I’m not usually much of a snacker; I’m more of a three-meals-a-day type. But around the holidays, that changes. Everyone’s nibbling on something, and it’s kind of contagious (unfortunately.) And though I can’t eat those cheese straws, cheese balls, cream cheese dips or the other high-fat holiday snacks, I’m not about to sit in the corner and pout, no sirree. These roasted chickpeas are not only full of fiber and protein, but they’re also quite low fat. What other snacks can you say that about?

Most importantly, they are delicious, crunchy and addictive. When people grab a handful, they might not know what they’re eating. I had someone ask,”What kind of nuts are these?” It’s hard to believe that a lowly can of garbanzo beans can be so magically transformed.

For the seasoning, I chose a combination of Chinese five spice powder and cayenne pepper. But you can use any spice combination you’d like – I’ve provided some other roasted chickpea recipes below to get your creative juices flowing. My next version is going to be smoked paprika and cumin. Now I just need a party to take them to, because otherwise I’ll eat them all myself.

Spice-Roasted Chickpeas

1 can garbanzo beans, drained, rinsed and thoroughly dried

1/4 teaspoon Chinese five spice powder

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (more to taste)

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

2 teaspoons olive oil

Toss everything together and spread on a baking sheet. Roast at 400 degrees for 40 minutes or until completely crunchy.
(Note: some recipes call for cooking them only 20 minutes, but I found they needed 40. Check them halfway through and see what you think. If they are still chewy in the center, keep cooking!)

Other roasted chickpea recipes you might like:

Crispy Roasted Chickpeas with Moroccan Spices from Kalyn’s Kitchen
Roasted Chickpeas with Garlic, Cumin and Paprika from The Perfect Pantry
Roasted Chickpeas from Mark Bittman
Spice Roasted Chickpeas from Veggie Num Num (oops, didn’t mean to steal your title, Num Num!)

As I’ve said before, I only like vegan baked goods that are indistinguishable from their non-vegan counterparts. I’m not willing to “settle.”  So when it came time to create a pumpkin bread for the holidays, it took a lot of experimentation until my picky nature was satisfied. I tried varying amounts of oil, and found that less was actually more here – there are just three tablespoons in the entire loaf.  The fresh cranberries took it out of the realm of regular pumpkin bread – I love the hit of tartness you get in every sweet bite. And when I added a little orange juice, the whole thing just seemed to perk up. I really think this is as moist and delicious as any traditional recipe made with butter and eggs. I dropped off a piece to my friend/taste tester Tracy, who’s  never afraid to give me an honest opinion. She gave it an A+++, and  I think she was sorry I didn’t leave the whole loaf with her. But alas, my husband and I had already made a serious dent in it!

Speaking of giving this bread away, it makes a nice gift for your friends or co-workers. It comes off like a decadent treat, but it’s lowfat and vegan – and super simple to make. What more do you want in a holiday gift?

Pumpkin cranberry bread

2 tablespoons ground flax seeds
6 tablespoons orange juice
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup pumpkin
3 tablespoons canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
2/3 cup all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon cloves
3/4 cup chopped walnuts
1 cup cranberries, roughly chopped

Heat the oven to 350 degrees.

Mix pumpkin and sugars in a medium bowl. Vigorously whisk together the flax and orange juice, and add to pumpkin mixture. Stir in the vanilla and oil.

In another bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, salt and spices, then mix into the wet ingredients. Fold in the walnuts and cranberries.

Pour into loaf ban and bake for 55 minutes, or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.

When I attend holiday parties, often the only thing I can eat is hummus or fruit – and that’s if I’m lucky.  The holidays are a time when people let loose with the butter, cream and cheese. So what’s a girl with cholesterol issues to do? Host my own party, of course!  This year I’ve devised some delicious healthful finger food and sweets that will satisfy even the hardcore cheese lovers in your crowd. So keep checking back over the next two weeks.

Today I bring you these awesome vegan stuffed mushrooms. I made them up on a whim, and had an instant hit on my  hands. When you take a bite, the crunch of the topping gives way to the meatiness of the mushroom and its savory stuffing….wow.  I guarantee these will be a hit at your party, too. You might want to double the recipe – these get gobbled up fast.

Stuffed Mushrooms with Pecans

3/4 cup freshly made bread crumbs from whole wheat bread (just throw a piece of bread in the food processor)
1/3 cup chopped toasted pecans
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/3 cup finely chopped onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
3 to 4 ounces extra firm tofu (1/4 of one package)
1 teaspoon nutritional yeast
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
12 ounces baby bella mushrooms (about 16)

Heat the oven to 375 degrees.

