Letty's Kitchen - Page 7 of 70 - A vegetarian and healthy dessert blog

Double Chocolate Maple Pear Muffins

Hello muffintalk Monday! Today we are talking moist, not too sweet double chocolate maple pear muffins that leave warm smidgens of chocolate all over your fingers– whole grain muffins, sweetened with chunks of pear and pure maple syrup, and lavished with dark chocolate morsels!

The finger-licking chocolate-y fruitiness going on in these muffins is a welcome treat any time of day. You could definitely serve them for dessert, maybe with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Tilt your head in a muffin-y nod to the classic French dessert, Poire Belle Hélène–perfectly poached pears with chocolate sauce and vanilla ice cream.

You should see Robbie gobble these down, a guy who professes to not like chocolate. I had to hide them from ourselves in the freezer, which works for me, but after dinner he just reaches in, opens the container, and eats one frozen! Continue Reading…

How To Cook Black Beans in a Pressure Cooker (Instant Pot)

This post shows how to cook black beans in a pressure cooker or Instant Pot. In about 15 minutes, you can have toothy tender, rich, earthy, meaty, ready-to-enjoy beans, all soupy in a nutritious cooking broth.

Cooked from scratch, dried beans become pot beans, frijoles de olla, with delicious pot “liquor.” Canned beans in salty liquid don’t even come close to freshly cooked beans and their broth. And it happens fast in the Instant Pot or stovetop pressure cooker.

If you wish, when the dried beans go in the pot, season them with a mild dried chile, garlic cloves, and/or chopped onions. If you have less than perky parsley or cilantro, throw that in the pot too. Mexican cooks add epazote to their beans. Epazote is a pungent green herb with “gas-relieving” properties.

Speaking of farts, we are sometimes advised to soak dried beans before cooking, to make them more digestible.

Which brings up the back and forth question—do we soak the beans before cooking or do we not? And there’s the why soak the beans if you use a pressure cooker?
Another question: With a pressure cooker, do we turn off the heat and let the pressure come down naturally, and for how much time, or should we “quick-release?” Both work, with slightly different cooking times.
Oh, and when are we supposed to add salt before or after cooking? You’ll find plenty of discussion about that too…

Instant Pot Red Velvet Beet Soup

There’s something mind-blowingly sublime about this red velvet beet soup that cannot be described. Scarlet and velvety, rich in umami flavor, the whole is greater than the sum of red lentils, beets, carrots, its parts. Serve this amazing vegan soup without speaking a word.

Click here to PIN Instant Pot Red Velvet Beet Soup! Continue Reading…

Savory Goat Cheese, Basil, and Sun-Dried Tomato Muffins

Goat cheese, basil, and sun-dried tomato muffins, made with whole wheat flour and olive oil–each and every bite pops with flavor! With tangy smooth cheese and intense tomato essence, these savory muffins are superb cornerstone eats for cool weather meals.

The perfect match for steaming hot soup and a crisp green salad, you’ll also be wanting these rustic almost biscuit-like muffins for breakfast, with eggs and coffee, or as a simple snack, just because. Just because we love our muffins.

Today’s savory goat cheese, basil, and sun-dried tomato muffins are the first in a muffintalk series. I’m talking sweet, savory, vegan, gluten-free, paleo, healthful, and every once in a while, a bit of decadence. Continue Reading…

Jumbo Pumpkin Spice Chocolate Chip Cookies

Soft, sort of cake-like, and perfumed with pumpkin pie spice, these puffy honey-sweetened pumpkin spice chocolate chip cookies are old-fashioned pumpkin cookies made healthier.