Citrus Burst Vegan Cheesecake

I'm back. Did you miss me?  I missed me, my home and my kiddos (furry kids included) but I really enjoyed the last  two trips that I just returned from. And while on the first trip, I was inspired to create this recipe while in the airport waiting to fly home. Yes, inspiration comes from everywhere and that was the point of the very first trip I took so let me explain.

Last year I won a contest with the Duncan Hines, a Pinnacle Food company.  I created a quick and simple recipe but it was packed with flavor.  Even though Duncan Hines has lots of vegan foods, this particular recipe is not but it you'd like to check it out, it's called the "Holy Spumoni Cake" and it's on www.duncanhines.com.    With this big win, I won a trip back to New Jersey and was cooking with their Chef, Chef Joe who did some of his formal training in France. It was an amazing trip and it was absolutely life changing and a once in a lifetime thing. So I thought.  Then at the beginning of this year, Duncan Hines contacted me again and asked if I'd like to come to New Jersey once again, their treat, and they had some really exciting things planned along with 8 hours of pastry making, baking, science in foods, cooking and decorating classes.  Oh my gosh was I in heaven. Chef Joe taught us you can be inspired by anything and took look at trends, new flavors, vintage flavors...pretty much everything for inspiration too.  I most definitely know how something can inspire because our local grocery store had run out of spumoni ice cream and that was the reason the spumoni recipe above simply popped into my head. Now, I am an inspiration junkie. My new hobby is spending my days looking for something to inspire.

While in New Jersey, I was able to extend my trip for an additional week and my hubby flew in to meet me.  I decided that we should do a foodie tour from New Jersey to Maine and back.  The whole trip I was looking for the foods and flavors of the New England states, and tried to get familiar with their way of life.  It was completely amazing and because of this trip I am once again transformed. So enough about this and let's get baking...

 

Citrus Burst Vegan Cheesecake

 

Recipe~

( Broken down into sections)

 

Crust~

2 c. Pecans (but feel free to use your favorite nut meat. I envision a wonderful macadamia nut crust in the future too.)

1 tsp ginger powder

15 dates

 

Food process nuts and ginger powder until chopped, but not too fine. Add dates and process until mixture comes together and dates are processed.  Pour and press into a greased 8-9 inch spring form pan or two 6 inch greased spring form pans. Set aside.

 

 

 

Filling~

1 stick vegan butter

1/2 c. flour

Over medium heat on stove, melt butter and add flour while stirring constantly.  Turn up heat to high and stir while cooking for 4 minutes.  Set aside and cool.

 

 

2 1/2 c. soaked and drained cashews (soak overnight and drain)

12.3 oz soft tofu

Zest from 1 lime, 1 orange, 1 grapefruit and 1 lemon ( save these fruits for juice to make syrup)

2 Tbs lime juice

3/4 c. agave nectar ( I used the dark nectar)

1 tsp vanilla

1/4 c. cream from the top of a can of coconut milk ( tip* leave can in fridge, opened overnight for        a  nice thick cream)

 

In a food processor, process all ingredients above until cashews are nice a smooth. While processor is still processing, add flour/ butter mixture in and mix until incorporated.

 

 

 

 

 

 

1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp corn starch

 

Add baking powder and corn starch to food processor and mix until incorporated. Pour into prepared crusts.  Bake for 20 minutes at 400 degrees then turn down oven to 350 degrees  for 20-25 minutes until set up and light brown on top. Check center with tooth pic to make sure it's done.  Cool.

 

 

 

 

 

Drizzle~

Juice from all left over fruits

Granulated sugar

Cornstarch

 

To make Drizzle, squeeze juice from the remainder of the fruits and cook in a pot on med-high heat. Add 1 Tbs of sugar, stir and taste.  If it's not sweet enough for your taste, add 1 Tbs more and repeat until it's your level of sweet that you like. ( Be careful not to burn your tongue while tasting.)  In a small cup, add a little of the cooked mixture to 1 tsp of cornstarch and mix.  Add that back into the hot pot and stir until it gets thick. Depending on the size of your fruits and the amount of juice they produce, you may have to add another tsp of cornstarch to thicken it.  You want this to be a thick drizzle, not too wet and not too thick.  Let it cool slightly and drizzle your slices of cheesecake right before eating.
 

  Follow this blog to Stay Tuned in for other cheesecake recipes like~ Pumpkin Cheesecake Swirl, Peanut Butter, Berry and Oreo Cheesecakes too.

 

Enjoy and Happy Eating...

 

 

 

My Inspiration trip at Duncan Hines.  Forever inspired, forever grateful and forever a baking, cooking and eating fanatic....

