by jphilo | Aug 27, 2014 | Recipes
My apologies to those of you who were looking forward to the blueberry version of last week’s dairy-free lemon zucchini bread. Let’s just say that my first attempt at the new version revealed a few kinks to iron out. Hopefully, the dekinking will take place later this week, and the recipe will post next Wednesday.
Today’s recipe for summer pesto pasta salad was this week’s attempt at cleaning out the vegetable drawer and was much more successful than the blueberry experiment. It’s one of those recipes that tastes better the second day. Thankfully, it makes a generous amount of salad, so the man of steel and I didn’t have to fight over who got the leftovers.
Summer Pesto Pasta Salad
1 1/2 cups dry elbow macaroni
2 small or 1 grilled chicken breast cut into bite-sized pieces
1 cup oven-dried tomatoes*
1/2 cup diced onion
1 cup diced cucumber
1/2 cup diced sweet peppers
1/2 cup sliced kalamata olives
1/3 cup cilantro pesto
Prepare the macaroni according to the package directions. Drain in a colander and rinse with cold water. Put in a large bowl.
Add grilled chicken and vegetables. Mix well.
Heat cilantro pesto in microwave for about 15 seconds. Stir it with a fork until it is smooth and not lumpy so it will spread more easily. Pour over other ingredients and stir until the pasta, chicken, and vegetables are evenly coated. Refrigerate for a few hours before serving.
*Slice 3 cups of grape tomatoes in half and cherry tomatoes into quarters. Toss with 1 tablespoon olive oil and pour onto a large cookie sheet. Make sure all tomato pieces are skin side down. Slip into a 225° oven for 1 or 2 hours, until the pieces shrink by about 2/3. Remove from oven and cool. Refrigerate.
by jphilo | Aug 20, 2014 | Recipes
Okay, I admit it. Lil’ Luna’s Facebook link to her recipe for lemon zucchini bread had me salivating with the best of them. But since the recipe called for buttermilk and had more sugar than the man of steel will eat, I ignored it for quite a while.
But it kept showing up and the zucchinis tucked into our CSA share for three weeks running brought me to the breaking point. So finally, I caved and got out the mixing bowl. I used a milk substitute for the buttermilk, cut the sugar in the bread and the glaze by half, and was very surprised to discover the results were delicious. In fact, the man of steel and I agreed it’s worth a second try with even less sugar. And, I’m going to add blueberries to the next batch and see what happens. Stay tuned for an update, but until then give this recipe a try. It’s a keeper!
Dairy-Free Lemon Zucchini Bread
Bread ingredients:
2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2/3 cup sugar
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup buttermilk substitute
zest of one lemon (minus 1/2 teaspoon for glaze)
1 cup grated zucchini (do not peel first)
Glaze Ingredients:
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 1/2 teaspoons almond milk
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
Preheat oven to 350°.
Create buttermilk substitute by putting 1 1/2 teaspoons of vinegar into a 1/2 cup measuring cup. Add 2 tablespoons Coffee Rich and fill cup to 1/2 cup measure with rice milk. Let sit for 15 minutes.
In large bowl, beat eggs. Add oil and sugar. Mix until well blended. Add lemon juice, milk substitute, and lemon zest to this mixture and blend well. Fold in zucchini until mixed well. Add flour, salt, and baking powder and blend until all ingredients are combined.
Spray a loaf pan with cooking spray. Pour batter into loaf pan. Bake for 40–45 minutes. Remove from oven when toothpick poked in middle comes out clean. Let sit on wire rack for ten minutes. Then slide butter knife around edge of pan and flip over loaf pan to remove bread from it.
Put loaf on a plate right side up. (Poke some holes in the top with a fork if you want the glaze to soak in more.) Mix glaze while loaf is warm and spread over the top. Let cool before cutting and serving.
by jphilo | Aug 13, 2014 | Recipes
Today’s featured recipe is my version of the Asian layered salad that’s been making the rounds on Facebook. The original bigger and flashier recipe came from a website called A Spicy Perspective. My version, adjusted so the two of us wouldn’t get tired of salad before finishing it and without a tall glass bowl to show off the layers, was a hit. With baguette on the side and fresh peaches for dessert, it was the centerpiece of a perfect summer meal.
It didn’t quite win the coveted Hiram seal of approval, a fact I blame on the radishes. They gave the salad a slightly bitter taste that didn’t mesh with the other Asian flavors. So next time, I’ll replace them with sweet peppers and sprinkle some cilantro on top for good measure. Yum!
Crunchy Asian Salad
Salad ingredients:
4 cups chopped romaine lettuce
1cup shredded carrots
3/4 cup miniature sweet peppers, sliced in rings
1 pound grilled chicken, chopped
3/4 cup snow peas, chopped
1/2 cup sliced onion (red if you’re going for pretty)
1/2 cup green onions
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
1/2 cup toasted sliced or blanched almonds
3/4 cup crispy Chinese noodles
Dressing ingredients:
1 1/2 tablespoons sesame oil
1 1/2 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon honey
1 1/2 teaspoons sesame seeds
1 teaspoon fresh, grated ginger
1/2 teaspoon dijon mustard
Directions:
Chop and slice all the ingredients for the salad. Layer the ingredients in a large glass bowl in this order: romaine, carrots, sweet peppers, grilled chicken, snow peas, red onion, green onion, cilantro.
