Gluten-free Flax seed, Beet puree, and Agave sweetened brownies, from left to right.
This 4th of July I had one goal. I hadn’t had a good brownie since I went dairy, soy and egg-free after Baby Yum was born, and I was determined to make a vegan brownie that would pass a glutenoid taste test and satisfy pesky chocolate cravings. It is easy enough to make a good brownie with butter and eggs and lots of melty, milky chocolate, but how about without those things? How could you compensate for their absence? As I researched, I found that the real sticking point was the absence of egg. Luckily, vegan bakers are extraordinarily creative, and have come up with all kinds of substitutes, including flax seed, applesauce, and even beet puree. Another sticking point was the chocolate of course. I wanted these brownies to be safe for me and my highly soy-sensitive friend (who avoids even soy lecithin), so I had to find safe chocolate for us. I found baking chocolate (melt in the microwave and add agave or other sweetener to taste), Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips, and cocoa powder (Penzey’s) to be my salvation. I knew a vegan brownie that would pass the glutenoid taste test would be a challenge. And when it comes to that, I’m not a huge brownie girl, either, so it would be tough to find one I liked myself. I like fudgey brownies, not cake-like or bread-like brownies. To find the perfect recipe, I decided to make three recipes, adapted from those above. I called the first recipe “F” for flax seed, the second “B” for beet puree, and the third “A” for agave. Note that except for the applesauce recipe, the recipes linked above are not gluten-free, but of course my versions were. Anyway. Then I lined up my testers. You all (may) know my friend JM, who has inspired many allergen-sensitive recipes here on the Book of Yum. She is free of gluten, potato, soy, avocado, and dairy. Her partner in crime, M, is an adventurous glutenoid who has patiently tried many gluten-free experiments over the years at gluten-free potlucks and the like. Then there was me, gluten, soy, corn, potato, etc. free. And finally, there was my glutenoid DH who loves chocolate and has also been the guinea pig for many recipe experiments over the years.
First: the flax seed recipe. I am a recent convert to this egg substitute, so I had high hopes for this recipe. However, I’m afraid I was disappointed. It had a heavy, vegan brownie feel and the DH condemned it as “Tasting gluten-free.” Darn it. Unexpectedly, our tester M chose it as his favorite, perhaps because he likes that type of texture in his brownie and felt it was closer to a traditional brownie. JM and I gave it a resolute thumbs down.
Second: the beet puree recipe. I had a sneaking fondness for this recipe because I liked the novel idea of adding beets to chocolate, AND it had coffee, which just makes me happy. JM said it had an “earthy” aftertaste and M said it was his least favorite. The DH shrugged and said “well, it’s chocolate” and ate it. I might make this recipe again, actually, perhaps with some modifications. The lack of sweet chips (its chocolate was provided by agave sweetened baker’s chocolate and cocoa powder) may have made this less popular than it would have been otherwise. -I liked its deep dark chocolate flavor and earthiness, personally, but it isn’t for milk-chocolate lovers.
Third: the agave sweetened brownie recipe. This was the only recipe that started out gluten-free, but I had to radically change the flours to accommodate our various intolerances. JM, I and the DH all chose this recipe as our favorite, making it a clear winner. It was the only recipe that wasn’t lowfat as it actually contained oil, which might have helped its cause. The texture was also nice, having an appealing fluffy lightness not often found in gluten-free, vegan recipes. It might not have screamed brownie, but that made me like it a little more, and it was sweet (without being too sweet) and nice and chocolate-rich thanks to the generous amount of chocolate chips it called for.
And so, our gluten-free vegan brownie taste off ended with success and an empty box of brownies. Even the brownies that we supposedly didn’t like vanished from our picnic basket. After all, they were all chocolate, and were all pretty tasty, judging aside. Here’s our favorite recipe to share with you, and a few more gluten-free recipes I found online that I would love to try when my diet includes things like nuts and eggs again. Have any favorite gluten-free brownie recipes? Share the link in the comments and I’ll add them to my list!
Just for fun, here is a pictures of Baby Yum taken on her first 4th of July. We had a lovely family picnic with friends and were all set for her to see the fireworks- but literally minutes before the show began she decided to nurse and didn’t so much as peek at the show as she fell fast asleep mid-snack. Better luck next year. I can’t believe my baby is almost one!
Spectrum Palm Oil Shortening or mini cupcake liners
1/2 cup your favorite oil (I bet coconut oil would be really yummy, but I used canola)
3/4 cup plus 4 tablespoons sorghum flour
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons arrowroot starch
2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon xanthan gum
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (I use Penzeys Dutch)
10 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons agave nectar
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
2 tablespoons vanilla
1/2 cup brewed coffee or espresso (I use decaf)
2 cups dairy-free and soy-free chocolate chips (Enjoy Life)
Directions
Special equipment: 2 Mini muffin tins or mini donut molds, although they are a bit delicate for the latter.
