Tahini Cheesecake with Chewy Brownie Crust

What a wonderful combination! Who can resist a rich, decadent, chewy fudge brownie topped with a nutty creamy cheesecake. This is not one of my quick, easy desserts; it takes some doing but not a great deal of skill, other than folding the brownie dry ingredients into the meringue. Well worth the trouble.

First make the brownies. Heat oven to 350 degrees; grease 8×8″ pan. In a medium size bowl, combine:

1/2 cup aquafaba (bean water)*
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

Whip the aquafaba and cream of tartar to stiff peaks and then continue whipping for several more minutes. Slowly beat in the monk fruit powder and then the date sugar and continue beating for 2-3 more minutes.

3/4 teaspoon monk fruit powder
1/3 cup date sugar

Sift:

3/4 cup carob powder (or cocoa if you can use it)
1/2 cup brown rice flour
1/4 cup tapioca flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
dash of salt

Pour into the meringue. Add on top of the dry ingredients:

1/4 cup avocado oil
3 tablespoons hemp milk (or soy or rice milk) [If you use almond butter in the cheesecake, you could use almond milk here]
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Using a folding mix technique (using a spatula, bring the meringue from the bottom middle out to the edge in a sweeping motion; turn the bowl 1/4 of the bowl and repeat until the mixture is well mixed) mix the dry and wet ingredients into the meringue. It will deflate somewhat. Pour into the baking dish and spread out in an even layer. Bake 12-15 minutes, remove from oven and top with the cheesecake mixture.

For the cheesecake mixture, combine in your food processor:

12 ounces non-dairy cream cheese
1/2 cup tahini (or nut butter if you can have one)
1/2 cup agave nectar (or 1 teaspoon monk fruit powder, or 1/2 cup date sugar)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
pinch of sea salt
1 tablespoon lemon juice (optional)

Blend until smooth. Pour over brownie in an even layer. Return to oven and bake an additional 25-40 minutes depending on your oven. If you have some sugar free chocolate or carob chips, you can sprinkle them on top of the cheesecake mixture before baking. Turn off oven and open door and let cool for a half hour before removing from the oven. Cool on draft-free counter for an hour before placing in the refrigerator. This will keep the cheesecake layer from splitting. Serve ice-cold, if you can keep your family from eating them sooner!

*Aquafaba is the liquid you drain from a can of beans and usually discard. It is a great substitute for eggs. Usually used is garbanzo bean liquid.

Chicken or Turkey Pot Pie (Dairy-free, gluten-free, egg-free)

One of my husband’s favorite dishes is a pot pie. This one has lots of tender chicken or turkey for my husband along with plenty of vegetables to satisfy me. If you pre-bake the bottom crust, it won’t get as soggy from the gravy while baking. Feel free to change up the vegetables — lima beans, mushrooms, garlic, etc. can be added along with greens like kale or spinach (chopped of course). I had some leftover mushrooms that I sautéed, cut up and added to my stew. Some diced sweet potatoes would also do well in a stew or any diced and cooked winter squash.

First make some chicken or turkey stew:

1/2 medium onion diced
1/2 cup diced celery
1/2 cup cooked peas
1/2 cup cooked string beans
1/2 cup sliced carrots
1 cup cooked chicken or turkey diced
3 cups chicken or turkey stock
1/4 cup brown rice flour
Herbs, salt and pepper to your taste

Cook the onions and celery in a little oil under tender, about 3 minutes. Add 2 1/2 cups of the stock and herbs. Whisk the brown rice flour into the other 1/2 cup of stock and add it to the stockpot and whisk until the mixture thickens. Add the cooked meat and vegetables and cool in the refrigerator until you’re ready to make the pot pie or whatever you want to do with the stew (you could also use this for chicken and dumplings or a chicken casserole with a cauliflower crust).

If you don’t cool the stew before adding it to the pot pie, the bottom crust will get too soggy, even if you pre-baked it.

You can either make your own gluten-free crust (see my recipe for pie crust), use a mix (Bob’s Red Mill makes a very tasty mix) or purchase a ready-made gluten-free crust.

