Who says healthy can't be fun AND yummy?

Purple is my favorite color. I often buy articles of clothing in my favorite shade of deep purple and realize that I don't actually like the clothes, just the color...
Anywho, I was at Ralph's the other day and saw purple cauliflower, a marvel of genetic engineering (wooo DNA!). I concocted this delicious and SUPER DUPER healthy dinner and it's the most beautiful non-dessert food I've ever made.

I followed the following procedure, and served with a nice juicy spice-rubbed chicken breast. Big fat YUM.

Pan-Roasted Veggie Rainbow

Cut broccoli and cauliflower into florets and slice in half so a cut side will be exposed to the pan. Using a vegetable peeler, shred yellow squash, carrots and zucchini into thin strips. 

Heat large skillet over medium-high, then add about a 1 Tbsp of olive oil. Throw in the broccoli and cauliflower and toss to coat. Let sit without stirring for 2ish minutes. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste, then add about 3 Tbsp of water. Cover pan and let contents steam for 2ish minutes. Remove cover and stir contents before adding shredded veggies. Cook, stirring occasionally, until broccoli and cauliflower are fork-tender.

ENJOY! And perhaps follow with dessert...

Butter.

The French would be the first to tell you that to avoid butter is to shy away from the heart and soul of baking. There's not a whole lot you can do without butter. None of this margarine stuff, it doesn't ever freeze so the dough is perpetually squishy, which is odd and makes it difficult to roll out. 
Shortbread is one of those things whose very existence depends on this magical compound - no eggs, no leavening agent, no nothing. If you're not a college student whose food budget would probably be better spent on things like broccoli and lettuce, I advise splurging for fancy European-style butter because the finished product will be fantastic!

In order to spice this recipe up, I decided to infuse the butter with loose tea leaves I imported from the most famous fine tea maker in Paris, Mariage Freres. The flavor is called "Pleine Lune" (or "Full Moon" for you non-francophones) and it's a black tea with hints of vanilla and almond. Sounds fancy huh? You can even do this with any kind of tea - try Earl Grey, English Breakfast, Chamomile, etc.

Although "infusion" evokes images of all kinds of baking voodoo, it basically means melting the butter, stirring the tea leaves in and s them steep for a little, so you get the lovely mixture you see at right. Then so you don't eat potpourri, strain out the leaves. It's better to have pretty strongly flavored butter, so put in one tea bag per stick of butter. Let the butter solidify reasonably in the freezer or fridge before you cream it with the sugar in the recipe.

Shortbread Cookies 

Yields about 24 cookies (depending on size)

Recipe adapted from Joy of Baking

2 C all-purpose flour

1/4 tsp salt

1 C (2 sticks) unsalted butter (infused with 2 bags of tea of your choice), at room temperature

1/2 C powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions: Cream butter and sugar in a mixing bowl with an electric mixer until smooth (about 2 min). Beat in vanilla extract. Gently stir in the flour and salt until just incorporated (knead with your hands if necessary). You may need a little less flour than called for because you lose a little butter when you strain the tea leaves out. If that's the case, melt some butter and sprinkle it on the dough to make it stick together more. Flatten dough into a disc, wrap in plastic and refrigerate until stiff.
Preheat oven to 350 and line baking sheets with parchment. Roll out dough to 1/4 inch thick and cut with cookie cutters. Bake for 7-9 minutes or until just browned (no one likes a burned cookie!). Cool on a rack. Eat with tea.

Raw Chocolate Coconut Almond Bites

I'm going to tell myself (and you) that this next recipe is for some healthy little guys that are also DE-lish. To all my gluten-free and vegan friends, this one's for you! The chocolate I use for everything is Trader Joe's 72% dark chocolate "pound-plus" bar in the red wrapper. It's the best chocolate I've found if you don't want to pay a million dollars per ounce (if you do, try Valrhona). 
This recipe is not for the faint of heart or the squeamish. The recipe is pure dark chocolate and almond butter, so it's extremely rich and even I had to admit I was satisfied after one or two... or three. I also ended up with chocolate and almond butter up to my elbows, but I'm not complaining. I also didn't let it cool before trying to divide up the mixture, so I was kind of asking for it. I'd advise removing the bowl from the double boiler and letting the chocolate cool a bit before rolling the balls, or divide it up and let it set on parchment and then roll it (like I did). 

