Stone Fruit Crisp (GF, Vegan)

What in the world is "stone fruit"?! Fruit that has a pit, is basically the answer to that one. I like the mix of them all in this cobbler like crisp. It's not really a cobbler, and isn't really a crisp. So maybe it's a crisler? Or a cobbisp? At any rate, it's good, it's low glycemic (using agave and coconut sugar and gluten free WHOLE grain flours  and the peels still on the fruit, except the mango, make it so.) gluten free, vegan, and all those other great things! Did you know that gluten and especially wheat is a MAJOR contributor to blood sugar spikes and hypoglycemia? It is, so the more wheat-free, gluten-free things you can have, the better.

I made it again, and here is a better pic than the below cell phone pic

We chowed down on it before I remembered to take a pic, so it's a cell phone pic sorry!

Stone Fruit Crisp
Fruit Bottom:
2 pounds any combo of; nectarines, peaches, pluots, apricots, plums and mangos
1/4 cup agave nectar
1 tbs + 1 tsp tapioca starch (or arrowroot)


Crisp:
3/4 cup rolled oats
1 cup gluten-free flour mix  <--- click on the link if you don't already know of a good one or have some ready
1/2 cup coconut sugar
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
dash of nutmeg
big pinch of salt
1 ½ tbs coconut oil
1 banana, mashed

Cook in a 7x11 baking dish or equivalent

Preheat the oven to 400F degrees.

Cut the fruit into bite-sized, 1-inch pieces. Place the chopped fruit into the baking dish, drizzle agave nectar over fruit then sprinkle tapioca starch over and toss well, making sure all the starch is dissolved.

To make the topping combine the oats, flour, coconut sugar, and cinnamon together in a medium bowl. Stir in the oil, and then the banana and mix until everything comes together in a dough-like texture. Spread the crumble evenly over the fruit mixture.

Place the baking dish in the oven, middle rack, and bake for about 20-25 minutes, or until the topping has browned slightly and the tops are hardened.

Summer Kale Salad (Alkaline, GF, Raw, Vegan)

I haven't had many truly alkaline dishes posted on here lately, so here is a great one!  There are tons of kale salads around, and basically you can add whatever types of vegetables you want over the top, I think these go well though. The dressing is an awesome pair with kale, so even if you don't love the combo of these veggies, try the dressing over the kale. 

The salad before all of the the ingredients being tossed

The salad tossed

Salad is served!

Serves 4-6

Summer Kale Salad

1 bunch of kale (about 4-6 cups)

1 cup finely chopped sweet onion

2 small carrots, chopped or julienne sliced

1 red bell pepper, diced

1 English cucumber (2 cups chopped halves)

1 avocado, chopped or cubed

1 & 1/4 cup chopped tomatoes

¼ cup cranberries or other dried berry (exclude to make 100% alkaline)

¼ cup raw pepitas

fresh or dried herbs, personal preference (basil, cilantro and oregano go great!)

Dressing:

1/4 cup Tahini

3 garlic cloves

1/2 cup lemon juice (about 2 lemons)

1/4 cup liquid aminos

1 tbsp agave nectar (sub with 6 drops of stevia to be 100% alkaline)

2 tbsp water

2 tbsp Extra virgin olive oil

1 tsp real salt + black pepper, or to taste 

2 tbsp flaxseed

Blend all ingredients for dressing in a high powered blender. Dressing will thicken up in a few min, from the flax (intentionally). So after you blend it, if it seems thick already, you may want to add another tbs of water.

Rinse kale and tear into salad sized pieces and put into a large bowl. Marinate the kale in about half of the dressing, and make sure it gets all over the kale. Allow to sit in the fridge for at least 30 min. If you don't have time to let it marinade, before you put the dressing on, drizzle lemon juice over the kale, making sure that it's totally coated, wait for 5 min, then toss with dressing to serve after salad ingredients have been added.

When ready to serve, add salad ingredients over the top. Toss optional.

Lemon Sugar Cookies (vegan)

This is not my typical recipe, but I had a request from a friend to make lemon sugar cookies. So I made them vegan, and switched out stuff to be better versions of themselves if they were already vegan. However, not as quite as healthy as my usual things.  That said... these are soooooo good! I don't even know what to say about them other than, wow, I'm really glad that I was asked to make them. (I had never tried lemon sugar cookies before) Make sure to actually keep enough dough to cook some cookies, rather than just eating the dough!! They expand out while cooking, so make sure to space them well.

yum!!!

cookies rolled out and additional lemon-sugar over the top

The lemon sugar

finished cooking, they expand for sure!

Makes 36 cookies

1/2 cup turbinado sugar (or coconut sugar OR preferred dry sweetener), ground down to a fine powder
1 1/2 turbinado sugar (or preferred {recommended dry} sweetener), ground down to a fine-med powder
2 large lemons zested
1 cup vegan butter, (I used Earth Balance, soy free kind) or coconut oil at room temperature or slightly melted
2 tbs flax seed, ground
6 tbs warm water
2 tsp lemon extract
1 tbs lemon juice (from the freshly zested lemon)
2 3/4 cup whole spelt flour
1/4 tsp salt
2 tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp baking soda

First ground down flax in a coffee grinder then put into a little bowl with the 6 tbs of warm, mix and allow to sit for about 5-10 min.