Heat your oven to 400 degrees. Pre-bake your crust per package directions. When cool, add the cooled stew to fill the pie crust. Add top layer and bake approximately 40 minutes until pie bubbles and top crust is browned.

Spaghetti and Meatballs (dairy-free, gluten-free, egg-free, sugar-free)

A throwback to my earlier life cooking for my best friend and my son, and sometimes for her parents as well, this recipe holds lots of memories. The marinara sauce is a remake of my Aunt Jean’s sauce while the meatballs are an off-shoot of my meatloaf recipe. If you prefer, a jarred sauce works just as well if you have one your family especially likes, and it sure is a lot quicker and easier than making a sauce from scratch.

Marinara Sauce:

1 medium onion diced
1 bell pepper, any color, diced
2 garlic cloves diced
1/2 cup grated carrot
64 ounces of pureed tomatoes
16 ounces diced tomatoes
1/4 cup red wine (or stock if you can’t use wine)
1/2 cup tomato paste
fresh oregano, thyme, and parsley (about 2 tablespoons of each)
monk fruit powder, stevia, or agave nectar if needed for additional sweetness

In a large skillet, saute the onion and bell pepper for a few minutes and then add the diced garlic and the grated carrot. Saute until softened, about 3 minutes over medium heat. Add the red wine and cook off the alcohol. Add the pureed and diced tomatoes and cook over a low heat, covered, for approximately 1 hour. Uncover and cook an additional 15 minutes. Add the fresh herbs along with salt and pepper to taste and the tomato paste. If needed, depending on your taste, add additional sweetener. Simmer over low heat until ready to add the meatballs.

Meatballs:

1/2 pound ground turkey
1/2 pound ground pork
8 ounces mixed mushrooms, pulsed in a food processor until small dice
2 teaspoons onion powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon dried herbs (I used an herb mixture such as Mrs. Dash)
1/2 teaspoon dry parsley
1/2 cup sugar-free ketchup (such as Organicsville Agave Ketchup) OR 1/3 cup tomato paste
2 slices of gluten-free bread crumbled

Preheat oven to 400 degrees; grease an 8×10 baking pan with olive oil. Mix all the ingredients in a large bowl until combined but try not to overmix so that the meat mixture stays tender. I use a soup spoon to measure out the meatballs so that they are all about the same size. Mine were approximately 1 1/2 inches in diameter and the recipe made 24 meatballs. Bake in the prepared pan for about 45 minutes, in the middle of the oven so that the bottoms of the meatballs don’t burn. Add the meatballs to the sauce.

Prepare your favorite pasta. I use the red lentil and quinoa linguine which takes just about 8 minutes to cook and my husband thinks tastes good even though he doesn’t realize its gluten-free and contains protein. After you drain your pasta, put it back in the cooking pot, add sauce and mix thoroughly. Serve with the meatballs and feel free to sprinkle some grated mozzarella (non-dairy of course) over the top.

Peach Melba Cobbler (dairy-free, gluten-free, egg-free, sugar-free, vegan)

One of my father’s favorite desserts was cobbler, didn’t matter what fruit we used, he loved it with some vanilla ice cream on top. Its a fairly easy, quick recipe that appeals to those who like to think their dessert is also good for them. This one has the classic combination of peaches and raspberries.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Grease an 5×8″ baking dish.

Combine:

2 cups sliced peaches
1/2 cup fresh or frozen raspberries
1/2 teaspoon stevia or 1/2 cup date sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons brown rice flour whisked with 1/2 cup cold water

I spread the peaches and raspberries in the baking dish, then sprinkled them with the cinnamon and stevia and then drizzled the flour mixture over the top.

In a medium size bowl mix:

3/4 cup brown rice flour
1/4 cup tapioca flour/starch
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon stevia or 1/2 date sugar

Cut into the flour mixture using a pastry cutter or a fork:

1/4 cup non-dairy margarine

When the margarine is combined and you have a crumbly mixture, stir in:

3/4 cup non-dairy milk

Spread the mixture evenly over the top of the fruit (its okay if not all of the fruit gets totally covered), being sure that the cobbler dough is even so that you don’t have an inch of it in one place and only a 1/2 inch somewhere else so that the cobbler will cook evenly.

