gluten free, vegan, chocolate chunk cookies!

Guess I wasn't done making things from scratch tonight.. It's almost time to go out salsa dancing, and I'm blogging about cookies! For all you gluten free, egg free, dairy free, sugar free people.. I hope you love these :) They are so yummy and easy.. and you probably already have everything you need.

Oven! 350.

1 cup almond flour (from scratch or store bought - I just put almonds into a coffee grinder)
1/2 cup shredded coconut
3/4 cup brown rice flour
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp salt
3 tbsp grape seed oil (or coconut oil)
1/4 cup honey (or agave, or something else..)
1 oz of chocolate of your choice, chopped into small chunks

Mix the dry ingredients in one bowl, the wet in the other, then combine.
Make 1/2" to 1" balls on a parchment covered baking sheet, then squish them down a little bit.
Bake for 8 minutes.
Let them cool. I like to do the dishes when they are baking and cooling.. then I'm not too tempted to just try one and probably burn myself.

Enjoy!

carrot and ginger (with mushroom broth) soup

Dinner tonight :) I think I missed cooking.. I went all of.. 10 hours since making my breakfast. Man.. so long.. I've been wanting to make a carrot ginger soup, but I only had 2 carrots, so I just used up what I had in the fridge, and came up with this smooth, savory, and a little spicy and sweet cup of soup. (serves 2)

1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 yellow onion, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tbsp ginger, super finely chopped
2 carrots, peeled and chopped into 1/2" pieces
2 cups mushroom broth (or chicken broth or other broth)
1 cup water (or another cup of broth)
big pinch of curry powder
salt & pepper
green onions, chopped for garnish

Heat oil in pot. Add onion, garlic, and ginger and saute for 5-10 minutes. Then add the carrot and broth (and water, if using) and simmer uncovered for 30 minutes on medium heat.
Then puree with an immersion blender (a totally worth it purchase.. if you're looking to get yourself a $30 present). Then add the curry, salt and pepper to taste, serve and top with chopped green onion. Enjoy!

soaked oatmeal

See the sunlight in this photo? It's rare here. If you live in a sunny place in February.. be grateful! I've been eating The Nourishing Gourmet's soaked oatmeal for breakfast (she talks about why to soak).. and it's been yummy, and filling, and energizing for my early days at school - especially in February.

Here's what I do.. but you can do it your own way - of course. (Serves 4)

2 cups gluten free rolled oats (not instant)
2 cups of water
1 tablespoon flax seeds
2 tablespoons of fresh lemon juice

2 cups of water
a dash or two of sea salt

12-24 hours before hand, combine the oats, seeds, water and lemon juice in a jar or a bowl. Mix it up, then cover. (if you need to, add more water to cover the top)

The next morning, dump into a pot with 2 more cups of water and a dash of salt, bring to a simmer and cook for just a few minutes, and it's done! Old school instant oatmeal.

While it's simmering I add raisins, honey, and cinnamon.. but you can get creative here..
if you have nuts, other dried or fresh fruit, maple syrup.. etc.

enjoy :)
Here's a later photo - the night before I soaked oats and GROUND flax seeds in water with a dash of lemon juice. My body seems to like it better. Then the next morning, I add the soaked mix to a little pot, add more water, some honey and cinnamon. mmmmm

mung bean fettuccine with creamy garlic cashew sauce

So, I'm up late doing school work.. specifically on a sweet design project, if you must know - and I realized it was 10 and I hadn't eaten dinner! I kind of love when that happens.. because it makes me feel like I'm getting sucked into the design.. but at the same time, I can't just pop a bag of **&@%^$ in the microwave (of which I don't even own) and nourish myself. So I needed something fast and filling.. something that wasn't going to take a lot of peeling and slicing and waiting. (ironic.. because here I am blogging.. but ANYway) I made myself some fettuccine with cream sauce tonight, and it felt almost like regular person food. (I'm not saying regular is good.. who wants to be regular!?)

I had a bag of Organic Mung Bean Fettuccine on hand.. that I bought one extra curious trip to the market, and I made the sauce out of leftover cashew gravy (from last week), olive oil, and garlic.

While the water was boiling then simmering the noodles (the package serves 4.. so I only made a 1/4), I sauteed three cloves of garlic (yes this is for one serving) in a couple teaspoons of olive oil for a minute, then added a couple tablespoons of the pre-made cashew gravy. The gravy was pretty thick, so I added some water to the pan, and simmered down until it was the thickness I wanted.