Preheat oven to 325. Either line mini muffin tins with mini cupcake liners or baste with shortening.
Combine dry ingredients in a medium bowl, mix, and set aside. In a large bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients. Gently fold in dry ingredients. Fold in chocolate chips.
Fill each mini muffin cup (or mini donut mold etc) with 1 tbsp. batter. Put in oven and bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 12 to 15 minutes. Place muffin tin on a cooling rack and let cool. Don’t put warm muffins on a plate or moisture may make the bottom soggy.
Gently remove mini muffins or mini donuts (the latter is more challenging) and serve. Yummy!
Notes
A light and delicate chocolate feast, winner of our vegan brownie taste-off!
Rating:8
Original Source:Inspired by Babycakes Brownies but with entirely different flour combination. Please do not replicate without my permission.
Rolls, even gluten-free rolls, can be delightfully easy if you have one simple tool. A muffin tin. This humble tin, when paired with your favorite yeast dough instead of a quick rising batter, will yield gorgeous rolls with gorgeous crusts if you overlook its muffin-y appearance. I had eaten one too many jowar roti, or sorghum tortillas, when I decided to experiment more with flax seed as an egg substitute and make myself some tasty yeast onion rolls. I was initially not impressed with flax gel in early experiments, but my recent love affair with Isa Moskowitz’s recipe for vegan and gluten-free buckwheat pancakes convinced me that I needed to give flax seed a second chance. After all, Ener-g Egg Replacer works reasonably well in many recipes, but it can produce gummy products if you’re not careful. I was disappointed with using flax seeds as an egg substitute in Chebe tapioca bread mix, but I think that is because the low-protein tapioca starch requires a high protein ingredient to work as a bread. Flax seed is interesting, healthy stuff, rich in omega-3 fatty acids and high in fiber. Those of you on a gluten-free diet who don’t eat oatmeal will be happy to know that two tablespoons of flax seed meal contains four grams of fiber. This is the same amount of fiber as 1 and 1/2 cups of cooked oatmeal, and similarly to oatmeal, it is reported to help decrease harmful LDL cholesterol drop without lowering good HDL cholesterol. Why haven’t I been eating more of this stuff already? Maybe because until this recipe, I hadn’t found a good way to use it!
These rolls rose beautifully and became quite gorgeous when they baked. You can eat them fresh out of the oven, tearing them open with a fork tin and slathering them with (non-dairy, soy-free) margarine or drizzling them with high quality olive oil, but their texture is best after they cool. They are also wonderful the next day after a quick stint in the microwave. My DH who mourns the current absence of rice in our diet (and my old white rice flour-tapioca starch french bread) gobbled these rolls up and looked for more. I didn’t tell him how healthy these whole grain, high fiber rolls were! I made my version with arrowroot starch, but you could easily make them with tapioca starch and they would undoubtedly be great. The flax seed gel really enhanced the texture of these rolls and made them very strong but with a soft, rippable center. I don’t think I would use flax seed in a delicate or sweet flavored recipe (unless it was nutty or well-spiced), but in this savory onion bread, it worked perfectly. I can’t wait to make this recipe again!
2 cup sorghum flour 1 cup tapioca flour (or, for a more delicate bread, arrowroot starch) 1 tbsp. xanthan gum 1 1/2 tsp. salt 2 tsp. egg replacer (optional) 2 tbsp. sugar 1 1/2 cup lukewarm water 2 tbsp. yeast 2 tbsp. olive oil 3 tbsp ground flax seed + 3/4 cup water 1 tsp. vinegar (i use cider)
1 or 2 tbsp. melted Soy-free dairy-free earth balance margarine minced dried onion kosher salt
Directions
Grease muffin tin with your favorite shortening. I use spectrum naturals palm oil shortening. Or, if making free-form rolls, line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Preheat oven to 375F.
Combine flours, xanthan gum, salt and egg replacer (if using) in the bowl of a standing mixer. Place sugar in a small bowl and add your lukewarm water, whisking to combine. Add your yeast and stir in gently. Let sit for a few minutes while yeast activates and forms brownish clumps. Combine flax seed and water in a food processor or blender and blend until you have a thick and creamy consistency. Add your oil and vinegar to the proofed yeast water and add to the flours, along with the flax liquid. Beat using the paddle for 3 minutes. Meanwhile, melt margarine in microwave or on stovetop and add a generous amount of minced dried onion to the melted margarine. (1/2 tsp or so). Let it sit.
