Vegan/Allergy-Friendly Banana Bread!

 (from ambitiouskitchen.com)

INGREDIENTS:

Wet

3 big bananas mashed, 4 or 5 if you have shrimpy ones (1 1/3 cup mashed)

1/3c melted and cooled oil (called for coconut but canola was fine)

1/2c packed brown sugar

1/2 tbsp vanilla extract

2tbsp dairy-free milk of choice

Dry

1 3/4c flour of choice (Bob's 1-1 is a great gf option)

1tsp baking soda

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2tsp salt

1/2 cup dairy/soy-free chocolate chips (Enjoy Life is the best brand!)

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350. Line a tin (8 1/2 x 4 1/2 is recommended) with parchment paper and grease inside of pan. *Wasn't sure if they meant grease the pan under the liner or the liner...so I did both!

Mix WET ingredients together in a big bowl.

Mix DRY ingredients together and whisk. 

Add DRY ingredients to WET ingredients and mix together until just combined. Lumps are ok!

Add in chocolate chips and mix.

Put batter into pan and bake for 40-50 minutes or until tester comes out clean. Allow bread to cool in pan for 5-10 minutes then remove from pan and place on a wire rack to finish cooling. Slice and eat when cool!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

 Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Gluten-free, vegan, and allergy-friendly! Also DELICIOUS.

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups pureed pumpkin (1 15 oz. can is fine)

1/2 c sugar

1/4 c molasses

2 c rolled oats

1 c flour *substitute gf flour

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground cloves

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

***for the spices, a pumpkin spice mix would be amazing

1/2 c raisins *OPTIONAL--I say GROSS.

1 c chocolate chips/chunks of your choice

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 375.

Mix pumpkin, sugar, and molasses together.

In small bowl, combine oats, flour, spices, and baking soda.

Mix together with pumpkin and sugar. Mix in chocolate and/or raisins.

Drop by spoonful on greased cookie sheet. (I sprinkled a little kosher salt on top–highly recommend) 

Bake 11/13 minutes.

NOTES:

I was really impressed with these as they stuck together super well despite the lack of egg and they came out nice and chewy. 

I think the bake time was a little longer than written? Just watch for your desired level of chewy. 

And the batter was so good we ended up cooking a tray-full of the batter then eating the rest straight out of the mixing bowl over the course of a couple days.

"Sausage" (aka mushroom) "Breakfast" (aka anytime of day) Patties

Just did a Virtual Cooking Class with a chef who is on Instagram as @PlantBasedG.life and these are DELICIOUS. They SMELL just like sausage and get a delicious SEAR like a burger but its all mushrooms and plants :)

Ingredients

-3 cups white mushrooms

-1 large white onion, diced

-3 cloves garlic, diced

-1 cup brown rice

-4 oz black olives

-1/2 Jalapeno

-1/2 cup bread crumbs (I used Trader Joe's Gluten Free Rice Crumbs- use whatever! In the class he also told us you could also just make toast and use that)

-Avocado oil (2ish tablespoons but I honestly use less than every recipe says for oil)

-English Muffins (I used Ezekiel Gluten Free English Muffins. Highly recommend!!)

Spices

-Cayenne Pepper

-Oregano

-Cumin

-Dried Sage (I honestly just used regular sage and it totally was fine hahaha)

-Thyme

-Salt & Pepper

-Add any other spices you like :)

**NOTE: BLENDER NEEDED

To Serve

Tomato slices, lettuce, and raw onion slices

Steps:

1. Cook the rice, leave to cool

2. Blend the mushrooms till they kinda look like ground beef

3. Saute the onions in the avocado oil for a few mins (till translucent & starting to brown)

4. Add mushrooms to the onions and saute another few mins till the mushrooms are cooked. Add the garlic and ALL the spices (but NOT the jalapeno) and cook for another few mins.

5. Let everything cool (very important because you don't want to put warm stuff in the blender- it will get super hot in there)

6. Put the mushroom concoction, olives, and rice in the blender and blend. Add the bread crumbs & Jalapeno and blend a little more. It should start to look like ground beef.

