Excellent Ratatouille with Kale and Beans

I am not a fan of eggplant. However, we came across this recipe in the "delicious living" magazine and it looked harmless enough. Having to adjust the recipe only slightly, we tried it and WOW it is now one of our favorite dishes!

It is an excellent source of vitamins, fiber and protein. The nicest thing about it is you can play with the ingredients and it won't hurt the dish. I am listing the recipe as printed, but will make notes as to my changes.

Serves 6-8 as a side dish, fewer if using as a main dish.

1 medium eggplant, sliced 1/4-inch thick
1 small red onion, thinly sliced (I use sweet white)
2 medium yellow bell peppers, cored and sliced 1/4-inch thick (I use any color)
2 medium zucchini, sliced
1 cup chopped kale
1 15-oz can Great Northern Beans (or other white beans), drained and rinsed.
2 tomatoes, cut into 1/4-inch slices
6 cloves garlic, minced (I leave this out unless making a separate dish for Ric)
1 tsp. dried oregano (I use Basil)
1 tsp. dried thyme (don't use this at all)
1 tsp. dried marjoram (don't use this either)
2 Tbsp. olive oil (I use grapeseed oil)
2 Tbsp. minced fresh parsley (don't use this at all)
1 cup grated Asiago cheese (don't use this at all)

1. Sprinkle both sides of eggplant liberally with coarse salt; let drain in a colander for 1 hour.Rinse off excess salt and squeeze out water between layers of paper towels. (I have not ever done this step, takes way too much time!)
2. Preheat oven to 375. Coat a 2 1/2 qt. casserole with olive oil (I use a 10x13 baking dish). Layer half of the first 4 ingredients in casserole. Cover with all the kale and beans, and cover with half the tomatoes. Sprinkle with half of the garlic and half of the dried herbs. Repeat layering process (leaving out kale and beans). Press down gently and drizzle with olive oil. Cover loosely with foil and bake for 1-2 hours or until vegetables are very tender.
3. Remove foil. Combine parsley and cheese in a small bowl and sprinkle over vegetables. Return to oven and cook for 5 minutes longer or until cheese is melted. Serve hot.

Most of my changes to this recipe are noted above, however I have found that adding some of the herbs and oil at the half point helps to keep it together. Using chopped fresh rosemary, basil and sage and salt and white pepper adds lots of flavor. I have also used carrots in place of the eggplant and it tastes great!

This is definitely a recipe that can be adjusted for your tastes and preferences sooo

Experiment, but most of all, HAVE FUN!

Wonderful Almond Carob Pudding

So I have found that when I eat off of my new food regiman that cravings abound. Last week I went to a luncheon and, well, ate off the regimen. Sooo, cravings reared their lovely head - wanting something creamy and chocolatey. Since both of those things are now forbidden, my brain went to work.

The recipe below is the result of that brain working and it turned out wonderfully!

3 cups Blue Diamond Almond Milk
1/8 cup beet sugar
1/8 cup birch sugar (aka xylitol made from birch trees)
1/4 cup quick cooking tapioca

Mix all ingredients together in medium sauce pan and let sit for 5 minutes. After the 5 minutes, turn heat to medium high, stir continuously until the pudding boils for at least 1 minute. Then mix in:

1/8 ground vanilla bean
1/4 cup Carob powder (dissolved with a small amount of almond milk)

Pour into individual ramekins or soup bowls and cool. Great warm but mixture thickens as it cools.

YUMMY!!

Roasted Asparagus

I am rarely home in the afternoons to watch cooking shows, so this particular day was a special treat. Ric loves to watch these shows and, for the few minutes I got to see, Giada (At Home with Giada on FoodNetwork) happened to be preparing asparagus. It was fast, easy and I will never again steam asparagus! Roasting keeps the lovely green color yet it is moist and tender, too!

1. Preheat the oven to 400*. Use a large enough baking pan to leave a little room between asaragus spears.
2. Wash and trim spears to desired length.
3. Place on baking pan, lightly drizzle with olive oil, then roll asparagus around to coat with oil.
4. Sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper.
5. Place in heated oven for approx. 10-15 minutes, depending on thickness of spears.
6. Remove from oven, place in serving bowl.

ENJOY!! Let me know what you think!

