Eat More Meat

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“You should really eat more meat.” Not exactly what I was expecting to hear from my doctor, or quite frankly, what I was wanting to hear either. Tell me to be more vegan, go raw, anything.

I set that unpalatable piece of advice aside for awhile, deciding that upping my fish intake from 2-3 times a month to several times a week and adding butter and eggs to my gluten-free baking would be good enough.

It wasn’t.

Rediscovering the joys of baking with butter distracted me for awhile. Gluten-free coffee cakes, muffins, and scones, YUM! But it soon became painfully apparent that I was developing intolerances to grains and pseudo-grains one by one before I could even write the final proportions down and make a blog post. Not good.

Finally I gave up grains and legumes completely, leaving a gaping hole in my personal food pyramid. The only thing left to fill that hole was, you guessed it, meat. So I introduced myself to the butcher, asked some really stupid questions, and am now giving a paleo-style diet a try.

Here’s what I’ve cooked up so far:

  • Soto Ayam (Indonesian Yellow Chicken Soup): Just the right amount of spice. I would cook this again.
  • Beef Rendang (Indonesian Spicy Stewed Beef): My idea of comfort food: spicy, coconutty, and familiar. I used to make vegan rendang all the time. You can even buy a ready-made rendang spice paste that has a natural, non-chemical ingredients list.
  • Grilled Ahi: Simple and delicious. You can’t go wrong with ahi.
  • Sausage and Mushroom Frittata: Not bad topped with green salsa. A little heavy on the sausage though. If I made this again, I’d use less sausage and more mushroom.
  • Almond-Crusted Cod: Not my favorite fish recipe. Mustard belongs on hot dogs, not fish fillets.
  • Pinang Kerrie (South African Lamb Curry): I would like this curry much better without the lamb. It would be awesome with vegan lamb. (Vegan lamb is made from mushrooms and tastes nothing like the real thing.) I’d give lamb another try though. Maybe I didn’t marinate it enough or something.
  • Coconut-Curried Salmon: I made a ton of Cape Curry Powder for the lamb. For the record, it goes wonderfully with salmon.
  • Curry-Crusted Mahi Mahi: Cape Curry Powder, mixed in a spice rub. Quick, easy, and delicious.
  • Indian-Spiced Meatballs: Tasty, but next time I’ll be sure to whip up some Paleo Bread Crumbs to stir in.
  • Paleo Hamburger Helper: Leftover Aloo Gobi (Indian cauliflower and potato curry) mixed with ground beef. OK, potatoes might not really be 100% paleo-approved, but I’m not trying to lose weight here. A potato every now and then can’t be all that bad.
  • Opor Ayam (Indonesian Coconut Chicken): Back to the Indonesian comfort foods. This recipe was good, but Americanized. I’d definitely add more spice next time.
  • Spicy Bison Lettuce Wraps: Didn’t expect to like bison as much as I did. Doing more experimenting now. It’s way more fun that way.

Results? Less pain and fatigue. More time in the kitchen. You can whip up a veggie curry in under an hour. Meat has to be marinated, cooked for hours on end. I’m learning to plan way ahead for mealtimes. Did I mention less pain and fatigue? A “normal” day now includes at least 23 hours pain/symptom free, plus energy to last until bedtime. Wow, I never expected that! :)

As far as this blog is concerned, I’m planning to rewrite the gluten-free recipes I had been working on into grain-free ones, and eventually you may see a mix of veggie and meat dishes here, after I get more accustomed to the new ingredients in my pantry. I’d also love it if you shared your fav paleo dishes and recommendations.

More Coconut Flour Fun!

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A big congratulations to our coconut flour winner, Beth Grant! You’ll probably need more coconut flour recipes, so here’s a selection of everyone’s favorites for you (all gluten-free):

Apple Crisp
Carrot Cake
Chicken Fingers
Chocolate and Vanilla Macaroons
Chocolate Cake
Coconut Cream Puffs
Easy Vegan Macaroons
Pizza Crust
Zucchini Muffins

Lately, I’ve been making scones with my coconut flour … apricot and gingerbread so far.

