Gluten Free Goodness

I have been a bit of a slacker in the kitchen lately. I wasn’t feeling well, but hopefully I’ll be easing my way back into the kitchen this week. I can’t believe that it’s December already, and I feel spoiled that I was able to spent a few hours out in my garden this weekend cleaning things up!

My camera is broken. Believe it or not, that’s what happens when you drop them. Actually, please believe it, you don’t really need to try it and see for yourself. It still kind of works, but just sort of. When you turn the camera off, it takes a picture, which is how I got the picture above. Somehow borrowing my husband’s is a bit that’s a bit of a hard sell–for some reason, he doesn’t want me to drop his, too. Hopefully Hanukkah Harry will bring me a new camera, preferably an inexpensive one that bounces. =)

This week’s food is persimmons. I used to eat them a lot as a child, but haven’t had any in years, so I certainly appreciate Sarah’s pick. Regretfully, the one I have doesn’t look so great, but it was the best I could find, so fingers crossed!

Monday:
Vegan
Garlick-y quinoa with broccoli

Tuesday:
Quick and easy:
Trout with almonds and roasted peppers

Wednesday:
Pom Chicken with broccoli

Thursday:
Leftovers

Friday:
Beef in a coconut curry sauce
Roasted cauliflower and papadams

Tasty treats:
hazelnut/agave caramels

Pomegranates are pretty much perfect.  Heck, they’re a lot of effort to peel, but it makes me appreciate them even more!  They’re very high in antioxidants and vitamin C, and wonderfully delicious.

The only downside to poms is the amount of mess they make and the amount they stain…everything.  We have pomegranate stains on the walls, the floor, some of my sweaters.  You get the idea! Regretfully, DH does not see this as art.  I’m still working on convincing him.

Since I can’t eat citrus, pomegranates are a great way to get a tangy taste.  I used fresh pomegranates, but you can also just use pom juice for this recipe.  I used to juice using a food mill, but realized that a (well sealed) ziplock bag and a rolling pin was easier.  And if you enjoy having poms in the warmer months, the seeds freeze really well!

1 onion, chopped
2 Tablespoons of oil
pinch of salt
2-3 chicken breasts, diced
2/3 cup walnuts, finely chopped or well mashed with a rolling pin
1 tablespoon agave or to taste
1/4 tsp cardamom
1/4 cup pom kernels, reserved

1 1/2 cups pom juice (about 3 poms, with 1/4 cup reserved and not juiced)

1 cup broth

Simmer the juice and broth gently until it is reduced by half. In skillet, saute onions until translucent and set aside. Brown the chicken in the same pan. Add sauteed onions to the chicken, along with reduced juice mixture, spices and walnuts.

Adjust spices as necessary, serve with broccoli and a starch of your choice.

This is my weekly submission to Weekend Herb Blogging, originated by Kalyn’s Kitchen, and now hosted by Haalo of Cook almost anything at least once

Our host this month is Scott of Real Epicurean.

I’m a little late for Thanksgiving, but it’s always a good time to give thanks.

I have so much to be thankful for this year:

~a wonderful husband

~ two beautiful cats

~our very own house, complete with a garden

~an abundance of food to keep me full and cooking projects to keep me entertained

~promise for a joyous future

~dear friends whom are near and far, and e-buddies, too

~a fabulous job (two, actually)

~ a heart full of hope.

I was struck by the picture above, taken by the multi talented Sally because my first thought was that any second, the sun would shine through the clouds, and that’s a great metaphor for life.  Sally’s having a contest and giving away one of her amazing photos, and I’m keeping my fingers crossed.

With Thanksgiving just around the corner, it’s the perfect time to share one my Apple Crisp recipe. It’s always been one of my favorite things to make because they’re so quick, easy and yummy. Crisps are a holiday tradition in my family. It’s very easy to make them gluten free, but I also wanted to make one that was sugar free, because I (and many people I work with!!) feel better when avoiding sugar. It took a few tries to come up with a recipe I’m delighted with.

