Archive for the ‘alternative grain’ Category
|Lemon Ginger Cookies
Monday, February 8th, 2010
These cookies quickly became a favorite in our household. I have been wanting to try baking with almond flour for months now and finally was able to test out some recipes when my partner bought me a bag of almond flour for Christmas. This may sounds sort of silly, but you will understand a little better knowing that almond flour costs $12.99/lb on our little island. Of course once my partner fell in love with the cookies, the cost of the flour was justified!
The inspiration for these cookies came from Elana’s Pantry recipe for Lemon Lavender Cookies. I have been admiring her recipes for months now, and was excited to try something out. Since I didn’t have all of the ingredients to replicate her recipe, I made modifications, and am pretty happy with the results. The ginger and chocolate are a really nice mix too!
Tags: almond flour, chocolate, ginger, lemon
Posted in alternative grain, cookies, dairy free, dessert, egg-free, gluten-free, vegan, vegetarian, wheat-free | 4 Comments »
Creamy Squash-Gingered Quinoa
Monday, November 30th, 2009
Butternut Squash "Quinotto"
Thanksgiving morning I woke up with a big chunk of time before joining my extended family for our Thanksgiving meal, and still no clear plan of what I wanted to “bring to the table”. It is odd for me not to have a plan of what to cook…a recipe that I have been looking forward to testing out on just the right occasion. I guess I was a bit preoccupied though. Lots going on lately! Packing, moving, planning to move again soon after the first move. Living in cold weather, packing for warm weather, and who knows what else. So, in the mix of it all, I was sort of lost for inspiration on this Thanksgiving day.
The next thing that happened was a welcome distraction from it all. My neighbors invited me for a morning walk, and I was quite happy to have some company and get out of the house. A release from all of my worries for a 1 hour walk…which turned into more. By the time we got back, I realized that I had left myself very little time to actually come up with a recipe and prepare a dish to bring to my aunt’s house. So, I quickly googled up a few ideas and then decided to go with my own.
Quinoa is a very easy grain to cook. It is one of the fastest, and personally I find that it is pretty difficult to mess up. Perfect! Normally I make a simple “naked” quinoa to accompany other dishes, but this time I decided to be adventurous and try something new. A little ginger, and a creamy dollop of butternut squash, and voila – quinotto. (At first I thought I might be making up this term, but after googling it to be sure, of course someone else had come up with it first.) A creamy version of quinoa that resembles risotto.
This turned out to be so easy to make, and absolutely delicious. I was even surprised that everyone who tried it really liked it too. Even the ones who had never heard of/seen quinoa before! So, don’t be shy. Step up to the “plate” and try it yourself…and let me know what you think.
Tags: butternut squash, ginger, quinoa
Posted in alternative grain, dairy free, egg-free, gluten-free, grain side, vegan, vegetable side, vegetarian, wheat-free | No Comments »
Butternut Squash Flan with Pecan Crust
Thursday, November 19th, 2009
Butternut Squash Flan
Fearless Creativity. Funny, I definitely don’t think of myself as fearless, but I will say that when it comes to cooking and baking, I get the closest to this sense of fearlessness. Maybe that is why I love cooking. Usually when I am feeling overwhelmed and stuck, I retreat to the kitchen to lighten my heart and work on releasing what binds me…
This week, I have been in serious need of some fearlessness, so I have been adding creativity here and there between the kitchen and my studio. I guess here is where I can fearlessly plug my newest jewelry designs which you can see in my etsy shop and get a preview of at the bottom of the page…
But back to the kitchen… This recipe was super easy, and I hope you will try it out! It was a total experiment and I will surely tweak it for next time, but after rave reviews last night (from my mother) I know it is ready for the world to taste!
Tags: butternut squash, eggs, pecans, rice milk, rosemary
Posted in alternative grain, dairy free, entree, gluten-free, indulgent, vegetarian, wheat-free | 2 Comments »
Nectarine Upside-Down Cake
Wednesday, September 2nd, 2009
C. loves this recipe and I am sure she is going to be quite surprised that I made it with nectarines, and have created a gluten-free version too! In Key West we would make this every so often with fresh mangoes which we were fortunate to have occasional access to on the island. The original recipe was another discovery when I was going through my Vegetarian Times Magazine phase. This time in making it, I decided to be adventurous and try out alternative sweets, oils and flours for the open-minded chef. Be sure to try this out…it was sooooo good!
Tags: buckwheat flour, nectarine, oat flour, yogurt
Posted in alternative grain, dessert, fruit, gluten-free, indulgent, vegetarian, wheat-free | 7 Comments »
Pasta with Almond Tomato Pesto Sauce
Wednesday, July 15th, 2009
Tonight I flipped through old photos of my dear friends from Florence and smiled remembering all of the great times we had together. Considering it was Italy, a lot of the fun involved good food, and social gatherings. Living in Florence was a great influence on my life in so many ways and I don’t think I could have left without having a new culinary approach. No one understood how I could be vegetarian in Italy…but surprisingly I met other vegetarian/vegans in Italy too. These friends opened my eyes to new exciting directions. My friend Tracey was passionate about spinach and green beans, and thanks to her, they became staples of my diet as well. She even taught me how to make roasted chickpeas…delicious!
My friend Joslyn introduced me to so many new recipes and shared beautiful meals with me. I was always excited to join her for a dinner party. One recipe I loved was her Fennel and White Bean salad…so easy and so good! Eventually she introduced me to the recipe below for Pasta with Almond Tomato Pesto Sauce. It came from an Italian cooking magazine called Cucina Naturale which I eventually bought every issue of.
My dear friends from Italy, I am sending you love and hoping that we can gather around the table again soon to share good food and life stories.
