Food Friday

I recently featured this recipe on my food blog, but I feel that it also has a place here. The large majority of people have a sweet tooth and while mine leans more towards chocolate, during the months of amazing local (and organic) fruit I feel that it would be more than a shame to pass on the fruits:

Peaches are in season, and as such I feel compelled to bake with them. There is no need to drown them in batter, in cakes and muffins. I believe a crisp is about the best thing to eat after a meal, sweet wise.

For the following I used:
4 peeled and sliced peaches
1/4 cup of cane sugar
1T of cornstarch or alternative thickener
1 tsp each ground ginger and cinnamon - mace would also be a good addition here
slight pinch of salt
1tsp vanilla.

Mix the dry ingredients together and then pour the vanilla on your dirty hands and mix in. If you have vanilla sugar or powdered vanilla (Dr Oetker I believe sells something of the sort), then try that.

Options to add: chopped crystallized ginger, mango or blackberries to the fruit portion

Top with gingersnap crumbs* (1/2 cup) combined with 1/4-1/2 cup of GF flour or oats - or a mix there of. I used 1/2T of canola, you could use butter or goat milk to create crumbs. Top the fruit with the crumb mixture.

Bake at 350 for 20-40 minutes depending on your oven, the vessel it is baked in etc.

Before

After
* GF version of VWAV Ginger Snaps - add 1tsp xantham gum and 1/3 cup chopped crystallized ginger, bake, cool and then pulse in a food processor or place in a ziploc bag and beat out all your frustrations with a rolling pin or cast iron pot. Store the unused portion in the freezer. If you're wondering why the crumbs - well if you are testing cookies and want to ensure you won't sit down and eat 5 in one night while reading, grinding them up makes that a heck of a lot more difficult.

Alternative vegan version of Ginger Snaps is here

Quinoa!

I am not really a fan of the grain but I am desperately trying since millet and I aren't always friends. The good news is quinoa can be easily cooked in the rice cooker. Just rinse as per usual instructions, and then the standard 2 to 1 ratio.

After my quinoa was cooked, I refrigerated it and used it in the defacto bean salad -that recipe again:

1 can of white beans rinsed
1/2 a large fennel bulb, thinly sliced
2T red onion minced
Italian parsley finely chopped
1 cup cucumber diced
white wine or apple cider vinegar
olive oil
salt, pepper
and a little agave - like my salad sour and sweet and I use very little oil

Mix and add 1/2 the prepared quinoa. Goes great with barbequed salmon

Food Friday

I think we all have sweet tooth's I know I do. So given that - I have a suggestion for a dessert that can well be eaten at any time, and if you were my father you would eat it at every meal, as the meal.

For a 8x11 pan (1 1/2 inch deep)

5 large peaches peeled and sliced
1 pint (2 cups) of blackberries

Toss in 1/4 cup of sugar (or less) and 1/2 - 1T of cornstarch (depends on juiciness of your peaches)

Add 1-3T of diced crystallized ginger

Top with:

1 small box of gingersnaps ground up in a food processor or beaten with a pot while in a ziploc. (I used Mary's Gone Crackers - you need about 1/2 of the box or go for the whole amount)

1/4 cup cold butter - I used goat milk butter - I really prefer it's consistency and flavour - the fat content makes it a different substance.

Sprinkle of GF flour mix and sugar - I did this solely on flavour

Combine crumbles, butter and flour/sugar and crumbles over the fruit and bake at 350 for 45 minutes.

Note you can add more fruit or less topping - remember you are the one in the kitchen, not me.

Food Friday

Whole Foods - not the store but the concept, is something I think we all need to draw our attention towards. I know the tendency is to believe that we don't have enough time or the ability to do __ or even cook. I would like you to consider challenging that - in the next few weeks I am going to be putting up some new "whole food" focused website to encourage new ideas.

But in the meantime I want to post a recipe that has become a favourite around these parts:

Chickpea Tacos (Modified from Vegan Dad)
1 can rinsed chickpeas
salt
pepper
1/2 onion large dice
cumin
cinnamon
dried oregano
chili powder
1-2 T canola oil

The amounts of the seasoning is up to you - ratios are up to you - I prefer more cumin and cinnamon but I know that's not a traditional taco flavor. Mix the spices with the diced onion and chickpeas, drizzle with oil. Place on a foil or parchment lined baking sheet and bake at 400 for 15 minutes or until the onions soften and the chickpeas toast. The longer it is baked for the crispier and chewier the resultant texture.

I usually top mine with the regular taco toppings or a red cabbage slaw.

Food Friday

We always hear that fish is good for you (obviously if you're pregnant - mercury levels are a concern - but that aside) and it is actually a very easy week night option. If you have fresh fish available to you - it can be even cheaper than traditional protein sources. I have the benefit of getting fresh fish from my local WF. If you are concerned about fishing practices, mercury levels, sustainability and such like check out http://www.seachoice.org/. So then how to cook your fish - barbecue, saute, bread, bake and so on. Personally I love this way of cooking fish because I don't have a grill and well I tend to burn my fish when I coat it and fry it.

For one person (me) I do the following:

1/2 to 1 lemon sliced,
1 shallot sliced
fronds of dill, fennel or whatever you have - a mild herb like tarragon would also work.
a drizzle of olive oil or grape seed oil - you could use butter if you wanted to.

On a piece of parchment paper large enough to fully cover/encase your fish, place the fish in the center, and then layer the lemon, shallot, herb and drizzle oil and salt/pepper then bring the lengthwise sides together and fold over, accordion folding tightly until you get to the fillet, then carefully flip the fillet over and fold the ends of the paper in, and place the fillet down - ends under. Then bake in a 375 oven for about 10 minutes -give or take - sorry - it's one of those things, everyone's fish will be different thickness and so on... serve with whatever your heart desires - mustard greens are on my menu this week...