A Byte of Life - Eat simply, Eat well

Donuts: Vegan & Gluten-Free

Everyone has a hankering for a donut from time to time. Yes, this includes the healthiest of people! Now, if you’re silently saying, “Why no, I can resist a fluffy, melt in your mouth, little bit of heaven pastry goodness” then 1- you’re either lying or crazy or 2- your just bitter because you’re gluten- intolerant. Well, harbor bitterness NO longer my friend! We have a family member that is gluten intolerant and on his last trip to see us I had the itch to bake.On my recipe hunt, I found QUITE a few recipes for donuts, and once I got my drooling problem under control, created a Pinterest board to keep all my lovely donut finds in one place. But, as I started clicking through the recipes I found that many of them were fried, used gluten-filled flours, and called for xanthan gum or other additives.

While I’m a FIRM believer that deserts should never be desecrated and demoted into the “light” or “non-fat” categories and should remain their butter or chocolate anchored selves, I do also believe it moderation. So, I set out to focus on the baked donut recipes and FINALLY found one that didn’t call for xanthan gum or some other additive that I can’t pronounce or state with confidence what exactly it is. The gal over at Vegan YumYum had a delicious recipe for mini-baked donuts which called for regular flour so I made a few alterations and gave it a shot! I also did my research on baked donuts, and decided to go with the affordable Norpro 6-Count Nonstick Donut Pan from Amazon and purchased a 4-pack of the Bob’s Red Mill All-Purpose Gluten-Free Baking Flour as well. With a few toppings gathered and the ingredients for the glaze in hand, I was ready to BAKE my Vegan* gluten-free goodness! *In order to make these donuts vegan, use the egg replacer in the recipe instead of the egg.

The donuts turned out to be a success, both men in the house had seconds and my gluten-loving one didn’t complain about the taste or texture. They are not going to be a complete replacement for the real deal full butter and flour style of donuts, and if you prefer a good fried old fashioned donuts beware that this will not replace that hankering and you better go get one..or two immediately! The texture was a bit different but the taste, especially buy the time the various toppings and glaze were applied it all tasted like a delicious donut! I followed the glaze recipe on the same website, and used sprinkles, shaved chocolate, coconut and cinnamon as toppings! You can take a glance at all our delicious toppings below

What’s your favorite donut topping?

Mini Baked Donuts
Recipe adapted from Vegan YumYum
Yield: Her recipe makes 20 mini-donuts but since I purchased the large donut pan, the recipe wound up yielding 10-12 donuts… I can’t remember because we were chowing on the first batch while the second batch when in!!!

Dry Ingredients:

1 Cup Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-Free Flour
1/2 Cup Organic Sugar
1 1/2 tsp Baking Powder
1/4 tsp Salt
1/4 tsp (scant) Nutmeg
1 tiny pinch or shake Cinnamon

Wet Ingredients:
1/2 Cup Soymilk
1/2 tsp Apple Cider Vinegar
1/2 tsp Pure Vanilla Extract
1 Egg (Or you can use Egg Replacer for 1 Egg)
4 Tbs Earth Balance

Preheat oven to 350º F. In a large bowl, combine dry ingredients with a whisk to mix thoroughly. Combine wet ingredients in a small sauce pan over medium low heat and mix until earth balance is melted. This mixture should NOT get too hot, you should be able to stick your finger in the mixture. It should feel slightly warm. Add wet to dry and mix until just combined. It should form a very soft dough. Using a tablespoon measure, scoop out dough into your un-greased nonstick donut pan. If you’d like “pretty” donuts, Smooth out the top of the dough with your fingers.

As you can see, the dough sits just below the rim. If you over fill, your donuts will come out looking like it has a little muffin top. Bake for 12 minutes. They should not be browned on top, but a tester will come out clean. Invert hot pan over a cutting board or cooling rack to release donuts. Allow to cool completely before decorating.

Glaze with Sprinkles

1/2 Cup Powdered Sugar (lump free!)
1 Tbs Soymilk
Bowl full of sprinkles (aprox. 1/3 cups

Whisk soy milk and powdered sugar together. Dip the “bottom” half of the donut (the side with the nicer shape) into the glaze, let some drip off, then dip glaze-side down into sprinkles. Transfer to a wire rack that has been set on top of some parchment paper. The excess glaze will drip through the rack onto the paper for easy cleaning later.

