Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls

These may be the best thing I have ever made, gluten-free vegan or not. I could have easily eaten them all myself, which is why it was a good thing that I had eight other people to share them with, because Lord knows I do not need to eat a dozen cinnamon rolls and my self control had been relinquished by the mere scent of these in the oven.

Their texture is perfect. Even if you are able to tell that they are gluten-free, I have a hunch that you'll prefer their texture to any wheat treat you've had in the past. It almost melts in your mouth. The pumpkin isn't overpowering and adds a nice balance to the cinnamon and sweet frosting.

I wasn't the only one who was smitten with these before even breaking into the first bite!

Please head over to Manifest Vegan for the recipe and check out her other amazing concoctions. This woman has magical powers, seriously. You will never have gluten-envy again.

Mexican Mung Bean Wraps

Several months ago, I came across a package of sprouted mung beans at Whole Foods and on a whim decided to grab them, even though I've never had mung beans and my only knowledge of them was from an episode of The Office where Creed states that they smell like death. Yum, right?

Well those mung beans sat in their pretty little package for a few months. And then I moved them to a jar. And then they sat in that jar for another month or two. Clearly, I should avoid spontaneous purchases.

I was happy to have them though the other night when I was trying to come up with the next day's lunch. I'm not sure how long unsprouted mung beans take, but these cooked in about ten minutes, making them ideal for a quick meal. My inspiration was a fresca-Mexicana type burrito-wrap and it turned out exactly as I had envisioned.

Mexican Mung Bean Fresca Wraps
Makes two wraps

1/2 cup sprouted mung beans, uncooked (can use regular, though check the cooking instructions)
1 carrot, shredded
1 roma tomato, diced
1/4 small head of cabbage, diced
Cilantro, finely chopped
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder
Pinch of cayenne pepper
Lemon juice to taste
S&P

Sprouted grain tortillas or wraps of your choice
Veganaise
Avocado, smashed

1. Cook mung beans according to directions. The beans I used said to use a 1:3 ratio with water, then boil for 5 minutes, remove from heat and allow to sit for about 8 minutes. They also had a raw option of soaking the beans overnight in water. Once the beans are soft, drain and set aside.

2. Dice all of your vegetables and mix in a large bowl. Add the mung beans and seasonings. Blend well. Add lemon juice to your taste preference, I used about half a lemon's worth of juice. Adjust seasonings and refrigerate overnight.

3. In the morning, assemble your wrap. You could mix the avocado and Veganaise together and then spread across the tortillas. Then add your filling, along with any greens or sprouts that you might like to include.

I told you, it was a very easy and quick lunch, but very nutritious and delicious. Enjoy :)

Lazy Samoas

When you're a young girl, you're encouraged to join the Girl Scouts to learn how to be part of a team, to foster creativity and independence, and to encourage exploration of our world, but let's be honest, the only reason any young girl really wants to be a Girl Scout is so she can be an inside (wo)man for the whole cookie operation.

Maybe it's because they're only offered once a year, maybe it's their adorable sales people, or maybe there really is something magical in the batter; regardless of what it is (given the slightly scary ingredient list, I'm going to guess it's one of the first two), everyone loves a Girl Scout cookie. These coconut and chocolate delicacies were my personal favorite. I could eat a whole box in one sitting and probably still would, if they were made a little more closely to the ones I'm going to share with you now.

After switching from a vegetarian to a vegan diet well over a year ago, I thought that was the end of my Girl Scout cookie eatin' days. I wept, I mourned, I came to terms with their absence...but then I discovered the amazing book known as Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar and suddenly the skies were bluer and the hop was back in my step. I even made these for vegan friends, one of whom was nearly brought to tears after the realization that this childhood favorite had been revived in a more wholesome way.

Lazy Samoas

Again, this recipe comes from Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero, though I have adapted it to make it a gluten and refined sugar free.

2 cups grated unsweetened coconut

1/3 cup unrefined coconut oil

3/4 cup coconut palm sugar (though you can use either brown sugar or Sucanat--I've made it both ways)

1/3 cup nondairy milk

1 tablespoon ground flax seed

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 cup of gluten-free flour** (see note!)

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon xantham gum

2 tablespoons applesauce (or more as needed**)

1 cup chocolate chips

2 tablespoons unrefined coconut oil

1. Preheat oven to 350. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

2. Pour shredded coconut into a large skillet and toast over medium-low heat. Stir occasionally and toast to a light golden brown. Be mindful as to avoid burning, which can happen easily. Promptly remove from heat and set aside. Continue to stir for a few moments to avoid burning from residual heat.

3. In a large mixing bowl, combine the oil, sugar, milk, flax seed, and vanilla until well blended and smooth. Add flour, baking soda, salt, and xantham gum to form a thick batter. Fold in coconut.

4. Scoop about one tablespoon of dough two inches apart on the cookie sheets. I like to roll these into balls and flatten somewhat in my palms before placing on the sheets. Use your pinky finger or a toothpick to create a hole in the center. I tend to have a little trouble with cracking here as a result of the gluten-free flours but you can add a touch more milk or applesauce if it's really bad, otherwise, just kind of pinch together--they'll stay together once they've been baked. Bake for 8 minutes or until the edges of the cookies are golden brown.

5. Let the cookies cool for about five minutes on the baking sheet and then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely. Prepare a baking sheet or cutting board with parchment paper (I generally use the same piece they were baked on).

6. While the cookies continue to cool, melt the chocolate chips along with the two tablespoons of coconut oil in a double boiler. Allow the chocolate to cool slightly, then dip the bottoms of the cookies into the chocolate and place on the prepared cutting board. Repeat until all the cookies have been coated. Then, drizzle the remaining chocolate over the cookies with a fork. Chill for at least 30 minutes to firm the chocolate. I like to make these a day or so in advance and let the cookies spend one night in the freezer, which I find really helps the chocolate stay solid.

