used a mandoline slicer)

1 can drained kidney beans

2 chopped zucchini

2 chopped carrots

1 cup chopped mushrooms

2 cups spinach

1/2 chopped onion

1/4 cup chopped parsley

2 minced garlic cloves

To taste: crushed basil, fennel seeds, Italian seasoning, pinch of salt/pepper

Tomato sauce (leftover works fine)

Daiya cheese (I used shredded pepperjack)

Cashew cheese (Basic cashew cheese recipe from here; I left out the lemon because my favorite wine consultant Bob told me the acidity in the main dish would catastrophically destroy the delicate flavors of the wine he helped me choose. If you too would like a wine consultant, I can't recommend this guy enough. Please go visit his store and buy lots of wine from him.)

Here's what to do:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Set a cookie sheet underneath the oven shelf where you'll bake the lasagna (prevent spillage!).

Grease your baking dish (I used TJ's coconut oil spray).

Sautee all the veggies, carrots first, until soft but not mushy.

Drain and rinse the beans, add them to the sautee.

Let the layering begin!

Put a layer of tomato sauce in the bottom of the baking dish.

Follow it with a layer of eggplant on top. It's ok if the eggplant slices overlap a bit to fill up the dish.

Top it off with a layer of cashew cheese.

Repeat: sauce, eggplant, cashew cheese until you've used up all the eggplant.

Sprinkle the top of the dish with the daiya cheese.

Cover with tinfoil.

Bake for about 40 minutes until everything is bubbly .

Remove tinfoil and broil for about 3 minutes until the cheese is melty and browning and incredibly wonderful.  Don't leave the oven while you work on this. In fact, don't let your hand leave the oven door handle while you watch the browning action like a hawk, or you'll burn it and things will get sad.

Remove from the oven and please let it sit for about 5 minutes so your guests don't burn their tongues.

Serve, with some perfectly paired wine like this one (but Bob has a better price).

Devour. 

It's like, really good.

And the moral of the story is, beauty is in the eye of the forkholder!

Have fun, Spatulettes!  Au revoir 'til next time!

Future in-laws enjoying lasagna!
I didn't even have to trick them into eating cashew cheese!

Clean Plate Club. Didn't let the dogs help.

Served with Matzah Popovers.
I'll tell you about 'em sometime!

Totally unrelated, but LOOK! This happened!

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The Most Interesting Salad In The World

I'm not gonna lie... this was the most TIME AND LABOR INTENSIVE salad in the world...
And it was worth every precious second of prep!

I was inspired by OhSheGlows and a rare, leisurely Tuesday afternoon. Because it literally took all Tuesday Afternoon.  I could have taken a few shortcuts here and there like not making home made salad dressing and hummus from scratch. Or using a can of tuna instead of making vegan almond "tuna" salad. But I didn't. And  here's what I got:

YEAH! I know, right!? It was as delicious as it was gorgeous.  It called for some celebration, so I took advantage of the lingering Tuesday afternoon sunlight to take some pictures of my creation and we ate it outside on the patio.  Eating dinner outside when it's still light out is a rare weekday treat that I believe should be taken advantage of whenever possible!

So here you go, Spatulettes. It's...

The Most Interesting Salad In The World

Here's what you'll need for the Salad:

• 2 to 3 cups Mixed Greens
• 1/2 cup halved cherry tomatoes
• 1/2 sliced cucumber
• 2 green onions, chopped
• Half avocado, sliced 
• 1/2 tablespoon chia seeds 
• 1/2 tablespoon pumpkin seeds  

Assemble in a bowl in the prettiest way possible.

And the Dressing: 

• 1/2 cup water 
• 1/4 cup cashews, soaked for about 4 hours, then drain and rinse (I had leftover cashew sour cream that I used)
• Juice of 1 medium lemon
• 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
• 2 tablespoons EVOO
• 2 teaspoons of dill
• 1 garlic clove
• A pinch of salt
• 1/2 teaspoon onion powder 

Put it all in a food processor or blender (I used our Blendtec) and make it go!
 