For muffins, fill half-full with batter. For free-form rolls, take a large spoonful of dough and shape it into a soft round with WET hands. Run your hands under the water in-between rolls as needed. Place on the parchment paper, leaving plenty of room between them. To season, baste the top of the rolls with onion margarine, making sure you get actual bits of onion on the roll, and sprinkle with kosher salt.
Let rise for 50 minutes or until doubled in size. Bake for 30 minutes or until rolls are browned and sound hollow when you tap them.
Notes
Texture is best after they cool. The next day, a brief reheating in the microwave oven makes for a perfect, fresh tasting and hot roll!
Rating:9
Original Source:Adaption of my vegan french bread recipe, with seasoning, preparation, and flax seed modifications.
Dear Readers,
I know it has been quite a while since I posted, and that just isn’t like me. Life intruded on my blogging- and with all that was going on, I just couldn’t concentrate on the Book of Yum. I had to spend some time only focusing on my PhD work, and the time that was left over went to Baby Yum. I’ve also been trying to decide some things about the future of the Book of Yum, like advertising. I’ve been pouring my soul into this little blog for two- or is it three- years now, and in that time I decided to have some small amount of advertising, mostly to assuage my guilt over spending so much time on something that doesn’t pay the rent (or dissertation fees). Well, the market has changed and now I have to make some tough decisions that make me question if it is fair to everybody in my family for me to try to keep this blog going while also being a dedicated Mommy and PhD student. When it comes down to it, though, I love this little blog too much to quit, and I would feel sad to abandon my dedicated vegetarian or allergy-sensitive readers whose lives are complicated by being gluten-free. So… here I am, again, posting. And- never fear, although I am taking this month off of the Adopt-a-gluten-free Blogger event, I intend to host it next month, unless anyone else volunteers.
This recipe has been begging to be posted since I first made it. Soy-based vegan chocolate mousse recipes are a dime a dozen (although possibly quite yummy) but finding one free of most major allergens is quite a challenge. Sorry to those of you who can’t have avocado- I’m afraid it is indispensable to this recipe. However, I hope those of you who are nut, dairy, soy, and gluten free will enjoy it. The ingredients are simple, but magical in this combination. I’d like to try it with a little bit of steamed or canned peach or mango blended in- but I thought I’d better post quickly while Baby Yum is still asleep! It is suitable for a Raw Foods Diet, if you do processed Agave. I’ve tried other oils and other sweeteners but wasn’t happy with them… so in the end, it had to be coconut oil and agave. A yummy nut oil or maple syrup might be interesting, too… And if you are chocolate sensitive and don’t worry about shared equipment, you could use Chatwick carob powder for a carob version, although I haven’t tried it myself. This chocolate mousse is a perfect chocolate “fix” and even better for busy mommies (or students, or daddies, etc) in its frozen bon-bon form. Enjoy! I’ve missed you guys!
1 avocado 1 tbsp. unrefined coconut oil 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa 1/4 cup agave nectar
Directions
Combine ingredients in blender or food processor and blend until creamy. Serve!
If you have leftovers, put in ice cube tray for raw frozen chocolate “bon-bons” or put in a Popsicle tray and freeze. Once frozen, the bon-bons can be put into a freezer safe container and stored for weeks or possibly months, although mine never last that long!
Rating:9
Original Source:Inspired by Mothering magazine recipe, but with several fun twists to make it my own. Please do not replicate without permission.
It has been quite a while since we featured desserts on the Book of Yum, and truth be told quite a while since I had any that were especially yummy. I take it back- I have made some excellent vegan chocolate chip sorghum cookies since becoming an allergen-free, Gluten-free Mama. But, the other night my sweet tooth kicked in and I was overcome by waves of a sugar craving. I love chocolate, but it tends to keep baby Yum up all night and a PhD-pursuing Mama needs her sleep. So, I started thinking of caffeine-free treats. I’ve never been crazy about cake, but somehow vanilla cake was speaking to me. I poked around online and found an intriguing recipe in a book I actually own but have misplaced- Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero’s Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World: 75 Dairy-Free Recipes for Cupcakes that Rule. This recipe was for what they called “Golden Vanilla Cupcakes,” and I thought that something like that would just hit the spot. I played around with flours to make a gluten-free, soy-free, dairy-free, and corn-free (except for the xanthan gum) vegan vanilla cupcake of my own. When I mixed it up the batter was so thin I had serious doubts, but I had faith (and xanthan gum). After I added the last minute xanthan gum, I poured the batter in and crossed my fingers. The heavenly scent of vanilla filled the house, and when I looked in the oven, it seemed like they had magically transformed into real, live cupcakes. I took them out of the oven and knew I had a winning recipe. After they cooled I frosted them with some impromptu frosting and bit into a real live piece of sugary, vanilla heaven, and my sweet tooth has never been so happy. If cake was this tasty- I might have to call myself a cake girl after all! What I love about this recipe is that it doesn’t have any allergens in it, is completely vegan without specialty egg replacer and yet tastes like “real” dessert. In my opinion, this is a perfect special occasion recipe that I wouldn’t hesitate to serve to guests. In fact, I might just have to make this again for Baby Yum and my joint birthday party in July!
