Faux Pho {Vegan + Vegetarian + Gluten Free + Low(er)-Carb}

Kate's Faux Pho

{Vegan + Vegetarian + Gluten Free + Low(er)-Carb}

I've been hearing a lot about faux Pho, a vegetarian version of the popular Vietnamese soup, practically since I moved to Texas. Specifically, I heard that I should get myself to Jenni's Noodle House to try it.

Recently, I did just that with a friend and absolutely loved the faux Pho. I love the spicy broth, the tofu, the noodles, but most of all, I love all of the toppings--cilantro, bean sprouts, sliced jalapeno, basil, and limes--that you get to add to the dish yourself. 

 There's something supremely interesting about this. It's interactive food! Food that you can spice and flavor using the toppings to suit your own palate. Maybe the most satisfying part of this interactive portion of Pho is the way you get to blend fresh and cooked food, as well as the way you can create layers of texture and flavor. Bottom line is that I was sold on it the first time I had it and have been craving it since.

Faux Pho, it's a piece of cake ... if you shop at Whole Foods

Which brings me to last weekend. I was home for my Dad's birthday and already had the glimmer of future faux Pho glimmering in my brain--I'd found a recipe already and pasted the link squarely in the center of my computer screen. While with my parents I stole (with permission) some of their dried Shittake mushrooms and got very excited that I was one ingredient closer to my Pho. Then, there came a trip to that magical, over-priced store Whole Foods. Cruising the asiles I found more ingredients for my Pho--what excitement.

First, I found Gluten Free Soba/ Buckwheat style nodles. The noodles seemed like a healthier alternative to traditional rice or other carb-heavy, low-nutrition noodles, and I liked that they were made from non GMO plants and were organic (for whatever the organic label is worth). 

 Whatever excitement I felt over these noodles paled in comparison, however, to my excitement at discovering the faux Pho motherload: Pacific Natural's Vegetarian Pho broth (gluten free; vegan, vegetarian).

This broth makes creating Faux Pho at home incredibly simple and much less time consuming.  Making stock bases can be expensive--you have to buy all of the spices and other ingredients that flavor the stock--and it requires a good deal of time on the stove.  In other words, making stock requires planning in advance and some free time.  Pacific Natural Vegetarian Pho base makes it a much simpler affair.

I had some misgivings that the broth wouldn't be up to my standards--that it just wouldn't taste how the broth at Jenni's Noodle House did. But, I was wrong. The broth is a bit mellower--especially on the mushroom and anise flavor-- than Jenni's (a good thing in my mind).  

I found that by adding 3 cloves of smashed garlic, about 5 green onion blulbs, 2 key limes sliced in half, sliced jalapeno peppers, and a small hunk of ginger that the broth was more than suitably tasty. When the flavors of these items had infused the broth, I removed all but the garlic and jalapenos and discarded them.

To the pepped-up broth I added tofu which I marinated for a couple of hours and then grilled on my teeny tiny new George Foreman Grill (I marinated the tofu in a combination of GF Tamari brand soy sauce, rice vinegar, sesame oil, hot pepper flakes, and garlic and chili "sauce"). I then added my GF Buckwheat noodles and let the soup simmer for a while while I chopped up and otherwise prepared my toppings, which included: Mung Bean Sprouts, Limes, sliced Jalapenos, Green Onion, Cilantro, and Basil. 

The end result was delicious. My faux Pho was spicy, flavorful, and just absolutely satisfying.

[Recipe] Faux Pho

Ingredients--

• 2 cartons Pacific Naturals Vegetarian Pho Broth (gluten free)
• GF Soba/Buckwheat Noodles or GF Rice Noodles
• 1 Cup Dried Shittake Mushrooms (added to broth)
• 1 Package Firm Tofu (marinated, sliced, and grilled if you so desire--otherwise you can just plop it in the soup)
• Sliced Jalapenos (for seasoning the broth and for serving on top of the soup)Mung Bean Sprouts (healthier than soybean sprouts, for serving on top of the soup)
• Chopped Basil (for serving on top of the soup)
• Cilantro (chopped for serving on top of the soup)
• Limes (halved or quartered for seasoning the broth and for serving on top of the soup)
• 1 Small bundle of Green Onions (bulbs removed and used to season broth, tops chopped and served on top of soup)
• 3 Cloves Garlic, smashed and added to broth
• Fresh Ginger, small chunk peeled and added to broth

