Breaded Baked Zucchini, vegan (no oil)

These came out better than expected.

Spices

• Garlic powder
• Salt and pepper
• Oregano

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Add spices and 2 Tbsp vegan parmesan to 1/2 cup of gluten free bread crumbs.

Put 1/4 cup of shaken Just Egg into a Separate dish.

Cut zucchini into 3/4″ rounds then dredge in egg then breadcrumb mixture. Place on parchment lined cookie sheet. Bake for 20-23 mins.

Add salsa or marinara sauce and enjoy.

Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

I was incredibly surprised with the amount of moisture in this banana bread, the golden crunchy outside and how it didn’t taste grainy on the inside! You don’t even have to click on the picture to the right to see the moisture oozing from this bread.

This is a great banana bread even if you aren’t gluten free. I had to slice this bread and put it in the freezer asap because I had already eaten 3 pieces of it and it should be savored.

Delicious!

The amount of banana in this recipe may be reduced to 12oz or about 4 medium bananas. Nuts and dried fruit are optional, feel free to mix in your favorites.

INGREDIENTS
1/2 cup All Purpose Gluten Free flour or Rice Flour
1.5 cup Almond flour or Oat Flour
3 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup plus 2 tbsp margarine or butter
1 1/4 cups sugar
16 oz bananas (about 5 average sized ones)
4 large eggs
3/4 cup chocolate morsels (0r cranberries or other dried fruit)
1/2 cup nuts (optional)

DIRECTIONS

• Preheat oven to 350 and lightly spray two loaf pans.
• Sift flours, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl.
• In a large bowl, beat the butter, sugar and bananas together until smooth.
• Briefly stir in the eggs to the banana mixture.
• Pour the flour mixture into the banana mixture until blended. You will see lumps of butter if your butter was cold.
• Pour into loaf pans and bake for 60 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean and the cake is just firm. If you have a glass or dark metal loaf pan, you may want to keep an eye on the loaf and put tin foil over it if the edges start to brown early.
• Cool for 10 minutes before serving or once completely cool, slice and freeze for up to a month.

Nutritional Information (per serving)
Serving = 16 (with 16oz of banana)

Modified from this recipe.

Quinoa “Meat” Balls (Meatless, Gluten Free)

Using Aleia’s Gluten Free Bread crumbs (a staple in my house) and this recipe as a base, I made some delicious protein packed Meat-less meatballs.

Ingredients

• 1 cup cooked quinoa
• 1 can red kidney beans
• 1 small can of tomato paste (with Italian herbs, if possible)
• 1/4 tsp garlic salt
• 1/4 cup Aleia’s Gluten Free Bread Crumbs
• fresh or dried basil, oregano, parsley to taste (optional)

 

Preheat oven to 350F (180C). Line two cookie sheets with parchment, or spray with nonstick spray.
In a large bowl, mash the beans with a potato masher or large fork until almost smooth (but leave a little texture). Add remaining ingredients, including quinoa, and, with clean hands, knead the “dough” to combine well.
Using a small ice cream scoop or tablespoon, scoop the mixture and roll into balls. Place on cookie sheets and bake in preheated oven 25-35 minutes, rotating the pans about halfway through, until the balls are dry and well browned on the outside.

Serve immediately, or store in a covered container in the refrigerator up to 5 days. Makes about two dozen. May be frozen.

Daiya Fire-Roasted Vegetable Pizza (Dairy Free and Gluten Free)

I have a love hate relationship with pizza because growing up I couldn’t eat it with cheese (have you ever had cheese-less pizza?) and then my diet changed to gluten free, so basically pizza was out entirely unless I made it at home. What a pleasant surprise to see Daiya Fire-Roasted Vegetable Pizza (gluten free and dairy free) in the freezer case! Then to eat it was the second surprise.

Product: Daiya Fire-Roasted Vegetable Pizza
Price: $?? (I had a coupon)
Buy again: Yes
Recommend to friends: Yes

• Cheese was melty
• Crust was deliciously thin and crunchy
• Great sauce seasonings

Daiya cheese is not my top pick for homemade pizzas. However, whenever the pizza is ordered from a restaurant with Daiya, they seem to be able to melt the Daiya so well that it tastes good and so this was a pleasant surprise to be able to cook a pizza at home with Daiya cheese and it taste good.

