Perfect Gluten Free Pancakes at Last!

Finally! Pancake perfection. They're gluten-free and dairy-free, too!

Pancakes are so very simple to make, yet to very easy to screw up. Bad memories, such as brunches ruined by stubborn flapjacks, burned pancakes, undercooked pancakes, tough pancakes, and just plain fugly pancakes kept my expectations low for my recent flapjack foray.

Try adding a gluten and dairy free caveat to the recipe requirement and the ante is upped. So I figured the best thing to do was relax.

Have you ever noticed how sometimes things turn out the best when you have zero expectations?

On a recent random workday, between teaching classes and a challenging workout, a serious pancake craving hit me. So I threw together the only pancake mix I had on hand, a gluten-free Bob’s Red Mill mix. Because I love sunflower seed butter and wanted to bump up the protein content of my cakes, I added approximately three tablespoons of that stuff. Good call! Instead of cow’s milk, I used some creamy coconut milk from Silk that I had on hand.

The resulting cakes were fluffy, tender, and oh-so-satisfying. Perhaps the best I’ve ever made, and quite possibly the best I’ve ever eaten. Not bad for someone with an uneasy relationship with pancakes!

Want to snag the gluten free flour and coconut oil at a steep discount? Roll on over to iherb and use my coupon code, TAV642, for $5 off of your first order. Orders of $40 or more ship FREE. Trust me, you can get tons of good stuff at iherb for $40: vitamins, supplements, protein powders, chia seeds, soaps, and tons of other cool stuff. Ok, now for the recipe:

Victorious Gluten Free Sun Butter Pancakes

Yield: approx 12 pancakes. I made 2 for myself and put the rest of the batter in the fridge to use throughout the week.

• 1 and 1/2 cups Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free Pancake Mix
• 1 cup coconut milk (I used the new coco milk by Silk; it doesn’t taste coconutty to me at all, but IS creamy)
• 1 large egg (for vegans, you could try your luck with a flax or chia seed egg or another egg stand-in. Look here for deets.)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 Tablespoons Sunflower Seed Butter (I used Trader Joe’s brand; I’m sure any other nut butter would be great in here)
• 2 or more Tablespoons coconut oil for greasing pan

1. I mixed all ingredients except for the coconut oil in my Vita-Mix. Because I’m crazy like that and really love any excuse to use the Vita. You can surely mix your ingredients by hand, as described on the pancake mix package directions. (Just remember to leave OUT the oil the package directions call for. Because you’re using more than enough oil by using nut butter; plus the nut butter adds an awesome flavor and protein to the mix).

2. Heat the coconut oil over medium heat in a nonstick pan. Don’t skimp on the oil in this part of the recipe!  Use more if you need to. Trust me on this. Then dollop about 1/3 of a cup of batter in the pan. I did one pancake at a time. Depending on the size of your skillet, you could do 2-4 at a time.

3. When the pancakes are bubbly all over, gently and carefully flip them over and allow them to brown on the other side. Then wrap them in foil and place in a low heat oven or toaster oven to keep warm. Or just eat immediately.

Half-eaten and fully delicious!

Read Full Post »

Creamy Pistachio Avocado Milkshake (Vegan)

Avocados star in this creamy, vegan milkshake, along with pistachios and coconut milk.

You won’t believe for one second that my Creamy Pistachio Almond Milkshake is healthy. No way. In fact, anyone who drinks it will swear it’s decadence in a glass. It’s a great way to get the good fats and other awesome nutrients from avocados, coconut milk, and pistachios into your body. Remember, don’t fear the good fats!

This is one of those recipes that came together in no time, with ingredients I had on hand, including an avocado that needed to be used up pronto. The avo gave it a beautiful pale green color, almost minty.

For one milkshake, 16-20 ounces, or two smaller shakes, combine the following in a blender:

• 1/2 avocado, ripe, flesh removed and seed discarded
• 1 banana (can use 1 frozen banana)
• 1/4 cup pistachios, shelled (unsalted is best, but salted is fine)
• 1 cup coconut milk (I used So Delicious Plain. Canned works, too.)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon orange blossom or rose water (optional)
• 1 Tablespoon French Vanilla So Delicious Coconut Creamer (optional)

1. Place all ingredients in a blender.  Blend all ingredients together until well incorporated, smooth, creamy, and thick. Use additional milk if you desire to thin the milkshake. Pour, serve, and enjoy.

Read Full Post »

Green Herb Hummus

Green Herb Hummus made with Great Northern beans, fresh farmer's market basil and garlic, plus Celtic sea salt and olive oil.