Product Review & Recipe: Mandarano Balsamic Glaze with “Stacks” Recipe

The team over at Mandarano Balsamic Glaze & Sauce, graciously asked if I be interested in doing a product review. Of course, I was excited to give it a try since I have become obsessed with aged balsamic in the past year. If you have never had an “aged” balsamic and think of only the vinegar style, you are in for a life changing treat.

Balsamic vinegar has long been a staple in my pantry. I always have a large bottle up on the shelf. Sometimes it’s plain old vinegar, sometimes there are random herbs shoved into the bottle for an infusion, what can I say… we know how to party. Balsamic has many uses in our house, as a dressing, a marinade for veggies or meat, drizzled on a top of a few slices fresh mozzarella for a caprice salad, the list goes on. Usually, I have the plain old vinegar style, which can be a tad acidic if drizzling straight onto a salad, hence the herbs shoved into the bottle! So, imagine my joy when I discovered “aged balsamic”.

I was SO excited to get my bottle of Mandarano last week and start trying it at…well ever meal actually. In case you were wondering, the answer is yes, it is delicious with scrambled eggs, fresh basil and avocado toast. It’s much thicker and has a much richer flavor so a little goes a long way with an aged balsamic, or a balsamic glaze. When you first open the bottle, you can smell the vinegar qualities of the balsamic, but once you taste it you’ll find the slight sweetness that perfectly compliments the molasses like texture. Mandarano uses a proprietary blend of 25, 12, and 2 year aged balsamic vinegar and the entire process, grape growing, bottling and production, all happen in Modena, Italy. And if you thought it couldn’t get any better, it’s quite affordable! You can order it HERE from Amazon.com or directly from the Mandarano website HERE. They also have a few delicious recipes using the balsamic glaze posted HERE. I can’t wait to try the Caprese style portobellos with Mandarano balsamic.

As I said, I’ve been trying my balsamic glaze on just about every meal and while I don’t have lovely pictures to show you, because I was too busy scarfing down the amazing meal. For dinner one night, I drizzled it over prosciutto wrapped chicken and asparagus and it was the perfect finishing touch, adding just the sweetness and flavor that the dish needed!

But my favorite recipe, by far, were the White Nectarine, Mozzarella, Basil and Balsamic “stacks” I made one afternoon for a quick patio happy hour treat. The bag of white nectarines were finally ripe, so I walked down to our Italian market, DeLaurenti, and picked up a few of their fresh house made mozzarella balls and some fresh basil and used my bottle of Mandarano balsamic glaze to make these delicious treat! Recipe was posted yesterday HERE, but I wanted to include it below so you could see how lovely it turned out, the the glaze drizzled over the top!

White Nectarine, Mozzarella, Basil, Balsamic “Stacks”
Serves two

2 ripe, but slightly firm white nectarines
2 fresh mozzarella balls
1 bunch fresh basil, washed
Mandarano balsamic glaze

Wash the nectarines and basil, laying the basil out on a paper towel to pat dry. Slice the bottoms of the nectarines, then carefully slice so you have layers to stack. Taking a sharp knife, slice the mozzarella balls. Stack up the ingredients, starting with a slice of the white nectarine and alternating the other ingredients until you have your “stack” created. Drizzle with the balsamic glaze and enjoy!

White Nectarine, Mozzarella, Basil “Stacks”

White Nectarine, Mozzarella, Basil “Stacks”
Serves two

2 ripe, but slightly firm white nectarines
2 fresh mozzarella balls
1 bunch fresh basil, washed
Mandarano balsamic glaze

La Fontana Siciliana {Restaurant Review}

fontanasumeerheader — La Fontana Siciliana (Photo Credit: La Fontana Siciliana Website)

La Fontana is a wonderful little oasis located off Blanchard Street in Belltown. As you walk under the iron pergola you’re instantly transported to another place as you enter the greenery filled courtyard, complete with a bubbling fountain (thus the restaurant namesake). From the al fresco tables proudly supporting the crisp white linens, evenly spaced to allow for a cozy and secluded feel, to the attentive and authentic service, every bit of this experience felt like a vacation. I would have said “screamed vacation” but it’s such a quiet and respectable little courtyard that screaming seems quite out of nature for this little gem of an eatery.

