Food Lush

Soy Sauce Substitute: Coconut Aminos

By Caitlin

How is my crazy diet going, you (don't) ask? It's going great! As of yesterday I am....officially....halfway THRROO-OUGGHHH my...WHOOOLE THIRRTAYYYY! (Oprah voice) 

It's...going well. I feel pretty great (except for what I expect is HA HAAA another sinus infection), I have more energy, I am getting more sleep and better sleep and am just more clear-headed in general. I am beginning to tire of the relentless cooking and meal planning, yet it is also becoming easier in the sense that it's more routine now. Zach and I have found things we like, and some great new foods we'd probably never have tried otherwise. I think ghee (clarified butter) is going to be a routine part of my diet now. All the delicious butter with out all the mucus-causing dairy component! Delightful!

One problem you have when eliminating all soy, sugars, legumes, and the like is that it can be hard to find a product that lends umami to your cooking. Soy sauce, worcestershire, and most other sauces and seasonings are out. Enter coconut aminos. This soy, nut, dairy, gluten, everything free, raw, vegan liquid gold is shockingly good inspite what all those hippie adjectives might imply, and tastes like a sweet soy sauce. It has been a delightful addition to our diet. Use in stir fries, dressings, marinades, soups, or for dipping sashimi; basically anywhere you'd use soy sauce.  

Photo from http://www.vitacost.com

I've read about coconut aminos before on paleo and healthy living blogs but as I have a rather large cabinet chock full of seasonings, sauces, and spices (such is the fate of being married to a chef), I had little impetus to actually try it. Until now. I scavenged my local Whole Foods, missed the first time, and found it the second. It was in the asian section, near the mirin and soy sauces. (You can also find it on Amazon.) When I got it home Zach opened it up to taste it and it fizzed everywhere. We were disappointed and were going to take it back to exchange it for a fresh one when I had an epiphany: I think it's fermented? A few google searches later and we learned that it's normal for it to fizz when you open it: It's made from the fermented sap of the coconut tree. It sounds like I made that up, but I sure didn't.

Have you tried coconut aminos? And tell me, how is candy? Is candy still as good as I remember? Tell it I said hi.

Sauerkraut I Actually Like

By Jessica

I have never been a fan of sauerkraut, which is odd given that I love cabbage and most other cabbage preparations but there was always just something about it. Something off and overly strong. I had thought that maybe it was the metal can in combination with the acidity, maybe that combination made it taste off to me? So I sought out a variety that came in a glass jar and alas no change in my opinion.

It happens to be something that my husband loves, however, so I have always hoped to find one that I could be happy eating too and then most of my twitter stream started Whole30 and I started seeing raw sauerkraut in my feeds.

Farmhouse Culture has several different varieties of kraut to choose from and I was able to find a couple of them at my local Whole Foods markets. For my husband, I selected the smoked jalapeño and for myself the horseradish leek. On its own, it's still a bit sharp for my tastes but all manner of weird and off that I taste in regular kraut is gone. It's flavorful and even though I was expecting the horseradish to take over everything, it's so well balanced, that doesn't happen. 

We had brats and kraut for dinner tonight (I had Apple Sage Field Roast sausage) and I was really happy with it as a condiment. While I'm not a total convert, I will be finishing the jar I have and I also am now intrigued to try other varieties/brands. I have my eye on the Lemon Garlic Dill by Straight From The Vine next. 

Have you tried raw sauerkraut?

(Photo via Farmhouse Culture)

Orange Poppyseed Dressing: Vegan, Paleo, Whole30 Approved!

by Caitlin

Have you heard of the Whole30? In a nutshell (mmm, nuts, Whole30 approved!) it's 30 days of clean eating and whole foods; essentially just produce, meat, seafood, and certain nuts, oils, seeds, and fats. No wheat, no dairy, no legumes, no grains, no alcohol, no added sugar -- not even natural sugars like maple syrup. Fruit and sweet potatoes are okay, but no white potatoes. Zach and I are doing it January 2 - February 2, along with half the internet. 

At first glance you'd think the focus would be restriction, but there's just so much delicious food you can eat. And having done a strict allergy elimination diet earlier in the year, this seems easier in some ways. It's certainly a bit healthier (I miiiiiiiiight have turned to sugar to cope with that diet). Grassfed pot roast, smoothies, salads, shepherd's pie, grilled salmon, crab cakes, avocado on everything, lots of green vegetables, sliced pears with cashew butter: All things my body is thrilled to see after the past two months Zach and I have had of holiday indulging and stress, long hours, surgery, and too many convenience foods. It has actually been fun for me not to have an excuse to take shortcuts as it's forcing me to come up with things I've been meaning to try for a while. Like this orange poppyseed dressing.

