Birthday Brunch

I think sometimes you have to celebrate your birthday in more than one day.  This year, my birthday week was filled with dancing, traveling to Portland (stay tuned for my gluten/sugar/dairy free guide to Portland), and lot's of loving friends and family.  The week started out with with a surprise brunch that my roommates made for me!  The night before, my friends Kit and Hilary brought over Mariposa baguettes for me, so in the morning my roommates cooked some french toast with it.  They soaked it in eggs, rice milk, spices, a little maple syrup and topped it with a pan fried banana and walnut mash.  I hadn't had french toast in over six years.... it was decadent and delicious!  I also was showered with many beautiful bouquets of flowers, and one bunch of green kale.  Two of the bouquets of flowers I bought for myself.  And as I was looking at all the vases of flowers: the jewel toned poppies, the wild lilacs, the orangey tulips, and the flowers fresh from my friend's garden, I realized that it was not only the birthday love from my friends and family, but it was also the love I was giving myself that made my birthday so happy.   

           

   

Gluten Free Matzo!

Guess what I found in Whole Foods?  Gluten free matzo by Yehuda!  I was so excited, as it has been many years since I had some matzo.  It tastes a little more buttery than traditional matzo, but works well for Passover.  I'm going to make some haroset and slather it on my gluten free matzo.  For all you kosher gluten free folks, enjoy!

Happy Passover!

Tempeh Vegetable Bowl

I finally found my favorite way to cook my tempeh.  I steam it in the bamboo steamer for a bit, then fry the slices up in some hot oil until they are crispy.  I like to dip them into a homemade sauce just like they're a chicken nugget.  Sometimes I make a honey mustard sauce, or a dill mayonnaise sauce.  This time I went for a tahini dressing.  I matched the tempeh nuggets with some beautifully steamed vegetables and voila- a perfect bowl of hearty, crunchy, sweet, bitter, creamy and tangy.  Please mix and match your favorite vegetables to create your own signature bowl!

Ingredients

• 1 package of tempeh, sliced into 1/2 inch pieces (make sure it's a gluten free brand)
• 1 bunch of kale or your favorite greens, trimmed and washed
• 1 large sweet potato, chopped into chunks
• 1 ripe avocado, sliced
• 1 bunch of pea shoots or you favorite sprouts
• Olive oil, salt and pepper

For the dressing:

• 1 large lemon
• 1/4 cup of sesame tahini
• 1 tbs of tamari
• 1 scallion, sliced
• 1 handful of cilantro, dill and/or parsley chopped finely

Directions

1. Steam the sweet potatoes and tempeh in a bamboo steamer (or any steamer will do) for about 10 minutes until soft.  Set sweet potatoes aside.
2. Fry tempeh slices in a medium-hot pan of olive oil.  Fry on both sides until golden and crispy!
3. Meanwhile steam the kale for about 5 minutes.
4. For the dressing, mix together the tahini, the juice from the lemon, the tamari, scallions and herbs until smooth. Add more lemon juice if it needs to be thinner, or add more tahini to thicken it.
5. In a bowl, make a bed of kale and place the tempeh, sweet potatoes, pea shoots and avocado on top.  Pour tahini dressing all over and enjoy!

Chocolate Chunk Cookies

It is very hard to find chocolate chips that are purely good for me.  The sugar-free ones are sweetened with gluten-filled barely malt, the dairy-free ones are full of cane sugar, and even the carob chips aren't pure.  I finally got the idea to make my own chocolate chips, or chunks rather.  It was much easier than I thought and it got me dreaming of homemade chocolate truffles and chocolate peanut butter cups...  For now, I used these chocolate chunks to make some good old chocolate chip(chunk) cookies.  I also tried using coconut sugar for the first time in this recipe and it worked out nicely.  Enjoy these babies with a cold glass of rice milk!

Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups of gluten free flour (I used buckwheat, rice, and garbanzo flours)
• 1/2 tsp of baking soda
• 1 tsp of xanthan gum
• 1/4 tsp of salt 
• 1/8 cup of Spectrum vegan shortening
• 1/8 cup of Earth Balance
• 3/4 cup of coconut sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten.
• 1 cup of homemade chocolate chunks (see recipe below!)

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Mix all the dry ingredients together in a bowl.
3. In another bowl mix the shortening, Earth Balance and coconut sugar.  I use my hands because it works best!
4. Combine the wet and dry ingredients together and mix in the beaten egg.
5. Mix in the chocolate chunks.
6. Place small circles of dough onto a baking pan lined with parchment paper.
7. Bake in the oven for about 12-15 minutes, until the edges get crispy and golden.  Cool cookies on a wire rack before eating!

Chocolate Chunks- sugar/dairy/gluten free!

Ingredients

• 12 oz of 100% unsweetened chocolate
• 1/3 cup of coconut oil, warmed to a liquid state
• 1/4 cup of maple syrup
• optional:  1 tsp of vanilla or peppermint extract

Directions

1. In a double boiler melt the chocolate.
2. Mix in the coconut oil and maple syrup and extract.
3. Pour the chocolate onto a tray or pan lined with wax paper.  Smooth it out as evenly as you can and cover with paper or a lid.
4. Freeze the chocolate for about 2 hours.
5. Take out of the freezer and chop into chunks.
6. Store in the refrigerator for baking or a late night snack!