martha stewart and lima bean hummus

I didn't know what marmalade was when I first read the Paddington Bear books as a kid. I assumed it was an English thing. And then the first time I tried marmalade, I was blown away. It's like other jams/jellies, but it's A MILLION TIMES BETTER. I have tried many kinds of marmalade, but I have never made it myself.

UNTIL NOW.
(Pictured on homemade wheat bread)
I got the recipe from Martha Stewart, but I changed it (because I never follow recipes). I halved it, first of all, which I recommend because it makes so much. I also used different oranges: two "normal" oranges and two tangelos.* But also, the amount of sugar in Martha's recipe is astronomical, so I cut it down to 1/2 cup for every cup of goop. I still thought that sounded like a lot, but the mixture was really sour, so I went with it. And it tastes delicious. And while I will probably never make it again because it's rather tedious, I am really glad to have tried it once!

Um, by the way, I now have an absurd amount of marmalade, way more than I have toast. Any recipe recommendations?

I also relied on a Martha Stewart recipe for Valentine's Day!
These are her Pecan Linzer Cookies with Cherry Filling. Again, I halved the recipe, and to veganize it, I used soy yogurt instead of egg. Also, I didn't strain the jam because that was too much work. But I didn't alter anything else (no whole wheat flour, no agave--their point was to be decadent, not healthy). They were GORGEOUS and tasted like cookies I used to get at the corner bakery when I was little.

I don't have cookie cutters, so I used a glass to cut the rounds and a knife to cut out the hearts.
Sprinkling them with sugar was fun AND pretty.

But I do not rely on Martha Stewart for everything. For example, I had some dried (white) lima beans taking up space on my shelf for to long, so I cooked them up... and realized I have no idea what to do with lima beans. So I made up a dilly lima bean hummus! This will also work with any white beans, like cannellini.
Lima Bean Hummus

2 Cups lima (or any other white) beans
1/4 to 1/2 cup fresh dill, loosely chopped
3 Tbsp Vegenaise (if you don't have/like/want vegenaise, use olive oil)
1 Tbsp lemon juice or vinegar
1/8 tsp salt (1/4 if you use olive oil instead of vegenaise)
a few twists freshly-ground black pepper
1 tsp dulse flakes or ripped-up dulse (optional but delicious)
1 tsp nutritional yeast (optional but delicious)

Blend all ingredients. It will be gross and goopy, but such is hummus.

It's good as a dip or a sandwich spread. You can also water it down and use it as a sauce for middle eastern and/or greek meals (like tahini or yogurt sauce, but healthier).

*-I do want to remind you all to use organic food whenever possible, but especially when you are using a food's peel/rind/zest.

zombie pancakes! (aka sweet potato latkes)

Did any of you ever play the Sega Genesis/Super NES game Zombies Ate My Neighbors?*
It was a random spoof on almost every horror movie you can name, and it was a fun video game. My brother and I used to play it together. There was one level where alien meteroids crashed into earth and made odd purple plants grow all over the ground that can kill you unless you have a weedwacker to drive them off.
Not the best picture,* but those purple plant thingies were really frustrating.

A little while ago I found a sweet potato that had been hiding, forgotten, in a box. Strange purple growths?!
A ZOMBIE YAM! It was GIANT, too, which clearly means it had plans to take over the world.

Yes, I know, to follow to logic of the video game, it would technically be an alien meteroid (in fact, the meteroids were reddish orange... like sweet potatoes...?!), but I like zombies better than meteroids. So of course I had to use it in SOMETHING.

I fished through many cookbooks for a savory sweet potato pancake recipe, but I couldn't find any simple (ie, without a million ingredients), nightshade free latkes. So I made one up!