When I can find them, I love the extra dimension quince adds to the flavor. This peculiar looking fruit is a real treat. The smell is heavenly. I often leave one for a day or two in my car! They are a pain to cut and peel, but the flavor is lovely when cooked slowly. They take a longer time to cook than apples, but if they’re shredded, they cook down easily. If you have a Latino market nearby, these babies are known as “membrillo”

4 apples, pears or a combination, peeled and thinly sliced
1 quince, finely shredded (or 5 apples)
½ cup cranberries
½ cup dried cherries, raisins or cranberries)
¼ cup agave nectar
¼ teaspoon cloves
½ teaspoon cinnamon
1.5 tablespoons of cornstarch or arrowroot starch

1 ¼ cups almond meal or almond flour, OR 1 ¼ C sorghum flour (increase oil to ½ cup)
¼ cup quinoa flakes or oats
2/3 cup chopped walnuts
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
pinch of cloves (or replace the cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves with1 tsp apple pie spice)
½ teaspoon almond or vanilla extract
finely grated zest of an orange (optional)
¼ cup agave nectar
1/3 cup oil

Peel and slice apples thinly, and mix with cranberries, dried fruit, and agave. Mix spices and flour in a separate bowl, then combine with the apples. Pour into a greased 8X8 pan.

Mix dry ingredients thoroughly, then add in wet ingredients until the texture is crumbly. Scatter the topping over the fruit mixture. Put in the oven at 325 and bake for 30 minutes. Cover with foil and bake until the juices get all bubbly (generally, 40 minutes total).

Serve and enjoy!

As an added bonus, both the apple mixture and the topping can be made a day or two ahead and stored in sealed containers in the refrigerator.

If you are on a no amylose diet, use cornstarch, almond meal or flour, and quinoa flakes.

This seasonal treat is my submission to Weekend Herb Blogging, as originated by Kalyn of Kalyn’s Kitchen, though Haalo of Cook (almost) Everything at least once is our new WHB master. Siri of Siri’s Corner is this week’s fabulous host. Check out her site for a great range of global recipes!

~from Cheryl’s kitchen ©2008

The leaves here are incredible, and the weather is alternating between unseasonably warm and windy and chilly. I always feel like I want to get outside and savor the last drops of warmth and sunshine before they slip away. I’m such a warm weather and sunshine person that it’s a challenge to see the fall slip away! Especially when it means saying goodbye to my garden.

But it’s also a good time to get in the kitchen and cook up a bunch of soups and stews. I haven’t done that much yet, but I’m sure I will. This week’s veg, Swede (AKA rutabega) is a good one for soups and stews, but is out of my diet for at least the next 4 months. So it won’t be in my meal plan, but do check out Lilac Kitchen for recipes and inspiration. The one in the picture above is from a food art mini project that a wonderful friend shot for me for my nutrition practice.

Monday:
Pom Chicken (recipe to follow) with steamed broccoli

Tuesday:
Parchment tilapia with peppers and ginger spiced kale chips

Weds:
Quinoa TBD

Thursday
Turkey leftovers (defrosted) and celery in a chestnut sauce

Friday:
Steak and peppers

Baked goods:
Cornbread (for stuffing).
Sugar free meringues
Both are gifts for others…I may make something fun for me, too.

From the garden:
Raspberries-they’re so cute, I have to make mittens for them to keep them from freezing
herbs
Celery

From the Farmer’s market
Kale
Onions
Cauliflower
Apples

Sometimes I get something in my head and I’m not letting it go until I get what I want! This recipe is a perfect example. I love my Nana Skillet Bread, but bananas don’t agree with me…and I can’t have grains. But I believed I could make it work with pears and was absolutely determined! Darn thing wasn’t going to get the best of me. Most of the “failed” batches were delicious, but they were a pile of crumbs, so I was always “forced” to eat them. Quite a hardship! I generally make things in season, and started working on this at the beginning of pear season, and didn’t figure out how to make it work until a week ago. I have a stash of frozen pears, and methinks this is where they’re headed.

It’s not quite a bread, and not quite a cake. It’s perfect for breakfast, brunch or a snack, and it’s quite healthy, too! If you don’t have a skillet, you can do it in an 9 inch round, but the crust won’t brown as nicely. Lining the skillet with parchment is essential if you’re using a skillet, or it will totally get stuck. Salba or chia is a must, and flax won’t work. You’ll get a pile of crumbs. Tasty crumbs. Trust me. For more info on Salba, I have a two articles here. If you don’t have mesquite, add more almond flour instead, and add in 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract and more spices.

Ingredients
1 1/4 cup almond flour
1/2 cup quinoa flour
¼ cup mesquite flour
1Tablespoons +1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup pecans or walnuts (optional)
½ tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cloves
pinch of salt

Wet:
1 1/4 cups very ripe pears
1 tablespoon ground chia (Salba) seeds
2/3 cup agave (a little less)
3T oil
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon maple extract
1 teaspoon vanilla or almond extract

Line the bottom of a 10 inch cast iron skillet with parchment paper, then grease the paper and sides of the pan. Preheat oven to 350 and put skillet in the hot oven 10 minutes before adding the batter.

