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Thursday, July 28, 2011

Zola's Granola

*Recipe from Zola


Ingredients
9 C rolled oats
1 C. unsweetened coconut
½ C. sunflower seeds or pumpkin (unsalted)
1 C. chopped nuts
2 ripe bananas
½ C. pitted dates (generous)
2 tsp. vanilla
½ C. water
1 tsp. salt

Directions

Combine oats, coconut, sunflower seeds, and nuts. Blend or Food Process the remaining ingredients together. Mix all ingredients well. Spread on cookie sheets 1/” thick. Bake at 250-300 degrees F. for 90 minutes stirring every 30 minutes until lightly browned. (Or place pans of granola in oven on lowest setting and leave overnight. I set at 190 degrees F. In the morning the granola is perfect with no stirring needed.) Store granola in airtight container.

Yields 10 servings.


Enjoy!

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Brownies

Don't let the ingredients fool you. These brownies are great! You wouldn't know they are gluten-free, dairy-free, egg-free, soy-free unless someone told you. Enjoy!

Ingredients
3/4 cup oat flour
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 cup baking powder
1 cup sucanut
3/4 heaping cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 T finely ground coffee beans
3/4 cup pecans, chopped
3/4 cup black beans, cooked and rinsed + water to measure 1 cup
3/4 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup warm water

Directions
1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2.  Combine: flour, salt, baking powder, sucanut, cocoa, coffee, and pecans. Set aside.
3.  Process or Blend black beans with water to puree.
4.  Add: pureed beans, vanilla and remaining 1/2 cup warm water to the dry mixture.
5.  Stir by hand to combine.
6.  Pour batter in greased 8" x 8" pan. Bake 25-30 minutes.

Serve with dairy-free, soy-free coconut ice cream. Yum.

Monday, July 25, 2011

Dairy-Free Chocolate Fudge Sauce

Yields 1 cup
ingredients
1/2 cup cacao or cocoa powder (unsweetened)
3/4 cup honey
4 tsp extra virgin olive oil

Directions
Blend all ingredients together and enjoy!

Potato Salad

Ingredients
1 pound small potatoes, peeled and quartered
2 large tomatoes, peeled, seeded and diced
1 sweet onion, finely diced
2 tsp. ground cumin
3 T olive oil
1 T red wine vinegar
10 green olives, pitted and sliced
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
12 fresh sprigs of cilantro

Directions
In a large pan of boiling water, cook the potatoes until tender, 15 -20 minutes. Drain. While potatoes are still warm, place them in a salad bowl and mix them with the tomatoes, onions, cumin, olive oil, vinegar, olives, salt and pepper. Toss with cilantro before serving.

Thursday, July 21, 2011

Fennel and Grapefruit Salad (Morocco, Algeria)

A refreshing summer salad inspired by: The Vegetarian Table: North Africa 



Ingredients
2 ruby red grapefruits
1 t sea salt
1 fennel bulb
3 green onions with tops, finely sliced
1/2 t ground cumin
3 T olive oil
12 Kalmata olives

Directions
1.  Peel grapefruit with a knife so that you can cut down to the flesh, then cut between the membranes, discard the seeds and white pith, saving the juice.  Cut each grapefruit section into 1-inch pieces. Place grapefruit in a serving bowl and sprinkle with salt.
2.  Cut off and discard the woody stems and fronds from the fennel bulb. Slice the bulb crosswise into thin rings. Combine them with the grapefruit. Add the green onions, cumin, and olive oil. Garnish with olives and serve.

Oat Bran Muffins

Another recipe from my dear sister. I love her even more than I love these gluten-free, dairy-free, soy-free, egg-free muffins!


Ingredients:
1/3 cup gluten-free oatmeal
1 2/3 cups gluten-free oat bran
2 tsp baking powder 
1 cup coconut or almond milk *water would work as well
1 mashed banana
1/4 cup applesauce
1/4 cup honey or molasses 
2 T oil *melted coconut oil or grapeseed oil
8 chopped dates or handful of raisins
1/4 cup chopped nuts

Directions:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
Mix dry ingredients. Add wet ingredients and mix just until everything is wet.
Bake at 425 degrees for 15-20 minutes.

Split Pea Falafel

I was recently visiting my sister and had the opportunity for a few fresh ideas in the area of gluten-free, dairy-free meals. While at her home we enjoyed delicious Split Pea Falafel and I would love the share the recipe with you as well.

