Spinach Artichoke Pasta

I made this entirely from scratch! I bought some fresh artichokes and boiled them for about 20 minutes or so, and cleaned up and cut them up and set them aside. I made a cream sauce out of cashew hemp cheese, which I made a couple days before this dish (recipe at end). I used my spirdoodle to make wide noodles out of a yellow squash, which I sauteed lightly in a little olive oil, and then wilted some fresh spinach over. I tossed with my artichokes and set aside to make my cream sauce for over them. I put some of my "cheese" in a sauce pan with a splash of unsweetened coconut milk (So Delicious brand), a little sea salt, some fresh ground pepper, a good shake of dried parsley (use fresh if you have it), and simmered for a few minutes, stirring, until smooth and creamy. Then I poured it over my veggies and tossed it all together, and OMG was it good! I can't wait to make this dish for my sister! It's gonna blow her mind! She won't believe there's no grain or dairy in this this! (I love when I get that OMG you can't eat this! What are you doing? reaction! ;)

Cashew Hemp Cheese

1 cup raw cashews (if you can't have cashews, try pine nuts)
2-3 TBLS shelled hemp seed (optional...adds omegas)
a little water
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp lemon juice (optional)

Soak the nuts for at least 2 hours, or up to 6 hours. You don't want to soak them too long because they'll get too soggy and your cheese won't have a very good texture to it. After they are done soaking, drain the water off. Put everything in a food processor/blender, starting with very little water. (filtered or any clean water is best.) You only want enough liquid to keep the gears moving. It should be like a thick nut butter! Once it's processed to a nice smooth, but thick consistency, scoop it all into a container and put a lid on it and set it in the middle of the table or someplace where it won't be messed with. Let it ferment at room temp for 24-48 hours. The refrigerate and use within a week. Alternately, for an aged cheese, you can put it in the food dehydrator for a day. I haven't experimented with this idea yet, but I've heard it works well!

Enjoy! :-)

Breadsticks/Pretzels

This recipe is adapted from the Vegetarian Times Amaranth Breadstick recipe that was published in the March 2010 issue. These tastes a lot like pretzels. If you want to make pretzels, I recommend putting a lot of course salt on top for a more authentic pretzel. Another idea that I started experimenting with is pizza crust/flatbread. Just pipe the dough in a spiral to the size you want. Let bake an extra 5 minutes or so to make sure the center is baked threw. Top with veggies (during or after baking, depending on whether you want pizza or a sandwhich) and enjoy!

Amaranth Breadsticks/Pretzels

1 cup amaranth flour
1/3 cup arrowroot starch
3 TBLS tapioca flour
3 TBLS whole amaranth seeds
2 TBS raw sugar
1 0.25oz pkg quick-rise dry yeast
1 tsp gaur gum
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 tsp olive oil
Chipotle chile powder for sprinkling (didn't have, added 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper to mix) optional
course sea salt for sprinkling, optional

Spray baking sheet with cooking spray or line with parchment paper. Stir together all dry ingredients. Stir in oil and 3/4 cup + 1 TBLS warm water (110*). Beat dough with electric mixer on high speed for 2 minutes or until smooth.
Transfer dough into pastry bag fitted with 1/2 inch round tip (or large plastic bag with 1 corner snipped off). Pipe dough into breadsticks, or pretzel shapes. Cover with cloth and let rise in warm spot for 30 minutes, or until doubled in thickness.
Preheat oven to 400*F. Sprinkle with chipotle powder and course salt, if using. Bake 20 minutes, or until dark golden brown all over and crisp on bottom. Serve immediately.

*Will add photo soon! :-)

Update

Just wanted to throw a little update out because I've developed new allergies since I started this blog. So here is a list of foods that are off the list for me...

Meat (including seafood!)
Dairy
Eggs
All grains (not just wheat, barley and rye...corn, rice, millet, teff, sorghum, etc too!)
Garlic (I know!)
Onions :-(
Potatoes
Cabbage
Beans/legumes (no more hummus!)
Soy
Walnuts, Almonds, Pecans
Sweet Peppers
Maple syrup
MSG
Artificial sweeteners (including the ones that are 1/2 real sugar!)

