kampret: Mei 2008

Jumat, 30 Mei 2008

Just Bananas

Ice cream used to be my true love. We spent many long, summer nights together, sat through sappy movies, consoled girlfriends over broken hearts. Our breakup was difficult: I could no longer tolerate his sweetness, or cow-dairy origin and quite frankly, he made me sick.
Yes, it’s been a rough few years, but recently I met someone new that is just as satisfying, creamy and sweet as his dairy counterpart, except that he is actually good for me! Too good to be true? Well, let me introduce you to my new soul mate: the modest and down-to-earth banana.

This past winter, steeped in perpetual boredom, I took a couple frozen bananas out of the freezer to bake a loaf of banana bread. While they were thawing, I became impatient and decided to speed up the process by mixing them up with a hand blender. Lo and behold, this simple process yielded a fluffy, creamy dessert that almost brought me to tears: I never thought I could replace my beloved ice cream, but I did.

This is truly the easiest (and cheapest) dessert to make, especially for a crowd. You can buy a bunch of bananas well in advance and freeze them once they become very ripe, or you can buy them on sale towards the end of their little lives. You can blend in some honey, maple syrup, agave nectar for added sweetness (although it really doesn’t need any if the bananas are really ripe), or add your favorite toppings.

Directions:
1. Get a hold of some ripe bananas
2. Peel bananas and break into small pieces (about 4 or 5 per banana)
3. Put banana pieces into a container and freeze
4. Take bananas out of freezer and let thaw slightly
5. Using a hand blender (unfortunately this does not work in a counter top blender) pulse through banana chunks until a smooth, creamy consistency is reached. It will look almost white, like real ice cream.
6. Serve immediately.

Tip: Once blended, this can be frozen again for serving later, but ice crystals tend to form very quickly as there are no additives to prevent this from happening. Giving the mixture a quick blend again right before serving will ensure the creamiest texture.

Ideas for toppings:
Shredded coconut (pictured above)
Organic chocolate chips
Maple syrup or agave nectar
Chopped almonds or cashews
Orange zest
Banana chips

Ice cream is a food jammed-packed with ingredients on my personal hit list:
cow dairy (see previous post), white sugar, saturated fat, food colouring, artificial flavors, stabilizers, emulsifiers, alginates, viscosity-producing gums and hydrocolloids (huh? Exactly.) Why not avoid a couple servings of that garbage this summer and introduce your new, true love to your friends and family. Maybe you’ll even have them saying: “We scream for NO cream!”

Kamis, 29 Mei 2008

May's Gluten-Free Recipe Rodeo

Easy, Fresh and Fast Yellow Tomato Salad

As promised in early May, here is a round-up of summer fresh gluten-free recipes, hand selected in the spirit of Celiac Awareness Month. So grab a glass of lemonade, park your carcass and kick your boots off, Honey. There are some mighty fine and tasty gluten-free recipes out there.

My theme? Grilling, picnic food, and dining al fresco. You'll find recipes for omnivores, vegans, ovo-lacto vegetarians and pescatarians. Enjoy!

Fresh Strawberry Margaritas For Two at Pinch My Salt
Amy Sherman's Curry Deviled Eggs
Nicole's Homemade Mayonnaise at Pinch My Salt
Carrot Mint Salad at Cookthink
Parmesan Crisps with Roasted Tomato Salsa from Karina
Bea's lovely savory tarts
Elise's Asparagus Frittata at Simply Recipes
Food Blogga's Grilled Shrimp Skewers with Fresh Pineapple Chutney
Curry Burgers and Southeast Asian Grilled Veggies from Rambling Spoon
Elise's Curry Rice Salad at Simply Recipes
Grilled Lime and Chile Chicken at Kalyn's Kitchen
Salmon Burgers from Wheat-Free Meat-Free
Book of Yum's Pesto Grilled Veggie Pizza

Sesame Chicken Salad from Coconut & Lime
Quinoa Salad with Shrimp, Cucumber, Mango & Mint from Hedonia
Texas Caviar Pasta Salad from Sugar Magnolia
Amy Sherman's Warm Steak and Orange Salad
Horseradish Spiked Red Potato Salad from Karina's Kitchen

