gluten free Archives

Yoga in The Kitchen

Oct 19 by Chef Hollie Greene Leave a Comment

Good cooking and nutrition should be a lifestyle- that’s the basic premise behind what we do here at Joyfoodly. Is it any surprise that Anna Yoga and Ayurveda share many goals in common. Here to share her thoughts on practicing yoga in the kitchen and to share a favorite recipe is Kajal Dhabalia of WholesomeSoul.com. Her chickpea flour and rice patties feature spinach and onions for a delicious vegetable kick, but can easily be adapted to any number of fresh in season vegetables year-round. -Chef Hollie

Have you ever finished a yoga class feeling grounded, quiet and joyful….and wishing you could feel like this all day long? As someone who spends a lot of time and effort on her yoga and meditation mat, I’ve learned that some of the best ways to continue my practice off the mat is through my diet and lifestyle.

The ancient yogi’s of India thought about everything in the context of how things influence our bodies, our minds and ultimately our consciousness. In fact, many people don’t know this, but there’s a whole branch of yoga called Anna Yoga– a science devoted to food for health and happiness. Combined with Ayurveda (the Indian Science of Healing), Anna Yoga and Ayurveda provide great resources for striving yogi’s who want to have a strong yoga and meditation practice…because food after all, is an amazing tool.

Food not only satisfies our hunger, but it replenishes our blood supply, helps us heal and influences the stability of our mind. Yogic cooking does not dissect food into vitamins, minerals, protein, but rather it shows that the true benefits of whole ingredients can be experienced only when they are NOT isolated and are kept true in their natural form as possible (i.e. preservatives, additives, processed foods). They explain that the most vital component to true health is to have a fresh and balanced diet so that all the faculties of digestion can work smoothly.

The core intentions of Anna Yoga + Ayurveda are:

Every body has a different constitution; therefore, not all food is made for every body. To learn what your constitution is, click here: https://www.ayurveda.com/pdf/constitution.pdf
All foods have various qualities of prana (energy) that stimulate the mind/body in different ways. To learn more about basic ayurvedic food guidelines, click here: http://www.ayurveda.com/pdf/food-guidelines.pdf
Food should be easy for the body’s digestion to work smoothly—absorption, assimilation and elimination.
Meals should consist mainly of fresh fruits & veggies and whole grains.
And, developing the understanding and awareness that, we truly are what we eat; so to be conscious of what we put into our bodies.

Hand in hand with becoming more mindful of what we put in our bodies, is the importance of being conscious of the people, places and things we surround ourselves. Just as the food we eat affects us, what we fill our lives up with soaks into our subconscious. For example, good company can inspire us to live well, a meaningful piece of art can serve as a daily reminder of something positive and an uplifting book can put a spark of magic into your day. These little but big doses of inspiration can directly and indirectly shape our perspectives, nourish our faith and foster our own personal growth.

So, here’s to taking your yoga practice off the mat and into your daily life…one bite at a time ☺.

One of my favorite go-to recipes is my Chickpea Flour and Rice Patties. Basically, they turn out like mini, eggless, omelets; easy, delicious and very nourishing. ENJOY!

Chickpea Flour & Rice Patties

2015-10-13 17:47:58

Serves 4

Save Recipe

Ingredients

4 cups cooked rice
1 cup garbanzo bean flour
1 cup yogurt
1-1 1/2 cups water
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoon ginger, finely grated
1 teaspoon jalapeño, finely grated
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
3 cups spinach, finely chopped
1 1/2 - 2 teaspoon salt (salt to taste)
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 teaspoon red chili powder
1/4 teaspoon asafetida or ½ cup finely diced onions

Instructions

In a large bowl, place garbanzo bean flour, yogurt and water and beat until smooth.
Add turmeric, red chili powder, asafetida and salt to the batter and mix. Then, add ginger, jalapeño, spinach, cilantro and onions and combine again. Add then fold in cooked rice.
Place a non-stick, medium size skillet on medium heat and place 1 teaspoon of oil on pan.
When oil is heated, place 1/2 cup mixture on skillet, flatten out patty a little, if necessary.
*BE PATIENT and allow to cook 4-5 minutes on each side. I like to wiggle the spatula underneath every so often just to ensure the patty isn't sticking, but make sure to be very gentle.

