Soup Night

I like cream soups more than I like brothy ones. I also like to use items that are kind of not at their peak – not spoiled – but not really the best they could be. However, I don’t think true cream soups – made with half and half, full-fat cream, etc., are the best for overall health. So, I use my own methods. Follows is a spinach soup, but you can use any vegetable you want in its place. I even use lettuce that is not really perky, and it all comes out fine. So, here you go!

Cream of Spinach (or Whatever) Soup

olive oil – 2-3 T.
1/4-1/2 chopped onion
6 oz. spinach
3 c. chicken stock
Pepper, salt, garlic powder, nutmeg – or other flavors for seasoning
1 c. unsweetened, plain almond milk
1 c. Greek yogurt
Parmesan cheese, sour cream, full cream, or whatever you want for garnish

Saute onion in heated oil. Add spinach and saute some more. Pour in chicken broth and cover. Cook until spinach is soft and wilted. If you use other vegetables, you may need to simmer longer. If you do, watch your pot and add more liquid if necessary! Season with your choice of seasoning. Remove to blender – or use immersion blender – and puree until very smooth. Return to pot and stir in almond milk and yogurt. Blend well. Heat through. Strain if you have bits of stuff you want to get rid of or just to be fancy and serve in bowl. Garnish with garnish of your choice.

Serves 2-3.

Delicious Dessert: Clafoutis!

I’m a sucker for summertime desserts, especially those involving fresh fruit. Besides pies and crisps, clafoutis is a brilliant one – simple, not full of sugar, and very tasty. Most ingredients are right on hand, too. I made this one for people with gut problems (IBD), but put the non-gut-problem ingredients in ( ).

Clafoutis

2 large eggs, beaten
1/2 c. almond milk (or regular milk, half and half, or cream)
1/4 c. honey (white sugar)
2 T. melted butter
zest of 1 lemon, more or less depending on taste
1 tsp. vanilla or almond extract
pinch salt
1/2 c. oat flour (regular flour)
2 c. fresh fruit – cherries are traditional – I used frozen (other fruits such as berries, stone fruits, etc.)
(1 – 2 T powdered sugar for garnish)

Preheat oven to 325 F. Grease 9″ pan with butter or non-stick spray.

Beat together eggs, milk, honey, melted butter, lemon, salt, extract. Mixture will be thick like cream, but not heavy batter. Use a whisk – save some dish washing. Whisk in flour gradually to keep a smooth batter. Pour into pan. Place fruit in pattern or randomly on top.

Bake on middle rack of oven 40-50 minutes, checking half way through to see if you need to rotate pan.

Remove from oven, cool. If you want to add the powdered sugar for garnish, wait until clafoutis is cooled so it doesn’t melt. Serve warm or cold. Great for dessert or breakfast.

Devour!

Honey Vanilla Frozen Yogurt

Ice cream anyone? Really, frozen yogurt. I made some and it is really, really good and rich. I have a Krups freezer that goes around in circles to churn it. So, here is my recipe.

Honey Vanilla Frozen Yogurt

4 egg yolks
1/4 – 1/3 c. honey (vary with your desired sweetness)
2.5 – 3.0 c. SCD yogurt – strained

Using a double boiler, heat water below level of upper pan. As water is heating, beat together egg yolks and honey in upper pan. (If you heat the honey to make it easier to pour, watch your temperature. You don’t want to get it hot enough to cook the yolks.) Beat vigorously with a whisk. Put egg-honey mixture pan on top of boiler, continue to beat vigorously. After mixture begins to thicken, beat in yogurt – don’t dump it at once into eggs, but perhaps a cup at a time. Using an instant-read thermometer, beat and heat to 165F. At this temperature, remove upper pan, pour mixture into container to cool. At this point I added

1 T. vanilla extract

Cool mixture in refrigerator until chilled.

Before using the ice cream maker, you may wish to sieve the ice cream if it looks lumpy. Freeze according to your ice cream maker’s directions – mine took about 20 minutes.

This ice cream (yogurt) is very rich because of the egg custard. The yogurt adds a tang which is a nice contrast to the honey. I think this could be the basis for all flavors – like raspberry, etc.

