Anti-radiation seaweed soup
Posted on March 31, 2011 in Wheat-free, Wendy's Recipes, Recipe Corner, Dietary Section by WendyNo Comments »

In light of our worries about radioactive particles affecting us on the West coast, here’s a simple recipe for seaweed soup that is tasty and will increase the levels of nonradioactive iodine in your body!? 
 
Ingredients 
 

  • 3 tablespoons dried wakame (Navitas has an organic source from Tasmania)
  • 3 carrots, thinly sliced
  • 3-4 large cabbage leaves, thinly sliced
  • Several cups of homemade chicken or vegetable stock (I love Naoko Moore’s recipe)

    •  
    Directions 
     

  • Place wakame in a soup bowl and add fresh water. Allow to sit for 10 minutes to fully reconstitute.
  • Bring stock, carrots and cabbage to boil then simmer until vegetables are soft. I know, in theory it should be raw cruciferous but it just doesn’t work texturally for me with this soup.
  • Strain the wakame and add to soup pot. Allow to simmer for a minute then turn off the heat.
  • Pour into bowl and top with some really good extra virgin olive oil for additional radioprotective effect.
    • Gluten free chocolate oatmeal cookies
    Posted on March 14, 2011 in Wheat-free, Wendy's Recipes, Recipe Corner, Dietary Section by WendyNo Comments »

    So I came across this awesome gluten free blog called Cake and Commerce. This East coaster works in the commercial food industry and specializes in foods for gluten intolerant people. She happens to also appreciate whole unprocessed foods so I think I’ll be following her blog in the future. She had a recipe that looked incredible for gluten free chocolate oatmeal cookies and I needed to try it TONIGHT. I must say that the results were phenomenal and I feel like they’re one of the best cookies I’ve ever made, gluten free or not. I changed the recipe a little bit to reduce the sugar content and also because I have a 1 kg bar of chocolate that is a bitch to chop up so I also reduced the chocolate content. Feel free to make them more chocolate-y. Try this out and let me know what you think! 
     
    gf-oatmeal-chocolate-cookies.jpg

      Ingredients:
  • 2 sticks organic butter
  • 5 oz chopped 70% dark chocolate
  • 2-3 oz additional chopped 70% dark chocolate or as many Dagoba chocodrops as you want
  • 1/2 to 3/4 c organic coconut sugar (I get this from Figueroa Produce on Fig and York)
  • 2 pastured eggs, room temperature
  • 1 T vanilla extract
  • 3 c organic rolled oats
  • 2/3 c organic coconut flour (also available at Figueroa Produce)
  • 2/3 c unsweetened organic shredded coconut flakes
  • 1 t agar agar (found in Japanese or macrobiotic section of health food store)
  • 1/2 t baking soda
  • 1 t fine sea salt

    •  

      Directions:
  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  • Melt 5 oz chocolate with 1 stick butter then remove from heat to cool off.
  • In a stand mixer, cream other stick of butter with sugar until light and creamy.
  • Add 1 egg at a time until well combined. Incorporate vanilla.
  • Add chocolate-butter mixture. Wait, before you add it you have to try it. Okay, now you can add it in. Mix for 10 seconds, scrape down then mix again for 10 seconds. Not sure why the 10 second increments but it seemed pretty specific so I didn’t sway from this.
  • In a separate bowl, combine all other dry ingredients except for the additional chocolate.
  • Turn mixer down to low and add dry ingredients until everything just comes together. Scrape down as needed. Add additional chocolate, turn quickly to medium to incorporate then shut off.
  • I used a small ice cream scooper to portion my cookies but you can eyeball it if you’d like. Just try to make them relatively equal in volume for even baking. Put on cookie sheet with Silpat, sprinkle with a little sea salt if desired (the blog recommends using Maldon salt or some other flat pressed salt) and press down a little bit. These won’t spread out much.
  • Bake 12-15 minutes. If you have a convection option on your oven, use it. Otherwise, rotate cookie sheets midway. Once you start seeing a little bit of cracking on top, these are basically done. The bottoms should be slightly colored. The blogger says these will harden as they cool so avoid overbaking.
    • Tea for your kid’s cold (or yours)
    Posted on October 19, 2010 in Wendy's Recipes, Recipe Corner, Dietary Section by WendyNo Comments »

    Yesterday Pema had a little cold with runny nose and sneezing so I made her a little tea that she sipped all day long. She kicked the cold and was totally fine today so I thought I’d share this simple recipe. 
     
    Handful of fresh peppermint leaves (appropriate for first onset cold symptoms) 
    10 sprigs of fresh thyme (antibacterial and antifungal for nasal congestion) 
    5 sprigs of fresh oregano (also antibacterial and antifungal for nasal congestion) 
    Peel of one orange or tangerine (dissolves phlegm) 
     
    Steep in hot water for at least 15 minutes. May be resteeped but first infusion will be the most effective.

