Posts Tagged ‘gluten free’

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Easy Almond Cookies

Sunday, April 19th, 2009

alm-cookies

I’m overdue for a recipe post. In some ways, it’s because I’ve gotten pickier. I make a recipe and I like it, but intend to do it again with changes and improve…and repeat…and then I don’t end up posting any! It’s kind of funny, actually, since there are very few recipes that I don’t alter every time, whether they’re mine or someone else’s. It’s just part of the art and fun of baking!

I really like these cookies because they’re very easy, and quite tasty. They’re soft and chewy inside, and fabulous right out of the oven (although they don’t firm up until 10-15 minutes later). The trick is to bake them until they’re *just* set. They’re good once they start browning, but just a bit tough for my taste. So watch ‘em! And, of course, the cookies are gluten/dairy/egg/corn/soy/sugar/grain free, low glycemic and vegan. Yahoo!alm-tray

I’ve been playing with flax cookies in an attempt to add more into my diet, and I’ve tried quite a few variations of these. They were supposed to be Chinese 5 spice cookies, but the flavor of the spice is quite mild, and I like it that way. I will probably try them with more spice in the future. Like any time you add agave to ground nuts, the secret is just a quick whirl or you have a tacky glob. If anyone knows what it is about agave that interacts with nut butters, I’d love to know…I’ve never seen maple syrup or honey act the same way. But the baked product turns out well, so no complaints here.

2 cups toasted almonds
8 brazil nuts
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp stevia
2 teaspoons almond extract
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/3 cup quinoa flakes
1/3 cup plus 1 T ground flax seed
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 tablespoon Chinese 5 spice powder
2/3 cup agave

3 T chopped almonds
Preheat oven to 350
Toast almond and brazil nuts. I prefer to toast chopped brazil nuts, it seems to work better. Grind in the processor until it forms a chunky nut butter, scraping down the sides occasionally (4-5 min in my food processor). Add in everything but the agave, and process a minute more. Add in the agave and pulse a few times.

Roll the dough into small balls (maybe 1 inch in diameter?) and squish down, sprinkle with chopped almonds. Using a silpat mat works best, but I’m sure parchment would work, too.Bake until just set–around 10 minutes. They’re much better when the cookies don’t brown much. Allow to cool on the drying rack for 15 minutes before moving, or they will fall apart.

Enjoy!

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Posted in dessert, recipe | 6 Comments »

Coconut Curried Greens

Saturday, March 7th, 2009

curried-collards

I love collards. And to think that for 25 or so years of my life, I had no idea what I was missing out on!  I grew up in NY and never really tasted them, or if I did, I didn’t remember it.  But Virginia is “Southern country” and they were a staple at potlucks.  Granted, generally ’round these parts they’re served with ham, but I liked them enough that I was intrigued and determined to find another way to enjoy them. They’re best right after the first winter frost, but it’s one of the few things I can still find at the Farmer’s Markets even now, and it’s nice to have locally grown on the menu.

The most miraculous part of all of this is that DH ate them…and asked for more.  Somehow perhaps it has escaped him that indeed, the green stuff is a vegetable?  I won’t mention it and hope that he doesn’t his mind!  But they are so buttery when they cook up in the coconut curry that we’ve ended up fighting over leftovers.  Yum.

I use coconut meat to make a coconut milk, but I’m sure canned would work just as well.  I often brown chicken or another protein or toss in leftovers for a heartier meal, but it works just as nicely in vegan form.

And, of course, you can add in some cayenne for a little extra kick if you’re so inclined!

Last year, I grew my own collards and used them in a yummy African inspired Almond Stew, but this year, the rabbits chewed them down to the ribs.  I guess that’s what I get for pulling up the carrots.

Large bunch of collards, stems removed
2 inch knob of ginger, peeled and minced finely
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 tablespoons oil
2 teaspoons garam masala powder

meat of one young coconut and water (2 cups total when blended)

Bring a large pot of water to boil. Add collards, let boil vigorously for 20 minutes (or more, to preference). Drain, reserving 1 1/2 cups of the collard water. Blend water with coconut (this is your coconut milk!). Chop collards coarsely.

If making a version with meat, brown meat in the oil and reserve. Saute ginger and garlic in oil until fragrant. Add in garam masala powder and stir for a minute. Add in coconut mill, the greens and browned protein (optional). Allow to cook and thicken for 8-10 minutes, or until desired consistency is reached.

