Checking in really quickly today with a recipe and step-by-step video of this gluten-free and vegan Strawberry Cobbler. I wasn’t kidding when I said I would be flooding this space with strawberry recipes this spring and summer :) Similarly to crumbles or crisps, cobblers are delightfully lazy fruit desserts that require no perfection on the cook’s part, but manage to come out a perfectly jammy and satisfying mess almost every time. Earlier this spring, I set out to develop a version that is both gluten-free and vegan, but also quick and with a manageable list of ingredients – here is the result!

I’m so excited to talk bit about Heather Crosby’s new cookbook Pantry to Plate today. When I received my copy and took a scan from cover to cover, I was immediately blown away by the way this book kindly invites the reader to be both spontaneous and practical in the kitchen by working with the ingredients that are already on hand. With thirty clever recipe templates, Heather demonstrates how to improvise your way to delicious, plant-based meals. For example, Dense Veggies + Protein + Herbs + Binder + Spices = Vegan Meatballs (or Veggie Burgers)! The templates specify the required amount for each component, as well as which components are a must and which ones can be skipped altogether. In addition to the templates, the book is full of other useful tools that help make intuitive cooking a breeze: besides a regular recipe index, there is a cook by ingredient index, as well as mini-templates for creating flavor with aromatics, a whole bit on pairing spices, and a dressing and sauce section that has pretty much every staple sauce recipe you’ll ever need. If you don’t have a particular ingredient for a recipe, chances are you have something on hand that could act as a substitute, and there is a whole chart of interchangeable mix-and-match ingredients in the book to help you work through that.

I’m quite terrible at sticking to recipes myself, since I always want to play, add, subtract and find alternative ingredients, so it’s as if this book was made for me. How Heather managed to define freestyle cooking in such clear, comprehensive terms, will remain a mystery to me :) Some more sections/recipes I’m most excited about: Coconut Yogurt, Dairy-Free Milks, Probiotic Cream Cheese, Veggie Fries, Cheesy Comfort Food, Hand Pies, Sneaky Brownies, Nice Cream. YUM! Onto the (not) meatballs.

 



These Italian-style veggie meatballs come from the Veggie Burger section of the book and can be easily shaped into burgers or sliders, as Heather points out. They get their substance and ‘meatiness’ from lentils and portobello mushrooms, and a bit of sweetness from carrots and onions, while herbs like oregano, parsley and thyme, and spices like fennel and pepper give them that characteristic Italian flare. We enjoyed them two ways, the first day with zucchini noodles and pesto (pictured here), and the second day, a bit more traditionally, with real pasta and tomato sauce. Both were equally delicious. Heather also suggests to serve the meatballs in a sub roll, or even as an appetizer, along with some tasty sauce.

Whether you live and breathe freestyle cooking, or you want to learn a bit more about being intuitive in the kitchen, check out Pantry to Plate, I have a feeling it will earn an important place on your bookshelf :)

Click HERE for Recipe: ITALIAN STYLE LENTIL AND MUSHROOM (NOT)MEATBALLS FROM PANTRY TO PLATE

When I was writing my first cookbook four years ago, I was completely infatuated with developing gluten-free baking recipes and baking almost every day. More than that, I was really into making my own flours (by blending whole grains in my Blendtec), and mixing my own gluten-free flour blends. I am one of those crazy people that enjoys making everything from scratch, but I also did all of those things out of necessity, since there were no high-quality gluten-free flour blends out on the market. Things have really changed since then! Health food stores are now flooded with all kinds of exotic flours and flour blends, which makes me a little less compelled to make my own. I still do from time to time, but I feel comforted by the fact that I can pick up a gluten-free flour blend in the store and whip up some tasty scones without getting messy with the blender and tons of jars. I should add that I don’t have a gluten sensitivity, but a few people I like to share scones with do, and I also just really love the challenge that gluten-free baking presents.

Earlier this spring, I talked a little bit about what an explosive strawberry season we experienced this year. I couldn’t keep myself away from our nearby organic strawberry farm, and as a result ended up with lots of berries that needed to find a home in one dish or another, since my freezer can only fit so much. I made this pie, a cobbler, and sprinkled the berries over everything from morning bowls to salads. I also remembered that strawberries work surprisingly well in guacamole, as proven to me by a friend years ago.

Roasting up a bunch of goodies and serving them up right on the baking sheet together with sauce and toppings is a sure way to a fun dinner or a low-maintenance spread for last minute company. In the winter, I’ll bake an assortment of roots rubbed with plenty of spices, and slather them with herby sauce or tahini/cashew cream to go alongside some beans or grains. In the summer, it’s all about the slow-roasted tomatoes, eggplants and peppers served with some sort of bread, herbs, greens and good olive oil. Nachos definitely fall into this throw-together oven meal category, and we tend to crave them often around here, so I’m constantly thinking about ways to freshen up the format.

Baba ganoush + romesco = babamesco! One fine day, I had some but not all of the ingredients to make romesco, as well as a few baba-ganoush appropriate items, and I was craving some kind of powerful dip/spread/sauce. I combined the two and ended up with something really special. I’m pretty sure that everyone who sampled it loved it, and that goofy name that I threw out in the moment really stuck. I’ve had friends call me and seriously ask me when I’ll be making another batch of babamesco. Now I can’t imagine calling it by any other name. A few ways it can be used: as a dip for pita chips, sandwich spread, pizza sauce, veggie bowl component, sauce for vegetables (try it with grilled ramps or roasted cauliflower).

Fagor recently sent me their 6 quart pressure cooker, and I was very excited since I’ve never had one before and knew that it would be a very practical addition to my kitchen. Aside from stews, soups, and rich veggie broth, I was especially thrilled about the prospect of perfect home-cooked beans. I’d heard that cooking beans in a pressure cooker makes them amazingly creamy, yet firm and intact, on top of significantly speeding up the cooking process. As an example, soaked kidney beans only take 5 minutes of active cooking time in the pressure cooker. Crazy stuff!

Have you ever heard of the quick soft serve ice cream technique, where you freeze coconut milk in ice cube trays and then blend the cubes with fruit, sweetener, etc. into into a perfectly spoonable frozen treat? It’s been on my radar for a while, but I have an ice cream maker, which I’m very faithful to, so I’ve been slow to warm up to the idea. I finally gave the whole thing a shot recently, and now I see what the big deal is about. This is entirely different from the typical ice-cream making experience. When I set out to make ice cream, I know that it will be a process, and I’m quite fond of the little bit of fuss that it takes. This soft serve is its own thing – delightfully quick and easy and with little fuss to speak of, especially if you already have the coconut ice cubes ready to go.