Bad Friends Make Good Pasta

I am such a bad friend. I shared a picture on my IG of a superfast pasta dish and didn't share how I made it. It was late, I was starving, I didn't even take very good pictures. But I guess it sounded good. Certainly tasted good! So I'll let you in on this secret: it's super easy. I promised to post it (albeit a day late) so that you can enjoy it this week too!

Roasted Pepper and Garlic Pasta Sauce 

4-6 red, orange and/or yellow bell peppers
Half a head of garlic, unpeeled
1 tbsp of dried herbs (my fave is Simply Organic Oregano)
1 tsp+ kosher salt
2 tbsp+ grapeseed or olive oil
Cracked bell pepper to taste

To roast your peppers and garlic:

Either preheat your oven to 400 degrees or fire up your BBQ (like I did in this week's heat). Lay your bell peppers on their side on a cookie sheet. In a small square of aluminum foil, place your half a head of garlic on it and drizzle a bit of oil on it. Maybe sprinkle a bit of salt. If you have it, some fresh rosemary or thyme wedged between the cloves will add to the flavour. Fold or crumple the foil over it so that it's pretty good at keeping in the air and steam. Place them both on the same baking tray and place in oven or on BBQ. Turn peppers every 15-20 minutes. After about three turns, both your peppers and garlic will be done. The peppers will be mostly blackened and the flesh will be soft and better yet, the pepper will deflate when you take it out of the oven or off the BBQ. Allow to cool. If you want to speed up the process, carefully pick the stems out and open the foil to the garlic but *CAUTION* hot steam will escape. Wear an oven mitt and keep your face and other body parts away from that torture! This is dinner, not war.

Once cooled, peel the skin off the peppers and put the flesh (not the seeds inside of the pepper) in a cup or bowl. Squeeze the garlic from the peel. It should be soft and sort of ooze out of its papery shell. Then add your garlic, herbs, salt, oil and pepper to the peppers and blend with a hand blender (or use a regular blender) until smooth. Taste and adjust seasoning. Pour over cooked pasta. I love Pedon's More Than Pasta Red Lentil Penne or Chickapea Organic Chickpea and Red Lentil Pasta. It adds protein and fiber without me needing to add anything else to the meal.

Hope this helps, next time I promise to be a better friend. :) Until then, enjoy pasta!

Surviving Your Stay When You're Far, Far Away

In my previous blog post I discussed some basic tips for traveling with allergies.  It's really all about preparation.  Depending on where you are going and what's available along the way, the level of preparation will be different with each trip.  This blog post discusses some of the preparations I made for my trip almost a year ago.

To the very end of the long dirt roads of northern Saskatchewan, a group of us planned to go.  All food up there is incredibly expensive, given the 12+ hour journey it has to make from main cities and truck routes.  As you can imagine, allergy-friendly options would not be available.  Plus, we had arranged to stay in a motel with nothing more than a mini-fridge and a microwave between the group.  I had to bring my own food, but how would I do that?  Many foods wouldn't even survive the journey in the hot van, nonetheless two weeks in a mini fridge.

After careful thought I figured out a solution: a Crock-Pot.  I already had one of the smallest sizes you generally find in stores, 4.5 quarts.  Really though, it's way too much for one person, which is why it was went unused at home.  A quick search on Amazon revealed a 2.5 quart option though, HURRAY!

But now, what to cook?  I took a chance on the cookbook Amazon recommended with the Crock-Pot, Vegan Slow Cooking.  It's meant for smaller servings and smaller slow-cookers.  I figured I'd get at least one or two recipes in it, which is a win if you're allergic to tomatoes, looking for Crock-Pot recipes.  When it arrived, I sat down and started flagging possible recipes and, BEHOLD!  18 separate recipes I was interested, and able, to try ranging from breakfast to dinner.  The recipe for Golden Veggie Bouillon Powder was genius and pretty much stable for the trip up.  I decided to dehydrate all the fresh produce I needed to save space, weight and freshness (because of lack of refrigeration).  A little extra liquid would be added to compensate.

