Lamb Korma and Spinach with Golden Cauliflower

It seems that I am not very consistent in my blogging these past months, I tend to go in spurts!  Oh well, my thoughts are, as long as I get to share with you the yummy recipes that we eat, then that is all that matters!

These recipes are from my "Best Ever Curry" recipe book.  This recipe book is a staple in our house, not one recipe has failed us, and there is so much variety with in the book, it might be the only one you need!

The lamb recipe is right from the book, however the cauliflower recipe is actually my take on the traditional spinach with golden potatoes dish.

Spinach with Golden Cauliflower

1 lb spinach

2 tbsp vegetable oil

1 tsp black mustard seeds

1 onion thinly sliced

2 garlic cloves, crushed

1 inch piece fresh root ginger finely chopped

1 large head of cauliflower, cut into 1 inch chunks

1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup water

Blanch the spinach in boiling water for 3-4 minutes, then drain in a sieve and leave to cool.  When it is cool enough to handle, squeeze out any remaining liquid using the back of a wooden spoon or with your hands.
Heat the oil in a large pan over a medium heat and fry the mustard seeds until they begin to sputter.
Add the sliced onion, crushed garlic and chopped ginger and fry for about 5 minutes, stirring.
Stir in the cauliflower, chili powder, salt and water and cook for 8 minutes, stirring occasionally. 
Add the spinach to the pan.  Cover and simmer for 10-15 minutes until the cauliflower is tender.  Serve.

Lamb Korma
1 tbsp white sesame seeds
1 tbsp white poppy seeds
1/2 cup blanched almonds
2 fresh green chillies, seeded
6 garlic cloves, sliced
2 inch piece fresh ginger root, sliced
1 onion, finely chopped
3 tbsp ghee or vegetable oil
6 green cardamon pods
2 inch piece cinnamon stick
4 cloves
2 lb lean lamb, boned and cubed
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander

Preheat wok over a medium heat without any fat, and add the first seven ingredients.  Stir until they begin to change colour.  They should go just a shade darker.
Allow the mixture to cook, then grind to a fine paste using a food processor.  Heat the ghee or oil in the pan over a low heat.
Fry the cardamoms, cinnamon and cloves until the cloves swell.  Add the lamb, ground cumin and coriander and the prepared paste, and season with salt, to taste.  Increase the heat to medium and stir well.  Reduce the heat to low, the cover the pan and cook until the lam is almost done.
Garnish with the sesame seeds.

I forgot to mention how much Eyla loved this dish, here is a picture of her dinner plate before my husband and I sat down!

Crispbread Revisited

I thought I would try something different for this recipe and I am glad it did.  I wanted to add a little more protein so I added quinoa flakes to the mix.  It came out a little more fragile, but not much, the best part is it is crispier and nuttier... oh so good.  Our house agrees so far this is the best version!

1 1/8 cup ground almonds

1 cup rice flour

1/2 cup oats

1/2 cup quinoa flakes

1 tsp salt

3 tbsp canola oil

1 and a bit cup of water

Preheat oven to 400F.Mix dry ingredients, then add oil and water. I usually add enough water so that is sticks well together, depending on what kind of flour you are using you may need more or less. Then mix well together. Cut 2 pieces of parchment paper the size of a large cookie sheet. Place dough onto one sheet and place the other sheet on top and roll out to fill the cookie sheet. It helps having the parchment paper on top as it does not stick to the rolling pin. Take the parchment paper off the top and score the dough into squares... whatever size you like. Then place in the oven for 7 minutes. Then cook at 350F for another 20-25 minutes. Depending on the thickness of your dough, but it should be crispy!

Enjoy!

A quick fun snack

A slice of cucumber, a dollop of almond butter, a sliver of carrot and a few slivered almonds.  ENJOY!

Pure Decadance - Guilt Free!!

I am not taking any credit for this wonderful dessert that I simply cannot say enough good things about this amazing dessert.  Such a delicious treat to indulge your self in.... and not think twice about it!
Please find this wonderful recipe on My New Roots Blog.

