not vegan, but...

One of our favorite GF companies is Kinnikinick foods,a company with dairy free,nut free,gluten free products. They make outstanding doughnuts, bread, English muffins, bagels, and the pizza crust is amazing! There are eggs in it, though, so mommy has to resist the temptation...The wonderful animal crackers are vegan, anyway!

Gluten free vegan apple crumble

Another fall favorite...surprisingly easy to make GF and vegan! This recipe came from a kids' cookbook and was surprisingly easy to adapt. Note, it's not a crispy apple crisp, but more of a crumbly/crumby one that does quite well with a bit of soy ice cream to hold things together.

Peel and chop 3 or 4 large apples
Toss in a baking pan with 6 Tbsp water, 1 Tbsp sugar, and ground cinnamon to taste

In a mixing bowl, combine 2 cups GF flour: we used a blend of sorghum, brown rice, and teff. No xanthan gum needed. Add 3/4 cup vegan margarine (we used Earth Balance buttery sticks), 2/3 cup brown sugar, and blend with an electric beater until mixture is soft and crumbly.

Sprinkle the flour mixture over the apples and bake at 350 for about 45 minutes. Enjoy with soy ice cream!

Gluten free vegan pumpkin pie!

Yummmm, pumpkin pie...as the air gets cooler and the trees start to drop their leaves, I start thinking of pumpkin pie. I erase the thought from my head, thinking of the flour, butter, eggs, and milk that went into my pies of yesteryear. But then I get to thinking that maybe it is doable. I still have frozen pumpkin puree from last year's Halloween pumpkins, and so I strike out on a mission. Success, and I didn't have to do much innovation of my own--just combining a GF crust with a vegan filling!!!

The crust: http://www.glutenfreehomemaker.com/2009/10/gluten-free-pie-crust.html. We used sorghum instead of millet, flax instead of egg, and Earth Balance vegetable shortening instead of butter.

Pumpkin pie filling: http://veganconnection.com/recipes//pumpkin_pie.htm. We used soymilk, brown sugar, and potato starch instead of cornstarch. The note about it needing to set overnight is true, but we ignored it and enjoyed mushy pie the first night, and then well-set pie for breakfast in the morning! (My daughter explained that pumpkin is a vegetable, rich in vitamin A and beta carotene, so why NOT enjoy it for breakfast?)

Gluten free, egg-free scallion pancakes

One of the things we've been missing the most since going gluten-free is scallion pancakes, you know, the delicious Chinese appetizers that taste great dipped in soy sauce. Fortunately, it is very easy to make your own at home with a blend of GF flours, and we were pleasantly surprised to learn that they turn out perfectly delicious without eggs.

1 cup GF flour blend: I used about 1/3 each of potato starch, corn flour (not cornstarch), and sorghum flour, but anything would work well

1/2 tsp xanthan gum

1/2 tsp salt

add water until the batter is fairly thin, probably 1 to 1.5 cups water (you can put some egg in as well if you like, but it's not necessary)

add a handful of chopped scallions, then fry on a hot pan in vegetable oil. They are great dipped in gluten free tamari soy sauce!

We mixed up several cups of the dry ingredients, for a truly "just add water and scallions" mix.

Remarkably good raspberry scones

The last time I had a scone, I could still eat wheat flour, butter, cream, all those things that pretty much define a scone. I figured that my scone-eating days were gone forever, but some tweaks to a recipe I found online here (http://eagleloftkitchen.blogspot.com/2009/09/blackberry-scones.html) proved me wrong. These are disappearing faster than I can make them. In fact, I mixed up about 10 cups of the dry ingredients to save time, now that the black raspberry bush in our backyard is ramping up production. My daughter had never been willing to taste a raspberry until she tried these scones. They are so good fresh from the oven that sometimes I make half a recipe so that we don't have to eat any "cold" scones later.

Mix:
1 cup brown rice flour
1/2 cup teff flour
1/2 cup tapioca flour
3/4 tsp xanthan gum
1/2 tsp salt

Use a beater or fork to cut in shortening, until the mixture is crumbly:
1/2 cup Earth Balance shortening (not buttery sticks, but shortening)

Mix in:
1/3 cup maple syrup
1/2 cup soy milk
2 tsp vanilla

Gently fold in:
1 heaping cup raspberries (I have mostly used the frozen red raspberries from Trader Joe's, but fresh are great too)

Bake at 425 for about 15 minutes.

