Nooch and Beans

Dear ones,

Something possessed me to eat a spoonful of nooch at 15:30 on Monday afternoon.  I opened the jar of nutritional yeast I had bought in bulk, stuck in a spoon, and inhaled, chewed, and swallowed about a tablespoon of nooch straight up.  (No, I did not double-dip or eat over the jar.)

I think I’m ready for school to be done.

The flakes of nooch clumped up and stuck to my teeth.  I then ate an apple, and it wasn’t a half-bad taste sensation.  The next day I repeated the experiment, eating a date afterwards.  The sweetness complements the umami of nooch.  In academic terms, I conceive of my body as a locus of experimentation.  Wow, that sounds really screwy.

For a more orthodox use of nooch, I added two tablespoons of nutritional yeast and about 1 1/2 cups of water to a slice of polenta pie I reheated for supper on Wednesday.  The pie dries out in the freezer, and I wanted soup, hence I added water and nooch.

This is the last thing I baked in the filthy dorm kitchen: banana chocolate-chip cake.  This is the third or fourth time I’ve made this recipe, and I think I’ve only made it to give it away (brought it to work, to a birthday party, as thank-you’s, and to a lunch discussion group).

Banana Chocolate Chip Cake

Modified from Elizabeth Gordon’s Allergy-Free Desserts, 120-2.

Makes one 9*13” or 6 hearts + 1 thin 8*8” square

1/4 cup non-dairy milk (I used unsweetened vanilla almond)

1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar (I used white wine vinegar)

2 tablespoons ground flaxseed

5 tablespoons water

3 bananas, peeled (you knew that, right?) and mashed (about 3/4 cup)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3/4 cup brown rice flour

1/2 cup Bob’s Red Mill All-Purpose Gluten-Free Baking Flour OR sorghum flour

1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon Kosher salt

1/2 cup organic sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 cup palm fruit shortening

1/2 cup chocolate chips

1/2 cup raisins

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.  Grease your pan(s) of choice.  If using a 9*13” metal pan, grease the pan, line it with parchment or waxed paper, and then grease the paper.

In a large glass measuring cup, combine non-dairy milk and vinegar.  In a small measuring cup, set up flax mixture.  In a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients.  Add bananas and vanilla to soured non-dairy milk and mix well.  Add flax mixture to banana mixture and whisk well.  Using a pastry cutter, blend shortening into flour mixture until mixture forms small pea-sized clumps.  Stir banana-flax mixture into the flour-shortening mixture and fold in the clumps.  Mix until just combined then transfer to the pan(s).  Bake for 30 minutes or until mixture has browned on the edges, the centre springs back when poked, it passes the toothpick test, and the cake has pulled away from the sides of the pan.  Let cool in the pan for five minutes then carefully remove to cool completely on a rack.

I like my heart-shaped pan.  It’s mine because I appropriated it from my mom, who hasn’t used it in years…I have possessio and usufruct of the pan and the crustula therefrom!

Chia seeds fascinate me.  They look like tadpoles or fish eggs.  Another breakfast shot.