Book of Yum » Japanese

Vegetarian Beet and Beet Green Onigiri Rice Ball Recipe

yum — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 18:39:33 +0000

The DH and I became addicted to Onigiri, or Japanese Rice Balls, when we lived in Japan. You could go into any convenience store at any time of night and pick up a delicious triangle of rice, usually wrapped in Nori Seaweed, with a wide variety of fillings. I liked umeboshi plum as a filling, and the DH’s favorite was tuna mayonnaise. Unfortunately I found that you did have to be careful with the ingredients, as many major chains brushed the nori with shoyu soy sauce, which contains wheat. I found out which companies had flavors without wheat and stuck to those, but I also started making them at home. The DH’s favorite is still probably tuna mayonnaise, but the other night I tried some fusion-type vegetable fillings from our garden and he loved it. We have been growing some gorgeous beets and multi-colored carrots in our garden. We aren’t swimming in them like we were drowning in pattypan squash, but there are enough to have beets and carrots for dinner whenever we want them. I was making Toddler Yum and the DH their favorite tuna-mayo onigiri and decided to make myself some fun veggie fillings with both parts of the beet- the beetroot and the beet greens! Somehow cheese seemed like just the right accompaniment for the beet root, and balsamic vinegar is a natural when talking beet-cheese salads. And I was reminded of one of my favorite vegan onigiri fillings, the spinach-tahini filling, that I made some time ago, so I decided to make an easy twist on the recipe and add some roasted carrot for texture. Both were smashing successes, and ever so tasty. If you have any leftover filling, they make great veggie side dishes too. Hope you enjoy!

Beet Cheese Onigiri Rice Ball Recipe

Main Course Rice Vegetables Dairy American Japanese

Ingredients

Enough Japanese short grain white Rice for three rice balls (around 1 cup uncooked rice cooker measure), cooked, fluffed and cooled slightly

2 medium sized beets or 3 small beets, cooked, peeled and diced small
Small amount of your favorite white, salty cheese (I used Laughing Cow), diced into the same size cubes as the beets
dash Balsamic Vinegar (I used a gourmet cherry balsamic but any you like is fine)

large grain salt like kosher or flaked
freshly grated black pepper

Directions

Combine your diced beets and diced cheese in a small bowl. Splash with balsamic vinegar and mix to evenly distribute. Lightly season with salt and pepper.

Place one large piece of saran wrap on your counter and place a triangle-shaped layer of rice on the saran wrap. My triangles are usually around 2 1/2 inches “tall”. The layer is around 1/2 to 3/4 inch deep, if that makes sense. Place a small spoonful of your beet-cheese filling in the center of the triangle. Try to drain off any excess liquid (vinegar) before adding the beets so you don’t get soggy rice balls. Cover your spoonful of filling with a layer of rice. Then wrap the triangle up tightly in your saran wrap and press to shape into a firm onigiri. You can shape it more as a circle or a triangle, depending on your mood.

Place onigiri on a serving plate and sprinkle with additional salt and pepper. Continue until all your rice has been used up and enjoy!

Rating:  8

Original Source:  The contents of my brain, please do not replicate without my permission.

Recipe ID:  1568

Added: October 3, 2011

Last Modified: October 3, 2011

Beet Green Tahini Onigiri Rice Ball Recipe

Main Course Rice Vegetables American Japanese

Ingredients

Enough Japanese short grain white Rice for three rice balls (around 1 cup uncooked rice cooker measure), cooked, fluffed and cooled slightly

Tahini from middle-eastern market (in a glass jar)
water
1/2 tsp or more lime juice, or apple cider vinegar
drizzle of agave nectar or simple sugar syrup (I bet you could make this from coconut sugar if desired!)
salt

beet greens from 3 small beets or 2 medium beets, boiled, rinsed in cold water and drained
2 tbsp. leftover diced roasted Carrot fries [They were cut into thin "french fries", placed on a baking sheet and drizzled with olive oil and a little salt and roasted at 450 until you have yummy caramelized "fries" (turning as needed)]

Large grain salt
sesame seeds, preferably toasted, brown variety (I was out so had to use black)

Directions

Squeeze out any additional moisture from your beet greens and chop them finely. Pour 1/4 cup (or more) tahini into a small bowl. Add water to thin slighly, and whisk together. Add your lime juice and agave nectar and combine. Taste, and adjust sweetness-sour ratio to your preference. Add salt to taste. Add your beet greens and diced roasted carrot mix together.

