**** garlic bread sticks -- made with Kamut flour

I mean, who doesn't like soft chewy garlicky breadsticks? These happened. And they were pretty much a big hit.

equipment needed:

bread mixer or a bowl and spoon, followed by your hands and the counter

measuring spoons

measuring cups

kettle for warm water

silicone mat and baking sheet

oven

1 tsp granulated garlic
1 tbsp dry oregano

2 tsp sea salt

1/2 cup tapioca starch
2 cups kamut flour
1/4 cup corn meal

1 cup warm water
1/4 cup coconut sugar
2 tsp bread yeast

make your dough
roll into thin sticks
let rise on silicone baking mat
brush with water and sprinkle with sea salt
bake at 345 for 15 minutes or so

Herbed Crackers with Sesame

I seem to be on a cracker kick. These are great. Great for me. I don't know about you. Simple, crisp, and good for your gorgeous self. Vegan, gluten free. Grain free. Not sweet. Just a simple little cracker. Perfect texture. Love it.

ingredients:

1/2 cup water


1/2 tsp sea salt
1 tbsp oregano
1 tbsp marjoram


1/4 cup  chia seeds finely ground
1/2 cup sesame seeds, finely ground
1/2 cup ground hemp hearts
1 tsp baking soda
2 cups ground sunflower seeds




directions:

1. combine the ingredients in the order listed
2.
3. roll the dough  in two parts (between 2 sheets of baking parchment) and cut into squares trimming the  edges
4. bake at 345 in a preheated oven for 12 minutes then dehydrate for 2-3 hours at 170
5. cool and break into pieces
6. store in an airtight container

Vegan Sausages, the party version

Once in a while my son asks me to buy sausages. Then he won't eat them. I think they are often either too bland or too spicy. These are a nice balance of flavour with a pleasant, toothsome texture. I made 'em small this time -- like cocktail sausages, I guess. The process is simple, the ingredients are wholesome, and the result packs a vegan protein one-two punch. Not having an actually sausage skin to stuff this into isn't really a problem as the dough will hold its shape nicely. The only fiddly bit is forming the dough into a whole big bunch of small little sausages. Can be cooked ahead then heated up when needed on the day!!

ingredients:


1 cup cooked moong dal (cooked to a porridge)
1 tablespoon coconut oil
1 small onion
2 tbsp sun dried tomato
2 tbsp hemp hearts

2 tbsp sweet potato flour
1  cup vital wheat gluten

3/4 tsp sea salt
 1 tsp cumin
2 tbsp marjoram
1 tsp oregano

1. puree the lentils, water, coconut oil, onion, , nutritional yeast, sea salt, and other seasonings
2. in a separate bowl, stir together the gluten flour and the pureed mixture gently with a spoon
3. shape into sausages
4. steam in a covered casserole for 45 minutes in an 345 oven

Gluten Free Pizza Roll-up -- vegan, grain free, gluten free, dairy free, delicious!!! Fancy!

Our friends are coming for dinner!! One of our friends cannot eat any gluten at all. Nor can she eat cheese. So, while the others enjoy a more traditional pizza, some of us will enjoy this vegan, gluten free, grain free, pizza-esque roll up.

This dish is wildly successful, and super delicious. It was devoured by everyone. My 5 year old prefers it to regular pizza, and every guest that ate some came back for more. Need I say more?

ingredients:

dough:

1 1/2 cups tomato sauce puree

1/2 tsp sea salt

1 tsp oregano

black pepper 

1/4 cup ground flax seeds

1/4 cup ground chia seeds

2 cups almond flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

4 tbsp coconut flour

filling:

cashew vegan ricotta and spinach dip

1 1/2 cups cashews, soaked for 2 hours, drained.
300 g package frozen chopped spinach
1/2 tsp sea salt
2 tbsp nutritional yeast
1/4 tsp nutmeg
black pepper
2 tbsp apple cider vinegar

directions:
puree in the food processor until homogeneous and creamy

sauteed onion:

2 onions sauteed in coconut oil with a pinch of sea salt


directions:
1. roll the dough flat
2. spread with spinach dip
3. sprinkle with well sauteed onion
4. roll up
5. bake for 60 minutes at 345 degrees
6. let cool for a few minutes then cut and serve


and it's fabulous the next day.


