Almond Flour Pancakes

 

A couple of years ago when Roi first made the jump to a completely starch free diet, we both thought that pancakes would be something he'd have to give up forever. But last year while I was trolling the web, I came across some Paleo recipes that used almond flour and eggs to make pancakes that have the same taste and consistency we were used to in traditional pancakes. I made a few tweaks because the Paleo diet isn't synonymous with a starch free diet and here we are! In delicious pancake land.

Almond Flour Pancakes

serves 2 ~ about 3 medium pancakes each

1/2 cup almond meal/almond flour (it's the same thing, I buy mine from Trader Joe's)

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 cup heavy cream

1/4 tsp vanilla extract

2 eggs

butter for frying

Sift or whisk the dry ingredients together. Whisk in the cream and vanilla, then the eggs. Heat a non-stick pan over medium heat and add a little butter to the pan. These pancakes will spread, so I usually like to use a small egg-frying pan and only 1/4-1/3 cup of batter for each pancake. Cook until the pancake seems set and you can see little bubbles all over the top, then flip. Make sure both sides are golden brown and the pancake is cooked through. Mix the batter in between pancakes because it will separate slightly.

Having pancakes with sliced strawberries and whipped cream is my favorite way, but you can serve these however you'd serve regular pancakes. In the past, I have made these with blueberries, but the pancakes never stay together as well when the berries are mixed into the batter, so I usually serve the fruit on top after the pancakes are cooked. Roi likes them with with butter in between each layer and with a lot of maple syrup (Real maple syrup is starch free! Hooray! I don't know about the fake stuff though.) 

To make 2-3 servings of whipped cream, put 1/3 cup cold heavy whipping cream into a bowl and mix (I use an electric hand mixer) until thick. Then add a teaspoon of sugar and whip until stiff peaks form and it looks like whipped cream should. Then just dollop as much as you want on top of your pancakes. (I used a piping bag because I like to get fancy.)

Celebrating Pi(e) Day with Key Lime Mousse Pie

This pie is so good! It's sort of a cheesecake, key lime pie, ice cream pie and white chocolate cream pie wrapped into one. When we were in Miami a few weeks ago visiting family, I had the t.v. turned on to The Food Network a lot while we were lounging (we don't have t.v. at home besides the internet and netflix, so it was kind of a treat) and saw a lot of Paula Deen's shows. Later when I was looking up a recipe that I saw on her show for home-made lollipops (I'll show you how to make those later, promise!) I came across this recipe and knew I had to try it, because the filling was totally starch free and looked delicious. I decided to make it for Pi(e) Day and was not disappointed.

To make it starch free, I made a pie shell out of almond meal instead of her graham cracker crust. I also halved Paula's recipe because hers looked enormous, and I didn't need to feed a million people. And really, I just wanted it too look like a pie and not a cheesecake. (Even with halving the recipe, I still had a little extra filling. I just put it in a little container in the freezer to have separately.) If you live near a Trader Joe's, their almond meal works perfectly for this (and a lot of other recipes) and is much less expensive than other brands of almond flour that I've seen.

Ingredients:
makes 1 standard pie (8-10 inches)
for the pie shell:
3 cups almond meal/almond flour
4 ounces unsalted butter
(a little less than) 1/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda (not baking powder-that's starchy)
1/8-1/4 cup cold water as needed
for the pie filling:
3 tablespoons fresh key lime juice
1/2 envelope of unflavored gelatin (a little more than 1/2 ounce)
1 1/4 cups heavy cream, divided
5 ounces white chocolate, chopped or as chips
12 ounces (1 1/2 packages) cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 tablespoon lime zest

To make the crust:
1. Combine the almond meal with the baking soda, salt and sugar. Add the butter and some water, but don't add too much water! You just need enough to moisten the dough so that you can mix it.

2. Knead to combine, and don't worry if some of the butter still shows through the dough. Form the dough into a flat disk, cover completely with saran wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

3. Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Remove from the fridge and place between 2 sheets of baking paper. Roll the dough out to a round disk a little larger than the pie dish. Remove the top sheet and invert the shell onto the pie dish. With your hands, mold the dough to fit the pie dish, making the edges a little thicker than the bottom. Put into the oven and bake for 30-35 minutes or until the crust has browned and is firm. Remove from the oven and cool completely.

