Whew–where has the last week gone? Between end-of-term marking and a long holiday weekend, it’s been pretty busy here in the DDD household. I hope you all enjoyed a stellar Passover and/or Easter holiday! This year, the HH and I celebrated both holidays, first with friends (we were invited to two seders this year) and then on our own (a holiday Easter dinner for just the two of us).
As in other areas, when it comes to celebrating holidays, the HH is, shall we say, rather laissez-faire. In other words, if not for me, we would probably have eaten cereal for dinner on Sunday instead of the fantastic repast we did have (nutroast and céléri remoulade, about which I’ll post in a day or two). To top off our weekend, we went to see Water for Elephantswith my friend Nutritionista and her hubby last night. Since I had no preconceived notions about Robert Pattinson (having never seen any of the Twilight films) and since I love Reese Witherspoon, I really enjoyed the movie (though, is it just me, or is there something vaguely simian about his looks?).
Well, after all the heavy, rich foods of the past long weekend, I am so ready for something fresh, light, crisp–and raw!
I was delighted a while back when Brittany of Real Sustenance asked if I’d like to participate in her month-long tribute to raw foods, April in the Raw. You see, raw foods (fresh fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, and a few others), consumed in the same state as we’d find them in nature (technically, nothing heated above 115F46 C), are considered to provide optimum nutritional value while retaining the natural enzymes that may help us to digest those same foods (when foods are cooked, your pancreas must take on this monumental task on its own–not too much fun for the l’il pancreas).
With spring in the air (okay, maybe not literally–what is it with the never ending winter this year?–but it’s coming, I just know it), this is as good a time as any to try out some raw recipes. Besides, raw foods are ideal for those of us who plan to detox around this time of year–and I’ve decided that I really need to detox. How much do I need a cleanse right now? In a show of hands, I’d have to throw in not just my hand, but probably the whole deck. Yep, a cleanse is definitely in order for this gal.
(“Mum, you don’t think we need a cleanse, do you? Because, you know, we go swimming at least once a week in the pond, so that keeps us cleansed, doesn’t it?. On the other hand, if you want to throw a little raw food our way, we’re all for it!’)
[Raw Asparagus, Romaine and Grapefruit Salad--who knew?]
Most days, I aim for something raw at each meal, but that wasn’t always the case. In fact, I didn’t discover the joy of raw foods until I was in nutrition school, during the “Alternative Diets” course. The entire class was inspired by our prof, Miss Serenity (in opposition to my friends and me, collectively Misses Anxiety, Dissatisfaction, Self-Doubt, Insecurity, Impatience, Grumpy and Sleepy). Miss Serenity was, herself, a raw foodist, and we all wanted to be like her.
Miss Serenity was the image of radiant health, with a strong, toned physicque, luxurious hair the color of milk chocolate and the whitest smile I’ve ever seen; she was also the polar opposite of the stereotypical “vegan.” Her skin shone with the pink glow of iron and oxygen-rich blood, she guffawed with great glee and was the last person one would consider “stuffy” or “preachy.” Yet she also taught yoga and meditated every day, she grew her own wheat grass and she owned a house painted in bold colors of the seven chakras. As soon as she announced that she was teaching a “Raw Foods Fundamentals” course in her home, I signed up.
Because of Miss Serenity, I decided to “go raw” for a month. As a full-time student, I had the luxury to prepare all my food from scratch and could spend hours chopping, grating, puréeing, blending, processing, soaking, and juicing as I made recipe after recipe from Miss Serenity’s cookbook. The food was delicious, but ultimately I abandoned the idea–I just didn’t have 2-3 extra hours a day to devote to food prep.
Since then, I’ve discovered that “uncooking” need not take exorbitant amounts of time. The “original” raw foods–fruits and vegetables, raw nuts and seeds–can be eaten out of hand, exactly as they are the instant you pick them or shell them. Somewhere between fresh-picked and three-hour prep is a happy medium: a bit of chopping, perhaps some peeling or prepping, along with fewer ingredients or foods eaten fresh and whole. (Even Miss Serenity occasionally brought a “mono-meal” for her lunch: we’d watch, mesmerized, as she peeled and ate 4-5 mangoes at a sitting–and nothing else for that meal).
Today’s offering is meant to show you that raw food can be both simple and delicious. First up, I’m including the quintessential raw dish: salad (but with a new twist). Then, once you’ve eaten your greens, I think you deserve a fantastic dessert: these raw Frosted Lemon-Poppyseed Bars! Even the HH loved them.
The salad does a bit of double-duty, as it also contains this month’s SOS Kitchen Challenge ingredient, asparagus. I had no idea one could eat raw asparagus until I came across a recipe for “Shaved Asparagus Salad with Orange-Tarragon Vinaigrette” in the May/June 2009 issue of Vegetarian Times. Well, that was all the incentive I needed to start playing with the recipe and come up with my own adaptation. The ACD doesn’t allow oranges but does allow grapefruit for some bizarre reason, so that was the substitution I used.
The resulting salad was crisp, fresh, and juicy, the slightly sweet shards of asparagus lending a decidedly springlike air (something we sorely need these rainy days!). Fragrant with tarragon and grapefruit zest, the salad was a lively start to our meal. I didn’t tell the HH it contained raw asparagus until he’d already dug in and proclaimed the dish “fantastic.” I’d suggest you do the same when you serve this.
Shaved Asparagus Salad with Grapefruit-Tarragon Vinaigrette (adapted from Vegetarian Times, May/June 2009)
about 3/4 pound (12 oz or 375 g) fresh asparagus, washed and woody ends broken off
1 small head romaine lettuce, washed, trimmed, and torn into bite-sized pieces
1/2 cup (120 ml) toasted hazelnuts, coarsely chopped
1 large grapefruit, peeled and cut into segments, membrane removed if desired (grate the zest before cutting the fruit)
1 tsp (5 ml) freshly grated grapefruit zest
1 Tbsp (15 ml) minced onion
1 tsp (5 ml) dried tarragon or 1 Tbsp (15 ml) fresh, chopped fine
1/4 cup (60 ml) extra virgin olive oil, preferably organic
1 Tbsp (15 ml) apple cider vinegar
3 Tbsp (45 ml) freshly squeezed lemon juice (about 1/2 large lemon)
1 tsp (5 ml) Dijon mustard
6-8 drops plain stevia liquid, to your taste
Shave the asparagus by using a vegetable peeler and peeling into long strands. Alternately, grate the asparagus in a food processor with the grating blade (this is what I did). Place the asparagus, lettuce, grapefruit segments and hazelnuts in a large salad bowl.