Gluten Free Chickpea Chapatis

I honestly cannot remember where I got the recipe for these gluten free indian flat breads.  The one thing I know for sure is that they are VERY quick to make and so tasty!  A girlfriend of mine, dropped in for a wonderful visit this weekend at lunch time and I thought I would make them to accompany an already made soup I threw on the stove.  A wonderful homemade meal in minutes.

Gluten Free Chickpea Chapatis

1 cup chickpea flour

1/3 cup water

2 tablespoons arrowroot powder

1 tablespoon light vegetable oil

1/4 teaspoon salt

Canola oil (for frying pan)

Salt for Seasoning

Mix all ingredients thoroughly. Roll into 1" balls and pat flat. 

With a rolling pin, roll flattened dough balls into thin rounds. 

Heat a lightly oiled frying pan (cast iron recommended) until very hot. Reduce heat to medium high and heat each round for 1-2 minutes on each side, until warmed and slightly browned.  Immediately sprinkle with small amount of salt. 

Sunflower Seed and Teff Cookies

These gluten free treasures are inspired by 'The Green Door" restaurant here in Ottawa.  I fell in love with this restaurant 8 years ago when I started to discover the world of whole foods.  The deserts are a particularly special treat as 95% of them are made without sugar, dairy or eggs.  If you are ever in Ottawa, I highly recommend you stop in for a bite, you will never be disappointed!

It is important that snacks be a source of protein, this is key in regulating blood sugar, which is helpful in regulating weight and more so for toddlers and kiddos... mood, energy and concentration.  Teff flour is a very good source of protein, mixed with the sunflower seeds and rice flour, you are serving up a very tasty complete protein, hoping to satisfy the hungriest of tummies.  In addition, these days it is important to be able to have nut free snacks on hand if ever the need arises. 

Eyla could not wait for these to come out of the oven and when they did, she could barely wait for them to cool.  And Hubby likes them very much also... I had to put some for him in a separate container... his are gone already... 2 days 12 cookies gone!!

So here is the recipe:

Sunflower Seed and Teff Cookies

1 cup brown rice flour

1 cup teff flour

2 cups sunflower seeds, finely ground

2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp ground cardamom

1 tsp salt

3/4 cup canola oil

3/4 cup maple syrup

Preheat oven to 350F.  Mix all the dry ingredients in one bowl.  Whisk oil and maple syrup together in a separate bowl.  Pour the liquid into the dry.  Mix well with a spatula. 

Use two dessert spoons to place the dough on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.  Press the cookie dough with a wet fork until they are fairly thin.  Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, or until they are golden brown and crisp.

Curried Chickpea Salad

This amazing recipe is courtesy of Wholefoods.com.  I made a few modifications to accomodate our diet and I will share those with you below.  Whole Foods Market is a great resource for recipies, and every recipe we have tried thus far has been wonderful. 

My version of Curried Chickpea Salad:

2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons lime juice
1/4 cup olive oil
2 teaspoons curry powder
2 teaspoons maple syrup
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup seedless raisins
1 teaspoon cumin, toasted
2 (15-ounce) cans cooked chickpeas, rinsed and drained
2/3 cup finely chopped red onion
1/2 cup cilantro and parsley, chopped
8 cups mixed greens

In a large bowl, whisk together vinegar, lime juice, olive oil, curry powder, maple syrup and salt. Add raisins, cumin, chickpeas,  onion, parsley and cilantro and toss to combine. Spoon chickpea salad over salad greens.

Eyla loved the chickpeas in this recipe. 

Oatmeal Pancakes with Triple Berry Topping

I created these pancakes because I wanted to make some with completely whole ingredients.  After a few tries, these are very tasty and Eyla loves them, but I think she loves the topping more! 

Oatmeal Pancakes
1 1/2 cups oats
2 cups water
3 heaping tbsp almond butter
1 tbsp canola oil
3 tbsp apple sauce
1/2 tsp salt

Place all ingredients in blender until well blended.  Cook as you would regular pancakes, on a frying pan, wait until bubbles form and burst then flip.  Then place on a rack in the oven to keep warm while you are making the rest of the batch. 

