Chew on This!

Apple cinnamon galette with rye-spelt crust

windycityvegan — Tue, 29 Jan 2013 09:28:36 -0500

Apple cinnamon galette with flaky rye-spelt crust
Rustic rye dough adapted from Good to the Grain, by Kim Boyce
Filling adapted the teensiest bit from Oh, Ladycakes

This dough recipe makes enough for two 9-inch galettes; the filling is for just one.

Rustic Rye Dough

3/4 cup ice water

Dry Mix:
1 cup dark rye flour
1/2 cup dark spelt flour
1/2 cup light spelt flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon kosher salt

Wet Mix:
6 ounces (1 1/2 sticks) cold unsalted vegan butter (coconut oil will not work)
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

Sift the dry ingredients into a large bowl, adding back any bits of grain or other ingredients that may remain in the sifter. Cut the butter into 1/2-inch pieces and add them to the dry mixture.

Rub the butter between your fingers, breaking it into smaller bits. Continue rubbing it until the butter is in sizes ranging from peas to hazelnuts. The more quickly you do this, the more the butter will stay solid, which is important for the success of the recipe.

Add the vinegar and 8 tablespoons of ice water to the flour mixture. Working from the outer edge of the flour, mix the ingredients with your hands just to moisten the flour. The dough needs to come together as mostly one lump, with a few shaggy pieces. Squeeze the dough together to see if a ball forms. If it is too dry to come together, add additional ice water 1 tablespoon at a time.

Pile the dough onto a sheet of plastic wrap, sprinkle a few drops of water over the top, wrap tightly, and chill for a minimum of 1 hour or overnight.

Unwrap the dough onto a floured surface. Pat the dough into a square, then use a rolling pin to roll it into a rectangle about 8 1/2 by 11 inches. The dough will be crumbly and rough around the edges, but don’t add more flour or water, as it will come together during the rolling.

For the first turn, fold the dough into thirds like a letter. The seam should be on the left side. Turn the dough so that the seam is at the top and parallel to your body.

For the second turn, again roll the dough into an 8 1/2 x 11-inch rectangle and repeat the previous step.

For the third turn, repeat the previous step, then wrap the dough in plastic and chill for 1 hour or up to 3 days before using.

Apple cinnamon filling

4-5 apples (a mix of varieties is best), peeled and sliced into 1/4-1/2-inch pieces
2 tablespoons coconut oil
1/4 cup + 2 teaspoons turbinado sugar, divided
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

In a deep pot over medium heat, melt the coconut oil. Stir in 1/4 cup of sugar and the cinnamon; continue stirring until the mixture has thickened to syrup consistency, about 4-5 minutes. Add the apples and stir an additional 3-4 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside to cool while you prepare the dough.

Assembling the galette

Cut the chilled rye dough into two pieces; wrap the piece you will not be using in plastic and return to the refrigerator to chill.

On a lightly floured surface, shape the remaining portion of dough into a rough circle about 15 inches in diameter. Transfer to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Or, if your dough is being rolled out by a six-year old, perhaps consider rolling it directly on the parchment paper (lightly floured, of course).Transfer the parchment and circle of dough, together, to the baking sheet.

Using a slotted spoon, heap the apple pieces onto the middle of the dough circle. Fold an edge of the dough up toward the center to cover the fruit; about 3 inches of crust should be showing. Continue folding the edge of the dough toward the apples and over, creating folds; lightly pinch to seal as you go. Drizzle the syrup over the apple filling. (Unused syrup is fantastic on steel cut oats or ice cream.) Transfer the galette to the freezer for a minimum of 1 hour. At this point you could wrap the galette well and freeze for up to a month. If making more than one galette at a time, transfer this one to the freezer to chill while you prepare the next one.

At this point, position a rack in the center and preheat oven to 350 F / 180 C.

Once the galette is chilled from the freezer and the oven is hot, brush water around the edge of the dough and sprinkle liberally with the remaining 2 turbinado sugar. Bake for about 50-60 minutes, turning the pan halfway through. The galette is ready when the crust is golden brown. Serve warm from the oven if possible; tastes best eaten the same day it is made.

pineapple stir fry

windycityvegan — Tue, 19 Jun 2012 17:17:00 -0400

My mumsie bought me a wok a couple of weeks ago, and I’ve been making stir fry morning, noon and night.

This pineapple version is excellent for breakfast with hot tea, and even better for dinner with a bit of sake. Everything except the pineapple is local - vegetables from my garden/the farmers’ market, and N.C. rice from the co-op.

Make some - you won’t be disappointed.

{sauce}

2 Tablespoons tamari

2 Tablespoons maple or agave syrup

{everything else}

2 teaspoons high-heat oil

1 thumb-sized piece of fresh ginger, peeled and minced (not grated on a microplane)

1 Tablespoon chile flakes

1 Cup diced sweet peppers

1 Cup diced red onion

1 Cup shelled peas (if frozen, thaw and drain)

1 Cup pineapple (if frozen, thaw and drain)

1 1/2 Cups cooked long-grain rice*

Before you even think about touching that wok: mix the sauce, prep ALL of your ingredients and have them close at hand. This is going to be fast!

Put the wok over high heat and add the oil. The instant it hits that sweet spot between shimmery-but-not-yet-smoking, add the ginger and chile flakes. Wait 30 seconds and add the pepper and onion. Stir constantly until they are blackened in spots, about a minute. Scoop everything to the outer edges of your wok (or up the sides, if you’re a rock star at wok-ing) and throw in the peas and pineapple. As soon as they start smoking, add the sauce. Stir the peppers and onions back in and let everything heat back up. When the pineapple starts to caramelize (this should only take a minute or so, tops), stir in your rice. As soon as your rice is heated through, turn off the heat and serve.

Notes:

I am not joking about having all of your ingredients prepped ahead of time.
I am also not joking about not using a microplane.
I do not believe that day old, cold rice is necessary for an excellent stir fry. The rice I used in the above recipe? I took it straight out of my rice cooker, piping hot.
If you make stir fry a lot, invest in a metal spatula designed to use with a wok. Not only will you feel like Ming Tsai or that Yan fellow, you’ll be able to make stir fry even more quickly. Always a good thing!
Chopsticks and sake will make this meal a zillion times more delicious.

Cilantro lime coleslaw {vegan, gluten free, raw}

windycityvegan — Mon, 11 Jun 2012 19:39:00 -0400

{dressing}

1/4 cup fresh squeezed lime juice (~1 1/2 large limes)

2 tablespoons cold-pressed e.v. olive oil

2 tablespoons raw agave

1/2 teaspoon fine grain salt

{slaw}

1/2 head medium green cabbage, shredded in 1” pieces

1/2 large red bell pepper, cut into 1” julienne

1/4 red onion, cut into 1” julienne/quarter moons

2-3 carrots, grated

1 handful cilantro, minced

1 1/2 cups raw peanuts

Prepare dressing.

Shred cabbage, add dressing and allow to marinate while you cut up the remaining ingredients.

Add the bell pepper, red onion, carrots and cilantro; mix thoroughly. Slaw may sit at this point for 1-2 hours at room temperature or several hours in the refrigerator.

Stir in peanuts ten minutes before serving.

This week, SSFC participants are sharing raw and/or veg dishes for the challenge. I made a (mayo-free!) summer slaw with ingredients (including N.C. peanuts) from the farmers’ market and my gardens.

what I like do with green garlic

windycityvegan — Thu, 07 Jun 2012 12:55:00 -0400

Make a green garlic, kale and pumpkin seed pesto. Toss with steamed or sprouted quinoa. Top with sliced spring onions. Resist the urge to devour immediately, and savor: the hint of grass inherent to quinoa as it pops between your teeth, mingling with the subtle sweetness of the green garlic and the sharpness of the spring onions.

