Note: Starting today, I’m trying out a new recipe format. I hope that you find this new method useful. It should allow you to use various programs and apps, such as Paprika, to capture the recipes without having to cut and paste. Let me know on the ScrapDeli Facebook page if you like it, or would prefer the old method!_
Pumpkin combined with a bit of chocolate is one of my favorite flavor combinations. Add in a little maple syrup and some chopped pecans and I’m doing the happy dance. Turn it all into ice cream and I’m headed over the moon!
Chocolate Shell Syrup Yield
1/2 tp 3/4 cups
Prep Time
5m
Cook Time
10m
Equipment Required list special equipment here Ingredients 1⁄2 cup coconut oil, refined, melted 1⁄4 cup cacao powder 1⁄2 teaspoon vanilla 2 tablespoons raw agave syrup 1 teaspoon maple syrup 1⁄8 teaspoon cinnamon
It’s the time of year when just about every foodie magazine and television show is featuring something made out of pumpkin! So often, though, the recipes call for canned pumpkin puree. It will work, if you don’t have access to the fresh stuff, but making your own is not all that difficult!
Start with a fresh, sweet, pie pumpkin.
Organic is the best. You don’t want to use a jack-o-lantern pumpkin. Those are specifically bred to last outside with a light in them… not for flavor! In addition, they often have a weird protective coating on the outside. Yuck! Pie pumpkins are smaller, weighing in at 2 to 3 pounds.
Or mozzarella sticks… Doesn’t matter what you compare it to, I just call it “M-M-M Good!”
This is pretty simple to make, and you can use any type of tofu, except the silken varitey. If you make it from soft tofu, it often reminds adults of deep-fried mozzarella. Kids tend to like it made from a firmer tofu, and often say it tastes like chicken nuggets to them.
Here’s the setup.
We eat a lot of tofu! I use it in both sweet and savory dishes. That means I’m doing a lot of pressing, to squeeze the water out of the block of tofu. You probably saw the post In The Kitchen: Tofu about the standard, low-tech way of pressing it. It works, but it’s messy and leaves me with a lot of stuff to wash. It also uses a lot of paper towels.
A beautiful pesto sauce adds both a nutritional and presentation punch to your dishes. Making it is about as easy as it gets. Here’s my setup.
Equipment blender
squeeze bottle (optional)
Ingredients 1 cup raw pine nuts, soaked 2 to 4 hours
2 cups fresh organic spinach, packed
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon white Balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon dried basil, or the equivalent fresh
salt and pepper
Method Put all of the ingredients in the blender.
In keeping with my make-it-from-scratch theme for my pizza , I opted to make vegan mozzarella cheese from scratch.
I cheated a bit, because I used the recipe from this book:
The book is “Artisan Vegan Cheese”, by Miyoko Schinner. The recipe is on page 44, and it’s called “Meltable Mozzarella”.
Note: Read the entire post before you try this at home!
This cheese is made in two parts. First you make a mixture of yogurt, oil and water, and allow it to “culture” at room temperature for up to 24 hours. Here’s my setup for the culture.
Vegan Mozzarella Culture Yield
2 cups
Equipment Required blender clean glass bowl with cover, for culturing the cheese Ingredients 1 cup yogurt, plain, unsweetened, nondairy 1⁄2 cup water 1⁄3 cup canola oil 1 teaspoon salt Directions Put all the ingredients in the blender. Process until smooth and creamy.
On Monday, when I made pizza , my goal was to make it as much from scratch as possible. While the dough was a challenge, I already knew I could make pizza sauce easily! You can do this yourself, and don’t have to buy some Frankenfood brand in a jar or can. And best of all: you get to choose the seasoning!
This is for a very basic sauce, lightly flavored with Italian spices. Here’s the setup.
I love pizza. For years I’ve made regular (wheat) pizza dough from scratch without any problems. It was easy and we had home-made pizza fairly regularly.
Since going gluten free, anything even vaguely bread related has been quite a challenge for me. But, once I got the Flat Bread figured out, I was pretty sure I could make pizza crust. Finally!
