sweet miscellany

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Simple Things & Grilled Peaches with Cashew Cream

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I’ve been noticing lately that I take pleasure in the simple things, whether it be occurrences in the day to day or in the foods that I put into my body.  Today I’ve enjoyed the beauty of a cloudy day, the rainbow of offerings at the farmer’s market, a juicy, ripe peach, and exploring a different route home. 

I used to really dislike the small city in which I call home, but I’ve come to realize recently that it’s what I’ve got.  I may pine for better cities or locales, but this city of mine will have to do.  Relishing in the small things every day is what allows me to be able to enjoy this place.  It may seem silly to some that taking a different route home or going for a walk on my nice, shady trail would bring me such joy, but it really does. 

Since I’ve been enjoying an abundance of local peaches lately, I decided to enjoy them in a rather simple, yet delicious way.  I grilled them with nothing but a bit of coconut oil and them topped them with a vegan cashew cream and a couple of sweet raspberries.  An effortless sweet treat for a lovely warm day.

Grilled Peaches with Cashew Cream
Since I’m not allowed to have an outside grill at my apartment, I use a grill pan on my stove.  Feel free to use whichever is readily available.  If you do use a grill pan inside, be prepared to open a window or two.  I had some raspberries available so I garnished the peaches with them, but feel free to garnish with whatever you have on hand.  This recipe makes enough for 8 servings with a bit of cashew cream left over.  

1/2 cup of raw cashews (not roasted and un-salted), soaked in water for a couple of hours
1/4 cup (or a bit more) of coconut milk
1 tbsp pure maple syrup, or other liquid sweetener of your choice
small pinch of sea salt
1/8 tsp ground cinnamon

4 ripe peaches, halved and pits removed
coconut oil for brushing on peaches

fresh raspberries to serve (optional)  

Make the cashew cream: drain and rinse the cashews and then add them to a high-speed blender or food processor.  Add in 1/4 cup of coconut milk, the maple syrup, the salt, and the cinnamon.  Process until the mixture is smooth and relatively thick.  If it is too thick, add a bit more coconut milk.  Set the cashew cream aside in the fridge to chill while you grill the peaches.  (you can make this a couple of days ahead of time, just make sure to store it in an airtight container in the fridge)

Grill the peaches: rub the flesh side of each peach halve with a bit of coconut oil (just enough to coat it).  Grill the peaches flesh side down on a grill pan set over medium to medium-high heat for about 1 to 2 minutes total.  I grilled mine for 1 minute, then rotated them about 90 degrees and grilled them for an additional minute in order to get lovely cross-hatched grill marks.  You want the peaches to soften and release their natural sugars, but not turn to mush. 

Assemble: top each peach halve with a good dollop of the cashew cream and a couple of raspberries.  Serve immediately (or chill for later) and enjoy!

Lemon Blackberry Macaroons

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So it’s not quite blackberry season yet, but I couldn’t resist getting some at the market the other day.  They pretty much screamed my name from across the aisle, so I gave in and got a small container.  I half expected them to be tart and almost inedible like most out of season berries are, but they were sweet and delicious.  Go figure.

In wondering what to do with them, I had an idea to somehow work them into a macaroon of sorts.  I have some pink grapefruit macaroons in my shop, so I just tweaked it for this specific recipe.  In wondering how best to incorporate the berries, I came across a post from Smitten Kitchen.  The recipe has you blend everything up in a food processor – problem solved!  These macaroons are some of the best I’ve ever had or made.  The slight tartness of the lemon and blackberries works so well with the coconut.  Besides being delicious, they are also gluten free, grain free, and dairy free.  Yay!  It’s quite unfortunate that I can’t offer them in my shop.  The fresh blackberries in them wouldn’t really ship well, so that’s why I’m sharing them here.

Before I give you the recipe and more drool-worthy photos, I feel I must inform you that I saw the first ripe dewberries of the season on my walk this morning!  I couldn’t resist popping two in my mouth before awkwardly looking around to make sure no one saw me.  It was pretty much the highlight of my morning.

Lemon Blackberry Macaroons
I used a small cookie scoop for these and ended up getting 14 macaroons.  If you have a larger cookie scoop, you may want to double the recipe to yield more cookies.  Or, just leave it as is.  If you are not eating these the day you make them, they store best in the refrigerator in an airtight container, or covered in plastic wrap. 

1 1/2 cups unsweetened shredded coconut
1/3 cup organic natural cane sugar (also called evaporated cane juice)
pinch of fine grain sea salt
zest of 1 lemon
about a tsp of fresh lemon juice
2 egg whites
heaping 1/2 cup of blackberries

Preheat your oven to 350F and place the rack in the upper 1/3 of the oven.  Line your baking sheet with parchment paper or a silpat.

Put the coconut, lemon zest, and lemon juice in the bowl of a food processor and pulse a couple of times to combine.  Next, add the sugar and salt and pulse a couple of more times.  Add the egg whites next and pulse a few times to bring the mixture together (it will start clumping together).  Add the blackberries and carefully pulse a few times (3 to 5 times) until the blackberries are roughly chopped.  You want the mixture to look streaked through with purple and chunks of blackberries instead of completely purple.

 Using a small cookie or ice cream scoop, place mounds of the mixture onto your lined baking sheet.  You can shape the mounds if you need to using damp fingers.  Bake the macaroons in the upper 1/3 of the oven for 15-18 minutes until the bottoms are golden and the tops are just starting to turn golden.  Cool them on the sheet for at least 20 minutes before attempting to remove them.  Enjoy!