Thoroughly mix dry ingredients together. Dump wet ingredients in a blender. Let it roll until well blended. In my vitamix, that takes less than a minute. I would assume an ordinary blender would take a few minutes. Add wet to dry mix until well everything is combined, then stir in the nuts.
Bake for 30-40 minutes or until top turns a beautiful golden brown. Almond flour browns a lot so don’t be surprised if it’s darker than you expect. Cool on a drying rack 10 minutes, then turn out onto a plate. Top with sauteed apples if desired.

Yum.

~from Cheryl’s kitchen ©2008

This week’s fruit is one of my absolute favorites: Pomegranate! I had one for the first time in my twenties and I was totally hooked. I’m a spring and summer kind of gal, and not a big winter fan. Pomegranates give me something to look forward to in the winter months, and when they disappear from the market, spring is around the corner so it’s all good.

Generally, I have pomegranates just as is, but I also sometimes cook down the juice with some agave to make pomegranate molasses. I plan to make a pomegranate/walnut/chicken dish that I made last year. I don’t remember the details, but figure I’ll wing it. And I can’t wait to see what everyone else decides to do with this fabulous fruit!

Last week was a good one in my kitchen. My pear skillet bread/cake turned out most deliciously (I’ll post later this week, I think) and I also made Ricki’s GF macaroons, which are from her upcoming cookbook. I did my last batch of campaign cooking, with a quinoa/black bean salad. I posted a recipe for Red Pepper Soup, which is great on a chilly day–although I have to say, we’ve had very few of those so far.

Here’s a plate of love for my sweetie (masquerading as fruit, but don’t be fooled)

I ate Brussels sprouts for the first time last week. I liked them, my tummy didn’t. They were interesting, though, and I’m glad I gave it a shot!
Monday:
Chicken breasts poached in a pomegranate sauce with walnuts
Broccoli/carrots

Tuesday:
Vegan
Southwestern Quinoa Salad with avocado

Wednesday:
Parchment Tilapia, Lazy Style with red peppers. Can you believe they still have some at the Farmer’s Market? I can’t believe they’re not frozen!

Thursday:
Roast chicken with a Chinese 5 spice rub and broccoli with sauteed garlic

Friday:
Turkey cutlets with artichoke in a lemony sauce

Treats of the week:
I plan to make pumpkin pie for a friend’s birthday
Caramel-y almond cookies

From my garden:

Raspberries
Garlic shoots
Thyme
Oregano
Carrots/carrot tops

From the market:
Cauliflower
garlic
kale
apples
pears
peppers

And what about everyone else?

Ginger of Fresh Ginger has a great week planned!

Pom Cosmos sound like a great way to get antioxidants. Her brussel sprout plants didn’t really sprout, but I give her credit for trying! and I totally hear her comment on getting behind on posts, it’s so easy to do when there’s always so much that comes up.

Sea of Book of yum has a great international week of munchies planned. I especially want to hear more about her Spinach Chickpea Curry! She recently posted a recipe for acorn muffins that have me intrigued. Maybe I’ll go out and steal from all the neighborhood squirrels.

Manda’s having a hard time with tummy pain, but has still pulled together a great menu with quinoa-pom-pistachio salad and banana ketchup (not together!!!). Feel better, Manda!

Angela has a big week and GF cooking classes, so let’s wish her best of luck! She also has a GF Free-zer event going on Friday, and I’ll have to check back in to see what yummy things she has in store for us.

Kim is feeling much better after her surgery and getting back into the swing of things with a great menu and she’s even looking forward to making some make and freeze ahead items for Christmas baking.

Sarah joins us with her ode to soup since she just had her wisdom teeth out. Ouch!

I love red peppers. And yellow peppers. And orange peppers. I guess I really mean all sweet peppers! Raw, roasted, sauteed…you really can’t go wrong. I eat a ridiculous quantity of roasted peppers in the summer and fall months. As it gets colder, I turn more toward red pepper soup and sauce.

This is one of those “un-recipe” recipes. Every time I’ve done it it’s been great, and each time is slightly different, depending on what I have on hand and my mood. You can use different nuts. I like brazil nuts and almonds, too. When I have some, I add in a clove or two of roasted garlic, and it works well. I try to put aside some of my herb-y roasted peppers (if I can manage not to eat them all!!), but canned marinated peppers work, too.

