Thai inspired chicken coconut soup

I love coconut, my hubby loves Thai soup (which he ate when we were on holiday abroad and you just don't get in this country). I had some chicken "Schnitzel" in the fridge that needed using up (that is thin cut chicken breast) and I was in the mood for something new. Soooo, I went online to check for some Thai chicken soup but NOTHING was kosher (great) or GF (again... great). Soooo, I decided to come up with my own version and what can I say - it is sooo nice that my hubby said I put many restaurants to shame (imagine me blushing over here). It was really a no-brainer to make. We agreed that the soup was the best part of it, so next time I am going to turn it into a vegetarian version. The kiddos didn't like it, which was a bit of a shame, but they got to get to eat the desert anyway (a parve version of rice pudding).

Ingredients:

Zest and juice of 1 lemon
3 Tbsp Soya Souce (GF, of course)
2 cubes frozen Ginger (that is two tsp freshly grated Ginger)
1.5 liters Chicken stock (homemade or water with bouillon powder)
3/4 cup long grain rice
500 gr. chicken breast, cut into small pieces
1 cup coconut cream (that's what I had, you can use 1 can of coconut milk but reduce the liquid slightly)
1 tsp (or more) green curry paste
2 handful soybean sprouts

Add the first few ingredients (everything until the rice) into a pot and heat up. Once the soup starts to bubble, add the rice and cook for about 15 minutes, until the rice is just done.
Add the rest of the ingredients and simmer until the chicken is cooked through,

The green curry is an absolute must in this soup. Before that the soup was an "mmm, don't need to do that one again". The green curry made it into a WOW. Just by the way, none of the recipes I saw used this ingredient, no idea why.

Please feel free to up the amount of green curry you use. My hubby cannot take his food too spicy and I don't like the overpowering taste of green curry. So 1 tsp was enough for us.

After a LONG LONG break I am back.

It has been quite some time since I last posted here, I know, but many things have happened in my/our life. First, we decided to increase the amount of gluten free food we consume to ... well, for me and my hubby it now stands at 100%, for the kids it is about 100% at home, while they eat "normal food" at their after school "club" (that's basically a family who picks our kids and a few others up and takes care of them until I can come and get them. Kids in this country (Israel) are not allowed to cross the street without adult supervision until they are 9 years old. And since I work most days this year until 4 pm and school is over on most days at 1 pm, it is either the after school club at school - which my son hates with a vengeance - or a private one. We opted for the private version, although it is still not perfect).

I can tell you that since reducing gluten in our diet, we are all feeling better. I cannot claim that my ADHD children are less loud or energetic (don't know who ever claimed that, but then the same is being said about sugar, although THAT one is also not proven... my kids don't get a lot of junk food period, including sugar and it doesn't help) but my daughter has no pain attacks anymore, my hubby feels better and... well, honestly, I don't really feel a difference, but I will be able to tell you in a few month when I repeat my B12 test. Apparently Gluten hinders the absorption of B12. And since I really cannot be bothered to get B12 shots (they hurt like hell!!!!) I thought I rather go 100% gluten free.

Sooooo, what else has happened. Well, we changed quite a few things in the kitchen area. We have nearly stopped using processed foods and are making just about everything from scratch, You may think that this is WAY too much work, but too be honest, it is just a bit more and the results are just totally amazing. And when I say just about "everything" I mean just that. Wait till I get all the totally yummy recipes up here, you will be amazed!!! As a nice side effect, I also started loosing weight with no real effort.

If you are asking yourself: "So what DIET is this family on?" Honestly, I cannot tell you. I am definitely not on a Paleo/Primal diet - I enjoy my beans and non-GF grains too much and I also eat some (not too much though) dairy products. However, many of the recipes featured from now on will be labeled paleo if it follows this lifestyle.

I guess what we do is back to nature, back to basics, clean eating that is mainly frugal, easy and quick to make and most importantly - totally yummy!!!

"Marbled" pomegranate - chocolate chunks

Since Rosh HaShana is getting closer (just over one month to go... cannot believe it) I thought having a quick, no bake, 3-ingredient and supper easy desert/nibble-on recipe on hand is quite handy.  I have made these for years as I love the combination of fruits and chocolate. 

Now, given that it is Rosh HaShana and pomegranate is the go to fruit (next to apples), and neither oranges (winter fruit) or strawberries (either a late winter-fruit in Israel or a latish spring to summer fruit in Europe), I thought of checking out how chocolate and pomegranate work together. Well, I guess it works as Lindt has brought out a similar combo just a few month ago. 

1 cup pomegranate seeds, divided

2 cups each dark chocolate chips (70% cocoa) and white chocolate chips

1. Line large Pyrex/ glass container with parchment paper or wax paper.

2. Place dark chocolate chips in a glass bowl that you set over a pot with boiling water.  Heat until melted, stir from time to time. Pour 1 cup seeds stir. Pour into prepared container.  Press down with a piece of wax paper so that is evenly distributed. Put into fridge and let it cool for a few minutes.

3. While the first layer is cooling down, repeat the same process with the dark chocolate. 

4. Pour white chocolate mixture on top of the dark chocolate and press down with wax paper on top of white chocolate. The white chocolate will have marbled from the pomegranate as well as some of the dark chocolate. 

5. Break (or cut) into pieces for serving. 

6. Store, in an airtight container, in the refrigerator and consume it within a week as it contains fresh fruit.  

Serving size depends on how much chocolate everyone takes.

