Could-be-vegan Broccoli Salad

Something savory for a change, after all those sweet baked goods and breakfast foods. :)

Lunch can be a particular challenge, in the "everything-free" life. Any time I come up with a new option, it's pretty exciting. Last summer I had a sudden salad epiphany, and came up with three or four adapted recipes in one day. This is one of them.

Could-be-vegan Broccoli Salad
serves 2-4
Time: about ten minutes (plus 30 minutes if you cook bacon)
 
1 1/2 pounds broccoli crowns
by the time they are trimmed, this probably amounts to 3/4 - 1 pound of usable broccoli
(3/4 pound thick bacon or good ham)
       -ham- I like to cut a thick ham steak into cubes of about 1/2"
       - bacon- I bake bacon, a useful tip that I learned from my mom. (Thanks, Mom!) :)
         ~ 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Lay bacon slices out on a heavy, sided baking sheet.
           For thick bacon, I do 12-15 minutes on the first side, turn the slices over, and bake
           for about 8-12 minutes more. I dislike floppy bacon, so my aim is cooked-but-not-
            burned. If you like softer bacon, reduce the cooking time. Drain bacon on paper towels.
           This saves cleanup of the stovetop, reduces grease-spatter burns on the cook, and
           produces bacon slices that are nice and flat, and evenly cooked.

1 cup vegan mayonnaise (I like my salad creamy- start with 3/4 cup and add more to your taste)
     I currently use Follow Your Heart brand soy-free vegenaise.  It does have pea protein in it,
     which apparently bothers my tummy somewhat. I'm trying Dr. Gundry's Lectin Shield
     capsules, to help my body cope with the pea protein. It does seem to help.

1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
(a sprinkle of black pepper- although the broccoli is already "peppery" in taste, so this
   is not really necessary.)

Wash, trim, and chop the broccoli. I chop mine fairly small, so the salad is easy to eat. Cube the ham or chop the bacon into bite-size pieces. In a large bowl, combine the broccoli and meat. Add the mayo, salt and lemon juice and stir well until combined. ~ Store in the refrigerator. That's it! Enjoy. :)

**For those who can eat them, other veggies would probably be tasty in this- such as bell peppers, or onion. Sometime, I'll try it with a mix of broccoli and cauliflower.
**This could easily be made completely vegan. I image that chopped mushrooms would make a good substitute for the meat. Chunks of tempeh might be an interesting option, too.
**This could also be made nightshade-free, if there were a suitable substitute for the mayo. I recently tried an avocado-based mayo-alternative recipe. At first try, it just seemed like pungent guacamole. Not very appetizing. If I get that recipe to a point where I enjoy it, I'll try it in this salad.

Cinnamon Applesauce Waffles

This is my current work-in-progress. I think that the texture could still use some fine-tuning, but overall I'm happy with these. :)

I wanted to see if it would work to use applesauce as an egg-replacer in waffles, rather than the flax gel I've been using. This changes the liquid-to-dry balance, so I added more millet flour as well as a bit of flaxmeal. I had thought that they might turn out floppy, but they have a good level of "crisp." As with all gluten-free waffles that I've made, they're fairly hard when they first come out of the waffle iron, but after sitting for a bit they soften somewhat- becoming crisp rather than crunchy.

Cinnamon Applesauce Waffles
gluten-free, dairy-free, egg-free, vegan, soy-free, nightshade-free, corn-free
In our waffle maker, which makes four large squares per batch, this makes close to two batches,
so.....about seven individual waffle squares.

First thing:
3/4 cup milk alternative
2 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar
~combine and let sit

Dry ingredients:
1 1/4 cup millet flour
1 cup tapioca starch
1 Tablespoon coconut flour
1 Tablespoon flax meal (regular, or golden)
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda

Wet ingredients:
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
2 teaspoons liquid coconut oil
1/3 cup oil (I used a mild avocado oil)

(2 teaspoons vanilla)
2 Tablespoons coconut sugar

In a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients. Add the wet to the dry, along with the milk-vinegar mixture. Whisk well until smooth. Let sit while the waffle iron heats.

