Roasted green beans and mushrooms

Green beans and mushrooms are a classic combination.  I keep it super simple--but crazy good--in this quick and easy recipe.  You can make these by oven-roasting them, as directed, or you can opt to give them a quick sautee instead.


Ingredients:

12 oz haricot vert
8 oz baby portabella mushrooms
2 tablespoons seasoning of choice (I like Trader Joe's 21 Seasoning Salute)
2 tablespoons melted refined coconut oil OR a good-quality olive oil

Method:

Roast vegetables in a 9x11 pan at 350 for 15 minutes or until the green beans reach desired tenderness.  Stir occasionally to prevent the vegetables from burning.

Reheat leftovers atop buckwheat cooked in homemade broth, with some roasty-toasty cashews on top, for a delicious breakfast!

Chicken and veggie broth

Homemade broth is a simple way to "make something out of nothing," as I like to say.  It is a way to make use of otherwise un-useable odds and ends: chicken bones and giblets, celery greens and less-than-crisp stalks, woody vegetable stems, and clean carrot peels can all be tossed into the bubbling brew. 

Chicken broth is soothing to the digestive system, because it contains gelatin.  Homemade broth can be especially beneficial to those who are unable to consume dairy products, since the broth can also have a high mineral content.  I add apple cider vinegar to my broth, since the acidity of the vinegar helps to leach minerals from the bones.  Veggie scraps add flavor and nutritional content, as well.

Store-bought broth will not have these nutritional benefits, and may contain artificial flavoring agents and MSG.  

With a good homemade broth in the fridge, flavor and nutritional value can be added to soups, grains (think risotto!) and hotdish-like recipes, like mustard chicken and veggies. 

Here, I've got a pot with squash seeds and pulp, kale stems, and a chicken carcass ready to go.

The "recipe" for a homemade broth is incredibly simple: toss leftover bones and vegetable scraps into a 4-quart pot.  Add one tablespoon of apple cider vinegar.  Cover the pot's contents with filtered water, and bring it to a boil.  Cover the pot with a lid and simmer for three to six hours.  Then, strain and discard the bones and vegetable matter.  I like to store my broth in glass jars, but you can also pour it into a pitcher.  Use or freeze the broth over the course of one week.

 One clever idea to get you in the swing of broth-making is to collect bones and vegetable scraps, over the course of the week, in a plastic bag in the freezer. 

DO use peels from organic vegetables, especially from aromatics like carrots and onions.  It's a frugal way to get the most out of your produce--and you don't want to  make pesticide soup!

DON'T add liver or brassica vegetables like broccoli or cabbage to your broth.  Liver will make your broth taste bitter, while brassica vegetables will make it taste (and make your house smell!) sulfurous.

Mustard chicken and veggies

I started out following a recipe for mustard roasted chicken and ended up changing--well, mostly everything--about the recipe.  So, here it is: a super tasty one-pot meal. 

While the recipe calls for chicken, it tastes just as good with any other meat, or even beans.  The recipe calls for soy sauce, and you will NOT want to add more salt the dish until you taste it.

Ingredients

1 1/2 lb diced cooked chicken

3 stalks of celery, chopped (including the greens on top of the stalk)

4-6 carrots, peeled and chopped

1 red onion, chopped (or two onions if you find it's your favorite part, too)

1/2 granny smith apple, peeled, cored and chopped

3 packed cups of fresh or frozen spinach

1/4c yellow mustard (Annie's is perfect)

2tbs gluten-free soy sauce, or to taste

freshly cracked black pepper, to taste

1 1/2 tbs caraway seeds

2tbs dried thyme

chicken or veggie broth, to desired thickness (It can be a hotdish or a stew, however you prefer)

cooked rice, noodles, potatoes or even sweet potatoes to serve over

Method

1. After chopping the apple and the veggies (minus spinach), sweat them in a large pot.  You won't want to cook them totally through just yet.

I just love all the colors!

2. When the onions are nearly translucent, add chicken or other protein, mustard, soy sauce, spices and broth.  Stirring occasionally, simmer until veggies just barely yield to a fork. 