Place all the dressing ingredients in a small jar or gravy shaker. Cover the jar and shake to combine. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
Serve the salad. Diners can dress their own portions and sprinkle crispy noodles and almonds on top.
by jphilo | Aug 6, 2014 | Recipes
This time of year, all our meals revolve around what’s in the bag of fresh produce we pick up from our Community Supported Agriculture (CSA). Last week’s bag contained kale, onions, tomatoes, squash, green beans, and some hot peppers.
One day, I was so engrossed in writing, I forgot to make a marinade for the thawed chicken breast. When Hiram called to say he was on his way home from work, I had to think fast. So I grabbed some frozen cilantro-peanut pesto from the freezer and thawed it in the microwave. Then I pulled out kale, green beans, onions and a hot pepper and started chopping. Here’s the recipe for the throw-together, last minute supper that was mighty tasty.
Chicken and Cilantro-Peanut Pesto Stir Fry
3 tablespoons olive oil
1/3 cup raw peanuts
1 pound chicken breast, cut into bite-size pieces
2 cups kale, washed, ribbed and torn into small pieces
2 cups green beans, cut into 2 inch lengths
1 medium onion, cut into bite-size pieces
1 hot pepper, chopped fine
1/4 cup cilantro-peanut pesto
Put 2 tablespoons of olive oil in wok, frying pan or dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add peanuts and stir fry for 1–2 minutes until they begin to brown. Place them on paer toweling and set aside.
Add beans and stir fry for 2–3 minutes. They should still be fairly crisp. Add onions and stir fry for 1–2 minutes, then add kale and hot pepper. Stir fry for 2–3 more minutes. Put the vegetables in a bowl.
Add remaining tablespoon of oil to wok or pan and heat. Add chicken and stir fry until completely cooked. Add the cooked vegetables and stir.
Heat pesto for 15 seconds in microwave so it is soft and a little runny. Add to mixture in wok and stir until meat and vegetables are coated. Sprinkle peanuts on top and serve immediately over rice.
by jphilo | Jul 30, 2014 | Recipes
I came home from the grocery store a few days ago with two bargain bags of fruit. One was full of peaches, some a bit dinged and on the ripe side, but for the most part perfect for fresh peach pie. The other bag was mostly imperfect apples, which the man of steel likes to slice and dip in peanut butter, with a few imperfect apricots thrown in for good measure.
Having paid the princely sum of $2.49 for each half-peck, I wasn’t about to waste any of the fruit. That presented a problem. Because much as the flavor of apricots makes me swoon, their texture is not my favorite. And there weren’t enough apricots for a smoothie. Instead, I searched for recipes for peach-apricot smoothies.
It took a little digging to find one with ingredients that could easily be converted to non-dairy. I couldn’t find any without yogurt, but did find one at The Fountain Avenue Kitchen that would do. From what the site said, I decided to substitute extra fruit for the yogurt and exchange the orange juice with almond milk and a little Coffee Rich. The end result was fantabulous! I’ll be stalking the bargain bin section of our local produce aisle for more ingredients soon.
Dairy Free Peach-Apricot Smoothie
2 1/2 cups mixture of pitted, chopped apricots and peeled peaches*
1 frozen banana
1/2 cup ice
2 tablespoons Coffee Rich
2/3 cup almond milk
Honey or other sweetener to taste (I used a couple teaspoons of agave)
Place first 3 ingredients in the blender and blend until completely smooth, scraping down the sides of the blender if needed. Add sweetener to taste and blend again. Pour into two large glasses.
*I hate to peel peaches. So I boiled water in a saucepan, and dipped the apricots and peaches in it for about a minute to make them easy to peel.
by jphilo | Jul 23, 2014 | Recipes
Today’s recipe is so easy I’m almost embarrassed to post it. But I know many, many parents of kids with food allergies. I know how much they dislike telling their children “No, you can’t eat those treats.” And I know that with a few simple ingredient substitutions, they can say, “Yes, you can eat what all the other kids are eating.”
That may not sound like a big deal to you and me, but for parents who have to say “no” to their children and to kids who can’t eat what their friends do, it can be a very big deal. So today’s post is for them. To make the gluten-free and dairy-free version, you’ll need gluten-free Rice Krispies and Earth Balance vegan buttery sticks. Both can be found at the grocery store. The pictures below can help make sure you get the right ones.
Once you have those ingredients, use them while following the traditional Rice Krispie treat recipe found at their website. You can click the link or follow the directions below.
Gluten-free, Dairy-free Rice Krispie Bars
Put 3 tablespoons of Earth Balance vegan buttery sticks in a large, heavy saucepan and melt over low heat. Add a ten ounce bag of miniature marshmallows and stir until melted. (Or put the shortening and marshmallows in a microwavable bowl. Put in microwave on high for 3 minutes, stirring after 2 minutes.
Add 6 cups of gluten-free Rice Krispies to the melted marshmallows and stir until cereal is evenly coated. Put mixture in a well-greased, 9 X 13 pan. Use a buttered spatula or waxed paper to press the mixture into the pan. (I just spray a little cooking spray on my fingertips and use my hands.)
Cool. Cut into squares and serve.