Notes

*It is very important to keep the skillet well greased so that the patty does not stick.
VEGAN NOTES | Just omit yogurt and add extra water in batter for pancake batter like consistency.
GLUTEN FREE NOTES | Totally gluten free!

By Kajal Dhabalia

JoyFoodly http://www.joyfoodly.com/

BIO | Kajal Dhabalia

Kajal Dhabalia is a graphic designer by trade, and at heart a devout lover of yoga, food and art. Basically she loves all things creative and spiritual. When she’s not cooking or doing yoga herself, she runs an online creative design boutique called Wholesome Soul (www.wholesomesoul.com) where she offers an uplifting collection of original art pieces, prints, and other home related goodies, while also sharing a few of her favorite recipes in between.

Since she knows that most of us can’t stay on our yoga mats all day, her mission is to help people stay inspired—off the mat and into their daily lives.

Find Kajal at:

Website: www.wholesomesoul.com
Instagram: https://instagram.com/kajaldhabalia/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Wholesome-Soul-by-Kajal-Dhabalia/272191999486604

Guest feature with the Vegetarian Momma–Sweet n Spicy Eggplant Pasta

Aug 17 by Chef Hollie Greene Leave a Comment

eggplant easy 0

This week, I’m over the moon thrilled to have my Sweet n Spicy Eggplant Pasta recipe from the Joyful 12 featured by the Vegetarian Momma on her beautiful site. What I love most about Cindy’s site is that she’s dedicated to helping families feel confident that they can cook real foods that are allergen friendly (primarily gluten and nut free), vegetarian focused, and easy for busy families. Her approach is to have joy in the cooking process, and that’s how I know we’re kindred spirits!

eggplant easy 1

This recipe was created as a “throw-it-together” simple seasonal meal. It’s based in my love of Italian cooking and the beauty of convenience plus bright flavors. Head on over to Cindy’s site to get the recipe, and if you’d like to learn more about my Joyful 12 Online Kitchen Learning Lab where we explore cooking 48 vegetables and fruits through family friendly recipes and videos over the course of a year together (all gluten free!), start cooking now with this 50% off coupon code: joyfoodlyfriends

Chicken Tagine: Cooking Like a True Moroccan

Jul 13 by Chef Hollie Greene Leave a Comment

If you can make a pot roast, you can make chicken tagine. Believe me when I say that Moroccan cooking is as easy to learn and embrace as our own favorite one-pot family meals. At least, that’s what I learned from my cooking class with Chef Tarik Ait Yahya at Atelier De Cuisine, an organic farm and cooking school just outside of Marrakech, Morocco, this past June.

I’d admit it. At first I was skeptical of this prearranged cooking class. If you’re nodding your head with me now, then I know for sure you’ve done the cheesy holiday cooking class. As a chef, I’m always entertained, but generally, I find them dull and very hands-off. Not this time. We literally got our hands dirty.

photo provided by Atelier de Cuisine

But before I dive into the organic garden where we picked our produce, or the village walk, or fresh bread making or the various recipes we made, first let me paint the scene for you. Take a seat. Imagine you’re sitting down on a very colorful Berber carpet. Take your shoes off. First, there will be a tea lesson with our tea master, Hassan.

If you didn’t catch my post from last week, you’ll find that this was one of the six reasons I fell in love with Moroccan cuisine and culture. Not only did Hassan serve us one of the most elegant teas I tasted while visiting Morocco, but he also taught us the six essential steps to making delicious mint tea…

Add loose leaf green tea to a small tea pot. For 3-4 people, about 3 teaspoons.
Add hot (basically lightly simmering) water mid-way up the pot.
Put the pot back on the charcoal (or in our case the burner) for about 4 minutes or until it boils. Take it off the heat at this point.
Add your herbs (mint primarily but you can also use lemon verbena, lemon grass, absinthe, sage, or marjoram as well), plus sugar (about 3 cubes). The sugar keeps the mint from turning black and “burning.”
Do not use a spoon to mix! The Moroccan way it to pour a glass; then pour that glass back into the pot on top, which helps mix up the tea. Do this several times to get a good but gentle mix. Check on one of the last pours that you’re getting good bubbles when you pour the tea. Hassan says that means the sugar has melted.
Hold the pot close to the glass and then get higher and higher away until you’ve poured a frothy cup of tea (big foam!). And say, “bisaha” as you toast your friends, which means “good health” in arabic!

