Whole wheat pumpkin chocolate chip bars (refined sugar-free)

whole grain pumpkin chocolate chip bars | pamela salzman

Halloween is next week and it is a big day for treats!  I’ll admit, the last few years I haven’t posted any sweets before Halloween because I figured there’s plenty of candy to go around.  Who needs another food from the sugar category?  Upon rethinking, I’ve decided there is room for higher quality treats, especially when the options might otherwise be supermarket cupcakes with artificially-colored frosting, marshmallow ghosts or candy corn brownies.  Yikes!  I can’t handle it and neither can my blood sugar, mood and skin.

pumpkin bar prep

It’s really hard to avoid sugar on Halloween, but keep in mind this is when a lot of people fall into the downward spiral of eating dessert too often.  First comes Halloween, then Thanksgiving, then pre-Christmas parties, etc.  Just putting it out there to be a little mindful when your kids’ trick or treat baskets tempt you.

pumpkin chocolate chip bars ready to be baked

My kids and my husband are bonkers for these pumpkin chocolate chips bars.  Or maybe they’re like pumpkin chocolate chip blondies, because they’re kind of dense.  They’re definitely not the same texture of a muffin, which is spongy and light.  These are super moist, flavorful, just sweet enough with the perfect amount of chocolate chips.  But if you don’t like chocolate (and we’re friends?), use currants or chopped pecans instead.   In my opinion (and that’s all you get around here,) the key to pumpkin desserts is the combination of spices.  And for me, the spices in this recipe are perfect with both the pumpkin and the chocolate chips, too– predominantly cinnamon with nutmeg and a touch of cloves for spiciness.  I taught these in my cooking classes 2 years ago and they were a huge hit!

coconut sugar on the left and white sugar on the right

I make these with either whole wheat pastry flour or whole spelt flour.  Both are delicious.  And I always make the cake with coconut sugar, which is minimally processed and unrefined.  But if you can’t find it, the recipe works with white sugar, too. The photo above shows one cake made with coconut sugar (left) and one made with cane sugar (right.)  I can’t tell the difference in taste, honestly.

You can make your own pumpkin puree very easily.  Click here for the how-to.  And whereas making your own from scratch is always best, sometimes we just don’t have the time.  There are a few good brands of organic pumpkin in BPA-free packages.  I do prefer tetrapaks over cans, though.  I buy Farmers Market brand organic pumpkin in tetrapaks from Whole Foods or amazon.

whole grain pumpkin chocolate chip bars | pamela salzman

 

whole grain pumpkin chocolate chip bars | pamela salzman

 

Whole Wheat Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bars

Pamela
5 from 1 vote
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Ingredients
  

  • 2 cups whole wheat pastry flour or whole spelt flour or GF flour mix + ½ tsp. xanthan gum
  • 1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • ½ teaspoon ground cloves
  • ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon aluminum-free baking powder or omit to make these denser
  • ¾ cup 1 ½ sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 1 cup coconut palm sugar pure maple syrup or cane sugar
  • 1 large egg room temperature
  • 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
  • 1 ¾ cup or 1 15-ounce box/can pumpkin puree not pumpkin pie filling click here to make your own
  • 6 ounces dark or semisweet chocolate chips just shy of 1 cup

Instructions
 

  • Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease and line a 9” x 13” pan with parchment paper, allowing paper to hang over the sides (the length of the pan).
  • In a medium bowl whisk together the flour, spices, salt, baking soda and baking powder and set aside.
  • In a large mixing bowl, beat together the butter and sugar on high speed until light and fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla and combine well. Stir in pumpkin.
  • Add the dry ingredients a little at a time, mixing on low until just combined. Stir in the chocolate chips.
  • Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan and smooth top with a rubber spatula. Bake for 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the bars comes out clean.
  • Cool on a wire rack and when removing the bars, lift the parchment paper and transfer to a platter to cut and serve.
  • Serve warm or at room temperature. Leftovers keep in the refrigerator for up to a week.

