Heart of Cooking

Risotto with Artichokes and Leeks

This week’s menu:

• Hearty Fish Chowder and Carrot Raisin Salad
• Seven-Vegetable Pasta with Tarragon Glaze and Chicken and Sweet Pea Soup
• Greek Style Turkey Patties with Lemon Tahini Dressing and Green Salad with Tomatoes and Cucumber
• Lentils with Sweet Potatoes and Spinach and Wild Mushroom and Walnut Rice
• Risotto with Artichokes and Leeks with Chicken and Broccoli Cauliflower Bisque

Vegetarian Menu options:

• Hearty Quinoa and Veggie Chowder and Carrot Raisin Salad
• Seven-Vegetable Pasta with Tarragon Glaze and Almonds and Sweet Pea Soup
• Falafel Patties with Lemon Tahini Dressing and Green Salad with Tomatoes and Cucumber
• Lentils with Sweet Potatoes and Spinach and Wild Mushroom and Walnut Rice
• Risotto with Artichokes and Leeks with White Beans and Broccoli Cauliflower Bisque

Seven-Vegetable Pasta with Tarragon Glaze

This week’s menu planner is full of savory and delicious dishes, that are easy to make and should take no more than 30 minutes to prepare.  They are also very versatile – you can add chicken or fish or even beans or lentils to the dishes to fit your needs.

The Hearty Fish Stew is especially delicious – and I gave some to my son as well and he loved it.  The little bit of rice flour and almond milk makes it creamy and the nutmeg adds a savory flavor.  Enjoy!

Hearty Fish Chowder- mama and baby bowls

Hearty Fish Chowder

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 small yellow onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons brown rice flour

3 cups vegetable stock

1/2 cup chopped carrots

1/2 cup chopped celery

1 cup diced potatoes

1/2 cup green peas

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1 pound salmon fillet

1 cup almond milk

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

2 tablespoons chopped parsley

Steps:

1.  Heat olive oil in a large soup pot to medium-high heat and sauté the onion until it is soft and translucent.  Add the garlic, salt and flour and cook for 2-3 minutes.

2.  Slowly stir in vegetable or chicken stock, carrots, celery, potato, peas, black pepper and nutmeg and cooked, covered, for 5 minutes.

3.  While the vegetables are cooking, wash the fish and cut into 1-inch cubes.  Add to the vegetable mixture and simmer, covered, until the vegetables are tender and the fish is flaky.  Stir in almond milk, balsamic vinegar and parsley.  Heat through and serve.

Vegetarian option: Instead of adding fish, add 1 cup of quinoa to the soup when you add the vegetables.  Bring to a boil, the reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 15 minutes.  Add the almond milk, vinegar and parsley at the end.

Substitutions: Salmon: mahi mahi, haddock, flounder, swordfish, etc.  Almond milk: GF rice milk, coconut milk or other non-dairy milk.  Vegetables: parsnips, blue potatoes, sweet potatoes, zucchini, etc.

Nutritional info: Per Serving: 342 Calories; 10g Fat (25.1% calories from fat); 29g Protein; 37g Carbohydrate; 6g Dietary Fiber; 72mg Cholesterol; 1915mg Sodium.

Recipe source or inspiration: Meals that Heal by Lisa Turner

Hearty Fish Stew with Elijah -"I want some!"

In my article, “Making a Beautiful Meal,” I talk about how the different color combinations of foods can greatly enhance and beautify a meal, making it more attractive and appealing. In this HeARTful Idea, I wanted to expand upon this concept to give you more ideas and inspiration while you’re cooking.

But first, a little color lesson. If you have taken any kind of art class, chances are you have seen a color wheel.  It is basically a circle with each color of the rainbow.  However, the colors are placed so that opposite to each color is its complementary color.  Below is a quick drawing of a color wheel I made.

A color wheel can be very helpful when you are first learning how complementary colors work.  As you can see, orange and blue, green and red, and yellow and purple are all directly across from each other. These colors have the most contrast between them, making the colors stand out.  You can use them to create more dramatic presentations in cooking and in art.

Let’s make this more practical and think of some situations where you might see these complementary colors at work within the art of cooking. As you read each example, take a moment to imagine what the colors of the foods would look like together.

Red and Green: I can think of many different circumstances where red and green create beautiful meals.  There are so many because there are so many green as well as red foods.  Here are a few examples I can think of off the top of my head:

• Green salad with tomatoes, radishes, red bell peppers, strawberries, pomegranates
• In the Indian Eggs dish in this week’s menu planner, the red tomatoes and cilantro are another example.
• Red beans or red rice with green vegetables and herbs
• Radicchio and avocado
• Beets and greens

Yellow and Purple: This is a little harder because there aren’t quite as many purple foods but there is still a lot to choose from.

Yellow and purple peppers
Yellow summer squash and purple cabbage
Yellow nasturtiums (edible flowers) and purple greens

Orange and Blue: Again, blue is hard to come by in the food kingdom, but you can also think in terms of black foods, such as black beans and black rice.

