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A few weeks ago, I had a cup of delicious rice pudding at Sarabeth’s restaurant. It was just sweet enough and very creamy. Since then, I’ve had rice pudding on my mind. Traditionally, rice pudding is made with white rice, milk, and lots of sugar. I set about to create a healthier version with brown rice and natural sweetners. It takes a while to bake — 1 hour — but only takes about 5 minutes to make. Perfect or a dinner party, as it can cook while you eat! (and it’s good — oh, is it good!)
BAKED COCONUT BROWN RICE PUDDING
2 c cooked short grain brown rice
1 can coconut milk
1/2 c maple syrup
1/4 c raw sugar (you can reduce or omit if you prefer things on a less sweet side)
zest of 1 lemom
juice of 1/2 lemon
3/4 tsp cardamon powder
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground cloves
Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees. Mix all of the ingredients into a large bowl; transfer to a casserole dish. Cover and bake for an hour; stir halfway through. Remove from oven and let sit for 15 minutes. Enjoy!
A few ideas from throughout the blogosphere for healthy Valentine’s Day treats you can make your loved one:
My contribution to dessert for my New Year’s Eve dinner was chocolate pecan pie tartlets with a whole wheat crust. Generally, pecan pies are made with high fructose corn syrup, which I choose not to eat, so I decided to make bite-sized pies to get around that problem.
I used a basic recipe for pecan tassies, which is Southern for “pecan tartlets”. I substituted a few ingredients, below, to make it a bit more healthy: I swapped neufchatel cheese (lighter and naturally lower in fat) instead of cream cheese, whole wheat flour for white flour, and less sugar than the original recipe called for . I was pleased with the result! They were chocolatey and chewy in the middle and very satisfying.
Whole Wheat Chocolate Pecan Tartlets
PASTRY
8 oz neufchatel cheese, softened
4 oz butter, softened
1/8 c Sugar in the Raw
2 c whole wheat pastry flour
Beat neufchatel and butter until fluffy. Gradually add in sugar and flour until well combined (you may need to use your hands for this). Divide into four sections, roll each into a 6-inch log, and wrap in plastic. Refrigerate 2.5-3 hours.
FILLING
2 large eggs
2 tbsp butter, softened
1 c packed brown sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 c pecans, finely chopped
2-3 chocolate chips per tartlet
In a large bowl, beat eggs, butter, vanilla, and brown sugar. Stir in pecans.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Remove one log of pastry from refrigerator (keep the others there until you need to use them). Cut each log into 12 sections. With your palm, form each section into a ball and then flatten. In a miniature muffin tin (1 3/4 inches across the top) pan, fill all of the individual tins with the flattened dough. The dough should stick up out of the top of the pan. Place 2-3 chocolate chips on the bottom of each cup. Fill each with filling to 1/4 in from top.
Here’s the thing: I’m not sure about the baking time. The original recipe called for 26 minutes… I pulled mine out after about 12 because they were burning. I would put them in for 10 minutes, and then start to watch them. Pull them out when the crust starts to brown nicely. Let sit in pan for 10 minutes, then loosen with a knife and remove to a cooling rack.
Though these are a decadent dessert, they’re small… yet also filling, so there’s less of a chance you’ll eat 10 of them!
To christen my new Cuisinart, which was given to me for my birthday, I decided to try a recipe from the Angelica Kitchen cookbook. The restaurant is one of my favorite in the city and I especially love their desserts, which are always light, sweetened with care, and full of flavor. Since the holidays are coming up, I chose to make a version of their gingersnap cookies. The results is amazing: not the loveliest cookies I’ve ever made, but have a very complex, well-balanced flavor. They’re spicy and slightly sweet (made with maple syrup and molasses–both natural sweeteners) — a perfect accompaniment for a mug of chai tea or served with vanilla ice cream. The addition of ground nuts adds some protein and good fat, so they are more satisfying and filling.
Gingernutsnap Cookie
adapted from Angelica Home Kitchen
1 c rolled oats
1/2 c sliced almonds
1/2 c raw cashews (not salted), chopped coarsely
1 c whole wheat pastry flour
2 tsp powdered ginger
1 tsp cinnamon
3/4 tsp salt
1/4 + 1 tsp maple syrup
1/4 c molasses
1 tsp vanilla
1/3 c + 1 tsp olive oil
Preheat oven to 325. On a flat sheet, toast oats and nuts for 10 minutes. Add nuts, oats, ginger, salt, and cinnamon into food processor and grind to a fine meal. Stir mixture into whole wheat flour. In a separate bowl, whisk maple syrup, molasses, and oil together. Stir into dry ingredients. Dough will be coarse (see picture below). Roll 1-in balls in your hand. Press onto cookie sheet, flattening. Bake 16 minutes, remove from sheet and cool completely.
For those of you who have to bake for Thanksgiving, this recipe is for you. It’s an adaptation of Heidi Swanson’s Spice-kissed Pumpkin Pie, which also includes a hazelnut paste beneath the pumpkin layer. (I plan on making it with the paste soon).
This is SO easy to make. It took me about five minutes, I popped in in the oven, and it was ready to go 50 minutes later. I absolutely love the addition of the coconut milk instead of heavy cream. It makes the pie super creamy, but not heavy.
Pumpkin Pie
1 whole wheat crust
1/3 c brown sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp arrowroot (or corn starch)
1 tbsp high quality cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp ground ginger
1 1/2 c pumpin puree (I generally use organic canned pumpkin)
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 large eggs
1 c coconut milk
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Stir together brown sugar, salt, spices, and cornstarch. Stir in pumpkin puree and vanilla, then add coconut milk and eggs. Stir well. Place pie crust in a pie dish, poking the bottom a few times and a fork. Fill the crust with the filling and bake 50 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool to at least room temperature. Enjoy!
I’m currently obsessed with Barbara Kingsolver’s Animal, Vegetable, Miracle. I got it a while ago and have been slowly plodding through. There are some great recipes included, written by Barbara’s daughter, Camille. (You can find them online here).
I decided to make her Zucchini Chocolate Chip Cookies this weekend. I’m not a big proponent of hiding vegetables in food a la Jessica Seinfeld, especially if it’s designed to trick kids to eat more vegetables. It seems to me that this method only reinforces that vegetables are icky… because otherwise why would they have to be hidden?
BUT I decided that zucchini would enhance the cookies–much like they do in zucchini bread. And I was right. The cookies are great–a nice moist texture, flavorful, and chocolate-y.
Zucchini Chocolate Chip Cookies
Camille Kingsolver
makes approx. 2 dozen
1 egg, beaten
1/2 c butter
1/2 c brown sugar
1/3 c honey [I substituted agave nectar]
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1 c white flour
1 c whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg [I didn't have any, so put in extra cinnamon
1 c finely shredded zucchini
12 oz chocolate chips
Combine flour, baking soda, spices, and salt in a bowl. In another bowl, combine the egg, butter, sugar, honey, and vanilla. Combine the dry ingredients with the mixture. Stir in zucchini and chocolate chips. Drop by spoonful onto a greased baking sheet, and flatten with the back of a spoon. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes. [I baked them 10 minutes].