Atelier de Cuisine, Jardin Potager Bio, was started by Chef Tarik Harabida, a culinary veteran with 27 years in the industry. He had a dream of teaching visitors how delicious and healthy his cuisine was by bringing them to a self-sustaining organic vegetable garden where they could pick their ingredients, work as a team, and learn the fundamentals (with a modern twist or two) of cooking like a true Moroccan at home. What I love most about this organic teaching farm and cooking school is that it gives women of the village sustainable work–making local cheeses and breads served at the class, among other ways they support one another.

What made our class truly memorable was the way our teacher, Tarik Ait Yahya, made us feel confident that we could master his cuisine by breaking it down into 4 easy-to-remember spice combinations. That was all we needed to know for the day to master the recipes we’d be making. Wait for it. You will fall off your chair when you hear this. Chicken tagine with preserved lemons and green olive has only two dried spices in the recipe besides salt and pepper. Can you guess what they are?!!

No, it’s not cumin or paprika or cinnamon or sumac. Ginger and turmeric–even I can remember that combo–is all you need! Well, of course we also flavored our dish with diced onion, fresh lemon juice, garlic, cilantro, parsley, and a pinch of salt and pepper. And it works. How do I know it wasn’t just a crazy vacation memory? I tested the recipe this week in my home kitchen. To the best of my vacation memory it went like this…

First the chicken goes into the tagine. Don’t make the mistake I did back at home and ignore Tarik’s suggestion to use a mix of pieces. Go for dark meat cuts + the breast. Dark meat is where the flavor’s at ya’ll.

Then, you top it with your diced red onion, minced garlic, lemon juice, spices, and a few heaping pinches of cilantro and parsley.

And as I shared last week, make it look beautiful since Moroccans eat with their eyes first, by topping it with your preserved lemon slices, olives, and a little sprig of parsley.

In just 45 minutes, without fuss or stress, you’ve got a succulent and tender chicken tagine that’s oozing with flavors that make you feel like you’re on a Mediterranean island (and in our case in Morocco, with sweltering heat)! The dish is sublime as is, or you can serve a simple couscous on the side to sop up all of those succulent juices at the bottom of the tagine.

And of course, if we’re really cooking like true Moroccans, there will be plenty of beautiful vegetable sides to complement our meaty dish. But I’ve got to save some of this deliciousness for my post next week when I’ll be sharing Tarik’s favorite Moroccan summer salad of charred green peppers and juicy summer tomatoes.

Chef Tarik’s Preserved Lemon Chicken Tagine

2015-07-07 13:49:49

Serves 4

Adapted slightly (based on my memory) from the original recipe we learned from Chef Tarik Ait Yahya at Atelier de Cuisine outside Marrakech, Morocco

Save Recipe

Prep Time

15 min

Cook Time

45 min

Total Time

1 hr

Prep Time

15 min

Cook Time

45 min

Total Time

1 hr

Ingredients

Chicken (skinless), four pieces of white and dark meat
Red onion, 1
Ground ginger, 1 tsp.
Turmeric, 1 tsp.
Salt, approximately ¼ tsp.
Black pepper, ¼ tsp.
Lemon juice from 1 lemon
Garlic, 2 cloves
Olive oil, 3 TBS.
Cilantro, ¼ cup
Parsley, ¼ cup
Preserved lemon, 1
Green olives, ½ cup

Prep

Take 5 minutes to get out all your ingredients, measuring and cooking equipment needed, and place them on a cookie sheet within easy reach.
Wash all produce.
Dice onion and set aside.
Mince garlic and place into a small bowl with the juice of the lemon.
Rough chop cilantro and parsley, and measure out the spices, and salt and pepper into a bowl.
Rinse preserved lemon under water to remove excess salt. Then cut into quarters and remove pulp, keeping the peel only.
Drain olives from their juice.