For breakfasts I chose the Apple Chai Oat Groats and the Indian Carrot Halwa Oatmeal.  For lunches and dinners I used the Pear Chickpea Fall Stew, New Orleans Red Beans and Rice (paired with millet instead of rice) and Root Veggie Barley Risotto.  So far all the recipes I've made have tasted great!  Highly recommend it.

To add a bit of variety I also used some internet-searched recipes:

Pineapple Coconut Farro (I replaced the farro with barley with no issues) as a breakfast option.

Pumpkin Pie Steel Cut Oats...because, you know, I like my oats!

Slow Cooker Pumpkin, Chickpea and Red Lentil Curry was a clear favourite of mine from the start.  I added dried butternut squash to increase the nutrition of it even more.  FYI: the recipe fills the tiny Crock-Pot to the max, might want to half the recipe if your slow cooker is the same size as mine. 

Mushroom Barley Stew was terrific, but I did double the carrots and add celery.   I seem to like my vegetables.  If only I was more keen on them in my early years.  I even don't normally like mushrooms, but I chopped up the store-bought dried mushrooms tiny and they were indistinguishable from the barley.

There's NO Chili in my Chili was surprisingly good.  I had no idea what to think given the ingredients.  No tomato...but pumpkin?...soy sauce?  This recipe bursts out of 2.5 quart slow-cooker, so consider halving it.  Well, at least it burst out of the Crock-pot after I added a ton of extra dried bell peppers and a little extra liquid. Keep in mind that tomato-free chili will naturally be different in texture, thickness and taste (just like my White Bean Chili), but it is no less delicious. 

In the weeks leading up to the trip I carefully dehydrated all the veggies and fruit that I could, bagging them by recipe with their spices and grains.  I carefully wrote out a list of what was still needed grocery-wise in Saskatoon before our long drive.  It was the most preparation I had ever put into a trip but I was incredibly thankful that I did because I had no need to worry while I was traveling.

I also packed a few food containers (because leftovers were the next day’s lunch and/or dinner), a strainer (for rinsing and dishwashing), cutlery and a utility knife with a small cutting board (I did buy a bag of fresh apples to eat with Sunbutter). A small vacuum-insulated food jar was also perfect because I would set the Crock-Pot on during most nights and then in the morning I got up, filled my food jar, and it stayed hot until lunch, wherever our travels took us. And of course a can opener, mine from Pampered Chef, to open all the cans of beans and coconut milk.

The Crock-Pot went into my carry-on along with a few other cooking items. We got the last of the groceries in Saskatoon when we arrived and after our long drive all I had to do was put the Crock-Pot on with the contents of one ziploc and some liquid.  A few hours later I was enjoying a hot meal! I would alternate between making breakfasts and lunches/dinners.  Even towards the end of the trip, I was still enjoying new, hot meals and my poor friends were still working on their flat of Chunky canned soup.  

 I'll admit that this particular trip was on the extreme end of the scale for trip-food preparation.  Some say that this would be good for emergency kits, what do you think?  My next blog post discusses some of the easier trips that followed, stay tuned!

Time for Chili When it's Chilly

Baby, it's cold outside!  The West Coast feels like winter now.  We may not have a lot of snow here in Vancouver, in fact, we barely get any snow at all.  A couple of weeks ago we got a few inches, and despite the downpour of rain since, there are still a few select piles of debris-filled snow pushed up against the edges of driveways and sidewalks.  This morning I had to scrape my windows free of a strange form of frost, the regular angle of the scraper didn't quite cut through it.  Though our winters pale in comparison to the rest of the country's, cold weather leaves me with a craving for soups and stews.  It's only when you go on a search for a soup or stew recipe without tomatoes or chicken, that you can feel like no safe recipe exists.  Do not fret if you too have experienced this.  During a daily hunting session of Tastespotting, I came across this awesome recipe for white bean chili.  It required only a minor dairy-substitution.  I do have a healthy appetite so I really think that this recipe makes only 4-6 servings but they are delicious servings nonetheless!  And guess what, fellow singles?  This recipe can easily be halved and make about 2 generous servings (1 for now, 1 for later, I like doing that a lot).