Notes

If you want to make a smaller cake in an 8 x 8 or 9 x 9-inch pan, cut all the ingredients in half.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

Cauliflower mashed potatoes recipe

cauliflower mashed potatoes | pamela salzman

My husband has no choice but to eat what I make every night because there are no other options and the man does not cook.  That said, if I’m being totally honest, I think he would rather eat lasagne and cheeseburgers over quinoa and brown rice bakes.  I do, however, think he appreciates how my cooking makes him feel, which is “not gross” and he has definitely come to like plant foods and veggies more and more.  But there are certain occasions when he just wants me to leave things be, like Thanksgiving.  Not to worry, I’m not starting to post Thanksgiving recipes yet.  We still have 6 1/2 weeks to go for that.  But who’s counting?

cook the cauliflower and potatoes together

When I suggested either eliminating regular mashed potatoes from the Thanksgiving menu or replacing them with cauliflower mashed potatoes, he stood up and exclaimed, “NOW you’re taking this too far!”  He may have even pointed his finger in the air, I can’t remember.  Ok, I got the message.  But, I haven’t made “Thanksgiving” mashed potatoes on any other day of the year since then, instead I have used this Cauliflower Mashed Potato recipe.  And guess what?  Everyone loves it!  They’re creamy, light and hardly taste at all like cauliflower.

fork tender

It’s not that mashed potatoes are so terrible for you.  I wouldn’t put them in the class of Twinkies and Diet Coke, for example.  But potatoes without the peel aren’t a 10/10 and all that half-an-half and butter make mashed potatoes a very rich, not necessarily super digestible, dish. But cauliflower puree made from just cauliflower doesn’t have the same body (too thin) as regular mashed potatoes and I’m not fooling anyone with that one.  A combo of cauliflower and potatoes is what my family and I like best and I love that it is definitely more healthful and arguably waaaay easier to make than regular mashed potatoes if you have a food processor or an immersion blender.

food processor works great here

I have been talking up cauliflower as the “new kale” for some time and truthfully, I think cauliflower is much more versatile than kale.  Last night I made cauliflower “steaks.”  I’ve used cold steamed cauliflower in smoothies.  There are recipes for cauliflower alfredo sauce, and so on.  The best part is that cauliflower is a rock star plant food rich in Vitamin C, folate, Vitamin K, fiber, antioxidants as well as several anti-cancer phyto-chemicals like sulforaphane and plant sterols such as indole-3-carbinol, which appears to function as an anti-estrogen agent.

smooth and creamy cauliflower mashed potatoe

I serve this the same way I would regular mashed potatoes, with poultry or beef or saucy roasted vegetables.  I also count this as a starch, even though it’s mostly cauliflower, and I would serve a green veggie on the side.  And if you want to make this up to two hours in advance, just keep it warm over a double boiler.  That’s also the trick I use for making mashed potatoes in advance on Thanksgiving.  Ooops.  I wrote the T-word again.  Plenty of time until then, I swear.  First post coming in 2 1/2 weeks!

cauliflower mashed potatoes

cauliflower mashed potatoes | pamela salzman

Cauliflower Mashed Potatoes

Pamela
5 from 1 vote
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Servings 6

Ingredients
  

  • 1 medium-large head of cauliflower about 2 ¼ pounds, cut into florets (about 5 cups)
  • 1 pound Yukon Gold potatoes peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
  • kosher salt
  • 2 Tablespoons unsalted butter optional, but makes them taste better
  • ½ teaspoon of sea salt or to taste

Instructions
 

  • Place cauliflower, potatoes and a big pinch of kosher salt in a large pot and add enough water to come just below the top of the vegetables.
  • Bring to a boil over high heat and then lower to a simmer.  Cook until tender, about 15 minutes.
  • Drain cauliflower and potatoes and transfer to the bowl of a food processor fitted with the metal blade.  Add butter and salt and process until smooth.  Taste for seasoning and serve immediately.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

Turkey and pinto bean sloppy joes recipe (vegetarian version, too!)