In a small bowl or glass measuring cup, whisk together the grapefruit zest, onion, tarragon, oil, vinegar, lemon juice, mustard and stevia. Pour the dressing over the salad ingredients and toss well to coat. Serve immediately. Makes 4-6 servings.
To cap off your meal, how about these dazzling Lemon-Poppyseed Bars with Lemon Frosting? All raw, of course! Lemon and Poppyseed is one of the HH’s favorite combinations, so I decided to create a raw dessert that he’d love even more than the salad. These little confections are firm and chewy with a sparkling crunch of poppyseeds in every bite. The frosting firms up in the fridge, but left at room temperature softens to a creamy, smooth, entirely alluring topping. Because they’re so rich, you can cut these into small cubes of one or two bites a piece, and you’ll still be satisfied.
Raw Frosted Lemon Poppyseed Bars
Suitable for ACD Stage 1 and beyond
These bars are adapted from a recipe in my Desserts without Compromise Ebook for Raw Lemon-Coconut Bars. When I was hosting a friend’s birthday party in our house a while back, I made these so that I’d have something to eat while everyone else feasted on the conventional (white flour and white sugar) cake that my friend’s husband had bought. When I brought out my plate of lemon bars, someone asked to taste them–and within minutes the plate was empty! This is definitely tasty and impressive enough to serve to anyone, ACD or not.
Juice of 1 lemon (about 1/4 cup/60 ml), divided in half (2 Tbsp/30 ml each)
2 Tbsp (30 ml) vegetable glycerin, yacon syrup or agave syrup (for ACD Stage 1, don’t use agave)
15-20 drops plain or vanilla stevia liquid, to taste
1 tsp (5 ml) pure vanilla extract
2 Tbsp (30 ml) raw poppy seeds
For the Frosting:
2 Tbsp (30 ml) whole chia seeds, or heaping 1/4 cup (70 ml) pre-ground
1/3 cup (80 ml) coconut oil, preferably organic
1 Tbsp (15 ml) raw cashew or macadamia nut butter (or use regular if you’re not concerned about it being raw)
Remainder of lemon zest and juice from making the base, above
15-20 drops plain or vanilla stevia liquid, to taste
extra lemon zest and poppy seeds for garnish, if desired
Make the base: Line a regular loaf pan with plastic wrap. Set aside.
If using whole chia seeds, grind them to a powder in a coffee grinder. Combine the ground chia, almonds, cashews and salt in the bowl of a food processor and process until the mixture looks like a fairly fine meal (no pieces of almond should be visible).
In a small bowl, mix together half the lemon zest, half the lemon juice (about 2 Tbsp/30 ml), vegetable glycerin, stevia and vanilla until everything is well combined. Pour the mixture over the dry ingredients in the processor and blend until it comes together in what looks like a sticky dough (if it’s too dry, add up to 1 Tbsp/15 ml water). Sprinkle with the poppy seeds and pulse just until they are incorporated.
Turn the base into the prepared loaf pan and, using wet hands or a silicon spatula, press it down firmly and evenly. Place in fridge while you prepare the frosting.
Make the frosting: In the bowl of a food processor or using a hand blender, blend all ingredients until perfectly smooth. The mixture may liquefy as the coconut oil melts; this is fine.
Pour the frosting over the base in the pan and swirl the top. Refrigerate until firm, at least 2 hours. (Note: if the frosting is too liquid to hold a shape when you first pour it over the base, refrigerate about 15 minutes until it firms up a bit, and then add any swirls that you like).
Once the top is firm, fold the plastic wrap over it to cover. To unmold, peel back the plastic on top and invert the bars onto a cutting board; turn right-side up and cut into 12 or more pieces (they should be relatively small). Serve immediately; store leftovers covered in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Makes about 12 servings.
Thanks again to Brittany for allowing me to play along with April in the Raw this year! It’s been so much fun focusing more on the raw foods in my diet. In fact, I plan to keep up with more raw over the next few months.
To see the lineup of all the April in the Raw posts as well as links to readers’ recipes (or to link up your own), check out the April in the Raw main page!
A couple of days ago I was sent a tweet by someone who had noticed my email signature (“Ricki Heller, PhD, RHN”) and commented on my doctorate degree (I guess she hadn’t realized I have a PhD). The funny part is that I usually consider people who call themselves “Dr.” with a PhD (versus an MD) as unbearably pretentious, and I try not to do so. But as I mention in my “About” page: “I hold a PhD in Modern American Literature, which came in really handy the one time my sweetheart and I wanted to book a hotel room for our anniversary, and we got bumped up to a suite instead of a regular room because I had the title “Dr.” on my form.” That was pretty much the best use of my degree so far.
But the anecdote got me thinking about how people sometimes use labels for things simply to make the things sound better than they actually are. Remember Roseanne Barr’s old skit in which she called herself a “domestic goddess” instead of a housewife? And of course there’s the classic ”sanitation engineer.” Or that old résumé staple, “I’m a perfectionist” (ie, “I never finish any of the projects that I start.”)
When it comes to food, alternative epithets abound. I mean, giving something a rather exotic moniker makes it sound more appealing, doesn’t it?
Method One: use a word from a different language. To wit:
When I first came across this recipe in my Kitchen Classics: Gourmet Vegetariancookbook, I must admit that I turned to the HH and asked, “What does ‘Andalusian’ refer to?” (because, as we all know, the HH is the source of all factoids in my life; and also, I was never very good at geography).
“A place in Spain,” he replied.
Well, I have no doubt that the Andalusian people themselves eat their asparagus this way, so of course the name is apt. But really, for those of us here in the Golden Horseshoe, calling it “Andalusian Asparagus” just sounds so much more glamorous, doesn’t it? (And besides, “Golden Horseshoe Asparagus” just doesn’t have the same ring to it.*)
Whatever you call it, it’s entirely appealing. The garlicky, bread-crumby flavors in the topping reminded me of this soup, but the topping here is more like that of a fruit crumble in consistency (except savory). Initially, I imagined that the lemon juice might make the crumble a bit too tart to pair well with the spears, but they actually complemented each other perfectly, the umami of the asparagus providing the strong, savory undertone necessary to balance out the citrus.
I daresay you’ll love this Andalusian asparagus. Besides, it’s a great way to get your kids to eat their organic verdant vegetable fiber. Just sayin’.
