Today I have the honor of guest posting on Lexie’s Kitchen. So, if you’re interested in a delicious raw granola recipe, head on over to check it out!
Raw Cran-Apple Granola
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D-Tox E-Cookbook Now on Sale
One cold January, 20+ bloggers came together for 31 days to share 31 nourishing and detoxifying smoothie, juice, and soup recipes. The blogosphere buzzed with great new ways of upping the intake of fruit and vegetables to start the year off right.
Gfree Mom’s January D-tox event was so well received that these 20+ bloggers decided to write and publish an e-cookbook—capturing these fantastic recipes, tips and tricks in one place.
And so without further ado, we announce the release of Eat Fresh and D-Tox Your Life: A Collection of Smoothies, Juices, Soups and Tips for the Whole Family. Not only will this book provide you with inspiration to increase your intake of fresh fruits and vegetables, but it also benefits others. All proceeds from this e-book go directly to MitoAction.
MitoAction and Their Mission.
MitoAction is a Boston-based nonprofit helping children and adults with mitochondrial disease navigate the complex journey of managing the disease. MitoAction’s mission is to improve the quality of life for everyone affected by mitochondrial disease through support, education, outreach, and advocacy initiatives. You may read more about MitoAction here.
What is Mitochondrial Disease?
Mitochondrial disease is a genetic, neurodegenerative disorder that occurs when the mitochondria fail to produce enough energy for cell or organ function. More common than cystic fibrosis, mitochondrial disease can develop in both children and adults and is often misdiagnosed. Mito symptoms are varied and progressive, and can include stroke, muscle pain, extreme fatigue, and organ failure. Mitochondrial disease is related to many other conditions, including autism, Parkinson’s disease, diabetes, and Alzheimer’s.
Download Your e-Cookbook Today!
Eat Fresh and D-Tox Your Life
To download your PDF e-cookbook Eat Fresh and D-Tox Your Life and support the efforts of MitoAction, click here. In this e-cookbook you will find:
- Tips like “How to Hide Greens” & “Smoothies and the Color Wheel”
- 9 Kid-Friendly and Beginner Smoothie Recipes
- 19 “Now I’m Feeling Braver” Smoothie and Juice Recipes
- A handful of soups, Detox Tips and More!
- Personal stories from, and hyperlinks, to each blogger’s website
- $10 suggested donation.
A Dedication.
Meet Gwen
This is Gwen.
Diagnosed with Mitochondrial Disease, Gwen was not able to eat and had to receive IV nutrition. She has spent as much of her young life in the hospital as out, and was the recipient of a multi-organ transplant, which included a new stomach, intestines, liver, pancreas, and spleen.
Today, as always, she and her family are fighting to help her live a healthy life and allow her to do as many of the things young kids like to do as possible. Recently, Gwen was to be able to savor a bite of banana! As food bloggers, we live and breathe food, so we’d like to dedicate this book to Gwen.
Join the Effort.
If you would like to promote and sell this e-cookbook on your site, please feel free to do so. Use the content of this post freely (copy and images) and grab the badge below and link it to this URL. And THANK YOU for your support!
The MitoAction Badge - Join the Effort
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins
Oh shush. Yes I know. EVERYONE is doing pumpkin. Call me trendy.
Can I help it that it’s what the kiddo wanted?
And you know how I never say no to what the kiddo wants.
And, besides, there’s a good reason everyone is doing pumpkin. It’s good. And seasonal.
So, just give in already. Make the pumpkin stuff. Okay?
You’ll thank me.
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins - a Taste of Fall
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins
1 cup pumpkin puree
2 T. flax seeds mixed with 3 T. hot water
1/2 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup vegetable oil (I used sunflower seed)
2/3 cup almond milk
1 t. vanilla
1 cup (120 g.) sorghum flour
1/3 cup (42 g.) arrowroot starch
1/3 cup (52 g.) teff flour
1 t. baking soda
1/4 t. salt
1/3 cup mini chocolate chips (for refined-sugar free version, make your own chocolate chips, use cacao nibs, or omit and use nuts)
Preheat oven to 350°. Prepare 15 muffin cups. (I used liners.)
In a large bowl, whisk together the pumpkin, flax seed, maple syrup, oil, almond milk and vanilla. In a small bowl, whisk together the sorghum, arrowroot, teff flour, baking soda and salt. Mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Stir in the chocolate chips or nuts.
Spoon the batter into the muffin cups, filling approximately 3/4 full.
