Scones and muffins

It's been a long time since my last post - I moved to D.C. and started my new job! That's been keeping me pretty busy, and I didn't have any of my cooking stuff for a while. I didn't think posting about how I was eating off-brand grape nuts, carrots, store-bought hummus, and bananas every day would make for good reading.

So here's some baking I did a while back. These scones were a variation on the glazed scones in Vegan with a Vengeance - it's my go-to scone recipe, but I don't always bother with the glaze. Sometimes that's just a little too messy and a little too sweet. I also switch up a few of the other ingredients depending on what I have and how healthy I want to make them.



These were date-orange. I chopped up medjool dates, which are one of my new favorite things, and also added some orange zest and chopped candied orange peel.

1 1/4 C almond or soy milk, or mix of creamer and non-milk
1 T apple cider vinegar
3 C flour - I mixed about 1 C all-purpose with 2 C whole wheat pastry
1/3 C sugar
2 T baking powder
1/4 t salt
1/3 C vegetable oil
a few medjool dates, chopped small
1/4 C or so chopped candied orange peel. Candied ginger, cherries, or berries would be good if you don't have orange peel
orange zest - lemon would work too

Preheat oven to 400 and lightly oil a cookie sheet
- mix milk and vinegar, set aside
- sift flour(s), sugar, baking powder, and salt in large bowl
- add milk mixture, oil, dates, and zest until just mixed; don't worry about clumps and don't over-mix
- divide dough in two
- put half on the cookie sheet, pat into a 6-inch disk as well as you can, and cut it into six wedges. It'll probably be too sticky to really separate them, but they'll still be sort of separate once baked.
- repeat with other half of the dough
- bake 12-15 minutes, until slightly browned on the bottom, and not yet browned but firm on top
- let cool a bit then cut apart

If you're really into glaze, I guess just mix some orange or lemon juice into some powdered sugar and do it up. Be sure to let the scones cool before glazing though, or it'll just run all over the place. These scones end up pretty huge, so sometimes I split the dough into 3 pieces instead, and make 18 smaller ones.



These muffins are based on another recipe in VWAV, but I can't remember which...I can tell you that I used dried/reconstituted rainier and bing cherries and almond extract.

Using up food and a lot of cabbage

So, I'm moving to D.C. in less than a week! I'm pretty excited about starting my Dream Job, even though the food scene there is pretty bleak compared with Minneapolis or Portland. I've been spoiled by coops, farmers markets, CSAs, and socially responsible, affordable restaurants with vegan options and organic ingredients. Expect griping on future posts.

Regardless, moving across the country (again) means using up food and making meals out of odds and ends.

I used a box of silken tofu, brown basmati rice, a bunch of seasonings, gluten flour, and chickpea flour to make these baked rice balls. I ate them with coleslaw seasoned with rice vinegar, soy sauce, sesame oil, etc. They were good, but if I make them again I'll use slightly more flour and less tofu.



Before I knew I was moving, I made a big trip to my local Asian grocery store, United Noodles, and got some yam noodles (shirataki), seaweed, and other fun stuff. I made a noodle stir fry with cabbage, garlic, onions, carrots, the noodles, soy sauce, sesame oil, black vinegar, and ginger.



If you haven't tried yam noodles, I recommend them. They're the nutritional equivalent of chewy water, but still. I like the texture a lot and they absorb flavors well. I made this even better by eating it with the best chopsticks ever.

Finally, last week I made some really simple wontons with a tofu, red onion, garlic, purple cabbage, and carrot filling. Just put about a tablespoon of filling on a wrapper, wet the edges, and press together. Don't overfill them, or they won't stay sealed.



I browned them in a pan rather than frying them.



I won't be doing a lot of cooking in the next few days, since I have to pack up my kitchen for the move. I can't wait to have a gas stove again!