It's a few months late but this one's for Vero.
Vegan Brownies
2 cups white flour (or 1 cup rice flour & 1 cup whole wheat flour)
1/2 cup cocoa powder (or carob powder)
1-1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup brown sugar (or maple syrup)
1/4 cup applesauce (or vegetable oil)
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla
1-1/4 cup water
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
2. Mix all the dry ingredients in a large bowl.
3. Mix all the wet ingredients in another bowl.
4. Add wet to dry and mix well.
5. Pour into a 8" or 9" greased pan and bake 35 minutes. (It's done when a toothpick inserted into the middle comes clean when removed.)
6. Spread frosting (see below) over brownies and let cool.
Peanut Butter Frosting
1/3 cup carob or chocolate chips (or 1/3 cup of cocoa powder mixed with warm water and 2 tbsp of brown sugar to make a chocolate paste)
2 tbsp peanut butter
1/4 cup water
2 tsp cornstarch mixed with a bit of water
1 tbsp sugar
1. Add all of the ingredients besides the cornstarch paste into a microwavable bowl. Microwave until all ingredients have melted and stir to get rid of any lumps.
2. Add cornstarch paste to chocolate mix and stir throughly until frosting thickens.
Note: If you're lazy, you could also simply just spread Nutella over the brownies.
Adapted from: Lickin' the Beaters by Siue Moffat
(BTW, I recommend anyone interested in making healthy desserts to go out and buy this book... It's awesome and has very cute illustrations. I got a cute button when I bought my copy.)
This one's for Ed and Joe. (I won't be making this for obvious reasons.)
Vietnamese Beef and Noodle Soup
Serves 4
Noodle Base:
1. Dip 1 lb fresh flat vermicelli rice noodles into boiling water for 45 seconds to heat through (do not overcook). If you don't have fresh noodles, use about 10-12 oz of dried noodles and cook as indicated on the package. Drain and divide into 4 large bowls.
2. Top with finely sliced pieces of raw sirloin or bottom round steak (or other variants of beef or meat including chicken, pork, or seafood).
3. Finely slice 4 scallions (green onions) and 4 small red onions. Chop 1/4 cup of fresh cilantro. Add the previous and 2 cups of bean sprouts among the bowls.
4. Ladle boiling beef broth (see below) into the bowls and serve with lime wedge, Asian basil or fresh mint, hoisin sauce, and/or chili sauce.
5. Enjoy (but, for goodness' sake, remember to make sure any raw meat is cooked throughly before consuming).
The Broth:
The fresh way would be to bring about 8 cups of water to boil, add in beef bones with enough ginger, salt and garlic to suit tastes. Simmer for about 20 minutes or more (until all flavour is extracted).
Discard bones. Add star anise, cassia, fish sauce, and roasted onions (to taste). Also, add a large chunk of beef brisket to the broth and cook until tender.
The lazy way would be to use any store bought beef broth and add in the above flavourings.
Another reason why I'm glad I'm becoming a health freak...
From 120seconds, a few videos on pre-packaged food and sugar.
From the Vegetarian Festival: Mushroom Risotto (.pdf).
Note that step #2 is left hanging... Just mix that stuff into the whole batch before the cheese. If you can't find Arborio rice, Calrose rice or other sticky short-grain rices work just fine. If you're on the cheap side, regular onions are fine to use instead of shallots.
Trust me, this one is good -- amazingly moist. Eat plain or spread with margarine/butter or some mashed bananas. For a less fattening banana bread, replace the oil with an equal amount of applesauce.
Ingredients:
+ 2 cups all-purpose flour
+ 1/2 cup granulated sugar
+ 3 tsp baking powder
+ 1/2 tsp baking soda
+ 1/2 tsp salt
+ 1 egg
+ 3/4 cup milk
+ 1/4 vegetable oil
+ 1-1/2 cups mashed bananas (~6 bananas, the softer the better)
1. In a big bowl, stir together with a fork the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
2. In a different bowl, whisk the egg with the milk and oil.
3. Add the bananas to the wet mixture and mix it up a little bit.
4. Pour the wet mixture into the dry mixture and stir with a fork. Clumpy is okay as long as all the flour gets wet.
5. Put all of this into a greased 9"x5" baking pan (or split into two pans) and bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees F.
7. Depending on your oven and how many pans you used, this should take about 50-65 minutes to bake. It's done when a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
8. Remove from oven when ready and let stand for at least 5 minutes.