Zombie Pancakes (aka Sweet Potato Latkes)
(serves 2 easily, doubles or quadruples or does whatever you need it to do well [ie, does your bidding, like a true zombie])

1 small onion or large shallot
1 humungous zombie yam or two smallish yams
1/4 C chickpea flour (or normal flour - see note)
1/2 cup water
generous pinch each salt and pepper
1-2 Tbsp oil (for frying)

Chop the onion or shallot into tiny pieces. Be careful not to cut yourself, as once a zombie [yam] smells blood, you're toast. Wash the yam carefully, to remove any sort of dirt it might have drudged up with it from the grave. You don't have to peel it unless you want to remove undead growth. Grate the yam. It will probably fight back, or look at you poignantly to try to remind you that it was once a loveable yam, but it's all a ploy to stop you from eating it. Once you've grated the yam, you're safe from any zombie contamination.

In a large bowl, combine all ingredients and mix well. If it seems too watery, add some more chickpea flour. It it seems too dry, add more water. Form into palm-sized patties.

Heat a small amount of oil (probably about 1-2 tsp per batch of latkes, depending on the size of your pan) over medium heat. Cook the latkes until golden brown, about 5 minutes per side.
You can serve these in multiple ways. The one in the back left has soy sour cream and dill (WAY recommended), the one on thr right has soy sour cream and garam masala - you could also serve them with chutney. Or gravy. Or ketchup. Or vegan tartar sauce. Some people like maple syrup on even their savory pancakes but that kinda grosses me out. People like that are probably zombies.

Note: You can probably use normal flour in place of the chickpea flour. I like chickpea flour because I wanted to make this gluten free, plus it adds a sort of "eggy" taste and binds better than wheat flour. But it's not necessary.

*- I do not claim any sort of rights to Zombies Ate My Neighbors. I didn't create it or any of the images associated with it. I just played it a lot. Don't sue me. Or I'll sic my sweet potato on you.

the gift of the magi, but nerdier

happy 2008, everyone! I'm sorry about the lapse in entries - it's been a busy week!

my "create post" page loaded neck-in-neck with the latest update on Iowa caucus, so I can't help but mention... OBAMA!!! yessss. And I'm so proud of John Edwards for catching up with Hilary. He's so adorable. Annnd we're going to ignore the other half...

When I came back to Boston from Cooperstown, I'd brought my roommate's christmas present. I had thought about it for a while, and we're both maybe a little nerdy about cooking, and we have a humungous spice cabinet... so I gave her this:
A mortar and pestle for grinding spices! But our schedules were completely different last week, so I didn't see her - I left it on her bed.

I came home from work that night to find a nice little present on my bed, with a card, in my roommate's writing: "Sad or funny? You tell me." I opened the present:
IT'S A SPICE GRINDER.

Clearly, we were meant to be roommates.
Awwwww, Spice Grinder and Mortar&Pestle - bff.

And because I don't want to have a post without food, a review:

Nasoya's Creamy Dill Salad Dressing!

I really like this dressing, which is saying a lot. This is the third Nasoya dressing I've tried. I'm on the fence with Nasoya products in general: their "Nayonaise" is disgusting. Their stir-fry sauces are pretty good. Their tofu is acceptable. Their dressings, thus far, have been "meh." I've had the Sesame Garlic, tasteless, and Garden Herb, also slightly tasteless but does the job when my family makes middle eastern/greek food and we want a yogurt-sauce substitute. But I was in the market (literally! ha) for a new salad dressing and noticed this and the 1000 Island (a long-lost passion of mine... 1000 island dressing has nightshades in it ;_; someone tell me how it is? No, actually, don't, I'll be sad) dressings. And being a dill addict, I decided to give it a shot, even though having "creamy" in the title grosses me out ("cream" is one of my least favorite words).

It's not a complicated flavor. It's salty and dill-y and a little vinegar-y. That's all I need. I actually put it on my salads (unlike the other nasoya dressings), I dip carrot sticks in it, and tonight I made a quick dinner by steaming some tempeh and veggies and mixing them with a generous tablespoonful of this sauce (with some dried dill over top).

mmm. obama, spices, and cupcakes... what's not to love about this post?

"wait, cupcakes?" you say? STAY TUNED FOR TOMORROW, Dear Reader, for I have some pretty baked goods to show off!