The menu features home-style Sicilian fare, complete with carefully selected wine and beer selection, which compliment the flavors, and complexity of each dish. (I can personally vouch for the house Chianti that was QUITE enjoyable!). The appetizer choice was basically made for us, who WOULDN’T choose the daily special of orange caprice, a variation which featured fresh sliced oranges instead of tomatoes. The hardest part was deciding on ONE entrée but that’s the best part of about a table for two… two-entrée choices! After MUCH deliberation we settled on the Cannelloni di Pollo and the Pollo Marsala, which is, of course, Sicily’s most famous dish as the menu stated.

We leisurely chatted and enjoyed the bubbling brook, as our food was prepared, and were thankful that it didn’t immediately appear. The enjoyment and relaxation of that courtyard needed savoring, almost as much as the flour-less chocolate cake and cappuccino for dessert, but I’m getting ahead of myself. Out came our food and the large pounded-out Pollo Marsala chicken breast was perfectly covered in a delicious and surprisingly light Marsala wine and mushroom sauce accompanied by the cutest little fried potatoes and olive oil rubbed summer snap peas I’ve ever seen. The two homemade Cannelloni were expertly filled with a perfect blend of chicken, ricotta cheese and basil with what we could tell, was a fresh house made tomato sauce.

Flourless chocolate cake with raspberry drizzle and cappuccinos

After we had fully enjoyed our entrees, our plates were expertly whisked away and replaced with the silver dessert tray, boasting such goodies as tiramisu, chocolate drizzled and powder sugar dusted dessert cannoli and flan. After one refusal, we called the waiter back over and promptly ordered a cappuccino and a slide of the flour-less chocolate cake drizzled with fresh raspberry sauce.

Since both of us can, and truly do enjoy, cooking at home, the bar is set reasonably high on what a good meal consist of. When the check came, we agreed this was a meal well spent. Wines and beers are under $10 per glass, and the entrees range from $17 – $30.

Cucumber Tomato Feta Salad

Summer is FINALLY here!! That’s right, ladies and gents, the Pacific Northwest finally has consistent sunshine! With the change of the weather, comes the change of the taste buds. I trade my warming winter ratatouille and warming cast-iron portions of delicious steaming cassoulet for the lighter summer fare like the Cilantro Lime Chicken & Baked Potato Skins I made for dinner TWO nights in a row (yes, they are THAT good and SO simple).

A few of my other “go to” summer meals are:
Hawaiian Poke & Ginger Ono Sashimi
Prosciutto Wrapped Chicken & Asparagus
Healthy Chicken Veggie Spring Rolls with Garlic Ginger Dipping Sauce

This year I needed a new salad, something that was out of my normal cooking pallet. I’ve had different variations of this type of salad (Fez on Wheels Turkish Shepherd Salad, and Tom Douglas’ Home Remedy Jackie’s Greek Salad are two of my favorites) and decided it was time to make it myself.

Of course, after I used the “wing it” approach I realized that looking for a recipe could have been smart idea. Psh, who needs a recipe when you have a photo of the ingredients and taste testing! Next time I WONT forget the mint or the fresh lemon juice. The Epicruious version called for scallions instead of the red pepper and the Simply Recipes version called for 1 tsp fresh chopped oregano. There is also a more italian style version that A Taste of Home posted with mozzarella that I’ll be trying next week! Whatever the variations you use, it’s even better than next day once the flavors marinate together for a while. Also makes a great potluck or BBQ side!

Do you have any special additions or variations of this delicious dish? Next time I’m thinking I’ll add some quinoa!