1 cup hemp milk or other alternative milk 1 1/2 tsp. apple cider vinegar 1/2 cup sorghum flour 1/2 cup millet flour 1/4 cup arrowroot starch or tapioca starch 1 tsp. xanthan gum 2 Tbsp. arrowroot starch 3/4 tsp. baking powder 1/2 tsp. baking soda 1/2 tsp. salt 1/3 cup canola oil 3/4 cup sugar 2 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 and line muffin pans with cupcake liners.
Whisk in your apple cider vinegar into your hemp milk and let sit for a few minutes. It won’t curdle much, if at all, but that is ok. If you use another milk like soy it will curdle more and you can use less vinegar.
Beat together your vinegar milk mixture with oil, sugar and extract. Sift in your flours, xanthan gum, arrowroot starch, baking powder, baking soda and salt and gently stir them in together.
Pour your batter into the cupcake liners and bake for 22 minutes. Cool on a cooling rack and frost right away! They will be more delicate the next day. Refrigerate or freeze if desired.
Notes
I frosted this with a combination of Earth Balance Soy-free margarine and sunflower-palm oil shortening whipped with vanilla and confectioner’s sugar.
Rating:10
Original Source:Inspired by but radically transformed to be gluten-free and my personal creation.
Before I had a child, I never would have believed someone if they told me that I would give up eating all of my favorite things in order to breastfeed my child. But, lo and behold, once Baby Yum joined us, I found out that there was no choice about the matter at all. My heart told me that restricting my diet even more than a typical gluten-free diet was the right thing to do, if it meant that I could nurture my child. Strangely enough, it wasn’t the dairy or the eggs I found myself missing the most- but the most basic staple of my pre-baby life- rice. Going rice-free has been the hardest thing I ever did. And no, an elimination diet this extreme isn’t necessary for most allergy-baby moms, but it seemed to help us, and I’m happy to say that I feel every day this bond with Baby Yum was worth the sacrifice. As you can see from a very recent picture the DH took of me with Baby Yum, I’m loving being a (relatively) new Mommy. And, on the food front, I’m also happy to say that I’ve found quinoa to be a wonderful substitute for rice, whether I’ve used it for satisfying wild sushi cravings or, most recently, in a wonderfully simple and tasty Chinese-style fried rice. This is a recipe the DH and I enjoyed recently, and I hope all you gluten-free Moms (and daughters, and sons!) enjoy it as well on this holiday.
All my best,
Sea
(Sorry I’ve been so busy lately, but those pesky PhD qualifying exams have kept me offline and with my nose pressed in a book… And when I’m not studying, my baby needs snuggles! I know you’ll understand, and you can count on more regular posts again after this hurdle is (hopefully) passed.)
2-3 tbsp. neutral oil (canola or peanut if you can have it)
1/4 onion, diced 2 carrots, peeled and diced 1/2 cup green peas Small bundle of broccoli florets, cut into small bite sized pieces 1 inch knob of ginger, peeled. Grate 1/4 of it and slice the rest thinly, dicing 1/2 of those slices White part of one scallion, halved
Sauce: 2 tbsp. Coconut Aminos or other soy-free sauce 2 tbsp. vegetable broth 1 to 2 tbsp. dry sherry 1 tbsp. agave nectar 1/4 knob of ginger, grated (from above) 2 scallions- mince the white part and discard the leftover 1/4 to 1/2 tsp. chili garlic sauce pinch szechuan salt (if you have it) pinch white pepper pinch black pepper
Directions
Whisk together sauce ingredients and prep your veggies.
Heat wok on high. Add 2 tbsp of oil and heat until you see white smoke. Add slices of ginger and halved scallion. Let them turn brown and then remove from pan since they’ve flavored the oil. Toss in diced ginger (reserving a little) and quickly add your onion, carrots, and peas and stir fry until they soften slightly. Then add your broccoli. Toss a few times until broccoli has lost its bite… then pour on most of the sauce, reserving a little. Let sauce and veggies simmer for a minute or so and then remove from heat. Put veggies in a dish and reserve.