Grilled Eggplant with Balsamic Honey Syrup from Alanna at A Veggie Venture
Grilled Nectarines with Honey Balsamic Glaze from MattBites
Goat Cheese Potato Gratin from Ilva at Lucullian Delights
Gluten-Free Bay's Quick and Easy Cilantro-Lime Broccoli Slaw
Kalyn's Kitchen Mango Salsa with Red Bell Pepper
My Calabasitas

Nami-Nami's No Churn Pomegranate Ice Cream
Ilva's Chocolate Cookies
Go Dairy Free's Brownie Bites
Nami-Nami's Coconut Cream with Poached Rhubarb
Oatmeal Date Chocolate Cookies a Heart Smart recipe from Mrs. GF
My Dark Chocolate Brownies

Food Blogs Now Featuring a Gluten-Free Category:

Cookthink
La Tartine Gourmande
Nami-Nami
Fat Free Vegan Kitchen
101 Cookbooks
Go Dairy-Free
Hogwash

If you have a gluten-free label or section on your food blog- I'm sorry I missed you! Please feel free to leave your link in Comments below and I'll add it in (and thanks for thinking of us gluten-free folks!).

For a list of Gluten-Free Blogs- see the I Blog Gluten-Free Bloggers List.

And what about that luscious looking yellow tomato salad featured at the top of this round-up post?

So easy it's scary.

Yellow Tomato Salad

Pick the most ripe and juicy tomatoes you can find and you won't need to fuss.

5-6 medium sized vine-ripe yellow tomatoes, sliced
2 tablespoons good fruity extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
Fresh chopped parsley or basil, as needed
Sea salt and fresh cracked pepper, to taste

Tip: If it's hot out, chill your serving plate first.

Arrange the sliced yellow tomatoes on a chilled salad plate. Drzzle with the extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Dust with fresh herbs. Sprinkle with sea salt and cracked pepper.

Serves 4.

Senin, 26 Mei 2008

Gluten-Free Mint Chocolate Cookies Recipe

Mint chocolate cookies and a glass of ice cold hemp milk.

I'll say it up front. For all those perceptive Readers out there. This post? It's a redux slash revamp of a previous chocolate cookie recipe. Why? Because Darling, we are always tweaking and gently nudging recipes toward perfection around here. Though as you and I well know, perfection is unattainable (in the gluten-free vegan baking world, that is). But we can come close. Very close.

And with this latest peppermint chocolate chip incarnation we are a good nibble closer to the best chocolate cookie yet. So of course, I had to tweak and share. These remind me of those Girl Scout cookies called Thin Mints. Except they're chubby (though I suppose one could flatten them a bit if one was so inclined).

These peppermint laced fudgy sweethearts are crisp chocolate goodness.

We freeze ours and serve them slightly chilled. Those of you more adept at fancy baking could try creating heart shapes. (I never have the patience to fuss with dough. I'm more of rustic make a mess in the kitchen blasting Neil Finn kind of baker than a precise "mis en place" to Sarah Brightman kind of gal. But if cookie cutters are your middle name? Knock yourself out.)

These are lovely warm from the oven with an ice cold glass of vanilla hemp milk (pictured is Hemp Dream).

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Sabtu, 24 Mei 2008

Lime Chicken Taco Fun

Fast + delicious- lime chicken tacos.

Grilling season is upon us. But don't you worry, Sweetcakes. This particular gluten-free goddess is not going to waste a heartbeat lamenting hot dog buns. And I'm not going to spend hours in the kitchen trying to replicate hamburger rolls, that even in their wheat loaded incarnation were more of a starchy dry-as-dirt nuisance. Something invented to hold the all fixins' together, but that, when push came to shove, I ended up tearing off piece by piece, peeling around the edges to get to the good stuff.

This was ages before the California In N Out protein style burger was invented (which was, in my humble, wheat-free opinion, sheer, utter low carb genius). Who knew a burger wrapped in lettuce leaves would be so darn tasty? But I digress. Let's get back to the barbecue question.

Are you going to pine for long lost spongy buns?

Continue reading

Rabu, 21 Mei 2008

Tostada Nueva- an easy gluten-free lunch

The tostada- made fresh + light

The recent summer weather has nudged me out of my primavera surliness and ignited my desire to paint again. I suddenly feel energized. Focused. Turned on. I've been toning wood and masonite panels left, right and upside down, laying on thick and juicy strokes of pigmented Gesso in rose, peach and ocher- warmth as a foil to my preferred palette for brushy skies and abstractions.

