Nutty Mandarin Quinoa Salad

Just make it. That's all I have to say. My work is done here. 

Ingredients:

• 2 cups quinoa, dried
• 1 cup golden raisins
• 1 cup peanuts, toasted
• 1 can mandarin oranges, cut in half
• 3 tablespoons mint leaves, chopped
• a dash of toasted sesame oil
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• salt to taste

Cook your quinoa in 4 cups boiling water, and turn down to a low simmer, cover. When all water has been absorbed, transfer quinoa to a cookie sheet and spread out until fully cooled. Toast your peanuts lightly in a frying pan and let cool as well. 

Add all your ingredients together in a large mixing bowl and toss lightly. Add some mandarin orange juice and sesame seeds if you like. Enjoy, it won't last long!

Thom Kha Gai Soup, aka. Thai Curry Coconut Soup With Shrimp

I can't get enough of this soup. It's really the best thing when the weather starts to get cold and damp. Play with the spice a bit,to your liking. This is an adaptation form My Thai Granmother's Cookbook, a must have. Don't overdoo your shrimp! 

Ingredients: 

• 3 tablespoons fish sauce
• 3 tablespoons lime juice
• 2 tablespoons thai red curry paste
• 1/4 teaspoon coconut sugar
• 2 cups chicken or veggie stock
• 1 cup unsweetened thai coconut milk
• 5 thin slices fresh ginger root (or 2 tsp ginger powder)
• 2 stalks fresh lemongrass, using white parts only, chopped into 2-inch pieces
• 2 bruised and torn kaffir lime leaves
• 8 torn mint leaves
• 1 cup grape tomatoes, halved
• 1 cup sliced mushrooms
• 1 cup chopped carrots
• 1/2 cup frozen peas
• 1/3 cup sliced onion
• 12 medium shrimp, peeled, deveined with tails intact
• 2 tablespoons chopped green onions
• 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
• 1 teaspoon finely chopped Thai red chilies (optional)

First combine the first 4 ingredients in a cup and mix.  Combine stock, coconut milk, ginger root, lemon grass, and limes leaves and let simmer for 5 minutes until flavored. throw in mint leaves. Add veggies and curry mix and boil low for 6-7 minutes or until veggies are almost tender. 

Next, add in shrimp and boil for 1 minute. Take out so they don't overcook. Take out lemongrass, add the rest of ingredients and add shrimp back in when cool enough. 

Gluten-Free Vegan Pumpkin Pie- easy pumpkin pie recipe

Amazing pie, I swear! And a great crust. On my search for the perfect gluten-free crust, I found Gluten Free Girl's slightly involved but worth it pie crust. A flaky crust the hold together well and is highly nutritious. Here's my adaptation using no gums and adding chia and flax seeds. I made a triple batch, made two pies, and froze the third for a impromptu pie.  

A note for those with celiacs disease. If you absolutely need to make sure there is no cross contamination of your oat flour, use one like Bob's Red Mill oat flour. While visiting their factory, I was very impressed at the lengths they go to insure that their gluten-free products are truly free. And I just like Bob. After our tour, we found him in the lobby playing piano to his staff during a break.

Crust: 

• 1 cup almonds 
• 2/3 cup oat flour 
• 2/3 cup tapioca flour
• 1/2 cup teff flour
• 1/2 cup potato starch
• 1/4 cup sweet rice flour
• 3 tsp flax seeds
• 2 tsp chia seeds
• 1 tbs cold water
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt                                                                                                                
• 5 tbs cold butter (sub with all coconut oil if you want totally vegan)
• 4 tbs cold coconut oil 
• 6 to 8 tbs ice-cold water

Filling: 

• 1 can pumpkin puree 
• 1 can coconut milk
• 1 egg (or 1 tab flax seeds ground with 1 tbs water until frothy if needing to be more vegan!)
• 1/2 cup maple syrup
• 1/2 cup raw honey
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp ground cloves
• 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp ground cardamon

Process almonds into a fine meal, a powder if you can. Combine all dry ingredients in medium bowl. 

Back to our recipe, use a really good food processor, or better yet, a coffee grinder to grind seeds up to a powder. Mix with cold water in a cup. After frothing occurs, add mixture to flour mixture. 

Next, cut in cold butter and coconut oil. Use your hands towards the end until you get a fine corn meal texture. Add water until you get a dough with a consistency that is moist, but not tacky. Roll up your dough ball and when you push a finger in, it should come out clean. The ball should not fall apart in flakes when you're working it. Now put in fridge for 15 minutes. 

