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Grain-free Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Coconut Milk Ice Cream {dairy-free}
I broke the seal on this summer’s ice cream maker usage with this incredible Peach Raspberry Sorbet, earlier this month and now I can’t stop. When I get a craving for something, you best watch yourself. Get out of my way and let me do my thing. My current adoration of my ice cream maker plus a craving for a childhood favorite meant it was time to create!
I had the realization that I have sadly been without cookie dough ice cream for longer than should be allowed. The store-bought ones, even when gluten-free or dairy-free, are still loaded with so much junk, tons of refined sugar, creepy lab experiment thickeners and I just can’t.
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Peach Raspberry Sorbet
Going out for ice cream in the neighborhood, this is about as summertime as it gets. On the same hand, fresh local, supremely ripe, sweet as candy fruit, this is also key to celebrate all that summer has to offer! This Peach and Raspberry Sorbet is precisely what summer time is all about. A fresh, Read the rest of this entry »
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Grilled Scallop and Veggie Skewers with Green Tahini
I am not sure about all of you, but our grill becomes the center of many meals this time of year. Without any AC at all and many hot summer days of working from home, tossing a light and healthy meal on the grill at the end of a sweaty work day sounds like the perfect idea. But, also a perfect idea? Dinners that can be thrown together start to finish in under 30 minutes.
These Grilled Scallop and Veggie Skewers with Green Tahini are what summer weeknight meal dreams are made of. I love serving these alongside an herby cauli-rice. They’d also be great with regular rice, other grains of your choosing or atop a big green salad.
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How-to Make Homemade Barbecue Sauce
Yesterday’s summer solstice marked the official start of summer, which means we also kicked off the season of grilling and barbecue. A good traditional barbecue sauce is key to a season of delicious backyard feasts. However, if you are like me, when you turn over most jars and bottles from the store, to investigate the ingredients, you are sorely disappointed. Most contain loads of sugar, high fructose corn syrup, various preservatives, thickeners, artificial flavors, colors and who know’s what else. Let’s be honest, they are also not all that good. We can do better!
Making your own sauce is incredible simple, you don’t need any special ingredients and with this simple tutorial and formula, I also give you the options to customize your sauce and make it just how you like it.
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Sweet Potato Salad with Bacon
With summer nearly upon us, we are already planning a summer of BBQs, cookouts and picnics. While I am not a mayo hater by any means, I have always felt indifferent about traditional mayo-based potato salads. It’s just not my thing, something about it doesn’t sit well with me. I think it’s years of seeing it sitting in the sun at picnics, uncovered looking all gnarly. Yuck.
I have over the years developed several variations instead on vinegar and herby based potato and sweet potato salads that have become staples at all of my summer shindigs. That is until this Sweet Potato Salad with Bacon from Heather Christo’s book Pure Delicious. For the foreseeable future, this may just give all other potato salads the boot! It’s that good.
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Cherry Chocolate Chunk Banana Soft Serve {gluten-free, paleo, vegan}
With Memorial Day behind us, Summer has un-officially kicked off and I couldn’t be more ready! We’ve already managed to get in a picnic and a BBQ to celebrate. Also important to the commemorating of this lovely season. Ice cream! Am I right?
With all the adjustments I have made to my diet and how great I feel these days, while I very much subscribe to the notion of balance and the occasional treat being part of maintaining a healthy and accessible lifestyle, I also always apt to first reach for healthier whole food options, when possible. This recipe celebrates fresh, in-seaon nutrient-dense whole foods – bringing the treat vibes of what usually would be loaded with dairy, refined sugar and gosh, who knows what else. Read the rest of this entry »
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Coconut Panna Cotta with Strawberry Rhubarb Compote
I know many of you don’t read my words, you look at the pictures, you scroll down to the recipe and maybe you make it. Or maybe you don’t. I get it. No offense taken. Good news for those of you in the no-words-please club, you’ll be excited for this post and maybe those in the coming few weeks. I have finals coming up and studying is of the highest priority but I can’t not create and share recipes, it’s my life blood, it’s my energy source, it literally fuels me. We’re also leaving town tomorrow, headed to Palm Springs for our wedding anniversary. I plan to sit by the pool, read my text books, study my flashcards and maybe sneak in some napping and cocktails while I am at it, too. All that said, writing words right now feels harder than any community projects, any tests and quizzes, essays or book reviews – somehow it’s weighing on me heavier than anything else.
