Lentil Taco Filling

We love tacos in our house and eat them at least once a week. We have done everything from black bean and butternut squash, to Thai tofu and most recently we have been hooked on the Minimalist Bakers quinoa taco filling.

The plan was to serve the quinoa filling but I realized that afternoon that I was out of quinoa and so was the grocery store, oh the joys of small town life.

I am actually glad we were out of quinoa because it forced me to use what we had on hand and we came up with these babies. Be sure to save a little of the lentil mixture for nachos another night. We topped our nachos with some cashew queso that my husband raved over.

For the Lentil Taco Filling:
1 c green lentils
2 c broth
1 portabello mushroom, diced
1/2 onion, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 jalapeno, diced
1 la Cucina taco seasoning packet or what ever your favorite taco seasoning happens to be.



Cook lentils in 2 cups of broth for 30-35 minutes leaving them a bit chewy. Set aside lentils and remaining broth.

Meanwhile dice veggies and saute in large sauce pan. When veggies are almost done but still crisp add in lentils with broth and taco seasoning. Cook until broth has been absorbed and lentils are soft but not mushy. Serve in tortillas and toppings of your choice.

MMM...Nachos...

Cashew Queso

Cashew Queso is easy to whip up. I like to use the smoothie cup attachment for my ninja blender since it is such a small amount. 

We topped our nachos with this recipe but would be awesome in burritos, tacos or just served as a dip.

Ingredients:

1/2 C cashews, soaked for 4 hours to soften
1/4-1/2 c water
2 tbs nutritional yeast
1 Chipotle chilie
2 tbs salsa

Blend cashews, 1/4 cup of water, nutritional yeast, Chipotle chili and salsa until smooth, adding more water if necessary for desired consistency.

Homemade Organic Raw Cashew Milk

Necessity is the mother of invention, and when I realized I was out of milk (I didn't want to use the boys’ chocolate oat milk) I decided to give making my own nut milk a try.

Cashew milk is ridiculously easy to make and required very little prep time. I started soaking the cashews and dates at 8 am and had fresh healthy milk by lunch. Best of all no special equipment just my trusty old Ninja blender.

I used my Organic Bakers Extract from Costco in this. It’s a chocolate vanilla blend that added a nice but not chocolate flavor. The milk was way better than any I've bought and easy enough to put together while holding the baby.

I can't wait to try it out in my overnight oats in the morning.

Ingredients:

1 C Raw Cashews

2 Dates (you could also use a little maple syrup or other sweetener)

4 C Water

1 tsp Vanilla extract (or Organic Bakers extract from Costco)

Dash of Sea Salt

Soak the cashews and dates in a mason jar with just enough water to cover. Chill in the fridge 4 hours then drain.

Place drained cashews and dates in blender with 2 cups of water and process until smooth. Then add remaining 2 cups of water, vanilla extract, and salt. Process until incorporated.

That's it. Chill and use within 5 days

Grilled Chicken and Pesto Zoodles

I love carbs. I have proclaimed my love for all things wheat on this blog and in articles I have published on the Mediterranean diet. 

Our cheap little spiralizer

I have tried my hand at cauliflower crust pizza and other wheat like substitutes and was left less than impressed but zucchini noodles, or zoodles, is one trend I wholeheartedly love. Our favorite way to serve zoodles is cold or room temperature (cooking them gives them a soggy texture I do not enjoy) perfect for the warmer weather headed our way.

You don't have to go out and spend a ton of money on a spiralizer for this dish, we have an inexpensive little gadget that does the trick but if you wanted to spiralize harder veggies like beets or butternut squash you may want to invest in something a bit fancier.

I made enough pesto for 3 recipes of this dish, so portion out the remaining pesto into small containers and freeze the leftovers for another day. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight before using. 