Next make lemon sugar: Grind 1/2 cup sugar in coffee grinder, blender or food processor to make it a powder. Now add 1 teaspoon lemon zest into whatever you blended the sugar in, and grind/blend again. Pulse until lemon zest is fully mixed into sugar. Pour into a little bowl and get rid of any clumps then set aside.

Now mix flour, salt, cream of tartar and baking soda in a medium bowl. In another bigger bowl, cream butter with the other 1 1/2 cups sugar. Blend in the flax mixture, slowly. Add lemon extract, lemon juice and the rest of the lemon zest. Take the flour mixture and blend in, one cup at a time, making sure it's fully, until all flour is incorporated.

Chill the dough for about an 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 350 F. Roll the dough into tablespoon sized balls then roll in the lemon sugar. Put the lemon-sugar coated balls onto a greased cookie sheet. Press down with the bottom of a glass or plate until cookie is about 1/3 inch thick. They will expand, so make sure to separate them well. Bake cookies for 9-11 minutes. Let cookie cool on the pan for 5 minutes before taking them off the sheet and putting them on a cooling rack.

Summer-Fruit Quinoa Pilaf (GF, Vegan)

I was just using the fruits that I had in the kitchen and needed to use before they went bad. You can use almost whatever fruit combo you like, quinoa really lends itself to becoming a mixed dish. I've done this with mango, peach, plum & strawberry. I've also done strawberry, raspberry, blueberry, cherry and pretty much whatever in between. Cooking it with some apple juice gives the quinoa a bit sweeter taste, you can easily cook it without.

Serves4-6 (side servings)

1 cup water
1/2 cup apple juice
3/4 cup quinoa
1 cup chopped strawberries
1/2 cup cherries, pitted and chopped
1 peach chopped
1 plum chopped
2 tbs agave nectar (or sweetener of choice, like honey)
1/2 tbs lemon juice
1 tsp balsamic vinegar
1/2 tsp real salt
fresh ground pepper to taste
optional 1/4 cup pepitas

Bring the water and apple juice to a boil, then add quinoa and turn heat down to low, cover. Allow to cook for 20 min, remove from heat and allow to sit and cool for 10 min. Fluff quinoa and add it to large bowl with the other ingredients. Can be served warm or cold.

Rice Noodle Salad with Mango (GF, Vegan)

This is a great salad for the summer, it's a chilled salad that is mostly raw. Great way to use a bunch of herbs from your garden as well! I got this recipe from one that I found in Vegetarian Times Magazine in 2010 in the Farmers' Market Cookbook edition and made it to be my style. They come out with one annually that is in season eating great recipes for the summer. I just got their latest one, it's great!

Makes 6 servings

Dressing:
1/3 cup agave nectar
1/3 cup lime juice (or lemon)
1/4 cup bragg liquid aminos (or soy sauce)
1 TBS rice vinegar
2 cloves garlic, minced (about 2 tsp)
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

Salad:
6 oz dry rice-stick noodles
1 large carrot, julienned
1 1/2 cup sliced lettuce mix (or spinach if you prefer)
1/4 cup basil leaves, sliced
1/4 cup mint leaves, sliced
1/4 cup italian parsley leaves, sliced
1/4 cup cilantro leaves, sliced
1 medium cucumber, halved and sliced
1 green onion, thinly sliced
1 large ripe mango, cut into small cubes
1/3 cup raw pepitas (optional)

To make the dressing, combine all dressing ingredients and mix well

To make the salad: Soak the noodles in hot water for 15 min, then drain. Cook the noodles in boiling water for 5 min, then drain into a colander and rinse with cold water. Put into large bowl, and cut noodles with knife so break them up. Add in the rest of the salad ingredients and mix well. Top with 3/4 of the dressing. The rest of the dressing you can drizzle over the top when serving.

White Chocolate Chip Cookies (GF, Vegan)

These cookies are great! Very light and fluffy, no oil in them either! I got my vegan white chocolate chips from a place online, (here) but maybe you are lucky enough to have a store near you that sells them. If not, there are also some good recipes online of how to make your own!
homemade white chocolate recipe

Makes 15 cookies

1 cup GF flour mix* (or if you don't want them to be gluten-free, use spelt flour)
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup coconut sugar
1/4 tsp real salt
1/3 cup vegan white chocolate chips
1-2 tbs vegan chocolate chips (optional)
4 tbs agave nectar
2 tbs water
6 drops vanilla stevia
2 tbs almond butter
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 to 1/3 cup mashed banana (somewhere in between the two amounts)
2 tbs crushed almonds

*Baking GF Flour mix (thank you Sketch-free Vegan Blog for this great mix):
2 cups brown rice flour
2 cups oat flour - make sure the oats are pure (gluten-free)
1/2 cup buckwheat flour
1/2 cup ground flax meal (don't skip out on the flax meal it acts as a binding agent)


Preheat oven to 350F. Combine all dry ingredients up to the salt, mix in medium sized bowl. In another bowl mix together agave, almond butter, vanilla. Then add in the mashed banana, water, until fully mixed. Now add in the chips and nuts. Now combine with dry ingredients. If too dry add another tbs water. Scoop onto cookie sheet and cook for 11 minutes. Allow to sit on the cookie sheet for 1-2 min after out of the oven, then put onto cooking rack or plate.