Dropping by

It's been a while. Ready for a photo heavy post? 

I’ve started college and it’s been both exciting and overwhelming at times. I miss my kitchen, every so often, when I eat at some of the dining halls. (The closest one to my residence hall really, really stinks.) I haven't been baking much. I did bake (many, many) batches of Trader Joe’s refrigerated cookie dough in my friend’s kitchen with a few friends. It was reminiscent of a simple time when I wasn’t bogged down with exams, papers, and readings.

I’ll be in touch soon. (Read: after Thanksgiving break. I already have a long list of recipes to test.)

Here’s a batch of chocolate banana muffins I made a few days before school started. They’re very delicate in texture and not too sweet – just the way I like ‘em. Perfect for a quick breakfast or an afternoon pick-me-up. 

~~~

Chocolate Banana Muffins 

Recipe adapted from Nigella Lawson 

1 c. almond meal

½ c. whole wheat flour

¼ c. all purpose flour

3 T. cocoa

2 t. baking powder

½ t. baking soda

¼ t. salt

⅔ c. light brown sugar, gently packed

1 c. milk

⅓ c. mashed banana (1 medium banana)

1 T. grapeseed oil

1 egg

1 t. vanilla

40 g. 70% chocolate, chopped (1/2 Lindt bar)

sliced almonds

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and line your muffin tin.

Sift together almond meal, flours, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and brown sugar. There will be flecks of grain from the whole wheat flour left in the sieve. Dump those in.

Add mashed banana to a medium sized bowl. Add in egg, oil, and vanilla and mix. Once combined, add in the milk and slowly mix together.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry and fold together gently. It is okay if there are lumps. Add in the chopped chocolate.

Add sliced almonds on the top of the muffins, if desired. Add enough to cover the top in one even layer.

Bake for 15 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Because of the melted chocolate chunks, poke in the toothpick in at least two different areas. If you pull out the toothpick and there is some dark batter on it, it might be chocolate. So try in two places.

A week in food

New York weather has been sucking, to say the least. Just a few days ago, the sun was beating down on us. On the hottest day, I decided to go to Upper East Side to do some errands. I came back soaking in sweat. I showered, slipped on a light dress, and made some watermelon lemonade via Smitten Kitchen. It was wickedly delicious. I normally dislike watermelon flavored anything (i.e. candy) but this was pleasantly light and refreshing.



Quinoa is my new best friend. Once washed thoroughly, it really does taste good with anything, including my favorite ginger miso dressing. There are specks of green peas and thin ribbons of carrots in this lovely pilaf (?) / salad (?). Not sure what to categorize this as. Recipe will be up soon.



I was feeling a bit, er, ambitious this day. I made vegan, baked falafel. I was feeling reeeeal good about my health until I dolloped on the tzatzki sauce. Oops. Recipe will also be up soon.



I've been wanting to try Molly's French yogurt cake since I first started reading her blog. Although the ingredients are simple, I never came around to make it. Um, this isn't it either. However, I'm pretty sure Ina based her recipe off of the traditional one that Molly makes. I add even less oil and more Greek yogurt. It came out wonderful. The cake was moist and the (fresh) blueberries added bursts of flavor and color. I stored it in the fridge for a snack the next day. I ate a slice and pleased with how it stood up. It tasted delicious cold as well!



THIS, my friends, was unexplicably amazing. Rich, dark, and intense would be the perfect words to describe this VEGAN CHOCOLATE SORBET. Yes, it's vegan. And yes, it is freakin' delicious. I used a natural cocoa with a bar of 85% Lindt chocolate bar. I dialed back the sugar by a wee bit, a teaspoon or so. I used the breaking-up-ice-crystals method because I'm too lazy to pull out my ice cream maker. (Yes, I know it's a great tool but I have the old one where you have to freeze the bowl. I have NO room in my freezer for a hunk of metal. A thin plastic Tupperware container- I have room for!) But anyway, even after not scraping it for hours, it came out rich and luscious. The texture is a bit weird for me but after a few minutes of melting time, the sorbet is creamy and soft and luscious and ohmygod delicious.



Like summer in your mouth. I just rummaged my fridge and counter tops for ingredients for a light lunch. Steamed stalks of asparagus, avocado slices, red onions slices, cherry tomatoes, frozen bread slice (toasted and rubbed with a clove of garlic), garlic, onion, balsamic vinegar, EVOO. Oh, and a poached egg. I love poached eggs. Have I mentioned this before? If I haven't... I LOVE POACHED EGGS. I use the Danny Ahern method. It is foolproof.



Blueberry banana smoothie + New Yorker. Saaah-weet. A banana, ice cubes, a handful of blueberries, a couple of dollops of Greek yogurt, and a splash of milk all went into my trusty and loveably Magic Bullet. Whirrrrrrrr and bam! Instant breakfast/lunch/snack/dinner. Very healthy too. Awesome.

That's it, folks! My week in, basically, lunches and snacks. I have a few recipes (quinoa with ginger miso dressing, homemade falafel) and rants (Momofuku's cookies) and raves (Babycakes!) to share with y'all soon. So stick around. And until then, visit me at Blocks Mag.