Cook (Recipes)

Gluten free crepes

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As promised in my last post, here are the picsand the recipe for the Gluten Free Crepes.  I would definitely make these a regular part of my weekend breakfast rotation.  Another option with them is to make extra to use like tortilla wraps for a simpe lunch.  With less carbs than a pancake or tortilla, they are less filling, but have a fair amount of protein to fill you up.

Gluten Free crepes (modified from Vegetarian Cooking For Everyone)

2 eggs
1 cup almond milk (plain, low sugar)
1/2 cup water
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup Bob’s Redmill All Purpose Gluten-Free flour mix

Combine all ingredients in a blender (or use a whisk like I did) and blend until smooth (about 5 seconds in blender).  Set aside and put in fridge for a few minutes to settle.

Meanwhile, heat a 7-10″ lightweight skillet and brush with butter as soon as it’s hot.  When it sizzles, pour about 2 TBSP batter into the pan and immediately swirl it around untl it evenly coats the bottom.

Cook until golden on the bottom, abou 1 minute.  Slide a knife under the edge to loose n crepe and then flip.

Cook the second side for 30 seconds.

Serve with savory or sweet.  I chose savory: Sautee of asparagus, onions, spinach and sea salt/parsley/thyme.  Delicious!

From Yucca to yum in no time

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It’s finals week.  Who has time to eat well, right?  Hmm….. past experience (such as just yesterday when I guzzled a GIANT hot chocolat) tells me that the ol’ brain works better when I’m well feed.

Certainly my stress hormones are raging and I’m craving carbs, but instead of heading to In-N-Out burger like everyone else in Davis (seriously, line was backed up into the parking lot next door today), I whipped up this easy dish:

1 lb yucca root (kind of a waxy tuber w/white flesh)
1 lb yams
1/2 lb brussel sprouts
2 tbsp EVOO
2 tsp: salt, cumin, dried parsley, dried basil

Cut all veggies into 1/2″ cubes.  Mix with EVOO and spices.  Bake for 1 hr @ 400.  Serve with a squeeze of lime, and a bit of chopped avocado.  SOO tasty.

Now if it could only satisfy like hot chocolate.  Seriously you guys, I’m fiending every day for the past few days.  Totally giving into my whims…oh, and the healthy stuff made at home won’t do at all.  I guess this Off White Girl has more growth to attend to, but at least my meals are healthy and I am exercising everday!  Better than my undergrad days of Chinese Take Out  and chicken McNuggets during Finals week!

“Souper” soup, step by step

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Yesterday I came home dog tired, wet and cold.  The rain hit me unexpectedly so I was soaked when I  walked through the door after a long day.  I wanted comfort food and I wanted something warm.  Something that would help me relax, but I didn’t have a ton of time.  I could have fired up some pasta but most of you know I’m not a big pasta eater (too much carb, and even the off-white pasta’s are a calorie dense option that I rarely choose).

Soup.  Yes, that is what I wanted.  Warm, creamy, dreamy soup……..
Being the on the fly cook that I am, a quick survey of available ingredients helped me land on a butternut squash white bean soup chock full o-veggies.  The squash helps give a creamy texture sans actual cream, and the beans add protein, texture and density.

Here’s what I did:

First, I chopped an onion, 1/2 bunch of celery and mandolined a carrot.  If you chop a lot , spend the $15 to get a mandolin.  Saves your time, but watch your knucles!

Next, I added these veggies to a medium stock pan with 2 tbsp EVOO, and sauteed for 5 min on med heat.  For a no-brainer flavor  I added salt, an organic veggie spice mix, and 1 veggie boullion cube.  Stir it all in for about 3 min.  Let the moisture from the veggies dissolve the boullion.

Now you’re ready for the main event: one can of white beans + 1 can organic butternut squash.  Pumpkin works too, as does fresh squash, pureed.

Add about 2 cups water, and chop up 2 cups of either beet greens (What I used  – got them off the beets I popped in the oven at the same time), spinach, or kale.

Serve warm.  I added in about 4 oz shredded chicken and enjoyed thoroughly.  Mmmm….

A new twist on spinach dip

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Dips don’t have to be calorie traps or even unhealthy.  check out this recipe which is yet ANOTHER way that you can fit kale into your life…how great is that:

1 pkg frozen spinach, thawed
1 cup each: chopped fresh spinach and fresh kale
1/2 white onion, finely chopped
1/2 cup greek yogurt
1/4 cup sour cream
juice of 1/2 meyer lemon
salt, pepper to taste
2 tbsp french onion soup mix, or dried onion/garlic/parsley

Real simple folks: mix all ingredients in a bowl.  Chill and serve with your favorite accoutrement, such as Rye crackers from this company

Bob’s Corndogs

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Dedicatd to Bob’s Redmill Gluten Free cornbread mix, which doesn’t make you feel at all like you’re missing out on anything…….