White Bean Chili

3 yellow onions, diced
2 poblanos, seeds removed and diced
6 cloves of garlic, minced
3 tablespoons of grapeseed (or another high-heat oil)
1/3 cup of cilantro, chopped
2 19oz cans of white kidney beans (I know, my kidney beans are red in this picture, it was one of those moments where you look in the cupboard and go, 'I thought I had one more can...?"), drained and rinsed
1 tablespoon of oregano
½ teaspoon of cayenne
½ teaspoon of cumin
2 cups of vegetable broth
1 cup of canned coconut milk (I used full fat, to help thicken)
diced avocado to top

In a large, heavy pot, heat the oil over medium heat and add the onions and poblanos. Cook for about 5 minutes, until the onions are translucent. Add garlic and cook for about 1 minute.  Add the beans, cilantro and spices. Stir and cook for about 1 minute.  Then add the vegetable broth and milk. Stir, bring it to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Cook uncovered for about 30 minutes. The chili should start to reduce and thicken.  Serve with diced avocado and enjoy!

Easy as pie!....Or chili....

This recipe was just the right thickness and heat for me.   I may still have a problem with the nightshade family in general (potato and tomato allergy, bad experiences with eggplant, so peppers may not be the best foods for me to consume but so far I haven't noticed any bad reactions of any sort), so I'm going to keep this recipe to enjoy in moderation.  My extra servings goes into the freezer to be enjoyed another day when the cold temperatures outside bring on another craving for this delicious chili. 

Wassap, B?

I have to admit that back in my rice-eating days, I used to order avocado rolls simply for their neutral flavour, as they were a perfect vehicle for the taste of wasabi and pickled ginger.  Wasabi is just a fantastic punch-to-your-sinuses that I cannot put behind me.  I chuckle every time I see the David and Goliath sticker (which I first saw in a Waikiki store a couple years ago), which has a sushi roll asking the pile of wasabi, 'Wassap, B?"  So imagine my excitement to see this soba salad recipe.  Buckwheat noodles (soba)?  I can have!  Edamame?  Totally.  Wasabi?  You are ON!

As I mentioned earlier, I forgot to get a few things when I went grocery shopping last, so if you are wondering why radishes are in my recipe and not in my pictures, that's why.  I had every intention of using them!  Otherwise, I made slight adjustments to the original (due to an allergy to peas and rice--including rice vinegar) and figured you may want to try my version too!

 

1 pkg (250g) buckwheat noodles (be careful!  If you have rice or wheat allergies, not all buckwheat or soba noodles are 100% buckwheat)
1 cup frozen shelled edamame (I used more than that because I had more, but don't, keep it to 1 cup!)
4 carrots, julienned
1 garlic clove, minced
3 tablespoons white wine vinegar
3 tablespoons wheat free tamari soy sauce
1 tablespoon sesame oil

1 tablespoon prepared wasabi paste (I have wasabi powder, which is mixed with water to make a paste)
1/2 cup thinly sliced radishes
2 stalks celery, thinly sliced 

1. Prepare the vinaigrette by combining the garlic, vinegar, oil and paste.
2. Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain and rinse under cold water.
3. Steam edamame and carrots 4 minutes or until crisp-tender.
4. Toss everything together. Serve immediately, or until you have wasted enough time and camera battery life taking pictures of your meal.  Enjoy!

A quick note on leftovers: the excess vinaigrette is completely soaked up overnight and without a top up of more vinaigrette or at least a little bit of tamari soy sauce, your leftovers might taste surprisingly bland.  But once you add a little more vinagrette, your dish returns to it's freshly-cooked flavour.