Amaranth skillet flatbreads and mini pita pockets {vegan, gluten free}

windycityvegan — Wed, 06 Jun 2012 00:52:00 -0400

Amaranth is one of the easiest pseudograins to grind into flour; itty bitty seeds, even smaller than millet, are transformed into clouds of silky dust inside of 60 seconds with a standard burr grinder.

It has a rich, earthy aroma that reminds me of beets. I’ve been combining it with other flours to find a complimentary blend, and here’s the ratio I’ve settled on (by weight):

1 part potato starch : 1 part sweet sorghum flour : 2 parts superfine brown rice flour : 2 parts amaranth flour

For this month’s Gluten Free Ratio Rally, I took inspiration from the amaranth flatbread recipe in Kim Boyce’s Good to the Grain.

This month’s Rally challenge, put to us by Karen of Cooking Gluten Free, is bread. (Head on over to her site to see what other Ralliers are making!) The Rally uses Michael Ruhlman’s book ‘Ratio’ as a starting point, then we work back from there to find the ratio that works best for the gluten free flours we’re each using.

Ruhlman’s bread dough ratio is 3:5 (liquid:flour). My ratio using this amaranth multigrain blend is 4:5.

I tried it out with large flatbreads, both sweet and savory …

and with palm-sized (Nina-sized) pita pockets.

I have no idea how this dough would work in an oven — I prefer flatbreads made in a cast iron skillet. This dough is yeasted, but since it is also gluten free, only one rise is necessary. In less than two short hours (or the span of two Gilmore Girls or Dr. Who episodes, which is how Nina and I measure time during the lazy days of summer) you will have delicious bread!

Amaranth skillet flatbread

Makes 3-4 large or 10 minis

{dry ingredients}

25 grams potato starch

25 grams sweet sorghum flour

50 grams superfine brown rice flour

50 grams amaranth flour

1 teaspoon ground psyllium husks

1/2 teaspoon active yeast (set aside; do not sift into dry ingredients)

1 teaspoon kosher salt

A few pinches of herbs, spices, etc (optional)

{wet ingredients}

120 grams filtered water

olive oil for brushing the dough

Sift all of the dry ingredients - except the yeast and optional toppings - together.

Make a well in the center and add the water. Do not stir.

Sprinkle the yeast on top of the water and let sit for a few minutes to bloom. When you see bubbles, it’s ready.

Mix everything together. Your dough will be thick, and a little wet. This is okay. Cover with a dish towel and place in a warm, draft free place for an hour and a half or so. I usually preheat my oven to 140 degrees, turn it off and place the bowl inside.

After your rise (which will be ~50%), divide and shape the dough into balls. The dough will be soft and pillowy. It won’t pass the windowpane test that is the hallmark of glutinous bread dough, but it should hold together well when pressed into a ball. When you divide it, there will be small pockets of air where the yeast did its work.

If making large flatbreads, you will need to flatten them out with a rolling pin between two lightly floured pieces of parchment paper.

If making the minis, you can flatten them out right in your palm. You’ll want to leave them about 1/2 inch thick in order for them to puff up in the center.

Lightly brush the tops of your flatbreads with olive oil and spinkle with salt.

Heat up your cast iron or nonstick skillet over medium/high heat. As soon as drops of water sizzle on the surface, the pan is ready. Add your flatbreads salted side down. If making minis, leave at least half an inch between them. Quickly brush the top sides of your breads with oil and sprinkle with more salt + herbs. Your bread should bubble up - all over for the the large, and in the center for the minis. As soon as the edges look golden brown, flip them over. They should be done in another 2-3 minutes.

Notes:

For savory flatbreads, I used an herbs de Provence blend from my kitchen garden.
For sweet flatbreads, I used a mixture of ground cinnamon + ground ginger + muscovado sugar.
You can leave out the psyllium husk, but then you’ll want to eat your flatbreads as soon as they come out of the skillet. If you use the psyllium husk, they should remain soft and pliable for a few hours, especially the minis.

The 1, 2, 3's of a vegan BLT salad

windycityvegan — Mon, 04 Jun 2012 13:11:00 -0400

Local greens from the co-op + my garden, tomato from the farmers’ market, homemade vegan mayo and from-scratch vegan bacon made with local Tempeh Girl tempeh.

1. Wash, spin, chop greens and put into a large bowl.

2. Heat several slices of vegan bacon* in a lightly oiled skillet on high heat until cooked through and nicely crisped on both sides, then slice into bite-sized pieces and immediately toss with 1 tablespoon of your favorite vegan mayo.

3. Toss the still piping hot bacon+mayo with your greens until they are uniformly coated. Top with sliced tomatoes and dig in.

*My favorite bacon these days is my own modification of this recipe. If I don’t have time to make it full-out with legumes and buckwheat groats, I simply mix up the remaining ingredients and use that as a marinade for thinly sliced tempeh.

This recipe is my first contribution to the Southern SOLE Food Challenge, in which participants focus on preparing Sustainable, Organic, Local and Ethical meals during the warmer months. You can check out posts from all of the participants at the link at the top of the page (hover over the title and it appear).

tofu scramble, say hello to the Vegg

windycityvegan — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 16:52:00 -0400

This is a great way to use up any leftover emulsified Vegg from another recipe. Or, just blend a bit up to keep at the ready if you make tofu scram often.

Mash up your tofu, drizzle with Vegg and mix it in really well, let it rest while you prep your veggies. Scramble your Vegg-dredged tofu on high heat, add your veggies and proceed as normal.

Spaghetti alla carbonara vegan, gluten free + a review of The Vegg

windycityvegan — Thu, 31 May 2012 16:08:00 -0400

Long before I went veg, I had a love-hate relationship with eggs. I loved a lot of foods that had eggs incorporated into them (egg noodles, brioche, creme brulee), but hated dishes made primarily out of eggs in any way, shape or form. The one exception was scrambled eggs, but only if they were dry as tinder and then loaded with veggies. I’ve since become a scrambled tofu expert, even going so far as to track down black salt to give them that little extra bit of oomph.

When I recieved a complimentary packet of The Vegg in the mail a few weeks ago, I was excited to test out this new product. It smelled like egg! The fingertip dip test revealed that it tasted like egg! But … what if it actually resembled egg yolk? I used to have nightmares about that runny, viscous orange stuff.

I could take the easy way out and hide the Vegg in something like egg noodles, brioche, or creme brulee - or I could give myself over to the marvels of kitchen alchemy and see what else I could come up with. The challenge I put to myself was to make something that traditionally used egg yolks as a main ingredient, but didn’t used to entirely freak me out before I gave up eggs altogether. I am not exaggerating when I say that it took me a month to think of something I could make that I would also want to actually eat.

I’m so glad I held out, though!

I turned to my personal confidante regarding all things Italian, Marcella Hazan, and her recipe for this fail proof dish. Mind you, this is carbonara in its simplest form - no peas, no mint, no cream. Just spaghetti, salt, pepper, pancetta, grated cheese, parsley and egg yolks. Not only did I love it; Nina and her omnivore father both asked for seconds.

Spaghetti alla carbonara

serves 3-4 as a main course

1/2 pound best quality gluten free spaghetti

1 1/2 teaspoons Vegg powder + 6 tablespoons water

4 slices bacon substitute - I’ve been playing around with this recipe

a few generous pinches of vegan parmesan

salt and pepper to taste

a few sprigs of parsley, minced

Line prep: Put on a large, deep pot of liberally salted water to boil. Get your skillet ready to heat up your bacon, be it tempeh, tofu, or the adzuki bean/buckwheat marvel that I have fallen in love with. Mince your parsely and grind your parm, then set both aside for later.