Here’s my setup.
Equipment stand mixer with dough hook
I did it! I made pizza, from scratch!
I had home made pizza for my Birthday Dinner! (Doing the happy dance!)
We love The Uprooted Kitchen Trailer (food truck?)!!!
This is a family owned business, based in a 1968 vintage Avion trailer that specializes in vegetarian cuisine. It is owned by Chad and Erin Romanoff. Chad is a pediatric occupational therapist and Erin is a pastry chef. Their menu includes breakfast, lunch and any time fare.
On Saturday’s they are at the Gilbert Farmer's Market , which is where we discovered them. We had gone to the market to see what all was there, and, of course, looking at food makes you hungry! I discovered they had gluten free carrot and walnut bread, and just had to try it.
I have been mostly without bread products of any kind for months. The problem is that most of the gluten free commercial bread products that I like are not vegan. They contain eggs. In particular, I like the Canyon Bakehouse bread. I’ve tried their Hamburger Buns and their Cinnamon Raisin Bread . Both are really good.
I also like the Sprouted Corn Tortillas from Food For Life . They are vegan and I eat a lot of them, since they are pretty much the only bread-like thing around here. But you can only do so much with a corn tortilla!
Flat Bread Flour Yield
2 cups
Equipment Required list special equipment here Ingredients 1⁄4 cup Bob's Red Mill Corn Starch 1⁄4 cup Bob's Red Mill Potato Starch 1⁄2 cup Bob's Red Mill Organic Quinoa Flour 1⁄2 cup Bob's Red Mill Garbanzo Flour 1⁄2 cup Bob's Red Mill Organic Amaranth Flour
I recently picked up the October/November 2012 issue of Living Without magazine because it had information about making a Thanksgiving Feast that was wheat and dairy free. In particular, I’m trying to figure out a GF pie crust that works and tastes good.
In addition, this issue has five recipes for GF crackers. Since we eat a lot of hummus, I’m always looking for something crunchy to go along with it.
On Sunday, DH made pancakes! He’s not an experienced pancake maker to begin with, and this is the first attempt at vegan, gluten free pancakes. So he had a whole new learning experience! I cheated, and helped out a bit, even though he’s supposed to be making breakfast on Sunday mornings so I get a break.
Equipment griddle (cast iron recommended)
cookie sheet
pancake turner
silicon basting brush
Ingredients 1/2 cup Bob’s Red Mill Potato Starch
Pancake Flour Mix Yield
2 cups
Equipment Required list special equipment here Ingredients 1 cup Bob's Red Mill Organic Brown Rice Flour 1⁄2 cup Bob's Red Mill GF Sorghum Flour 1⁄2 cup Bob's Red Mill Organic Quinoa Flour Directions Sift all flours into a bowl. Whisk together.
You don’t have to make just savory tamales… You can also make sweet, dessert versions! The masa can be corn, chick pea, or whatever else you can dream up and stuffed with all kinds of fresh or dried fruits and nuts.
When I was in Santa Fe during Christmas Week one year, someone told me about their particular family’s tradition of adding some brown sugar and cinnamon to the corn masa and stuffing them with a mixture of Granny Smith apples, raisins, butter and more brown sugar. I could see by the dreamy look in her eyes that these were a strong happy memory of the holiday season for her.
This is one of my favorite chili recipes because you can use it in tamales, as I’m doing this week, as a taco filling or even eaten with a salad as a main dish!
The main protein source is lentils and kidney beans. The lentils are cooked down a bit to give it a creamy base and the chopped kidney beans add both nutrition an a ground meat texture.
Before we begin the actual recipe, let me explain how to cook lentils, in case you’ve never done it before. It’s really easy, and after this you won’t buy them in cans any more. Making them from dried is much less expensive!
Cooked Lentils Equipment Required large pot Ingredients 1 pound lentils, dried (about 2 cups) 1⁄4 teaspoon sea salt 8 cups water Directions Put the water and the salt in the pot and bring it to a boil on the stove. While the water is heating up, wash the lentils. Pick out any stones and dirt.