The soup is creamy and satisfying and best of all it’s quick and easy to make!

1 cup roasted peppers
1/4 cup pine nuts, toasted
1 cup broth
a squirt or two of agave
1/2 teaspoon of chili powder (if your peppers are not already marinated or seasoned)
pinch of sea salt
black pepper, to taste
pinch cayenne
sprig of thyme

Put everything except thyme in a blender and blend until smooth (this may take a while!). You’ll have a great soup ready in just a few minutes. Warm over gentle heat, sprinkle with fresh thyme and enjoy.

This is my weekly submission to Weekend Herb Blogging, which has passed from Kalyn’s Kitchen to Haalo ofCook Almost Anything At least Once (words to live by!) This week’s hostess is Wiffy of Noob Cook

We host one big party the Saturday before Halloween. The deal is that DH is fine if it’s GF–as long as no one can tell. Or, in other words, as long as the food is delish! I spend countless hours planning and fussing away in the kitchen, and somehow it all works out in the end. Most importantly, everyone has a great time. Pictures from past year’s parties are here, and here are the 2008 pumpkins.

The menu:
Hot mulled cider At the last minute I decided to make the cider (I was tired!) but I’m glad I did! One of our guests was saying that it isn’t really fall until they have our cider.

Turkey chili: featuring fabulous peppers and tomatoes from my garden

Pumpkin Cornbread: Karina’s recipe, made to be sugar free and spicier, just with pumpkin instead of sweet potato to match the season.

Pumpkin seed pave: I’ve been meaning to try a recipe from Apple Pie, Patis, Pâté for a while, and I’m glad I did! Somehow with all of the food, it flew under the radar. On the other hand, that meant MORE FOR ME! I thought it was absolutely awesome. I added some cocoa powder on the top, but aside from that I followed the recipe.

Chocolate raspberry tart:
Vegan, grain free, sugar free, absolutely heavenly. I used frozen raspberries from my own canes. This was my absolute favorite. I haven’t shared the recipe because I think it’s only possible with a Vitamix, and I know that those are hard to come by! Of course, nothing says “classy dessert” quite like a green bat plate

Apple crisp:

Grain free and recipe coming soon!

Pumpkin seed brittle What can I say, this was a hit. I brought some of the leftovers into my office, and someone there asked if there was any sugar in it. He assumed, given than 99% of the time I’m sugar free, that somehow I figured out how to make brittle without sugar. No such luck! BTW, this is awesome with pistachios, cashews or peanuts, too.

Ginger Lemon Girl’s recipe was a ginormous hit. Make them. Period.

Angel food cake: this was my only disappointment. I used the recipe from Carol Fenster’s new book. The recipe calls for 1 cup of eggs, or 14. The problem is, 1 cup is 7 eggs. Either way, it wasn’t very good.

Rugalach: Not all of them were pretty, but taste trumps looks. They were DH’s fave. I made them using my old recipe, but using Better Batter. I filled some with Nutella and hazelnuts and made others more traditionally. They smelled heavenly!

Chocolate Hazelnut balls:
These are one of my long standing traditions. They’re vegan, luscious, and keep well. Every time I make them differently, and quite honestly, I forgot to write down the recipe (again!)

Everyone had a great time, and the food was wonderful, if I do say so myself. And since everything was GF I didn’t have to fuss about crumbs!

I was going to skip menu planning, but since I have to figure it out before I go shop, here goes! It’ll be an easy week, and will feature greens, as selected by Angela, our host for this week.

In my “real life” I’m a nutritionist who works with people who are gluten free, so I have gotten together a lot of info for Thanksgiving. Here’s a gluten free Thanksgiving newsletter including the GF status turkeys and other main meals

Also, here’s a list of a 30+ yummy GF recipes for T-day dinner from all over the web. Enjoy!

Since I have to figure out what I’m having anyway, here’s the basic plan, which may well change when I actually get to the store:

Monday:
Salmon and sauteed peppers

Tuesday:

Kale with while beans
Celery in chestnut sauce

Wednesday:
Roast chicken with steamed artichoke and a lemony-thyme sauce

Thursday:
Leftovers

Friday:
Beef stew in coconut milk

Baked goods:
Pear spice cake

From my garden:
celery
carrots/carrot tops

From the market:
kale
broccoli
apples
onions