Heat wok again and add a little oil. If you like you can do half of the quinoa at a time… you’ll have better flavor. Add your little bit of reserved diced ginger and then toss half of your quinoa into the wok. Spread it around the wok and let it brown, and then stir it up. Brown a little more and then add half of your sauteed veggies and sauce, mixing in. Add a little leftover sauce and heat thoroughly.
Remove to a pretty serving dish and repeat.
Enjoy!
Rating:9
Original Source:Contents of my brain, Please do not replicate without permission.
The first time I heard of Jowar Roti was when I was on a trip to India and staying in Bangalore. I read in a blog that the “Jolad rotti oota” in Kamat Minerva (at Minerva circle) in Bagalore was absolutely amazing. The Jowar Roti there might even be gluten-free- but I didn’t have time to go and investigate. Once I returned to the States i didn’t think much about it, but I’d filed away the thought of single flour, gluten-free roti. Once I had to go on a rotation diet for baby Yum, I remembered those breads and set to work perfecting them at home. First, I came up with a yummy millet flatbread recipe. The sorghum one was considerably harder. When it has worked, the results have been spectacular, but it has been hit or miss, with quite a few impromptu “pizzas” made with the failed dough. However, recently I finally stumbled upon a winning technique that seems to work every time. It requires a roux whisk- but you should have one of those anyway! It is by far my favorite whisk, perfect for making gluten-free vegan gravy. If you don’t have one, I have a backup technique, but it doesn’t work half as well and you may end up eating pizza. Surprise.
While I love the mild flavor of the millet roti, the sorghum roti is amazingly flexible and can be easily wrapped around fillings without cracking. They taste the best hot off the griddle. For a dry, crackly bread, just leave them on the griddle until dark spots appear. For a soft, pliable tortilla, make them a little thicker and/or only keep them on the griddle until a few light brown spots appear. I love this roti with vegetable fajita filling or an Indian curry. It has more whole grain personality than millet, which I personally like, and is definitely more versatile. Best of all, it naturally does not need eggs, dairy, baking powder, xanthan gum or any other ingredient that may be problematic for the gluten-free, allergic baker. Let’s hear it for naturally simple gluten-free baked products! Let me know what you think when you try it. It has become a favorite menu staple at our house. *Also, if you have any great gluten-free vegetarian curry recipes that would go well with this roti, share in the comments and I’ll add links to the post!
2 cups sorghum flour (for pretty, cream colored roti use Authentic Foods Sorghum flour, for a more rustic greyish roti use Bob’s Red Mill) 2 cups water
salt to taste
Directions
Put your flour container near the stove and measure out one cup of sorghum flour to have ready next to the burner. You will either need a heavy roux whisk OR a food processor and lots of patience. You will also need a sturdy wooden spoon and strong arm muscles for this recipe (or the ability to fake it, like me).
Bring your water barely to a boil in a saucepan. Add your 1 cup of flour gradually but steadily, whisking the stream of flour into the water with the roux whisk continuously. Reduce heat to low. Moving quickly, measure out the second cup of flour and grab your wooden spoon. Stir in your second cup of flour into the dough in the pan. This is the part that requires arm muscles. Ouch. Let’s just say this was a workout for me. A skin of dough should have formed on the bottom of the pan, leaving you with a ball of dough that becomes increasingly rubbery the longer you have it on the stove. I keep it on the stove, mixing and moving the ball of dough around, for around two minutes, or until the dough attains a really nice rubbery texture. (Trust me, it is a good thing.) Remove dough to a heat resistant bowl and leave for five-ten minutes or until cool enough to handle. Form into small balls and place in a bowl.
Take a quart size freezer safe ziploc bag and cut out the sides.
For wimpy, no rolling method, put the bag into a tortilla press. Place a ball of dough in the press between layers of plastic. Press.
For rolling method, simply roll out dough inside your ziploc bag, with rolling pin on the top outside of the bag.
Either way, peel your tortilla from plastic and place on a plate. These tortillas handle well, so no worries.
Heat cast iron skillet to medium and toast your flatbread until its texture changes, and if you like, until it gets light brown spots. Turn it and toast the other side. Sometimes they will puff up with internal air pockets, which I think signifies a lovely, tasty flatbread. Sprinkle with salt and serve.
Try to refrain from immediately slathering your flatbread with soy-free, dairy-free margarine immediately off the skillet. Or not. It
It makes me mad when I hear relatively recently diagnosed Celiacs talk about how they haven’t had pizza or bread since diagnosis… or that when they have had it, they didn’t enjoy it. It is not that I am mad at them- far from it! No, I’m mad at a society that equates bread products with gluten, and mad at companies that create allergen-free bread completely lacking in taste or appeal that scar these poor souls so dreadfully that they vow off bread entirely.