Beyond rice flour...

When I first started baking gluten-free, it was all about the rice flour. I substituted rice flour with xanthan gum for wheat flour and got reasonably good results. As I learned a bit more, I created a standard blend of rice flour, potato starch, tapioca starch, and xanthan gum, and only sometimes added teff, sorghum, or millet flour for fun. Lately, I've been getting tired of the whiteness of it all, and I'm thinking of phasing out white rice flour from my diet. That glycemic index can't be good...

For the past few weeks, my standard "white" flour blend has been sorghum + tapioca + potato starch, and I think it keeps things a bit softer and more flavorful. I'm going to experiment to see how low I can drop the tapioca and potato starch in favor of more sorghum, millet, maybe even soy flour...Stay tuned.

Ode to applesauce

Remember back in the early 90s when everyone wanted to cook everything low-fat? I read so many recipes telling me to replace the oil with applesauce, but I never did it. Now, I have discovered for myself what a difference a little unsweetened applesauce can make, especially when baking without eggs.

If you've noticed that your baked goods are great when fresh, but go dry within a few hours, consider adding 1/4 cup applesauce. I have found that you don't really need to cut down on the liquid when adding applesauce; usually, you can just bake a few minutes longer and everything will come out fine.

While I'm sure that one could use applesauce as a wonderful oil/butter replacement, I wouldn't cut down too much on the oil or margarine in gluten-free vegan cooking unless you have a medical reason. After all, we're cutting out enough already, aren't we?

Gluten free vegan streusel coffee cake

I have probably made this coffee cake at least 30 times, and I tinker with the recipe every time. It was one of the first gluten-free baked goods that I felt comfortable serving to guests, and it's easy enough to cook up for a warm weekday breakfast before school and work. Usually there is just one piece left for an afternoon snack!

Combine:
1 1/2 cups gluten-free flour blend: I use 1/2 cup each of tapioca starch, potato starch, and sorghum flour
1 scant tsp xanthan gum
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

In a small mixing bowl, combine:
about 1 Tbsp ground flaxseed in a bit less than 1/4 cup water (let sit for a few minutes)
1/2 cup soy milk
1/4 cup oil (I use canola)
about 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce

Mix wet and dry ingredients together until well blended, and spread into a 8 x 8 square pan or round cake/pie pan. (If you double, use an 8 x 13 pan.)

For the topping, combine:
about 1 Tbsp vegan margarine, add more as needed (I use Earth Balance buttery spread)
several Tbsp brown sugar, to taste
1 tsp cinnamon
about 1/4 cup gluten-free oats (if you can't have any oats, try flaxseed or a gluten-free breakfast cereal/granola)

Sprinkle the topping over the batter and bake at 375 for about half an hour.

Gluten free, vegan, yummy snickerdoodles!

My 9 year old made traditional snickerdoodles at school last year and was woefully disappointed with my first few attempts at making some that the whole family could enjoy. I think that the combination of sorghum flour and applesauce helps these to be a little softer than the rocks that came out of the oven the first few times.

Beat together:
1 cup vegan margarine (we use Earth Balance shortening)
1 1/2 cups sugar (we use Trader Joe's tan sugar)
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
3 cups gluten free flour blend: I use 1 cup each of sorghum, potato starch, and tapioca starch
2 tsp xanthan gum
2 tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt

Roll the dough into 1-inch balls, and then roll them in a mix of 3 Tbsp sugar + 1 Tbsp cinnamon. Flatten gently on a pan and bake at 400 until done, about 10 minutes. Keep an eye on them, since the bottoms can burn up fairly quickly due to the sugar coating.

Keeping it simple with packaged foods

Most of the time, I like to make my own food (in case that's not obvious). However, there are times when packaged food makes a lot of sense, such as when we're traveling. There are plenty of great allergy-friendly foods out there, but one company stands out in my mind: Enjoy Life Foods.

Now sure, I've been known to scarf down half a package of Glutino vanilla sandwich cookies or Schar shortbread rounds, but here's my beef with those and many other companies: some of their products contain milk and/or eggs, and some don't. You have to read every label, every time.

