Gluten Free Pasta Verde, Homemade

Red & Green - this was my Christmas dinner.

 This is an adaption of the previous recipe that I posted on homemade GF pasta. It basically subs pureed spinach for some of the egg, and ends up being bright green! The taste doesn't change very much, so it's still good with a variety of sauces. I've preferred to keep it simple, and top it with a few grape tomatoes sauteed in olive oil, garlic powder, red pepper flakes, salt, and black pepper.

While we're on the subject of olive oil, I highly recommend Trader Joe's Spanish Olive Oil. It is fragrant and rich, not at all bitter, and everything that an EVOO should be! Get it.

I used my Cuisinart pasta maker for this again. I've tried it with the fettuccine dye, as well as the angel hair one. Worked great with both!

When I've made this, I've done a double recipe, and bagged the leftovers to feed myself for the next 10 dinners or so.  Below is the doubled version, because it's easiest to sub the spinach for one whole egg. To make less, I would sub the weight of one egg yolk for equal weight of spinach puree.

Angel hair extruding.

THE RECIPE: (feeds ~8) - (or more, if you're me)

6 oz garbanzo bean flour
6 oz millet flour
6 oz potato starch OR tapioca starch/flour
2 tsp psyllium powder
2 pinch nutmeg
2 tsp salt                           -----> combine dry ingredients (mix them in bowl of pasta maker)

1 L egg
8 L egg yolks*
5 oz fresh spinach leaves    -----> blend eggs and spinach until spinach is pureed. Slowly add to dry mixture and blend.

1 tbs oil (maybe)
1 tbs water (maybe)          -----> after your egg/spinach mixture is fully incorporated into the dry ingredients, evaluate the consistency of your dough.  It should be naturally clumping into walnut-sized chunks. (Although the moisture of the spinach may make it ball a bit more than usual- that is okay.)  If the dough resembles cornmeal, it is too dry.  If this is the case, add up to 1 tbs oil, and re-evaluate. This should be all you need- however, if you find it is still too dry, add up to 1 tbs water.  Get those walnut-ish chunks, one way or another.

Then, follow the instructions on your pasta maker to extrude the noodles. You should also be able to do this by hand-- google elsewhere for detailed instructions on how to do that.

Cook in a very large pot of boiling water for just a few minutes.  Fresh pasta cooks VERY quickly-- and overcooking it will make the noodle structure and shape fall apart. (aka, still tastes good, but looks crummy.)  It always finishes more quickly than I expect!

Top with some olive oil, salt/pepper, or your favorite sauce. Enjoy!

Fettucine in the stew pot!

Fettuccine, just about to be cooked.

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* STAY TUNED for the dessert that is the PERFECT PAIR to make with or soon after this pasta...... because it uses 8 egg whites! So, it's pretty much a requirement that you make them one after another.  Just don't explode from deliciousness overdoes when you do.

Gluten Free Pasta: Homemade

Yeah,  that's right. I made this meal for Girl's Night, and shared it with my non-weird-diet friends! Also.. disregard the overcooked (aka, flattened) ziti.  Still tastes awesome!

My new favorite meal is homemade gluten free pasta.  I have a Cuisinart pasta maker that mixes the dough and expels it out of a die, which makes the whole process super simple.  It should be possible to roll out the dough and cut strips without a pasta maker, too.

I've been using THIS recipe from GlutenFreeGirl. (Scroll down to the recipe in the box.)  I've use garbanzo bean flour instead of garbanzo-fava, and also tapioca starch instead of potato starch.  I did use a baking scale to measure by weight for the flours.

I usually have large eggs (not extra large, as the recipe calls for) at home, so the second time I made the pasta I used 4 egg yolks from large eggs, and 2 large eggs-- it came out the same.  Either way, just adjust the oil and water amounts if it ends up too wet or too dry.

Oozing out of the Cuisinart!

Plate of uncooked pasta.

