November 2010
20 posts
I’ve been making this for years and it’s so easy! This recipe is so versatile-I eat it for breakfast, or as a snack, or for dessert. It is not too sweet and is packed with protein and antioxidants from the blueberries. It isn’t really a pie, but is cooked in a pie pan and can be sliced or spooned into a bowl.
Tofu Blueberry “Pie”
2 packs firm tofu (I like Mori-Nu organic)
2 whole eggs or 4 egg whites
1/4 to 1/3 cup organic sugar (1/3 cup if you prefer it sweeter)
1/2 tsp almond extract (you can also use vanilla extract)
1 cup frozen blueberries
pie pan
Preheat over to 350 degrees. Lightly spray the pan with oil, and spread the frozen berries on the bottom of the pan. I like to use coconut oil spray for any sweet dish such as this dish but any spray will work!
Blend the tofu, eggs, sugar and almond extract until smooth, and poor over frozen berries.
Bake for 40 minutes or until set in center. Cool and refridgerate for at least 4 hours.
This New York Times article, written by Michael Pollan (Food Rules) and Eric Schlosser (Fast Food Nation) explains theFDA Food safety Modernization Act, a bill regarding food safety that is currently before the Senate…
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/29/opinion/29schlosser.html?_r=1&ref=opinion?hp
Hello Cooking Caveman,
What an interesting question! For those of you who are unfamiliar with the Paleo diet, it is a lifestyle and diet based on getting back to the original foods that humans ate. If you follow this diet you may only eat foods that are totally unprocessed and natural, very cool stuff.
Jeff, unfortunately it is very tough to eat out on this diet. You mentioned two good raw food places, but have you tried Rawvolution on Main Street? I am not sure if they would adhere to the no salt specification, but I would give them a try.
My best suggestion would be to get a membership to Rawsome, a twice weekly raw food market on Rose Blvd in Venice, where you can purchase tons of food for the Paleo diet and perhaps get some good restaurant suggestions. They have everything from vegetables, raw nuts, to a raw meat freezer room, to raw dairy products. I would definitely give Rawsome a try!
So… Who made my gluten free stuffing muffins for Thanksgiving?!?!
I did! I did!
I think I may turn into a stuffing muffin, Ahhhh! :)
So I made a delicious Vietnamese Pho and took some lovely pictures, and I think my camera liked the pho too, and ate the images. AHHHH!
Anyways, here is the recipe, this soup is really delicious, the flavors are interesting, it’s easy, it saves well and it is great for cold season.
I’ll stop bragging about the soup and get on with it!
Vegetarian Vietnamese Pho
For the broth:
2 containers vegetable broth (about 6 cups)
2 whole heads of garlic, chopped
5 green onions, chopped
5 dried shitake mushrooms
2 inches of ginger, chopped
3 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbs rice wine vinegar
3 cinnamon sticks
2 whole star anise
3 tbsp chopped basil
2 tbsp chopped mint
3 tbsp chopped cilantro
3 limes
To add to the broth: (use however much you like)
bean sprouts
tofu
rice noodles
basil
mint
cilantro
carrots
kale
lime
Combine all of the broth ingredients in a pot and let it simmer for at least 2 hours. The longer it simmers the tastier it will be!
Select what you would like to be in your soup and chop all of the ingredients so that they are bite sized.
You may use tofu, or if you like you can cook meat in the broth.
This broth gets tastier as it sits so make extra and eat it for a few days!
Serves 6
Thanksgiving- stress free, gluten free and dairy free!
Are any of you feeling stressed over the thought of putting together a Thanksgiving feast!
Well, stress no more!
Here is a step by step recipe for a Thanksgiving dinner that is healthy and relatively easy to put together. And do yourself a favor, make the cranberry sauce, sweet potatoes and pumpkin pie the day before.
Have your guests bring a vegetable, or simply steam some broccoli or sauté some spinach.
Here ya go:
Turkey!
Don’t be afraid of cooking a turkey. It is surprisingly easy.
The trick is to buy a meat thermometer and cook the turkey until the thermometer, when inserted in the thickest part of the thigh, measures 165 degrees. Then let the turkey rest for 20 minutes before carving.
I like a brined turkey; brining is a method similar to marinating, that makes the turkey nice and moist. Brining a turkey is also a bit of a pain, but now you can buy a brined turkey at Trader Joe’s, ready to cook and enjoy without the brining hassle.
Gravy!
