CSA Week One: Lettuce, Radishes, Lots of Greens

It's the first week of our summer CSA (community supported agriculture). I love this time of year & getting our boxes of fresh produce each week. We started using a CSA last year.

This year we ordered from an organic farm that's closer to our home. They also deliver which is wonderful. Plus, we additionally will have fresh eggs delivered each week with our produce.

It's the next best thing to having my own garden & chickens!

This week we received:

• little white radishes
• some type of pink radishes
• a beautiful head of escarole lettuce
• a bag of colorful swiss chard
• a bag of a spinach variety
• several fresh leeks
• a pint of strawberries
• 2 sweet potatoes
• 1 dozen eggs

Now, here's where you come in...

Other than making a really good salad & green smoothies (which I love) I need some help figuring out how to use all these greens & radishes. What are some things you would do with them? Do you have any radish recipes? Any really good (dairy free) spinach recipes?
PLEASE share them with me in the comments below!!

Speaking of green smoothies...For lunch today I took a few leaves of escarole, spinach, and chard. I washed them thoroughly and added them to my blender.



Added in a banana, some frozen blueberries, lots of fresh water, a few superfoods (raw cacao, maca powder, spirulina, raw pumpkin seeds), ice, and some vanilla stevia for sweetness. Blended away...



...and had a really awesome green smoothie! It was so neat to know that all my fresh vegetables & greens were from a farm less than 10 miles away.

Each week this summer I'll post the items we receive in our CSA box and I hope you'll help me figure out what to do with all the farm fresh vegetables and fruits!

If you want to learn more about how to make green smoothies for your own health, please visit Meghan Telpner's amazing blog.

Also if you'd like more green smoothie recipes, please read my series of Green Smoothie blog posts from last year. A whole week's worth of fresh, healthy, green smoothie deliciousness!

Gluten Free, Vegan Chocolate Cake Recipe

It took a great deal of restraint not to make another "trial" run of this cake tonight. I really think I could eat it for dinner.

My wonderful friend Clara started making a vegan version of my original gluten free Everyday Chocolate Cake for her husband's co-workers. She said the cake was always completely demolished by her husband's friends.

I decided to try the vegan version of the cake late last year when I was trying a vegan diet for a few months. Clara's right on the money... it's great veganized!

Who needs eggs to bake a good cake?

The cake is slightly more dense than a baked good made with eggs, but that just adds to the wonderful chocolately goodness of this gluten free cake.

I love being able to bake without eggs. Not only is it easier on your wallet and a very frugal option, it's also great to be able to get all your ingredients out of the pantry. It's also a great skill to be able to bake for people with multiple food allergies or for people who choose to follow a vegan or vegetarian diet!

Many thanks to Clara, of Six Food Intolerance Living for helping me learn how to remake my Everyday Chocolate Cake. You rock Clara girl!




Gluten Free, Vegan Chocolate Cake
(Free of gluten, soy, dairy/casein, & eggs)
Created by Carrie Forbes @ Gingerlemongirl.com
Adapted to be vegan by Clara Ogren, Six Food Intolerant Living
Printer-friendly recipe.

Dry Ingredients:
1/3 cup brown rice flour
1/3 cup arrowroot starch -or- tapioca starch
1/3 cup sorghum flour
1/4 cup unsweetened baking cocoa
1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum
3/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda

Wet Ingredients:
3/4 cup rice milk -or- almond milk
1/4 cup canola oil -or- melted coconut oil
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup applesauce

Optional Add In's:
1/4 cup allergen free chocolate chips (Clara says the chocolate chips really MAKE this cake!)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spritz an 8" cake pan with non-stick cooking spray or grease with canola oil. Alternately you can line a cake pan with parchment paper to make sure the cake doesn't stick to the pan. In a large bowl whisk together all dry ingredients and set aside. In a smaller bowl blend together all wet ingredients. Mix wet ingredients into dry ingredients. Fold in chocolate chips. Pour batter into greased or parchment paper lined cake pan. Bake cake for 18-25 minutes. Test the cake for doneness with a toothpick or a butter knife. If the toothpick or knife comes out clean after being inserted in the middle of the cake, it's done. Make sure not to over bake. Allow the cake to cool before frosting with your favorite icing. This recipe also makes 12 regular sized cupcakes.

Shauna's Gluten Free Artisan Boule (Gluten Free French Bread)

I really love a good bread. Right before I started a gluten free diet in 2007, I learned how to make real bread. I had made bread several times in my life before... but this time it was the real deal.

I let it rise. I kneaded the dickens out of it. Let it rise again. Baked it and then we ate. We ate amazing bread. I remember my husband sighing in disbelief. That bread was so good. But I had no idea it was tearing me up inside. I had no idea it was causing the miserable headaches I had experienced since I was a teenager. I had no idea it was causing mood swings, tummy aches, and so many other unhealthy symptoms. I had absolutely no idea that something that tasted so good could cause so much harm.

I remember feeling a sense of loss after starting the gluten free diet. I thought I would never be able to make Hardees biscuits again. I'd never be able to knead bread and feel the cool dough squish through my fingers. When you make bread, you have to be truly present. You know where you. It's a sensory experience. There was such a joy in art & the physical labor that was required to create good bread. I was afraid that it would be an experience I'd never truly have again.

But then I learned.

I experimented.

I got my hands dirty.

I tried 20 different kinds of gluten free flour.

I learned how to make bread again.

Is it the same? Well not exactly. But the experience comes with the same joy. The same wonder of creating something from scratch and knowing it will be eaten, it will taste wonderful, and that you provided the labor to make this lovely loaf of bread.

Gluten free, safe-for-my-tummy, delicious bread.

