Quinoa Chocolate Cake

Puddings, cookies, breads, cereal, casseroles, burgers, soup, salad toppings.. I've tried just about everything with Quinoa. Most recipes were an experiment, trying to find new ways to enjoy this high protein grain (it's actually a seed).

While visiting my family, I got a couple of the women in my family converted with my favorite Quinoa/Avocado/Broccoli/Nutritional Yeast Mash. They took me to the health food store and had me walk around and answer questions about supplements and foods they've been wanting to try but didn't know what to do with.

One of my aunts started using cooked whole quinoa in her smoothies. This gave me an awesome idea, Quinoa Protein Powder! It's easy, and if you use the ivory quinoa, the taste is not overpowering (or the color). So, I just grind my quinoa into flour, store it in the fridge, and add to my smoothies!  From what I've read, and I do a lot of food research, such a high percentage of saponin is rinsed in processing that rinsing is unnecessary. But I purchase in bulk, and I'm just in the habit of rinsing everything. So, if you rinse, be sure it is completely dry (talking hours here) before grinding. This powder is super fine and can also be used to thicken soups instead of dairy or rice.

Against traditional thought, all varieties (ivory/golden/black/red) of quinoa are very close in nutritional value. True to anything red, the red quinoa is a source of Vitamin E. But then again, so does the Ivory variety! Red/black quinoa is said to have a few more grams of fiber, as well as a bit higher in calories and protein. The darker varieties seem to take a tad longer to cook, and have a stronger earthy taste (the kind of earthy feel you get from brown rice). Mostly described as 'nutty.'

The benefits seem endless! What can't this grain (SEED!) do? I won't repeat it all here. This is one of my favorite sources for a quick run down on nutritional info.

If you've been using a recipe you love over and over, but it's losing it's luster, you should check out this book. My hubby surprised me with this book when it came out and while some of the recipes are things I had tried, I was thrilled to see them! Tested recipes! Whoo! At their website you can try out recipes as they add them! Two very cool sisters wrote the book.

Last night I made one of my favorite recipes out the book. One of my girlfriends is leaving for Germany for a year (so sad! but so excited for her!). She had a going away party last night and I brought this flourless chocolate cake, topped it with my own icing recipe and freshly picked beach strawberries. It disappeared, as usual, and I finally let out the secret! I love seeing the reactions! "All this time?" haha! Some definitely felt better after knowing. However, I must say, while it is high in protein and gluten free, it is certainly not 'clean' or healthy. I have a 'cleaner' version of my own which I will post. For potlucks, I actually follow the recipe (a rarity for me). Ok, sometimes. Last night I followed it (well with the substitutions- we don't use dairy milk for example). Because it is flourless, the cake always comes out even and the recipe allows for two 8-inch cakes, so it is easily layered and Voila! you have a beautiful layer chocolate cake that doesn't take long at all!
 *Note about cooking time: Mine come out perfect at 35 minutes. I have a gas oven, so maybe that's it... but start checking at 35 minutes.

Instead of typing it out myself.. here it is. I'm positive once you try this recipe you'll buy the book. The first 10 pages are about the history, use and specifics of Quinoa. Nice resource. There is even a baby food section! Really!

The inside was even prettier!

Jo's Quinoa Chocolate Cake (variation on 365 Quinoa Recipe)
2/3 C Quinoa (white/golden/ivory)
1 1/3 C Water
1/3 C Almond Milk (instead of dairy)
4 large eggs
1 tsp Vanilla
3/4 C Coconut oil (instead of butter) (have used 1/2 C applesauce with great but dense result-cut back on sweetener)
2 tsp Stevia or 3/4 C Honey or 1/2 C Yacon (instead of 1 1/2 C Sugar)
1 C Cacao, Carob or Cocoa Powder (Cacao was really strong, I got headaches, carob was delicious, cocoa was best)
1 1/2 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Salt

*note about sweetener: I have tested all three. I listed them in order of preference. Honey tasted amazing, but for the cleanest option, go with stevia (dried, powdered, unprocessed is best). I have never used sugar in the cake. I use honey when I 'follow the recipe' and I still reduce it by at least 1/2 cup.
*note about Cocoa: we used to use carob in place of cocoa until I started raw foods in 2008 and found out about raw cacao. Now, I'm finding I get headaches from it, and I've been pulling away from cacao, cocoa and the like more and more. If you don't care, use Cocoa. It tasted best (and because of the theobromine, most people would get headaches from raw cacao). Theobromine is a myocardial stimulant (heart beats fast). You feel like you are on drugs if you have too much. Which makes sense now when I look back at some of the cacao loving raw foodists I met in Boone.. a little... 'wacky.'

Follow the same instructions for the recipe link above.

Ok, so everyone always wants to know about my chocolate icing. I used to make it with Agave. And started out making it with Avocado for raw brownies. It doesn't seem like it's going to work, but trust me. It will be very thin at first, once it cools.. you have control over the consistency. The colder it gets the harder. So, watch it unless you want to dirty more pans and heat it up and cool it back off again.