And the Hummus:

• 1 garlic clove 
• 2 tablespoons sundried tomatoes 
• 1 can of garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
• 3 tablespoons of Tahini
• Juice of 1 medium lemon
• 3 tablespoons water
• A smidge of olive oil
• A sprinkle of smoked paprika (or Trader Joe's South African Smoke!)
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt  

Chop up the garlic in a food processor (or little cuisinart chopper).  Add the garbanzo beans, tahini, sundried tomatoes, lemon juice, olive oil, and salt. Whiz until smooth. Add in the water a little at a time to thin your hummus to the desired consistency.  You can also add more lemon juice or olive oil if you're so inclined. 

Don't eat it all yet so there's some left for the salad.

And the "Tuna Salad": 

• 1 cup raw almonds, soaked for about 2 hours, rinsed, and drained 
• 2 stalks of finely chopped celery
• 1 minced garlic clove
• 3 tablespoons of mayo (I used leftover cashew sourcream, but you could also use extra cashew puree from your salad dressing)
• 2 teaspoons of dijon mustard (I used grey poupon because it's fun to say)
• A pinch of salt
• A pinch of pepper

Put the soaked and rinsed almonds into the food processor and pulse until all of the almonds are chopped up and starting to look like tuna.  Add the rest of the ingredients to a bowl with the almonds as you would make regular tuna salad! This is seriously SO GOOD.

Assemble the Minions! I mean... Assemble the Salad!
Put all the ingredients in a bowl. Sit down and eat because you're going to be starving at this point. Unless you snacked on the hummus and tuna already while you waited for your dinner date to get home.  I think I enjoyed taking pictures of this salad as much as I enjoyed eating it, so i'll leave you with some eye candy.

Enjoy, Spatulettes!

Dining al fresco!

All dressed up and ready to eat!

Flash says, "i don't know what is salad but i will eat it, please."

Wooooooo!

Detroit Fried Matzah

Ok Spatulettes, what do you call this?:

My family calls it Matzah Brei. 

The family i'm marrying into calls it Fried Matzah. Maybe it's a Detroit thing. 

Whatever you call it, whether you make it in a pancake or a scramble, it's delicious and if you've got to eat Matzah for a week, it may as well be like this!

So in honor of the Levy's in California and Michigan, whom we were sadly unable to join for Passover this year (Next year in Jerusalem Detroit!), I bring you:

Detroit Fried Matzah

Serves 1

Note: 

The main difference between Detroit Fried Matzah and Matzah Brei is two words in the title of the recipe.  Just change the name for maximum Detroit-ness.

Here's what you'll need:

• 1 Square of Matzah (I used gluten free because sometimes I don't eat normal things anymore)
• A splash of milk (I used coconut. See above.)
• 2 eggs, scrambled
• A pinch of cinnamon
• A pinch of nutmeg
• A pinch of salt
• Maple Syrup (I used melted coconut oil with some cinnamon mixed in but it's probably not very authentic) 
• Berries (and/or powdered sugar) to garnish

Here's what to do:

• Crumble up the matzah into small-ish pieces, bigger than an oyster cracker, but smaller than a saltine cracker.
• Soak the matzah pieces in the scrambled egg mixed with milk and spices until it's nice and mushy.
• Cook like you would a round omelet; pour the mixture into a heated pan (make sure you oil the pan first if it's non-non-stick).  Swish it around and pull the edges in with a (yellow) spatula to allow more egg mixture to fill in any cracks.  Let it sit for a a bit until it's sturdy enough and toasty enough to flip. Cook through.
• Serve smothered in berries or syrup or whatever else you like. Go wild!

So really though, tell me in the comments; what do you call this delicious Passover staple?  Bring it up at your seder to spark some conversation when your relatives start saying things like "These potatoes are too salty!" because you accidentally put two tablespoons of salt into the potato casserole when you should have used two teaspoons. Not that I would EVER do anything like that...

Happy Passover, Spatulettes near and far!

 

Pizza! said the lady with the alligator purse

Cauliflower crust pizza has been popping up online everywhere and I simply had to try it!  I made it detox-friendly so it's totally dairy, gluten, soy, and processed-sugar free. And it was also AH-MAZING.

I adapted mine from this recipe HERE.

