Colorful Salad

I just could not resist this one.  The colors are unbelievable.  How can you not get excited about your food when it looks like this.  What makes it even more special, of course, it is from my garden.  I eat a lot of salads.  When I don't have one for lunch I have one for dinner.  In the concept you are what you eat - I want to be this salad.  Colorful, fresh, a little spicy and full of flavor.  I added a beet I just picked, cucumber, pea pods, tomatoes, garbanzo beans vegetable pulp and edible flowers.  I consider this a complete meal because it does have protein from the vegetables as well as the beans.

Edible flowers.  These are nasturtiums.  All parts of this beautiful plant are edible except the roots of course.  The flowers, leaves and stems are a peppery taste.  I just love using them as garnishes or in salads.  If you haven't tried edible flowers go for it but make sure because not all flowers are edible.

The vegetable pulp I added is what is left after I juiced carrots, beets and cucumber.  Juicing is a topic to discuss another day.  I save the pulp from juicing and use it in a variety of ways.  Generally I freeze it for future use.

There you have it my salad for today.  Once again not really a recipe but maybe some inspiration for you to go out and explore the great world of colorful food.  Do something nice for your body.

Coconut Mango Surprise

Ahhhhh summer. We all have our triggers of what that stirs up deep in our souls. Mine today is ice cream. Think of all the different memories we all have just from that one food item. Food is such an important part of who we are. It is sad how much that vibration deep within us is being lost today because of the lack of connection with our food. My connection is a powerful one because I strongly believe you are what you eat.

Today in my world of gluten, dairy, soy and egg free this treat can be a challenge. I have found a friend in Luna & Larry's Coconut Bliss frozen dessert. They have many flavors to satisfy that summer craving. So this isn't really a recipe, just some ingredients I combined to create a new memory. I just finished a weekend with a great summer concert and felt like being creative.

We found these interesting peppers this weekend. Spicy Calabrian Peppers. A new taste treat for me from Italy. The brand is Isola. The sodium content is higher than products I normally purchase but I only used one so it was fine.

I just scooped Luna & Larry's vanilla island flavor in a dish. Sliced and chopped up an Ataulfo mango for the topping. The inside is velvety smooth with almost no fibrous texture, unlike other varieties. Really this mango variety is so similar to the ones you get in Hawaii. Then put the pepper on top. Indulge.

It was the perfect treat to top off the great summer weekend concert MOJO. So much fun!!

Cauliflower Timbale

OK are you ready for this one? I have tried cauliflower so many ways, haven't you. It is interesting all those bunches of tiny florets on clusters of stalks. The entire floret portion (called the "curd") is edible. I like the fact that you can eat it raw or cooked. Cauliflower is a cruciferous vegetable. So I got this idea to really go out there and make it fool you. The artist in me took from the French word Trompe L'oeil "fool the eye" to a whole new level in food. I am French and I do paint so it is a fusion I guess. This is what I got. A cauliflower timbale. Now maybe this exists out there on our little planet, but I never went looking for it so I will just believe for now that I created it. So just have fun. Maybe fool someone with it.

Cauliflower Timbale

1 whole head of cauliflower washed and trimmed of green leaves

2 tbsp of olive oil

1/3 cup of minced red onions

1 garlic clove minced

1/4 cup chicken broth (I use Pacific organic low sodium)

1 tsp smoked Spanish paprika (I use Penzeys spices)

1/2 tsp of Zatar ( I use Penzeys spices - this is a blend with sumac)

Cut or pull cauliflower apart and put in food processor and pulse until grated. Heat the oil in large skillet over medium heat. Add the onions and saute about 4 minutes. Add the garlic and saute one more minute. Add cauliflower and saute 2 minutes more. Add chicken stock and spices, turn heat to medium low and cook for about 10 more or less. Add salt and pepper to taste. You could just eat it like that but I oiled 2 glass timbale molds, put cauliflower in and packed down. Turn over to release the shaped timbale on the plate. There you have it. You can experiment like I did.

Salad

How exciting. Look my first salad from my garden. Yes gypsy fans I grew this beautiful feast. This one has micro greens, a mix of mesclun and a combination of fresh chives, basil and sage. Mesclun is a potpourri of young, small salad greens. Micro greens the newest and greatest food in gourmet restaurants. Tasty and very nutritious. Just a few of the many greens I planted this year.

I often choose a salad for lunch. When you are gluten, soy, dairy and egg free it is a good choice. I will often put avocado in as well. I could and often do eat one avocado a day. When this gypsy lived in California and Hawaii I had so many varieties of avocado. This salad doesn't have it but often times I will put quinoa in as well. Quinoa (KEEN-wah) - it contains more protein than any other grain. A complete protein because it contains all eight essential amino acids. I will do something in the future on grains. So many we can have in place of the ones we can't.

The salad is such a creative dish. I love to be creative with my food. I don't use many bottled dressings. Too many ingredients I don't like and now can't have. I choose Annie's Naturals the roasted red pepper vinaigrette when I buy one. Olive oil and vinegar works for me. So many choices of vinegar. Gluten free people have to read the labels and of course can not have malt vinegar because it is made from barley. Sometimes I use fresh lemon instead of vinegar. Lately I am stuck on white balsamic vinegar. If you haven't tried that one look for it. With all the farmers markets starting think of the possibilities for salads. To me it is better than going to a candy store!

Asparagus

Spring is asparagus time. With the calendar quickly turning to June I thought I should get this out there. On this corner of the planet we go asparagus picking. Yes gypsy followers we find wild asparagus. Actually this is a tradition my husband enjoys. He loves to hunt and gather wild food no matter where we live. This asparagus thing is something he grew up doing and continues to enjoy whenever we find ourselves in this neck of the woods as they say around here. Here in Wisconsin you can find onions or ramps, mushrooms, berries, fiddle heads and who knows what else. I actually went mushroom picking myself when I was a child. That is one tricky adventure and you had better know what you pick when it comes to mushrooms. I digress. Asparagus one of the lily family's cultivated forms. The beautiful tender stalks are apple green with purple-tinged tips. There we go with the colorful food thing again. Its funny how nature knows exactly the colors that go together - something I learned early on as an interior designer. Asparagus contains a good amount of Vitamin A and is a fair source of iron and Vitamins B and C. When we get them wild we blanch them. Blanch means to plunge into boiling water briefly, then into cold water to stop the cooking process. When I have more than I can handle just plain I will make asparagus soup. I just cook the asparagus in chicken stock with a little leek and celery. Then I puree it in the blender. So good. I ordered a food dehydrator this week. It should arrive today so I will put some asparagus to the test. So enjoy the great asparagus even if you buy it at the store.

Scones

I guess It is time for me to post a bakery item. Yes the gypsy does indulge from time to time. One of my recipes I have been reworking for a while is scones. I like them dry and not very sweet. My recipe was great before the gluten, dairy, egg, soy thing. My family asks me about this recipe all the time. I had it figured out the first time just for gluten free. Then all that other stuff got eliminated for me and some of my sisters, so we all keep working on it. I like scones especially when doing the gypsy thing, traveling. Coffee and a scone is the way I start out my day. Of course, as you should know by now, this is not my breakfast just a starter. In early spring this year I made a batch with fresh strawberries and served them with some rhubarb sauce I made. YUM

This time I put dried cherries and walnuts in. This basic recipe is where I am at for now, but it can change at any moment. Switch the ingredients like fresh fruit and dried fruit and nuts and coconut and chocolate chips and so on and so on. Like when I lived in Hawaii I made macadamia nut and coconut scones. Now in Wisconsin the recipe is dried cherries and walnuts. You get the picture. So as always experiment its fun.

Door County Scones

1/2 cup sorghum flour
1/2 cup white rice flour
1/2 cup almond flour
1/2 cup arrowroot starch
1/4 cup sugar (I use Wholefoods 365 organic)
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
dash salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp xanthan gum
5 Tbsp coconut oil (can use butter or shortening)
1/2 cup hemp milk (whatever milk you use)
1/4 cup coconut milk kefir plain ( or use sour cream)
1/2 tsp vanilla
Ener G egg replace for 1 egg according to box (or use whole egg)
1 cup dried Door County cherries
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 400
Combine all flours, sugar, baking powder, salt, baking soda and xanthan gum in steel bowl of stand mixer. Add coconut oil and blend to coarse meal. In separate bowl mix hemp milk, kefir, vanilla, and Ener G. Remove bowl from stand and make a well in middle of flour. Pour liquids in middle and blend slightly by hand. Add cherries and nuts and combine. Let rest 5 minutes. Turn out onto floured surface. Using floured hands knead gently until dough comes together. Pat into 7 1/2 inch round. Using knife cut into 8 wedges. Transfer wedges to baking sheet. Bake until golden and crusty about 20 minutes. Sometimes it takes 18 minutes, sometimes up to 25 depending on the ingredients.

Meatballs

As I am contemplating who my horse is for the Kentucky Derby race today, I thought I would share the recipe I just had for lunch. Ah yes the derby. Another of those gypsy adventures in my life. I lived in Lexington, Kentucky in the the 70's. What a beautiful place if you haven't had the opportunity to go. All the white fences and rolling hills and of course the horses. I get so excited on race day. My mother told me yesterday "You probably got that from your grandfather". I remember going to the farm as a child and seeing those huge horses which actually were huge because they were the Belgium type. I guess you never know what influences from your childhood will carry forward and in what way. This recipe has nothing to do with any of that probably the only thing I will have today that does is a mint julep when I watch the race. So now for the recipe. I gave you the Kicked Up Ancho Sauce on a previous blog which is part of this. We originally had this for dinner and now today as a leftover for lunch. It was very good either way. The combination is meatballs, polenta and the ancho sauce. Meatballs can be made so many different ways with so many different meats. This one was with pork and beef. If turkey or chicken is what you prefer go for it. I like all varieties. For the polenta I used Bob's Red Mill gluten free corn grits. I just make the polenta according to the package directions.

Meatballs

1# ground beef (I buy grass-fed no hormone no feed grade antibiotics sustainable from local farm)
1# ground pork (same resource as beef)
1/3 cup chopped red onion
1/2 cup chopped colored bell pepper (any combination I used orange and yellow)
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp smoked Spanish paprika (Penzeys Spices)
1/3 cup Bobs Red Mill gluten free cornmeal
Salt and pepper to taste

Combine all in bowl. Form meatballs. Brown in 2 Tbsp olive oil.

Serve with polenta and Kicked Up Ancho Sauce