Swiss Chard and Apple Socca Bites

We finally got around to decorating our little home for the holidays! Lights are up on the windows, garland and bows are strewn on the staircase, and our tree is chilling in its new corner home. Yes, we are proud parents of the cutest little tree there ever could be! We figured we are almost a real family now, so we need to start building our own holiday traditions. With those traditions, come a bit of compromise. I grew up with real Christmas trees. The kind that shed tiny needles everywhere, that are always a bit crooked and a little uneven but that are perfectly imperfect because they smell of Christmas. My fiance, on the other hand, grew up with a fake tree that gets dragged from the basement every year and has perfect little branches for hanging ornaments, and smells of...nothing. Our family tree looks like a Jackson Pollack while his family's tree looks like it came straight out of the Sears catalog. Nothing wrong or right with either of those things, but certainly different takes on what makes a Christmas tree tradition.

So this brings me back to our humble tree and the beginning of our new family traditions. I figured our tree is a compromise between the two family traditions. Yes, it is artificial, but it is a bit sparse and awkward. I was even fooled by its lack of authenticity when I picked it out at the nursery. Draped in itty-bitty lights and just two ornaments, it has not yet been a victim of the cats' curiosity. I give it another day or two before our terrifically I-am-pretty-sure-I-saw-that-inanimate-object-move-therefore-I-must-attack-it cat goes after it.

Now that our house is decorated, I am feeling festive! So festive in fact, we decided to throw a Christmas party by inviting probably way too many people. The more the merrier, right? For this party, we are going to need food, and this is where this nibble comes in. Green and red from the chard and red and white from the bits of apple, it is the perfect holiday bite.

Socca, if you have never heard of it, is a quick flatbread made with chickpea flour. It leans towards the savory side and is quite dense, but if you are thinking it tastes like chickpeas or hummus in baked form, you would be surprised at how different in flavor it is. I dare compare it to a really finely ground polenta with some addicting nuttiness going on. While it can certainly be eaten in pizza form, I make bite-size finger appetizers by using a small biscuit cutter to cut out little rounds. Sure, there are scraps of socca that remain from all of the hole-punching, but they are much appreciated thrown into a bowl of roasted root vegetables and topped with goat cheese. Waste not, want not.

The top is a bit of simply sauteed chard stems and garlic, wilted chard leaves, and a spattering of toasted walnuts. The addition that made this not just beautiful but quite a bit fancy feeling was the apple. I draped julienned apple pieces over top that offered just enough sweet and tart crunch to balance the earthy chard.

This is perfect party food because it is mostly make-ahead. The socca, chard, and toasted nuts can all be prepared ahead of time. Warm the socca and chard topping through, assemble with the walnuts, and top with apple, and you are ready for your holiday shindig.

Swiss Chard and Apple Socca Bites

Socca:
2 cups chickpea flour
2 1/4 cup water
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 1/2 + tablespoons olive oil, divided

Chard:
1 tablespoon olive oil
12 ounces Swiss chard (I used rainbow), washed and stems diced and leaves cut into chiffonade
2 garlic cloves, minced
salt and pepper, to taste

1/2 cup chopped walnuts, toasted
1/2 small apple, julienned

Prepare socca. Whisk chickpea flour with water, salt, and 2 1/2 tablespoons olive oil until smooth. You can adjust seasoning by tasting batter here if you would like. Allow batter to rest for at least 15 minutes, but up to 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit. Place large cast iron skillet in oven on center rack to heat while oven preheats. Remove pan from oven when hot and pour in 1 tablespoon olive oil, swirling to coat. I used a 12-inch pan, but you could do multiple batches in a smaller skillet. Add batter to thickness of scant 1/4-inch (this was all of batter in my 12-inch), and return pan to oven. Allow to cook 15-20 minutes or until golden and starting to pull away from sides. Remove from oven and allow to cool before using a spatula to loosen batter from pan. Cut socca into circles, either with a cookie cutter or by tracing a small cup.

Prepare Swiss chard while socca cooks. Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium heat. Add chard stems and garlic and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Add chard leaves and toss to combine, cooking for just a few minutes or until leaves have wilted but still have a little bite. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Assemble bites. Top a socca round with a little pile of chard, sprinkle with toasted walnuts, and top with apple slivers. Enjoy! Makes about 12-15 bites.

Tempeh and Squash Sesame Autumn Rolls

One of the main reasons I love eating at Vietnamese restaurants is their summer rolls. Herbaceous, fresh, and clean, they will never go out of style. They are also perfect if you need a break from heavy holiday food. I decided to do a bright autumn version here, and while it is by no means traditional, it is just as bright and clean as the cucumber and carrot version, perhaps just a little more hearty.

