Moved cooking

Last summer I created this blog just for my cooking posts. I've decided to move them all back to my blog. I've felt kind of fragmented separating my food posts so I'm fixing it. :) I won't delete this so it'll be here but future posts will be at koala brains.

The Gluten-Free Almond Flour Cookbook giveaway

I was perusing the bookstore the other day and found a cookbook I really want called The Gluten-Free Almond Flour Cookbook. Just as I was flipping through it, I realized the time and had to leave right then so didn't get the chance to buy it. I did jot down the author's name (Elana Amsterdam) and come to find out, she has a website. There are a bunch of recipes so be sure to check it out. I made her coconut chicken soup recipe tonight and it was delicious. I should've taken a pic but I was too hungry to take the time to do it! I bought the ingredients to make her roasted chicken with olives and prunes so that'll be dinner one day this week. There are a lot of other recipes I want to try so I think I'll be cooking Elana style for a while!

Elana is hosting a giveaway which includes the cookbook and 5 lbs of almond flour so I'm entering and maybe I'll get lucky. I want the book because the ingredient list is minimal yet the recipes sound yummy but what I find most intriguing about the book is the use of almond flour which has a low glycemic index than grain flours and is much more nutritious, too. I've been decreasing my grain intake because a couple hours after I eat them, I feel the sugar crash. This is especially the case with rice pasta but I get it from brown rice, too. Maybe I'm ultra-sensitive? Anyway... The book is really pretty and inspiring. I've been trying to find a gluten-free cookbook but surprisingly hardly any of them have pictures or if they do, there's only a few. I can't help it but I really like pictures of the food in cookbooks which is another reason why I want the book. Don't you just want to dive into that cake on the cover??? Oh and by the way, there's no dairy in that cake or icing. In fact, I don't think I saw dairy used in any of her recipes which is a bonus. Here's a little blurb from her site about the book:

- A full-color collection of 99 gluten-free, lightly sweetened, quick-and-healthy recipes.

- Almonds are today's superfood: high-protein, low-glycemic, low-cholesterol, full of fiber and antioxidants.

If I don't win the giveaway, I'm getting the book asap!

Update: 3/30/2010...Got the book a couple days after posting this and love it. I ordered almond flour online like recommended. I tried 3 recipes so far and they came out great. Definitely a good addition to my library.

Love it - cake for breakfast

It's the new year and I've been trying different recipes. I made a quinoa breakfast cake (although more like a bread) this evening and it's unbelievably good! I told Boo if she went to bed without any issues tonight she could have "cake" in the morning. She was pretty excited about it so I hope she'll like it. I modified it slightly by leaving out the brown sugar and increased the agave to 1/2 cups. Believe me, it's plenty sweet. I also added a mix of craisins and raisins and left out the coconut because I am not a fan of grated coconut. This is a keeper!

Too much of a good thing

I do love spicy food but this dish was so freakin' hot that my head and neck(!) were sweating. Maybe I had a death wish or something that day but I ate my portion because despite the heat, it was really tasty. DB really loves me because he ate his portion although I knew he didn't want to partake in this masochistic act. Note to self: use thai green curry paste sparingly. The recipe called for 2-3 TB and I used 2 1/2. Next time, I'll use 1 1/2. In this recipe I added red potatoes, green beans, carrots, cilantro, chicken and eggplants from the garden. Not posting this recipe for said reason. I'm not giving up on this dish. I will find a recipe that works because I love the flavors.

Gluten free banana muffins

I'm sure I mentioned this before but I LOVE baked goods and I cannot imagine life without them. Boo and I made Pattycake's "easy gluten-free banana bread" mini muffins last week for her 4th birthday celebration at school. They were a hit with the kids - - except there was one table where I was making small talk as I was handing them out and I asked them, "who likes bananas?!?!?", expecting them all to say, "ME!!" but of course there was one who didn't so he refused to try it. His loss... Yeah, I should know better than to mention ingredients to kids!

Update: I baked the mini muffins for 15-20 minutes at the same temperature as the recipe.

