Sweet Potato school muffins -- nut free, gluten free, sugar free, yummy

In the interest of variety, I've come up with yet another perky little lunch  muffin. Try it. It's great.

ingredients:

2 cups water
1/4 cup extra virgin coconut oil
1 tbsp lemon juice

4 eggs

1 tsp sea salt
1 tbsp ceylon cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp korintje cinnamon
1 tsp saigon cinnamon
1 tbsp ground vanilla bean

1 cup shredded coconut, ground
1/2 cup ground flax meal
1/4 cup ground chia
1/2 cup ground sunflower seeds
1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 cup coconut flour

2 cups shredded sweet potato
1 cup organic raisins

directions:

preheat the oven to 345

1. combine  coconut oil and warm water

2. add the lemon juice, sea salt, vanilla, cinnamon, and ginger

3. stir in the  chia seeds, flax meal, shredded coconut, sunflower seeds, baking soda, and coconut flour
4. add the eggs and mix well

5. stir in the shredded sweet potato and raisins, and mix thoroughly

5. scoop the batter into prepare muffin cups

6. bake at 345 for 50 minutes

Lemon Date Muffins -- the usual gf, sf, yummy, you get the drill

I like the brightness of the lemon with the sweetness of the date. I find these muffins to be a nice little good morning breakfast shout out. If I weren't using juice from a bottle, I'd definitely add a little zest of the lemon to get things even more exciting. But as they stand: terrific!

1 1/2 cups warm water
1/4 cup coconut oil
1/2 cup lemon juice

4 eggs

1/2 (- 3/4) tsp sea salt
1 tsp ground vanilla
1 tsp ceylon cinnamon
black pepper

1/2 cup flax meal
1/4 cup hemp seeds
1 cup shredded coconut
2 cups almond flour

1/2 tsp baking soda


1 cup chopped honey dates (pitted)


directions:

1. preheat the oven to 345
2. combine the warm water and coconut oil
3. add the lemon juice and beaten eggs
4. stir in the sea salt, vanilla, and cinnamon
5. add the flax meal, hemp seeds, shredded coconut, and almond flour. Add the baking soda
6. stir in the chopped dates
7. scoop the mixture into 24 prepared muffin cups and bake at 345 for 30 minutes
8. bake until they spring back when lightly poked
9. cool in the cups for 5 minutes or more before removing to a wire rack.
10. store in the fridge in an airtight container when completely cool.

lemon coconut milk ice cream -- dairy free and delicious

There are two advantages to making a lemon ice cream with coconut milk. One is that those who are intolerant of dairy can still enjoy it. the other is that the lemon juice won't make the coconut milk curdle. Win win!! And this ice cream was definitely a win.

ingredients

2 cans coconut milk (total 800 ml)
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/2 cup honey
generous pinch of salt
black pepper

lemon zest from one lemon

this will make just over 1 L of ice cream


directions:

1. combine the above ingredients. I use an immersion blender
2. chill
3. freeze in your ice cream freezer according to the manufacturers

Lemon Date Squares -- the whole foods, lemony, vegan, delicious, low sugar version.

Well, I was trying to figure out what would make an elegant dessert for mother's day.  One that would make all the moms happy. Chocolate cake? Too heavy for lunch. Coffee cake? Too prosaic. Well, inspired by an article in the Globe and Mail of all places, I came up with this lemony date square, to be served with lemon coconut milk ice cream.  Yes, I am amazing. Bow down. Just kidding. But this simple and elegant dessert rocks. Seriously. But only if you like date squares. Which we do.

ingredients:


date filling:

2½ cups honey dates, pitted and chopped
2 cup water
¼ cup lemon juice
1 tbsp ground  vanilla
pinch sea salt
a little black pepper

ingredients:

crust:

1 cup shredded coconut

2 cups almond flour

1 tsp ceylon cinnamon

1/2 tsp sea salt
(hey if you're like me and you are a fiend for black pepper you can add some to this too)
1 tsp ground vanilla