Place one large piece of saran wrap on your counter and place a triangle-shaped layer of rice on the saran wrap. My triangles are usually around 2 1/2 inches �tall�. The layer is around 1/2 to 3/4 inch deep, if that makes sense. Place a small spoonful of your tahini-beet green filling in the center of the triangle. If your tahini dressing is very runny, drain some off before adding it to the rice. Cover your spoonful of filling with a layer of rice. Then wrap the triangle up tightly in your saran wrap and press to shape into a firm onigiri. You can shape it more as a circle or a triangle, depending on your mood.

Place onigiri on a serving plate and sprinkle with large grain salt and sesame seeds. Continue until all your rice has been used up and enjoy!

Rating:  8

Original Source:  Contents of my brain, please do not replicate without permission

Recipe ID:  1569

Added: October 3, 2011

Last Modified: October 3, 2011

Gluten-free Soy-free Vegan Japanese Quinoa Salad Recipe

yum — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 01:59:33 +0000

The other day I was thumbing through one of my favorite cooking magazines and came across a recipe for a cold quinoa summer salad, with tomatoes and italian herbs. It sounded lovely, but somehow I just wasn’t in the mood for an Italian quinoa salad. Instead, I was in the mood for something distinctly more… Japanese. It may have been because earlier that day I’d gone with my Father to a Japanese restaurant and watched him eat a tasty bento while I sipped on a Jamba Juice (all fruit, no dairy, no soy, bless them). But whatever the reason, I wanted sesame in the saltiest, most umami way. Thank goodness Baby Yum seems to be doing well with the inclusion of sesame in my diet. I’d excluded it for many long months because sesame is a rising allergen, recognized as one of the top eleven allergens in Canada and other countries where it is a common ingredient. I thought about cold Japanese noodle dishes, popular in the summer, with their sesame infused soy and vinegar sauces. It was a day earmarked for quinoa, and so I thought perhaps I could make a sesame quinoa salad that broke from the Italian mold and ran straight for the island of Japan, fusion style. This lovely and light salad was the result. I think it could give any noodle salad a run for its money, with a good amount more protein and whole grain goodness. I added avocado in a nod to my favorite vegan fusion roll- the avocado roll. Ah, how I love you with rice, avocado. But it turns out, I also love you with quinoa.

For more creative “Japanese” takes on quinoa, try my Quinoa Sushi Roll Recipe

Still looking for the perfect, gluten and soy-free quinoa recipe? Try these.
Quinoa Tahini Mint Salad Recipe
Japanese Inspired Quinoa Recipe
Crockpot Quinoa Recipe
Black Bean and Quinoa Chili Recipe
Mediterranean Quinoa Salad
Red Quinoa with Butternut Squash Recipe
Lime Quinoa Salad with Mint Recipe
Quinoa with Summer Vegetables Recipe
Quinoa Stuffed Portobello Mushroom Recipe
Quinoa Salad with Yellow Tomatoes Recipe
Quinoa Black Bean and Butternut Squash Recipe
Lemon Quinoa Salad Recipe
Big Bowl of Quinoa Recipe
Italian Quinoa Salad Recipe
San Antonio Quinoa Recipe
Quinoa Parsley and Pepper Salad Recipe

*I use Coconut Secret for my soy-free gluten-free un-soy sauce.

Quinoa Avocado Sesame Chirashi Salad Recipe

Main Course Alternative Grains Japanese

Ingredients

Serving of Cooked Quinoa
1/2 fresh avocado, cubed
Black sesame seeds

Dressing:
1/2 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp. agave or simple syrup
2 tsp. coconut amino un-soy sauce (or, if soy is ok, a wheat free tamari like San-J Low sodium)
2 tbsp. vinegar (you can use rice, red or white wine)
3 tbsp. canola oil

Directions

Put your cooked quinoa in a bowl and top with avocado to taste. Sprinkle with sesame seeds.