For the topping I just placed frozen berries (blue berries, raspberries and black berries) in a sauce pan with a couple tbsp of water and brought to a boil. 

I hope enjoy your oatmeal in pancakes this Sunday morning!!

Pancakes

Ginger Bread Men

OK so this recipe post is late I admit, but gingerbread does not have to be limited to the holidays, especially when it is such a healthy alternative!  Full credit for this recipe goes to Marita Dreger, author of "Alternative Baking".  Unfortunately this cookbook is no longer in print, however I was lucky enough to receive one from my sister for my birthday a couple of years ago.  She actually emailed Marita and had her send me one of the copies she had in her home.  I am very lucky. Here I will share with you the recipe from her cookbook, using rice flour.

Gingersnaps:  Egg-Free

1 cup brown rice flour

2 tbsp canola oil

1/4 tsp salt

1 pinch each ground cardamom, cloves, mace, star anise

1/8 tsp each ground allspice, ginger, nutmeg

1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

1 1/4 tsp baking powder*

1 tbsp water

1/3 cup rice syrup

In a small bowl, sift flour; pour oil over it.  With Fork, mix ingredients, then rub oil into flour until evenly sandy mixture forms.  Add salt, spices, baking powder, mix thoroughly.

Place sauce pan on stove, and turn heat to medium,  To saucepan, add water, oil and rice syrup.  Mix thoroughly with a fork.  Bring to a boil; immediately remove from heat and pour over dry ingredients, scraping our remainder with spatula.  Immediately stir ingredients briskly with fork until combined and smooth.  Using spatula, form dough into ball; let rest for 4 minutes.

Cut 18x13 inch piece of parchment paper, fold to 9x13, unfold.

With hands, remove dough - it should be soft, thick, not sticky; if sticky, sprinkle on 1/2 to 2 tbsp flour ad mix in; lightly work into smooth, glossy ball.  Place in middle of one half of paper, fold the other half over.  With rolling pin, flatten dough slightly, then roll it between paper to 8 x 12 x 1/8 inch.  Slider paper with dough into baking pan, freeze for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile preheat oven to 325C

Remove pan from freezer, slide dough out of pan.  Peel off then tear off, top paper; use to line bottom of pan.  Quickly cut each cookie and place on paper in rows, 1/4 inch apart.  If dough softens, refreeze for 10 minutes.

Bake at 325F for 8 minutes or until edges darken.  Immediately remove with turning spatula; cool.  Store airtight.  Set aside for several hours to develop flavours.  Keeps 1 week.

*Purest Baking Powder

Icing

The icing is courtesy of Shirley Plant and her cookbook "Finally Food I Can Eat"

For the dark icing we used her Carob Tahini Icing

1/4 cup tahini

1/8 cup nut, soy or rice milk

1 tsp vanilla

1/4 cup maple syrup

1 tbsp carob powder

Blend all ingredients in a bowl and chill in fridge for at least 2 hours.  Note; if your tahini is soft, you may not need any liquid.  We did not use any liquid for our icing as we wanted it thick.  For the light icing we used arrowroot powder in the place of carob powder.

*Purest Baking Powder

Creamy Cauliflower Soup

This soup was inspired by a Whole Foods Recipe for making mashed potatoes out of cauliflower.  Actually it was an accident as I added too much liquid and well we got soup!  Thats what happens when you never follow recipes, yes I admit.  Well I should not say never, when I am baking I will, for the most part. 
So I will give you this recipe, but use your creative intuition, and if you like add some different spices, or what every you like and see what you accidently come up with!!

1 head of cauliflower, or about 6 cups of frozen cauliflower
2 tbsp of flax oil
1 tsp of garlic (powder, or crushed)
salt to taste

Place cauliflower in pot with water and cook until tender.  Add cauliflower, oil and seasoning to blender with 2 cups of cooking water.  Blend until smooth.  Serve and top with parsley if you wish.

We are fortunate enough to have a Vitamix 5200 blender, it has such a high powered motor that it makes everything amazingly smooth.  If you do not have one, that is ok.  Just use what you have and blend until it is a nice consistency.

I hope you enjoy this as much as we do.