Green Options » dairy free

Vegan Ice Cream Challenge: Review Roundup

Becky Striepe — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 03:30:42 +0000

Summer is starting to wind down, and it’s time to say goodbye to weeks of eating far, far too much delicious ice cream. Thanks for all of the great comments and suggestions. You guys really helped take this challenge to the next level!

After six weeks of grueling, scientific research, here is my favorite flavor and the runner-up:

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The Veg Bag Game: Roasted Tomato Zucchini Bread Soup

Mei Li — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 21:17:17 +0000

One of my favorite parts of the week is picking up my Growing Communities veg bag from Hackney City Farm. As I’ve written before, a veg bag is the British equivalent of a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) box, filled with organic and mostly locally grown produce. Following a veggie burger as well as carrot potato pancakes, I’m doing more fun kitchen experiments figuring out how to use all the random vegetables that come my way. It’s the veg bag game! Can’t beat anything that combines games and food: two of my favorite things on the planet besides panda babies.

Growing communities is nice enough to include a recipe in the bags each week, which I’ve found to be a great starting point for figuring out what to make. It’s amazing how many dishes can be made based on what can often be found in your average kitchen - today I debated a pasta primavera and a stir-fried eggplant with brown rice - but decided to riff off the Courgette and Cheese soup recipe from the bag. The fun part of the game is playing with ingredients depending on what I’ve got lying around and seeing what deliciousness results. I didn’t have any cheese, but I did have cherry tomatoes and some verging-on-stale whole wheat bread so I tossed them both in for a texture similar to ribollita (a Tuscan soup made with stale bread). The bread makes it hearty, but it’s got the lightness of a vegetarian as well as dairy-free soup. Depending on what you’ve got lying around, you can make any adjustments as well. Enjoy!

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Meatless Monday: Vegan French Lentil & Portobello Burgers

Gina Munsey — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 15:06:15 +0000

Do you ever have an insatiable craving for a delicious, summery burger — but don’t want the autolyzed yeast extract and soy protein isolates contained in many commercial veggie patties? There’s no need to go without! You can make your own grain-free version using just a handful of healthy ingredients. Organic french lentils and fresh portobello mushrooms combine to make a nutritious, mouthwatering vegan burger.

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Wheatless Wednesday: Chocolate Cake Fit for a Gluten-free Queen

Gina Munsey — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 14:46:47 +0000

Summer is my favorite season. It’s the time of year for sunset barbecues and dinners on the patio, and for strings of tiny Italian lights and flickering Moroccan lanterns. Summer plays the beautiful hostess of longer days and breezy nights, polka-dotted sundresses, and peals of joyful laughter coming from children playing in the backyard.

There’s no better time than summer to indulge in a sliver of chocolate cake, so rich in contrast to the simplicity of the gingham tablecloth and the mason jars overflowing with wildflowers. This cake is made without using wheat, corn, or dairy ingredients, yet it is unmistakably, deliciously, chocolate.

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Wheatless Wednesday: Chalk it up to Cheese Alchemy — Garden-Fresh Pizza without Dairy or Soy Cheese

Gina Munsey — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 15:47:15 +0000

This twist on classic pizza ushers in summer with a tender gluten-free crust, garlicky oven-roasted tomato sauce and the zing of fresh herbs. You could top this with homemade mozzarella cheese or soy cheese, but what if you’re avoiding both dairy and the highly-processed soy isolates found in many cheese alternatives? Is it even possible to imagine – much less create and enjoy — a pizza without wheat and cheese?

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Wheatless Wednesday: Fruit-Sweetened Pineapple Muffins Put the “Fluffy” Back in Gluten-Free

Gina Munsey — Wed, 27 May 2009 19:02:36 +0000

Of the adjectives used to describe gluten-free baked goods, the word “fluffy” rarely makes the cut. Heavy, solid, crumbly, dry — yes, any and all of those. Those of us living sans gluten have gotten used to the slice-and-toast routine when it comes to wheatless breads. Fresh-out-of-the-oven-fluffy has all but vanished from our vocabulary. These fruit-sweetened beauties, though, change all of that.

For starters, the batter actually rose above and beyond the baking tin’s edge. When’s the last time you remember anything gluten-free doing that? These muffins even manage to disguise shredded fruits and vegetables without coming anywhere near the dreaded dense description.

Goodbye flat, vaguely muffin-shaped globules. It’s time to move on.

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Meatless Monday: Cucumber, Dill and Rice Salad with Tofu “Feta Cheese” Brings a Splash of Summer Flavors

Gina Munsey — Mon, 11 May 2009 20:43:56 +0000

Most of us have a love/hate relationship with dill. If you grew up on Scandinavian-inspired dishes, as I did, you no doubt have a fond appreciation for its distinctive flavors — I loved to feel dill’s feathery-soft leaves against my hand when exploring in my mom’s garden as a girl. On the other hand, if your only association with dill is soggy, sickly-green supermarket pickles, then you might not be quite so keen on the herb.