Cook

Place chicken into tagine first (meat side up).
Top with red onions.
Pour lemon juice and minced garlic on top.
Sprinkle fresh herbs, olive oil and spices next over the top.
Lastly, top with the preserved lemons and olives. You can add a few extra sprigs of parsley on top.
Over medium low heat, cook for about 10 minutes. Remove cover and flip chicken pieces over to ensure they’re getting heat on all sides. Add about ¼ cup water and mix together.
Continue cooking over low heat for another 35 minutes. About mid-way through this cooking time, flip and baste chicken again with the accumulated juices in the tagine.
Enjoy served alongside your favorite preparation of couscous and moroccan salads. To the top of our couscous, we’ve added some caramelized onion and about ¼ cup of rehydrated yellow raisins I cooked in a pinch each of cinnamon, cayenne, sugar and water--for a little extra fun.

Cooking note

When we tested this dish back in my home kitchen, we made the mistake of only using two bone-in chicken breasts. Our tagine is quite small, and this fit perfectly. However, I’d always advise a mixture of dark and white meat to provide maximum flavor for this dish. Next time, I’ll be going for 4-6 chicken thighs vs. two chicken breasts. Dark meat has more flavor! In addition, really watch the amount of salt you put in your dish. Preserved lemons and olives are full of salt and flavor, without the need to add salt to this dish.

Cooking equipment

If you do not have a tagine, you can use a Dutch Oven. The conical shape of the tagine allows for moisture to circulate in a way that creates a deep flavor and holds the moisture in the meat. However, this is just a low and slow cooking method, which a dutch oven can handle well, as it holds a nice seal and conducts heat evenly.

By Chef Tarik

JoyFoodly http://www.joyfoodly.com/

The Rise of Gluten Free Romance

Jun 22 by Chef Hollie Greene Leave a Comment

Sadie is the founder of Bread SRSLY in San Francisco. She is also my friend and someone I look up to as a small business entrepreneur who is passionate about her product and her customers. I first met Sadie at a local chefs’ meet-up here in San Francisco, but I’ll never forget when I first heard of her amazing gluten free sourdough bread from three moms on twitter. They told me I HAD to buy some that day, and I did. And I’ve been buying her bread ever since. Don’t miss Sadie’s discount offer below just for our Joyfoodly community and share it out to your followers!

-Chef Hollie

I’ve always worked with my hands. In college, I joined a team of students who were designing a massive Rube Goldberg machine – you know, the funny chain reactions that start with a cat pouncing on a mouse and end with a robot serving you toast. I was completely smitten with one of the project leaders, Jesse, who soon graduated and moved home to San Francisco. In fact, I was so smitten that in 2009, I followed Jesse to San Francisco. I was determined to win his heart!

Unfortunately, the feeling was not mutual. But that didn’t stop me. If college had taught me anything, it was this: if you bake it, they will come. Jesse had just gone gluten-free, so I got to work experimenting with new ingredients: sorghum flour, sweet rice and buckwheat to name a few. Many of my attempts ended up in the compost, but when one came out well, I would ask Jesse to come try it. A few months later, I learned that I was pretty seriously gluten-intolerant myself!

I redoubled my efforts in the kitchen, focusing on making the perfect loaf of gluten-free bread. And after many, many recipes, in August 2011, I had my first bread day. Friends came over in the evening to pick up their purchases, and to sweeten the deal, I began to deliver loaves on my bicycle. A few months later I was biking late into the night delivering orders.

What began as an effort to win Jesse’s heart quickly turned into something much, much more. Word spread. Friends told friends, who told colleagues, who told neighborhood groups, who told reporters, and on March 13th, 2012, a writeup in Daily Candy SF catapulted Bread SRSLY into a full-time business. With tons of help from some amazing friends, I began to send loaves out into the world week after week. And, all deliveries were made by ladies on bikes. Most weeks I biked 100 miles delivering my bread. And as for Jesse? Eventually my baking paid off, he helped me build my own cargo bike to cart my larger orders around town, and we’ve been together ever since.