Superscrumptious Cauliflower Crust Pizza

Ingredients:

For Crust

• • 1 medium sized head of cauliflower - should yield close to 3 cups once processed
  • 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
  • Sprinkling of dried basil 
  • Sprinkling of dried oregano 
  • Sprinkling teaspoon garlic powder
  • A bit of of crushed red pepper
  • 2 tablespoons gluten-free flour (I used Trader Joe's which is brown rice flower)
  • 1 tablespoon of nutritional yeast (adds a cheesy flavor)
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 egg
  • Nonstick cooking spray (I used coconut oil from Trader Joe's in the spray can)

For Toppings

• Rice Cheese (I used a block of Daiya cheese that I grated about half of onto the crust but I think the Daiya shreds would have been easier)
• Olives
• Mushrooms
• Onion
• Pizza sauce (I used a can of tomato paste with half a can of water, mixed with dried basil, oregano, marjoram, and garlic because I couldn't find any premade sauce at the store without added sugar)

Instructions:

• Preheat the oven to 450, with a pizza stone or baking sheet on the middle rack
• Spritz some parchment paper on top of a cutting board with cooking spray
• Wash the cauliflower. Food-processor it until it looks like snow
• Microwave the cauliflower snow for 30 seconds covered to cook  it a bit
• Once the cauliflower has cooled a bit, put in a clean dishtowel and wring out ALL the water.  This takes a little time and some elbow grease.
• Add the cauliflower to a bowl, along with the spices, flour, nutritional yeast, olive oil and mix it together.
• Beat the egg in a small bowl, then to the mixture and keep mixing. I used my hands. It was a delightfully mushy sensory experience.
• Flatten your "pizza dough" out onto the parchment paper covered cutting board
• Use the cutting board like a pizza paddle to CAREFULLY place the parchment paper with the pizza dough onto the pizza stone in the oven.
• Bake for 30-40 minutes until the edges are crispy but not totally burnt because it's going back in the oven with the toppings for a little while longer.
• While the pizza crust is baking, sautee your onions and mushrooms (or prepare your pizza topping of choice)
• Once the crust is ready, carefully take the crust out of the oven with your cutting board and lots of potholders.
• Slather on some pizza sauce, grated "cheese," and the olives, mushrooms, onion (the works)
• Bake again, just long enough to melt the cheese
• Slice it up and enjoy with your fiance and remind him to wait a minute or two so he doesn't burn the roof of his mouth.

This was REALLY really good. I think the crust would have been crispier if I had worked harder at wringing the water out of the cauliflower, so keep that in mind if you try it yourself!  And don't forget to let me know how it goes!

That's all for now Spatulettes! Stay tuned for next time!

P.S. for sneak peaks and more yellow spatula inspiration, check out The Yellow Spatula on Instagram! 

No More Tummy Aches, Avocado Cream Sauce, and Julian the Julienne Makes a Repeat Appearance

Hi Spatulettes!

So in my quest to be as healthy and happy at the wedding as humanly possible, I decided I needed to make some changes.  Between stress at work, having a constant stomache ache, and having an impossibly difficult time getting myself out of bed in the morning, I knew that something had to change, but I didn't know how to do it!  So when my friend and MOH Jessica became an Arbonne consultant and I went to her first "party" and heard about a "2-week Detox" including lots of whole foods, tons of water, and required all meals to be completely free of anything I could possibly be allergic to, I knew I wanted to try it!  I was initially worried about it because it required giving up caffeine, and given my anti-morning-person-can't-get-out-of-bed track record, I didn't know if it would be possible.  But I tried skipping coffee one day (on a Sunday before I started the "detox" when I could be relatively lazy and it was ok), and then I tried it the next day (and felt a little less lethargic) and by the third day I literally felt like I had more energy without the coffee than with the coffee!  I got myself out of bed on time without snoozing 2 (or 3 or 4 or 5) times, which was a bad habit i'd been doing for longer than i'd like to admit!

So i've been doing this detox for 2 weeks now (and I literally lost 5 pounds in the process which I wasn't expecting!) and have decided to keep going for another 2 weeks because I feel SOOOOO much better!  I don't know what it is that was giving me the constant tummy-ache yet, but afterward i'll add things back in, one at a time, and figure it out.

