Cauliflower "Hot Wing" and Spinach Salad with Blue Cheese Dressing

Cauliflower "Hot Wing" and Spinach Salad with Blue Cheese Dressing {Gluten Free + Vegetarian + Low Carb}

I have been a vegetarian for a long, long time.  And, I have my Dad to thank for this--ever swift to point out inconsistencies between what people profess and how they behave.  My Dad, relatively early in my life, pointed out the disconnect between the way I vocalized my responsibilities toward animals and my actual behavior--namely, my propensity to eat them.  And, though it was a struggle early on to change eating habits, my vegetarianism has persisted into adulthood and I don't  imagine ever giving it up.

If anything, I'm thankful for my vegetarianism: it has made me creative.  I sort of have to be creative, because there are meaty things that I crave--foods that I used to enjoy very much--that I like the challenge of making anew.  I try to re-create them in vegetarian form.  And, this post is about one such attempt to re-create a beloved meat dish, the hot wing, to fit my vegetarian lifestyle.  And, it was a successful attempt!

Blending the hot wing sauce, blue cheese dressing, and celery traditional to the hot wing meal, my Cauliflower "Hot Wing" and Spinach Salad with Blue Cheese Dressing is an amazingly satisfying nod to the beloved hot wings of my carnivorous past.  

Recipe: Cauliflower "Hot Wing" and Spinach Salad with Blue Cheese Dressing

Ingredients:

• Cauliflower, 1 head chopped into florets
• Hot Wing Sauce (I used a mix of Paula Deen's mild and hot hot wing sauces***); approx 1 cup
• Approx. 1/3c. Garbanzo Bean Flour (I use Bob's Red Mill brand)
• Approx. 1/3 Nutritional Yeast (I use Bob's Red Mill brand)
• Pepper, to taste
• Smoked Sea Salt, to taste
• Liquid Smoke, a dash or to taste
• Baby Spinach
• Celery, chopped
• Tomato, chopped (use to taste)
• Red Onion, diced (use to taste)
• Carrot, shredded (use to taste)
• Avocado, sliced (use to taste)
• Yogurt-based Blue Cheese Dressing
• Queso Fresco, cubed (optional)
  *** Paula Deen's wing sauces do not list wheat in their ingredients lists.  However, they are not clearly labeled Gluten Free.  If you have celiac disease or a strong wheat intolerance than you may consider searching out a brand that explicitly labels their hot wing sauce Gluten Free.

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.; prepare baking sheet with aluminum foil.
2. Clean and chop cauliflower into florets.  Dip cauliflower into hot wing sauce combined with liquid smoke.
3. Coat dipped cauliflower in mixture of garbanzo bean flour, nutritional yeast, pepper and smoked sea salt.  
4. Place on baking sheet lined with aluminum foil and bake in the oven for 20 minutes at 350 degrees F. followed by an additional 3-5 minutes on broil.
5. Meanwhile, assemble salad fixings, including: spinach; tomato; celery; carrot; avocado; red onion; queso fresco (optional); Blue Cheese dressing
6. Remove Cauliflower "Hot Wings" from oven.  Let cool a few minutes before tossing in leftover hot sauce and placing on top of salad.  
7. Serve & enjoy!

Broccoli and Pea Soup with Bob's Red Mill Nutritional Yeast {Gluten Free + Vegan + Low-Carb}

Broccoli and Pea Soup with Bob's Red Mill Nutritional Yeast {Gluten Free + Vegan + Low Carb}

It's starting to get cold out there.  Not so much in Texas, but today it's a cool 63 degrees and not threatening to get too much warmer before the day is out.  It's a welcome downturn in temperatures in the midst of the record highs--in the 80's--that have been plaguing the state this year.  Apparently Texas didn't get the memo that Winter is just around the corner and Fall is already well settled-in.

Broccoli and Pea Soup with Bob's Red Mill Nutritional Yeast

It's hard to legitimate cooking up a pot of hot soup when it's 80-degrees outside, but in the (relatively) cool 60's I felt it was an activity well worth the effort and not likely to overheat me!  So, I made myself some broccoli and pea soup using a product I've been wanting to use--but hadn't had the chance to use--for a while: Bob's Red Mill Nutritional Yeast!  

What is Nutritional Yeast?

Nutritional yeast is a deactivated yeast.  It has a yellowish, flaky appearance slightly resembling corn meal.  I have to admit, it's not the most appetizing looking product at a first glance, but don't let the yellow coloring or flaky, dry texture fool you.  This is a tasty and nutritional product.