Make your Vegg: It is very important to blend it well for several seconds, with an actual blender of some sort. Whisking will not suffice! I used my immersion blender and combined 1 1/2 teaspoons Vegg powder with 6 tablespoons water and blended on high for 30+ seconds. If you don’t have an immersion blender, there are directions on the package for mixing up the entire packet in a standard blender, as well as how to store it.

Make your veg bacon (fake-on?): Time this so that your bacon is finished cooking right before you drain the pasta. Cut each strip of cooked bacon into half-inch pieces and leave in the skillet to stay warm.

Compose your dish: Drain your pasta and immediately transfer to a large bowl. Drizzle with the Vegg; toss to coat evenly. Add a couple of tablespoons of vegan parm, salt, and a few generous turns of the pepper mill; toss again to coat evenly. Taste and season again if needed. Add the bacon and toss one more time. Plate out the individual portions and top each with an additional pinch of vegan parm and minced parsley.

Comments

vegan parmesan vegan, gluten free

windycityvegan — Thu, 31 May 2012 12:27:00 -0400

There are myriad vegan parmesan recipes floating around the ether, and I suspect many of them came into being as mine did — based on what was in the pantry. This is my contribution: simple, protein-packed, and quite satisfying.

Use this simple ratio and make as much - or as little - as you want.

1 part pine nuts : 2 parts hemp hearts : 2 parts nutritional yeast + 1 large pinch Himalayan (or kosher) sea salt

Put in your grinder or food processor, pulse briefly a few times, and sprinkle liberally on anything that could use a bit of umami.

Comments

Asparagus & caramelized red onion pesto

windycityvegan — Fri, 25 May 2012 13:51:00 -0400

Now that Nina grabs her own snacks and has been put in charge of mise en place for dinner prep, things get pushed to the inner depths of our refrigerator pretty often. Such was the case for this asparagus I picked up at the farmers’ market a couple of weeks ago. It had been carefully wrapped and was inhabiting the coldest corner of the crisper, which meant it had wilted, but not yet gone off.

Capellini was already on the menu, but there was only enough red sauce to dress Nina’s bowl of pasta and I’d been contemplating a raw kale and pumpkin seed pesto. I decided to save my kale for a salad and set to work making a rather different kind of green pesto instead.

I went out to the kitchen garden and, upon realizing that I’d forgotten to plant shallots this season, settled for a couple of Italian red torpedo onions. They worked out quite well, but I think an equivalent amount of sliced shallots or your traditional red globe onion would be fine, too.

Asparagus & caramelized red onion pesto

1 large handful (25-30) thin asparagus spears
2 red torpedo onions
2 tsp olive oil
2-3 T nutritional yeast, to taste
1-2 tsp lemon zest, to taste
large pinch of coarse salt
pasta water to thin, if needed

Pre-pesto ingredient prep: Snap off the woody ends from your asparagus stalks. Thinly slice your onions; there should be enough to loosely pile into a 1/3 measuring cup. If using a red globe onion, cut a few thin-as-possible half moon slices, then cut into small strips about 1/4 inch long. Set up your steamer, pasta pot (filled with liberally salted water), and small cast iron or nonstick skillet for the onions.

Stovetop multi-tasking: Steam asparagus until fork tender. While the asparagus is steaming, put a teaspoon or two of olive oil into a small skillet over med/high heat. Saute the onion until it begins to caramelize, then remove from heat and transfer to your food processor. When the onion and asparagus have finished cooking, begin heating your pasta water.

Make the pesto: Cut the asparagus into 1-inch pieces and add to the food processor. Pulse a few times until the mixture is almost pureed. Transfer to a small bowl and stir in the remaining ingredients. If you need additional liquid, add some of the pasta water, a tablespoon at a time. Season to taste with salt and additional lemon zest, if needed.

The best part: Drain your pasta, reserving about a quarter cup of the cooking water. Add the pesto and toss to coat, using some of the reserved water if needed. Season with cracked pepper and coarse salt at the table.

Notes:

Thin asparagus spears are preferable, as they are less fibrous. If you use thick stalks, you’ll need to peel them before steaming.
This dish tastes equally well hot, at room temperature, and cold, especially as a midnight (or 5 a.m. pre-run) snack.

Comments

Pear sage sausage + mini meatballs vegan, gluten free

windycityvegan — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 10:36:00 -0400

Exactly one year ago this week, I very abruptly went gluten free.

With an iron clad excuse to start grinding my own flours and keep at least a dozen on hand at any given time, I quickly tackled gluten free baking. My background in biochemistry reared its head and an obsession with hydrocolloids led to developing gluten free foods without the use of guar or xanthan gums. I dipped my toe into savory waters and turned out these gluten free/gum-free chickpea cutlets. I was hitting my stride. One of the few things left to try my hand at was a decent mock ground sausage, but I just hadn’t found the time.

And then, my friend Kathy told me that her cookbook had a recipe for apple sage sausage, with a gluten free option to boot. One look at her recipe and I knew it would be amazing.

I adapted it slightly to reflect ingredients I keep on hand, and quickly tried it out in every form and function I could think of. The wet sausage mix resembles the texture of Gimme Lean’s vegan ground sausage — however, since it does not contain gluten, it can’t do quite everything the GL sausage does.

You know what it does do, though? It makes excellent patties, which taste equally good straight from the oven, at room temperature, cold from the fridge, or reheated. Pre-baked patties make an excellent crumble. Cut into strips, it is perfect for stuffing into a breakfast burrito.

My favorite thing to make, though, are itty bitty mini meatballs. So itty bitty, actually, that sometimes I just pop them into my countertop/toaster oven while the rest of my meal is cooking.

Pear sage sausage patties and meatball minis

Yields 12-16 patties, or many many meatball minis

{dry ingredients}
2 tablespoons ground flax seed
1 tablespoon vegan, chicken-flavored bouillon powder
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
2 tablespoons dried sage
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/2 to 1 teaspoon salt, to taste
… … … … … .
{add to dry ingredients to create the slurry}
3-4 tablespoons hot water
… … … … … .
{wet ingredients}
1 1/2 cups walnut pieces
2 cups cooked brown rice, or grain pilaf that is at least 50% brown rice
3/4 cup pear butter

Before you start mixing: Preheat oven to 375 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Mixing the dry ingredients: Combine everything (flax through salt) in a small bowl, whisk to combine and set aside. Do not add the water yet.

Mixing the wet ingredients: Combine the walnuts and cooked rice in a food processor and pulse until coarsely ground, but not pureed. Transfer to a large bowl and add the pear butter, stirring to thoroughly incorporate it into the walnut mixture.

Making the slurry: Add the hot water to the small bowl of dry ingredients and whisk or stir until everything is completely incorporated. The slurry should be a pudding consistency - add water 1 tablespoon at a time if your slurry is too thick.

Final mix: Add the slurry to the walnut mixture and stir until everything is completely mixed together.

Shaping the patties: You will want to wet your hands between patties to keep them from sticking, so keep a bowl of water nearby. Using a large spoon or ice cream scoop, place a walnut-sized dollop of the sausage mixture onto the parchment paper and flatten to 1/2-inch thickness. Space patties 1 inch apart.

