Complete Protein Garbanzo Pancakes

While riding in a van to choir practice with a friend, I learned about her garbanzo bean pancake experiment. I happen to have a very large supply of garbanzo beans, as I use them for the chicken substitute because of their texture, and when she mentioned that her family had no idea there was anything weird in the recipe, and totally loved them, I had to try it.

However, try as I may, I could never reach her thereafter to get the recipe, so out of desperation, I googled it and found something I thought would work. Upon putting it together in the blender, though, the batter appeared to be no thicker than milk, and I couldn't imagine how I could make a pancake out of it. We had just ground some whole wheat flour over the weekend, and the thought occured to me that if I added some, the pancakes would then contain a complete protein, plus hopefully be thickened up a bit. This worked like a charm, and the kids gobbled up the entire batch. I told the 15-year-old boy, a football player, that it was like eating steak and eggs for breakfast, but much better for you. He didn't buy it, but he did eat six pancakes and a few more with his lunch.

Thanks, Norma, for the inspiration! I hope you enjoy these as much as we did!

Ingredients

1 c. garbanzo beans
1½ c whole wheat flour
¼ c olive oil
1½ c. water
2 eggs
2 t. baking powder
1 t. baking soda
½ t. salt

Directions

Blend all ingredients in a blender until smooth. Cook on a greased or buttered griddle until golden brown on each side.

NOTE: Pancake tops may not bubble when ready to be flipped, but the edges should start to pucker.

Rosemary Olive Oil Chocolate Chunk Cake

I have been totally stoked to make and post this recipe. Rosemary is probably my all-time favorite herb and chocolate is probably my all-time favorite thing about life, soooo.... why not put them together in a cake?

I found the original recipe at 101 Cookbooks dot com, a really wonderful food blog written by a really cool girl that I'm jealous of because she travels everywhere and is pretty and knows all these big, smart-sounding food terms and has like 375,000 subscribers to her blog, literally. I came across her blog while searching for a black bean brownie recipe, and I totally fell in love. I subscribe by email to 3 blogs, and her's is one.

So... you should really go check her out. Her photo composition is gorgeous and her recipes are amazing.

Providence was on my side when it came to making this cake. It just so happened that John had purchased myriad dark chocolate bars from different countries at Walmart the week before...

...and as far as the rosemary was concerned, after calling all over town, I found someone who grew it. I know I had some last summer, but the pot it was in was moved before the frost came, and I couldn't find it when I needed it. Thanks Ken and Lauretta!

To make Heidi's cake, I altered the recipe a little. She called for spelt flour, which I've never heard of, and I am sure the people at the local Mexican market have never heard of it either, so I used whole wheat flour...

....I also added a ganache-style chocolate frosting to make it a little more "dessert-y", also made with the dark chocolate John had brought down...

And to add to all this, I doubled the recipe and made one a healthier, whole foods version, substituting all of the white flour with whole wheat flour (which I ground myself in my handy-dandy Golden Grain Grinder, by the way), and using honey as the sweetener. This version is what I am posting here. For the "refined" version, go to my main blog HERE.

This cake was moist and had a wonderful, unique taste. It tasted, I guess I could say, "classy" for lack of a better word. The rosemary added a surprise in the flavor and the chocolate chunks of different sizes were so good...

(shown above before frosting)

This is something I would love to make for a lady luncheon, and plan to. Hope you love it, too...

Ingredients

For the cake:
* 2 ¾ cup whole wheat flour
* ¾ cup honey
* 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
* ¾ teaspoon sea salt
* 3 eggs
* 1 cup olive oil
* ¾ cup whole milk
* 1 ½ tablespoons fresh rosemary, finely chopped
* 5 ounces chocolate (70% cacao), chopped into ½-inch pieces
For the frosting:
* 1 ½ cups chocolate chunks (70% cacoa)
* ¼ cup butter

Directions

1. In a blender, process oil and rosemary until smooth.

1. Combine the dry ingredients.

2. Combine the wet ingredients, including rosemary olive oil.

3. Combine these two mixes until barely moistened, then stir in chocolate chunks.

4. Bake at 350 degrees F for 25 to 40 minutes, depending on your pan size. I used an 8×11 and baked it for about 35 minutes.

5. For the frosting, slowly melt butter and chocolate together, then spread on cake once it has cooled.

Direct recipe link: http://keyingredient.com/recipes/321495/

Veggie Burgers on 100% Whole Wheat Sesame Seed Buns

Going to a hamburger fry isn't always easy when you're a vegetarian, but if you prepare these patties ahead of time to bring along for the grill man to cook up for you, you won't be disappointed. And having freshly ground whole wheat sesame seed buns doesn't hurt a bit either.

