Blueberry & Goat Cheese Torte

This Thursday I'm thankful for the myriad of events, both known and unknown, that expanded my food horizon and allowed me to enjoy food with a much more accepting pallet. True, I don't eat meat anymore for the most part, but that's nothing compared to the list of non-meat things I used to not eat.... Mushrooms, pineapple, coconut, olives, zucchini, cheese other than mozzarella and cheddar. When I was a kid I wouldn't even eat onions or peppers.

Anyway, now I eat just about everything except mayo and peanut butter. And farmed animals, of course. In any event, it wasn't until the past year or so that I would have ever dreamed pairing blueberries with goat cheese would be acceptable. Did I say acceptable? I meant INCREDIBLE!


Earlier this morning, I adapted my Memere's bran muffin recipe to make delicious vegan multi-grain cookies this morning, and had enough left over dough to improvise a quick torte. This is probably the best blueberry thing I ever tasted.

Mix the following together:
1/2 cup bran
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1/4 cup wheat germ
2 tbsp shelled hemp seeds
2 tbsp steel cut oats
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp baking soda

Then fold in:
1/3 cup apple sauce
4 - 5 tbsp grape-seed oil (just enough to moisten)

Press dough into torte or pie pan lightly sprayed with canola to make the crust (Or just drop by the spoonful on parchment lined sheet for cookies). But I digress, back to the torte.

Fold together:
1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries
1/2 cup crumbled soft goat cheese
1/4 cup chopped raw almonds
1 tbsp organic blueberry or blackberry fruit spread

Fill unbaked crust with above mixture and back @ 350° F for 25 - 30 minutes.