{rolling out the dough}

{baked crust, cooling}

To make the filling:
1. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, add the lime juice. Whisk in the gelatin and 1/2 cup of the heavy cream and bring to a simmer. Remove the pan from the heat. Add the white chocolate and stir until smooth. Allow to cool.

2. Using an electric mixer, blend together the softened cream cheese, sugar and lime zest in a medium bowl, until smooth. Slowly beat in the cooled white chocolate mixture into cream cheese mixture.

3. Using clean, dry beaters, beat the remaining 3/4 cup heavy cream in a small bowl, until it forms soft peaks. Fold it into the white chocolate mixture and pour into the pie crust. Cover and freeze overnight.

4. Remove from the freezer and cut into wedges with a knife that has been dipped into hot water. Serve immediately and store the extras in the freezer.

{juicing the limes}

{cream cheese and white chocolate mixture}

{whipped cream, soft peaks}

{folding cream cheese mixture and whipped cream}

{filled pie, before freezer}

{yum!}

Greek Cucumber Salad

I know how much you like salads, so here's another one. I like to make this salad when I don't have that much time to make dinner and I usually have the ingredients on hand because Greek salad is one of my favorites. It only takes about 10 minutes total to chop everything up, make the dressing and toss it all in a bowl. And if you don't have exact amounts, that's okay. I never measure out amounts for salads like this, I usually just throw what I have into a bowl and mix it up.

Greek Cucumber Salad
serves 2-3
salad:
1 large cucumber, quartered and sliced (I usually half-peel it too)
1 large tomato, chopped
a handful of black olives (you can use Kalamata olives obviously, I just use black because they're cheaper)
1/4 cup red onion, chopped
~1/2 cup feta*, crumbled (use more or less depending on how much you love feta, I tend to use a lot)
dressing:
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
salt
pepper
oregano

Throw all of the salad ingredients into a large bowl and mix it up! I usually just put the dressing in an old jam jar with a tight-fitting lid. First add vinegar, then oil and throw in the spices to taste. Then shake it up! Divide the salad among individual bowls and add dressing. So good!

*A note about buying feta. If you need it to be starch free, don't buy it already crumbled because they always add a starch to keep it from sticking together. You don't have to buy expensive feta, just make sure it's in a block and check the ingredients to be sure.

Wilted Spinach Salad with Bacon Dressing

This salad is so good! You'll want to make it twice in the same week, which we definitely did. In my book, any recipe that combines a little bit of bacon with vegetables is good because it gets Roi to eat more vegetables. Sometimes I feel like I'm catering towards a little kid and not my husband. Anyway, try it. You won't be sorry.

This recipe is from the Cook's Illustrated cookbook Perfect Vegetables. The salad comes together quickly, so you'll need to have all the ingredients cut and ready before you start. And when you add the vinegar mixture to the pan, step away from the stove-top because the fumes will be strong!

Wilted Spinach Salad with Warm Bacon Dressing
Serves 4-6
6 ounces baby spinach (about 8 cups)
3 tablespoons cider vinegar
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
pinch salt
10 ounces (about 8 slices) thick-cut bacon
1/2 medium red onion, chopped medium (about 1/2 cup)
1 clove garlic, minced
3 hard-boiled eggs, peeled and quartered lengthwise

1. Put the spinach in a large bowl. Stir the vinegar, sugar, pepper, and salt together in a small bowl until the sugar dissolves then set aside.

2. Fry the bacon in a medium skillet over medium-high heat, flipping occasionally, until crisp, about 10 minutes. Transfer the bacon to a plate lined with paper towels. When cool enough, break up into 1/2 inch pieces. Pour the bacon grease into a heatproof bowl and return 3 tablespoons of the fat to the skillet. Add the onion to the skillet and cook over medium heat, stirring frequently until slightly softened, about 3 minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 15 seconds. Add the vinegar mixture and remove the skillet from the heat. Working quickly, scrape the bottom of the skillet with a wooden spoon to the loosen the browned bits.

3. Pour the hot dressing over the spinach, add the bacon, and toss gently until the spinach is slightly wilted. Divide the salad among individual plates, arrange the egg quarters over each, and serve immediately.

Basic Starch Free Stew

This stew is a household staple and is really good as leftovers. The recipe is adapted from Jamie's Food Revolution cookbook. He gives four basic combinations: beef and ale, chicken and white wine, pork and cider or lamb and red wine. The one I usually make is pork and cider, but any of these combinations would be tasty (and starch free!) and they're provided at the end of the post. I changed a few of the amounts and left out a couple of ingredients that were starchy.

