Archive for the ‘appetizers’ Category

Flourless chocolate torte (sugar free)

Monday, September 7th, 2009

choctorteYay chocolate! For better or worse, this was the month of the chocolate cake, and this chocolate torte was quite stunning and super easy. The recipe is adapted from Carol Fenster to be chocolat-ier and sugar free. Agave nectar and flourless tortes are often mutually exclusive, but this was a winner! Next time I may try with a different nut.


I stumbled by Amy’s blog and Slightly slightly_indulgent3Indulgent Mondays event and this seemed like a good fit, and a good excuse for me to post another recipe! It’s indulgent because, hey, it’s a chocolate cake. But with the sources of fat from olive oil, pecans and eggs, it’s much kinder on your body say, the standard cake with butter and loads of sugar. It’s dairy free and low glycemic. And, like all of my recipes, the ingredients are wholesome, healthy gluten free foods, just with a rockin’ taste. And now no sugar. Life is good.

Also, of course, check out the other fun recipes entered, too!

2 cups of pecans
5 eggs, separated
1/2 cup olive oil
1 TBSP mesquite + the rest of a 1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/2 cup agave nectar
1/2 tsp stevia powder
pinch of salt
2 tsp vanilla extract


Grease a 9 inch springform, line with parchment and dust the sides with cocoa powder. Grind pecans into pecan meal in a food processor, add in cocoa, agave, stevia, salt, vanilla, oiland yolks and grind a minute more. Whip whites to stiff peaks, and gently fold the pecan mixture into the whites

Pour batter into the pan and bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes or until the top starts to brown. Allow to cool a good 10 minutes before unmolding from the springform. You can frost or not, depending on your mood. I made a simple macadamia cream/cocoa ganache and sprinkled raw cacao on top.

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Posted in appetizers, baked goods, recipe, side dish | 14 Comments »

Yum-e-baby shower

Tuesday, June 9th, 2009

Sea, of Book of Yum, and her DH expecting a beautiful baby boy. Since it’s quite a trek to CA, a virtual baby shower seems a wee bit more practical. And oh, the dishes everyone is bringing!

gfgobsmackedkoreanpancakesKate of GF Gobsmacked has had a lot of practice welcoming a new one as of late! If you need a smile, check out her blog for pictures of her little sweetheart. She is bringing along her Korean Mung Bean Pancakes. They’re even kid approved, although Sea will have to wait a while until her sweetie is big enough!

appetizersall3Ricki of Diet, Dessert and Dogs is bringing along a variety of appetizers: almond feta cheese and Raw carrot and sunflower seed pate. Not only do they look amazing, but they’re even vegan, and the cheese is soy free, too.

Jenn, of Gluten Free Food Storage is bringing along Lentil Tacos! I don’t have a picture for this one, but it looks like a simple and tasty recipe, perfect for when you’ve got a new baby.

quinoacakeWendy of Celiacs in the House is making sure we get our fill of protein with quinoa cakes. She knows Sea well enough to know that she’ll surely whip up one of her fabulous sauces to go along with it.

garlic-asparagus-quinoaEmily was eager to recreate a quinoa recipe she had in San Diego, and she brings us her Garlic Asparagus Quinoa, which is perfect for Springtime.

choc-orangeCould I really be the only one who brings along dessert? Well, Chocolate Strawberry (or chocolate orange) mini cakes all around!

divHeather of Celiac Family is bringing Raspberry Divinity Tarts that look totally delish. AND her rubber ducky meringues cookies are just beyond cute in my book. Heather, you get points for being super artistic and creative!!!

pumpkin

Angela of Angela’s kitchen sent in a great post for Hanana Banana Bread or mini muffins and even a pumpkin version of the same.  The banana bread was from her baby was little, and she’s got such cute flower shaped versions on her blog header!

Here’s to Sea and new beginnings! Much love as you start out on this exciting new chapter of life.

If by chance I have missed your submission, please send me an email and let me know.

Posted in adopt a gf blogger, appetizers, baked goods, dessert, main meal, recipe, side dish, vegetables | 7 Comments »

Crispy crackers: A daring baker challenge

Saturday, September 27th, 2008

This was such fun!  Many thanks to Natalie from Gluten A Go Go, and co-host Shel, of Musings From the Fishbowl for September’s Daring Baker Challenge. I haven’t had much in the way of crackers or bread in the past 4 or 5 years.  Something about not being able to have gluten, dairy, eggs, corn, soy, sugar, yeast, and made the idea of bread and bread products a little off-putting.  Crazy, I know.  And then came the really fun part: giving up grains for a while (long story).  What can I say, I’m always up for a good challenge, it inspires me to be more creative.

I don’t think I have ever had real lavash crackers so I didn’t have a good sense of what I was going for.  I decided to play with several ideas, and it was great fun.

After quite a few experiments, the crackers started to taste like…well, crackers. I could have precut them to make them more evenly shaped, but that’s not really my style. I thoroughly enjoyed them, and certainly do plan to make them again. I also made the Salsa-mole to go with them, but alas…I was having such fun eating the crackers that it didn’t occur to me to dip them until they were all gone! They are especially great if you are on a low glycemic, a low carb, grain free or no amylose diet, or South Beach kind of diet because they are tasty, and they aren’t very difficult.

Take 1: almond flax crackers

I barely got a picture of these babies before I gobbled them all.  I didn’t quite get the texture right, but the taste was yum. However, I wanted something much crispier.