Creamy eggplant with assorted veggies

I got the eggplants from the garden and I wanted a dish that was creamy that satisfied the fat craving that one gets from alfredo sauce or some sort of mayonnaise based salad BUT it had to be healthy (the nut spread is key in the creaminess of the dish). Every eggplant dish I know of requires lots of oil to soften it so I came up with this recipe which uses the water that is released from the other veggies to infuse the eggplant with moisture and flavor. In the past week I have made this twice and can't get enough. I made a huge batch yesterday (about 4x the recipe) because of all the eggplants that were ready to use. I couldn't use one of the Ichiban eggplants because it got too big so was seedy. I used young eggplants so the seeds were super tender so the texture of the dish isn't affected by the seeds. The big one in the picture had some seeds so I scraped them out.

Creamy eggplant with assorted veggies
Makes approximately 3 1/4 cups
Note: I like this to be chunky so I chopped all the veggies and minced the garlic

3/4 cup eggplant, peeled and seeds removed
2/3 cup carrots
2/3 cup red onions
1 cup portobello mushrooms
1/2 cup red pepper
1 cup tomatoes
2 cloves minced garlic
2 TB olive oil
1/2 tsp salt
1 TB balsamic vinegar
1 tsp agave nectar (or other sweetener)
1/3 cup nut spread

Saute first 7 ingredients in olive oil for about 5 minutes. Mix in salt, vinegar, and agave nectar. Cover the pan and cook on low for 30 minutes (or when veggies are tender), stirring often. Remove from heat and mix in the nut spread. Add salt if needed.

In the photo of the completed dish, I blanched napa cabbage leaves for a minute then stuffed it. Other ideas:

- Toss this with your favorite pasta. I use Tinkyada brown rice pasta.
- Eat it as is as the main or side dish.
- Top it on chicken, a baked potato, or a piece of fish.
- Roll it up with some raw veggies and nori.

Veggie nori rolls

I've been eating veggie rolls a few times a week for lunch because it's light and quick to prepare. I fill it with carrots, sauteed asparagus, cucumbers, blanched napa cabbage, and a nut spread all wrapped up in nori (sushi seaweed sheet). Use whatever veggies that sound good to you. I bought some bean sprouts today so will add that to the mix tomorrow. Two rolls are enough for me and keeps my belly happy until the next meal 2-3 hours later.

Assemble as shown in this picture and roll it up. Add a little water to the end of the nori so it'll stick to itself. Dip the roll in the teriyaki sauce and enjoy!

Teriyaki sauce
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup pure maple syrup
1 tsp grated ginger
1 tsp grated garlic

I use a microplane to grate. Mix all together in a bowl.



Nut spread
1/2 cup raw macadamia nuts
1 1/2 cups raw cashews
1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 1/2 TB soy sauce
1 tsp garlic
almond milk

Grind in food processor until smooth. Add almond milk to facilitate blending (just drizzle a little at a time).

I got the raw macadamia nuts in the bulk section at Whole Foods and the raw cashews from an Indian grocery store. You will have plenty of the nut mixture leftover. Use it as a veggie dip or save it for an eggplant recipe I will post soon.

Torture

Why do I always look at cooking blogs (with all those scrumptious pics) late at night when I'm hungry? Talk about testing my willpower.

Tried to make gazpacho

DB had gazpacho at a restaurant last week and keeps talking about how delicious and refreshing it was so I gave it a shot. It was refreshing and we felt good about eating an entire bowl of raw veggies but it didn't wow us. Something was missing. I'll have to experiment some more or find a recipe.

Pesto Zucchini Tomato Gratin

I really enjoy cooking meals at lunch because I can go about it at a leisurely pace. In the evenings, I feel like I'm racing to get everything done in time to get Boo in bed by 7 so some of the fun is taken out of cooking. The past couple days I've been trying new recipes at lunch and here's one I made yesterday. It's a pesto zucchini tomato gratin from Karina's Kitchen. I followed the recipe except I added zucchini blossoms (have a bunch from the garden, not sure what to do with them) and substituted the mozzarella with feta since I have a big tub of it in the fridge. I made brown rice noodles and tossed them in pesto as the recipe recommends and it was yummy. It's been so long since I gave Boo pesto that she has no recollection of ever eating it. She didn't like the gratin part but absolutely loved the pasta with pesto so I gave that to her along with a mug of sweet potato bisque from Trader Joe's. She said "mmmm" the entire time and asked for it for dinner that night. DB and I really enjoyed this dish and I actually prefer it sans the pasta.