(Can you find me? Hint~ Third in from the right, flip flops and capris)

 

Juicing For Health

Apple Barrel Orchard in Maine

Recently we had a dear friend/ business partner/ neighbor/ and an all around neat guy, decide to take the plunge and change his life path.  He is only 5'7", 42 yrs old, and was pushing 298 pounds.  For a young man, that kind of weight is extremely dangerous.  But after finally making a commitment to himself to change his future, he decided to juice.   I am an advocate for healthy eating and juicing so when I heard he had decided on sticking to this journey, I couldn't have been more pleased to hear about his success.  Instead of me telling you, I am going to post his blog here and I'm hoping if his story sounds a lot like yours, you may want to follow him.  And even though I feel like I eat well and juice well, there is always wonderful inspiration from reading  others stories that can make me want to do even better.  So here it is...read it, follow it and if you haven't already, make the change to being the best you can be.

http://mygreenjuicingjourney.blogspot.com/2013/09/the-beginning.html

 

Haymarket in Boston, Mass

 

Manga restaurant in New York near Central Park

 

Where ever you are, look to Farmer's markets, Food Share groups, restaurants that juice and possibly pick up a juicer yourself, and put some of the "Good Stuff" in. There is nothing better than a nice nourishing glass of fresh Juice.

 

 

Let me leave you with one last thing, my favorite juice concoction that I throw together. Ps.  I'm a nut for pineapple. I should have  been born in Hawaii where the pineapples are plentiful.  Feel free to leave it out because it can take over taste but I love it in all my juices.  Just a heads up.

 

Kim's Tropical Juice Breakfast or anytime drink

 

1/2 c pineapple

1/2 grapefruit

1/2 lime

1/2 of a nectarine

1/2 c watermelon

1/4 portion of a cucumber

1/2 apple

5 strawberries

handful of blueberries

dime size of fresh ginger

3 leaves of kale

a few spinach leaves (maybe 5 or 6)

2 cabbage leaves

1 carrot, sometimes two depending on size

 

When I juice, I always juice my veggies and carrots the very last.  The pulp of it I keep and stick in the freezer for later when I make vegan burger patties.  The fruit pulp goes into breads or my garden.  I'll have to do a blog post on recyclying veggie and fruit pulps soon.   Enjoy...I do.

  

 



Happy Reading, juicing and loving life....



*Disclaimer*-  Before any drastic lifestyle change or diet, always check with your doctor first. Not every ones journey is the same and your doctor may want to fully monitor your health.

Creamed Kale And Brussel Sprouts

Oh how I love fall.  And better yet, oh how I love fresh fall vegetables and farmer's markets.  Today I decided to head over to a local farmer's market with my son-in-law, daughter and my new grand baby girl. I was thrilled to hear they were going on an outing for fresh foods, especially since my son-in-law is quite the meat and potato kind of guy.  While I was there, I picked up some delicious vegetables, including fabulous looking brussel sprouts and kale.  I really wanted a dragon fruit but it was $10.00 for one fruit.  Yikes.  Maybe next time I'll make a purchase of dragon fruit but this time, not only did I have limited cash on hand, but I've never priced a dragon fruit so I can't be sure that's a great deal.  But if you ask me, Dragon fruit seems quite pricey!
With Fall almost here and the holiday's coming soon,  I can only imagine this dish below at my Thanksgiving Table or better yet, on my table once a week.

 

Creamed Kale and Brussel Sprouts

3 kale leaves (Stocks removed and chopped)
1- 1/2 cup brussel sprouts, cut in half
2 Tbs agave syrup
2/3 cup cream from the top of a can of coconut milk ( I open my can,  leave the lid up slightly and let it set up over night in the refrigerator. Even two days later and you'll have nice cream.)
4 Tbs vegan butter
1 tsp flour mixed with 2 Tbs left over water from boiling your kale and sprouts

In a large pan over high heat, boil kale and sprouts in water, making sure the water is just to the top of the veggies. Boil for about 20 minutes.

  Cool slightly.  Add just the drained veggies to a food processor with the agave, cream and butter, reserving 2 Tbs water for the flour mixture.  Pulse for about 3 minutes until the veggies are looking fine but still have a bit of texture.

 

  Put the mixture in another pan over high heat and boil.

 

 

 

 Add the flour mixture to the pan and stir until it starts to thicken, about 8 minutes, stirring constantly.

 Serve immediately.  This dish has a nice nutty texture and a beautiful slight crunch,  which is perfect for fall and winter.
Serves about 3-4 people as a side dish.

Pistachio Pudding

Lately I've been dreaming about what recipes to make for Fall. Obviously, I wanted something nutty, robust in flavor and sweet.  Desserts happen to be the easiest for me so I thought I'd start there. I went through my pantry for a little bit of inspiration and found a large bag of Pistachios. I decided I'd like to try my hand at a homemade pistachio pudding. Not only is this a great dish with a lot of flavor but this would be the perfect dessert for a St Patrick's Day Party or dinner too. But I'm so excited about this dish, I may make it as palate pudding, small bites, for after my Thanksgiving Day Dinner and right before dessert.  Two desserts...I like!

