Butterscotch chocolate chip oat bread

These measurements are all rough... sorry, I've been creative in the kitchen lately, which means that I say, "Oh, what if I added this? Hmm, too dry... Maybe a splash of this?"

If you do nothing else with this recipe, use it as inspiration to be bold! What's the worst that can happen when you bake with butterscotch and chocolate chips?

1 cup rolled oats

1/2 cup flour

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 big smooshed very ripe banana

1/8 cup shredded coconut (the sweet kind)

1 Tbsp vanilla extract

vanilla almond milk and frangelico until the batter resembled cookie dough consistency (about 1/4 cup almond milk and a big glug of frangelico)

about 1/8 cup each of butterscotch* and semi-sweet chocolate chips.

Mix it all up, put it in a greased loaf pan, and cook at 350 for about 45-55 minutes, until it's brown and crispy on top, not TOO smooshy inside.

*I looked closer and realized that the butterscotch chips I have (Nestle) have dairy in them. Since I'm only veganesque, this works for me. But if you have a dairy allergy, leave these out. Maybe substitute more chocolate chips or some chopped pecans?

Turmeric ginger carrot and garbanzo soup

Inspired by Liz of DishingWell's recent shout out to turmeric and its healthful properties, I served a tasty bright orange soup tonight. (A jolt of color that was very welcome after a very rainy day.)

Turmeric Ginger Carrot and Garbanzo Soup

1/2 onion, chopped

1 shallot, chopped

4 cloves of garlic, chopped

1 sweet potato, peeled and chopped

small hunk of ginger root, peeled and cut in slivers

1 package of peeled baby carrots

water (about 4 cups)

turmeric (about 1 tsp?)

cumin (about the same)

ground cardamom (about 1/4 tsp)

a handful of frozen peas

salt

pepper

I sauteed the onions, garlic, and shallots in a pan with a touch of canola oil.

Then I added the rest of the ingredients (except the peas, salt, pepper) and simmered it up for a while. ("A while" translates to an hour plus-- I kind of lost track of time, but it was the time it took to read about 1/3 of the upcoming teen novel The Implosion of Aggie Winchester by Laura Zielin-- a fun goth girl/bass master prom romp.)

I added some salt and pepper. I checked to make sure all the sweet potato and carrots were smooshy. Then I used my wonder immersion blender-- but left a few hunks in the now brilliant orange bisque-like soup.

Then I added a handful of frozen peas because I wanted the color contrast of the bright green against the intense orange.

I served it with mini-ciabatta rolls stuffed with spinach leaves (tucked in while the rolls were still hot, so it wilted nicely) and slices of avocado with just a hint of salt.

(To be honest, I also gave us each a little serving of Jordy's leftover Mexican Mac & Cheese from dinner at the 5 Spot's vegetarian Wednesday last night, too. But if you were being all vegan-strict, you wouldn't have that in the house anyway, right?)

Dueling soups

The other night, I had a transitional season cooking moment. I had a full box from our farmers with loads of summer squash, a bouquet of oregano, the biggest, ripest tomato of the season, and more onions than I have seen in our house in a long time. I also had some portobello mushrooms I picked up on sale and some lentils I'd been hungry for. What to do? Dueling soups.

The summer soup started with a sautee of onions, then summer squash and tomato. I added water, oregano, a few kidney beans, and some balsamic vinegar. If I had a lemon, I think I'd add a splash of lemon juice next time for a more Mediterranean taste.

The fall soup started with a sautee of onions, too, but instead of diced, I cut them in long slivers. (I was going for a French onion soup feel.) Next I added big hunks of portobello. After those looked cooked, I added water, a splash of red wine, oregano, a few bay leaves, a few cloves, and lentils. I let it simmer a long time, so it got stew-like.

The night I made them, we had the fall soup accompanied by a carmelized onion flatbread pizza from our neighbor Eat Local. Very good. Then the next night, we had the summer soup served with Greek roast potatoes (garlic, olive oil, oregano, garbanzos) and pita. Also very good. Win, win.

Vegetarian Mexican at Tenoch, QA

We're thrilled to have a new, family-run restaurant just blocks away: Tenoch Mexican Grill. The best part? Several options on the menu for vegetarians, and some (like the enchiladas verdes with potatoes) can even be made vegan, I think. Hoorah!

Eat, Read, Sleep

The Indie Bound bags have one side with the slogan "Eat, Read, Sleep." That's the inspiration-- now, GO!

What I'm reading:

Family Man by Elinor Lipman (she's coming for an event May 8)-- literally just opened to the first page so far, but I have a feeling it's going to be a fun spring read.

Dust City by Robert Paul Weston (ARC-- publication date 11/10). Halfway into this (and several other teen or kids' books for the Penguin fall season, since I just had my rep meeting today) and I'm LOVING it! Weston's debut, Zorgamazoo, was my favorite kids' chapter book for 2008, and his second novel is blowing me away. This one is for teens (and adults), and it's a noir/fantasy/fairy tale, featuring Arthur Whelp, the teenaged son of Little Red Riding Hood's murderer, as the main character. It's not just a witty reimagining of fairy tales (although the kick-ass Snow White had me giggling out loud)-- it is a great, gritty coming of age story, a mystery, and even social commentary. Fantastic! I wish I could start selling it right now. Oh, wait-- PREORDERS! I guess I can!

What I'm eating:

Since New Year's, we've been vaguely vegan. After convincing arguments against animal protein from The China Study (and our annual post-holiday detox), we have been cooking vegan at home (mostly) and eating vegan or vegetarian/pescatarian for the most part. The reason is health-- personal health and environmental health. But we're staying flexible and listening to our bodies. (We were total omnivores during our China trip, and we will eat whatever our friends serve us!)

Today's menu thus far is a good example.

We started off with one of our favorite breakfasts: oatmeal! Yes, it warrants the exclamation point. Today's was a mix of steel cut oats and rolled oats because I was down to oat dregs since I need to go to the grocery store. No matter-- it cooked up tasty and delicious with dried dates, sliced almonds, cinnamon, a little bit of flax seed, and a splash of coconut milk. Banana on the side, and OJ, too.

Then I was feeling peckish and almost broke into some age-old graham crackers in the pantry. Instead, I made chamomile tea for myself and Colleen, my sales rep who was coming for our fall appointment. Lucky, lucky me, Colleen brought a bag of homemade amazing graham cracker toffee! She coated graham crackers in boiled brown sugar/butter toffee mixture and nuts (hazelnuts and pecans), then cooked all at 350 for about 8 minutes. When she took it out of the oven, she sprinkled chocolate chips on top. Then this morning, she brought some to me. It's like she read my craving mind! Not so vegan or so healthy, but that's OK-- it is so delicious, I'm sure the endorphins I got from the toffee must be beneficial.

Lunch was "raid the fridge while working," so it was a little weird, but still good. I had some leftover rice from Indian food, leftover sweet potato (with a hint of cardamom), and a fried egg. Yes, an egg. Again, not so vegan. But I had two eggs left over from baking for a store event, so I thought I might as well eat one. I probably should have had some more veggies, so I'm thinking about some broccoli or a carrot for snack when I get hungry later.

Who knows what dinner will hold? I'm thinking some sort of pasta, since Sunday is J's marathon, but I'm also in the mood to make some soup. Why not both?