Basic Heart Healthy-ish Chocolate Icing
1/2 C Cocoa Powder
6 Tbs Coconut Oil
1/4 C Honey
1/2-3/4 tsp Vanilla
pinch of salt

On stove, in saucepan, melt/combine coconut oil and honey over lowest heat. Once melted, remove from heat and stir to fully combine.

Add to the saucepan, vanilla, cocoa and salt. Stir well with fork. For about 3-5 minutes. It will thicken. I usually transfer this to a freezer friendly bowl, then stir. Personal preference.

Once well combined, place in freezer, and check every 10 minutes or so until thickened, but still easily spread (so you don't tear your cake!). Ice completely cool cake.  COOL! Otherwise, it drips all over and what a mess. That goes for any icing.

I like to ice my cake with the icing not too thick, then place whatever pretty yummys I want on top, THEN place in the ridge for the icing to harden (thicken) completely.

Again, to go 'cleaner' omit honey, use stevia or apple juice.

Flourless Beet Chocolate Cake & Farmin' Friday

For my birthday I really wanted to blow out candles. I wanted some tradition this year. Oh, I got candles. I got the ones that don't blow out. Ever. I yelled "die!" and dropped them to drown in my glass of water.

OK, I wanted some tradition. What I didn't want was the traditional sugar/flour overload. The hubs wouldn't be up for making a raw carrot cake, and besides, that's boring. I wanted chocolate! I've never liked chocolate cake. Until, I had beet chocolate cake. It was so amazing. But while the one I refer to was made with whole wheat flour, coconut oil and without eggs, it was still sugary and well.. full of flour?

I've never tried to make a raw beet cake (ooh, challenge!). I know that may not sound so great, but I love beets. They are naturally sweet, healthy and I'm pretty much sold on the impossibly vibrant hue. I love how it stains my fingers.

What I've found with many gluten free recipes is they are full of butter and eggs. We do have a lot of eggs around, but after many years of baking without them, I just don't use them. Why? I'm used to vegan cooking and baking and so I just do what I'm used to when I make say.. zucchini bread or something.

I googled healthy beet chocolate cake, wheat free chocolate cake, flourless chocolate cake.. and most recipes were full of butter, cream and eggs. While, I could indulge in adding egg, I wasn't ready for the full hit on my cholesterol. So, this was a huge experiment. And, yeah, I kind of made my own birthday cake...

I was determined to add beets. Overall it was successful. I couldn't get it out of the pan very easily, but it tasted pretty good. I loved the not so sweet taste.. but my guests may have preferred it sweeter since they covered it in vanilla ice cream!

Flourless Beet Chocolate Cake
1-2 oz. melted Dark Chocolate or about 1/2 C Cocoa powder
6 Tbs Coconut Oil
3/4 Tbs Vanilla
1/2 tsp dried Stevia
2-3 Good squirts Agave
3 Beets, medium, shredded
3-4 eggs
pinch of salt
pinch of cayenne (yeah baby)

So.. a few notes:
*I used part (half of each amount shown) melted chocolate and part cocoa (raw cacao has been giving me headaches).. because I was just experimenting. You can do either, or both.
*I didn't want it that sweet and still wanted ti healthy, so I used stevia.. then I thought.. ok.. just a couple squirts of agave... soo...
I used 4 medium eggs.. if you have large eggs, use 3.. I didn't say this was vegan right? You can keep in mind when purchasing eggs (support your local egg farmer!), that free range eggs are lower in cholesterol and higher in healthy omegas. I heard it here. That's just my biased opinion. Why eat eggs that came out of an unhappy, abused animal? Some say, why eat eggs at all? Yeah, I was there once.

Back to your normal programming: CAKE.
1) Shred the beets (I used a food processor). Simmer on the stove, covered, until tender.. about 20 minutes. You won't need to add liquid.. the beets have enough.
2) In another bowl, combine melted coconut oil, and all other ingredients, stir.
3) When beets are done, transfer to food processor, puree, add the bowl of remaining ingredients, blend a bit more, scraping if needed.
4) Pour into greased (grease it better than I did) and maybe dusted with cocoa powder- cake pan. I used a 9 inch (I think.. I finger measured). You can use muffin tins too. It was thinner than I had planned. Next time I will double the recipe, or use a smaller/deeper dish.
5) Bake @ 350 for about 10 minutes. No, really. I looked in and the cake had a volcano growth on one side.. it was done. My oven runs hot.. and it will depend on your pan.. but start checking at 10 minutes.

Let cool.

Chocolate Icing
1 Tbs Cocoa powder
3 Tbs Coconut oil
1 tsp Vanilla

I whipped this together in a food processor. Then pour into a bowl, and chilled so the coconut oil would harden a bit, making an icing consistency.

Once cake is cool, ice, top with whatever you want (I did strawberries and coconut) and chill until ready to serve.