Basic Stew Recipe
serves 4-6
3-4 stalks celery, trimmed of ends and chopped
2 medium onions, peeled and chopped
3-4 large tomatoes, diced
olive oil
salt and pepper
3 sprigs fresh sage or 1-2 teaspoons ground sage
1 pound diced stewing pork
2 cups medium dry hard cider

Put a Dutch oven on the stove on medium heat. Put all the vegetables and the sage into the pan with about 3 tablespoons olive oil and fry for 10 minutes. Add the pork, then pour in the cider and tomatoes. Give it a good stir, then season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, put the lid on and simmer slowly for 1 1/2 hours. Remove the lid for the final 1/2 hour of simmering and add a little water if it's looking dry. When done, the meat should be really tender. Remove the herb stalks before serving and add salt and pepper to taste. I like to add a little sour cream when serving, to make it creamier and cool it down.

Beef and ale: 2 hours simmering
3 fresh or dried bay leaves
1 lb. diced stewing beef
2 cups brown ale, Guinness or stout

Chicken and white wine: 1 hour simmering
3 sprigs fresh thyme
1 lb. diced, boneless, skinless chicken thighs
2 cups white wine

Lamb and red wine: 2 hours simmering
3 sprigs fresh rosemary
1 lb. diced stewing lamb
2 cups red wine

Sausage Stir-Fry

 

This is a really simple meal that I tend to make when I get home late from work and don't want to spend a long time making dinner. One of the nice things about this stir-fry is that you can use whatever you have on hand to make it. I always put in onions and garlic, but you could add zucchini, tomatoes or mushrooms too.

Being on a starch free diet, it can be hard to trust sausages since many of them have starchy fillers. Trader Joe's sells a lot of really good options without the fillers. Our favorites are the garlic chicken sausages and the turkey kielbasa.

Sausage Stir-Fry
serves 3-4
a package of sausages (usually contains 4-5), cut into bite-size pieces
medium onion, cut into thin slices
1-2 cloves garlic, minced
a handful of fresh basil or cilantro
white wine (just a splash)
olive oil

Add olive oil to a large frying pan and heat over medium/high heat. Add onions and garlic and sauté until tender and golden. If your sausages are uncooked, add them with the onions. If they're already cooked, wait to add them until the onions have become tender. Add the sausage and herb and sauté until the sausages are browned. Add a splash of white wine, cover the dish and simmer for 5-10 minutes. Uncover and cook a few more minutes until the wine is absorbed/evaporated. Serve with a fresh salad or another vegetable side.

Toasted Almond Covered Truffles

It's been so long since I've posted! With a friend visiting from out of town and Valentine's day, I was busy planning other things. But now I'm back with a delicious treat.

When you're doing the starch free diet, tree nuts (almonds, walnuts, etc.) have a lot of uses. This is a really simple recipe for making delicious chocolate truffles. I decided to cover ours in toasted almonds, but you could also cover your truffles in cocoa powder, a plain chocolate coating, or home made sprinkles (I'll teach you how to do this soon!). This recipe needs to chill in the fridge for awhile, so you'll need to plan ahead for when you want to eat them.

Toasted Almond Covered Truffles
makes 20-30
3/4 cup heavy cream
10 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped (I used chocolate chips)
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1/4 tablespoon almond extract (you could also use vanilla, but I would up the amount to a tablespoon)
1 cup chopped toasted almonds

1. In a saucepan over medium heat, bring the cream to a boil. Remove from the heat and add the chocolate, then stir until melted and smooth. Stir in the butter and the almond extract, then strain into a bowl and let cool. Cover and chill for 6-8 hours or overnight.
2. To toast your almonds, spread out finely chopped almonds onto an ungreased baking sheet in a single layer. Make sure they're chopped to the same size so that they'll toast evenly. Bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes, checking on them so that they don't burn. Let cool before you roll your truffles.
3. Line a large baking sheet with wax/parchment paper. Using a small ice cream scooper or two teaspoons, form the chocolate mixture into 20-30 balls and place on the paper. This might get messy, so be prepared! Chill if the mixture becomes soft.
4. Roll the truffles in the toasted almonds, covering completely. Chill well wrapped, for up to 10 days.

Melon Mousse

I was trying to figure out what to do with this so/so tasting cantaloupe I already had chopped up and sitting in the fridge when I stumbled across this recipe. Not only is it starch free, it's delicious!

