Kitchen Therapy

Cranberry Cole Slaw

Feb 18th, 2010 by rdlinda

cranberry cole slaw photo by vsimon

Are you craving crunchy freshness right about now? When meltingly tender slow-cooked stews and soups predominate. They are welcome, but sometimes you want some bite-y food.

And make that simple, quick, healthy, and low cal too, please.

I like this lightly dressed and fat free. But you can easily add oil if you want to increase the calories.

Mix it in a minute, then stash it in the fridge. Some say it is better made ahead, and it does change over time. The dressing magically multiplies, the cranberries swell and soften. Everything turns a pretty pale pink.

We like it all ways, in any stage of the lifecycle. Right away, the next day, and a few days later. It’s all fresh, all crunchy.

the fresh close up photo by vsimon

Cranberry Cole Slaw

Yield 6-7 cups
1 tablespoon honey	15 ml
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar	30 ml
14 oz shredded cabbage and carrot blend	700 gm
1 cup dried cranberries	160 gm
1 teaspoon celery seeds	1 gm

Put honey and cider in the bottom of a large bowl, stir until well mixed.

Add everything else and stir to combine.

Refrigerate for a few hours before serving.

*Please don’t skip the celery seeds. They add fragrance, flavor, and a bit more crunch. Personally, I don’t think it is possible to make cole slaw without celery seeds.

How do you like cole slaw?

PLEASE SHARE

Close Bookmark and Share This Page

Save to Browser Favorites / Bookmarks

Email This to a Friend

Copy HTML:

If you like this then please subscribe to the RSS Feed or Email Feed.

Tags: budget. gluten-free, cabbage, cole slaw, cranberries, crunchy, dairy free, easy, fresh, healthy, quick

Posted in salad | 3 Comments »

The Un-Constipated Gourmet Book Review and Giveaway

Feb 15th, 2010 by rdlinda

The Un-Constipated Gourmet: Secrets to a Moveable Feast; 125 Recipes for the Regularity Challenged Cover

Warning: this punny book is seriously funny.

Warning: this book is not 100% gluten free, but there are plenty of gluten-free recipes.

The whole title is The Un-Constipated Gourmet: Secrets to a Moveable Feast; 125 Recipes for the Regularity Challenged. Author Danielle Svetcov writes a lighthearted cookbook full of fiber, taste, and creativity. How many cookbooks have you laughing out loud? Come on, that is one funny title!

Key foods

The Un-Constipated Gourmet includes no less than 55 foods and fluids that will keep constipation away. A variety of beans, nuts, veggies, seeds, and fruits are featured. A few gluten free grains are included too, millet and rice bran.

Recipes using wheat, barley, and bulgur are glutinous and off limits for those on a gluten-free diet. Recipes using oats are OK for most gluten-freers if you use only certified gluten-free oats. (For even more info on oats click here, scroll down to the Nourish column).

You might not think of some of the key foods as constipation preventers. Chocolate for one. But I am not going to argue with an expert, err personal experience. And I grab any excuse I can to eat more chocolate.

Plagues of the gut

Disregard this section, it is not written for gluten intolerant folks. Some of the foods listed here are plagues of the gluten free-gut. For example, white flour biscuits.

Some folks will get constipated from these foods. But some will get very ill, requiring prolonged time in the bathroom or bed.

And some of the foods listed are safe and saviors in the gluten-free diet, potatoes for example.

The Go-Meter

Each recipe has a Go-Meter icon, a starred roll of toilet paper with a number, telling you the relative constipation prevention strength of the recipe. The scale is from 1 (poor) to 10 (powerful). No recipe in the book scores below a 5.

Recipes

I encourage you to read this book just for the fun of it. But at it’s heart, it is a creative and flavorful cookbook. Using real food.

Start your day with Corn Cakes. Made with masa, whole kernel corn, eggs, cream, and green onions. 7 on the Go-Meter scale. Optional topping ideas include: smoked salmon, dill and crème fraiche. I could wake up for that.

Or Dried Fig, Apricot, and Cherry Compote over Yogurt. Go-Meter 10! Another winner.

Try a Nut Shake. Almonds or cashews, dates, apple juice, bananas, and milk or yogurt. Go-Meter 7.

After breakfast, the recipes continue through snacks-dips-spreads, soups, salads, sides, entrees, to desserts. There is plenty to keep you going. *wink*

Svetcov has done her research

Wordy quotes from historical books with windy titles add to the fun. Titles like: Mediations on Transcendental Gastronomy, 1825.

