A Day of Meals for Tender Foodies!

Soy-, Dairy-, Gluten-, Nut-, and Egg-free

 

In keeping with the meal planning tips from Chef Jenny Brewer, here is the article I wrote for Women's Lifestyle Magazine's March Foodie issue.  This day of meals is free of the top 8 allergens and then some.

Variety is a "Must Have"

Variety is the spice of life.  Did you know that variety is also necessary for a healthy body? As we eat, each nutrient performs a set of very specific, highly complex tasks that keep us walking, talking and vibrant. Our bodies use magnesium, for instance, in over 300 biochemical reactions (according to The National Institutes of Health*).  

When you have multiple food allergies, it isn’t so easy to find the food that you need to be fabulous. You have to reject some habits and learn to cook new and different foods. Recipes that require no adaptation are scarce. Wouldn’t it be nice to have an entire day’s worth of recipes that are free of the top 8 most common allergens?  I asked Jenny Brewer, nutritionist and chef, to lend a hand in this delicious one-day meal plan.  Each recipe, even the dessert, is packed with nutrients.  Give it a try!

Quinoa Power Breakfast

From Elisabeth Veltman

See original post on tenderpalate.com


Prep Time:  5 Min.
Cook Time:  15 Min.
Serves:  2-4

Soak 1 cup of quinoa in water for 5 minutes. Run through a very fine strainer until the water is clear. Place quinoa into a medium to large saucepan. Add to 2 1/4 cups of water and bring the entire mixture to boil. Then cover and simmer for about 15 minutes. White halos will appear around the grains when the quinoa is done. Keep a little liquid in the cereal to soak up the flax seed.

Add in 1/2 cup of ground flax seed.
Add 1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. cinnamon (add more, to taste)
Organic black raisins, organic dried cherries or cranberries
Continue cooking for 1 more minute until the flavors are mixed and the raisins warm.
Spoon into bowls with fresh strawberries, sliced (or your favorite fruit).
Top with 1 or 2 TBS of real maple syrup.  (Grade B or C.  No high fructose corn syrup should be anywhere on the label.)
 
Leftovers will keep 2-3 days. 

Black Bean & Sweet Potato Soup

From Chef Jenny Brewer

See original post on tenderpalate.com

Prep Time:  
20 Min.
Cook Time:  
35 Min.
Serves 6-8


1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 medium red onion, chopped
1 Anaheim pepper, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 sweet potatoes (1 1/2 lbs), peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 28-can whole plum tomatoes
1-cup water or vegetable stock
2 15-ounce cans black beans, drained
1 dried chipotle pepper (smoked jalapeño), seeded and chopped (easiest to do with scissors)
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves

Warm the oil in a large pan over medium heat and add the onion, pepper, garlic, and sweet potato chunks. Sauté, stirring often, until onions are soft, about 5 minutes.
 Add the tomatoes, breaking them up with the back of a wooden spoon. Add water or stock, beans, chipotle, cumin, and chili powder, bring to boil, reduce heat to simmer, cover, and cook for 30 minutes, or until sweet potatoes are tender. Stir in cilantro and serve.

Lamb Chops

Adapted from About.com

See original post on tenderpalate.com

Prep Time: 12 Min.
Cook Time: 16 Min.
Yield: Serves 2 to 4


4 loin lamb chops, about 1 1/2 inches thick
½ cup olive oil
1/3 cup red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon dried rosemary
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper (optional)

 
Preparation:
Combine the vinegar, rosemary, garlic and salt in a large glass bowl (or an 8x8 shallow pan). Slowly drizzle and simultaneously which in the olive oil. Place chops in bowl and turn repeatedly to coat well. You could put all of the contents into a Ziploc bag, too. Cover and refrigerate for 4 to 12 hours. Once marinated, remove chops from fridge and bring to room temperature (15 minutes). Preheat grill or grill pan for medium-high heat. Remove chops from marinade and place on a lightly oiled grill rack. Cook for 8 minutes on each side. Remove from heat, and allow to rest for 3-5 minutes.  Serve.