“Hey, Mum, did you know that I’m half Alsatian? Doesn’t that sound exotic, too? And by that I mean, ‘exotic enough to give me some extra treats.’”
*Well, of course not. Because it’s a horseshoe, not a ring, silly!
An elegant way to serve your asparagus that’s as tasty as it is visually impressive.
about 1 pound (500 g) fresh asparagus spears, washed and trimmed
1 large or 2 small slices rustic bread, cut into large cubes (I used quinoa sourbread)
3 Tbsp (45 ml) extra virgin olive oil, preferably organic
3 large garlic cloves, sliced
12-15 raw natural almonds, with skin
1 tsp (5 ml) paprika
1 tsp (5 ml) cumin
2 Tbsp (30 ml) freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 Tbsp (15 ml) water, if necessary
Heat 2 Tbsp (10 ml) of the oil in a large, heavy frypan (I used cast iron). Add the bread, garlic and almonds and cook over medium heat for 3-5 minutes, until the bread and garlic are browned; turn off heat. Using a slotted spoon, transfer to the bowl of a food processor. Add the paprika, cumin and lemon juice and process to a coarse meal (if it’s too dry, add the water and process again).
Return the frypan to the heat with the final tablespoon (15 ml) olive oil. Add the asparagus and cook for 3-5 minutes, then add the bread mixture with an additional 2/3 cup (160 ml) water. Simmer for 4-8 minutes, until the asparagus is tender but still firm and most of the liquid has evaporated. Transfer to a serving platter and serve. Makes 4 servings.
It’s April–which means the cruelest monthlove is in the air another SOS Kitchen Challenge!
This month, with so many of us thinking about spring and green shoots finally making their way toward the sky, Kim and I have chosen an ingredient that is itself a harbinger of spring. With its lively green hue and tender, pine cone-like tops, this veggie is often enjoyed even by those who don’t otherwise consume many veggies. Our happy ingredient this month happens to be
When asparagus hits the grocery stores and markets around this part of the world, we know spring is just around the corner. And who doesn’t love spring?
Available in most places from April to May (though much earlier in California and much later in the midwest), asparagus is beloved by many as a special treat.
Actually part of the Lily family, asparagus is available in three varieties: green (the type with which most people are familiar), white, which is grown underground to inhibit the chlorophyll and thereby prevent any color from developing; and purple, which is much smaller and more delicate than the standard type.
Perhaps part of its elite appeal is the fact that asparagus is more perishable than many other vegetables; it stays fresh only a few days, and, in fact, begins to lose its antioxidant value more quickly than other veggies. The best way to store asparagus to keep it fresh is to place the cut ends in a little bit of fresh water; I stand my bunch of asparagus upright in an empty (clean) large yogurt container or glass jar, with about an inch (2.5 cm) of water in the bottom. I invert a plastic veggie bag (usually the one it came in) gently over the spears for storage. It will keep a couple of days this way.
With its high fiber content, asparagus is a great aid to digestion. It’s also an excellent source of folic acid and Vitamin K (essential for healthy blood and bones) and is a good source of other B-vitamins. The high amount of Vitamin A (just 6 spears provide 25% of the daily requirement) is great for healthy skin; and it’s also a mild diuretic, which means it can help to reduce swelling or other conditions in which one retains water (such as PMS). Finally, it also helps to detox the body with antioxidants like glutathione (important for liver function). And let’s not forget that it tastes delicious and often appeals to folks who don’t otherwise enjoy their veggies!
Most of us think of asparagus as a savory ingredient, used in classic dishes like quiche or risotto, above–and of course it’s delicious that way! But it’s also great shredded, raw, in salads; creamed in soups; or grilled. And if you can think of a tasty sweet use for this vegetable, you’ll get an extra-special mention in this month’s SOS Roundup!
How to Participate:To play along with this month’s challenge, simply cook up a new recipe–either sweet OR savory (or both)–using asparagus.
Be sure to follow the general SOS guidelines for ingredients and submission requirements (please be sure to read the guidelines before submitting! We hate to remove links, but we will do so if they don’t comply with the general guidelines). You may submit your own recipe or one you found on a website or blog (even one of ours). Then link up your recipe via the linky tool at the bottom of this post, or any of the other SOS: Asparagus posts that I publish this month. Be sure to also add a link to this page on your post, and if you wish, include the SOS logo.
Your recipe will be displayed on both Kim’s and my blog via the Linky, and will be featured in a recipe roundup at the end of this month. As always, we look forward to more of your innovative, delectable, enthusiastic entries this month!
Here it is again, the start of another month. That means it is also the end of another SOS Kitchen Challenge (and I’m not foolin’!).
In March, Kim and I featured none other than the delicious and nutritious adzuki bean. Our readers were inspired by both the sweet and savory possibilities, and delivered a multitude of delicious-looking recipes.
From truffles to tarts, soup to salad, and even vegetarian “bacon”, we had it all. And, oddly enough, Kim and I were on the same wavelength and created very similar bean dips, completely separate from each other. I guess great minds do think alike!
Be sure to check out all the great recipes in the Linky below, and prepare to get your bean on!
Anxious for the next SOS Kitchen Challenge? We are too! I’m really pleased with the next ingredient selected for the April SOS Kitchen Challenge. This month’s ingredient is fresh, seasonal, and perfectly suited for a wide variety of savory dishes. And if you can figure out how to use it in a sweet way, you deserve a medal of honor.
When I was growing up, “Chinese Food” meant gelatinous, hot pink chicken and pineapple balls, chop suey (bean sprouts, frozen peas and carrots and some white rice in soy sauce), and egg rolls as greasy as Elvis’s pompadour. It wasn’t until my undergraduate years at the University of Windsor that I first tasted authentic Chinese food.
I know, Windsor, Ontario doesn’t exactly strike one as the hub of all things Oriental. In those days, though, Windsor was (and for all I know, may still be) the Canadian college with the largest percentage of Chinese students (at about 45%). Why? There were many theories (such as “ it’s a great way to get into the States, being so close”; or “it has the lowest standard for English-as-a-second-language requirements”), but my favorite was “it’s the southernmost city in Canada (further south than its American cousin, Detroit), so when potential students consulted a map, they likely decided it must also be the warmest city and chose it before all others.
(All I can say is, it’s been winter since the end of October. So, how do you like Windsor now?)
Perhaps surprisingly, my entrée into the world of authentic Chinese dining was facilitated not by a Chinese person, but a native (Caucasian) Windsorite.
