Rockin’ Gluten Free Falafel

That’s right Sis, I got you.  In the weird world of cooking for my family, I have made some surprising discoveries.  First, my children don’t like ALL sweet things (and I am so glad). Secondly, my kids usually accept my food dicta without significant complaint and finally (drumroll) my kids will eat anything that has anything to do with chickpeas.  Errrrrrrh….. what what WHAT?  Yes, that’s right chickpeas.  I have no explanation for you.

Don’t get me wrong, I like the little buggers myself, but that discovery certainly had not happened by age 6.  There was not significant trickery to get them to try the little beans, although I admit to calling them tushies and pointing out that they look like a little pile of baby bums.  Some people might not want to eat that, but it worked for my kids… go figure.  So when trying to decide what to make for dinner the other night, and since I was feeling kind of summery and listening to great music, I thought falafel made a lot of sense (if you don’t get the connection you probably wasted less of your 20s than I did).

When I found a falafel recipe, however, I noticed that it had wheat flour and breadcrumbs in it.  Not surprising – most pattie type foods have one or both of these, but thought, I couldn’t possibly serve these to my sister’s family as written, and so I began my usual alteration dance with gluten free falafel as the goal.  And guess what? Gluten free falafel is awesome, regardless of whether or not you’re in the parking lot of a large concert venue.  Gluten free falafel rocked this suburban (okay exurban for the geography geeks – holla!) momma and Ms. Picky Pants?  She had thirds.  Yep. Thirds.  Enough said. If Ms. Picky Pants has thirds, I’m pretty convinced everyone should give this one a go.

Rockin’ Gluten Free Falafel – adapted from Isa Chandra Moskowitz’ falafel found in Vegan with a Vengeance (Grrrrr. Sorry, just being vengeful)

• 1/3 c gluten free rolled oats
• 2 cups cooked chickpeas (canned is fine, just drain and rinse)
• 2 T chickpea flour
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 3/4 t garlic powder ( I usually use fresh garlic, but had a garlic emergency – AAAAGH!)
• 1/2 t baking powder
• 1/2 t ground cumin (more for folks with cumin love – unlike Ms. PP)
• 1 t ground coriander
• 1/4 t of cayenne (I replaced with 1/8 t white pepper – yeah, you get the drill)
• 1/4 c chopped fresh parsley
• 1/2 t salt
• vegetable oil for frying (I used olive oil, but will use safflower next time)
• large leaf lettuce
• falafel fixings (chopped tomato, cukes, whatever floats your boat)
• tahini dressing

Put the oats in a food processor and pulse until the oats look more like bread crumbs than oats.  Add chickpeas and pulse until chickpeas are chopped.  Add ingredients through the salt and process until you have a cohesive, but somewhat coarse mixture.  It will be a little green from the parsley – it’s okay.  You may want to stop the machine and scrape down the sides of the bowl a couple of times. Remove bowl of food processor (with blade inside) and put in the fridge (with the cover on) for at least 1/2 an hour.

When the time is right, form the batter into 2 inch patties about 1/2 inch thick (no, again, I didn’t and won’t any time soon measure).  Warm oil in the bottom of a pan (I used my cast iron and it worked supah).  How much oil?  More than a low fat cook would normally use, but i avoided the 1/2 inch recommended in the original because I thought that was gross.  I know falafel are traditionally deep fried – my shallow fried falafel were fab.  When oil is warm (shimmery and bubbles up a little when a little batter is added), place patties in pan.  Flip after a couple of minutes, watching for browning.  Remove to drain on paper towels or paper bag you wish to reuse.

Tahini Dressing – this one was also from VWAV, and I strayed less, which is to say only because of what was on hand rather than some dietary goal…

• 8 t olive oil
• 1 1/2 garlic powder (or 3 cloves garlic)
• 1/2 c tahini (or realize you don’t have that much and sub out almond butter for half)
• 2 t balsamic vinegar
• 1/2 t salt
• 1/2 t paprika
• 1/4 c parsley
• 1/2 c water

Throw it all in a blender and go.  Yep, that’s it and it’s tremendously good.

