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My love affair started like any other. I found myself thinking about him non-stop, watching him from afar, trying to picture our beautiful life together.

Eventually I gave in to temptation. I knew it was meant to be. That was a day that forever changed my life. That was the day that I brought a Nutrimill home.

In case you wondering what a Nutrimill is, I’ll tell you. It’s a fabulous machine that takes whole grains and beans and turns them into silky flour. It is an incredible boon to the gluten-free kitchen, especially if you use a lot of rice, quinoa, corn, millet, buckwheat and sorghum flours.

It’s extremely easy to use, and is well designed so that the hopper is nestled right in the center of the machine. You simply turn it on, and begin milling. Beyond the fabulous rice and grain flours, the bean and lentil flours are amazing too. I find myself making savory red lentil pancakes for breakfast, with no effort at all. You can also make black bean and split pea flours, for quick cooking soups or white bean flour to use as a healthy, high protein thickener. How cool is that? I don’t know about you, but I haven’t seen red lentil flour in the grocery store. And I love knowing that I can easily grind myself a batch whenever the mood strikes me.

The machine is not small, so if lack of space is an issue (and really, don’t we all have that problem?), you may want to make some room in your linen closet as I have. Hopefully you have an understanding spouse, who adores you so much that they’re happy to overlook the kitchen spill-over into the rest of the house.

I can honestly tell you that I’ve used this machine over and over and truly love it. I love having the control over the freshness of my flours, as well as the savings. I buy all of my grains and beans in bulk, so the flours are very inexpensive to make.

Do you want to know what I love best about this baby? It’s the assurance of knowing that all of the flours I grind in this mill are gluten-free, especially if you start with certified gluten-free grains from a reputable company like Bob’s Red Mill. You have total control over your flours, and that’s something you can feel good about.

This post is brought to us by the only gal I know of who combines karaoke with awesome homemade vegan and gluten free eats! Give it up for Rachel from VGFK, everyone!

Over at Vegan Gluten Free Karaoke my mission is simple: make delicious vegan and gluten free food while lip synching to pop music in ridiculous outfits. Past triumphs have included Lady Gaga Spring Rolls and Since U Been Gone Lasagna. The Bieber Beans were also pretty irresistible, if I say so myself.

I’ve been stoked about this guest post all month and decided to do a little experimentation with ice cream for Halloween. Those of you from colder climes may not find ice cream seasonally appropriate, but here in New Orleans where we have enjoyed temperatures in the 70′s and 80′s for the past few weeks, I thought it would be perfectly appropriate to combine rich fall flavors with this chilly treat.

I decided to make a Candy Corn Napoleon: instead of chocolate/vanilla/strawberry I created the white/orange/yellow color scheme of candy corn with a tahini/pumpkin/ginger combo in three layers. These were all flavors that I made up on the fly without a recipe, so it was quite the experiment.

I have been obsessed with cashew cream in ice cream lately, which is so rich and creamy that it comes out more like frozen custard. The base for each flavor is cashew cream which is made by soaking cashews in hot water for 5 minutes, then blending them in the food processor with a little rice milk and agave. I split the cashew cream into three containers and then mixed each flavor separately before freezing each one for 20 minutes and layering into a clear container. I don’t tend to follow recipes when I’m making ice cream, so I don’t have measurements to share, just the list of ingredients that I added to the cashew cream.

White Layer: Tahini Vanilla
Ingredients: Vanilla extract, tahini, rice milk, agave nectar

Orange Layer: Pumpkin
Ingredients: Canned pumpkin puree, coconut milk (carton), cinnamon, agave nectar

Yellow Layer: Ginger
Ingredients: Powdered ginger, grated fresh ginger, turmeric, coconut milk (can)

Tahini Vanilla was definitely the best flavor. It was super creamy with a sophisticated, nutty flavor. Ginger was kind of strange – like eating frozen Thai food. I would experiment with adding something fruity to this one.

