Coconut, Almond flour Muffin (GF)

Since I became more and more interested in Gluten Free diet I am reading a lot about wheat free flour and cooking technics.

I have quite a few of these flours in my pantry, but this one is new: Coconut flour!

I've been reading that working with this flour might be a bit tricky.
So, I wanted a KIS (keep it simple) recipe to start with my experience on baking with it.
The result was so amazing that after trying one Muffin (straight from the oven) I immediately baked a second batch.

This Muffin has a soft texture, the nutty flavour is everywhere due to both Coconut/Almond flours and there's also a touch of citrus from orange zest and juice. 

For this recipe (6 Muffin) I used: 3/4 cup Coconut flour, 1 cup Almond flour, pinch baking soda and salt, 2 large eggs, 1/4 cup fresh orange juice (+ zest 1 orange), 1/4 cup Coconut/Rice milk, 1 tsp Coconut Oil (bio), 1/2 Vanilla bean (seeds), 1/3 cup Agave

Step 1- In a bowl combine flours, salt and baking soda.

Step 2- In a separate bowl combine eggs, orange zest and juice, milk, oil, vanilla and agave.
Whisk until well incorporated.

Step 3- Combine dry ingredients with the wet, place it Muffin paper tins.
Bake in medium heat temperature until cooked (180C, 15 minutes my oven- Fan).

Coconut Kiss

Yesterday Alex and I were discussing this recipe, super easy to make and goes perfectly with a cup of bitter or sweet coffee.

I had all the ingredients available at home, so I decided to prepare a batch of these marvellous Coconut Kiss!

Ready in two steps and it calls for only 4 ingredients.

For this recipe (16 units) I used: 100 gr shredded coconut, 2 eggs, 10 gr sweetner and lemon zest (optional)

Step 1- combine all the ingredients in a bowl, form small size balls 

Step 2- Bake medium heat for aprox. 10 min or until golden brown.

Allow it to cool before serving!

Bom apetite!

Orange Polenta Cake (GF)

Two years ago I crossed with this fantastic cake and my first though: I have to have this recipe, I want  to reproduce it! 

I imidiately fell in love with its orangey flavour, freshness, moist texture and lovely yellowish colour (from corn polenta flour) and the asset? is gluten free!

I tried some recipes and did some adaptations to come close to one I fell for....I'm almost, almost there!

For this recipe I used 150 gr. polenta flour, 80 gr. sweetener, 100gr. margarine, 1 orange, 3 eggs and 1 Tbs baking powder (GF)

Step 1- Mix margarine, sweetener and one orange (that I previously blended, with skin on). Add 3 eggs, one at the time, mix until well incorporated.

Step 2- Add polenta and last baking powder, mix everything together.

Step 3- Bake in medium heat for about 35 min.

Step 4- still hot I covered the cake with a sirup made with the juice of one orange and 1 tbs of sweetener! 

Pistachio, Raisins Biscotti (GF)

A few months ago I made this biscotti recipe and I posted pictures on my FB page, my friend Sofia was amazed and asked me to write a post on it. So, here it goes! Sofia, esta e para ti (is dedicated to you) ;-)

This is an Italian treat, cantuccini is how they name it.
This recipe particularity is that it's baked twice. Better, it's  baked and then toasted, which adds an extra crunchiness to this biscuits.

I pretty much followed my previous recipe, however this time I felt like adding a bit of a twist, I macerated the raisins on Port wine for about 30min before using in the recipe

These are the ingredients: 2 1/2 cup gluten free flour (or regular for a non GF version), 1 1/2 tsp baking powder (mine is GF), 1/2 cup pistachio nuts and cranberries (or raisins), orange zest (I used lemon), 2 eggs, 1/4 cup sugar (I used sweetener instead), 4 Tbs butter (I used 3 Tbs Aplro soy), vanilla extract and 1/2 cup Port wine

Step 1- Combine flour, baking powder, pistachio and macerated raisins in a bowl.

Step 2- Mix butter, sugar or sweetneer, eggs (one at the time) and vanilla extract in a separate bowl.

Step 3- Combine dry ingredients with the wet, well incorporated. Divide it in two and form a log with each half.