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Grain-free Basil and Mint Zucchini “Noodles”
Being in the blogging world over 6 years now, I have had the pleasure of meeting some very incredible people along the way. But some, they walk into your life and you know that they were placed into your path with a purpose. I met Amie Valpone last year, in the midst of the hustle and bustle of a busy conference. We spoke like half-witted high school girls, catching up, giggling, sharing and connecting over our personal healing journeys. Amie has an infectious lust for life and for living that instantly resonated with me. As someone that has spent the past 10+ years dealing with various (though very minor in comparison) health struggles, I very much appreciate how Amie has chosen to use her struggles as a means to help others, through her website thehealthyapple.com, I also admire that she has used her very challenging healing journey to fuel her passion to teach others that your health and vitality lies in your hands and that you DO have the power to overcome. I feel like the word “inspiration” is hardly enough for this firecracker.
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Tuna and Arugula Salad with Avocado, Black Olives & Lemon Parsley Vinaigrette
Sometimes you find yourself in places and situations you hadn’t planned. Life is funny that way. How do you handle it? Can you roll with the punches? I like to believe that ultimately there is a plan for me, it helps with those little bumps and the unplanned surprises. As Seane Corn, one of my favorite yoga teachers says “everything happens as it is supposed for our souls to transform”. Not only do I now believe and live by this, but it has also allowed me to be much more open and flexible in my life. I know that things unfold as they should, oftentimes to teach me something. It has allowed me to see things with clearer eyes and to allow things to transform and evolved as they are meant to. I wasn’t always able to do this. This is a practice I have been working at for sometime now. In the past, if I set a plan and things veered off course, I would at times get a little freaked out and possibly allow to ruin my day or whatever situation I was in. It was never fun. Not only did it make the situation harder to deal with, but it made me harder to deal with. It’s not to say that is still doesn’t happen now and again, that I too don’t need these reminders once in a while.
What does this have to do with a tuna salad I’m sure you are wondering? The first time I made this salad, was in one of these very situations where I was being tested. My husband, Mark, and I, were planning a quick summery dinner of grilled ahi tuna steaks. We bought these beautiful wild-caught tuna steaks and I had planned an Asian-inspired meal around them, we were going to to serve them over cauliflower rice with a quick arugula salad on the side. I was thinking ginger, coconut aminos, garlic, sriracha. I asked Mark to grill them up quick, a task he has done many, many times before. Seared tuna steaks need but a couple minutes per side, to keep that beautiful rare center that this particular cut lends itself so well to. Overcooked tuna steaks can be a bit dry and tough.
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Cucumber Dill Refresher
Despite the fact that the calendar says September is mere days away and even with the kids going back to school, somehow Southern California hasn’t quite gotten the memo. We are smack in the middle of a good old fashioned heat wave and it’s so hot I can barely think straight.
As I create recipes each week, I not only try to think about what is in season and what I have access to, but also what foods I feel like eating. What sounds good, what will satiate my cravings, quench my thirst and all that good stuff. Right now all that sounds good is cooling foods, salads, juices, smoothies and all the water.
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Honey-Sweetened Strawberry Fruit Leather
As summer winds down, I am clinging to every last bit of the season that I can. I refuse to acknowledge it’s almost over. Keeping with the theme of healthy summer road trip snacks this Honey-Sweetened Strawberry Fruit Leather is the perfect way to take the sweet tastes of summer with you, wherever you go.
This fruit leather recipe calls for strawberries but you can use this as a guide to create fruit leather with whatever fruit you have an abundance of. Peaches, apricots, apples and so on. You can even create a blend of your favorite fruits.