Bake for 28-32 minutes, until tops are firm and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
For more healthy recipes, visit Wellness Weekends at Diet Dessert and Dogs.
SRC: Crunchy Granola by Everyday Insanity
It’s time, once again, for the Secret Recipe Club! This month my secret blog assignment was Cindy from Everyday Insanity. Cindy had a dream of an Easy Bake Oven as a little girl, and hey – so did I! (Okay, hands up if you DIDN’T want an Easy Bake Oven. No takers? Yah, I thought so.) Anyway, Cindy has been cooking and baking up a storm ever since, and she has lots of recipes on her blog to show for it.
Now, typically, in the Secret Recipe Club, I’ve taken a recipe and modified it – usually a lot – to fit my food needs and preferences. This month, I was shooting for a gentler form of modification – slight tweaks instead of whole recipe overhauls.
That cut out a lot of Cindy’s recipes. As delicious as Perfect Peanut Butter Cookies or Chocolate Zucchini Bread might be, we’re talking major overhaul for the GFDF crowd. There were some recipes, though, that I could have made without tweaking at all – like this Mango Salsa or this Pineapple Salsa. Both of those recipes are entirely raw and filled with wonderful fruits and veggies. Sadly, I’m not currently eating tortilla chips. And, salsa without chips might have just been a bit too torturous.
So, I settled on a happy medium recipe – Crunchy Granola. The kiddo has been asking for some anyway. A few minor tweaks and I had a delicious gluten-free vegan breakfast option for the kiddo.
Well, I DID have one. It’s gone now.
She’s right about that making a double batch thing. Do it. You’ll thank me later.
Crunchy Gluten-Free Vegan Granola
Crunchy Granola
1/2 cup pure maple syrup
1/4 cup almond oil (You could use vegetable, like in the original – but I like the flavor of almond oil.)
3/4 teaspoon salt (I’d reduce the salt next time – probably only 1/2 t.)
3 1/2 cups gluten-free old-fashioned rolled oats
3/4 cup slivered or chopped almonds (I used chopped.)
3/4 cup raw cashews
3/4 cup shredded unsweetened coconut
Preheat oven to 250°. In a large bowl whisk the maple syrup, oil & salt together. Add the rest of the ingredients and stir well to coat. Spread on 2 baking sheets. Bake for 1 hour, stirring occasionally. Turn off the oven and let sit until the golden brown and crispy. (Mine sat for probably another half hour.)
See what everyone else has done for this month’s Secret Recipe Club!
If that’s not enough recipes for you, you can find more Slightly Indulgent recipes at Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays.
Posted in Blogger Community, breakfast, nuts, oatmeal, vegan
22 Comments
Crunchmaster Review and Giveaway
The contest is now closed. Congratulations to Bitt! You’ve won the crackers!
So, you might not have known this, but the kiddo wasn’t actually gluten-free and dairy-free until this past August. Oh sure, he ate all the GFDF food I made, and that was the only food I made. But, he also got to eat school lunch once a week, would have pizza with his dad, and loved his boxed mac and cheese. Let’s call him gluten-lite.
One of the concessions I always made for him was having crackers in the house. If there were pretzels, they were GF. But, crackers? No. Full on gluten, baby. That’s because he hated every GF cracker we tried.
But, now he is GFDF. And it seems to be helping his immune system. And there are no more concessions. So, when Crunchmaster contacted me to see if I’d like to sample their new 7 Ancient Grains crackers, I jumped on the chance.
The package arrived and I told the kiddo there were crackers to try. “Yay!” he said.
7 Ancient Grains Hint of Sea Salt
He ripped open the box, pulled one out, and gave me The Look. You know the one – the “Mom, I can’t believe you pulled a bait and switch on me; I’m so thoroughly disgusted with you” look. And, then he uttered the 2 most damning words in the history of kiddo cracker critique…. “Rice crackers.” The kiddo hates rice crackers. Capital H hates.
Ever the hopeful mom, I implored, “Just try it. It’s got 7 grains – SEVEN! It’s not just rice crackers.” (Okay, the first ingredient is rice – not that I admitted that – but they also contain sorghum, quinoa, sesame, millet, flax, and amaranth. Technically, I’d call some of those seeds, but let’s not quibble.) Sneering, he took a bite. I waited, holding my breath. And, then he took another. And, another. Then he grabbed a handful. Then he gave me the super innocent, sweet 8 year old boy look and said, “okay, these are really good. You know WHY I don’t like rice crackers, Mom? Because they don’t have any taste. These have TASTE. They taste good!”