Step 4- Bake in pre heated oven (180 C) until soft to touch. It takes 15/20 min in my oven.

Step 5- Let cool down for 10 min and slice it crosswise, put it back in the oven to toast until golden brown colour (6 to 8 min. each side, depending on your oven)

Enjoy it  with a cup of tea!!

Berries, Chia Seeds Jam (Sugar Free)

OMG, this is so good!...this was my reaction with the result of my first homemade jam!

Why haven't I done it sooner? It's so, so easy to make and so much better than store bought jams!

Here's how I made it: raspberries, blueberry, strawberry (1 cup each), lemon juice, 2 Tbs sweetneer and  2 Tbs of raw chia seeds.

Step 1- Combine fruits and lemon juice in a pan. Bring it to boil then simmer in medium heat, stirring every once and a while to check the consistence (I wanted a jam with pieces of fruit so I didn't cook it  for too long).

Step 2- To absorve the liquid and to give a "jam" texture I mixed in 2 Tbs of chia seed (superfood).
At the end I had to add 2 Tbs of sweetneer to enhance the natural flavour. 

Step 3- After cooling down I transferred it to a pre sterilised jar!

Enjoy!

Vegetarian Chilli

It doesn't look like but this recipe is so easy to make, if you like Mexican food you should definitely give it a try!

Basically is, chop, throw in the pan and slow cook it for about 35 min and there you are, a super delicious chilli! 

I used to do it with TVP (which demanded a pre preparation process) but when I moved to Belgium I discovered a new product- Quorn, that, to me, replaces soy protein perfectly!

I even tried doing it with tofu and works really well too!

Here's the ingredients I used: Quorn (minced, for "bolognese"), red, green, yellow chilli and bell peppers, red beans, sweet corn, 1 can tomato, chilli powder, cumin powder, oregano, salt, onion, garlic, 1 cup vegetable stock (mine was gluten free), olive oil and pinch of sugar (to cut tomato acidity)

Step zero (tip)- having all the ingredients "mis en place" (already prepared: chopped vegetables...) it calls for a lot of ingredients and sometimes I end up forgetting something!

Step 1- sauté chopped onion in olive oil, add garlic and caned tomato, let cook for a couple of minutes. Add Quorn, seasoning, vegetable stock, sweet corn, beens, chillies and peppers. 
Cook in a medium/low fire for about 35 minutes.

Step 2- Check taste, add more salt if needed.
It's ready to serve!

Note: I used half, of each color, chillies with seeds plus chilli powder and it wasn't hot enough, for my taste! Feel free to adapt it to your taste!

It's good served with tortillas, rice...

Enjoy!!!

Tofu Rancheros (my vegan version)

This recipe is based on a vegetarian culinary book my brother gave em for Xmas a few years ago!

I did some changes, to make it completely vegan and healthier.

The original recipe calls for fried eggs which I replaced with scrambled Tofu. It also calls for sour cream, which I omitted. I was out of soy yogurt and never tried the store bought version, to be honest! (I have try making my own homemade vegan sour cream, after all this blog is all about experiences and experiments, right?)

Also, I replaced cilantro by parsley and black been by red. I don't like cilantro and red beens, that's what I had available. As on the original recipe I used avocado, tomato and corn tortilla, of course!

Step one, crumbling the tofu (extra-firm) into a bowl, add mexican seasoning mix, ground cumin, curcuma and dried garlic.

In a separate bowl, mix chopped tomato and onion, parsley, red chilli, olive oil and lime juice. Let it marinate for a while.

Second phase, sauté onion and garlic in a skillet add tofu, a bit of water and cook it for a couple of minutes. I did the same with beens.

In the original version the tortilla (corn) is fried, I grilled it instead- in a hot nonstick skillet.

Third step, I put tortilla in a plate and disposed the rest of the ingredients and you can see in the picture!

Final touch sprinkle with freshly ground pepper, chilli and if needed salt.

Super easy to cook and an alternative option to eggs!

Tandoori Salmon, Grilled Veggies and Corn/Rice couscous (GF)

This post is dedicated to my mom and sister!

They're big fans of this recipe!

This is what I was saving myself for as I mentioned on my previous post!

