Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Curried Squash Soup with Spicy Pepitas & Chives


The smell of this soup is intoxicating. It makes me miss walking into my friend Migi's house because it always smelled of wonderful Sri Lankan spices. She cooks everything from scratch and nearly all Sri Lankan food starts out with similar spice blends. If only we weren't a continent away now. Anyway, it makes me so happy when when this scent fills my house.

Butternut squash and carrots give you tons of Vitamin A and the spices are full of anti-oxidants and have anti-inflammatory properties. The pepitas (pumpkin seeds) are full of minerals and protein. It's great when something so tasty can be so healthy, too.

This is a really quick soup to make. If you have homemade broth, by all means use it but a box of organic gluten free vegetable broth works great.  Fresh ginger would have been great but I was out and used powdered today and it worked beautifully.  You can adjust the heat with the cayenne from just a dash to a good shake.  

The spices toast in a bit of olive oil to bring out their flavors and then simmer in broth with the garlic, onions, carrots and squash until the vegetable are soft which took about fifteen minutes. All that's left to be done is to quickly puree and stir in some coconut milk to give it an extra creamy flavor.

While the veggies simmer toast a cup of pepitas and you'll be ready to serve in about thirty minutes.


Curried Squash Soup with Spicy Pepitas & Chives

In a large saucepan, saute together the following until the spices just start to lightly brown which takes under five minutes:

1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
1 teaspoon Tumeric
1 teaspoon Cumin
1 teaspoon Ginger
1/4 teaspoon Sri Lankan Curry Powder or Curry Powder of your choice
dash Cayenne

When toasty, add:

2 large Garlic Cloves, chopped
1 small Onion, chopped
1 cup Carrots, peeled and chopped
1 pound Butternut Squash (approximately)
1 quart Gluten Free Vegetable Broth
1 teaspoon Sea Salt

Bring to a boil then reduce heat to simmering.  When vegetables are soft, turn off heat and puree the soup using an immersion  (stick) blender right in the pot on the stove.  (If you use a counter top blender do it in batches of two or three. )

When well blended and creamy, add:

1 can Coconut Milk, regular or light

Stir and bring back to a simmer.

While your soup is cooking, start toasting the pepitas.  

In a medium saute pan over medium heat add:

1 cup raw pepitas
1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
1 teaspoon Cumin
dash Tumeric
dash Cayenne
dash Ginger

Stirring frequently to coat the pepitas in oil and spices toast until medium brown. Add sea salt if desired.

Chop desired amount of Chives - I used about a teaspoon per bowl.

To serve, ladle soup into bowl sprinkle with chives and toasted pepitas.

Enjoy!




Friday, January 27, 2012

Leah's Pecan Paleo Bread


Last night I was able to make this recipe from my friend Leah's Practicing Joy blog. Check out her blog and try it soon. This was my breakfast this morning. Pecan Paleo Bread and a couple of slices of yummy Gouda. Absolutely delicious together!

While I really love this recipe made with almond meal it's incredible made with pecan meal.  Pecan meal is a snap to make in your food processor - just be sure to pulse it until until you have a soft meal but not so long you end up with pecan butter.  Almonds are a stage 2 food in the Feingold world - meaning they are higher in salicylates.  Pecans, however, are a stage 1 or lower salicylate and perfect for people with a salicylate sensitivity.

Right out of the oven you will notice a beautiful dark rye bread color.  I sliced into it while it was still hot and it was great plain and with a little smear of butter.  Joe likes the almond version but really enjoyed this. I think the texture is more delicate than the almond version.  The pecan flavor is mild and wonderful paired with cheese.

So after all the sampling I've done it's time to leash up Elle and take her for an extra long walk to the park today! Elle will thank you Leah!

Enjoy


Monday, January 23, 2012

Marc's Birthday Cake!



Saturday my firstborn baby turned 23. It's hard to fathom where the years have gone. Marc is just months away from his degree and grown up life and I cannot help but wonder how we got here so quickly.  It seems like only yesterday he was my pudgy, curly-haired little cutie looking up at me with giant blue eyes.  Now I look up to him in more ways than one. 

He's got so many of his dad's great qualities and a love for the Lord that will see him through life. 