As with all gluten-free waffles and pancakes, I oil the cooking surface for each batch. Currently, I use a standard baking spray to oil the waffle iron.

When the waffle iron is ready, scoop or spoon batter onto the hot surface and bake according to instructions for your particular waffle baker.

I put these onto a cooling rack once they're done. If they sit on a plate, the undersides get very soggy. I actually prefer the texture if they sit on the rack until they're cool, and then I butter them and reheat in the microwave.

If you have any leftovers, they're best stored in the refrigerator. You can reheat in either a toaster or a microwave.

Enjoy!

*I've been steering away from vanilla lately, as it's frightfully expensive right now. Vanilla does make things tasty, but this recipe would work fine without it. I think that next time I make these, I'll leave out the vanilla and add a little coconut nectar instead. Agave nectar or honey would probably be good, too.

"Everything-free" Not-banana Muffins

"Everything-free" is our family's word for things that fit my food world. The list gets long- wheat-free, gluten-free, egg-free, dairy-free, soy-free, banana-free, almond-free, corn-free, potato-free, rice-free... Calling things "everything-free" just makes it simpler. :)

I have been working on my muffin recipes recently, trying to solve a problem. Since realizing that the butter substitute that I use has been bothering me, I have had to switch from a creamed solid fat method to using oil in muffins. The first result was that they all have a deep dip in the center. This is not a deal-breaker for eating them, but it does make them less attractive. To put a recipe out, without solving this issue, didn't feel right.

This specific recipe was born through a totally different experiment. I was making something else, and used coconut nectar as the sweetener. With the first bite, I thought, "This almost tastes like banana." The creative part of my brain perked up at that and started humming busily. I have missed banana bread so much. Yes, bananas are part of the long list of foods that bother me in one way or another.

After a couple of batches and a little tinkering, I have come up with something that I like.

They do not taste like banana, but they have the texture and moistness of a banana muffin, and the coconut sugar and nectar give it a similar fruity sweetness. I made the final version this morning, and we like them!

Of course, a person could easily substitute honey and granulated sugar for the coconut sweeteners. They would still be quite tasty, but would lose the resemblance to banana. Molasses would also work well, and would probably make them reminiscent of bran muffins. In fact, that is an experiment that I will probably make myself, in the near future. I also miss bran muffins. :)

The other reason that I chose to use coconut sweeteners is that I'm trying to reduce the glycemic impact of my baked goods. Sugar is a deeply important part of the chemistry of baking. A person can't just yank out the sugar and expect the same results of texture and flavor. Coconut sweeteners do still impact blood sugar, but less severely than regular granulated sugar.

Muffins, in my world, fall into the same "happy comfort food" family that includes pancakes and cupcakes. There is just something about these foods that makes me happy. :)

"Everything-free" Not-banana Muffins
wheat-free, gluten-free, oat-free, egg-free, dairy-free, banana-free, soy-free, almond-free
 350 degrees - 18-20 minutes
12 muffins

Dry ingredients:
1 cup millet flour
1 cup tapioca starch
2 teaspoons coconut flour
1/4 cup flaxmeal
1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

Wet ingredients:
1 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/2 cup coconut nectar
1/3 cup light neutral oil (I used a light avocado oil)
1/3 cup coconut sugar
2 teaspoons melted coconut oil

Add in:
1 cup roughly chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line muffin tin with baking cups. *
In a large bowl, combine all dry ingredients and whisk together well.
In a separate bowl, combine the wet ingredients.
   ~to melt the coconut oil, I scoop some into a small dish and heat it in the microwave.
    In our microwave, it only takes twenty or thirty seconds to melt this little bit of oil
Add the wet ingredients to the dry and stir to combine. When about halfway combined, add the walnuts. Stir until the ingredients just come together, with no more clumps of flour. Spoon or scoop into the prepared tin. I like to use a ice cream/cookie dough scoop for this.

Bake for 18-20 minutes. I have found that in our oven, 20 minutes is just a little too long.
Turn the muffins out onto a cooling rack. If they stay in the hot tin, the outside will continue to brown and will get tough.  Enjoy!

