Kale in a New Cole Slaw

I might have mentioned before how much I love cole slaw. There has hardly been a recipe I have not liked. Recently I got the idea for cole slaw with the addition of mango and radicchio, which I called Tropical Slaw. I have been using the same basic dressing ingredients, since they serve me well in cole slaw; why mess with a good thing? Changing around the slaw ingredients is where I have had some fun. 

Enter the Farmer's Market

In our small town, we do have a Farmer's Market, and I appreciate and attend every week all summer, when possible. It gives me a good chance to get in a little walking, for one thing. It is about 4½ blocks to the Farmers' Market from my house, then another 2½ blocks to my sister-in-law's house, where she is hosting my tomato and herb plants this year. It's another 4 blocks to the closest local grocery, where I usually stop for a couple of extra things on the way, then back home, another 2 blocks. This makes one big rectangle; a walk of about 13 blocks. While the Farmers' Market may not be huge, it certainly yields options for fresh produce. While these things may be available all year long in the grocery, the flavor is never the same as fresh-picked. Tomatoes are the most radical taste difference, for sure.

Our Farmers' Market: some of the many things available

So as I was walking around the market this past week, I bought some kale, as I was going to  make myself some of the RAW Cool Cucumber Soup I last made in May. I had added kale to that recipe, and I loved how the soup came out. A friend gave me some large cucumbers and I was all set. The bunches of kale at the stand where I bought it, were just huge. I was going to puree the soup, and I just didn't need that much. The rest of the kale was left in the fridge, along with cabbage and radicchio from the last batch of Tropical Slaw I'd made. And I wondered...

A First TIme for Everything

I know kale is good raw. Empirically. I had never eaten it raw. I always put it into a stir fry or just make the kale cooked on its own. Never raw. I thought I would use some of it in a slaw recipe. I pulled out the cabbage and radicchio, along with the kale and got it all nicely shredded. The colors were lovely together. When something looks so pretty, it makes it all the more appetizing. Though with cole slaw and me, there is no problem on that score. Looking through the fridge for ideas on anything else I might add to this slaw, I thought to add my Pickled Mustard Seeds to the slaw dressing. Then I saw the pickled onions I had leftover from making Bread and Butter Pickles recently. I added a healthy dose of those to the slaw. These onions are yellow, because of the turmeric in the Bread and Butter Pickle recipe. I could have as easily used the Pickled Red Onions. 

Kale Radicchio Slaw with Pickled Onions

Once the slaw was done, I ate a healthy portion for my dinner. It is so delicious. If you happen to have these ingredients on hand, or choose to get them, do try this recipe. I think next time I will add a larger ratio of kale to the mix. It was that good. If you are a cole slaw fan, try this. Even without the added pickled mustard seeds, though I do believe the pickled onions make a wonderful addition.

Kale and Radicchio Cole Slaw with Pickled Onions

Makes 10 cups (which shrinks down considerably)

Kale Radicchio Slaw with Pickled Onions

4 cups shredded cabbage
2 cups shredded kale
2 cups shredded radicchio
½ cup Pickled Onions (red or yellow)

DRESSING:
½ cup mayonnaise
¼ cup cider vinegar
3 packets Stevia
2 tablespoons Pickled Mustard Seeds
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon freshly ground pepper

Toss together the first 4 ingredients in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together all the dressing ingredients to combine. Pour the dressing over all the shredded vegetables in the bowl and toss repeatedly, until the dressing has reached all the vegetables.
This slaw still tastes great after 4 days, though it looks its best right after mixing.



My passion is teaching people how to create a harmony of flavors with their cooking, and passing along my love and joy of food, both simple or exotic, plain or fancy. I continue my journey in ethnic and domestic cuisines, continuing my journey to explore diverse culinary experiences and hopefully to start you on a journey of your own. Join me also at A Harmony of Flavors on Facebook, and Pinterest.

Cookie Dough Dessert or Dip

I am most certainly one of those people that prefer the cookie dough to the actual baked cookie. I know many of you out there are going, "Eeewww", including my husband. Those of you who cannot bring themselves to eat raw cookie dough, cake batter, etc, may not find this blog interesting. If you are looking for something that tastes a lot like cookie dough but with no raw eggs, flour, sugar, and, well most of the things that go into cookie dough - this is it!

Yesterday I was in Facebook and saw someone re-posting a post with a link to a recipe called Skinny Cookie Dough Dip. This person had altered the recipe from another site, calling it Healthy Cookie Dough Dip. I didn't bother to go and read the prior post, but printed out the "Skinny Cookie Dough Dip" recipe for later perusal. "Later" came after about an hour as I was craving something sweet.