We’re no longer in my Cole Valley kitchen, where I started in 2011. Now, we bake out of Ledbetter Bake Shop‘s kitchen in the Dogpatch’s American Industrial Center. Our bread has brought sandwiches, fancy toast creations, Thanksgiving stuffing and the tasty tang of sourdough back into the lives of gluten-free folks across the country, and we couldn’t be prouder. Our customers are the reason we love what we do.

One of the greatest things about our bread is that it can be used in all kinds of recipes! One of our favorite things to make with our bread are golden, toasty croutons. They’re perfect for any salad. Hope you enjoy this recipe!

Sadie Scheffer: Baker, cyclist and owner of the San Francisco-based gluten-free sourdough bread company, Bread SRSLY.

Bread SRSLY has kindly provided us with a promo code for 10% off orders for their gluten-free bread. If you’re in their shipping region (the continental US), use the promo code JOYFUL2015

One of the easiest ways you can get a yummy green on the dinner table each night is to make a simple salad with your kids. I’ve yet to meet a child that didn’t love a good basic lettuce salad. Sadie’s croutons are the perfect crunchy topping to make your summer salads even more delicious. And if you find that you tend to get into a salad rut, as I do, have fun exploring different greens and toppings in our guest post by Michelle on how to Build Your Own Salad that’s rockin’!

Amazingly Simple Strawberry Rhubarb Gluten Free Crepes

May 14 by Chef Hollie Greene Leave a Comment

Thin and delicate, coated with a gentle amount of melted butter and overstuffed with sweet seasonal compote, that is the crepe I know well. It’s more than a thin pancake. It’s a delightful treat that’s simple yet complex and beloved across continents.

The crepe, for me, is a story of my year living in France. It’s when I discovered that other cultures knew the art of living well through the foods they ate and how they chose to eat them. Time spent at the table with the French family I lived with was my daily treat, and the full-fat mountain cheeses, yogurts, and seasonal treats I learned to enjoy broke me of a trend that was sweeping my own nation—fast, convenient, and void of taste. It was the mid 90’s and back at home we were in full swing calorie counting and dieting mode—void of pleasure and high on guilt.

My host mom was crazy. And I adored her. Most of the time, you could hear her yelling at her fifteen-year-old son for showering too often and not putting his fork and knife down between bites (both considered savage acts). But beneath this rough exterior, she shared with me her rich culture by teaching me the art of slowing down. It was with Charlotte that I learned once again to enjoy the simple treats in life, realizing that by investing just a little extra time and care into the products I was consuming I could change not only my health, but also learn to think of food as time spent with those I love.

Whenever I make crepes with kids today, I can hear Charlotte walking me through the steps. The kitchen lessons I can pass along to the kids in making crepes are numerous.

First, there’s the batter–not too thick and not too runny. Inevitably there will be some adjustments to make after testing the first crepe in the pan.

There’s the drop and swirl.

With just the right heat on the pan and a little butter, work quickly once that batter hits your pan–swirl, swirl, swirl with your wrist to coat the pan quickly!”

And then, we watch and smell. Have enough bubbles formed to let us know it’s almost time to flip? Can we smell that buttery, almost cookie like smell that tells us just the right amount of browning has happened without burning?

Maybe one of my favorite lessons about crepe making is that they will never be perfect.

In fact, the first crepe is usually the sacrificial one, and that’s to be expected so that you can test the temperature of the pan, if the batter is thin enough or needs more milk, and whether you’re using the exact amount of fat needed.

The more you make the crepes, the better you’ll get your technique down of swirling them quickly in the pan, waiting for the perfect amount of bubbles to appear before flipping, and when to take the flipped crepe from the pan to add to your growing stack.

In my home, we prefer a sweet stuffing over the choice of a savory one.

Classic French crepes may have cheese and ham, or Nutella, or just a simple jam sprinkled lightly with powdered sugar. With rhubarb and strawberries in our local markets, this week I’m filling my crepes with my sweet-and-tart Strawberry Rhubarb Compote—from my Joyful 12 Spring Classroom.