Shaping the mini meatballs: A juvenile spoon or small dessert spoon work to get the desired amount, 1 teaspoon’s worth of the sausage mixture. I find it helpful to have a bit of water to dip my fingers into between meatballs. Scoop the sausage mixture and use your index finger and thumb to slide it onto the parchment and pinch it into shape. Space meatballs 1/2-1 inch apart.

Baking your patties or minis: Bake the patties for 20 minutes, flip, and then bake for an additional 10-15 minutes, until firm to the touch. Bake the meatballs for 7-10 minutes, until they are browned on the bottom. Flip and bake for an additional 10 minutes. Let your patties or meatballs firm up while cooling on their baking sheet for a couple of minutes before serving.

Prepping patties for future use: When I know that I’ll be using some of the patties later and they’re headed for the refrigerator or freezer, I leave them in the oven to cool after I’ve turned it off. They end up a little bit firmer, and retain their shape perfectly when reheated (dry skillet, medium heat) or crumbled.

Adapted from Kathy Hester’s The Vegan Slow Cooker

Comments

Dessert crepes with caramelized plantains, toasted coconut andchocolate sauce

windycityvegan — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 20:30:00 -0500

I’m so excited to finally be joining the Gluten-Free Ratio Rally!

Folks, I’ve been waiting a long time to say that. After several months of missing every single rally recipe deadline by this much, I managed to get one in just under the wire.

The theme this month is crêpes, and since I had a bunch of quickly ripening plantains begging me to use them up in a way that would justify my insistence on always having plantains in my kitchen, I decided to make a little plantain brûlée and stuff it inside a crêpe.

Oh! So I have this habit of sort of picking up halfway through a conversation, usually one that I’ve been having inside my head, and you’re probably wondering what the heck I’m even talking about. Let me start over. A little over a year ago, the lovely Shauna decided to combine her gluten free baking know how + the talents of other accomplished gluten free bakers and bloggers + the knowledge of the ratio bible, and the Gluten-Free Ratio Rally was born. It’s a veritable think tank of gluten free kitchen shenanigans, and I finally got in on the action.

The crêpe rally is being hosted by T.R., so mosey on over there to check out the roundup of all of this month’s participants. If you’d like to join in on an upcoming GFRR, by all means drop me a line, and we’ll make it happen!

This post of mine is a doozy to begin with, so rather than try to recap (and likely omit portions of) what the GFRR is and how it came to be, I will direct you instead to Shauna’s post right over here.

And P.S., I am not the only vegan rally participant … but even if I was, one of the things vegans do best is tweak recipes to our liking. So stop judging already and go check out the rest of the crêpe madness!

After you finish reading my recipe, of course. Ahem.

This recipe has a lot of steps, but it comes together quickly, I promise. The most efficient way to make these crêpes is to do the steps in the order listed below, and then quickly assemble each crêpe as soon as the plantains are caramelized. The crêpe pictured right below this sentence — my five-year old stuffed and decorated it. Yes, it is that easy. What are you waiting for?

Dessert crêpes with caramelized plantains, toasted coconut and chocolate sauce

{crêpes - dry ingredients}
15 grams sweet sorghum flour
10 grams buckwheat flour (or more sorghum flour)
15 grams mochiko flour
10 grams potato starch
small pinch fine grain salt

{crêpes - wet ingredients}
90 grams cold filtered water
1-2 teaspoons agave nectar or simple syrup, sweeten to taste
½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
… … … … … .
{caramelized plantains}
Coconut oil to grease baking tray
2 ripe plantains (black or almost black-skinned)
2-4 Tablespoons turbinado sugar
… … … … … .
{chocolate sauce}
¼ Cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 teaspoon coconut oil
… … … … … .
{toasted coconut flakes}
¼ - ½ Cup coconut flakes
Dry skillet to toast them in

Ruhlman’s ratio vs. WCV’s ratio for crêpes: Ruhlman calls for 2 parts liquid:2 eggs:1 part flour. Obviously I left out the egg! And I used my total weight of flour + starch for the flour portion of Ruhlman’s equation. I wanted a crêpe that was light both in texture and color - so that meant making one with primarily buckwheat flour was out. I opted for a blend of sweet sorghum (for lightness) and buckwheat (for protein). I tried batters with a couple of different egg substitutes, but they proved unnecessary. I also tried different amounts of liquid - but as you can imagine, less liquid just meant I was making pancakes. Crêpes turned out to be pretty foolproof!

Mix up the crêpe batter: Sift the dry ingredients in a small bowl (I use a large glass measuring cup with a pour spout), add the wet ingredients, and whisk everything together. Set the batter aside while you get everything else ready.

Prep the plantains: Lightly grease a baking tray with coconut oil. Peel the plantains and slice them in half lengthwise, and arrange them cut side up on the baking sheet. Sprinkle each slice liberally with turbinado sugar. You want the sugar to melt and caramelize, so don’t be stingy! Set the plantains aside for the time being. Do not broil them yet – that step comes a little later.

Toast the coconut flakes: Warm a dry skillet over medium heat, add your coconut flakes, and stir frequently. They will become fragrant and start to brown within a couple of minutes. Turn off the heat and transfer the coconut flakes to a bowl as soon as they start to turn golden brown.

Make the crêpes: Whisk the batter again; it will be a little thinner than cream. Heat a crêpe pan or cast iron skillet over medium heat. Add a very small amount of coconut oil to the pan, swirl or brush it around, and then pour in the batter. Quickly swirl the batter to spread it as thin as possible. After a minute or two when the edges start to brown, carefully lift the crêpe (I have the best luck with a metal spatula) and flip it over. Allow to cook for one minute more before carefully removing to a plate. Repeat until the batter has been used up.

Melt the chocolate sauce: Combine the chips and coconut oil in a heatproof bowl and melt one of two ways: in the microwave or using the double boiler method. Because this is such a small amount of chocolate to melt, I used the microwave. If using this method, stir every thirty seconds so that the chocolate does not scald.

Broil the plantains: Set your baking sheet a couple of inches below your broiler and watch closely. How hot your broiler gets will determine how long it takes for the sugar to melt and brown, so watch the plantains closely. As soon as the sugar has become molten and bubbly, remove the plantains from under the broiler.

Assembly: Center each crêpe on a plate. Using the back of a spoon, spread a teaspoon or so of chocolate sauce over the surface of the crêpe and sprinkle with a large pinch of the toasted coconut flakes. Lay a plantain slice at one edge of the crêpe and roll it up. Arrange it so that the seam side is down, drizzle with chocolate sauce and dust it with another pinch of coconut flakes. Nina insists that untoasted coconut flakes look best atop the chocolate drizzle. Repeat with the remaining crêpes. If you have a little one in the house, definitely put them in charge of chocolate drizzling – but keep an eye on the spoon. Edible paint! It doesn’t get much better than that.

If you have more caramelized plantains than you do crêpes, they go really well with grapefruit smoothies. Don’t ask me why, I don’t know everything - but the tartness of this smoothie makes the sugary sweet plantains taste downright healthy.

Bonus recipe: Nina’s pink citrus smoothie

1 ruby red grapefruit
1 Meyer lemon (or 1/2 a regular lemon)
1 clementine
1 handful frozen strawberries
1 handful frozen pineapple pieces

Peel, seed and segment the citrus and throw into a blender. Add the strawberries and pineapple and blend for two minutes. Add water if needed.