You'd think I'd be used to reading labels, and that this wouldn't bother me. However, the whole point of buying the packaged food is convenience, and what is convenient about standing at the grocery store for half an hour reading the fine print? This brings me to Enjoy Life foods. When I see a package with their familiar branding, I know that I can grab it and go. Of course, of course, I scan the label anyway because I can't stop myself, but I can do that while standing in the checkout line because I already know that the product will be free of the 8 most common allergens. I also know it will taste good and, better yet, is likely to be enriched with some needed vitamins and minerals.

In case you're wondering, this post is not sponsored by Enjoy Life foods. I just realized yesterday, while growing increasingly frustrated reading labels at a store, that there is a better way, a way that really lets us all enjoy life a little more!

Miso soup with veggies, tofu, and noodles

When you first found out you or your loved one couldn't have gluten, maybe you said "OK, I can do this." You knew that there are lots of GF products out there. You figured you'd just skip the bread and pasta at restaurants and do OK. In fact, you started to think about frequenting Chinese restaurants, where everything comes with rice. Then came the most unexpected slap in the face, when you found out that soy sauce really should be called "wheat sauce" based on its ingredients.

Sadly, Asian food is one of the biggest casualties of the GF diet. Restaurants can be tough: it can be difficult to confirm whether a dish uses soy sauce or not. Sure, if I'm traveling, I can almost always get a plate of steamed veggies, tofu, and rice with no trouble at all at almost any Chinese or Thai place. But if I want Chinese takeout, steamed broccoli is not what I have in mind!

This brings us back to the common theme of GF living: you can probably make it better (and cheaper) yourself. High-quality tamari is often gluten-free and happens to taste better than many varieties of soy sauce. Many types of miso paste are gluten-free, too. The tough part is finding a good repertoire of sauces: most of the black bean sauce, chili sauce, etc that one finds on store shelves contain wheat-based soy sauce.

I'm still working on those challenges, but in the meantime, we can start simple with a vegan noodle soup recipe. This was one of those rare dinners that the entire family ate and enjoyed. My 7-year-old, normally a beyond-tough culinary audience, declared, "I'm brimming over with snowpeas and yumminess."

Fill a saucepan or small pot with water, about half to two-thirds as much as the amount of soup you want. Bring the water to a boil and add the following amount for each person (ie, multiply by 4 for 4 people):

• 1 small bunch of rice sticks (thin rice noodles)


• 2 scallions, chopped


• 2 or 3 baby carrots, sliced lengthwise into long slivers


• about 4 ears of baby corn


• about 6 snow pea pods


• a few sliced water chestnuts


• a few slices of bamboo shoot

Let the mixture simmer for a few minutes; as the rice noodles become soft, add a handful of tofu cubes and about 1 tsp miso paste per person. Once it is well-mixed, taste and add more miso as needed. A few drops of tamari and some sesame oil are nice to add, and we were able to find a GF black bean chili paste to spice things up a bit.

A note on where to find ingredients: if you are lucky enough to have an Asian grocery store, such as the H-Mart, near you, you are all set! Rice sticks, miso, tamari, baby corn, water chestnuts, and bamboo shoots are quite inexpensive at such stores, but they are pricey specialty items at most conventional grocery and natural food stores. While you're at the H-mart, you can stock up on rice flour, potato starch, tapioca starch, and more--and be sure to get a few red bean buns made from rice flour!

about vegan margarine...

For a long time we were using Fleischman's low-sodium margarine, as it was the only vegan margarine we could find easily at the grocery store. However, the more I read about genetically modified soy, the more wary I became of a margarine made from non-organically grown soybean oil. At the same time, I became queasy a few times after eating something made with Fleischman's. I don't know if there was any cause and effect, but I decided it was time to try something different.

We've switched over to Earth Balance Shortening, which is sold at Whole Foods and other natural food stores. Earth Balance also sells Buttery Sticks, but I find them tricky to bake with because they are so salty. My daughter refused to eat some cookies because they were too salty, and she was right. The shortening is unsalted, so there's better control over the final product. If you can only find the Buttery Sticks, I suggest cutting the recipe's salt in half or even less, depending on your tolerance for a salty flavor in your baked goods.