1/4 cup vegan butter (or regular butter)
1/4 cup gluten free flour (or wheat flour)
3 cups of drippings and juice from the turkey pan
1/3 cup white wine
salt and pepper to taste
Simply melt the butter until foamy and slowly stir in the flour until smooth. Add the turkey drippings and and juice and simmer. When thickened add the wine and simmer a little more. Then salt and pepper to taste!
Cranberry Sauce!
I will admit it, I grew up on the canned, whole cranberry sauce and still kind of like it. But Trader Joe’s sells a nice cranberry sauce in the refrigerated section.
But if you want to make your own it is easy:
1 cup sugar
1 cup water
1 bag cranberries
Boil water and sugar and then add cranberries. Cook until they burst open, then cool and refrigerate. That’s it! You can customize with some chopped nuts, or some orange zest, or a little cinnamon.
Sweet Potatoes!
I prefer to bake whole sweet potatoes instead of the mashed up, sweetened up versions. Remember, they are called sweet potatoes for a reason! I wash the potatoes and bake them in a 400 degree oven for an hour.
BUT, if you want to make a healthier mashed up, sweetened up version here it is. You can even make it the day before and simply refrigerate and heat Thanksgiving day:
5 large sweet potatoes
vegan butter
agave (not too much!)
brown sugar (not too much!)
cinnamon
salt
Peel and cut potatoes into 2 inch chunks. Cover with water and bring to a boil, then lower the flame and simmer until soft. Remove from pot and mash, add butter, agave and salt to taste. Place in a pie dish and top with a little brown sugar and cinnamon, then simply bake at 350 degrees until nice and hot.
Stuffing!
Here is my amazing recipe for gluten free stuffing muffins!
Pumpkin Pie!
Still my favorite recipe. Serve with whipped cream, dairy free whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.
That is a great question… honestly, it really depends on the exact result that you are looking for. You have to think about what the egg provides in the specific recipe, and figure it out from there. MOST of the time, I find that Ener-g Egg Replacer works well. The instructions say to combine the powder with water, but I think it works better if you use half water and half vegetable oil.
Try the egg replacer next time you are baking. If you have a specific recipe questions, feel free to send them over!
With Thanksgiving just around the corner, it is time to start considering the meal! If anyone would like help healthify-ing their favorite Thanksgiving treat, now is the time to speak up! Any requests?
People always ask me if I ever get the urge to just get some fast food. My answer initially is “blarg, eww, no”, but then after a moment of thinking, my new response is something like “well, if it is healthy, yeah, that would be awesome”. So, I guess this one is for me!
Sunny Blue is a teeny tiny shop that serves omusubi (which is a Japanese rice ball with different fillings wrapped in a sheet of crunchy salty nori), and it is fast and delicious.
The manager makes your order right in front of you, and within a matter of minutes your meal is in a little paper dish in your hands.
You select white or brown rice (Health Food Stalker approved) and then choose from a list of fish, meat, poultry, or vegetarian fillings. I love their brown rice hijiki omusubi because it is filled with seaweed, mushrooms, peas and carrots; it is just the perfect amount of salty and crunchy. I can actually feel good about eating this as a fast food meal!
Sunny Blue also offers a few little side dishes such as cucumber salad, edamame, daikon salad, burdock root salad and Japanese pickles, so if you decide to not stuff yourself silly with rice balls you can fill up with some light and delicious traditional Japanese salads.
Sunny Blue is located right on Main St. in Santa Monica. It is a perfect little shop to grab a bite and and go for a stroll in lovely Santa Monica or just grab it on the go!
This is a wonderful, hearty and healthy meal!
Chickpea Stew
1 thinly sliced onion
3 large cloves of garlic minced
1/3 cup dried apricots thinly sliced
1 tbsp garam masala
1 cinnamon stick
2 tsp lemon zest
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 can chickpeas
6 diced tomatoes
1 c thinly sliced snap peas
2 c spinach
¼ c minced cilantro
1 boiled sweet potato, diced
3 tbsp minced mint
¼ c sliced almonds
salt
pepper
olive oil
In a large sauce pan heat up some oil and brown the onion, then add the garlic, apricots, garam masala, and cinnamon stick. Allow those to cook for about 3 minutes. Then add the chickpeas, lemon juice, lemon zest and tomatoes. Allow the tomatoes to cook down and then add the snap peas, potato and spinach. Add salt and pepper to taste. Once everything is nice and soupy, add the mint and cilantro and serve with the sliced almonds on top!
I served mine over quinoa but this dish could be good many different ways!
Serves 4
Adapted from Cooking Light
