Sunday, June 27, 2010

Kale and Potato Soup (Zuppa Tuscana copycat with out the sausage)

This soup is amazing! I can never get enough. I like mine with a bit of spice, but you can adjust the red pepper flakes according to your tastes.


1 large bushel of Kale, washed well and torn into bite sized pieces
4 C yukon gold or yellow fin potatoes, washed and diced (I leave the skin on)
1/2 C to 1 C of fresh parsley
olive oil
1 large yellow or sweet onion, diced
3-4 cloves of garlic, minced
6 C broth or stock of your choosing (I use a product called Better than Broth)
red pepper flakes, to taste
1/2 t fennel seeds, crushed as much into a powder as you can manage
salt and pepper to taste

Cook onions and garlic in bottom of your soup pot with olive oil until done. Then, add broth and boil potatoes until tender. Add kale, parsley and spices and allow to cook for another 20 minutes.

I serve this with gluten free corn bread, which I will add the recipe for in a future post.

Saturday, June 26, 2010

GF Purple (three berry) Scones

These are so good! Perfect for breakfast or afternoon tea!

2 c. gluten free flour mix (see recipe on previous post)
1/3 c. sucanat or evaporated cane juice
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
6 Tbsp. cold butter or smart balance
1 large egg, beaten
1/2 c. Nancy's plain yogurt (you can use sour cream, milk, dairy sub like hemp or almond milk or kefir etc)
1/2 c. frozen berries (I used the 3 berry combo from Costco)

Mix all of the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl.

Cut the butter into the dry ingredients until the largest crumbs are the size of peas.

Add egg, yogurt (or milk or sour cream etc) to the dry ingredients, and mix until everything is thoroughly combined.

Mix frozen berries vigorously until the batter turns pink/purple

With a wooden spoon, scoop into desired sized hills on a lightly greased baking sheet. You can drizzle melted butter over the top and sprinkle with Cinnamon Sugar if desired.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 20-25 min. you start to see golden brown in places.


GF Quinoa Heaven!

If you've never eaten quinoa, it's time to jump on the bullet train! It's SO GOOD, versatile and one of the healthiest "grains" on the market. It's actually not a grain, but I won't get into that now. Here is a recipe I adapted from one I found on vegetariantimes.com. The original recipe only added wilted romaine (eeww!) and chicory in regards to veggies....it sounded like a good base recipe, so I changed it up a bit and got something delicious!! I would have to describe it kind of as a quiche but not as eggy.

You will be pleasantly surprised at the dynamic of flavor in this dish.

(
ORIGINAL RECIPE:
http://www.vegetariantimes.com/recipes/11247?section )

My adaptation:

Quinoa Bake

1 C quinoa
2 C of broth of your choice
1 medium sweet or yellow onion, chopped
2-3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 portobello mushroom, chopped
4-6 green onions, minced
2 handfuls of spinach
1 C of kale or chard, chopped
fresh parsley, chopped, to taste
1/2 C mozzarella plus some for the top
1/2 C feta cheese
4 eggs, beaten and tempered
olive oil

Toast quinoa in sauce pan for about 3 minutes, constantly stiring.Add broth and cook until quinoa is done

Meanwhile, fry onions, garlic, mushrooms and green onions in a frying pan with olive oil. When done, add to quinoa in sauce pan and combine thoroughly over medium heat.

Toss in spinach, parsley, kale or chard and cheeses and mix until all cheese is melted and greens are well incorporated.

Remove from heat, temper eggs in a bowl (add some of the hot mixture into the bowl with the eggs and beat them, this keeps you from getting scrambled eggs in your mixture) then add the eggs to the quinoa mixture and incorporate well!

Coat a pie pan or a small, square, glass baking dish in olive oil and spoon your mixture into the dish. Salt and pepper the top of the mixture, then add the left over mozzarella cheese to the top. Bake at 325-350 until the cheese is golden brown on the top!

GF Gingerbread Cake


I am going to start out with my newest recipe! This morning I made the kids gingerbread cake and eggs for breakfast. They went crazy over it and ate the entire pie pan of cake! I have to admit, it's the best ginger bread ANYTHING I've ever had, in spite of the fact it is gluten free. This is an adaptation of a recipe I found this morning.


My version:

1 1/2 C gluten free flour mixture (see previous entry for the recipe for this)
1/2 t ginger
1/2 t cinnamon
1 t baking soda
1/3 C sucanut (you can use raw honey, agave or even cut back on the sweetener a bit)
1/4 C softened butter or smart balance (NOT melted!)
1/2 C molasses
1 egg
1/4 C hot water

Combine dry ingredients in mixer. Add butter, egg, molasses and hot water over top of dry ingredients, mix on medium high until all is well incorporated. Bake in a greased pie pan for about 25 minutes at 350.

Gluten Free All Purpose Flour Mixture

I am currently working on my 3rd week of gluten free dieting. It was really hard in the beginning due in part to changing my habits and craving the things I ate before as well as not having a firm grasp on how to bake gluten free or what exactly I was suppose to eat! I am not allergic to gluten nor do I have Celeac's disease (spelling?) I simply am trying to eat healthier and lose my baby weight from my latest pregnancy.

I have spent HOURS on my laptop, looking up recipes, trying them, and ultimately being disappointed with the majority of them. I have found that most gluten free baking recipes have a list of what seems like 1000 different kinds of flours and rising agents...and I cannot run to the store and buy YET ANOTHER set of ingredients for every meal. After about a week and a half of this, I found a couple websites that yielded GREAT results and I also discovered a mixture of gluten free flours that I can premix, store in a large, lidded tupperware container and use just like all-purpose white flour when baking. So, most of these recipes have been altered by myself to use this flour and to exclude processed sweeteners. Since then, I have had enormous success making food that is not only "good" but that my family LOVES (even my picky son!).
I am going to post recipes and pictures of the foods I make on here for other gluten free-ers. I TRY to do sugar free as well, but from time to time, the sweetener finds it's way in to some of the recipes...hehe...but I ALWAYS use raw honey or sucanat for my sugar. NEVER processed white sugar.

First, I will share my flour mixture recipe:





2 cups brown rice flour (or you can use 1 C millet flour, 1 C brown rice flour, which is what I use)
2/3 cup potato starch
1/3 cup tapioca flour
1 teaspoon xanthan gum or guar gum






Mix it up really well and then put it in an air tight container or a ceramic bin with a lid. Both will keep the moisture out of the mixture. Once mixed, you can use this cup for cup in any baking recipe in place of the myriad ingredients of a gluten free recipe or in place of the all purpose in a regular recipe. As with many of the recipes I will be posting, this flour mixture makes for a very hearty, very filling baked good...most of the items used in gluten free cooking are filled with good protein and nutrients!