Instructions--

1. Pour the Pacific Naturals Vegetarian Pho Broth into a large pot on the stove.
2. Season with limes, garlic, green onion bulbs, ginger, and jalapenos and let simmer for 15-20 minutes or until flavors are infused. Remove limes, green onion bulbs, and ginger.
3. Prepare and add Tofu.  Marinate and grill tofu if desired or merely drain and press to release water.
4. Add GF noodles.
5. Simmer for 3-5 minutes while preparing ingredients to go on top of soup (bean sprouts, cilantro, basil, jalapeno, green onion).
6. Pour faux Pho soup base into a large bowl and put "toppings" in a separate dish to add immediately before you consume soup.  Eat with a combination of spoon and chop sticks!

[Post 2] Gluten Free Food Gifts and Party Favors Series

GF (no)Campfire Smores

Gluten Free (no) Campfire Smores

For anyone who has celiac disease or has a person in his/her life who suffers from celiac disease, cooking for oneself and others becomes a little more challenging because the health of yourself or someone you care about is on the line.

My series on "Gluten Free Food Gifts and Party Favors," however, is meant to mediate that challenge a bit by showcasing a few homemade Gluten Free food gifts or party favors that could easily be made to the delight everybody's taste buds--whether they have celiac disease or not!

The posts in the series will cover the following homemade (always the best!) Gluten Free food gifts and party favors:

• [DONE!] Gluten Free and Vegan Pumpkin Butter see post at: Kate's GF Pumpkin Butter
• Gluten Free (no)Campfire Smores with marshmallows, GF graham cracker crumbs, chocolate and peanut butter chips, and white chocolate drizzles
• Gluten Free and Vegetarian Chocolate Bark with pistachio, dried cranberries, dried apricots, and white chocolate drizzle

Some Advice on Safe Gluten Free Cooking and Baking

As when doing any GF cooking, make sure all counter tops and kitchen materials have been properly cleaned to avoid cross-contamination. Even a few crumbs from your breakfast toast on the counter getting incorporated into the final product you give to a person with celiac can be very harmful to them.

You'll want to keep the issue of cross-contamination on your mind as you cook or bake--that bag of brown sugar you're dipping your measuring spoon into, have you ever dipped a measuring spoon into it when it had remnants of a wheat substance like flour on it? Often it's just safest to start with brand new bags of the basic ingredients unless you know--for sure--that you have been careful about preventing contamination.

Another thing to always keep in mind when cooking GF is that you must check your ingredients for GF labeling on the packaging. Some surprising foods are not GF (soy sauce is one example) and if you aren't conscientious about checking your packaging you could feed a friend or loved one something that will make them ill--definitely not the intention!

If you want to use a product but it has no GF label on it, you should search out additional nutritional information on the company's website and/or contact the company directly through phone or email to confirm the product is safe. Companies are very happy to answer these questions and usually do so in a reasonably short time period. 

Another option for figuring out whether a product is GF is to search online for reputable lists of GF items collected by GF eaters and GF communities and groups.  

Remember that your best bet when searching for certified GF products, for example the GF graham crackers used in the current recipe, is to go to a specialty store like Whole Foods, Central Market, or Trader Joe's. These stores tend to have more explicitly GF options available.

Gluten Free (no)Campfire Smores

This second post in the "Gluten Free Food Gifts and Party Favors" series is on making a giftable version of a traditional smore, which is basically layers of graham cracker surrounding marshmallow and chocolate.  Typically, smores are cooked over an open flame, most traditionally a campfire.   

Many of you have probably eaten smores cooked over the fire during family campouts or boy- or girl- scout outings.  I know I did!  For those of us who did indulge in this sweet treat as kids, they have a strong nostalgic hold on us. 

My Gluten Free (no)Campfire Smores honor the nostalgia that many of us adults have for smores while updating them for a GF audience and making them gift-able.   These smores require no flame--hence me naming them (no)Campfire Smores--they're made with Gluten Free graham crackers for safe GF consumption and, in the ever-popular cake-pop tradition, my (no)Campfire Gluten Free Smores come on a stick for easy eating and easy decorative packaging.  