RB, a fellow undergraduate English major, was much taller than I at 5 feet 7 inches (just over 170 cm) and had what we call “big-bones.” Yet she also somehow always struck me as fragile. With impeccable posture, she trailed a mane of undulating, naturally auburn hair; and her skin was so pale, smooth and translucent it reminded me of my mom’s antique teacups. While not classically “pretty,” RB was certainly uniquely attractive. Even her voice, quiet and steady like a breeze in autumn, seemed too soft for the heft of her body. When she spoke it was barely above a whisper.
But it wasn’t her physical attributes of which I was envious; it was her mind. You see, RB was another protégé of my mentor, Dr. Ditsky, and he frequently called on her in class to “save us” when no one volunteered to answer his question (when he called on me for the same purpose, my cheeks usually flushed red and I stammered something unintelligible). But RB always rose to the challenge, fairly offering a lecture of her own on occasion.
RB was, quite simply, brilliant. Like, Bill Gates brilliant. Mozart brilliant. Marilyn Vos Savant brilliant. A Beautiful Mindbrilliant (well, without the encrypted magazine articles and hallucinatory FBI agents, of course).
I will never forget her final essay for our Faulkner course: a 50-odd page treatise on “Deconstructing The Sound and the Fury: Parallels and Pedantry in Godel, Escher, Bach.” Well, I, too, had purchased Godel, Escher, Bach out of curiosity (like the rest of the academic population in the 1980s) and could barely get through the first 10 pages (even that took me a couple of hours). Yet here was RB, composing an entire essay (which, presumably, she actually understood!) that used it as a basis for comparison.
RB also had the ability to acquire information–particularly languages–as easily as I acquired cookbooks. She loved the fact that Windsor was an “international” city welcoming people from all over the world. One day, she decided that she loved Chinese culture the most. Within a couple of months, she was teaching herself Cantonese with the aid of tapes and a book. I’d notice her hunched over a table in the cafeteria, madly scribbling little curlicues and pictograms across her notebooks. She’d emit guttural sounds in the back of her throat as she walked by in the hallways. After another couple of months, her gorgeous auburn hair had been shorn in a tight pageboy and dyed jet black. If there had existed a counterpart to gender reassignment surgery called “Cultural Reassignment surgery,”her name would have been at the top of the list.
Eventually, RB married a man from Hong Kong whom she’d met at a dim sum restaurant. (She was writing a postcard–in Chinese–to a friend as he walked by; he glanced at the card, asked, “Do you actually understand that stuff?” and when she nodded, he sat down to join her. Less than a year later they were married.)
[It may not be a whole lotus bean inside, but it's still delicious.]
Given her affinity for all things Chinese, it’s no wonder that RB eventually took me to her favorite spot for Dim Sum. Right there on Wyandotte Street, just steps from the university dormitory, was a fantastic dim sum restaurant. It was so authentic, in fact, that none of the servers really spoke English, and orders were given by patrons who wrote their choices (in Chinese) on little slips of paper. Of course, RB was proficient in the language, so she served as translator and placed the order.
I won’t dwell on the meal itself, which involved various steamed buns, pan-fried dumplings, noodles and RB’s favorite–chicken feet. (The image of her sucking on their splayed, pointy tips will forever be branded in my memory). But it was the dessert that proved to be a revelation. That day was the first time I tried steamed lotus seed buns, and I ate them every time I could after that. The white, spongey and barely sweet buns encased a whole lotus bean, cooked until soft and squishy. Imagine, if you will, a medjool date that’s even softer and sweeter than normal, served slightly warm and caramelized–that’s what the lotus bean tasted like. I loved them instantly. When I moved to Toronto with its three Chinatowns, I anticipated more of the same, and was sadly disappointed to learn that the buns made here, while tasty, contained red bean paste instead of lotus seeds.
Well, today’s SOS offering is my take on that pastry. I had actually attempted a steamed bun first (based on this recipe–which, I later realized, is Japanese), but steaming instead of frying resulted in a mess of white and red goo, a little too reminiscent of the goo splattered all over Tommy Lee Jones when Will Smith shoots the alien at the end of Men in Black. Attempt number two involved actually frying the balls as directed–I was going to beg your forgiveness if they worked out–but those, alas, were also fairly gooey inside, very greasy on the outside, and clearly not orb-like.
So, I went back to what I do better: cookies! In keeping with the Asian theme, I used rice flour (two types) filled with red bean paste. The cookie itself is crisp and light, while the dense paste inside provides a pleasant surprise with its textural contrast. And while they’re not authentic, they were delicious. I bet even RB would approve.
Chinese-Style Bean Pastry Cookies (ACD Stage 3 and beyond)
These cookies provide a little pocket of smooth, sweet bean paste inside a crisp, light cookie casing. To make them this small may seem too fussy for everyday cookies; if you’d rather, place a layer of dough in a parchment-lined loaf pan, spread with paste, then more dough; bake and cut in squares for an easier treat.
For the bean filling:
1 cup (240 ml) cooked adzuki beans, well drained
1/4 cup (60 ml) agave nectar or vegetable glycerin
1/4 cup (60 ml) water
10-20 drops vanilla or plain stevia liquid, to your taste
1/4 cup (60 ml) unsweetened plain or vanilla soy, almond or rice milk
1/4 tsp (1 ml) pure stevia powder or 15-20 drops liquid, to your taste
2 tsp (10 ml) pure vanilla extract
1 Tbsp plus 1 tsp (20 ml) ground chia seeds or meal (if you grind your own, use 2 tsp/10 ml whole seeds)
1/2 tsp (2.5 ml) apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup (60 ml) coconut oil, preferably organic, soft (I prefer refined for this as it is tasteless; but unrefined is nice, too)
1/2 cup (70 g) brown rice flour
1/4 cup (30 g) sweet rice flour
1/2 tsp (2.5 ml) baking powder
1/4 tsp (1 ml) baking soda
1/2 tsp (2.5 ml) xanthan gum
1/4 tsp (1 ml) fine sea salt
Topping:
2 Tbsp (30 ml) sesame seeds, optional
Make the filling:
Place all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Turn the mixture into a small pot and heat over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until it begins to thicken, about 5 minutes. Add the coconut oil, stir well to combine evenly, and keep stirring until you have a thick paste that begins to look slightly glossy. Remove from heat and allow to cool. NOTE: This makes about twice as much filling as you’ll need. You can try halving the recipe, but when I did so, it didn’t cook up quite the same way. Instead, you can form the filling into a disk, freeze it, and use it for cookies later on. Or, form into balls, coat in melted unsweetened chocolate, and enjoy red bean truffles!