Nutritional Yeast is used frequently by vegetarian and vegan cooks to impart a nutty and cheesy taste while also lending whatever it's used in an added level of creaminess.  Nutritional Yeast is a complete protein (a sexy characteristic in the eyes of vegetarians and vegans!) and is high in vitamins, including the B-complex vitamins.  It is naturally Gluten Free and does not contain sugar or dairy.  

Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free Labeling

Nutritional yeast can be purchased at most specialty food stores, such as Whole Foods, or purchase directly from manufacturers online.  I like Bob's Red Mill Nutritional Yeast because of it's certified Gluten Free.

What Can I Use Nutritional Yeast In?  Or, Why Would I Bother?

In Vegetarian and Vegan Gravies for the Holidays!:

With the holidays right around the corner, Nutritional Yeast is a good product to know about.  It's an ingredient called for in many vegan, vegetarian, and  GF gravies that you can find recipes for online (for example this one: Vegetarian/Vegan Nutritional Yeast Gravy which could be easily adapted to be Gluten Free by substituting GF soy sauce and your favorite GF flour alternative).  

Nutritional Yeast is not just a seasonal ingredient for vegetarians and vegans who want to be able to eat their mashed potatoes and gravy like everyone else, though.

To Produce a Thicker, Creamier Texture:

Nutritional Yeast can be used to flavor and thicken everything from sauces (a post on vegetable pot pies using Nutritional Yeast coming soon!) to soups.  It can be used in place of traditional wheat flour in Gluten Free gravies as a thickening component, as well as in other sauces that require flour as a thickener.  It would also serve as a good substitute for flour in a roux, used in traditional New Orleans cooking, including Gumbo!

In Place of Bread-Crumbs for Gluten Free and Low-Carb Eaters:

For those who are Gluten Free eaters or Low-Carb eaters, it can be used in place of bread crumbs as a binder in things like lentil or meat patties or as a bread-crumb replacement to use on top of casseroles.  Although I haven't tried it--YET--I think Nutritional Yeast combined with hemp hearts would make a truly fantastic, crunchy casserole topper! 

As a Cheese Alternative for Vegan and Lactose-Intolerant Eaters:

The vegan and lactose-intolerant folks out there should take note of the fact that Nutritional Yeast is an effective cheese alternative.  It can replace cheese in dishes ranging from cheesy-mashed potatoes to macaroni and cheese (no joke!  Nutritional Yeast Macaroni and Cheese).  

The uses above are only some of the many ways Nutritonal Yeast can be used in cooking.  A quick online search for recipes incorporating it will yield plenty more results.  It's versatile in addition to being awfully tasty--as I found out when I made myself some Gluten-Free, Vegan, and Low-Carb Broccoli and Cheese Soup.

Recipe: Broccoli and Pea Soup with Nutritional Yeast

Ingredients

1-1.5 head broccoli (steamed until cooked but still slightly firm)

2 bags organic frozen peas (thawed)

1 large onion (finely chopped)

4-6 cloves garlic (finely chopped)

1.5-2 containers Vegetable Stock (depending on desired thickness)

1 Can Canellini Beans

Smoked Sea Salt, to taste

Pepper, to taste

3-4 Tablespoons Bob's Red Mill Nutritional Yeast, or to taste

1 tablespoon Olive Oil (or butter)

Directions

1. Cut broccoli head into florets and steam in large pot with steam basket until tender but still firm.  Remove from heat.  Meanwhile, thaw frozen peas.
2. Place chopped onion and garlic in large pot and cook in olive oil until onions are translucent.  
3. In a blender process broccoli and peas in batches adding vegetable stock to help liquefy the ingredients.  Add each liquefied batch to pot with onion and garlic.
4. When all of the broccoli and peas have been liquefied, add any remaining vegetable stock to the pot.  Add canellini beans.  
5. Season with smoked sea salt (or regular sea salt), pepper, and nutritional yeast.  Add as much seasoning as necessary and additional vegetable stock depending on the thickness you desire for your soup.
6. Bring to a simmer for 5-7 minutes.  Serve!

