Gluten-Free Chocolate Biscotti Recipe- a cookie for grown-ups

Gluten-free sugar-free chocolate biscotti.

I was seriously jonesing for a crunchy coffee treat this week. But what could I make? Eating lower carb and lower glycemic means I'm eating no sugar, white flour or starches. The sweetest thing I've eaten in a month was the half of a frozen banana I tossed yesterday into a berry breakfast smoothie. Tasty, yes. But not exactly the chocolaty crisp indulgence I was daydreaming about.

As a side note to those of you following my posts on lower glycemic eating and wondering about sugar cravings and the South Beach Diet, I can report that Phase 1 is worth the two week tough love/low carb approach because it does reset your sweet tooth and diminish your gotta-have-it-now cravings for refined carbohydrates. And that's a big plus. It also banishes the carbohydrate bloat that many of us with celiac disease experience when we eat gluten-free starches. And that is a big plus. Pulling on a pair of jeans with a little room and give in the waist feels kick-ass great.

It is, however, very difficult to manage Phase 1 with multiple food allergies.

Where the unencumbered soul might eat one of Kalyn's delicious mini-quiche muffins or eggy casseroles for breakfast and Slow Roasted Tomato Hummus for a mid-afternoon snack, this intrepid gluten-free goddess was stuck popping cherry tomatoes. I admit up front- it was a humbling and hungry two weeks on a program where you are not supposed to go hungry.

My other disappointment was not losing as much weight as I had hoped to shed on the strict Phase 1. I lost two pounds. Upon deeper investigation I discovered that the stringency of Phase 1 works most dramatically on a different body type than I happen to inhabit (I'm a tall pear shape; if you're an apple body style you'll see more dramatic results in Phase 1).

So I've switched to Plan B.

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Dabeli

Hello to all my dear friend I am really try to be regular in my blog but I think I am bit busy with some new work so I am really very sorry. I got new job which is far from my home so I have less time at home. My dear friend Ushaprashanth give me nice award to me. Thank you very much dear.
A sweet-spicy treat Dabeli has been luring Gujarati’s for years.

Cooking time: 25 minutes
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Ingredients for masala:
1 red chili
1 teaspoon coriander seeds
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 cloves
1 teaspoon cumin seeds

Ingredients for filling:
4 potatoes
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
A pinch of asafetida
4 teaspoon khajur-imli chutney
2 teaspoon oil
Salt to taste
15 small burger buns
Butter or oil for cooking

To Serve:
1 chopped onion
1\2 cup chopped coriander
1\2 cup roasted peanuts
1\2 cup nylon sev
1\2 cup fresh pomegranate (optional)
2 teaspoons fresh garlic chutney
6 tablespoons khajur-imli chutney

Method for making masala:
Step 1: Roast all ingredients in a pan for 2 and 3 minutes.

Step 2: Grind to fine powder in a blender.

Step 3: Use as required
Method for making filling:
Step 1: Cut the peel potatoes in to small pieces.

Step 2: Add 1\2 cup water into cooker and add these potatoes pieces in it.
Step 3: Cook it till they become very soft and when it is cool mess it.Step 4: Heat oil in a pan and add cumin seeds when they crackle add asafetida.
Step 5: After that add dabeli masala, and mass potato in it.

Step 6: More mixing well add 1 cup of water in it.
Step 7: Add red chill powder, turmeric powder salt as par your taste. Step 8: Cook until all the water is burn and mix masala very well.
Step 9: Remove from the fire, add 4 teaspoons of khajur-imli chutney and mix well.


Step 10: Divide into 15 portions. Keep aside. Method for making Dabeli:
Step 1: Slice the burger buns into halves horizontally. Step 2: Place a portion of the prepare filling on the lower half of each bun with chop onion, pomegranate and peanuts. Step 3: Cook the buns in a pan using little batter or oil.

Step 4: Place it in to serving plat.
Step 5: Top with chopped onion, peanuts, coriander, sev, fresh-garlic chutney and khajur-imli chutney. A tryst with the Indian burger why dabeli beats burger any day………..
1. It’s an Indian treat.
2. Much more spicy and tangy.
3. Melts in your mouth
4. Groundnuts mixed with potato filling make it tastier.
5. Less calories.
6. You can eat more than one.....:)

Cool As A Cucumber Salad with Agave

Cucumber talk. And a salad recipe.

It started with a visit from a fellow food blogger. And ended up as a side dish. No wait. That doesn't sound right. Because it's more than just a side dish. And the food blogger? Well. She's more than just a food blogger. She's Alanna!