February Ratio Rally link roundup:

Adina ~ Gluten Free Travelette ~ Breakfast Crepes Three Ways
Angela ~ Angela’s Kitchen ~ Savory Buckwheat Crepes with Sweet Potato, Mushroom and Kale Filling
Caitlin ~ {Gluten-Free} Nom Nom Nom ~ Buckwheat Crepes
Caleigh ~ Gluten Free[k] ~ Banana Cinnamon Crepes
Caneel ~ Mama Me Gluten Free ~ Slightly Sweet Crepes with Caramelized Bananas and Nutella Sauce
Charissa ~ Zest Bakery ~ Black Pepper Crepes with Chicken Tikka Masala
Claire ~ My Gluten Free Home ~ Victory Crepe Cake
Erin ~ The Sensitive Epicure ~ Socca with Za’atar & Sumac (Garbanzo Flour Crepes)
Ginger ~ Fresh Ginger ~ Sweet ‘n Savory
gretchen ~ kumquat ~ nutella crepe cake
Heather ~ Discovering the Extraordinary ~ “Southwestern” Crepes
Jenn ~ Jenn Cuisine ~ Braised Duck, Fennel and Chestnut Crêpes
Jonathan ~ The Canary Files ~ Vegan Crepes for Filipino Spring Rolls
Karen ~ Cooking Gluten-Free! ~ Gluten Free Crepes Savory or Sweet
Mary Fran ~ FrannyCakes ~ Gluten-free Peanut Butter Crepe Cake
Mary Fran ~ FrannyCakes ~ Gluten-Free Vanilla Bean Crêpes Sucrées
Monika ~ Chew on This! ~ Dessert crepes with caramelized plantains, toasted coconut and chocolate sauce
Morri ~ Meals with Morri ~ Russian Blini for Two
Mrs. R ~ Honey From Flinty Rocks ~ Crepes – Spinach & Dessert
Pete and Kelli ~ No Gluten, No Problem ~ Key Lime Crepes
Rachel ~ The Crispy Cook ~ Raspberries and Cream Crepes
Shauna ~ gluten-free girl ~ Gluten Free Buckwheat Crepes
T.R. ~ No One Likes Crumbley Cookies ~ Brownie Crepes with Strawberry Wine sauce
T.R. ~ No One Likes Crumbley Cookies ~ Basil Tomato and Feta Crepes
T.R. ~ No One Likes Crumbley Cookies ~ Fresh Fruit Crepe
Tara ~ A Baking Life ~ Breakfast Crepes with Eggs and Kale

a socca of sorts

windycityvegan — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 13:22:00 -0500

Most vegans or gluten freebies have that one ingredient that never makes it off their Avoid at All Costs list. For me, that ingredient is besan. Try as I might to like besan – chickpea flour – it’s just not happening. And that’s okay – my intense aversion to this flour, which is in many pre-packaged all purpose gluten free flour mixes, forced me to explore other grains and experiment with flavor and protein profiles. Grinding and mixing my own gluten free flours has become second nature, and also given me an excuse to bake a mini batch of something or other almost every day.

However. I’ve heard time and time and time again about this wonder food called socca, and I figured if I was going to really face my culinary nemesis, this is the way to do it. My inner Francophile told me I would never rest until I gave it a go.

Socca hails from Nice. It’s street food at its best – wood-fired, crispy and a little oily (in the best way, as only street food can be), meant to be eaten when it’s still hot enough to burn your fingers. It also contains only three or four ingredients: water, olive oil, salt + herbs/spices, and besan. Lots and lots of it.

Long story short, it wasn’t for me. I did what I could to get myself into the right mindset - into the zone, if you will: I put on my favorite French music, dressed Nina in a navy and white striped shirt and red scarf, gave her a demi baguette to nosh on (she’s not gf, lucky little thing), poured myself a large glass of red wine. Mais non! It didn’t work. (But it was fun trying.)

Not wanting to let the bags of besan I bought (one each of roasted and unroasted) go to waste, I managed to find a happy medium. I cut the chickpea flour with a couple of different starches, added a lot of fresh herbs from the garden, and as long as I ate these little flatbreads the minute I flipped them out of the cast iron skillet, they were actually pretty good.

One batch of socca had cilantro, cumin and smoked paprika. Another had rosemary and cracked pepper. And just for kicks, I grated some Meyer lemon zest into the last of my rosemary-spiked batter and it pretty much blew my socks off.

Not quite socca

makes several mini socca, one to two large

{dry ingredients}
80 grams besan
20 grams sorghum flour
30 grams potato or tapioca starch (or a combination of the two)
2-3 tsp minced fresh herbs of choice
Large pinch of sea salt
As much cracked black pepper as you can handle

{wet ingredients}
2-3 tsp best quality (or at least really good) olive oil, plus more for the pan
Cold water (I never measure this; I start with 1 cup and then add in ¼ cup increments)

Whisk your dry ingredients: put everything except the oil and water into a mixing bowl and whisk together.

Whisk in the water: Add the oil and one cup of water and whisk until no lumps remain. Continue adding water in ¼ cup increments until you have a thin batter (similar to crepe batter: the consistency of rich coconut milk).

Allow batter to rest: If you have the time, letting it rest for an hour or so at room temperature helps. If not, just let it rest while you heat up the cast iron skillet and/or the oven.

Cooking method #1 – the broiler: Turn on your broiler and preheat a lightly oiled cast iron skillet for a few minutes. When the skillet is hot, add enough batter to coat the bottom of the pan, swirl it around quickly, then pop the pan back under the broiler. Watch closely and remove as soon as your socca starts to get blistery and browned in spots.

Cooking method #2 – the range: If you’re making mini soccas, don’t feel like firing up your broiler, are paranoid about overheating your olive oil, or are just in a hurry (I am very much All of the Above), this is for you. Lightly oil your skillet and put over medium heat. Using a ladle, add just enough batter to cover the bottom of the skillet and let it cook until it is browning at the edges and bubbling up in spots. Flip it over and allow to cook for a couple of minutes. If you’re feeling daring and want to make it nice and crispy, turn the heat up really high when you flip it over – but be sure to keep a close eye so it doesn’t burn. As soon as you take it out of the skillet, turn the heat back down and let the pan cook a minute before adding more batter.

Notes

Not many things are worse in my kitchen than oil that’s been over heated. If you’re going the broiler route, I would suggest using an oil with a really high smoking point such as semi-refined sunflower oil.

Yes, coconut oil has a really high smoking point, but – no. Just, no. Don’t try it. Trust me on this.

If you don’t eat these right away, they wilt, soften and turn into crepes. They still taste good, but if cold crepes aren’t your thing, they crisp back up pretty well by reheating them in a dry skillet on high heat.

Bibimbap

windycityvegan — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 12:14:00 -0500

This is week thirteen of the 5th Annual Dark Days Challenge, a 4 1/2 month pledge by participants to eat one SOLE meal a week: a meal as Sustainable, Organic, Local and Ethical as possible. Weekly participant recaps are being rounded up by the good people at Not Dabbling in Normal.

My highly thorough analysis of this dish – conducted by ordering bibimbap at every Korean restaurant I came across in Chicago – leads me to the conclusion that it’s essentially a bowl of rice with several complimentary vegetables arranged around the perimeter, along with a nice dollop of chili paste. The vegetables can be sautéed, pickled, or even raw, depending on the season or the region that particular bibimbap hails from. A protein – most commonly an egg, but also meat or tofu – is laid on top of the rice in the center of the bowl. After admiring the aesthetics of all the colorful vegetables for a few seconds, you get to mix everything up until it looks like a really messy stir fry.

In my house, bibimbap serves two purposes: (1) it’s really fun to hear Nina say it over and over and over again – she gets caught in a musical, alliterative loop until she’s beatboxing, and (2) it’s a great way to get my family to eat a variety of vegetables without relying on a sauce or soup.

