Green Options

There’s so much more to the wonderful world of noodles than old-world durum semolina pasta. And no, I’m not talking about substituting stringy spaghetti squash or strips of summer squash for pastalicious goodness.  Did you know there are gluten-free noodles made from rice, soy protein, quinoa, and even sweet potato starch?

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.

Many people have never heard of teff, but this unique gluten-free grain dates back to the age of the pyramids.  Most often ground into flour to make injera, a fermented flat bread, teff has served as a primary food source in Ethiopia and Eritrea since approximately 3000 B.C.  Despite its enduring history as an African staple, teff’s presence in America is less than forty years old. In the 1970s, an entrepreneurial farmer observed a parallel between the weather of Idaho’s Snake Valley and Africa’s Great Rift Valley, and began successfully cultivating teff in the United States.

Individual grains of teff are extremely small, just 1/150th of the size of a kernel of wheat.  When cooked as a hot cereal, the tiny grains –  comparable to the size of a poppy seed — create a deliciously smooth texture.  In fact, the taste and consistency of teff porridge is more like cream of wheat than any other gluten-free whole grain I’ve prepared.

When you see teff’s impressive nutritional profile, you’ll see why it provides a compelling case for adding this gluten-free grain to your diet.

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.