Bake 20-25 minutes and cool slightly before serving. Best served warm. Serves 6-8.

Leftovers Casserole (dairy-free, gluten-free, egg-free)

This is a great casserole for using up leftovers after a big meal like Thanksgiving or just a family Sunday dinner. It takes the meat, gravy, stuffing, vegetables, and potatoes and puts them together into one dish that’s easy and my family loves it. You’ll want a deep casserole dish so that you can get four layers. You could also make this quick and easy using rotisserie chicken or turkey breast.

Grease a 9″ round, 5-7″ deep casserole dish. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

The first layer consists of:

2 cups of diced meat (chicken, beef, turkey, pork)
2 cups gravy (see recipe under Sauces)

The second layer consists of:

2-3 cups of stuffing (see recipe under side dishes)

The third layer consists of:

2-3 cups of leftover vegetables (I used my leftover string bean casserole; see recipe under side dishes)

The last layer consists of:

2-3 cups of mashed potatoes, or in my case, mashed celery root and parsnips (see recipe under side dishes)

Bake 30-45 minutes until the gravy starts bubbling to the top and the top is browned.

Tomato Pie (dairy-free, gluten-free, egg-free, vegan)

Another very easy to make recipe, tomato pie takes some planning and most of the day but the time is spent waiting for the tomatoes to dry and that takes 4-6 hours. So if you want to try this easy recipe, plan ahead and make sure you have plenty of time available. Not something you can throw together at the last minute. It’s one way for me to use all the overabundance of tomatoes I have this time of year.

You’ll need:

5-8 tomatoes depending on size
one small onion
a gluten-free pie crust, bottom layer only (see my recipe under desserts)
1 to 2 cups of non-dairy mozzarella cheese (depending on how much cheese you like)

Line a large baking tray with 4 or 5 layers of paper towels

Slice:

5-8 tomatoes, depending on the size (you’ll want about 30 slices)
one small onion

Let the tomatoes and onion dry on the paper towels, turning every couple of hours, for 4-6 hours. I also put a couple of layers over the top so that nothing gets into the tomatoes and I can help dry out the slices. Make sure that its a single layer of tomatoes on the tray. If you don’t dry your tomatoes thoroughly, you’ll have tomato juice in your soggy pie.

Heat your oven to 350 degrees.

Prebake a 9 inch gluten-free pie crust. Blind baking the bottom crust helps make sure that it doesn’t come out soggy.

When the crust is cool, add about a half cup of cheese and then place the tomato slices into the pie crust trying to cover the entire surface. Add a layer of onions. Continue to add tomatoes and onions until you have three rounds and the crust is mostly filled. Cover the top of the pie with cheese and bake for 45 minutes. Cool slightly before serving.

As a variation, you can add some cooked Italian sausage, either slices or ground, into the pie as you’re layering the tomatoes and onions.

Sausage and Mushroom Stuffing (dairy-free, gluten-free, egg-free)

My husband never liked anything but Stove Top Stuffing. Last year at Thanksgiving, he told me not to bother to make him any stuffing so I made a small batch of my stuffing and then I didn’t get much of it because he ate almost all of it! So now I make a large dish of this dressing so there’s plenty for leftovers. Crunchy on the bottom and soft and moist inside, you’ll never miss the gluten or the eggs. I use this for a Thanksgiving dressing or to stuff chicken breasts or pork chops.

I don’t cut and dry the bread before making the stuffing — the way I figure it, if you have to dry the bread out so that it will absorb all the flavors of the other things you’re adding, your bread isn’t very good. So I start with my favorite gluten-free bread (I love the DeLand’s Millet and Flax bread or even their millet flatbread), and then don’t add as much chicken or turkey stock (if you want this vegan, don’t use the sausage and use vegetable broth instead of the meat stocks).

Grease a large, flat casserole dish and preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large skillet, over medium heat:

1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 pound of sausage, I use turkey sausage

Brown and then add:

1/2 cup diced onion
1/2 cup diced celery
1 cup diced baby bella mushrooms

Cook until the vegetables are soft.