Serve and enjoy!

I’m serving up these collards for Weekend Herb Blogging, originated by Kalyn

. Now our kind coordinator is Haalo, and she’s hosting this week, too! Collards aren’t unusual veggies, but I’m not familiar with them in curried form, so I hope this counts.

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Posted in recipe, vegetables, weekend herb blogging | 9 Comments »

I *heart* Red Pepper Sauce

Friday, February 13th, 2009

rpchicken3iconsYahoo!  At long last, I am delighted to get the honor to host Weekend Herb Blogging.  If you’re not familiar with WHB, it was originated by Kalyn’s Kitchen, and our current hostess is Haalo.  It’s a great way to get inspiration for yummy ways to use herbs in your cooking…and an eclectic collection of fruits and veggies, too.

The last few weeks have been a total roller coaster rides, so it was time for a peaceful, relaxing, indulgent meal.  One my DH’s absolute favorite things is red pepper sauce, and one of my favorite things is rpeppersaucehow darn easy it is!  And how delicious, too.  I love that it’s so creamy that it tastes like it’s a dairy based sauce, and the sweetness is such a treat.  My first post way back when had red pepper chicken, and quite a few people asked for the recipe.  It’s worth the wait, I think!

We had an unseasonably warm weekend, so I roped DH into grilling the peppers.  Usually, I just use frozen herb-y peppers from the summer months.  The hardest part is having enough peppers left over to freeze.  They’re just like candy.

So, this is a beautiful meal for you and your Valentine.  The sauce is delish any kind of protein…or on anyone you love. =P

5 large bell peppers (red, yellow, or orange)
1-2 Tablespoons fresh thyme
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
2 Tablespoons oil

1 cup good quality broth
1/4 teaspoon cayenne powder
good squeeze of lemon
2 Tablespoons ground almond or hazelnuts

2 Tablespoons olive oil
6 cloves garlic, minced

Grill or roast peppers, or use canned or frozen. When cool, add to blender with broth, cayenne, onions and ground nuts. Blend until very smooth. In a Vitamix, this takes 2 minutes. It will take much longer in a normal blender. Saute garlic in olive oil, add in the blended peppers. You can poach a protein of your choice in the sauce, or just pour it on whatever you want to make yummy.

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Posted in recipe, vegetables, weekend herb blogging | 5 Comments »

Arugula Winter Pesto

Sunday, January 25th, 2009

arupesto

This is barely a recipe, but it is tasty! Lately, quick and easy have been the primary food criteria around these parts.  This pesto fits the bill, and works to make anything taste yummier. I use it as a dip for raw veggies, and add it to quinoa, steamed veg, fish, etc.  I use less oil than I do for a regular pesto because it’s been bothering my poor sensitive tummy, but feel free to sub more olive oil for the water for a more traditional pesto.

And as a bonus, DH doesn’t seem to realize that he’s eating veggies…

5oz package of arugula, well washed
1/2 cup water* (see headnote)
1/4 cup olive oil (or more)
1/2 lemon, squeezed
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/2-1 clove of garlic, optional
1/2 cup pitted Kalamata olives
1/2 cup toasted walnuts, pine nuts or a mix

Put arugula, water, oil, lemon and salt in the food processor and blend until smooth. Add in olives and nuts and blend, leaving it as chunky or smooth as you like!

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Posted in recipe, side dish | 11 Comments »

Quick and Easy Asian Style Gingery Soup

Saturday, January 10th, 2009

gingsoupThis is a quick and and easy recipe that I turn to when I have a sore throat. It is in no way authentically Asian (or authentically anything, for that matter!) I find it very satisfying, and very low maintenance. A good broth or stock is a must. I tend to use home made. Problem is, once you use home made, it’s hard to go back to the store bought stuff!

I must admit that putting lettuce in soup was a random inspiration and it works oddly well. Try it before you rule it out! The amounts of onion and lettuce totally depend on whether I’m in the mood for a broth-y soup or a heartier soup. You really can’t go wrong.

