Ginger Pecan Carrot Cupcakes

These cupcakes were so incredibly delicious, made with fresh carrots from the Boulder farmers market and crystalized ginger from Savory Spice Shop. This recipe make 12 cupcakes.
Cupcake Ingredients:
  • 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp sea salt
  • 1/2 TB ground cinamon
  • 1/2 cup chopped pecans
  • 1/4 cup coarsely chopped crystalized ginger
  • 3/4 cup evaporated cane juice
  • 1/2 cup plus 1 TB walnut oil
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 cups grated carrots
Maple Cream Cheese Frosting Ingredients:
  • 1/3 cup heavy whipping cream
  • 4 oz cream cheese
  • 1/3 cup maple syrup
  • 1/2 cup powdered sugar
Preheat oven to 350 (375 if at altitude, like here in Boulder). Line a cupcake pan with paper baking cups (I prefer the 100% unbleached compostable IF YOU CARE brand).
In a mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, salt, cinamon, pecans, and ginger. Mix this with a fork or whisk so all of the ingredients are relatively evenly combined. Add the grated carrots and toss to coat.
In your KitchenAid mixer, add the evaporated cane juice and walnut oil. Turn it to speed 2 for 30 seconds or so, and then add the eggs and beat another 30 seconds. Add the flour and carrot mixture and mix another minute or so until you have an even batter.
Scoop into the cupcake tray and bake 15-20 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean. Remove your cupcakes from the cupcake tray and allow them to cool completely.
Next, make the frosting. Unless you have an extra KitchenAid bowl, you’re going to have to wash the bowl you used for the batter. First, pour the heavy whipping cream into the bowl, and with the wire whisk attachment, beat on speed 10 for 3-4 minutes until you have butter. Then, add the cream cheese, maple syrup, and powdered sugar and beat on speed 10 another couple minutes to make nice and fluffy fresh frosting.
Frost your cupcakes as you like. I filled a plastic sandwhich bag and cup off the corner in order to squeeze it out like piping. Get as fancy as you desire, and enjoy.

Roasted Sweet Potato (Yam) and Carrot Soup

Ollin Farms had some amazing looking sweet potatoes last week. This fall was the first time I saw them at the farmers’ market because they are not a very common crop here in Colorado. However, they were delicious.

This soup is reall easy, healthy, and full of flavor.
Ingredients:
  • peeled, chopped sweet potatoes (2 pounds? How much soup are you making? There is no definitive measurement here, so 4 large sweet potatoes might be a good place to start.)
  • peeled, chopped carrots (again, no measurement. 1/2 pound, maybe.)
  • 1 large yellow or sweet onion, sliced
  • 1 cup veggie broth
  • 1/2 cup olive oil
  • 1/2 cup apple cider
  • water
  • 2 TB (or more) powdered ginger (please feel free to use fresh ginger if you have it available)
Preheat oven to 375. In a large Pyrex baking dish, combine the yams, carrots, onion, veggie broth, and olive oil. Cover with foil and bake for 45 minutes or until a fork can easily pierce the yams and carrots. Remove from oven and let cool for 15-30 minutes.
Next, add the roasted ingredients to a Vita-Mix or other blender. Add the apple cider and a few cups of water. Puree until smooth. If you have a smaller blender, you might need to break this down into two separate batches. When it is all smooth, transfer to a soup or stock pot and simmer on medium low heat for 15-20 minutes. Add more water to reach your desired consitency, as well as the ginger. Stir the soup somewhat frequently, and don’t leave it uncovered and walk away. If it is too hot, it will jump out of the pot and make a mess. Be warned! Enjoy.

Basil Baked Tofu Sandwhich

The photo on the left is before baking. On the right- baked, topped with roasted garlic tomato sauce, and ready to eat.

Ingredients:
  • 1 cup basil leaves, rinsed
  • 4 cloves garlic
  • 1/2 cup white wine
  • 2 TB olive oil
  • fresh ground black pepper
  • Aleppo pepper or red pepper flakes
  • Sea Salt: 1/2-1 teaspoon, depending on how salty you like your food
  • Onion powder
  • juice from 1/2 lemon
  • 1 cup water
Preheat oven to 400. Let’s review the tofu mantra- buy firm tofu, freeze it, thaw it, press it, slice it, season it, bake it.
Combine all of the ingredients except the water in a food processor. Puree until it is a smooth green paste. Mix it into one cup of water and then pour half of this into a Pyrex baking dish. Place your frozen, thawed, pressed, sliced tofu into the dish and cover with the rest of the mixture. Bake at 400 for 40 minutes or so until the liquid has been absorbed. I toasted some Ciabatta bread and made a sandwhich topped with roasted garlic tomato sauce.
Unlike most of my other tofu recipes, this was made with the intention for it to be accompanied by another strong flavor, like a flavorful sauce, so keep that in mind for a serving suggestion.

Pear Cobbler

Pears are in season, so I’ve been eating a ton of them. What better way to enjoy them for dessert than in a “somewhat” healthy cobbler?

This is very similar to my peach cobbler recipe. But, there are some differences. This recipe calls for 5-6 pears. If you don’t like pear skin, bring a couple quarts of water to a boil. Blanch the pears for a couple minutes, then submerge them in ice water to easily peel off the skin. Next, slice them into 1/4 inch slivers. Preheat oven to 350.

Ingredients for Cobbler Topping:


  • 1/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour
  • 1/4 cup oat bran
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • pinch of sea salt
  • 1/2 TB cinamon
  • tiny pinch nutmeg
  • 1 egg
  • 1 TB walnut oil
  • 1/3 cup maple syrup
  • 4 TB plain rice milk (I’m sure you could use real milk, but I never have it in the fridge, so I used homemade rice milk)
Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl. Mix the wet ingredients in another bowl. Mix the wet into the dry, pour over the pears, and bake for 30 minutes. Serve with maple whip cream and/or vanilla ice cream. Try to enjoy in moderation.

Harvest Vegetable Soup

So fresh. So good. So flavorful. Soups usually aren’t this delicious, in my opinion, and it is all due to these fresh, local, seasonal, and organic ingredients.
In a large pot, I combined the following ingredients and cooked for 40 minutes:
  • 1 large yellow onion, chopped
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 quart veggie stock
  • 3 or more quarts water
  • sweet potatoes, peeled, cubed
  • carrots, peeled, chopped
  • corn (fresh from the cob, husked, boiled, shaved from the cob)
  • green pepper, chopped
  • broccoli, chunks
  • cauliflower, chunks
  • 2 TB Grumpy’s Private Reserve Black Label BBQ Sauce
For such a simple soup, it took more than 2 hours to prepare. I husked 12 ears of corn, peeled and cubed 2 pounds of yams, and almost 3 pounds of carrots. I made a lot of soup and froze some for later. You could add more or less of each ingredient according to your own tastes. The flavors of these fresh ingredients really stood out, which is why I only added a small amount of BBQ sauce for a little spice.

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A Bolder Table is a place where I bookmark my favorite recipes for later along with some occasional musings. It's my personal digital recipe compilation... Let's say it's my cookbook. Thanks for stopping by! -Megan
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