Ingredients
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
1/4 c fresh squeezed lemon juice
fresh cracked salt and pepper to taste
drizzle of EVOO (extra virgin olive oil)
2 large cucumbers, peeled and seeded
cherry tomatoes (to taste), washed and halved
1/2 c chopped fresh mint, Chiffonade
7 oz fresh sheep feta, crumbled
1 cup pitted halved Kalamata olives

Directions

To make the dressing, mix the red wine vinegar, lemon juice, cracked pepper and drizzle of EVOO to a small bowl and whisk together then set aside. If you have a jar, you can also just add the ingredients and shake the living heck out of the ingredients to mix. Wash and half the cucumbers, then use a spoon to scoop out the seeds in the center then slice and place in a medium bowl. Add olives. Wash and half the tomatoes and add them to the cucumber bowl. Rinse and pat the mint dry, then Chiffonade it. That’s a fancy little french term for stacking herb leaves on top of each other than tightly rolling them and cutting horizontally to produce long thin strips. Add the dressing to the cucumber bowl and toss lightly, sprinkling in the feta and tossing all the goodness together. Serve as a main with some humus and pita bread, or as a delicious side!

Enjoy!

Taco Tuesday

For a while we had a tradition of doing Taco Tuesday, with the effort to keep it up every Tuesday. Well, life gets busy and sometimes you don’t always feel like prepping tacos. If you don’t feel like eating tacos there is just something wrong with you BUT I can completely understand not feeling up for the prep part. While they’re relatively simple to make, mind you, the chopping can take a bit of time depending on how glamourous you want your festivities to be.

While other ingredients come and go, there is ONE thing that is always requested for Taco Tuesday in our house, and that’s my grilled cabbage slaw. I don’t remember exactly how I though to grill the slaw that I’d made to go with tacos one fateful night but the point is I did and Taco Tuesday has never been the same. Grab some cabbage, a lime or two, handful of cilantro, some garlic and a Anaheim pepper or jalapeño and you’re good to go!

Tonights Taco Tuesday: Grilled Ling Cod fish tacos with pineapple, grilled cabbage slaw, charred spring onions and corn.

Vegan Almond Biscotti

I love biscotti. It’s crunchy, flavorful with barely a hint of sweetness, and is convenient consume. Paired it with a foamy cappuccino it’s one of the most amazing afternoon treats on cold afternoon. It’s almost summer and this crazy gal is writing about cold days and biscotti? Well, up in Seattle the spring is a time a taunting. It will be gorgeous, no jacket and sun glasses weather for a few days then dissolve into a week of grey skies and soggy drizzle. The up-side is that it’s not freezing like it is during the winter.

When it’s grey or cold out, I get a baking itch. In high-school I developed a dairy allergy, which made baking a much harder task. This was before food allergies were really main stream. It proved quite a task to learn the alternatives for cooking and baking without dairy. I’ve long tweaked and updated different recipes, but this one has been a tried and true biscotti recipe for years.

So, while you may think that biscotti and baking are reserved only for the fall or winter time, but you can personalize this recipe for whatever season you crave biscotti. Give this recipe a spring twist and sub the nuts for poppy seeds and add a little lemon!

Vegan Almond Biscotti

Ingredients
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups unbleached cane sugar
3/4 cup smooth unsweetened applesauce
1 -3 tablespoon vegetable oil  (I used one tbsp apple sauce)
1 ½ teaspoon vanilla extract  (can also use 1 tsp each vanilla and almond)
1 cups almonds, chopped & toasted

Directions

Pre-heat oven the 325°F
Chop and toast the almonds and put them in the pre-heating oven to toast
Lightly oil two cookie sheets.
In a large bowl, whisk together the flours, baking powder, and salt.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the sugar, applesauce, oil (1 TBS for a hard biscotti, 2-3 TBS for a softer biscuit), and extract.
 Stir the sugar mixture into the flour mixture, add the nuts
With floured hands, shape the dough into two 3-inch wide “logs” about 3/4 inch thick, with the ends squared off and place on cookie sheets
Bake the logs for 25 minutes.
Remove the pans and reduce the oven heat to 300°F.
 Cool the logs on a rack for 15 minutes.
Cut the logs carefully with a sharp bread knife straight across into 1/2 inch wide slices.
Place the slices cut side down on the cookie sheets
Bake 5-10 minutes, or until golden on the bottom then turn slices over and repeat on the other side.
Cool on racks, then store airtight for up to two weeks.