Serve the falafel wrapped in a lettuce leaf or your favorite gluten free bread product.  If you aren’t so concerned about gluten, try the traditional pita arrangement.  Add fresh veg and some tahini and you’ve got yourself a little party.  I have to admit.  I ate too many.  They were just so freaking good. Delish.

 

 

This post was shared on Wildcrafting Wednesday.

Sometimes It’s Not That Complicated

I am a member of an online Mom’s group.  I don’t necessarily participate all that much, but when the twins were infants and we had just moved here, it was a lifesaver.  There was always someone around to “talk” to.  I still check in from time to time, to chat with my book club friends, get advice on a restaurant, or help a new Mom know it’s going to be okay.  While I was visiting with my online ladies yesterday, an interesting question caught my eye.

Savory Refrigerator Pancakes

What the heck is that you say?  A savory pancake is one make with whole grains (GF version a little later in the post) without vanilla, cinnamon or sugar in the actual pancake which you then top with sauteed or fresh vegetables and sauces or cheeses or even pumpkin sauce that was in the freezer  Admittedly, the pumpkin sauce was in the freezer because it was meant to be an alternative masc & cheese sauce, but nobody liked it that way.  I kept thinking there would be some other use for it.  But you don’t have to use pumpkin sauce!  You can use frozen macaroni and cheese sauce, or salsa, or a little bit of this and a little bit of that.  Really any leftovers that would be good with bread would be good on a pancake…. and sauce makes everything nice.

Leftovers Transformed – Pot Pie Palooza

I’ve had this idea brewing for a little while… a pot pie that I could eat (given my dietary predilections). Well, okay, I’ve been thinking about pot pie generally for a VERY long time. When I was in high school my Mom would occasionally offer up a Mrs. Budd’s pot pie from the grocery store. High times indeed. I have long been smitten with the pot pie.  I was reminded by my husband that while pregnant with the twins pot pie was one of a very few foods I actually made him go procure for me at strange times (pineapple and watermelon were some of the others). Even now that I don’t eat a lot of what goes into most pot pies, I can still be brought to a slow drool (attractive, right?) with a picture of a pot pie (as a good friend in Boston who can attest to – she unknowingly tortured me with a photo from Harrow’s Chicken Pies, but I digress).

The lovely thing about being somewhat obsessive about pot pies is that a passable pie crust is not nearly as hard as everyone would have you believe, and let’s face it, the crust is really a good part of what awesome pot pie is all about. So yesterday I decided to throw Ms. Picky Pants a bone and construct the perfect pot pie for my daughter with the delicate palate – pre-appproved foods only in this baby. A quick look around the fridge provided the ingredients list (the benefits of cooking extra felt once again). So here it is, my leftovers pot pie!

The Sweet Beast and Morning Decadence

It’s been a while since we specifically talked about sugar. But really it’s a discussion you just kind of keep having.  I have it with myself all the time.  I’m having it right now, in fact, because I’m sitting here wondering why I don’t keep more dessert in the house.  The fact that I’ve been thinking about this for an hour explains why I don’t keep more dessert in the house…  So, maybe it’s time to talk about sugar again.  For those of you who were lured in by the Morning Decadence part of the title – it’s there, recipe included, waiting for you below.

Walnut Crust Apple Pie – GF, DF

Although my whole wheat crusts were never beautiful to look at, they were tasty and I always loved the heartier texture of a whole wheat crust.  My husband requests an apple pie in lieu of cake for his birthday every year, and I was always happy to oblige.