Fruit leather gets a wrap for being a kids-only snack, but I can tell you, adults truly love the stuff, too. This could partially be the fact that it will instantly transport you to being a kid. It’s also great for travel and being on-the-go, just roll it up with a little parchment paper and pack it into your bag and you are ready to go. Sweet, summer berry goodness, wherever you are. Try out different berries or other seasonal fruit for additional variations. For a smoother leather, you can strain the seeds or any pulp before dehydrating, if you’d like. You can cook the fruit first if you’d like to intensify the flavor a bit.
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Grain-free Peach and Fig Crumble
As someone who has maintained a 100% gluten-free lifestyle for over 10 years and is constantly making major and minor shifts to my diet and lifestyle, in efforts to heal my body, I find great inspiration in the work that my peers do. As I have navigated my way through various elimination diets and protocols, oftentimes it’s other bloggers who have come to the rescue for me in these most challenging times. Sharing their research and their own personal experiences and of course, delicious recipes. Lauren of Empowered Sustenance is the perfect example of this. As a Nutritional Therapy Practitioner, Lauren’s approach to holistic wellness has not only allowed her to heal her ulcerative colitis, but to also share her knowledge and experiences in this journey on her website for the rest of us, no matter what our diagnosis.
When Lauren asked if I would guest post on her site and share a grain-free, nut-free, dairy-free recipe with her audience – I jumped at the chance. Though I am fortunate to not have to avoid these items 100% of the time, I prefer to avoid all three in large amounts, my gut is happier that way and a happy gut = a happy Beth. Additionally, I also really empathize with those that do need to avoid these 100% of the time. Restrictions to your diet, no matter what they are, can be a challenge, I know this all to well. So, if this recipe can brighten just one day, if it can take the burden off just one person – than my work here is done.
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When Figs Fly // Spiced Rum Fig Kombucha Cocktail
At our core, we are all balance. It’s how we are meant to exist, it is necessary to our survival. It is how we choose to live our lives, in the most simplest of forms, that take this delicate rhythm away from it’s natural state. As I was creating this recipe, it struck me, like a huge truck in fact, I am truly the epitome of a libra and a middle child, through and through. I like when things are even and balanced, I like to see all sides, I like the middle and I love the way life feels when equanimity is at the forefront. The scales may flutter about, but ultimately I don’t feel right when my life is not in balance. I firmly believe that when life is imbalanced, this is when we suffer mentally, physically, emotionally and spiritually. When I am not in balance, I am not connected to the world. When I am not connected to the world, I get lost in myself and it never ends well.
This Spiced Rum Fig Kombucha Cocktail is just another example of how I truly embody the idea of balance, even in the most casual of moments in life. It’s something I crave even in the play time, I seek it and I am drawn to it, oftentimes in a completely subconscious manner. I’m sure, if you’ve been visiting this website for sometime, you see these very trends in my food. Many paleo recipes, yet lots of vegan, after many grain-free recipes will might find some grains, with a dozen vegan recipes, you’ll log on to find meatballs. There are sweets, but after too many, you won’t find them for a while. Many times I add a food to a recipe, just for a balance in color. I like to include ingredients that offer a compliment to balance another strong element. This is just how I live my life. Sometimes this need for balance will even show up in a dessert like a cake with some greens snuck into it or cookies with zucchini. It’s balance. My body craves it. The extremes, they just don’t work for me.
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Caramelized Fig Ice Cream
You will constantly hear me speak of the incredible community that food blogging has introduced me to. It’s one of the most rewarding byproducts of this strange life path I have chosen. A little family of foodie friends, all connected by the common thread of our love of creating delicious, nourishing food and sharing it with the world.
Oftentimes, our fellow friends will need support, for varying reasons that might pull them away from creating content for their platforms. I myself have at times brought other bloggers in to share content her on Tasty Yummies, you might remember a whole month of posts from these talented folks while I was away with my yoga teacher training.