A few things:
1. The spinach ricotta mixture can be made a day or two ahead then stored in an airtight container
2. The dough can be made a day or two ahead, then wrapped in parchment and sealed in a ziplock bag.
3. When you roll the dough out, cover it with parchment to keep the dough from sticking to the rolling pin. I roll it out on a silicone baking mat. Do your best to roll it out to the whole dimension of the mat.
4. The trickiest part was rolling up the layers together. Use the mat to help you, because it will move everything in one go and keep it smooth and even. So, use the mat to turn over that first edge and then to keep on easing the roll.
5. Do your best to coax the whole rollup into the middle of a mat for baking, and slide a baking sheet under it before putting it in the oven.
6. The whole thing can be made ahead, then frozen. I froze mine unwrapped on a parchment lined baking sheet, then wrapped it very well once frozen. I then baked it for frozen at 345 for 2 hours. Let cool and set for a while before serving.

Vegetable and Lentil Soup -- vegan, satisfying, delicious dinner

So, here, once again, we are. Crockpot working hard and me resting on my laurels. Papa Ed is coming over tomorrow, and apparently he likes lentil soup. So, I made some. The thing is, the flavour combination in this is extraordinary. It's definitely more than the sum of its parts. Wish I could share it with you. This makes a batch big enough to fill my crockpot. If yours is little, divide the recipe in half. Or make the whole thing and invite someone over to share. So good.

ingredients:

3 tbsp extra virgin unrefined organic coconut oil
2 tbsp finely minced garlic
1 1/2 cups finely chopped onion
2 cups very finely chopped green cabbage

2 cups du puy lentils

2 cups frozen green peas

1/4 cup almond butter
1/4 cup coconut butter

2 cups diced carrots

6 cups diced sweet potatoes

1 cup diced broccoli hearts

4 tsp sea salt
2 tbps oregano
black pepper

9 cups water (I add boiling)

2 tbsp lime juice


directions:

1. layer the ingredients in the order listed, reserving the lime juice
2. cook (I did it on High for 4 hours)
3. turn off and add the lime juice, stirring thoroughly to make sure the coconut butter and almond butter are fully incorporated
4. serve or let the flavour mature and serve the next day
5. I will definitely serve this with homemade rolls or garlic bread. But it would be great with not-bread toast (plain or savoury) as well.

cucumber and tomato salad

4 baby cucumbers

1/2 pint of baby tomatoes

balsamic vinegar

sea salt

black pepper

oregano

directions:

1. thinly slice the cukes

2. quarter the tomatoes

3. toss with balsamic vinegar

4. season with black pepper and sea salt

A twist on the whole Gluten Free Pizza Thang

So, it's pizza for dinner tonight -- yes, we know how to live large on a weekday night. I thought it would be fun to try this twist on our gf pizza recipe of a year ago. So, now it's got some other things going for it. We used a mixture of mozzarella and raw milk parmesan cheese, but you know what you like best. I'm fantasizing about carmelized onions. I think they'll have to find a place on our pizza next time ...

Truthfully, the crust is so flavourful and savoury, however, that just topping it with a slow simmered tomato sauce and the afore-mentioned cheese does the trick.

ingredients:

2 tbsp coconut oil

2 eggs

4 tbsp water

1 tbsp apple cider vinegar

1/2 tsp sea salt

1 tbsp oregano (or other herbs you like would be fine)

black pepper 

1/4 tsp granulated garlic powder

1/4 cup hemp protein flour

1/4 cup ground flax seeds

1/4 cup ground chia seeds

1 cup almond flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

3 tbsp coconut flour

directions:

preheat the oven to 345

1. melt the coconut oil in warmed water

2. add the vinegar, and making sure it's not hot anymore, add the egg and combine well

3. add the sea salt, pepper, and herb of your choice

4. add the flax and chia

5. add the almond flour and baking soda

6. add the coconut flour, and mix well

7. mix until the ingredients have formed a smooth dough

8. roll the dough into whatever size pizzas you want, and top with your favourite ingredients

9. bake at 345. The time will vary depending on the size and thickness you choose

I did as thin as I could press 'em using my hands (slightly damp) and cooked them until they were crisped and the cheese was nicely browned in places. Around 35 or 40 minutes. Worth the wait ... And reheats really well in the oven for left-overs if you do a big enough batch.

Rustic Vegetable Soup -- Some old friends come to visit -- vegan, gluten free, and good for you

We've moved fully back into the crockpot soups now that it's autumn. They allow me to very quickly put together a fairly big quantity of food that looks after itself all day, and then we have soup or stew for dinner that day and a few days. And it's pleasant and warming to have the crockpot going.