Farmin' Friday!
Dinner, one of my funny white chickens that does things like this:

Dust Bath in a Pot Full of Dirt

and was missing for a week? Story here.

Well, she is still alive! The last few days, every time I come in to feed her, she tried to stand up like "See? Don't give up on me!" and then falls back over. But today, she stood! Really, really stood! Using both feet. She's has been more aggressive with her daily strawberries (flinging them in the air) and eggs and is even eating feed now. So happy!! I think she's going to make it for sure. Every time I get that bad feeling, they prove me wrong. Except for the baby barred rock that died in my hand in May. :( I had a good feeling and she just, didn't.
Here she is in all her dirty glory..

Lost weight huh?

A lot going on. A lot growing. Fireweed is about to bloom, Lupine, Wild Iris (pictured below) Yarrow and Comfrey are out. Currants are green and I'm waiting like crazy for the strawberries on the beach to be ready!

The last photo is our 'surprise!' rooster. Silver Leghorn if I'm not mistaken. It messes up our roo to hen ratio a bit, especially given we will likely lose a few hens over the course of the year to various causes (i.e. hawks). He is very friendly and calm. I knew he was a roo when he was a few weeks old, but hoped against it anyway. He lets out a lil baby crow at sunrise (3 am or so) and when he hears me come to open the coop. Just a couple more weeks and they should be big enough to let loose with our adult flock.

I'll let pictures tell the rest:

Surprise! I'm a Purty Roo!

Mexi Spice Carrot Hummus & Wild Rice Collard Wrap

The Flight Path My Produce Makes

Here in Alaska, produce can be a challenge to get. And once you receive your produce, it may or may not be 'good.' Ordering in season definitely helps. 

Here is my latest produce order story: Last Thursday, I updated my produce list in Word as usual,  and faxed it in. The Safeway I order from shops for me (charges a minimal fee) and takes my produce to the airport. The airline then flies my food over and I pay bush shipping and freight costs to them. Well, first of all my card was undercharged by about $60, so I knew that once again, I wasn't getting everything on the list (they rarely call to discuss the order). This time I sadly did not receive: chard, kale, collards, cherries, among a few other things. At least I got in spinach. Not to delay the story any longer, but an example of how it goes here is the grapes I ordered were $17 (for 2lbs) and the apricots I ordered were $14 (for 2 lbs). Now the grapes aren't in season, but I love them so much. They normally come in squashed and 'bad' and become treats for my chickens. The grapes came in delicious and perfect this time (so happy), but the apricots are tasteless, the 3 apricots out of the bunch that weren't rotten all the way through. Last weeks apricots were SO amazing, so I ordered double, paid more, but got less in the end.

Anyway! We had quite a bit of snow, no planes came or went from Friday to Sunday afternoon. I spend about $100-$150 a week on produce. I can 't remember how much I used to spend in the lower 48.. so it's hard for me to know if that's a lot.  Of course in the summer, root vegetables are very easy to grow here and I have a better chance at produce that is in season in WA and shipped to Juneau. There are ways to eat local here. Fish, Moose, berries etc. I'm just frustrated I can't get leafy greens half the time, the other half of the time, not one grocery store in Juneau will have say beets, my favorite.

Well, on the bright side of things; those grapes are delicious! And not having produce even Saturday, forced me to be creative with what I had left. A few collards leaves and a few carrots among my produce drawers. I invented some carrot 'hummus' wrapped it in a collard leaf with some wild rice I had sprouted and drizzled some hot pepper oil on top. Voila! It was delicious! & Nutritious~

Mexi Spice Carrot Hummus & Wild Rice Collard Wrap
2 carrots
1 Tbs tahini
2 dashes Cumin and Chipotle powder
1-2 grinds of salt
2 collards, stem carefully cut out
1/4 cup wild rice (soaked/sprouted) or reg rice, whatever you want!
1 Tbs Hot Pepper Oil (easy to make, take ground red pepper, like the pizza shaker kind, mix 1 tbs to 2 tbs oil and let sit at least 15 minutes.. after a week or so it is really strong and beautiful)

Process the carrot, tahini, spices and salt until smooth(ish) then spoon onto the end of a collard leaf, spoon on some rice (or whatever veggie) and roll up, cut in half.. drizzle with oil, Enjoy!

Beet Chocolate Cake

Also thought I'd share the delicious (naughty) dessert I indulged in every day for 4 days last week (while I waited out the frostbite warning advisory-I'd like to keep my eyelids and nose thank you).  I made up for it with XT. Vegan Beet Chocolate Cake. "Enough Said" as they say... Well, but I have to say YUM! Of course I had tiny pieces. The body runs better without flour and sugar.

I jumped right back in to running, but not my routine. I found fun ways to get back out there. Running Sunday to a craft (bati) party, with an iron strapped to my camelbak; taking a needed rest yesterday and today running to the post office with my orders and taking the long way back. Fun, and it was double duty!