Healthy, but "Chocolatey" (A spin on Oatmeal Cookies)

So there are several June Birthdays going on this month and I was asked to bake something healthy, but with chocolate for our favorite French Head-Honcho at work. His chocolate addiction is as sinister as a smoker's desire to quit smoking...Relentless.


Anyway, I raked through my recipe books and did some research online and decided to go with a Strawberry Chocolate Vegan Cupcake Recipe. I changed up a few of the ingredients and substituted the vegetable shortening with apple sauce, etc. but I think this was probably the biggest disaster I've ever encountered in the baking kitchen! Lets just say, whole wheat flour and strawberries don't go very well together--ugh, thank goodness no one saw or tasted the mess! So back to the drawing board for more ideas...


I didn't have much time so I just decided to do something simple--cookies! Oatmeal Cookies are probably the healthiest by far, but I wanted to make them as "chocolatey" as possible and found this Irish Chocolate Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe online (what a mouthful, right?!) It was perfect because we were planning on having a little Bagel Breafast Special for our boss who happens to love Irish Smoked Salmon Lox Spread! I made about 3 dozen cookies and my housemate commented that they looked like pieces of turd...
Again, I guess I have to work on my presentation skills a little bit more...I also packed some for another birthday event I had to attend the following evening and they were a huge success despite looking like poop!

Farmer's Market: Apples and Swiss Chard

Apple Season is sadly at an end as I shopped the local farmer's market here in Fort Greene recently. I was hoping to find a couple good golden delicious or gala apples to go with the fresh bright red swiss chard, but alas, I was unsucessful. I ended up having to go to a regular grocery store to pick up a couple because I had my heart set on making my Applie Swiss Chard Salad.

I cut up the apples in bite size chunks, toasted the pine nuts in a little olive oil, threw in some golden raisins soaked in water to help plump them up, and slow sauteed this over a low flame for about 5-7 minutes. I cleaned and de-stemmed the swiss chard and toss that in to sautee in the olive oil for about 8 minutes before mixing in the rest of the ingredients. This is a a naturally sweet salad with a nutty bite that does not require any salad dressing because all the natural flavors cook into the leaves and the water in the fruit releases to create a very light and sweet sauce. Take a look: