Indian Burgers and Greek Style Salad

Frantically searching through my cookbooks for something that didn't take inordinate amounts of modification, I discovered this recipe that I had printed off from allrecipes.com years ago and possibly never tried. Much to my delight, all I had to do was eliminate the garlic (which I've now ceased to do - happy!) and there was still enough flavour from the other spices. It's now one of our favourite meals.

You don't have to roast the garlic, but believe me, it makes a difference and as it hardly takes any extra work I think you should just do it.

Indian Turkey Burgers

Ingredients:

• 4 large unpeeled garlic cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 3/4 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 1/4 pound ground turkey (I always just use beef - ironic, yes?)
• 1 (10 oz) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
• 2 Tablespoons minced fresh ginger
• 1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced

Directions:

1. Set garlic in a small skillet over medium-high heat; toast until spotty brown, about 5 minutes. Peel, mince, and set aside.
2. Mix salt, pepper, coriander, cumin, cinnamon, and cloves in a small bowl.
3. Break up turkey (or beef) in a medium bowl; add garlic, spinach, spice mixture, ginger, and jalapeno; stir lightly with a fork to combine (or use hands, it's more fun). Divide mixture into 4 portions. Toss meat back and forth between cupped hands to form a ball. Pat with fingertips to flatten to about 4 1/2 inches wide.
4. Can be grilled on a BBQ, broiled in an oven, or cooked in a skillet on the stovetop.

Serving suggestions: serve with warmed/grilled pita bread, chutney, salad (recipe below), and baked fries (recipe coming soon). Really, one of the best meals ever.

I usually opt to make several smaller burgers and cook them in a skillet.

Serves 3-4

Greek Style Salad

Ingredients:

• 1/2 large cucumber, sliced thin
• 1 tomato, chopped
• 1/4 red onion, chopped
• feta cheese (optional)
• juice of 1 lime
• drizzle of olive oil

Directions:
Mix all ingredients and serve as a side or on top of Indian burgers.

bon appatit!

Gluten Free Crepes

Gracie was over for the weekend, and to keep up a sister-tradition we had to make crepes. Just before we started, I searched through all my cookbooks only to discover that I didn't have one single crepe recipe. Thanks to the first search result in google, I found the best gluten free recipe for crepes that I've ever tried! The batter seemed really liquidy, but I forced myself to trust the recipe and it payed off, so don't worry about the liquidy batter.

Gluten Free Easy Crepes

Ingredients:

• 2/3 cup of milk (dairy or non-dairy; I've used rice and soy milk with equal success)
• 1/3 cup (or 50g) cornstarch
• 1 egg
• 2 teaspoons oil or melted butter

Directions:

1. Mix all ingredients with a whisk until well blended.
2. Melt butter on pre-heated pan (oil works too)
3. Pour just enough batter into pan to cover surface while swirling the pan.
4. Continue to swirl the pan - off the heat! - until the batter begins to bubble and there is no long excess batter to swirl.
5. Cook for 20-40 seconds (but the first crepe will take longer) or until steam is puffing out the sides
6. Quickly and with care flip the crepe and cook an additional 15-20 seconds.
7. Continue until all the batter is used, re-buttering/oiling the pan as needed.

Serve sweet or savory! The recipe is ideal for two people :)

Gluten Free Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

The verdict is in: I'm gluten intolerant. Well, to be exact, I'm only borderline gluten intolerant, but until my next doctor appointment where he'll go over my test results, I'm playing it safe and cutting gluten out of my diet. Not fun. I've tried before, several years ago, so I'm not entirely new to how it all works, but I must say I'm not thrilled with waking up in the morning and realizing that there is nothing remotely "breakfasty" that I can eat. I strongly dislike gluten free bread (at least the commercial kind) and don't want to pay an arm and a leg for fancy gluten free bakery items, so last night I set aside my fear of the kitchen and made these muffins. It wasn't a special recipe, I merely used a "normal" recipe and substituted the wheat flour with gluten free flour (I generally use Bob's Red Mill gluten free flour) and added some xanthan gum and flax seed, and voila! yummy breakfasts!

Note: I really hate all those "gluten free" recipes that call for obscure or expensive specialty ingredients, so what I've done for the most part is take existing recipes and substitute gluten free flour for the wheat flour (as I did with this muffin recipe), and it has worked every time so far. I made pancakes with the buttermilk pancake recipe in Joy of Cooking this way, and they were great!

GF Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

Pre-heat oven to 375*

Mix:

1/2 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

Add:

1 1/2 cup mashed ripe bananas

1/4 cup milk (I used almond milk)

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 eggs

Mix together and add to wet ingredients:

2 cups gluten free flour (such as Bob's Red Mill brand)

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon xanthan gum

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup chocolate chips

1/4 cup ground flax seed (optional)

Put in greased muffin pans and bake for 15-20 minutes. Cool in pan for 3 minutes before putting on cooling racks.

Makes approximately 24 muffins.

Enjoy!

Peanut Butter Balls

No, these are not healthy, for the body that is. But I firmly believe that there is a definite rejuvenating quality in the combination of chocolate and peanut butter, and this amazing recipe combines them beautifully; I think these are better than Reese's.