Today’s recipe isn’t so much a recipe. It’s more of a template, that you can adjust and re-configure to your liking. Motivated by hunger but de-motivated by the heat to cook, I ended up making a really great hummus with what I had on hand, and figured I’d pass along my results to you. By the way, if hummus plus bread sounds too heavy, ditch the bread and dip raw veggie slices into this dip. That’s what I do and prefer.

If you’re bothered by the non-traditional ingredient list and the fact that I’m calling it hummus, feel free to rename it as a bean dip or whatever other moniker rocks your world.

Love this stuff! I like to dip raw sticks of summer squash, zucchini, carrots, and celery in it instead of the traditional pita bread dip.

Keep things flexible when making this. Since I didn’t have chickpeas handy (not to worry, I’m properly re-stocked now!), I used Great Northern beans, a white bean I happen to really like.  I was also fresh out of tahini, so I used olive oil as the fat instead. There was a small bunch of farmer’s market basil I needed to use, plus some fresh, pungent garlic picked up recently from that same market that had yet to be put to work. A couple of fat cloves of that garlic really took this dip up a level in my opinion, but if garlic isn’t your thing, feel free to leave it out.

Green Herb Hummus

Ingredients:

1 14-16 ounce can of Great Northern beans (or chickpeas or cannellinis) Basically, choose the light-colored bean of your choice

2 fat cloves of garlic

1 small bunch of fresh basil (or other herb of choice such as cilantro, parsley, sage)

1 Tablespoon (or less) of olive oil

Salt of choice to taste (I used Celtic sea salt. Full of minerals and has a robust flavor)

Water (if needed)

Directions:

1. Drain and rinse beans.

2. Add all ingredients except for basil and water to a blender or food processor and mix, starting on a low setting, gradually increasing to a higher speed.

3. Once ingredients are fairly well-mixed, add in basil leaves and a tiny bit of water if needed to help facilitate the mixing process. Blend until smooth and creamy. Check  and adjust seasoning and serve (or store, airtight, in the fridge.)

Read Full Post »

Summer Solstice Kuku with Summer Squash and Sweet Potato

As the seasons shift, so do my eating and cooking habits. Some days I don’t cook at all–relying on smoothies, salads, and chilled soups for sustenance. The “Big Oven” gets the summer off, unless there’s a cake or cookie or entree I just can’t force bake in the toaster oven. With the summer equinox fast approaching, I’d begin to notice the reappearance of gorgeous yellow squashes at the farmer’s markets. Last week, I grabbed a couple, figuring I’d grill them or eat them raw (I like to dip them in hummus). But they sat there for a day or so, beautiful yet uninspiring. Until I read a post on zucchini kuku by my amiga over at My Persian Kitchen.

A closer look!

Kuku, you ask? Why yes, it’s an Iranian omelette that’s a perfect marriage of veggies, spices, and convenience. It’s sort of a cross between a frittata and a souffle. Without, of course, the souffle drama. Because you know that in the kitchen, I do not do drama. Well, at least not deliberately 😉  I figure there’s enough inherent drama and suspense in cooking and baking as it is.

As for kuku, it’s the perfect summer dish, because it travels well and tastes great hot, warm, or even cold. It’s filling but not heavy.  You can bake it in the oven, or cook it on the stovetop. This time, I used my toaster oven, which worked perfectly and kept the Big Oven out of play, and from heating the house.

So I decided to base my efforts on the recipe from My Persian Kitchen, but with my yellow squash rather than zucchini. And as I was tinkering around in the kitchen, I noticed a lone sweet potato, left over from the colder months, sitting there kind of looking sad. “I wonder if that grating that sweet potato and using it in this kuku would taste good. I bet it would.”

So that’s exactly what I did, and in the process, found a new dish to love. A dish that perfectly straddles the shift between spring and summer, and could easily straddle the shift between summer and fall, for that matter.

Kuku (Iranian Omelette) with Summer Squash and Sweet Potato

2 teaspoons cooking fat of choice (netural oil, ghee, butter, butter substitute, etc)

1 onion, medium dice

1 teaspoon turmeric

2 large garlic cloves, finely grated

2 summer squash, grated (no more than a pound of squash before grating)

1 medium sweet potato, peeled and grated

salt and pepper to taste

5 eggs

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 F.

2. Add cooking fat to a cold skillet (skillet I used was an 8-inch cast iron skillet by Lodge). Heat over medium low.

3. Add in the onions and saute, stirring often, until translucent (about 5 minutes).  Add turmeric and garlic to onions and saute for another minute or so.

4. Add in the grated squash and sweet potato. Add salt and pepper and mix.  Cook until softened and the moisture is absorbed.

