Kale is a beautiful, beautiful green. The amount of nutrients and vitamins in a serving of kale is pretty unbelievable… and I can’t believe I haven’t used it yet, in any recipe. To give the kale-virgins an idea of the taste and texture, I’ve always thought it had the texture and toughness of seaweed, without the salty fishy taste. SO PART II: I wanted to make some vegan italian food with the ricotta I whipped up.   

1 batch of Vegan Ricotta

1 bunch of kale

1 box of large-shell pasta

1 1/2 c. pureed pumpkin 

2 tbs. balsamic vinegar 

1 tbs. honey 

Olive oil (for pan)

Salt and pepper to taste 

Boil a pot of water and cook shells til al-dente. Drain and set aside to cool. In the meantime, heat a large skillet with a little olive oil. Cook down the kale leaves until wilted. Add salt, pepper, honey and vinegar. Stir, and once well combined add kale and pumpkin to the ricotta. Stuff shells and place in a baking dish. Add a few dollops over finished tray, and bake for 10-15 minutes, until the tops get crispy. 

Notes for SUPER SHELLS: these were pretty darn good! Yes- it wasn’t exactly like ricotta cheese. BUT, I will say it wasn’t far off and I felt much better after eating it.. made a quick bechamel (vegan margarine, flour and soy milk!) to top off each dish! 

I’d like to start by saying: I do tend to have issues with ‘fake’ products. By this I mean soy based ‘meats’ that have a ton of additives, and of course fake cheese. Fake products that are so fake that they end up being bad for you? That’s where I draw the line. I mean, cheese is one of the most beautiful things on earth! And one of my favorite things in general. As a vegetarian, it’s easy to rely on said products and well… real cheese and that’s why I’ve started to give dairy the back seat recently. People (including myself) need to be less afraid of vegan food! This is a 2-part recipe (surprises to come!) so stick around… 

14 oz block of tofu 

2 tbs. tahini 

1 tbs. garlic paste

4 tbs. nutritional yeast

1 tsp. basil flakes

A couple grates of nutmeg 

Salt and pepper to taste 

Drain your tofu. Press it between a clean towel to get all the water out, then place it in a large bowl. With a wooden spoon, smash all ingredients together until well combined. 

PART II COMING LATER TODAY! 

‘Tis the season for a good cookie recipe… and although I absolutely can’t knock the sugar cookie, they get a little old this time of year. 

Before this recipe, I had never touched a persimmon. They look too exotic, too foreign sitting there by themselves in the produce section. It wasn’t until did a little research on in-season fruit did I discover little orange guy… 

1 large (or two small) persimmons, half chopped and half pureed. 

1/2 c. dried cranberries

3/4 c. white sugar

3/4 c. sugar in the raw (for rolling!)

1/4 c. shortening 

1/4 tsp. baking soda

1/4 c. shortening 

1/4 tsp. salt 

1/2 c. soy milk 

1/2 tsp. cardamom powder

1 tsp. cinnamon 

Pinch of nutmeg 

3/4 c. roasted almonds (optional) 

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, stir your persimmon chunks, cranberries, sugar and shortening until pasty. 

Add your almonds, persimmon puree and soy milk. Slowly stir in all dry ingredients until well combined. Scoop teaspoon full balls of dough into your sugar (dough will be very wet). Place on a lined baking sheet, and bake for 12-15 minutes until golden brown. 

Notes for perfect persimmon cookies: Cookie recipes like these are exciting; non-traditional yet delicious and festive. There are few recipes that can make one reevaluate the holiday season (at least, the baking side of things) and although I don’t think they’re the best cookies I’ve ever made, there’s always room for improvement. Again, the dough will be very soft but just avoid using your hands! The sugar gives the a nice crunch to the cake-like center. Get going!! Christmas: t-minus 9 days. ALSO: Yep, these are vegan. 

There are a few things better than waking up on a Sunday, going grocery shopping early in the morning, and realizing they have waffle irons on sale for less than $10. That said, I decided it was time to make a delicious stand-by recipe for whole wheat waffles. More importantly, I wanted a recipe that I could eat a ton of without feeling too terribly (the holidays.. ya know, they get to us all). 

2 eggs

1 1/4 c. milk (I used almond!)

1/2 c. greek yogurt

1/4 c. oil (canola or veggie)

1 tsp. vanilla 

1 c. whole wheat flour 

1/4 c. all-purpose flour

1/2 c. flax seed

1/2 c. wheat germ

4 tsp. baking powder

1 heaping tbs. sugar

Pinch of salt

In a large bowl, whisk all dry ingredients together. Slowly add in milk, oil, eggs and vanilla. Stir until combined, then heat up your waffle iron. Feel free to butter your iron, then cook all your waffles! 

Notes for wonderful waffles: This is a pretty basic, simple waffle recipe. I topped mine with the cranberry sauce I made around Thanksgiving! Feel free to substitute extracts (I thought almond, hazelnut or peppermint would be delicious) and add in toppings (i.e. chocolate chips, nuts, berries, etc.). I was thinking peppermint waffles with white candy-cane flavored chocolate pieces would be GOOD.  Next weekend, maybe?