Take 2: flax crackers:

I got a sheet of goop that was starting to burn.    Direct to garbage.

Take 3: hazelnut/mesquite/agave/cinnamon crackers
they smelled heavenly, but were way too gooky. I’ll have to work more on those.

Take 4: brazil nut/chestnut/sorghum crackers:

I played with these a bit. They very yummy, not quite crispy or thin enough.  If you want the recipe, drop me a line. But I really wanted to make a grain free cracker, so…

Take 5: my delightful, grain free, crispy, delicious crackers. 

2/3 cup canned or cooked garbanzo beans, washed and drained
1/3 cup chestnut flour
14 brazil nuts
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
2 Tablespoons of water, or until the mix starts to come together

3/4 teaspoon coarse sea salt
1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning

Wash the garbanzos well and drain off all of the water.  Put first group of ingredients in a food processor and pulse until the nuts disappear into the mix.

Add water 1 Tablespoon at a time. 2 worked well for me, but it may differ slightly depending on how moist the beans are and the size of the brazil nuts.

Line a baking sheet with parchment. Put dough on the sheet and put a second sheet of parchment on top. Using a rolling pin, roll out the dough as flat as you can. Refrigerate dough for an hour.

Preheat oven to 275, and Sprinkle coarse salt and herbs on top. Bake for 30-40 minutes, depending on how thick the dough is. Some “pockets” may bake a little faster than others.

I can’t wait to see what the other Daring Bakers did with their lavash crackers!

~from Cheryl’s kitchen ©2008. Please do not replicate without crediting/permission.

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Posted in appetizers, baked goods, bread, daring bakers | 12 Comments »

Bliss Dip

Saturday, August 23rd, 2008

I was at my meditation class, trying to empty my mind, but all I could think of was Cashew Macadamia butter. If you’ve had it, you’ll understand why. Cashew macadamia butter is one of the most indulgently blissful things on the planet. So I promised myself I’d whip this together when I got home so that I could get back to concentrating on…well, not concentrating on anything.

This dip is fabulous to eat by the spoonful, as a frosting, on fruit, a sandwich, whatever! It’s a bit like a blond nutella.  I added a bit of agave because my banana was just barely ripe and I was impatient. If you’ve got a ripe banana, it’s probably not necessary.

This is my submission to the PB Boy’s Great Peanut Butter Exhibition #4–No Bake. You’ll notice that there’s no PB involved, since I am allergic, but “cousin” nut butters are allowed. I bet PB would work, though.

1/2 cup roasted Cashew Macadamia butter (from TJ’s)
1 ripe banana
2 Tablespoons agave, or to taste
1 Tablespoon cacao nibs

Either combine all ingredients thoroughly by hand, or do it the lazy way. Put the first 3 in a food processor, and let it do all the work.  Then add in cocoa nibs and enjoy!


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Posted in appetizers, recipe, side dish | 3 Comments »

Summer (or spring!) rolls

Wednesday, April 16th, 2008


Some people call them spring rolls, some people call them summer rolls. Either way, they’re yummy and surprisingly easy to make, once you get the hang of them.

They’re totally customizable, depending on what you like and what’s around in the fridge. You can put the sauce in the roll, or do the dipping thing.

I’ve gone for a veg/vegan roll because a) I like sneaking more veggies into unsuspecting husband and b) I’d rather avoid the fuss of precooking non-veggie stuff. But you can always add in cooked shrimp, chicken, rice noodles or whatever strikes your fancy.

Go for the 8 or 9 inch rice paper rounds. I’ve seen them at Whole Foods and Asian markets. I’ve never seen one with gluten, but check the label just in case. The 5 inch are way too small, and you could wrap a small dog in the big ones. Massive overkill, I think.

You can premix your “filler” veggies, which is easier, unless you have a picky person who doesn’t like one of the ingredients. In our house, that’s DH who doesn’t like cilantro. I know, hard to believe, but somehow, I love him anyhow.

These are great party foods and can be made ahead of time. Just wrap these babies up in wax paper and put them in a sealed baggie with a moist paper towel.

Ingredients:
12 lettuce leaves
2 cups shredded carrots
about 1/3 napa cabbage, sliced very thinly
1/2 yellow, red or orange pepper, sliced thinly
1 cup bean sprouts
1/3 cup mint leaves
1/3 cup cilantro or basil
15 rice paper wraps (a few extra in case of mistakes)

So here’s the general idea:
Have a large dish of warm water and all of your veggies arranged. Put the rice paper in warm water. Grab a piece of lettuce. Fish out your rice paper and arrange it on the plate. Put down the lettuce leaf and a small handful of the “filler” veggies. Roll up! If the paper rips, you can double wrap.

ready to roll
It takes a few tries to get the hang of it, and often less is more. Don’t overstuff! For a crash course, you can always come to my GF and healthy class in Alexandria, VA.

Serve with Thai dipping sauce or peanut sauce. I’ll post a soy free almond sauce recipe I use when I figure out what I put in it. It’s based on a modified recipe from the Spice and Herb Bible, one of my favorite reference books.
Book of Yum has a peanut agave sauce that looks intriguing, too.

These are my finger food entry for April’s “Go ahead, honey, it’s gluten free!” as hosted by Glutenagogo

from Cheryl’s kitchen ©2008

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Posted in appetizers, recipe, side dish | 4 Comments »