    Gluten free cake!
    Posted on August 10, 2010 in Wheat-free, Wendy's Recipes, Recipe Corner, Dietary Section by WendyNo Comments »

    I’ve been experimenting a bit with coconut flour. It sucks up a lot of moisture so one doesn’t need to use much in baking. I modified a recipe I found on www.nourishedkitchen.com and it came out INCREDIBLE. Zero gluten and a ton of fat. So for those of you who can’t tolerate gluten but dairy and eggs are okay, this is a great recipe and extraordinarily simple to make. 
     

  • 3/4 c coconut flour
  • 1/2 c butter, softened or 1/3 c coconut oil
  • 5 eggs, room temperature
  • 1-2 T honey
  • 1/2 t sea salt
  • 1/4 c ricotta cheese
  • Zest of 1 orange
  • Nectarine or any fresh juicy seasonal fruit, cubed

    •  
    Preheat oven to 350. Simply put all ingredients with the exception of the fruit in a stand mixer and mix until smooth. Add in the fruit and mix to just incorporate. I used a loaf pan lined with parchment but I’m sure other baking dishes will work. Bake 30-40 minutes. Seriously, I can’t believe this cake doesn’t have flour and is so rich and yummy.

    Pancakes
    Posted on June 18, 2010 in Wheat-free, Wendy's Recipes, Recipe Corner, Dietary Section by WendyNo Comments »

    I’m embarrassed to admit that I’ve only recently made pancakes. I’ve actually never really liked them so much because I’ve always found them so heavy in my stomach in the morning. Oh and not to mention the blood sugar rush. I was inspired by my friend Caylie to make the Buckwheat Pear Pancake recipe from Good to the Grain. Because I generally dislike cooking foods that are out of season, I decided to modify the recipe a little bit. 
     
    Dry Mix 
    1 c buckwheat flour 
    1 c spelt flour 
    2 t baking powder 
    3/4 t sea salt 
     
    Wet Mix 
    2 T melted coconut oil 
    1 1/4 c rice milk (I’m sure coconut milk would be even better) 
    1 egg 
    1-2 bananas, mashed 
     
    Sift the dry ingredients together in a large mixing bowl and set aside. Combine the wet ingredients and gently integrate into the dry ingredients. Do not overmix or else you might get a heavier pancake. Cook as you would a normal pancake but be sure to oil the pan well with coconut oil (or butter if you’re not on the anti-inflammatory diet). Personally, I felt this combination was sweet enough due to the bananas so I didn’t need any syrup (which I don’t even have anyway). But you could always make your own syrup with coconut oil (or butter) and honey. By the way, nonstick pans are evil and can kill birds so I hope you all throw them away and use a stainless steel exterior pan or cast iron skillet. 
     
    Now I’m on a pancake kick and am inspired to make pah jeon. 
    pancake.jpg

    High ORAC index curry that won’t stress your gall bladder
    Posted on May 12, 2010 in Wheat-free, Wendy's Recipes, Recipe Corner, Dietary Section, Uncategorized by Wendy1 Comment »

    I like foods with function. And I love curry. So here’s a simple recipe that I have been making a lot that is high in antioxidants (some of these spices are high on the ORAC index) and easy to digest since coconut oil bypasses the gall bladder. Keep in mind that whole spices are the most flavorful so you can toast whole seeds and grind them in a spice grinder instead. Also feel free to use whatever vegetables are seasonal at the farmers market. 
     
    Ingredients 
     

  • 1 tablespoon ground cumin
  • 1 tablespoon ground coriander
  • 1/2 tablespoon turmeric
  • 1 shallot, sliced thin
  • 2-3 stalks celery, chopped
  • 3 carrots, chopped
  • 3-4 potatoes, peeled and chopped
  • 1/2 lb green beans, ends removed and cut in half
  • Free range chicken legs (3-4) or 1 block non-GMO tofu, cubed
  • 1-2 tablespoons coconut oil
  • 1 can organic full fat coconut milk
  • Fresh cilantro

    •  
    Method 
     

  • Heat large pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. When pot is heated, add coconut oil and shallot and stir for a few seconds.
  • Add cumin, coriander and turmeric and stir into shallot mixture until softened.
  • Add celery, carrot and potato and saute for a few minutes.
  • Add protein of choice. If using green beans with tofu, add at the same time. If using chicken, add green beans later. Add 1 can of coconut milk then fill up the empty can with water and add that to the pot as well. Bring to a simmer and cover. If you’re doing a vegetarian curry, simmer until veggies are soft. If using chicken, simmer until chicken is cooked through.
  • This can be served with rice but I feel that this is sufficient by itself as a meal. Garnish with fresh cilantro.
    • 1st birthday party cake recipe with non-dairy frosting
    Posted on May 12, 2010 in Wheat-free, Wendy's Recipes, Recipe Corner, Dietary Section by Wendy1 Comment »