And this one is a doozy: The White House Cook Book, A Comprehensive Cyclopedia of Information for the Home Containing Cooking, Toilet and Household Recipes, Menus, Dinner-Giving, Table Etiquette, Care of the Sick, Health Suggestions, Facts Worth Knowing, etc. 1905. That ought to cover it, don’t you think?

Full disclosure

I checked this out of the library to see if I liked it. I luved it. So I asked the publisher to provide a free giveaway book, they obliged.

Giveaway instructions

It is so easy.

1. Leave a comment below by February 21, 2010.

2. Carefully enter your email. More than once a giveaway winner has had a nonfunctioning email, and I have had to choose a second winner. That isn’t fun for you or for me. Please make sure I can contact you.

3. A winner will be announced February 22, 2010. I’ll update this post with the name of the winner.

Update 2-23-2010 Patty was the lucky winner, and the book is on it’s way to her now.

PLEASE SHARE

Close Bookmark and Share This Page

Save to Browser Favorites / Bookmarks

Email This to a Friend

Copy HTML:

If you like this then please subscribe to the RSS Feed or Email Feed.

Tags: book review, constipation, funny, giveaway, go-meter, punny

Posted in books | 14 Comments »

Cocoa and Chocolate are Good for You

Feb 12th, 2010 by rdlinda

Happy Hearts

February is a natural time to talk about love. Isn’t it best when we start with a healthy heart? And add chocolate?

hot cocoa with hearts photo by dan taylor

There are good but preliminary scientific studies that show the cardiovascular benefits of cocoa and dark chocolate. The studies have serious sounding names.

For example, Effects of Low Habitual Cocoa Intake on Blood Pressure and Bioactive Nitric Oxide. Or Acute Dark Chocolate and Cocoa Ingestion and Endothelial Function. In everyday language, the say that a small serving of cocoa or dark chocolate lowers high blood pressure.

And there are reports of either no effect, or an improvement on total, HDL, and LDL cholesterols. (Don’t stop taking your medications though).

Nutritional Benefits

One ounce of cocoa is a very good source of fiber (yeah), iron (double yeah), magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, copper and manganese.

A 1-1/2 ounce serving of dark chocolate offers similar amounts of antioxidants as a serving of green tea, red wine, or blueberries.

Both cocoa and dark chocolate are very low in sodium and have no naturally occurring cholesterol. It truly is happy heart health food.

The most nutritious choice is natural cocoa powder. Nothing is added to it. Dutched cocoa is a reasonable second choice for cocoa, it has been treated with alkali. It has lighter color, milder flavor, fewer antioxidants, and mixes with liquids more easily.

When choosing chocolate, choose dark, the darker the better. Look for at least 65% cacao. The higher the percentage of cacao, the lower the amount of added sugar. Sugar reduces the cardiovascular benefits.

And white chocolate? Pfff! It lacks the nutrition and flavor of dark chocolate, so does not even count as chocolate to me.

Add five minutes of happiness to each day.

Pop a small piece of fine dark chocolate in your mouth. Close your eyes. Savor the silky texture and deep flavor as it slowly melts on your tongue. Quietly say “mmmmm.”

Or try some tasty ways to add cocoa to your day.

Toss gluten-free breakfast cereal with a spoonful of natural cocoa before adding the milk.
Make a smoothie. Cocoa with raspberries, strawberries, bananas or peanut butter are classic combinations.
Add a tablespoon to a recipe of chili, sloppy Joes, or BBQ.
Revive your afternoon with a steaming mug of hot cocoa, made from scratch. Put 1-2 tablespoons of cocoa, a tablespoon of sweetener, and a tablespoon of milk (any kind) in a mug. Stir until the cocoa dissolves. Fill the mug with milk and microwave for 1-2 minutes.
Add some to a gluten-free spice rub and use it on pork tenderloin or chicken with the skin. Roast meat at 400-degrees until it is tender inside with a dark, flavorful coating.

photo by procsilas

Or make a treat.

I eat chocolate in some form everyday. Usually just as plain dark chocolate, that “mmmm” thing. But I consider cocoa and chocolate as noble ingredients. And sometimes you want something a bit more special. Here are some suggestions.

Tofu Mocha Smoothie

Cocoa Quinoa Waffles

Cocoa Cherry Muesli

Silky Tofu Chocolate Pudding aka Chocolate “Moose”

Dangerous Three Seed Brittle

Chocolate Melt Away Cookies

Chocolate Angle Food Cake with Teff Flour

Cocoa Bean Brownies

Monkey Tails

And just to be careful, how to determine if your chocolate is gluten free. Does this have gluten in it?

What is you favorite way to enjoy cocoa? Chocolate?

PLEASE SHARE