Grilled Chicken and Pesto Zoodles

Ingredients:

2 Chicken Breasts
1 tbs Italian Seasoning (salt free)
1 tsp Garlic Powder
1/4 C Red Wine Vinegar
1/4 C Olive Oil
2 medium Zucchini, spirialized into noodles
1 C Grape Tomatoes

Pesto
3 C Basil leaves, packed
3/4 C Extra Virgin Olive Oil
5 oz Parmesan Cheese, grated or crumbled
4 cloves Garlic

In a quart size freezer bag combine 1/4 C olive oil, red wine vinegar, Italian seasoning, and garlic. Refrigerate for 30 minutes to 2 hours.

Make pesto by combining basil, cheese, garlic cloves and 3/4 c extra virgin olive oil in food processor until it forms a paste and is free of lumps.

Grill chicken over medium heat for about 12 minutes, turning once. While chicken is cooking grill tomatoes for 5 minutes. 

In a large bowl combine cold zucchini noodles with sliced grilled chicken breast, tomatoes and about a third of the pesto.

I would imagine that this would make great leftovers but we ate it all.

Goat Cheese stuffed Jalapeño Poppers

Jalapeño Poppers are one of my favorite "bar food", watching football treats but at 70 calories a pop they can really add up and sabotage your day. We created these lightened up little beauties that only weigh in at 30 calories a piece but have way more flavor than their deep fried counterparts. 

Makes 12 poppers

6 Jalapeños, sliced in half lengthwise and seeded

2.5 oz of Soft Goat Cheese (about a 1/4 Cup)

1 Tbs Fat-free Greek Yogurt

1/4 C shredded Sharp Cheddar Cheese

Preheat oven to 375. Make a "slotted tray" out of foil to lay on a cookie sheet if you wish, it helps keep the poppers from falling over and the filling from spilling out. Combine goat cheese and yogurt. Spoon filling into each half of jalapeño. Top with cheddar cheese. Bake for about 15 minutes or until jalapeños are soft and cheese is melted.  

Spicy Salsa Flax Crackers

We love flax crackers in our house but until recently we only had a round dehydrator that I had to cut parchment paper to fit in the trays to make fruit leather or flax crackers, what a pain! Well we hit the jackpot a couple of weeks ago when a customer sold us an Excaliber dehydrator with the teflex sheets for $5! It looks like its 30 years old but works great! So I've been making flax crackers and chia seed fruit leather for the toddler and the husband. This has been a favorite recipe of ours for years so I decided to share it first, but I'm working on some different flavors and some may show up at Vita-Mart in the near future!

1 C Flax

1 C Water

1 C Tomato 

1/4 C Onion 

1 clove Garlic

1/2 Jalapeño (more or less depending on desired heat level)

1 tsp Sea Salt

Mix Flax and water in a soup bowl

and let sit for about an hour until it gels.

Cut tomato, onion and jalapeño into large chunks. Toss in a food processor or blender with garlic and salt 

and process until smooth.

Mix tomato mixture with flax mixture and spread evenly over a teflex sheet lined dehydrator tray (or use parchment paper).

(I forgot to take a pic of this step with this flavor so don't mind the banana chunks in this picture. This is the Banana Bread Flax Cracker Recipe I'm working on.)

If you want your crackers thinner divide mixture between 1 1/2 trays.

Dehydrate mixture  at 110 degrees, if you have the option to set a temp, for 4-6 hours until you can pull the cracker (at this point it will be one solid piece) off the teflex sheet and put back on the dehydrator tray. The side that was down on the sheet will still be wet. Keep dehydrating for another 4-6 hours.

Break cracker into pieces and keep in a plastic bag or Tupperware until you eat them all!

Grandma Ruth’s Gluten Free Spice Cake

Ok, Grandma Ruth wasn't baking Gluten Free Cakes in her day, but she did make a mean Spice Cake. The original recipe was made yearly for my Mom and my Aunts Birthdays and I adapted it years ago for a customers Birthday. I actually just made this cake for that same customers Anniversary. I'll never forget the panicked phone call I received that day asking if I had forgotten this cake needed to be gluten free because there was no way a gluten free cake could taste this good. It comes out so light, moist and grit free (no rice flour!) you won't believe its gluten free.