*I like to use the If You Care brand of baking cups. They're made from unbleached paper. I like knowing that they're free of chemicals, and they have a great added bonus. With regular muffin papers, the muffins often stuck to the paper and got torn apart when we tried to peel the paper off. With the If You Care brand, the papers come off neatly!

Living with food intolerances: What "convenience food" looks like in my world.

What does "convenience food" mean in a world of very limited food options? This was on my mind today, as I came up with something to have for lunch. For me, pretty much every prepared food item will not work.

The list of things that bother me includes: wheat and all wheat-type grains (rye, barley, oats-even gluten-free oats), all dairy, eggs, soy, almonds, sorghum, tomatoes, garlic and onions.

This effectively eliminates not only "normal" convenience foods, but almost all of the alternative options as well. Many gluten-free alternatives contain dairy and/or eggs, and almond flour is the darling child of the gluten-free world just now. Many allergen-free choices use garlic and onion, as they give the flavor a significant boost.

Essentially, my health is least affected when I only eat foods that I prepare for myself.

That gets old.

I not only have to cook from scratch, but I also have to make the elements I use in cooking. I compound my own flour mix. Any bread alternatives, I have to make for myself.

I make my own "hummus." Not being able to handle garlic or sesame/tahini rules out pre-made hummus. More recently, garbanzo beans are off my "good" list. Once you take the beans, garlic and tahini out of hummus, you are left with...lemon juice, olive oil and salt. ;) So...I make my own, using black beans and a few other tweaks. I'll share the recipe sometime, as even my friends who eat "normal" food really like my non-hummus. :)

It was lunchtime, today. I was rather hungry, as I'd waited too long to start giving thought to lunch. I have very few quick, simple options, and they just were not sounding good. My blood sugar was dropping, and I just needed to get some food into me. Then I remembered my treasure trove...

 That is what convenience food means to me now. :) This is the result of planning ahead, so that when I'm traveling, or even just hit with a bad case of hungry at home, I have a few things that can be ready quickly, and that will not make me sick.

When I make a meal that works well, and there is plenty of it, I take out a portion, put it into a vacuum-sealable bag, and set it in the freezer. Once frozen solid, I seal each meal with our FoodSaver vacuum sealer. That thing was one of the best investments we ever made! What you see in the picture here is a serving of fish and vegetable chowder, some roast beef with mashed sweet potato and roasted broccoli, and my greatly-simplified version of Chicken Adobo with Cauli-mash and (again, because it's one of my few veggie options) roasted broccoli.

It's a good thing that I like broccoli so well. ;)

For lunch today, I grabbed a package with two pieces of my "pizza," thawed it in the microwave and, in just a few minutes, I was having lunch.  I put "pizza" in quotation marks because, aside from being cut into triangles, I'm not sure that anyone else would recognize it as pizza.  I wish I'd remembered to snap a picture, so you could see it. If I make some this weekend, I'll try to remember to do that. :) It does have a crust (gluten-egg-dairy-etc.etc.-free), but the toppings are a sci-fi range of gray, purple and funky greens. Instead of sauce, I use my homemade not-hummus. I top it with a mix of special olives (natural black and green, Castelveltrano and Kalamata) with chopped artichoke hearts.

There is no "cheese" on my pizza. I have tried various vegan cheeses, and found them all to be fairly gross. There are few that truly fit my entire list, and I just don't find those appetizing. With the hummus base, the toppings stay on pretty well so I don't miss the cheese very much.

My pizza toppings might sound fancy, but it's a sort of psychological tactic that I use, to help myself cope with my limited food world. The list of things that I really should not eat is just...so...long... that I can get depressed over it. There are a few things that I can have, that feel like treats. Coconut based ice cream is one, along with certain "fancy" olives, and artichoke hearts for my pizza. Having these few special things, that I truly love, goes a long way to help me deal with the frustration of food limitations.