5.  As the vegetables are cooking, whisk the eggs and baking soda together with either a hand whisk or a fork. If you desire a more yellow color for the egg mixture, add another pinch of turmeric and stir well.

6. Allow the veggie mixture to drain and cool (I used a colander and a bowl to catch the drips underneath, plus patted the mixture several times with a kitchen towel to further push out excess moisture).

7.  Clean out the skillet, regrease with cooking fat or cooking spray of choice. In a large bowl, mix together veggie mixture and eggs, then pour it all into the skillet. Bake at 375 for 20-30 minutes (my kuku was done at 25 minutes, but your mileage may vary due to variation in the moisture of the mix). You’ll know it’s done when a knife or fork inserted into the center comes out clean.

Read Full Post »

Watermelon Mint Cooler Slushie

Try this super easy and refreshing watermelon mint slushie. It will take the edge off of summer's heat for sure.

Today’s chill slushie is the perfect anecdote to hot and dehydrating summer days (and nights)! It’s refreshing and cooling to drink, and beautiful to look at. And one of my favorite ingredients–watermelon, is the base of the drink.

I just adore watermelon. For me, it brings back such happy memories. Some of them are kinda funny memories, too. More on those further down. . .

Watermelon always makes me think of my dad. Hmmmm, and this post is coming out a few days ahead of Father’s Day. Happy coincidence!

My dad and I would have a field day picking the best of the bunch! Photo courtesy of http://www.sxc.hu/

Anyways, I remember my dad going to the grocery store or farmer’s markets together and picking out the most beautiful, juiciest watermelons money could buy. He has a real talent for picking excellent produce. Oh, yes, that’s a deliberate plural on watermelons–my dad would rather buy extra melons than too few. After all, his reasoning goes, we can always share the extra fruit with others.

Our produce-buying missions were “our” thing as father and daughter–going to what my dad calls “fruit market” and picking out the best and best-priced veggies and fruits available. To this day, I say I learned just about all of the skills about how to pick good produce from my dad. And many of my cooking skills I learned from my mom. Both important parts of the equation–how to pick the best quality produce, and what to do with it once you get it home.

Frothy, delicious, and refreshing. I can't get enough of these lately!

As for the funny melon memories: the time my dad picked what he said was the most amazing watermelon ever–and left it in the shopping cart in the store parking lot of a Fiesta store (Texans know all about Fiesta 😉 ). Or the time we went to the farmer’s market in Houston. At this market, you can buy wholesale.  Why exactly we needed a few dozen watermelons, I’ll never know for sure. At any rate, one of the watermelon vendors quoted my dad one price before loading up the back of the pickup full of melons. Then he quoted him another price when it was time to pay, the truck fully loaded with probably at least two dozen melons. Sneaky jerk thought we’d not want to unload the melons and just pay the higher price.  He was holding us as fruit hostages. My dad was having none of this bait and switch nonsense. Every single melon went back to the display, and you can bet my dad made the guy help offload the heavy fruits.

Gorgeous watermelons are rich in vitamin C and super-hydrating. Photo courtesy of http://www.sxc.hu/

So what makes a good watermelon? My dad taught me that it should be:

• Heavy for its size.
• It should have a hollow sound when you thump on it.
• The stripes should be very green.
• The skin shouldn’t have any mushy or pitted spots.

If you happen to get a subpar melon, you can salvage it by making this cooler. Of course, a perfect melon would be absolutely delicious blended into this chillaxing drink as well.  Have fun with it and enjoy! Maybe while watching a World Cup match.

Watermelon Mint Cooler/Slushie

Ingredients (enough for at least 2 12 ounce coolers):

2 Cups watermelon, seeds removed

1 Cup almond milk (I prefer unsweetened; you could use rice or even coconut milk here)

Splash of vanilla extract

A few sprigs of mint, saving some for garnish

Ice

Directions: Combine all ingredients in a blender and blend. Drink will be very pink and very cool. Garnish with a sprig of mint and enjoy!

Read Full Post »

My Green Smoothie Breakfast Secret is Out

Enjoying a green smoothie in the morning starts my day off on the right note.

I have a secret. I don’t eat breakfast most days. No, actually, I drink it. In the form of a green smoothie. Yes, it looks like green sludge. I actually like that it looks so off-putting, because it tastes amazing. Much more smooth, sweet, and flavorful than you’d ever imagine. Honestly, it’s as good as any smoothie that uses just fruits. Nutritionally, it’s better.

