One cookie, two cookie, / banana cookie, apple cookie.

Cookie Uno: de banano

Cookie Deux: aux pommes

In honor of my nephew and my childhood, and as a tribute to the Dr. we met before Dr. Who, Dr. No, Dr. Phil, Dr. Oz, and Dr. Ozzy, I offer this little ditty:

One cookie, two cookie,

banana cookie, apple cookie.

A bowl of cookie dough,
a crunchy cookie for a snack,
and cookies for munchies that go,
                                go,
                                          go.

You can buy cookies in packs,
You can buy a cookie in a bag,
but there's always something that a storebought cookie lacks.

Can you guess what could be the snag?
Is it the cookie sheet? Is it an ingredient?
Is it the cookie's crusty cracks in a crooked zig-zag?

Though store cookies are expedient,
you'll learn to love the ones made by hand:
one cookie tastes fresh, and the other tastes canned.

 

Cookie Uno (vegan & gluten-free) 

Makes about a dozen cookies.

Ingredients:

If only eating cookie dough and not baking, you simply need the following ingredients:
2 cups gluten-free oats, ground (in blender or food processor. If you have other gluten-free flours on hand, use those instead, using the necessary substitution ratio)
2 ripe bananas, mashed (I don't like them too ripe, but to each his/her own!)
3 Tablespoons of oil, melted (microwave about 30 seconds. Any other oil should do if you don't have coconut oil on hand.)
2 Tablespoons of coconut milk
1/4 teaspoon pink Himalayan salt
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon vanilla

2 handfuls of nuts/seeds (I used 1 handful of pecans + 1 of walnuts)
1 handful of chocolate chips

Oven-caged cookies! Free the G-free!

 

Optional: 3 Tablespoons of large flake coconut pieces  (I forgot to add them to this recipe, but I did add them to the applesauce version below!)

If baking cookies, make sure to add and mix the following in thoroughly:
1/2 teaspoon guar gum
1 Tablespoons arrowroot starch
1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
After using your blender to pulse the oats to a rough flour (and adding in the baking soda, arrowroot starch, and guar gum at this point if you intend on baking the cookies and not just going for the dough), pour your oat flour into a mixture of banana, coconut oil, coconut milk, salt, cinnamon, and vanilla. Stir well. Then gently stir in the seeds/nuts and chips. 

Now drop dough onto lightly greased cookie sheet by heaping teaspoonfuls. 

Once in oven, the cookies should be ready in 13-15 minutes. Check to see if very lightly brown on edges/tops, then take out and enjoy!

Cookie Deux (vegan & gluten-free) 

Makes about a dozen cookies.

Ingredients:

If only eating cookie dough and not baking:
2 cups gluten-free flour (or ground oats as in Cookie Uno. I used 1/2 cup of sorghum flour plus 1.5 cups of oats, ground in the Blendtek. If you have other gluten-free flours on hand, use those instead, following the necessary ratio for substitution.)
1 cup applesauce
3 Tablespoons of coconut oil, melted (microwave about 30 seconds)
2 Tablespoons of coconut milk
1/4 teaspoon pink Himalayan salt
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon (I added a bit more since I like apple+cinnamon to be stronger than banana+cinnamon)
1/8 teaspoon vanilla

2 handfuls of nuts/seeds (I used 1 handful of peanuts + 1 of cashews)
1 handful of chocolate chips

Optional: 3 Tablespoons of large flake coconut pieces (photos for Cookie Deux here have the coconut, whereas Cookie Uno does not)

If baking cookies, make sure to add and mix the following in thoroughly:
1/2 teaspoon guar gum
1 Tablespoons arrowroot starch
1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Directions: (almost identical to Cookie Uno)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
After using your blender (if you're grinding down oats to flour) to pulse the oats to a rough flour (and adding in the baking soda, arrowroot starch, and guar gum at this point if you intend on baking the cookies and not just going for the dough), pour your flour into a mixture of applesauce, oil, coconut milk, salt, cinnamon, and vanilla. Stir well. Then gently stir in the seeds/nuts and chips. 

Now drop dough onto lightly greased cookie sheet by heaping teaspoonfuls. 

