At the end of a long beautiful productive day, a challenge was proposed by my beloved. And I LOVE a good challenge!
She mentioned having a very random thought over the course of the day where a Chocolate Chip Cupcake came dancing through. A Chocolate Chip Cupcake?! My mouth began to water like I was 8. I marveled at my response and my culinary mind took action. Knowing well that she is intolerant to gluten, I quickly went over in my mind all the ingredients needed to make them gluten-free...and right now! She sees the sparkle of inspiration in my eye and then double-dog-dares me! Impossible to resist! I jump out of my chair, apron flapping in the wind, chef hat magically appearing and I rise to the challenge. :)
30 minutes later I walk into the the next room with a plate of amazing gluten free Gingered Chocolate Chip Pancakes. Pancakes were going to be quicker than cupcakes at that point. We played like kids over the plate of sweets until we regretted even mentioning the idea an hour ago.
Let me tell you though. sometimes you need to feed and nourish the soul! And the laughter and sweetness of two kids over a plate of chocolately-ness can be exactly what the soul needs. Unfortunately, we both woke with sour bellies from eating sugar so late at night. Alas a little lemon ginger water first thing to re-alkalinize the system works wonders!
So, I share with you this little bit of sweetness. Laugh into this recipe while you are making it. It makes the cakes a little fluffier having all that bubbly happiness inside! Buon Appetito!!!
1cup Brown Rice flour, fine-superfine
1T ground chia seed, can use flax as replacement
2T cocoa
1t ginger powdered
1/4 cup candied ginger, roughly chopped
1/2t baking soda
1/4 cup coconut flakes
1T tapioca flour
1/2 cup unrefined cane sugar
1 pinch salt
1 1/4 cup water
1oz or 2T coconut oil
1t vanilla
1/3 cup chocolate chips
mix all dry ingredients in large bowl. be sure to run all powdered or fine ingredients through a sieve to break up any clumps and ensure even mixing. Mix wet ingredients in a separate bowl, whisking until they are completely incorporated. Fold both together. Ladle into a medium hot pan. I prefer cast iron with a little coconut oil. Because of the tapioca flour and the chia seed, this recipe is a little gooey in the pan before flipping. Make sure your cooking temp is medium hot as to not scorch the cakes before they are ready to be flipped. the first few always stick anyways. Dont worry, they wont go to waste. :)
Enjoy plain or with a fruit or citrus compote. Grapefruit Vanilla Marmalade from Lokelani Ranch maybe. or a Morello Cherry Compote. or wait till the strawberries are dripping with sweetness!
Make sure you keep the ginger in the cakes though. In Ayurveda, ginger is the antidote to chocolate. We are concerned just as much about how these ingredients work in the body as we are about the taste. Enjoy!
Friday, April 15, 2011
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Spring is HERE! Grab some Asparagus: Asparagus Potato Soup w/ Spring Onion & Truffle Oil
Wow!!!
What a switch from winter to spring! Hail, flooding and freezing one week to cloudless skies, 80 degrees, and gorgeousness the next. While taking a run the other morning, my beloved and I basked in the grace of the SF bay area spring: The most dynamic season we have. Over the last couple weeks, everything has come out to play: the fragrant flowers, the playful squirrels, the brilliant sun! I forgot what it was like to be outside under that giant source of heat and joy in the sky!
This is the season of the sprout, that time of year when seeds spring into action. This is when the qi is fresh and dynamic. A time to nurture and not restrain. Over the last several months of winter, we have been closed up, reserving our energies to maintain the inner warmth through the outer cold. In Chinese thought, this is the season of the wood element, like an upward moving sprout.
In nourishing yourself with this dynamic seasonal change and really embodying the element around you, let yourself spring! Eat fresh greens and herbs. Cut your meat consumption down to very little and use the stored reserves from the winter. Be ok with the fact that you may be sneezy. Imagine the bodys fluids like water moving through the seasons. during winter the bodys fluids slow down and stop as if frozen. In the spring they begin to thaw and move again. Sniffly sneeziness is just a part of the transformation. Let the rivers flow again.