turkey and pinto bean sloppy joes | pamela salzman

Last summer, my son came home after two weeks at sleep-away camp and couldn’t wait to tell me about an amazing food that I obviously had never heard of or eaten.  He assumed this because if I had ever enjoyed such culinary perfection, I would have surely been delighting my family with it over and over again.  “Mom, you’re not going to believe this thing I ate at camp!  I tried to remember everything about it so that you can make it at home!  It’s called…a sloppy joe!”  Should I have admitted I grew up in the 70’s and saw more than my share of Manwich commercials?  And that I have actually personally never eaten a sloppy joe in my life?  Because really the thought of sweet beef chili on a hamburger bun never spoke to me.

cooking the turkey

diced green pepper, onion and

But it spoke to Mr. Picky!  And when Mr. Picky likes something, I mobilize into action!  A classic sloppy joe is a sandwich (specifically on a hamburger bun) with a loose, seasoned ground beef and tomato filling.  It’s called “sloppy” because it’s kind of a mess to eat.  I came up with this version of a sloppy joe using ground turkey instead of beef and stretching the protein with some pinto beans, which I know is not traditional, but I couldn’t help myself.  And since Mr. Picky loves beans, I figured it was safe.  I also deviated a little from regular sloppy joes by cutting way down on the added sweeteners and by not using ketchup as my base.  I think I came up with a very tasty and nutritious dish whether you can call it a sloppy joe or not!  All I care about is that Mr. Picky goes crazy for it and always begs me to put it in a thermos the next day for his lunch.

after sautéing veggies, add everything

spice mixture and my favorite tomatoes

I do toast up some hamburger buns for my hubby and the kids, but I like to eat the sloppy joe mixture on top of some cooked grains, like brown rice or quinoa.  That’s how I can still make one meal but adapt it to appeal to everyone.  Usually I’ll serve a green salad or cole slaw on the side and I’m done.  You can adapt this recipe is by subbing 1 pound of crumbled tempeh for the ground turkey and you’ll have a great (even better I think) vegetarian option.  Feel free to sub sweet bell peppers for the green or add a grated carrot into the mixture or double the meat and omit the beans if you want.

turkey and pinto bean sloppy joe mixture

turkey and pinto bean sloppy joes | pamela salzman

It’s a really easy dinner, and it reheats beautifully if you want to make it in the morning or the day before.  It actually freezes well, too.  Something I did recently was to make the sloppy joe mixture after school, transfer it to my slow cooker and keep it on the warm setting until we all came home for “one of the best dinners ever in my life, Mommy.”  Winner!

turkey and pinto bean sloppy joes | pamela salzman

Turkey and Pinto Beans Sloppy Joes

Pamela
5 from 1 vote
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Servings 6

Ingredients
  

  • 1 pound ground turkey preferably dark meat
  • 1-2 Tablespoons cold-pressed unrefined extra-virgin olive oil
  • ¾ cup diced onion
  • ½ green bell pepper diced or sweet bell pepper
  • 3 cloves garlic finely chopped
  • 1 ½ cups cooked pinto beans or 1 15-ounce can drained and rinsed (click here to learn how to cook beans from scratch)
  • 1 18- ounce jar crushed tomatoes or tomato puree I like Jovial organic tomatoes in glass jars.
  • 2 Tablespoons tomato paste
  • 2 Tablespoons red wine vinegar
  • 2 Tablespoons pure maple syrup
  • 4 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce look for vegan or gluten-free versions if you need
  • 2 teaspoons chili powder
  • 1 teaspoon mustard powder
  • 1 teaspoon sea salt
  • freshly ground black pepper to taste
  • accompaniments: toasted hamburger buns or cooked grains such as brown rice millet or quinoa

Instructions
 

  • Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add turkey and brown, breaking up the meat into small crumbles until just cooked through. Drain and reserve in a separate bowl.
  • In the same skillet, warm the olive oil over medium heat and sauté the onions, pepper and garlic until onion is tender and translucent.
  • Add turkey back to the skillet and add remaining ingredients. Stir to combine and simmer over medium-low heat for 15 minutes. Taste for seasoning and add more salt and pepper if needed.

