Looking for a fun beverage for your next fall gathering? Infuse cider with your favorite fall baking spices and add bubbles—either sparkling juice or the adults-only prosecco. This Sparkling Spiced Cider is easy enough to pull off for unexpected guests. Don’t forget the sliced fruit for the punch bowl. It takes it to the next level! Serving this punch warm is a nod to mulled wine and the chillier temps. The addition of sparkling wine or juice keeps it festive.
Sparkling Spiced Cider
Looking for a fun beverage for your next fall gathering? Infuse cider with your favorite fall baking spices and add bubbles—either sparkling juice or the adults-only prosecco. This sparkling spiced cider is easy enough to pull off for unexpected guests.
In a 6-quart stockpot, bring apple cider, pear juice, half of the orange slices, cinnamon sticks, cloves, and star anise to just under a simmer and cook for 15 minutes.
Remove from heat and carefully strain into a large serving vessel, top with prosecco or sparkling pear juice. Serve warm, garnish with remaining orange slices, apple slices, and fresh thyme sprigs.
This three sisters stew is named after the indigenous agricultural practice of planting beans, corn, and squash together. Not only do these ingredients taste great together, but they also actually help one another grow! Corn stalks form a trellis that the beans can climb. Squash leaves help shade the soil and reduce evaporation, so the plants need less water. The beans deposit nitrogen back into the soil that the corn needs. It’s a wonderful system where each piece plays an important part to benefit the whole. This Three Sisters Stew is a warm bowl of simple veggie stew that is sure to keep you satisfied.
Three Sisters Stew
This Three Sisters stew is named after the indigenous agricultural practice of planting beans, corn, and squash together. Not only do these ingredients taste great together, they actually help one another grow!
Thanks to Christine Waltermyer & The Natural Kitchen Cooking School!
Christine Waltermyer is a local and renowned Wellness Chef, private chef to celebrities, published cookbook author and founder of the Natural Kitchen Cooking School, which offers an online Plant-Based Cooking Program. She also loves shopping at Basil Bandwagon! Visit naturalkitchenschool.com to subscribe to her email newsletter for new recipes, tips, and FREE access to the Power of Veggies mini-course!
Do you have a busy schedule? Are you looking for an easy, weeknight meal? Well thanks to Christine Waltermyer and The Natural Kitchen Cooking School, you can make your family a delicious honey glazed shrimp sheet pan dinner with this simple recipe!
Make the Marinade: In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the honey, coconut aminos, ½ teaspoon of the onion powder and sea salt and white pepper to taste. You will use half of this marinade to marinate the shrimp. Save the other half for cooking the shrimp.
Marinate the Shrimp: Place the shrimp in a medium size glass bowl. Add 1/2 of the marinade and toss well to combine. Cover the bowl and place it in the refrigerator for at least 15 minutes. To make the shrimp even more flavorful you can marinate them up to 8 hours, or overnight. Pour the rest of the marinade into a glass jar and refrigerate.
Preheat the oven to 375-degrees F. Line a large, rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
Season and roast the vegetables: Add the vegetables to the baking sheet and toss with the coconut oil. Season with the remaining onion powder and sea salt and white pepper to taste. Toss again. Arrange the vegetables in a single layer. Roast for 15 minutes. Remove the sheet pan from the oven. Flip the vegetables over. Return to oven and roast for 15 more minutes.
Add shrimp + bake: Remove the baking sheet from the oven. Use a spatula or tongs to carefully move the vegetables over to one side to make room for the shrimp. Add the shrimp to the baking sheet. Discard the used marinade. Drizzle the shrimp with the remaining unused marinade in the jar. Return the baking sheet to the oven and bake for 5 to 7 minutes, or until the shrimp are pink and firm to the touch.
Serve the roasted vegetables and shrimp with lemon wedges and garnished with the cilantro. This goes well served over some fluffy cooked white rice.
Enjoy!
Thank you to Christine Waltermyer and the Natural Kitchen Cooking School for working with us to help promote healthy, nutritious meals and products that are affordable, full of nutrients, and simple to make at home!
This Chicken with Spiced Rice is a simple, flavorful one pan dinner! You can practically set it and forget it. Check your pantry and freezer; you might have everything you need to make this for dinner tonight. If not, we’ve got everything you’ll need to be the dinner hero tonight. While it bakes, you can catch up on your favorite show, do a quick load of dishes, or whip up a quick lemon yogurt sauce that pairs perfectly. Serve with a simple green salad, and for a complete meal, bake a nice snacking cake alongside the chicken. You’ve already got the oven on, right?
Chicken with Spiced Rice
This Chicken with Spiced Rice is a simple, flavorful one pan dinner! You can practically set it and forget it. Check your pantry and freezer, you might have everything you need to make this for dinner tonight.
Place chicken, olive oil, garam masala, ¼ teaspoon turmeric, and salt in a bowl and toss to coat. Cover and marinate for four hours to overnight in the fridge.