Often overlooked, dill — from the Norse dilla, meaning, “to soothe” — possesses surprising characteristics. Among its little-known superpowers are antibacterial and calming properties; the annual herb can be made into a stomach-soothing tea. Dill has been popular since Biblical times, and is even mentioned as a valuable commodity in the Gospels: “You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness.”

Traditionally used in food to season fish or as a balance to yogurt’s tanginess, dill can also be used to brighten this protein-rich, vegan-friendly, summery rice salad.

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Wheatless Wednesday: Herbert Hoover’s WWI Food Preservation Plan Inspires Meal Ideas [Recipe: Vegetable Patty]

Gina Munsey — Wed, 06 May 2009 20:26:49 +0000

Wheatless Wednesday, along with her currently more popular cousin Meatless Monday, were the brainchild of Herbert Hoover during World War I. Already active as a food relief administrator in Europe, Hoover was appointed to preside over the U.S. Food Administration in 1917, just before the United States entered the First World War. It would be twelve more years before Hoover was inaugurated as the 31st president of the United States, but by that time he was already a household name.

Hoover’s massive food preservation program encouraged Americans to reduce food consumption so that the food supply for the troops and war-torn Europeans would remain strong. The uniqueness of his plan– as opposed to later World War II efforts — was that Hoover’s program avoided rationing, while still successfully reducing American food consumption by 15%.

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Organic or Local? Eat Both with this Apple Blueberry Honey Yogurt Ginger Tart

Mei Li — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 21:42:55 +0000

Grocery shopping can be complicated when you’re trying to make ethical choices. You’re faced with a lot of difficult questions: Is it better to buy the organically grown blueberries trucked across the country from California or the conventionally grown apples from a local farm in Western Massachusetts? In my case, the more vexing question is ‘Why did you freaking move away from the organic AND local food paradise of San Francisco in the first place? But I digress.

Organic, Conventional, or Local? Knowing Your Options

I’m visiting my parents in Boston and decided to make a fruit tart dessert for a family brunch. I headed to Whole Foods, the closest grocery store with both organic and local produce options. No matter how you feel about the chain, it’s pretty cool that all their produce is helpfully labeled as ‘organic,’ ‘conventional,’ or ‘local,’ sometimes even with a profile on the farm of origin. It makes it easier to know what you’re buying, but it can still leave you standing dazed amid the Chilean grapes and California clementines, paralyzed by the complexity of options in front of you.

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Raw Chocolate Truffles

Amy Bell — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 19:03:50 +0000

Raw nuts are a healthy addition to any diet, and in my house we go through them almost faster than we can buy them. They’re a great snack on their own, added to recipes, or turned into milk.

Every week after I’ve make homemade nut milk (our favorites are almond or Brazil nut) I’m left with nut pulp I’ve strained out of the milk mixture.

This pulp (which by the way can be frozen for later use) is great when dried and ground into nut flour, or used in recipes like the raw truffles my family enjoys so much.

This recipe is quick, easy, healthy, and delicious!

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What’s for Breakfast? “GIR-reat” Gluten-Free, Corn-Free Waffles

Gina Munsey — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 16:41:14 +0000

If you’ve ever seen an episode of the canceled Nickelodeon show Invader Zim, you’ll undoubtedly know that Zim’s robotic pet, GIR, loves waffles. He always seems to be cooking up a batch of them at the most inopportune moments. As my fridge never seems to be without a ready-to-go bowl of waffle batter, I can definitely relate to GIR’s waffle obsession.

But unlike GIR, who has only a vague idea of what he’s put in the batter (What’s in ‘em?” Zim asks in one episode. “There’s waffle in ‘em,” GIR responds), I can vouch for every single corn-free, gluten-free, dairy-free, wheat-free ingredient. Plus, the recipe is so versatile, you can practically customize the waffle to your morning mood.

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Wheat Free, Dairy Free, Gluten Free, Vegan Lunch Box: Healthier Eating

Jamie Ervin — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 17:37:21 +0000

Our kids take packed lunches daily. We do this for a multitude of reasons… Celiac disease which mandates a gluten free diet, dairy allergies which means no milk or milk protein. For two of our children, we end up packing wheat free/dairy free/gluten free/vegan lunches. The other two get wheat and dairy but otherwise vegetarian lunches.

Another reason we pack lunches for all our kids is to ensure they eat healthier and so that I can see what they are actually eating on a day to day basis. The leftovers come back home, so they can become snacks.

We do spend time brainstorming lunch ideas… the kids never complain but I get bored of packing the same foods over and over.

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World Peace and Chocolate: sweetriot creates morsels of goodness

Gennefer Snowfield — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 15:37:43 +0000

What if you could promote peace, foster a multicultural world, support local artists, help underdeveloped countries thrive and save the planet just by eating deliciously rich and organic chocolate candies?

Well, thanks to Sarah Endline, the creative genius and cacao bean extraordinaire behind sweetriot, you can. Oh, and did I mention that the chocolate candies are actually good for you, and rich in health benefits? I know it seems to good to be true, but Behind the Burner gave me the amazing chance to speak with Sarah who shows us how a sweet tooth and a passion for change can make anything possible.

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