Eat Simply, Eat Well

Healthy recipes & tips to help you live the good life. by Ann Plough

Walnut Orange Sandies

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I suppose we all have strong memories of certain smells and tastes and treats from our family holiday table.  For us, the days leading up to Christmas were certain to find all of my siblings and I sampling any number of the treats that came rolling out of the kitchen, made mostly by my oldest sister or my mom.   Peanut Butter Balls were a major favorite of my brothers’ – they’d eat them straight out of the freezer before they were dipped in the semi-sweet chocolate coating that made them taste like a big round peanut butter cup, and then eat more once they’d been freshly dipped, the chocolate barely having time to firm up against the frozen peanut butter filling.  Fudge was always on the menu too; and I sometimes made Peanut Brittle or Caramel Corn with or without peanuts.  On Christmas Eve we nearly always had a big buffet of treats which included my sisters luscious cherry tarts – just two bites big and the perfect combination of crispy shell, creamy vanilla custard and the sweet-tart cherry topping – a glistening, festive red.

And then there were Pecan Sandies – sometimes called Russian Tea Cakes or Mexican Wedding Cakes – a well-loved child has many names.  These were sometimes overlooked for the flashier option on the table, but make no mistake: one bit of these crumbling, pecan and butter filled, powdered sugared orbs would soon have you reaching for another.  My mom told me that a few years ago, she was asked to make them for every party she attended – 6 batches or so.

I hadn’t had Pecan Sandies in years; in fact I’d forgotten all about them until a few days ago when I saw a picture that I thought had to be these old-time cookies but turned out to be powdered sugar-covered truffles instead.  I couldn’t get the image out of my head, though, so I decided to rework the old recipe to make use of the whole grains and raw sugars readily available now.

Now I know your thinking: “wait a minute – we’ve got walnuts in the post title and now we’ve moved onto pecans…??”.  That wasn’t the plan.  Except I realized as I moved into the kitchen intent on making a batch of these fine cookies that I’d used up the last of the pecans when I made Ina Garten’s Chipotle Rosemary roasted mixed nuts.  In fact, the only nuts left in the house were cashews in walnuts, and the latter were the only chance of making this recipe work.   And work it did – beautifully and deliciously.  I like the slightly more crumbly texture the whole grain barley flour provides, but you could also use whole grain spelt or Kamut flour.  The Indian sugar and coconut sugar are a slightly healthier option to refined white sugar – but sugar is sugar, so go easy, if you can (full confession: I ate four as soon as they were fully cool…the addition of orange zest makes them especially addictive).

You can make these with pecans and leave the rest of the recipe as is.  It’ll be fantastic.  Or use walnuts as I did for a new twist.  Or make a batch of each, and share.  It’s up to you.  I deliberately designed this recipe to make a small batch of cookies because I find that with so many different kinds of treats this time of year, I always have way too many of everything, and I prefer to eat these cookies as freshly baked as possible.  But, if you prefer, this can be double, tripled, quadrupled – whatever fits your needs.

The only rule you need to follow is to let these cool completely before you eat them.  The flavor improves dramatically once they are fully cooled, so it’s worth the wait.  One crumbly, melt-in-the-mouth bite in and you’ll understand where the term “sandies” comes from.  Enjoy.

Walnut Orange Sandies

1/2 cup / 115g butter at room temperature
1/4 cup / 1/2 dl + 2 tablespoons Indian sugar or coconut sugar (you can use standard white sugar if you prefer)
1/2 tablespoon water
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup / 250 ml whole grain barley flour
1/2 packed teaspoon freshly grated orange zest (use an organic orange)
1/2 cup chopped raw walnut

In a mixing bowl, using a stand mixer or a hand-held mixer, cream together the butter and sugar until the mixture is light and fluffy.  Add the water, vanilla and salt, and beat together again to combine.  Add the flour all at once and beat on low speed until the flour begins to bind with the butter mixture.  Add the walnuts and continue beating until the cookie dough is uniform.  Scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl with a rubber spatula, and make a few turns underneath the dough in the bowl to make sure there is no flour left there.  Refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes.

Remove the dough from the refrigerator and using a 1 ounce scoop or a couple of soup spoons, drop 1-2 tablespoon sized rounds of dough onto a parchment-covered baking sheet, evenly spaced at 1″/2.5cm apart.  Rub each lump of dough lightly between your palms to form a smooth, round ball of dough.  Place each dough back onto the parchment (see second picture, above).

Bake for 20-25 minutes until lightly golden brown. Remove from oven and allow the cookies to cool on the pan completely.  Spoon 1-2 tablespoons of powdered sugar into a fine-mesh sieve and shake it gently over the cookies to very lightly dust the cookies with a decorative touch of sugar.

Makes 20 cookies.

Kidney Bean, Kale and Barley Soup

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The wind is howling and puffing and blowing outside and it’s been doing that all day.  I live at the top of an 8-story apartment building, and I can hear the whistling of the wind, the rattling of the window pane and the whole building feels like it may be swaying just a bit.  Probably unlikely, though – this building has been here since the 1950s, so I don’t think we’re going anywhere.

I love a windy day – especially a day like this one when it really isn’t very cold outside.  I just took a short walk, and love the way the wind gusted up around the trees and buildings, across my face, through the hat I was wearing and pushing my winter coat back against me.  There is something about standing there, leaning slightly into the heavy gusts, looking out into the dark, starless night, that I found so enlivening and refreshing.  Woohoo!  Bring it on.