I don't really have a favorite gluten free bread recipe. I keep trying different ideas. Different methods. Creating new types of recipes. And I really enjoy them all.

But if you miss the old experience of waiting for bread, for really good bread... try this recipe.

Shauna Ahern (our Gluten Free Girl) helped to create the method and technique of this recipe. A crusty boule. A gluten free bread that truly has the texture of a wheat "french" bread.

I love having to wait for this bread. I love letting it rise on the counter. Letting the yeast do it's thing. I love the sense that this bread takes time, as all truly good things do.

Take your time.

Breathe.

Feel the dough in your fingers and start creating real bread.




Shauna's Rosemary & Calamata Gluten Free Bread
Adapted from Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day, by Jeff Hertzberg and Zoë Francois

Ingredients:

1 cup brown rice flour
3/4 cup sorghum flour
1 1/2 cups tapioca flour
1 tablespoon granulated active dry yeast
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 tablespoon xanthan gum
1 1/3 cups lukewarm water (heated to 110°F)
2 large eggs, at room temperature
2 tablespoons + 2 teaspoons canola oil
1 tablespoon honey
2 handfuls kalamata olives, sliced
2 sprigs fresh rosemary, taken off the stem and finely chopped
olive oil
coarse sea salt

For directions on how to make this bread, please visit and enjoy Shauna's wonderful website.

Happy Earth Day: How to use less energy in your gluten free kitchen

Image courtesy of Sacromento Scoop

Want to celebrate Earth Day in your gluten free cooking? Here are a few ways you can use less energy:

1. Boiling eggs.
Bring your water to a boil, add your eggs and allow the water to come back to a boil. Then turn off your burner. Let the eggs sit for about 10 minutes and you will have perfectly boiled eggs without using your burner for the whole cooking period. You can use the same technique for some gluten free rice pastas, rice & potatoes.

2. Letting bread rise the old fashioned way.
To quick rise a yeast bread, we turn on the oven and turn it off and then allow bread to rise in the hot oven for about 30-40 minutes. This is a great method when you're short on time... but if you want to do it the old fashioned way, just let it rise on the counter. If it's not super warm in your house this can take several hours, but I think it makes a better tasting bread because the yeast develops more slowly and you don't use the energy from your oven to let it rise.

3. Use homemade cleaners for countertops and glass stovetops.
My husband makes a cleaner from about 1/4 cup vinegar, 1 tbsp. earth-friendly dish detergent, and fills up the rest of the spray bottle with water. We use this to clean counters, bathtubs, sinks, windows, etc... it works great. If I have something that needs to be scrubbed we add baking soda. Works like a charm. Green & cheap.

4. Plan ahead and use your crockpot instead of your oven.
Your crockpot uses less energy and doesn't heat up the area surrounding it (like heating up your whole kitchen) to cook something. Cooking with your crockpot can also save you time and money! :-) Both good reasons to give it a try!

5. Shop locally & eat seasonally.
Know of a local farm or CSA that you can buy fresh vegetables, eggs, chicken, or meat from? Check out Local Harvest to find a farm that has community supported agriculture shares, fresh eggs, meats, handmade soaps, jams & jellies, etc... You will be eating foods that are fresh, local, usually organic, and you will save energy by not purchasing products that come from a long distance and use lots of fuel to get to your grocery store.

6. Check out all these ways to save energy in your kitchen this week:
http://earth911.com/news/2007/04/02/dishwasher-tips/

What ways do you try to save energy when you're cooking?

Gluten Free Peanut Butter Honey Cookie Recipe (Casein Free, Soy Free, Egg Free)

Is there anything better than a good peanut butter cookie? My husband doesn't think so. He actually asked for these over chocolate chip cookies the other day. I checked his forehead to make sure he didn't have a temperature. No worries, he's okay...

These cookies are another venture into egg free baking. As I've found so far, cookies are extremely forgiving... and honestly it's so easy to make them without eggs. Plus when you use a ground flax seed "egg replacer" you get some amazing benefits from the wonderful fiber and the healthy omega 3 fatty acids that are in the natural oils of flax seeds. For more information on the benefits of adding ground flax seeds into your diet, please visit this site.



Peanut butter cookies were one of the first cookies I learned how to make as a child. I remember bringing them to many a church potluck. This version is actually modified from the recipe that I used as a girl.

Spring is here and I'm planning on featuring a delicious array of easy recipes using fresh summer fruits and vegetables. What are your favorite things to make during the spring and summer? Do you have any recipe requests? Please share your thoughts in the comments on these cookies and on recipes you'd like to see this spring and summer.


Gluten Free Peanut Butter Honey Cookies
Created by Carrie @ Gingerlemongirl.com
(Gluten Free, Soy Free, Casein Free, Egg Free)
Printer-friendly recipe

Wet Ingredients
1/3 cup coconut oil
1/2 cup all-natural peanut butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup honey
1 tablespoon ground flax seeds mixed with 4 tablespoons hot water, set aside to let gel

Dry Ingredients
1/3 cup sorghum flour
1/3 cup brown rice flour
1/3 cup arrowroot starch
1/4 cup potato starch
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum

Directions
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper and set aside. In a large bowl mix coconut oil, peanut butter, sugar & honey together until very smooth. Add in the gelled ground flax seed mixture. Set aside. In a medium bowl whisk together all dry ingredients. Fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and stir well. Scoop about a tablespoon of dough into your hands and roll the dough into a ball. Place balls onto the cookie sheet. With a fork flatten the peanut butter cookies. Place in preheated oven and bake for 7-9 minutes until cookies are golden brown on the edges. Remove from oven and allow to cool on the cookie sheet for about 5-10 minutes before moving to a wire cooling rack. Eat & Enjoy!
Store cookies in an airtight container, if there are any left to store! :-)