Notes

You can also make a vegetarian version by subbing 1 pound of crumbled tempeh for the turkey and using a vegan worcestershire sauce. Just saute the tempeh where you would saute the meat in Step 1. Tempeh is not as moist as meat though, so you may need to add a few tablespoons of water or vegetable stock with the tomatoes. My family likes the sloppy joes on toasted hamburger buns with sliced dill pickles.
You can also make this more spicy with a little cayenne or hot sauce.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

Apple Pie Granita recipe (refined sugar-free)

apple pie granita sundaes | pamela salzman

My grandparents had a cute place in the Pocono mountains when I was growing up.  We would go for a week in the summer and occasionally for a long weekend during Thanksgiving and Presidents’ weekend.  Summers were the best though, because we were always outside playing badminton or bocce on the bocce alley my grandfather built.   Or picking wild blackberries until our arms were scratched from top to bottom.

some of the ingredients

My grandmother, my aunt and my mother would go to the market every day it seemed.  I swear we weren’t done with breakfast before my grandmother nervously asked, “Ok, now what are we doing about lunch?”  Everything revolved around food and mealtime. “Don’t go out now or you’ll be late for supper!”  “What time does everyone want to eat?”  “What should we make tonight for dinner?”  And so on.  Now that I direct mealtime at my parents’ house in the summer when I visit, I sort of see the obsession.  You can’t just wing it when you’re feeding a crowd and it’s no picnic when you’ve got hungry kids (or adults!)

dissolve everything in the apple juice

I always loved everything the ladies cooked, but there was a special dessert that my uncle used to make that blew my mind.  He would take the leftover espresso from the morning and dissolve sugar into it and a little water and freeze the whole thing.  In between bocce matches, he would go to the freezer and scrape the mixture into slushy, icy bits.  He called it granita di caffe.  It was like coffee ice, but we actually made it at home without any fancy machinery and it was delicious!  Of course I couldn’t  have too much because I was like 7 years old, so eventually he made us children granita di limone, lemon ice.  It was like a lemonade slushy.  Heaven.

pour the mixture into a glass baking dish

I had a dinner party over the weekend and because the weather is still warm where I live, I decided to try an apple granita for dessert.  WINNER!!!  Talk about the easiest, tasty, fresh, light, seasonal dessert.  It was also perfect because two of my girlfriends are dairy-free.  If you can imagine a light and crispy apple slushy ice infused with fall spices, this is apple granita.  I also had a granita sundae bar set up so we could layer the granita with caramel ice cream, crushed gingersnap cookies and dehydrated apple slices.  Just so good and did I mention easy?  Plus I did it a few days ahead and you know how much I love getting things done early.

scrape with a fork

What I love about granita is that it seems like a special dessert, but it’s really so easy you could make it for your kids for an after school snack, which I did for Mr. Picky yesterday.  He freaked out!  And when I told him I made it by myself without a machine, he started making all sorts of plans for future granitas, like Gatorade granita.  Creative, but not happening of course.  Just a dollop of whipped cream on top and some crushed gingersnaps made Mr. Picky forget about everything else for a bit.  Just like when I was a kid.

apple pie granites | pamela salzman

apple pie granita sundaes | pamela salzman

Apple Pie Granita

Pamela, adapted from foodandwine.com
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Servings 6

Ingredients
  

  • 3 cups natural-style apple juice preferably organic
  • 6-8 Tablespoons Grade A maple syrup or cane sugar
  • 1 ½ Tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
  • ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • Pinch ground nutmeg
  • Pinch ground allspice

Instructions
 

  • In a saucepan, combine all of the ingredients and cook over moderate heat, whisking until the sugar has dissolved, about 3 minutes. Do this step even if you are using a liquid sweetener as the heat will enhance the flavors of the spices.
  • Pour mixture into an 8- or 9-inch square baking dish. Freeze until icy around the edges, about an hour.
  • Using a fork, scrape the icy shards into the center. Continue to freeze, scraping occasionally and smashing any large lumps until coarse crystals form, about 3-4 hours longer. The end result should be a fluffy, coarse You can also use a large baking dish and the process will go more quickly. Keep frozen until ready to serve. The granita can be made a week in advance.