Ingredients
1 bag of split peas (soaked in water for 2-3 hours to hydrate)
fresh herbs, chopped: parsley, cilantro, and dill (about 1 cup total)
garlic (2-3 cloves)
1 white or yellow onion
1/2 t allspice
1/2 t cumin
1/8 - 1/4 t cayenne
salt and pepper to taste

Directions
Place all ingredients in a food processor or blender till well blended. Check flavor add salt and pepper or additional herbs for taste. Add water if needed. Form patties or balls and fry in oil. Serve with fresh greens.

It is easy to freeze any extra batter for a quick meal in the future.


Kohlorabi Slaw

Ingredients
1 medium kohlorabi, peeled and shredded
1 small carrot, shredded
1 T shredded onion
3 T vinegar (apple cider or white)
2 T sweetener (honey or cane juice crystals)
2 T extra virgin olive oil
1/4 t sea salt
2 T fresh dill, chopped (or other fresh herbs)
freshly group pepper to taste

Directions
Combine all ingredients and mix together well. Refrigerate 2 hours to meld flavors. Enjoy!

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Raw Brownies


My kitchen has undergone another delicious experiment with inspiration from Ani's Raw Food Essentials. Today I successfully made a really tasty brownie without baking or including: gluten, dairy, eggs or soy.
How, you might ask?

Ingredients
3 cups nuts (I used walnuts, but pecans or almonds would be a good choice as well.)
1/4 tsp sea salt
1 cup pitted dates
1 Tb alcohol-free vanilla extract
1 to 2 Tb honey (maple syrup, rice syrup....ect)
1 to 2 Tb unsweetened cocoa powder

Directions
Process all ingredients together till nuts bind together with the stickiness of the dates to make a gooey batter. If the consistency is not sticky and gooey, then add more honey or more chopped dates. When the batter is ready, simply form it into squares, press into mini muffin tins or other molds to form the shape you desire. Optional: Add rice puffs after processing to add a little crunch. Serve topped with fresh fruit or a dab of cashew whip.

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Custard Tartlets

Ingredients
1 recipe basic pie crust (I added a tsp. of cinnamon)
2 recipes whipped cashew kream (I added about 1 T of unsweetened cocoa powder)

Directions
Form tartlets with pie crust. Fill with whipped cashew kream. Top with blackberries, blueberries, strawberries or cacao nibs.

Serve right away or refrigerate for up to 3 days.

I made my tart crusts in a mini muffin tin lined with plastic wrap. Half of the basic pie crust recipe made 16 mini tartlets. After I formed the crusts in the tin, I refrigerated them to harden. Then filled each tartlet with a dallop of whipped cashew kream and topped with a strawberry.

forming tartlet crust in mini tins

crusts chilled and hardened
filled with kream and topped with a strawberry
delicious!


Basic Fruit Pie Filling

Ingredients
4 to 5 cups sliced fruit (apples, strawberries or peaches)
1/4 cup maple syrup, honey or rice syrup

Directions
Place fruit and syrup in a mixing bowl. Toss to mix well. If you are using apples, set your filling aside for a few hours to allow the apples to marinate, release water and soften.

Spread in your crust and enjoy.

For variations: add dried fruit such as: raisins or craisins and cinnamon

Basic Pie Crust

Ingredients
2 cups nuts (almonds, pistachios, pecans or walnuts)
1 t sea salt
2 cups pitted dates (options: raisins, craisins or...other sticky dried fruit)

Directions
Pulse nuts into small bits in a food processor. You do want small chunks. Add dates and pulse to bind into a dough. Add more dates if the dough is too crumbly. "Flour" the pie plate with finely ground nut meal.

Press the dough into the bottom of the pie plate. Fill with you favorite filling.

Whipped Cashew Kream

Ingredients
1 cup cashews
1/2 cup coconut oil
1 T alcohol-free vanilla extract
1/2 cup filtered water

Directions
Place all the ingredients in a high-speed blender and blend until smooth. Serve with berries...ect.

Basic Flourless Cake

Ingredients
3 cups nuts (such as: walnuts, almonds, Brazil nuts, or pecans)
1/4 tsp seal salt
1 cup pitted Medijool dates, packed (If you use a dryer date, simple soak them in warm water for 20 min.)
1 T alcohol-free vanilla extract
1 to 2 T maple syrup, honey or rice syrup

Directions
Place nuts and salt in food processor and break down nuts into chunks. Add pieces of dates and vanilla. Process until the nuts bind together with the sticky dates to form batter.

Test the batter by grabbing a handful and squeezing to make sire it holds together. If it is not sticky enough, add a few more dates, or 1 to 2 T (syrup or honey) till it holds together.