Seriously, this pasta is delicious.  I eat it with some Spanish olive oil, salt, pepper, and a little basil. --Delish!

~~~~~~

Also:

I found this at my local Healthway:

Conte's frozen gluten free potato gnocchi.  Cooked up in under 10 minutes... I don't get insta-meals very often, so this was awesome. Pretty darn good, too!

Pumpkin Madness!

Pumpkin snickerdoodles!

A new post? Shocking, right-- seeing as I've been completely AWOL for a very long time.... sorry about that. This week I got caught up in the fall pumpkin-everything craze!  It started with pumpkin snickerdoodles and then progressed to pumpkin-sauce pasta. I still have some pumpkin left in the can... so there may be some pumpkin pancakes in store for tomorrow morning.

I still have been being food-lazy, so I mainly used other peoples' recipes for these creations.  I made the pumpkin snickerdoodles using the awesome recipe on The Nourishing Gourmet.  They are definitely some of my favorite cookies ever!! The pumpkin gives them a delightfully fluffy texture.

In the recipe, I used coconut sugar for the sweetener.  For gluten-free flour, I used 1 cup millet flour, and 1 cup of mixed garbanzo flour and brown rice flower.  I also threw in about 1/4 or 1/2 tsp guar gum for good measure.  I also added Enjoy Life mini chocolate chips to half of the batter...... but those do have cane sugar in them. (I was feeling adventurous!)  I love the combination of pumpkin and chocolate, but these cookies were so good they barely needed the addition.

Pumpkin (sauce) pasta

Now, for the pasta, I cooked up some gluten-free brown rice penne and twisty things (don't know the proper pasta-name!) and whipped up some pumpkin sauce with the left-over canned pumpkin.

I really just made the sauce by taste, and followed the basic seasonings listed here. The base was pumpkin, olive oil, almond milk, and pasta water.  The seasonings were salt, pepper, sage, onion powder, garlic powder, nutmeg, and cinnamon.  It ended up having a great blend of savory taste, plus the implied sweetness of the touch of cinnamon.  Definitely also a winning creation.

Happy fall! Now the big question.... what are you being for Halloween???

Garden Tilapia

What I'm eating NOW!

No, this fish isn't from a koi pond-- but the fresh herbs are from my backyard garden. This is a fast, easy, and satisfying meal that I've been eating quite frequently lately!

THE RECIPE:

1 fish fillet- I recommend tilapia
~ 4 large fresh basil leaves
~10 fresh lavender leaves
1/2 tsp capers (~6-10)
~1/2 tsp lemon juice
~1 tbs extra virgin olive oil
salt
pepper
garlic powder

Warm olive oil in skillet over medium heat until just hot enough-- "enough" = when an herb thrown in sizzles. While it's heating, roll lavender into basil and chiffonade. Add a dash of salt.  Place fish fillet (thawed) into oil. Sprinkle lightly with salt, pepper, and a dash of garlic powder. Throw in herbs. Dump in a bit of lemon juice. Cook until fish has turned mostly opaque (the center can still look a bit raw), then flip. Sprinkle on capers. Cook for a few more minutes, then eat! Use the herb-infused oil as sauce. :)

Coconut Shrimp: Gluten Free, Lectin Free*

 * I don't really know what a Lectin is. I just know I'm not supposed to eat them right now. I also know that shrimp, coconut, and olive oil are all on my "OK" list, and therefore do not contain significant amounts of lectins.

So, I've pretty much been in a food funk since the start of my new anti-leaky gut diet restriction, BUT this recipe kicks ass because it's the only thing I've been inspired to make-- AND it's absolutely delicious.  I've been making it for dinner on Fridays, then finishing it up for brunch over the weekend.

THE RECIPE:

raw shrimp, peeled and deveined, (tail on is ok)
3 tbs coconut flour
3 tbs shredded unsweetened coconut
pinch salt
smaller pinch pepper
coconut oil and/or extra light olive oil, for frying

Combine coconut flour and coconut in equal parts in a bowl. Add salt and pepper to taste. Heat a frying pan / skillet with enough oil to cover bottom of the pan, over medium heat. Throw a couple shrimp in the bowl of breading materials, and toss to coat. (Optionally, you can dip the shrimp in egg first to help the breading to stick.) When oil has heated, place breaded shrimp into pan- they should sizzle and begin to fry!

When the shrimp turns from clearish blueish (uncooked) to look whiteish pinkish (cooked), flip each to brown the other side. Remove when the breading on this side is golden brown. Keep cooking until you've used up all your shrimp- make sure that there is oil in the pan at all times, since this helps conduct heat into the shrimp PLUS adds deliciousness. If the oil gets "dirty" with bits of burned breading, wipe out the pan and heat fresh oil to continue.

BBQ Sauce

I forgot to take a picture of this sauce or the chicken on which it was barbecued, so instead you get random BBQ flames.

Also, I'm pretty behind in posting, since I made this for the 4th of July. My dad grilled the whole family's chicken with this sauce, and everyone loved it!


THE RECIPE:

2 tablespoons olive oil
3 cloves garlic, crushed
¼ cup green onions, minced
2 whole tomatoes, pureed
1/4 can frozen concentrated orange juice (or ~1 c fresh)
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
½ teaspoon dry mustard powder
½ teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper

Warm oil in a saucepan over low heat, then add garlic and onion; cook until softened. Add all other ingredients; simmer ~15 mins, stirring frequently. (It will taste pretty vinegary straight, but is perfect after it's cooked!)

Baste over desired meat (I did chicken thighs) and refrigerate for 1-3 hrs to let it marinate.

Grill it up!

Pizza!

drooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooool....

What goes best with (my just-posted) chocolate chip cookies??? That's right... PIZZA!!!

The quest for quality gluten-free sugar-free yeast-free pizza crust continues. In this version, I've come up with a highly delicious pie-crust-y crust. In other words, it's a bit more dense and less bread-y than the real deal, but still makes a darn good pie. Next time, I'll try adding eggs to make it rise.

THE RECIPE:

1c millet
1/4 c brown rice
1/4 c garbanzo
1/2 c tapioca flour
1 sprinkle stevia
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp guar gum
1 tbs flax meal

~3/8 c light olive oil
1 egg
~1/2 c almond mlk --or until sticky/dough consistency (NOT pie crusty)

spray a large pizza pan with a healthy non-stick spray (or grease manually)
shape into a large circle (makes one ~12 inch pizza)
sprinkle w/ 1/2 tbs flax seed

Top it! I used:

Prego Veggie Smart pasta/pizza sauce
Mozzarella soy cheese, grated
Fresh basil, chopped
Fresh cherry tomatoes, sliced

Spray exposed crust with oil spray.

Bake at 350 for ~20-30 mins, or until cheese melts and crust begins to brown.

Raw Tomato Soup

BREAKING NEWS:  I got a magic bullet blender off of craigslist. It is amazing, and I love it, and I have been using it exclusively to make my meals for the last week.

Also, I have been using a ton of raw food recipes from RawOn10. I love how that site provides daily menus, complete with calorie counts! Has been KEY to my pre-Trinidad diet and weight loss plan ;)

Without further ado: I've been making a super easy raw tomato soup for dinner. I eat it cold, so it's kind of a cross between gaspacho and soup-- but since I put in olive oil and garlic and basil, it still has soup-y flavor.

THE RECIPE: (makes one serving)

1 tomato
4 inch piece of celery stalk
4 baby carrots
1-2 tbs basil
salt, pepper, garlic salt, onion, (minimal) red pepper flakes --> all to taste
1 tbs almond milk
2 tbs extra virgin olive oil

Blend it all up! And of course, garnish with celery leaves.

Makes a filling yet light meal-- dang, don't you feel healthy?

Sweet Eggplant Pilaf

Sweet and savory eggplant pilaf, made with brown rice. I got this recipe from epicurious.com. The listed proportions make this a primarily rice dish-- but rice proportions could certainly be decreased to make it heavier on the vegetables.

THE RECIPE:

small eggplant (1/2 pound), cut into 1/2-inch cubes
2 tablespoons salt
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 medium onions, finely chopped
1 cup brown rice
1 1/2 cups water
1/4 cup raisins
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1 large tomato, finely chopped
1/4 cup chopped fresh dill   (optional)
1/4 cup shelled natural pistachios, coarsely chopped (optional)

(Read More http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Eggplant-Pilaf-with-Pistachios-and-Cinnamon-105030#ixzz1CrEpdrm1 ):

"Cover eggplant with water in a bowl and add 1 1/2 tablespoons salt. Soak 30 minutes. Drain eggplant and squeeze handfuls to remove excess moisture, then pat dry. 

Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a 12-inch nonstick skillet over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking, then sauté eggplant, stirring occasionally, until tender and browned, about 7 minutes. Cool eggplant. 

Cook onions in remaining 2 tablespoons oil in a 3- to 4-quart heavy saucepan over moderate heat, stirring, until softened. Add rice and cook, stirring, 2 minutes. Add 1 1/2 cups water, raisins, remaining 1/2 tablespoon salt, and cinnamon and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and cook, covered and undisturbed, until rice is tender, about 12 minutes. 

Fluff rice with a fork and gently stir in tomato and eggplant. Let stand, covered, 5 minutes. Uncover and cool 10 minutes. Stir in dill, then transfer pilaf to a serving bowl or platter and sprinkle with pistachios" -epicurious

It's delicious!

Kale with Raisins and Pine Nuts

Mmm, kaaaale.....

It's a vegetable recipe!


Kale. I must admit, Kale has tended to be one of my "last resort" vegetables. When I'm sick of the usuals (broccoli, spinach, zucchini, even chard), then I end up buying less desirable veggies, like kale. But I've never really tried cooking kale. It usually just gets thrown in a pan and boiled (gross), or sauteed with some oil and minimal seasonings (slightly less gross). But then I found this recipe in a Family Circle magazine, and it looked exciting and tasty!  ...and so it was. Kale has redeemed itself.

THE RECIPE:

2 tbs olive oil

4 cloves garlic, mashed     ----> cook in a skillet over medium heat until garlic is golden, then add:
1 lb kale, cut into pieces   ----> saute 2 minutes, add:
1/4 tsp salt
1 pinch red pepper flakes
2 tbs raisins
2 tbs pine nuts                  ----> cover and cook for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add a little water if kale
                                                  gets too dry.

There ya go! The kale ends up tasting rather sweet from the raisins, and the pine nuts add a complementary savory flavor. Enjoy.