When I lived in San Francisco many years ago, I was obsessed with the huge scones from a wonderful bakery called 101 Carl. Those rich, buttery scones with currants and a sweet orange glaze probably contributed to my high cholesterol … but oh my, they were amazing.

I regularly pestered the baker to give me their recipe, and he adamantly refused. Then I found out he had an obsession of his own – with a singer who I managed at the time (it’s true, I wasn’t always a copywriter/food blogger). Speaking in hushed tones, we arranged a trade: a rare demo tape in exchange for the scone recipe. Eureka!

Alas, I can’t make those scones today because of my @#!&#%! heart issues. But I can definitely make scones that are delicious in their own right. Today I made a vegan version with whole grains, nuts and dried blueberries – and not too much sugar or oil. I was worried they’d turn out like rocks, but that wasn’t the case at all. They had a crumbly, scone-like texture right out of the oven. In fact, I recommend eating them in the first few hours, because they get very soft after being wrapped or covered up overnight.

If you want scone satisfaction without the guilt, give these a whirl.

Whole-Grain Vegan Blueberry Scones

3/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour
3/4 cup white whole wheat flour
3/4 cup oat flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
Pinch cinnamon
1/3 cup pecan halves, toasted and ground
1/4 cup organic canola oil or other neutral oil
2/3 cup soymilk + 1 teaspoon cider vinegar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ cup light brown sugar
grated zest of one small orange
½ cup dried blueberries

Heat the oven to 400 degrees.

Sift the flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon into a large bowl. (You can skip this step and just lightly mix them, but I recommend the sifting.) Gently stir in the ground pecans.

Mix the soy milk and vinegar and let stand for 5 minutes. Then whisk in the sugar, vanilla and orange zest.

Drizzle the oil over the flour mixture and mix with your fingers until a bit crumbly.

Stir in the liquids and dried blueberries, mixing just until combined.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Drop ¼ cup of dough onto the sheet (I used my measuring cup) and gently shape into a round disc. Repeat with the rest of the dough, spacing the scones about 2 inches apart.

Bake for 16 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.

Makes 8 or 9 scones

My blogger friends have some great scone recipes, too:

Chocolate Cherry Sea Salt Scones from Savvy Eats

Vegan Raspberry Scones from Eating Rules

Low Fat Cherry Cardamom Scones from The Verdant Life

You might think of risotto as a winter food – and it can indeed be heavy. But this vegan barley risotto with fresh vegetables and herbs is anything but.

Between the chewy barley, buttery fava beans, tender mushrooms and delicate corn – plus a creamy corn-fava puree – this dish provides a veritable orgy of textures (I promise, that is the first and last time I will use the word “orgy” on my blog!)

The puree, made from a portion of the corn and fava beans, gives the risotto a nice creaminess. However, note that the puree gets absorbed by the barley after refrigeration (as is the case in the photo above), so the risotto is best eaten immediately.

Oh, and if you’re not a vegan – or concerned about cholesterol, like I am – feel free to stir in some Parmigiano-Reggiano just before serving. But not too much, because you want the flavors of the vegetables to shine here.

Barley Risotto with Fava Beans, Corn and Mushrooms

1 ½ to 1 ¾ pounds fresh fava beans

3 medium ears very fresh, tender sweet corn

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, divided

2 cloves garlic, minced

½ cup finely chopped sweet onion, such as Vidalia

1 ½ cups pearled barley

½ cup dry white wine

4 cups vegetable stock, plus more if needed

Salt to taste

½ pound oyster mushrooms, trimmed and sliced

2 teaspoons lemon juice

2 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley

2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil

Freshly ground black pepper

Remove the beans from their pods. Bring a pot of water to boil, and blanch the favas for 1 minute. Drain and immediately plunge into ice water. Skin the fava beans (open a section of the skin and pop the beans out). You should have about ¾ cup.

Cut the kernels off the corn. You should have about 1½ cups.

Place half the corn and about a third of the fava beans in a food processor and process until very smooth.

Heat half the oil over medium heat in a skillet. Add the mushrooms and sauté for 5 minutes. Set aside.

Heat the remaining oil over medium heat in a large deep saucepan or a dutch oven. Add the onion and garlic and cook for 3-4 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the barley. Cook, stirring, for 1-2 minutes.

Add the wine. Cook for a minute or two, until the wine has mostly evaporated.

Add a half cup of broth. Cook, stirring nearly constantly, until the broth is absorbed. Repeat the process, adding the broth in half-cup increments. Continue until the barley is al dente, about 30-35 minutes. You should have used about 3 cups of broth, although some barley will require more. Add salt to taste, depending on the saltiness of your vegetable broth.

Add the fava beans, corn, mushrooms, lemon juice and fava-corn puree. Stir in the final cup of broth, and cook another 5 minutes, stirring gently a few times. Stir in the parsley, basil and black pepper, and serve.

Serves 4

This recipe deserves to be shared, don’t you think?  Hope you’ll Tweet, Like and Stumble!

I was craving soba noodles (odd craving, I know), but wanted to make something different than your typical sesame soba noodle salad. I had avocado and mango on hand, and mint overtaking my back yard, so I put them all to use in this tropical take on soba noodles.

This is one of those dishes that will wow everyone you serve it to. With the sweet and sour tang of mango and lime, the creamy avocado and the fresh taste of mint, it’s the perfect summer lunch.

And of course it’s also good for you. If you use 100% buckwheat soba noodles, you’ll have the most nutritional benefits. Buckwheat is fascinating because it contains the flavanoid rutin. That’s one reason why diets high in buckwheat have been tied to lower cholesterol. The mango adds more fiber, plus vitamins A and C.

This is going into high rotation in my household. And hopefully in yours, too.

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