Red Velvet Whole Wheat Greek Yogurt Pancakes with Strawberries

These pancakes are inspired by a post I discovered at the food blog Carnal Dish. The original post was for red velvet pancakes with a maple cream cheese glaze, and that's where my obsession started. I couldn't get the image of these pancakes out of my head and was dying to find my own spin on this idea. Since I'm doing the whole P90X thing these days, I couldn't very well eat a whole batch a cream-cheesey-chocolate-red-velvet goodness all by myself. So, if you check out my Current Obsessions page at the top, you'll understand how this idea came to be.

Red Velvet Whole Wheat Greek Yogurt Pancakes - as my roommate Kelsey said, "It's a mouthful!" (I quoted her to avoid feeling lame myself despite the fact that I secretly love lame things.) I've never made yogurt pancakes before, but they're so fluffy and delicious! I whipped up a very simple hot strawberry sauce to sweeten up this healthy attempt at pancakes. They might be pretty good for you, but they still taste like dessert to me. Mission accomplished. :)

Red Velvet Whole Wheat Greek Yogurt Pancakes with Strawberries
Makes: 1.5 dozen large pancakes  Prep: 15 minutes  Total: 45 minutes

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 cup cocoa powder
4 tbs sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups vanilla greek yogurt
1 egg
3/4 cup almond milk
2 tsp red food coloring
2 cups strawberries
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup water
Whipped topping to garnish

Directions
Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl. Add yogurt, egg and milk and mix well. Add food coloring one tsp at a time, using more or less to achieve desired color. Cook pancakes on a skillet at medium-high heat, flipping until done.
To make strawberry sauce, boil sugar and water. Add halved strawberries and boil for 15 minutes, stirring constantly. Lower heat and cook for another 15 minutes.

Pumpkin Blueberry Scones with Blueberry Glaze

I'm finally getting settled into my brand new apartment in Boston. I've hardly had time to buy groceries, let alone cook, which makes me very sad. My new kitchen is very tiny but my roommates and I are making good use of it. Cooking is such a great stress reliever for me, so after this busy week is over I'm hoping to whip up some new creations.

On that note, tomorrow marks the first official day of fall! Fall always makes me a little nostalgic because it reminds me of home. There's nothing like apple picking in New York and watching the beautiful rolling hills change to vibrant shades of orange and red at the peak of the leaves. As an adieu to summer and welcoming for fall, I created this recipe for pumpkin blueberry scones.

Cooking in between seasons is great because you combine produce that's on it's way out with new seasonal flavors. If you're having a hard time letting go of summer cooking, these scones are the perfect in between recipe to bring you around and get you excited for warm, fall comfort foods. Enjoy!

Pumpkin Blueberry Scones with Blueberry Glaze
Makes: 8 scones  Prep: 20 minutes  Total: 40 minutes

Ingredients
Pumpkin Blueberry Scones:
2 cups flour
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cloves
1/4 tsp ginger
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1/3 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup 100% pure pumpkin
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup blueberries

Blueberry Glaze:
1 cup powdered sugar
2 tbs milk
1/4 cup crushed blueberries

Directions
Pumpkin Blueberry Scones:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Combine flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, ginger, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl. Cut in the butter until it is in pea-sized pieces. Mix in buttermilk, pumpkin and vanilla. Carefully fold blueberries into the dough, trying not to break them.
On a floured surface, knead the dough for 1 minute until semi-firm and moist. Roll the dough into a long rectangle. Cut in half width-wise so the dough is in two squares. Cut each square twice from corner to corner to make 8 triangular scones. Place scones on papered baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes.

Blueberry Glaze:
While the scones are baking, measure out 1/4 cup of blueberries and juice or push them through a strainer to separate the blueberry juice from the skin. Try to remove as much skin as possible in the process. (A little is okay - you want the glaze to be thick.) Combine the blueberry juice with the powdered sugar and milk. Wait until scones are completely cooled before drizzling the glaze on top.

Egg-y Eggplant Vegetarian Breakfast Sandwich

I adore eggplant - like, love an insane amount. If there was ever such a thing as a sexy piece of produce, it would be eggplant. It's best served in fat slices, grilled or sauteed in a spritz of olive oil until they're like thick, succulent steaks... mmmmmm. I have leftover eggplant in my fridge now and just writing about it makes me want to get up and fry me a slice. (It's 11 pm on a Wednesday. Maybe if I give it an hour it'll be an acceptable midnight snack?)

A very similar sandwich was the very dish that inspired me to start writing this blog. My first post ever was about an eggplant sandwich on a New Jersey bagel my roommate Dana had brought back from a trip home. My heart jumps for joy every time I see a perfectly plump Italian eggplant in the produce section and decide to buy it, without any care or thought for how I'll put it to good use.

I've tried to make my friends and boyfriend as enthusiastic about potential dinners of epic eggplant proportions, but to no avail. The poor guy just sits there in my fridge, waiting to be eaten slice by slice until the forgotten leftovers are tossed in the trash. Then the other night it hit me. Why should eggplant be limited to dinner? How about combining two of my favorite things, eggplant and breakfast sandwiches????

BOOM. Here you have it, folks. A tasty vegetarian alternative to the cholesterol-ridden ham, egg and cheese, with all the same meaty texture and juicy deliciousness. Prepare yourself for chin-drizzling joy.

Egg-y Eggplant Vegetarian Breakfast Sandwich
Makes: 1 sandwich  Total time: 20 minutes

Ingredients
2 thick slices of Italian eggplant
1 piece of artisan bread, large enough for sandwich
1 egg, fried
1 slice of tomato
1/2 cup spinach
Olive oil
Sea salt
Coarse ground pepper

Directions
Chop two slices of eggplant about 1-1/2 inches thick. Drizzle or spray olive oil in a medium pan and cook eggplant for 1 to 2 minutes on either side until lightly golden.
In the meantime, slice your piece of artisan bread through the middle to create a top and bottom piece. Toast for 3 minutes. Slice tomato and measure out spinach. Set aside.
In a small frying pan, fry one egg to desire doneness. Layer eggplant, fried egg, tomato and spinach on the bottom slice of bread. Season with sea salt and ground pepper. Cut in half and serve with a side of fresh fruit.

Breakfast Burrito

Yesterday morning, I woke up an hour and a half before I needed to leave for work, meaning I had almost an extra hour of time to get ready. I considered going back to bed, but then I had a vision. A melty, spicy, cheesy vision that needed to come to life. That vision, my friends, was to recreate this guilty pleasure and Saturday morning hangover cure: the breakfast burrito.

I visit an amazing little sandwich shop at least once every weekend so my friends can get their weekly burrito fix. I'm usually more of a bagel, egg and cheese girl, but since I had all the ingredients in my fridge already I just couldn't resist the urge to make my own. Other artery-clogging ingredients can be added to a breakfast burrito, including bacon, avocado, or sausage. The egg and potato alone were enough to fill me up well past my regular lunch hour, but the size of this beast didn't stop me from devouring it in under five minutes.

Try to eat it slowly. I dare you.

Breakfast Burrito

Serves: 1  Total Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients 

2 large eggs

2 tbs milk

1 red potato

1 whole wheat tortilla

1/2 cup mozzarella cheese

3-4 tbs of salsa, to taste

1/2 garlic clove, minced

Tabasco sauce

Salt and pepper

Directions

Cut potato into very small cubes. Saute in olive oil on a large skillet until soft; season with garlic, salt and pepper. Add Tabasco sauce right before serving.

While the potato is cooking, whisk eggs with milk and scramble in a medium pan. When the eggs are done, place them in a long strip across the center of your whole wheat tortilla. Sprinkle cheese over the eggs, and top with potato.

Roll your tortilla tightly into a burrito. Serve with salsa.

Perfectly Seasonal Apple Cider Syrup

Another simple recipe I'd like to share, and a favorite from my childhood - my mother's apple cider syrup. I can't get enough apple cider come fall. This syrup is easy to make and, in my opinion, far better than maple syrup which, as a native New Yorker accustomed to fresh-off-the-tap maple syrup, says a lot. This apple cider syrup is super easy and tastes great with apple pancakes (seen above). It makes three cups so with one batch of pancakes there should be half left over. I'm thinking it would also be great on some sort of apple dessert with vanilla ice cream... mmmmm my sweet tooth is swelling just thinking about it. Look for that recipe to come.

Apple Cider Syrup
Makes: 3 cups  Prep: 10 minutes  Total: 15 minutes 

Ingredients
1 cup sugar
3 tablespoons baking mix (Bisquick)
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 cups fresh apple cider
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/4 cup butter

Directions
Mix dry ingredients in pot, then add cider and lemon. Cook, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens and boils. Boil and stir for one minute, then immediately remove from heat and add butter.