Below is the recipe and I even give you tips about how you can package and decorate the Gluten Free smores for gifting for a birthday or holiday or for giving out as a party favor!  But, before we get to those steps, let's talk about Gluten Free Graham Crackers...

There are several brands of Gluten Free Graham Crackers on the market and you'll need to purchase a variety available to you either through advanced ordering online or in a local specialty foods or grocery store.  

Some brands of GF Graham Crackers to keep on the lookout for follow; click the brand to follow the link to further information on the makers' websites:

• Kinnikinnick Gluten Free Graham Style Crackers
• Jo-Sef Gluten Free Cinnamon Cookies (aka Graham Crackers)
• Enjoy Life Vanilla Honey Graham Cookies

RECIPE: Gluten Free (no)Campfire Smores

Ingredients

Make sure to avoid
cross-contamination!

Yields 6-7 (no)Campfire Smores

• Large Marshmallows
• Bittersweet Baker's Chocolate (2 boxes, at least)
• GF Graham Crackers, crumbed
• GF Chocolate + Peanut Butter Chips
• White Baker's Chocolate (1/2 box)
• Skewers (for skewering marshmallows on)
• Optional: Nuts, such as pecans

Directions

[1.] Impale 3 large marshmallows on each skewer. If skewers are very long, feel free to cut them in half with a pair of kitchen scissors to make them more managable (this is what I did).

[2.] On a plate or in a large bowl, mix the GF graham cracker crumbs and chocolate + peanut butter chips together; set aside until ready to dip your chocolate-covered marshmallows. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper; set aside.

[3.] In a double boiler (you can do a make-shift double boiler by filling a large pot up with a little bit of water and balancing a smaller pot inside it such that the bottom of the smaller pot *almost* touches the water level of the larger pot) add bittersweet baker's chocolate and stir constantly until melted. Note: It is *imperative* that you use baker's chocolate and not chocolate chips. Chocolate chips contain stabilizers that make them nearly impossible to melt down well.

[4.] Dip skewered marshmallows into chcolate and roll them in GF graham cracer and chocolate + peanut butter chip topping. Set on baking sheet lined with parchment paper and refrigerate until chocolatae has solidified.

Recommended Presentation for Gifting

What You'll Need:

• Clear Plastic Wrap (either regular kitchen wrap or decorative)
• Decorating Ribbon (of your choice)
• Decorative Gift Label (large enough to write the recipe on the back)

Directions:

• Wrap "smores" in plastic wrap and secure plastic wrap with a little bit of ribbon. 
• Tie multiple GF Smores together along with a label with "(no)Campfire Smores" on the front and the recipe on the back with a bow made out of colorful ribbon. 
• Optional: Place wrapped GF Smores in cute coffee cup and encourage the recipient of your GF Smores to dunk into her morning coffee!  Yum!  

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

Product Review: GO RAW Carrot Cake Super Cookies (Raw + Vegan + GF)

Product Review: GO RAW Carrot Cake Super Cookies (Raw+ Vegan + Gluten Free)

If you were to plant the food you buy on a typical visit to the grocery store, would it grow?  I know the box of Pacific Naturals Organic Tomato Soup I picked up last week, wouldn't!  GO RAW promises that its product line of packaged raw foods is the only brand that will, literally, grow if you plant it!

GO RAW Carrot Cake Super Cookies

GO RAW's product line is amazingly versatile.  It is able to honor many different diets and dietary restrictions.  The GO RAW products are safe for the following diets:

• Gluten-Free diets
• Low-sugar diets
• Vegan and Vegetarian diets
• Raw Foods diets (of course)
• Kosher diets
• Nut-free diets
• Soy-free diets  

As a bonus, the entire line is also certified organic!

I was struck, when I read the brief set of educational materials the company provided me with at how committed GO RAW is to the purity of their products.  

They described the various stages of quality control the raw seeds and other ingredients pass through before being incorporated to make the final product you buy.  The seeds go through sorting, (entirely safe, organic certification-approved) x-raying, washing, and a custom-designed dehydrator to protect the integrity of their sprouted ingredient's life.  