Oh, I know there is a school of thought that says breads are over-rated, and what we all need to do is go back to the basics. Protein, Vegetable, Fruit, crunchy grain that looks like bird seed (preferably boiled). I suppose that might be healthy and good for the body, sometimes. And this diet certainly simplifies life when you are first overwhelmed by a bewildering new diagnosis. But all the time? Forever and ever? No! Just say no, I say. Because toothsome, luscious, crunchy bread and supple, seductive pizza is something I would never want to live without… and all of us gluten-sensitive people don’t have to. And… furthermore, let me tell you a secret. Even if you can’t have dairy, or eggs, or soy- you can still have amazing bread that kicks all those lead weight gluten-free breads to the curb.
I’ve finally gotten to the point with my darling baby Yum where I can have enough ingredients to make some really tasty baked goods. Karina the gluten-free goddess showed me the ropes there, to the joy that is rice-free, dairy-free, egg-free baking. But glorious and abundant as her site is- there are still things I want to eat that haven’t been created yet. And so, this week I turned my sights to french bread. Ah, french bread. I’ve long had an affair with Bette Hagman’s classic white rice-tapioca rapid rise french bread. But, its reliance on eggs, flirtation with dairy, and rice-heavy base just doesn’t work for me these days. My spiced olive oil with fresh basil leaves balsamic vinegar drizzled recipe was getting dusty… and so, I wiped off my beloved Kitchenaid and started experimenting. This loaf was the incredibly satisfying result.
We took this loaf on a car-picnic to the drive-in movie with Baby Yum. Basil dipping oil? Check. Caraway and fresh Beet vinaigrette salad? Check. And the bread? With its crunchy exterior and soft center, it was wonderfully rippable, and made up for my long lost rice french bread big time.
Special equipment *french bread pan- worth every penny! spectrum shortening (or other palm oil shortening, or coconut oil) Millet grits (or cornmeal if corn is not an issue for you)
1 1/2 cup sorghum flour 1/2 cup millet flour 1 cup tapioca flour (or, for a more delicate bread, arrowroot starch) 1 tbsp. xanthan gum 1 1/2 tsp. salt 2 tsp. egg replacer 2 tbsp. sugar 1 1/2 cup lukewarm water 2 tbsp. rapid-rise yeast 2 tbsp. olive oil 3 Ener-g foods Egg replacer “eggs” (4 1/2 tsp. egg replacer whisked with 6 tbsp. warm water) 1 tsp. vinegar (i use cider)
melted Soy-free dairy-free earth balance margarine crushed rosemary kosher salt (flaked is perfect)
Directions
Preheat oven to 375F.
Grease french bread pan with shortening or coconut oil and sprinkle with millet grits or other gritty gluten-free substance like cornmeal. Do NOT line french bread with aluminum foil or anything like that- the holes are there for a reason and the dough is thick enough that it will not leak out the bottom.
Combine dry ingredients (through 1st egg replacer) in a medium mixing bowl of a standing mixer and fold together. Put sugar and lukewarm water in a small bowl and add yeast. As it starts to puff up, add the yeast water to the medium mixing bowl. Add olive oil, egg replacer “Eggs” and vinegar and mix on medium for 3 minutes.
Carefully scoop out your dough and make bread shaped ovals in your french bread pan. Baste with melted margarine and make a few slightly slanted decorative slices in the top. Sprinkle with crushed rosemary and flaked kosher salt.
Bake for 25-30 minutes or until bread sounds slightly hollow when you tap it and is a nice brown color.
Rating:9
Original Source:Inspired by Bette Hagman’s french bread, but now my own very different recipe. Please do not replicate without permission. Thanks!
I can’t lie to you. Dealing with a gluten-free and top 8 allergen free diet plus some can be really tough. Gluten-free doesn’t even make me blink, but you start talking soy-free, egg-free, and even rice-free (my latest effort for Baby Yum), and some key dishes start getting to be a real challenge. Take sushi. There is nothing I love more than an avocado sushi roll, dipped in gluten-free soy sauce. But now both the sushi rice and the soy sauce are (temporarily) off the menu, what is a Japanese-food-loving girl to do? Get serious about thinking outside the box! I’ve been playing with the idea of a quinoa based sushi “rice” for a while now, but the soy sauce had me stumped. Usually I would sprinkle the sushi with sesame seeds and salt for a good soy sauce substitute for my soy-free friends… but right now I’m avoiding sesame seeds! Luckily I was in my local Cupertino Whole Foods the other day and found a miracle staring me right in the face- a bottle of gluten-free and soy-free soy sauce! This miracle potion is called Coconut Secret Raw Amino Acids and is compatible with a gluten-free as well as a raw foods diet. The price tag, unfortunately, is steep. In fact, I think I bought it in a delirious haze of joy and didn’t notice the price until later, at which point I gulped and felt (some) buyers remorse. But this stuff is so awesome and works perfectly in Japanese and Chinese recipes as a straight substitute for soy sauce that I didn’t feel bad for long. And it was the perfect partner to my quinoa sushi rolls! The week I made this, my father was visiting, and it passed the glutenoid test with flying colors. It’s not quite vegetarian sushi without rice, but this quinoa sushi satisfied my sushi craving nicely, and is a fun and new way to use a very healthful “grain.” I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!
