Sol Food

Dear readers, please forgive me for not blogging this month.  It has been a tough few weeks, including an unexpected trip to the hospital.  I am feeling better now, but I have been in survival mode and have not cooked anything beyond some tuna fish and gluten free toast.  As challenging as this month has been, I have learned a lot about myself and about life.  One major lesson I learned is that I am not in this world alone and that if you allow yourself to be vulnerable and to ask for help- the universe will offer itself up to you.  I always prefer to just take care of myself over having to depend on anyone else for help.  But being sick in the hospital forced me to ask for help, to trust others to take care of me.  And the response I received from my friends, family, and community were endlessly supportive.  Their kind words and bowls of soup filled me with immense gratitude.

Even now that I am feeling stronger and healthier, this lesson still holds true.  My brother and I were in San Rafael looking for a quick dinner before heading to a meditation center.  We stopped in at a tiny little Puerto Rican restaurant called Sol Food.  As soon as I walked in I was charmed by the music playing, the bright aqua walls, black and white family photos, and the pile of plantains sitting on top of the wooden counter.  As I began to scan the menu I noticed the words "wheat free" all over it.  We had no idea it was going to be so allergy friendly; they even have vegan dishes and sugar free sodas.  I ordered the most mouth watering plate of fried shrimp battered in rice and plantain flour- I was in heaven.

Randomly stumbling upon this wheat free place reminded me to trust the universe to give me what I need.  I put so much energy into being a self-sufficient wheat/sugar/dairy free person: making all my own food from scratch, eating before I attend a dinner party, and endlessly researching restaurants and their menus, so that I never have to depend on others and run the risk of not getting the food I need.  But sometimes getting what you need does not have to be so hard, sometimes all you have to do is ask for it.  And sometimes you don't even need to ask for it; it will just appear in the form of a wheat free Puerto Rican restaurant.  And just in case I hadn't ingrained this lesson into my mind enough, later that evening at the meditation center there were tea and cookies available.  I went to get some ginger tea, not even considering the cookies that would undoubtedly have wheat/sugar/dairy in them.  But to my surprise, they had wheat free cookies made from oats and almonds and sweetened with maple syrup.  "Ok, I get it Universe.  Thank you for taking such good care of me!"

Persimmon Salad

I am in love with persimmons.  If you've never had a persimmon, they look like orange tomatoes, but are firmer with a thick skin.  The flesh is soft, sweet, and almost creamy, kind of like a mix between a melon and a mango.  There are two kinds of persimmons available- fuyu and hachiya.  The hachiya are heart-shaped and are very astringent, so you must wait to eat them until they are extremely ripe-almost like they are going bad.  Otherwise they will leave an awful dry/bitter taste in your mouth.  But if you wait 'till they are super soft, you can just cut the top off and scoop out the insides like pudding.  The fuyu variety are tomato-shaped and you can eat them like an apple.  When persimmon season comes, I am in heaven!  I eat them whole, or slice them and put them into salads with arugula, avocados, and pecans.  My friend Hilary knows how much I love them, and the other night brought over a bunch of beautifully ripe and shiny persimmons for us to eat.  She cut them up and marinated them in lime juice and fresh vanilla beans.  The tartness of the lime and the floral taste of the vanilla brought out the perfect flavor of the persimmons.  Try this simply delicious recipe out and enjoy the persimmon season while it lasts! 

Sweet Potatoes 3 Ways

I absolutely love sweet potatoes... I could eat them forever.  I love their sweetness, their fluffy texture, and how nutritious they are for you.  Here are 3 recipes for sweet potatoes that I love.  The first is recipe for simple roasted sweet potato wedges.  The second is my famous Thanksgiving mashed sweet potatoes.  And the third is a delicious sweet potato pie recipe!  Enjoy!