I have thought about making "convenience foods" for myself on a larger scale. For me, though, the idea of setting aside a whole day (or even several hours) to do long-range planning and broad meal-prep is just too much. My energy resources are rather limited, so I really cannot do a "marathon" approach to any aspect of life. Having found the method I described above has made a great difference, and helps me to feel hopeful. (Feeling hopeful=very important in this world!!) Rather than hours on my feet making mountains of food to store, I prefer this way, which only takes a few minutes at a time. Before I serve the meal, or as I put the food away after dinner, I simply stuff one or two servings into the vacuum seal bags and put them into the freezer. Later that night, or the next day, I seal the bag, write the date and the contents on it, and put it back in the freezer. Easy-peasy. :)

I don't often dip into my store of meals the way I did today. I kind of hoard them for travel. It is just so hard to eat on the road, and this really does help. I can heat something in the microwave and take it along in a thermos for my lunch, or heat it up for dinner wherever I'm staying. Even if I'm visiting family or close friends, the food issue is still a problem. As hard as it is for me to plan meals that work for myself, it is nearly impossible for others to juggle all the different factors and come up with food that fits my parameters. It makes life so much easier if I just take along a few meals. I've been on this journey for several years now. Assuming that it is my job, and not anyone else's, to feed me makes the situation simpler. :)

Replacing Eggs: Flax Gel and Flaxmeal

I use various egg-replacers, depending on what I'm making. I like the applesauce/coconut oil combination very much, for muffins and pancakes. This gives a lovely moisture and softness.

Soft is not what you want for waffles, so I chose to use flax egg-replacers.

Flax Gel
Add flax seeds to water, bring to a boil, lower heat and continue boiling for 2 minutes. Strain out seeds. Store gel in the refrigerator.

Making the gel:
Use a ratio of 1 cup of water: 1 Tablespoon of flax seed
    Either brown or golden flax seed; both work well. The golden seems to have a more mild flavor.

Eggs are usually about 1/4 cup each, so it would make sense to use 1/4 cup of flax gel per egg in a recipe. When I made waffles using flax gel, I only used 1 Tablespoon per egg, and it worked well. I'm not sure why that is, but that is what worked.

For each egg:
If you try this for other recipes, start with 1 Tablespoon of gel per egg replaced, and add more if needed.


When freshly made, the gel is easy to measure. Once refrigerated, it gets interesting. It develops a texture more like egg white. When I tried pouring cold flax gel into a tablespoon, all of the gel *blooped* out! I think that whisking it up with a fork would probably help. Thankfully, I was able to rescue the gel and still use it, so it was more funny than frustrating. :)

I usually add some melted coconut oil with any egg replacer (the yolks have saturated fat, which can be important for texture), but the waffles seemed fine without it. Another time, I'll try adding it and see if it makes a difference.

Flax meal
Flax meal can work well as an egg replacer, if it fits the character of your project. If I am making a light vanilla cupcake, I do not use flax meal. It is like adding wheat germ or bran to the mix. It alters the texture, and you definitely see the flecks of meal in the final product. It has worked well for me in chocolate cake and cupcakes, and more hearty pancakes or muffins.

When I used flaxmeal in the waffle batter, I didn't like it as well. Curiously, they baked less evenly. They didn't crisp up as well, and softened more quickly.

For each egg, use:
1 Tablespoon flax meal and 2-3 Tablespoons of water.

Sometimes, I mix the flax meal and water together, and let it sit before adding with the dry ingredients. Sometimes, I add the meal with the dry ingredients, and the water with the other liquids. I have not seen a dramatic difference in results. Either way seems to work just fine. If I add them separately, I do let the batter sit for a few minutes, so the flax meal can become hydrated.

"Everything-free" Waffles!!! no wheat, no dairy, no eggs, no soy ~ just waffle-y goodness!

Waffles are a thing of beauty. <3

In the nearly eight years since learning I needed to give up wheat and eggs, I had not had a really good waffle. For several years, I have used a gluten-free baking mix to make waffles. They were pretty good, but not really good. "Good enough" is often what we settle for, in the world of food intolerances. Sometimes, I really want more than just good enough.