While my friend Sylvie, of Gourmande in the Kitchen, was off cooking up her greatest masterpiece yet, a beautiful baby girl, she asked if I would create a recipe for her site in the time just after she returned home, so she could enjoy all the new moments with her wee one. Of course, I gladly agreed, what an honor to be able to be of support in such a magical time. If you aren’t already familiar with Gourmande in the Kitchen, you should be. Sylvie, like me, subscribes to the belief that real food heals. All of the recipes on her website are free from gluten, refined sugar, and processed ingredients with many paleo, vegan, raw and allergy-friendly options as well. Of course, it doesn’t hurt that Sylvie is an incredible photographer, every perfectly shot image drawing you deeper into her site.
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Fresh Grape and Prosecco Sorbet
If we could go back in time just for one day to visit our younger selves, I can tell you that there would be an early 20-something Beth, disappointed to know that most opened wine in the house of her mid-30-something self, usually just gets used in a recipe or worse yet, to know that there is any leftover wine at all.
These days, I do such little drinking that I usually only open a bottle of wine if we have guests. On the rare occasion I imbibe just because, I have a glass, the bottle gets put in the fridge and usually it tastes bad before it ever gets finished. I know…. the shame, the horror. I love the way a good glass of wine tastes at the end of a busy day or with a delicious, robust home-cooked meal, but usually, the truth of it is most times I feel terrible before I ever even catch a buzz. My body just doesn’t like the stuff. It’s all “wait, this ain’t green juice. where’s my smoothie?” The other thing is, most mornings I get up so early, either for yoga or the gym, that a hangover, sans party, just never seems worth it. Yup, clearly I have rounded the corner to my mid-30s. These are all things, I swore I would never think or say.
I was at Trader Joe’s last week picking up a few things and I saw the bubbly wines from the corner of my eye, as I pushed my cart full of veggies past the wine section. It just sounded so good. The summer time always has a way of making me crave chilled bubbly wines. So, I treated myself and I bought a bottle, I had a glass once it was chilled, then instantly knew the rest would go to waste, so I decided to get crafty this time. Waste not, want not.
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Grilled Leeks with Spicy Grilled Corn Salsa
Summertime eating, for me, is all about salads and grilling, ok and maybe ice cream and popsicles. I try to get pretty much all of my meals to fit into one of those categories. I have to say, I do a fairly good job of it.
With an abundance of leeks coming in our weekly organic produce boxes, I’ve been looking for ways to get creative with them. I used to think of leeks more as a cool weather food, I love roasting them with other root veggies or adding them to a hot soup, but since they seem to be very much in season locally right now, when it comes to leeks in the summer, what’s better than grilling?
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Creamy Tahini Raspberry Rosewater Popsicles
We food bloggers can get pretty serious about our food. Clearly. So much so that at times this adoration might get down right borderline stalker-level, crazy. What the heck am I talking about, are you wondering? Oh no big deal, just this little thing called POPSICLE WEEK!! That’s right, for the third year in a row, our friend Billy of Wit & Vinegar has declared a whole week dedicated to this summer-inspired frosty goodness on a stick.
Considering I have no shortage of love for this frozen treat, as evident of the many popsicle recipes I have posted over the years, I finally decided this year to join the 50+ other food bloggers and get in on all the frosty fun. I decided to pull out all stops and get a little crazy with my popsicles and mix things up a bit.
These Creamy Tahini Raspberry Rosewater Popsicles may sound a little strange to some of you, a bit of an odd flavor pairing for some of you, but you have to trust me. The creamy rich and sweet coconut milk pairs so beautiful with the strong, nutty flavor of the tahini and the rosewater in that layer is the perfect pairing, floral, sweet and delicate. The beautifullly vibrant bottom layer with the tart raspberries brings it all together so nicely and it offers the palate a little something bright and light, to offset the creamy, richness.
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Strawberry Lime Sorbet
It’s been a while since we’ve had a Foodie Friend Friday post, I can tell you this lapse in sharing definitely isn’t for lack of having incredibly talented friends put out incredibly talented books.
We are back at it today with this gem of a book, Everyday Detox, from Megan Gilmore, AKA The Detoxinista. I absolutely love Megan, her website and recipes and now this incredible book. She just “gets it”. Rather than the all-or-nothing approach of extreme short term detoxes, fasts and cleanses, diets that can set us up for failure, Megan is all about making healthy choices everyday, living life in a mindful way that we can maintain without intense deprivation followed by the post-diet binging.