Roll out, and roll out thin if you can onto parchment paper. Flip into pie plate and peel away paper. No mess, thank you. Piece together any part that tears and crimp edges. 

Now for the filling. Just combine all ingredients and mix with a hand mixer until smooth. Pour into pie shell and bake for 55 minutes. Pie should be slightly jiggly, but sill firm enough. Put in fridge overnight and it help it firm up a bit. Pie is a bit less firm than most, but oh so good! Pies can be frozen as well. Enjoy!

Gluten-Free Walnut Brownies

Butter, chocolate, walnuts, sugar, what could be better? And oh yes, healthy too. Pretty healthy.

I've stayed away form brownies for awhile because I didn't want to be disappointed by the gluten-free aspect. Now, I can enjoy again. Oh my, you have to try these. 

Ingredients:

• 1 cup almonds 
• 2 cup chocolate chips
• 2/3 cup brown rice flour
• 12 tablespoons coconut oil (vegan) or butter (cut up)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup coconut sugar (or other sweetener of choice)
• 6 drops stevia extract
• 2-3 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 4 eggs (to replace eggs, use 1 tbs ground flax seed mixed with 3 tbs water per egg) 
• 2 tbs ground flax/chia seed mix mixed with 2 tbs water (optional)
• 1/2 cup walnuts or other fave nut

A note about using the flax/chia mix. If you haven't yet read up on my new discovery, it's time to try it out. Ground flax seeds mixed with ground chia seeds when combined with water create a gluten-like substance that can be a great substitute for xanthan gum. I've stopped using xanthan gum because it can often cause digestive issues and so I've traded it in for this mix. It's optional in this recipe, but it makes the brownies hold together better. 

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line a 8 x 8 square cake pan with parchment paper. 

Place chocolate chips in oven until melted, but not burnt. 

While chips are melting, put almonds in a food processor and grind to a meal or just use almond meal. 

I use fresh almonds because the good fats in them are preserved better than if in meal form previously. 

Mix almond meal with rice flour and salt in a bowl. 

Take melted chips out of oven to cool off a bit. 

In a large bowl, using a pastry cutter, a fork, or your fingers, combine butter and sugar until it looks like cornmeal. 

Now ad in melted chocolate chips and mix in. 

Next mix eggs (or fax mix if using), flax/chia mix, stevia, and vanilla in a separate bowl and add to butter mixture. Mix well. 

Now add flour mixture to wet mixture and mix until just combined. 

Add nuts and fold in. 

Bake for about 60 minutes. I know, you're probably sick of my vague timing, but keep an eye on it and use a toothpick to tell when it's done (when it comes out clean).  I would bake a double bath next time, these went oh so fast! Enjoy your gluten-free brownies!

Variation! 

Try adding 1/2 cup mixed pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds in at end. Grind them in a food processor or coffee grinder until they are not yet a fine powder, but won't be too noticed by those picky fingers. Results are still very good, but a but bit denser. Great nutty taste and increases the essential fatty acids! 

The Best Gluten-Free Quinoa Cookies

I had my doubts, but it's true you can make really good cookies and have them be healthy. Quinoa is the only grain that is a whole protein and has tons of vitamins and minerals. It's also so easy to cook...about 10 minutes and no fuss.

I added both sugar and dates to these cookies for some variety and it still keeps the glycemic index down a bit.

Here's the good stuff:

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups Bob's Red Mill GF flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, room temperature or melted
• 1/2 cup coconut sugar (or other sweetener)
• 12 pitted dates
• 2 eggs (or 2 tablespoons flax seed processed with 2 tablespoons water, mix until frothy)
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup cooked quinoa, cooled
• 1 cup rolled oats
• 1 cup dried cranberries or cherries
• 1/2 cup walnut pieces or other favorite nut

Preparation

Preheat oven to 375°. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. 

Mix flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda in a medium bowl. 

Using a food processor, mix butter, sugar, and dates until it becomes a paste. 

Add eggs and extracts and mix until fluffy.

Remove from processor and transfer to a large bowl. 

Mix in flour mixture, 1/2 cup at a time. 

Then, add quinoa, oats, cranberries, and nuts. 

Spoon dough in 2-tablespoon portions onto prepared sheets.

Bake cookies until golden, approximately 30 minutes. Timing is tricky with gluten free baking, so just check on them until they are a nice golden brown-blondish. 

