Recipes

Gluten-Free Tortillas, Take II

August 20, 2013 by Carey Jane Clark

Don’t you just hate it when you try out a recipe and it doesn’t turn out like the recipe says it will? Half the recipes I try because I dream something up and wonder if anyone has ever tried it before. Then I go to Googling and tweaking.

This week, I decided I wanted a wrap that would be easier on my supply of Gluten-Free Flour Blend, since I’ve been going through it quite rapidly, and I had to surrender the flour mill I’d borrowed over the summer while friends were visiting relatives. I looked for buckwheat in the recipe, since that’s my favorite standby flour, readily available, already ground, at the market.

I found a recipe but it didn’t work as advertised when I tried it. But once it was tweaked, it was delicious: hearty and full of flavor. And the batch size was great for our family. I even refrigerated half the dough two days and used it again.

The first time we used it for fajitas. The second time we used it more like a flatbread, and dipped it in olive oil. Oh yum! The batch was big, however, because the recipe used too little flour (or too much liquid, take your pick). The measurements below should yield our generous-sized batch.

I must point out at this juncture that the rip in the tortilla pictured above is because I couldn’t save the poor thing from being greedily ripped into before I pulled out my camera. There were others besides this lonely tortilla, but they were already lining the bellies of my family. (I may be among the guilty.)

Ingredients:

Mix together:

2 cups millet flour
1 cup buckwheat flour
1 cup sorghum flour
1/2 cup arrowroot or tapioca starch
2 teaspoons xanthan or guar gum
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 tablespoons minced onion (fresh, not dehydrated)
1 teaspoon garlic powder (I used half fresh garlic, half garlic powder)
1 teaspoon thyme

Add:

3 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon honey
1/4 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
2 flax eggs
1 1/2 cups hot water
1/2 cup non-dairy milk (I used coconut milk)

Preparation:

Mix until the dough reaches the consistency of bread dough and pat, shaping with fingers until you have the size and thickness of tortilla/flatbread you want.
Use a rolling pin to transfer to a dry frying pan (no oil) over medium heat.
Cook about one minute per side.
Enjoy!

Apple Lemonade

July 30, 2013 by Carey Jane Clark

This summer has been really unusual for our city. While we usually see only two or three rainy days in a summer, this summer has been extraordinarily wet, with often four out of seven rainy days per week. When the sun has come out, it has done so in force, sucking up all that humidity and letting it hang in the air. Ugh!

It’s been a challenge keeping kids happy in this heat. They either can’t go outside because it’s raining, or don’t want to because it’s so hot!

When we decided to go vegan, we invested in a juicer. We’d love a Vitamix, but that may have to wait a little while. We’ve been using our juicer for wonderful combinations of vegetable and fruit juices, but in the heat and humidity of the summer, this has been our favorite by far:

Ingredients:

2-6 apples, depending on how many you are serving and how tart you like your lemonade. We like it with just two apples, but our apples here are big
2 lemons

Directions:

Juice lemons in a citrus juicer
Juice apples or process in a high-speed blender
Mix together
Enjoy!

Blueberry Cinnamon Biscuits

July 23, 2013 by Carey Jane Clark

My discovery of a flawless gluten-free flour blend a few weeks ago has given us a new lease on baked goods. Not that we’re eating them every day, mind you, but it gives us options we simply never had before.

So when this week, I experienced yet another unprepared morning, having forgotten to start anything overnight, I reached for the gluten-free blend once again and whipped up a new and improved version of our favorite biscuits. And then made a few tweaks of my own. Wow!

While I rolled out my old biscuit recipe and cut them into shapes, with the blueberries in this recipe, you don’t want to do that, so just drop them onto a cookie sheet instead. My old biscuit recipe didn’t call for eggs, so there’s no vegan conversion required there, but I substitute coconut milk for the regular milk, and it’s totally guilt-free, and tastes even that little hint sweeter.