Pumpkin "Pie" Super Smoothie {Gluten Free + Vegetarian + Low-Carb}

Pumpkin "Pie" Super Smoothie: {Gluten Free + Vegetarian + Low-Carb}

The Fall is a magical time.  Beloved squashes come into season to festively line the produce section of grocery stores while, in other corners of the store, ghoulish Lady Gaga, Marilyn Monroe, Vampire, and Frankenstein Monster costumes haunt the shelves hoping for a chance for a great debut trick-or-treating on Halloween.  The Fall is crisp, and warm, and spicy.  It's like biting into a pumpkin pie, rich creamy and complex with warming nutmeg, cinnamon, allspice, and clove.

For the past week I've celebrated the coming on of Fall by drinking it up in the form of  a Pumpkin "Pie" Super Smoothie.  What a great way to indulge in Fall flavors every morning!  

Fall Squash

My Pumpkin "Pie" Super Smoothie is Gluten-Free, Vegetarian and Low-carb, and is made with organic pumpkin puree, 0% Plain Greek Yogurt, hydrated Chia Seeds, Almond Milk, a frozen banana, and those warming pumpkin pie spices I mentioned above, and Bob's Red Mill Hemp Protein Powder--a GREAT easily incorporated source of extra protein--that USED to be produced under Gluten Free certified conditions.

I'm sad to report that shortly after I got my batch of Hemp Protein Powder Bob's Red Mill issued a statement on their website saying that it is no longer going to be producing the product as Gluten Free.  While I give Bob's credit for posting the change in production quality, I'm disturbed by the switch from producing a Gluten Free certified product to a non-certified product and disconcerted that many potential consumers who've used the Gluten Free certified batches produced in the past won't have any easy way to learn about the change in the production standards.  

If you need an easy, Gluten-Free Hemp Protein replacement I've got you covered.  Try blending Hemp Hearts--easily available at specialty stores or online--into a powder and still enjoy that extra boost of protein and Hemp's nutty flavor.  This is going to be my new go-to solution for incorporating Hemp Protein into my diet.

[Recipe] Pumpkin "Pie" Super Smoothie

Bob's Red Mill Hemp
Protein Powder, formerly GF

Ingredients--

• 1/3C. Organic Pumpkin Puree
• 1/3C. 0% Plain Greek Yogurt
• 4TBsp Hemp Powder (if no GF Hemp powder is available, grind Hemp Hearts into a powder in your blender)
• 2-3TBsp Hydrated Chia Seeds
• 1 Frozen Banana, peeled and chopped into sections
• 1/4C. (approx) Almond Milk (I used vanilla, no-sugar-added variety)
• 3-4 Ice Cubes
• Pumpkin Pie Spices (cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, clove)
• Optional: Stevia or other sweetener

Directions--

1. Blend all ingredients together in blender until smoothie consistency is achieved.  Serve immediately and enjoy!

Product Review: Cafe Du Monde Chicory Coffee

Product Review: Cafe Du Monde Chicory Coffee
{GF* +  Vegan  + Vegetarian + Low-Carb}

Cafe Du Monde Chicory Coffee
with Almond Milk

When living a Gluten-Free, vegan, vegetarian, or low-carb lifestyle there are many amazing New Orleans food favorites that get taken, literally, off of the table.  Gumbo, Jambalaya, Po Boys and Beignets are forbidden to Gluten-Free eaters due to the flour-content of roux (used in much Canjun cooking) and also used for baking the Po Boy sandwich bread and Beignets.  For low-carb eaters, Gumbo and Jambalaya are taken out of the running by the high-carb rice they are served with, while vegetarian eaters probably won't be able to easily find veggie-friendly versions.  Vegans eaters are mostly just out of luck.

Pretty crappy, huh?  Well, don't get too down yet.  You CAN still get a taste of New Orleans even if you practice any one of these diets.  But, instead of *eating* New Orleans, you'll be *drinking* it.  I'm talking about Cafe Du Monde Chicory Coffee!

Cafe Du Monde Chicory Coffee: New Orleans Flavors for the Gluten-Free, Vegan, Vegetarian and/or Low-Carb Eater

Cafe Du Monde Chicory Coffee is available online at Cafe Du Monde's website, Cafe Du Monde Coffee, at many grocery stores in the South, including Super Target, and through online retailers such as Amazon.com.  

Cafe Du Monde's Chicory coffee is a great way to experience or remind yourself of the great flavors of New Orleans in the comfort of your home and without wandering outside of the Gluten-Free, Vegetarian or Vegan, or Low Carb diet(s) you practice.  

What is Chicory, Anyway?

Well now, that's a good question!  It's lettuce!  