Lentil soup II

Yes, you guessed it, we like lentils in this family. It is a good source of fibers and non-animal protein. And they are quite cheap too, which helps when you are trying to live GF on a budget. This soup is just perfect for the winter time or any chilly day during the year. This makes 2 Portion

1 cup of Lentils (any colour, see note if you are using red ones)
2 cups water
1 tsp vegetable bullion powder (GF)
1 tbs oil
1 tomato, diced
1 small onion, chopped
4 stalks celery – chopped, (you can use the leaves, I am not a big fan of them, so I don't)
1 tsp curry powder
6 cloves garlic, minced
Salt and Pepper

Bring lentils and water to boil. Let it simmer.
In the meantime, fry onion in oil until glassy, add celery. Add vegetables after about 10 minutes. Cover and let simmer for about 45 minutes or until lentils are cooked through. Check every 15 minutes to stir, add water as needed.
Add bullion powder, curry and garlic during the last 15 minutes.

When the lentils are cooked through season with salt and pepper.

Note: When using red lentils cooking time is considerably reduced. You should add all ingredients when the water has boiled.

You should never add salt to uncooked lentils (except red) and beans as it prevents the lentils/beans from cooking. Alway add right at the end.

Teff Pie Crust (sweet)

When I first came to Israel on my first round here, I was taken to an Ethopian restaurant. It was something totally new here and my friends thought it would be a blast. Although my friends were making more fun of the food (very childish, but then it is 15 years ago) but I really enjoyed the food and the whole experience. What stayed with me was the taste of the bread we were served - it had a very distinct flavour that I just couldn't place.

Flash foreward - turning gluten free has enhanced our lifes by exposing my family to many different flavours. My mother-in-law was very kind to send me this new type of flour, called Teff (or Tef), that comes from Ethopia and is GF. It has a sort of grey-brown color and a smell I really cannot place. Since I had no idea what to do with it I just looked online and found a few interesting ideas of what to do with it. I made a pie crust with an apple filling and teff crumbs on top. And what do you know it, the flavour was that of the bread I ate so many years ago. My kids really liked it, I thought it was nice, but I just need to get used to the Teff flavour, which really is unique. My hubby liked it too, but had more problems with the dominant Teff flavour. But it is a great alternative when turning GF. 

So, here the Teff Pie Crust recipe

2 cups Teff

1/2 cup Honey

1/2 cup oil

1 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 175°C. Mix all ingredients together and fill into a pie form. Press down with your fingers and pull up slightly on the edges. Bake for about 10-15 min (depending on how thick you made the base). Fill in your filling and bake for another 10-15 min.

Tip: To make a crumble, reserve 1/2 -2/3 cup of the dough. After you filled the crust, crumble the reserved dough over the filling and continue as above. 

PS: Teff is supposed to be super healthy. It has a great balance of amino acids, it packs a punch of protein, calcium, iron and, unlike any other grain, Vitamin C! 

GF American Style Pancakes I

This morning I got really fed up of thinking about what to serve for breakfast. Since going GF the mornings have become VERY boaring. I am not a person who likes to eat the same thing over and over again. So I deceided to try out a GF pancake recipe that I had discovered in a book (201 Gluten-Free Recipes for Kid By C. S. Forbes). Obviously I had to play around with it - anyone who knows me knows that I NEVER stick to a recipe. First I didn't have all the ingredients on hand, and secondly, I wanted them sweeter... and this was the first time I used any of the GF flours available. My family LOVED them, I thought they had a bit of a floury taste, but were definately a nice change. 

1 cup sorghum flour

3⁄4 cup GF baking mix (in this country it is pure fine, white cornflour starch)

2 1⁄2 tsp baking powder

1 tbs sugar

Pinch of  salt

1⁄4 tsp xanthan gum (although optional, it helps thicken the batter)

2 tsp GF vanilla extract

1 cup milk or milk substitutes. I used rice milk

1 large egg

2 tablespoons canola oil

Oil for frying

Whisk together all ingredients until you have a thickened batter.

Heat some oil for frying in a frying pan, drop in a heaped tablespoon of batter in a skillet and spread it slightly (I used a large frying pan and was able to fry 4 pancakes in one go) Cook until bubbles form on the top and pop and the edges are slightly dry. Flip with a spatula and cook the opposite side for 1–2 minutes. 

Serve them hot with any sweet toping of your choice (my kids liked them sprinkeled with sugar). I got 13 pancakes out of the batter.

Egg Salad with Tahini

One advantage of studying with so many different people is that you get different ideas – also when it comes to cooking. This egg salad has a twist as it uses tahini instead of mayo.

Prep Time: 10 mins         Servings: 4

 

6 hard-boiled eggs, mashed

4 tablespoons tahini paste (raw – in Israel it is called “golmi”)

4 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

4 garlic cloves, crushed

2 tablespoons water

1/4 cup fresh parsley, finely chopped

1/2 teaspoon paprika

Cumin, to taste (optional)

salt and pepper, to taste

 

1. Place tahini the tahini, lemon juice, water, garlic and cumin in a blender and blend for a few moments. Add salt and pepper to taste. Add the parsley and pulse again. What you get is called “green tahini”.

2. Transfer to a bowl and add the eggs. Stir gently until well mixed.

3. Sprinkle with paprika before serving.