Whisk dressing ingredients together in a small bowl.

Drizzle dressing over quinoa. Enjoy!

Rating:  8

Original Source:  The contents of my brain, please do not replicate without my permission.

Recipe ID:  1509

Added: July 25, 2010

Last Modified: July 27, 2010

Soy-free and Rice-Free Challenge: Gluten-free Quinoa Vegetarian Sushi Recipe with no-soy sauce

yum — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 06:29:58 +0000

I can’t lie to you. Dealing with a gluten-free and top 8 allergen free diet plus some can be really tough. Gluten-free doesn’t even make me blink, but you start talking soy-free, egg-free, and even rice-free (my latest effort for Baby Yum), and some key dishes start getting to be a real challenge. Take sushi. There is nothing I love more than an avocado sushi roll, dipped in gluten-free soy sauce. But now both the sushi rice and the soy sauce are (temporarily) off the menu, what is a Japanese-food-loving girl to do? Get serious about thinking outside the box! I’ve been playing with the idea of a quinoa based sushi “rice” for a while now, but the soy sauce had me stumped. Usually I would sprinkle the sushi with sesame seeds and salt for a good soy sauce substitute for my soy-free friends… but right now I’m avoiding sesame seeds! Luckily I was in my local Cupertino Whole Foods the other day and found a miracle staring me right in the face- a bottle of gluten-free and soy-free soy sauce! This miracle potion is called Coconut Secret Raw Amino Acids and is compatible with a gluten-free as well as a raw foods diet. The price tag, unfortunately, is steep. In fact, I think I bought it in a delirious haze of joy and didn’t notice the price until later, at which point I gulped and felt (some) buyers remorse. But this stuff is so awesome and works perfectly in Japanese and Chinese recipes as a straight substitute for soy sauce that I didn’t feel bad for long. And it was the perfect partner to my quinoa sushi rolls! The week I made this, my father was visiting, and it passed the glutenoid test with flying colors. It’s not quite vegetarian sushi without rice, but this quinoa sushi satisfied my sushi craving nicely, and is a fun and new way to use a very healthful “grain.” I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

*If you don’t have nori you can make a chirashi “zushi” by sprinkling the filling over a nice bowl of the seasoned quinoa. Quick and easy, especially for leftover quinoa!

Gluten free Rice Free Quinoa Vegetarian Sushi Recipe

Main Course Alternative Grains Japanese

Ingredients

2 cups quinoa
4 cups water

sushi vinegar:
1/4 cup of neutral vinegar (i used a filtered apple vinegar)
1 tablespoon of sugar
1 teaspoon of sea salt

2 green onions, quartered horizontally
2 carrots, peeled,sliced into long pieces and blanched
1/2 avocado, sliced

Unseasoned nori sheets

*A large recipe- you will have enough leftover quinoa for several servings of quinoa “chirashi” with vegetables sprinkled on top, unless you are cooking for a large group very hungry for “sushi” rolls.

Directions

Toast quinoa in a skillet on medium low, stirring to prevent burning. When quinoa is nicely toasted, move to a fine wire strainer and rinse. Pour into pan with water and bring to boil. Cover and lower heat and leave for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat vinegar, sugar and salt in a small pan on low and let the sugar and salt dissolve into the liquid.

Put your quinoa in a large, glass bowl and drizzle your sushi vinegar mixture over the quinoa. Fold it in for even distribution. Once quinoa has cooled, you can begin to make your sushi.

To prepare your sushi, get your nori sheet and place on a bamboo rolling mat. Cover the entire sheet with quinoa “sushi-rice” except for a horizontal strip at the bottom. Choose a line about 1 or two inches above the bare strip of nori and create a strip on top of the quinoa of filling ingredients. Make sure a small strip or two of green onions,blanched, thin carrot and a slice of avocado will be in every bite. Gently roll your nori together to form a cylinder and moisten the bare nori strip with water. Seal together and let rest while you make your desired number of sushi rolls.