Sesame seeds are so good for you, and I keep them around my house in bulk...

...and put them in or on nearly everything...

We ended up making 32 buns, transporting them to the hamburger fry in a turkey roaster...

While these were rising and baking, my 15-year-old daughter googled and threw together the veggie burgers...

...and there were absolutely no feelings of deprivation about not eating meat. Aren't these gorgeous?

Hope you enjoy these burgers as much as we did!

The Sesame Seed Buns

2 1/2 cups warm water
6 tablespoons honey
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 cup oil
6 cups whole wheat flour
6 tablespoons vital wheat gluten
5 teaspoons yeast
2 eggs
Sesame seeds


Step 1: Preheat oven to 400 degrees f. then mix the water, yeast and honey in the mixing bowl of a mixer with a dough hook. Let it sit for about ten minutes, or until the mixture is foaming, like beer.

Step 2: Add the remaining ingredients and let the machine knead the dough for ten minutes. If the dough is too firm, add a little water during the mixing process. If it's too soft, add a little flour.

Step 3: Divide dough into 16 pieces. Shape into balls, then flatten on a greased cookie sheet.

Step 4: Let rise in a warm place for at least 20 minutes or longer if possible, until doubled in bulk.

Step 5: While the dough is rising, beat the eggs in a bowl to prepare for brushing onto the raised buns.

Step 6: Once the dough has risen, brush with the egg mixture, sprinkle on the sesame seeds, and bake at 400 degrees for 12 to 15 minutes or until the buns are light brown.

The Veggie Burgers

2 teaspoons olive oil
1 small onion, grated
2 cloves crushed garlic
2 carrots, shredded
2 small zucchinis, shredded
1 1/2 cups rolled oats
1/4 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
1 egg, beaten
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/2 tablespoon vital wheat gluten (optional, but will help the patty hold together a little better)


Step 1. Heat the olive oil in a skillet over low heat, and cook the onion and garlic for about 5 minutes, until tender. Mix in the carrots and zucchini. Continue to cook and stir for 2 minutes. Remove pan from heat, and mix in oats, cheese, and egg. Stir in salt, transfer the mixture to a bowl, and refrigerate 1 hour.

Step 2. Preheat the grill for high heat.

Step 3. Mix flour and gluten, and place the mixture on a large plate. Form the vegetable mixture into eight 3 inch round patties. Drop each patty into the flour, lightly coating both sides.

Step 4. Oil the grill grate, and grill patties 5 minutes on each side, or until heated through and nicely browned.

Zucchini Pancakes with Blueberry Syrup

If you've ever planted zucchini, you know that you usually have more than you know what to do with. Our situation was no different, which is why we still have grated zucchini stacked in Ziploc bags in our freezer from last September.

If you've read my last few recipes, you'll know that I've been browsing through my Vita-Mix cookbook, and was thrilled to come across this recipe. Not only did it use a full bag of zucchini, (I tripled the recipe), it called for whole wheat, my favorite grain of all time.

And because I remember that my daughter had been sneaking frozen blueberries the night before, I knew we still had some left from our last trip to Sam's, so I whipped up a batch of blueberry syrup...

This was my favorite part of the meal, and the meal was lunch, because we don't have boundaries for when we serve pancakes...

Below is the recipe. Tell me what you think of these awesome electronic recipe cards. I love them! Thanks for listening....

Whole Wheat Blender Pancakes

Today, I would like to share with you one of my favorite whole wheat recipes that doesn't involve the use of a wheat grinder. As long as you have a blender, you can make these hearty whole grain pancakes! Here's what you'll need:

1 1/2 cups butter milk (or 1 1/2 cups milk with 1 tablespoon vinegar added - let sit for 10 minutes before using)
1 egg
2 tablespoons oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup whole wheat berries
1/4 cup oats (not instant)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 tablespoons sweetener, such as honey or molasses

In case you've never used whole wheat before, here's what it looks like...

...and you can buy it at any health food store.

Step 1: Blend the first 6 ingredients in a blender very thoroughly. This could take up to five minutes, depending on your blender. Just make sure, however, that you listen carefully to your blender for a change in the motor sound. If this mixture is over blended, the gluten in the wheat will begin to bind and create a sticky substance that will reek havoc on your blender. If this happens, stop the blender immediately.

Step 2: Pour the contents of the blender into a mixing bowl...

(batter should be smooth)

...and add the rest of the ingredients.

Step 3: Pour on a hot, buttered griddle and cook on both sides until light golden brown.

And you're done! We like to dip ours in apple sauce, avoiding the use of sugary syrup. The twins absolutely love it!

We hope you do, too!