Tag Archives: autumn

  1. Red Wine Poached Apples and Pears with Cinnamon Whipped Coconut Cream

    Red Wine Poached Apples and Pears with Cinnamon Whipped Coconut Cream

    Your farmer brings you a bunch of Asian pears and apples, I mean really, what else is there to do with them then soak them in some booze? OK, yeh, I know, predictable – another blog post that I start out talking about my CSA. Snore! But, to be honest, every single week that box of goodies that shows up on my doorstep, delivered by my farmer himself, and it inspires me and my cooking in so many ways. Every Wednesday, I feel like I am on a game show, where a mystery box shows up and I have to get creative with whatever I am given.

    Red Wine Poached Apples and Pears with Cinnamon Whipped Coconut Cream

    Sure I could have just eaten the apples and pears straight up, but where is the fun in that? Plus, I have to assume if I am getting apples and pears in my weekly box, other folks are too, and they might want some fun ideas on how to prepare them. It doesn’t get much more fun than these Red Wine Poached Apples and Pears with Cinnamon Whipped Coconut Cream.

    Red Wine Poached Apples and Pears with Cinnamon Whipped Coconut Cream

    A friend of ours, John, works in the “wine biz” up in LA. What he exactly does, I am not 100% totally sure, but what I am sure of is that he gave me a huge case of some really nice wines the last time I saw him – so he is A-OK in my book. These days I don’t do a ton of drinking, if we have guests or it’s a special occasion, maybe, but generally I drink very little at home. But, cooking with wine, that’s far more my speed.

    Red Wine Poached Apples and Pears with Cinnamon Whipped Coconut Cream

    Read the rest of this entry »

  2. Apple Crisp (Gluten-Free and Vegan)

    Apple Crisp (Gluten-Free and Vegan)

    I absolutely love my mom’s apple crisp, it is one of my favorite things about fall! I have been making my own gluten-free version for a while now and it is so delicious. After I made the vegan apple cobbler two weeks ago with palm oil shortening instead of butter, I decided I wanted to make an updated and healthier version of the apple crisp, too. I’ve actually been calling it Apple Crisp 2.0, but I didn’t think that would make for a good title or dish name. This apple crisp is as healthy as dessert can get in my opinion – it is gluten-free, vegan, refined sugar-free, dairy free, egg free and corn free. Besides using organic all natural palm oil shortening in place of butter in recipes to make them vegan, I have also really fallen in love with baking with coconut oil. When solid, it makes a great replacement for butter in many baking recipes that call for cutting it in. The benefits of coconut oil are numerous and can be attributed to the presence of lauric acid, capric acid and caprylic acid, and its properties such as antimicrobial, antioxidant, antifungal, antibacterial, soothing, etc. It is great for your skin and hair when used topically and has been found to have anti-aging, regenerative effects. We even use it topically on and feed it to our dog, Seri, when she has itchy skin. She LOVES the way it tastes.

    I was also excited to play with date sugar and maple syrup in this recipe instead of refined white or brown sugar. It turned out so perfectly sweet. Date sugar is totally unprocessed, unrefined and raw. It naturally contains fiber and is loaded with vitamins and minerals like calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, zinc, iron, copper, manganese, and selenium. Because date sugar doesn’t melt the way sugar does, I knew I wouldn’t get that delicious syrup with the apples that I usually get with the brown sugar, so that is how I decided to add in the maple syrup. It was such a small amount, you can barely distinguish any maple flavoring, if any at all. Other options  instead of the maple syrup would be rice syrup or molasses or if you aren’t vegan, you could also use honey. I am so excited about how this apple crisp turned out. It has so much flavor and I actually think it is better than any apple crisp I have made in the past.

    You could serve this with your favorite vegan (or not vegan) ice cream or whipped topping. Something that I saw a while back on Healthful Pursuit that I have been meaning to try is coconut whip, which I think would be perfect on top of this recipe. I may just need to make that happen this week.

    Apple Crisp (Gluten-Free and Vegan)

    Apple Crisp (Gluten-Free and Vegan)

    Gluten-free Apple Crisp (Vegan)
    serves 6

    Filling:

    • 4 cups of peeled and sliced apples (4 med)
    • 2 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
    • 1 tablespoon maple syrup
    • 1 teaspoon vanilla
    • 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
    • 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

    Topping:

    • 1/2 cup blanched almond flour
    • 1/2 cup certified gluten-free oats (I like Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free Rolled Oats)
    • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
    • 1 tsp ground nutmeg
    • 1/3 cup date sugar, coconut sugar or other granulated sugar of your choice
    • 1 1/2 tablespoons maple syrup (1 for the topping and 1/2 to drizzle over the top)
    • 1/3 cup coconut oil (make sure it is somewhat solid and not liquid)

    Preheat oven to 375°F.
    Place apples in an 8-inch square pan, pour lemon juice over. Add 1 tablespoon of maple syrup, spices and vanilla, toss around to combine.

    Mix almond flour, oats, spices, date sugar and maple syrup together in a medium sized mixing bowl.  Cut in coconut oil in to make crumbly consistency.

    Sprinkle over the apples, drizzle remaining 1/2 tablespoon of maple syrup over top and bake 30-40 minutes or until apples are tender and topping is golden brown. Serve warm.

  3. Vegan Pumpkin Spice Ice Cream

    Vegan Pumpkin Spice Ice Cream
    Ever since I got my ice cream maker, I’ve been wanting to try my hand at making a vegan ice cream. This ice cream is so creamy you would never ever know it is dairy free. Mark didn’t believe me. I liked it better than most ice creams I have ever had, because it was a bit lighter and didn’t give my stomach that heavy feeling after I ate it, like many ice creams can. I also really loved how easy this was to make. Basically no work at all. A lot of people are hesitant to bake and cook with coconut milk for fear the coconut flavor will outshine the other ingredients. There is relatively no coconut flavor from the milk, so it doesn’t over power the taste of the pumpkin or the spices.

    Each spoonful of this ice cream actually tastes just like a perfect bite of crustless pumpkin pie with a dollop of whipped cream on top. I can’t recommend enough using fresh pumpkin puree if you can. If you can’t some good quality canned organic pumpkin puree will do.

    Vegan Pumpkin Spice Ice Cream

    1 – 14 ounce can organic coconut milk (full fat, not light)
    1 cup unsweetened organic almond milk (or any other non-dairy milk)
    1 teaspoon vanilla extract
    1 teaspoon cinnamon
    1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
    1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
    3/4 cup organic pure cane sugar (coconut sugar, palm sugar or sucanat, also work great)
    1 1/4 cup fresh pumpkin puree (you can use canned if you don’t have fresh, but fresh is much tastier)

    Combine all of the ingredients together in a large bowl and whisk to combine well. Let chill for about an hour in your fridge. Once it is thoroughly chilled, follow instructions for your ice cream maker.

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