7. Scoop everything into a bowl (this just makes it easier to form the patties and put on the pan

8. Add a tablespoon of avocado oil to a pan and set it to medium heat. When pan is hot, scoop out a patty sized chunk and put it on! It'll sear just like a burger its crazy. Flip over after 3-5 mins. Play around with timing obviously but cook for about 3-5 mins per side. 

While the patties are cooking, toast your English Muffins!

Serve with the raw tomato slices, raw onion slices, and lettuce. Eric liked his with Hot Sauce. 

ENJOY!! <3 Natalie

The Everyman's Chocolate Mousse

The Everyman's Chocolate Mousse

*My brilliant baker friend Sarah loves to challenge herself by making Jefe-friendly desserts. This one is his favorite and I am always jealous cuz he won't ever share. It is super simple and has literally 3 ingredients, 2 of which are different forms of water. SO, this mousse is allergy AND vegan-friendly!


INGREDIENTS:

3/4 cup (6 oz.) water
8 oz. chocolate (70% recommended, but pick what you love)
ice cubes
whipped cream for topping *optional


DIRECTIONS:

1. Pour water into a saucepan *you can flavor it with orange juice or cassis puree if you want to get fancy. Over medium-low heat, whisk in the chocolate. The result is a homogenous sauce.

2. Put the saucepan in a bowl partly filled with ice cubes or pour into another bowl that is over the ice--it will chill faster. Then whisk the chocolate sauce by hand or with an electric mixer *if mixer, it will thicken faster, so watch out! Whisking creates large air bubbles in the sauce, which steadily thickens. After a while, strands of chocolate form inside the loops of the whisk. Pour or spoon immediately into ramekins, small bowls, or jars, and let set. Serve immediately or refrigerate


3 things can go wrong and here's how you fix them:

1. If your chocolate doesn't contain enough fat, melt the mixture again, add some chocolate, and then whisk it again.

2. If the mousse is not light enough, melt the mixture again, add some water, and whisk it once more.

3. If you whisk it too much so that it becomes grainy, this means the foam has turned into an emulsion. In that case, simply melt the mixture and whisk it again, adding nothing.

Sweet Potato Coconut Soup

Sweet Potato Coconut Soup

This soup is a super creamy Thai-ish bowl of wonder. I combined two recipes and riffed on a few things, so below is my best idea of what exactly goes into it.

Necessary Tool: Immersion Blender! Bless this thing. Makes soup so easy.

INGREDIENTS:

-2 tbsp coconut oil (def used more as things cooked down)
-1/2 sweet onion
-garlic (I did 6 cloves)
-ginger (2ish tbsp)
-red curry paste (about 2 tsp? to taste, it is strong!)
-2 big sweet potatoes peeled and cut into medium chunks
-2 cups chicken broth
-2ish carrots (optional...I got the wrong kind of potato! Were white inside and weren't very sweet, so I added some carrots for orange color and sugar. Worked really well! Would recommend.)
-1 can coconut milk
-1 lime
-scallions


DIRECTIONS:

Heat up coconut oil in a big pot. Cook onions til nice and brown, preferably caramelized, but that takes forever. Add garlic, ginger, and curry paste. Cook down for a few minutes until super fragrant. Add the sweet potatoes and carrots, mix well. Cook, adding more oil if needed, until potatoes start to get soft, about 20 minutes. Add broth, bring to a boil then simmer until potatoes are super soft. Remove from heat and immersion blender the ever living sh*t out of it til nice and blended. Add coconut milk, stir in some lime juice, mix it up, and heat it all back up.

Serve with a drizzle of coconut milk if you want, but DEFINITELY with slices of lime and scallions.

Blackberry Glazed Pork Chops

These taste a lot fancier than the amount of effort required to make them! That and a short ingredients list makes these a great dish to impress on the fly...the recipe calls for blackberries, but raspberries work too! (You get a deeper sweeter taste with blackberries. With raspberries, the dish is tangier, more tart.)

(from PaleOMG)

INGREDIENTS:
(2-4 servings)

1-2 lbs. pork chops
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp dried thyme
salt and pepper
12 ounce fresh blackberries (OR RASPBERRIES!)
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
2 tbsp water

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Turn grill on.

2. Place pork chops on a plate and cover both sides with cinnamon, thyme, salt, and pepper. Press the spices into the chops.

3. While the grill heats up, place a small saucepan over medium heat and add blackberries, balsamic vinegar, water, and a pinch of salt.