With just 30 minutes until I had to leave the house, I threw this together this morning. It's a simple soup with the simple taste of herbs and vegetables. We all like it alot. A whole lot. 

ingredients:

1/4 cup extra virgin coconut oil

1 cup finely chopped onion

2 cups coarsely chopped carrot

2 cups asian sweet potato -- mixed purple and white

3 cups chickpeas, already cooked

2 cups coarsely chopped celery

10 cups water

4 tsp sea salt

2 tbps marjoram

1 tbsp oregano

1 tsp cumin

500 g broccoli florets at end (5 cups, cut into bite sized pieces)

directions:

1. turn the crockpot on to high and set it for 6 hours

2. add the ingredients in the order listed, but don't put in the broccoli

3. When the soup is about 1 hour from being done, add the broccoli, and finish cooking

4. serve with lots of love and possibly some fresh bread. 

We ate ours with leftover green onion pancakes (V 2.0), and chased it with fabulous vanilla honey cake.

Simmered Tomato Sauce -- A hearty, sweet sauce for all your sauce needs

The sauce I make is typically a sauce of minced garlic, chopped onion, and diced tomato, with some herbs thrown in for good measure. When the tomatoes are sweet, this sauce is sweet. When the tomatoes are sour, this sauce is more sour. This sauce is cooked until the tomatoes break down a little, but it's not a long cooking sauce, and it has the fresh taste of its components. 

Today, I wanted to make lasagne, and I wanted a sauce that was a little more grounded, a little more well rounded, a little more ... substantial.  I accomplished this by the addition of carrot to my sauce, and a rather extended low temperature cooking time. Yep, I simmered this sauce for 2 hours. The result is a reduced sauce, robust, full bodied, a little sweet from the carrots, and bold enough to hold its own, but mellow enough to soften all the edges and please all palates.

I pureed it after cooking (using an immersion blender -- such a great kitchen tool) to make a smooth sauce, which suited my purposes.

I'm of the opinion, when making sauce: go big or go home.  What I mean is, you might as well make as much as your pot will hold, because it freezes beautifully in glass jars, and then you have some ready the next time you need it -- for a quickie dinner when you're pressed for time, or for whatever meal you've lovingly planned -- and it's one thing less you'll have to do then. In harvest season, I will buy as many tomatoes as I can carry, and use every pot in the house. There's no point in doing that now, because the tomatoes are neither local nor cheap (but Loblaws now carries organic romas in pound packages, which is great), but because of the long cooking time of this sauce, it's a great idea to make more than just your needs for the day.

The following recipe, after cooking for 2 hours, made 2 L (8 cups), which I sadly used all at once because I made an extra lasagne for the freezer. 

ingredients:

1/4 cup extra virgin coconut oil

1/4 cup garlic, finely minced

3 cups onion, finely chopped

2 cups carrots, finely chopped

5 lbs roma tomatoes, diced (about 10 cups)

2 tbsp sea salt

2 tbsp marjoram

1 tbsp oregano

black pepper

directions:

1. saute the garlic, onion, and carrot in a covered saute pan with 1 tbsp sea salt until well sweated and translucent. Use low heat.

2. add the tomatoes, herbs, pepper, and rest of sea salt, and stir

3. cook on low heat (just enough for a low simmer) for 2 hours or so, until the sauce has achieved lift-off

4. use chunky, or puree. Use now, or freeze for later. If you freeze it, make sure you leave a little space at the top of the jar for expansion. It would be a shame to break the jars after all your hard work chopping.

This sauce really was perfect in the lasagne. I think it would be really nice with the addition -- either in the sauce or in the lasagne itself -- of a full-bodied mushroom. Alas, my spouse is not only not a mushroom lover, he is a mushroom hater.  I look forward to trying this sauce again for pizza -- ooh, with thinly sliced king mushrooms -- or portobelli. Yum.

Chili Con Broccoli -- Continuing Crockpot Adventures

Oops, I just realized that athough I had posted the cornmeal polenta that I made as a side for this dish -- actually, I sliced it and used it as a base, and put the chili on top -- yum -- I neglected to post this recipe. It was sitting there, languishing in my 'drafts' section. Sorry!