GO RAW's commitment to the integrity and life of their ingredients is why they are able to guarantee, unlike other raw food producers, that their products will grow if you plant them!  That's pretty cool.  

GO RAW Products

GO RAW Products 

Over a series of posts I will be reviewing several GO RAW products, including:

• GO RAW Carrot Cake Super Cookies
• GO RAW Chocolate Granola
• GO RAW Sprouted Pumpkin Seeds

However, GO RAW's line of products is far more extensive, as you'll see on their website:  GO RAW.  

In addition to finding information about the entire product line, the website's home page displays video and audio that explain the steps involved in producing the products--beginning with finding locally sourced ingredients.  

GO RAW Carrot Cake Super Cookies Review

The first GO RAW product up for review are the Carrot Cake Super Cookies.  These cookies don't look like traditional cookies (see photo at top) and for those of you who are new raw eaters and not ready for that to be the case, the thin, wafer-like look might be an initial disappointment.  But, don't let that stop you from giving these GO RAW Carrot Cake Super Cookies a try.  

With a subtle sweetness from the carrots and a warming spiciness from the nutmeg, these cookies are actually very enjoyable.  Although I wish they had a bit more complexity in terms of the spices used--I think cinnamon would be a great addition, for example--I found the sweetness from the carrots and spice from the nutmeg to be nicely balanced. 

GO RAW Carrot Cake Super Cookies
Nutritional Information

Eating cookies for breakfast, I know, seems like a counter-intuitive practice for someone who is trying to eat raw and otherwise healthful.  But, a couple of these cookies eaten with my morning coffee is a real treat.  I don't miss other breakfast sweets--scones, donuts, muffins, or croissants--and I think the gentle bitterness of coffee (I drink mine with just a little bit of no-sugar-added almond milk) really brings out the complex sweet, nutmeg-y flavors of the cookies themselves.  This balance is no small feat to achieve, even in non-raw baking.

I find that snacking on only a few of these cookies gives me enough nutritional value and energy to get myself to the gym and back in the mornings, and I think they'd be a great mini-snack to incorporate throughout the day to help stave off hunger and maintain energy.  After all, dietary studies have shown repeatedly that people who snack a little throughout the day have more sustained energy and are lower in weight because those who don't snack tend to over-compensate and eat much larger portions during their 3 daily meals (see: Snacking Sense). 

Speaking of nutritional value, you can eat 20 of these cookies and it only costs you 150 calories, 7 grams of fat, and 22 carbohydrates with 4 grams of dietary fibers and only 1 gram of (natural, unrefined) sugar.  To see more nutritional information, check out the Nutrition Facts at the left.

Product Recommendation

I would recommend this product to anyone who eats a raw, Gluten-Free, vegan or vegetarian, Kosher, soy, or nut free diet.  You can find the products for sale directly on GO RAW's website in addition to information about retailers.

Pumpkin Butter (Gluten Free + Vegan): Gluten Free Food Gifts and Party Favors Series

[Post 1] Gluten Free Food Gifts and Party Favors Series

For anyone who has or has a person in his/her life who suffers from celiac disease or wheat intolerance, cooking for oneself and others becomes a little more challenging because the health of yourself or someone you care about is on the line.

My series on "Gluten Free Food Gifts and Party Favors," however, is meant to mediate that challenge a bit by showcasing a few Gluten Free homemade food gifts or party favors that as a person with celiac/wheat intolerance, or as a person catering to the GF needs of a friend or relative, could easily make to the delight of everybody's taste buds.

The posts in the series will cover the following homemade (always the best!) Gluten Free food gifts and party favors:

• Gluten Free and Vegan Pumpkin Butter
• Gluten Free (no)Campfire Smores with marshmallows, GF graham cracker crumbs, chocolate and peanut butter chips, and white chocolate drizzles
• Gluten Free and Vegetarian Chocolate Bark with pistachio, dried cranberries, dried apricots, and white chocolate drizzle

Some Advice on Safe Gluten Free Cooking and Baking

As when doing any GF cooking, make sure all of your counter tops and kitchen materials being used have been properly cleaned to avoid cross-contamination. Even a few crumbs from your breakfast toast on the counter getting incorporated into the final product you give to a person with celiac can be very harmful to them.

