TRIPLE CHOCOLATE COOKIES

Sara Forte · February 8, 2014

Tripple Chocolate Cookies . Sprouted Kitchen

I left a stick of butter out at room temperature knowing cookies were in our future. I usually go for oatmeal chocolate chip. Sometimes I add peanut butter or dried cherries to change it up. They usually end up baked to order in the toaster oven and a la mode in this house, so even if they turn out less than perfect, it is nothing a scoop of ice cream can't make right. I try to bake without wheat when I can and believe cookies are the most forgiving baked good when you're making an educated guess with gluten free flours. Wheat or no wheat aside, I find a mix of almond meal, flax, and rice flour make a beautifully tender crumb. I had been craving brownies but didn't want an entire tray full around, so I attempted a super chocolatey cookie. Experimenting doesn't always work out for me, specifically with baking, but these were spot on first try. As luck would have it, when I wasn't writing things down. I did my best to mimic what I did that first round, and while these aren't exact, it's the closest I can get. The following are not doughy cookies, they are thinner with a bit of chewiness. I suspect they'd make great ice cream sandwiches had they lasted long enough to try. A number of recipe-starved Instagram followers asked for the recipe so I am publishing it here as it seemed there was a need. It's nearly Valentines and while Hugh and I typically make understated plans with an exchange of cards, there will be treats. Because you really must always have treats.

A handful of talented and thoughtful bloggers donated posts on Monday to feed impoverished school children in South Africa via The Lunchbox Fund. I'd venture to assume most of us have not had to go through the day with an empty belly and taking action here is a small step we can take to give that privilege to children in need. You may donate whatever you are able to give should this cause tug on your heart strings. I hope that one day we can fix the system, with less going to waste and more people recieving adequate food. It is easy to donate if you wish.

Chocolate Chips & Cocoa . Sprouted Kitchen

Tripple Chocolate Cookie Dough . Sprouted Kitchen

Cookies and hugs and kisses to you, lovelies.

TRIPLE CHOCOLATE COOKIES // Makes 15 cookies

While I typically use the natural/non alkalized cocoa powder, I had some high quality Valhrona powder I have been hoarding and used for these. If you use natural, you'll need baking soda, not powder, though I'm humbly not positive if it would be an exact volume swap. If anyone is a baking scientist or gives it a try, let me know. However, this cocoa is insane...and I love these nibs while I'm name dropping.

I used a few drops of mint extract and melted a bar of minted dark chocolate for the drizzle topping because I love mint and chocolate together. If you want to skip the mint, a teaspoon of instant coffee in the dough will intensify the chocolate flavor.

1 stick / 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1/3 cup natural cane sugar
1/2 cup packed muscavado sugar
1/4 tsp. sea salt
1 egg, room temperature
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. peppermint extract (optional - see head note)
2/3 cup brown rice flour
3/4 cup almond meal
2 Tbsp. flax meal
3 Tbsp. dutch cocoa powder (see head note)
3/4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 cup semi sweet or dark chocolate chips

3 ounce dark chocolate bar, melted down
1/3 cup cocoa nibs

Preheat the oven to 350.

In a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, cream the butter, cane sugar, muscavado and sea salt until smooth and fluffy. Add the egg, vanilla and peppermint extract, if using, and mix. Add the brown rice flour, almond meal, flax meal, cocoa and baking powder and mix until just combined. Lastly, add the chocolate chips and chill the dough in the fridge for at least 30 minutes or up to 8 hours in advance.

On a parchment lined baking sheet, arrange the cookies with 2'' between for spreading. Bake the cookies on the middle rack for 10 minutes until the edges are dry but the centers are still barely wet. They will set as they cool. Remove to cool completely.

Melt the chocolate in a double boiler. Drizzle the cookies with the chocolate and sprinkle the cocoa nibs on top to stick as the chocolate cools.