1/4 cup extra virgin coconut oil

1/4 cup coconut sugar

2 tbsp lemon juice

directions:

crust:

1. combine the ingredients for the crust. Use a fork. Add the liquid last after everything else has been successfully mixed together

2. in a greased glass 8 x 11 pan: line with parchment and firmly press 2/3 - 3/4 of the mixture, reserving 1/4 - 1/3 as topping

directions:

date filling:

1. combine the chopped dates, lemon juice, vanilla, sea salt, black pepper and water in a pot and simmer for 5 minutes or until the dates are nice and soft and melty.

directions:

combining the two:

preheat the oven to 300

2. evenly spread the date mixture onto the pressed in crust from above

3. sprinkle the date mixture with the crumbly remains of the crust ingredients

4. bake at 300 for 60 minutes

parchment lined and greased 2L baking dish

the crust pressed in

date filling spread on the crust

remaining crust ingredients crumbled on top

after baking

plated with lemon coconut milk ice cream

Banana Muffins -- Gluten-free, moist, and very banana-y

We didn't manage to get through the bananas from our organic box before they were far too ripe for even the staunchest banana eaters in our house to tackle them. Over ripe bananas are the harbinger of banana muffins around here, so I knew the time had come for me to put our politically correct fruit to the test and come up with a gluten-free treat.

You may recall from my banana pecan muffin recipe that I have a predilection for lightly mashed bananas instead of pureed bananas. Now, if you are operating from frozen, you'll pretty much need to go with the puree or the utter mash. However, if you are using bananas that are "flecked with brown and have a golden hue" as the old Chiquita song goes (you know, when the skin has become super thin, and they are very very sweet?), you can lightly mash them to a chunky consistency using a dinner fork. The difference for me is the resulting texture of the finished muffin. A lightly mashed banana results in a lighter, fluffier muffin in my experience. As I recall the banana cake of my childhood, I can still feel it like a rock in my stomach ... However, I have also cooked with bananas from frozen, because it may not always be the right time to bake just because your bananas' biological clock has spoken.

Thanks to the coconut flour in these muffins, they will not be dry. In fact, they will stay wonderfully moist for days if not weeks. The coconut sugar was sort of an after-thought, not motivated by the need for sweetness so much as a desire to add to the depth of flavour. Coconut sugar adds a little darkness, the lemon juice a little brightness, the banana sort of a middle tone. Coconut flour has a bit of a stultifying effect on flavours, so the flavour balancing act is even more important than usual (and it's always very important). I might try a tbsp of carob powder next time, perhaps instead of the coconut sugar, but the flavour of these muffins is very pleasant the way they are, and will go over well with banana lovers. My three year old gives them the pre-schooler seal of approval -- which basically means stuffing them into his mouth and making as much of a mess as possible, then asking for more while his mouth is still full.


ingredients:

1/4 cup extra virgin coconut oil
1 cup warm water
2 tbsp lemon juice
2 xl eggs, lightly beaten
2 cups lightly mashed bananas (about 4)
1/4 cup coconut sugar (sort of optional)

2 tsp ground vanilla bean (or 1 tbsp vanilla extract)
2 tsp ceylon cinnamon
1 tsp regular ground cinnamon
3/4 tsp sea salt
a little freshly ground black pepper

1 1/2 cups almond flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup coconut flour

optional -- some good quality chocolate morsels for the chocolate monkey lover ...


directions:

preheat the oven to 345

1. combine the warm water and coconut oil to melt the coconut oil
2. add the lemon juice and mashed banana
3. add the egg and coconut sugar
4. add the vanilla and cinnamon
5. add the salt and pepper
6. add the almond flour then the baking soda
7. finally add the coconut flour
8. if using, throw in 1/2 - 3/4 cup of chocolate morsels
9. scoop into 24 lined prepare baking cups
10. bake at 345 for 45 minutes

Green Sesame Noodles with Bok Choy Saute

green sesame noodles with bok choy saute

We received another organic bin this week, and in it was baby bok choy. Really lovely fresh baby bok choy. I thought green noodles would make a wholesome backdrop to a saute of baby bok choy, perhaps sauced with something in the miso honey and ginger family ...