Now that he has been told by his doctor to do away with gluten for awhile to address some health problems (although he is not celiac), what I am supposed to make for the poor man on his birthday?  I know – it’s all about me isn’t it?  ;-)

I have tried a number of gluten free crusts, but as with most gluten free baking, (IMHO), the inclusion of white flours and starches such as potato starch and tapioca flour run afoul of my desire to use whole grains whenever possible, and since they don’t taste very good anyway, I’ve not stuck been very persistent in my search for a solution.

Enter the walnut crust.  Yes, the humble, nutritious, crumbly, bumbly walnut.  I had a friend who used to call me walnut – so I’m allowed to humbly call them crumbly and bumbly.

Googling Up Easy Delish Dinner

I’ve been a little busier than usual lately – I got some real live PAID work, for which I am extremely grateful, but which throws a pretty big wrench in my normal task accomplishment rhythm.  My fabulous bathroom renovation has been, shall we say, stalled (har, har), the garden’s behind, I’ve stopped planning about 15 home improvements and I’ve had a harder time than usual planning food.  Still spinning a bit I guess.  I’ll get the hang of it again, but in the meantime, we still have to eat.

So the other night, when I didn’t get to the market as planned, I made a quick survey of the ingredients I had available, and decided to just google them.  I typed in potatoes, green beans, and coconut milk… and up came dinner.  Isn’t technology wonderful?  And I really mean it this time (unlike so many of the times I say that).

There were several posts that featured the same basic idea (a gentle curry), so I settled on the one that looked like it would make the amount of food I wanted, put some rice in the rice cooker, and got to work changing the recipe to suit myself, as I do.  So I give you:

Coconut Curry with Green Beans, Potatoes and Kale - inspired by this version

Waldorf Saute – Walnuts are Wonderful!

Walnuts are indeed wonderful.  As are apples.  And celery.  Well, of course lots of other foods as well, but this combo has been on my mind and was evidently on the mind of the clever person who put them all together in Waldorf salad.  Why stop there?  Why stop with Waldorf salad?  Why stop at all except for sheer exhaustion?  That’s my usual M.O. anyhow until Little Sis says, “But what are you going to do to relax?”  She gets a certain tone when she says this – sheesh!  As if she’s one to talk  Sometimes I call her to let her know I am just sitting or reading or doing something calm and still.  Hmmm. Haven’t done that in awhile….

At any rate – I got a bee in my bonnet about that Waldorf combo and thought it should be explored in other avenues.  I was thinking about Waldorf chili, but I wasn’t in the mood and was unsure about walnuts and tomato (please correct me if I’m wrong!), so I just decided to saute the Waldorf combo with some other lovely vegetables and my favorite spice cumin and it was a hit.

So I give you,

Great Grains: Amaranth

Amaranth Breakfast Bowl

In my continuing quest to shake things up around here, I’ve decided to try a variety of grains to see what people used to eat before they decided everything should be on rice or noodles (which are both lovely options in my book). Who says the foods that we’ve settled into as a culture are the ones that will do us the most good? In many cases I think it’s clear that the opposite may be true – but that’s a rant for another day.  Why not increase the number of options and opportunities for the bod to get what it needs by adding a new whole grain to the pantry?  Today’s mission: amaranth.

Amaranth in the field

Amaranth has been grown for centuries in South America and, in more recent years, in many parts of the world as folks have noticed that it is particularly tolerant to drought.  From a nutritional standpoint, amaranth has a lot to offer.  Amaranth is high in quality proteins, shows promise in research in actually lowering cholesterol, AND it is gluten free.  How do you like them Amaranthapples?

Creamy non-dairy mashed potatoes

Okay, so maybe you like dairy in your mashed potatoes just fine, thank you.  Carni-Mom makes mashed potatoes with butter, cream cheese and sour cream.  And they taste good.  But dairy is rough on a lot of people’s waistlines, heart health and digestion, …. The good news is that if you are trying to cut back on dairy, or have someone who is lactose intolerant, or are just trying to eat less animal stuff and more plant stuff, you do not have to sacrifice delicious mashed potatoes.  Honest.  I swear up and down and sideways too.