1 pkg Bob’s Redmill GF cornbread mix, mixed per package (I usually omit the oil because I’d rather save the fat for the butter that will go on the cornbread!)
1 pkg turkey hot dogs (Nitrate free, of course.  I scored mine at the Davis Co-op )
1/2 yellow onion, chopped
lots of mustard

Once the corbread mix is mixed up, get out a cookie sheet and grease it with oil/butter, etc. Pre heat your oven to 375
Take about 1/2 cup of mix into your hands and mold it into a palm-sized disk.  Place a hot dog in the middle of the disk and wrap the dough around.  Make sure the dough touches end to end and use your fingers to press it together.  You could add a tbsp of shredded cheese to the doughy disk if you wanted a corn/cheese dog.  I think a sharp chedder would work wonders here.

Set each dog and dough on the cookie tray.  You should have ample dough to wrap each of your dogs (usually 8/pkg) and enough for a few biscuits and a few spoonfuls of the dough to make sure it taste’s alright 🙂

Bake at 375 for 15 minutes.
Serve warm topped with mustard and chopped onions.  I paired with a spinach and kale salad.  Tasty.  Also, these dogs pack well for lunch the following day…and dinner that night…okay I’ve had more hot dogs in the last 24 hrs than in the last year!

Nutritional benefits:  GF option for corndog, and the mix has a little fiber.  Turkey dogs are high in protein, but not fat, and no nitrates = less inflammation.  Top with mustard and onions for a taste boost with little caloric influence.  Pair with dark greens to get the phytonutrients, some more fiber, and vitamin K.  I suggest a little EVOO dressing on the salad to round out the meal.

Click here to see what other’s say about Bob’s Redmill GF cornbread (scroll down to bottom of page)

Kale in the spotlight, by request (Recipe)

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Good evening bloggies,

Just spend a lovely evening having dinner at Dos Coyotes in Davis with friends and sharing some Aggie pride watching UC Davis hoops with Matt and friends.  A lovely evening, indeed!

Look like some folks want to get to know their kale a little better. So I’m going to suggest starting with a veggie/bean soup.  Reason:  It’s not a kale overload, its hearty, and a cost effective way to use a veggie that tends to be somewhat pricey.  At $1.89/bunch here in Davis one has to be frugal with making new food purchases.  This way one bunch goes a long way……

2 tbsp EVOO
1 large yellow onion chopped
3 celery ribs, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced or 2 tsp pre-minced garlic
6 cups of water or broth (not too salty!)
Salt, pepper to taste (less if you use broth)
2 tsp ground oregano
1 tbsp drired parsley or 1 tsp ground
1 bay leaf
4 red potatoes, chopped
1 can white canneloni beans, or navy beans
1 head of kale, stems removed, chopped into 1-2″ pieces

In a non-reactive pot, heat oil on med heat.  Sweat garlic for a minute (add to pan alone and then remove).  Add onion.  Cook for 1 min, stirring.  Add celery, salt/pepper/dried spices.  Cook for 2-3 min, until onions start to soften.  Add garlic back in.  Add water or broth, potatoes.  Cook until potatoes are nearly soft but not mushy.  Add beans.  Cook another 10 minutes.  Add kale for last 5-10 min of cooking on low/med heat.  Kale will wilt, and this is just fine.  If you are an omnivore, you can also add ham hock to this when cooking.  Nice flavor.

Enjoy!

Other additions:  2-3 carrots, butternut squash cubes instead of potatoes.

Not your average french fry

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The vegan clease allows for potatoes…okay, so not what I’d usually have on a ‘cleanse’ but since I’m opting not to have corn or any flours at all (even GF), I’ll take an inch when its ‘allowed’.

Being the creative kitchen gal I am, I wanted to raise the potato bar and do something fun.  Besides, it was day 4 and Matt was starting to get might cranky, missing his favorite dairy and meat foods.  We decided to make  a vegan burger and fries meal:

Grilled portabello with spices
Green lettuce leaf ‘buns’
fixin’s: mustard, red onion, and tomato
“cheezy” fries.

See video below for the fries, but basically I cut up 2 lbs of red potatoes, marinated them in EVOO, salt, pepper and brewer’s yeast (what gives them the ‘cheezy’ appeal) and baked at 400 for about 17 minutes.  Delicious!  The whole meal was tasty!

Afternote: I definitely ate too many fries and it made we me want sugar.  I satisfied my urge with a not-so delicious apple, but it worked.  And hey, part of this clease is about facing those cravings and realizing the feeling is transient, relatively meaningless, and I feel much better having gone for the apple and not for some other treat!

Enjoy the video, and remeber, it is homemade (AKA, not perfect)

Hello world…

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This is what gets me going everyday.  It’s my magic bullet (ironically, you use a magic bullet to make this too!).

Yes, my friends, the rice protein smoothie has made its debut back into my life during the cleanse.  Not that I don’t eat a smoothie for breakfast quite a bit, but this one has some secret ingredients that will hopefully get my GI humming and my cells smiling.

Those secret ingredients would be mustard green, kale or spinach leaves and ground flaxmeal.  You really can’t taste the greens, I promise!  Add enough berries, cinnamon, and vanilla rice powder and your palate will overlook the bitter greens.  Try it, really.

I love this because I can make it the evening beforehand, store it in the fridge, and then sip it through my biochem class EVERY DAY at 8am.  I swear I can feel my brain cells perking up with every sip as more anti-oxidants enter my body.