He's a wonderful older brother and friend to Joe - especially when they aren't hitting each other. 


And, I think Marie would agree that he's a pretty great boyfriend, too.


Love him so.

His celebration was very low key this year. Crummy colds and Chris' work schedule meant postponing the family get together but we still had a nice, albeit quiet day.  Marc started his day over coffee with a good friend, presents and working on a project Joe is making for him.  Dinner at Bella Monica with just the five of us was ideal and Marc and Marie are right - it's a wonderful place!  Amazing gluten free meals all around with great service. Italian-style Shrimp and Grits - out of this world!

After dinner we came back home and piled in the living room with cake and ice cream and enjoyed this:

This is an easy and high protein cake that takes just minutes to prepare.  If your chocolate chips are dairy free than your cake will be, too. 

Chocolate Chip Coconut Cake with Chocolate Glaze 

Heat oven to 350 degrees
Prepare  one 13 x9 pan by greasing bottom lightly with coconut oil

1 cup Coconut Flour
½ teaspoon Sea Salt
1 Teaspoon Baking Powder
12 Eggs
1 cup Coconut Oil, melted
1 cup Sugar
1 Tablespoon Vanilla

Combine all ingredients in bowl of Kitchenaid mixer on low speed to combine. If using a hand mixer be sure to break up any chunks of coconut flour.  Increase speed to medium high for two minutes.  

Mix in:

1 to 1 1/2 Cup(s) Dark Chocolate Chips (mini chips are also really nice)

Mix on low until incorporated. Pour into prepared pan and bake at 350 degrees for approximately 40 minutes.  The cake will be lightly golden brown and the top center will spring back when pressed.

As the cake cools, prepare the glaze.

Melt together over very low heat:

2 cups Dark Chocolate Chips
1/2 cup Coconut Milk

Stir constantly until chips are melted and completely mixed into coconut milk.  Spread on warm cake and cool.

Enjoy!


Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Guest Bloggers - Marie & Marc Review Bella Monica




Today Marc and Marie will share a quick review of one of their favorite date restaurants - Bella Monica - with us. You may remember them from this post.

  

Hi everyone, we're excited to share our favorite Italian gluten-free friendly restaurant Bella Monica with you! We've been there many times and truly enjoy the fact that we can find many gluten-free options. The staff at Bella Monica is very knowledgeable about gluten free diets. They offer a separate (but equally tasty) menu, use specifically colored dishes for individuals ordering gluten-free meals, & the best part in our opinions is the dedicated gluten-free oven they have to bake the meals. We've had the pleasure of being able to dine with family & friends who are not gluten-free, and they love the food just as much as we do. 

The last time we went, we took pictures of our meal to share with you- because words just can't grasp how delicious it is! Here's our favorite meal: 

For an appetizer they offer gluten-free bread drizzled with olive-oil, and herbs. 








When you order an entree you have the option of a salad- we love their Cesar that is topped with roasted peppers & baked Parmesan cheese crisps. 







Without fail, we always order the stuffed shells, simply put they're delicious! 





And on special occasions, we end with a slice of chocolate amore cake- it's a flour-less cake that is drizzled with raspberry sauce. 







We hope you check it out & enjoy as much as we do! 

Marie & Marc 

Monday, January 9, 2012

Gluten Free Cayenne Cheese Coins


Here's a thick cheesy cracker with just a hint of kick; a great appetizer to nibble and equally nice with a bowl of tomato soup.  On this cold and rainy day they sounded especially good.

High protein and low in carbs they are perfect to take along in a backpack or bag for a quick snack that will hold you over. The cayenne pepper isn't hot; just flavorful.

Make sure to mix everything very well so the flavors are evenly distributed and let the dough rest a few minutes before shaping. Letting the flax meal absorb as much of the water as possible will help make the dough easier to pat out and shape.

Gluten Free Cayenne Cheese Coins
Preheat oven to 350 degrees; prepare 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a mixing bowl combine the following:

2 cups Almond Meal
1/2 cup Finely Milled Golden Flax Meal
8 ounces Mild Cheddar Cheese, finely shredded
3/4 teaspoon Sea Salt, fine grind
1/4 teaspoon Cayenne Pepper
1/2 cup warm water

Mix well using a spoon first and then gather the dough in your hands to form a ball.  Let sit for at least ten minutes for ease of handling.