I wanted to see what would happen if I added chia seeds to my standard green noodle recipe. And then tossed them with coconut oil and toasted sesame seeds after cooking. Here's the amended noodle recipe, and the saute recipe follows.

green sesame chia noodles:

ingredients:

150 g frozen organic spinach, defrosted

1 organic egg (xl or l)

1/2 cup almond flour

1 tsp sea salt

1/4 chia seeds

1 1/2 cups  kamut flour

directions:

1. in a food processor, puree the defrosted spinach. If you are using fresh spinach, let me know how it turns out.

2. add the egg and combine

3. add the sea salt, chia seeds, and almond meal, and combine

4. add 1 1/2 cups kamut flour, and pulse to combine.

5. gather the dough into a ball, flatten, wrap, and set aside to 'rest'.

6. divide the dough into 4 parts

7. roll each part on a mat sprinkled with kamut flour, using a rolling pin sprinkled with kamut flour.

8. if the dough is too sticky, add more kamut flour

9. roll the dough out until it is nice and thin

10. make sure the surface is well sprinkled with kamut flour, and roll it up 

11. set the roll aside and repeat with the other portions of dough

12. once all the portions of dough have been rolled up, cut them into spirals using a sharp chef's knife or bread knife (I prefer a bread knife because the serrated blade makes this task easier)

13. uncoil the spirals and lay them out

14. put the noodles in boiling water spiked with a little oil, and cook for 2 minutes.

15. drain the noodles, and toss with coconut oil and a couple of table spoons of toasted sesame seeds

Ready to roll

Green noodle dough with chia seeds. What country does this look like?

A spiral

Three rolled up portions of dough

Cutting them efficiently with a serrated blade

Spirals before they are unrolled

the noodle spirals, after cutting, before unravelling

unravelling the noodle spirals

boiled for 2 minutes, and tossed with coconut oil, a pinch of sea salt, and toasted sesame seeds

bok choy saute:

ingredients:

2 lbs baby bok  choy, cleaned and cut into bite sized pieces
2 cups carrots, cut into medallions then sticks
1 celery rib, cut on the diagonal, then into strips
1 cup raw almonds
2 tbsp extra virgin coconut oil
1 or 2 tbsp finely minced fresh ginger

up to 1 tsp sea salt

2 tbsp miso paste
1 tbsp honey
1 or 2 tbsp lemon juice


directions:

1. heat the coconut oil in a large saute pan, and add the almonds, carrots, celery, and ginger, with a little sea salt. Cook until happy.
2. add the baby bok choy and a little sea salt, and stir
3. mix the miso, honey, lemon juice in a small bowl
4. add the miso paste to the vegetables, and combine well
5. serve on a bed of sesame tossed green noodles


Now, if you want to orchestrate the making of this meal in a way that fits into your busy life, you can do it in stages:

1. make the dough, and wrap it and put it in the fridge. The dough can easily be made a day ahead.
2. at your leisure, roll out the dough in 4 parts, roll up the dough, and slice. Put in an airtight container, and put it back in fridge
3. at your leisure, clean and cut the carrots and celery, and store in an airtight container.
4. Before cooking, measure out your ingredients into 'junbi' bowls. 'Junbi' is the Japanese word for 'preparation'. A student of mine who was an amateur gourmet cook used to say to me 'Ryori wa junbi desu', which means 'Cooking is all in the preparation'.
5. You can actually saute up your almonds, carrots, celery, and ginger earlier, and leave 'em in the pan on the stove.
6. Bring water to a boil at the same time as the carrots and almonds are done cooking, and hot.
7. Add the bok choy and do your thing with it, and then toss in the sauce. When that is all ready, set it aside, and cook your noodles. They only need 2 minutes. When the noodles are done, drain 'em, and toss  'em with a little coconut oil and sesame seeds. Put a little bed of noodles in a bowl, and top with the vege stir-fry. Easy-peasy!

ready to top the noodles

ta-da!