Notes

There are probably other sweeteners that you can use, but I only tested the recipe with maple syrup and cane sugar. I thought the recipe was a tad too sweet with 1/2 cup of sugar, but my friends thought it was perfect. If you tend to prefer desserts that are not too sweet, then use the lower amount of sugar/syrup.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

Vegan apple spice snacking cake recipe (refined sugar-free)

vegan apple spice snacking cake | pamela salzman

I just took stock of my pantry because baking season has officially begun.  It started slowly with a few batches of cookie dough for back to school lunches.  Then Mr. Picky’s birthday rolled around last week and whoosh it’s Rosh Hashana this Wednesday night already!  I don’t need to tell you what is just around the corner, do I?

grease the cake pan and line with parchment if desired

Thankfully, I share the Jewish holiday cooking with my mother-in-law and sister-in-law.  We each host a meal and cook whatever we want.  I have the first day of Rosh Hashana lunch, as well as the break fast on Yom Kippur evening.  The break fast is actually one of my favorite holidays to host because people literally starve themselves for 24 hours (no water either!) and then come to my house to eat.  I could basically serve anything and it would be a hit!

dry ingredients

One of the nice traditions of the Jewish new year is eating seasonal foods.  Love that!  Apples are likely the most important food along with honey which symbolize the hope of a sweet year ahead.  I have been loving the new crops of local apples flooding the markets over the past month.  My kids particularly love Honeycrisp, Pink Lady (my personal fave), Granny Smith.  I use apples all over the place at this time of year — turned into applesauce, sautéed on top of pancakes and waffles, cooked into oatmeal, chopped in salads and folded into simple snacking cakes like this one.

wet ingredients

I saw a recipe a few years back for a Depression era chocolate cake called “Wacky Cake.”  The cake didn’t use any “expensive” ingredients like eggs, milk or butter and I think got it’s name “wacky” because somehow the crazy recipe actually produced a moist, delicious cake.  There are a gajillion recipes for the classic chocolate Wacky Cake, but last year I decided to put a twist on the (vegan) recipe and use apples and spices instead.  Delicious!

batter before apples and raisins

 

diced apples and golden raisins

The result was a moist, fragrant and just sweet enough little cake that I think is just perfect for after school snacks, lunch box treats, brunch or anytime you need a seasonal dessert for a fall gathering, like Rosh Hashana!!  I make some sort of apple dessert every year for my luncheon, but I am very fond of this one because it is so darn easy and it freezes amazingly well.  It is also pretty clean: whole grain flour, minimal amount of unrefined coconut sugar, and very little oil (I use unrefined coconut oil.)  My entire family loves it!

add walnuts to the top of the cake

You can do different things with this easy cake.  You can double the recipe and bake the cakes in 9-inch round pans for a 2-layer cake.  I would use this vegan frosting or a classic cream cheese frosting to go between the two cakes and on top.  If you don’t like raisins, leave them out.  Or instead of placing the walnuts halves on the top of the cake, chop them up and fold them into the batter.  Or make this into muffins.  For my do-aheaders, make this today and freeze it for the upcoming holiday (Rosh Hashana, Halloween, Thanksgiving — GASP!)  If you are celebrating the new year this week, may it be a sweet one!
vegan apple spice snacking cake

vegan apple spice snacking cake | pamela salzman

 

Vegan Apple Spice Snacking Cake

Pamela
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Ingredients
  

  • 1 ¾ cups whole wheat pastry flour or whole spelt flour
  • ½ cup coconut palm sugar or brown sugar or cane sugar
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • ½ teaspoon aluminum-free baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon sea salt
  • ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 1/8 teaspoon cloves optional
  • ¼ cup melted coconut oil or unsalted butter not vegan
  • 1 Tablespoon apple cider vinegar or distilled white vinegar
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • ½ cup water
  • ½ cup orange juice*
  • 1 large apple peeled, cored and diced, about 1 cup
  • ½ cup unsulphured raisins optional
  • 16 raw walnut halves if desired