Whew. Kiddo stamp of approval.
And an empty box of crackers two days later.
So, if you have a persnickety cracker kiddo, or a persnickety cracker self, I urge you to give these a try. And one of you will get to try them for free! That’s right, Crunchmaster has graciously offered to do a giveaway for one lucky reader. Crunchmaster makes a variety of products, some of which are not dairy-free. So, if you’d like to try a variety, let me know. I can’t personally vouch for the other flavors – though if I COULD eat dairy, I’d be all over the new White Cheddar variety. Otherwise, you can get a gift pack of just the Ancient Grains version.
Here’s how to enter:
- Go to Crunchmaster’s site and tell me one variety you’d like to try (and let me know if you want a variety pack or just the Ancient Grains). (required).
- Tweet about the giveaway. Mention me (@themommybowl) and a link to this post in your tweet. Something like:
Want to win some delicious crunchmaster crackers from @themommybowl? Enter here: ow.ly/6YJDt #gf #vegan #giveaway - Like me on Facebook or follow me on Twitter.
- Leave ONE comment telling which of the 3 options you did. (I hate giveaways that make you leave separate comments. So, I’m not going to do that to you. Just leave one comment. I’ll put you all in a spreadsheet with an “entry” for each thing you did and randomize from there. So, it also won’t matter when you entered.)
The contest will be open until next Sunday (10/23) at midnight, CST. I’ll announce the winner on 10/24. Note that this contest is only open to folks in the continental United States. Sorry to all my far-flung readers.
Good luck!
Cranberry Red Velvet Cupcakes
Have you heard of Iron Cupcake? It’s a world-wide event that promotes baking and eating while raising funds for local causes. The Iron Cupcake Madison group has held 6 events to “riff on cupcakes, promote enjoyment of unusual flavors, and raise some money for the plethora of deserving non-profits.” Madison, being the crunchy granola kind of town that we are, has been lucky to have a gluten-free baker at most of those events – Nikki Burns from GoodBye Gluten. She’s not only been participating, she’s been winning for best taste! Congrats to Nikki.
Of course, since she’s gotten great feedback, I decided it was time for me to step up and join the fun. I know I’ve already mentioned that I’m not a huge cake fan. I’m even less of a fruity cake fan. And, this month’s theme was late summer fruit. Eep. Facing my demons, eh? It’s all about facing my demons. (Well, that and it made it ridiculously easy for me not to eat all these cupcakes I was making.)
Two test batches later, I’d come up with a recipe that was not only gluten-free, but also vegan. As one tester stated, “that’s the impossible, you know.” Muahaha. Not so impossible after all.
The token full size cupcakes
Gluten-free Vegan Cranberry Red Velvet Cupcakes
Dry Ingredients
80 g. sorghum flour
70 g. sweet rice flour
70 g. white rice flour
1 T. cocoa powder
150 g. sugar (palm sugar would probably work, too)
1/2 t. baking powder
1/2 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt
Wet Ingredients
3/4 cup warm cranberry puree (Cook approximately 2 cups frozen cranberries until soft. Puree in blender. Make extra if you want to make the frosting below.)
2 T. flax seeds
1/4 cup almond milk
1.5 T. red food coloring
1/2 cup neutral oil (sunflower, safflower, grapeseed)
1 t. vanilla
Preheat oven to 350°. Prepare mini cupcake cups. (I was making tiny cupcakes and got about 44 out of each batch. You could make them slightly fuller and make fewer.)
Whisk together all dry ingredients in a large bowl. Set aside.
In a small bowl or large measuring cup, stir warm cranberries and flax seed together until flax seeds begin to gel. Add the rest of the wet ingredients. Stir well.
Stir wet ingredients into dry ingredients, and working quickly, fill cupcake liners 2/3 – 3/4 full.
Bake for approximately 25 minutes, until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean and tops are firm to the touch. Remove from pans and cool completely.
Cranberry Buttercream Frosting
100 g. organic palm shortening
100 g. Earth Balance soy-free spread
200 g. powdered sugar or powdered palm sugar
2 heaping tablespoons cranberry puree (cooled completely)
Beat all ingredients together with an electric mixer.
Just a few of the 160 mini cupcakes
I didn’t win anything, but I did have fun. This month’s event is all about kid bakers with a Halloween theme. The kiddo is already dreaming up his mad scientist creation!
Want to see more spectacular cranberry recipes? Check out this month’s SOS Challenge.