You can shape the crackers into coin shapes by teaspoon full  and set on the parchment paper lined sheets.   You can also pat half of the dough onto each parchment paper lined sheet into rectangles about 1/3" thick and cut into one inch squares.  Whether circles or squares they'll take the same amount of baking time.

Bake for approximately 35 minutes. I flipped mine at the halfway point and let them barely brown. They'll be a little soft right out of the oven but will crisp a bit as they cool.





Saturday, January 7, 2012

Sarah's Chewy Chocolate Chip Granola Bars


My Feingold friend Sarah posted this recipe yesterday.

I made them within minutes of reading her post.  They are delicious.  I fully realize I should not admit to this but they were not only my breakfast and lunch yesterday and one "tiny" square was my dessert last night.  They were just as wonderful for today's breakfast. =D You will not be disappointed if you make them.

I used a little less coconut oil and honey than called for but added enough warm water to make up for the volume. I also skipped the sugar and they were still sweet and delicious. They will be chewier if you follow her recipe exactly.

Check out her blog - Mom's Kitchen Desk - she's got a lot of Feingold friendly, kid friendly recipes.

Enjoy.

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Meatless Monday - Curried Coconut Vegetable Soup




My poor Marc is sick.  Really gunky, tired and achey sick.  If anyone ever needed a bowl of steamy hot soup full of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and love – it’s Marc. 

I like to keep a variety of spices, beans, rices and gluten free pastas in the pantry to make fast impromptu meals. A couple of bags of frozen veggies in the freezer will round out just about any pantry meal. Lentils are the quickest cooking dried bean/pea I know of so that helped me decide what soup to make.  We them in just about any form – from Sri Lankan Lentils to veggie burgers so why not soup, too?

It takes about ten minutes to put everything together and well under an hour to simmer. You can adjust spices to taste and even vary the amount of water to make a thinner or thicker soup. Any veggies you like will work for this soup but I used a bag of mixed veggies and one of sliced okra today.

Curried Coconut Vegtable Soup

In a very large pan over medium heat, sauté:

1 cup Onion, chopped
2 cloves Garlic, minced
1 teaspoon Cumin
1 teaspoon Tumeric
½ teaspoon Ginger
Cayenne, to taste
Curry Powder, to taste

As soon as the onions and garlic are soft the spices will have cooked enough to bring out their flavors.

Add:

1 cup Red Lentils
1 can Coconut Milk
2 quarts (give or take) Filtered Water

Simmer at least thirty minutes but longer if desired.  At this point you can use an immersion blender to puree the onions and lentils for a smooth and creamy base.  I didn’t do that this time so it’s a bit chunkier with a thinner broth.

Then add:

1 lb. Vegetables – your choice, chopped.  I used a frozen chopped mix this time.
1 lb. Okra sliced – I used frozen this time
1 teaspoon Sea Salt

Simmer until vegetables are cooked through.

Serve with love and enjoy!

Sunday, January 1, 2012

Luck for 2012


When we first moved to the south east we learned about eating black eyed peas and collards on January 1st for good luck.  I've tried to incorporate the tradition for years but never really succeeded in following through.  My family would much rather eat Mexican or Asian or Indian food than traditional southern food so I decided I'd have to skip Hoppin' John and collards and spice things up if this was going to work.

Pioneer Woman's site had a recipe that looked much more appealing than most. I wanted to streamline it a bit but definitely used the recipe for inspiration. A bean dip is always a hit here and this was no exception which made me feel pretty lucky.  From start to finish this recipe took ten minutes - most of which was heating the ingredients.  Even with the greens in the dip everyone liked it. In fact, someone here ate it with a spoon rather than chips.

Spicy Black Eyed Peas & Greens Dip

In a medium saucepan put:

2 cans Black Eyed Peas, drained
4 ounces Pepper Jack Cheese, cubed or shredded
1/2 cup frozen chopped Kale or Collards
1 teaspoon Hot Sauce of your choice - make sure it's gluten free

While heating over medium heat mash some of the black eyed peas while mixing all ingredients. Heat through until cheese is melted and everything is steaming hot.

Serve with chips or crackers.

Enjoy!