Almond Cardamom Cookies

I found this blog recently after it was mentioned in NYT's Dining and Wine. These cookies are gluten-free and can be made vegan depending on your butter vs. shortening choice.
The cookies ended up tasting delicious, although I did have some major issues with the consistency. I ended up baking them more than 3x the time suggested (every time I would tap them lightly in the oven to see if they were done, the almond meal batter would just stick to my finger), but I'm wondering if it was a result of the vegetable shortening? Next time I'll probably go with butter, but otherwise, these really did taste delicious!

Ingredients

1/2 cup of unsalted butter or vegan vegetable shortening (if going the vegan route)
10 tbs of powdered sugar
3/4 cup of almond meal
1/2 cup of besan (chickpea )flour
2 Tbs of sorghum flour
1/4 tsp of green cardamom powder (tip for making the powder here)
1/8 tsp of salt
parchment paper

Directions
1.  Sift the almond meal, besan flour and sorghum flour together
2.  Add in:
  1/4 tsp of cardamom powder
  1/8 tsp of salt
3.  Set it aside
  In another bowl cream together:
  1 stick of softened unsalted butter
  10 Tbs of powdered sugar

4. Mix them gently together.
5. The dough is going to be a bit sticky and loose, but gather it up as best you can, roll it into a ball, wrap it in a bit of saran wrap and pop it in the fridge to take a nap for about 20 minutes.

6. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees.
7. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
8. Take out the dough and knead it a bit... only 3 or 4 times, then nip off little bits.
9. Roll each one into a little ball and put it on the cookie sheet.
10. Pop an almond on top.


11. Now back into the fridge again for another 15 minute cat nap.
12. Then take them out and put them in the oven on the middle rack for about 22 minutes or so. (note: Mine needed almost an hour?! Altitude perhaps?)
13. The cookies should stay on the light side of done. You can tell when they're ready when they're light brown on the bottom.
14. Take them out of the oven.
15. Let them sit on the cookie sheet for another 5 minutes then move them to a cooling rack.

The unbaked cookies

Vegan Roasted Brussels Sprouts, Butternut Squash and Apple With Candied Walnuts

I adapted this from The Temporary Vegetarian column in the NYT.
Next time around I would put all of the cut produce in a much larger baking area so that they could all slightly char and crisp without getting mushy from surrounding veggies.
Aside from that minor texture issues in a couple of spots, I thought the taste of this was wonderful. (Oh and if you're hungry (read: pigs like us) and thinking this will serve two people as a main dish...you might want to double it -- we definitely wanted a bit more.)

Ingredients

* 1 1/2 cups brussels sprouts, trimmed, halved
* 2 cups butternut squash, peeled and cut into 1-inch asymmetrical chunks
* 2 cups (about 1 large) Honeycrisp, Cortland, or Granny Smith apple, cored and cut into 1-inch asymmetrical chunks
* 1 shallot, cut crosswise into 1/4-inch slices
* 2 tablespoons olive oil (or Pam if you want to omit some fat/calories)
* 5 fresh sage leaves
* Salt and freshly ground pepper
* 1/2 tablespoon maple syrup
Candied walnuts
Craisens/dried cranberries

Method

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a large, shallow, baking dish, toss the brussels sprouts, butternut squash, apple and shallot with olive oil and sage leaves. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Bake without stirring until vegetables and apple are wrinkled, slightly brown, and the edges of the squash are beginning to crisp, 45 minutes to 1 hour.
2. Remove vegetables from oven, drizzle with maple syrup and sprinkle with 2 to 3 tablespoons of halved or roughly crumbled walnut pieces and 2 to 3 tablespoons of craisens. Return to oven for about 5 minutes, then serve.

Chickpeas in Spicy Tomato Gravy

I got this recipe from my first issue of Food and Wine, and was at first disappointed. It seems that the picture they post is either not the photo that corresponds to the recipe, or the recipe was wrong. Either way, I doctored it up, fixed some issues with their instructions, and now deem it delicious :)

It is actually incredibly fast to make (you can also make ahead and let it simmer in the slow cooker on low for few hours at least), and very healthy. Oh and pretty spicy too -- yogurt helps!

Ingredients

8 garlic cloves, chopped
2 jalapeños, chopped
One 2-inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and chopped

3 onions, cut into 1/4-inch dice
2 tablespoons ground cumin
1 tablespoon ground coriander
1 tablespoon paprika
3/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Two 15-ounce cans diced tomatoes
Two 15-ounce cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed
2 cups water
Salt
2 tablespoons cilantro leaves

Instructions

1. In a mini food processor, combine the garlic, jalapeños and ginger and process to a paste. (If your food processor is not small enough and doesn't reach everything enough to really get a paste don't worry about; just do the best you can.) Drain 1 can of tomatoes and add to the food processor, process til smooth.

2. In a large lightly oiled/pam'ed nonstick skillet, heat the pan to medium heat, add the onions and cook over moderately high heat until sizzling, about 3 minutes. Reduce the heat to moderate and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions are browned, about 7 minutes.

3. Add the garlic/ginger/jalapeno/tomato blend and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add the cumin, coriander, paprika, and cayenne and cook, stirring, for 1 minute.

4. Add the remaining can of tomatoes and simmer over moderate heat until thickened, about 6 minutes.

5. Add the chickpeas and water and simmer until the chickpeas are flavored with the gravy, about 8 minutes. (May need to go longer to really thicken up the "gravy").

6. Season the chickpeas with salt, garnish with the cilantro and serve with naan and plain greek yogurt.