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees. You can grease your pan with coconut oil or butter and line it with unbleached parchment paper if you want to remove it from the pan to serve it. Otherwise, no greasing necessary if you will cut pieces from the pan to serve.
  • Whisk together the flour, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, baking powder, salt and nutmeg. Make a well (indentation) in the flour mixture.
  • Pour the coconut oil, vinegar, vanilla, water and orange juice in the well and stir until everything is just combined. Do not overmix!
  • Fold in diced apple pieces and raisins.
  • Pour batter into pan and smooth out top. If you want, evenly space walnut pieces over batter. Bake for 30 – 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Notes

*Or use all water and up the coconut sugar to 2/3 cup.  You can also add diced dates.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

Turkey and brown rice stuffed bell peppers recipe

Photo by Sarah Elliott for Pamela Salzman

In all my classes since Labor Day, everyone seems to be so motivated to get back into a cooking and dinner routine!  Although, now that I think about it, people that come to a cooking class ARE motivated to cook.  So maybe the entire universe isn’t looking for new dinner recipes, but I am. And I am doing my best to be really organized about meals again.

how to cut the peppers

if you're peppers won't stand up on their own

I find it a million times easier to make dinners in the summer than during the school year.  Sliced tomato, burrata, basil and olive oil counts as a meal in the summer.  Not so much now.  My family wants “real food!”  Of course my days right now are overscheduled and I am still driving around a 16-year-old who could easily have her license by now if she were only motivated to take the test.  I was dying to get my driver’s license when I was in high school.  Not my daughter.  She seems perfectly content to let me and her friends be her personal Uber.  Why am I talking about this?  Oh right.  Because I am driving all over the place in those precious hours before dinner time.  So I need to be Uber organized, if you will.

saute onions and minced peppers

I taught these turkey and brown rice stuffed bell peppers in a class a year or two ago and realized I hadn’t made them in a while.  With a salad, green vegetable or some millet-cauliflower mash, this is a great weekday meal for my family.   My husband and son feel like they’re getting a substantial “meaty” main dish and I know that there’s more plant-based foods in this recipe than meat, so I’m happy too.  My mom and my grandmother used to make stuffed peppers often, but they used ground beef and I don’t think much rice, if any at all.  I love adding a hearty grain like brown rice here to stretch the turkey a little further.

add turkey

I think this recipe has a lot of flavor as it is written, but there’s plenty of room for adaptation here.  Add basil or switch to cilantro; add some grated cheese to the mixture or on top; add a little turkey sausage; or use grass-fed beef if you prefer.  Once I had a half of a small zucchini and I grated it into the onion mixture.  Mushrooms also go really well here.  One thing I would advise is to seek out pesticide-free or organic bell peppers since they are on the Dirty Dozen produce list.

add rice

For those of you do-aheaders (like me), stuff the peppers earlier in the day and refrigerate.  Then bake when you get home.  Or, prepare and bake these after school, and transfer cooked peppers to your slow cooker on the warm setting until you are ready to eat.  I am doing this more and more since I have a little time after school to do meal prep and then I’m out with the rest of the taxi drivers until dinner time.  Until, I pray, someone decides to get herself into gear and let me stick to my day job.

Photo by Sarah Elliott for Pamela Salzman
Photo by Sarah Elliott for Pamela Salzman

Turkey and Brown Rice Stuffed Bell Peppers

Pamela
5 from 2 votes
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Servings 6

Ingredients
  

  • 6 medium sweet bell peppers washed
  • 2 Tablespoons unrefined olive oil + additional for greasing the peppers
  • 1 pound ground turkey
  • 1 clove garlic minced
  • ½ onion minced (can be done in a food processor with the “pulse” button)
  • 1 Tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1 teaspoon dried oregano
  • 1 ½ teaspoons sea salt
  • freshly ground black pepper to taste
  • 1 cup chicken or vegetable stock divided
  • ¼ cup marinara or tomato sauce
  • 1 ½ cups cooked rice I use brown rice

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Trim the tops off the bell peppers, just enough to remove the stem. If you want, dice up any pepper that you removed with the stem. Scoop out and discard the seeds. Rub the outside of the peppers with a little olive oil. Place cut side up in a baking dish and bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes.
  • Warm olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion, garlic and parsley to the pan. You can also add any pepper bits you may have diced. Sauté about 2 minutes and add ground turkey, garlic powder, oregano, salt and pepper. Break up the turkey into small pieces with a wooden spoon and sauté until turkey is almost cooked through.
  • Add tomato sauce and ½ cup stock. Simmer on low for 5 minutes until just cooked through. Add cooked rice to turkey mixture and combine well.
  • Spoon turkey mixture into each pepper and fill to the top. Place the stuffed peppers in the baking dish and add ½ cup stock to the bottom of the pan. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 35 minutes until peppers are nice and soft and the turkey mixture is heated through.

