Persimmon Pudding

A few weeks ago while visiting a friend in San Diego, I decided to bring back some organic persimmons for my mom as a souvenir.  I think they were grown by the owner of the restaurant as he told me I could take as many as I wanted after I paid him my one or two dollars for the persimmons, and a few Meyer lemons.  Prior to that I had never seen or heard of a persimmon, and honestly could barely pronounce it.  Well, I may have seen them in the store before but mistaken them for tomatoes, but they are actually a very sweet fruit.  After they were done ripening on the porch for a few weeks, I settled on this persimmon pudding recipe from Allrecipes.com.  It was quite a process, but an awesome first taste for me. I’m a big fan of bread pudding and this one was a nice balance of rich gooey dough, buttery flavor, and cinnamon.

To get the pulp from the persimmons I sectioned them and peeled the skin off, then used a very small strainer to mash them through.  I ended up using the chunky parts too, once they were smashed down enough.

I also used soymilk and 1/4 c. less sugar than the recipe calls for.

Moroccan White-Bean Burgers

Check out these yummy bean burgers from Redbook Magazine.  They’re easy, healthy, and tasty.   The original, plus nutritional info, can be found here. I slightly altered it by adding 1/2 a lemon’s juice, using plain mayo, dropping the salt and a couple spices, and substituting panko breadcrumbs for regular since that was what I had on hand.  I definitely plan on using this recipe as a guide for black bean burgers in the future.

• 1/2  red bell pepper, quartered
• 3  scallions, quartered
• 1/2 c. cilantro leaves
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 t cumin
• 1 can (15.5-ounce) white beans (cannellini), drained and rinsed
• 3/4 c. breadcrumbs
• 1 large egg
• olive oil
• Pita breads
• Mayo
• Lettuce leaves and tomato slices

In a food processor, pulse red bell pepper, scallions, cilantro, garlic, and cumin until vegetables are very finely chopped. Add beans; pulse until beans are coarsely mashed.

Transfer mixture to a bowl; add breadcrumbs and egg. Mix until well combined. Shape into 8-9 (1/4-cup) burgers. Place on a plate and refrigerate 30 minutes.
Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add burgers and cook 3 to 4 minutes per side, or until golden brown. Place on a paper towel.

Cut pitas in half and toast lightly. Spread inside with mayo and stuff with lettuce, tomato, and burger.

Bring the Restaurant Home

Recreating restaurant dishes is easy and less expensive.  Here’s a restaurant salad I modified by using substitutes for what was on hand.  According to the online menu, the original calls for Mixed Greens, Fresh Roasted Beets, Goat Cheese and Toasted Pistachios Tossed with a Hazelnut-Citrus Dressing. My version was made with arugula, beets, ricotta cheese, oranges, red onion, almonds, and a from-scratch oil/vinegar/seasoning dressing.  Cooking at home allows you to utilize portion control, use fresher and healthier ingredients, and you can use less or more of an ingredient if you choose.  Not to mention it’s faster, more relaxing, and you get to choose your background noise : )

Butternut Squash Soup

I hope everyone had an enjoyable Thanksgiving.  Here’s a recipe to help squeeze out those last few days of fall flavor.

Butternut Squash Soup

• 1 butternut squash
• 2 c. vegetable broth
• 1/2 – 1 c. pureed pumpkin
• 1 c. water, plus a little more
• 1 small onion
• 2 T butter
• 1/2 c. light cream, half and half, or whatever you have on hand that’s similar
• 1/2 t powdered ginger
• 1/2 t allspice
• 1/2 t curry powder
• black pepper to garnish
• sour cream to garnish

*If you want a thicker soup, lose 1 c. vegetable broth.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.  Cut butternut squash once vertically and place face down in baking pan with water just covering the bottom (about 1/2 an inch).  Bake for approximately 20 minutes.

Finely chop onion and sautee in butter until clear, about 5 minutes.

Remove squash from oven, reduce temperature to 400 degrees.

Let cool for about 5 minutes and with fork and knife slice squash and carefully remove skin.  Cut into chunks and return to pan to bake for 10 minutes more.

Remove from oven, let cool about 10 minutes and put chunks into food processor in batches with onion mixture until pureed, adding a little water as needed.

Put in large pot with vegetable broth, water, pumpkin, and spices and bring to low boil. Turn off and add cream. Serve with garnish.

One large can of pureed pumpkin (29 oz.) will get you pumpkin waffles, two batches of pumpkin muffins, and this soup.  So nothing goes to waste!

Vegan Pumpkin Muffins

My ultimate favorite pumpkin recipe, from theppk.  Sugar can probably be reduced to 1 cup, and if you don’t have the individual spices on hand you can sub for 2 1/4 t. pumpkin pie spice mix

• 1 3/4 c. flour
• 1 1/4 c. sugar
• 1 T baking powder
• 1/4 t salt
• 1 t cinnamon
• 1/2 t nutmeg
• 1/2 t ginger
• 1/4 t allspice
• 1/8 t ground cloves
• 1 c. pureed pumpkin (fresh or canned)
• 1 T soy yogurt
• 1/2 c. soymilk or almondmilk
• 1/2 c. vegetable or canola oil
• Optional:  cranberries, walnuts, 2 T molasses

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease muffin pans.

In separate bowls, combine wet ingredients and dry ingredients, then pour wet into dry.

Bake 15 minutes then reduce to 350 and bake for 5 minutes more.

Cool in pan for 5, then place on rack for additional cooling. Make 12 muffins.