Every time I have the chance to pass along the joy of making the beautiful crepes from my French food adventure, I jump at the chance. After all, falling in love with the simple pleasure of food made and shared together is a gift we can all attain.

Amazingly Simple Strawberry Rhubarb Gluten Free Crepes

2015-05-12 10:54:42

Serves 4

Culinary Note: Yields approximately 4 cups cooked compote and 2-3 cups liquid rhubarb syrup. We love to use the extra compote on top of our oatmeal, to make ice cream floats, and on top of yogurt as a snack. The rhubarb syrup makes a very refreshing sparkling water drink as well.

Save Recipe

Prep Time

15 min

Cook Time

35 min

Total Time

50 min

Prep Time

15 min

Cook Time

35 min

Total Time

50 min

For the compote

Rhubarb, 2 lbs.
Strawberries (fresh), 2 quarts
Sugar (organic turbinado), 1 cup

For crepe batter

Whole organic milk, 1 ½ cups, room temperature
All purpose gluten free flour, 1 cup
Eggs, 2
Unsalted organic butter, 3 TBS, melted (plus extra for cooking)
Salt, ¼ tsp.
Powdered sugar, 2-3 TBSP (optional)

Prep

Take 5 minutes to get out all your ingredients, measuring and cooking equipment needed, and place them on a cookie sheet within easy reach.
Wash rhubarb and strawberries.
Take stems off strawberries and cut into quarters.
Remove any woody ends from rhubarb. For thicker pieces cut in half and then cut ½ inch pieces.

Cook compote

In a large soup pot, place strawberries, rhubarb and sugar.
Stir together.
Cover pot and cook on medium low heat for 20 minutes.

Prep crepe batter

Break eggs into a bowl; add salt and whisk together until eggs are yellow.
Measure gluten free flour; slowly add about half into egg mixture, whisking small amounts as you go to help fully incorporate into egg mixture.
Add the milk and whisk out the lumps; continue adding the rest of the flour and milk until you have a smooth batter.
Add the melted butter and whisk.
Cover the batter and place in the refrigerator until ready to use.

Bring it all together

When the compote has cooked 20 minutes, place a strainer over a bowl. Pour compote into strainer. Keep the juices that drain through, as they make great syrup.
Set aside enough compote for your crepes and store the remaining compote and syrup in containers in the refrigerator for up to a week.
In a pre-heated non-stick pan, add just enough butter (or your favorite cooking oil) to barely coat the pan. Pour 1/3 cup batter into pan and swirl to coat bottom.
Cook until edge of crepe is light brown and bubbles have formed, about 1-2 minutes. Loosen edges gently with spatula. Carefully turn crepe over. Cook until bottom begins to brown in spots, about 30 seconds. Transfer to plate. Cover with paper towel or wax paper.
Repeat with remaining batter, oiling pan as needed and covering each crepe with paper towel.
Fill crepes with rhubarb and strawberry compote. Sprinkled powdered sugar on top for fun!

By Chef Hollie

JoyFoodly http://www.joyfoodly.com/

Lemony Artichoke Mini Polenta Pizzas

Apr 27 by Chef Hollie Greene Leave a Comment

When I was just a little Southern girl who knew nothing about artichokes, my bonus mom Debbie, who had grown up in California, showed me the light. I haven’t met a vegetable since that tickles my heart so much. Peeling back those meaty leaves, one-by-one, to finally reach the golden heart of the artichoke was truly exciting and helped me see vegetables in a whole new light as a kid. To this day, it is one of my fondest memories. Dunking and dipping those leaves into a lemony homemade sauce was pure joy (and yes–it was Duke’s mayonnaise with some extra lemon mixed in–we’re Southern afterall)!

Nowadays, I always have jarred artichoke hearts in my pantry year round. They are certainly not the same as a fresh artichoke, but if I can’t find good chokes in season, I can at least relish their perfect hearts in my pastas and pizzas.

