Book of Yum

In the world of allergens, potato is an unexpectedly common trigger for some people. In the course cutting out foods that seemed to bother Baby Yum, I found it necessary to cut out potato from my diet. I just about went crazy! Where were my hash browns, my french fries, my baked potatoes, my starchy gnocchi, my knishes? Oh my darling knishes, how I missed you! Not being able to bake some starchy goodness up in the oven or have my favorite In-N-Out gluten-free french fries made me one sad (and hungry) breastfeeding mama. But, when the diet gets restricted, it encourages you to start thinking outside of the box. First I tried sweet potato fries. Those are good. But, I wasn’t quite sure they agreed with Baby Yum either. So, back to the drawing board. It took me a while but eventually I thought- wait! These starchy and sweet carrots I’ve been stir frying and munching on all hours of the day might actually make a pretty tasty roasted french fry if I prepared it correctly. So, out came the olive oil, the seasonings, my favorite baking sheet- and I sliced up those carrots just like a sweet potato or potato. And you know what? Roasted and drizzled with oil, they taste just like an extra sweet and addictive sweet potato fry, without actually being one! Whether you’re on a gluten-free, allergen-free diet or not, anyone can enjoy this unexpectedly delightful side dish, and it goes with just about anything. In the recipe below I suggest you start with at least 5 carrots. I’ve never had a batch last through the night, and I’ve made some pretty big batches. My Mom, My DH, and even Baby Yum loves this recipe (her version is oil and salt-free). So, enjoy! And if this sauce doesn’t appeal to you, try it with some yummy homemade ketchup. Trust me- it is worth the effort!

Roasted Carrot French Fry Recipe Side Dish  Vegetables  American

Ingredients Fries: At least 5 Organic Carrots olive oil Bouquet Garni Seasoning Salt Pepper Spicy Sauce: 1/3 cup ketchup 1/2 tsp srirachi 1 1/2 tsp. agave nectar or simple syrup 2 tbsp. applesauce 3 tbsp. minced fresh parsley Directions Preheat oven to 400F. Cover a large cookie sheet with parchment paper (or not, but they may stick). Peel carrots and cut off nubby ends. Slice each carrot into thirds (or in half); you want to cut them into your desired fry length. Then slice each third in half horizontally. Depending on your carrot thickness, you can either cut those halves in half or into thirds to make skinny fries. You want them to be no fatter than a typical cheap pencil. Place carrots on your cookie sheet on top of the (optional) parchment paper. Drizzle with olive oil and then stir the fries with your fingers to distribute the oil evenly on them. Sprinkle one side with Bouquet Garni, salt, and pepper; then turn and season the other side. Place in oven and roast for 15 minutes. Take them out and check the bottom side. If it is nicely browned, flip the fries and put them back in the oven for another 15 minutes. If the fries are not sufficiently browned, put them back in and wait another 10-15 minutes before flipping and then putting them back in the oven. I like my fries brown and crispy, so I run the risk of letting them burn. To prevent this, check more frequently. While waiting, make sauce by whisking together spicy sauce ingredients in a small bowl. When both sides are brown and crispy, remove from oven and serve with sauce. Enjoy!

Rating:  9 Original Source:  My original creation. Please do not replicate anywhere without my permission. Thanks! Recipe ID:  1514 Added:  August 30, 2010 Last Modified:  August 30, 2010

I think we might have to rename the Book of Yum to “the Book of Amaranth” if I keep this up. I can’t help it. I’m eating amaranth every four days, thanks to this crazy allergen-free, gluten-free diet that I’m on. I’ve gone through phases. There was the amaranth banana muffin phase, the “amaranth gruel baked into a cracker phase, the amaranth soda bread phase, the amaranth pizza phase… but lately I’ve been bored with all of these. My food fantasies turned towards the sweet, and I started having visions of raisins and cinnamon sugar. Sorghum recipes go with cinnamon and sugar like jam goes on toast, so that has been easy. But the other day it occurred to me that perhaps the earthy flavor of amaranth might be coaxed into submission by the assertive flavors of cinnamon and raisin. In fact, amaranth might start to function like teff in my favorite gluten-free graham cracker recipe by Rebecca Reilly, adding depth and an almost graham flour flavor. So, I decided to try. I used my amaranth soda bread recipe as the jumping off point to create a healthy, low in fat and low in sugar scone that you can have for an everyday breakfast without an obscene sugar rush. And you know what? I liked it. I liked it a lot. Oh, and if you don’t want to bother with forming individual scones, you can also just make a cinnamon raisin soda bread round and cut it to serve. It isn’t quite as cute, but it tastes every bit as good. Tell me what you think, and about your experiments with amaranth. Let’s dish amaranth!

Gluten-free Vegan Amaranth Raisin Scone Recipe Breakfast  Dessert  Alternative Grains  American

Ingredients 1 cup raisins (i used jumbo assorted) soaked in warm water 2 tablespoons boiling water 3/4 teaspoon unbuffered vitamin C crystals 4 tablespoons coconut oil or other oil (grapeseed, canola, etc) 3/4 cup warm hemp milk (or other dairy-free milk) 2 tsp. vanilla 2 cup cups amaranth flour 1/2 cup sorghum flour 3/4 cup arrowroot starch 1/4 cup brown sugar 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 tablespoon Penzey’s Baking Spice (or pumpkin pie blend, or cinnamon sugar) 2 teaspoons baking soda Extra warm hemp milk (or other dairy-free milk) for basting cinnamon sugar Raw sugar Directions Preheat oven to 400F. Cut a circle of parchment paper to cover the bottom of a round cake tin. Also cover a baking sheet with parchment paper. Put your raisins in a small bowl and pour warm or boiling water over them. Let sit. Put your vitamin c in the boiling water. If it doesn�t dissolve, whisk it in. Combine amaranth flour, sorghum flour, arrowroot starch, brown sugar, salt, baking soda and baking spice in a large bowl. Drain your raisins and add them to the dry mix. Next, add your water with vitamin C, hemp or other dairy-free milk, vanilla, and oil, and stir with a big wooden spoon. Begin to fold it all together. You can mistreat this dough a bit. Beat it up, fold it up until it seems thoroughly mixed and your arm feels tired. Plop the dough onto your cake pan and shape it into a circle about 1 inch high that doesn’t quite touch the edges. You can dampen your hands to shape it or use a cake frosting knife to smooth out the edges. Remove dough round (along with parchment circle) from the cake pan and put on a cutting board. Use a damp or oiled bread knife to cut the round in half, then quarters, and finally into eighths as if you were cutting a pie. Use a thin spatula or pie server to remove the triangles of dough one by one and place them onto the cookie sheet’s parchment paper. Do not let their edges touch. Brush with warm hemp milk and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar and raw sugar. Pop in the oven. Lower oven temperature to 325 and bake for 45 minutes or until scone has a nice texture. (Depends on your preference; I like my amaranth a little over-baked so it is not gummy.) Remove from oven and serve! Would be good with soy-free margarine, coconut ice cream, or cashew cream if you do nuts.

Rating:  8 Original Source:  Inspired by an earlier recipe for irish soda bread, but my original creation. Do not replicate anywhere without my permission. Thanks! Recipe ID:  1513 Added:  August 20, 2010 Last Modified:  August 20, 2010