This isn't the end, wasabi.  We will see one another again soon, I am sure of it!!!

Dinner Starring.....MEATLOAF!

I don't know what inspired me to try to make meatloaf.  I guess it has always seemed liked one of those mountains that needs to be conquered.  What I used to like about meatloaf, primarily being able to drown the beefy goodness in ketchup, is no longer an option due to my tomato allergy.  Not to mention it's contents are generally held together with breadcrumbs and egg.  When I bookmarked Allergic Living's recipe, it planted a seed in my head that maybe I could enjoy meatloaf, even on it's own, without ketchup.  So on my cooking extravaganza that I am performing this holiday season, I set out to give it a go.  Let's say first that it did NOT turn out how I was hoping, but it was decent.  Read the end of the post for my reflections.  Here's how I made the recipe this time:

2 tbsp grapeseed oil
1 sweet onion, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
about 1kg (2 1/4 pounds) raw ground turkey
2 flax eggs (2 tbsp flax meal, 6 tbsp warm water blended until thick)
1 cup millet cereal
1/2 cup fresh basil, chopped
1 cup fresh parsley, chopped
Pinch of each salt and pepper

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. In a skillet, sauté onions and garlic in vegetable oil until golden brown. Set aside to cool.
3. In a large bowl, combine all ingredients including cooled onion and garlic. Mix well and place in a loaf pan.  The original recipe calls for 6 patties to be made, but then it's more like salisbury steak, no?  So it went in a loaf pan. 
4. Place in oven for 60+ minutes or until cooked through.  It takes about 60 minutes for it to cook through but it took an extra 15-20 for it to be drier and not soggy.  BLECH!  Soggy meat.  I served it with spaghetti squash seasoned with vegan butter, salt and pepper (always a success, yum!!).

So like I said, this recipe did not quite turn out.  I can think of a few reasons:
1.  There was just too much turkey.  Who in their right stomach can digest that much ground turkey?  And that was even 0.4kg less than what the recipe called for.  Next time I will half it and it will not need to cook for so long.
2.  I need to cut the onions smaller.  I find it difficult to mince an onion, but I must try harder next time.
3.  I didn't realize it until it was in the bowl with the raw turkey but my stick blender didn't mix my flax egg completely, so that's why it may have been more crumbly. 
4.  There needed to be a higher cereal to turkey ratio (though it looks very strange, it is undetectable in taste).  Less turkey would accomplish this AND maybe I would even sacrifice some of my delicious 100% Rye bread to make breadcrumbs instead of using cereal.  But by next time I may not be so willing to entertain that thought so I might just stick with cereal, hahahaha. 

Overall, it was decent.  Those around me at the lunch table the next day thought it smelled delicious, so there is definitely potential!  Stay tuned in coming months when I try to make this again, you know, when I can look at turkey again after the holiday season. 

Okay, I Give In...

I will finally get a steamer basket.  I've had my eye on one anyways, but my procrastinating personality wouldn't let me pay $10 for it.  When I look at that sentence now, I feel a bit foolish.  My cheeks, I'm sure, are reddening and I am entertaining thoughts of deleting this whole paragraph.  But that's what this blog is all about, right?  If I was able to steam successfully with a metal colander I would tell you (don't laugh!!  Okay, laugh).  These are my adventures and perhaps you too would like to know if you can do it.  Well, I'm going to tell you honestly that when you have to steam most of your meal, like I have for this Millet Bowl recipe, you need a steamer insert or basket.