Not Your Mama’s Chocolate Mousse Tart

From Chef Jenny Brewer

See the original post on tenderpalate.com

Crust

1 cup pumpkin seeds, toasted*
½ cup popped millet**
½ cup raisins
1/3 cup dates, pitted
2 Tablespoons ground flaxseed mixed with 4 Tablespoons water and left to gel for 3-5 minutes           
Pinch of salt
In a food processor bowl, pulse pumpkin seeds and millet until seeds are ground. Add raisins, dates and pinch of salt and chop until everything is ground together. Add in flax mixture and pulse until sticky. Wet your fingers and press the mixture into 8-inch pie pan and keep refrigerated while you prepare the filling.

Chocolate Mousse Filling

2 LARGE ripe Haas Avocados 
(if your avocados are small, add another avocado or more and adjust the ingredients, since avocados vary quite a bit in size.)
1/2 cup raw cacao powder or cocoa powder
3-4 TBS maple syrup (taste after 3 and add to taste)
1 TBS vanilla extract 
Puree all ingredients in a food processor until smooth.
Spread into crust and chill until ready to serve.

If you would like more naughtiness, double the filling for a more voluptuous tart.

*To toast pumpkin seeds, place them in a dry skillet over medium high heat, stirring until brown, about 5-7 minutes, being very careful not to burn.

**To pop millet, place in a dry, hot skillet over medium heat and stir constantly until you hear consistent popping.  Don’t burn.

Visit the recipes on www.tenderpalate.com for videos and more information.

About Elisabeth Veltman

Writer, owner of Blue Pearl Strategies, and lover of all culinary delights, Elisabeth is a Tender Foodie. She started The Tender Palate, a website for foodies with food allergies where she consults with experts from every area of the Tender Foodie life. She believes that everyone should live deliciously and have a healthy seat at the table. Find her at www.tenderpalate.com.

RECIPE: Black Bean & Sweet Potato Soup (Vegan, DF, GF, Nut-free, Soy-free)

Here is another great recipe from Chef Jenny Brewer, that uses the winter powerhouse called "Sweet Potato".  Chef Jenny will start guest blogging for us in March (2012), with cooking tips and recipes for Tender Foodies of all kinds.  I'm very excited to have Chef Jenny lending her expertise! 

Prep

Serves 6-8
Preparation Time:  
20 mins
Cooking time:  
35 mins

Ingredients

1 Tablespoon olive oil

1 medium red onion, chopped

1 anaheim pepper, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 sweet potatoes (1 1/2 lbs),peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes

1 28-can whole plum tomatoes

1 cup water or vegetable stock

2 15-ounce cans black beans, drained

1 dried chipotle pepper (smoked jalepeno), seeded and chopped (easiest to do with scissors)

1 teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon chili powder

1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves

Recipe

Warm the oil in a large pan over medium heat and add the onion, pepper, garlic, and sweet potato chunks. Saute, stirring often, until onions are soft, about 5 minutes.
Add the tomatoes, breaking them up with the back of a wooden spoon.  Add water or stock, beans, chipotle, cumin, and chili powder, bring to boil, reduce heat to simmer, cover, and cook for 30 minutes, or until sweet potatoes are tender.  Stir in cilantro and serve.

About Chef Jenny Brewer

Jenny Brewer is a nutritionist and chef who believes eating healthy should be easy, delicious and fun! She inspires individuals to stay committed to eating healthy with her free healthy eating resource, Tasty Bites with Chef Jenny available at www.jennybrewer.com.

More Recipes from Chef Jenny

Not Your Mamma's Chocolate Mousse Tart (super allergen-free, healthy & delish, delish, delish)

RECIPE: Roast Chicken with Figs, Thyme, Garlic, & Sweet Potatoes

Thyme from the garden - picked in Michigan in January.

Thyme in January

When I first moved to Michigan 6 years ago, thyme was one of the first herbs I planted.  I was so grateful to have dirt to play in (15 years in the concrete jungle makes you appreciate stuff like that), that even in winter, I stepped out to stare at my garden and plan for the coming summer.  To my surprise, the thyme was thriving under the snow.  It had also turned a deeper green, and the most exposed leaves sported a beautiful hue of purple. 

