Gluten-Free Recipes for the Conscious Cook: A Seasonal, Vegetarian Cookbook (17 page)

Variations

Feel free to swap collard greens, chard, or beet greens for the kale. Or use just one green vegetable rather than two: broccoli, kale, or collard greens.

Swap a sliced zucchini or other summer squash for the tofu.

In this warming dish, the beans are combined with winter vegetables and baked for a generous amount of time, until deliciously infused with garlic and rosemary. For a great meal, serve this dish with your favorite winter grain, such as kasha, and garnish with chèvre, if you like.

Serves 4 to 6

2¼ cups
cooked pinto beans

2 cups cubed butternut squash

2 cups sliced parsnips

1 head of garlic, peeled and coarsely chopped

2½ tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1½ teaspoons minced fresh rosemary

1½ teaspoons sea salt

Preheat the oven to 400ºF.

Put all of the ingredients in a baking dish and stir until thoroughly combined. Cover and bake for about 1 hour, until the squash is tender. Taste and adjust the seasonings if desired. Serve immediately.

Variation

Swap other winter root vegetables, such as celeriac, carrots, or potatoes, for all or some of the parsnips.

Here’s a warming winter dish that’s perfect for the winter holidays. I’ve included a bit of butter here for its rich flavor, but if you’d like to make a vegan version, you could certainly replace it with another tablespoon of canola or coconut oil.

Serves 6 to 8

8 cups diced yams, cut into 1-inch cubes

½ cup pecan halves

2 tablespoons canola oil or melted extra-virgin coconut oil

3 tablespoons maple syrup

1 tablespoon unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

1½ teaspoons ground cinnamon

1¼ teaspoons ground nutmeg, preferably freshly grated

½ teaspoon sea salt

Preheat the oven to 400ºF.

Combine all of the ingredients in a baking dish and toss until the yams are evenly coated. Cover and bake for 50 to 60 minutes, until the yams are tender. Taste and adjust the seasonings if desired. Serve immediately.

Variation

Swap walnuts for the pecans, or omit the nuts altogether.

When my kids were little, they loved this dish so much that I made it at least once a week. Now that they’re grown, they still love it. Bean dishes and steamed vegetables both complement these fritters; serve all three together for a simple and satisfying meal. The method here involves first cooking the teff and cornmeal, then letting them cool for at least an hour to set up, so plan ahead.

Serves about 4

1 cup cornmeal

1/3 cup teff

4 cups boiling water

Pinch of sea salt

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

3 tablespoons tamari

Toast the cornmeal and teff in a large dry skillet over medium heat for about 5 minutes, until the grains develop a nutty aroma. Lower the heat, then slowly pour in the water. Add the salt. Simmer, stirring occasionally to prevent lumps, for 10 to 20 minutes, until all of the water is absorbed. Turn off the heat and, if necessary, spread the cooked grains in an even layer in the bottom of the skillet. Let the cooked grains cool for at least 1 hour.

When you’re ready to cook the fritters, use a spatula to cut the cooked grains into triangles or other shapes. Heat a large, clean skillet over medium-high heat. Add the oil and tamari and swirl to combine, then add a few fritters—however many you can fit while leaving a bit of space between them. Fry the fritters for about 3 to 5 minutes on each side, until golden brown. Serve immediately, or transfer the fritters to a covered dish in a 250ºF oven to keep them warm until serving.

Not only is this flatbread easy to make, it’s delicious too, especially when cooked in ghee. It’s a great accompaniment for just about any soup or stew. I especially like it with
Salsa Salad with Tomatillos and Pinto Beans
or
Sweet Potato and Black Bean Chili with Tomatillos
. Because it’s so festive and colorful, it also makes a great appetizer.

Serves 3 or 4

1 cup amaranth flour

½ cup corn flour

1 teaspoon sea salt

½ cup lukewarm water

1/3 cup minced onion

½ cup minced red or green bell pepper

2 to 3 tablespoons
ghee
or sesame oil

½ cup grated Cheddar cheese (about 2 ounces; optional)

Coat a work surface with ¼ cup amaranth flour or corn flour.

Combine the amaranth flour, corn flour, salt, and water in a bowl. Mix until the dough comes together, then add the onion and bell pepper and mix them in. Transfer the dough to the work surface and knead for a few minutes, until slightly sticky. Use your hands to shape dough into flat rounds about 2 or 3 inches in diameter.

Put the ghee in a small skillet over medium-high heat. Once it melts, swirl it around to coat the pan. Fry the flatbreads for about 3 minutes on each side, until browned and crisp. Sprinkle a bit of cheese atop each flatbread and let it melt, if you like. Serve warm.

Variation

Add a few tablespoons of cooked corn kernels for a colorful and tasty variation.