Transfer cookies to a wire rack and let cool.
These can be frozen for up to 1 month.

Pickle Time

Pickling made easy. This year we went for the organic pickles. Pickling takes time and good oven mitts, but it's sure worth the effort. Pickled cukes are amazing and you can make tons of variations on our canning recipe below. There are lots of pickle recipes out there but here's our favorite:

How to pickle: 

1. Buy your pickles straight from the farm if you can, if not try the farmers market, if not try to get the freshest store bought pickles possible. 
2. Soak in an ice water bath for 3 hours to overnight. (Makes crisper pickles)
3. Run jars through dishwasher or boil-sanitize. 
4. Prepare your rack and canning tongs or Ball Canning Basket (my new favorite canning tool! So much easier.)
5. Boil lids and screw tops in basket for a few minutes. I used Tatter canning lids this time and love them. The are BPA free and reusable unlike metal lids. A bit more tricky to use, but easy if you follow instructions well. 
6. Put large canning pot with enough space with 2 jars submerged and bring to a boil.
7. Begin brine on a large pot. For 12 quarts of pickles, appoximately 12 lbs of pickles, we used the recipe below:
• 18 cups filtered water
• 6 cups apple cider vinegar
• 1/2 cup salt
• a handful of peppercorns and mustard seed
• a whole bunch of dill (about 2-3 seed heads per jar)
• 12 bay leaves
8. Bring brine to a boil and turn off after a few minutes.
9. Use 2-3 grape leaves in the bottom of each jar or a 1/4 tsp of Pickle Crisp Granules. 
10. Add 2-4 pealed garlic cloves to each jar.
11. Add any other herbs (I added lavender to the jar below and who knew it was going to taste so good!) 
12. Take pickles out of bath and rinse again to clean as you pack them into the jars as tight as possible. 
13. Then ladle brine into jars leaving 1/2 inch of room at top. 
14. Wipe rims clean and place lids on. Do not secure tightly, leave them a bit loose to let air escape when in pot.
15. If using basket, put 2 jars in at a time. Kind of a pain in the ass, but it's all that will fit. Otherwise place a few jars on your rack and let it do it's business for about 15 minutes. Water has to cover tops by a few inches! Otherwise air won't be able to escape and vacume won't be created. 
16. Take jars out and if you have to move them, be very careful and just let them sit there until they are cooled. If you mess with them too much, the seal could get disturbed. 
17. After processing all the jars, just let them sit and cool. When they are done, take screw caps off and test seal by pushing down on the top to see if it gives at all (for metal lids) or tapping a bit on the side of the lid to see if it moves (if using Tatter lids). 
18. If you have a tight seal, it is time to screw the caps down (or not, if you choose) and put up on a shelf where you can admire them! 
19. Your pickles will be ready to eat in a week, but are best after 3 weeks and good up until a year. 

Below were last years, very colorful! The above recipe is just for your classic dill pickle, nothing so fancy. 

Gluten-Free Blueberry Cake

A great little snack. Here is a gluten-free variation of The Country Cook's version. And yes, it's been great as a breakfast treat. I made a double recipe, cut, and wrapped up half to freeze. I was not sure what flour mixture to use, but I've come to love an arrowroot and brown rice flour mix. If you'd like to learn more about mixing your own gluten-free flour mixes check out Gluten-Free Girl's posting. She breaks I all down for us novices. Now let's get down to business. 

Ingredients: 

• 1/2 cup butter
• 2 tsp orange or lemon zest
• 1/2 cup coconut sugar
• 1/2 cup agave
• 1 egg
• 2 tsp GF vanilla extract
• 2/3 cup arrowroot 
• 1&1/4 cup brown rice flour
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 2 cups blueberries
• 1/2 cup rice milk (cow milk, almond, hemp, or oat milks all work as well)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. I prefer to use parchment paper and lined a 9X9 baking dish. You can also butter the dish instead. 
2. I melted the butter because I did not have softened butter and it worked well. Add sugar, vanilla, and agave and beat with a mixer. 
3. Mix dry ingredients in separate bowl. 
4. Save 1/4 cup flour flour blueberries.
5. Slowly add in flour and milk alternating until all combined. 
6. Toss blueberries in flour and then add to batter. 
7. Bake for 60-80 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. (Gluten-free baking takes a really long time, but set a timer. I've forgotten a few times and it really sucks when you're expecting a tasty treat!)