It's quite zesty and bright in its flavours -- not as mellow as the chickpea stew from a week or two ago. However, we enjoyed it very much, and the mellowness of the polenta was an excellent foil for these flavours.

ingredients:

2 tbsp extra virgin coconut oil

1 onion finely chopped -- about 1/2 cup

1 tbsp finely minced garlic

3/4 cup diced carrot

1/2 cup diced celery

1 1/2 cups cooked kidney beans

5 or 6 cups diced organic roma tomatoes -- 1 1/2 or 2 lbs

1 tbsp sea salt
1 tbsp marjoram
1 tsp mesquite powder
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp oregano
1/4 tsp basil
black pepper

1 1/2 cup cubed sweet potato

2 cups broccoli florets (either lightly steamed or defrosted from frozen) (250 g)


directions:

1. turn your crockpot on to High, and set the timer for 6 hours, (if you have that long -- a longer cooking time will mellow and meld the flavours more, and improve the dish)
2. layer as follows:
a) coconut oil
b) garlic
c) onion
d) celery
e) carrot
f) tomato
g) 1/2 of salt, pepper, herbs, mesquite etc
h) kidney beans
i) sweet potato and rest of salt
3. after the cooking has finished, turn off the heat and stir in the  broccoli florets.

Typical of tomato based dishes, this tastes great the next day. If you like you can serve it with polenta, quinoa, bagels, bread, nothing, or whatever else strikes your fancy.

My three year old enjoyed this very much, and for him I cut polenta into small cubes and ladled the stew on top. It was a big hit.

Herb, Poppy Seed, and Sesame Seed Crackers -- gluten free, sugar free, dairy free savoury snack

Spicy crackers, seaweed cracker, zesty, salty, savoury snacks. I decided it was time to go a little plain. Sometimes people just want something nibbly that isn't zesty, intense, or like a party in their mouth. So, here is a laid-back option: the herbed poppy seed and sesame seed cracker. Not too herbal, not too seedy. Just a nice, light, crisp bite. Just right with a little cheese, or perhaps a dollop of hummus.


ingredients:

1/4 cup coconut butter
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp boiling water
1 organic egg (xl)

1/4 cup flax meal
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 tbsp sesame seeds
1 tbsp poppy seeds
1 tbsp oregano
black pepper
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 cups almond meal


directions:

preheat oven to 300

1. melt the coconut butter with the boiling water
2. mix in the vinegar
3. add the egg once it is not too hot
4. add the flax meal
5. add the sea salt, poppy seeds, sesame seeds, oregano, and black pepper
6. stir in the baking soda
7. finally, add the almond meal
8. roll out the dough in 2 parts between 2 pieces of parchment (or using a silicone mat as your base layer)
9. score the flattened dough into squares, and transfer the whole thing to a baking sheet
10. bake at 345 for 25 minutes (swapping the 2 trays halfway through)
11. turn off the oven, and allow the crackers to remain in the cooling oven for at least 30 minutes
12. once fully cooled, store the crackers in an airtight container

Herbed Poppy Seed Biscuits -- Gluten free, high in protein, and tasty

These little tasty morsels can be rolled into balls and pressed flat into biscuit form, or rolled flat between sheets of parchment with a rolling pin, and cut into squares. I personally prefer the biscuit form having tried both. The biscuits are tender, flaky, and delicate.

These have no grain flour, and are made up entirely of seeds, nut flour, and coconut flour. The are a great snack, and go well with our chickpea, tomato, and vegetable soup. They are dairy and gluten free, and contain no sugar or other sweeteners. In addition, chia seed helps keep blood sugar levels stable.

ingredients:

2 tbsp coconut oil

1 egg

4 tbsp water

1 tbsp apple cider vinegar

3/4 tsp sea salt

1 tbsp oregano (or other herbs you like would be fine)

black pepper 

1/4 cup ground flax seeds

1/4 cup ground chia seeds

1 tbsp poppy seeds

1 cup almond flour

1/4 tsp baking soda

2 tbsp coconut flour

directions:

preheat the oven to 345

1. melt the coconut oil in warmed water

2. add the vinegar, and making sure it's not hot anymore, add the egg and combine well

3. add the sea salt, pepper, and herb of your choice

4. add the flax, chia, and poppy seeds.

5. add the almond flour and baking soda

6. add the coconut flour, and mix well

7. after the dough has formed into a smooth mass, it is ready.

8. roll the dough into small balls and flatten them onto a lined baking sheet

9. bake at 345 for 20 minutes.

makes one baking sheet full of biscuits

yum :)

P.S. I think that with just a modicum of modification, this recipe will make a divine gluten free pizza dough ... I'll try it and let you know.