You'll want to keep the issue of cross-contamination on your mind as you cook or bake--that bag of brown sugar you're dipping your measuring spoon into, have you ever dipped a measuring spoon into it when it had remnants of a wheat substance like flour on it? Often it's just safest to start with brand new bags of the basic ingredients unless you know--for sure--that you have been careful about preventing contamination.

Another thing to always keep in mind when cooking GF is that you must check your ingredients for GF labeling on the packaging. Some surprising foods are not GF (soy sauce is one example) and if you aren't conscientious about checking your packaging you could feed a friend or loved one something that will make them ill--definitely not the intention!

If you want to use a product but it has no GF label on it, you should search out additional nutritional information on the company's website and/or contact the company directly through phone or email to confirm the product is safe. Companies are very happy to answer these questions and usually do so in a reasonably short time period. Your best bet when searching for certified GF products, for example GF graham crackers, is to go to a specialty store like Whole Foods, Central Market, or Trader Joe's. These stores tend to have more explicitly GF options available.

Gluten Free and Vegan Pumpkin Butter

Gluten Free and Vegan Pumpkin Butter
for Gluten Free Gift or Party Favor

This first post in the "Gluten Free Food 
Gifts and Party Favors" series is on making Gluten Free and Vegan Pumpkin Butter.

As a bonus, I even show you some cute ways that you can package and decorate the pumpkin butter for gifting for a birthday or holiday or for giving out as a party favor!

Fruit "butters" are definitely one of my comfort foods. They remind me of heading to Amish Country with my grandparents and great grandparents as a child.

The long drive was always worth it as we always ended up, first, at the Bulk Foods Store where I would get to pick out packages of gummy worms (among other things), and then we'd go--always to the same--cheese store, where I'd get to sample pretty much every cheese I could get my hands on (thereby developing a strange love of Farmer's Cheese). We'd usually then hit the apple orchard if it was the right season and buy apples and the most amazing cider I've ever tasted.

And, THEN, finally, we'd go to a restaurant called The Der Dutchman. There is where I'd get my fruit butter, specifically apple butter (which is much, much more labor intensive than pumpkin butter, just FYI). Pumpkin butter, for me, recalls those times I shared in Amish Country with family members who have since passed. The sweet, warm spice of the fruit butter leaves me feeling comforted, whether I eat it on GF bread, use it in GF Oats, or dip slices of apples into it.

RECIPE: Gluten Free and Vegan Pumpkin Butter

Ingredients

• 29oz can pumpkin puree
• 3.4 cup apple juice
• Ground ginger, cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg and cardamom added in whatever quantity suits your taste
• 1 +1/4 to 1 +1/2 cups brown sugar depending on your desired level of sweetness



Remember to avoid
cross-contamination!

• 1/2 lemon, juiced

Directions
[1.] Combine pumpkin, apple juice, spices, and brown sugar in a large saucepan and stir well. Bring mixture to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, covered with lid for 45 minutes, stirring frequently. Be careful as the mixture can spit up at you out of the pan.
[2.] Remove from heat. Adjust spices to taste. Stir in lemon juice.
[3.] Once cool, pumpkin butter should be stored in an air-tight container.  If giving as a gift, I recommend putting them in canning jars for presentation purposes.  
* Recipe makes 3.5 cups; use within 3weeks or freeze
Recommended Presentation for Gifting
What You'll Need:

• 160z Canning jars (recipe fills 4) 
• Decorating Ribbon (of your choice)
• Decorative Gift Label (large enough to write the recipe on the back)

Directions:

• Transfer pumpkin butter into canning jars for best presentation.  
• Decorate with large label with "Pumpkin Butter" written on the front and with the complete recipe transcribed on the back.
  Note:  Adding the recipe to the back of the label is not only a nice way of sharing the recipe with your loved one or friend so he or she can reproduce it in their own homes, it is also an easy way to reassure the person you are gifting the gluten free and vegan pumpkin butter to that it does not contain any ingredients that could make them ill!  It's always nice to not have to wonder or ask!
• Tie label on with a strand of ribbon and tie into a bow.
• Gift Away!

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