The apricot scones were fabulous. The gingerbread scones tasted good, but turned out more like a free-form muffin, not like a scone at all. Wish I would have written down the recipes for both of them, especially the apricot scones, but I was caught up in the kitchen moment and couldn’t be bothered to write down what went into the mixing bowls.

My next batch of scones will probably be coconut-lemon, since the lemons on my tree are ripe. Perhaps I’ll ring in the blogging new year with a recipe for coconut-lemon scones. YUM!

Pumpkin-Date Blondies {+ Coconut Flour Giveaway}

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A little bit pumpkin pie, a little bit cookie bar, Pumpkin-Date Blondies are a perfect autumn treat.

Sweetened with dates, these blondies are refined sugar-free. Enjoy them for a healthy breakfast, dessert, or any-time snack.

Just make sure you stock up on cans of pureed pumpkin before pumpkin is all gone until next fall. I had the worst craving for a pumpkin treat in August when pumpkin was nowhere to be found on grocery store shelves!

Luckily, coconut flour is easy to find year-round. It’s one of my favorite gluten-free flours to bake with. Coconut flour is high in protein and fiber. A simple way to use it is to replace 1/4 of your usual flour with coconut flour. Or try one of the many delicious coconut flour recipes on the Tropical Traditions website (scroll down to find recipes).

If you’re inclined to experiment in the kitchen like me, then you’ll be pleased to know that you can add lots of flavorful liquids. Coconut flour will soak them all up. Moist and delicious!

Whether you like to follow recipes to the letter or prefer to improvise as you go, scroll down to the bottom of this post to find out how you can enter to win a 2.2 pound bag of Tropical Traditions Organic Coconut Flour to try for yourself.

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Pumpkin-Date Blondies

Ingredients

  • 1 cup coconut flour
  • 1/4 cup ground flax seed meal
  • 2 teaspoons cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon ginger
  • 1/4 teaspoon allspice
  • 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
  • 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
  • 1/2 cup pecans, chopped
  • 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
  • 1/2 cup unrefined coconut oil
  • 1 cup pureed cooked pumpkin
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1 cup dates, pitted and chopped
  • 1 and 1/2 cups + 2 tablespoons coconut milk (the cooking kind, not the beverage kind) divided into 1/2 cup, 1 cup, and 2 tablespoons portions

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease an 8-inch nonstick baking pan with coconut oil.
  2. In a medium bowl combine coconut flour, flax seed meal, cinnamon, ginger, allspice, nutmeg, and sea salt.
  3. Place pecans on a baking sheet in the oven for 3-5 minutes, or until lightly toasted. Stir the toasted pecans into the dry mixture and set aside.
  4. In a large bowl, combine applesauce, coconut oil, pumpkin, and vanilla.
  5. Place the dates and 1/2 cup of the coconut milk into a saucepan on medium heat. Bring to a boil. Turn heat to low and simmer gently for 1 minute. Turn heat off, cover, and let rest for 5 minutes.
  6. Place warm coconut milk-date mixture into a food processor or blender and blend until smooth. If needed add some of the 1 cup coconut milk to help blend dates.
  7. Add the blended coconut milk-date mixture and the rest of the 1 cup coconut milk to the wet ingredients in the large bowl. (Reserve the 2 tablespoons coconut milk for use later.) Stir to combine.
  8. Pour the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and stir until well combined. Batter will be the consistency of mashed potatoes.
  9. Spread batter evenly into prepared baking pan. Spread remaining 2 tablespoons coconut milk evenly onto top of the batter with a spatula. Spread the coconut milk around until it picks up a little color from the batter underneath. Sprinkle a little cinnamon lightly on top of the smoothed coconut milk. (photo below)
  10. Bake about 35 minutes or until the edges start to brown and/or pull away from the sides of the pan.
  11. Let cool/refrigerate before slicing and serving. Blondies will set as they cool. Top with creamy coconut-cashew topping if desired.
http://www.laurawestkong.com/gff/2011/pumpkin-date-blondies/