I use soba noodles instead of vermicelli, which I believe are a bit easier to cook than vermicelli. Vermicelli can be finicky. It goes from underdone to a gloopy, sticky mess in an eye blink, at least for me who has not spent years perfecting it. So if you have tips on perfecting rice vermicelli, let me know! The soba noodles also pair well with the sesame flavors I have in the tempeh and dipping sauce. The marinated and seared tempeh and creamy avocado play off of each other's textures and add some staying power. To mimic the sweetness of carrots, I add in slices of kabocha squash, and the whole thing comes together in a delicious little roll. 

if you have never played with rice paper before, it is rather simple if you know a few tricks. I fill a pie plate half- way with really hot water, get a dish towel ready out on the cutting board or counter (this helps absorb excess water while you assemble), plunge a piece of rice paper in the water for about 15 seconds or so on until softened. I lay the softened rice paper out on the towel and begin layering on the ingredients. The trick is to keep the ingredients nice and compact, much like you would fill a sushi roll or a dumpling. Then fold the sides in like a burrito and roll away. To keep them fresh as you make them, place a damp paper towel or dish towel over the already made spring rolls.

The dipping sauce here is sesame-based rather than peanut or fish sauce-based. You could certainly sub in peanut butter for the tahini, but it will be thicker so you will want to thin out with a little water until the desired consistency is reached.

Tempeh and Squash Sesame Autumn Rolls

Roasted Squash:
1 tablespoon coconut oil or olive oil
1/2 small kabocha squash, sliced in 1/4-inch slices
salt, to taste

Tempeh:
1 tablespoon coconut oil or olive oil
8 ounces tempeh, sliced into 1/4-inch slices
2 teaspoons maple syrup
1 tablespoon low sodium soy sauce or tamari, if gluten-free
2 teaspoons sesame oil

Soba noodles:
6 ounces soba noodles
water
2 teaspoons sesame oil

Sesame Dipping Sauce:
1/2 cup tahini
1 tablespoon low sodium soy sauce or tamari
1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar or fresh lime juice
2 teaspoons maple syrup
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger
salt and pepper, to taste
hot sauce or Sriracha, optional

Rolls:
12-15 pieces of rice paper
1 small head red leaf lettuce, leaves washed and excessive water removed
roasted kabocha squash
seared tempeh
1 avocado, sliced thinly
handful fresh cilantro, for serving
sesame seeds, optional, for serving

Roast squash. Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Toss kabocha with tablespoon oil, and arrange in single layer. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until golden.

Prepare tempeh. Mix maple syrup, low sodium soy sauce, and sesame oil together in a bowl. Add tempeh and toss to coat. Heat 1 tablespoon coconut oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add tempeh and cook on both sides until golden, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat.

Cook soba noodles. Bring pot of water to a boil. Add soba and cook for 5-7 minutes or until just done but not mushy. Start tasting at the 4 1/2 minute mark. Drain in colander and rinse with cold water until cool. Drain thoroughly and toss with 1 teaspoon sesame oil to prevent sticking.

Make dipping sauce. Combine tahini, soy sauce or tamari, rice wine vinegar, maple syrup, garlic, and ginger in a bowl. Season to taste with salt and pepper and add hot sauce, if using.

Prepare rolls. Fill a large shallow dish such as a pie plate half-way with steaming water. Add rice paper and allow to soak until softened, about 15 seconds. Place on a clean towel and layer ingredients on one end, starting with a small piece of red leaf lettuce, soba noodles, avocado, tempeh, kabocha, cilantro, sesame seeds, if using, and a drizzle of the dipping sauce. Roll up like a burrito, starting with the sides, and then roll up tightly. Place a damp towel over rolled pieces while repeating with remaining ingredients, heating water as necessary. Serve with dipping sauce and additional herbs, if desired. Enjoy! Makes 12-15 summer rolls.

30 + Chocolate and Hazelnut Tin Can Cake

Just a few months ago, I was cleaning out my closet with my sister, and I pulled out this cute little black dress. It was made of a soft and stretchy material and had a flowy little skirt. Minus the little skirt, it was a pretty conservative number with short sleeves and a crew neck that covered even my collar bones, so I was a bit surprised by my sister's reaction when I held it up to her. I expected her to ooh and ahh at how cute the dress was, ask me where I got it, and do that whole girly thing, but instead what I got was, "You're too old for that." I stuffed the dress back into the closet, lost total interest in going through the rest of my clothes, and wondered what else was I too old for. 

I sulked about my twenty-nine years for about two weeks after that, thought about how I should have been more established in my career by now, about how I should have been more adventurous in my twenties, about how I should have worn that little black dress more times than I did when I was still "young," still allowed. I went on this downward spiral of feeling sorry for myself, about those lost opportunities, about the shoulda-woulda-couldas. I know, I was being a bit dramatic, but my sister's comment stung. I know she did not mean it to be so harsh, but I took it way more personally, probably because I was a bit sensitive about getting older anyway, about entering another decade and dealing with the expectations of what someone in his or her thirties does and does not do.