Roasted Sweet Potatoes Wedges

Ingredients:

• 2-3 large sweet potatoes 
• Olive oil, salt, pepper/cayenne

Directions:

1. Wash your sweet potatoes and peel if you like, but I like to keep the skins on (more hearty and more healthy!)
2. Cut them into 1 inch wedges (I do this by cutting the potato into disks, then cutting each disk like a pie into 4 pieces.)
3. Place sweet potato wedges onto a baking sheet.  Drizzle olive oil all over, sprinkle salt and pepper and cayenne on top.  With your hands mix together so the sweet potatoes are coated well.
4. Bake in the oven at 400 degrees F for about 25-30 minutes.

Thanksgiving Mashed Sweet Potatoes

Ingredients: 

• 5 large sweet potatoes
• About 1/4 cup of Earth Balance
• About a 1/4 cup of maple syrup
• About 2 tablespoons cinnamon 
• About 2 tsp of nutmeg
• About a 1/4 cup of orange juice
• Salt and cayene pepper
• 1/3 cup of pecans or walnuts

Directions:

You can choose between boiling or roasting the sweet potatoes.  Boiling is faster, but kills some of the flavor.  Roasting takes longer, but retains much more flavor.

1. To boil:  Chop each potato into 4 big pieces.  Keep the skins on.  Boil chunks in a large pot of water for about 25 minutes, until soft.  Place in a strainer and rinse with cold water to remove the skins easily.
2. To roast:  Prick each potato with a fork, cut in half, and wrap each half in tin foil.  Bake all halves  in the oven at 450 degrees F for about an hour, until they are soft in the middle.  Scoop out the insides into a bowl (and nibble on the skins while you cook.)
3. Take the boiled/roasted sweet potato meat and mash in a large bowl.  
4. Add the Earth Balance, maple syrup and orange juice in slowly, testing the flavor to your liking.
5. Add all the spices in and adjust to your liking and mix together until you have a heavenly bowl of mashed sweet potatoes.
6. In a pan, roast the pecans/walnuts on medium heat. Coat with any extra maple syrup and spices and heat 'till toasted and aromatic. Sprinkle nuts on top of mashed sweet potatoes and enjoy!

Sweet Potato Pie

Ingredients:

Crust

• 1 cup of gluten free oats
• 1 1/2 cups of nuts (almonds, pecans, walnuts are good!)
• 2 tablespoons of Earth Balance or coconut oil
• 1-2 tablespoons of honey

Filling

• 3-4 mashed sweet potatoes (or 1 can of pureed sweet potatoes)
• 1/3 cup of coconut milk (or soy, or rice milk)
• 4 tablespoons of maple syrup
• 1 teaspoon of orange juice
• 2 eggs beaten (or substitute with 1/4 cup of cornstarch dissolved in 1/4 cup of water)
• 2 teaspoons of cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon of nutmeg 

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
2. In a food processor, grind up the nuts and oats.  Add the Earth Balance and honey and pulse until mixed.
3. Press the crust mixture into a 8/9 inch pie pan and pre-bake in the oven for 5 minutes.
4. In a large bowl mix together the sweet potatoes, coconut milk, maple syrup, orange juice, spices and eggs until smoothly mixed.  (You can also process in a food processor if you want it to be completely smooth, but I like it more thick.)
5. Pour sweet potato filling into the pie crust.
6. Bake pie in oven for about 45 minutes or so, until the crust is golden and you can stick a knife into the middle and have it come out mostly dry.  Let cool before serving.
7. Serve with Coconut Bliss vanilla ice cream!  