4. Stir sauce frequently to avoid burning on the bottom as it mixes and heats up.

5. Turn heat to low and let sauce simmer for 3-5 minutes.

6. Pour half the sauce into a bowl for glazing purposes. (You can leave the blackberries in the pot, since those look best on top of the chops later.)

7. Use a glazing brush to glaze one side of your chops then place that glazed side down onto your grill.

8. Then glaze the other side, cover grill and let cook for 5-7 minutes per side. Glaze as much as you want...3-4 times preferably.

9. Plate chops and top with the leftover blackberry sauce that has been simmering and thickening up.

Chicken with Biscuits

Chicken with Biscuits aka "Chicken Potpie"ish

INGREDIENTS:

Biscuits:
-2 cups gluten free flour
-1/2 tsp xanthan gum
-1 tbsp baking powder
-1/2 tsp salt
-1/2 cup dairy-free, soy-free vegetable shortening, chilled
-1 cup plain vegan yogurt

Filling:
-2 tbsp olive oil
-1 stalk celery
-1/2 cup frozen pearl onions, defrosted
-2 tbsp superfine brown rice flour
-1/4 tsp dried thyme
-pinch of cayenne pepper
-1 cup chicken broth
-1/4 cup rice milk
-salt
-3/4 cup frozen peas and carrots
-2 cups diced cooked chicken
-2 tsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
-freshly ground pepper
-2 tbsp chopped parsley


DIRECTIONS:

1.) Preheat oven to 475. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

2.) To make the biscuits, in a large bowl, whisk together the flour mix, xanthan gum, baking powder, and salt. Cut in the chilled shortening using a pastry blender, two knives, your fingers, until you have pea-sized crumbs. Add the yogurt and stir until just combined, making sure you incorporate the crumbs at the bottom of the bowl.

3.) Flour a work surface lightly with a little gluten-free flour mix and turn out the dough. Gently pat the dough into a 3/4-inch-thick disk, pressing in any loose bits. Don't overhandle the dough.

4.) Use a 2 1/2 inch flour biscuit cutter to cut out the biscuits. Cut them as close together as possible. Gather together the scraps and reshape into a disk and cut out the last couple of biscuits; you will have 8 total. Transfer the biscuits to the baking sheet. Bake in the center of the oven for 20 minutes, until golden.

5.) Meanwhile, make the filling. Heat the olive oil in a heavy pot over medium heat. Add the celery and pearl onions and cook, stirring a few times, for 2 minutes or until slightly softened. Add the brown rice flour to the celery and onions and sprinkle in the thyme and cayenne, and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes, until golden and aromatic. Combine the broth and rice milk in a glass measuring cup and heat for 1 minute in the microwave.

6.) Add the warmed broth-rice milk mixture to the celery and onion mixture a little at a time, stirring vigorously. Add a pinch of salt and cook at a simmer for about 2 minutes, until thickened. Add the peas and carrots, chicken, and lemon juice. Heat through at a simmer, 2 minutes more. Adjust the salt and pepper to taste. Serve over split biscuits with a sprinkling of parsley.


NOTES:

-You don't need a biscuit cutter! Just form loose mounds and let them bake...comes out fine.

Unballed Chicken with Lemon & Kale

Earmarked this recipe for allergy-friendly Boston cookings:

Recipe

2 shallots, minced
1 scallion, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper
1 lb ground chicken
1 lemon, thinly sliced, seeds removed
2 c chicken broth
olive oil
salt & pepper

Heat a tbsp of oil in a pot or large, deep skillet.  Add one shallot, plus the scallion, garlic, and red pepper. Cook until soft and fragrant.  Next, add about a third of the chicken and cook through, breaking up and mixing in.  Transfer to a bowl, and mix in the remaining chicken with some salt and pepper.  Clump into about 8 (soft, loose) meatballs, 2+ inches each.  Wipe out your pot/skillet and heat another tbsp oil, brown your meatballs on all sides, and set them aside.  Cook the lemon with the remaining shallot a couple minutes, then add broth and meatballs back in.  Cover and simmer until meatballs cook through, then add kale and braise about 5 minutes until tender and bright green.  Season, divide, and serve.