Place the bread crumbs and pecans in a large bowl.

Heat the olive oil in a skillet. Add the onions and garlic and saute for about 5 minutes, until soft. Add the oregano, tofu, yeast, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper and  mash with a fork. Cook for 3 minutes, then add to the bowl with the bread crumbs.  

Pull the stems from the mushrooms, which should leave a small cavity for filling. Press a spoonful of filling into the mushroom, mounding it a bit on top. Place the mushrooms on a baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes or until the tops are browned. Serve immediately.

Serves 6-8 as an appetizer

It’s disheartening to read most of the vegetarian chili recipes out there. Many of them are bean and vegetable stews with little depth of flavor.  I wanted to create a vegetarian chili that is deeply flavored with real chiles, and spicy enough to make smoke come out of your ears.  I think I’ve finally cracked the code with the recipe below. It includes six types of peppers, including smoky chipotles, along with pan-charred onions and serranos, beer and a hint of chocolate – resulting in a chili that is intense, complex and spicy.

Of course, you have to be dedicated to make this, as it involves making beans from scratch, and obtaining ingredients like dried ancho and guajillo chiles. But trust me, it’s worth it – and I’ve provided some links for mail-order sources for peppers, for those of you who can’t easily find them locally. Do make sure your ground cumin is fresh – this won’t be as good if your jar of cumin has been sitting in the cabinet for a year or more. Grinding your own from cumin seeds is best of all.

Photo prop fun: the purple pot holder is courtesy of Claire Elton, who recently gave me a pile of cool vintage stuff she had stashed away and forgotten about, until I mentioned my quest for props. Thanks again, Claire!

Smoky and Spicy Vegetarian Chili

1 ¼ cups dried pinto beans
1 large or 2 small dried ancho chiles
1 dried guajillo chile (or substitute pasilla or more ancho)
12 oz. bottle of beer, divided
1 very large white (or yellow) onion, thickly sliced
4 fresh Serrano peppers (or substitute jalapenos)
2 tablespoons canola or high-oleic safflower oil
4 cloves garlic
1 large stalk celery, diced
2 medium green bell peppers, chopped
1 tablespoon cumin
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon dried oregano leaves, preferably Mexican
1 package chicken-style seitan, well chopped (or substitute regular seitan)
1 4-ounce can chopped fire-roasted green chiles, preferably Hatch
1 chipotle pepper (from canned chipotles in adobo), minced
2 ½ cups crushed tomatoes (about ¾ of a 28-oz can)
½ teaspoon salt
1 ½ cups reserved bean cooking liquid
½ ounce bittersweet chocolate
Fat-free sour cream (or vegan sour cream) and chopped red onions, for garnish

Soak the beans, or use the quick-soak method. Drain, cover well with fresh cold water in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until tender, about 1 hour.  Drain, reserving cooking liquid.

Heat a cast-iron pan until very hot. Add the dried chiles and press down with a spatula and cook until the peppers begin to soften and are beginning to blacken, about 1 minute. Remove from pan, cut off the stems and shake out the seeds. Tear the chiles into pieces and place in a blender along with 1 cup of the beer, and puree until smooth.

Re-heat the cast-iron pan over high heat and add the onion slices and Serrano peppers. Cook for about 10 minutes, turning the onions once, until they are well charred and soft.  Remove the onions and chop. Cut the stems off the serranos and chop. (For a milder dish, slice the peppers lengthwise and remove the seeds before chopping.)

Heat the oil over medium heat in a large heavy pot or dutch oven. Add the garlic, celery and bell peppers and sauté for about 10 minutes. Add the prepared onions and serranos, cumin, black pepper and oregano and cook for 2 minutes. Add the seitan, fire-roasted green chiles, chipotle and chile puree and cook 2 minutes more. Add the remaining beer, tomatoes, bean cooking liquid and salt. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Add cooked beans and cook 10 minutes more. Stir in chocolate and serve, topping with fat-free sour cream and chopped onions if you’d like.

Serves 6-8

Here are a couple of other vegetarian chili recipes that break the usual mold:

Vegetarian Chili from Herbivoracious

Pierce Street Vegetarian Chili from 101 Cookbooks

And if you’re a meat eater, here’s an astounding chicken cashew chili (I tried this – wow!)

The color of this salad will just about knock your eyes out – the beets quickly turn the clementines a crazy orange-pink color! The pomegranate seeds are a nice crunchy surprise in your mouth, too. Of course, you could serve this on some greens for more of a traditional salad, but it’s pretty perfect the way it is. And if you’re a cheese eater, this would also be nice with a little bit of goat cheese (Coach Farm is making a delicious low-fat goat cheese now, and I have indulged in a few bites.)