Another great thing I discovered (courtesy of another friend and bridesmaid Jessica...) is this website for meal planning/shopping list coordination called Pepperplate.  It's been helping me stay on track and plan out super healthy meals for the week.

My other favorite part about this detox is that it's required me to change my cooking habits to fit all these hypoallergenic guidelines, and i've discovered some delicious recipes!

So I bring you... Zucchini Spaghetti with Avodado Cream Sauce!  Adapted from HERE.

Zucchini Spaghetti with Avocado Cream Sauce

Serves 2

Ingredients:

For Noodles:

- 3 large zucchini

-1 tbsp olive oil

For Sauce:

- 1 large (or 2 small) avocados

-8 basil leaves

-1 tsp kosher salt

-sprinkle of ground pepper

-3 garlic cloves (i've been using the frozen cubes of garlic from Trader Joe's; LOVE THEM)

-2 tbsp olive oil

-Juice of 1/2 a lemon

Directions:

-Julienne the zucchini and put your "spaghetti" in a colander. Use some papertowels to squeeze most of the liquid out

-Chop up the basil, avocado, garlic (or put in garlic cubes); Add salt, pepper, olive oil, and lemon juice to a food processor (I used the chopper attachment on my amazing immersion blender tool)

-Blend baby blend!

-Heat up a pan with your 1 tbsp of olive oil, then briefly sautee the spaghetti just until it's a little wilty

-Add in the the cream sauce and mix it in.

Serve with a dollop more of sauce on top. I sprinkled with a little smoked paprika for fun.

It's like guacamole flavored spaghetti and the best thing ever.  My fiance didn't even care that it was all made out of green stuff.  He reported it went really well with the Saison beer he got at Trader Joe's.

So i'll keep you updated with more fantastically delicious, fabulously healthy, and happy-tummy-inducing meals!  I'd love to hear from you!  Do you have any favorite go-to healthy and delicious dinners?  Tell me all about it in the comments!

The one where we got engaged, started planning a wedding, and stopped writing blog posts...

On August 24, 2013, this happened:

And then this happened:

And then this:

Baked French Toast

"It's A Girl" Krispie Treats

Halloween Latkas

                   

Home Made Radish Leaf Pesto and Marinara 

Cinnamon Apple Rings

Creamy Potato Soup

Kitchen Sink Pasta and Bok Choy

Caramel Apple Cake

The world's greatest egg cooker...

Hanukkah with our Kitchen Chicken

Butternut Squash and Chard Pizza with dough from scratch

The most interesting dogs in the world...

Homemade tomato soup with grilled cheese croutons (with our new immersion blender!)

GingEARbread cookies

Skillet crust-less breakfast pie

And I forgot to mention it to anybody! Can you believe it? To make it up to you, my favorite Spatulettes, how about some breakfast pie? My mom and I made this together on Christmas morning, inspired by THIS with some lactose-intolerant friendly changes, like nixing the crust and using soy cheese.

Here's what you'll need:

4 yukon potatoes
A Trader Joe's (or similar) bag of baby spinach
About a cup of grated soy cheddar cheese (the brand that Ralphs's sells)
4 scallions cut into tiny slices
11 eggs
Salt and pepper to taste
Oil for the skillet
(We didn't use it, but some crispy chopped up bacon in here would be lovely if you're bacon inclined)

Here's what to do:

Boil the potatoes until they're soft but not mashable. Slice them into 1/4 inch rounds.

Steam the spinach and drain.

Oil your skillet (unless yours is perpetually seasoned which, apparently, is a thing. Do you do this?)

Layer the potatoes on the bottom of the skillet until they fit.

Layer the spinach on top of the potatoes.

Add some cheese and scallions.

Add more potatoes if there are still some leftover.

Add more cheese and scallions.

Scramble the eggs in a big bowl, add a little salt and pepper, and pour over the veggies in the skillet.

Add the rest of the cheese and scallions.

Bake at 350 degrees for approximately 45 minutes. (Ours took an hour)

Slice it up like a pie, display proudly on your table, and share with people you love.

'til next time Spatulettes! Happy New Year!