Wednesday, July 29, 2015

Costco, gluten free.

So, on my last trip to Costco, I decided to take some snaps of things I buy there regularly.  This does not include things that are a one-off, like the gluten free flour blend from Namaste foods...   But they often have some great surprises while wandering through the store....

So here goes, costco in pics...


Tuesday, July 21, 2015

A Quick Cucumber salad. (and a green juice suggestion)

The cucumbers are in and are bountiful!  Some of us will be pickling as well, but, in the meantime, a slightly different cucumber salad...

Someone shared a post on The Book Of Face of their twist of an Indian-inspired salad with peanuts.

So, since I'm not such a peanut fan...  I came up with this adaptation of an adaptation.  No amounts, because its basically to taste...

Ingredients:

cucumber

unsweetened coconut flakes (I used the big, fat, organic ones that look like someone used a veggie peeler on a coconut)
cashews

oil (or ghee)
cumin seeds
mustard seeds
chili oil (or fresh chili pepper to taste)

white balsamic or apple cider vinegar

salt

slice the cukes into a bowl, (I used a mandoline for thin slices)  If you are using a fresh chili, dice it up and add it here.  

Put some oil into a pan, toast the cumin and mustard seeds in the oil until they start popping, remove from heat, add chili oil to taste.  add the vinegar to taste and dress the cukes with the mixture

Toast cashews and coconut in a dry skillet and add them and the salt right before serving.


Cucumber-pear juice

Juice a large cucumber or two.  Juice a pear.  

Add chopped Thai basil, salt, and a splash of balsamic vinegar.   Serve cold.


Wednesday, July 15, 2015

A very zucchini post...

So I got a CSA share again this year.    And we've recently been getting tons of zukes (and cukes, and Napa Cabbage, but focussing on the zukes right now)


So, two zuke recipes, unfortunately meaning you have to turn the oven on...  but they are worth it...

The first is based loosely on a children's cookbook recipe for "Martian Cookies", I may call them Plutonian because I made them the day of the flyby... 




Preheat oven to 350.  Use Silpat or parchment paper on your pans.

Cream 1/2 cup of butter and 1/2 cup sugar together.

Add vanilla to taste (I usually don't measure vanilla) and the juice of half a lemon.   1 tsp of ginger. (more if you want it)

One egg.

I used green pea flour here to enhance the green, you can also use chickpea flour or your favorite gluten-free flour blend.

1/2 cup green pea flour
1/2 cup almond meal
1/2 cup almond flour

Mix in.  

Add 1 cup gluten-free oats and one heaping cup of shredded zucchini.

Stir in 1/4 to 1/2 cup of white chocolate chips.

Let sit for ten minutes or so to hydrate a little.

Then dollop onto cookie sheets and bake until brown around the edges.

Possible additions to the batter? Bits of ginger.  You could add lemon zest as well, if you want a little more lemon flavor, although the zucchini tends to slightly bitter, as does the green pea flour, so just be careful with bitter ingredients.  The original recipe added nuts, chocolate chips and butterscotch chips, but that seems like overkill.. You could probably add nuts or maybe cinnamon chips, if you can find g-f ones.  Or it might even work with vanilla and fresh mint (I'd leave out the ginger, then) chiffonaded...    



The second is based loosely on a recipe I saw on FB, of all things.  They are basically cheese and zucchini.
No-name.  They would make a nice snacky thing with drinks or a side to soup.


2 cups shredded zucchini
1/2 cup shredded parm/pecorino
1/4-1/2 cup of shredded Jarlsberg
1 egg
scant 1/2 cup of gluten-free flour blend (I used Namaste foods)
grinding of pepper
About 1/4 tsp curry powder (or to taste)
(you could add fennel or basil if you were feeling more ambitious than I was)

Mix all ingredients together.  Drop globs onto cookie sheet and then flatten out.  
Bake at 350 until GBD (Golden Brown and Delicious).