Grilled Pineapple Fried Rice

This rice dish was something I was able to throw together one night, using items I had on hand. Love it when that happens.

The tofu I used was a packaged, Thai marinated flavor. Feel free to use any flavor you like, or bake your own. I was on a mission to make this dish as quick as possible so I used the pre-baked kind. Nice and easy.

Also, in the spirit of ease and convenience, I used the frozen brown rice you can find at almost any grocery store these days, including Costco. I separately microwaved 2 bags, and spread the warmed rice out on a large plate in a thin layer to cool. This is important as the rice can get gooey and clumpy when added to the pan with the other ingredients if not cooled, and the grains somewhat separated.

Make sure to have, as they say in cooking school, your ‘mise en place’ ready (i.e. everything prepared and measured, ready to throw in the pan) as this dish is completed rather quickly. I served steamed Chinese broccoli alongside this dish. 🙂

Potato and Cauliflower Samosa Patties

If you’ve ever eaten a samosa at an Indian restaurant (or Whole Foods salad bar for that matter), you know those delectable little things are deep fried. These patties have that mouth-watering samosa flavor, without all the fat and flour.

This recipe is adapted from Rouxbe, the on-line plant-based culinary school I’m attending. The first time I made these I followed the recipe to the letter but felt they could be improved and made to be lower in fat. The family actually preferred my version. Score!

Keep in mind the heat of these will depend on how much of and the type of curry powder you use. I’m a total wimp when it comes to spice so I only used 1 TBS curry powder (half Penzey Sweet Curry Powder and half Madras Curry Powder). Use more, or some cayenne, if you like the heat. They have tons of flavor regardless. Enjoy!!

Lemon-Tahini Dressing

It’s been a long time since I posted a recipe! Not that I haven’t been creating in the kitchen – I’m always doing that. Just life. You know how it is. Anyway, I love tahini dressings but they are usually so high in fat. Tahini, or sesame seed paste, is high in fat of course because seeds are high in fat. Tahini, and other seeds and seed pates are very healthy but can easily be overeaten. However, there is a way to use tahini in dressing, still get that flavor, and cut the fat. The secret is in the BEANS. Yes, beans. They not only help cut the fat, they add creaminess, body, nutrients, fiber and protein.

I made this dressing with a salad in mind, but I ended up pouring some over my steamed kale and sweet potato, and it was tasty! You can use any kind of soft, white bean. I had made my own flageolet beans the day before because I like to have a batch on hand, but you can use cannellini, great northern, etc. If you use canned be sure to rinse and drain them. NOTE: I get a lot of my dried beans from Rancho Gordo. They sell the BEST heirloom beans! You can purchase from their website at ranchogordo.com.

Chickpea Curry Lettuce Wraps with Tamari-Lime Sliced Almonds

If you’ve ever made my Mock Chicken Salad you’ll already have an idea of how this dish is made – it’s the same process. I set out to make the Mock Chicken Salad but I was feeling creative and wanted to change it up significantly. I absolutely LOVE what I ended up with. SO delicious. And, it’s really easy to make!! No cooking required for the filling. Though, if you would like it warm and/or find raw celery and onion too crunchy or strong, feel free to sauté those first. I made these for lunch on a fairly warm day but I think the warm/cooked filling would be nice on a chilly day or at dinner. It’s up to you! Experiment….I did!

Feel free to use this filling for a sandwich instead of lettuce wraps.

They are only a garnish, so a small amount is used, but the Tamari-Lime Sliced Almonds are AMAZING here.

Happy New Year AND my guest blog post at Yummly.com featuring my delicious Zucchini Oat Muffins Recipe

Posted on January 2, 2014 by Shelly Detken

HAPPY NEW YEAR!! I hope you all had wonderful holidays and are getting back into the groove, ready to take on 2014! It sure got here quickly, didn’t it? For those of you who have made a resolution to eat better (and, let’s be honest, who hasn’t), I’m hoping you will utilize my website more often. I have big plans to revamp and improve it, making it easier for recipe searches, etc. As well, I begin my plant-based cooking school this month and hope to come up with lots of new dishes. Let’s get things started off right with a low-fat, gluten-free, vegan, tasty zucchini muffin recipe (see below).

I came up with these on a Sunday morning when I was feeling that creative cooking bug that pokes at me so often. Seemed like a good time to create a muffin of some kind. I opened the fridge to seek inspiration only to have the zucchinis practically throwing themselves at me. Hence this Zucchini Oat Muffin recipe was born. Many recipes I come up with require tweaking and a second or third go around before I can share, but not this one! I got lucky first time around. And now you’re getting lucky!

