Buttered White Bean and Gremolata Loaded Potatoes

Ahhh, yes. Friday. We made it. Let me buy you a drink, or a mocktail, or a chocolate milk, or a basket of tortilla chips. 

Or, let me share this fantastic + super easy loaded baked potato recipe with you instead of promising things I can't actually deliver. Deal?

Remember reading about my friend Erin last week? The online baby shower? The avocado pesto chickpea sandwich? I know you remember!!

Anyway! 

Erin is not only about to give birth to a living + breathing tiny human being, but she also just gave birth to her second cookbook, The Easy Vegetarian Kitchen! Erin is one of those hardworking individuals who is always accomplishing BIG things. She's one I always ask, how do you do it all?? Basically, she rules. Not only does she rule at life in general but also in the recipe making + food photographing categories.

Erin is a pro at making simple, comforting, and seasonal vegetarian fare that is extremely approachable. She uses ingredients that are easy to find in store, grow on your own, or pick up at your local farmer's market. Then she combines those ingredients together to make some seriously impressive meals. 

Erin took a very unique approach with this cookbook. She came up with 50 classic recipes and then added four seasonal variations to each of those 50. For example, in the book you'll find a recipe for Basic Loaded Potatoes Potatoes and then you'll find four variations for each of the four seasons that add seasonal ingredients. So really, there are 250 recipes and variations in total. The chapters span from breakfast to dessert and everything in between. 

Basically, you'll never run out of recipe ideas with Erin's beautiful + genius cookbook!  I couldn't even decide which recipe to make first, so I decided to make three spring variations and give you a little teaser. I'm sharing one recipe below in full, but you'll have to buy the book to get all of the rest! 

Big congrats to Erin!! I don't know how you do it all. And you do it all so well. xo

Print Recipe!

printed with permission from: Erin Alderson and Fair Winds Press
recipe from: The Easy Vegetarian Kitchen

Buttered White Bean and Gremolata Loaded Potatoes

gluten-free // yield: 2-4 servings

Basic Loaded Potatoes:

• 2 medium russet potatoes or sweet potatoes
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 tablespoons heavy cream
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Preheat the oven to 425° F. Scrub the potatoes, pierce a few times with a fork, and rub with olive oil. Place in a roasted pan and bake until soft and a knife can be inserted with ease, 45-55 minutes. Remove from the oven and carefully slice in half. Scoop out the insides and mix with heavy cream, butter, salt, and pepper. Fill the potato skins with the potato mixture and top with your favorite topping.

Buttered White Bean and Gremolata Potatoes: (gremolata is a garnish made with  minced parsley, lemon peel, and garlic)

• 1 recipe Basic Loaded Potatoes 
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 cup cooked cannellini beans (drained and rinsed if using canned)
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 2 teaspoons lemon zest
• 1/4 cup minced parsley

Prepare the Basic Loaded Potatoes as directed.

Melt the butter in a skillet over low heat. Add the beans, salt, and pepper and cook until warm, 3 to 4 minutes. In a small bowl, combine the minced garlic, lemon zest, and parsley. 

Divide the bean mixture among the potato halves and finish with a sprinkle of the garlic mixture.

Erin's recipe for basic Morning Oats is photographed above.

Her spring variation, Roasted Strawberry and Pistachio Morning Oats, is photographed below.

Such a nice change of pace from my normal oatmeal mix-ins! I've never actually put pistachios on oatmeal. And you gotta love that color contrast!

Below we have Erin's spring twist on Lentil Stew. The spring version switches from red lentils to green and adds chard to the mix along with a side of garlic rice. We so enjoyed this for dinner last night and can't to eat the leftovers with an egg on top (obvz). 

Cheers to the weekend! 

Ashley

Vegan Chocolate Mousse

I'm thinking we need to start off the week with something sweet. And I'm thinking this vegan chocolate mousse is just the thing. It's a simple dessert with five main ingredients and little risk for disaster. No oven necessary, just your blender and fridge. I promise you can make this happen! 

A few weeks ago, the hardworking + generous staff at Fair Trade USA contacted me about a campaign they were working on and asked if I'd like to help spread the word. Of course! It's called, Moms Make A World of Difference. With Mother's Day just around the corner they thought it was the perfect time to honor and celebrate all of the moms out there and also bring awareness to the women working in agriculture in developing countries.

By choosing Fair Trade products you help support these hardworking women, their families, and communities. Did you know 50% of the world's food is produced by women, but women only own 2% of the land (source)? Fair Trade gives workers opportunities for things like education, microloans, maternity leave, fair pay, safe working conditions, and more. By purchasing Fair Trade you're not only getting a quality product, but most importantly, you're helping families and communities in developing countries thrive.

Today I wanted to share a little snippet of Maria's story. Not only is she a hardworking mom who strives to improve the life of her family, but she is also committed to helping her community grow as well.