3-4 cups good quality broth or stock
1 inch of fresh ginger, cut into 1/8 inch slices
1/2 medium onion, cut into 1/8 inch ribbons
1 head romaine lettuce heart, coarsely chopped
Salt and pepper to taste

Bring broth to a boil, add in ginger and onions and simmer 35-40 min or until onions are tender. Add in lettuce and cook until wilted and dark green, 7-8 more minutes. Remove ginger chunks (unless you are VERY brave!), adjust salt and pepper and enjoy! whb3

I’m serving up this soup for Weekend Herb Blogging, as originated by Kalyn of Kalyn’s Kitchen. Haalo is currently the WHB “mom” and our host this week is Pam from The Backyard Pizzarea.  Pam’s photos are lovely!

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Posted in recipe, soup | 6 Comments »

French Yule Log–A Daring Baker Challenge

Monday, December 29th, 2008

yuleThis month’s challenge is brought to us by the adventurous Hilda from Saffron and Blueberry and Marion from Il en Faut Peu Pour Etre Heureux.  They have chosen a French Yule Log by Flore from Florilege Gourmand.

I love being a Daring Baker…usually. But when I saw all 19 pages of this month’s recipe, I was a wee bit intimidated! Currently, I’m gluten, dairy, egg, corn, and soy free, and more recently, I’ve had to avoid sugar and grains, too. Given my limitations, sometimes I just make something for DH or friends, but I was doing so much cooking for other people I wanted something for ME.

Once I started thinking about it, it did seem (sort of) doable. The required elements are:hazcake
1) Dacquoise Biscuit
2) Mousse
3) Ganache Insert
4) Praline (Crisp) Insert
5) Creme Brulee Insert
6) Icing

I just couldn’t wrap my brain around the creme brulee without dairy, eggs, soy or sugar, so I confess, I left it out. I know it was required…but with all of my limitations, 5 out of 6 ain’t bad. Everything else was there, at least in spirit.

ganache

I must say, I had pretty low expectations. I’d been fighting a bug most of December, and it got pushed off till the last minute. And yet, everything turned out beautifully, and I would definitely do it again, or parts of it.  It ended up tasting a lot like ice cream cake, and it traveled down beautifully in a cooler.  All I would have done differently is leaving layers to freeze longer so that the layers had a lot more differentiation.  I would have made more chocolate icing, too!  I brought it along with me to NC, and way underestimated the amount of chocolate I’d need.  Since the stores were closed, I just drizzled the icing on rather than making a cohesive coating.

cyule

Since I had so little time and no clue of what I was doing, I don’t have recipes.  I did write down the dacquoise recipe (picture above) but (by itself) it wasn’t very good.  The mousse is a mix of young coconut, hazelnut, cocoa powder, agave, cinnamon, pineapple and chia whipped in my Vitamix.  I almost chickened out on the crisp insert, then reminded myself that I am a DARING baker and made a hazelnut meal/agave/chia/mesquite crispy cracker-ich layer.  The ganache (picture above on right) was baker’s chocolate with thick hazelnut cream and vegetable glycerine, and the icing was baker’s chocolate, glycerine and almond oil.

So it just goes to show how nice it is to go out on a limb, be daring and try something new!  I’m so glad that most of the DB challenges have been do-able, especially considering the number of restrictions I have.   I would like to play with the veganized agar frosting version in the future, and plan to make this into a faux ice cream cake next time.  Thanks so much to our brave leaders, and bring on the next one, baby!

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Posted in daring bakers, dessert | 14 Comments »

Everything just tastes better when covered in chocolate

Saturday, December 20th, 2008

chocpomI’ve had been under the weather this month, necessitating some ingenuity to whip up some tasty allergen friendly treats that are super easy to make. My three favorites? Chocolate covered pomegranate seeds, chocolate covered clementines and pistachio brittle (pumpkin seed brittle, just sub in pistachios). Easy, elegant, low stress, and huge on taste. Vegan and top 8 allergen free too! Totally my style.clem

I don’t know where I first got the idea of coating pom seeds with chocolate, but I couldn’t resist giving it a try, and it couldn’t be easier! The idea for dipping clementines is from a grad school friend, Michelle, who is an amazing hostess.

If you’re not a huge pom fiend, you should be. IMHO, they’re the yummiest winter fruit and chock full of antioxidants and, of course, flavor. According to Greek mythology, we’re stuck with winter because Persephone, daughter of the goddess of the Harvest was kidnapped and taken off to the underworld. She was miserable, and didn’t eat but couldn’t resist pom seeds! Rules are if you eat in the underworld, you stay. So when she is stuck “down there” we’re all stuck up here with winter, as the goddess of the harvest is mourning. Now here I thought I didn’t learn anything in junior high. Funny what sticks in your head.