And with no further ado…please join me in rocking out to Katy Perry:

One of the benefits of traveling for my “day” job is being forced to search out and try new places to eat. However, since I need to avoid gluten, dairy, soy, and a couple of other seemingly random ingredients, conducting copious amounts of research becomes a pre-travel requirement.

Before each trip I consult the Google search lords with terms such as gluten free, vegan, vegetarian, organic, and farm to table. In some cases I don’t turn up many results (see Anniston, Alabama and in others (see Portland, Oregon) I get so many that I don’t even have time to visit them all. Sometimes I even find a gem of a spot with dishes that, upon my return home, I try to recreate.

On one fine visit to San Francisco, in my new-to-gluten-free days (and pre-soy-free as well), I was invited to a birthday party at Betelnut. I called ahead and was enthusiastically informed that they had a gluten free menu and could easily accommodate my needs. So we went, ate lots of delicious food, and I immediately came home and worked to re-create the crispy cauliflower I had enjoyed there. After a couple years I’ve finally settled on my at home equivalent which happens to be both vegan and free of lots of common allergens.

Crispy Cauliflower

Ingredients
1 medium size head of cauliflower
2 tsp cumin
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp ginger
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
¼ cup gluten free & vegan rice crumbs (I used OrgraN)
¼ cup olive oil

Make
1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
2. Prepare a medium baking sheet with a layer of parchment paper.
3. Wash and chop the cauliflower into pieces no larger than 1 ½ inches in size.
4. Place the cauliflower in medium bowl and toss with the olive oil. Set aside.
5. In a small blow, combine the spices and rice crumbs and whisk together.
6. Pour the spice and rice crumb mix over the cauliflower and toss with your hands until each piece of cauliflower is well coated.
7. Spread the coated cauliflower pieces across the parchment lined baking sheet.
8. Bake at 375 degrees for 45 minutes or until well browned and crispy.
9. Remove from oven and serve with gluten free tamari or for a soy free option use Coconut Aminos.

This is Halloween, this is Halloween. Halloween, Halloween!

Hi everybody, it’s Kristina again from spabettie, and I am here with a post themed on my favorite holiday. I have a few recipes to share, a cute pup, and some other fun shenanigans. A big thank you to the xgfx girls for having me here again!

Using the black quinoa is perfect for a jack o lantern.

First up, my carrot-ginger quinoa pepper jacks! These pepper jacks are always a big hit with everyone, and this year I am even more excited about the filling inside – a carrot ginger quinoa, and it’s SO good! 

This next one was all I needed last year for dessert on Thanksgiving. Couldn’t wait to make it again. Good thing the nog is back in shops already…

Pumpkin Ice Cream

From one pumpkin patch to another,

these treats are sweet!

Crispy Treat Pumpkin Patch (orange cardamom flavor).

Sometimes the spiders around here are big enough to scare the cats…

and that ice cream up there?

 Makes these:  Pumpkin Milkshakes!

My dachshund Basil loves Halloween, too. He is a turtle this year, and last year he was…

a submarine!

This time of year we just call him our Halloweenie. Now back to those pepper jacks. I let out a loud squeal when I found out that Pee-Wee Herman shared them!

I was pretty excited (I love Pee-Wee…) and have to admit I did his laugh a couple times when I saw this. ;) and the other fun thing that is happening with these pepper jacks right now…

These pepper jacks are a finalist in the Yummly Halloween recipe contest, and I would really love it if you helped a vegan and gluten free recipe win!! How cool would that be?

All you have to do is visit the site here and “like” the page. No signing up for anything, just “like”. I thank you in advance, and I hope you all have a Happy Halloween!

Are you a Pee-Wee fan? What about dogs in costume?

*****

Thanks for another great post, Kristina!

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My name is Camille, and I am serving in the Peace Corps in Northern Senegal, West Africa. I live in a very small village where my diet consists of rice, millet, and leaf sauce. When I do get a chance to go to the big city and hang out at our regional house, we still have very limited food options. So when a new store opened up featuring a lot of hard to find items (such as chickpeas and tortilla chips) we jumped for joy! Among the many gems, we happened to stumble across plantains.