This was inspired by a recipe I found on Epicurious, but I’ve changed it up a bit. For one thing, the original recipe called for blood oranges, but they aren’t quite in season yet (and interestingly, weren’t in season when Bon Appetit published it in November, 2003.) It’s worth seeking out the pomegranate molasses, which is used in muhammara and is great in salad dressings and cocktails.

The other day someone asked me if beets had any nutritional value – they thought beets were all sugar and nothing else. Not true. As this nutrition site explains, they contain important betalain pigments and are packed with antioxidant and anti-inflammatory benefits. But did you know that up to 15% of adults experience “beeturia” after eating beets?  In other words, beets turn their urine red. They can turn other things red, too. But let’s not go there, ok?

Photo prop fun: since so many people ask me about the props  used in my photos, I’ll start giving you a little detail when the prop is noteworthy. Here I’ve used a vintage feedsack as a tablecloth. Until I found a stash of these at an antique store in Virginia last week, I never knew that flour and sugar used to be sold in pretty cotton sacks, so women would want to make clothes out of them. Smart marketing!

Beet, Clementine and Pomegranate Salad

4 medium beets
3 tablespoons fresh-squeezed orange, tangerine or clementine juice
1 tablespoon pomegranate molasses
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
1 small red onion, thinly sliced
4 clementines (or satsuma tangerines), peeled and separated into sections
1/2 cup pomegranate seeds

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Cut off the stems and wrap each beet tightly in foil. Place on a baking sheet and bake about an hour or until the beets feel tender when pierced with a knife. Let them cool for 10-15 minutes, then peel and chop into bite-sized pieces.

Whisk together the juice, pomegranate molasses and vinegar in a medium serving bowl. Add the olive oil and whisk well. Season to taste with salt and pepper (it won’t need much salt, if any.)  Add the beets, onions, clementines and pomegranate seeds and mix gently. Serve.

Serves 4-6

Nothing’s more traditional than pumpkin pie for a Thanksgiving dessert, so I just had to include one in this series. For my more heart-healthy version, beaten egg whites make for a wonderfully light and fluffy filling, and almond milk stands in for the usual half & half or evaporated milk. The crust, adapted from this recipe, is made from whole wheat pastry flour, ground pecans and oats. I’ve had people tell me this is the best pumpkin pie they’ve ever eaten, and I have to agree.

Of course, pumpkin pie isn’t everyone’s favorite, so scroll down to see a few more of my recommended heart-healthy Thanksgiving dessert suggestions.

This is my last entry in the Healthy Thanksgiving Series. Now the holiday is upon us, so it’s time for me to cook all over again. I’m probably going to make totally different dishes than the ones I’ve posted here, because my husband and I have been eating all of this Thanksgiving food for weeks now. Oh, the sacrifices I make for you, dear readers!

Enjoy your holiday, and if you make any of my recipes, please report back. Happy cooking – and eating.

Fluffy Low Fat Pumpkin Pie

Crust:
3/4 cup pecan pieces, lightly toasted
3/4 cup oat flour (or finely grind 3/4 cup oats in a food processor)
3/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
pinch salt
1/4 cup organic canola oil
3 tablespoons maple syrup
2 tablespoons skim milk

Filling:
1 can organic pumpkin
2/3 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon tapioca flour or cornstarch
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon salt
pinch ground cloves
1 egg yolk
1 cup unsweetened plain almond milk
2 egg whites

Heat oven to 375 degrees.

Combine the pecans, flours, cinnamon and salt in a food processor and process until ground. In a medium bowl, whisk the oil and maple syrup. Add the skim milk but do not stir. Mix in the dry ingredients with a fork until combined. Press into a 9-inch pie pan (not deep dish), making sure the crust extends all the way to the top, even a bit beyond. Then crimp the edges with your fingers. Bake for 10 minutes, then remove to cool.

Combine the filling ingredients, except egg whites, in a bowl and whisk until smooth. In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites with an electric mixer until soft peaks form. Gently fold the whites into the filling mixture, repeatedly folding until the egg whites are fully incorporated. Pour the filling into the partially-baked crust. Return to the oven and bake about 45 minutes, until the center is just set. The middle should still jiggle like jello, but should not slosh around like liquid.  Cool well before serving.

Other Thanksgiving dessert ideas for you:

Glazed Chocolate Pumpkin Bundt Cake

Pear Right Side Up Cake

And of course, my Apple Pie (to make it more seasonal, use an extra apple and substitute one cup of cranberries for the two cups of raspberries used here)