Enter to win a 2.2 pound bag of Tropical Traditions Organic Coconut Flour! (a $15.00 value) There are 6 ways to enter:

  1. Subscribe to Tropical Traditions’ Email Newsletter for special sales and free recipes.
  2. Follow Tropical Traditions on Twitter.
  3. Like Tropical Traditions on Facebook.
  4. Visit the coconut flour recipes webpage and leave a comment below telling which coconut flour recipe you’d like to try.
  5. Follow me, gfChefLaura on Twitter.
  6. Tweet this post/giveaway on Twitter and put a link to your tweet in a comment below. (Click on the timestamp underneath the tweet to get a link to an individual tweet.) You can tweet the giveaway as many times as you’d like, but only the first tweet will count as a giveaway entry.

Leave a me a separate comment with your name and email address after completing each item. Each comment will count as an entry. The giveaway starts today, Wednesday, November 23, 2011 and ends Tuesday, December 6, 2011. A winner will be picked at random via Random.org on Wednesday, December 7, 2011. Open to residents of U.S. & Canada.

Disclaimer: Tropical Traditions provided me with a free sample of this product to review, and I was under no obligation to review it if I so chose.  Nor was I under any obligation to write a positive review or sponsor a product giveaway in return for the free product.

Creamy Coconut-Cashew Topping

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It’s that time of year when it chills up outside, and warms up inside … the oven that is. Pies, gingerbread, and other holiday treats call out for a creamy topping.

Here’s one of my favorites. It’s an easy, delicious, vegetarian dessert topping. Cashews and coconut are naturally sweet, so all you need to add is a touch of honey and vanilla. Happy eating!

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Creamy Coconut-Cashew Topping

Ingredients

  • 1 cup raw cashews
  • 1/2 cup coconut cream (not sweetened cream of coconut)
  • 1 tablespoon honey
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla

Instructions

  1. Soak cashews in 1/2 cup water overnight. (This step is optional if you're in a rush. However soaking the cashews makes them easier to blend and brings out their natural sweetness.)
  2. Place cashews and soaking water into a food processor or blender and blend until smooth.
  3. Add coconut cream, honey, and vanilla, and blend until combined well. If you like your topping sweeter, add more honey to taste.
  4. Refrigerate to thicken before serving.
http://www.laurawestkong.com/gff/2011/creamy-coconut-cashew-topping/

Pasta 1-2-3

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Need a delicious gluten-free meal in a hurry? Take 3 pantry ingredients: brown rice pasta, fire roasted diced tomatoes, and tuna packed in olive oil, add a few favorite seasonings to make it your own, and you’ve got dinner in not much more time than it takes to boil a pot of water.

Brown rice pasta is delicious in its own right. I often ate it even before giving up gluten. But you have to cook it right.

Cooked correctly, brown rice pasta has a wonderful bite, slightly softer than semolina pasta, but not gummy or sticky. Just about every package you’ll ever find says BE CAREFUL NOT TO OVERCOOK. Don’t ever disregard that warning.

Tips for cooking brown rice pasta

If you’re not accustomed to cooking brown rice pasta, choose a short macaroni style like penne. Less likely to stick to each other than a long pasta such as spaghetti. Brown rice pasta is very mild tasting. Generously salt the water to bring out its flavor. Turn off the burner about 2 minutes before the suggested cooking time is over and place a lid on the pot. When the time is up, check the doneness and always rinse well in cold water after draining.

Pasta improv

A 28-ounce can of fire roasted diced tomatoes sauces a 16-ounce package of pasta perfectly. I add one 5-ounce can of tuna packed in olive oil, but you might prefer two. Or if you’re vegetarian, maybe you’d rather add mushrooms instead.