This is a welcome turn. As many of you know, it's been a somewhat weird and challenging seven months. It feels good to be back in my tiny studio again, blasting music and standing upright, paint brush in hand.

And what have I been eating this hot and breezy week, you ask?

Have I got a quick and easy solution for those sultry summer nights when it's too damn hot to turn on the oven. I'm calling the recipe Tostada Nueva. This is not your typical fried corn tortilla topped with shredded iceberg lettuce, red tomatoes and ground beef. Nope. It's light and fresh and snappy. And it's dairy-free (translation- cheese-less) so you can serve it to your GFCF Sweethearts.

I used Trader Joe's Brown Rice Tortillas (thanks to a Fabulous Reader who turned me on to TJ's new gluten-free brown rice wraps) for the tostada base. The rice tortillas cooked up flaky and just crisp enough. I fried them briefly in my iron skillet with a splash of light olive oil.

Tostada Nueva

I topped my brown rice tostada with slices of Applegate Farms Honey and Maple Turkey Breast and pieces of cooked and crispy (nitrate free!) Sunday Bacon, but you could use any of your favorite deli meat. The heirloom yellow tomatoes are bright and citrusy- perfect for summer.

Ingredients:

For each person you'll need:

1 brown rice tortilla-wrap
Olive oil, as needed
3 slices of Applegate Farms Honey Maple Turkey
2-3 pieces of crispy cooked Applegate Farms Sunday Bacon
A handful of organic baby greens
1 smallish yellow tomato, sliced

Honey Mustard Dressing

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon honey mustard
1 small clove garlic, finely minced
1 dab of agave nectar
Sea salt and fresh ground pepper, to taste

Instructions:

If you are making dressing for four servings, I might quadruple all the ingredients listed except for the garlic- one clove is probably enough.

Assemble your ingredients.

Just before you are ready to eat, heat a little olive oil in a medium hot skillet. Fry the brown rice tortilla on both sides, briefly, until it is slightly golden and crisp. Remove with tongs and place the hot tortilla on a serving plate. (Drain it on a paper towel first, if you like.)

Top with the turkey, fresh baby greens, yellow tomato slices and cooked bacon. Drizzle with the Honey Mustard Dressing. Season with more sea salt and fresh ground pepper.

Boom. Dinner is done.

Does it get any easier?

Serve with a side of my Easy Guacamole with Lime. Or how about some of my Horseradish Spiked Red Potato Salad?

Note: I like Applegate Farms because their products are organic, nitrate and antibiotic free, as well as gluten and casein free. Not to mention, delicious.

Selasa, 20 Mei 2008

Goat is the New Cow

Goat diary is a gift from God. I gave up cow’s milk and everything made with it about 3 years ago, and renouncing the mucus-forming, antibiotic-laden, digestion-clogging gook was easy with a little help from a righteous goat.
Without throwing too many cheap shots at the poor, holy cow, I want to explain the basic differences between cow and goat dairy to illustrate why making the switch is an excellent idea for you and your family.

Goat Milk is Easier to Digest than Cow Milk
Our bodies were designed to consume human milk, a perfect food for growing babies. We are born with the ability to digest our mother’s milk, but many people become lactose-intolerant as teens or adults, when our bodies stop producing the enzymes necessary to digest any kind of milk.
Goat milk has smaller protein molecules than cow milk, the most similar to the protein found in human milk. In addition, the fat molecules in goat milk have thinner, more fragile membranes - half the size of those in cow milk. This leads to an average curd tension that is literally 1⁄2 that of cow milk (36 grams for goat milk and 70 grams for cow milk). Curds from milk form in the digestive tract or during cheese or yogurt making (anywhere that the milk is subjected to acid). Having less curd tension means that the milk is less "tough", and easier to digest. Dr. Bernard Jensen (my personal hero) showed that goat milk will digest in a baby's stomach in 20 minutes, whereas pasteurized cow milk takes 8 hours. The difference is in the structure of the milk.

Goat Milk is Nutritious
Compared to cow dairy, goat dairy contains more calcium, phosphorous, vitamin A, riboflavin, thiamine, selemium and less cholesterol!