I first made this for New Year's Eve (pre-Whole30), wherein I tossed it with mesclun/baby greens and added red grapes, toasted pecans, feta, and dried sour cherries. For Whole30 I think this would be delightful tossed with mixed greens, grilled chicken, avocado, and some grapes or fresh orange segments. Maybe cucumber and red bell pepper, too. It came together quickly and was fun and different from my normal default of olive oil & balsamic vinvegar.

Whole30 Orange Poppyseed Dressing

Juice & zest of an orange
1/4 c. red wine vinegar
1/3 cup extra light olive oil
small-medium shallot. (I had a huge one and used a quarter of it.)
1 T good mustard. (If doing Whole30 it should be free of sugar and wine.)
salt & pepper to taste
1-2 teaspoons poppyseeds. (I added a little at a time until it looked right.)

Wizz everything but the poppyseeds in the blender or food processor. When it's emulsified, add the poppyseeds and pulse once, just to mix. Taste it, add more salt and pepper and poppy seeds if necessary. If it needs more brightness or acidity, add a sploosh more red wine vinegar. With natural ingedients, your mileage may vary.

Edible Gifts: California Olive Ranch Olive Oil

by Elissa

So, there is obviously no shortage of food-related gift ideas on this site lately (see, e.g., the exceptional gift guide), but I can't resist throwing another idea out there. The idea of giving nice olive oil (perhaps with some fancy vinegar) is hardly new, but I love the bottle of California Olive Ranch Olive Oil that I picked up at the grocery store the other day.

{photo credit: californiaoliveranch.com}

It comes in a beautiful, substantial dark green bottle that features olive shapes, and I love the illustration on the label. The olive oil tastes fabulous too--it's been great in salad dressings and on roasted vegetables. And the price was not unreasonable given the quality of the product and the packaging.

Lately I've read some disturbing articles about olive oil fraud that suggest that much of the "extra virgin" olive oil coming from Europe is not extra virgin and may not even come from olives. But this olive oil bears the seal of the California Olive Oil Council, which gives me some confidence that this is the real thing. And the company seems to take sustainability seriously, which is nice.

If you're looking for a consumable gift for someone who likes to cook or eat, see if you can find California Olive Ranch Oil at your local store (I found mine at Safeway). Or you can always orde online. Happy shopping and gifting!

Aloha from Oregon Pepper Jelly FTW!

By Dani

I discovered Aloha from Oregon products last week in a wine company tasting room, and they are now my snacking obsession.

My favorites are the Apricot Pepper Jelly and the Raspberry Pepper Jelly--a scrumptious blend of sweet, savory and crisp--the perfect compliment to rich cheeses or dips. If you're going to a little Christmas party and need a hostess gift, I think they'd be great for that, and who doesn't need more food at the holidays? (Kidding. Kinda.)

Anyway, order online or try your local gourmet market for Aloha from Oregon products... you won't regret it.

(Photo credit: Aloha from Oregon)

Foodie Gift Idea: Sampler Packs!

By Jennie

This past spring, I was looking for a birthday gift idea for my kind of hard to shop for brother-in-law. I knew he liked Whiskey, but he's a busy father of three and a full handle just seemed like something that would sit on the top of his fridge, collecting dust. I thought up the idea of a mini-bottle Whiskey sampler, and it was a huge hit. I basically bought any mini-bottle at my local liquor store, and told him to enjoy one (or all of them) after a stressful day.

I drew the same brother-in-law for our family's gift exchange this year and thought I'd re-create something similar. A hot sauce sampler!

So far, I have:

Trader Joe's Jalapeno Hot Sauce

Louisiana Hot Sauce

Sriracha

Clancy's Fancy

Any others I'm missing that should be included?

Also, what else would make a good sampler pack as a gift? Mini bottles of champagne? Craft Beer? Olive Oils? Anything I'm missing!

Dairy Free Ranch Dressing

By Jessica

When I mentioned, recently, that I had found a dairy free ranch recipe that I was happy with? That was mostly true. I started with this recipe (from food.com) which had good ratings and I made it a few times, so I was happy enough with it but I am rarely totally happy with anything until I tweak it and make it my own.