Healthier Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough, on cracker

What I Liked About this Concept

While not actually able to be termed a RAW recipe as it used cooked chickpeas as the base, the rest of the ingredients do make this at the very least able to be altered to fit a gluten-free or vegetarian lifestyle, and also for anyone who needs to be careful of sugar intake, like me.

I tried to think of another title for the recipe, but could not come up with anything better than "Healthier Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough". While healthier, it still packs a punch with calories, having the chickpeas, cashew butter, almonds, walnuts and chocolate chips. The chocolate chips I used were Ghirardelli 60% cocoa; less sweet than many. There are other options out there for anyone needing a completely sugar free variant. I calculated this total recipe to contain 1,644 calories. Dividing the recipe into, say, 25 portions as for making cookies, each portion would contain approximately 66 calories. Since one regular (baked) chocolate chip cookie can contain anywhere from 80 to 220 calories, this is not a bad calorie count. Make it into 30 balls and the count is even better.

Differences in My Recipe

In the recipes on the websites in the links above, this is touted as a dip. First off, it is awfully thick to be touted as a dip, even with the addition of the milk for thinning. Granted I did not add any honey, maple syrup or agave syrup, which would have thinned it a little more. I love cookie dough. For me this is a dessert unto itself. While I photographed the recipe both on a bit of cracker and just in a bowl, in future I would prefer just making small balls. Eat as you go. Yum. 

Both of the above sites had you adding in a little salt and baking soda. Cans of chickpeas do not need any more salt. What the soda is for I have no idea. I don't add baking soda to hummus. Why add it here? These are not being baked. I eliminated that portion of the recipes. I added no syrup or honey as a sweetener, as I mentioned. I used my food processor to make this recipe, not a blender. The only sweetening agent I used was my French Vanilla flavored liquid stevia. I considered leaving out the oatmeal completely. The mixture does not need thickening. Instead, I blended oatmeal and almonds to a fine powder and added them to the mix. I feel this could also be eliminated completely. For now, this is the way I made it and it is really good. So be it. I like walnuts in my cookie dough or cookies, so I added those, making a total of three kinds of nuts in the recipe. Whatever kind of chocolate chips you prefer; I used the Ghirardelli mentioned above.

Healthier Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough

Healthier Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough

Makes 25 - 30 balls of "dough"

1 can (15.5 ounces) chickpeas/garbanzo beans
1 - 3 droppers French Vanilla flavored liquid stevia
¼ cup milk, or nut or seed milk
2 tablespoons raw oatmeal, optional
2 tablespoons slivered almonds, optional
¼ cup raw cashew butter
½ cup chocolate chips
½ cup broken walnuts

Drain the chickpeas in a strainer and run water over them for at least a minute. Place the rinsed and drained chickpeas into a food processor and process until fine with the stevia and milk.

If using the oatmeal and almonds, I first blended them to a very fine powder in a Bullet Blender and then added them to the processor. They could be added to the processor at the beginning of the recipe instead.

Add in the cashew butter to combine. Scrape the mixture out into a bowl and stir in the walnuts and chocolate chips. Divide into 25 or 30 balls as desired. Store refrigerated.

My passion is teaching people how to create a harmony of flavors with their cooking, and passing along my love and joy of food, both simple or exotic, plain or fancy. I continue my journey in ethnic and domestic cuisines, continuing my journey to explore diverse culinary experiences and hopefully to start you on a journey of your own. Join me also at A Harmony of Flavors on Facebook, and Pinterest.

Using Stevia in Half the Sugar Chocolate Chip Spice Cookies

My stevia plant

When shopping last week, I finally decided to buy some of the "Stevia in the Raw" that works 1:1, cup-for-cup of sugar in a recipe. I have been wanting to try this product, but am always leery of the added fillers. I prefer stevia to any other sugar substitute and have used the liquid version and the flavored liquid versions in my morning oatmeal for years. I use Sweet Leaf brand packets in substitute for the sugar called for when making some other foods such as Basic Cole Slaw where it is indistinguishable from sugar or even in my Red Cabbage with Bacon and Apples. In these last two recipes I usually use 2 or 3 packets in a recipe. I  like the fact that stevia is a natural plant rather than a construct from some laboratory. When living in Florida, I had a stevia plant (right) and I dried leaves for my own use (below). 

My Own Dried Stevia Leaf

The large package of Stevia in the Raw states that the filler is maltodextrin. Turns out that maltodextrin is not necessarily that good for you, and sometimes also adds a lot more sweetness factor. It also translates into something nearly worse than sugar - but there are many sites out there that talk about all this. Any time there is a 1:1 ratio of usage with a sugar substitute, there has to be a filler product, so it just boils down to what you choose to accept. I will use the package of Stevia in the Raw because I bought it. I don't think I will purchase it again.