*If you don’t have nori you can make a chirashi “zushi” by sprinkling the filling over a nice bowl of the seasoned quinoa. Quick and easy, especially for leftover quinoa!
sushi vinegar: 1/4 cup of neutral vinegar (i used a filtered apple vinegar) 1 tablespoon of sugar 1 teaspoon of sea salt
2 green onions, quartered horizontally 2 carrots, peeled,sliced into long pieces and blanched 1/2 avocado, sliced
Unseasoned nori sheets
*A large recipe- you will have enough leftover quinoa for several servings of quinoa “chirashi” with vegetables sprinkled on top, unless you are cooking for a large group very hungry for “sushi” rolls.
Directions
Toast quinoa in a skillet on medium low, stirring to prevent burning. When quinoa is nicely toasted, move to a fine wire strainer and rinse. Pour into pan with water and bring to boil. Cover and lower heat and leave for 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, heat vinegar, sugar and salt in a small pan on low and let the sugar and salt dissolve into the liquid.
Put your quinoa in a large, glass bowl and drizzle your sushi vinegar mixture over the quinoa. Fold it in for even distribution. Once quinoa has cooled, you can begin to make your sushi.
To prepare your sushi, get your nori sheet and place on a bamboo rolling mat. Cover the entire sheet with quinoa “sushi-rice” except for a horizontal strip at the bottom. Choose a line about 1 or two inches above the bare strip of nori and create a strip on top of the quinoa of filling ingredients. Make sure a small strip or two of green onions,blanched, thin carrot and a slice of avocado will be in every bite. Gently roll your nori together to form a cylinder and moisten the bare nori strip with water. Seal together and let rest while you make your desired number of sushi rolls.
When ready to serve, gently slice cylinders into bite size rolls. You may want to cut a wider roll at the ends where the quinoa mixture is the loosest.
Serve on a plate. If allergies don’t prohibit it, you can sprinkle the rolls with sesame seeds, but it is not necessary.
Enjoy with your favorite wheat-free soy sauce or one of the new soy-free sauces on the market like Coconut Secret’s Raw Coconut Aminos. (Yummy!)
Rating:8
Original Source:The contents of my brain. Do not replicate without my permission. Thanks!
As you might have noticed, Baby Yum has been keeping me extremely busy lately. So busy that there have been fewer posts here at the Book of Yum, but I still post at least once a week. With less posting and Baby Yum’s allergies, you might think that I haven’t been cooking much- but it couldn’t be further from the truth! With Baby Yum’s allergies improved I’ve incorporated more foods into my diet, including sorghum. I’m a little bit in love with sorghum, actually- and have a host of new recipes I’m dying to share with you all. Let me start by introducing a wonderful, gluten-free vegan cookie recipe inspired by our own Karina, the Gluten-free Goddess and her vegan chocolate chip cookie recipe. I’m sure as written, this recipe would make you swoon. But unfortunately, I can’t use most of the listed flours (yet) and although I could eat chocolate chip cookies on a daily- make that hourly- basis, the chocolate seems to make Baby Yum hyper. So I took this recipe as a jumping off point to come up with my own yummy vegan millet-coconut flour cookies that evoke the raisin-rich goodness of an oatmeal cookie… without the oatmeal. I think you’ll enjoy these coconut treasures. They earned a big thumbs up from my traditional gluten-eating Father, who enjoyed his with some honey-sweetened herbal tea. The hardest part was sharing! I hope you enjoy them as much as I do. Tell me about your own inspired cookie experiments in the comments!
The additions: 1/2 cup unsweetened coconut 1/2 cup sweetened coconut 1 cup raisins
Directions
Preheat oven to 375. Put parchment paper on your favorite cookie sheet.
Whisk together your dry ingredients in a medium bowl. Put your wet ingredients into your stand mixer bowl and whip together until Shortening and brown sugar are thoroughly combined and creamy. (Alternatively, use a hand mixer, but I don’t recommend it once you add gluten-free flour.) Take your whisked egg alternative and fold it into the wet ingredients. Fold your dry ingredients into the wet until you have a nice, thick, cookie batter without any dry flour pockets. Stir in your additions.