Applesauce Bread

If I call this bread, I can eat it for any meal, but if I call it cake, it's only for dessert. So let's call it bread, shall we?

Now, why would we want to eat this bread for any meal? Because, in the words of my daughter who can eat whatever she wants, "I thought this was just going to be another one of your boring crumbly things, but it's delicious!" Today, I was walking along with some chips in a bowl, and she looked eagerly at me and asked what I had. When I said it was chips, she looked at me with forlorn brown eyes and said "oh, I thought it was going to be that cake." I quickly whipped up another pan for her!

What I love about this recipe is that it never called for eggs or milk, so it was easy to adapt to be gluten-free. I've been able to lift some of my salicylate restrictions, but if you are a fail-safer, the cinnamon and cloves are out...

Beat:
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup margarine (we use Earth Balance shortening)
1 cup unsweetened applesauce

Add in:
2 cups gluten-free flour blend: I recommend using 1/4 cup each of rice flour, potato starch, teff flour, and sorghum flour, plus 1 scant tsp xanthan gum
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp cloves
1/2 tsp salt

Spread into a 9 inch round pan, or whatever size/shape suits you, and bake at 350 for about 30-40 minutes. Enjoy!

Crunchy oat crumblers

This is one of those recipes that first seemed like a total disaster: the batter rose up way too high and was burning on the oven floor. Then, we tasted it and decided that we had seized victory from the jaws of defeat--it has a delicious oatmeal cookie texture with a light maple flavor. It is excellent mixed into soy vanilla ice cream. That being said, a few caveats:

• The batter rises A LOT. Don't fill your muffin tins too high, especially if you use mini muffin tins.
• This might be more of a home treat than the one you bring for the school bake sale. It tends to fall apart (hence the "crumbler" name), so it's not going to win any food beauty contests.

Mix:

1 stick melted butter

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup maple syrup

1 Tbsp ground flaxseed + 3 Tbsp water (let it sit for a few minutes)

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup soy milk

1 cup gluten-free rolled oats

1/4 cup teff flour (note: if you don't have teff, just use 1/2 cup total of some gluten free grain flours--this 1/4 cup plus the 1/4 cup listed next)

1/4 cup buckwheat, amaranth, or other gluten free grain flour

1/2 cup all purpose rice flour blend (see the January 2010 post)

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon (or less, or none, if you're watching salicylates)

Bake at 375 in muffin tins, loaf pans, whatever you like, until crumbly and crispy and the fork comes out clean. Enjoy!

Munchy Breakfast Munchkins

There were creative differences about whether to call these Breakfast Munchkins or Breakfast Munchies. So, we compromised on Munchy Breakfast Munchkins. But, we might change the name if we all think of something better. Someone here is very angry about our compromise. Any ideas out there?

Anyway, these are nice light maple-flavored muffins, full of fiber and protein! Enjoy!

Combine:
1 cup all-purpose rice flour blend
1/4 cup soy flour
1/4 cup buckwheat flour
1/4 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

Cut in 1/4 cup shortening, until the mixture resembles crumbs.

Add 1 Tbsp ground flaxseed + 3 Tbsp water (let sit a few minutes first)
1/2 cup soy milk
1/2 cup maple syrup

Bake at 400 for 18 to 20 minutes in greased muffin tins (shorter for mini muffin tins)

Grand Graham Crackers

Poor Sonia hasn't had a graham cracker since October! Poor Mommy hasn't had a graham cracker in 2 years! Fret no longer, as we've found a great way to make the old favorite gluten-free. It's so yummy that you'll definitely want to keep the dry mix on hand so that you can roll out some dough any time.

The mix:
3 cups sorghum flour
3 cups tapioca flour
3 cups potato starch flour
1 1/2 cups millet flour
1 1/2 cups brown rice flour (can use some buckwheat for part of it)
1 1/2 cups white rice flour
3 cups brown sugar
1 Tbsp baking powder
1 Tbsp xanthan gum
1 Tbsp baking soda
1 Tbsp salt

For each batch of about 30 graham crackers, combine:
2 3/4 cup dry mix
7 Tbsp butter or margarine (we use Fleishman's low-sodium, which is dairy-free)
mix it with your fingers until crumbly

Add:
3 Tbsp cold water
1 tsp vanilla
3 Tbsp maple syrup (you can use honey, but if you're watching salicylates, maple syrup is safer)

Mix until it forms a ball of dough; add a bit of water if it is too crumbly. Refrigerate for about 30-60 minutes, then roll out on a floured surface to about 1/8" thickness. Use a knife to cut rectangle, and use the tines of a fork to make the traditional graham cracker scores.