I actually didn't need to change much of this recipe to suit my allergies.  The millet and bean mixture went together easily on the stovetop and had a strong ginger taste.  I even took another stab at baby bok choy and mushrooms (I couldn't find shiitake so I used portobello caps), some of my least favourite vegetables.  Steaming took forever though, as nothing was steaming evenly in the colander (go ahead, I'm kind of snickering at myself too).  I may have steamed the mushrooms and bok choy to death, perhaps you will have better success with that.  The next go around with this recipe will see me using some other green (perhaps kale) and using small mushrooms or *ahem, none at all.  I will also alter the dressing, as I craved a stronger vinegar taste than what I was getting, Maybe even adding a bit of fresh ginger to the dressing so the flavour was carried throughout the dish.  It even has potential to be a stir fry, if you don't mind a little more oil in your diet.  I will be making this again for sure.  Hope you enjoy it too. 

Mexican Night, Allergen-Free Style!

Mouth...watering...right...now...

What to do, what to do, when you are allergic to some of your most favourite cuisines?  You improvise.  A Mexican inspired meal without rice, without corn or flour tortillas, without...TOMATOES???  It seemed impossible, but in my internet search travels I stumbled upon a Martha Stewart recipe for Black Beans and Rice.  It didn't need a tortilla.  Or tomato paste.  All it needed was an alternative to rice.  Queue: hulled millet.  With a little bit of "butter" and sea salt (from Hawai'i of course), millet isn't a half bad alternative to potatoes and rice.  With a little sliced avocado, and omitting the squirt of lime (it didn't really need it anyways, but if you are able to eat it, by all means, it's more authentic that way!) I had my first Mexican meal in a long time.  Take that, allergies!

It's so tiny!  Cooks and absorbs water like rice.  And I haven't burned it to the pan yet.

Mingling with the Middle East

I was flipping through an Allergic Living magazine and took a second look at a recipe I had previously written off.  When I saw the recipe again for chickpea burgers with tabbouleh salad I thought, 'why couldn't I make that???'  Yes, I can't have lemon juice or tomatoes but why not use apple cider vinegar and double up on cucumber instead?  The chickpea burgers were an easy sell with no substitutions necessary so I took a chance with the tabbouleh.  You know what?  It turned out great!  I am so pleased and I will make it again.  The chickpea burgers were tasty but crumbled a bit, just like every other chickpea patty I have made, maybe next time I will add a flax "egg."  The tabbouleh needs to marinade in the dressing for a few hours but then it has the acidity just as if it had lemon in it and I didn't miss the lemon at all.  I most definitely recommend this recipe!

Preparing the chickpea patties....

While cooking the buckwheat....

Mixing all the ingredients together for cooking the patties....

The finished, delicious product.

Time to order a pizza?

Thanks to my horrific cooking abilities, dinner can start off really well and take a swift nose-dive. Top notch ingredients.  A delicious sounding recipe that I was going to alter for my purposes.  Despite such a great start, I really know how to mess these things up in execution.  I salvaged it, and made it edible, but it was one of those meals where one can easily give up and order a pizza were not for my allergies.  I tried making garlicky greens with pasta: garlic, kale and buckwheat pasta with a side of asparagus.  My asparagus turned out really well though!  Pan fried with garlic mmmm...

Fresh produce and 100% pure buckwheat pasta.

I enjoy prep work more than the pulling of it all together.  Rhythmic chopping is very calming.  Be sure to concentrate on your grip though, I speak from ridiculous experience...

In order to save my meal, I tossed the noodles and wilted greens with a red wine vinaigrette.  The pan fried garlic asparagus turned out the best!!  I love it when I get something right.  Topped with fresh basil, sea salt, pepper and a few red chili flakes and voila!  A meal that's half decent.

 

 

Next time I think I'll be more cautious and definitely have all my ingredients prepped and ready (I was still cutting kale in my haste to get dinner started).  I won't try to fry my 4 cloves of garlic for so long, as they were terribly burnt by the time my veggies were done.  I say that, but each time I seem to overcook garlic.  It's way too easy to do this, I'm learning.  I didn't have enough liquid in the pan to wilt the greens well so I will have to adjust that too.  I'm going to make this work next time, I'm sure of it!  And pizza won't be in order!