For those of you who may not know, plantains are a tropical fruit that strongly resemble a banana. However plantains are much larger than bananas, and need to be cooked before eating. Additionally, plantains start out green (like bananas) but are not fully ripe until they are black. They are eaten as a staple food in many tropical areas of the world, and can be boiled, steamed, or fried.

I have a special place in my heart for plantains ever since I chanced upon them at a Caribbean restaurant in Cape Cod years ago. Then recently our local health food store started stocking Inka Plantain Chips, which with only three ingredients (plantains, palm oil, and salt) quickly became my favorite quick snack.

There seem to be an endless variety of ways to cook this amazing plant. Last week, my friend Rachel and I experimented with this recipe for Plantain Patties Stuffed with Black Beans and loved it!

It works best when you have plantains that are yellow with some black. Also, I found I enjoyed these the most when it seemed as if we had burnt them. It sounds weird, but if you get them fully black on both sides when you fry them they end up tasting nice and sweet. Golden brown was good too, but it almost tasted a bit uncooked.

Here are some pictures of Rachel making the patties:

My favorite, and the most simple way to cook plantains, is to wait until they are completely black and almost mushy and then fry them. All you do is peel the plantain and cut into ½ inch pieces. Then heat up oil (enough to generously cover the pan) and fry them. When frying, the plantain will turn a deep yellow and puff up a little when it is ready to flip. Be patient, it will take a while and then suddenly they will all be ready to turn at once. Again, if you end up ‘burning’ them, it actually tastes pretty good. Drain, add salt, and serve.

Fried plantains are good alone, but also make a great addition to stir fries. Try combining sautéed onions, garlic, carrots, corn, and black beans with raw tomatoes, cilantro, and fried plantains. Sprinkle with a lime and serve over quinoa for a easy, tasty, and healthy meal.

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I don’t know about you, but it sure is getting chilly where I’m from. It’s that transitional three or four weeks where it isn’t too cold yet (still hovering around 10 degrees), but considering it was over 25 degrees two weeks ago, our bodies are just a little… confused. I live in the type of area where we go from flip flops to cozy boots in a matter of days. There definitely isn’t a true “fall” here, in my opinion.

It also is that time of year when I briefly hate running. I run most days of the week but when we’re hit with sudden chilliness, I usually spend my runs wondering why I choose to do this. It is my choice to get out each morning with my running shoes on… but why? Wouldn’t I rather be in bed, drinking tea, and swiping through my Flipboard? Yes, yes I would. In fact, I’ll probably be thinking that tomorrow morning when I wake up and then be off to running in a half-marathon with my warm winter running clothes. I really thought it was going to still be 25 degrees when I signed up for this!

But then I am done and I feel great that I went and my body and mind feel better, my body temperature is higher, and I get to fuel myself with extra treats (just kidding).

So this brings me to fuel and being a “gluten-free vegan” (also known as “what can you eat?”).

I’ve been asked this a lot, and chances are if you’re gluten-free OR a vegan OR both you have been too. After all, there’s hardly anything left when you cut out wheat, oats, barley, rye, meat, dairy, and eggs, right? Hardly any fruits, vegetables, grains, legumes, nuts, seeds, and other awesome stuff, right?

Wrong!

Having to answer this question over and over (and over) led me to write a book. At first it was a huge book, but then my publisher split it into three – a series. They called it The Allergy-Free Cook, and split it into Breads, Cakes and Cookies, and Pies and Desserts. I’m super excited because the first one just launched, and the second one is nearly done refining.

And it answers the question of what we can eat.

The reason I bring this up is because one of my favourite fall meals is soup, stew or chili with something bread-like. Cornbread. Scones. Garlic bread. Crackers. And everything in between.