Notes

You can add a little shredded mozzarella on top and broil until melted, if you like.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

Whole Grain Olive Oil Cake with Rosemary and Dark Chocolate Recipe (refined sugar-free)

whole grain olive oil cake with rosemary and dark chocolate | pamela salzman

I made this cake once to bring a friend’s house for dinner and people were stealing each other’s crumbs.  I served it to my family and my son spit it out.  Just being honest.  It would be really awesome to say that my family loves everything I make, that my 10-year-old scarfs down whole grain cakes with rosemary and dark chocolate and never, ever, ever asks for Flaming Hot Cheetos.  But alas, I live in the real world with at least one child, as well as one adult, whose palates are rather, shall we say, simple.

ingredients

 

chopped rosemary

But if I catered to the lowest common denominator in my house all the time, we’d never get to know the deliciousness that is this nutty, earthy, lightly sweet cake with a savory infusion of rosemary.  And dark chocolate!  Maybe it sounds like a weird combo to you.  I actually wasn’t sure myself when I first whisked these ingredients together, but the scent emanating from my oven was enough to convince me that this is a very tasty cake.

mix wet into dry

time to be baked

I love rustic desserts.  The flavors are deep and I don’t have to worry about anything looking too perfect.  And I think anything rustic lends itself better to whole grain flours.  I found this recipe in one of my favorite cookbooks, Good to the Grain, by Kim Boyce.  She uses refined flours and refined white sugar, but I actually think the cake tastes better and more interesting with whole spelt and whole wheat pastry flour, and sweetened with maple syrup.  I also don’t find myself in a sugar coma after eating a piece of this.

whole grain olive oil cake with rosemary and dark chocolate |pamela salzman

I mentioned that I have made this cake for after dinner, but I think it would also be lovely for a brunch.  Sweet and savory all in one easy-to-bake cake.  Maybe with a dollop of Greek yogurt.  Love it.  No thanks, Mr. Picky?  No problem.  More for me!

whole grain olive oil cake with rosemary and dark chocolate | pamela salzman

Whole Grain Olive Oil Cake with Rosemary and Dark Chocolate Recipe

Pamela
5 from 1 vote
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Servings 8

Ingredients
  

  • 1 cup unrefined cold pressed, extra virgin olive oil + extra for greasing pan
  • ¾ cup whole spelt flour or use all purpose
  • 1 ½ cups whole wheat pastry flour or all-purpose flour
  • ¾ cup Grade A maple syrup or natural cane sugar*
  • 1 ½ teaspoons aluminum-free baking powder
  • ¾ teaspoon sea salt
  • 3 eggs at room temperature
  • ¾ cup whole milk or unsweetened hemp milk at room temperature
  • 1 ½ Tablespoons fresh rosemary finely chopped (measure, then chop)
  • 5 ounces bittersweet chocolate 70% cacao, chopped into ½-inch pieces

Instructions
 

  • Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9-inch round cake pan with olive oil.
  • Whisk the dry ingredients (including cane sugar, if using) in a large bowl. Set aside.
  • In another large bowl, whisk the eggs thoroughly. Add the maple syrup (if using), olive oil, milk and rosemary and whisk again.
  • Using a spatula, fold the wet ingredients into the dry, gently mixing until combined. Stir in chocolate. Pour the batter into the pan, spreading evenly and smoothing the top.
  • Bake for about 45-50 minutes, or until the top is domed, golden brown and a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean. The cake can be eaten warm or cool from the pan, or cooled, wrapped tightly in plastic, and kept for 2 days.