Maria Quishpe, 31, from Saquisili, harvests Fair Trade certified roses. Maria, who has been working at Agrocoex since 2003, is a mom of a 2 year old toddler and the president of the Fair Trade prize committee. Currently on her third term as president, she has been on the committee for five years. Maria, who finished her High School equivalent degree through a Fair Trade holarship for adult employees, states: "Our main focus right now is the housing project for 200 families [of Agrocoex employees] in Latacunga. I ask that you please continue to buy our flowers, as each rose represents a step towards our collective dream of improved housing. Each rose is gathered with lots of love. I want to end my presidency with the housing dream as a reality." The housing project consists of a track housing development on the outskirts of Latacunga city where Agrocoex employees will have favorable credits and other benefits in order to become homeowners. Many state that living in Latacunga will provide better health, education and income possibilities for their loved ones - children and spouses.

In honor of Moms Make a World of Difference, I've created this vegan chocolate mousse with a handful of my favorite Fair Trade certified ingredients. And today you have the chance to win everything you see below! This is thanks to the lovely people at Fair Trade and the extremely hard workers around the world who strive to bring you the highest quality Fair Trade products possible.

For this mousse recipe I utilized the Lake Champlain drinking chocolates (they melted wondefully and are vegan!), Nutiva organic coconut oil, and the Wholesome Sweeteners organic blue agave. I don't use agave too frequently, but I must say the caramel flavor of this variety was outstanding. 

Now, onto the mousse.

This velvety smooth, chocolate mousse is made possible by just a few ingredients:

• silken tofu
• coconut oil
• coconut cream
• melted chocolate
• agave nectar

Once everything is blended together you're left with a lightly sweetened, chocolaty dream of a dessert. It needs a few hours in the fridge to fully chill and firm and then you can dive on in. As it firms in the fridge, the texture also lightens. It really has a true mousse-like texture. It's the coconut whipped cream that adds lightness and also helps to firm the ingredients together, along with the coconut oil.

The coconut flavor is subtle and adds an extra layer of richness. You can definitely play around with adding more melted chocolate or more or less agave. It just depends on your taste buds. 

I originally tried adding a small amount of coconut flour (you'll notice in the ingredient photo) to the mix for added coconut flavor, but the flour also added a slight gritty texture that was not so pleasant for mousse. But without it, we were golden.

Print Recipe!

Vegan Chocolate Mousse

gluten-free, vegan // yields: 4, 1/2-cup servings

• 6 - 8 tablespoons vegan semi-sweet/dark chocolate chips (I used 54% cocoa - standard size chips)
• 1, 13.5oz can full fat coconut milk, refrigerated overnight
• 2-4 tablespoons agave nectar, divided (or coconut syrup)
• 1, 12oz block firm silken tofu
• 3 tablespoons softened unrefined coconut oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• pinch of fine grain sea salt
• toasted flaked coconut

Melt the chocolate using a double-boiler over low heat or in 30-second increments in your microwave, stirring after each. Set aside to cool for 10-15 minutes (not in the fridge).

Open your fully chilled can of coconut milk. Scoop out only the solid coconut cream from the top of the can and place it in a mixing bowl. Add 1 tablespoon agave and beat until smooth with soft peaks, about 1 minute (yields appx. 3/4 cup). Transfer to a bowl and place in the fridge.

Place tofu, coconut oil, melted + cooled chocolate, 1 tablespoon agave, vanilla, and salt in your blender. Blend working to high speed until fully smooth. Scrape the sides as needed. Taste and add more melted chocolate and/or agave if desired. Transfer to a medium-sized bowl and refrigerate for about 30 minutes.

Add a 1/2 cup of the coconut cream to the chocolate mixture and fold together until combined. Cover and refrigerate remaining coconut cream. Portion mousse into 4 dessert cups with plastic wrap draped lightly on the surface of the mousse. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours and serve with a dollop of coconut cream and toasted coconut. Will keep in the fridge for about 3 days.

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Notes:

• Be certain you buy "silken" tofu that typically comes in a cardboard container and is not refrigerated. Also look that the box says "firm." If there is only extra-firm that should also work. If you can only find soft, the pudding my not firm up as much. Adding a bit more whipped coconut cream and 1-2 tablespoons more coconut oil should help.
• This can be made one day ahead. Cover the mousse and refrigerate, waiting to portion into cups until before serving. Give the mousse a quick whip with a whisk, portion into cups, top if desired and serve.
• If you want a thick layer of coconut whipped cream over the mousse, refrigerate 2 cans of full fat coconut milk and whip the coconut cream from both cans with 2 tablespoons agave. Use 1/2 cup in the mousse mixture and reserve the rest for topping.
• Feel free to sub honey instead of agave if not vegan.
• The higher the cocoa content of your chocolate, the richer and less sweet this dessert will be. Add agave in small increments until it's to your liking.

GIVEAWAY:

To enter: Leave a comment below about your favorite Fair Trade products or anything to do with Mother's Day (something about your mom, maybe your brunch menu, etc.)

Giveaway details: 1 winner will receive all of the Fair Trade certified items you see a few photos up. Giveaway ends Friday, May 8th at 5pm EST.

Good luck!!

Ashley

A big thank you to Fair Trade USA and all of the wonderful companies who participated in this campaign. 

| just love coffee roasters | whole foods market | barkthins | lake champlain chocolates | | wholesome! | traditional medicinals | nutiva | numi organic tea | unreal | eco lips |
| arrowhead mills | vosges haut-chocolat | simple truth | near east | cascadian farm | prana |

This giveaway was sponsored by Fair Trade USA and the companies mentioned above. I was not compensated for this post.