I may have missed something as there are sooooo many! I know the first thing your probably thinking is how do you get enough protein, right? Typically we are taught that protein comes from animals (meat, dairy, eggs), soy, wheat/grains, and beans/legumes. Cross them all off the list, and where's the protein? Well darlings, protein is in everything! That spinach salad you had for lunch with avocado dressing had a few grams of protein! ;) I add hemp seeds to my smoothies. Hemp is a wonderful food with all the omegas and it's so versatile! Sprinkle on salads, add to smoothies, use in place of cheese...the ideas are endless and the health benefits are great!
Then there are quinoa and amaranth, which are often sold as whole grains, but they are really seeds! They are also packed with lots of protein! And so versatile! Try replacing rice with quinoa in recipes for a more filling and healthier meal! You can stuff veggies like squash or tomatoes with quinoa or amaranth. You can even make bread sticks/pretzels (recipe coming soon) with amaranth! Yes, finally something to satisfy that bread craving! ;-)
So the answer is I get more than enough protein! ;-)

Strawberry Banana Parfait

Started with So Delicious Coconut yogurt~vanilla flavor. (You can see the container in the background.) Then I sliced up a banana and 4 strawberries and layered them on top my yogurt. Quick, simple and delicious! You can add a sweetener if you think it needs to be sweeter, but I prefer it as is! I think there is enough sweetness in the fruit and the yogurt as is! :-)
This is a nice idea for a dessert in place of cake and ice cream. Especially if you have diabetics, food allergics and people trying to watch their weight, which is the case every time I have a party! Simple treats like this make everybody happy! The kids love it, the diabetics get a treat, the dieters don't have to worry, and us allergics don't have to miss out! ;-) It's a win-win all around! Of course, for a party, you'd want to make enough to go around. To find coconut yogurt in your area, check the store locater on the companies website... http://www.turtlemountain.com/locator/locator.html

Enjoy!

Eggplant Parmesan and Spaghetti

This was my dinner tonight...a revamped version of Eggplant Parmesan and Spaghetti! My noodles are made out of zucchini. (Check out... http://www.amazon.com/Joyce-Chen-Saladacco-Spiral-Slicer/dp/B0000DDVYE/ref=pd_sim_k_54 ) You can eat the noodles raw or steam them. I chose to steam them this time because I wanted a hot meal.
I pealed and sliced my eggplant lengthwise. Grilled the eggplant and a portabello cap. Ground up some sesame seeds (about 2 TBLS) in my mortar & pestle (this was my cheese! Try hemp seeds if sesame is a problem or if you want to up the protein!) My sauce is simply a can of Muir Glen Fire Roasted Crushed Tomatoes. I also used a little sea salt as I'm addicted to it! lol
Once everything was cooked and ready to assemble, I layered some of my "cheese" between the eggplant slices. Cut up my mushroom to mixed in my spaghetti. Added some sauce over everything and sprinkled the top with the rest of my "cheese". Delicious! :-)

Cookbook giveaway

http://www.sallyashbrook.com/60in60/blondie-brownies-gf-allergen-free-a-cookbook-giveaway/comment-page-1/#comment-96

Hop on over to this other blog and check it out. Tweet/blog about this cookbook giveaway and get a chance to win the cookbook Sweet Freedom by Ricki Heller.

It's been a while...

I got a new computer for christmas and being the chronically disorganized type I still haven't transfered all my old filed to my new computer. So I basically forgot where I started this blog and just happened to stumble upon it as I came across allergicgirl's blog and thought hey, this looks familiar! So I finally found my way back! YAY!
It has been a long winter! I've had to eliminate all grains, soy, beans and most nuts from my diet! I know what many of you are thinking...how on earth can you be a vegan if you can't have beans or soy on top of being GF? Vegan proteins are basically considered to be wheat meat, soy products, and beans! Well, I can tell you that too much protein is more a problem for me than not enough! Hemp, quinoa, amaranth, and veggies gallore! Protein, protein, and more protein! There is protein in everything people! There is such a huge myth about not being able to get enough protein on vegetable based diets! Trust me, if your eating a nice variety of vegetables, nuts or seeds if you can have them, and throw in some quinoa, amaranth and/or hemp into your diet, you are getting way more than enough protein! So relax! Most days my chihuahua eats more food than I do and I still get plenty of protein! ;)
Now that we cleared up the protein myth, I have a divine, gourmet treat to share with you that I came up with the other day. I used vanilla bean coconut ice cream, but feel free to use whatever frozen ice cream like product you can safely enjoy.

Gourmet Banana Split

Simmer some raspberries (or any fruit you can safely enjoy) in a saucepan over low heat with a little water and some agave nectar (to taste) to form a syrup.

Slice up a banana and fry it in a little oil or vegan butter until golden.

Put the fried bananas in the bottom of your bowl, top with a scoop or two of your ice cream, then top off with the raspberry syrup. Add any extras you may like and be able to safely enjoy. And enjoy! :)