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Entrée

ASIAN NUGGETS WITH SAUTEED VEGGIES + TAHINI SAUCE

Sara Forte · January 13, 2014

Asian Nuggets with Sauteed Greens & Tahini Sauce . Sprouted Kitchen

“It's funny: I always imagined when I was a kid that adults had some kind of inner toolbox full of shiny tools: the saw of discernment, the hammer of wisdom, the sandpaper of patience. But then when I grew up I found that life handed you these rusty bent old tools - friendships, prayer, conscience, honesty - and said 'do the best you can with these, they will have to do'. And mostly, against all odds, they do.”

―Anne Lamott

I feel very adult this week. We bought a crib and we made an offer on another house and our health care got more complicated and expensive and I'm trying to read books about birth without my chest tightening so much I feel faint and that quote makes me feel better about the normality of all this. There is a beautiful mess in the figuring out of things. I'm scared. About everything, and mostly without reason, but when I do get stressed, I can typically trace it back to fear. Fear of failing, of loosing or of being in pain. My dad met with me a few nights back so I could show him my numbers for our potential house purchase and he could confirm it was a good idea... at least on paper. I think I just wanted his blessing for the biggest purchase of our lives, even if this whole thing doesn't go through. I get a lot of my worry tendencies from my dad, and it felt nice to have someone of like mind, 30 years ahead in this game, tell me it was going to be OK. Maybe we'll have super tight months or there will be a huge leak in the floor or our new neighbor will be creepy or maybe this will be the house we slowly make ours and grow old in, but no matter how the story goes, it will all be OK. How come that is so easy to overlook? Today, I will believe it.

A sweet mom-to-be asked me for a few suggestions on freezer meals she could prepare in advance while waiting for her wee one to arrive. I realized that while clicking through our site, I don't have many options. A good handful of breakfast baked goods that could freeze well, but a limited amount of stone cold meals as I look back. I had a pretty good response to the lentil meatballs from years ago which also made it into the last cookbook, so I figured I'd try something similar to that. In the same way I make my veggie patties, I start with nearly a 1:1 ratio of cooked grains and legumes (in this case, brown rice and lentils) and then I build from there. Always garlic. Usually onion, either raw or cooked. I use egg to help bind here, but I'll often use cheese for binding power as well. I blitz in a ton of herbs, a cooked vegetable and bold spices and flavor to doctor them up. For this Asian nugget, I went with soy sauce, sesame seeds and chili sauce. Miso would be great in there too but I wanted to save that for the sauce. All veggie balls need a good sauce. A veggie ball is really only good with a sauce, if you ask me, but I think you could put them along with anything that sounds good to you.

ASIAN NUGGETS WITH SAUTEED VEGGIES + TAHINI SAUCE // Serves 4-6

The Asian nuggets can be completely cooled and frozen in plastic bags until needed. I got about 26 nuggets. This just leaves you with needing to prepare veggies and sauce which could be whipped up in 15 minutes.

As for substitutes, I think you may be able to replace the egg with flax meal and a little water but they may come out a little drier. To keep them gluten free, replace the panko with a coarse oat flour but note they will be more delicate to work with. If going the GF route, I would try to keep the egg in, if possible, to keep everything together.

3 cloves garlic
1/2 a yellow onion, roughly chopped
2 eggs
2 tablespoons soy sauce or tamari
2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil
2 tablespoons sambal oelek (chili paste)
2 cups cooked and completely cooled brown rice
1 1/2 cup cooked and cooled lentils (a few varieties will do though I'd avoid red and green, they get too soft)
1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs
1 bunch of cilantro
pinch of salt
sesame seeds, for garnish

/ veggies /
1 tablespoon sesame oil, as needed
3 green onions, roughly chopped
5 ounces shitake mushrooms, halved or quartered if large
1 head broccoli
splash of rice wine vinegar
pinch of sea salt

/ tahini sauce /
1 minced clove garlic
1/2 cup tahini
2 teaspoons white or yellow miso
2 tablespoons orange juice
squeeze of fresh lemon juice or splash of rice wine vinegar
1 tablespoon maple syrup or honey
1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
fresh ground pepper

Preheat the oven to 375'. Line a baking sheet with parchment.