Last weekend, I started thinking about yeasted Belgian waffles. I did some research and cobbled together several recipes into something that I thought might work. I mixed up the batter and let it rise overnight. Here's what it looked like next morning:

So bubbly and alive! :)

I cooked up the yeasted waffles, and they got mixed reviews. Our daughter Anna and her sweetie Zach were here, and thought they were pretty good. My hubby Lee didn't care for them so much. The yeast flavor is very strong, almost like a strong sourdough flavor. I won't make them for my hubby again, BUT next time I'm visiting my sweet mama and she makes her amazing sourdough pancakes for people, I will definitely mix up some of this batter for myself! :)

That experiment launched me on a Week of Waffles!

The next morning, I worked out a regular baking-powder recipe for, as we call things, "everything-free" waffles. They were good! :)

Granted, it has been a long time since I ate a "real" waffle, but these made me pretty happy. Gluten-free things tend to be more hard/crunchy than crisp, but after a few minutes they did soften more toward a crisp texture. Outer crunch, soft and moist inside- yum!

In less than a week, I have made waffles four times. First, the yeast-raised batch, then variations on the baking-powder idea. I tried one using a can of full-fat coconut milk (pretty good), one with coconut milk beverage (the one I liked best), one using flaxmeal to replace the egg (more hearty, less even texture)...oh! I guess I've made them five times! This morning, I one made more batch, to re-test the version I liked best. :)

This post will have the baking powder recipe. I'll make a separate post about making flax gel for egg replacement, so it's easier to find, and another day I'll share the yeasted waffle recipe. Because I used (coconut) milk soured with an acid (lemon juice), these are more like a buttermilk recipe, so that's what I'll call them.

"Buttermilk" Waffles
In a large, square Belgian waffle maker, this makes 2 complete waffles, or 8 squares.
The recipe should double well; just don't quite double the salt. 

To:
1 cup alternative milk (I use Coconut Dream unsweetened original shelf-stable "milk")
add:
2 Tablespoons lemon juice
     (I've been using the kind from a bottle. If I wanted to make actual lemon waffles, I would go for
      fresh lemon juice, use more of it, and add some zest. With this amount of juice, the waffles don't
       taste of lemon to me, at all.)

Let the milk sit and "sour" while your mix up the rest of the ingredients.

Dry ingredients:
1 cup millet flour
1 cup tapioca starch
1 Tablespoon coconut flour
     (I feel this cuts down on the gummy feeling you can get with tapioca starch)
2 Tablespoons sugar (I've been using coconut sugar)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
    (I've been taught that any time you use soured milk, you should add a little baking soda to work with it)

Whisk the dry ingredients together well.

Wet ingredients:
 1/3 cup oil (I've been using a light avocado oil. Any neutral oil will do.)
3 Tablespoons flax-gel egg replacer *I'll post separately about this

Whisk together the oil and flax gel, then combine with the soured milk.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry and whisk together well, until completely combined and smooth. With wheat flour, you'd have to be more cautious in mixing so the batter wouldn't be tough. Gluten-free flours are not so finicky.

Allow the batter to rest while you heat the waffle iron.

When the waffle iron is ready, spray the top and bottom surfaces with baking spray (or oil them, using a natural-bristle pastry brush). Plastic bristles melt. (voice of experience) I have had numerous struggles with gluten-free things sticking to hot surfaces. I oil before every batch, to save on frustration.

I use a large scoop to portion out the batter. (Ice cream scoop/dough scoop. It's the in the picture of the yeasted batter. I think it holds about 1/2 cup. I put one scoop on each square of the waffle iron.

Let the waffle bake, without peeking. If you try to lift the lid too soon, you'll tear the waffle to bits. (Learned from impatient experience!) :)

Most waffle makers have a light that turns on or off, to let you know when it's ready. Another way to tell is by watching how much steam is coming out. If large amounts of steam are still pouring out, leave it alone. When the steam gets noticeably less, it's time to start checking.

If you pull these out when they're too pale a gold, they'll have soggy bits. Leave them until they're a nice, solid golden brown color.

Any that we're not eating right away, we put on a cooling rack so they don't get soggy. They reheat well in a toaster. They would freeze well, too.

Enjoy!