Cucumber and tomato salad

The first cucumbers were plucked from the garden yesterday so we made this salad. It contains (all to taste, didn't measure anything out):

- cucumbers
- campari tomatoes
- red onions
- red wine vinegar
- olive oil
- feta (goat)
- fresh basil from the garden
- dill
- kalamata olives

Boo made her own salad of cucumbers, feta, balsamic vinegar, and olive oil. We ate it along with baby spinach tossed in dressing topped with a salmon patty (care of Costo, it's Trident seafood brand and it's gluten free). We always have them in the freezer because they are easy to make and are really good. Just lightly oil a fry pan (we use Smart Balance) and cook on medium heat for 5 minutes on each side.

Did you know a lot of the feta you find at the grocery store is made from cow's milk? You'll have to look at the ingredients to determine if it's made from goat's milk because it'll specifically say so. Many people who are lactose intolerant can consume goat's milk. Check out this link for some FAQ's about goat cheese.

Veggies and assorted dips

This always happens...when I cook yummy meals (besides the old standbys), I don't craft. Or if I'm crafting, I'm not really into putting forth the extra effort to crank out some interesting dishes. Can I have some balance, please? I haven't stepped into the craft room all week but I've been cooking some yummy stuff. Here's what we had for dinner the other evening. The weather wasn't too miserably hot so we ate outside.

Celery, carrots, cucumber, & cauliflower
with
Clockwise: white bean dip (w/ basil on top), roasted
carrot and garbanzo bean dip, and eggplant tapenade

The white bean dip was a recipe I found on a blog and it came out super bland so I doctored it up by adding salsa, fresh basil and added the rosemary into the dip, not on top. It actually turned out delicious! Here's the recipe:

3 TB extra-virgin olive oil
1 small red onion, chopped
4 large garlic cloves, minced
2 15.5 oz cans white beans (cannellini, navy, great northern - which I used) drained and rinsed
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/2 cup water
2 TB fresh rosemary, finely chopped
2 TB basil, finely chopped
1/2 cup or more black bean and corn salsa (add to your liking)

In a medium pan, heat oil and add onion. Cook over medium-high heat 5 minutes, or until onion becomes translucent. Add garlic, stirring, and cook one minute. In a food processor, pulse together everything except the salsa. After it's the texture of your liking, pour into bowl and mix in salsa.

I goofed on Just Bento's roasted carrot dip so I had to fix it and it actually came out really good. The addition of the beans makes it more nutritious but I still do love the original (w/ half the sweetener) which I make on a regular basis. I modified the ingredients slightly as follows:

2 large carrots
4 TB tahini
1 TB olive oil
1/4 tsp. salt or to taste
1/2 TB raw cane or light brown sugar, or to taste (I don't like mine too sweet)
1 tsp. ground cumin
Pinch red chili pepper powder, or to taste (I left this out for Boo)
1 can of garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed

Heat the oven to 180°C / 360°F. Wash two carrots, cut them up roughly, sprinkle with a little salt, and wrap them loosely in kitchen parchment paper or aluminum foil. Bake in the oven for about 25-30 minutes, until soft. Open the paper up for the last few minutes to evaporate any accumulated moisture.

Let cool a bit, and put the pieces in the bowl of a food processor with the other ingredients. Drizzle some water to help the blender along. Process until smooth. Taste and adjust the seasoning if needed.

I've made Karina's Kitchen's eggplant tapenade several times and it's oh so delicious! I follow the recipe exactly. I have some left over so I'm going to shred zucchini like spaghetti and toss it in with the tapenade and call it lunch.

All these dips with veggies make for a light meal on a hot day or you can serve them as an appetizer. I like to cut up extra veggies so they make for an easy and quick snack. I find if everything is prepped and ready to eat, well, I'll eat them. Boo ate all the dips but said she preferred the original carrot dip. I was actually surprised she ate the white bean dip because it had a kick to it from the salsa. She ate the tapenade but didn't say anything about it.

I have a recipe I'm going to make tomorrow for Father's Day dinner. I've never made it so I'm hoping it'll turn out. It sounds good on paper. If it's a winner, I'll definitely blog about it. Have a good day tomorrow!!!