Once in oven, the cookies should be ready in 13-15 minutes. Check to see if very lightly brown on edges/tops, then take out and enjoy!

Veggies of Darkness

Nightshade vegetables grow in the deep shadows of obstructed moonlight. I admit I haven't read Heart of Darkness. I used to love the one-hit wonder song by the Darkness. Now that my free association declarative sentences are out of the way, let's venture a question: what's so shady about nightshades?

Nightshades are chock full of alkaloids, which distinguish this food family (whose father is the Dark Lord of the Sith) from others on the block. This quirky kin clan includes: peppers, eggplant, tomato, potatoes, paprika, tobacco, and more (lotsa infos there).

Nightshades are my etymology QoftheDay. Taken from the OED (Online Etymology Dictionary):
"O.E. nihtscada, lit. "shade of night," perhaps in allusion to the poisonous berries. A common Germanic compound, cf. Du. nachtschade, Ger. Nachtschatten." 

Nightshadess I may be (since I am female who enjoys nightshade society), but alkaloids fail to settle well with many a tummy. Also, many a nerve and many a joint may be suffering. Generally speaking, nightshades don't upset too many an organ unless one takes a doozy of a dose. Rule of thumb (or paring knife, potato peeler, whatever): slyly slice the offending extra alkaloid-rich greeneries protruding from your potatoes and green tomatoes (find the best nightshade site I found here). 

Nighshadessness has overtaken me 2 nights this past week. Below you will find 2 adventures into the dark, seedy, and nutty underbelly of vegan cuisine. Will you dare to delve into the depths, swim toward the dancing light, and surface with 1 of these dishes, the pot's handle gripped in your jaws of hunger?

Nightshadelessness is not an option. Emerge from the deep sea (or woods, mountains, whatever) with a dinner. No one wants to see you arrive empty-mouthed.

Saffron Spinach with Macadamia Nuts (gf&vegan)

Ingredients:
1 package frozen spinach (16 oz. bag from Trader Joe's)
2 small onions, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 Tablespoon oil (I used grapeseed)
handful chopped pepper
handful roasted salted macadamia nuts
1 generous pinchful of saffron
1/4 teaspoon pink salt

First put the oil, garlic, and onions in a saucepan over medium heat. Let sizzle and stir them about until they start to brown. Then add frozen spinach. Keep stirring and cooking it together. Once spinach is no longer frozen, stir in pepper, macadamia nuts, saffron, and salt. Cook for about another five minutes to infuse the saffron into the dish, then serve!

Tomatoed Chickpeas with Sesame Seeds (gf&vegan)

Ingredients:

1 can of chopped organic tomatoes (15 oz.)

1 can of organic chickpeas (a.k.a. garbanzo beans, 15 oz. I'd say any bean would do if you don't have chickpeas on hand.)

the top ends of a leek, chopped (I saved the bottom half for another meal. Just make sure to wash the tops well since they can be a bit dirt-laden.)

3 small heads of bok choy, chopped

2 cloves garlic, chopped
handful chopped bell pepper

1/4 cup sesame seeds (I recommend very slightly toasting them beforehand since I found it difficult to get them toasty in with the leeks)

3 shakes of cayenne pepper (shy of 1/8 teaspoon)

1/4 teaspoon pink salt
1 Tablespoon oil (I used olive oil)

(Echo, echo of the directions above a bit. . .)

First put the oil, garlic, and leeks in a fry pan over medium heat. After 3 minutes add the bok choy and sesame seeds. Let sizzle and stir them about until the garlic starts to brown and the bok choy is wilting.

At the same time, have the can of tomatoes and the chickpeas in a saucepan. Let simmer (and keep stirring every minute or so) over medium heat while you vigilantly watch the oil-leek-bok choy-garlic-sesame sauté. Once the oil-leek-bok choy-garlic-sesame sauté is beginning to brown, add the sauté to the tomato-chickpea stew. At this point, stir in the cayenne pepper and salt Cook for about another five minutes, then serve!

In almost no time, you'll have a dark side dinner to mwahahaha over with the fam'!