Maple Wasabi Roasted Almonds

• 3 cups whole raw almonds
• 4 T Coombs Family Farms organic or 100% pure maple syrup
• 1/2 tsp wasabi powder, to taste
• sea salt, to taste

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Combine syrup, wasabi powder and sea salt in bowl. Add almonds and toss to coat well. Spread in a shallow baking pan and roast in middle of oven 10 minutes. Cool slightly and break up, then finish cooling. Almonds may be made ahead and kept in an airtight container.

Veggie Kabobs with Herb and Garlic Marinade

Ingredients:

• 2 medium red or white potatoes
• 1 cup firm or extra-firm tofu chunks
• 1 cup red, yellow or green bell pepper chunks
• 1 cup ea. pineapple chunks, red onion chunks, white button mushrooms, zucchini or yellow squash chunks & cherry tomatoes
• Wooden skewers, soaked in water for 30 minutes.

Marinade:

• 1/2 cup ea. olive oil & lemon or lime juice
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/4 cup Dijon mustard
• 2 T Coombs Family Farms 100% pure or organic maple syrup
• 2 T minced garlic
• 2 T chopped fresh basil leaves
• 1/2 tsp. ea. salt & freshly ground black pepper

Preparation:

Cook potatoes in salted water till tender. Cool; cut into one inch chunks. Place potatoes, veggies & tofu in shallow dish. Pour marinade over veggies. Cover; refrigerate 2 hrs. Preheat outdoor grill to medium. Remove veggies & tofu from marinade, reserving marinade. Thread on skewers, alternating colors. Cook on grill till veggies are lightly charred, about 10 min., basting with reserved marinade & turning occasionally. For marinade: whisk all ingredients in small bowl. Can be prepared in advance & kept in refrigerator up to 7 days.

Maple Mustard Glazed Potatoes & Brussels Sprouts

Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 lbs. small Yukon gold & red potatoes, halved
• 3/4 lb. Brussels sprouts
• 2 small yellow onions, thickly sliced
• 1-2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 T tamari or soy sauce
• 3/4 cup Coombs Family Farms 100% pure or organic maple syrup
• 3 T Dijon mustard
• 2 T olive oil

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 400. Place the vegetables in a 9 x 13-inch casserole dish. In a mixing bowl stir together all the other ingredients until the mustard is dissolved. Pour over the vegetables & mix well until everything is coated. Cover with foil & place in oven. Bake for 30-35 minutes. Remove from oven; mix vegetables & sauce to coat well. Turn oven down to 325 & cook for 45 minutes uncovered. Serve at room temperature.

Sweet Potato Quesadillas

Ingredients:

Maple Glaze:

• 1/2 cup of Coombs Family Farms 100% pure or organic maple syrup
• 1 T Dijon mustard & 1/2 tsp. chipolte powder
• Salt & freshly ground pepper

Quesadillas

• 8 flour tortillas
• 1 c. ea. grated white Cheddar & Monterey Jack cheese
• 2 med. sweet potatoes, peeled, cut into 1/4″ round slices
• Black beans (optional)

Preparation:

Place potato rounds on cookie sheet, brush with glaze. Broil till tender, turn over, glaze & broil again. Using two tortillas for each serving, place 1/4 c. cheese on a tortilla, top with sweet potato slices & black beans. Drizzle maple glaze over top, sprinkle with cheese, & top with second tortilla. Repeat using all tortillas. Place on hot griddle or in saute pan & toast till tortilla is crisp & cheese starts to melt. Flip over & cook on second side.

Vegetarian Chili

Ingredients:

• 3 T olive oil
• 3/4 cup chopped white onion
• 1 large garlic clove, diced
• 1/2 tsp. chopped jalapeno
• 1 1/2 cups chopped yellow and red peppers
• 1 cup ea. chopped zucchini, yellow squash & carrots
• 2 – 15 oz. cans diced tomatoes
• 1-15 oz. can tomato sauce
• 1-15 oz. can drained & rinsed chick peas
• 1-15 oz. can drained & rinsed red beans
• Salt, black pepper and cayenne pepper to taste
• 1 T paprika
• 1 1/2 T chili powder
• 1/4 cup Coombs Family Farms 100% pure or organic maple syrup

Preparation:

In 3 T olive oil, saute onion, garlic, peppers, squash, zucchini & carrot in large pot for about 5 min. or until veggies are tender, not soft. Add tomatoes & tomato sauce, beans, salt, pepper, paprika, chili powder & syrup. Mix together. Add cayenne pepper to taste. Reduce heat to low, simmer for about 30 min. or until carrots are tender. Add more cayenne, and/or salt & pepper to taste. Serve with sour cream, cheddar cheese & chives.

Loved by vegans and non-vegans alike, this rich chocolate cake is the one Leslie usually makes for birthdays. She suggests serving it plain, drizzled with Hot Fudge, or frosted with Vegan Chocolate Mousse.

Dark Chocolate Cake from Leslie Cerier’s Going Wild in the Kitchen

Ingredients:

1 3/4 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/4 tsp sea salt
2 1/2 Tbsp flaxseeds
1/2 cup apple juice
1/4 cup canola oil
1/2 cup maple syrup
1/2 Tbsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups dark chocolate chips* or 5.3-ounce dark chocolate (70 or 72%) broken into 1-inch pieces (1 ½ cups) * Fair Traded chocolate is strongly suggested.
3/4 cup vanilla soymilk

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly oil a 9-inch cake or loaf pan and set aside.

2. Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt in a large mixing bowl and set aside.