Variations

Use the original recipe’s method -1 tbsp oil instead of apple sauce which will change the consistency a bit
Sub almonds for different nuts (Pistachio, Walnut, hazelnut), chocolate chips, currants, dried cranberries
Try cutting the sugar
Use 1/2 whole wheat flour and 1/2 white
Dip the biscotti in white or dark chocolate for a sweet treat

Seared Scallops

I have to admit something to you. I’m having an affair. Before you’re too shocked, let me get into the nitty-gritty details of who it’s with. It’s….it’s…SCALLOPS! I can’t resist them! They are the menu item that trumps all other items. Hangar steak, caprese or beet salad, grilled shrimp, roasted brussels sprouts, none of them stand a chance against an order of seared scallops.

They are bites of soft, flavorful, delicate, melt in your mouth goodness! One of the joys of living in Seattle is being so close to Pikes Place. Almost every weekend you can find me walking to get my morning coffee and heading down to Pikes Place market to visit my fruit and veggie stand and get my weekly supply of local grown fresh fruits and veggies. I then of course MUST look at each of the flower stands, now that they’re in season, and pick up a $5 bouquet to spruce up the house!

Well, last weekend, I decided to follow a whim! That whims name was scallops. For as many times as I’ve ordered and enjoyed them at a restaurant, I seldom cook them myself. But having fresh fish at my beck and call just go the better of me last weekend and I had to have them!

I remember the first time I made scallops. I was SO nervous that I would mess them up and let’s be real, their price point does not lend itself to an “oops” scallop. Rest assured, they are actually pretty simple to make. Two things to know when cooking scallops; first, don’t move them around the pan when you’re cooking them. Put them in the pan and let them be. Second, have all your other food ready and waiting. Once the scallops are cooked, you’ll want to plate and eat them.

Seared Scallops

Ingredients

Fresh Scallops
Olive Oil
Fresh pepper and/or sea salt (optional)

Start by preparing your side dish or plate decoration that you will be serving the scallops on. Once they are cooked you will want to consume them right away.
Rinse the scallops and pat dry. I like mine without salt, but this is the part where you season with cracked sea salt and or pepper .
Heat a non-stick sauté pan over a high heat and a tablespoon of olive oil. Your pan needs to be VERY hot, so seeing a tiny bit of smoke is okay.
Place your scallops in your VERY hot pan, and DO NOT MOVE THEM! You want them to sear each scallop on the flat side and seal in the crisp flavors.
After about two minutes flip the scallops. You can peek underneath before flipping to assure that you see a nice caramel-colored crust forming on the underside.
Cook the scallops for about another minute. You don’t want to over cook them and you will want to sear them right after removing from the pan. Once the centers are still slightly translucent they’re ready to eat!
Plate your scallops quickly and enjoy!

Another way you can serve scallops is seared with grilled shrimp, grilled cabbage slaw, cut mango and fresh lime. This is one of my favorite spring and summer meals. This makes for a delightful summer meal that’s healthy, and pairs perfect with one of my favorite summer libations, Adami prosecco!

Chocolate Chip Cookies (From the Flying Apron Cookbook)

There are some days you just NEED a cookie. Yep, you heard me, NEED. Cookies have that magic power to transport you out of your current location and into a place of yumminess. Like a shield that goes up, even if just for a moment as you take that fist glorious bite of fresh baked gooey sweet bliss, you are hidden from the world and it can’t get you.

Well, today is one of those days and its not even 8am. Goody. Lets just say that I didn’t get to consume the better part of my morning coffee because my jeans go thirsty (and selfish) and wanted a drink. Rude. The .ease they could have done was ask. But, then I would have said no, AND wondered why my pants were talking. So, already one of “those days”. While I yearn for a fresh baked cookie (with how this days going, obsess might be a better word) and try to hide the coffee on my jeans from my client meeting today, I wanted to post a recipe for one of m FAVORITE cookies from a local vegan bakery, The Flying Apron. If you’re smart enough to whip up a batch, save me one! I’ll bring the pants and we can wring out a cup of coffee to share!

