Easy French Onion Soup (dairy-free, gluten-free, vegan)

Such and easy soup to make and so silky, rich and sweet. If you like French Onion soup but you’ve always thought it was too hard to make for yourself, this is the recipe for you. Makes 2 servings.

You’ll need:

1 large or 2 medium onions (I used a Vidalia but you can use any onion you like)
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon gluten-free flour such as Bob’s Red Mill 1 for 1 blend
2-3 cups vegetable (or mushroom) stock (or if you can use it, use beef stock but I find the vegetable stock makes a very rich soup)
2 slices of gluten-free bread (I love the DeLong’s millet bread)
2 slices of dairy-free mozzarella or provolone cheese

First, cut onion in half and then cut across into slices. If you want, you can then cut these slices in half. Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil over medium heat in a 4 quart pot (you want as much space on the bottom as possible while having room to add the stock later. Stir the onions every few minutes to be sure that they don’t burn. You want to caramelize them which takes about 20 minutes and you will probably want to reduce the heat when they begin to brown. This is the longest, hardest part of the cooking process.

Once the onions are caramelized, add the flour and stir to make sure it is absorbed by the oil. Over low heat, let the flour cook out for a couple of minutes. Its okay if it sticks a little to the bottom of the pan since adding the stock will deglaze the pan. Add 2 cups of stock and stir until it starts to boil. If the soup is too thick (you want it silky but not as thick as gravy), add more stock to thin. Reduce heat as low as it will go and cover pot. Let cook 10 minutes.

According to every recipe I’ve seen on making French Onion soup, it tastes best if you chill it overnight and let the flavors melt together. But its so good I won’t blame you if you put it hot into two oven-proof bowls and eat it the same day!

Using a large biscuit cutter if you have one or just a knife, cut the bread so that each slice will fit into one of the bowls. In a fry pan large enough for both slices, heat the 1 tablespoon oil and when hot, add the bread rounds and grill on both sides. Place on top of the soup and then put a slice of cheese on top of the bread rounds. Broil (or microwave) until the cheese melts. If you broil it, you’ll get that great crust on the cheese like in a restaurant. Enjoy!

Quick Celery Root and Leek Soup (dairy-free, gluten-free)

This is a quick and easy soup that tastes wonderful; creamy and rich even without dairy or thickening. Provides 2 large bowls or 4 smaller ones if you’re using it as an appetizer.

You’ll need:

2 good sized leeks, white and green parts only, cut in half and washed then sliced into 1/2 inch pieces
2 tablespoons olive oil
2-3 garlic cloves depending on how much you like garlic
1/2 teaspoon of your favorite herb mixture
1 medium celery root, peeled and diced (like potatoes, the smaller you dice the root, the quicker it will cook)
3 cups of light vegetable broth (or if you prefer chicken stock or broth)
Salt and pepper to taste

In a medium sized pot, heat oil and add the leeks and lightly salt them; cook until tender, about 8-10 minutes. Add the garlic (you don’t need to slice it, just peel it) as well as the herbs. Add the stock or broth along with the diced celery root, salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a boil then reduce heat and simmer, covered, until celery root is tender. Blend in a blender or with an immersion blender until smooth.

Carrot Cake (dairy, gluten, egg, and refined sugar free)

My husband’s favorite cake is carrot cake, so moist and flavorful. One of my favorites as well since it has so little sweetener because of the sweetness of the carrots. This recipe allows you to add some granulated fructose, stevia, or chopped dates in place of the sugar.

Preheat oven to 350 degree. Lightly grease a large 12-cup bundt pan.

In a large bowl, combine:

2 cups finely grated carrots (one 12 ounce bag of baby carrots)
1/4 cup fructose or chopped dates (or 2 teaspoons of stevia)
4 teaspoons of baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon xantham gum
1 tablespoon vinegar
1/4 cup oil or 1/4 cup applesauce (or pear sauce)

Mix well to combine. Add:

1 3/4 cups Bobs 1 for 1 gluten-free flour
1/2 cup Bobs Sweet Sorghum flour
1/4 cup potato flour
1/4 cup coconut flakes (optional)
1/4 cup raisins, cranberries, currents, etc. (optional)
1/4 cup ground walnuts, sunflower or pumpkin seeds, hemp hulls, etc. (optional)

Mix while adding 1 1/2 cup club soda. If the batter is too thick, add more club soda until batter is the consistency of thick mashed potatoes.

Bake 60-75 minutes depending on how hot your oven runs. Cool on a rack for 10-15 minutes before turning out of the pan. Cool completely before frosting.

Frost with plain cream cheese frosting:

1 8-ounce package of non-dairy cream cheese
1-3 tablespoons of agave nectar, depending on how sweet your family likes frosting (you can also use honey or coconut nectar)
1 teaspoon vanilla

Mix using a hand mixer until smooth and creamy.