The thing about working with fresh artichokes is that you need just a little bit more time to prepare them, and I like to give families an option to still enjoy this seasonal spring vegetable but in a way that’s fast and easy. I love to work with polenta as my pizza base because its creamy texture is divine with the texture of artichoke hearts. It’s also a great way to create a gluten free version of pizza and not feel deprived in the least.

Whether you have small kids or teens in the house, this recipe is perfect for allowing each family member to cut their own mini pizza with a cookie cutter and decide how much of the sauteed topping and grated cheese they’d like to enjoy.

This spring, we’re lucky to have a high school senior joining our team to complete her Capstone project. Elena Dennis is one of the most inspirational young women I’ve ever met. She is the founder and director of a free summer cooking camp for kids, Camp Cauliflower, that teaches children in the Novato California school system how to prepare fresh, healthy meals that are delicious. I know the impact she’s had, as we had many of her campers in our Joyful 12 School Project this spring, and they were some of our most eager students.

Please join me in welcoming Elena to the team by leaving a comment on this post. And if you’re feeling extra generous, check out her Kickstarter campaign to make year two of Camp Cauliflower even more successful.

Lemony Artichoke Mini Polenta Pizzas

2015-04-23 14:11:59

Serves 4

Culinary note: you’ll need to make the polenta ahead, and let it sit in the refrigerator to cool and firm up for 30 minutes before you’re ready to bake these little mini pizzas. I like to make polenta as our starch for a meal and then use the leftovers the next day to make pizza!

Save Recipe

Prep Time

15 min

Cook Time

25 min

Prep Time

15 min

Cook Time

25 min

Ingredients

Polenta, 1 cup
Bay leaf, 1
Olive oil, 3 Tbsp. (divided)
Salt, 1 ½ tsp. (divided)
Black pepper, ¼ tsp.
Cheddar cheese, 5 oz. (divided), grated
Yellow onion, ½
Rosemary, 4 sprigs
Artichoke hearts, 11 oz.
Aleppo pepper (or red pepper flakes), 1 tsp.
Lemon, ½

Prep

Take 5 minutes to get out all your ingredients, measuring and cooking equipment needed, and place them on a cookie sheet within easy reach.
Place 4 cups of water, ½ -tablespoon olive oil, 1-teaspoon salt and the bay leaf in a medium sized pot and bring to a boil.
When the water comes to a boil, start adding the polenta slowly, like it’s raining.
When all the polenta has been added to the water, bring back down to a low simmer and keep stirring for about five minutes. Cover and let cook on low heat another 7-10 minutes (about 15 minutes total cooking time depending on how fine or coarse the polenta is that you are using).
To finish the polenta: turn the heat off and add 1/2 cup of the grated cheese and stir again. Check for seasoning; add ¼ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon black pepper. Pour the warm polenta out on a cookie sheet and spread until you have an even medium thickness shaped in a rectangle. Place in the refrigerator to speed up the process of setting the “crust.”
While polenta is setting, drain artichoke hearts from their can, chop rosemary, and dice onion.
Preheat oven to 450F.

Cook

In a preheated sauté pan, use 2 tablespoons olive oil and sauté diced onion with ¼ teaspoon salt and chopped rosemary for two minutes.
Add artichokes and Aleppo pepper flakes, along with the juice of ½ lemon and continue cooking another 2-3 minutes.
To make pizzas: 1) cut out polenta with a cookie cutter and place on a parchment lined cookie sheet, 2) spread some grated cheese on top, 3) top with artichoke heart mixture, 3) sprinkle a little more cheese and drizzle lightly with olive oil, and 4) you can sprinkle a little more fresh rosemary on top, as desired.
Bake for 12-15 minutes at 450F.

By Chef Hollie

JoyFoodly http://www.joyfoodly.com/

Three Delicious Ways To Cook with Winter Squash

Jan 12 by Chef Hollie Greene Leave a Comment

If you want to learn how to cook veggies your kids will demand, join my Joyful 12 Online Kitchen Learning Lab. You will learn over 100 family friendly, gluten and allergy free, recipes to love cooking and eating seasonal veggies every month of the year and improve the health of your children with JOY!

