Here’s a very quick and easy side dish if you like mustard and asparagus. Use either green or white, makes no difference. If your asparagus is more than pencil size, peel it to get rid of the tough skin. I used spicy brown mustard which is my favorite but feel free to use any mustard that your family enjoys. The same with the herbs – I used thyme because it’s my favorite but most herbs would work well in this recipe, either fresh or dried.
First, prepare by peeling and/or removing the woody portion at the bottom:
1 pound asparagus
Place in a steamer and cook until fork tender but still a little crunchy, about 4-7 minutes depending on the size of the asparagus spears.
While the asparagus steams, make the sauce in a medium bowl by whisking together:
2 teaspoons rice vinegar
1 teaspoon honey (agave nectar or date syrup would also work)
1 tablespoon mustard
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon fresh herbs or 1/4 teaspoon dried herbs (I used thyme)
Once asparagus is cooked, remove from heat and add to the bowl of sauce, toss to combine. Serve hot or cold. Serves 2.
This is a quick bread – uses baking powder and baking soda as rising agents instead of yeast. Yet it comes out quite light and fluffy, almost a savory cake consistency. For a finer grain use quinoa flour rather than attempting to grind your own. Using my food processor, I pulsed the raw quinoa for almost five minutes without successfully grinding even half the two cups.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Liberally spray or grease an 8×5″ loaf pan (I used a glass one for more even cooking). In a medium to large mixing bowl combine:
2 cups ground raw quinoa (or flour)
1 cup oat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
Whisk to combine and aerate. In a smaller (4 cup) bowl combine:
2 cups oat milk (or any non-dairy milk)
3 tablespoons avocado oil (or any oil will work)*
1 tablespoon vinegar
1 tablespoon maple syrup
Whisk and add to the dry ingredients. Using a spoon or hand mixer on low, mix until combined. Batter will be thinner than cookie dough. Pour into the prepared pan. Place in middle rack of oven with a piece of parchment paper loosely covering it so that it doesn’t over-brown. Remove the paper after 30 minutes. Bake for a total of 60-70 minutes until a toothpick comes out of the middle clean. Cool completely before removing from pan.
*TIP: Add your oil before any type of syrup and the sweetener will run right out of the measure.
There are lots of recipes for vegan “butter” on the internet but most have a nut base.
In a blender combine:
1 cup avocado oil (or any oil you like but the avocado has a very light flavor)
1/3 cup non-dairy milk (I used oat)
1 teaspoon vinegar
2 teaspoons nutritional yeast
Pinch of turmeric
1/2 teaspoon of sea salt
Blend until smooth, about 30 seconds to 1 minutes. Pour into a 2-cup dish with a lid. Place in the freezer for 1 hour and then transfer to the refrigerator until set (about 2-4 hours or if you skip the freezer, overnight 6-8 hours).
Gluten-free breads that don’t contain eggs are, more often than not, bricks, heavy and gummy in texture. For those of you who, like me, miss bread and keep looking for something to sop up that gravy, or make a small sandwich with, here we go! These rolls are hearty but not heavy and even when hot not gummy. Two tips to dispel the gummy texture – bake longer than a recipe suggests and slice the tops so that the moisture can escape.
If you don’t have a warming drawer or warm location, heat oven to 125 degrees. Grease a 9″ cake pan or pie plate and set aside. Then, in a small bowl combine:
1 tablespoon ground flax seed (golden is more appealing to the eye in baked goods)
3 tablespoons cup hot water
Set aside for 5-10 minutes until the mixture forms a flax gel. In the bowl of a mixer (or a medium-large mixing bowl) combine:
1 cup millet flour
1 cup oat flour
1/2 cup white rice flour
1/4 cup arrowroot or tapioca flour
2 teaspoons guar gum
2 teaspoons instant or rapid rise dry yeast
1/4 cup date sugar
Use a whisk to combine these ingredients before adding:
1 teaspoon sea salt
Put the dough hook on your mixer (or if you don’t have a stand mixer, use a wooden spoon). Using the lowest setting on the mixer add:
1 cup warm water (between 105 and 110 degrees)*
When blended, stop mixer and add:
2 tablespoons vegan butter (see recipe below or use one of your own), a prepared margarine such as Earth Balance, or Spectrum shortening, melted or softened
the prepared flax gel
1 teaspoon vinegar
Using the medium speed of the mixer, mix using the dough hook for 3 minutes, do not overmix! Or mix with the wooden spoon for several minutes. Use a cookie scoop (2″) or 1/4 cup measure (don’t quite fill the measuring cup) to scoop out the dough, form into balls and place in the prepared baking pan. Cover with a dry clean cloth.