Thyme and roast chicken are a classic combination winter-wise.  But since it stops growing when Jack Frost comes to town, I only harvest a few sprigs during its dormancy.  So one day in January,  I made an unusual garden trek in my wellies, without a coat, and on an unseasonably warm day...to pick some thyme. Then stuffed the butt of an organic chicken with this precious herb, along wtih lime, figs, and garlic.

Thyme grows best in July and August, so during the summer I put it into glass jars or ziploc bags, then "just" cover the thyme with olive oil, and freeze.  When I remove from the freezer, I use the infused olive oil as well as the thyme for diferent dishes.  This recipe has become a favorite means of making beta-carotene loving sweet potatoes as well.  They soak up the chicken juices and the beta carotene is activated by the olive oil.

 

Ingredients

1 -- 5-6 lb organic, roaster chicken (choose organic to be sure that the chicken has not been injected with a gluten-based solution)

CHEF TIP:  one method to get the skin crispy when roasting is to place it in the refrigerator prepared in the pan and leave uncovered for a few hours.  This gets the excess moisture out of the skin which helps it brown.

2 cups of organic parsnips (rough chopped into 2 inch pieces)

2 cups of organic carrots (rough chopped into 2 inch pieces)

3- 4 sweet potatoes (ends sliced off, and chopped into 1 inch x 2 inch pieces)

1 head of garlic (root sliced off, head rough chopped in half)

1 lime (or lemon), cut in half

Dried figs  (stems chopped off, 5 per chicken butt, 1 handful to mix with veggies)

25 sprigs of thyme (20 per chicken butt, 5 with veggies)

*if you don't have thyme, this recipe actually works well without it, too.

Olive Oil

Sea Salt

Recipe

Preheat the oven to 425 F degrees.  Place the racks low in the oven so the roaster can fit.  

Vegetables:  Spread the carrots, parsnips, sweet potatoes and figs along the bottom of the pan.  The veggies act as a rack for your chicken.  Sprinkle the 5 thyme sprigs throughout.  Place about 1 TBS of olive oil and 1-2 tsp. of salt into your hands and toss the vegetables with it. 

Giblets:  Pull out the giblets and neck and throw into a hot pan with a little olive oil.  Fry them up (brown on all sides) and put aside for another use (the cat likes them).  I use the neck and carcass of the chicken in the Nourished Kitchen's slow cooking, immune-building bone broth, a recipe I have come to love and use often.  Pan-fry the neck as well and refrigerate overnight and then toss it into the bone broth the next day with the left over chicken and bones.

Frying Giblets

Chicken:  Rinse the chicken inside and out and remove any pin feathers.  Cut excess flabby fat from the chicken, but leave the skin on.  Pat the skin dry with a paper towel.  I always rinse my chicken, however, I've noticed that not all chefs do this.

Rub the outside of the chicken with olive oil, and salt the outside and the inside of the chicken.

Stuff the chicken cavity (the butt end) with the 20 sprigs of thyme, 5 or 6 figs and the whole head of halved garlic, and the halved lime (or lemon).  Then place on the vegetables and tuck the wings under its body (or they could overcook).

CHEF TIP:  one method to get the skin crispy when roasting is to place it in the refrigerator prepared in the pan and leave uncovered for a few hours.  This gets the excess moisture out of the skin which helps it brown.

Place the roaster in the oven at 425 degrees F for 1 hour and 30 minutes.

When the juices between the leg and the thigh run clear (not bloody or thick), your chick is done.

Remove from the oven and let rest, covered, for 10 minutes before carving. 

Joy!

Serve a Healthy Dessert

Serve the 14-Allergen-Free, Not Your Mamma's Chocolate Mousse Tart for dessert.  MMM.

 Not Your Mamma's Chocolate Mousse Tart is Nut-free, Dairy-free, Gluten-free, Sesame-Free, Oat-free, Egg-free, Corn-free, Coconut-free, & Soy-free...