This particular meal had several local ingredients from the co-op and market, including a regional rice my husband picked up when I sent him on a bulk foods run last week. Two of the items were not entirely SOLE: I used a mix of local and not local mushrooms, and a greenhouse pepper that makes me wonder if the energy used to grow it on a nearby farm had a better or worse carbon footprint than a pepper driven across the country. I don’t usually have local grains or protein on hand (since any meal I prepare is both vegan and gluten free, those items are exempt from scrutiny for any meal including those for the DDC) – so the regional rice was an apropos addition to a DDC meal. The sprouted tofu, which I made into a faux omelet before cutting it into neon yellow strips, came from who knows where.

I steamed all of the vegetables in my biggest cast iron skillet, adding them according to cooking time. They were lightly seasoned with a few drops of gluten free tamari and toasted sesame oil. The only seasonings I put on the table were chili pepper paste and nori-infused sea salt. Prepping the vegetables and tofu while the rice cooked resulted in perfect timing.

SOLE ingredients: kale, mushrooms, carrots, broccoli, sweet pepper (maybe), rice.

Bibimbap

servings determined by how much rice and veggies you prepare

{you will need}
rice
filtered water
a variety of vegetables that are complimentary in both flavor and color
seasonings of choice for the vegetables
red chili paste

{optional - depending on your vegetable selection}
nori-infused sea salt
sesame seeds
rice vinegar

Cook your rice: according to whatever guides you — the directions on the bag, the directions for your rice cooker, boiling it like pasta, or just going with the general rule of thumb of one part rice to two parts water. If you find that your rice is a little too wet, remove the lid, crank up the heat, and watch it closely as you evaporate the excess water off. If it’s too dry, add water a couple of tablespoons at a time and steam over a really low flame until your rice is done cooking.

Prepare your vegetables: while the rice is cooking, cut and sauté your vegetables (if you want a cooked bibimbap), or just cut them up if you are going with pickled or raw. Cold bibimbap often includes sliced cucumber, bean sprouts, kimchi and daikon to name just a few.

Prepare your protein: This is entirely up to you; I find it best to make something that can be cut into strips to match the size of the vegetables.

Plate it up: Visual presentation is very important, and also very easy, with this dish. Put a mound of rice in the center of the bowl, arrange the vegetables around the perimeter (alternating them by color so that they are visually appealing), and arrange your tofu, tempeh, etc over the top of the mounded rice. Serve with chili paste, sesame seeds, and any other accompaniments appropriate to the vegetables being served.

Broccoli and roasted corn chowder

windycityvegan — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 12:15:00 -0500

This is week twelve of the 5th Annual Dark Days Challenge, a 4 1/2 month pledge by participants to eat one SOLE meal a week: a meal as Sustainable, Organic, Local and Ethical as possible. Weekly participant recaps are being rounded up by the good people at Not Dabbling in Normal.

So …

I haven’t posted a Dark Days meal in, erm, ten weeks? I hasn’t been for lack of local ingredients or delicious food. The area I live in has more than enough local food available year-round - most of it right outside my back door on our grounds.

The thing is, I’m still in go-go-go mode, still a little burned out from the chaos that existed within the Venn diagram of my year-end project at work and a two week vacation back home over the holidays. The intersection of those two circles was flat-out messy.

But earlier this week I said that I would post Nina’s broccoli soup recipe, and so here it is. Every time we make it something changes; we used to thicken it with red lentils, but currently prefer potato. Sometimes corn is added at the very first step, sometimes not until the very end. But one thing never changes — it is l-o-a-d-e-d with broccoli and topped with baked tofu ‘croutons.’

Broccoli soup à la Nina, a.k.a.
Broccoli and roasted corn chowder

serves four

{chowder}
2 small/medium potatoes, diced (peeled if you must)
Florets from one head of broccoli, divided
2 T herbs de Provence, divided (or 2 tsp each dried thyme, sage and basil)
Salt and pepper to taste
Filtered water

{for add ins: make while chowder is cooking}
1 Cup frozen sweet corn
½ block extra-firm tofu

Start the chowder: Place diced potatoes, two-thirds of the broccoli florets, 1 T herbs and a generous pinch of salt into a deep pot. Cover with filtered water by an inch or so, and bring to a boil. Lower heat to a simmer, partially cover and leave the vegetables to simmer until potatoes are fork tender, about 20 minutes. Add water as needed to keep vegetables covered, but not drowning.

While the pot is simmering: Preheat the oven to 375 degrees, line a baking sheet with parchment, and quickly get the baked tofu and caramelized corn going.

Baked tofu: Cut desired amount of extra-firm tofu (half a block is plenty for my family of three) into dice-sized cubes, spread out on the lined baking sheet, sprinkle liberally with salt and bake for 30 minutes, flipping once halfway through. Don’t worry too much about pressing the tofu ahead of time; the salt will draw out the water, which will all evaporate off in the oven.

Caramelized corn: Heat a small skillet – cast iron works best – over high heat and add the frozen corn as soon as the skillet is hot. Add a pinch of salt and the remaining tablespoon of herbs. Cover for a couple of minutes while the corn thaws. Remove cover and stir the corn, frequently, being careful to scrape up any browned bits. As soon as the corn looks like this, remove from heat and set aside.

Finishing the chowder: When your potatoes are tender (and your broccoli is mush), remove from heat and purée. I prefer to use an immersion blender – hence, the call for a deep pot. The deeper your pot, the less likely you are to splatter. You can also purée the chowder in batches in your blender or food processor – whatever works best for you in your kitchen.

Add water if necessary to get your desired consistency. Add the caramelized corn and remaining uncooked broccoli florets to the pot and bring back to a simmer. Everything should be heated through in five minutes.

Serve with tofu croutons. If you like a little heat I recommend red pepper flakes, smoked habanero sauce or some of this.

Notes

You can certainly use fresh corn - if this is the case don’t cover the skillet, and start stirring the corn after a minute, two at most. Fresh sweet corn will begin to caramelize fast; and if it starts to pop, it’s done.

If you use a little oil in the skillet with your corn, be sure to adjust the heat to accommodate the oil’s smoking point.

A countertop/toaster oven works really well for the tofu. However, do not use parchment paper if you go this route! Nina and I have started many a blaze in our kitchen by making that mistake. Use lightly oiled foil instead.

Pumpkin multi-grain breakfast muffins vegan, gluten free

windycityvegan — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 12:52:00 -0500

I may not be posting many recipes lately, but that doesn’t mean I’m not developing them left and right. I’m currently baking my way through seven (seven!) jars of roasted pumpkin puree, and seeing as butternut and kabocha squash season is in full swing, there is no immediate end in sight.

The day after Thanksgiving I whipped these up, and after two additional batches I’m finally putting a muffin down long enough to type this recipe out to share.

Before I cut gluten completely from my diet, I had that *one* go-to, never-fails-me muffin recipe. It had more than one grain, add ins were very easy, and for a muffin, it was decadent. My favorite thing about the recipe is that it uses pumpkin puree (apple butter works well, too). When I pulled it out of my archives last week, I hit a small hurdle — it never occurred to me that it was chock full of gluten. Thankfully, this amazingly versatile recipe was a breeze to make gluten free. And the crumb. The crumb! So tender.

What makes a muffin a breakfast muffin in my book? This one has cornmeal, steel cut oats, multi-grain flour, molasses and pumpin puree. Downright breakfastworthy. Nevermind the flecks of chocolate — for the freaky few who don’t want chocolate in their breakfast (say what?), you can easily leave it out without sacrificing flavor. Or better yet, sub it out with chopped nuts or dried fruit. The possibilities are truly endless.