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Honey Balsamic Roasted Apricots with Mint and Feta
Hving a weekly delivery of organic produce really keeps me on my toes. When we happen on the times where a certain food is repeated after a week or two, I really find myself getting creative. I pull out my Flavor Bible (if you don’t have this book on hand, you really, really must get it) and I study up on various flavor profile pairings that I maybe hadn’t think of. I’ll also grab random foods I have on hand, toss then together into my mouth and see what comes of it. Much like one of those cooking game shows where you have to make do with the random ingredients you are given, this is how many of my most favorite recipes are born. There are plenty of fails, of course, but most of the time I discover a new combination I never would have tried.
After a few weeks of apricots in a row, which I was mostly just eating like candy, from the fridge, I was inspired to come up with a quick snack with some of my favorite flavors. As with most of my recipes, there are many variations you can take on this recipe (I feel like there should just be a disclaimer about this at the bottom of my website).
For those that are 100% dairy-free, whether because you are allergic/can’t tolerate, vegan, paleo, on AIP, etc – simply leave off the feta cheese. You can also opt for goat’s cheese, if you prefer. I can tolerate a very small amount of sheep’s and goat’s milk on occasion, so I added a very small amount. The same goes for the coconut oil, this would be delicious with butter or ghee, if you prefer. If you don’t do honey, try maple syrup or another liquid sweetener of your choice, you could also try coconut sugar, for a deeper, richer taste.
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Roasted Blueberry and Lemony Yogurt Popsicles
In my opinion, it isn’t summer until you make the first frozen treat of the season! I’d love to say I have the energy and time to bust out the ice cream maker every week throughout the summer. I don’t. Homemade ice cream is good, but just so much work and there are so many steps. Honestly, popsicles are my favorite! Always an easy way to celebrate the season and all of it’s beautiful, fresh offerings. I also love that if you are smart with your ingredients you can make popsicles that will work for just about everyone at your party, no matter their eating style or preferences. No need for an ice cream maker or anything besides popsicle molds and you can even skip on those, just pour these into paper cups, add a popsicle stick and call it a day. Easy!
If you haven’t been able to tell by the 5 years of posts up until now, I am slightly obsessed with roasting. OK a lot obsessed. It’s my easy answer to bringing out the best in foods. Fruit or veggies, there is just something about roasting, even in the dead of summer, I refuse to deny myself. Especially when it concerns fruit, roasting brings out the inherent sweetness, it provides pretty bursts of color and flavor and it’s a simple way to maximize all that juicy, saucy, sweet goodness. So yes, I am complicating something meant to be simple, by adding the extra step with the oven here, but you have to just trust me on this one.
These popsicles have the perfect mix of sweet and tart, one of my favorite combos. I tend to go light on the sweetness myself, so if you want them more sweet than tart, you may want to add a bit more coconut sugar when roasting and/or more maple or honey. I like to barely fold in the roasted berries, to keep the gorgeous swirls of purple, violety blue.
I opt for my homemade coconut yogurt to keep these popsicles dairy-free/vegan, but you can also go with Greek yogurt, regular yogurt or goat’s milk yogurt. I just suggest whatever you choose, to go with full fat if you can, this give you the rich creaminess and the extra fat which cuts down on the icy factor.
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Summer Veggie Power Bowls with Lemon Garlic Tahini Dressing
This week marks the start of summer which means lots of fun and exciting adventures await us! Traveling around and exploring or just hanging out in your hood, summer is all about enjoying the sunshine and fresh summer food, getting together with family and friends, savouring fresh summer-inspired meals outside and of course, being on the go.
These summer-inspired veggie power bowls are the perfect tasty, nourishing option for a picnic, a trip to the beach, a backyard BBQ or summer potluck. You can play around with the various ingredients to what you have on hand and like best or what is most fresh near you right now, it’s a simple recipe perfect for customizing. Pre-assemble the bowls and cover, bring the dressing on the side and pack up your Yellow 108 Travel Roll up cutlery set for the perfect meal-on-the-road to accompany your summer adventures.