TURN OFF THE OVEN before placing the rolls in the oven to rise for 45-60 minutes or until doubled in size. If you have a warm spot, like a radiator or warming drawer, use it instead. Remove the rolls when they are proofed and heat the oven to 400 degrees. Cut a cross in the top of each roll before placing them in the preheated oven. Bake 25-30 minutes (I baked mine about 32 minutes, having gotten interested in the Olympics while they were baking!). Makes 8-10 rolls.
If you want a soft top to the roll, brush with melted vegan butter or margarine. If you want a crusty roll bake on a sheet pan so that they don’t touch while baking (baking time may be shorter).
*Either use your wrist (like with a baby’s bottle) to be sure the water is only lukewarm, you shouldn’t feel either cold or hot on your wrist, or a thermometer to ensure the water is 105-110 degrees.
EASY VEGAN “BUTTER”
There are lots of recipes for vegan “butter” on the internet but most have a nut base.
In a blender combine:
1 cup avocado oil (or any oil you like but the avocado has a very light flavor)
1/3 cup non-dairy milk (I used oat)
1 teaspoon vinegar
2 teaspoons nutritional yeast
Pinch of turmeric
1/2 teaspoon of sea salt
Blend until smooth, about 30 seconds to 1 minutes. Pour into a 2-cup dish with a lid. Place in the freezer for 1 hour and then transfer to the refrigerator until set (about 2-4 hours or if you skip the freezer, overnight 6-8 hours).
I love chickpea brownies and carob chip cookies but it never occurred to me to use them in a frozen “ice cream” until I saw a recipe on Pinterest. I’ve had to adapt it slightly to omit the nut butter and chocolate but it is very delicious, lusciously smooth and creamy. I added some carob powder but flavor it any way you like – some strong coffee in place of half the non-dairy milk, carob chips, or using various seed or nut butters will add various flavors. Also, using various extracts or oils could add different flavors, instead of vanilla extract, use some mint, orange, lemon, or even butterscotch flavored extracts.
In the bowl of a blender place:
1 15 ounce can chickpeas (garbanzo beans), drained
1/2 cup dates (I used chopped but if using whole dates, be sure to soak them if they’re dried so that they will break down in the blender)
1/4 cup seed butter – tahini, pumpkin seed, sunflower seed, etc.
1/3 cup protein powder (any kind or flavor)
1/4 cup carob powder
1 cup non-dairy milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Blend until the dates are broken down and the mixture is smooth. If one is available, put mixture into an ice cream freezer for 30-40 minutes and then transfer to individual serving dishes to freeze or eat immediately. If an ice cream freezer isn’t available, transfer to individual serving dishes and freeze for 1-2 hours or until you want to eat it!
This is a very quick and easy pudding to make and tastes creamy and rich just like one made with milk and cream. I garnished mine with roasted pumpkin seeds but if you can have one of the plant based whipped creams, that would work even better.
Put in a medium saucepan (2 quart):
2 cups oat milk (any milk EXCEPT soy would work)
about 1/8 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 cup carob powder
1/4 cup agave nectar (or 1/3 cup honey or date syrup)
Whisk until well blended. Place over medium high heat. In a small bowl whisk:
1/2 cup oat milk
3 tablespoons arrowroot or tapioca flour
When the carob mixture begins to steam showing that it’s getting hot, pour in the arrowroot mixture and begin whisking the pudding as it will thicken quickly once the mixture comes just to a boil. Continue whisking until it thickens. Remove from heat and add:
1/4 cup carob chips (Optional but makes for a richer pudding)
1 tablespoon vegan butter or margarine
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Whisk until smooth. Pour into ramekins and cool. Cover with small amounts of plastic wrap to keep the pudding from forming a skin (I actually like the skin the best so I don’t mind it). Makes 4-6 servings depending on the size of your ramekins (or old-fashioned pudding bowls!).
