Roasted red pepper hummus

I don't have a picture of this one, and I didn't make it this week—I think Christmas was the last time—but I've often had requests for the recipe, and I can't believe I haven't put it on here before.

Roasted red pepper hummus

Origin: Healthy Cooking
Yield: 3 cups
Prep Time: 30 minutes
113 calories, 5g fat (1g sat), 4g protein per 1/4 cup

Ingredients:
  ● 2 large sweet red peppers
  ● 30 oz. garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
  ● 1/3 cup lemon juice
  ● 3 tbsp tahini
  ● 1 tbsp olive oil
  ● 2 garlic cloves, peeled
  ● 1 1/4 tsp salt
  ● 1 tsp curry powder
  ● 1/2 tsp ground coriander 
  ● 1/2 tsp ground cumin
  ● 1/2 tsp pepper

Directions:
1. Broil red peppers 4 inches from the heat until skins blister, about 5 minutes, then use tongs to rotate peppers a quarter turn. Continue to broil and rotate until all sides are blistered and blackened. Immediately remove from heat and place in a bowl; cover and let stand for 15-20 minutes. Note—I do this in my gas oven. I have also done it over the flame of a burner, too, but that seemed to take longer. You really want the peppers blackened and falling apart before you are done.

2. Peel off and discard charred skin (this is easiest to do under cool water, sliding the skin off as you rinse).  Remove stems and seeds.  Place the peppers in food processor, then add beans, lemon juice, tahini, oil, garlic, and seasonings; cover and process until well blended.  Transfer to a serving bowl with pita and/or crackers. Garnish with olive oil and pine nuts if desired.

Pretty good granola!

Finally! We've been searching for one that we liked, and found this one via the How Does She site, although, as usual, it's been pretty alterred since.

Pretty Good Granola

Ingredients:
  ● 6 C Quick Cooking Oats
  ● 1/4 C Flour (I use whole wheat)
  ● 1/2 T  Cinnamon
  ● ~2-1/2 C Random dry ingredients (nuts, coconut, dried fruit, etc.)
  ● 1/2 C Vegetable Oil
  ● 1/2 C Honey

Directions:
Mix together all the dry ingredients (I used coconut, almonds, pecans, raisins, and cranberries). Combine oil and honey in a small pot and warm until honey is melted. Pour oil and honey mixture over dry ingredients and mix well. Spread mix over 2 lipped baking sheets (the baking elite call these jelly roll pans, I think) and bake for 20 minutes or until brown on top. Remove from oven and allow to cool in pans before breakng up into pieces and removing to a storage container.

Cranberry oat scones

Somewhere in our genealogy there is a little British. This is evident in how much we have come to enjoy our afternoon tea, Calvin and I. Tea and scones. It's a jolly good time.

Cranberry Oat Scones Recipe

Yield: Makes 8 scones
Ingredients:
  ● 1 3/4 cups flour
  ● 1/3 cup sugar
  ● 1/4 tsp. salt
  ● 3/4 tsp. baking soda
  ● 1 tsp. baking powder
  ● 1/2 cup unsalted butter, cold and cut into small pieces
  ● 3/4 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
  ● 2/3 cup dried cranberries
  ● Zest of an orange
  ● 2/3 cup buttermilk
Egg Wash:
  ● 1 large egg
  ● 1 tbsp. milk

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) and place rack in center of oven. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

In a large mixing bowl place the flour, sugar, salt, baking soda, baking powder and whisk to combine. Cut in the butter until it resembles coarse crumbs. Add rolled oats, dried cranberries and zest. Mix until combined. Stir in the buttermilk and mix just until dough comes together.

Transfer dough to a lightly floured surface and knead a few times, then pat into a circle about about 1-1/2 inches thick. Cut dough circle into 8 triangular sections (like a pizza). Place scones on parchment papered baking sheet and brush tops with egg mixture.

Bake for about 15 - 18 minutes or until lightly browned and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Remove from oven and cool on racks.

Enjoy! I highly recommend the tea.

Kale chips

It's winter vegetable time! Kale is a great winter vegetable, and it's really great for you. Most of my kale recipes end either in soup or in wilted greenery, but a quick internet search yielded the following recipe for baked kale chips. We made this on Friday night (for once I followed the directions exactly, except that I eyeballed the measurements) and it was an immediate hit. Crunchy and delicious, we gobbled them all up as a snack before dinner. This is definitely something we will be doing again.

Baked kale chips

Origin: All Recipes
Yield: 6 servings
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cooking Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:
  ● 1 bunch kale
  ● 1 tbsp. olive oil
  ● 1 tsp. seasoned salt

Directions:
 1. Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line a non insulated cookie sheet with parchment paper.
 2. Cut kale leaves away from the thick stems and tear into bite size pieces. Wash and thoroughly dry kale (this is why I actually love my salad spinner). Drizzle kale with olive oil and sprinkle with seasoning salt.
 3. Bake until the edges brown but are not burnt, 10 to 15 minutes. Serve warm or room temperature.

 Nutritional Information:  Calories: 58, Total Fat: 2.8g

Crunchy granola

We've made this a couple of times in a couple of different ways. The first time I followed the recipe as is, and it turned out just fine. The second time I made it using extra cinnamon pureed dates as a sweetener instead of honey. We all liked the second version better, plus it's lower on the glycemic index, so that makes it better for you.

Crunchy granola

Origin: New York Times
Yield: 8 cups
Prep/cook time: 40 minutes

Ingredients:
  ● 6 cups rolled oats (not quick-cooking or instant)
  ● 2 cups mixed nuts and seeds: I used sunflower seeds, chopped pecans and almonds, and ground flaxseed and wheat germ.
  ● 1 cup dried unsweetened shredded coconut
  ● 2 tsp. ground cinnamon, or to taste
  ● Dash of salt
  ● 1/2 to 1 cup honey or similar sweetener (I used pureed dates), or to taste
  ● 1 cup raisins or dried fruit

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a bowl, combine oats, nuts and seeds, coconut, cinnamon, salt and sweetener. Place on a sheet pan and put in oven. Bake for 30 minutes or a little longer, stirring occasionally. Mixture should brown evenly; the browner it gets without burning, the crunchier the granola will be.

2. Remove pan from oven and add raisins or dried fruit. Cool on a rack, stirring once in a while until granola reaches room temperature. Transfer to a sealed container and store in refrigerator; it will keep indefinitely.

To make the pureed dates I took a handful of dates, removed the seeds, and put them in the food processor along with about a half cup water to start, adding more as needed to achieve a honey-like consistency (if you have it, a blender would work better).

Another note—Into this base of rolled oats you can stir just about any dry ingredient imaginable: other grains, like flakes of rye or wheat; dried fruit; spices, from cinnamon to vanilla to nutmeg to cardamom; orange zest, crystallized ginger, peanut butter, even chocolate chips. And of course, any nut or seed you can think of: I favor a combination of cashews, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds and pecans.