As for eating, eat up the remainder of goodness from the winter to nourish the budding energy and give it space to open up. Potatoes, Lotus root, and grains in light quantity with lots of lettuces and young veggies. Spring onions are perfect this year! The asparagus has been amazing too! A little meyer lemon and you have a gorgeous meal!
How about a Asparagus Potato soup with Spring Onion and Truffle Oil!
1lb asparagus, woody ends in compost, diced fine, tops saved aside
2lb potatoes, waxy variety ie. yukon gold, etc.
1/2 red onion, diced fine
sprig of fresh marjoram
2 bay leaves
salt & Pepper
Juice of 2 lemons
2 qt veg stock/water
1 spring onion, finely diced
grapeseed oil
truffle oil (optional)
Cut up all your ingredients first. In a soup pot, add a little grapeseed oil and your onions. Saute until translucent. Add potatoes and saute until beginning to brown. Add your stock/water, bay leaves, and asparagus saving the tops aside. Bring up to a boil for 5 minutes and then reduce the heat to a simmer until the potatoes are soft. Blend soup with either a hand blender or a bucket blender. return to soup pot and add lemon, salt, pepper, and marjoram tasting along the way. When it is perfect, add the asparagus tips and the spring onion. Serve with a little drizzle of truffle oil.
Enjoy!!!!!!
What a switch from winter to spring! Hail, flooding and freezing one week to cloudless skies, 80 degrees, and gorgeousness the next. While taking a run the other morning, my beloved and I basked in the grace of the SF bay area spring: The most dynamic season we have. Over the last couple weeks, everything has come out to play: the fragrant flowers, the playful squirrels, the brilliant sun! I forgot what it was like to be outside under that giant source of heat and joy in the sky!
This is the season of the sprout, that time of year when seeds spring into action. This is when the qi is fresh and dynamic. A time to nurture and not restrain. Over the last several months of winter, we have been closed up, reserving our energies to maintain the inner warmth through the outer cold. In Chinese thought, this is the season of the wood element, like an upward moving sprout.
In nourishing yourself with this dynamic seasonal change and really embodying the element around you, let yourself spring! Eat fresh greens and herbs. Cut your meat consumption down to very little and use the stored reserves from the winter. Be ok with the fact that you may be sneezy. Imagine the bodys fluids like water moving through the seasons. during winter the bodys fluids slow down and stop as if frozen. In the spring they begin to thaw and move again. Sniffly sneeziness is just a part of the transformation. Let the rivers flow again.
As for eating, eat up the remainder of goodness from the winter to nourish the budding energy and give it space to open up. Potatoes, Lotus root, and grains in light quantity with lots of lettuces and young veggies. Spring onions are perfect this year! The asparagus has been amazing too! A little meyer lemon and you have a gorgeous meal!
How about a Asparagus Potato soup with Spring Onion and Truffle Oil!
1lb asparagus, woody ends in compost, diced fine, tops saved aside
2lb potatoes, waxy variety ie. yukon gold, etc.
1/2 red onion, diced fine
sprig of fresh marjoram
2 bay leaves
salt & Pepper
Juice of 2 lemons
2 qt veg stock/water
1 spring onion, finely diced
grapeseed oil
truffle oil (optional)
Cut up all your ingredients first. In a soup pot, add a little grapeseed oil and your onions. Saute until translucent. Add potatoes and saute until beginning to brown. Add your stock/water, bay leaves, and asparagus saving the tops aside. Bring up to a boil for 5 minutes and then reduce the heat to a simmer until the potatoes are soft. Blend soup with either a hand blender or a bucket blender. return to soup pot and add lemon, salt, pepper, and marjoram tasting along the way. When it is perfect, add the asparagus tips and the spring onion. Serve with a little drizzle of truffle oil.
Enjoy!!!!!!
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