And a certain individual got to make her dinner. Talk about nerve wracking. Cooking for a second-generation food columnist? It's enough to give anyone schpilkis! And I'm no exception. I was afraid I'd burn the quinoa. Or ruin the ribeye. But dinner went off without a hitch. Even with two glasses of wine and a pre-repast stroll to watch the sun set over Abiquiu. I think we talked for five hours.

And the cucumber salad? I made it based on Alanna's simple instructions via cell phone (and via the no-fuss wit and wisdom of Old Liz) and it was such a lip-smacking tasty little number, I ate it for breakfast the next day.

Now that's a good recipe.

Thanks Alanna! And muchas gracias to dear Old Liz, who apparently (as we say back east) knows from cucumbers.

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Peanut Chicken Stir-Fry

Gluten-free peanut stir-fry sauce- easy to make.

Peanut sauce stir-fry? Yes, please. Spicy peanut sauce is one of my favorite comfort foods. Maybe even in my all-time top ten. The last time I stirred up this peanut sauce we were watching episode 5 of Brideshead Revisited- the most dread inducing episode when it's clear that poor, sweet Sebastian is clinically depressed and Mummy Marchmain (aka the Velvet Hammer) is determined to crush his spirit for propriety's sake. Steve and I were sighing audibly, rooting for dear Sebastian, hoping against hope he would somehow summon the courage to break free from Mummy and stop self medicating as we chop-sticked our way through this lip-smacking bowl of peanutty goodness.

And as we each consumed the last delectable morsels on our licked clean plates we agreed. We just knew this dish would have perked up Sebastian. And Charles, too, for that matter. Nothing like a spicy peanut sauce to fortify you and return some bloom to wan, stoic cheeks.

In need of said fortification but allergic to peanuts, Darling? Don't fret. Substitute Sunbutter in this recipe. Sunflower seed butter has a roasted nut flavor that is delicious in Asian style sauces. [I find it at Whole Foods and Wild Oats.]

So if you're suddenly struck (as I, too often, am) by a craving for peanut stir-fry, imagining tender sweet mouthfuls of crisp broccoli, elegant red pepper strips and slender chicken pieces all commingling happily in an earthy, garlicky peanut sauce, don't worry. I've got you covered. It doesn't get much better than this easy recipe.

Even Sebastian's teddy, Aloysius, could whip this up.

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Pear Polenta Muffins

Tender and sweet pear polenta muffins.

Ripe juicy pears and a polenta flour base make this new muffin recipe an instant favorite. I'll mention right off the bat- it's not low carb. It uses a moderate amount of sugar and some rice flour with organic corn meal. But if you're pining for a gluten-free vegan muffin recipe that you will absolutely love and devour with relish and lick your fingers and say softly (in your best Lauren Bacall voice), You know those pear muffins you got over there, Steve? You wanna toss me another?

These are it.

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Italian Eggplant Recipe with Crumbled Beef, Tomatoes and Mint

Gluten-free eggplant recipe with crumbled beef, tomatoes and mint.

The classic Italian flavors are all here- eggplant, tomato, garlic, onion and oregano with a twist of fresh chopped mint nudging it over into Greek territory- but there's not a speck of gluten or dairy.

Mediterranean goodness on a plate.

This recipe is for those of us who miss eggplant Parmesan- a little something I threw together this week when my craving for a slab of eggplant Parm (as we called it back in Massachusetts) heated up to such a fever pitch that all I could think about was, How? How to translate a dish so fiercely reliant on a fried breadcrumb coating and slabs of melty Parmesan cheese? A dish so not gluten-free. Or dairy-free. Or lower glycemic friendly to this waist-whittling goddess.

Thin, weeped eggplant slices are brushed lightly with a little extra virgin olive oil and roasted in a hot oven- all by their lonesome. This makes for a delicate, slightly crispy eggplant slice, let me tell you. Topped with a homemade ragu of Italian tomatoes, browned ground organic beef with onions and garlic and herbs and a splash of balsamic vinegar- it's love, Mediterranean style. It is sustenance. It is flavor. And it's dairy-free.

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South Beach Diet Notes- Phase 1

Summer fresh organic yellow tomatoes topped with mint, thyme and scallions, then drizzled with extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar. What more could you ask for? A low glycemic snack with my favorite Mediterranean flavors. And no b-word.

I'm deep into my first week on the South Beach Diet, whittling down my waist a half pound at a time. I am seeing a difference already. And what's really interesting- for this gluten-free pasta and muffin loving girl? After eating a lower glycemic index recipe I don't feel stuffed. Or heavy. Or that other word. The b-word. The word every celiac hates more than anything. Yup. You women out there know what I'm talking about it.

Bloated.

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