Spent Grain Chocolate Chip Cookies

Last week I made spent brain burgers, but I also made some cookies with the left over grains. This recipe I found on the website Brew Organic. I think they tasted pretty good and will make them again next time I find myself with spent grains. 

Spent Grain Chocolate Chip Cookies

1/3 cup peanut butter
2 T. oil
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup whole wheat pastry or spelt flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 cup (or more) barley grains
1/2 cup chocolate chips

1. Mix the peanut butter, oil, sugar, egg and vanilla in a large bowl.
2. Combine the flour, baking soda, salt, barley grains in a bowl. 
3. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet until just incorporated.  Finally mix in the chocolate chips. If using wet grains, put enough flour so dough retains shape when plopped on pan.

4. Bake on oiled cookie sheet at 425F for 8 minutes.

Buttermilk Cinnamon Pancakes

Last week I found myself with some extra buttermilk I needed to use up so I decided to make my mom's buttermilk pancakes.  They are always good and you can modify them by adding your favorite fruit, chocolates etc.  I hope you enjoy them!

Buttermilk Cinnamon Pancakes

Ingredients

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 heaping tablespoon white sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 3 tablespoons milk
• 1 eggs
• 2 tablespoon butter, melted
• Optional: chocolate chips, blueberries, etc

Directions

1. In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In a separate bowl, beat together buttermilk, milk, eggs and melted butter. Do not combine them until you are ready to start cooking the pancakes.
2. Heat your griddle or frying pan over medium heat and spray with cooking oil.
   
   
   
   
3. Pour the wet mixture into the dry mixture, using a wooden spoon or fork to blend. Stir until it's just blended together, being careful not to over mix. Over mixing will cause them to come out tough and not as fluffy.  Lumps are okay!
   
4. Next scoop the batter with a large spoon or cup onto the griddle in whatever size or shape pancake you prefer.  Brown on both sides and serve hot.
   
   
   
   
   
   

Makes about 12 medium sized pancakes.

Kale Chips

I've always disliked kale and collard greens.  In my opinion, they don't even taste good slathered in butter.  However, Randin decided to buy a huge bunch of kale at the store the other day since it is "healthly."  So I was left to figure out what to do with it.  My friend Kristine told me she makes kale chips and that they were actually pretty good (but not as good as potato chips).  I figured I had nothing to loose.  And what do you know, they are good!  Good being a relative term, meaning they are good for healthy food.  But like Kristine warned me, they are no potato chip.  However, I'll definitely eat them all and probably make more again in the future since they are pretty good for you.  According to wikipedia, "kale is very high in beta carotene, vitamin K, vitamin C, lutein, zeaxanthin, and reasonably rich in calcium. Kale also contains sulforaphane, a chemical with potent anti-cancer properties."  So next time you are craving something salty, try these instead!  You could also try sprinkling Parmesan cheese, garlic salt or other flavors onto the chips before baking.

Ingredients

 5 Kale leaves

Sea Salt

Olive Oil

1.) Wash the kale and thoroughly dry it.

2.) Slide your hand down the kale and remove the leaf from the rib. Tear the kale into chip size pieces, about 2x2 inches or whatever size you prefer

3.) Take an olive oil mister and lightly spray kale with oil.  If you don't have a mister, lightly toss them in a bowl with some oil until all surfaces are lightly coated.

4.) Arrange kale on your baking sheet and sprinkle with salt.  Don't let any pieces over lap or you may end up with some edges that are not crispy.

5.) Bake at 280 degrees for about 20-25 minutes, flipping the kale over half way through.  

6.) Let cool and then store in a tupperware to prevent the kale from being crushed.

The finished chips look the same as they did before you baked them, but they are super crispy to the touch

Berry Cream Cheese French Toast Casserole

Berry Cream Cheese Maple French Toast Casserole... its a mouthful I know.  But a delicious one I think you'll be happy you made.  I made this for Christmas Eve Brunch and combined a few different ideas and recipes I found online.  I saw some basic french toast casserole recipes and I saw some with cream cheese and others with fruit in the mixture.  I couldn't decide which to make because they all sounded so amazing.  So I combined them all!  And I happened to think it was great.  There are only two changes I'll make next time.  One is to just cube all the bread so the top is more even across the whole dish and not just the front piece in each row and two is to put the cream cheese mixture on all the pieces because it was definitely better than the slices I left plain.

Berry Cream Cheese Maple French Toast Casserole

Ingredients

Cream Cheese topping
Light whipped cream cheese
Frozen mixed berries
Vanilla sugar (plain sugar will do too)
1 tablespoon lemon zest

Casserole
1 loaf challah or french bread (day old is preferable)
6 eggs
1 cup half and half
2 cups skim milk
1/2 cup maple syrup (plus more for serving)
1 tablespoon cinnamon

Topping
3 tablespoons vanilla sugar (regular sugar will also work)
1 teaspoon cinnamon

 

1. Put 1/2 cup frozen berries in your food processor and let them thaw.  Add vanilla sugar, a few tablespoons water (if needed) and lemon zest and pulse until they are a smooth jam like consistency.  Reserve a few tablespoons of the jam mixture and the add the cream cheese to the food processor and mix until combined.

 
2. Butter a 9x13 glass pan. 
3. Cut bread into slices or cubes and fill pan.
4. Drizzle cream cheese mixture over cubes and mix or spread the cream cheese mixture on the slices of bread.