Giving recipes for these is almost a joke, but here goes! Melt chocolate. Add fruit. Allow to cool. Accept compliments and smile.

Here’s a bit more detail:
1/2 cup pomegranate seeds
3 oz bittersweet chocolate

Heat chocolate in a glass bowl in the microwave, stirring every 30 sec (it takes about 2 min total). A double boiler works too, but I’m WAY too lazy. Allow to cool for 1-2 minutes. Stir in pom seeds thoroughly, drop onto wax paper or muffin liners. Allow to cool at room temp. You can put them in the fridge but they won’t look as nice.

I didn’t measure the amount of chocolate for the clementines, but I dipped one half in semi sweet and allowed them to cool on wax paper.
WHB is the baby of Kalyn’s Kitchen, and now our kind hostess is Haalo. Did you see her cherry coconut slice? Looks delish!

Have a relaxing and delicious holiday season!!!

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Posted in dessert, recipe, weekend herb blogging | 8 Comments »

Summer Lovin’ salad

Thursday, December 18th, 2008

simple-salad

I’m a springtime and summer kinda gal, and the winter months tend to get me down.  This salad is small a taste of summertime goodness to remind me of what I’m (eventually) looking forward to!  And this was such a bright and sunny day, too.

This non-recipe is very simple, and uses arugula from my (mini) indoor garden and roasted tomatoes that I made and roasted this summer.

3 cups arugula leaves
1-2 tablespoons of olive oil (may not be needed if your tomatoes are packed in oil)
juice of half a lemon or balsamic vinegar to taste
black pepper and sea salt to taste
1/4 cup toasted pine nuts
1/2 avocado, sliced
handful of roasted tomatoes, chopped or whole

Mix arugula, oil, salt, pepper, and lemon. Add other ingredients on top and enjoy! Best if eaten in the first hour of preparing, otherwise the arugula gets soggy.

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Posted in recipe, vegetables | 2 Comments »

Spiced Forbidden Rice Pudding

Thursday, December 4th, 2008

A rice pudding fit for an empress…

As the story goes, forbidden rice was reserved for the emperor. I’m not sure I can blame him for not wanting to share! If you taste it, you’ll understand. It’s gloriously, indulgently purple, and got a distinctive chew and taste to it.

I’ve made this pudding for years, but rarely, because it took hours to get good and soft. Then it occurred to me that I could just soak it overnight, and get the same consistency in much less time.

Coconut is what makes this a totally indulgent, creamy treat. There’s a lot of debate about coconut, the saturated fat and health, and you can find people on both sides of the issue. If you’re counting calories, you can do it with almond hazelnut nut milk and drizzle with coconut milk at the end, and it tastes almost as good. I’m somewhat tempted to try it with chai tea instead of water and see how that goes.

Also, remember to count the cardamom pods when you put them in so that it’s easier to remove them afterwards! Cardamom gives delightful flavor, but not so much when you bite into it. Trust me.

2 cups coconut milk, hazelnut or almond milk, divided
1 1/2 cup water
1 cup of Chinese black rice (AKA forbidden rice)
1/4-1/3 cup agave nectar (or palm sugar)
8-10 cardamom pods
1 stick cinnamon
chopped crystallized ginger for garnish

Soak 1 cup of rice overnight. Rinse and drain (don’t worry about getting all the water out). Add 1 1/2 cups of water , 1 1/2 cups coconut milk, the agave, cinnamon stick and cardamom pods. Keep at a low simmer for 1 1/2 hours, stirring every 30 min or so. When it’s a delightfully soft mush, you’re good to go.

Remove spices and serve, drizzling each portion with a tablespoon or so of coconut milk and chopped ginger. Enjoy with a side of mango, pineapple, raspberries, or sorbet.

If you have leftovers, give me a ring! Or freeze it, it does freeze well..

This is my submission to “Go Ahead, Honey, it’s GF”. November’s edition is about foods from childhood, and our lovely host is Noosh of For the love of food. Rice pudding reminds me of my grandpa, although it was nothing like this. However, this pudding is like a big hug to me, and so it seems to fit the theme.

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Posted in dessert | 13 Comments »

Pom Chicken

Sunday, November 30th, 2008

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.

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Posted in recipe, weekend herb blogging | 6 Comments »

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