Here’s a hearty soup that’s well-suited for a windy winter day like this one.  It takes a bit of pre-planning since you’ll need to soak the grains and beans, but you can pop them in a bowl with water before you go to bed and they’ll be ready to go by the time you need them the next day.  Or you could use canned beans and pre-cooked grains leftover from something else, and then this comes together in about 20 minutes.

The soup has one secret, unusual, and completely crucial ingredient: the juice of one Clementine.  This adds a bright, sweet note without the sharpness that lemon juice or vinegar might bring.  Enjoy!

Kidney Bean, Kale and Barley Soup

1 cup kidney beans, soaked overnight, soaking water drained away, and rinsed
1/2 cup barley, soaked overnight, soaking water drained away, and rinsed
3 cups water
1 yellow onion, peeled and diced
1 large carrot, peeled and diced
1 celery rib, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
leaves from 4 thyme sprigs
2-3 kale leaves, ribs removed and chopped small
2 cups / 500 ml vegetable broth or 2 cups water + 2 tablespoons homemade bouillon
salt and pepper to taste
Juice of one Clementine

In a medium pot, combine the beans, barley and water.  Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, cover, and cook for 40 minutes.

While the beans and barley cook, heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a medium-sized pot over medium heat. Add the onion, carrot and celery, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are very soft and beginning to caramelize, about 15 minutes. Add the garlic and thyme leaves and cook for 2 minutes more.  Add the beans, barley and cooking water all at once.  Add the vegetable broth or water+homemade bouillon.  Bring the mixture to a boil, reduce to medium heat, and cook for 15 minutes.  Take a bite of the beans and barley to make sure they are cooked.  If they are done, add the kale, and continue cooking for 3-5 more minutes to let the kale soften.  Remove from heat.  Add salt and pepper if needed.  Serve.

Serves 4

Tropical Sunrise Oatmeal Breakfast Bowl

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Who of us living in a place where the dark, cold months have descended upon us doesn’t dream of a tropical sunrise this time of year?  We are fast approaching the longest night of the year here in Finland.  Yes, I mean longest night, not the shortest day.  It’s the darkness you notice when it seems to go on forever.  It is still dark outside my window as I write this, and according to the weather app on my trusty old iPhone 4S (it’s still working well, so no urgency for an upgrade quite yet) the sun will rise this morning at 9:10 PM and set at 3:13 PM.  That means that we’ll be spending 3/4 of the day in twilight and darkness.

When the sun does shine on Winter days like these, the sunrise and sunset are both wildly glorious, with yellow, orange, pink and red colors that streak across the horizon where the sky meets the sea beyond Helsinki, and sometimes up into the low-lying smattering of clouds just above.  Beautiful and deceptive: though the sun beckons promisingly through the window with its bright rays, the temperatures are no where near tropical.  But the sun doesn’t always shine, no matter the season.

It doesn’t matter.  The best thing you can do is cook yourself a satisfying breakfast that will warm you from the inside out, topped with fresh fruit and nuts that remind you of warmer places and climates.  Then wrap yourself up in a cozy winter parka, hat, scarf, gloves – and go on out there and embrace the cold and the season. Winter is a time for rest and renewal, and this breakfast bowl will help you make the most of it.

A few notes:

  • I highly recommend using steel cut oats or whole oat grains for this (and any oat porridge breakfast).  The texture is far superior and so satisfying to eat.  But if you are in a rush, the old fashioned rolled oats take just a few minutes and are a great substitute.  Or, you can make the oats the night before and refrigerate, then reheat them in the morning for breakfast.  I do this all the time if I know I need to get out of the door quickly in the morning.  They also freeze well.
  • Toasting the oats is not absolutely necessary, but highly recommended as it adds a really nice depth of flavor to the finished porridge
  • Vanilla extract is best for this.  If you can’t find it, you can use vanilla sugar, but the flavor won’t be as great.
  • Other unrefined sugars could be used in place of the honey

Tropical Sunrise Oatmeal Breakfast Bowl

For slow-cooked oats:
1 cup / 250 ml of steel cut oats or whole oat grains
2 1/2 cups / 600 ml water
1/2 teaspoon fine grain sea salt

For quicker oats:
1 cup / 240 ml old fashioned rolled oats
1 1/4 cup / 350 ml water
1/2 teaspoon fine grain sea salt

For the fruit topping
1/4 cup boiling water
3 teaspoons honey
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 Clementines, peeled, seeded, separated into segments; each segment cut in half
1 banana, diced small
1 cup diced pineapple
4 tablespoons Greek yogurt
2 tablespoons raw cashews, roughly chopped
1 tablespoon unsweetened coconut flakes

Make the oatmeal:
Place a medium saucepan over medium-high heat.  Once it is warm, add the oats and toast lightly in the dry pan, stirring often, for one minute.  Add the water and bring to a boil.  Add the salt.  Lower heat to a simmer, cover with a lid, and cook for 10 minutes.  Turn off heat, keep lid on, and allow to rest for 5 minutes.

If cooking slow-cooked oats, let rest for 30 minutes, then re-warm the oats slightly. The rest of the directions are the same as above.

Make the topping:
In a small bowl, combine the boiling water and honey and stir until the honey has dissolved.  Add the vanilla extract and stir to combine.  Add the fruit and coconut flakes and stir well to coat the fruit with the syrup.

Divide the oat porridge between two bowls.  Divide the fruit mixture across the top of the oats.  Spoon the Greek Yogurt into the middle of each bowl on top of the fruit.  Sprinkle with cashews.

Serves 2.