Notes

As expected, with no binding agent (egg, bread crumbs, etc.), the meatballs ended up more as loose clumps that either fell apart as we put them in the skillet or would have as soon as we tried to pick them up and turn them.  So, we broke them up and ended up with more of a chili or soup.  And no regrets!  It simplified the process a bit - once the meat is browning, add the lemon, then broth, then kale.  And in the end it was still delicious!  The lemon tang goes great with the meat, and kale is always a nice element.

SunButter Dan Dan Noodles

Homemade Chinese Food!

or

MAKE AND CONSUME 4 BATCHES OF THESE NOODLES RIGHT NOW!!!!!!

(From Allergy-Free and Easy Cooking)

INGREDIENTS:

8 oz. gluten-free linguine

2 cloves garlic, finely minced or pressed

2 tbsp finely minced or grated ginger

2 tbsp coconut amino acids (Worcestershire Sauce is also useable for allergy-folks, soy sauce is fine otherwise)

2 tbsp canola oil

1 tbsp dark brown sugar

1 tbsp balsamic vinegar

1 tbsp sriracha

1/3 cup smooth SunButter/sunflower seed butter (non-allergy-folks, peanut butter can work)

1/4 cup low-sodium chicken broth or vegetable broth

1/2 tsp salt

3 green onions, white and green parts, chopped

1 tbsp chopped cilantro

1/4 cup roasted sunflower seeds, plus more for garnish

1/2 English cucumber, peeled, quartered, and diced, for garnish.

DIRECTIONS:

1.) Bring a large pot of water to a boil over high heat. Cook the pasta according to box.

2.) In a large bowl, combine the garlic, ginger, coconut amino acids, oil, sugar, vinegar, and chile sauce. Mix well. Add the SunButter, chicken broth, and salt. Stir until smooth.

3.) Drain the pasta and combine with the sauce, tossing to coat. Mix in the green onions, cilantro, and 1/4 cup sunflower seeds.

4.) Serve garnished with the diced cucumber and a sprinkling of sunflower seeds.

NOTES:

-SO easy!! Complex flavors make it seem so much fancier/harder than it actually is!

-Recipe has a good kick, so follow it without embellishment first...

-I didn't use cilantro and honestly, I don't think it needs it...

-Second go round included some chopped greenery and chicken chunks sauteed in the sauce. I recommend those additions.

Chili Mac

Allergies and intolerances SUCK! But they don't have to stop you from eating ridiculously creamy, cheesy, comforting fare.

Case in point, CHILI MAC! From the amazing Allergy-Free and Easy Cooking by Cybele Pascal.

INGREDIENTS:

-1 tbsp plus 1 1/2 tsp olive oil
-1 cup diced yellow onion
-2 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
-1 tbsp chili powder
-1/4 tsp smoked Spanish paprika
-1 tsp ground cumin
-1 lb. ground beef, bison, or dark meat turkey
-1 tbsp brown sugar
-salt
-2 cups water
-1 15 ounce can tomato sauce
-8 ounces gluten-free elbow macaroni
-2/3 cup shredded Daiya vegan pepperjack
-2/3 cup shredded Daiya vegan cheddar
-2/3 cup shredded Daiya vegan mozzerella
-freshly ground pepper


DIRECTIONS:

-Preheat the broiler on high.

-Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a large, heavy, oven-safe pan. Add the onion and garlic and cook, stirring often, for 2 minutes, until slightly softened.

-Add the spices and cook, stirring, for 1 minute more, until aromatic.

-Add the meat and cook, stirring often, for 4 minutes or until no longer pink, breaking it up into a small crumble. Sprinkle with the brown sugar and 1/4 tsp of salt, stir, and cook for 1 minute more.

-Add the water and tomato sauce, increase the heat to medium-high, add the pasta, and stir well. Bring to a simmer, then reduce the heat to medium again. Simmer, stirring often, for 10 minutes or until the pasta is al dente. Meanwhile, toss together the three cheeses. Add 1 cup of the cheese mixture to the pasta. Stir, and season with salt and pepper to taste. Stir well. Top with the remaining cup of cheese. Broil 6 inches from the heat source for about 5 minutes, until the cheese has melted and is just starting to brown. Watch carefully so they don't burn. Let rest for a few minutes.

-DEVOUR MERCILESSLY.