          

  Serves 8-10

¾ C Butter Softened

1 ¼ C Brown Sugar (I use Rapadura)

1 C. Unrefined Cane Sugar

3 Eggs

3 C. Bobs Red Mill GF Flour Blend

1 ½ tsp Xanathan Gum

1 tsp Baking Soda

1 ½ tsp Cinnamon

¾ tsp Cloves

¾ tsp Nutmeg

1 tsp Sea Salt

1 ½ C. Whole Milk

1 Tbs Lemon Juice

Preheat oven to 350. Grease either 3 rounds or one 9”x13” pan. In a large bowl beat together Butter and Sugars, add Eggs one at a time. Meanwhile add Lemon Juice to Milk to curdle, let sit 10 minutes. In a medium bowl mix together Flour Blend, Xanathan Gum, Baking Soda, Spices and Sea Salt. Add 1/3 of flour mixture to wet mixture, stir to combine then add 1/3 of Milk combine, continue mixing in the alternating flour mixture and milk.

 Divide Cake batter between 3 Rounds or pour all into 9x13 pan. Bake rounds 30-35 minutes or 9x13 45-50 minutes.

For Frosting

1lb Cream Cheese-softened

4 oz Butter-softened

1 tsp GF Vanilla

1 LB Powdered Sugar

In a large bowl beat together cream cheese, butter and vanilla. Slowly add in powdered sugar until desired consistency and sweetness is achieved.

***Recipe may be halved if making the 9x13 pan***

Cauliflower Garlic Bites

Cauliflower Garlic Bites

Serves 2-4

1 Head of Cauliflower cut into florets

Garlic Powder

Butter it up Spray

Preheat oven to 450. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. In a large bowl lightly spritz with butter it up spray then sprinkle with garlic powder.

Spread cauliflower onto baking sheet and bake 15 minutes. Pull out cookie sheet and stir, return to oven another 10-15 minutes until brown and crispy.

Baked Eggplant Parmesan

This was one of our recipes that we served during our Gluten Free cooking class. It's a great way to use up those heels of bread you usually toss! It's also great if you are not Gltien Free, you can sub wheat bread in place of the Gluten Free!

Baked Eggplant Parmesan Dippers

Serves 2

1 Eggplant cut into 1/3” slices

1 Egg

2 Slices of Gluten Free Bread (or whole wheat bread if you are not GF)

1 Tbs Italian Seasoning

1 tsp Garlic Powder

2 Tbs Parmesan

2-4 oz Shredded Mozzarella or Jack Cheese

Sea Salt

Grapeseed Oil Spray

Pasta Sauce to Serve

Preheat oven to 400. Line cookie sheet with silpat  baking mat or parchment paper. Place sliced eggplant onto paper towel and salt each side then top with another couple of pieces of paper towel to pull moisture out of eggplant.

Meanwhile, place bread, italian seasoning, garlic powder and parmesan cheese into food processor and process into crumbs.  Beat egg in a cereal bowl. Pour bread crumbs onto plate or another cereal bowl.

Take eggplant and pat off excess salt. Dip each slice of eggplant into egg then bread crumbs. Repeat with each slice then lay on prepared cookie sheet. Lightly spray each piece of eggplant with grapeseed oil spray. Bake eggplant for 10 minutes, flip each slice and then top with a little cheese. Bake another 10 minutes.

Serve with heated Pasta Sauce.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cheesecake

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cheesecake adapted to be gluten free and a reduced the sugar (there is still plenty, don’t worry) from the SmittenKitchen. Check out her post for detailed pictures. She obviously didn't bake this over 2 days with a baby in one arm like I dis. Although it was totally worth it! I made this for BJ’s Birthday which happened to fall in our 30 days of Gluten Free. BJ says its like a giant Peanut Butter Cup and he liked it so well he didn't share with anyone but me.

Chocolate Crust

2 Boxes (14.5 oz total) of Pamela’s GF Chunky Chocolate Chip Cookies

(or any Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookies)
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and still hot

Fudge Layer
1 cup heavy or whipping cream
13 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped or chips

(Be careful that the chocolate you choose is Gluten Free like Enjoy Life, also the mini chips melt very easily.)