Pumpkin multi-grain breakfast muffins
Makes 14-16 muffins
(or, in our house, 12 muffins + 2 heart-shaped Le Cruset ramekins)

{dry ingredients}
2 C AP/MG gluten free flour (see note)
1/3 C steel cut oats
1/2 C polenta or cornmeal (I prefer a coarser grind, so I use polenta)
4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp fine grain sea salt

{wet ingredients}
1/2 C full fat coconut milk
1/2 C unsweetened almond milk (hemp or rice work, too)
1/4 C sunflower oil
1/2 C granulated, raw sugar
1/8 C (2 T) molasses (regular, not blackstrap)
1 C pumpkin purée
1 tsp pure vanilla extract

{optional but oh so worth it!}
1 small dark chocolate bar (1.5-1.75 oz), coarsely chopped
1 tsp orange zest - you’ll include this with the wet ingredients

Preparations: Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Prepare muffin trays with liners or a light coating of oil.

Sifting the dry ingredients: In a medium bowl, whisk together dry ingredients; set aside.

Mixing the wet ingredients: In a large bowl, combine all remaining ingredients, including orange zest and chocolate.

Final mix: Add the dry ingredients to the wet in two batches, and stir until all of the flour is absorbed. Fold in the chocolate and orange zest. The leaveners will begin working immediately, so don’t be surprised if your batter starts to aerate right before your eyes. It’s pretty cool, actually.

Bake your muffins: Portion the batter into muffin tray(s), 3/4 of the way full, and bake for 20 minutes, or until the edges are starting to brown and the center springs back when touched. Allow to cool for five minutes before transferring muffins from their tray to a cooling rack.

Notes

In a pinch, you could use a pre-blended all purpose gluten free flour (one that has starch added, but NOT xanthan gum). I keep Authentic Foods’ Bette’s Gourmet Featherlight Rice Flour Blend on hand for such Empty Pantry Baking Emergencies. You know what, though? Pre-blended AP GF flour mixes are expensive! Also, they aren’t usually multi-grain, something that this recipe — not to mention one’s health — benefits from.

So, to make my own AP/MG GF flour, I measure out by weight two parts flour [quinoa, millet, sorghum, brown rice, red lentil, etc] + one part starch [potato, tapioca, or corn starch or a combination] into a giant, half gallon canning jar and shake it shake it shake it. And voila, your very own custom blended all purpose, multi-grain, gluten free flour!

Sometimes I add teff flour to my flour mix, but not always — it makes whatever you’re baking turn out pretty dark. Just something to keep in mind if that’s one of the flours you consider tossing into your jar.

The original recipe that stole my heart can be found at Have Cake Will Travel

Comments

Avocado-flecked banana muffins

windycityvegan — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 13:04:00 -0400

These are by far the prettiest muffins I’ve ever made. Some of the tastiest, too.

I have this problem of almost never buying avocados, and then when I do, of buying way too many of them. It usually takes forever and a day for them to ripen, and then all of a sudden - quick! use those avocados up before they turn!

Which leads to guacamole overload, and then so much time passes before I want to even look at an avocado again that by the time I do, I buy too many of them. Again.

The other morning, a very overpriced, organic, perfectlyripe avocado was sitting next to a bunch of somewhat overpriced, organic, veryripe Peruvian bananas. And all I could think was “I am not making guacamole for breakfast. And too bad I don’t have enough bananas to make muffins … “

Then it hit me - sub the avocado for the missing bananas. They’re both tropical fruits, right?

It may sound weird, but trust me - these muffins are good. Add a chopped up dark chocolate bar and you’re in muffin heaven.

Avocado Banana Chocolate Chunk Muffins

makes approximately 15 regular or 40 mini muffins

{dry ingredients}
1 3/4 C all purpose gluten free flour mix (see note)
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp fine grained sea salt

{slurry}
2 T chia or flax seeds, ground to a powder
3 T boiling water

{wet ingredients}
2 medium ripe bananas
1 medium or large ripe avocado
2/3 cup maple syrup
1/3 cup softened coconut oil, or sunflower or olive oil (plus extra if using to coat pan)

{very important final ingredient}
1 small dark chocolate bar (1.5-1.75 oz), coarsely chopped

Preparations: Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Prepare muffin tray(s) with liners or a light coating of oil.

Sifting the dry ingredients: In a medium bowl, whisk together dry ingredients.

Mashing the wet ingredients: In a large bowl, mash up wet ingredients: bananas + avocado (a potato masher works awesome for this), syrup, and oil.

Make the slurry: Put the ground chia or flax seeds into a small bowl, add the boiling water, and stir with a fork or small whisk. Your slurry will thicken instantly.

Final mix: Add the slurry to the wet ingredients and stir to combine thoroughly. Add the dry ingredients and stir just until all flour is absorbed. Take a taste! That’s right, go on now. No fear of salmonella happening on my watch. Sweeten a bit more if necessary (we all have our own preferences). And most importatly: fold in the chocolate. (Yes, I’m aware that there is no chocolate in the photo below - I had to wrest it away from Nina.)

Bake your muffins: Portion the batter into muffin tray(s), 3/4 of the way full, and bake: 25 minutes for regular sized / 15 minutes for minis, or until the tops are starting to brown.

If you don’t have an avocado, use two more small or medium bananas and your muffins will look like this:

Notes

For quick, no nonsense recipes like this that don’t use a lot of flour, I usually use Authentic Foods’ Bette’s Gourmet Featherlight Rice Flour Blend. It’s my way of being lazy.

When I’m out of the above-mentioned flour, I use two parts gluten free flour [quinoa, millet, sorghum, white or brown rice flour or a combination] + one part starch [potato, tapioca, or corn starch or a combination] to equal whatever amount of gluten free flour a recipe calls for.

So basically, a 2:1 ratio of flour to starch. For muffins, there is no need to sweat the particulars, although I do have best results when I use at least two different flours.

If you prefer using xanthan gum, omit the chia slurry and use ½ tsp xanthan gum, which you would sift into the dry ingredients.

Comments

Roasted tomatoes three ways

windycityvegan — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 11:13:00 -0400

I pulled up my tomato plants last weekend, amended the soil and will let it rest for a few weeks before I lay a comforter compost bed for the winter. While walking my tomato rows one last time, I made a little end of summer harvest.

You could just as easily make these recipes with a bag of grape tomatoes from the market, a comparable amount to what I used here. But I think the magic in these dishes – that je ne sais quoi – comes from using fruit you know on an intimate level. Intimate, you ask? Nursing tender vines through an unexpected late spring frost, dressing each plant with compost I customized to get the ph just so, watering each individual plant daily through a prolonged drought, stripping blemished leaves and stems by hand in hopes it wouldn’t spread to the other plants – yes, these are tomatoes that I knew intimately.

All of the energy and care I put into these plants was returned to me tenfold in this last little harvest. With a mug of soup in hand I bid summer a hearty farewell. Salud!

The soup and sauce recipes start with roasting the tomatoes, which takes about 20 minutes. After that, you can pull the rest of either recipe together in another 15. If you’re a fan of roasted tomatoes, though, you can also just toss them as-is with spaghetti and basil, fold them into a salad, plate them up with some olives and marinated artichoke hearts … or pluck them straight from the still-warm pot.

Simple Roasted Tomatoes
Serves 2

This is a very informal recipe, the perfect way to use up a few handfuls of smaller tomatoes, or three or four big ones. You’ll need enough tomatoes so that when they’re halved or quartered, they fit snugly in a single layer on the bottom of a Dutch oven or large soup pot. The tomatoes I used were golf ball-sized, and once halved I only needed 25 of them for this recipe.