Last night I made it again and didn't measure anything but the milk (I used unsweetened coconut) and the mayo. I also use apple cider vinegar to achieve the faux buttermilk and have from the beginning so that isn't new for me either. From there, I added all the basics: dill, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, black pepper, dried chives and parsley. My tweaks? Cayenne pepper, minced dried garlic, dried onion, celery seed and a tiny bit of maple syrup. Hand's down this is THE BEST ranch dressing I have ever had. Dairy or no, it doesn't matter. I would totally lick it right off a spoon.

*Note: if you wanted this to be fully vegan, you could use veganaise for the mayo.

How do you make your ranch dressing?

(Photo from: Kumquat Blog)

Trader Joe's Cookie Butter

By Julie

We’ve just returned from a cross country road trip, which included not one, but two visits to Trader Joe’s. The second was at the behest of my seven year old. Clearly, I’m raising him right.

Our haul included an item I’ve been reading about on Twitter for some weeks: cookie butter. Come on, those are two of my favorite things! I had to try it.

Oh my. This stuff is heaven in a jar. It’s a smooth, peanut buttery spread that truly does taste like blended cookies (to me, sometimes it’s sugar cookies, sometimes it’s gingersnaps, always it’s delicious). I’ve been using it as a dip for apple slices and a topping over vanilla ice cream, as well as trying very hard not to eat it straight out of the jar with a spoon (and failing).

Certainly, cookie butter does not have many redeeming healthy qualities, but I love finding something new to have as a treat. I can’t wait to come up with some recipes I can make with it. So the next time you find yourself in Trader Joe’s, I highly recommend picking up some Speculoos Cookie Butter. Yum!

{Photo Credit: traderjoes.com}

Summer Berry Dip: Balsamic Vinegar Reduction

By Dani

I shop at Costco, which means that I buy roughly 10 pounds of strawberries every time I think "hey, a strawberry sounds good!"

Maybe I should work on that. 

Anyway, I had a ton of strawberries in my fridge and so I made this tart for a party the other night, but it seemed a little boring. 

So, in a spirit of adventure, I poured a couple of cups of Balsamic Vinegar into a saucepan and started heating it up with about a half-cup of brown sugar and a tablespoon of honey, having read somewhere that it might be tasty. (If you can tell, I'm not very good at thinking through my cookery before getting after it. I just wing it and pray for luck most of the time.)

After about 20 minutes at a gentle simmer, I had a thick, sweet and sour syrup that punctuated my tart nicely and now has become my favorite dipping sauce for all my summer berries. My recipe made plenty extra, so I've been drizzling a bit over fruit salads and dipping my strawberries into it and wondering where it's been all my life. 

Try it. Easy, delicious and perfect for summer desserts. 

My after-dinner treat: strawberries and glaze in a teacup. Photo by me.

Ketchup on the Side

By Erica H.

As you may recall, I will eat eggs in any form or fashion, in combination with a wide variety of other foods (any time of day, all day long, forever and ever amen). I am not picky about eggs. But when I have a specifically breakfasty-type egg, particularly one accompanied by potatoes of some sort, I find that I need a tomato-based condiment in the mix in order to properly enjoy it. Being in Austin, this tends to be salsa, and I usually don't need to specially request it because this combination is a given. But occasionally I find myself facing, say, a Western Scramble at the House of Pancakes and Flags, tomatoless. At which point I want some ketchup.

But for some reason I am extremely embarrassed by this. Why is that? "Could I get some ketchup?" I ask the server quietly, wincing a bit in an effort to convey, "I know. I know." My mother, sitting across from me at the Breakfast and Patriotism Hut this morning, didn't understand my condiment shame. "Why are you embarrassed to eat ketchup with your eggs?" she asked me, continuing in the same breath, "your grandmother considers it very low class." Yes, well. I suppose it's something along those lines. I just felt...tacky. And keep in mind I was sitting in an establishment whose motto is "We Really Love Flags."

A few possibilities: 1) There are certain regions of the country where ketchup is very popular, and mine is not one of them, making me feel like an outlier, 2) Pouring ketchup on something is soooo uncooly American, just like stomping around Europe in sneakers and jeans, 3) I am actually embarrassed any time I request something "special" in a restaurant because it requires a) drawing attention to myself and b) speaking to humans, or 4) Putting ketchup on eggs is insanely and objectivey trashy.

So what do we think? Is this feeling justified? Are you all horrified by me and my vulgar breakfast heap, smothered in sugary tomato sauce? Does it make it better or worse that I will also dip almost anything in ranch dressing if given the chance?