• Blueberries or blackberries and oranges in a fruit salad
• Black beans and sweet potatoes
• Blue corn and butternut squash

As you can see, when you combine colors of foods together that are complementary, it creates a meal that is beautiful to look at and appealing to eat. This week, when you are cooking, begin to notice the different colors of foods and how they complement each other.  Notice how a meal can be changed dramatically simply by adding a sprinkling of cilantro or by choosing summer squash over red peppers.

Indian Style Eggs

It’s been quite a while since I last posted a menu planner; the holidays were very busy and my husband and I were both sick twice and our son once.  I also had a few occasions of being “glutened” either because of cross-contamination, not being careful enough in a restaurant or not reading ingredients lists close enough.

I also recently learned that Rice Dream is not gluten-free, something I just assumed.  I wasn’t drinking it very often but after running across a few posts about how it has a “small trace” of barley in it, I realized that it was most likely the culprit in a few unexplained reactions I had last year.

In the background of all of this, Elijah has been teething on his first molers for what seems like months, and so hasn’t been sleeping all that great.  And of course, that means that I don’t sleep well!

So, here I am.  January 20th and “almost” feeling normal again.  With the holidays over and being excruciatingly anal about what goes into my mouth, I again feel like posting this week’s menu planner!  One thing I am very excited about is my new camera.  It takes beautiful pictures and has an amazing battery life.

Without further ado, here is this week’s menu planner.  It will be available as the Free Menu Planner Trial staring on Thursday.

• Cashew Avocado Wraps and Curried Yam Soup
• Simon and Garfunkel Black Bean Soup and Sunny Sprouted Avocado Salad
• Roasted Veggie and Chicken Burritos w/ Green Chili Sauce and Cilantro-Lime Rice
• Indian Style Eggs and Teff Nut Muffins
• Asian Style Stuffed Red Peppers or Zucchinis and Beets and Field Greens with Walnuts

Read the rest of this entry »

As a person with food allergies, sensitivities, or someone just wanting to learn to cook, you may be looking for some simple ways to make your food taste good. Eating out usually isn’t an option for someone on a restricted diet so it is a daily task to find ways to spice up the life of your food!  If you are very restricted in your diet, it can feel like you are using the same herbs to make your meal taste good.  This can get old after a while and it is helpful to have a fresh look at some other herbs or new ways you can possibly make your food tastier.

Here is a list of ingredients I use on a regular basis in cooking to make food more delicious. I also use many of these in combination with each other.  This creates a whole new taste and you might be surprised how different combinations can make or break a meal.  The best thing is to experiment with different quantities and combinations of some of these ingredients.

There will most likely be something that doesn’t agree with you on the list.  Focus instead on using the other ingredients and see what you can come up with to add some spice to your food.  I am sure there are other ingredients one can use in allergy-free cooking.

• Salt and pepper:  sea salt is best
• Fresh and dried herbs and spices: The list is too long to print here.  Browse your bulk herb or bottled herb section at your grocery store to see if you can find something new and interesting that may add some new life to your food!
• Curry paste: comes in yellow and red, possibly others
• Fresh ginger root: fresh is best or if buying a jar of grated ginger, check the ingredients for high fructose corn syrup or other ingredients you may be sensitive to
• Onions and garlic: can be raw, sautéed, steamed, caramelized, roasted, minced, diced, sliced, etc.
• Diced celery and celery seed: cooked or raw
• Lemons, limes and oranges: also the zest of one or more of these adds great flavor
• Coconut milk: buy whole, unsweetened and organic if possible
• Tamari and Miso: if you can eat soy, these add great flavor.  Tamari is wheat-free soy sauce.
• Honey, agave, maple syrup
• Vinegars: apple cider vinegar is the best.  Some vinegar has sugar added to them; use with care.
• Mustards and ketchups: most ketchup has sugar added to it but it is possible to find it without or make your own
• Nuts and seeds: whole, ground, chopped or as butters
• Olive oil, butter, coconut oil
• Chili peppers and green chilies
• Seaweeds: adds flavor and nutrients to food; great substitute for salt
• Nutritional yeast: full of B vitamins, this adds a cheesy flavor to foods
• Sesame oil: can be regular, toasted or some have added spices
• Tomato sauce: great for pizzas, spaghetti but also great for other dishes with a tomato base.  I try to find brands that are sugar-free.

Do you have more ideas on how you spice up your allergen-free food?  I would love to hear your ideas!  Please post a comment!

Bristol Baking Gluten-free Bun

I have been meaning to write a blurb about some great “buns” that were literally dropped at my door before Christmas time.  Susan of Bristol Baking contacted me and offered me a sample of her gluten-free, “best-ever”, buns.  I couldn’t say no so she baked up a batch and shipped them off to me.  I must say, they were as delicious and versatile as she claims. She suggests people use them as sandwich bread, as mini pizzas, or even as French toast.

If you are looking for gluten-free bread that doesn’t crumble, is moist and soft and chewy, these are for you. I will make a note here that they contain corn, eggs, yeast and sugar, ingredients that some people may be sensitive to.  But if you can eat these ingredients, you’re lucky because they are very delicious.  I must say that the buns are the best GF commercially- made bread I’ve ever tasted.

Susan’s website is  http://bristolbaking.com/.  She makes every order herself and it shows in the quality of the product.  They are also very reasonably priced for GF items shipped right to your door.