In a medium size bowl, place:

6 cups of diced gluten-free bread
1 tablespoon dry sage
Salt and pepper to taste
the sausage and vegetable mixture

Mix well and pour into the prepared dish. Pour over the dressing, 1 cup stock (you can use up to 1 1/2 cups if needed but it may be mushier) being sure to get most of the bread moist. Cover with aluminum foil, or the cover to the casserole dish if it has one. Cook for 1/2 hour and then remove cover and let cook for another 15 minutes until top is browned.

String Bean Casserole (dairy-free, gluten-free, egg-free, vegan)

A Thanksgiving classic, this is a side dish I had to give up years ago because of the milk and gluten. Here it is revisited and so delicious with the home-made cream of mushroom soup along with the onion and bread crumb topping. I like to use the mixed string beans — green and yellow. It takes a few more steps than your old fashioned green bean casserole but it tastes just as good.

Steam 1 pound of green beans. While they’re cooking, cut half a large sweet Vidalia onion into slices and then cut the slices in half (or use all of a medium size onion).

To a medium skillet, over medium heat, add:

2 tablespoon olive oil
the onions

Cook until soft and starting to caramelize. Stir in:

1/2 cup gluten-free bread crumbs
1/2 teaspoon dried parsley

Grease a 5×8″ casserole dish. Mix the string beans and 2 cups of cream of mushroom soup (see recipe under soups and salads). Add to the casserole dish and top with the onion mixture. Bake at 350 degrees for a half hour and then, if you want it browner, stick it under the broiler for 1-2 minutes.

Chicken and Cranberry Salad with Green Goddess Dressing (dairy-free, gluten-free, egg-free, nut-free)

As all my allergies progressed, one of the things that most bothered me was a sensitivity to leafy green vegetables. No more salad, what was I going to do! Then I discovered that I could eat red leaf lettuces, what a relief. Now I have a salad almost daily and here’s one of my favorites. I really like various textures in my salads so I add crunchy ingredients as well as softer ones. Green Goddess dressing usually has walnuts in it but since I’m allergic to nuts, I used pumpkin seeds instead. You could substitute sunflower seeds.

You’ll need for the salad (for 2 entries or 4-6 side salads):

1 head of red Romaine, cleaned and broken into bite-size pieces
1 cucumber sliced
2-3 small tomatoes
2 wedges of jicama, diced
2 stalks of celery, diced
several scallions or some red onion diced, optional
8 ounces of cooked chicken, diced
1/4 to 1/2 cup of dried cranberries (I used the kind sweetened with fruit juice and unsulphered)

For the dressing, in a food processor put:

1 ripe avocado, skinned and pitted
1/4 cup dried parsley, or 1/2 cup fresh parsley (you can add more if you like parsley; not one of my favorite herbs so I didn’t use much)
2 tablespoons avocado oil
2 tablespoons lime juice (or lemon juice if you prefer)
2 tablespoons ground pumpkin seeds
2 teaspoons ground coriander
1 tablespoon vinegar
Salt and pepper to taste
Water to get to dressing consistency, 1/4-1 cup (my dressing came out fairly thick and I used 1/2 cup of water)

Blend until creamy and all ingredients are combined. Here, again, I used some roasted whole coriander seeds that I pulsed in my spice grinder so they were not fully ground and the pumpkin seeds were also only partially ground. This added some crunchy texture to the dressing.

Figgy Hemp Cream (dairy-free, gluten-free, egg-free, vegan)

When I lived in western Massachusetts and had to go to the Albany, New York area to give a lecture or do an NPR program, I would always stop at the local co-op and get a pint of goat’s milk black mountain fig ice cream. So good, creamy, figgy, and not too sweet. This recipe comes very close to that goodness. And it is very adaptable; feel free to use the type of fruit you like the best in place of the figs, peaches, applesauce, bananas would all work great.

Add to a blender:

1 medium to large ripe avocado
1/4 cup chopped dates
2 cups fresh or stewed figs
1 cup hemp milk
2 scoops protein powder

Blend until well mixed and the dates are incorporated. Pour into an ice cream freezer or put in individual serving containers, or ice cube trays to freeze.

TIP: Don’t care for avocado? Use avocado oil instead, it has little flavor but makes a very creamy dessert. Use 1/4 cup of oil in place of the avocado pulp.