Chocolate Chip Cookies
From: The Flying Apron Cook Book
makes: 25 cookies

2 ¾ c. brown rice flour
1 ½ + 1 tbsp c. garbanzo flour
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
¾ tsp salt
1 c. canola oil
1 c. organic whole cane sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 c. rice milk
1 c. (8 oz) dairy-free dark chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350
Combine flours through salt in a large bowl
In the bowl of a standing mixer combine canola oil, cane sugar and vanilla until well mixed
With the mixture at low speed, add the flour mixtures and the rice milk alternately, a little at a time until smooth, about 3 minutes
Stir in chocolate cips

Scoop dough onto greased baking sheet and bake until golden and slightly firm to the touch, about 17 minutes.

Carne Asada Steak Tacos

Taco Tuesday is a long-standing tradition in our house. As we start to get the pockets of good weather in Seattle I get more and more excited about one of my favorite things, roof top grilling. Now, we are not just your casual everyday grill people. We’re Californian, which means we’re dedicated grillers; we grill in all-weather! Neither rain, nor sleet nor wind or snow shall keep us from the grill! True story, my dad’s been known to put on his boots and grill in the SNOW! Luckily Taco Tuesday was somewhat sunny so the grilling experience was more leisurely than it is when you’re all out fighting wind or snow.

As you may have seen from this weeks Mango Salsa post, I had some Carne Asada tacos at our local Farmers Market and that started the obsession fever. They were amazing tacos and I had to try my hand at replicating that amazing experience. I’m happy to report, this little recipe made it in the top 5 BEST MEALS EVER list from the mister! Even I was speechless after my first bite…and realized that my biggest problem in life at the moment was that I didn’t have a bigger stomach!

Carne Asada Steak Tacos with Pico De Gallo, Grilled Cabbage Slaw
(Various parts of recipe adapted from Food Network)

Flank Steak:

2 pounds flank or skirt steak, trimmed of excess fat
1 large baking dish, to prepare
1 large ziplock bag, to marinate
1 recipe Mojo, recipe follows
Olive oil, for coating the grill
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Mojo:
5 garlic cloves, minced*
1/2 jalapeno, minced
2 large handfuls fresh cilantro leaves, finely chopped
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 limes, juiced
1 orange, juiced
2 tablespoons white vinegar
1/4 cup olive oil

For Serving:
Tortillas (We ” Home-Style” flour tortillas)
Cilantro
Lime wedges
Cheese
Pico de Gallo, recipe here
Grilled Cabbage Slaw, recipe here
Mango Salsa, recipe here

*Conversions for garlic if you don’t have the fresh stuff: 1 clove = 1 teaspoon chopped garlic = 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic = 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder = 1/2 teaspoon garlic flakes = 1/4 teaspoon granulated garlic = 1/2 teaspoon garlic juice

Directions
If you are using the Pico de Gallo, Cabbage Slaw, or Mango Salsa prepare all of the herbs and veggies at the same time before you prepare the meat. Getting all the chopping done at once makes the job easier and all of these dishes and side dishes are better when they’re left to marinate for a while!

To make the mojo, wash and chop all ingredients into a bowl and mix well. Lay steak out in a large baking dish and lightly coat with black pepper then pour the mojo over the steak making sure to spread out the clumps of cilantro and garlic. Fold the top of your plastic bag over itself twice, to keep any juices from interfering with the zip lock seal. Fold the meat over itself in quarters, with the mojo on the inside, and place in the plastic bag. Pour remaining mojo juices over the meat. Seal the bag and refrigerate for 1- 8 hours. I prefer a longer marinate time so the juices really soak into the meat, but don’t marinate longer than 8 hours as the citrus in the mojo will break down the delicate cut of meat and render it mushy.

Once you’re ready to cook the meat, pre-heat the grill and start a pan on the stove to cook the cabbage slaw. (You can also broil the meat, but we prefer to grill if that option is available). Brush the grill with olive oil to keep the meat from sticking. Grill (or broil) the steak for 7 to 10 minutes per side, turning once, until medium-rare. (At once you do the first turn, you can get out the toppings and have them ready.) Remove the steak to a cutting board and let it rest for 5 minutes to allow the juices to settle. Thinly slice meat, heat up tortillas over open flame on the stove and assemble a masterpiece!