 

Sweet Potato Squash Red Onion Frittata With Quinoa

It is difficult to find a veggie packed breakfast. This tasted great warm or cold and was packed with vegetables. Feel free to make adjustments and pack in more vegetables. The original recipe can be found here.

 

Roasted Squash and Red Onion Frittata With Quinoa

Total time: About 1 hour 15 minutes plus 10 minutes cooling time

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 red onion, chopped
• 1 leek, white and light green parts only, cut in half, cleaned thoroughly, and chopped
• Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 teaspoons fresh thyme
• 2 ounces non-dairy Parmesan or mozzarella cheese, grated/shredded
• 3 eggs
• 1/2 cup non-dairy milk
• 1/2 cup cooked quinoa
• 1 1/2 pounds butternut or kabocha squash, peeled, seeds and membranes removed, and cut in small dice (1/2 to 3/4 inch) (about 4 cups diced) How to roast butternut squash
• 1/4 cup Aleia’s Gluten Free Italian Breadcrumbs

1. Cook squash if needed. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Oil a 2-quart baking dish or casserole dish.

2. Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a medium skillet and add onion. Cook, stirring, until it begins to wilt, about 3 minutes. Add leek and a generous pinch of salt and cook, stirring, until onion and leek are tender, another 3 to 5 minutes. Add garlic and thyme and cook, stirring, until the garlic is fragrant, 30 seconds to a minute. Remove from the heat.

3.  In a large bowl, beat eggs and add salt and pepper to taste (I use about 1/2 teaspoon salt). Whisk in milk. Add onions, leek mixture, squash, cheese, and quinoa. Combine well. Scrape into the prepared baking dish. Sprinkle with breadcrumbs.

4. Bake 35 to 40 minutes, until set and the top is lightly browned. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes or longer before serving.

Yield: Serves 6

Advance preparation: The roasted squash will keep for a couple of days in the refrigerator. The frittata will also keep for 2 to 3 days and freezes well. Reheat in a medium oven for about 20 minutes.

 

Go Veggie! Cream Cheese Alternative vs. Tofutti Better than Cream Cheese

I was looking at cream cheeses in the grocery store and a fellow non-dairy eater said her preference is the Tofutti Better than Cream Cheese over Daiya Cream Cheese. I decided to do a side by side of Go Veggie! and Tofutti based on the fact that Go Veggie! makes a better cheese shred than Daiya.

[Update 10/21/15: Having now tried Daiya cream cheese, I can agree with that person’s assessment. It had a horrible taste and I ended up wiping it off my bagel, even after trying it twice just to be sure. Both Tofutti and Go Veggie! are much better than Daiya and in the future, I will refer to this post to remember to not buy it again! haha. ]

Let me preface this by saying I do not typically eat tofu and the only time tofu has tasted good to me has been in a tofu pumpkin pie where the tofu was hidden amoung other strong-flavored ingredients.

The Go Veggie was a little watery from being opened in the fridge a few days and the hot bagel made it melty even more. The first time it was freshly opened and spread on the bagel it resembled the tofutti spread thickness.

In a side by side comparison:

Product: Go Veggie! Cream Cheese Alternative
Buy again: Yes
Recommend to friends: Yes

• The Go Veggie! Cream Cheese has flavor
• Not as much ‘bite’ as real cream cheese, but more than the Tofutti cream cheese
• Spreads nicely
• Has a little bit of watery layer after a few days opened in the fridge but that would happen with real cream cheese too
• Good consistency, similar to real cream cheese
• Diary free
• Gluten Free

I found the Tofutti to be the right consistency of cream cheese, but was  bland in flavor and lacked the “bite” in typical cream cheeses.

On the Udi’s Gluten Free bagel, the two non-dairy cream cheeses were hard to differentiate. So if you are just looking for a product that is the consistency of real cream cheese, then either would be a viable option.