Fun fact for ya: The more unsaturated fats (plant fats) you eat, the higher your requirement for anti-oxidants.  That is because unsaturated fats are prone to oxidation, which produces free fradicals (BAD).  Anti-oxidants are like cellular vigilantes that come in to wrangle up those free radicals and keep our cells happy and well.  So, eat those colorful veggies, especially if you eat a lot of unsaturated fats.

Consequently, this is also why its not advised to do high heat cooking with many unsaturated fats – the heat oxidizes them and makes them rancid….so I guess its back to butter and eggs after this 21 day cleanse for me.

Okay, back to work.  Smoothie recipe below

Toodles….

3/4 cup frozen berries
1/2 cup green leafy veggie leaves (kale, spinach, mustard – NO COLLARDS!)
1 tbsp flaxmeal
1 tsp cinnamon
8 oz or so of either water or unsweetened almond milk
1 serving Vanilla rice protein powder

Put ingredients in a blender and blend.  Add more liquid as needed.  I don’t recommend you put the protein powder in first, as it sticks to the bottom of the blender at my house….

It’s that time of year again….

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It’s cleanse time again!  Those of you who know me know that the act of cleansing/detox diet is no unfamiliar venture for an off-white pursuant like me.  Seems like every 6 months I get the bug to do some kind of detox/cleanse, and yep…its about that time.

So when my mother in law approached me about a 21-day cleanse diet, my natural response was ‘…hello, friend’….  Not to mention the fact that she and I  could be partners in crime.  Yet another reason to detox.  Mother-in-law bonding.  Yes, I actually like doing things with Matt’s mom, including eating a vegan diet and complaining about how much we miss chocolate together.  Hey, the family that cleanses together, stays together.

I couldn’t help but ask myself, what is my attraction to the cleansing concept?  It’s much more than a physical desire.  I’m not really after weight loss, I eat a ton of veggies as it is, so what is it?  Truthfully, its kind of a spiritual adventure for me. There is something profound about being slightly uncomfortable (and trust me, not have the option to eat dairy or meat or even chocolate for 21 days will get a little edgy) that opens me up mentally and emotionally.

When I’m cleansing, I’m letting my body have a break from the ‘norm’ diet.  I’m also asking my mind and spirit to be willing to stand up to cravings, desires for food gratifications and emotional eating moments.  THese happen often to a girl like me, even still.  It’s like the Pema Chodron quote “how you do one thing is how you do anything”.  When I’m eating a certain healthy  but limited diet, I’m practicing the art of being uncomfortable and having to face my ego so I can do a little more of that in other areas of my life.

Do I have to cleanse to do this?  No, I suppose not.  But for me, food and its relationship in my life is very much a metaphor for how I see other things.  For instance, when I’m stress and want to taste the sweetness of life, I typically want mor sweet: Fruits, sweetened teas, honey on my oatmeal, etc.  Nothing bad about this, just a way that I try and make it all more comfortable, which ends up creating a dependence.  Cleansing is like letting go of the dependencies on food, and trusting that I’m going to be okay if I can’t have hot chocolate while grading lab reports.  That process helps me learn to be okay when I’m pushing the edges of my life and as a result, my mind to open up to new possibilities for myself.

Being as this is the year I want the off-white cookbook done, it seems like cleansing is appropriate.  I’ve got a few mental barriers on my ability there, and I’d like to let them go so as to create space for the possibility of finishing.

So, here I go!  Starting tomorrow my daily eating will consist of:

A vegan diet with fish as needed (white fish only, baked or pan sauteed, not deep fried, which I don’t even do anyway)

Abstaining from: corn chips/tortillas, wheat, flour in general (even GF), caffeine, chocolate, concentrated sweeteners, animal products (meat and dairy), garlic (b/c it makes me kind of crazy, to be honest!)

Enhancing my intake of: legumes, whole grains, bitter vegetables, and fresh juices, green teas.   I’m also going to spend tomorrow in a semi-fast, with 2 meals of rice protein + veggies shake and 1 regular, mid-day ‘meal’.

Nothing makes  cleansing more enticing than making yummy cleanse-friendly food.  Thank GOD I’ve had lots osf practice at making whole grain,veggie, healthy fats dishes, like the one listed below.

Care to join me anybody?  Even for 1 day?  yes you CAN!

Quinoa Salad
I believe I’ve posted this recipe in some form in the past, but if not, here it is:

  • 6 cups cooked: equal parts brown rice and quinoa ( I used a rice cooke and added a mix of oregano, rosemary, pepper, and salt while  cooking)
  • 2 chopped yellow peppers
  • 2 chopped tomatoes
  • 1 chopped avocado
  • 1/2 chopped red onion
  • 1 bunch of parsley, chopped
  • 1/2 cup EVOO
  • juice of 1 lemon

Once the quinoa/rice is cooked, let it cook.  Meanwhile chop veggies and appreciate the color.  Next, add the veggies in and mix.  Add sunflower seeds and mix.  Add EVOO and lemon and maybe a bit more salt at the end.  Mix and either serve warm or serve chilled.  Can be a simple meal or a side dish.