Goat Milk is non-Allergenic
Goat milk does not contain the complex of proteins that are the main stimulants of allergic reactions to cow dairy products. Therefore, it does not stress/depress the immune system. Seven percent (7%) of U.S. children show symptoms of cow-milk allergy such as wheezing, congestion, frequent ear infections, eczema, skin rashes and digestive troubles. In the vast majority of cases, these problems are often eliminated when goat milk is substituted for cow's milk.

Goat Milk as a Substitute for Those Who Are Lactose Intolerant
Goat milk and goat milk products can be tolerated by most of those who are lactose intolerant. Because unpasteurized goat milk is digested very rapidly, lactose (the main sugar found in milk), does not remain for long periods of time in the intestines, where it can ferment or cause an osmotic imbalance, followed by digestive upset. Additionally, goat milk contains 7% less lactose than cow milk.

Goat Milk is an “Alkalinizer” of the System
Goat milk is a rare dairy food in that it has an alkaline ash. This means that it does not produce acid in the intestinal system. Acidic blood and intestinal pH levels have been associated by researchers with fatigue, headaches, muscle aches and pains, sore pressure points, excess weight, blood sugar imbalances, and excessive yeast populations. Goat milk helps to increase the pH of the blood stream because it is the highest dairy product in the amino acid L-glutamine, an alkalinizing amino acid.

Goat Milk Contains Twice the Healthful Medium Chain Fatty Acids
In comparison to cow milk, goat milk contains twice the content of medium chain fatty acids, such as capric and caprylic acids. These fatty acids are highly antimicrobial. Capric and caprylic acids are used today in dietary supplements to inhibit the growth of Candida albicans and other yeast species. They also boost the immune system and enhance energy.

While in the North America, we may think of goat's milk as a beverage alternative to cow's milk, in most areas of the world, the opposite is true. Worldwide, more people drink goat's milk than cow's milk.

Most people assume goat's milk will have the same strong musky taste for which goat cheese is famous. Yet, in fact, good quality goat's milk has a delicious slightly sweet, and sometimes also slightly salty, taste.

The same goes for it’s fermented friend, yogurt. This is my favorite easy-to-digest indulgence in the morning: a frozen banana, handful of wild blueberries and about a ½ cup of goat’s yogurt. Blend it until smooth and I’ve got a fully loaded breakfast that’s great on the go. I just pour it into a mason jar and make everyone on the subway jealous! This also a delicious dessert.

Goat cheese comes in many forms too. We are all familiar with the soft, spreadable type, but goat cheddar, mozzarella, and feta are also available. I love to put a couple slices of goat cheddar on crusty, whole-grain bread with some jam (the best is my friend Kaitlin’s organic peach and ginger jam that she bestows upon me after the summer harvest. She’s such a lovely girl). This satisfies my craving for a salty-sweet snack, while supplying me with fiber, protein and calcium!

Here’s a simple recipe for a Waldorf salad (pictured above) that is far superior made with goat yogurt. This with a side of quinoa and you’ve got a lunch that really satisfies…

Waldorf Salad with Goat Yogurt
Ingredients
1 large apple
2 stalks celery
1 tsp lemon juice
1 handful of raisins
1 handful of chopped walnuts
4 Tbsp goat yogurt
1 tsp. maple syrup, agave nectar or liquid honey

Directions
1. Chop the apples and toss immediately with lemon juice to prevent browning. Chop the celery and walnuts. Add raisins.
2. Combine the yogurt and maple syrup or other sweetener.
3. Toss all ingredients together and serve.

I hope that I have inspired you to try some goat dairy – there are so many ways to enjoy this delightfully digestible food and many are found at a regular grocery store (a small miracle for those of you who have not yet ventured into a health food emporium). There’s a goat lover in all of us, unleash yours today!

Senin, 19 Mei 2008

Red Potato Salad with Horseradish

Serve this horseradish spiked red potato salad warm or cold

Ready for some spud love? Here's one of my favorite potato salad recipes. And just in time. Summer has arrived almost instantaneously here in the desert north of Santa Fe. Last week I was layering t-shirts and hoodies to keep warm. I stood shivering at the Santa Fe Farmer's Market (wind always makes me cranky). It felt more like March than May. This weekend? It was quintessential summer weather. Hot bright sun. Dry air. An almost too-warm casita. We turned on the ceiling fans.

