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July 2014

OATrageous cookbook review, a great recipe AND a giveaway for some OXO kitchen tools!

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Disclosure: This post contains my Amazon affiliate link which means I may gain a commission from your purchase.  I am truly grateful for your support.  I also want to make it known that I received a copy of OATrageous free of charge for review.  All opinions are my own.

If you've been following along, you know that I'm a recipe junkie.  I may not always have the ingredients exactly right and I may take some liberties when it comes to directions, but I LOVE a good recipe.  That's why I was so excited when I was given the opportunity to have a sneak peek at Kathy Hester’s new book, OATrageous where she comes up with some new takes on good ol' oats:

Kathy Hester has recipes to show you oats in a whole new light. Think Italian Veggie and Oat Sausage, Veggie Oat Tacos and Oat Pizza Crust Topped with vegan sausage crumbles made from Steel-cut oats. But don’t worry she includes new takes on traditional favorites like Banana Oatmeal Cookie Pancakes and Strawberries and Cream Overnight Refrigerator Oats too. From now on it’s Exciting Oats for Every Meal!

 Flipping through Kathy's book has given me some really great ideas on how to use those oats I have in my pantry - other than making a million batches of oatmeal raisin cookies (although my family would not protest that, I have to say).  In fact, I made something I probably would never had even thought to try if I hadn't seen it in her book - Oat-chata.  

Horchata is a traditional Mexican drink made with homemade rice milk, cinnamon and sugar.  Kathy's take on it adds oats and almonds to give this horchata, or oat-chata as she calls it a more complex flavor.  It was so different and exciting to me, I HAD to try it.  Check it out! Oatchata

Oat-chata

  • 4 cups (946 ml) water, divided
  • 1/2 cup (40 g) steel-cut oats
  • 1/4 cup (27 g) skinned almonds, whole or slivered
  • 1/4 cup (46 g) long grain brown rice
  • 2 whole cinnamon sticks
  • 1 tablespoon (15 ml) agave nectar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 3⁄8 teaspoon stevia

Put 2 cups (473 ml) of the water in a 4-cup (946-ml) sealable glass container along with the oats, almonds, rice and cinnamon. Soak overnight or between 8 to 24 hours.  

Once the soaking time is up, remove the cinnamon sticks and pour the mixture into a blender.  Blend for 1 to 2 minutes or until most of the particles have broken down.  

Strain through a small mesh strainer into a bowl with a pour spout. Rinse the blender and strainer.  Strain the mixture a second time into the blender. Add the other 2 cups (473 ml) of the water, agave, vanilla and stevia and blend well.  Store leftovers in the fridge. Serve over ice.

*Of course I was missing a few ingredients.  (What else is new?) So instead of soaking almonds (which I had run out of the night before) along with the oats, cinnamon, and rice in water, I substituted the soaking water with almond milk.  I also did not have any stevia, so I just used plain granulated white sugar.  It tasted divine!*

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Here's some good news for YOU...  Kathy has teamed up with OXO to bring you a fantastic giveaway for a copy of her book AND some great OXO kitchen tools.  OXO kitchen tools are awesome.  If you have ever used an OXO product, you know they are built to last, are beautifully made and are a great addition to any kitchen!  You can enter here to win!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 But don't worry... if you don't win the giveaway, you've still got a chance to get some really awesome gifts if you pre-order Kathy's book OATrageous.  Here are the details: 

1. Pre-order Kathy's book OATrageous from $15.06 through this Amazon link and have a chance to get over $25 worth of extras:

2. Just be one of the first 100 people to email your OATrageous purchase receipt to [email protected] it should include your full name and mailing address (for delivery purposes only).

Kathy has some other surprises for everyone who pre-orders including an OATragous newsletter with not-in-the-book oat recipes and special coupons.

 Best of luck in the giveaway!  I hope you will check out Kathy Hester's new book OATrageous!

 


All hail the Hailstone radish and avocado dip!

The other day, my good friend Lisa gave me a bunch of radishes.  There were a bunch of your normal garden variety red gems, but there were also a bunch of larger white ones mixed in.  At first, I thought she had mistakenly given me some turnips.  But upon further examination (I took a big bite out of one) they were in fact radishes.  Hailstone radishes, to be exact. Hailstone

They were so crunchy and sweet, I immediately fell in love.  Their radish taste is very mild...almost buttery.  Of course I told Lisa about my new favorite thing and thanked her profusely.  And being the awesome friend that she is, Lisa gave me some more!  Woohoo!

After I ate my fill, I thought hmmmm...what can I make with the rest?  I thought a dip would be nice, so I whirled up some garlic, the radishes and some cream cheese.  It was good, but not great.  It needed something.

My husband and I thought about it for a while... Hot sauce?  No.  Peppers?  No.  What?

Then it hit me like a well deserved slap in the face.  

Avocado!

Why didn't I think of that first?  I mean, avocados are my absolute favorite food in the universe.  I currently have 6 in the fridge just waiting to be devoured.  Oh no wait... make that 5.  I ate one earlier.

So I took a bit of the radish mixture and added a smashed avocado to it.  PERFECTION.

Here's the recipe:

Radish dip

Hailstone Radish and Avocado Dip

    • 6 White Hailstone radishes or 4-5 red radishes*
    • 3 cloves of garlic
    • 8 oz softened cream cheese
    • 2 ripe Haas avocados
    • Sea salt

*Red radishes are much more potent in flavor, so you will want to add less to your dip.  You can try daikon radishes as well.

Add the garlic and radishes to your food processor bowl.  Whirl them up until they are thoroughly chopped and combined.  Add the cream cheese and whirl it until smooth.

Mash your avocados together in a large bowl.  Add the radish mixture to your avocados and stir together.  Add sea salt to taste.  Serve immediately.

I love this with tortilla chips, but I think it would also be great with toasted pita or cut up vegetables.  Try it and let me know what you think!

 PS:  I entered this recipe into a contest on the Food52 site which is a GREAT site with tons of awesome recipes.  If you would be so kind as to check it out and maybe give me some love over there, I'd be forever grateful! Here's the link: https://food52.com/recipes/29531-hailstone-radish-and-avocado-dip

Thanks!