Well, not exactly.  Chicory is made from the roots of endive plants, a type of lettuce that is from the same family as daisies.  You've probably eaten endive in salads and never known it--it comes in multiple varieties, including curly varieties sometimes referred to as frisee.  

Endive, leaf-form

The leaf of the endive can be somewhat bitter, but the roots--from which chicory is derived via roasting and grinding--is actually used to tame down the bitterness of coffee and to impart a slightly chocolaty flavor.  The end result is a more complex coffee drinking experience where the sometimes overpowering bitterness of coffee is subdued to allow for more subtle flavors, including the chocolate-like flavor of the chicory itself, to shine through.

Why is Chicory Coffee Representative of New Orleans Flavors?

As is true of much of New Orleans' most famous and well loved cuisine, Chicory coffee has its roots in French and French-Creole culture.  

Chicory itself became an additive in coffee during the French civil war.  With very small stocks of many food products, including coffee, the French would add chicory to their coffee to make their stores last longer.  This French culinary tradition was later brought to New Orleans along with many other French eating customs.  

Today, chicory coffee serves as the base of the Cafe Au Lait's (half milk / half coffee) you can (and should) order at many New Orleans eating establishments, including the famous Cafe Du Monde (made famous for their beignets).  

Chicory coffee is, I found from experience, such a cultural symbol of New Orleans food culture and history that old advertisements for chicory coffees constitute the subject matter of many postcards for sale at local bakeries and coffee houses.  If you've been to New Orleans you've probably spotted for yourself a postcard for sale like the one at the left!

Product Recommendation

Go for it!  Cafe Du Monde's Chicory Coffee is well loved and easily available--no matter how near to or far from New Orleans you are geographically.  I've been drinking my Cafe Du Monde Chicory Coffee with chocolate soy milk (to boost the chocolate flavor of the chicory) and with unsweetened plain almond milk.  Either milk substitute goes well in the Chicory Coffee.  

And, if you're feeling *really* authentic, bust out some dairy milk and mix yourself up a Cafe Au Lait--remember, it's just 1/2 milk and 1/2 Chicory coffee.  Easy!

* Note--There are no gluten containing ingredients in the Cafe Du Monde Chicory Coffee and GF eaters have routinely reported using this product safely (I could find no contradictory instances).  However, there is no GF labeling. 

Happy, Health, Weird Eating!
Kate

Baked Cabbage Wedges and Cauliflower Mash {GF + Veg. + Low-Carb}

I know, I know, you're wondering who in their right mind would think eating Baked Cabbage Wedges and Cauliflower Mash, let alone eating them together, sounded like a good idea for a tasty meal.  I was admittedly curious but reticent when I saw the recipes that inspired each of the components of my dinner.

Baked Cabbage Wedges and Cauliflower Mash
{Vegetarian + Gluten Free + Low-Carb}

The thing that really saved the idea of baked cabbage for me was that I've been eating baked cabbage in one form or another for a long, long time.  My grandmother immigrated from the Ukraine when she was just a kid and brought with her Eastern European food traditions like stuffed cabbage which I, along with the other grandchildren, got to eat--whether we liked it or not, sometimes.  Without that sort of early-life primer for appreciating cabbage I'm not sure I would've gone all in on the idea of baking cabbages marinated in lemon, oil, herbs and spices.  The Cauliflower Mash I was a little less hesitant about, mainly because in recent weeks I've seen and created for myself some amazing recipes that have convinced me that cauliflower is a most versatile wonder of the vegetable kingdom.  Raw and Low-Carb eaters, for example, make "cauli-rice" out of it and Low-Carb and Gluten Free eaters make totally grain-free pizza crusts using cauliflower as the dominant ingredient (I'll get to both of these phenomena in future posts).

The benefits of eating a meal of cabbage and cauliflower follow from the fact that both are super-low calorie, no-fat foods that are very low on carbs.  Neither is very high in protein (something to think about when you are meal planning) but both pack a lot of vitamin  C.  And, for those of you planning your meals around a tight budget, these are CHEAP vegetables.  Cooking for a specialty diet can get pricey when you have to acquire specialty, high-priced ingredients.  I assure you that you can eat you fair share (and more) of cauliflower and cabbage and not even begin to break the bank.

For the Baked Cabbage wedges recipe I used the following recipe, Baked Cabbage as inspiration but made my own changes to turn the dish into a vegetarian dish (I omitted the bacon) and I played around with the contents of the marinade to suit my tastes.