When ready to serve, gently slice cylinders into bite size rolls. You may want to cut a wider roll at the ends where the quinoa mixture is the loosest.

Serve on a plate. If allergies don’t prohibit it, you can sprinkle the rolls with sesame seeds, but it is not necessary.

Enjoy with your favorite wheat-free soy sauce or one of the new soy-free sauces on the market like Coconut Secret’s Raw Coconut Aminos. (Yummy!)

Rating:  8

Original Source:  The contents of my brain. Do not replicate without my permission. Thanks!

Recipe ID:  1480

Added: January 15, 2010

Last Modified: February 6, 2010

Gluten-Free Menu of the Week: Homemade Vegetarian Corn Potato Soup Recipe in the Pressure Cooker

yum — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 04:39:27 +0000

Gluten-Free soft foods: 1. Microwaved Sweet potato with butter, salt, pepper and lot of yogurt in a mash, sauteed tofu with cheese and guacamole. 2. Sauteed tofu scramble with nutritional yeast/ground almond not-parmesan and mushrooms 3. After mostly Recovered- Corn Tortillas stuffed with fresh corn, beans, salsa, and cheese.

My apologies for my absence for the last two menus of the week. I always try to post a menu on Sunday and then twice during the week, but with spotty internet service as we moved to a new apartment, I just wasn’t able to. And, unfortunately, it just didn’t make sense to do a menu plan as meals have largely been consisting of restaurant fare and frozen gluten-free Amy’s meals.

I did manage to post two recipes somehow:
Japanese-fusion Avocado Onigiri Rice Triangles
and
Fresh Pineapple Spring Roll, Soy-Free Garlic-free Peanut Sauce and Nut-free Sweet Chili-garlic sauce

One of my favorite people, Cheryl of Gluten-free Goodness, is hosting the gluten-free menu of the week and the ingredient of the week is garlic. Unfortunately, somehow pregnancy has made me very sensitive to garlic (even though I formerly loved the stuff) and it just isn’t agreeing with me. I look forward to seeing what others do with this ingredient, though, and maybe I can join in after Baby Yum joins us and pregnancy is no longer playing havoc with my taste buds and constitution. The sweet chili-garlic sauce recipe I made for my gluten-free potluck above is perhaps the only valid entry I have for her theme… Here’s my sadly garlic-light menu for the week:

Monday: American
Homemade Cream of Tomato Soup
Homemade Gluten-free bread

Wednesday: Mexican
Vegetarian Enchiladas

Thursday: Chinese
Veggie Stir Fry

Friday: Italian
Veggie Pizza

You can find more great menus with Org Junkie.

If being 8 1/2 months pregnant, moving, and celebrating the forth of July weren’t enough this year, I also had an unfortunate incident involving a very painful cracked tooth that took real food off the menu when I suddenly had to have the tooth removed. EEK! Luckily I have the best husband in the world that kept me well supplied in hot (lukewarm) GF cereal, smoothies, ice cream and yogurt. Kozy Shack Rice Pudding went down very nicely, and I also enjoyed many a mashed sweet potato and even some nice sauteed scrambled tofu. I asked the DH to make me a soup, and fresh corn in the grocery store inspired him to channel a favorite in Japan- Cream of corn soup. Because he is my hero, he decided to try making it in the pressure cooker to soften the potatoes lightening-fast. He also pureed it to create one of the silky-smoothest vegetarian soups I’ve ever had. Because there is sodium in both creamed corn and bouillon, do be cautious when adding salt. I recommend adding any salt AFTER the soup is pureed. Naughtiness with sodium aside, this is one of the tastiest soups I have had in a long time and it made me love our pressure cooker and my wonderful DH all the more. Hungry yet?