SRC: Adventures in Dinner – Panna Cotta
It’s that time again – time for another edition of Secret Recipe Club. SRC is a virtual food blogger secret Santa party. All the participants are secretly assigned another blog to explore. We’re to select a recipe to make or adapt and then we all post about it on the same day. Fun, no?
My assignment this month is Adventures in Dinner. Jane began her blog back in March of 2010, while she was on maternity leave. She’s had quite a few adventures since then. She’s back at work, but still going strong in her blogging about living within a budget, on limited time. She has a great series about using up what’s in your fridge – Food Waste Fridays. I could learn a thing or two from her here. Or maybe we could commiserate together. I’m the queen of the forgotten zucchini. Ew. Gross.
Beyond the forgotten veggies, our eating styles are not that similar. She and her family are meat eaters; I’m not. She does lots of pastry; I’m gluten and dairy free. But despite our differences, I still enjoyed reading her tales of putting healthy food on the table for her family, in the midst of all of life’s chaos.
There’s not much more chaotic than home remodeling. And the post that inspired me the most has a title I just love – Sometimes You Just Really Need Dessert. Yes, Jane, I couldn’t agree more. And, it’s even better when that dessert takes all of 15 minutes to put together, but looks like it took longer. Jane made a lovely creamy panna cotta. I’ve adapted her recipe to be vegan, and simplified the ingredient list down to three (okay four, if you count the chunks of chocolate). On a day when you really need dessert, this is the way to go.
Creamy Smooth and Sweet Panna Cotta
Dairy-Free Coconut Panna Cotta
1 pint So Delicious Coconut Milk Creamer (I used the hazelnut flavor.)
1 cup So Delicious Unsweetened Coconut Milk
2.5 t. agar flakes
4 chocolate chunks
Place first three ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a simmer. Simmer for 10 minutes, until agar is completely dissolved. Place a chocolate chunk in the bottom of 4 glasses. If you want to be extra careful about not having any agar bits in the bottom of your glass, strain the hot liquid through a fine mesh sieve. Divide liquid mixture between 4 glasses. Chill until firm. Sprinkle with grated chocolate, if desired.
See all the other posts in the Secret Recipe Club
Posted in chocolate, coconut, desserts, grain-free, vegan
Tagged dessert, grain-free, recipes, Secret Recipe Club, vegan
22 Comments
7 Links
Have you seen the 7 links event floating through the blog-o-sphere? Well, the lovely Shirley, from Gluten Free Easily, was kind enough to nominate me to share my own 7 links. Shirley has been a great supporter of my blogging and is one of my regular commentors. I hope that some day I’ll actually get to meet her in person. But, for now, I’ll have to be content with thanking her online for the nomination, and playing along.
So, without further ado, here are my 7 links:
Most Beautiful
Bumpa's Waffles
Eep. It’s hard to classify my posts as “beautiful.” But, since it’s one of the categories, I’ll go with Bumpa’s Waffles – a short and simple post that talks about my father’s love for my son, and my attempts to bridge the culinary gap in between visits.
Most Popular
Coconut Butter Cookies with mini chocolate chips
This one’s easy – statistics don’t lie. (Oh wait, they do, but that’s a different story.) Anyway, the statistics show that my most popular post of all time is the Coconut Butter Cookies. There’s a bonus recipe in there, too – home made coconut butter.
Most Controversial
Raw Cinnamon Toast, smothered in vegan butter and more cinnamon
I’m not sure I’ve ever created much controversy…. So, I’m going to bend the rules here and pick a post that generated a lot of discussion. My Raw Cinnamon Toast recipe did just that. And, at least some of the discussion was about converting raw to cooked. That’s sort of controversial, right?
Most Helpful Post
Chocolate Peanut Goodness
It’s always hard to know when your posts are really helpful. But, the comments on my Choco Nut Drops would have me believing that highlighting my experimental baking approach was helpful in encouraging others to take risks in the kitchen, too.
Post Whose Success Surprised Me
Better Than Dairy Queen Ice Cream Cake
This is an easy one, too. It’s my Better Than Dairy Queen Ice Cream Cake. More than a year later, I’m still seeing lots of hits on my site for this one. It’s barely a recipe at all – more of a technique. But, hey, apparently I’m not the only one that has fond memories of ice cream cake, and a stomach that won’t put up with Dairy Queen.
Post That Didn’t Get the Attention It Deserved
Indian Spiced Peas and Tofu
The savory dishes never get much respect around here. Fact of life. But, this one, in particular, is one I make over and over again that everyone should try. It’s a staple in our house. Except now I make it with cashews instead of tofu. (Tofu and I don’t get along anymore.) Just toss in the cashews at the end, long enough to warm them.