Pistachio Pudding
Ingredients:
1 can of coconut milk (preferable one with a lot of cream on the top)
2 cups pistachios
1 cup sugar
1/4 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp almond extract
2 tsp corn starch

To begin, I took the sugar and pistachios and blended them in a blender.  I added the rest of the ingredients and blended again until well mixed. I put the ingredients into a pan on the stove over low heat and stirred until it started to bubble.  (Be cautious, this will burn if you don't stir frequently.) I immediately poured it into small individual bowls to chill for at least four hours.

Ginger Yam Mash

Today we are having spectacular thunder and lightning storms.  All this afternoon we've had flash flood warnings in the high desert area.  It is something quite beautiful to watch as the skies light up and the earth regains its water. Fascinating.  However, with the summer storms comes power outages. As I sat and watched the beauty outside, I realized that I was starving!  So I quickly tried to think of what I could make with little to no time involved before the storm was right on top of us. Last week I had purchased two yams from the farmer's market and had envisioned a yummy casserole.  Well, at this point, oven cooking wasn't going to work so I decided to toss them into the microwave for 10 minutes and then I finished it off over the stove, which even in a power outage, still works.   I'm glad I decided to make this because it was soooooo gooooood!!!  And now, not only are my family's tummies full, but we're  back outside watching the sky, in under 20 minutes!

 

 

 

 

 

Ginger Yam Mash

 

2 large yams

1 can coconut milk (make sure it's the creamy type)

4 tbs vegan butter

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp ginger (fresh or powdered)

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup shredded coconut ( I toasted mine but the choice is yours)

1/2 cup chopped candied nuts (I used walnuts)

 

Poke holes in Yams. Microwave Yams for about 10 minutes until soft. Peel and put into a pan on stove top.  Over medium-high heat, cook all ingredients except for nuts and coconut, for about 5-6 minutes until hot and bubbly. Add coconut and stir.  Remove from heat and serve with chopped candied nuts sprinkled over the top.  *If you like it even sweeter, also sprinkle on a little cinnamon sugar on top.  Delish!



Chocolate covered caramel candies

Valentine's Day was upon us.  I was craving chocolate covered caramels like nobodies business.  A few months back, my friend had bought her and I a chocolate and caramel making class gift certificate.  We watched and learned the secrets to making delicious candies.  And then it hit me...
Could I make this vegan?  I wasn't sure but since the urge to eat caramel was taking over my mind and soul, I figured I had better get cracking at it and see.  To my delight, and the other sweet valentine's in my family, it did!

Chocolate covered caramels
2 cups sugar
2 cups canned coconut milk (the kind with a thick layer of cream on top)
1/4 cup corn syrup
2 cups vegan chocolate
sea salt or lavender sugar or both

Heat pan really hot over stove. Add 1/8 c sugar and as it starts to bubble and brown, stir.  Once melted, add another 1/8 cup sugar and repeat process until all sugar is liquefied.  Add corn syrup and stir again until bubbly.  You are looking for a nice caramel color.  Add coconut milk slowly and stir until all is incorporated.  Be careful of spitting, hot sugar.
After all cream has been added, cook and stir once in awhile until candy thermometer reaches 250 degrees or almost hard ball stage, then remove from heat.
Pour into a tin foil lined and greased 8x8 or 9x13 pan. Let cool.
In a double boiler, melt chocolate.  Cut caramels into squares and dip.   Put dipped caramels onto tin foil, sprinkle with a pinch of sea salt or lavender sugar and refrigerate.  When you are ready to serve, serve at room temperature.

Roasted Red Pepper Pasta

Tonight I was craving Red Peppers like crazy. I normally always give into my urges if I have time to create something.  Well I just happened to buy a jar of roasted red peppers a couple of days ago and voila, a recipe was born.  And I liked it.

 

 

Roasted Red Pepper Pasta

 

1 jar ( 10oz ) oil marinated red peppers with garlic (add a tsp garlic if it's not in the jar already)

1/3 cup roasted cashews

1/2 tsp nutritional yeast

1/8 tsp balsamic vinegar

1/4-1/2 tsp red pepper flakes (depending on if you like a little more heat or not, but 1/4 tsp is not hot)

pinch salt

1 box or bag of cooked noodles

 

In a food processor, process all ingredients, except pasta.  When the chunks of cashews are almost unnoticeable, it is ready.  Spoon over hot cooked pasta and Eat. Yummy! This fresh, vibrant and flavorful pasta is quite a change from your regular tomato based spaghetti.  Try this cold too for a nice summer salad adding in a few chunks of fresh diced red peppers and your favorite cold vegetables.