I finally snapped out of my little self-pity phase. When my 30th birthday finally rolled around earlier this week, I was ready to celebrate not the old shoulda-woulda-couldas, but the shall, will, and can do's. My twenties brought some pretty exciting experiences in my life, all for which I am grateful, but I am making sure that my thirties top it.

No more pity party over here, just this delicious little chocolate and hazelnut cake.

Before getting to the recipe, I have to say that my family is always so wonderful about celebrating my birthday over Thanksgiving. For the past few years, they have gotten me one of those super-addicting cookie cakes from the Great American Company, and each and every year, it somehow gets destroyed. One year it was dropped, another year, it somehow got folded up like a cookie taco by the time it made it home, and this year, my little sister's new dog "who never eats food off of the counter," licked half of the icing off of the cake. Unfortunate, but silly events, and I am grateful for a family that goes through the trouble of celebrating my birthday when we can all be together.

Now onto this cake! I wanted to make a little cake because there are only two of us at home, but also because just how cute is this?! This was inspired by a mix of recipes from around the web, but I picked chocolate and hazelnut because 1) I love chocolate and hazelnut (see these truffles) and 2) I wanted a fancy combo to ring in this new decade.

The tin can bit was inspired by a cake at the Domestic Goddess. I adapted the batter from a Mini One Bowl Yellow Cake at The Cake Merchant but made some changes in the prep and used coconut sugar to give it a richer, caramel flavor. The icing is my own creation.

Chocolate and Hazelnut Tin Can Cake

Cake:
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1/3 cup coconut sugar
3 tablespoons kefir or buttermilk
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Frosting:
1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/2- 3/4 cup coconut sugar (or powdered sugar for a smoother frosting)
3 tablespoons nutella or other chocolate hazelnut spread
2 teaspoons cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup chopped toasted hazelnuts (skins removed after toasting)

For the cake, preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease a clean 28 ounce tin can and line bottom and sides with parchment paper.

In a bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. In a separate bowl, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy with an electric mixer. Add kefir or buttermilk, egg, and vanilla, and beat for about a minute or until well combined. Slowly sprinkle in flour mixture. and beat for 45 seconds or until mixture is smooth, scraping down the sides often.

Pour batter into prepared tin can, bang can on counter to get out any air bubbles, and bake for 35-45 minutes or until toothpick poked into center comes out clean. Cool on wire rack for 15 minutes. Remove from can and allow to cool completely.

Meanwhile, prepare frosting. Cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Start with 1/2 cup sugar and add more sugar to taste. Beat in nutella, cocoa powder, and salt until well combined. Set aside until cake has cooled completely.

To frost cake, remove top rounded portion of cake until top is level. Cut cake into two even layers. Apply an even layer of frosting on the bottom layer (about 1/3 of the frosting), then top with second layer. Apply a thin crumb-coating all over cake, place in fridge for 10 minutes to firm up, and then continue to frost cake with remaining frosting. Press chopped hazelnuts into side of cake. Cake is best eaten the day it is made, but you can store it in the fridge overnight. Enjoy! Makes 1 4-inch two layer cake.

Maple and Tahini Sweet Potato Pancakes

Happy almost Thanksgiving! Our family is not actually celebrating Thanksgiving on Thanksgiving because too many family members have significant others, work schedules are a bit wonky, etc., etc. It is going to happen, just not on the fourth Thursday of November like Congress decreed decades ago. I hope to take some pictures from our delightful feast, but since I try to put the camera away when there is conversation to be had and good eating to be done, I may not capture all of the fun on camera.

Anyway, on to these pancakes! So if you want to keep up the fall festivities after Thanksgiving, I highly suggest you give these pancakes a try. They are quite a bit more dense than my Lemon Ricotta Pancakes, but they are still wonderfully light on the body due to the mashed sweet potato. I also find them more filling than traditional pancakes which I appreciate. Ever eaten a stack of buttermilk pancakes and still been hungry? These are much more satisfying on so many levels. For example, tahini and maple syrup go IN the batter and ON TOP for a double yum. I also throw on some toasted coconut flakes...and yes, I mean throw because I like to make it rain coconut...

These pancakes are perfect for using up any leftover mashed sweet potatoes or roasted sweet potatoes you have- just remove the flesh from the jacket to get the smoothest batter. Full of nourishing vitamin A, vitamin C, and beta carotene, and a whole host of other micronutrients, sweet potatoes are nutritional powerhouses. I say we find more excuses to eat them. And did you know that the tahini and bit of coconut oil in here are not just for incredible flavor? They also help make beta-carotene more available to our bodies since a little fat is needed for the body absorb it.