Pecan Pie

   

When I was a kid, my mom would bring my sister and I to the farmer's market every Thursday afternoon.  She would always buy fresh flowers and an assortment of imperfect tomatoes for her students to paint in her watercolor classes.  My sister and I would sample the gouda cheese and each buy a honey stick from our favorite vendor.  Every once in a while, if we were really lucky, my mom would splurge on a freshly made pecan pie, from the turkey vendors who also sold turkey pie and fruit jams.  Pecan pie is one of my favorite pies ever- I love the gooey sweetnesss.  Now that I can't eat wheat/sugar/dairy anymore, pecan pie is a distant memory.   It's been many years since I had a slice of pecan pie, and I have been craving it for a while.  I've been planning on making a wheat/sugar/dairy free pecan pie for months now, but since I've never made any kind of pie before, let alone a wheat/sugar/dairy free pie, I was nervous.  So I bought a gluten free pie crust mix by Glutino, to allow me to focus on the filling.  I researched some different recipes and finally, on a rainy Sunday afternoon, I made my pecan pie!  It turned out so nicely, with the same sweetness of a traditional pecan pie, but not loaded with processed sugars.  Plus mine is vegan and could easily be corn and soy free if you use tapioca starch instead of cornstarch, and soy-free Earth Balance.  I added some chocolate powder to bring some richness to it.  Enjoy this dessert!

Ingredients:  (makes one 9 inch pie) 

• 1 unbaked gluten free pie crust*
• 3/4 cup of rice milk
• 3/4 cup of maple syrup
• 1/2 cup of brown rice syrup
• 1/2 tsp of salt
• 1/4 cup of cornstarch dissolved into 1/4 cup of water
• 1 tablespoon of unsweetened cocoa powder (optional)
• 2 tablespoons of Earth balance
• 1 tsp of vanilla extract
• 1 cup of toasted pecans

Directions

1. Follow directions on the box for the pie crust mix, and pre-bake the crust for 5 minutes at 400 degrees F.
2. In a pot mix together the rice milk, maple syrup, and brown rice syrup and bring to a boil over high heat.
3. Add the dissolved cornstarch and keep whisking until it gets thick, about 5 minutes.
4. Turn off the heat and add the vanilla and Earth Balance.
5. Pour the mixture into the pie crust and smooth it out.
6. Place pecans on top in concentric circles, starting from the outside going in.
7. Bake in the oven at 350 F for about 30 or so minutes.  
8. Let cool and chill in the fridge for 10 hours.  Then enjoy!

*Glutino pie crust was good and is sweetened with honey not sugar.  Follow directions on the box, and use ground flax seed mixture instead of eggs if you prefer.  For the butter, I used Earth Balance's vegan shortening!

Curried Red Lentil Sweet Potato Soup

Sometimes all you need is soup.  This past Sunday it was rainy and cold, and stress from work had made it's way into my lower back.  I told my roommate that I was in pain and he kindly lent me his heating pad and encouraged me to lie down on the couch with a blanket and listen to "This American Life," on the radio.  Afterwards, I began to feel better and decided to make a pot of red lentil and sweet potato curry soup.  It was exactly what I needed, something warm, nourishing, easy and comforting.  And it was exactly what my other roommates needed as they were feeling tired and under the weather.  It felt so nice to share my soup with them, and it reinforced the idea that it is ok to ask for support from others, that in fact people like to help others out.  I hope you find some comfort in this sweet and savory soup!

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups of red lentils
• 1 onion
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1-2 large sweet potatoes
• 3 large carrots
• 2 tablespoons of curry powder
• 1tsp of cinnamon
• 1 tsp of ginger powder
• 4 cups of vegetable broth
• 1 can of low fat coconut milk
• 1/4 cup of maple syrup
• 1 head of kale
• 1/2 a lemon
• salt, pepper, and olive oil

Directions 

1. Soak and rinse lentils.
2. Chop the onion and saute in a large pot with olive oil till they begin to become translucent.
3. Chop the sweet potatoes and carrots into 1 inch pieces and add to the onions.  
4. Add the garlic and 1 tablespoon of the curry powder.
5. Saute vegetables for a few minutes, then add the broth and lentils and bring to a boil.
6. Simmer the soup on medium/high heat for about 20 minutes.
7. Add the coconut milk, maple syrup, and the rest of the spices to the pot.
8. Wash and chop the kale into small pieces. Add to the pot and cook for another 5 minutes.
9. The soup is done when the vegetables are tender and the lentils are soft and mushy.  Squeeze lemon juice on top and add any extra salt and pepper if needed.