:)

Knock your socks off Lemon Cakes -- Nut free, Dairy free, Cane Sugar free

I needed something that had no nuts in it, because sometimes people walk into my nut-filled world of cooking who are nut intolerant, sensitive, or allergic. I decided to harness the power of lemon for these little cakes. The tricky thing about lemon is to manage to layer the flavours, so that the bright notes of lemony and sweet balance each other, and are also supported by an infrastructure of flavours so that the over all taste isn't just one note, but is a fully rounded flavour that harmonizes with and celebrates the lemon, showing it off, bringing out the best in it, and making it fully structured enough to stand fully on its own. That is how my brain works when it comes to cooking. You probably wish I hadn't just given you that little insight.

Anyway, here is my recipe for intensely lemony Lemon Cakes.

ingredients:

3/4 cups freshly squeeze organic lemon juice
1 1/4 cup hot water
1/4 cup coconut oil
1/2 cup coconut sugar
1/2 cup coconut nectar
2 organic eggs, xl
2 tbsp xylitol (optional)

1/2 tsp ground vanilla
1/2 tsp ceylon cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 1/2 cup kamut pastry flour

2 tbsp zest of organic lemons

extra zest and coconut sugar for sprinkling on top


directions:

preheat the oven to 345

1. zest your lemons
2. squeeze enough lemons to get approx 3/4 cup lemon juice
3. add enough hot water to the lemon juice to get 2 cups of liquid
4. add the coconut oil and let it melt
5. add the coconut nectar, coconut sugar, and xylitol
6. add the cinnamon, ginger, vanilla, and sea salt
7. add the baking soda
8. add the kamut flour
9. pour the batter into prepared muffin cups
10. top the cakes with a sprinkling of lemon zest and coconut sugar
11. bake at 345 for 30 minutes

Yellow Cookies -- Saffron and Lemon -- Gluten free, sugar free, dairy free

When I asked my son what kind of cookies we should make, he responded: "Yellow". My son really likes the colour yellow. Hot pick is also a big winner with him. I'm just glad he didn't ask for pink cookies, because I don't have anything that would have worked for pink.

I decided to make saffron and lemon cookies, using only coconut flour. I'm trying to extricate myself from my exclusive reliance on nut flours, because I do have some friends who are nut sensitive, intolerant, or allergic, and I'd like to have a couple of recipes in my arsenal that would work when they come to call.

These cookies were a big hit with my son, and with his 3 year old friend. I thought they needed more lemon juice personally, and a little more saffron.

ingredients:

1/4 cup extra virgin coconut oil

1/2 cup coconut nectar

1/4 cup + 2 tbsp water (heated to boiling)

1/4 cup + 2 tbsp lemon juice

2 organic eggs

1/4 to 1/2 tsp saffron

1/4 cup finely ground chia seeds

3/8 to 1/2 tsp sea salt

1/4 tsp baking soda

1 cup coconut flour

optionally, add 2 tsp of lemon zest before the coconut flour

directions:

preheat the oven to 345

1. pour hot water over the coconut oil in a boil

2. add the saffron threads, and allow to soak for 10 minutes

3. add the lemon juice and coconut nectar, and (optionally) puree with a stick blender to make the saffron bits smaller

4. add the eggs when sufficiently cool

5. mix in the chia meal and sea salt

6. stir in the baking soda (and then the lemon zest)