    I have searched far and wide for a tasty cake recipe for a 1st birthday that doesn’t include a bunch of crap that I don’t want to feed my baby nor other babies who aren’t ready for wheat, sugar, etc. So I tweaked a few regular cake recipes that I thought would be baby-friendly and here is the final result which I based on Heidi Swanson’s carrot cake recipe. I doubled this recipe to fit a “1″ cake mold by Wilton and it was perfect. 
     
    Ingredients 

  • 1 1/2 c oat flour 
  • 1/2 c buckwheat flour 
  • 2 1/2 t baking powder 
  • 1 1/2 t Saigon cinnamon 
  • 3/4 t fine grain sea salt 
  • 4 oz extra virgin coconut oil (Artisana) 
  • 3 ripe bananas, mashed 
  • 1 1/2 c grated carrots (about 3) 
  • 1/2 c plain yogurt (this might not even be necessary with the oil and bananas for moisture) 
  • 2 eggs, lightly whisked (I tried this recipe with egg yolks too for children under 1 who haven’t introduced egg whites and it worked) 
     
    Method:
     

  • Heat oven to 350 degrees. Rub coconut oil (I used coconut oil spray) along the inner surface of the pan and make sure every corner is well coated so that later on when you turn the cake out it doesn’t crack. Lightly dust the inner surface of the pan with oat flour to further ensure that the cake stays intact. Set aside. 
  • Sift the flours, baking powder, cinnamon and salt in a bowl and set aside. 
  • In a separate bowl, combine the carrot and banana. Stir in the coconut oil (this should be a melted butter consistency). Mix in the yogurt and eggs. 
  • Fold in the flour mixture to the wet mixture until just combined. Don’t overmix this! 
  • Pour into cake mold and spread evenly with an offset spatula. 
  • Bake for 50-60 minutes or until a testing toothpick in the center of the cake comes out clean. If you don’t have a convection oven, rotate the pan 180 degrees halfway through the baking process. Remove cake from the oven and let it cool. Turn the cake out onto a sheet pan or parchment-lined cake stand. Now it’s time for frosting! 
     
    I found the most excellent non-dairy frosting that’s not made of weird ingredients at Elana’s Pantry. I am so thankful for bloggers with food sensitivities! I’m a bit skeptical of agave nectar due to recent research that suggests its similarity to high fructose corn syrup but I think that if you use raw agave that hasn’t been heat-treated, this should be okay. And how often do you plan to make and eat frosting anyway? Hopefully not often. 
     
    Ingredients: 
     

  • 1 c organic full fat coconut milk 
  • 1 c raw agave nectar (I actually did think the frosting was a bit too sweet for my taste but I was afraid to mess with the proportions. Feel free to experiment and let me know how it goes.) 
  • Pinch of Celtic sea salt 
  • 5 teaspoons arrowroot powder 
  • 1 tablespoon water 
  • 1 1/4 c coconut oil 
     
    Method: 
     

  • In a medium saucepan, heat coconut milk, agave and sea salt. Simmer for 10 minutes.
  • In a small bowl, combine arrowroot and water to form a smooth paste.
  • Pour arrowroot mixture into saucepan.
  • Insert immersion blender and briefly bring to boil.
  • Remove pot from heat and gradually whisk in coconut oil.
  • Place entire pot in freezer for 30-40 minutes or until the mixture solidifies and turns white. It sometimes takes longer than 30-40 minutes depending on the temperature of your freezer.
  • Remove from freezer and blend again with immersion blender until fluffy. It’s now ready to use! You can use it immediately or store it in a container in the fridge until ready to use.

    •  
    And here are the fruits of my labor… It was delicious considering it was healthy and I’m so proud of my cake! 
     
    cake.jpg

    Veg x 10
    Posted on March 26, 2010 in Wendy's Recipes, Recipe Corner, Dietary Section by WendyNo Comments »

    We’ve received multiple requests for one of the vegetarian dishes served at our Chinese new year party. Even people who don’t eat veggies even ate numerous servings of this dish. I don’t know exactly what it’s called but my friend/caterer Charlie called the e-mail veg x 10 so that’s what I’ll call it. 
     