I’m telling you, I’m becoming fearless in the kitchen. I’m innovating all over the place, and the results are yummy!

Blueberry Cinnamon Biscuits

Ingredients:

2 1/4 cups gluten-free flour blend
1 cup coconut milk
3 Tbsp. coconut oil
1 Tbsp baking powder
1-2 Tbsp honey
1 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp. lemon rind (optional)
1 cup fresh blueberries

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 F.
Blend the baking powder together with the cinnamon, flour and lemon rind, if using. (We made these twice without the lemon rind and another time I decided to throw some in. Perfection!)
Work in the 3 Tbsp coconut oil with a whisk or pastry blender.
Add the blueberries next so they can be coated with the flour.
Add the honey, according to your preference (we only add 1 Tbsp, and the kids love them, but my husband likes them a little sweeter)
Add the coconut milk and work in until just blended, taking care not to “stab” your blueberries.
Drop by large spoonfuls onto a cookie sheet and bake for about 10 minutes until the peaks are golden brown. Cool on a cooling rack.
Enjoy!

Eating Vegan: Best Ever Banana Muffins

July 16, 2013 by Carey Jane Clark

I’ve often lamented in the past how eclectic my blog can be. Posts from an author who’s also an expat living in China who also homeschools her children can be that way, I suppose. However, recently, since we began eating vegan it seems the biggest excitement around here is in the kitchen. (Or maybe it’s just that most of my life is in the kitchen!)

It’s a good thing we’ve pared things down to a summer homeschool schedule (just math, Chinese and one other subject per day). Between searching for and planning vegan meals, to cooking and consuming them, it seems there isn’t much time for anything else! I’m having to learn a whole new way to cook.

While we have all but abandoned the idea of eating mostly raw (JavaMan was dwindling away to nothing), we are two months in now since our switch to eating vegan, and things are going well. My family doesn’t even seem to mind being guinea pigs as I experiment and innovate in the kitchen. In fact notably, Sweetpea, previously my pickiest eater, has actually confessed that her tastes are changing and she enjoys eating vegetables much more than she used to. This after eating a dish comprised mostly of spinach!

I’m thrilled to report that I even seem to have licked the breakfast challenge. I now have a set breakfast for each day of the week and most meals get a five-star rating from the kids (except one that everyone else loves and Sweetpea suffers through). What’s even better, most meals have an overnight component, so preparation in the morning is minimal.

Which works great when you remember the night before. And not so great when you don’t.

This morning was one of those mornings I woke up to the realization I’d forgotten to start breakfast the night before. So I dug out an old standby and tweaked it–a lot.

But here’s the thing: the recipe turned out better than the original. I kid you not. No one could ever have convinced me this could be so (especially when butter is no longer one of the ingredients), but it’s true. My “Best-Ever Banana Muffins” are even better.

Here’s my new-and-improved recipe:

Gluten-Free Vegan Banana Muffins

(Makes 12 muffins)

Ingredients:

1 flax egg (1 Tbsp. ground flax, 3 Tbsp. filtered water, mixed and refrigerated 15 minutes)
1 cup gluten-free flour blend (see last week’s recipe for this amazing breakthrough)
1/2 cup millet flour (this was a last-minute substitution because I didn’t have enough flour mix made up. Next time, I’ll try them with a full cup and a half of the GF mix)
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/3 cup honey
1/3 cup olive or grapeseed oil
4 bananas, mashed

Directions:

Mix the flax egg and refrigerate.
Mash the bananas.
Mix in the honey and oil, set aside.
Mix the dry ingredients.
Add the dry ingredients to the banana mixture and mix in the flax egg.
Pour into muffin tins and bake 20 minutes at 350 F.
Muffins are done when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out dry.

These muffins turned out lighter and fluffier than my buckwheat version and elicited rave reviews from all three kids. They even asked for a double recipe for tomorrow’s breakfast. I’ll have to mix up a new batch of GF flour!