Japanese-Style Cream of Corn Soup in Pressure Cooker Recipe

Soup Vegetables Japanese European

Ingredients

1/2 stick butter
1 onion, sliced
1/4 cup sweet rice flour
4 cups water
1 can (15 oz) cream style corn
kernels from 2 ears of fresh corn
2 cubes Gluten Free Not-chicken bouillon
2 potatoes, peeled and diced
2 cups lowfat milk (we use Organic 1%)
Parisien Bonnes Herbes (Penzey’s Spice Blend including chives, dill, basil, tarragon, chervil, and white pepper*) to taste
salt and pepper to taste (cautious with the salt- between the cream corn and bouillon it is easy to over-salt� perhaps best to season at the end)
Fresh basil to garnish (optional but adds delightful flavor)

Directions

Fry onions and butter on low heat in a pressure cooker with the lid off. Add flour and stir for a few minutes to make a nice roux. Add remaining ingredients to pressure cooker and bring to a boil. Put the lid on the pressure cooker, reduce the heat to low, bring it up to pressure and let it cook for 6-10 minutes. Release the pressure using the quick release, season as needed, make sure the potatoes are cooked through. If they are not soft, simmer soup until they are soft. If you like, for a very smooth, creamy soup you can then let it cool slightly and then blend in a blender.

Notes

*if you don’t have this herb blend, use another green dill-based blend you like or any of these dried herbs listed to taste.

Rating:  8

Original Source:  My DH’s creation. Please do not replicate anywhere without our permission. thanks!

Recipe ID:  1432

Added: July 4, 2009

Last Modified: July 5, 2009

Gluten Free Japanese Recipes: Avocado Onigiri Rice Ball Recipes

yum — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 02:03:55 +0000

As you may know, the DH and I are expecting a “Baby Yum” in mid July and so have been doing all sorts of things to prepare for her, including attending childbirth classes. I had always imagined that these classes would be cuddly events involving yoga mats and back massages and spouses, so I was a little disappointed with the rather clinical, hospital-themed lectures we ended up attending. I also found myself more than a little hungry at the first one as it took place directly after the DH got home from work during our typical dinner hour. We sped over to a nearby PF Chang’s for a late dinner, but after that I wanted to bring our own dinner. (This was encouraged by the class leader/nurse.) The next class, I brought tasty spring rolls. The week after, though, I was inspired to make another international portable snack, Onigiri, or Japanese rice balls.

First I prepped the ingredients and set them out on a plate, and then I made a bunch of different types in small triangular molds:
Vegetarian Sesame Spinach Onigiri (a Book of Yum favorite)
Vegetarian fresh basil and sweet egg onigiri (a Japanese omelette made with 1 small beaten egg, 2 tsp. sugar and salt fried and then minced) with both ingredients mixed into the rice.
Cream cheese, avocado, and cucumber onigiri
and
Peanut Sauce Onigiri (recipe below)

The latter recipe was inspired by an earlier recipe I’d never gotten around to blog, where I used very yummy gluten-free miso mayo with avocado and pine nuts for a fusion nigiri. This time I didn’t have any on hand but I did have some of the new gluten-free San-J peanut sauce in my pantry, so I used that. It was delicious and ended up being one of my favorite rolls, next to the sesame spinach onigiri. The rolls traveled beautifully and made a very tasty and hearty dinner during our class. They would be perfect for a picnic lunch or a Fourth of July celebration as well! If you haven’t tried making vegetarian onigiri, I highly recommend it as a portable and delicious, easily gluten-free meal.

This time I used onigiri rice triangle molds similar to these above. Besides Amazon, you can find onigiri molds at specialty online shops, Japanese markets, and Japanese dollar stores (hyaku en Shoppu) like Daiso.