Easy Maple Walnut Cake (dairy-free, gluten-free, egg-free, refined sugar-free)

If your family likes a gooey, nutty, sweet dessert, but you don’t have a lot of time to make desserts and they’re hungry for a sweet right now, this one is a great one to try. My husband loved it with the sugar-free vanilla ice cream on top but I’m sure a non-dairy frozen dessert would work just as well. Very easy and quick to make. It took me less than ten minutes to get it in the oven. Should be served hot. Serves 4-6 depending on portion size. Doubles well if you need more servings.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Liberally grease a 5×8″ baking pan. If you don’t have a 5×8″ baking pan, you could make individual cakes in a muffin tin.

Heat in a small saucepan until it boils:

1/2 cup maple syrup (I used my husband’s Maple Grove Sugar-Free syrup)

Mix in a medium sized bowl:

1/2 cup all-purpose gluten-free flour (I used Bob’s Red Mill 1for1)
1/8 cup sweet sorghum flour
1/8 to 1/4 cup of sweetener such as granulated fructose (or you could use stevia but of course not as much, probably 1 tablespoon would be more than enough since this is just to add a little sweetness to the cake); or agave or coconut nectar but then decrease the amount of milk to adjust for the liquid sweetener.
1/2 teaspoon guar gum
1 tablespoon oil
1/2 cup non-dairy milk of choice

Mix well and then add:

1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon softened margarine of choice
1/4 cup non-dairy milk of choice or enough to make it the consistence of soft mashed potatoes

Mix well until margarine is well combined. Pour the hot syrup into the bottom of the baking dish and pour the mixture (or spoon if easier but be sure to cover as much of the syrup as possible). Bake for 20-25 minutes until golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean. If you’re using the muffin pan, check them after 10 minutes.

Place on a cooling rack for 5-10 minutes; loosen the cake from the sides of the pan and then turn out onto a serving plate. Sprinkle the top liberally with chopped or ground walnuts. If you want it nut free, use hemp hulls, sunflower or pumpkin seeds instead of the walnuts. Serve with some non-dairy frozen dessert, whipped topping, or sugar-free ice cream.

Quinoa Salad (gluten-free, dairy-free)

This is easy to make and one of those dishes where you can follow my recipe exactly or add whatever vegetables your family likes. Quick and easy. To turn this side dish into a meal, simply add 12 ounces of flaked tuna or salmon, or cooked chicken. If you want to add more fiber, you can add some sunflower or pumpkin seeds, or even some hemp hulls or chia seeds. This recipe is also very easily reduced to make fewer servings.

Put in a 2 quart saucepan:

1 cup plain or red quinoa
2 cups water

Cover and cook on medium heat until water is absorbed, about 15 minutes. Remove from heat and fluff with a fork before you put it in the fridge to cool.

To a 10-12 inch skillet heat:

1 tablespoon olive oil

Add:

1 small red onion chopped
1 small zucchini sliced
1 small summer or yellow squash sliced
1-2 cloves of garlic depending on size
1 small yellow, orange or red pepper chopped

Saute over medium heat until softened. Put aside to cool.

Add to the pan:

1/2 cup shredded carrot (I like to use the rainbow)
1/2 cup diced jicama (or if you prefer apple)
1/2 cup sliced snap or snow peas
1/2 to 1 cup of cooked green peas
1/2 cup cooked yellow or white corn

In a large mixing bowl, add the quinoa and all the vegetables. Add 1/2 to 3/4 cup of your favorite vinaigrette and mix thoroughly. Chill. You may need to add more of the vinaigrette after you’ve chilled it since it may dry out as the quinoa absorbs more of the liquid. I like to serve this on a bed of red leaf lettuce. This recipe serves 8-10 as a side dish.

Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting (dairy-free, sugar-free)

This is a very easy recipe. In a medium bowl, place:

one container non-dairy cream cheese (Daiya, Kite Hill, etc.)
1/4 cup pureed strawberries
2 tablespoons agave nectar (more or less depending on how sweet your family likes their frosting)
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

With your hand mixer on low, mix; as it comes together, you can speed up your mixer to add more air to the frosting. If the mixture is too thick, add more strawberry puree; if it is too loose, add more non-dairy cream cheese.

Strawberry Cream Pie (dairy-free, gluten-free, egg-free)

My husband doesn’t often enjoy my “special” recipes but this is one he flips over. Its one of his favorite things about strawberry season. Over the years, I’ve tried a number of different pie crust recipes trying to develop a really tasty, flaky, gluten-free pie crust. I haven’t been very successful. I’ve found the tastiest gluten-free pie crust, but not sugar-free, in my local supermarket’s frozen-food section, Wholly gluten-free by Wholly Wholesome. Although not sugar-free, it has a very low amount of sugar, just 2 grams per serving.

Pre-bake pie shell in 375 degree oven following directions on the reverse of the label. Let cool. While that’s cooling make the cream:

Put in a 2 quart pot:

1 1/2 cups rice milk, or your favorite non-dairy milk [DO NOT use soymilk]
3/4 cup granulated fructose or 1/2 cup agave nectar, or 1 Tablespoon stevia

Bring to a boil. While its heating, blend:

1/2 cup of your non-dairy milk with
2 tablespoon cornstarch

When the milk is boiling, whisk in the cornstarch slurry and continue whisking until the mixture thickens. Take off the heat and add:

2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 tablespoons of your favorite margarine

Blend until well mixed and margarine has melted. Cool. When the cream is almost cold, pour into the baked pie shell and refrigerate until thoroughly chilled.