I'm eating less and less fish, but I confess that sometimes I feel like eating Salmon! 

So today I cooked it for my lunch!

For this recipe no need to put a lot of seasoning before, as the tandoori paste is quite spiced! So, the night before I seasoned salmon stake with salt, dried garlic, and lemon juice.

Early in the morning I mixed tandoori paste with a 2 Tbs of plain yogurt, let it set for a while and then spread the fish with this mixture, set again for one hour or so. 

I grilled it 3 minutes each side! It was still pink inside and soft texture! I can't stand overcooked fish!

Here's one of my secrets to cook fish, never, ever overcook it!

Meanwhile I started grilling the veggies: eggplant (aka aubergine), leeks and fresh aspargus!

I served it with corn couscous (gluten free) with raisins for a oriental twist!

As decoration, leeks sprouts, adding an extra spiciness and flavour to this marvelous dish!

Green Smoothie

It's been a while since I last had my rainbow juices for breakfast! 

So this morning that's what a did! Not just because I was really feeling like but also because I wanted to save myself for lunch! Curious? Stay tuned for the next post :-)

I was in the mood for the color green, so here's what I did:

I took a handful of fresh spinach, half orange, half grapefruit and a generous slice of fresh piña ;-) I mixed everything in a blender for a couple of seconds. Then, the best part, I added the goodies (clockwise): hemp powder, green mix powder (spirulina and clorela), brewer yeast and chia seeds!

I blend it for a couple more minutes et voila!
I just realised that I forgot to add ginger!

Simple, easy, tasty and super healthy!

Quinoa, Berries breakfast bowl

As I said on my previous post I'm so in to Quinoa  lately (pronounced kinwa- Quechua). This pseudo cereal superfood, classified as seed is originally cultivated on the Andes of South America: Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador... is a good source of protein, among others and is gluten free.

Easy to cook and super versatile, can be used both in "bitter" (note: when written bitter between " I mean savoury) and sweet dishes! Salads, porridges, vegetarian "hamburger"...

I cook it same way as rice, with a 1 to 2 racio. 
Is recommended to soak it overnight before cooking to best absorb the nutrients and to make it more digestible for the stomach. 
If I plan cooking quinoa, I do soak it. On last minute decision I don't (this time I did). I always rinse it well  before cooking though!


Here's what I had this morning for breakfast, Quinoa, Berries (energy booster) bowl!

This time I used fresh berries, fresh loquat- nespera (my fav fruit ever), pecan/almond, fresh coconuts flesh chunks, cinnamon and almond "milk".

I mixed all the ingredients in a bowl at that's it!

Note: next time I'll toast the coconut flesh before, in order to enhance its nutty flavour!

Isn't it a good choice for a Monday morning kick off? 

Very Berry breakfast bowl

Ever since I moved to Belgium my breakfast habits changed a lot! I used to have cereals (specific type and brand), whole wheat/ multigrain (homemade) bread, vegetable "milk" and a piece of fruit mainly kiwi fruit or pear!

 Now, I'm more into omelettes, quinoa/millet porridges...kind of a brunch type breakfast!

Yesterday I bought berries (blueberry, mulberry and raspberry) and chunks of fresh coconuts flesh. The idea was to prepare a big bowl of quinoa and have it this morning for breakfast. The thing is that I forgot to cook the quinoa last night at I didn't feel like doing it it this morning! 

So, plan B breakfast!!!a very berry cottage cheese bowl, full of berries, pistachio plus dates and agave syrup to add some sweetness! 

Low fat, low sugar, protein and antioxidant packed and super yummy!

Apple, Cinnamon Cake with Raisins and Pecan

My friend Susan invited me to come over for a tea and cake chit chat afternoon! I promptly accepted and told her I would take care of the cake and leave the tea for her to deal with!

I decided to bake an apple cake, (one of) the good thing about this recipe is that the apple skin is one of the ingredients! which makes it a more nutritious cake!

It tasted so yummy, I added some chopped pecan, raisins and a drizzle of fantastic Port wine that marries so well with cinnamon!

Sweet q.b, fluffy and moist that goes perfectly with a cup of tea and super nice company!