While the water boils, prepare the sauce. I start with the seasonings:

  • crushed garlic
  • fresh oregano and thyme
  • sea salt (not too much salt at this point, the canned tuna contains added salt)
  • freshly ground pepper
  • a generous pinch of ground chili
  • smoked paprika to bring out the smokiness of the fire roasted tomatoes

Heat a large pan over medium and drain the olive oil from the tuna into the heated pan. Add your choice of seasonings and cook several minutes. If anything sticks, add a spoonful of tomato juice from the can. Next add the tuna and cook a couple minutes more, stirring to combine well. Finally add the can of tomatoes, juice and all. Bring to a simmer and taste. Add a pinch of sugar if desired (I like coconut palm sugar) and adjust the other seasonings as well.

By now your brown rice pasta should be done. Drain and rinse well in cold water. Make sure the water is drained well after rinsing, then add the cooked pasta to the sauce in your pan. Combine gently and heat thoroughly, until the pasta is hot again and any liquid in the pan is reduced. Splash a bit of good quality olive oil in if desired, and serve.

Have fun!

This is not a “recipe”. Don’t worry too much about measurements or duplicating my ingredients exactly. Relax and have fun with it. If you’re unsure how much to use, add a little, taste and add more if needed. Remember you can always add more, but you can’t take it away.

Use your imagination and the ingredients in your pantry to make it different each time. Olives go great with tuna. Sheep’s milk feta is wonderful with fire roasted tomatoes. Fresh basil. Dried herbs. Minced onions and celery. Chopped green veggies. What would you add?

Creamy Avocado Vinaigrette

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Make the most of the final days of summer with this fresh and tangy avocado salad dressing. (I know the calendar says autumn, but here in southern California, the weather doesn’t always listen to the calendar.)

Creamy avocado vinaigrette will go wonderfully with romaine lettuce and the last home-grown tomatoes from your garden. If autumn has already settled in, pair your avocado salad with your favorite soup for the perfect light dinner combination for chilly evenings.

Finding salad dressings on store shelves free of gluten, dairy, egg, soy, and sugar is a losing proposition. Especially when it’s so quick and easy to make your own from scratch. Avocado makes it deliciously creamy and nutritious. You can even use this avocado dressing as a dip for raw veggies or your favorite gluten-free chips.

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Creamy Avocado Vinaigrette

Total Time: 5 minutes

Yield: 1-1/2 cups

Ingredients

  • 1 avocado
  • 1 garlic clove
  • 1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
  • 1/4 cup unfiltered apple cider vinegar
  • 1/2 cup unfiltered extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 teaspoon sea salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
  • 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

Instructions

  1. Peel and seed the avocado, and peel the garlic clove.
  2. Blend the avocado and garlic in a food processor until the avocado is creamy and the garlic is finely chopped.
  3. Add the lemon juice and apple cider vinegar and process until blended.
  4. Add the sea salt, smoked paprika, and pepper, and process until mixed in.
  5. Add the olive oil. You can pour it in slowly while the food processor is going or simply pour it all in at once. Blend until the oil is fully emulsified into the dressing.
  6. Taste, and add more salt, paprika, or pepper, if desired.
  7. Garnish with a sprinkle of smoked paprika, if desired.
  8. Chill to thicken.
http://www.laurawestkong.com/gff/2011/creamy-avocado-vinaigrette/

Hello Monday!

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I got up early to go jogging today. It was still dark, but if I waited till dawn, there wouldn’t be enough time before I had to tend to Monday morning’s duties. It was the first time I felt good since a run-in with oats a week ago, so I didn’t want to miss out.

Stars twinkled as I did my warm up. Stars! You don’t usually even see stars in the sky around here at night. You have to go out to the mountains or desert for that. I’m a little rusty on my astronomy, but I think I saw the Little Dipper.

Especially now, running makes me feel like I’m really alive. Struggling with fatigue day after day, sometimes one starts to wonder. One thing I know for certain, I will never take my health for granted again.

When I finished my run, the sunrise was just getting underway. It wasn’t a vivid, dramatic, picture-postcard sunrise, but to me it was as if it were the first sunrise I’d ever seen.

