Looking Back to Find Gems

Sometimes looking back over old posts remind you of the reasons you’re doing certain things now. My husband nor I are gluten intolerant so why do I have a gluten-free vegan cookbook? When did no oil cooking become important and why?

I wasn’t looking for these answers but I stumbled over the post that gave them. It was simple. His cardiologist instructed us to do that. I also unearthed The Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease Cookbook that is plant-based and oil free. I purchased this at the beginning of our journey 3 years ago after watching an Engine 2 video.
I read through it and now I am adding the recipes to my re-energized food preparation  experiences.

Asian, Vegan, Oil-Free

Recently I had a craving for good Chinese Lo Mien. I found a restaurant that does not use MSG. I tried it. It seemed very oily to me. Disappointed. I decided to give them a second try after discussing the oil quantity with the restaurant. They explained how they prepared the lo me in and that much of what I thought was oil was a combination of a small amount of oil and Hoisin sauce.

I am now on a quest to adapt good Asian recipes to our dietary requirements. I am beginning with Thai and Chinese. The resulting dish must be vegan, gluten-free, and oil-free. I welcome all your authenic tried and true suggestions or recipes.

Aaagh! Their Green!!

Okay that might be a little dramatic but it is actually what I thought when I opened the waffle maker. My next thought was candidate for a SyFy scene. I opened the waffle iron and saw green and brown waffles. It doesn’t show how dark green but the dark grid lines were green.I don’t know what in the ingredients caused this phenomenon. I used buckwheat flour, almond flour, baking soda, baking powder, almond milk, salt, coconut oil and eggs. Does that sound green to you?

The Experiment

1. Use a whole wheat flour waffle recipe as a guide.
2. Change the flour to another grain or combination of grains.
3. Use coconut oil instead of shortening.
4. Almond milk and baking soda instead of buttermilk.

The Discoveries

1. Baking soda was added because I didn’t have buttermilk.  Must have added too much because the taste was really strong.
2. Didn’t need the baking soda at all on further research
3. 1/2 cup of coconut oil was too much for the flour combination.
4. Let the batter sit about 5 minutes to thicken before pouring in the waffle maker.
5. And then there is green.
6. After removing from the waffle iron and a little cooling, the color changed to golden brown.

 

The Whole Wheat Recipe           My Changes

2 c whole-wheat flour                     1 c buckwheat flour, 1 cup almond flour

4 tsps baking powder                      2 tsps baking powder, 2 tsps baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

2 eggs

1/2 c melted shortening                  1/2 c coconut oil

1 3/4 c buttermilk                             1 3/4 almond milk