Store in freezer-safe container, and then – DEVOUR!

Saturday Morning Sides

I’ve been on a Mediterranean food kick of late.

This morning I was in the mood to put together some foods to have on hand over the next few days. Since I am off work, it makes sense to do something – particularly when I want to do something! So, I put together a couple of sides, one which we like to have on hand, and another we had in a restaurant the other night.

First side was to make some tzatziki. This is so easy it’s ridiculous, and really worth the bit of time to make it from scratch, because scratch is always better.

Tzatziki

2 c. Greek yogurt (I used homemade!)
1 large English cucumber
5-7 cloves garlic
1 T. fresh dill
juice of 2 lemons
salt
pepper
olive oil

Grate the cucumber. Place in strainer, mix with about a tsp. of salt. Place where the liquid from the cucumber can drain while you do the rest of the prep. Let the cucumbers sit for about 30 minutes.

Finely mince the garlic – we use a microplane. Juice the lemons. Chop the dill. Stir in the yogurt.

Rinse the cucumbers. Squeeze out as much liquid as you can. If you like, put the cucumbers onto a towel, or paper toweling, and squeeze and press out as much liquid as you can. Turn into yogurt-lemon-garlic-dill mixture. Pour in a tablespoon or two of olive oil. Mix well. Taste. Add salt as you wish, and pepper.

Refrigerate in container. Stir before using.

The next thing I did was throw together a sort of tapenade, mixed up from what I had on hand.

Sun-Dried Tomato, Anchovy, and Olive Tapenade

8 oz. / 1 c. sun-dried tomatoes in oil – use all of it
1 small can of anchovy fillets
2-3 T. capers
20 kalamata olives, pitted (if already pitted, slice them where the seeds might be – you don’t want them messing up your food processor!)
2-3 cloves garlic
1-2 finely chopped cayenne peppers (optional)
2 T. balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper to taste; olive oil to thin to your liking

In a mini-blender, put in tomatoes, anchovies, capers, garlic, olives, peppers, and vinegar. Whir together into a chunky paste. Taste. Add seasoning as you wish, and to thin, you may add some of the oil from the anchovies or a bit of olive oil on the side. Refrigerate for a few hours to meld flavors. Store in closed container for up to a week. Good on crackers or bread or straight out of the jar.

And there you have it – Saturday morning sides when you have nothing better to do!

Me & My Cookie Scoop: Gluten-Free Almond Butter Cookies

I don’t like peanut butter. I’m off gluten. I love cookies.

It’s a hot, Sunday afternoon, and I am lolling around, overheated and sleepy.

What is a girl to do?

Well, one of the best – really the best gluten-free chocolate chip cookies can be found at My Gluten Free Kitchen – peanut butter cookies at My Gluten Free Kitchen so I went there in search of some kind of nut butter cookies, but finding only peanut butter, used the recipe as a basis for my own. The major differences are different gluten-free flour and use of almond butter and slivered almonds instead of peanut butter and peanut butter baking chips. (Ugh! You just don’t know how much I dislike peanut butter!!) But, these are pretty good, if I do not-so-modestly say so myself.

Gluten-Free Almond Butter Cookies

1.5 c. Bob’s Red Mill 1-for-1 Gluten-Free Flour
1/2 t. baking powder
3/4 t. baking soda
1/4 t. salt
1/2 c. softened, unsalted butter
1 c. almond butter (unsalted from Trader Joe’s)
3/4 c. white sugar
1/2 c. dark brown sugar
1 egg
1 T. cream / half-and-half
1 t. vanilla extract
1 c. slivered almonds

Preheat oven to 350F. Beat together butter, almond butter, and sugars till creamy. Beat in egg and vanilla until fluffy. Add the flour, soda, salt, powder, and beat until well blended. Stir in slivered almonds

Refrigerate dough for at least 30 minutes. Gluten-free baking – at least cookies – seem to do better with chilled dough. Use a cookie scoop or a couple of teaspoons to make your cookies.

If you like, roll your cookies in granulated sugar before baking.

Bake for 8-10 minutes. Be sure to make test cookies! Let cool a few minutes on cookie sheet, then remove to wire rack to cool.

When done – devour!!