 
5. Mix the eggs, milk, maple syrup and cinnamon together.
6. Spoon egg mixture over casserole until all bread is wet with mixture.  Cover and refrigerate overnight.
7. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Dizzle the reserved jam mixture over the casserole.  Lastly, combine the vanilla sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle over the top.  This will help it form a nice golden crust on top.
8. Bake for about 45 minutes or until it looks set and the top is brown.
9. Serve and enjoy!

(Photo is prior to baking. Once it came out it was eaten before I remembered to snap a pic!)

Roasted Articoke Salad

This is a super tasty recipe by Ina Garden. I made it for New Year's eve as part of a antipasto platter with salami, pitas, hummus, olives etc.  Its easy to make, but looks fancy on the platter.  I left out the capers and red onions, but if you like those look at Ina's original sauce.  You could also do your olives in the sauce if you wanted.

Roasted Artichoke Salad  

Ingredients

• 3 cans artichokes quartered or diced into quarters
• Good olive oil
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 shallot, minced
• 3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 5 tablespoons champagne vinegar, divided
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh basil leaves
• 2 roasted red peppers, sliced thin
• 2 pinches hot red pepper flakes

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

1.) Place the artichoke hearts in a bowl with 1/4 cup olive oil, 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper and toss until the artichoke hearts are coated. 

2.) Dump the artichoke hearts onto a sheet pan and spread out into 1 layer; roast in the oven for 20 minutes.
3.) Meanwhile, make the vinaigrette. Place the minced shallot, lemon juice, mustard, 1 tablespoon vinegar, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade. Process for 5 seconds.
4.) Add the basil leaves and process into a green puree. With the processor running, slowly pour 1/2 cup olive oil into the bowl through the feed tube until the ingredients are finely pureed. Set aside.

5.) Place the roasted artichoke hearts in a bowl and toss with enough vinaigrette to moisten. Add the red peppers, 4 tablespoons vinegar and red pepper flakes and toss gently. Sprinkle generously with salt and pepper and let stand for 30 minutes for the flavors to blend. Serve at room temperature.

Combine all three and serve!

Butternut Squash Quinoa Casserole

This recipe I found on the website Cooking Quinoa. It was delicious, pretty healthy and very filling.  I can't wait for you all to try it.

Butternut Squash Quinoa Casserole

Ingredients

• 4 cups peeled and diced butternut squash
• 6 cloves of minced garlic
• 3 shallots, minced
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 1 cup of quinoa, rinsed
• 1 ½ cups vegetable broth
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1 T fresh sage
• ½ tsp black pepper
• ¼ tsp cayenne pepper
• 2 eggs, beaten or Egg Replacer
• ½ cup milk (dairy, soy or almond)
• 1 cup Gruyere cheese, shredded
• ½ cup bread crumbs (regular or gluten free)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Roast diced squash for 15 minutes.
2. Heat olive oil over medium heat. Add shallots and sage and cook until shallots are tender. Add in garlic and cook for another 30 seconds. Add in quinoa and squash and stir for another minute.

3. Add in broth, black pepper, sea salt and cayenne pepper. Bring to a boil and then reduce the heat to medium low. Cover and cook for 15 minutes or until most of the liquid is absorbed.
4. Move the quinoa mixture to an oven safe pan. In a small bowl, combine milk and eggs and once the quinoa mixture is slightly cooled, pour the egg mixture over it and stir. Top with cheese and then bread crumbs.
5. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. If desired, broil for two minutes to brown the top.

Spent Grain Burgers

This recipe is for all of you out there who home-brew beer (or maybe happen to have your own brewery).  For those of you who don't, spent grain is the left over grain from the brewing process.  It is still high in protein and fiber so it seems a shame to just throw it all away.  Since Randin was brewing beer this weekend, I decided to "invent" a veggie burger from it.  I've had spent grain burgers before from breweries like Deschutes so I thought I would recreate one. I didn't really have a recipe to go off, so I just guessed and it worked great!  I highly recommend it if you ever find yourself with spent grain.  If not, I'm sure you could substitute quinoa, wild rice or brown rice.

Spent Grain Burgers

Ingredients

1 15 oz can black beans, mashed
1 cup spent grains
3 tablespoons BBQ sauce
1/4 c. finely diced red pepper
1/4 c. finely diced onion
1 finely diced jalapeno pepper
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1.5 cups bread crumbs

Preparation

1. First rinse and drain the black beans.  Place them in a large bowl and mash them to paste like consistency.
2. Lightly sauté the red pepper, jalapeno and onion in olive oil.
3. Add the sautéed vegetables to the bean mixture and stir.  Add the spent grains, salt and BBQ sauce and incorporate them into the mixture. 
4. Beat the two eggs and add them to the bean mixture.  Lastly, fold in the bread crumbs until it reaches a consistency that is just sticky enough to keep the mixture together, but doesn't feel too wet and sticky.

5. Lightly coat the burgers in flour.  This will help give them a nice crust when they cook.
6.  Spray or coat your fry pan or griddle in oil.  Place the burgers on the pan over medium heat and cook about 5 minutes on each side or until a nice golden crust forms.  Place a slice of cheese over when almost done so it can get nice and gooey and hold the whole burger together while you transfer it to your bun.
7. Serve the burger on the bun with all the fixings you prefer!  We used avocado, tomato, lettuce and BBQ sauce.

It makes about 8 medium burger patties or 6 large ones.  They also freeze well, so make extras !