It’s on days like this that I know that I’m going to be OK. Not every day is going to be easy. I won’t always be able to accomplish everything on my to-do list. There will be bouts with cross-contamination from time to time (hopefully fewer, rather than more times), but the sun will rise again…

Adventures in Gluten-Free Eating

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Eating is an adventure…

It might be a simple meal of roasted sweet potatoes dug up from beneath mounds of smoky embers, eaten while squatting on the ground in the highlands of West Papua, Indonesia…

Or a 10-course culinary extravaganza in a red velvet-lined banquet hall in China, where the meal always ends with an obligatory platter piled high with noodles. Even though one usually passes comfortably full by the 5th or 6th course, the noodles are never refused, because noodles symbolize long life. And nobody wants to pass on a serving of deliciously long life…

Or my personal favorite, a walking street food buffet down the alleyways of Seoul, South Korea, with Kimbap (Korean version of sushi rolls), spicy Ddeok-Bokki (Korean rice cake, not like “rice cake” as we know it, but closer to a chewy, gluten-free gnocchi in an addictively spicy sauce), sweet Hoddeok (flatbread stuffed with cinnamon and brown sugar, fried on a griddle), and savory Pajeon (scallion pancake). I should create a gluten-free scallion pancake recipe for you someday. Mmmmm! Scallion pancakes are a delight that nobody should have to miss out on.

Food is more than just filling your stomach, and refusing food is more than simply saying, “No, thanks.” Even when language differences prevent all but the most basic conversation, food speaks volumes.

Unfortunately dietary restrictions have a way of drowning out this culinary conversation and bringing the mealtime adventure to an unceremonious halt.

Since giving up gluten and other foods earlier this year, I generally avoid eating out, preferring to prepare all my food in the safety of my own home. The extra work is well worth it to me, and I go to great lengths to create food that is adventurous, delicious, and yet safe to enjoy.

But the truth of the matter is that it’s hard to shut yourself away in your own little world all of the time, and its nice once in awhile to go out and eat with friends and family, and have somebody else prepare all the food, wash all the dishes, and so on.

So from time to time I take that risk. Recently I ate at Pho Ngo Gai, a new Vietnamese restaurant in San Bernardino, California (1033 North Waterman Ave. Ste. J). I pointed out the lemongrass tofu on the menu, and asked the waitress if I could have something like that, except without wheat/gluten, soy/tofu, sugar, egg, peanuts, and corn. Just the veggies and whatever sauce they could prepare. Without missing a beat, she checked with the kitchen, and sure enough, they prepared a delicious dish off the menu, just for me. One of the few times I’ve eaten out with absolutely no negative reactions.

It’s easiest to eat out gluten-free in places where they make their food from scratch and don’t depend on pre-made sauces and dishes. There have actually been a couple times at restaurants that pre-make food when I’ve had to simply walk away because there was absolutely nothing available for me to safely eat. Calling ahead when possible is always a good idea. I could have saved myself the trips.

When dining at ethnic restaurants, sometimes the language barrier can be a problem in communicating dietary restrictions. It helps immensely when the staff speaks and understands English well, like they did at Pho Ngo Gai, or if you are able to bring along someone who speaks the language.

I’ve been there, done that with varying degrees of success trying to explain what I can’t eat to waiters who depend on English-speaking diners pointing at the number of the dish they want to order. CeliacTravel.com has printable restaurant cards in 51 languages that can solve this problem.

So take precautions, be safe, and enjoy your adventures in gluten-free eating!

How do you deal with eating out gluten-free?

Gluten-Free in Guam

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The view from our beachfront kitchen in Guam

Whether your autumn winds are chilly or scorching, you can still escape with me to Guam for some cool ocean breezes and refreshing Chamorro cuisine.

Kelaguen is a ceviche-style dish in which the acid in the lemon juice “cooks” the fish, or in the case of grilled chicken, serves as a delicious marinade. Freshly grated coconut, green onions, and chili peppers round out the island flavors.