Oh, breadsticks…. and breadsticks. Garlic ones. Or pumpernickel! (I’m shamelessly plugging my book – I’m sorry. This is exciting for me).

So I’m delivering you a warm, comforting dish, a simple soup to put together, served warm with some soda bread slathered with roasted garlic hemp, avocado, or olive oil.

Roasted Carrot Ginger Soup

• 5 cups carrot chunks (about 5 large)
• 4 cups sweet potato chunks (about 5 medium)
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 2 to 4 cloves garlic, minced (to taste)
• 1 (2-inch/5 cm) piece fresh ginger, peeled and finely chopped
• 4 cups water, plus more as needed
• 1/4 teaspoon turmeric
• Pinch ground nutmeg
• Pinch ground cinnamon
• Sea salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
• 1/4 cup creamy roasted cashew butter

1. Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C). Put the sweet potato and carrots on a lightly greased baking sheet. Roast for about 40 minutes, until softened and beginning to brown.
2. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until softened, about five minutes. Add the garlic and ginger, and continue to stir until fragrant. Add the water, turmeric, nutmeg, cinnamon, salt and pepper, along with the potatoes and carrots. Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer, letting cook until potatoes and carrots are completely softened.
3. Using an immersion blender, puree until smooth. If you don’t have an immersion blender, use a heat-safe food processor or blender. Add additional water, a little at a time, if too thick.
4. Stir in cashew butter, mixing until dissolved. Season with additional salt and pepper to taste.

Makes four servings.

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For more information on the book, including a recipe list, sample recipes, table of contents, and more, please see this part of my website. You can also contact me for more info or if you’d like to be a recipe tester for book 3 or the tail-end of book 2.

Today’s treat is Spiced Chocolate Chia Pudding, a sweet and spicy Fall favorite of mine that’s yummy enough to be a dessert, but healthy enough to enjoy for breakfast.  In case you’ve been missing out on the chia goodness until now, they’re an easily digested, high fiber, nutrition-packed seed that form a gel when mixed with liquid and take on the taste of whatever you mix them with.  When left whole they remind me of tiny tapioca.  When mixed with chocolate they become a tasty and wholesome way to indulge your sweet tooth.  I love chia seeds almost as much as I love Fall.

Spiced Chocolate Chia Pudding

• 1/2 cup chia seeds
• 1/2 cup shredded coconut
• 2 cups coconut milk beverage (or nut milk of your choice)
• 1/3 cup raw cashews
• 1/2 cup agave or maple syrup
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/4 cup raw cacao powder or cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• pinch sea salt

Stir together the chia seeds and shredded coconut in a mixing bowl.

In a high powered blender mix together the rest of the ingredients until completely smooth. Stir the wet mix into the seed mixture.

Let sit for 15 minutes and stir again. At this point the pudding can be divided into individual serving cups or left in the bowl to refrigerate. I like to put mine in 8 ounce juice glasses. Refrigerate at least 2-3 hours before serving. Makes about 4 servings.

Now, this recipe is super flexible so you can make this completely raw or less raw depending on your nut milk, sweetener and cacao vs. cocoa.  It’s just a little bit spicy.  Adding more cayenne will heat it up if you’re into that sort of thing.  Enjoy!

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Okay fellow animal lovers and gluten-haters! It’s that time of year – holidays are upon us and there seems to be a never-ending stream of dinner parties, family get-togethers, and fabulous feasts!

If you’re like me, you want to make certain your food is the best dish at the party. Don’t you love it when the meat-eaters and the glutenites start eating all of your delicious and tummy-friendly bites? Seriously, I take it as a huge compliment!

XFGFers – our food is the best!