Product Review of San-J Gluten-Free Peanut Sauce
Thin Japanese egg omelette recipe for an alternative to a nori wrap
Festive Coconut Sticky-Rice Onigiri Recipe

Fusion Avocado Basil Vegetarian Onigiri Recipe

Main Course Rice Japanese

Ingredients

2 rice cooker scoops of White Sushi Rice
Nori Seaweed sheets, either square cut in half or onigiri size
1/2 fresh avocado, chopped in large, thick chunks
Miso Mayo or your favorite GF mayonnaise with a touch of salt or GF soy sauce added (if soy is ok for you)
Handful of Pine Nuts, toasted or not to taste
Julienned fresh basil OR fresh shiso leaf (I prefer basil)
kosher salt flakes
black sesame seeds

Directions

Rinse your (uncooked) sushi rice until the water runs clean with no cloudiness. Drain and cook your sushi rice in your rice cooker according to machine’s directions OR, if you don’t have a rice cooker, prepare on the stove according to rice directions. When cooked, fluff rice and let cool slightly.

Prepare your ingredients and set up an onigiri station with a rice bowl, saran wrap and ingredients. Line rice bowl with saran wrap. Sprinkle saran wrap with kosher salt flakes. Place layer of sushi rice in the bowl on top of the saran wrap, press a few pine nuts into the center of the bowl and rice, top with a little fresh basil and then add your piece of avocado to the center on top of basil and pine nuts. top with a little miso mayo, a little more julienned fresh basil and then cover with a layer of rice. Sprinkle rice on top with kosher salt. Wrap saran around the whole rice ball and remove from bowl. Compress with hands until you have a nice, tight triangle. Gently remove from saran wrap and wrap in nori seaweed so nori is open towards the top of the triangle. Sprinkle with black sesame seeds if desired.

Make more until you run out of rice. Enjoy this easy lunchbox treat. :)

Notes

*Will need to be refrigerated, especially if you use an egg based mayonnaise.

Rating:  9

Original Source:  Contents of my brain, do not replicate anywhere without my permission.

Recipe ID:  1304

Added: October 19, 2008

Last Modified: July 2, 2009

Gluten Free Vegan Peanut Avocado Onigiri Recipe

Main Course Rice Japanese

Ingredients

San-J peanut sauce or homemade peanut sauce
1/2 cubed avocado
1/4 sliced, cubed peeled cucumber
pine nuts
Julienned fresh basil OR fresh shiso leaf (I prefer basil)

black sesame seeds

Directions

Prepare your ingredients and set up an onigiri station with a small triangular onigiri mold, saran wrap and ingredients. Line onigiri mold with a small piece of saran wrap. Place layer of sushi rice in the mold on top of the saran wrap and drizzle a small amount of peanut sauce on the rice and add avocado, cucumber, and a few pine nuts in the center of the rice mold. Top with a little fresh basil or shiso. Then cover with a layer of rice and press into a nice triangular onigiri. Wrap saran around the whole rice ball and remove from mold. Compress with hands and gently remove from saran wrap and sprinkle with black sesame seeds.

Notes

San-J peanut sauce is very liquid, so it will seep into the top of the onigiri. Homemade peanut sauce can be thicker so will not necessarily leak.

Rating:  9

Original Source:  Contents of my brain, completely original recipe. Please do not replicate without my permission.

Recipe ID:  1431

Added: July 2, 2009

Last Modified: July 2, 2009

Gluten-Free Dairy-Free Vegetarian Pizza Toppings: Japanese Mayo Corn Pizza Recipe and Thai Un-chicken Tofu Veggie Pizza Recipe

yum — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 15:00:18 +0000

This week I decided to make vegetarian dairy-free pizza toppings different than any I’d made before. First, I took inspiration from California Thai-inspired pizza to make a pizza with a peanut sauce base, topped with grilled broccoli, roasted chard, and fried tofu strips. The DH gobbled it up and didn’t miss the cheese at all, which is quite an accomplishment since he usually favors simple marinara and lots of cheese.

Then I decided to follow the Japanese model and make a creative dairy-free topping using some popular ingredients usually only seen in Japan- sweet corn and mayonnaise. I guess I should have put potatoes on it as well- but I didn’t think of it, so I’ll leave that for next time. This time I used a base NOT usually seen in Japanese restaurants- a dairy-free, pine nut based basil pesto. Corn added interest and mayonnaise added the rich, creamy dimension usually added by cheese. I wasn’t sure how the DH would like mayonnaise on pizza, but happily, he seemed to really enjoy it. To my surprise, I really liked it too.