3. Stir in spinach and cover again.  Let it simmer until spinach is de-thawed and/or wilted.

4. Enjoy!

 This post is linked to Party Wave Wednesday 11/27/13 at Holistic Squid

Tasty Thai Curry

The other day, while looking for a quick dinner idea that would use up some leftover chicken, I came across a recipe for Thai Red Chicken Curry on Allrecipes.com.  I applied some of the commenters' suggested changes, and made a few adjustments myself.  With a little chicken, lots of veggies and a few pantry staples, this curry was easy to make, super filling and very tasty. Here's what I did:

Ingredients:
A bit of coconut or palm oil for the pan
1 onion, diced
1 large white sweet potato, peeled and diced (red would be good, too)
1 peeled, diced zucchini
1 red pepper, diced
1 green pepper, diced
1 1/4 pounds of cooked, diced chicken
2 tablespoons red curry paste
1/2 teaspoon coriander
2 tablespoons unsweetened fish sauce (I used Red Boat)
2 teaspoons gluten-free tamari soy sauce
2 tablespoons creamy, unsweetened almond butter
1 can coconut milk (I used Trader Joe's Light Coconut Milk, since it is free of chemical crap and allegedly BPA-free)
freshly ground black pepper
salt, to taste
slivered almonds or cashews, to top

Method:
In a large, relatively deep frying pan, sweat onions in coconut/palm oil.  Stir in curry paste, coriander and sweet potato, and cook until the sweet potato is partly cooked through but not yet yielding to a fork. 

Add chicken, veggies, coconut milk, almond butter and fish sauce.  Stir in a good 10-15 cracks of pepper.  Then, cover and cook until veggies are slightly soft.

Upon serving, season to taste and top with almonds or cashews.  Extra points if you eat it over cauliflower rice!

This post is linked to Party Wave Wednesday 7/31/13 at Holistic Squid, Tasty Traditions 7/31/13 at Cultured Palate and Sunday School 7/28/13 at Butter Believer

"Balanced" Oatmeal Blueprint

With the improvements I've been seeing in my digestion, my naturopath has given me the OK to slowly wean off of the specific-carbohydrate diet and add in small amounts of oatmeal and cooked, dried fruits. 

This has been a roaring success.  Seriously, you've never seen anyone so excited to eat oatmeal before. I credit the extra carbohydrates with further improving my digestion, helping me to feel full without having to eat an entire jar of coconut butter in a day, and raising my body temperature.  This morning, about an hour after eating this bulked-up and balanced bowl of oatmeal, my temperature was a steamy, above-average 98.8.  Did I mention that I'm loving the oatmeal?  :)

The oatmeal recipe (more a blueprint, really) that I'm sharing with you today is balanced because it contains all three macronutrients, in the optimal proportion of more carbs than protein, and more protein than fat.  The additional ingredients bulk it up, too, so that one bowl is all I need for breakfast.  It's incredibly filling and soul-satisfying.

So, for a one-bowl balanced breakfast of goodness, you will need the following ingredients:

1/2 cup oats (I used gluten-free)
1 to 1 1/2 cups water
one fruit, peeled and diced
1/4 cup dried fruit
3 tablespoons of gelatin (Great Lakes brand is perfect)
1 tablespoon oil of choice (I just eyeball it.  No need to break out the measuring spoon)
a dash of cinnamon or a splash of vanilla, if desired
a pinch of salt (optional, but warming)
1 tablespoons apple cider vinegar (optional)
1/4 teaspoon baking soda (optional)

Method:

1.  If desired, soak oats overnight in 1 cup of water and 1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar.  In the morning, stir in baking soda to cut vinegar.
2. Whether or not you soaked the oatmeal, put your oats, fresh and dried fruit, oil and gelatin into a small saucepan.  Then, add enough water (up to 1 1/2 cups total) to cover the mixture.
3. Bring mixture to a boil, and then simmer until water is absorbed, stirring occasionally.
4. Stir in cinnamon and/or vanilla, if desired, and enjoy!

Some of my favorite combos are:

• granny smith apple, raisins, coconut butter and cinnamon.  It tastes like apple crisp, except not crispy.  I guess you could add some toasted pecans or something to remedy that, but this oatmeal is so filling that I couldn't imagine adding any more food into the bowl.
• 3/4 cup mixed berries, cut-up dried figs, ghee and vanilla.  This mixture is powerfully reminiscent of the blueberry pancakes at Cracker Barrel.
• peach, cut-up dried dates, coconut oil and cinnamon.  I don't have a comparison for this one, but it's really good.