On weekends like this you kick off your shoes and peel off your long sleeved black jersey, opting instead for the lime green tank top. You feel your bones begin to knit as you soak up the longer daylight and linger by the roadside during post-dinner walks in the rose hued sun. You smile at the young jackrabbits and their impossibly erect ears. And your thoughts turn to dining al fresco, sitting beneath the dappled shade of the portal with a chilled glass of white and a zesty potato salad. Life in the slow lane.

Last night's Twitter:

Cheap thrills in the desert: S is making animal sounds to alarm a jackrabbit. The sound that makes it freeze in terror? A chicken cluck.

Horseradish Spiked Red Potato Salad Recipe

If you really, really prefer sour cream or mayonnaise in your red potato salad- by all means, Babycakes, add some in. But if you've never tried a mayo-free dairy-free version of this popular summer side dish, why not give my vegan potato salad a whirl? You might even make some new friends at your next barbecue. Those vegans? Sprouting up everywhere these days.

2 to 2 1/2 pounds small red potatoes
Sea salt
1/4 cup fruity tasting extra virgin olive oil, as needed
4-6 tablespoons apple cider or rice vinegar, to taste
1 smallish red onion, finely diced
2 tablespoons prepared horseradish- I used Bubbies
Sea salt and fresh ground black pepper
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
1-2 teaspoons dill, to taste
1 teaspoon caraway seeds- optional

Wash and cut up the red potatoes, toss them into a pot of salted fresh water. Bring the water to a boil and simmer the potatoes until they are fork tender. Drain well.

Pour the cooked potatoes into a large bowl. While the potatoes are still warm, sprinkle with sea salt and drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and vinegar. Toss to coat and to soften the edges of the potatoes pieces a bit. Add the diced onion, horseradish and toss to distribute. Taste and season with more sea salt and plenty of fresh ground pepper. Add the chopped parsley, dill and caraway; mix.

Taste test. Add more olive oil or vinegar, sea salt or herbs.

Serve warm (so yummy!) or cover and chill.

Remember that chilling the potato salad will subdue its flavor considerably. I always season my potato salad more vigorously if I am going to serve it chilled. Taste test after chilling it and add more seasoning if it needs it.

Serves 6 to 8.

Printer-friendly recipe

Karina's Notes:

This a food allergy friendly recipe- it is gluten-free, soy-free, egg-free, dairy-free.

If you're not a fan of horseradish try my Champagne Vinegar Potato Salad recipe.

Kamis, 15 Mei 2008

Blueberry Oat Muffins

Gluten-free blueberry oat muffins.

We woke to the sound of water. It is raining in the desert this morning. The overflow is spilling over the edges of the canales, splashing onto the wedges of flagstone scattered in the sand around our casita. It feels like we are living inside a Zen fountain- waterfalls on all sides. The mesa is hidden in mist. The air is heavy with the scent of juniper and wet bark. I am deeply comforted by all of this.

Moisture is a rare commodity here.

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Selasa, 13 Mei 2008

Pound for Pound

My stepmother is a wonderful woman and I have always admired her desire to try new things and challenge herself. So when she decided to create her own recipe for a lemon raspberry pound cake, I was very impressed, since she doesn’t often bake without a little help from her friend Betty Crocker. The cake wasn’t the prettiest sight and totally inedible, but it was merely her lack of experimenting experience that turned her lemon raspberry pound cake, into a lemon raspberry puddle.

Baking, unfortunately, is not like cooking. It’s a fine science, and recipe alteration takes some experience. I decided that for mother’s day, I would show my step mom how to alter a good recipe in a healthy way without running into too many problems. The cake turned out really well - and even my dad, the king of sugar and preservatives, liked it.

It’s relatively easy to make your favorite recipes into healthy ones simply by adding, subtracting, or modifying a few ingredients. You can take a modest pound cake full of empty calories and turn it into a fiber-rich, low-fat, flavorful party-in-your-mouth without anyone even noticing! Just follow these simple steps and you’re on your way to healthier heaven.

Fat: For baked goods, use half the butter, shortening or oil and replace the other half with unsweetened applesauce, mashed banana or prune puree.

Sugar: Reduce the amount of sugar by one-third to one-half. When you use less sugar, add spices such as cinnamon, cloves, allspice and nutmeg or flavorings such as vanilla extract or almond flavoring to enhance the sweetness of the food.