Anywho, enjoy! FYI, you can substitute rolled oats for the slivered almonds if that's more your thing. You're missing out on the monounsaturated fats though :) 

Raw Chocolate Almond Coconut Bites
Adapted from a recipe from Macaroni and Cheesecake

Makes about 36 bites

Ingredients:

1 1/2 C dark chocolate chips (8 1/2 oz if you're using a bar)

2 1/2 C blanched slivered almonds, chopped a little bit

1/2 C honey

1 C unsweetened shredded coconut

1 C almond butter or natural peanut butter

1/3 cup raisins (if desired)

Directions: Melt chocolate, honey and nut butter in a double boiler. Remove from heat and add almonds a little at a time, stirring to mix thoroughly. Add coconut and mix until combined. Add in raisins if desired. Stir all together until well mixed. I'm impatient so I scooped out the mixture while it was still pretty warm, so I had to make little piles on the parchment and wait for it to set a little before rolling it into balls.

Roll into balls or flatten into cookies. Chill in refrigerator or freezer until set, then store in an air tight container in the fridge to keep them set.

Chai Spice Sugar Cookies

The first time I tried a chai latte was sometime this winter, but I instantly fell in love with the blend of spices - it was like Christmas, Thanksgiving and summer rolled into one! Needless to say, I saw a lot of potential for this combination in transforming baked goods into something extra awesome. I found this recipe on the Teenie Cakes blog and knew it was too good to pass up. I substituted white whole wheat flour for the regular all-purpose in a small concession to health, and because I like meatier cookies. The result? Heaven. I made tiny cookies (only about 1 inch diameter) so they're a great little treat to nibble with your cappuccino and you can have two or three without feeling guilty... right?

The most important thing to keep in mind when making these (or any) cookies is to refrigerate or freeze the dough until it's pretty solid before you put it on the cookie sheet. The best way to keep your cookies from spreading is to roll the stiff dough into balls, slightly squish them with the heel of your hand and place it on the cookie sheet with parchment or a silicone sheet and make sure the oven is totally preheated before you put them in. Voila! No thin wimpy cookies :)

Chai Sugar Cookies
Originally from McCormick
Makes about 5 dozen cookies

Ingredients
2 3/4 C white whole wheat flour (or all-purpose)
1 Tbsp chai spice blend (buy pre-mixed or make your own! see below)
2 tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 C (2 sticks) butter, softened
1 1/2 C granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
Additional sugar for rolling (optional)

Chai spice blend
2 tsp ground cardamom, cinnamon AND ground cloves
1 tsp ground white pepper
(Decrease spice blend to 1 Tbsp in cookie recipe)

Directions
Mix flour, chai spices, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl.  Set aside.
Beat butter and sugar in a large bowl on medium speed until light and fluffy.  Beat in eggs, one at a time, and add vanilla.  Gradually add the flour mixture on low speed until mixed.   Cover the bowl and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight. You want the dough to be firm and easy to handle.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Shape dough into 1-inch balls.  Roll in additional sugar if you'd like.  Place on ungreased cookie sheets about 2 inches apart (they spread a good amount), and press lightly to flatten the balls a bit.
Bake 6 to 8 minutes or until lightly browned.   Cool on baking sheets for 1 minute and remove to wire racks.   Cool completely before storing.

I caved.

Ok I admit it, I finally gave in to that little itch in the back of my brain that told me to keep blogging after my return from a semester in Paris. Although I can't promise posts about the Eiffel Tower and Prague, I can say that my time abroad helped me perfect my food photography skills - and I want to share my baking adventures (as they often are) with those of you who can't try the finished product in person. Also, I'm hoping that this blog will motivate me to try new recipes instead of the same old tried and true favorites. It's always good to change up the way you get sugar into your bloodstream, right?


If there's anything you'd like to see my try or any recipes that you've been meaning to experiment with, let me know!


Bises (that's French for kisses),
Annemarie