If desired, after putting them on the pan, sprinkle with sugar or cinnamon sugar (ie, sugar mixed with cinnamon). If you're watching salicylates, no cinnamon, I'm sorry to say.

Bake at 325 for about 12 to 15 minutes.

Teff pancakes

Nothing like pancakes on a Saturday morning...I used to think that the eggs made the pancakes, but this recipe set me straight!

Mix:
1/2 cup all-purpose rice flour blend
1/2 cup teff flour
1 1/2 Tbsp sugar (we use tan crystals from Trader Joe's)
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

Add 1 Tbsp ground flaxseed + 3 Tbsp water (let it sit for a few minutes first)
2 tsp canola oil
soy milk until the batter is thin enough to pour and spread out easily

Fry in vegan margarine (eg, Earth Balance) like you would any pancake. My kids liked them so much they didn't want any syrup to interfere with the taste!

Blondies for everyone!

When we first went gluten-free, we made Namaste Foods blondie mix quite often, as it would take us right back to our free-wheeling wheat-eating days. I still like to have a bag of their mix on hand for last-minute needs, but this recipe is a great approximation for a fraction of the price.

Melt:
1/2 cup margarine (we use Fleischman's low-sodium since it's dairy-free)

Mix in:
2 cups packed brown sugar (if you're watching salicylates, you may want to substitute some white sugar here)
2 Tbsp ground flaxseed plus 6 Tbsp water (let it sit for a few minutes first)
2 tsp vanilla

Then mix in:
2 cups all-purpose rice flour blend
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

The mixture will be pretty thick, but you can pat it down to cover the bottom of a 9 x 13 pan. Bake at 350 for 20 to 25 minutes.

RASP Bread

Ever since I bought a bag of amaranth flour at the Indian store (labled as rajgira or rajgara flour, by the way), I've been eager use it. The nutritional profile of amaranth is impressive (http://www.nutritiondata.com/facts/cereal-grains-and-pasta/10640/2), and it has a high protein content, with amino acids that complement those found in most grains. However, there aren't a ton of amaranth flour recipes out there, so I was a little nervous about what to do with it. Here's a bread that we call RASP, for rice/amaranth/sorghum/potato. It has a nice crispy crust and light whole-grain flavor. Enjoy!

Oh, and if you want to find more amaranth recipes, try searching for rajgara/rajgira flour recipes. You'll find a lot more! As with other flours, amaranth is available for a great price at Indian grocery stores.

Combine:
3/4 cup potato starch flour
3/4 cup amaranth flour
1/2 cup brown rice flour
1/2 cup sorghum flour
2 tsp xanthan gum
1 tsp salt

Meanwhile, combine 1 Tbsp yeast with a bit over 1 cup warm water + 2 1/2 Tbsp sugar (we use the tan crystals from Trader Joe's); let sit until poofy

Mix 3 Tbsp ground flaxseed + 7 Tbsp water; let sit for a few minutes

Combine the dry mix, proofed yeast, and flaxseed mixture with:
1 tsp vinegar
3 Tbsp canola oil

Mix well, and let rise about 20-30 minutes in a warm spot (eg, your microwave after boiling water in it for a while; keep the bowl of water in there to keep things warm.) Bake at 375 for about 40 minutes. We baked this in 4 mini-loaf pans, to get lots of the crispy crust.

Roasted brussels sprouts

As with the roasted cabbage and leeks, I like to save energy by popping these in the oven while bread is baking. If you can find baby brussels sprouts, they are great!

Cover the bottom of a roasting pan or baking dish with quartered brussels sprouts (or whole baby brussels sprouts)
Sprinkle with oil (eg, canola) and salt to taste
Bake at 400 (or whatever temperature your oven is at for something else) for about 40-45 minutes, stirring every 10 or 15 minutes. When some of the skins are turning crispy and brown, they are done.