Tag: gluten free

Sunday morning ANZACs.

Om Nom ANZACs.jpg

I doubt there is a single Aussie kid who hasn’t baked or eaten these at one point or another…they’re the quintessential antipodean biscuit.  So bloody easy to make, I remember these were one of the first things I ever cooked in Home Ec class, back in the day (are those classes even around anymore??) – and many, many times since.

These ANZACs have a bit of a twist – partly because of preference, and partly because of what I did (or didn’t) have in the pantry at the time.  That’s the great thing about these biscuits – they can take a bit of tweaking and still taste delicious.  If you can tolerate gluten free oats, these are good for those with gluten issues (just swap out the flour for a GF variety) and vegans can use a vegetable based margarine in place of the butter, to make them completely free of animal products.

But please…don’t EVER call them cookies.  To an Aussie, that’s just sacrilege…they were, are, and will always remain, BIKKIES 🙂

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Cauliflower for days.

Roasted Cauliflower Salad 4

Cauliflower seems to be having a moment in the sun lately.  When I was growing up, it was much dreaded on any dinner plate…having been boiled to within an inch of its life, tasteless and with an awful texture.  Now, however, we’re starting to see just what a magic little powerhouse it really is – versatile, tasty, practically fat free and packed with vitamins C and B-6. How could you say no?

Cauliflower is showing up in everything from the ever-trusty cauliflower cheese (comfort food heaven) to being finely ‘riced’ and used as a carb-friendly substitute to grains, being steamed and shaped into pizza bases, or being roasted whole with spices as a hearty vegetarian main course.  It holds other stronger flavours brilliantly, and it lends itself to so many interpretations – so it’s unsurprising that the humble cauli has become vegetable of the hour 🙂

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Never enough banana bread.

BB Slice

Oh happy days!  And i’m not just talking about this delicious banana bread, though that is reason enough to be happy, that’s for sure…no, i’m talking about my brand new internet connection, which is finally allowing me to work at better than dial up speeds for the first time in nearly three years!  I haven’t been able to post all week because of this, so I have a big backlog of lovely recipes for you…and I can finally post them without my connection dropping out every minute.  Good times.

So, banana bread – this is the second version I promised you guys a while ago.  The first version I posted is a bit more rustic – this second version is a bit more cakey and slightly more cafe-like, I guess…but like the first one, it too is bloody delicious.  This recipe makes a generous loaf – I usually slice it up and put it in the freezer, separating each piece with some greaseproof or baking paper, so you can grab a bit as needed.  Great for a little weekend treat 🙂

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Tofu tacos.

Tacos 3

I mentioned when I posted my Tasty Baked Tofu recipe ealier this week that I was planning to test out using it for a meat-free taco.  Well, the results are in and it was a success!  So much so, i’m writing this at 9:30am and i’m already salivating over them…is it a thing to have tacos for breakfast?  If not, maybe it should be 😉

This is so easy i’m not even sure it constitutes a separate recipe, but i’ll write up what I did for those of you who want a bit of a guide.

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Magical carrots.

Carrot Tart

Carrots are pretty amazing little nutritional powerhouses.  Packed with beta-carotene (which gives them their vibrant orange colour), they’re fantastically antioxidant, and have a list of health benefits as long as your arm.  In western herbal tradition, carrots have been variously used as a treatment for night blindness, whooping cough, and cancerous tumours – to name but a few things – and researchers are now isolating various compounds in them that have indeed proven to be beneficial for some of the many ailments they’ve been used to treat over hundreds, if not thousands, of years.  I love it when science catches up with folklore 🙂

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Gluten free pastry.

Pastry Case 2

I think for anyone relatively new to the gluten free world, the thought of making pastry becomes filled with a certain dread…so many recipes, so little success.  Just like GF bread recipes, there are many out there that claim to be ‘the best ever’ and i’m certain some of them must be great, but sometimes it tires me looking at all the steps involved, and all the arcane ingredients I must source in order to make it.

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Noodles for dinner.

Zucchini Noodles

But not just any noodles…yes i’m finally trying out zucchini noodles, and they are GOOD.

I know the best veggie noodles are made with a spiralizer, so a while ago I bought a hand-held one on eBay…well you know that saying about ‘you get what you pay for’, it certainly proved true in this case.  My $3.47 plus free postage proved a waste of time and money because it was worse than useless, and my fancy piece of green plastic ended up in the bin, but not before mangling one of my zucchinis in the process!

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Zucchini madness.

Zucchini

I absolutely love zucchinis – they’re so versatile.  Which is a good thing too because once those babies get going in the garden, they go MAD.  This year, i’m trying to keep ontop of them, partly by making sure I pick some of them while they’re still small and attached to the flowers, and partly by remembering that if you turn your back on them for just a second, they’ll have exploded into veritable monsters before your very eyes – so once they start reaching a resonable size, I pick them there and then.

I’ve been collecting a little cache of go-to zucchini recipes over the past few years, so the backlog doesn’t get out of hand.  I think this was part of what made me wait so long to pick the beetroots last year – I simply didn’t know what to do with so many of them!  Now i’ve realised that having a few reliable, delicious recipes to hand for all the anticipated garden bounty is definitely the way to go – and this recipe for gluten free zucchini fritters is one of that collection.

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Granola love.

Granola 3

Since committing to going gluten-free in 2016 (you can read why here), i’ve had a grain free granola on my kitchen radar.  I like to use it as a sprinkle on my fruit salad and smoothies, and it works equally well as a muffin topping, as a crust for your fruit crumble, or as a little crunchy boost to your breakfast pancakes…the list goes on really.  You can even eat it on its own, as a snack – it’s pretty versatile!

I was a bit worried that a grain free version would lose some of that decadent mouth feel that regular granola has, but rest easy folks – after a little tweaking, this one turned out perfectly.  I had it this morning with sliced peach, banana and plain greek yoghurt for breakfast, and it was HEAVEN.  I also used it on my delicious dinner smoothie, which you can find here…seriously, I think you should make some.  STAT.

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You old smoothie.

Banana Smoothie & Granola 3

Some nights, you just can’t be bothered cooking…I think that’s why the universe gave us smoothies.  Amirite?  They’re just the perfect combination of, well…anything you like…all in a cold, creamy, delicious drink.  Which if you’re lucky, is also good for you. And guess what…this is your lucky day.

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