Tags: almonds, basil, pasta, tomatoes
Posted in alternative grain, dairy free, egg-free, entree, gluten-free, vegan, vegetarian, wheat-free | 1 Comment »
Seed, Nut and Fruit Granola
Sunday, April 26th, 2009
Toasty Granola
I have definitely been inspired! The Boulder farmer’s market has come back into season, and I love it. Although the choices for fresh produce are not as abundant as they will be, it is exciting to see the early greens that are for sale at the organic farm stands, and the beautiful flowers blooming. The farmer’s market is also host to some amazing local entrepreneurs who have created delicious (and often healthy) treats.
The one that inspired me this weekend is 2 Mom’s in the Raw. They create amazing raw granolas both gluten-free and not, and the ingredients are beautiful. They also make flax seed crackers which are yummy too, but I guess I am going through a sweet phase, and love that their granola is only sweetened with agave.
I have been wanting to make granola for a while, and this finally pushed me over the edge. Although I am not ready to make a raw granola yet, I thought I would start with an oven recipe to see how it turns out. I checked out a few recipes online, but decided to just make up my own mix and see what happens. I definitely see room for improvement, but for now, it is a tasty mix of goodies.
Tags: almonds, amaranth, apples, buckwheat, coconut, figs, oatmeal, raisins, sesame seeds
Posted in alternative grain, breakfast, dairy free, egg-free, gluten-free, vegan, vegetarian, wheat-free | 1 Comment »
Apple Cake (Gluten Free)
Sunday, April 12th, 2009
Julia's Apple Cake and Thumbprint Cookies
This past fall my beloved gifted me with a private gluten-free cooking lesson with a very talented gluten-free baker. We met Julia of Adaba Foods at the Boulder Farmer’s Market where she sells her gluten-free treats, and were both quite excited about her specialties. I have always wanted to learn more about baking gluten-free, and was excited to have a private session where I could ask her lots of questions, and learn more about alternative grains. I left her house with lots of goodies, and some new recipes to play with.
Today I decided to make her recipe for Apple Cake and since I didn’t have all of the ingredients I made some substitutions. I will let her share her recipe with you so be sure to check out her blog. If any of you live in the Boulder area, she also has soup nights, so you could taste her delicious creations!
If you would like to see her in action you can follow this video link to see Julia as a guest baker on the Minimalist Menu. She teaches you how to maker her Lemon Poppy Seed Bread with sprouted quinoa!
Enjoy!
Posted in alternative grain, crackers and breads, dairy free, egg-free, gluten-free, vegan, vegetarian, wheat-free | 1 Comment »
Banana Buckwheat Pancakes
Sunday, April 5th, 2009
A Feel-Good Sunday Brunch
Lazy Sunday mornings, lounging in bed, taking it slowly, and enjoying a long brunch. Our favorite treat on these days are pancakes. The pancakes that don’t leave you feeling weighed down afterwards.
For those that don’t know, buckwheat is actually not part of the wheat family. It is a gluten-free grain with a pronounced taste. This grain adds character to the pancakes without overpowering them and since there is no gluten, the pancakes are light and fluffy going in and easy to digest!
I have adapted my recipe from a beautiful cookbook called Conscious Cuisine written by Chef Cary Neff. His recipe uses some wheat flour with the buckwheat flour, but I find that there is no need for it. I have tested this recipe on tons of friends and family and they love the pancakes!
Definitely try them out! We usually make a double batch and save them for snacks too.
Tags: banana, buckwheat
Posted in alternative grain, breakfast, dairy free, gluten-free, vegetarian, wheat-free | 1 Comment »
Portabello and Spinach Pizza
Saturday, March 7th, 2009
Pizza night!
Pizza night is a special occassion in our household. Most specifically because we have found a great gluten free pizza crust. So in addition to this being a pizza recipe, this is also a quick and easy recipe, using a pre-made crust. Our favorite crust comes from Sami’s Bakery. He makes millet and flax pizza crusts, all gluten free ingredients, but just a warning that they do make their gluten free products in the same facility as products with gluten.
Their millet and flax products (also include crackers, bread and lavosh) are so good that I am dying to know the recipe because nothing compares to the quality of the products, and you can’t really tell that they are gluten free. It might have something to do with the use of a brick oven…but it is still a mystery to me.
We used to be able to purchase their products when we lived in Key West, but they haven’t made it out west yet, so we order online, and therefore keep it as a special treat.
Our favorite pizza lately is a portabello mushroom and spinach pizza which is pretty easy to put together. We even use a store bought sauce. After looking at the options around town, we are happy with Whole Foods Organic sauces. I am pretty surprised when I see how many companies use sugar in their pasta sauce. It seems like a violation of nature! Thankfully Whole Foods organic sauces (as far as I have found) do not add sugar to their sauce (and the price is great!). We have tried a few but personally I like the Mushroom Tomato Sauce.
Tags: millet, mozzarella, mushroom, spinach
Posted in alternative grain, egg-free, entree, gluten-free, vegetarian, wheat-free | 2 Comments »
Millet Cornbread
Sunday, February 15th, 2009
Millet Cornbread
Whenever my partner makes chili, the next question that follows is “Wanna make cornbread?”. We love our Vegetarian Chili recipe, (I will be sure to share it in a future post), and it is almost inevitable that when we have chili, we want cornbread too.
When I went to the fridge to start making the batter, I realized that I didn’t actually have any corn flour! Thankfully I quickly came up with an improvisation. I had some polenta meal, and millet flour, and then I remembered we also had cooked millet…I am always up for experiment.
The polenta meal and the cooked millet add texture to the cornbread, and the surprise ingredient (banana!) adds moisture. So the combination is really nice. Some cornbreads can be really dry, but I think this recipe has a nice balance to it. I was really happy with the experiment and so was C.