Lemon Yogurt Cake

I love lemons. If I had lived in a cool climate hundreds of years ago, I probably would have asked you for lemons for Christmas. Loving me as you do, you would have bought me several, and I would have baked you a delicious lemon cake as a reward.

Thanks to globalization and fossil fuels, I can now buy lemons any time I want...

But still, a lemon cake was in order. The whole wheat flour made it healthier, but maybe less delicious than this similar smitten kitchen cake. I didn't follow that recipe exactly anyway. My cake was still very tasty and maybe a little healthy.

Ingredients:
1 cup plan, whole milk yogurt, unsweetened
1/4 lemon juice
2 tbs butter
1 cup sugar
Zest of one lemon
1/3 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
1 2/3 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups fresh berries (I used blueberries and a few raspberries)
**You can use frozen berries too**

Grease two small bread loaf pans with the butter, use some cooking spray if surface is uneven. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine all liquid ingredients and stir well. Add sugar, and stir that well too. Add the dry ingredients and the rest of the butter, and mix until the batter has virtually no lumps. Fold in berries and pour batter into pans. Bake for 45 minutes to an hour. It's done when a toothpick comes out clean.

Whole Wheat Gnocchi?

On a recent trip to a Festival Foods, I noticed a package of "whole wheat gnocchi." Given my infatuation with gnocchi and anything whole wheat, I immediately and impulsively threw them in my basket. It wasn't until later that I realized this gnocchi was made from sweet potato and potato pasta can't really be whole wheat. Actually, you can make gnocchi from many things (pumpkin, spinach, etc.) I was just disappointed that these were not as healthy as I had hoped. A third of the package only has one gram of fiber!

No matter. I made them anyway and they were just as delicious as plain old white gnocchi. The mere idea of a healthy gnocchi actually inspired me to forgo my usual cream sauce and create something less fatty. I made a nice sun dried tomato sauce, and topped the dish with Parmesan. Here's the recipe for my sauce.

Ingredients:
1 can tomato sauce
10-12 sun dried tomatoes
1 tsp red pepper flakes
1 cup parsley, chopped
1 small yellow onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 cup black olives, sliced

First, soak you're dried tomatoes in hot water for about 15 minutes. Strain and chop the tomatoes, reserving the liquid. In a small pot with some olive oil, saute the onion and pepper flakes until onion is clear. Add tomato sauce, dried tomatoes and garlic. Cook at medium heat until tomatoes soften a little. Add olives and parsley. Continue to cook this at a low heat, while adding the liquid little by little until you reach a nice consistency. Puree if desired.

Boil and strain your gnocchi. Serve with sun dried tomato sauce, and top with Parmesan and parsley for garnish.

Sesame Noodles

This meal was noodley and delicious. I actually used plain, old spaghetti noodles (of the whole wheat variety). You can use any kind of noodles.

Anyone who knows me would tell you I love spicy foods, so ingredients with an asterisk can either be removed or reduced from this recipe to make it more mild. Regardless, this noodle dish should be satisfying and makes for good leftovers.

Ingredients:
1 small yellow onion
3 small green chilies*
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 teaspoon sesame seeds
1 tablespoon garlic-ginger paste
1 teaspoon chili powder*
1 tablespoon green curry paste*
1 teaspoon turmeric
About 2 cups of broccoli, cut into small pieces
About 1 cup medium-sized mushrooms, sliced
About 1 cup fresh tofu, cubed
8 oz coconut milk
1/4 cup peanut butter
1/3 package of spaghetti noodles (or whichever type of noodle suites you)
Soy sauce to taste
Sesame seed and olive oil for saute

First, saute the onions until almost clear in sesame seed and olive oils. Add green chilies. After about 2 minutes, add cumin and sesame seeds. Once they start to sizzle, add broccoli and mushrooms. Saute until a little soft. Add curry paste and ginger garlic paste while mixing well. Add coconut milk and peanut butter. Continue to stir and pour a little water into the pot to make it more like "sauce." Add tofu, turmeric and chili powder. Use salt/soy sauce until you are satisfied. Prepare you're noodles and add them to the mixture.