My real preference, as I mentioned, is using the liquids with flavors. I own quite a few flavors, though the ones shown in this photo above are my favorites. I just love using English Toffee stevia in my oatmeal as it approximates a brown sugar flavor that I miss. If I use fresh berries in my oatmeal I use the Mixed Berry flavored stevia. I could go on and on. 

Stevia Extract & flavors: English Toffee, French Vanilla, Mixed Berries, Chocolate Raspberry & Cinnamon

Meanwhile, since I bought the large bag of Stevia in the Raw, I wanted to try the recipe for Chocolate Chip Cookies. The package suggests using half the sugar called for and substituting the stevia for the other half, as sugar has an effect on the moisture content in a recipe. I used the brown sugar called for and used the Stevia in the Raw for the white sugar called for. I didn't have another bag of the Andes "Creme de Menthe" baking chips, though I did have bags of dark chocolate chips on hand. 

"Half the Sugar" Chocolate Chip Spice Cookies

While assembling the ingredients for these cookies, I once again noticed on my counter a spice mixture I created some time back, but had yet to put to any use. At first I thought, "Why mess with flavors even more?" Because of my desire to taste this spice mixture in something - anything - I gave it a go in this recipe, sparingly. Two teaspoons of the mixture went into the dry ingredients. Ultimately, it gave a little extra flavor which did not detract from the enjoyment of the cookies, but did make you stand and wonder, "What IS that flavor?" The spice blend is of some very unusual spices when placed all together that would be equally at home in a sweet application, as with these cookies, or in a savory application. I will put some thought to a savory use for it sometime soon. Meanwhile:

CMR Spice Blend I

CMR Spice Blend I

Makes about 3/4 cup

3 tablespoons fennel seeds
10 whole cloves
1 tablespoon black peppercorns
2 whole star anise
2 teaspoons mace blades (or ½ teaspoon ground mace)
1 tablespoon unhulled white sesame seeds
1 tablespoon good quality black tea leaves
1 tablespoon ground ginger

Use whole seeds whenever possible. Mace blades may be harder to find. Place all the whole spices except the tea into a dry skillet and heat, stirring constantly, until very fragrant. The sesame seeds will be lightly colored. Turn the hot spices onto a plate to cool. Once cooled, place them with the tea leaves into a spice grinder or coffee mill used only for spices. Grind to a fine powder, then add them to a bowl with the pre-ground spices. Mix well and store in a glass jar with a tight fitting lid in a cool, dark place.

As you can see, the mixture uses some of the sweeter spices such as fennel, star anise, cloves and ginger, while bringing in the unusual element of black pepper, sesame and tea, among others. It is an unusual mixture, but can bring some really stellar results. The addition of this spice is not necessary to make the Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe, nor is the use of the Stevia in the Raw. The one big difference in the outcome of these cookies using the Stevia in the Raw was that instead of the cookies flattening out after baking and becoming chewy, they stayed domes and - while not crunchy - they do have a soft crispness to them. The flavor is great.

"Half the Sugar" Chocolate Chip Spice Cookies

Makes about 50 to 60 cookies, depending on size

"Half the Sugar" Chocolate Chip Spice Cookies

2¼ cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons CMR Spice Blend I, optional
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks), room temperature
¾ cup Stevia in the RAW (or use granulated sugar)
¾ cup brown sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 cup coarsely chopped pecans
1 bag Ghirardelli Dark Chocolate Chips

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees (350 on Convection Bake). In a bowl, sift or whisk together the first 4 ingredients and set aside.

In a mixing bowl, cream the butter with the Stevia in the Raw and brown sugar until smooth. Add the eggs and beat well, then the vanilla. If using an electric mixer, lower the speed while adding the dry ingredients just until combined. Add in the  chocolate chips and nuts until incorporated.

Drop the dough onto ungreased cookie sheets using rounded teaspoons or use a 1 tablespoon capacity cookie scoop, setting the cookies at least 1 1/2 inches apart. Bake the cookies for 9 to 11 minutes, until golden. Allow them to set for about 30 seconds on the cookie sheet before removing to a rack to cool. 


My passion is teaching people how to create a harmony of flavors with their cooking, and passing along my love and joy of food, both simple or exotic, plain or fancy. I continue my journey in ethnic and domestic cuisines, continuing my journey to explore diverse culinary experiences and hopefully to start you on a journey of your own. Join me also at A Harmony of Flavors on Facebook, and Pinterest.