In a food processor, combine the garlic, onion, eggs, sesame oil, tamari or soy sauce and chili paste and pulse a few times until the onion and garlic are well chopped. Add the rice, lentils, panko, cilantro, pinch of salt and pulse a few more times until just combined. You want to still distinguish nubs of rice, but it should look pasty enough that you could roll it in a ball. Let the mix sit for ten minutes.

Roll the dough into 2'' balls and line them up on the baking sheet. Brush them with a thin coat of oil and sprinkle them with sesame seeds. Bake on the middle rack for 15-18 minutes until browned and dry on the outsides.

For the veggies, in a large skillet, heat the sesame oil. Add the green onions, mushrooms and a pinch salt and saute for 4-5 minutes until just softened. Roughly chop the broccoli and add it to the pan along with a splash of rice vinegar and saute another 5-10 minutes until softened to your taste.

For the sauce, whisk all ingredients together until smooth and set aside. The sauce can be made up to three days in advance and kept covered in the fridge.

Assemble your meal with a scoop of veggie, some asian nuggets and a generous drizzle of tahini sauce.

* All photos in this post were shot with film

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Side, Salad, Gluten Free

OLIVEY CAESAR DRESSING

Sara Forte · January 8, 2014

I work part-time at a grocery store, so I am aware of consumer buying trends based on season and weather. We sell twice as much soup when it's raining out, more pre-packaged food is sold during the week for the work crowd as opposed to weekends, we'll sell out of sea salt caramels first, without question, out of all the holiday treats, and as soon as January 1st hits, the "lettuce wall," as we call it, needs to be completely replenished every hour for the resolution setters. But don't worry, that only lasts through January and then we can bring the chip and cookie numbers back up. We are a predictable people group, I'll say. Next year when I am working off the pregnancy nachos I may be more motivated to construct a program to post here. I contributed the recipes to this article in Oprah magazine this month if you're looking for ideas until then.

How to react to the lettuce binging? Well, it sounds like there may be a need for a flavor-packed dressing. Cooking has been simplified around here lately. If I am in the mood, I try to take full advantage and make a few things in advance while I am making the mess. Yesterday I made two dressings, washed and chopped all my salad greens, a batch of Ashley's cookie dough with almond, flax and oat flour (which while more crumbly, still taste amazing), a big batch of brown rice and lentils to add in salads, warm up under a couple poached eggs or blend up for a veggie burger base if it doesn't get consumed in a few days. Like I said, if we're cooking, we are cooooooking. I was pretty happy with this new dressing I tried from one of the cookbooks I got for Christmas and wanted to pass it on. Having a few dressings on hand is the easiest answer for me to keep out of a salad rut. I'll also use the thicker ones for sandwich or wrap spreads or drop a dollop on a hard boiled egg for a snack. Anyway, hope the new year has left you feeling hopeful and excited for new experiences. And hungry for lots of salad of course.

OLIVEY CAESAR DRESSING // Makes 1 1/4 cups

Recipe adapted from The True Food Kitchen Cookbook

They do make vegetarian worchestershire sauce without the anchovy that can be found at health food stores or online. The printed recipe adds salt, but I felt there was enough salt in the other ingredients to contribute plenty of salinity for my taste. Adjust to your preference.

3 garlic cloves
1 Tbsp. worchestershire sauce
1/4 cup pitted kalamata olives
2 Tbsp. dijon mustard
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
3 Tbsp. red wine vinegar
juice of one lemon
1/3 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 tsp. fresh ground pepper
3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

In a blender of food processor, combine the garlic, Worcestershire, olives, Dijon, parmesan, vinegar and lemon and blend into a smooth paste. Add the parsley, pepper and olive oil and pulse a few more times to combine.

Dressing will keep covered in the fridge for up to two weeks.

salad // purple kale, savoy cabbage, shaved yellow beets, lentils, this dressing and a dusting of grated parmesan

pita // I stuff the above salad into a pita with a little extra dressing

other ideas // on baked tofu spears, classic romaine salad with fresh baked croutons, pasta salad with artichoke hearts, arugula and sun dried tomatoes, a dressing for the lentil meatballs

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