Make the dough:
Preheat oven to 350F (180C). Line two cookie sheets with parchment or spray with nonstick spray.
In a medium bowl, mix the coconut sugar, soymilk, stevia, vanilla, chia and vinegar. Stir for 30 seconds or so to allow the sugar to begin to dissolve. Add the coconut oil and cream well. Sift in the remaining ingredients and stir to form a fairly firm dough (you may need to knead it with your hands). It should be moist but fairly firm.
Assemble the cookies:
Roll out the dough until it is very thin, about 1/8 inch (3 mm). Cut into small circles about 1-1/2 inches (3.75 cm) big. You should have about 32 circles.
Place about 1/2 tsp (2.5 ml) of the paste in the center of one circle of dough; top with another circle. Pinch edges all around to seal in the bean paste (be sure there are no openings or your cookies will leak when they bake!). Gently form into a round disk. Dip one side of the disk in the seeds; place seed side up on cookie sheets. Bake in preheated oven for 20-22 minutes, until bottoms are deep golden brown and cookies are firm. Remove from oven and cool completely before transferring to a covered container. Makes 16 pastries. May be frozen.
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I’ve submitted this recipe to Amy’s weekly Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays event. Check out all the healthier recipes there!
Like the new logo? Kim designed it and I just love it! We thought it was time for an update, something a little more playful and fun to fit the spirit of the challenge.
January’s Sweet or Savory Kitchen Challengewas an exciting one, featuring none other than coconut oil. Health promoting and versatile, coconut oil is perfect for everyday use, functioning equally well in everything from raw desserts to savory curries. You exhibited your love for coconut oil in full force, presenting a wide array of delicious looking recipes. Every recipe in the roundup looked delectable – even the Coconut Oil Body Lotion from The Mommy Bowllooked good enough to eat! That said, we want to highlight a handful of recipes that particularly caught our eyes…
Be sure to check out all the great recipes in the Linky for delicious, creative, and health-conscious ways to incorporate coconut oil in your diet.
Speaking of coconut oil, January’s challenge featured a great giveaway for one lucky cook: a 32-oz jar of Gold Label Virgin Coconut Oil from Tropical Traditions. We randomly picked a winner from all the submissions and qualifying comments.
Congratulations! Please contact us at soskitchenchallenge@gmail.com with your shipping information.
A big thankyou to everyone who participated. You continue to impress us with your creativity and raise the bar with every challenge. Tomorrow we’re announcing the February SOS Kitchen Challenge ingredient (and another giveaway) so get your aprons washed, your measuring cups poised for action, and stay tuned for the details!
Welcome to the new year, and to the first SOS Kitchen Challenge of 2011! It’s hard for me to believe that we’re already at January 4th–seems as if the HH and I just celebrated Christmas! Thanks, all, for your New Year’s wishes and for the great response to my call for recipe testers. I’ve been a bit overwhelmed by the response and will get back to everyone this week. I’m looking forward to cooking with you in 2011!
Now that the HH’s holiday from work is over (Canadians had a day off yesterday to compensate for New Year’s falling on a Saturday), it’s back to our regularly scheduled blogging. . . Kim and I are both refreshed after our holiday season, ready and raring to kick off this year’s SOS Challenges with a bang.
Our featured ingredient this month is something that both of us use almost daily in our kitchens. In fact, we’re both so coconuts for it that we want to share some with one lucky participant through a giveaway at the end of the month. This ingredient is versatile for cooking, baking, bath and body applications, and has some impressive nutritional and medicinal characteristics. It is a solid at some temperatures, and a liquid at others. And it smells like the tropics.
What could it be?
Drum roll please…
COCONUT OIL!
[Beautiful, white, fragrant chunks of coconut oil. Cold temperatures mean very solid oil!]
Coconut oil is extracted from the meat of the coconut. High in lauric acid, caprylic acid, capric acid, medium chain fatty acids (MCFA), antioxidants, vitamin E, and vitamin K, coconut oil is definitely at the top of the “healthy fat” category. Don’t worry about the high saturated fat content–the high concentration of medium chain triglycerides in the oil are said to assimilate well, converting directly to energy in the body.
Although we can’t technically say that coconut oil has specific medicinal or curative properties, keep in mind that many of the naturally occurring properties of coconut oil such as lauric acid, caprylic acid, and capric acid function as natural antimicrobial agents, and may help strengthen the immune system. Coconut oil is also very versatile for health and body applications; it can be used foroil pulling, topically as a moisturizer or massage oil, as a carrier oil for essential oils, and as a hair treatment (note: I’ve never actually tried oil pulling, though I would be willing to give it a go. The link was provided by Kim. But I did get a kick out of the second video on that page!).
Unlike olive oil or other popular plant oils like flax, sunflower, or canola, coconut oil is NOT destroyed or changed chemically from its original form by using low heat. The medium chain fatty acids present in coconut oil are very resistant to any change via heat. Even commercial oils heated to a very high temperature have their medium chain fatty acids kept intact. This makes coconut oil one of the best oils to use in cooking and baking, because it does not break down easily. It can be used as a replacement for butter in any recipe, since it often behaves much like butter (solid at room temperature and liquid when hot). It is also wonderful spread it on bread or muffins instead of butter; you can add a dollop to smoothies or hot chocolate; or melt it over cooked vegetables or grains. The uses are endless!
[Coconuts on a coconut palm tree in St. Petersburg, Florida. Photo courtesy of Kim!]
Since many of Kim’s and my readers have food allergies or sensitivies, we want to share a note regarding the allergenic potential of coconut. Coconut must be labeled on food packaging as a tree nut, according to regulations by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
On the other hand, neither the EU nor Canada considers coconut as a tree nut for food labeling purposes. Botanically, the latter is more accurate – coconuts come from coconut palm trees, are not closely related to most other tree nuts, and technically, they are the seed of a fruit, not a nut. While you can’t simply rely on botanical relationships to determine the potential cross-reactivity between two foods, those foods which are close biological relatives generally share related allergenic proteins (like cashews, mangos, and pistachios).
That being said, there is some evidence of cross-reactivity between coconuts and hazelnuts and between coconuts and walnuts, which is strange because those trees are not at all closely related. However, allergies to coconuts are believed to be far less common than allergies to many true tree nuts, such as walnuts, cashews and almonds, a point with which the Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network agrees. A June 2007 study in the Annals of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology indicated cross-reactivity between coconuts, walnuts, and hazelnuts in one patient. Your allergist can advise you on the suitability of coconut for your diet.
I don’t have allergies to tree nuts and am fine with coonut, too, but I know that many readers require substitutions for coconut; it will be different for everyone. However, for many of us with dietary restrictions, coconut is a nourishing addition to our diet, and it makes an excellent substitute for dairy butter in most recipes. [see References at bottom of post for sources]
THIS MONTH’S GIVEAWAY
This month, we’re giving away a jar of beautiful organic coconut oil to a lucky SOS participant. To learn how you can enter to win, click here.
TO ENTER THE CHALLENGE, link up your healthy vegan recipe with coconut oil. Please be sure to adhere to the SOS Kitchen Challenge General Guidelines, posted here.
And to get you in the mood for coconut oil-based recipes, here’s my first contribution to this month’s challenge: ACD-Friendly, High Protein, No-Cook Snackin’ Orbs!
This recipe was inspired by one posted on the forums at the Whole Approach website. As those of you who’ve been following my anti-candida journey might know, Whole Approach has been my primary guide for the diet I’ve followed since March, 2009 (that’s right–almost two years! I’ll be posting more about my diet and an ACD Update later in the week–stay tuned).
These snacks offer a great protein boost in the form of portable little spheres (I just can’t bring myself to call them “balls,” ever since that classic Christmas skit aired on Saturday Night Live). Halfway between a protein bar and a raw truffle, they’re sweet (but not too sweet), chewy and a little crunchy. I played around with various combinations of seeds, powders and protein sources (all rice protein-based) to find what worked best for my tastes. I’ve added my two favorite variations at the end.
I’ve found myself snacking on these in the afternoon or biting into them for breakfast. There’s only one caveat: when the HH tasted these, he remarked that they tasted “healthy.” Those of you who whip up hemp protein smoothies for breakfast likely know what that means. If you’re the kind of person who likes an extra-thick (and perhaps green) smoothie in the morning, you’ll really enjoy these.
[On the left: hemp seed-lucuma-coconut variation. On the right: sesame seed-carob-pumpkinseed.]
ACD-Friendly, High-Protein, No-Bake Snackin’ Orbs (ACD Stage 1 and beyond): Inspired by a recipe on Whole Approach
The beauty of these orbs is that they’re portable–they stay firm at room temperature and can be packed in plastic wrap or a container for later consumption, or grab a few on your way out the door in the morning and feel confident that you’ve started your day with a good portion of your protein requirements. Alternately, press the “dough” into a pan, refrigerate, and cut into bars.
2 Tbsp (30 ml) coconut flour
1/2 cup rice based protein powder (I used SunWarrior Vanilla or NutriBiotic plain; you could try flavored powders as well)
3 Tbsp (45 ml) carob powder (or use lucuma powder or a mix of carob and mesquite)
1/8-1/4 tsp (.25 ml to .5 ml) stevia powder or more, to your taste, depending on how sweet your rice protein is (I used NuNaturals)*
1/2 tsp (2.5 ml) cinnamon, optional
1/2 cup (120 ml) finely ground flax seeds or flax seed meal
2 Tbsp sesame seeds (or use hemp seeds)
1/2 cup (120 ml) pumpkin seeds (or use sunflower seeds or unsweetened dried shredded coconut)
1/4 cup (60 ml) unsweetened carob chips, optional
1/2 cup (120 ml) nut or seed butter (natural almond, hazelnut, walnut, sunflower, pumpkinseed, etc.)
1 tsp (5 ml) pure vanilla extract (or use 1/2 tsp/2.5 ml almond or orange extract)
3/4 cup (180 ml) water or unsweetened milk alternative (soy, almond or rice),or a bit more, as needed
In a medium bowl, sift together the coconut flour, protein powder, carob powder, stevia and cinnamon, if using. Add the flax, sesame seeds, pumpkin seeds and carob chips, if using, and stir to distribute the seeds and chips evenly.
In a small, heavy-bottomed pot melt together the nut butter and coconut oil over very low heat, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla and water until smooth. Pour the nut mixture over the dry ingredients and stir well to combine; it should come together and be slightly moist and smooth, like a cookie dough.
Using a small ice cream scoop or teaspoon, scoop the dough and form into balls. Place on a plate in the refrigerator until chilled and firm, then store in an airtight container in the refrigerator until ready to eat. Alternately, press into a greased or parchment paper-lined 8 or 9 inch (20-22.5 cm) square pan; refrigerate until firm and then cut into bars. Makes 6-10 servings for breakfast (4-5 orbs per serving) or 24-30 snackin’ orbs.
Carob-Pumpkinseed Variation: Use sesame seeds, vanilla protein powder, carob powder, almond butter, pumpkin seeds and water options
Lucuma-Coconut Variation: Use hemp seeds, plain protein powder, lucuma powder, sunflower seed butter, coconut, and unsweetened almond milk options
*NOTE: If you are at a later stage of the ACD or can use other sweeteners, up to 2 Tbsp (30 ml) agave or yacon may be used in place of some of the stevia.
I’m submitting this recipe to Amy’s Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays event (every week on Tuesday–of course!). See what other healthier options are posted, or link up your own over there.
Overview: Tree nuts include macadamia nuts, brazil nuts, cashews, almonds, walnuts, pecans, pistachios, chestnuts, beechnuts, hazelnuts, pine nuts (pignoli or pinon), gingko nuts and hickory nuts. Like peanut and shellfish allergies, tree nut allergies tend to be severe, and are strongly associated with anaphylaxis. Walnuts and cashews are the two tree nuts that cause the most allergic reactions. At least 90 percent of children diagnosed with tree nut allergies will have them for life.
Question: Is Coconut a Tree Nut? Answer: That’s a surprisingly complicated question. If you ask the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the answer is “yes:” a food containing coconuts is required to be labeled “contains tree nuts” under FALCPA.
Allergic reactions Allergic reactions are severe adverse reactions that occur when the body’s immune system overreacts to a particular allergen. These reactions may be caused by food, insect stings, latex, medications and other substances. In Canada, the nine priority food allergens are peanuts, tree nuts, sesame seeds, milk, eggs, seafood (fish, crustaceans and shellfish), soy, wheat and sulphites (a food additive).
[PLEASE NOTE: If you participated this month and didn't see a comment from me, it's not that I didn't try. For some bizarre reason, WordPress is now tossing all of my comments into spam. If I usually comment on your blog and you haven't seen any from me lately, please check the spam comments and tell that *&%4#! Akismet that I am not a spammer!! Grrr. Thanks.]
It’s been quite the month, what with Vegan MoFo AND an SOS Challenge going on–but you guys rose to that challenge most admirably! I’m happy to say that last month was our best-attended SOS Challenge so far, with 39 spectacular entries!
Of course, I already love any recipe that includes sweet potatoes. But I was particularly impressed with some of the savory entries, including:
. . . plus too many more great recipes to mention! You’ll just have to check out all 37 entries on your own–see the thumbnails, below!
And let’s not forget this month’s winners! Once again this month, Kim and I were able to offer prizes for the SOS Challenge. We’ve chosen two names at random, each to win a prize from one of us. And the winners are:
BROOKE from B and the Boy: You’ve won a hand-crocheted jar cozy courtesy of Kim. Please contact Kim at eatingfreelyATgmailDOTcom with your full name and mailing address! (since this is a custom-made cozy, you can discuss which patterns and colors your want with Kim)
And a Giveaway! If you love cookies and want to try out some super-healthy, drool-worthy varieties, I’m hosting a giveaway of New Moon Kitchen products this week! Just click here to enter.
Thanks again to everyone who participated in the challenge last month. Kim and I are taking a break in December to focus on holiday cooking, gifts, and time with friends and family. We’ll see you for our next SOS Kitchen Challenge in 2011!
[This year, I decided to offer a "Festive Freebies" series in which I give away some of my favorite food products. . . hand-picked by me! These are things I already love and actually eat (or use) regularly, and which I'd love to share with you. Here's my fourth Festive Freebie--click here to enter!]
All the way from Australia–our winner is SUSAN from Kittens Gone Lentil! Here’s Susan’s comment:
The book I am most keen to get my hands on at the moment (though there are several) is Party Vegan by Robin Robertson. I love her books and recipes, and I love menu plans and putting together themed dinners, so this book just sounds like heaven!
CONGRATULATIONS, Susan! I can’t guarantee you’ll get it by the holidays (Australia is pretty far away from here. . . ) but I’ll be ordering your book as soon as I hear from you with your full name and address and you can Party Vegan through the new year! Please email me at dietdessertdogsATgmailDOTcom before Friday to receive your book!
Holiday cookies have arrived! There are cookie bake-offs, cookie swaps, Twelve Days of Gluten Free Cookies, cookie contests. . . . With all the cookie madness upon us, how about some cookies you don’t have to bake yourself?
These treats would make a great holiday gift for anyone who’s new to the kitchen, whose busy schedule prohibits too much baking, or who is interested in healthier, yet still deliciously homemade-tasting, cookies. And they are one of my all-time favorites.
Click here to read my review and enter the giveaway. [Note: I am required by the rules of BlogHer to place my giveaway on a separate page. Sorry for the extra clicks, everyone!]
III. A Quick Smoothie Recipe
I’ll be back later with last month’s SOS Roundup and those winners, too, but in the meantime, I’ve got another breakfast recipe for y’all. Breakfast (as you might recall) is my favorite meal of the day, and I never tire of new breakfast options. Here’s a really quick and refreshing smoothie recipe I enjoyed earlier this morning.
I was feeling like oatmeal when I first got up today [groaner alert]–funny, I don’t look like oatmeal. . . well, actually, maybe that’s not entirely true these days–but knew I just didn’t have the time to cook it up. So I concocted a festive smoothie that includes a touch of oats along with a protein kick and some seasonal cranberries. Yes–raw cranberries. The result was creamy, filling, and tart yet not lip-puckering. It offered just enough sweetness for my taste with only a few drops of stevia, but sweeten as you like. The recipe will be included in my upcoming ebook on ACD-friendly breakfasts.
This is a great smoothie for those in Stage 2 of the anti-candida diet. It provides a good amount of protein to offset the carbs in the smoothie, and since cranberries don’t “count” as a fruit, the smoothie includes the natural sweetness of pear as well.
1/3 cup (80 ml) fresh or frozen unsweetened cranberries
1 cup (240 ml) unsweetened rice, almond or soy milk
small handful raw walnut halves (about 6)
1 Tbsp (15 ml) brown rice protein powder (not flavored or with added ingredients–I use NutriBiotic, which is rice protein and nothing else)
During this month that was MoFo, I’ve been writing up weekly roundups at the end of each week to recap what transpired. As you can see, I missed this past weekend, what with exciting events (both the “exciting-scary” and “exciting-fun” categories) taking place between Thursday and Saturday. And since Vegan MoFo actually ends today, I thought I’d combine my farewell MoFo post with my roundup from last week.
My aspirations were lofty: write one post a day for at least 5 days a week. Sounds eminently doable, doesn’t it? I mean, when I first began this blog back in November 2007, I was zipping off at least one post a day for quite some time (ah, chalk it up to infatuation of the newly enamored; such excess energy and enthusiasm comes but once in a blog’s lifetime. Nowadays, my blog-love may be deeper and more permanent, but it operates a little more slowly, too. . . just like in marriage). My usual pace of two to three posts a week feels much more natural, and much more achievable.
I enjoyed all the MoFo excitement, but was already scrambling toward the middle of last week. And when the HH was blindsided with a major car accident on American Thanksgiving (three-car collision in which his car was totalled. . . details here), I missed my MoFo post. And then. . . missed another. And here I am today, the final day of MoFo. (Is that a little too “Curb Your Enthusiasm” of me, to use the HH’s accident as an excuse for skipping blog posts? Well, at least I’m not like Larry, using his bad news as an excuse for. . . everything).
So, so long, MoFo. It’s been fun. It’s been tantalizing. It’s been more fantastic vegan food than you could ever cook up in a lifetime. And also more reading or writing than I could master in a day.
See you same time, next year! :)
II. Cookbooks and other Prizes!
Last week’s Festive Freebie offers a cookbook of your choice! The giveaway continues until midnight tonight, so skip over to the contest page and let me know what you’d like if you win! Open worldwide.
Also continuing until tonight is the SOS Kitchen Challenge, hosted by Kim and me. I posted a sweet potato spread that’s definitely worthy of seconds, but my other ventures haven’t been quite so successful. If you’ve got a sweet potato recipe you made in November–lay it on us! Details here.
Finally, the Gluten Free Holiday event is back in full swing this week. On Thursday, we’ll be featuring holiday side dishes, so be sure to check it out then! In the meantime, our previous topic, Gifts of Good Taste, continues until Wednesday evening–and you can enter to win one of seven cookbooks simply by leaving a comment on Alta’s post.
III. Food for Comfort, Times Two Three
[Mega comfort in a pile of zucchini fritters (recipe below), topped with a (mega) dollop of avocado sour cream (this recipe without the basil).]
It was a comfort-food kinda week. First up, I made some easy, warming, belly-filling Pan Seared Oatmeal Wedges, great for either breakast (with fresh plum sauce) or as a savory starter, perhaps with a spoonful of creamy mushroom or tomato sauce ladled on top. By the end of the week, after the HH’s collision, I was craving soup–hot, hearty, nourishing–so I mixed up some borscht. Then, over the weekend, my inner mad pancake scientist came to life as I cooked up some quick and (also comforting) zucchini fritters–recipe below.
IV. Presents! Is It Christmas Already?
Gifts for Me: You know, I’ve said it before, but bloggers and blog readers are truly some of the most generous, supportive and big-hearted people I’ve ever “met.” In the past month, I’ve received gifts from two other bloggers, both of which came as a delightful surprise.
[Rover Indulgence--upscale treats for dogs! Rawganic agave-sweetened chocolate (every morsel of which I savored), and Outback Pride combination spices for savory cooking. The winsome backdrop, an original design linen tea towel, was also in the package.]
Way back in October, Johanna sent an incredibly thoughtful package of goodies from the antipodes (sorry it’s taken me so long to blog about it, Johanna!). Not only did the box contain amazing, edible gifts for me, but there was even something for The Girls! (“We really appreciated that, Johanna! When are you coming to live with us?”). And wrapped around it all, of course, was one of Johanna’s signature tea towels. (See how cute?)
Thanks so much, Johanna! The agave-sweetened chocolate was a perfect occasional treat for an ACD-er. In fact, I rationed it out in tiny portions to make it last as long as possible. And I can’t wait to use the spices! Thanks for this very thoughtful, sweet (in more ways than one) gift!
Then, just this past week, I received this little guy in the mail:
Isn’t he too adorable? I cannot tell you how loudly I squealed when I opened the envelope to reveal this cutie! Thanks to the incomparable River, who crafted him (her talent knows no bounds–pun intended!) The design is flawless, each teeny tiny stitch perfect. Todd (as we’ve named him) the Turkey now hangs over our mantlepiece, where he’ll remain through the holidays. River’s had the brilliant idea to send his twin (Ted the Turkey) to Ellen and Portia with a request that they have me on the show (and y’all know how much I’d love that to happen!). Let’s keep our fingers crossed that Ellen finds Todd to be just as cute as I do!!
Thank you so much, River, for your unending generosity, talent, and support.
Gifts for YOU: I’ll be back tomorrow with the cookbook winner and this week’s Festive Freebie giveaway. This next one was instrumental in helping kickstart my baking business back in the day. . . can’t wait to share these treats with you!
V. DDD In Your Kitchen
Finally, I love it when readers tell me they’ve tried out a DDD recipe and provide feedback, and I love to share these with all of you!
Here’s a list of recent culinary creations based on DDD recipes over the past couple of weeks. If I missed yours, let me know and I’d be happy to add it to the list!
Sonal reports making Beet Burgers with an Indian twist (sounds delicious)
Rachel de-lurked to tell me that she tried out last week’s Borscht recipe with a slight twist (thanks for the comment , Rachel! Loved to hear from you!)
And finally, Crispy Cook included Diet, Dessert and Dogs in her list of 100 Gluten Free Blogs.
Thanks so much, everyone!
VI. Today’s Comfort Food Recipe: Zucchini Fritters
With Chanukah (or was that Hannukah? Or, as we saw it on a poster in a restaurant the other day, Hanukkah?) around the corner, these are my contribution to the ever-evolving world of alternative latkes (okay, they may not really qualify as “latkes,” but I’ve had traditional potato latkes in the past and wasn’t a fan). A couple of years ago, I made some two-toned potato pancakes and enjoyed those a lot more than the conventional type.
But these zucchini-based fritters are my new favorite veggie pancake, whatever you call them: thin, soft shreds of zucchini encased in a light chickpea flour pillow. The outside is browned and crispy with an airy, pancake-like inside, punctuated with the occasional crunch of black sesame seeds. The mild, unassuming flavor whispers of fragrant tarragon and would happily be complemented by almost any topping (I used avocado sour cream). Wrapped and packed to take along, they’d provide a great high-protein lunch or snack.
A quick and easy savory alternative to weekend pancakes. While they have the same light, airy base as a traditional cake, the zucchini lends moistness and a mild savory overtone. Paired with some nut butter and a green salad, these would be a great focal point to a light lunch.
1 large zucchini (about 5.5 ounces or 160 grams)
1/2 tsp (2.5 ml) fine sea salt
1/2 cup (80 g) chickpea flour
1/2 tsp (2.5 ml) dried tarragon
4 tsp (20 ml) black sesame seeds
1/4 tsp (1 ml) baking powder
1/8 tsp (.5 ml) baking soda
1/3 cup (80 ml) drained zucchini juice (see recipe), water or vegetable broth
2 tsp (10 ml) freshly squeezed lemon juice
Wash and trim zucchini and grate medium-fine. Place a colander or sieve above a large bowl and add the zucchini to the colander. Sprinkle with salt and toss lightly. Allow the zucchini to rest at least ten minutes so that the salt will extract excess moisture from the zucchini. Then squeeze zucchini to remove as much liquid as you can without straining (allow the juice to drain into the bowl).
While the zucchini rests, place the flour, tarragon, seeds, baking powder and baking soda in a medium-sized bowl and whisk to combine. If you wish to use the zucchini liquid, pour it into a glass measuring cup and add any water or broth necessary to make 1/3 cup (80 ml). Add lemon juice to the cup.
Turn the drained zucchini into the bowl with the flour and add the liquids. Stir quickly to combine, but don’t overstir.
Heat a nonstick frypan over medium heat. Using a large ice cream scoop or 1/3 cup (80 ml) measuring cup, scoop the batter into the pan and flatten slightly to create pancakes. Allow to cook 4-5 minutes, until the tops are almost dry and bottoms are browned. Flip and cook another 3-4 minutes. Makes 5-6 fritters. May be frozen.