Sodium: Reduce salt by one-half in baked goods that don't require yeast. For foods that require yeast, don't reduce the amount of salt, which is necessary for leavening. Without salt, the foods may become dense and flat. For most main dishes, salads, soups and other foods, however, you can reduce the salt by one-half or eliminate it completely.

Fiber: Substitute white flour for a whole grain flour such as spelt, kamut, barley, oat, or whole wheat. Or, just use half the white flour and half whole grain; you’ll still be doing yourself a big favor! When possible, add extra fruits and vegetables to your recipe and include the peel when appropriate.

Eggs: This helps for vegan baking! Replace 1 egg in baking with 1 tbsp ground flax mixed with 3 tbsp water. It will bind ingredients just as well and provide a boost of fiber.

Lemon Raspberry Pound Cake
Ingredients
Cake:
2 ¼ cups spelt, kamut, or whole grain whole-wheat flour (replaced 2 ¼ cups white cake flour)
1 tsp. aluminum-free baking powder
½ tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. salt
3 Tbsp. unsalted organic butter at room temperature
2 Tbsp. applesauce (replaced 2 Tbsp. butter)
½ cup organic raw cane sugar or Sucanat (replaced 1 cup white sugar)
1 Tbsp. ground flax seed mixed with 3 Tbsp. water (replaced 1 large egg)
2 egg whites
2 tsp. pure vanilla extract (increased 1 tsp. vanilla to enhance sweetness)
1 cup organic vanilla yogurt
1 ½ cups raspberries frozen; keep frozen until ready to use (increased fruit by ½ cup)
Finely grated zest of 1 organic lemon

Glaze:
2 Tbsp. pure maple syrup
2 Tbsp. lemon juice
(I added this glaze because I reduced the sugar by half in the modified recipe and thought that the cake would taste better with a real sweetness on the top. It worked!)

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 F. Coat 6 cup loaf pan with butter or light flavored oil. Sift together four, baking powder, baking soda and salt; set aside. In a large bowl beat butter until creamy; gradually beat in sugar, about 2-3 minutes until mixture is light in colour. Gradually beat in egg, egg whites, extract and lemon peel. Beat in flour mixture and yogurt, alternating each, beginning and ending with flour mixture; fold in frozen raspberries. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake until a wooden toothpick inserted near the middle comes out clean (time will vary depending on your oven. My cake baked for 1 hour and 20 minutes, but check yours after 45 minutes). Cool in pan for 10 minutes. Slide a thin knife around the edges of cake to loosen, invert pan onto cooling rack. Make glaze by whisking maple syrup and lemon juice together. While still slightly warm, perforate top of cake with a fork and carefully spoon on the glaze. Cool completely. Slice and serve.

Senin, 12 Mei 2008

Pork Roast with Mushrooms and Brown Sugar Apricot-Pomegranate Sauce

Slow cooker pork roast with apricot jam.

My first pork roast recipe- ever. And it's a home run. I apologize for the sports metaphor but I've been sitting at my desk for an hour. And not a single sentence has been birthed. Even after one hot mother of a mug of coffee (and a decaf peppermint green tea that really doesn't count because, well, it's tea), I'm still in a post Sunday fog today, basking in the afterglow of a Sunday afternoon spent with friends. We ate and drank our way through six hours of non-stop conversation. I get all warm and fuzzy just thinking about it. And I'm more than a little tempted to wax poetic about friendship and how we choose our true family and what a head banging blue-in-the-face relief it is to sit at a table with soulful people who wrestle with big questions and hunger for authenticity and integrity while also making you laugh out loud without covering your teeth and feel proud of your mayo-free potato salad.

But I won't. I'll tell you about my first pork roast instead.

I'll say it up front. It took decades to get me here- to ease into a place in my life where I might actually, finally, consider buying a hunk of pork and roasting it. I started off slowly, slyly, trying turkey bacon ten years ago. Then I graduated to the real deal roughly six years ago. Organic Sunday smoked bacon. Nitrate-free, of course. And when my body did not protest and the world as I knew it did not go up in a hellish ball of blistering flames, I decided to move on to the hard stuff. I was ready.

It was finally time to roast a pork loin. And Dear Reader- was I intimidated. You know it. In fact yours truly was almost quaking in her Rocket Dogs. Well, maybe not quaking. More like, shivery-nervous. So I decided two things.

First- that I would use my trusty slow cooker. Simple. Familiar. Not too much to screw up. Second- that I would make a sauce with pomegranate juice and a jar of apricot jam. It just seemed like a good fit.