**For gluten-free flours, I really like to use 1/2 cup coconut flour, 1/4 cup tapicoa starch, 1/4 cup white rice; though I have used 1 cup coconut flour and 1 cup of Bob's Red Mill AP Gluten Free Blend to successful results as well. I imagine that 1/2 cup of oat flour + 1/2 coconut or white rice would also be a winning blend, but I haven't tested that yet. Depending on the combination of flours you use, you may need a little more applesauce or non-dairy milk to make the dough pliable. If you are not GF, use all purpose flour and omit the xantham gum and applesauce.

Wilted Green Avocado Warm Salad

It might be a little surprising but for being a vegan and a gluten-free one at that, I have little to no interest in salad. In fact, if you were to suggest a restaurant to me based on their salads, you would quickly see my eyes roll in reply. But occasionally, maybe in the instance of a full moon, I throw together whatever vegetables I have laying around and surprise myself with a creation that can only be described by that dreaded word: salad.

While struggling to finish off the surplus of produce I naively purchased last weekend, I discovered four very ripe avocados sitting at the bottom of my produce drawer. Knowing these poor fruits had a mere few days, if not hours, before slipping into the world of inedible, I decided they must be incorporated into my next several meals. Along with the broccoli and Power Greens that were also navigating this thin line, this very simple, yet amazingly delicious wilted green avocado salad was born.

Wilted Green + Avocado Warm Salad

Serves Two

If Earthbound Farms Power Greens are not available at your local grocer, feel free to sub baby spinach, kale, chards, or even arugula.

2 ripe and chilled avocados, diced

2 carrots, sliced

1.5 cups of broccoli, thinly chopped

2 cups of Power Greens or greens of your choice

a scant teaspoon of cumin

s + p

1. Sprinkle diced avocado with salt and pepper and set aside.

2. In a medium pan, heat 1/8 cup of water over high heat. Add the carrots and broccoli and let cook for about 8 minutes or until most of the water has evaporated and the vegetables are beginning to soften. You don't want them to be mushy though so keep an eye on them.

3. Once the water has mostly evaporated, turn the heat down to low and add the greens. Mix the vegetables for about one minute and remove from heat.

4. Add cumin and avocado, mix well.

5. Season with salt and pepper as desired and serve warm.

*I don't eat a great deal of protein but if you would like to add protein to this salad, feel free to throw in a hand full of cooked garbanzo beans, they would go wonderfully.

I told you, it's as simple as they come but the blend of flavors is amazing. This is the kind of salad I could eat everyday.

Bad Apples [&Pears]

I buy a lot of fruit. Sometimes I'll have more fruit than one girl can through on her own, so I'll come to discover that all of my apples and pears [and bananas and berries...] are looking a little sad. Okay, worse than a little sad. Pathetic. Like Mike Tyson-Evander Holyfield bad. [On a mostly unrelated side note, when I was a young'n, we had a farm cat that suddenly became quite aggressive and was a little reckless with his chompers. He was affectionately named Tyson after the one and only.]

Lucky for you, with all this decaying fruit, I was able to make something delicious and am willing to share the recipe with you. You can call this a cobbler, a crisp, a giant mess of oats, whatever you'd like. I've actually never made a cobbler or crisp and based this recipe off of something I used to make as a kid. My parents used to stock up on those frozen mini-chicken pot pies and while I didn't care for those, I did encourage my Dad and brother to eat them as much as possible because I wanted to get my hands on the mini-pie tins they came in. As soon as there was an empty one sitting around, it was on. I would crush graham crackers, mix them with butter, cinnamon and sugar and then slice up an apple, mix that with cinnamon and sugar and put it all in the microwave for a few minutes. That was my makeshift apple pie. This is my makeshift apple and pear crisp.

For future reference, all of my recipes are vegan and a good percentage of them are gluten-free, including this one. :)

Bad Apple&Pear Crisp

Crust:
1/2 cup Bob's Red Mill Gluten-Free All Purpose Mix (or any AP mix that you prefer, could use whole wheat if not gluten sensitive)
1/2 cup brown rice flour (again, could sub whole wheat flour)
1/4 cup sucanat
1/4 cup coconut palm sugar
4 tablespoons Earth Balance, melted
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon all spice
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon xanthan gum (omit if using wheat flours)

Filling:
2 apples, diced
2 pears, diced
generous pinch of cinnamon
2 tablespoons sucanat

Topping:
1/3 cup oats
2 tablespoons Bob's Red Mill GF AP Mix
2 tablespoons buckwheat groats
2 tablespoons brown rice syrup
1 tablespoon coconut oil

Preheat oven to 375. Grease a nine inch circle cake pan. Blend dry crust ingredients. Add butter and mix until well blended. Press firmly into cake pan, making sure to create an even crust.

Over medium heat, warm apples and pears with sugar and cinnamon until they begin to soften, five to eight minutes. Pour over crust.

Mix topping ingredients. This should have the texture of granola. Loosely scatter over the apple/pear mixture.

Bake, uncovered, for 35 minutes. Serve warm, but just as good cold. Will keep for a few days covered in the refrigerator.

**Note: I'm only beginning to remember to keep track of my measurements in the kitchen so I apologize if something is a little off in the measurements. I work so haphazardly, which is okay for just me, but is definitely a danger when sharing with others.

Also, feel free to substitute other sugars for the sucanat and coconut palm sugar; honey, maple syrup or agave for the brown rice syrup.**

Enjoy :)