When we head out on our holiday travels, I like to make a big batch of veggie burgers. You can serve a veggie burger with just about anything – a gluten-free bun, some rice, and my favorite way is with a green salad. Who really needs a bun? Buns are so 2010 :)

Adzuki and Quinoa Veggie Burgers
Inspired by Dreena Burton

1 cup chopped red onion
3 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
1 cup chopped veggie of your choice, we like celery, carrots, or orange pepper
2 cups cooked quinoa
1 ½ cups adzuki beans
2 ½ tbsp unsweetened salsa
2 tbsp chipotle sauce
1 ½ tsp grainy mustard
1 tsp sea salt
black pepper to taste
1 ½ cups almond flour

Preheat your oven to 325 degrees. Lightly grease a cookie sheet or pizza stone.

Cook red onion and garlic in a frying pan over medium heat until soft. Add celery or carrots or orange pepper and cook for 3-5 minutes. Remove from heat and place in the bowl of your food processor. Add cooked quinoa, adzuki beans, salsa, chipotle sauce, and mustard. Process until combined. Add sea salt, ground pepper, and almond flour. Process until desired consistency is reached and almond flour is well distributed.

Place veggie burger mixture into a bowl, cover and place in the fridge to cool for at least 30 minutes.

Remove from fridge and form into patties that are approximately 4 inches wide. Place on prepared cookie sheet and cook at 325 degrees for 25-30 minutes. Flip burgers after 15 minutes.

Serve on a bed of greens tossed with lemon and olive oil.

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When I was a child, my idea of “dessert” always—or should I say, only—included a baked good. And said baked good almost always involved chocolate. Chocolate Layer Cake? Dessert. Chocolate Chip Cookies? Yep, dessert. Chocolate Brownies with chocolate candy bar bits? Dessert again. My mom’s much-lauded, mile-high Chiffon Cake? Okay, dessert (but only grudgingly, as it sported no frosting and the tiniest flecks of grated chocolate). Rice pudding? Definitely not dessert in my books.

Similarly, I could never understand my mom’s fascination with candy-like sweets. To me, a lollypop or hard candy were simply a waste of perfectly fine sugar (which could be mixed into a cake batter or cookie dough, for instance). Mom also loved chewy bites, like toffee, Turkish Delight (still can’t get my head around that one) and licorice (which I did enjoy, but sorry, still doesn’t make the cut as dessert).

One of her favorite treats was a confection called halvah, which she used to buy in huge slabs from the deli department of our local supermarket. It was made primarily from tahini (sesame seed paste), egg whites and honey, and to my youthful palate, had an overwhelming flavor of sesame, of which I wasn’t too fond at the time. What I did like about halvah, however, was its incredible sweetness and the somewhat caramelized, melty texture, almost like sponge toffee. And, of course, the ribbon of semi-sweet chocolate that was marbled throughout (I learned later that halvah can also be bought in other flavors, but my mom only ever brought home the marble).

These days, I no longer eat any of the ingredients in that original halvah except for the tahini. As my health and dietary habits changed once I started the anti-candida diet, I learned to love desserts that were decidedly not baked goods, from pudding, to fudge to ice creams,and more; and halvah definitely falls within this more recent “dessert” category.

Once I tasted my own naturally-sweetened, whole-foods halvah, I fell in love with it, both for the rich flavor and smooth texture as well as the impressive array of health benefits. This newfangled version is a great source of calcium as well as fiber, iron, manganese and zinc. The oils in sesame are also very resistant to rancidy and provide phytosterols, compounds known to lower “bad” cholesterol in the body.

Whether you call it dessert, a snack or a healthy whole-food treat, halvah is one confection well worth trying. I’m sure my mom would agree.

Marbled Halvah

This recipe is one of the gluten-free offerings in my cookbook, Sweet Freedom. If you’re curious about a revamped and even lower-glycemic version for those of us on the anti-candida diet, check this one.