    Ingredients: 

  • Traditionally brewed organic tamari or soy sauce (San-J or Eden) 
  • Rice wine vinegar 
  • Extra virgin olive oil 
  • Toasted sesame oil 
  • Sugar (please note the previous ingredients are all to taste) 
  • Fresh cilantro for garnish 
  • Wheat gluten (obviously stay away from this ingredient if you are gluten sensitive) 
  • Lily flower (found at Chinese supermarkets and usually are dried and need to be reconstituted) 
  • Bamboo shoots (also found at Chinese supermarkets but try to get fresh ones because canned ones are likely contaminated with heavy metals) 
  • Celery 
  • Carrots 
  • Fresh ginger 
  • Shiitake mushrooms (if possible, use fresh mushrooms and if not, reconstitute in hot or room temp water and save liquid to be added to the pan when cooking 
  • Wood ear mushrooms (found at Chinese supermarkets) 
  • Pickled vegetable (This literally is just called pickled vegetable at Chinese supermarkets! WTF does this mean? Anyway. 
  • Firm tofu 
     
    Instructions: 

  • Cut in julienne strips all of the vegetables approximately 3/4 cup of each except for ginger, one thumb sized nub peeled and julienned will do. 
  • Arrange as follows in the picture or in 2 bowls with first bowl being pickled vegetable, firm tofu, wood ear mushroom, and shitake mushroom and ginger on top. In the second bowl, put gluten, lily flower, bamboo shoots, celery and carrots. 
  • It’s okay if you can’t find all these ingredients. Other ingredients that can be substituted are soybean spouts, jicama, water chestnuts, daikon radish or squash. 
  • Heat a large saute pan to medium high heat. 
  • Add 1 teaspoon of olive oil or enough to initially cook the ginger and and shiitake mushroom. Saute for 30-45 seconds. 
  • Put in rest of bowl 1 ingredients: Firm tofu, wood ear mushroom and pickled vegetable and saute for 3-4 minutes or until soft. 
  • During saute, add 1 teaspoon of dark soy sauce or to taste if you would like a lighter taste. 
  • At end of saute, add 1 teaspoon of sesame oil, toss and take pan off flame. Put cooked bowl 1 vegetables in serving vessel. Please note the reason for cooking vegetables separately is the lighter color of the vegetables in bowl 2 is retained by not adding soy sauce and ingredients in bowl 2 require more cooking time. 
  • Return pan to high heat and add 1 teaspoon of olive oil to saute bowl 2. Put in all bowl 2 ingredients; gluten, lily flower, bamboo shoots, celery and carrots and saute. 
  • Add 1/2 teaspoon of sugar and 1 teaspoon of rice wine vinegar. 
  • Saute for 2-3 minutes and turn heat to low and cover for another 4-5 minutes or until vegetables are tender. 
  • Add 1 teaspoon of sesame oil, toss and take off flame. 
  • Combine vegetables in serving vessel. 
  • Garnish with chopped cilantro and toss. 
     
    This serves 5-6 people and will keep 5-6 days in the fridge. It’s one of those recipes that you can cook on Sunday and have for the week! 
     SauteingFinished productIngredientsSauces

    • Springtime Pasta
    Posted on March 26, 2010 in Wheat-free, Wendy's Recipes, Recipe Corner, Dietary Section by WendyNo Comments »

    Although my iPhone photo does it absolutely no justice, I just made a fantastic pasta tonight that literally tastes like spring. We should have done this for our workshop last weekend but oh well! Asparagus at this time of year is so incredible and this really makes good use of it. 
     
    1 pound fresh asparagus, woody stems trimmed 
    Zest of 1 lemon 
    2 green onions 
    Several sprigs of fresh thyme 
    1/4 c California extra virgin olive oil 
    1 package of organic Tinkayada rice pasta or other whole grain pasta 
    Parmesan cheese (optional) 
     
    Cook the pasta until al dente. Cut the asparagus into 1 inch pieces but keep the tips intact and steam until fork tender. When cool, place stems into a food processor with the zest of 1 lemon, fresh thyme and green onion. Process until smooth. Continue processing while adding 1/4 cup olive oil. Add salt to taste. Toss this simple sauce with the pasta and add freshly grated parmesan cheese, if desired. 
    Springtime pasta

    Local and Seasonal Cooking for the Spring
    Posted on March 21, 2010 in Wendy's Recipes, Steve's Recipes, Recipe Corner, Dietary Section by Wendy1 Comment »

    For those of you who missed the cooking class today, here are the recipes. 
     
    Rapini with scarlet runner beans from Rancho Gordo that Steve bought at Cube Restaurant, one of my favorite restaurants in LA. 
     
    Composed asparagus salad with the most amazing caper vinaigrette 
     
    Black quinoa salad with snap peas and green onions, quinoa courtesy of Alter Eco 
     
    …And my only contribution which was a detox pesto with dandelion greens, spinach and fresh herbs 
     
    Seasonal Spring Cooking Recipes

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