Peanut sauce is one of my favorite things, and I really loved it on pizza with grilled veggies and tofu, but the Japanese-inspired mayo pizza was yummy too. I can safely say that we’ll make both again… and I can’t wait! If you have a peanut allergy but can tolerate almonds, try substituting almond butter for the peanut butter and using your favorite oil to saute the tofu. It should be delicious!

I did not use a strictly vegan crust because I wanted to use a mild onion-garlic chebe base and the Chebe crust turns out best with eggs. I basted the Crust with paprika seasoned chili oil for the Thai-inspired pizza, and basil infused oil for the Japanese-inspired pizza. However, you could easily use a Gluten-Free vegan crust like this one and it would be wonderful. The thai style topping is already naturally vegan, but if you want to try a vegan Japanese-mayo topping, just use a vegan GF mayonnaise like Miso Mayo or Vegannaise.

For fun, check out these
Japanese Pizza Topping Flyers (non-veg)
Japanese Pizza Web Page

And only in japan would you get to see your pizza toppings dancing and talking as cute little animated figures before you crunch them up on your pizza:

Enjoy!

Dairy Free Pesto Mayo Japanese-style Pizza topping Recipe

Sauces & Condiments Vegetables American Japanese

Ingredients

1 GF Pizza Crust Recipe, baked for 5-10 minutes (5 for thin crust, 10 for thick crust)

1 GF, dairy free homemade basil pesto recipe:
1 cup fresh basil leaves, destemmed, and packed tightly
1/4 cup pine nuts, toasted
1 tsp. rice wine or cider vinegar
1 tbsp. cup nutritional yeast flakes (optional)
1 tbsp. olive oil
2 tbsp. water or more
salt and pepper

1/2 of a small can corn
dairy-free mayonnaise (your favorite- I used Smart Balance but recipe is easily vegan if you use GF vegan mayo like miso mayo or veganaise)

Directions

Preheat oven to 425.

Combine ingredients for your basil pesto in a small food processor bowl or blender.

Top GF Pizza Crust with basil pesto. Sprinkle with drained corn and dollop with small dabs of mayonnaise to taste.

Bake GF pizza for crust’s suggested time or until mayonnaise is browned and golden. (10-20 minutes)

Enjoy!

Notes

Small dabs of mayonnaise are probably better for this recipe, unless you really like mayonnaise…

Rating:  9

Original Source:  Contents of my brain, inspired by pizzas seen in Japan. Please do not replicate anywhere without my permission.

Recipe ID:  1374

Added: March 10, 2009

Last Modified: March 10, 2009

Vegan Thai Peanut Tofu no-chicken Pizza Topping Recipe

Sauces & Condiments Tofu Thai

Ingredients

1 recipe GF Pizza Crust

Peanut Sauce:
1/2 cup natural peanut butter
1 tbsp or more fresh grated ginger
1 tsp. brown sugar
3 tbsp lemon juice
1tbsp. gf low sodium wheat-free tamari
1/2 cup to 1 cup water
salt to taste
smoked paprika (optional)

7 ounces tofu, pressed in towels for 30 minutes
peanut oil
salt

1/3 bunch broccoli, cleaned, florets cut in long spears
sprinkle of sesame oil
smoked paprika
salt
sprinkling of brown sugar

several large leaves of chard
a few drops of sesame oil
salt

Directions

Combine peanut sauce ingredients in a blender or food processor, and reserve.

Slice tofu into thin strips and saute in oil, salting lightly. When golden brown on both sides, remove from pan and slice tofu strip in half horizontally. Reserve.

Sprinkle broccoli with sesame oil and rub so evenly distributed through florets. Season with smoked paprika, salt, and brown sugar. Grill (or roast in oven on high heat) until you have lovely grill marks on both sides. Reserve.