Move one of your racks to the center position and preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Drizzle a few drops of sunflower oil (or something with a similarly high smoking point) in the bottom of your pan and start arranging your tomatoes, cut sides up. Sprinkle about a tablespoon of brown sugar over them – this will help them caramelize while they roast. Throw in a few peeled cloves of garlic if you’re into that sort of thing, maybe a quartered sweet onion, and pop the whole thing into the oven.

Check in on your pot after 20 minutes – the juices will have darkened on the bottom and your tomatoes will look a bit shriveled. If they need to cook a bit longer, check on them every 5 minutes until they’re done.

If you’re going to use the roasted tomatoes straight from the pan, be sure to scrape up the caramelized juices with a spatula, and season with salt and pepper to taste. If you’re going to use the tomatoes in one of the following recipes, move the pan from the oven straight to a burner.

Roasted Tomato Soup
Serves 2

Move your pan of roasted tomatoes from the oven to a burner over low heat. Add enough water or broth to cover by two inches. Using a silicone or wooden spatula, carefully scrape the caramelized juices from the bottom of the pan and stir to incorporate. Bring to a gentle simmer for five minutes, then turn off the heat. Use an immersion blender to puree right in the pot, or puree in batches in a standard blender until nice and creamy. If you use an immersion blender, there will be little flecks of tomato skin in your soup. If this bothers you, then either strain them out with a mesh sieve, or use a standard blender.

Return to the pot and season to taste with salt, pepper, a pinch of smoked paprika, perhaps another pinch of brown sugar. Thin the soup to your liking with additional water or broth.

If you have a well-traveled WBEZ “Worldview” mug that your significant other has patiently glued back together for you two or three times (and counting), this soup would be a great excuse to stop worrying about breaking it - again - and get it back into giant-mug-of-soup active duty.

Ridiculously Healthy Roasted Tomato Sauce That (almost) Every Kid Loves
Enough to dress one pound of pasta

While your tomatoes are roasting, very thinly slice some vegetables for the sauce. I use the following:

1 medium sweet potato or 3 carrots
2 stalks celery
½ sweet yellow onion
1 large handful shitake, cremini or white button mushrooms
1 sweet bell pepper

Pasta in your child’s (or picky-eating spouse’s) favorite shape
Any add-ins that they may like (my daughter insists on adding frozen peas and vegan meatballs to everything these days)

You’ll also want 1 ½ cups cooked (or 1 can) lentils
Whatever else you like to season your red sauce with: balsamic vinegar, a bit of brown sugar, herbs, salt and white pepper

Move your pan of roasted tomatoes from the oven to a burner over low heat. Add the sliced vegetables and sauté over medium heat until the sliced vegetables are softened, about 7-10 minutes. Stir frequently to scrape the caramelized tomato juice off the bottom of the pan and to keep everything else from sticking. Add your cooked lentils and enough water so that you can blend the sauce – it will be thick and creamy; thin to desired consistency with water or broth and season to taste.

Turn off the heat, cover the pot and allow the flavors to meld while you boil your pasta. As soon as your pasta is finished cooking, plate it up in your kid’s favorite bowl, toss with just enough sauce to coat thoroughly – but not be too saucy! – and serve.

She has no idea why this sauce tastes so good, but I had to stop her for getting a third serving. Perhaps the unthinkably overpriced fancy pants gluten free pasta of a zillion super cool shapes had something to do with it, but I’d wager it has more to do with the roasted tomatoes.

Watermelon Sherbet

windycityvegan — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 12:16:00 -0400

I’ve avoided posting a sherbet recipe because every time I think or type the word, I hear it mispronounced in my head and it drives me c-r-a-z-y. But what a silly reason not to post a sherbet recipe! So, I’m over it. Just please don’t let me hear you pronounce it as sherBERT or I will lose. my. mind.

Sherbet is just sorbet with added fat. It smooths out the granular texture that characterizes sorbet/granita/Italian ice, but isn’t as rich or heavy as ice cream. In this recipe I used coconut cream, but you could easily use a rich non-dairy milk (e.g. coconut or almond); just double the amount.

Watermelon Sherbet

4 Cups cubed watermelon (half of a basketball-sized watermelon yields ~4 cups)
2-4 Tablespoons agave nectar or 1/3 Cup simple syrup (1/4 cup sugar dissolved in 1/4 cup water)
Juice of 1 lime
1/2 Cup coconut cream or 1 Cup alt milk or creamer (not rice milk, it’s too thin)

Combine all of the ingredients in your blender and process until smooth.

Freeze in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions. In 30 minutes or so you will have delicious sherbet. Transfer whatever you don’t eat right away to single serving-sized containers and freeze.

Icebox Peanut Butter Cream Pie: for Mikey, and his girls vegan, gluten free, raw

windycityvegan — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 09:21:00 -0400

As many of you know, Jennifer Perillo’s husband Mikey died suddenly and unexpectedly just eight days ago. He loved creamy peanut butter pie, and her request to everyone who kept her and their daughters in their thoughts, hearts and prayers was to make Mikey’s pie and share it with someone they love.

For Mikey, Jennie, and their two precious girls. I’m a firm believer that food heals mind, body and spirit, and I hope all of the pies being made in Mikey’s honor bring you some peace.

For my Mario and Nina. I’m always showing you my love through food, but rarely say it with actual words. So if you thought something was a bit wonky last night when I served up this pie with a thousand uncharacteristic I Love You’s, you’re not crazy.

{raw} Icebox Peanut Butter Cream Pie

This pie is in three stages so that it each layer has time to set up, but it’s really quite easy to make. I used coconut oil in the crust, which does give the pie a noticeable coconut flavor. If you like this sort of thing, it isn’t overwhelming and complements the peanut butter and chocolate well. If you aren’t a coconut fan, you could just as easily use melted shortening or butter; just keep in mind that the pie would no longer be raw. I suppose you could also use a cold-pressed nut oil, which would keep it raw. I used banana in both the peanut butter and chocolate layers, with very little noticeable taste. If you wanted to sub half of an avocado in place of the banana in the chocolate layer, that should be fine. I’m not too sure how that would work in the peanut butter layer, though. And of course, if you have nut allergies and cannot use almond meal in the crust or peanut butter in the filling, there are myriad flour and seed butter options available. But you already knew that, I’m sure!

Crust:
1 ¾ Cups almond meal
¼ Cup melted coconut oil
2 Tablespoons agave nectar

Peanut Butter Filling:
½ Cup peanut butter (smooth or chunky, your preference)
¼ Cup alt milk (coconut cream works well, if you don’t mind the additional coconut flavor)
1 small banana
Large pinch of salt
(optional) sweeten with agave to taste

Chocolate Top Layer:
1 small banana or ½ of an avocado
½ Cup alt milk
6 Tablespoons raw cacao powder
Small pinch of salt
(optional) sweeten with agave to taste

Mix the crust ingredients together, they should have the texture of wet sand. Press into a nine-inch pie tart and chill in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes while you prepare the peanut butter filling.

Blend or whip together the ingredients for the peanut butter filling. Pour into crust, and return to the refrigerator or freezer for an hour to set up before adding the top layer.

Blend all of the ingredients for the chocolate layer together until smooth. Pour over the peanut butter layer, and return to the freezer until the pie is set, another hour or so.

Grab some forks and share with your loved ones, preferably straight out of the pan before it melts.

Many people have been making pies in honor of Mikey, Jennie and their girls. The FN Dish has been keeping track and has a comprehensive list here.

If you do make a pie, and you’re on Twitter, the hashtag is #apieformikey. If you tag your post with that, Jennie will able to find them all someday.

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