7. lastly, add the coconut flour

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

9. bake at 345 degrees for 20 or 25 minutes

10. store in the fridge in an airtight container, once cool

11. makes on baking sheet full of cookies

Hot Lemon and Ginger -- A great drink for a cold day or for a cold

I mentioned this beverage in my post on ginger, but I'll lay the recipe out for you here, because I like it that much. Ginger is a great digestive, can help settle nausea, has quite potent anti-fungal, anti-viral, and anti-microbial properties, and is warming and soothing. I love this drink on a cold day because it makes me feel warm for a long time afterward, more than just the effect of drinking a hot tea. I do go a little over-board with the ginger, but it's easy enough to add more water if it's too much for you.

ingredients:

1 tbsp ginger root, freshly grated (some people peel it but I confess I'm lazy)

1 tbsp lemon juice

1 tbsp honey (or your favourite sweetener, but honey too has anti-viral etc properties)

500 ml boiling water

teensy pinch of sea salt (just a few grains, really)

directions:

1. combine all the ingredients

2. let sit for 10 minutes

3. divide into 2 mugs and share with someone you love or pour it into one large mug and keep it all for yourself ;)

Now, I know some people will make this but will boil the ginger in the water etc, but I think there is something to be said for  keeping it all raw, and enjoying the maximum power of the ingredients.

I forgot to mention something else very important -- this tastes great!!

Lemon Baby Cakes -- Lemony Lusciousness for All My Friends

On the weekend I baked a banana bread that didn't quite achieve lift off, carrot baby cakes that marched to the beat of their own drummer in an unfortunately uncoordinated fashion, and these naughty little Lemon Baby Cakes that succeeded against all odds. Maybe I haven't completely lost my baking mojo.

We had the pleasure of tea with our neighbours Marla and Oliver, and my mother-in-law Kathryn and her charming husband Hendrik.

Now, this was not without complications, and I'll tell you why. Marla and Oliver don't like their tea snacks terribly sweet, and Kathryn cannot eat dairy. So, the banana bread and carrot baby cakes were to fit that bill. And while my son is very much enjoying both the banana bread and the carrot cakes, I didn't feel they were good enough to offer guests with tea.

Well, I got lucky,  because in this case third try was indeed the charm.

The lemon cakes are light and delicate while being moist. The flavour is both sweet and tart, with the lemon enhanced with some orange zest (from organic oranges, of course). And they were a resounding success, enjoyed very much by all in attendance, especially when they were revealed to be free of dairy for Kathryn, and free of sugar for Marla and Oliver.

Now, I will state that these baby cakes did require a little more sweetner than others that I've made, because not only is lemon not sweet, it is the anti-sweet. And in order to make a cake that tasted like a cake instead of like a punishment, I used about 50% more sweetner than I usually add to my baked confections. However, they are often sweetened additionally by sweet things like dates, raisins, and apples. And the sweeteners in this cake are all quite low on the glycemic index, won't spike your blood sugar, and seem to be tolerated well by most people who have difficulty with sugar. And are much more nutritionally rich than sugar is.


ingredients:

2 eggs
1/4 cup extra virgin coconut oil
1/2 cup lemon juice
1 1/4 cups water

1/4 cup clear agave
1/4 cup coconut nectar
1/4 cup coconut sugar

zest of an organic orange (or lemon)

1 tsp ginger
1 tsp cinnamon (I used ceylon cinnamon)
1 tsp ground vanilla bean
black pepper (a touch)
1 tsp sea salt

2 cups almond flour (I used JK Gourmet)
1/2 tsp  baking soda
1 cup kamut flour (whole grain and finely ground pasty flour)


directions:

preheat the oven to 345

1. warm the water a little, and add it to the coconut oil to melt it. Add the sweeteners, the lemon juice, and the zest
2. add the eggs, and mix well
3. add the ginger, cinnamon, vanilla, sea salt, and pepper
4. add the almond flour
5. add the baking soda
6. add the kamut flour
7. scoop batter into prepared muffin cups
8. sprinkle the top of each muffin with a tiny bit of coconut sugar
9. bake at 345 for 30 minutes
10. remove from the oven, and allow to sit for a couple of minutes before removing from muffin cups
11. serve with a big smile and some yummy tea