Is Healthy Pumpkin Pie Worth Making? Yes!

I looked forward to Thanksgiving more this year than I ever have in the past. For months I have been anticipating my mother getting up with Xavier, my mother reading to Xavier, my mother taking long walks with Xavier…you get the drift. But I definitely wasn’t looking forward to the food. Not only am I not a huge fan of the standard offerings but with my wacky new diet, I can’t eat mashed potatoes with butter, gravy thickened with flour and pies full of both.

I contemplated just munching on string beans and plain turkey with a good book and a glass of wine. Instead I opted to join in on the culinary festivities instead with a gluten-free, vegan pumpkin pie. Don’t stop reading! Before you dismiss this recipe altogether, picture a rich crust made of pecans, honey and oats and a creamy pumpkin filling flavored with fresh spices and thickened with a bit of coconut butter.

http://ohsheglows.com/recipage/?recipe_id=6006103

I followed this recipe almost exactly but replaced the Earth Balance with coconut butter. It really was very good and with the heightened nutritional value, you can justify eating it for breakfast…all weekend!

Ottolenghi’s Kofta (Lamb meatballs)

I have a bookshelf in every room of my apartment. For anybody that lives in a Manhattan-sized apartment, this is borderline idiotic. I don’t have space for a box of Kleenex, but somehow I justify filling the rooms with stacks of books I will never read again.

The bookshelf in the dining area has a shelf devoted to cookbooks and I try to be ruthless about what books make the cut (even though ironically these are the ones I do read again.) I know I can find most recipes online but I’m 31 going on 91 and I still love making greasy fingerprints on cookbooks. 

Recently I saw the cover of Yotam Ottolenghi’s new cookbook Jerusalem and wanted it immediately. I actually ordered it and then cancelled it when I realized I didn’t have free shipping. Before I decided to simply add another cookbook to my order to qualify for free shipping, I decided to test out his Kofta recipe to make sure this book would be more than just pretty pictures.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/recipes/9540785/Kofta-bsiniyah-recipe.html

For those of you who think meatballs need breadcrumbs, make these. Believe me - crushed pine nuts taste much better than breadcrumbs and do the job of holding these little guys together perfectly.

Meeting my Hero and Raspberry Ricotta Scones

Deb Perelman of Smitten Kitchen fame had a book signing event for her new cookbook this past weekend. It's been months since I have cooked any of her recipes since they all include banned ingredients (sniffle), but I still read her blog religiously and fantasize about a time when my life will again include eggs, cream, cheese and warm bread.

Anyways, not being able to cook her recipes wasn't going to stop me from meeting her so I lined up with the rest of her followers to have my cookbook signed.  When it was my turn, I stumbled through an exchange with her about Xavier's birthday cake while flushing deeply. Pretty ridiculous.

The next morning, I made her Raspberry Ricotta scones - one of the few recipes in her book that she had previously written up online.

http://smittenkitchen.com/blog/2011/07/whole-wheat-raspberry-ricotta-scones/

It includes a long list of banned ingredients - cream, ricotta, flour, butter, etc. and they came out looking and smelling awesome. Xavier and Ryan gobbled them up and I inhaled deeply.

Chickpea Pancakes

Chickpea flour has been life changing over the past month. There are a lot of gluten-free flours out there, but most recipes call for a delicate balance of sorghum, amaranth, arrowroot and millet flour for example. By the time I read the list of ingredients, I have lost all desire to make the recipe. Something about ‘sorghum flour’ does not inspire me…

Chickpea flour, however, is straightforward, comes from a bean I’m very familiar with and tastes great. To make a chickpea flour pancake, you just mix the same amount of flour and water together and then adjust to a consistency you like. I usually do ½ a cup of each. Oil a small pan and then fill the pan entirely with the batter. Cover and let cook for 5 minutes. If you want a crispy pancake, flip it and cook it for a few more minutes.

The first time I ate it drizzled with tahini and honey. Last night I added some cumin and turmeric to the batter, cooked it with some vegetables and topped it with some sriracha. The whole process takes less than 10 minutes and you have a nutritious hearty meal. Without sorghum flour.