3. Place the flaxseeds in a blender and grind to a powder. Add the juice, oil, maple syrup, and vanilla, and blend well.

4. Heat the chocolate chips and soymilk in a 1-quart saucepan over low heat. Stir constantly about 3 minutes, or until the chocolate melts.

5. Add the melted chocolate and flaxseed mixture to the flour mixture and stir well to form a smooth batter.

6. Pour the batter into the cake pan and bake 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.?7. Let the cake cool 30 minutes before removing from the pan. Serve plain or frosted.

For a Change…

Omit the soymilk and use 1 ¼ cups juice. Melt the chocolate in a double boiler or in a skillet over low flame stirring constantly.

Also, you can substitute other flours. If you like, use all spelt flour and substract 25% liquid from the recipe above. Or if you want to add more calcium and iron and use some teff flour, you may substitute up to 25% teff flour for the whole wheat pastry flour. Either way, this cake will please everyone.

Yield: 8 servings

Recipe excerpted from Going Wild in the Kitchen by Leslie Cerier, copyright 2005, Square One Publishers, Inc. Used by permission.

Pumpkin Maple Risotto

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 cup finely chopped yellow onion
• 2 cups arborio rice
• 1 cup dry white wine
• About 6 cups of low-sodium chicken stock (such as Imagine)
• 10 oz pumpkin, peeled and chopped into medium dice
• 2 Tbsp Coombs Family Farms pure maple syrup
• 1 tsp nutmeg
• 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan
• Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Heat broth in large saucepan and keep hot on back burner. In medium-size heavy saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add onion and saute, stirring continuously until softened, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the rice and continue to stir, using a wooden spoon. Add the white wine and continue cooking, stirring often, until absorbed by rice. Pour in 1 cup of stock and continue to cook, stirring often, until all the liquid is absorbed. About half way through stock, add pumpkin, syrup and nutmeg. Continue cooking and adding stock until all stock is absorbed, ½ to 1 cup of stock at a time until rice is al dente. Remove from heat and stir in cheese, reserving some to sprinkle on top before serving. Serve hot.

Photo by Andreas Adelmann.

Apple-Maple Butter

To do ahead of time:

*If you are new to canning, please familiarize yourself with the safest and most up-to-date boiling water bath canning techniques.  The Ball Blue Book Guide to Preserving (often available where canning supplies are sold—make sure to get the most up to date edition) is a great resource for this, as is the National Center for Home Food Preservation.

*Wash and rinse half-pint jars, lids, and screw bands.  Set screw bands aside until ready to use.  Place jars in hot water bath canner, fill at least 2/3 of the way full with water, and bring to a boil.  Sterilize jars for 10 minutes, then turn down heat and let jars stand in hot water until ready to use.  Place lids in water in a small pan, bring to a low simmer, and hold there until ready to use.

Ingredients:

• 10 pounds apples
• 3 cups sweet apple cider
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• ¼ tsp cloves
• ¼ tsp nutmeg
• 2 ½ cups maple sugar

Directions:

1.) Peel and core apples, then slice into quarters.

2.) Place apples and apple cider into a large stainless steel sauce pan.  Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium and cook until apples are soft, stirring frequently.  This should take between 20 and 30 minutes, depending on the variety and maturity of the apple.

3.) Remove the saucepan from the heat.  Ladle the apple pulp into a food mill, and press the pulp through the food mill.  If you do not have a food mill, you can lightly puree the apple pulp in a food processor instead.

4.) Return the apple puree to the saucepan, then add cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and maple sugar.  Heat the mixture to boiling, stirring frequently, then reduce heat.  Simmer, stirring frequently, until mixture has reduced and thickened significantly.   This will take about an hour, or possibly longer.   You’ll know that it’s done when the apple mixture retains its shape when mounded on a spoon.

5.) Remove hot jars from canner and immediately ladle hot apple butter into jars, leaving 1/4 inch of headspace.  Remove trapped air bubbles and wipe rims with a damp cloth.  Carefully put on lids and screw bands, tightening to fingertip-tight.

10.) Place jars in the hot water, ensuring that jars are covered with at least 1-2 inches of water.  Place a lid on the canner, return to a rolling boil, and boil for 10 minutes.  (Add one minute additional processing time for every 1000 feet above sea level.)

11.) Turn off heat and allow canner and jars to sit untouched for 5 minutes.  Then, remove jars from canner, placing them on a cooling rack or dishtowel.

12.) Allow jars to cool undisturbed for 12-24 hours. Then, confirm that jars have sealed.  Enjoy your apple butter!  Or, store properly for later use.

Makes approximately 12 half-pints

Rosemary Maple Spiced Almonds

Ingredients:

• 2 cups whole raw almonds
• 3 T Coombs Family Farms pure maple syrup
• 2 tsp dried rosemary
• Sea salt, to taste

Directions:

Preheat oven to 300 F.

Combine syrup, rosemary and sea salt in bowl. Add almonds and toss to coat well. Spread on a cookie sheet and bake in middle of oven 5-8 minutes, watching carefully to make sure they don’t burn. Cool slightly and break up, then finish cooling. Nuts may be made ahead and kept in an airtight container. Serves four to six as a snack.

• 6-8 carrots, scrubbed and cut on the diagonal into 1/4″ slices
• 1/3-cup Coombs Family Farms pure maple syrup
• 1 Tbsp fresh mint, chopped fine (or 2 tsp dried)

Directions:

Heat butter or oil in small saucepan; Add Coombs Family Farms Maple Syrup and stir to combine. Remove from heat and reserve. Cook carrots briefly until they are a bit underdone and a little crunchy (al dente); pour off any liquid in the pan and add maple syrup mixture and mint to the carrots and simmer, stirring, for two minutes just until tender and glazed.