To say this drink has changed my life would almost be an understatement.  If you Google around green smoothies, you’ll find all sorts of recipes and lists of benefits. Some of the benefits I’ve personally noticed:

• Higher, even energy levels.
• Better moods.
• A clean, light feeling because the smoothie is full of fiber and nutrients.
• Better digestion.
• Calmer, brighter skin.
• Food cravings are noticeably reduced.
• A feeling of accomplishment for having loads of veggies as the first meal of the day. (I think this is important–so much of balanced eating is psychological and emotional as well.)
• I’ve noticed that the smoothie makes it easier to stick with healthier eating throughout the day.
• Filling enough to power me through Yoga teaching and practice, without weighing me down.

For some reason, I love drinking my green smoothies out of beer mugs. Never got into beer, so go figure. I do have a lot of random glasses and dishes around. Sometimes I add a drink umbrella for fun.

I’m forever indebted to my friend, clinical nutritionist, and fellow Yoga instructor, Kim Snyder, for blogging so extensively about the green smoothie. I’m so glad she got me into it. It’s made a huge difference in my life.

The smoothies I whip up aren’t exact replicas of any one recipe. The one pictured today was a tropically-inspired combo of frozen spinach, fresh pineapple chunks, banana, and shelled hemp seeds. The hemp seeds add a nice wallop of protein, fiber,  good fats, and zinc to the drink.

Pineapple Spinach Colada Green Smoothie

To serve 2-3

Combine the following in blender:

8 ounces (1 cup) frozen spinach

10 ounces filtered water (more if needed)

1 cup pineapple chunks

1 large banana or 2 small bananas

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

4 Tablespoons shelled hemp seeds

Stevia or agave nectar (if needed, to adjust sweetness)

Whir up all ingredients except agave nectar or sweetener in blender . Test for sweetness, adding agave or stevia if needed.

Note: By using frozen spinach, you don’t have to bother with ice cubes. If room temp spinach is all you have on hand, though, by all means, use that and just add in some ice cubes.

Read Full Post »

Smooth Your Skin Coconut Acai Smoothie

The Coco-Acai Smoothie--packed with coconut milk, avocado, and acai--gives me a perfect excuse to use cute little decorative umbrellas. Photo: Stock.XCHNG.com

Hey guys. Another work week winds down. Where did the time go? Well, I say the weekend is a perfect time for a tropically inspired treat. Especially for my peeps who are in the dead of winter right now, sometimes it’s fun to take our tastebuds and our minds on  a mental vacation from the cold outside.

We’ve talked on here about how, even in the dead of winter, I sometimes enjoy cold treats. Yes, I know some people find that weird. Oh well, too bad. 😉 I’m just glad this quirk allows me to enjoy smoothies 12 months out of the year.

Just looking at coconuts makes me feel tropical! Photo: Stock.XCHNG.com

Recently, I had an amazing smoothie from a place in Manhattan, Juice Generation. I often hit this spot after Yoga class. It was a coconut-acai based smoothie. Problem was, they used a soy-coconut milk blend. I didn’t realize this until it was too late. I still chugged it, and it was delicious. I resolved right then and there to reverse-engineer their recipe at home, and to make it without soy milk. Not only would this keep me from drinking soy milk, making the smoothie at home would be easier on my wallet as well.

(I avoid soy whenever possible, for many reasons. For one, it’s generally bloating. Yes, bloating. NO THANKS! Other reasons–Watch Food Inc., and you’ll get what I’m saying.)

As fortune would have it, my local health food store had frozen packets of Sambazon Acai on sale that week. So I bought some, along with some coconut milk that was on sale as well. Love it when the stuff I covet is on sale. It’s like the universe conspiring to help.

Sipping my Skin Smoothing Coconut Acai Smoothie. Pardon the almost no-makeup look. It was post-Yoga.

My very first attempt at reverse-engineering the recipe was, miraculously,  on point. I enjoyed the smoothie and mentally filed the recipe to drink and post another day. Then a few weeks later, my friend Kim Snyder featured a Skin Plumping Smoothie on her blog. It had very similar ingredients AND used avocado. (Funny story–Kim was filming a TV appearance and was asked to come up with a smoothie at the last minute. The Skin Plumping Smoothie is what she came up with. Brilliant!)

Do you guys ever find that you’re often on the same wavelength with family and friends, even if you haven’t spoken or communicated about specific things? For example, Kim and I were both thinking of combining similar ingredients in our respective smoothies. And with my Yoga crew, I often notice that we’re teaching or working on the same asana combinations and transitions, even without having consulted one another or even taken one another’s classes.

Wishing I were here. Oh well, a good smoothie is like a mini-vacay in and of itself! Photo: Stock.XCHNG.com

This sort of cosmic connection shows how together we can be stronger and even more creative. So I took inspiration from Kim, and added avocado to my Coco Acai smoothie the next time I made it. It was even better. By the way, I love how avocado is so versatile–the way it has its own distinct flavor but can also meld seamlessly into other dishes.