And yeay! I enjoyed.. I hope you enjoy too. Now back to work.

luxurious beet soup

I have to thank Sally Fallon for this one. This soup "brings out the exquisite sweet flavor of beets," writes Sally. It's easy, inexpensive, silky smooth, is free lip color, involves beets.. which are the only thing in season right now. Ok.. I know there's more in than that - but who doesn't like to complain about the winter in February? This would make a wonderful 1st course.

Serves 6.
6 medium beets
4 tbsp olive oil (she uses butter)
1 quart filtered water (NOT stock)
sea salt or fish sauce
2 tbsp finely chopped chives
(she also adds piima cream or creme fraiche on top)

1. Peel beets, chop coarsly, and saute in oil for 30 minutes or until tender.
2. Add water, bring to a boil and skim. Simmer for 15 mintus.
3. Puree soup with hand-held blender.. the longer the smoother!
4. Season with salt and pepper to taste, ladle into "heated" bowls and serve with chives (and cream if you want/can) Don't be cheap with the chives. Get fresh ones.. It really makes the difference!

blackberry buckwheat pancakes!!!

I MISSED PANCAKES SO MUCH! and I tried and tried to make a gluten-free, egg free, dairy free pancake.. One thing I finally did, was buy a non-stick pan, because the whole egg-less pancake just wasn't going to work without it. I'm using a plastic spatula on it, so not to scratch the non-stick surface.. so I had to pick my battles with the pancake. I actually compromised a little more than usual in the making of these cakes.. because I used Ener-G egg replacer and grapeseed oil too. But, to most people on the planet - those are perfectly healthy alternatives.

Got this recipe from Susan O'Brian's Gluten-Free Vegan, yet again.
Here's my version. Serves 4.

1 tbsp ener-G egg replacer whisked together with 4 tbsp warm water
1 1/2 cup almond milk (or any other milk)
2 tbsp grapeseed oil
2 tbsp honey (she used maple syrup)
1/4 cup apple sauce
3/4 cup buckwheat flour
1/2 cup brown rice flour
2 tsp aluminum-free, gf baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1 cup blackberries (chopped, smaller.. she usues blueberries - but I found some blackberries in my freezer! It was like finding a $20 you left in a pair of jeans you never wear..)

1. In a medium sized bowl, whisk the egg replacer and water well, until it bubbles. Then add the milk, oil, and sweetener (honey in my case, agave or maple syrup in a vegan's case). Mix well. Then add the applesauce and stir.
2. In a small bowl, stir together the flours, baking powder, cinnamon. Then add the dry mix to the wet bowl. Then sitr in the fruit.
3. Heat a skillet over medium-high heat. Pour a small amount of oil (barely any is needed with a non-stick pan). When the skillet is hot, pour a ladel full.. I'm sure you all know how to make pancakes from here on out - but just incase.. Cook until all the little bubbles are done popping on the top, then flip!

Enjoy!!!

hearty mushroom broth soup

This broth is really special.. & thanks to the mushroom sale, I decided it was time to make this recipe. (It's from Deborah Madison's Vegetable Soups - again! - p.34)

I changed it - a bit, because of the ingredients I had.. so I'm going to write what I did. And it was seriously amazing.

6 cups water
5 tbsp olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
1 large carrot, chopped
2 celery ribs, diced
1 small parsnip, peeled and chopped
3/4 lbs fresh mushrooms (and/or mushroom trimmings, broken stems, caps.. etc)
4 garlic cloves, smashed
aromatics: 1 tsp thyme (dried - unless it's not winter), 1 bay leaf, 2 inch rosemary sprig, oregano (I just added it because I have a plant that's actually stayed alive in my kitchen)
sea salt and freshly ground pepper
1 heaping tbsp tomato paste
1 tbsp flour (I used brown rice flour)
2 cups dry red wine (I used a dry white sherry)
1 heaping tbsp dark miso (I used brown rice miso)

1. Heat oil in a big soup pot. Add the veggies, garlic, and aromatics. Cook over medium-high heat stirring occasionally until vegetables are well browned (15-20 min). Season with 1 tsp salt and a little pepper.
2. Stir in tomato paste, flour, and wine. Raise heat and boil for 2 minutes, vigorously scraping the bottom of the pot to work in the juices. Then add the 6 cups of water, bring to a boil, lower the heat, and simmer, covered for 45 mintues.
3. Strain. You should have 1 quart. At this point, you can use it, refrigerate it for up to 1 week, or freeze it.
4. Just before using, mix the miso with a little hot broth, return it to the pan, then heat to nearly boiling (never boil miso).

My guest and I enjoyed this broth with some steamed greens and broccoli. Now you can get creative or just use what you have to make this broth a delicious soup!