In this sweet and nourishing fall soup, cinnamon, ginger, cumin, mustard, garlic, and fennel warm you from the inside and offer immune support, to help you avoid all of the ailments cold weather can bring. The ghee fits the theme and lends a rich, satisfying flavor, but if you’d like to make a vegan version, just substitute extra-virgin coconut oil, extra-virgin olive oil, sesame oil, or sunflower oil.

Variations

For a lighter soup, toast the cumin, fennel, and mustard seeds in a dry skillet, without oil or ghee.

For a spicier soup, add some cayenne pepper when you add the rice.

You can use a large pressure cooker instead of a soup pot. After you add the boiling water, lock on the pressure cooker lid. Bring the pot to pressure over high heat. After 2 minutes, adjust the heat to maintain high pressure and cook for 30 minutes. Turn off the heat and let the pressure come down naturally. Taste the rice, and if you’d like it softer, bring the pot back up to pressure and cook about 5 minutes longer.

Serves 4 to 6

2 tablespoons
ghee

1 tablespoon cumin seeds

2 teaspoons fennel seeds

½ teaspoon mustard seeds

1 cup brown basmati rice

1½ cups cubed delicata squash

2 cloves garlic, sliced

1 teaspoon sea salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

¼ teaspoon turmeric

Pinch of saffron

8 cups boiling water

½ cup coarsely chopped cilantro

2 tablespoons grated fresh ginger

Melt the ghee in a soup pot over medium heat. Add the cumin seeds, fennel seeds, and mustard seeds. Cover and fry, stirring occasionally, for about 3 minutes, until you hear the seeds pop. Add the rice, squash, garlic, salt, cinnamon, turmeric, and saffron and sauté for about 5 minutes, until the rice is fragrant. Lower the heat, then slowly pour in the water. Cover and simmer for 40 minutes.

Taste the rice for doneness. If you’d like it more tender, just keep cooking until it’s as soft as you like. Stir in the cilantro and ginger. Taste and adjust the seasonings if desired.

Cashew butter makes this soup rich and creamy without a drop of dairy, and the shiitakes are very healthful. In China, they’ve been used for their immune-boosting properties for thousands of years. What a delicious way to ward off colds and flus! When cooking with any type of fresh mushrooms, sauté them first to seal in their flavor, or they will give it all to the broth. For a great meal, serve this heavenly soup with
Kasha Varnishkes
or
Amaranth and Corn Flatbread
. Sip on a glass of Merlot and enjoy!

Serves 6 to 8

3 tablespoons sunflower oil

3 cups grated yams

3 cups sliced onions, in half-moons

6 cups stemmed and coarsely chopped shiitake mushrooms

1 cup
cashew butter

7 cups hot water

1½ cups diced red bell pepper

8 cloves garlic, pressed

1 tablespoon sea salt

Heat the oil in a large soup pot over medium heat. Add the yams and sauté for about 10 minutes, stirring frequently to prevent the yams from sticking. (If they do stick, add just a bit of water.) When yams begin to soften and take on a brighter orange hue, add the onions and sauté for about 30 minutes, until the yams are tender. Add the shiitakes and sauté for about 5 minutes, until the mushrooms begin to soften.

Use a handheld blender to blend the cashew butter and hot water until smooth, then add the mixture to the soup. If you only have a standard blender, put ½ cup of the cashew butter in the blender, add 3½ cups of the hot water, and blend until smooth. The hot liquid can cause the blender lid to pop off, so put the lid on only loosely (so steam can escape), and cover it with a kitchen towel. Add the mixture to the soup and repeat with the remaining cashew butter and water.

Bring the soup to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer for 5 minutes to blend the flavors. Stir in the bell pepper, garlic, and salt.

Variations

Add freshly squeezed lime juice as a final seasoning, or serve the soup with wedges of lime.

Add ground cardamom, preferably freshly ground.

Add the red peppers with the mushrooms to blend the flavors and soften the peppers.

This gorgeous and delicious dish is dedicated to my dear friends Mark and Alisa, who love good food—and who don’t eat garlic and onions. Serve it with
Amaranth and Corn Flatbread
,
Corn Fritters
, or
Corn Muffins
. Or, for a heartier meal, serve it alongside
Sunny Mountain Rice
,
Millet and Sweet Carrots
, or any of the simple grain dishes in this chapter, or with your favorite pasta with pesto (see pages 156, 157, and 158 for recipes).

Serves 4 to 6

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons fennel seeds

1 cup brown lentils, rinsed

4½ cups water

3½ cups diced tomatoes

4 cups tightly packed chopped kale

1 teaspoon dried basil

1 teaspoon sea salt

Heat the oil in a soup pot over medium heat. Add the fennel seeds and cook, stirring occasionally, for 2 to 3 minutes, until fragrant. Add the lentils and cook and stir for 2 minutes to blend the flavors. Pour in the water and bring to a boil. Lower the heat, cover, and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes, until the lentils are soft.

Add the tomatoes and kale. Simmer for 5 to 10 minutes, until the kale is tender to your liking. Stir in the basil and salt. Taste and adjust the seasonings if desired.