• 1/2 cup (80 g) cashews, lightly toasted
• 3/4 cup (180 ml) tahini (sesame paste)
• 1/4 cup (35 g) sesame seeds, lightly toasted
• 2 tsp (10 ml) pure vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup (80 ml) agave nectar, light or dark
• 1/3 cup (70 g) dairy-free chocolate chips (optional)

1. In the bowl of a food processor, whir the cashews until they attain the texture of a coarse cornmeal (there should be no pieces larger than sesame seeds). Add the remaining ingredients and process again until the mixture comes together in a homogenous, slightly pasty “dough.”
2. Turn the mixture onto a plastic placemat or cutting board, and push it together to form a disk. Then flatten the disk with your fingers to create a rectangle, about 9 x 8” (22.5 x 20 cm). Set aside.
3. In a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water (the bowl should sit over the pan without touching the water), melt the chocolate chips. Drizzle the chocolate directly over the halvah in the processor bowl, pouring in a ring shape.  Don’t worry if it’s not even or if it doesn’t cover the entire halvah mixture.  Replace the processor cover and pulse once or twice ONLY to barely incorporate the chocolate in rivulets through the mixture (any more than this and you will end up with chocolate halvah).  You want the chocolate to be distributed between the bits of halvah, but not blended into it.
4. Lay out a large piece of plastic wrap on your counter and turn the mixture onto it.  Folding the plastic over the halvah mixture, press the mixture into place to form a compact rectangle.  Cover with plastic and refrigerate until firm, at least 2-3 hours.  Once firm, cut into small squares for serving.  Store, covered, in the refrigerator up to one week.
   

Makes 20-30 small squares.

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Obviously, there are enough fabulous vegan websites and cookbooks to keep any cook inspired forever. Vegan MoFo proves that! However, almost any dish can be made vegan and made better. Just take a look at the Veganize It! Feature in VegNews if you have any doubts. This means that inspiration can come from anywhere; a menu at a restaurant, a dish a good friend has made or a non-vegan writer.

That happened to me when I was looking for an elegant treat to bring to a women’s party. The theme was a Red Tent Party, and our gracious hostess invited women from all parts of her life to come together to eat, drink, share experiences and just all-around celebrate the strong community that she has formed around her.

I wanted to bring something special, and something that fit with the theme. I found just what I was looking for on the smitten kitchen site. I needed to remake it, though, to make it Welcoming Kitchen-appropriate. On our blog and in our cookbook, all the recipes are not only vegan and gluten-free, but free of all the top 8 allergens.

Using pumpkin as the egg substitute, not only eliminated the cholesterol, but increased the fiber. Bonus! (Especially, since pumpkin is very autumnal, perfect for a red wine/spiced cake!) Using soy-free Earth Balance instead of butter provided scrumptious flavor without the cruelty. Another win! Then, I loved the spice idea and upped it just a little bit. The end result was a beautiful, sophisticated chocolate cake that was appropriate for everyone at the party to enjoy.

Chocolate Red Wine Cake Inspired by Smitten Kitchen

Ingredients:

• ½ cup pumpkin puree (canned pumpkin is good, but not pumpkin pie filling)
• 1 teaspoon baking powder, divided
• 6 tablespoons soy-free Earth Balance
• ¾ cup packed brown sugar
• ¼ cup vegan white sugar
• ¾ cup vegan red wine
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 cup all-purpose gluten-free flour (I used King Arthur brand.)
• ½ teaspoon xanthan gum
• ½ cup cocoa powder
• 1/8 teaspoon baking soda
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon all-spice

• extra Earth Balance and cocoa to prepare the pan
• powdered sugar and cinnamon to dust on top

Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 325.
2. Prepare pan by greasing with Earth Balance and dusting with cocoa. Shake out extra cocoa powder. Set aside.
3. In the bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine pumpkin and ½ teaspoon baking powder.
4. Add Earth Balance and sugars, and cream together.
5. Add remaining ingredients, mix until thoroughly combined.
6. Pour batter into prepared pan.
7. Bake for approximately 35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. The top might still look pretty moist.
8. Cool in pan on cooling rack for 10 minutes, then out of pan until thoroughly cool.
9. Dust cake with powdered sugar and cinnamon.

Happy Cooking!
Kim from Welcoming Kitchen