Preheat oven to 425. Rinse and dry chard leaves, dribble a few drops of sesame oil and evenly distribute. Sprinkle a tiny amount of salt on them and place on a large cookie sheet. Roast chard leaves until done to your taste (can be dry and leaf-like or moist- depends on how you prefer!) Watch the oven carefully. When chard is done, remove and reserve.

Heat peanut sauce on stove until it thickens lightly.

Prepare pizza by spreading a layer of peanut sauce and topping with thinly sliced grilled broccoli, roasted chard, and fried tofu strips.
Bake on 425 for 10-20 minutes, depending on your pizza crust and how crunchy you like the crust. Sauce should thicken more on the pizza. Enjoy!

Rating:  9

Original Source:  Contents of my brain, peanut sauce modified from Peanut Butter Planet recipe (for soba), compilation my own. Please do not replicate anywhere without my permission.

Recipe ID:  1373

Added: March 9, 2009

Last Modified: March 10, 2009

Menu of the Week: Menu Plan Monday and Gluten Free Menu Swap

yum — Mon, 05 May 2008 03:09:34 +0000

Pictured: Grilled Ginger Sesame Tofu Recipe, Onigiri with a simple GF soy sauce drizzled avocado cube filling, and the sesame spinach recipe below. It was all absolutely delish!

This week’s Gluten Free Menu Swap is hosted by a relative newcomer to gluten-free blogging, Cooking Illustrated so I hope you’ll all go visit her blog and say hello. This week’s theme ingredient is the potato, one of my favorite things in the world! And as always, I enjoy posting my menu over at Org Junkie. But without further ado… here’s my menu for this week!

Monday: Italian, the boy cooks
DH’s mushroom risotto
Roasted Asparagus

Tuesday: Mexican, Fast
Vegetarian Nachos and/or Vegetarian Tacos

Wednesday: European, Fast
Potato and Sweet Potato Knishes

Thursday: Chinese
Szechuan Green Beans
Tofu Strips with sauce
Brown Rice

Friday: Korean
Spicy Vegetarian Rice Cake Kim Chi Soup
Rice

This week I was a busy girl, posting two lengthy articles- one
Review of Mariposa Gluten-Free Bakery in the Bay Area and
a special Gluten Free Raw Foods Company in the Bay Area with a roundup of gluten-free raw recipes.

(*if you’re not listed yet, now is a great time to join in by posting links to your GF raw recipe posts!*)

Please don’t forget to ADOPT A GLUTEN FREE BLOGGER over at Rachel’s Blog. There’s still time to participate! The deadline to post is MAY 11th, so get those posting, adopting fingers ready! I adopted the never Gobsmacked Kate at Gluten-Free Gobsmacked, of course!

And now for our Weekly Feature….
For this salad of the week I chose a traditional Japanese spinach dish that is somewhere between a salad and a tasty, cold vegetable side dish. DH has always been lukewarm about spinach at best, and the happiest thing about this Japanese recipe is that he actually liked it so much he gobbled it up and nibbled at leftovers, without even a comment about “yicky spinach.” He even said… shock… it was YUMMY. so there! The perfect recipe for spinach skeptics. I think it’s the magic of sesame.

Japanese Cold Sesame Spinach Salad Recipe

Salad Vegetables Japanese

Ingredients

2 bunches fresh spinach OR 1 med- lg. bag baby spinach
1/3 cup white sesame seeds
2 tbsp. agave nectar(vegan) or honey (non-vegan) (or more, to taste)
1/4 scant cup GF low sodium tamari, like San-j

Directions

Wash and prepare spinach. Bring pot of water to boil and blanch your spinach, rinsing under cool water and then draining. Chop and reserve.

Take your sesame seeds and toast or heat them until they start to release their fragrance. Grind in a suribachi/mortar or in a blender, crushing the seeds until they release their oils and start to become like a nut flour, but stopping before they become a paste. Combine ground nuts with your sweetener and tamari, mix, and pour over your chopped, drained spinach. Serve.

Rating:  9

Original Source:  Adapted to be GF from Japanese Cooking: Contemporary and Traditional

Recipe ID:  1227

Added: May 4, 2008

Last Modified: May 4, 2008