Post I Am Most Proud Of
Chocolate Snowballs - Oh So Yummy.
Again, it’s hard for me to choose in this category. Dang I suck at tooting my own horn. But, with the help of the kiddo, we chose Chocolate Snowballs. I’m proud of this one not only because the recipe is delicious, but also because it was a part of a community event that I was honored to be asked to join, and because it helped people celebrate a holiday that’s all about food, with a food that is safe and delicious. And, as the kiddo says, “I hope you’ll make those again every Christmas.” (What more could I ask for, than a cookie that becomes a new tradition?)
I hope you enjoyed my little walk down memory lane. And, now I get to tag five more bloggers. I’m choosing:
Iris of The Daily Dietribe
Brittany of Real Sustenance
Amber Shea of Almost Vegan
Elizabeth of Raw Living and Learning
Amanda of Easy Peasy Organic
No stress, ladies, but if you’ve like to play along, consider yourself tagged.
Posted in Blogger Community
10 Comments
Kiddo Quickie – Double Chocolate Peanut Flour Cookies
Saturday night I was tucking the kiddo into bed and telling him that I was going to bake cookies to take with while cheering on friends at Ironman Wisconsin. The conversation went something like this:
Kiddo: What kind of cookies, Mom?
Me: Grain-free, but other than that, I’m not sure. What kind do you want?
Kiddo: Chocolate Chocolate Chip. But, with peanut butter.
I think he has an obsession with putting peanut butter together with chocolate things. Anyway, I thought he was a little crazy, perhaps sleep-deprived, if he thought I was going to create a brand-new recipe at 8:00 on a Saturday night. And, I told him no on the peanut butter, but I was happy to make chocolate chocolate chip.
And, then it struck me. Couldn’t I just replace some of the almond flour with peanut flour in my go-to grain-free chocolate chocolate chip cookie recipe? And you know what? You can. And, I did. And, it’s delicious. And, I’d take photos, but they look exactly like these:
Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies
Except there’s peanut flour in them. And, the ones that are left after hauling them around Ironman in a ziplock baggie look a bit more like crumbs. Not pretty. But, still delicious. Not that there are many left….
Oops, maybe I’ll just eat these last few for breakfast….
Double Chocolate Peanut Flour Cookies
1/2 cup coconut oil (or palm shortening)
3/4 cup palm sugar
3 T. ground flax seed mixed with 3 T. warm water
1 t. vanilla
1/4 t. salt
1 t. baking soda
1 t. baking powder
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/2 cup almond flour
1/2 cup peanut flour
1/2 cup coconut flour
1/2 cup dairy-free chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 350°. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, cream together the oil and sugar. Add the flax and beat until light and fluffy. Add all other ingredients except the chocolate chips and beat until well-combined. Stir in the chocolate chips. (I did a few turns of hand kneading to get the chips well incorporated.)
Using a cookie scoop, scoop dough onto parchment lined cookie sheets. Flatten slightly with the palm of your hand.
Bake 10-12 minutes.
Posted in chocolate, cookies, flax seed, grain-free, nuts, vegan
12 Comments
Let’s Play in the Kitchen: Itty Bitty Apple-tizers
For those of you that aren’t familiar with Kitchen Play, it’s a unique Progressive Party with six talented food bloggers assigned one of the following courses: cocktail, amuse bouche, salad, appetizer/soup, entrée (main course) and dessert. All six bloggers are challenged to incorporate the same product or kitchen tool into six wildly different courses.
This month’s Progressive Party is sponsored by the U.S. Apple Association, and I was honored to be asked to create an original amuse bouche course featuring apples. The U.S. Apple Association works on behalf of apple growers throughout the United States and helps to educate consumers about the health benefits and versatility of apples and apple products. The U.S. Apple Association had a special request for this Progressive Party – highlight simple recipes that would appeal to moms and their busy schedules.
An amuse bouche is a one- or two-bite appetizer. Literally, it means “mouth amuser,” and it is often served in a restaurant to highlight a chef’s cooking style. I’m a mom. And, I can safely say that until now I had never, ever made an amuse bouche for my child. So, please allow me a bit of license with this Progressive Party assignment. From simple to snazzy, I’ve created three “apple-tizer” options: Apple Almond Sandwich Bites, Apple Chips & Dip, and Cherry Apple Chutney with Gouda on a Basil Crisp. Yes, your child will probably never touch that last one to her lips, but sometimes a mom just has to do the grown up thing.