Notes

*If using cane sugar, add with the dry ingredients.  If using maple syrup, add with the wet ingredients.
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Fennel and green bean salad with olives recipe

I cannot get out of summer mode, people.  And when it’s 80 degrees and sunny here at the beach, it’s hard not to be this way.  I really wanted to post a new recipe here over the weekend, buuuuutttttt I procrastinated.  A lot.  The weather was so perfect and we weren’t totally overscheduled like we usually are so I helped Mr. Picky and his pal set up a lemonade stand.  And then I was so exhausted from their 10-year-old exuberance that I took a nap.  For the first time since 1998.  And then the beach was pleading to me to come for one last summer visit.  So I did.  And I then I had to make a blueberry crumb cake and some salads to bring to a friend’s house.  And then I just rationalized that all you people were doing the same thing I was so you wouldn’t be online waiting for a new recipe from me.

fennel and green bean salad with olives | pamela salzman

How was it waking up today?  I thought it was brutal!  I keep seeing hashtags like #readyforseptember #septemberhereicome #excitedforfall.  You know what my last hashtag was? #fallisoverrated  I actually have a lot to look forward to this fall, but I think I just feel gipped.  Summer is supposed to be three months like every other season in nature.  But it’s not really.  My son’s school has 9 1/2 weeks off for summer.  Uh… #tooshort.

blanching green beans

I did do a fair amount of cooking this summer when I was home and at my parents’ house.  But I had so many projects and recipes I wanted to test and I got around to NADA.  I think that’s another reason I am not really ready for fall.  Because I’m not ready!  Not to worry if you’re taking any of my classes this fall– I will get my lazy rear into gear pronto.

cutting fennel

This summer I made a lot of salads like this Fennel and Green Bean Salad with Olives.  It’s everything I love when the weather’s warm and I only have an appetite for veggies, fruit and acai bowls.  I happen to love fennel which I’m sure you know by know if you’ve hung around here long enough.  It has such a unique flavor and great crunch and it’s actually fabulous for digestion.  Green beans are loaded with Vitamin K, beta-carotene and Vitamin C.  It’s a very hydrating salad too.

anchovy paste

dressing

The dressing has a nice salty bite from a little bit of anchovy paste.  But if you’re vegan or don’t want to use the anchovies, just drop it.  I am a bit of a salty gal myself, so I love the dressing and the olives in the salad.  This is the perfect salad to serve with seafood or a frittata or grilled chicken.

pitting olives

Even though summer has come and gone in the blink of an eye, I’m still looking for recipes like this one for the sultry days ahead.  And for those days when I am not motivated enough to do more than slice some fennel. #indenial

fennel and green bean salad with olives | pamela salzman fennel and green bean salad with olives | pamela salzman fennel and green bean salad with olives

 

Fennel and Green Bean Salad with Olives

Pamela, Adapted from "cucina rustica," by Evan Kleiman and Viana La Place
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Servings 6

Ingredients
  

  • 1 pound green beans trimmed and halved
  • Kosher salt for blanching beans
  • 1 large fennel bulb about 1 pound
  • ¼ cup unrefined cold-pressed, extra-virgin olive oil
  • 3 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice
  • 1 teaspoon anchovy paste or 1 anchovy fillet minced
  • 1 garlic clove peeled and crushed
  • ½ teaspoon fine grain sea salt
  • freshly ground pepper to taste
  • ¼ cup oil-cured black olives pitted and quartered

Instructions
 

  • Prepare a large bowl with ice water and set aside. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add a heaping tablespoon of sea salt. Submerge the green beans in the boiling water and cook 3-4 minutes or until they are crisp tender. Drain and immediately plunge into the ice water bath. After a few minutes, drain and set aside to dry a bit.
  • Trim the stalks off the fennel bulb and cut away any bruised spots. Cut the fennel bulb in half lengthwise. Cut out the core at the base and slice the fennel thinly into strips. (I would slice them more thinly than I did in the pictures here.)
  • In a large serving bowl, whisk together the olive oil, lemon juice, anchovy, garlic, salt and pepper. (You can also do this in a glass jar with a screw-top lid.)
  • Add the green beans and fennel to the dressing and toss to combine. Remove garlic and discard. Sprinkle with olives and serve.
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