For my marinade I used the following ingredients:

• 1/4c. olive oil (approx.)
• 2 tblsp balsamic vinegar
• Juice of 1 lemon
• 3-4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tblsp (approx) sun-dried tomatoes, minced
• Fresh Herbs (basil, rosemary, sage); minced
• Fennel Seeds, a dash
• Dried Thyme, a dash
• Salt + Pepper, to taste
• Optional: grated Parmesan Cheese (about 1/2 tablespoon)

As detailed in the original recipe, linked above, I heated my oven to 425degrees F. and cut my cabbage into 4 wedges.  I laid the wedges on to individual pieces of tin foil large enough to totally encompass them and drizzled the marinade evenly onto the wedges before wrapping them tightly in the foil.  I cooked the wedges for 40minutes, but turned my oven off with about 15minutes left to go on my timer.  When the timer goes off, remove and serve!  Easy!  I topped my cabbage wedge with about 1/2 tablespoon of finely grated Parmesan cheese, but it's definitely not necessary so people with sensitivity to milk products or vegans can easily omit it.

For my Cauliflower Mash I took my inspiration from this truly decadent recipe, Decadent Cauliflower Mash but decided I was going to tone the decadence of my version down some.  I followed the recipe's instructions for the most part but decided to omit the heavy cream, butter, and the cheese called for in the recipe.  Instead, for my "wet" ingredients I used:

• 4oz block of herbed goat cheese (chevre)
• 1/3c. 0% plain Greek Yogurt
• 3 tblsp olive oil (in place of cream and butter while cauliflower cooks in microwave)
• 4 cloves garlic, minced (added to cauliflower while it cooks in microwave)

When my cauliflower mash was done cooking in the microwave (10minutes in microwave safe bowl that also contained my olive oil and minced garlic) I transferred the cauliflower, my goat cheese, and my Greek Yogurt to the blender.  I blended until I achieved a pretty smooth texture.  My mash was a little grainier than the mash in the recipe that used the butter, heavy cream, and copious amounts of cheese, so if you want your mash to be super soft and silky you might bump up the fat content some to achieve that texture.

My Baked Cabbage Wedges and Cauliflower Mash made for a great low-carb, vegetarian, and Gluten Free meal and I especially enjoyed pairing it with a nice glass of Zinfandel!

p.s.--I discovered, when I made dinner tonight using my Cauliflower Mash, that it makes an EXCELLENT healthier substitute for creamy-style polenta!  Who knew?  Throw some tomato-veggie ragu on top and you're good to go.

Happy, Healthy, Weird Eating!

Kate

Watermelon-Tomato Gazpacho with a Kick {Low-Carb + Raw + GF + Vegetarian}

I recently tried gazpacho at a new restaurant in my area that works with locally produced foods--the name of the restauraunt is fittingly, Local Foods.  I remember having had gazpacho once in the past and not liking it, perhaps it was residual distaste for it produced by an episode of  The Simpsons I watched as a kid where Lisa Simpson made gazpacho as a much derided vegetarian alternative to a roast pig (Homer's doing, of course).  My takeaway feeling from the episode was that I'd eat gazpacho when pigs could fly, but incidentally by the end of the episode Homer's roasted pig was, literally, a flying pig.  So, it was destiny...  

Watermelon-Tomato Gazpacho with a Kick
{Vegetarian + Vegan + Low-Carb + Gluten Free + Raw}

The day I discovered my repressed love of gazpacho I was faced with the choice of getting either a cup of watermelon and tomato gazpacho or committing to an entire (definitely not low carb--oh no!)  falafel sandwich.  I've never been a huge fan of raw-tomatoes except on salads.  I regrettably hate Bloody Mary's--the spectre and the alcoholic brunch drink--and V-8 juice and so when I opted to try the soup I harbored a great fear that tomato gazpacho was bad enough, but adding melons to it would make it...well, even less good. 

But, as it so happens, I was wrong.  It took me a while to get used to the soup--its coldness and the sweet and savory combination, but I decided by the end of the cup that I really liked it.  And, weeks later, I still craved more of it--and, indeed, went back and had more!--and continued to crave it.  Hence, me trying my hand at making it for myself.