Ingredients:
1/2 c. Butter (soft)
2 c. Peanut Butter
3 c. Powder sugar
3 c. Rice crisps
3 c. Chocolate
1 tsp. Oil

Directions:
Mix together butter and peanut butter until very smooth. Mix in sugar and blend thoroughly. Gently fold in rice crisps. Form into 1 in balls and place on wax paper. Chill for 10 mins. Meanwhile melt the chocolate. Stir in the oil and then dip the peanut butter balls into the chocolate. Place on wax paper again and chill until chocolate is hard. Store in refrigerator. Makes ap. 3 dozen.

Kefir

Oh, how I hate cooking. Just being in a kitchen [mine in particular, cause it's so small] makes me irritable and crabby. Most of the time I only eat out of necessity, which makes cooking even more tedious. I don't really get hungry - I get low blood sugar, so I pretty much have to eat otherwise I get light-headed and shaky.

So, out of a desire to save money rather than a desire to spend more time in the kitchen, I made my own kefir. In the past I favoured yogurt because it had a more mild taste, but in recent months decided that the health benefits definitely seemed worth the effort of downing the sour substance. Actually, it really doesn't taste much different than plain yogurt and it is easier to make, since once the milk is heated and cooled and the culture is added you don't have to worry about keeping it at a certain temperature. You can read more about the health benefits here.

Basically, buy kefir culture at a health food store and follow the directions, which will go something like this:

• Heat up 32 0z of milk [I used raw, but really you can use any kind of milk] to 180 degress F
• Cool Milk to ap. 77 degrees F
• Mix culture into a small amount of cooled milk
• Stir mixture into the rest of the milk
• Pour into a clean container, cover, and let sit at room temperature for 24 hours and then refrigerate

There you have it! Because I used whole, raw milk it was really thick and has a strong flavour [not that sour, just a strong milk flavour]. I haven't drunk much cow milk in the past three years, and am not used to it anymore.

Kefir is great by itself, in smoothies, as a substitute for yogurt, or just let it sit in your fridge and go back because you were too afraid to drink it.

A Rather Unique Pumpkin Pie

This is positively the best pumpkin pie I have ever had. It tastes even better than normal PP, and is a little darker. Here’s the deal though: Emes Kosher Gel is no longer available. My friend, who can’t eat eggs, substitutes an equal amount of instant tapioca beads. I can eat eggs, so I substituted two eggs for the Emes, and it worked great.

Warning: the recipe should say that it serves one. I ate the whole pie within a couple of days.

Pumpkin Pie

1 1/2 cups of chopped dates
1 1/4 cups water
1 cup clean, raw cashews
1 tablespoon coriander
1/2 tablespoon cardamom
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon salt
16 ounce can of pumpkin
2/3 cup water
2 teaspoons Emes Kosher Jel
1 unbaked Basic Pie Crust (below)

Process first 7 ingredients in a blender until very smooth. Add pumpkin and stir until well mixed. Bring 2/3 cup water to boil and add Emes Kosher Jel. Stir until dissolved. Add to pumpkin mixture and stir well. Pour into pie crust and bake at 350 degrees F for 50 minutes. Shield pie crust edges with foil. Let cool. Top with Cashew Cream (included as well) or 1/2 cup chopped pecans, if desired. Serves 8

Basic Pie Crust

3/4 cup barley of brown rice flour (or whole wheat or spelt)
1/3 cup almond of cashew butter
1/3 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons water

Mix first 3 ingredients thoroughly. Add water and mix well. Form into a ball and roll between two layers of plastic wrap. Place in an ungreased 9" pie plate. Prick with fork and bake at 350 degrees F until lightly browned; suitable for both sweet and savory fillings.

Cashew Cream
1 cup water
3/4 cup clean, raw cashews
8 pitted dates
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
pinch salt

Process first 3 ingredients in a blender until very smooth. Bring to a boil, then add remaining ingredients. Reduce heat and simmer until thickened, stirring constantly. May be served warm or cold and may also be used without heating. Yields 1 cup or 8 servings

Super Smoothy

My sister gave me this idea, and I tried it today. It is really good, and full of health benefits.

Ingredients: (serves one)

• 1 cup of water
• 1/2 cup of frozen blueberries (or any fruit of equal quantity)
• 1 Tablespoon ground flaxseed
• 1/3 cup of organic yogurt
• 2-3 cups greens, such as spinach or romain
• 1-2 Tablespoons pure maple syrup (or any sweetener such as stevia, honey, or just leave this out)

Prep: Put all ingredients in the blender and blend until smooth. Enjoy!

Note: I actually didn't measure anything when I made this. You can pretty much tweek it to use what you have on hand, and use the above as guidlines.

Health benefits: Blueberries are an excellent source of antioxidants and fiber, the flaxseed adds Omega-3 fats and fiber, the yogurt adds protein and probiotics (good bacteria), and the greens are for enzymes, antioxidants, and minerals. I used maple syrup because 1)I had it on hand, and 2)it is a good source of mineral. It is also sweet, and I have a sweet tooth!