Mocha Chocolate Mousse Cake

I found this recipe at vegetariantimes.com while searching for a "healthy" dessert for Mother's Day. Needless to say, it was a big hit and will probably become a staple for future get togethers. I am going to play with the recipe more and try to reduce the calories and sugar levels, but it is really excellent and mostly healthy as it is. There were some additions to the instructions to make it easier to prepare.

This dessert puffs like a soufflé when baked, then settles to become a rich, mousse-like cake. When slicing, use a knife dipped in hot water and then wiped dry. The heated blade will glide smoothly through the cake without sticking.

Serves 12 (or less depending on how much you like chocolate) :-)

9 oz. semisweet chocolate, chopped
3/4 cup light coconut milk (I used regular milk)
1 Tbs. instant espresso powder
1 Tbs. vanilla extract
5 room temperature eggs
6 Tbs. organic cane sugar
1/4 cup almond flour
1 Tbs. confectioners’ sugar, for sprinkling

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Coat/spray the inside of a 9-inch springform pan with cooking spray. Make a foil bowl to set the pan into as this is going to be cooked in a water bath. Make sure the bottom and sides are completely covered (the original recipe stated to line the springform pan and it took me a while to figure out that they meant the OUTSIDE of the pan because it was going to be cooked in a water bath).
2. Place the chocolate in the food processor and grind to a coarse meal.
3. Bring coconut milk (reg. milk) almost to a boil in saucepan. Remove from heat, and stir in espresso powder. Pour over chocolate in food processor, and pulse until smooth (didn't have to pulse more than once as the chocolate melted right away and blended very quickly). Add vanilla, and pulse until combined. Put chocolate mixture in a bowl separate from the eggs.
4. Beat eggs and sugar with electric mixer on high speed 5 minutes, or until doubled in volume. Fold eggs, then almond flour into chocolate mixture.
5. Pour batter into prepared pan. Set foil covered (wrapped) pan in a roasting pan and *after setting on the oven shelf* fill roasting pan with at least 1 inch of hot water. Bake 15 to 20 minutes, or until dry crust forms on top but center is still slightly wobbly. Remove foil covered pan from water, and cool on wire rack. After cooled, remove foil and refrigerate at least 2 hours, or overnight, to set.
6. Unmold, and sprinkle with confectioners’ sugar, if desired.


This is very YUMMY!!

Totally Excellent Grain Free Pizza Crust

Since I am allergic to every grain in the US, pizza is something that I miss (not that we ate it often, but a nice treat once in a while). So when I was looking for grain free flours, I came across this recipe on the Bob's Red Mill Garbanzo & Fava Flour bag. We tried it and WOW! it is really good! Made right, it actually has the consistency of regular pizza crust. We doubled the recipe last time so each of us would have our own pizza - for leftovers, of course!

The toppings are up to you, but I also made my own pizza sauce (recipe follows) and used veggies and "healthy" canadian style bacon and pineapple. Ric had pepperoni & olives.

One word of caution: if beans tend to, well you know, affect your intestines, be sure not to eat too much in one sitting. :-P

Bob's Red Mill Grain Free Pizza Crust

1 Tbsp. Gluten Free Dry Yeast (one packet)
2/3 Cup Garbanzo & Fava Flour
1/2 Cup Tapioca Flour
1/2 tsp. Salt
2 Tbsp. Dry Milk Powder (we don't use this, just add milk to the water and reduce water by 2 Tbsp)
2 tsp. Xanthan Gum (a thickener that makes it taste like real crust)
1 tsp. unflavored gelatin powder
1 tsp. dried italian herbs
2/3 cup warm water(105)
1/2 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. olive oil
1 tsp. cider vinegar
Cooking spray

Preheat oven to 425. In medium bowl blend well yeast, flours, xanthan gum, salt gelatin powder and herbs. Add water with milk, sugar, olive oil and vinegar. With hand mixer beat on high for 3 minutes. Add water if dough too stiff. Dough should resemble soft bread dough. Put dough into 12 inch pizza pan that has been sprayed with cooking spray. Sprinkle extra garbanzo flour onto the dough, then press dough into pan. Bake dough for 10 minutes, remove from oven, top with favorite sauce and toppings. Put back into oven and bake for another 20-25 minutes. YUM!!

Pizza Sauce (ultra easy):
1 can tomato sauce
1 can tomato paste
salt to taste
italian herbs to taste

Mix above 4 ingredients together; spread on pizza crust.