For this recipe, I used a combination of gluten-free flour (I really like Trader Joe’s brand) and oat flour made with certified gluten-free oats. You can make your own oat flour by using your blender to grind the oats. Super easy! These muffins are only slightly sweet and are especially delicious warmed, with a TINY bit of vegan butter if you’re feeling dangerous, (and I was). 🙂 I find these keep best refrigerated after the first day, wrapped in a cloth napkin. Also, if you are feeling adventurous, sub some of the zucchini with carrot!

Feel free to leave out the walnuts if you don’t like them or are eating an extra low-fat diet. I love their flavor and texture in this dish, and the nice dose of Omega 3’s they (and the chia seeds) provide. Enjoy!!

I’ve posted this recipe to Yummly.com as a guest blogger. Please visit my post at http://blog.yummly.com/blog/2014/01/healthy-vegan-gluten-free-zucchini-oat-muffins/ Enjoy!!

Approximate nutritional info: with walnuts – 153 cals, 3.75 fat grams; without walnuts -125 calories, 1 fat gram.

UPDATE: I made these muffins with ALL oat flour when I was out of gluten-free all purpose and they were great!!

Spicy Butternut Squash Soup

Spicy Butternut Squash Soup with Lemon-Maple Brussels Sprouts

Most butternut squash soups are a little sweet for me. Honestly, I’ve got a major sweet tooth but some things, like my soups, I want to be more on the savory side. So, this soup is still sweet of course, but the jalapeño and cooking sherry (or white wine) create some interesting flavors that help offset the sweetness. And, while I don’t generally cook with oil, I added a tiny drizzle of truffle oil before serving – YUM. Since I was a little heavy-handed with the jalapeño (by my definition – remember, I’m a spice wimp), I dumped my Lemon-Maple Brussels Sprouts in the soup to offset the heat. Delicious! In the future I will leave the seeds out of the jalapeño – this time I used half of the seeds and the soup was really spicy.

5’n’5 Apple Cookies – 5 Ingredients & 5 Minutes!

Yep! These nummy cookies only have 5 ingredients and take about 5 minutes to throw together. They’re just about the healthiest cookie you could eat, and probably the easiest to make. Since they don’t have added sweeteners they are only mildly sweet, but the raisins help with that. I’m calling them a cookie because of their shape but classifying them as a snack since they’re so good for you (don’t panic – they’re good)! Granted, they are no Oreo cookie, but that’s not the goal here. They are soft in texture but hold together just like a regular cookie. I spread a little bit of peanut butter on one – what a delicious snack!! *choose certified gluten-free oats

Pumpkin-Spice Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

Pumpkin-Spice Cupcakes. Vegan. Gluten-free. Oil-free*

I know. It’s getting a little ridiculous. Another pumpkin recipe. I can’t help it! I told you I love all things pumpkin. The season is short – I must embrace it!

So, I made a pumpkin-spice cake for my sister’s birthday this past week. It was really good. The next day I tweaked the recipe just a bit and made delicious cupcakes. The next day I tweaked it even more, making them gluten-free, and a sharable recipe was born!

If you don’t care to make these cupcakes gluten-free, whole wheat pastry flour is fine. Also, use 1 TBS pumpkin pie spice if you’d rather not bother measuring out the cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, ginger and cloves.

I don’t generally make or eat things that are frosted due to the high fat content of frosting, even if it is vegan, but I’ve managed to keep the fat pretty low on these by only using no more than 1 tablespoon of frosting per cupcake, which is plenty and just right. Still, these are a treat and not something I’d recommend be eaten regularly. 🙂

*Oil-free if left unfrosted. The cupcake itself is oil/fat-free but Tofutti Cream Cheese is made with oil.

Creamy Cinnamon-Spiced Pumpkin Dressing

Pumpkin Dressing. Vegan. Oil-free. Low-fat. Gluten-free.

As I’ve said before, I’m in love with all things pumpkin. This savory dressing is no exception. Other than my Pumpkin Soup, I’d never made a non-sweet pumpkin dish before. I was very happy with the results. Start small with the cinnamon and work your way up, tasting as you go. And, depending upon how much tang you like, start with 1 TBS lemon juice and go from there. I made this for a salad in which I put pomegranate and toasted pumpkin seeds – delicious! It would also be tasty on greens like kale, or steamed broccoli and cauliflower.

Chocolate Chip Banana Bites

Chocolate Chip Banana Bites. Vegan. Oil-free. Low-fat. Gluten-free*

A few ingredients and a couple of really ripe bananas is all you need for this easy recipe. These little bites are dense and delicious! They’re also wheat free (gluten-free if using certified gluten-free oat flour), and low-fat. I recently substituted dried cranberries for the chocolate chips for a friend who doesn’t like chocolate (can you imagine?). They were delicious even without the chocolate chips!

The only problem with these is that they don’t last long when I make them.

*gluten-free when using certified gluten-free oat flour

Plantiful Wellness

Tag Archives: gluten-free