One of my favorite treats :)

This is not so much a recipe as an idea; a discovery ~ so it doesn't really fit a Friday post.
It's so delicious, though, and makes me so happy, that I want to share it!

One of the toughest adjustments for me, with our dietary changes, was the loss of ice cream. It is just so creamy and soothing; perfect on a hot day. We went through the changing cast of players on the alternative ice cream stage: rice, soy, etc. Some were pretty good, and some were not so good.

When people would ask me, "Is it good?" I would generally answer, "It is, if you haven't had real ice cream for a number of years. It's cold and sort of creamy." Good enough was the best I thought to hope for.

Then I discovered Coconut Bliss. This stuff is so aptly named! It is creamy and smooth and wonderful. When I eat it, I no longer miss "real" ice cream. I don't know how widely available it is. It's made here in Oregon, and I've seen it in neighboring states, but beyond that I don't know. Can you find it outside the Pacific Northwest?

It is much more costly than regular ice cream, but so are all the alternatives. As we made the shift to healthier, more costly food choices, we cut down on how much of them we eat. More expensive, but smaller portions. :)

One of the other really tough transitions for me has been giving up chocolate. I continued eating it for years after it first started to bother me, because I just loved it so much. Finally, the consequences got severe enough that I started to take it seriously. This meant no more chocolate ice cream, and no more chocolate sauce on vanilla ice cream. So hard! No other toppings could take chocolate's place. I like caramel, for example, but it is just sweet on top of sweet. It lacks that bitter undertone that balances the sweetness of ice cream so perfectly.

One day, I tried Coconut Bliss Cappuccino ice cream. Oh wow. Heaven in a spoon!!! It is just simple, cappuccino flavored coconut ice cream, but it is creamy and wonderful and it has that subtle bitterness that I missed so much. Once I tried that flavor, I no longer missed chocolate ice cream!

Even though I have found a brand of ice cream that I truly love, I am still very limited in my flavor choices. Most flavors involve chocolate. I love them (especially chocolate mint!) but they do me harm. There are a few flavors that don't involve chocolate, but I don't enjoy them very much. I mostly have vanilla, or occasionally cappuccino (because, really, I'm not supposed to have caffeine).

One of the things I have missed the most is peaches-and-cream ice cream. That was my most favorite flavor when I was growing up. Last year, thinking about my old favorite, I got enthused about making my own ice cream. I bought a couple of recipe books for making vegan, coconut-based ice cream. My mom passed on my grandma's old ice cream maker, so I didn't have to shell out big bucks for my experiment.
........
But I still haven't tried it. I just keep wondering whether I should invest the time in learning what Coconut Bliss already does so well.

Then, I made my discovery, which is the actual point of this whole post.

If I let my vanilla coconut-based ice cream soften, then I can stir in other things to give it flavor. Not that this is a new idea. I did this years ago, when the kids were growing up. I used to make mint-chip, and other flavors. The idea that was new, this time, was...using sorbet for the flavor.

This has opened up a whole new world of flavor options for me. In general, sorbet is a little "sharp" for me, almost sour...but if you mix some of it into creamy vanilla? Match made in heaven. I found some mandarin orange sorbet and mixed it into my ice cream. Orange Creamsicle! Another childhood favorite. :)  I have tried, lemon, mango, raspberry, and even passionfruit- all delicious! The photo up above is of raspberry sorbet stirred into my vanilla ice cream. In my cute kitty-cat bowl. :)

Remember my longing for peach ice cream? Well! In December, our daughter Anna and I set out to make peach butter, with a box of peaches I'd bought at a farm. They tasted like actual, ripe peaches! So good. I messed up on the amount of liquid, and it just would not cook down to "butter." No problem- we canned it anyway. Now, I take some of that golden, cinnamon-peach sauce and stir it into vanilla ice cream.....it is delectable! So, so good! I have also stirred peach sauce into plain or vanilla coconut yogurt- also very good. :)

Since I now have such a simple way to enjoy different flavors, I may not dive into the world of making my own ice cream after all. This is just so good and so easy that I may just stick with spiffing up my vanilla Coconut Bliss.