Ok, so real quick, why is this skin so nourishing, smoothing, and yes, plumping to the skin? The info that follows is quoted from Kim:

1. Frozen Acai: (Found the in frozen section of health food stores big and small). This stuff is loaded with antioxidants and Omega fatty acids that plump and nourish the skin, as well as fiber.
2. Coconut Water: Coconut water is one of the best hydrators because it has the same electrolyte balance as human blood. Some countries even use it for plasma transfusions. It is also full of potassium, which facilitates cellular cleansing.
3. Fresh Avocado: Raw beauty fat that digests easily, and is full of beauty minerals and fiber.

So let’s put these nutritional powerhouses, plus a few more ingredients, together for a tropical treat that’s healthy, nourishing, and beautifying. Not bad for something you can garnish with a cocktail umbrella!

Smooth Your Skin Coconut Acai Smoothie

Ingredients:

1 Cup coconut water

1 Cup coconut milk (I used unsweetened So Delicious brand; find in the milk section of your health food store or perhaps the regular grocery store)

1 banana

1/2  avocado

1 100 gram packet frozen acai (I used Sambazon brand)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Optional: powdered stevia (to taste)

4-8 Ice cubes

Directions:

1. Combine ice cubes, frozen acai, and half of the liquids and blend. Add in the rest of the (non liquid) ingredients and blend again. Slowly add in the rest of the liquid to achieve the desired thickness of your smoothie and blend again. Taste for sweetness. Add in vanilla extract, more liquid if desired, and Stevia (if using) and give it one final blend to incorporate all ingredients.

2. Garnish with a decorative drink umbrella (optional) and enjoy!

Read Full Post »

Middle Eastern Style Breakfast, Part 1

I could write a book on the infinite ways one can put together a Middle Eastern style breakfast. For now, I’ll simply say that I love this meal, and think more restaurants should offer it as a breakfast or brunch option. People need to get into this. Mezze for breakfast? Please sign me up!

Breakfasts tend toward the vegetarian side of things. Sometimes lamb sausage (merguez) will make an appearance, but it’s not a must-have. This type of breakfast is the perfect meal for those who have a light appetite in the morning, and it’s equally perfect for those who like to eat heavier for breakfast. You can eat a few bites, or a whole plate full of food. In other words, it’s flexible!

Here’s a breakfast I put together recently. It took all of about 7 minutes, including the time it took to scramble 2 eggs with a few snippets of fresh mustard greens, sundried tomato bits, and garlic.

One possibility for a Middle Eastern style breakfast. This meals tends to be vegetarian. That morning, olives, eggs, pita, and zatar dip with fresh garlic were on the menu. The cheesy-looking stuff I sprinkled on top is actually nutritional yeast. It's very popular with vegans and vegetarians as a way to get a cheesy flavor that's dairy-free.

The sesame and ground herb mixture on the left is zatar. I LOVE this stuff. Mixed with olive oil and a few bits of fresh garlic, it’s an immunity booster on a plate. The olives are filling and nutritious. The egg scramble was super simple. I just warmed a bit of olive oil, and lightly cooked some pieces of mustard greens, a few garlic bits, and some sundried tomatoes. Then I added in the eggs and scrambled them. (Scroll down for a more detailed recipe).

A nice change of pace from cold cereal, don’t you think?

Simple Egg Scramble with Greens and Sundried Tomatoes

2 large eggs, beaten (free range, organic eggs are best)

1 clove of garlic, finely chopped

Olive oil to coat pan

1/3 cup chopped, washed mustard greens (Or greens of your choice. Use more greens if you like)

4 sundried tomatoes, chopped (Try cutting them with kitchen scissors)

Optional: Nutritional yeast or cheese of choice (Feta, Parmesean) for sprinkling on top

Directions:

1. Heat olive oil over medium heat in a small skillet.

2. Once oil is shimmery, carefully place garlic bits in the pan and lower the heat immediately. Stir. Over low heat, add the greens and sundried tomatoes. Cook for approximately one minute, stirring as necessary.

3. Pour in beaten eggs. Fold eggs with a spatula. Keep the eggs moving by continuing to gently fold them with the spatula for another minute or two.

4. Remove the eggs from the heat when they look like they’re almost done. That way they won’t over-cook. Yes, they will look slightly under-cooked, but carryover heat will finish them off.

5. If using cheese or nutritional yeast as a garnish, plate the eggs and lightly dust them with the topping.

Read Full Post »