RECIPE: Roasted Delicata and Sweet Dumpling Squash (with Rosemary and Maple Syrup)

Whole Roasted Sweet Dumpling & Delicata (left), Roasted Sweet Potato & Summer Squash (middle), & Delicata with Maple Syrup & RosemayWhen I opened my Doorganics Box last week, I was excited to see a couple of sweet dumpling squashes.  They looked up at me and said, "Roast me!" 

There was also a long, winter-squash-type thingy that I had never seen (nor eaten) before.  It said nothing. 

I needed it to speak, so I turned to the magic of the Internet and discovered that the long, squash-like thingy was a Delicata squash, and that it could be roasted easily, either whole and open-faced.  Then, thanks to four beautiful sprigs of rosemary sitting on the counter, I was inspired me to think, "maple syrup!" (Don't I always think maple syrup?)

I took initial whole roasting guidance from a neat blog called Fanatic Cook.  It is written by an aerospace engineer turned Master of Public Health/Master of Science in Human Clinical Nutrition and Biochemistry.  Say that 3 times fast.  The author ("RB") shows us how to beautifully roast a whole dumpling squash.  I've deviated a bit from RB's instructions, so I could try more stuff at the same temperature. 

Now lets have some fun with squash.  Here's three easy recipes.  The 2nd is a favorite.

Whole Roasted Winter Squash

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.  Make sure no parchment sticks out past the pan (or it might burn). 

Thoroughly wash one dumpling squash and one delicata squash (or 2 or each, just leave space enough for the squash to breathe and turn).  Use a knife to pierce each squash in several places all the way around to vent.  Place them on the cookie sheet and set into the preheated oven. 

Every 15 or 20 minutes, turn the squash so that every inch can get an even heat exposure.  Turn from top to bottom first, and as it starts to soften, turn side to side. 

When the squash is soft and browning, remove from the oven.  Let it cool down, cut in half, scrape out the seeds and pith.  Then serve hot. You can add a little sea salt, or some brown sugar or maple syrup, or just eat them plain.  Butter lovers can use these dairy alternatives, too.  The dumpling squash is quite delicious roasted and naked (you can even eat the dumpling's skin), so purists like RB might not want to dress it up at all. 

The delicata squash will take about one hour.

The dumpling squash will take about 1-1/2 hours.

Roasted Delicata with Rosemary and Maple Syrup

 Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

1 delicata squash

1 tsp. safflower oil

1 pinch of sea salt

*please use sea or kosher, not the variety that comes in a blue cylinder.*

2 TBS of maple syrup

2 large sprig of fresh rosemary

Thoroughly wash one delicata squash and cut it in half, lengthwise.  Scoop out the seeds and pulp and save the seeds (so you can plant in your garden!)  Put a little (a tsp.) safflower oil on your hands and "lightly" (I mean, lightly) rub the inside and the outside of each half.  Sprinkle the insides with a little sea salt - a pinch on each half.  Then spread the maple syrup on the flesh (inside) of each half - one TBS per half.  Make sure you get some up the sides.  Remove the rosemary leaves from the stem and sprinkle on the flesh.  Put in the preheated oven. 

After the first half hour, check every 10 minutes.  Cook for about 1 hour until soft, and carmelized.   This is so, so yummy.

Roasted Sweet Potatos and Summer Squash

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit

2 Sweet Potatoes (I used Covington, super good)

1 large Yellow Summer Squash

Safflower Oil

Sea Salt

Line a cookie sheet with parchment and set aside.  Wash the squash and scrub the sweet potatoes, then chop of the stem and butt ends.  Cut the potatoes in half lengthwise, then place face down on the cutting board and slice into 1/4-1/3 inch think slices.  Then cut those slices in half.  All of the vegetables should be slightly larger than bit sized pieces (potatoes smaller than the squash for more even cook time) since they shrink in the oven.  Place on the sheet.  Sprinkle two pinches of sea salt over the vegetables.  Place the oil in the cup of your hand - about 1 TBS.  Lightly rub the potatoes and squash pieces with the oil. 

Roast for about 30 minutes, stirring up occasionally so that they get lightly browned on either side.  Serve hot.  Devour.

This method also works great for turnips!