Vegan Strawberry Cheesecake (www.onegreenplanet.org)

Looking for something spectacular to serve on Thanksgiving?

Want a contrast to the pumpkin pie on the dessert table?

Tired of all the cheese in your diet, but still want to indulge in something rich and decadent? 

This recipe is from the fantastic site "One Green Planet." Their recipes are always spot-on and this is no exception. True, strawberries in November is a tiny stretch, but I bet at Thanksgiving you'll find them. I'm betting that other fruit would work well in this cheesecake as well: mango, raspberry, blueberry. 

I remember the first time I used Medjool dates in my baking.... I was skeptical. Now, it feels like the most natural thing in the world. So if you're new to 'raw' baking - fear NOT! It's simple and super tasty - better than using butter and eggs. 

Crust:

1 C buckwheat flour

1/2 C walnuts

8 Medjool dates

1/2 t vanilla

1/4 t salt

Filling:

2 C soaked raw cashews

1 cup coconut milk

1/4 C coconut oil

4 dates

2 t vanilla

juice of 1 lemon

1/4 t salt

Frosting:

2 C strawberries

4 Medjool dates

juice of 1/2 lemon

Blend flour and walnuts in food processor. Add dates, vanilla and salt and continue to blend until well incorporated. Press into a 9-inch spring form pan.

Combine the filling ingredients in a blender except for the coconut oil. Melt the coconut oil and add it to the blender. Pour the filling over the crust and freeze for at least 2 hours.

Blend the strawberries, dates and lemon juice till smooth. Pour over the top of the cheesecake when ready to serve. Garnish with more strawberries.

Buckwheat Pancakes

Until about a month ago, I had never used buckwheat flour. Now it is my new favorite thing. These buckwheat pancakes are out of this world and according to what I have read on the internet, pretty healthy for you compared to regular flour pancakes. Try them and let me know what you think.

I want you to send me all your buckwheat recipes please! I purchased a huge amount of it and I have to ‘get through it!’ Can you help?

I also need some new rhubarb recipes…. Here is the rhubarb patch right under my deck…. It gets monster size in about 1 month and all I ever make is pie. pie. pie. pie….. something new this year would be great. Can you help?

Rhubarb Cam - April 4

Rhubarb Cam - April 12

Rhubarb Cam - April 15

Rhubarb Cam - April 25

Rhubarb Cam - April 30. This one has a cute little dog in it! 

Third request: anyone out there use ground coriander in anything? Coriander is my May Spice Rack Challenge and I feel a little stumped…. Came across a Coriander Bread that looks interesting and also a Coriander Chicken…. I think I can do better though. Can you help?

Buckwheat Pancakes (recipe from Simply Recipes)

Here’s what you need:

Vegetable oil for the pan

¾ C buckwheat flour

¾ C all-purpose flour

3 T sugar

½ t salt

1 t baking soda

3 T melted butter

1 egg

2 C butter milk (as you can see, I use powdered buttermilk. The result is great and the convenience is unbeatable – no need to run-to-the-grocery-store-for-one-item. The only change in method is that you add the dry buttermilk to the dry ingredients and 2 C water to the wet ingredients.)

Here’s what you do:

Whisk the dry ingredients together and set aside. You can see the powdered buttermilk in the photo. Whish the wet ingredients together and pour slowly to dry mixture. Do not overmix!

Fry gently in a small amount of vegetable oil. Today we had our pancakes with bananas and syrup. Really great way to start the day! 

(printable recipe)