Simplicity Itself: Apple Almond Sandwich Bites
Apple Almond Sandwich Bites
This recipe works with any crisp apple. My favorites are Jonagolds and Braeburns, but, use whichever U.S.-grown apple variety you like best.
1/2 apple
1 T. lemon juice
2 T. almond butter
1/4 t. cinnamon
Hold the apple vertically, and slice 1/4″ thick slices from the side of the apple (avoiding the seeds). Cut shapes with small cookie cutters. Dunk the cut shapes in lemon juice. (This step avoids browning. Some varieties of apples are slower to brown than others. Cortlands resist browning, but I generally find them too sweet for my tastes.) Top each cut out with a dollop of almond butter and a sprinkling of cinnamon.
Chips and Dip - Apple Style
Apple Chips and Dip
We all think of tortilla chips and salsa when we think of chips and dip. But, there’s a healthier option! U.S. apples can get to your table in a number of ways besides just fresh from the tree. In fact, 4 out of 10 U.S. apples are made into a processed apple product – apple chips, dried apples, apple sauce, apple juice and other apple foods. This apple-tizer highlights 3 processed apple products – apple chips, apple butter, and dried apples.
1 T. peanut butter
2 t. apple butter (Try to find the kind that is made with nothing but apples and apple juice. I used homemade.)
3 apple chips (I used Seneca Foods Cinnamon Apple Chips.)
1 T. chopped dried apple
Mix the peanut butter and the apple butter together until smooth. Spoon a dollop onto each apple chip and top with a sprinkling of dried apples.
The Apple-tizer, all grown up
Cherry Apple Chutney and Cheese on a Basil Crisp
Mom’s love to feed their children. But every so often, we scoot them off to the babysitter’s house and make a fancy schmancy meal for ourselves and our best friends, right? That’s the time when you pull out this recipe – pairing sweet and salty and sour, this is a sophisticated flavor profile, that highlights that apples can appeal to more than just the kiddo crowd, too.
Cherry Apple Chutney
1/2 cup (65 g) tart cherries
1/4 cup fresh, unfiltered apple cider
1 T. fresh lime juice
1 T. maple syrup
1 T. apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup chopped apples (I did not peel mine, but if you don’t like peels, go ahead and peel them.) (A cooking variety works well here. Try Rome Beauty.)
Place all ingredients except the apples in a small blender and puree until smooth. Place pureed sauce in a small pot and simmer gently until syrupy – about 30 minutes. Add apples and simmer gently until apples are soft – another 10 minutes or so depending on how firm of an apple you choose. Cool completely. It will thicken as it cools. (You will have more of this than you need for a few apple-tizers. It’s great on ice cream, toast, and pancakes, too.)
Basil Crisps
handful of fresh basil leaves
spray oil
salt
Preheat oven to 325°. Wash and dry your basil leaves. Spritz with spray oil. (I use a refillable pump. I’ve not tried this with commercial spray oils. If you don’t have a refillable pump, I would suggest dipping your fingers in oil and gently brushing them on the basil leaves.) Place leaves on a baking tray. Sprinkle with salt. Bake for about 5-8 minutes, until crispy, flipping them half way through baking time. Set aside to cool.
Apple Cider Reduction
1/4 cup fresh, unfiltered apple cider
Pour apple cider into a 2 cup microwave-safe container. Microwave on high for 3-5 minutes, watching carefully and stirring occasionally. Mixture should reduce by half. Be careful, it quickly goes from reduced to caramelized. Apple cider caramel is tasty, but not what you want here.
To Assemble
On a small serving dish, drizzle a teaspoon or so of the apple cider reduction. Place a basil crisp on top of the cider. Add a small slice of gouda (or non-dairy gooda) and a teaspoon of apple chutney.
If any of these apple-tizers whet your apple-tite (sorry, I couldn’t help myself), you can make them, or your own take on them, and have a chance to win a great prize! The US Apple Association is sponsoring a wonderful giveaway at Kitchen PLAY. Simply recreate any one recipe from this month’s Progressive Party, post about the experience on your blog and provide a link to your post on Kitchen PLAY to enter. All qualifying bloggers in each course will be entered to win $100 (6 prizes total). The deadline is September 30, 2011. Please review the complete contest rules before entering. Good luck!
Posted in appetizers, apples, basil, cherries, Contests, nuts, snacks, vegan
Tagged appetizers, apples, recipes, vegan
12 Comments
The Mommy Bowl 