The base recipe I used was this one: Watermelon + Tomato Gazpacho  But, as I usually do--just to make things more interesting and usually more tasty, to boot, I tweaked the recipe so that it would more closely mimic the gazpacho I had gotten at the restaurant which was was more tomato-heavy with a hit of garlic and spiciness.  The changes I made to the recipe are as follows:

• Doubled tomatoes from 2 to 4

• Added 1/4 large yellow bell pepper

• Used 2 serrano chili peppers, partially seeded

• Used 4 small cloves of garlic

• Did NOT strain or liquify ingredients (I wanted a little bit of texture)

• Used blender rather than food processor

To garnish my soup I used matchsticks of jicama, cilantro leaves, and chunks of watermelon.  After photographing I added some diced avocado.

The soup was delicious and it hits ALL  of my dietary likes:  my watermelon-tomato gazpacho with a kick is Vegetarian (Vegan, even), Gluten Free, Raw, and Low-Carb!  Score!   Even if, like me, you are disposed to think the watermelon and tomato combination seems suspect, give it a try.  I feel pretty confident that it will surprise you--in a good way.

Happy, Healthy, Weird Eating!

Kate

No Shortage of Good Food Blogs...BUT

There is no shortage of good food blogs out there.  If you're a food lover you've undoubtedly already found most of my favorite go-to blogs and food websites whose recipes and photography regularly blow me away:

1. Smitten Kitchen, see:  http://smittenkitchen.com/
2. Tartelette, see:  http://www.tarteletteblog.com/
3. Love and Lemons, see:  http://www.loveandlemons.com/
4. Food & Wine, see:  http://www.foodandwine.com/
5. Food Republic, see:  http://www.foodrepublic.com/

Technically, that last one--Food Republic--is geared specifically toward male cooks and manly eating, but they've got some great recipes and food related articles that transcend any silly gender distinctions!  

In spite of the fact that there's a LOT of great food blogging and online food writing happening, I find myself and my particular diet to be a bit marginal and underrepresented--more so than I ever would have anticipated.  I'm a vegetarian--have been for most of my life--and also a recent convert to a more carb-conscious, more Gluten Free, and more raw diet.  Notice my use of the world "more" in the prior sentence--I don't eat exclusively raw foods, nor do I eat zero net carbs, or totally abstain from gluten products, but I'm serious about tackling a rare diet: a pseudo- raw, pseduo- Gluten Free and low-carb vegetarian diet.  Crazy, right?  I hope not!

Raw Zucchini Spaghetti with Sun-Dried Tomato
Pesto and Mozzarella
{Veg. + GF + Low-Carb + Raw(ish)}

For those of you who think that's a plausible, probably fairly well represented dietary typology you can do what I did: try doing a search on amazon.com, that great repository of print material, for "vegetarian" and "low-carb" cookbook and you'll not find much--a few raw cookbooks might pop up, and a few vegetarian, low-carb cookbooks that were invented, apparently, before cameras were (i.e., they have no photographs!).  Now, try adding "Gluten Free" to the search box.  Woah!  Nothing there, right?  Now, for the sake of comparison--because this is all very scientific, you see-- type in low-carb cookbooks and omit that pesky "vegetarian" bit and you'll get more hits than you could probably handle sorting through in one sitting and, by golly, those cookbooks have PICTURES.    

I'm being a bit tongue-in-cheek, as I'm wont to do, but I know there are people out there who live or want to live wholly or partially a diet like the one I'm pursing and I know they are as frustrated as me that they can't just do a simple google search or simply buy a decent cookbook on Amazon.  Instead, they restlessly comb recipe boards on pinterest.com searching for recipes when they should be doing other things...like dating or working or, you know, whatever you think is important.  So, this is where I'm hoping to make my contribution to the very good food blogging and food writing already out there.  I'll do the pinterest and google searches and cook the food, you can just sit back, relax and benefit.  Just remember that one day I'm going to expect a humanitarian or Nobel award out of it, though!

Whoops!  Here I am all the way at the end of my first post and I haven't even introduced myself.  I'm Kate and I cook.  I cook exclusively vegetarian foods.  I cook low-carb.  I cook Gluten Free.  I cook raw.  I don't always do them simultaneously.  I sometimes cheat.  But, what you'll get from me here is the crazy range of foods I cook--like the raw zucchini spaghetti with sun-dried tomato pesto above and to your right--on a daily basis for myself and for the people I love in the hopes that if you're the person like me searching for recipes that match your diet that you'll be able to find them here, with me, on this blog.  

Happy, Healthy, Weird Eating!

Kate