You can either use one cup of strawberry jam as a topping for this cream, or use the following:

In a small pot mix

1 cup mashed strawberries
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Cook, stirring constantly, until mixture comes to a boil. If you remove this from the heat when it starts to thicken instead of waiting for a boil, you’ll have a looser topping like mine above. If you let it boil, you’ll have more like a the strawberry jam consistency.

Top with your favorite non-dairy whipped topping or you can decorate with strawberry cream cheese frosting.

Strawberry Jam (sugar free)

This is one of my favorite times of the year — strawberry season. What a wonderful treat fresh picked strawberries are; they make so many great things, so much more than just strawberry shortcake. I should probably tell you that I was never able to make jellies or jams, tried for years without any success. But when I discovered Pomona’s Universal Pectin, it works every time! Like magic!

Here’s a delicious and easy recipe for sugar-free strawberry jam. Note that you can also make raspberry, blackberry, peach, apple, pear, plum, prune, etc., jams using this method.

Wash and hull:

9 cups fresh strawberries

You can either mash them with a potato masher or puree them in your food processor; it all depends on how smooth you want your jam. If you like pieces of strawberry in your jam, use the masher.

Follow the instructions on Pomona’s Universal Pectin* to make calcium water.

Put in a 3 quart or larger pot:

8 cups strawberries, pureed or mashed
4 teaspoons calcium water

Bring to a boil.

While you’re waiting for the strawberries to heat, combine:

3/4 cup agave nectar with
4 teaspoons Pomona’s Universal Pectin

I find the pectin mixes best into the nectar if you add the pectin to the agave rather than adding the agave to the pectin. Use a small whisk to blend.

When the strawberries are bubbling, stir in the pectin-nectar mixture. Continue heating for several minutes (2-3) to dissolve the pectin. Remove from heat. Pour into water bathed jars. This should make 4 pint jars and a 1/2 pint jar.

You can either put these filled jars into a water bath for 10 minutes or, I prefer the easier method of just letting them cool completely and then placing them in the freezer.

Use Pomona’s Universal Pectin because it’s specifically created to work with low or no sugar recipes.

Chocolate Chip Cookies (gluten, dairy, egg, and refined sugar free)

In fact, these cookies have no flour in them at all. Here’s what you can do with the chickpeas you have left over when you use the agua fava (or aquafaba; bean water) in a recipe. These are pretty good although not as chewy as the high calorie version and they can be quite soft. Adding a nut butter, I use tahini since I’m allergic to nuts, gives them a great flavor. I like to freeze them because they taste really good frozen; it adds the chewiness that you get in regular chocolate chip cookies.

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees; cover a large cookie sheet with parchment paper and spray with a non-stick spray.

Put in your food processor

12 oz can of garbonzo beans drained
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/3 cup nut butter or tahini
2 scoops protein powder (I really like the Garden of Eden Vanilla in this recipe)
1/2 cup chopped dates (Whole Foods has a store brand of chopped dates that are coated in oat flour instead of the traditional sugar)*
1/2 cup water
2 teaspoons of baking powder

Blend until the garbonzo beans and dates are pureed into the mixture. I watch until I don’t see any more lumps and then blend it for several more minutes since its not the most pleasant experience to bite into a large chunk of chickpea when eating a cookie!

Stir into mixture 1/2 cup chocolate chips (I use Chatfield Carob Chips) [be sure to check the package for allergens such as dairy and sugar]. Drop by tablespoons (or 1/4 cup measure) onto the prepared cookie sheet and then, with the back of a wet spoon, flatten cookies. Bake for approximately 12-18 minutes depending on how large or small you make the cookies. Makes between 10 to 20 cookies depending on size.

*If you don’t like the taste of dates or they have too much sugar content, you can use 1/4 cup of agave, honey, or coconut nectar in this recipe or 1 tablespoon stevia. If you add one of the nectars, be sure to decrease the water to 1/4 cup.

Tip: I’m really bad about flattening cookies; these work as bars just as well so I usually spread the batter in a 9×9 or 8×10 greased pan and increase the baking time to 20-25 minutes.

Cole Slaw Two Ways (dairy-free, egg-free)

With a small cabbage (I like to use Chinese cabbage), remove outer leaves and cut in slides or wedges. Put in your food processor and pulse until medium dice (depending on what you like, me I like to taste the cabbage but I know people, like my husband, who like cole slaw finely diced).

Put in a medium to large bowl depending on how much cabbage you have and add:

1/2 cup diced scallion
1/2 cup shredded carrots

To make the dressing, put in a small bowl:

1 cup mayonnaise (see my recipe for egg-free mayonnaise)
1/2 teaspoon celery seeds
1 tablespoon agave nectar

Stir until mixed and add to the cabbage mixture. Depending on the amount of cabbage you have, you may need a little more or a little less mayonnaise. Salt and pepper to taste.

If you’d rather not have a mayonnaise-based cole slaw, here’s a vinaigrette to use instead:

Blend together: