Simply Sugar & Gluten-Free » Vegetarian/Vegan

Dreena’s Falafels (and a FABULOUS cookbook give-away!)

Amy — Thu, 16 May 2013 10:00:46 +0000

I met Dreena through Maggie and Ricki. I must say I am so very grateful!

Shortly after Nate was born and I started eating a very heavy plant-based diet. Not completely plant based, mind you. But I could just sense that my body needed lots of fresh, whole foods after giving birth to get itself back in shape.

There is a huge transition in diet and cravings after giving birth, and Let Them Eat Vegan! helped me make that transition beautifully.

The first thing you notice when you read Dreena’s book is that she’s the kind of lady you’d love to have coffee with. She’s witty, fun, and she’s easy to relate to. You get the strong sense that you’d be fast friends with her. You want to bring her into your kitchen. It just adds to the deliciousness of her food.

Let’s talk about her Panfried Falafel Patties for a minute. Who needs cookies when you can eat these? Really! When I told Dreena on Twitter that I’d been making batch after batch, she asked if I was dipping them in her Smoky Spiced Tahini Sauce and I replied that, yea, the sauce is delicious but I’d just been pulling them out of the refrigerator and eating them. No sauce necessary.

In true Dreena style, she replied, “Now that’s some falafel lovin’!” And, yep, I do love her falafels. In fact, I’ve made them more times than I can count and I’ve never gotten a photo of the finished product. (Guilty as charged.)

When you make her falafel, you must – and I mean must – make her Quinoa Tabbouleh. I used to live in Columbus, Ohio and frequented The North Market. There was a little middle eastern restaurant that served the best tabbouleh I’ve ever had. Since going gluten-free, I’ve tried to replicate it several times but just couldn’t get it quite right. Well, Dreena did. It’s got the perfect balance of acid, veggies, parsley and quinoa.
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Melted Leek & Red Pepper Quiche

Amy — Thu, 09 May 2013 10:00:22 +0000

For those of you still sorting through recipes to plan your Mother’s Day menu, I thought I’d share a quiche that has been a big hit at our house.

I actually started toying with this recipe back in January. My intention was to serve it as a meat-free, dairy-free option for Nate’s first birthday party. His party was in Ohio and we landed just 24 hours before the guests were scheduled to arrive. I barely had time to get the grocery shopping and the cupcakes baked. So, the quiche didn’t make it on the table. Thank goodness I had lots of help with the rest of the food from my sisters, aunt, and mom.

I’ve made this dish several times since. Like most quiches, you can make it the day before and serve it cold, at room temp, or warm. The pie crust can be mixed up and refrigerated for several days before baking. It’s an easy-peasy dish fancy enough for entertaining.

Some ideas for dishes you can serve with this quiche include:

a green salad with Blueberry Pomegranate Vinaigrette
S imple Berry Salad
Lavender-Infused Lemonade
Cucumber Basil Herbal Water
Lemon-Blueberry Muffins

You can also find more Spring Brunch recipes here and here.

And, if you haven’t downloaded your FREE copy of A Gluten-Free Mother’s Day do it now! There are 8 recipes with menu suggestions, each developed by moms. For more details about the book, read this post.
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Beans, Greens, & Rice for Food Bloggers Against Hunger

Amy — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 13:00:36 +0000

I used to teach elementary school. One summer, I decided to undertake summer school. Generally, you’re in a new setting with new kids that have an entirely different set of circumstances that the kiddos you typically teach.

It was only a few days into summer school when I noticed some of my students eating food out of the trash can that other kids had thrown away. It took every bit of strength I had to hold back my tears. I cried as soon as my students left that day and drove straight to the grocery store to buy snacks to hand out during the day. It was just a temporary band-aid. Summer school would end and the kids wouldn’t have breakfast in the cafeteria anymore nor would I be able to give them snacks.

Some of the kids got bags of food on Friday to take home for the weekend. If food didn’t go home with them, it was likely they wouldn’t have a meal until Monday morning when the school doors opened again.

Now, as a mom, it’s even more heartbreaking to think about kids not having enough to eat. I couldn’t imagine what it feels like knowing that your child is hungry, that since this basic need isn’t met it’s almost impossible for him to learn, grow, and develop as he’s supposed to.

No child should be hungry.

What can we do?
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Five Immune Boosting Foods to Add to Your Holiday Meal

Amy — Mon, 19 Nov 2012 14:00:40 +0000

Yes! You can add immune boosting foods and still have an off-the-charts delicious holiday meal. Being healthy for the holidays is a must! And, you might be surprised how many of these foods already grace your holiday table.

Beans: The humble bean is full of soluble fiber, which has been shown to help mice recover from illness twice as fast as compared to those mice who ate a fiber blend. Legumes are also a rich source of vitamin B6, which helps create white blood cells – the infection fighters.
Recipes to Try: Black Bean Brownies, White Bean Gratin, Black Bean Sweet Potato Enchiladas, and make sure to check out this free ebook by Carol Fenster, Pulses and the Gluten-Free Diet (This is a Canadian ebook and they call beans pulses.)
Flax Seed Oil: Make a dressing out of this nutty oil and drizzle it on your salad! This is another food that helps support white blood cells and also helps the body not over-react to infection. Because flax seed oil can be bitter, make sure to use it with another oil.
Recipes to Try: Lemon Vinaigrette or Almost Raw Liquid Gold Salad Dressing
Cinnamon: This antiviral, anti-fungal, antibacterial immune booster is the perfect addition to your holiday desserts, hot chocolate, and Egg Nog. Make sure to add some to your daily green smoothie, too.
Recipes to Try: Gingerbread Cupcakes, Egg Nog, Pumpkin Pie Smoothie, and Gingerbread Cookie Dough Protein Bars
Oats: A simple food that contains beta-glucan, which helps fight disease. It’s a soluble fiber which has antioxidant and antimicrobrial properties. Since the body doesn’t make beta-glucan it’s important to get it from food. Make sure your oats are certified gluten-free.
Recipes to Try: Thanksgiving Meatless Loaf, Cinnamon Oat Snowdrops, Cinnamon Vanilla Granola, or Blueberry Crumble
Sweet Potatoes: Packed with beta-cartoene, which is converted to Vitamin A, sweet potatoes help keep your skin healthy. Since your skin is the largest organ in your body and covers nearly every inch of our body, it’s the first place to ward off germs. Other orange foods, like pumpkin and some winter squash, are great additions to your holiday meal too.
Recipes to Try: Sweet Potato and Kale Hash, Sweet Potato Quinoa Cookies, or Curried Acorn Squash, Sweet Potato, & Apple Soup

How do you use food to give your health a boost?

Sources:

AARP, Eating Well, Dr. Sears, Everyday Health, Organic Gardening, Prevention, LiveStrong.com, Life Extension, Glamour, Health Guidance

Maggie’s Quinoa & Adzuki Bean Veggie Burgers

Amy — Wed, 09 May 2012 13:00:49 +0000

If you’ve been reading my posts lately, you know I’ve been working on getting more plant-based foods into my diet. No, I haven’t sworn off eggs, dairy, and meat. But I have been much more mindful about eating lots of phytonutrient packed fruits, vegetables, and beans especially since I learned about their disease-preventing characteristics.

I was poking around Maggie’s site looking for something healthy to make because:

I adore her.
We talk every week on Skype.
She is a smart cook and I trust her nutrition sense.

It just so happened that I was at Whole Foods the day before (no, they didn’t pay me to say that…) and brought home some organic adzuki beans. I wasn’t sure what I was going to do with them until I happened across Maggie’s recipe for Adzuki & Quinoa Veggie Burgers. Serendipity.
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