There's just about a million other combinations of fresh and dried fruits, oils and flavorings that you could add to this, so have fun experimenting, and share your favorite combos in the comments!

This post is linked to Sunday School 7/21/13 at Butter Believer and Party Wave Wednesday 7/24/13 at Holistic Squid

Kale and navy bean salad

Kale has always been a little intimidating to me; for some reason, it always ends up tough and bitter when I try to cook it.  Recently, though, I read through several recipes that used an acidic medium, rather than high heat, to break it down.  For this reason, when I came across a bag of the ever dark and forbidding kale at Trader Joe's on Monday, I decided to give kale another go.

The result?  A salad so good, I ate it for lunch both yesterday and today.  Because of the salty, sour vinaigrette and the starchy white beans, this salad reminds me of an Italian pasta salad.  It's a perfect follow-up for How to eat your veggies, and like it too! since the recipe is both a) a veggie recipe and b) delicious. 

To make a big bowl of this kale and navy bean salad, you will need the following Ingredients:

• 10 oz. raw kale, shredded with stems removed
• 4 cups of cooked navy beans
• 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar or coconut vinegar
• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1 to 2 tablespoons seasoning of choice (I used 21 Seasoning Salute, also from TJ's)
• 4 oz. shredded Romano cheese from goat's milk (optional)
• 1/2 cup almond slivers, cashews or sunflower seeds
• unrefined salt, to taste

Method:

1. In a smaller bowl, whisk vinegar, oil and seasoning into a vinaigrette
2. Place kale, beans and cheese in a large mixing bowl.  Pour in the vinaigrette a little at a time, stopping every now and then to toss the salad, until the kale is visibly coated.  You might not use all of the dressing.  Conversely, if you like salad dressing as much as I do, you might opt to whisk together a bit more, keeping in mind the 2:1 olive oil to vinegar ratio.
3. Cover and refrigerate about 8 hours.  If you plan to eat the salad for lunch, refrigerate overnight and divvy it up in the morning.  If it's dinner fare, you can toss it together in the morning so that it's ready by evening.
4. Top with almonds, cashews or sunflower seeds just before it is served.

Voila!  Perfect summer fare.  I promise not to tell anyone if you gobble it up for breakfast.  ;)

This post is linked to Party Wave Wednesday 7/10/13 at Holistic Squid, Whole Food Friday 7/12/13 at Allergy Free Alaska, Tasty Traditions 7/10/13 at Cultured Palate and Sunday School 7/14/13 at Butter Believer

Super easy SCD ideas

I recently began following the specific carbohydrate diet (SCD) to heal a bacterial imbalance, and was dismayed to find that the diet seems to disallow many of my former staples--canned coconut milk, gluten-free tortillas, sweet potatoes and others.  To further complicate matters, I have also been advised to limit my fruit consumption to one fruit per day, and to avoid even the natural sugars that are SCD legal, like honey and dried fruit. 

So, what does somebody eat when nearly all carbohydrates are off-limits?  Protein and fat, of course.

Today I'd like to share with you some of the easier, SCD-legal, dairy- and egg-free snacks and meals that have worked well for me.  Hopefully I can provide someone with ideas that will help their day run a little more smoothly.

Fruit and nut-based
If you're going to consume only one fruit per day, you'd better make it count!  I like to use fruit as a vehicle for protein and healthy fats, especially at breakfast.  Often, I also sneak in some extra veggies in my attempts to round it out.  Here are a few of my favorite combinations:

• Scoop up sunflower seed butter with apple slices.  Melted dark chocolate is also delicious, although not SCD legal.
• Top frozen strawberries with a liberal amount of tahini (ground sesame seeds) and coconut flakes
• Blend up an orange, half of an avocado and a handfull of baby spinach.  I like to top this with nuts or seeds; the crunch masks any orange-bits that a regular blender might be unable to fully integrate.  The nuts also provide more protein.
• Smash a banana with a few tablespoons of tahini and a splash of coconut water or milk of your choice.  Sometimes I also blend this mixture with baby spinach.  Top with coconut flakes and eat like pudding.
• Dice a ripe, juicy peach or mango and pour full-fat coconut milk (not canned, if you follow SCD) over it.

I've also been told that cantaloupe is delicous with thinly sliced prosciutto, if you can find a "clean" brand. 