A few notes about the recipe. Because these are a bit dense (in a good way!), these will take longer to cook than most traditional pancakes, about 3-4 minutes for the first side. But be patient! The wait is worth it! They will still be moist on the inside so do not worry about drying them out. Also, for most pancakes, you will notice bubbles on the surface to indicate when to flip the pancake, but that is not the case with these. Instead, watch for the outer rim to lose its shine and sets. Flip and continue cooking until golden brown, To keep warm, place them on a wire rack in a 200 degree Fahrenheit oven until ready to serve.

These are delicious made ahead and reheated in the microwave or just to snack on straight from the refrigerator... with a drizzle of tahini, of course.

Maple and Tahini Sweet Potato Pancakes

2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and but into 1" pieces (or 1 1/2 cups mashed sweet potatoes)
2 tablespoons coconut oil, melted (or other neutral oil), plus extra for cooking
2 eggs
1 cup milk of choice (I used 2%, but other non-dairy options should work)
2 tablespoons tahini (sesame seed paste), plus more for serving (I am partial to Soom tahini since it is made here in Philly!)
1 tablespoon maple syrup, plus more for serving
2/3 cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice (or a mix of cinnamon and nutmeg)
1/2 teaspoon salt
Coconut flakes, toasted, for serving

Cook sweet potatoes. To steam, place sweet potatoes in a steamer basket in pot with an inch of water in the bottom. Bring water to boil, cover pot with lid, and allow to cook until sweet potato is easily mashed with a fork, about 10 minutes. Keep checking until sweet potatoes are tender. Alternatively, if you do not have a steamer basket, you can cook sweet potatoes in a thin layer of water for a similar effect. Drain sweet potatoes well if using this method.

Mash cooked sweet potatoes with a fork until mostly smooth. It should equal about 1 1/2 cups. Beat in melted coconut oil, eggs, milk, tahini, and maple syrup until smooth.

In another bowl, mix the dry ingredients until well combined. Add dry into wet and stir just until combined.

Preheat a cast iron skillet or griddle over medium heat. Grease with additional coconut oil until surface is shiny and stick-proof. When water drops sprinkled on the skillet sizzle but do not smoke, it is ready. Scoop about 1/4 cup batter onto skillet for each pancake. Use a spoon to get an even pancake shape as this batter is a bit dense and does not flow as easily. Cook for 3-4 minutes on the first side or until edges are well set and flip to cook another 2-3 minutes on the other side. Move to a wire rack and keep warm in a 200 degree oven. Repeat with the rest of the batter, greasing pan as necessary. Serve with maple syrup, more tahini, and toasted coconut flakes. Enjoy! Makes about 8-9 pancakes to serve about 3 people. 

Sweet Potato, Kale, and Wild Rice Soup

Thanksgiving is upon us! I spent the better part of Saturday making our Thanksgiving menu and organizing the grocery list to reduce the frenzy potential at the store. I like to organize the list by aisle- super time-saver. I put all of the recipes we are going to make in a single document, adjusting the quantities based on how many servings we need. This makes list-making easier AND there is no guesswork when divvying up the recipes to relative who want to help cook. Yay for a family of cooks!

So what is on our menu? I am lucky that my family is open to trying new things each year. There are certain ingredient must-haves, but most anything goes within those boundaries. For example, there is always turkey, gravy, stuffing, mashed potatoes, green beans, Brussels sprouts, carrots, cranberries, some sort of pumpkin dessert, plus way too many other desserts that we decide on at the last minute. My Mom also loves to make Pepperidge Farm cornbread stuffing and break out a can of super smooth jellied cranberry sauce to make it totally American.

My Mom is in charge of our turkey- she is an expert at the whole brining thing- and the gravy, so I will find out what she has in store come Thanksgiving day. Mashed potatoes are getting the slow cooker treatment for the first time, green beans will be mixed with my Miso Mushrooms (minus the white beans), Brussels sprouts will roast with pears, cranberries will simmer with some citrus and bay leaves, carrots will get a maple and cumin glaze, and pumpkin pie will merge with coconut pie for the dessert we have so far. There is also going to be a fall salad in there somewhere, you know, just as an appetizer to our vegetable-filled feast.

What are you making for Thanksgiving? Any family favorites?

As much as I love planning Thanksgiving, the days leading up to it can be hectic. Work, travel, grocery shopping, etc. This is where this soup comes in. It is a perfect pre-Thanksgiving soup- simple to make, nourishing, not too heavy, but comforting enough for this cooler weather.  Because around these parts, the temperature just plummeted.

This recipe was featured over at Be Well Philly with two other sweet potato recipes from the awesome Lindsey Kane and talented Grace Dickinson. You can check all three recipes out here.