I pretty much just followed her recipe, except I was only using one type of melon So instead of doing the two types mousses separately, I doubled the amounts for one.

Melon Mousse:
serves 4-6, adapted from this recipe
2 cups (your choice of melon, I used cantaloupe) melon purée, chopped and pulsed in food processor or blender until smooth
3 tsp powdered gelatin
1/4 cup cold water
1/2 cup sugar
4 tsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
3/4 - 1 cup cold heavy cream

Put gelatin and cold water in a small bowl to allow the gelatin to soften. Put melon purée in a medium saucepan with sugar and lemon juice and heat on low until the sugar is completely dissolved. Add softened gelatin to the mixture, heat and stir until the gelatin is completely dissolved.

Remove from the heat and chill mixture in the fridge until it reaches room temperature and is starting to thicken. Whip heavy cream in a large mixing bowl to soft peaks. Add vanilla to melon mixture and then fold in whipped cream until all the lumps are removed. Pour into 4-6 individual serving glasses and chill in the fridge until set, at least 45 minutes. I just decided to add the strawberries at the end as garnish, and that part is up to you.

Batidos de Melocotón

Peach shakes! Seeing as how the husband is Cuban, this is the first of many recipes adapted from Cuban flavors and cooking styles. These shakes are amazing. Although I used peaches for our batidos, you could use any tropical fruit (guava, papaya, pineapple, passion fruit, etc.) as long as you make sure it's starch free. I know that mangoes and bananas are starchy, so people keeping starch free should stay away from those. I think berries and melons would work too, they're just not traditionally used in batidos. But neither are peaches, so there you go. I used this recipe from Cook's Illustrated, The Best International Recipe cookbook.

Batidos (Fruit Shakes) 
serves 4
3 1/2 cups ripe fruit, cut into 1-inch chunks (I used unpeeled peaches because I don't mind the skins, but if that bothers you, just peel them first)
2 cups ice
1 1/2 cups cold milk
1 tablespoon sugar, plus extra to taste
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
pinch salt

Purée the ingredients in a blender until smooth and frothy, 20-30 seconds. Add additional sugar to taste and serve immediately. With colorful straws!

Drained canned fruit and frozen fruit can be substituted for the fresh but if you're using frozen fruit, don't thaw and substitute water for the ice.

Fancy Scrambled Eggs

Eggs. If you're keeping starch free, eggs become a very versatile part of your diet. On weekend mornings, we usually stick to some variation of eggs (whether they're scrambled, fried or in omelet form) along with a fresh fruit and maybe some bacon. Almost all berries and melons can be counted on to be starch free, so we eat those breakfast fruits most often.

One of the things that's nice about scrambled eggs (omelets too) is that you can use whatever you have on hand as the extras. I usually throw in some chopped green onions, either fresh cilantro or basil, deli ham if we have it and some cheese at the end. I'm including some different flavor combinations after the recipe for you to try out. (The scrambled eggs pictured were made with green onions, cilantro and white cheddar cheese.)

Ingredients:
4-6 eggs
salt and pepper
cream or whole milk
herbs, cheeses, etc. 


For 2 people, crack 4 (or 6 if you're really hungry!) large eggs into a bowl, add a pinch of salt and pepper, a splash of cream/whole milk and any herbs or extras you're using. I usually don't add my cheese until the end, but you can mix it in the bowl before you cook the eggs, if you like.

Put a small saucepan (don't use stainless steel for eggs, they'll stick) over low heat and add a tablespoon or two of butter. Let it melt until it gets frothy, then pour the eggs into the pan and stir them slowly. I use a silicone spatula to stir the eggs because it lets me scrape everything from the sides of the pan, so none of the eggs stick.

Your eggs are done then they're silky and looking slightly underdone. They still cook themselves after you put them on your plate, so you want to remove them from the pan before they look completely cooked or they'll actually overcook and get leathery. Once on your plate, grate the cheese of your choice on top of the eggs.

Variations:
-- deli ham and cheddar
-- green onions, cilantro and white cheddar
-- basil, 1/2 tomato (chopped & drained) and swiss
-- bacon (previously cooked and crumbled) and your choice of cheese
-- cilantro, monterey jack and home made salsa (These should be added after the eggs are done. And we use home made salsa because store bought salsas usually test starchy.)
-- sauteed onions, basil and swiss

I'm sure there are a million more.  What are your favorites?