Legume-based
Since I have begun following a specific-carbohydrate diet, I have not done much legume-eating.  Lentils, peas and some beans are SCD-legal, although many SCD followers choose to eat a more paleolithic-inspired diet.  The following are legume-based recipe ideas that I have yet to try:

• Veggies dipped in homemade hummus, made with soaked navy beans instead of chickpeas.
• A lentil-based "oatmeal," like the recipe on Stir, Sift & Savour, but cooked with a apples or a sweet squash rather than raisins. 

Meat or fish-based
If one does not consume eggs or dairy products on the specific carbohydrate diet, meats and fish become an especially important part of the diet.  Some of the ideas and tips that I use are as follows:

• Mix some wild-caught, canned salmon with sliced pickles, celery and tomatoes, and season with salt and pepper.  Scoop into half of a pepper, and top with your nut/seed of choice.
• Roast two chickens or a large turkey at the beginning of the week and use the leftover meat for salads.
• For especially busy days, seek out some "clean" sausages or pre-cooked shellfish and store them in the freezer. 
• Find new, minimally processed condiments to make luch more interesting: olive oil-packed sundried tomatoes, calamata olives, guacamole, fresh salsa and jarred curry sauces are just a few examples.

Gluten, dairy and egg-free sourdough recipe

Got a sourdough starter?  No?  You might want to check out my previous post for instructions on attracting wild yeast and rejoin the rest of us when you're ready to roll.

Are we all caught up?  Ok, great!  Now here comes the part of the recipe that most heavily draws upon the ratios and instructions established in its parent recipe, which belongs to the author of the Art of Gluten-Free Baking.  The differences between the original recipe and my version of the recipe are a result of my experimentation and preferences.

To make the bread, you'll need the following Ingredients:

15 ounces of your favorite gluten-free flour
1 can (14 oz) of full-fat coconut milk plus up to 1/4 cup water as needed
30 ounces of your starter
2 tsp xanthan gum
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda (optional)

As with the sourdough starter, you can use any type of flour you please as long as it doesn't already contain xanthan or guar gum.  I often use Nourishing Foodways' flour blend, or mix together about 7 parts wholegrain and 3 parts starch, as per the Gluten Free Girl's mix.  The same flours that attract the most yeast--the flours that contain the most protein and fat--will also make your bread taste more sour. 

While coconut milk may seem like an odd ingredient, I find that it adds flavor and helps keep the bread soft and airy--qualities infrequently ascribed to gluten and egg-free baked goods.  I imagine the additional fat is what boosts the fluffiness factor, but I don't really know.  I like to use Aroy-D brand coconut milk, which you might find in the ethnic food aisle of your grocery store or at Amazon.com, because it contains no additional additives.  Coconut milk containing guar gum, such as Thai Kitchen brand, will also work in this recipe.

The baking soda is entirely optional in this recipe.  Add it if you wish to reduce the sourness of the bread; it will neutralize some of the lactic acid created by the yeast.  I wrote the recipe with a conservative 1 teaspoon of baking soda.  If you choose to add more, be aware that excess baking soda will also change the taste of the bread (and probably darken the color).


Method:

First measure your flour, by weight, into a large mixing bowl.  Stir in the salt, xanthan gum and baking soda, if you are using it, and add the sourdough starter and combine with an electric mixer.  While a hand mixer will work in this recipe, it is far more cumbersome than a stand mixer.

Next, slowly pour in the coconut milk while the mixer continues to beat the dough. 

You'll want to keep adding liquid until it looks like the above picture.  It'll be super sticky and will cling to an upside-down spoon, but it will not hold its form.  I generally end up adding a whole can of coconut milk and a bit of water, but the amount of liquid needed may vary with the air humidity in your area.  If you think you've made the dough too thin, don't stress out!  Just add more flour until the dough feels right.  This recipe is extremely forgiving.  (Seriously.  Once I started out with about half as much sourdough starter as I needed and then added liquid until I had the right consistency.  The bread came out perfectly.)

Then, beat the dough on medium-high for three minutes, scraping the bowl occasionally.  As you can see in the picture directly above, the dough will loosen a little, slapping the side of the bowl while it beats, and it will look a bit like thick cake batter. 