While visiting Guam, some vegetarian friends taught me how to make soy chicken kelaguen. Now I have to confess that even though I am practically vegan myself, I am not a big fan of soy chicken. The kelaguen marinade, however, completely transformed the soy chicken and I could not stop eating it. It was that delicious.

I have a new version of kelaguen to introduce to you today: Mushroom Kelaguen. While not a traditional ingredient (I’m pretty sure mine is the first mushroom kelaguen ever made), mushrooms are a perfect fit for this tangy, lemony dish. And luckily, kelaguen is naturally gluten-free!

Grating fresh coconut in Guam

One of the secrets to a good kelaguen is freshly grated coconut. Freshly grated coconut is not the same thing as dried, shredded coconut and will not give the same results. Much the same way that orange powdered cheese is not a satisfactory replacement for a good Wisconsin cheddar.

Luckily you can find good frozen grated coconut in Asian/Filipino markets, which is a decent replacement for fresh.

Look for frozen grated coconut without added sugar or preservatives. If you are a coconut fan, you should buy more than one package, because you will certainly want to try it out in cakes, muffins, and other recipes as well.

Frozen grated coconut

Frozen grated coconut comes in one pound packages. To use it, simply thaw a package, measure and set aside what you need, then use a half-cup measuring cup to make 1/2 cup mounds from the remaining grated coconut. Place the coconut mounds on a baking tray and put the baking tray in the freezer until frozen like ice cubes. Then transfer the coconut cubes to a freezer bag and store in the freezer. When you want more grated coconut, just take out the amount you need and thaw. Nothing could be easier!

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Mushroom Kelaguen

Yield: 4 cups

Ingredients

  • 2-3 lemons, juiced
  • 2 pounds white mushrooms, finely chopped
  • 1/4 cup unrefined coconut oil
  • 1 teaspoon sea salt
  • 1-1/2 cups grated coconut, fresh or frozen (thawed)
  • 2 green onions, finely chopped
  • 4-6 small red chilies, finely chopped

Instructions

  1. Juice the lemons and set aside the juice. Rub the inside of your food processor (if using) and cutting board with the insides of the juiced lemons. This will give some protection against mushroom discoloration.
  2. Slice mushrooms in a food processor or by hand. A food processor will give very thinly sliced mushrooms. If you slice them by hand you don't need to slice as thinly as a food processor would, aim for about 1/8 inch wide slices.
  3. Cross-cut the slices in both directions to make small pieces, about 1/8 to 1/4 inch. Don't worry if a few pieces come out too large. You can always cut them with your spatula while cooking the mushrooms.
  4. Melt the coconut oil in a large non-stick pan over medium-high heat and add the finely chopped mushrooms. They will likely fill the pan close to overflowing, so stir carefully until they cook down a bit and let their water out. Two pounds of mushrooms chopped like this will shrink down to 3-4 cups. Cook the mushrooms, stirring occasionally, for about 30 minutes until most of the water has evaporated.
  5. Add the sea salt and stir. Cook for 15-20 minutes longer to coax out and reduce any remaining water. A little moisture when you press down on the mushrooms with a spatula or spoon is OK. Just so there is no liquid in the pan.
  6. While the mushrooms are cooking you can prepare the coconut (if grating fresh), and chop the green onions and red chilies. If you don't like chili heat, remove the membranes and seeds from inside the chilies before chopping.
  7. When the mushrooms are cooked, transfer them to a bowl and add the grated coconut, green onions, and red chilies. Stir to combine.
  8. Add the lemon juice to the mushroom mixture. Start with 1/2 cup and stir to combine. Taste, and add more lemon juice if desired. Add more sea salt if desired.
  9. Enjoy! Can be eaten at room temperature or chilled. Serve as a salad or side dish with gluten-free tortillas, tortilla chips, flatbread, or large lettuce leaves for scooping.
http://www.laurawestkong.com/gff/2011/gluten-free-in-guam/

We made kelaguen and other island favorites right on the beach in our camping kitchen.

Too many cooks couldn't spoil these pancakes!

Well worth the wait for this island feast!