And guess what? Tender, juicy, tangy-sweet deliciousness ensued.

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Jumat, 09 Mei 2008

Pomegranate Smoothie - Dairy-Free

Pomegranate smoothie- dairy-free bliss.

I'm delirious. I could blame it on the wind. There is a loco spring wind here in New Mexico, you know. And it can make you, well. Crazy. It rough rides up the Chama River like nobody's business and bitch slaps the mesa behind us. It buffets the casita absolutely senseless and whips tumbleweeds into missiles. I'm not kidding. There are moments when you wonder if the roof will lift off.

You start looking out the window for flying monkeys.

So you hunker down and pull out pots and pans to conjure mashed potatoes into colcannon just to cope. You bake comforting Roasted Vegetable Lasagna. You feel like whipping up your own brand of frenzy.

In the gentle guise of a vegan smoothie.

Because you crave pomegranate. We all know deep and vibrant hued fruits are good for us. You've read about all those studies, right? How all those yummy antioxidants and goodies like anthocyanin feed our brains and keep us sharp, on the edge, where we need to be?

Psychology Today reports that preliminary results indicate that people who eat a cup of blueberries a day perform 5 percent to 6 percent better than a control group on tests of motor skills. I'm not good at math (will blueberries help?) so I'm unsure if "5 to 6 percent better" is a huge deal, but, Hey. For the sake of my asymmetrical motor skills (I was the Aspie geek who was never- ever- picked for any team in school) I'm willing to eat a few more blueberries, pomegranates and cranberries. Not because I harbor hopes of better motor skills.

But because they taste so good.

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Selasa, 06 Mei 2008

May Brings More Than Flowers- it brings celiac awareness!

May is Celiac Disease Awareness Month. Around this little casita, that's no big deal. After all, we live with celiac disease 24/7 (and have been gluten-free- in our various kitchens- since December 19, 2001). Living gluten-free- to us- is second nature. But what about the over two million and several hundred thousand other celiac citizens- the vast sea of the Undiagnosed? You're out there. Somewhere. Swimming in gluten. And you don't even know it's wreaking havoc.

This post's for you.

Throughout the month of May, Gluten-Free Goddess will be spotlighting gluten-free recipes that pop up in sweet and unexpected places- especially food and cooking blogs, and sites that don't necessarily focus on gluten-free cooking. Spotting and tagging safe recipes for celiac disease in a blogging community with a passion for taste, fresh ingredients and style will be not only fun- but help to raise awareness for celiac disease.

Read on for the first fabulous find.

The first tempting recipe find is this sexy Warm Steak and Orange Salad posted by food writer and recipe developer Amy Sherman at Glam Dish- tasty morsels served with style. It's impossible to feel deprived when you can dig into a dish like this. Get more Amy at her Cooking With Amy blog, too. She's got some tasty gluten-free recipes to share- like these delightful crepes.

Fellow bloggers and food lovers- if you have a particular gluten-free recipe you'd like to share this month, please e-mail me at the contact link in the top navigation bar, and I will do my best to include it. Check back each week for more delicious recipes around the web.

Find out more at Celiac Central: The NFCA

Sabtu, 03 Mei 2008

Roasted Vegetable Magic

Fresh veggies chopped and tossed with garlic and olive oil.

What do you throw together for dinner when you're just too tired to cook?

That is my question to you, Dear Readers. Chances are you've been there. I know you have. Dog weary. Emotionally spent. A tad cranky. Blood sugar perilously low. It's way past time to eat. The kids have been munching cereal straight from the box. And there you are, staring into the pantry without a trace of culinary passion and only the scantiest clad hint of inspiration.

What you really want to do is strip off the remains of the day and sink into a welcoming tub with a chilled glass of Riesling and hope that dinner will magically appear in an hour.

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Gluten-Free Dessert Recipes

My best gluten-free dessert recipes.

Looking for gluten-free dessert recipes for your celiac sweet tooth? Here is my collection of truly tasty gluten-free treats- from buckwheat chocolate chip cookies to dairy-free pumpkin pie, from rich chocolate brownies and cupcakes, to easy fruit crisps and coconut carrot cake. All my dessert recipes are wheat and gluten-free, and many are egg-free and dairy-free, as well.

Make today delicious. xox Karina