 Pour or spoon the dough into either two greased loaf pans or two greased 12-muffin tins.  Cover and let the dough raise for four to twelve hours, as is most convenient for you.  The dough will continue to raise a bit even as it bakes.  Loaves will require about an hour at 425, and rolls will require forty minutes to an hour at 375.  Before you remove the bread from the oven, carefully extract one loaf or roll from its pan and tap its underside with your fingernail.  If the loaf is ready to be removed from the oven, it will sound hollow.

Allow the bread to cool completely before you slice into it.  After the first day, you may wish to store the bread in a plastic bag to keep it from becoming dry and crumbly.  Generally, the bread freezes well.

Don't be afraid to experiment, and be sure to comment with your results.  Most of all, though, enjoy your bread!


Linked to Wellness Weekend 3/7/13 at Diet, Dessert and Dogs, Whole Food Fridays 3/8/13 at Allergy Free Alaska, Sunday School 3/10/13 at Butter Believer,  5 Ingredient Monday 3/11/13 at the Daily Dietribe, Slightly Indulgent Tuesday 3/12/13 at Simply Sugar and Gluten Free, and Party Wave Wednesday 3/13/13 at Holistic Squid

Cellular Respiration-or, if you prefer, The Makings of Really Good Bread.

This post comes a little later than I had expected, but I wanted to be sure that I got it right.  This being my first recipe post, and me being a bread lover, it seemed most appropriate to share a bread recipe.  A gluten, dairy and egg-free sourdough bread recipe, to be precise. 

 



Ain't she a beaut?

 

What's there left for it to be made of, you might ask?  (Or, at least, that's what one of my friends asked me via Facebook as I documented my work.)  Well, not much, and therein lies the magic of this recipe; it can be as simple or as complex as you please.

 

Before I get into the details, though, it is important to note that I did not develop this recipe entirely on my own.  Rather, I offer a variation of the sourdough bread recipe from the Art of Gluten-Free Baking, along with additional tips and tricks that I have discovered along the way.  Now, on to the recipe sharing!

 

The first thing to do is grow a sourdough starter.  Sourdough bread, like most other breads, is leavened by yeast.  Unlike most other breads, however, sourdough utilizes wild yeasts.  A sourdough starter is, figuratively speaking, the net with which one may catch wild yeasts from the air.

 

Now, here's where the simple part comes in: a sourdough starter can be made with just flour and water--about one cup of each should do.  It is important to use filtered water, since tap water often contains chemicals like chlorine, added to keep out micro-flora like our yeast friends.  As far as the flour goes, yeast seem to like fattier, more protein-filled flours the best, but any type will work as long as it contains starch.  I like to mix a big bag of 2 parts navy bean flour, 1 part teff flour and 1 part brown rice flour, as per Nourishing Foodways' flour blend, and use that to feed my yeast.

 

Mix your flour and water together in a wide-mouthed jar or a pot, and let it sit on your counter.  You'll want to cover it with a loose-fitting lid or a clean dishtowel; the idea is to attract wild yeast while keeping any bugs out.  I also added a fourth cup or so of honey into mine, to further entice the little yeasties, but it isn't necessary.

 

Continue to feed the starter with a one cup each of water and flour, once or twice a day as you think of it.  Within a few days, you'll notice bubbles pucker and pop when you stir the starter.  It will begin to smell rather like sour cream, and the air in the jar/pot will feel warm.  Congradulations!  This evidence of cellular respiration signifies the maturity of your sourdough starter!  In other words, you are ready to begin baking.

 

You can't really see the bubbles in this picture, but you'll notice them when you stir your starter.

 

When you use your sourdough starter, you'll want to make sure there is always a little bit left so that you won't have to go through all the trouble of attracting yeast every time you want bread.  At this stage, don't feel too bad if you forget to feed the starter for a day or two at a time.  It should be pretty stable, especially if you feed it whole grain or otherwise oily and protein-y flours.  If you know that you won't be able to feed it for a length of time, or if you do not wish to bake with it for a length of time, you can store it in the refridgerator and feed it a minimum of once a week.

 

Seeing as how this post has already become quite lengthy, I will walk through the rest of this recipe in my next post, which I will publish posthaste!  Until then, by all means, waste no time in starting your own sourdough starter.

 

 

 

Linked to: Sunday School 3/3/13 at Butter Believer, Slightly Indulgent Tuesday 3/5/13 at Simply Sugar and Gluten Free, and Party Wave Wednesday 3/6/13 at Holistic Squid