Chill dough for an hour in the refrigerator, if you can stand waiting that long!
Drop ice-cream scoop (or serving tablespoon) rounds of dough onto the cookie sheet. Flatten cookies slightly as they don’t spread out much and won’t bake properly in the middle otherwise. Bake in pre-heated oven for 10-12 minutes or until cookies are a light golden brown and feel firm to the touch.
Cool and remove from parchment paper. Enjoy!
Notes
You can freeze this dough in logs and cut off uncooked cookie disks and bake them. You may have to bake them slightly longer.
Rating:8
Original Source:Inspired by Karina’s Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe, but revolutionized to be an entirely new, creative recipe. Please do not replicate without my Permission. Thanks!
For some time now, I’ve had a recipe idea rolling around in my head. I have been longing for some of my tasty Southern Fried Tofu Recipe but since I’m avoiding soy for Baby Yum, it is off the menu. So I thought, what if I could take the flavor elements of that yummy nutritional yeast, herb coating and somehow feature them in an entirely different but equally homey and comforting dish? As winter has darkened even sunny California with grey and rainy skies, soup started seeming more and more appealing. I decided to take those Southern Fried tofu flavors and infuse them into a warm, soothing un-chicken soup with nary a soybean to be seen. I loved the idea of a recipe where herbs could really sing in concert with roasted, fresh veggies and wanted a way to use some delightful baby zuchinni and baby pattypan squash that I’d found at the wonderful Milk Pail Market. This soup was just as savory and delicious as I had imagined, and was luckily done just in time for me to participate in Diane’s Gluten Free Progressive Dinner.
But a secret? This is one recipe I think I’ll be playing with for quite some time to get just right. After all, now that I’m a Mommy, I have to come up with a perfect un-chicken soup for all the colds, flus and chilly days ahead. Try this recipe, and enjoy- but don’t be afraid to tweak it for your taste buds. Just promise to tell me about your experiments- and whatever you do, don’t leave out the nutritional yeast, as it gives this recipe some serious vegan soul.
I took this soup base And these delightful veggies To make one yummy soup!
What’s your favorite gluten-free vegan soup recipe? Share the URL in the comments and I’ll add the link to this post!
A Gluten-free Progressive Dinner Entry.
Visit the other entrees for January’s Light Winter Warmers:
1 tsp basil 1 tsp oregano 1 tsp tarragon 1 tsp garlic powder 1 tsp salt 1 bay leaf pepper to taste 1/4 tsp ground thyme 1/4 tsp ground sage
1/4 cup nutritional yeast (I like Kal’s)
4 cups water 4 cups veg stock
1/2 bunch of kale, de-veined and julienned (optional)
1/2 lb special veggies for roasting (i used baby zucchini and baby pattypan squash), cut into interesting shape,drizzled with olive oil, sprinkled with your favorite italian seasoning. Freshly ground black pepper
Optional: 1/3 cup millet grits 6 tbsp hot water 1 tsp olive oil
Directions
Heat oven to 450F.
Heat olive oil in large dutch oven or similar pan on medium and add your died onion. Saute for a few minutes and add your carrot, fennel, and celery. Saute until the onions are translucent and vegetables begin to caramelize. Add fresh herbs and dried herbs and saute for another minute or two. Add your nutritional yeast. Warm throughout and then add your water and vegetable stock. Add kale (optional) to pan and let soup simmer.
While soup simmers, prepare your roasting vegetables and place on medium to large baking sheet. Put in oven and roast until vegetables are golden brown on one side. Roast for at least 15 minutes- timing will depend on the type of veggie you use, your preference for doneness, and the cut of the veggie. My veggies took at least 20 minutes, but i wasn’t watching them closely.
If you want a thicker soup with some substance, you can take millet grits and combine them in a small bowl with hot water, olive oil, and any seasonings you like. I microwaved them for a minute, but this probably isn’t necessary. Stir into your soup. I think next time I might leave this out.
Simmer soup until it has reduced to a strength of flavor that you like. For me, the soup was tasting very yummy by the time the vegetables were done roasting (about twenty minutes). Taste and adjust seasonings as needed, and add pepper.
Add your roasted vegetables to the dish and let flavors marry for a few minutes. Serve and enjoy!
Notes
Wonderful for a cold, drizzly day or if you have a cold, just like a traditional chicken soup.
Rating:7
Original Source:Contents of my brain. Please do not replicate without my permission.
If you can have nuts and eggs, try Elana’s Almond Butter Brownies
. This recipe was for what they called “Golden Vanilla Cupcakes,” and I thought that something like that would just hit the spot. 