Cheesecake Layer
2 8-ounce packages cream cheese, at room temperature
1 1/4 cups smooth natural peanut butter (no sugar added)
1 cup evaporated cane sugar
3/4 cup sour cream
3 large eggs

Ganache Topping
1/3 cup heavy or whipping cream (NOT the stuff you spray out of the can or that comes in the tub!)
4 1/2 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped or chips

Make chocolate crust:  In a food processor, blend cookies. Drizzle in melted butter and process until crumbs begin to stick together, scraping down the bowl if needed. Transfer crumbs to prepared pan. Press crumb mixture up sides to within 1/2 inch of top, then evenly over bottom of pan. Chill crust until next step.

Make fudge layer: Bring cream to simmer in large saucepan. Remove from heat; whisk in chocolate until chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth. Pour into bottom of chilled crust and spread in an even layer. Freeze until ganache layer is firm, about 30 minutes or overnight.

Heat oven: To 325°F.

Make cheesecake layer: Using electric mixer, beat cream cheese, peanut butter, and sugar in large bowl until well-blended and fluffy. Beat in sour cream, then eggs, one at a time. Mix until smooth. Pour over fudge layer that has set in the freezer.

To Bake: Place springform on middle baking rack. Bake cake until slightly firm to the touch and the top appears dry, about 1 hour to 90 minutes. I find cheesecake baking times to be the hardest to pin down; it is safest to use this visual guide: The center two inches should only move slightly when pan is gently shaken. Transfer cheesecake to rack in the fridge until fully cool, at least three hours. Waiting is the hardest part but crucial.

Make ganache topping: Heat cream in a small saucepan until simmering. Off the heat, whisk in chocolate, if using. Pour onto chilled cheesecake and spread to the edges. Return cheesecake to the fridge until the ganache sets, about 30 minutes.

To serve: Gently cut around between edge of cheesecake crust and springform pan to make sure it isn't sticking. Unhinge the sides. Serve in very skinny wedges, that way you can go back for seconds. Cake keeps in fridge for up to a week, and longer in the freezer.

* If you don't want to make this gluten free just use any chocolate chip cookies for the crust. Our devilishly good chocolate cookies would make a tasty crust. You would need roughly 18 cookies. 

Quinoa Fried "Rice"

This recipe is another whatever I have on hand goes in this recipe. Its a quick and easy one for us because we usually have everything handy in our pantry/ refrigerator. I also love that you don't have to have a certain set of ingredients for this. If you have a bag of frozen mixed veggies it would work great, those fresh veggies you bought with good intentions but have gotten a little wilted, perfect throw them in. you can even add leftover chicken or tofu. This recipe knows no season, whatever is in season is in our version of Quinoa Fried “Rice”.

Serves 5-6

1 C. Dry Quinoa
2 Tbs Oil
1 Tbs minced fresh Ginger
2 cloves Garlic minced
3-5 C any combination of chopped Veggies (3C if using Greens) Bell Peppers, Zucchini, Snow Peas, Carrots, Asparagus, Broccoli, Squash, ect
3 C Greens spinach, bok choy, kale, chard ect.
2-3 Tbs Braggs Liquid Aminos (we use as soy sauce)
Sirracha if desired

Tonight we had so many yummy veggies we left out the greens.

Cook Quinoa according to package directions. In a large skillet over Medium heat add 1 Tbs oil, garlic and ginger. Cook for 30 seconds,  then add Veggies cook until soft.

 Scoot Vegetables to one side of pan and add additional 1 Tbs oil to pan, add quinoa to empty oiled side of pan. Cook about 2 minutes, or until it starts to brown. Add in greens and mix everything together. When greens begin to wilt stir in Liquid Aminos.

Tonight's version has Beyond Meat Grilled Not Chicken Strips, Snow Peas, Asparagus, Red and Orange Bell Peppers and Yellow Crookneck Squash.