Maple Almond Cookies

Nuts... my pantry is full of nuts.  Almonds mostly, that I was saving up for some cooking project that I now can't recall.  My roommate and I cleaned our pantry out and found jars of nuts, along with jars and jars of lentils and rice (which I will make into some soup; stay tuned!)  I knew I wanted to make some nutty cookie and maple was the first flavor that came to mind.  I love maple syrup, it reminds me of New England, where I grew up.  As a child I was allergic to chocolate and my mom was always trying to find other desserts I could eat, and maple sugar candy was one of them.  If you don't know, maple sugar candies are maple sugar molded into little shapes like a maple leaf or a little Pilgrim.  They have a pure sweetness to them.  So, I decided to make some maple sweetened almond cookies and they turned out to be deliciously comforting!

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups of gluten free flour (I used rice and chick pea flour)
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp xanthan gum
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 Earth Balance
• 3/4 cup of maple syrup
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 tsps of almond extract
• 1/4 cup of ground flax seed (or one large egg)
• 1/4 cup of sliced almonds
• Whole almonds to decorate the top

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
2. In a large bowl, mix together all of the dry ingredients (except the almonds)
3. Mix the wet ingredients in with the dry ingredients slowly until blended.
4. Mix in the sliced almonds.
5. Form small balls of dough and flatten onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
6. Press a whole almond into the top of each cookie.
7. Bake in the oven for 10-12 minutes (careful not to over cook or it will become too dry!)
8. Remove from the oven and enjoy a cookie with a cold glass of rice milk or almond milk!

Red Beet Quinoa

Firstly, I must apologize to all my devoted followers for not blogging recently. The truth is, I simply cannot sit inside and type on a computer when the sun is out.  The unusually good weather has been leading me to bike rides to the beach, outdoor dance parties, picnics in the park, and late night walks in the warm evening air.  I've been on the go, filling up every moment with fun and busyness.  But change is in the air now, literally.  The sun is gone, the rain is pouring and the wind is blowing, finally bringing a halt to my solar-energized schedule.  The time has come for some slow cooking and introspection.  The other night, I spent a quiet evening with myself, cooking up a warm and comforting quinoa dish colored pink with beets and beet greens.  Take your time making this, and keep this lovely quote in mind that my friend Eric shared with me:


If you want to be whole, let yourself be partial.
If you want to become straight, let yourself be crooked.
If you want to be full, let yourself be empty.
If you want to be reborn, let yourself die.
If you want to to be given everything, give up everything.

Red Beet Quinoa

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups of quinoa
• 1 bunch of beets
• 1 yellow onion
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1/4 cup of balsamic vinegar
• salt, pepper, and olive oil

Directions

1. Soak quinoa in a bowl of water for 15 minutes.  Then rinse it in a sieve several times to remove the saponin that coats the quinoa.
2. Cut the beet greens off from the beets.  Wash beet greens and then cut them into bite size pieces.
3. Boil beets with the skins on in a pot of boiling water for about 20 minutes.
4. While beets cook, chop up the onion and peel and crush the garlic.
5. Sauté the onions in a med/large pot until they are sweating.  Add the garlic. 
6. Add the beet greens and saute until they begin to soften.  
7. Add the washed quinoa into the pot and cover with water.  Add salt and pepper and bring to a boil.
8. Bring heat down to medium heat and cover pot and let simmer for about 20 minutes.
9. When beets are beginning to soften, place them in a colander and rinse with very cold water.  Then you can easily remove the skins. 
10. Chop up the beets and add them to the quinoa. Cook the beet quinoa for another 10 minutes.  
11. When quinoa is cooked (soft to bite and the little "tails" pop out) add the balsamic vinegar, and some more salt and pepper.  Enjoy!