I ate only one little slice of pumpkin pie on Thanksgiving and its one of my favorites so I thought about the pie squares that were so popular in the 70s and 80s, especially those lemon and pumpkin ones and decided to see if I could make an allergy free alternative. Low and behold, no pumpkin in the cupboard but sweet potato puree in excess. And they turned out sooooooo good! Creamy and delicious. I topped the pan with roasted pumpkin seeds which added a nice contrast of textures to the dessert. If desired, of course, pumpkin could be substituted but probably you’d want to add more sweetener and I’d recommend using coconut or date sugar rather than additional liquid.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In the bowl of a food processor, pulse until combined into a crumbly texture:
1 cup gluten-free all purpose flour
1/2 cup old fashioned oats
1/2 cup date sugar
1/2 cup vegan margarine or cold olive or avocado oil (it will get thick and turn white when frozen or chilled for a day or two)
When crumbly, press into the bottom of a 9×13″ baking pan. Mix in a medium bowl:
1 can sweet potato puree or 2 cups of mashed sweet potatoes
1/4 cup maple syrup
3/4 cup non-dairy milk (any except soy)
1 tablespoon avocado oil
2 tablespoons corn starch or arrowroot
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
1/3 cup pumpkin seed protein or any protein powder you have on hand
1/4 to 1/3 cup roasted pumpkin seeds (optional)
Whisk together until combined and smooth. Pour into the prepared pan, sprinkle with the seeds if desired, and bake for 25-30 minutes until set. Chill thoroughly before cutting. Top with a non-dairy whip if desired.
Most gluten-free muffins (and breads) are very gummy, overly moist. These are not! They have a very soft crumb but are not crumbly or overly dry. By finely dicing an Asian pear, these have a great crunch along with the spices. Just delicious! And fairly quick and easy to put together and bake (about 30 minutes altogether). Of course, apple can be used instead of pear.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray or grease a 12-muffin pan and set aside. In a medium bowl, combine:
1/4 cup avocado oil (or other mild oil)
1/2 cup gluten-free oat milk (or other non-dairy milk)
4 tablespoons pear sauce (1/4 cup + 1 tablespoon)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 tablespoons date sugar (1/4 cup + 1 tablespoon)
3/4 cup finely diced Asian pear (1 small)
Stir to combine before adding:
1 1/2 cup gluten-free flour blend (one with guar or xanthan gum already in it)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1/2 teaspoon coriander
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
Mix thoroughly until combined. Spoon into muffin cups (about 2/3 full), sprinkle with date sugar if desired and bake for 15-18 minutes until skewer comes out clean.
I’ve been looking at all kinds of recipes for baked “oats”. But none of them have actual oatmeal in them, they all use oat flour. So here’s my alternative. I’ve added some quinoa flour and oat protein powder to the mix to increase the protein content of the pudding as well as increasing the sweetener a little because the flour, at least in my opinion, overrides the taste of the pumpkin and spices. I didn’t think of it until after they were in the oven but adding some roasted pepitas would some crunch.
As a reminder for those of you new to my blog, there are a number of allergen-free recipes here to make your Thanksgiving dinner allergen free such as gluten-free gravy (and fat free), string-bean casserole, vegan pumpkin pie, and a delicious mushroom and Italian sausage stuffing (which I made this year with a loaf of that quick and easy oat bread on the blog).
Lightly grease 6, 6-ounce ramekins and pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl whisk together:
1 can pumpkin puree
1 cup quinoa flour
3/4 cup oat flour
1/4 cup pumpkin protein powder (or any protein powder you use, vanilla or even chocolate would work)
1/3 to 1/2 cup maple syrup (or honey, coconut nectar, date syrup, etc.)
2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 cup dairy-free milk (any will do but I would advise against using soy)
1/4 cup roasted pepita seeds
1/4 teaspoon of salt
Whisk until smooth then scoop into the ramekins to about 1/2″ from the top. Dust top with more pumpkin pie spice. Place on a baking sheet and bake for 15-17 minutes or until set.
It’s that time of year again! Time to pull out the gingerbread recipes along with all the pumpkin and spices. Here’s a very easy ginger cookie recipe that takes very little time to throw together and only 10 minutes to bake so in a mere 20 minutes you’ve got cookies – just as quickly as any tube of cookie dough you buy in the grocery store. And oh so delicious!
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a large baking sheet by covering with parchment paper. In a medium mixing bowl combine:
1 tablespoon ground flax
3 tablespoons warm water
Stir to combine and let sit for a minute or two until a gel forms. Add:
1/2 cup pepita butter (or sunflower butter, tahini, etc.)
1/3 cup date sugar
2 tablespoons molasses
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Using a hand mixer, mix until fully combined. Add:
3 tablespoons all-purpose gluten-free flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon allspice
Using a spoon, mix in the dry ingredients. This is too thick for the hand mixer. When combined, using a small cookie scoop, place scoops on the prepared baking sheet and flatten. Makes about 15 cookies. Bake for 10-12 minutes. Cool on cooling rack.
cookingwithoutallergens 