Preheat oven to 350ºF. Heat ghee in a 1.5-quart saucepan over medium heat. Add onion, cinnamon stick, cardamon pods, and cumin seeds. Sauté until onions are translucent. Stir in garlic and ginger and cook for one minute.
Add rice, water, ¾ teaspoon turmeric, and salt to pan and bring to a simmer. Submerge chicken and cover.
Bake for 35-40 minutes or until water has been absorbed. Remove from oven, add peas and rest covered for 10 minutes before serving. Garnish with cilantro if desired.
This fall, we’re all about celebrating the abundance of the season. First up, apples! Serve this Cinnamon Apple Chunk Cake as an indulgent breakfast, an afternoon pick-me-up, or a simply rustic dessert! No matter what, it will be delicious! You can switch up the type of apple you use but be sure to ask someone in produce what are the best baking varieties we have in now.
Cinnamon Apple Chunk Cake
Serve this Cinnamon Apple Chunk Cake as an indulgent breakfast, an afternoon pick-me-up, or a simply rustic dessert! No matter what, it will be delicious!
Preheat oven to 350ºF. Grease an 8-inch cast iron skillet and set aside.
In a small bowl, whisk together flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and sea salt.
In a medium bowl, combine sugar, oil, eggs until pale in color. Stir in buttermilk.
Add dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Fold in chopped apple and pour batter into prepared cast iron skillet. Combine remaining sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle on top of batter.
Bake 40-45 minutes or until a tester inserted in the center comes out clean.
Stir together powdered sugar and milk until smooth and drizzle over cooled cake.
Festive Popcorn Balls are in your future! Trading in crispy rice for popcorn gives you a cross between kettle corn and a marshmallow crispy treat. Roll the popcorn balls in colorful candies for a festive seasonal flair. Perfect for enticing kitchen amateurs into the mix, you can even melt the marshmallow and butter mixture in the microwave if you want to keep your stovetop free. Just combine the ingredients in a large microwave save bowl and microwave for 30 second intervals, stirring thoroughly, until the mixture is just melted and combined.
Festive Popcorn Balls
Trading in crispy rice for popcorn gives you a cross between kettle corn and a marshmallow crispy treat. Roll the popcorn balls in colorful candies for a festive seasonal flair. Perfect for enticing kitchen amateurs into the mix.
Make these cute Cherry Oatmeal Bakes for individual portions of a delicious and nutritious hot breakfast! The juices keep things flavorful and moist. Eat together or people can grab theirs when they’ve stumbled out of bed.
Cherry Oatmeal Bakes
Make these cute Cherry Oatmeal Bakes for individual portions of a delicious and nutritious hot breakfast! The juices keep things flavorful and moist. Eat together or people can grab theirs when they’ve stumbled out of bed.
Preheat oven to 375°F. Place six six-ounce custard cups in 13 x 9-inch baking pan.
Combine oats, cinnamon, and salt in medium bowl. Stir in juices, milk, egg, apple, cherries, butter, and vanilla. Divide evenly into custard cups.
Combine topping ingredients in a small bowl. Sprinkle over oat mixture. Cover pan with foil. Bake 20 minutes. Remove foil. Bake 20 minutes more or until centers are set and topping is golden brown. Remove from oven, let cool. Serve with milk, if desired.
It may be hard to find gluten- and grain-free doughnuts—why not make your own! These Mini Pumpkin Doughnut Muffins will satisfy that craving without additives or unpronounceable ingredients.
Mini Pumpkin Doughnut Muffins
It may be hard to find gluten- and grain-free doughnuts—why not make your own! These Mini Pumpkin Doughnut Muffins will satisfy that craving without additives or unpronounceable ingredients.
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Spray or lightly grease two mini muffin pans and set aside.
Mix together wet ingredients.
Slowly mix in Simple Mills Pumpkin Muffin & Bread Mix.
Pour batter into muffin tins.
Bake for 10 minutes, until the tops are domed and firm to the touch, and a tester comes out clean. Remove them from the oven and allow them to cool for five minutes in the pan before transferring to a wire cooling rack.
While the muffins are cooling in the pan, whisk together the coconut sugar and ground cinnamon in a small bowl.
As soon as the muffins are cool enough to handle, place each one in the cinnamon-sugar mixture, firmly rolling it around so that the cinnamon-sugar sticks. Gently toss it around a couple of times until the whole muffin is covered. Once covered, place each muffin back on the wire rack to finish cooling.
With all the flavors of the fall, these Pumpkin Snickerdoodle Cookies are the perfect way to celebrate the season! Although we’d gladly open a can just for these cookies, if you’re already cooking with pumpkin puree, these cookies are the perfect way to use the last bit.
Pumpkin Snickerdoodle Cookies
With all the flavors of the fall, these Pumpkin Snickerdoodle Cookies are the perfect way to celebrate the season! Although we’d gladly open a can just for these cookies, if you’re already cooking with pumpkin puree, these cookies are the perfect way to use the last bit.
Anchored in tradition but updated for health, these recipes for some of the greatest Oktoberfest foods will have you ready to celebrate!
Plant-based Schnitzel with Noodles
Schnitzel usually means tenderized meat coated in egg and bread crumbs and deep-fried. This version of schnitzel would have even Julie Andrews singing its praises, thanks to the tender tofu that skips the fryer.
Slice tofu twice horizontally to create 3 pieces about 1/2 in thick, then cut each piece in half vertically to make 6 pieces. Different brands are different thicknesses, so slice it however is best to make pieces slightly smaller than a deck of cards.
Line baking tray with clean kitchen towels and place tofu pieces on top in a single layer. Top with more towels, followed by another baking sheet. Weight the baking sheet (with books or cans of beans) and let moisture drain for 15 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350 F.
In shallow bowl, combine flour and water or beer. In second shallow bowl, combine bread crumbs, paprika, garlic powder, and 1/4 tsp salt.
Sprinkle drained tofu with remaining 1/2 tsp salt, then dip each piece in flour mixture followed by spiced bread crumbs. Place on paper towel-lined plate and pat extra bread crumb mixture gently on top in any bare areas.
In large skillet, heat 1 Tbsp oil over medium-high heat. When hot, add half the tofu and cook 2 minutes on each side, or until golden, pressing down with flat spatula on top to ensure crumbs brown evenly. Return tofu to paper towel-lined plate to drain excess oil.
Remove any loose bread crumbs from skillet, then add remaining 1/2 Tbsp oil and cook remaining tofu.
Meanwhile, cook pasta as per package instructions. Heat sauce, if using.
Serve drained pasta topped with schnitzel and sauce of choice. Sprinkle with chopped parsley.
Enjoy!
Gluten-Free Pretzels
Large pretzels are a staple of many Oktoberfest celebrations. The large pieces of golden, twisted pretzel dough come topped with coarse salt for a savory crunch with every bite.
2cupssweetened or unsweetened nondairy milkdivided
1tablespoondry active yeast
½teaspooncane sugar
½cuptapioca starch
½cup+ 2 tablespoons cornstarch
3cupsall-purpose gluten-free flour
2tablespoonspsyllium husk powder
1 ½teaspoonsalt
⅓cupvegan butter or coconut oilmelted
5cupswater
¼cupbaking soda
Coarse salt
Method
In small pot, heat 1/2 cup nondairy milk (or microwave) until warm to the touch but not scalding. In heat-proof bowl, add yeast and sugar, then pour milk overtop. Set aside for 15 minutes.
In stand mixer or large bowl, whisk tapioca starch, cornstarch, flour, psyllium, and salt. Add melted butter or oil, remaining 1 1/2 cups nondairy milk, and yeast mixture. Use dough hook or hand mixer on low speed to beat until just combined.
Shape dough into a ball. Transfer to lightly oiled bowl, cover with dish towel and set in a warm, draft-free place for 90 minutes.
Preheat oven to 400 F.
In medium pot, bring 5 cups water to a simmer with baking soda. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. On cutting board or clean countertop, divide dough into 10 pieces and roll into 15 in strands. Push edges away from you into a “U” shape and twist the ends over each other twice (there are plenty of videos online for this if you need help). Then bring the ends down to the bottom of the “U.”
Remove pot of water from heat. Using large, flat spatula, carefully pick up and slide a pretzel into water for 30 seconds. If water doesn’t cover the pretzel, rotate pot to submerge. Remove pretzel to parchment-lined baking sheet and repeat with remaining pretzels. You can do this all at once, but the pretzels are delicate.
Sprinkle pretzels with coarse salt and bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until golden brown.
Enjoy!
Dunkel Beer-Marinated Rotisserie-Style Chicken
This dark beer-marinated chicken uses the convection setting on your oven to create a crispy skinned bird. (If you don’t have a convection setting on your oven, you can simply bake the chicken for longer at the same temperatures as below, until a meat thermometer inserted in the thickest part of the thigh reads 165 F.)
1teaspoonGerman mustard or any grainy or stone-ground mustard
4garlic clovesminced
1 ½teaspoonsalt
1teaspoonpepper
2teaspoonsdried basil
Method
Zest and juice lemon. Stuff chicken cavity with leftover lemon pith and fresh thyme sprigs. In medium bowl, combine lemon zest and juice with remaining ingredients and pour over chicken in large bowl, pot, or leak-proof, sealable bag. Gently separate chicken skin from breast and legs without tearing, and scoop some of the marinade juices inside. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour, up to 12 hours.
Heat oven to 400 F on convection roast setting.
Place chicken in roasting pan and pour remaining marinade overtop. It should be elevated above juices to allow chicken to crisp. A metal rack that fits inside the roasting pan can be used. Roast for 30 minutes. Lower heat to 375 F and roast for 50 minutes longer, basting chicken every 20 minutes, until internal temperature reads 165 F and juices run clear. Loosely tuck a large piece of parchment paper over chicken during the last 30 to 60 minutes if overly brown.
Remove chicken from oven and let it rest for 10 minutes. Carve chicken and serve with sieved juices, or thicken juices with beer and cornstarch to make gravy.