So often we don’t buy those beautiful yet strange looking winter squash varieties in the store for fear of knowing how to prepare them back at home. This week, I’m taking you through my favorite and easy ways to cook with winter squash. Have you ever considered making roasted squash the star of your pasta night?

Winter squash is easier and faster to prep than you think!

For the easiest way to prep a winter squash, big or small, don’t worry about peeling it before cooking. Just cut it into two halves, remove the seeds, and roast cut side down with a little olive oil and salt at 425F for 20-30 minutes. In my Joyful 12 Kitchen Learning Lab, I teach families simple techniques to prep 48 vegetables in a year, with short technique videos like the one below which shows you the easiest and safest way to peel and cube a butternut squash, so you know how to when your recipe calls for it!

Once you learn how easy it is to prep winter squash, you can save money instead of buying the pre-cut option at the store, and you’ll have more control over the size you cut the squash. Remember, if you cut it smaller, it will cook faster in the oven!

Roast it like a baked potato!

Small delicata squash often replace that baked potato on our family’s dinner plate. The cool thing about these little squash is that their skin is so delicate, you can eat it just like a baked potato skin. We love to top ours with a little yogurt and some crunchy pumpkin seeds.

Smash and stuff it into your favorite quesadilla!

Acorn squash are one of my all-time favorite varieties to use when I want a fast cooking squash that’s loaded with flavor. I like to scoop out the roasted flesh and mash it with some of my favorite spicy salsa to stuff my Roasted Winter Squash and Mozzarella Quesadillas, perfect for a hearty Meatless Monday meal!

Make it the star of your pasta night!

In my Brown Butter Roasted Squash Pasta with Chicken Apple Sausage recipe, I utilize the easy technique of roasting squash and turn it into a meal by making a simple brown butter sage sauce and tossing it altogether with some gluten free noodles and pan seared chicken apple sausage. What’s great about this pasta is that it’s heavy on winter veggie nutrients and while a butter sauce may sound heavy as you’re looking for ways to eat well in the New Year, this sauce is homemade with only 3 ingredients which are all organic (omega-3 rich butter from grass fed cows) and full of flavor (fresh sage and ground nutmeg).

Brown Butter Roasted Squash Pasta with Chicken Apple Sausage

2015-01-07 12:36:02

Serves 4

Save Recipe

Prep Time

15 min

Cook Time

35 min

Total Time

50 min

Prep Time

15 min

Cook Time

35 min

Total Time

50 min

Ingredients

butternut squash, 1 medium
unsalted organic butter, 1 stick
chicken and apple sausage, 2 links (fully cooked)
sage (fresh), 6 leaves
olive oil, 1.5 TBS (divided)
salt, 2 tsps (divided)
pasta shells (gluten free), 1 box (8 oz)
parmesan cheese (grated), ½ cup

Prep

Take 5 minutes to get out all your ingredients, measuring and cooking equipment needed, and place them on a cookie sheet within easy reach.
Peel and cut squash into cubes. If you’ve bought pre-cut squash, make sure the pieces are not too big. If needed, cut those in half quickly.
Cube the stick of butter and set aside in a small bowl. Culinary note: cubing it allows you more control than dumping one big piece of butter in the pan.
Cut the chicken apple sausage into halves and then into half moon slices. Heat in a pan for 10 minutes with ½ tablespoon olive oil, to brown.
Stack sage leaves on top of each other. Roll them up like a cigar and then cut across making thin strips. You can further cut into smaller pieces if you like.
Preheat oven to 400F. At the same time, bring a large pot of water to a boil (to cook the pasta shells).

Cook

Toss cubed squash in 1 tablespoon olive oil and 1 teaspoon salt.
On a parchment lined baking sheet, spread squash evenly so that they are not overcrowded.
Roast for 30 minutes, flipping them over after 15 minutes to allow multiple sides to brown. Set aside.
Once the pasta water has come to a boil, add pasta and cook to package instructions.
While the pasta is cooking, you have time to make your sauce.

Make brown butter sage sauce

Place cubed butter in a pan, over medium high heat.
Swirl the pan every so often. Look for the milk solids from the butter to start separating from the butterfat. They look like little milk clouds.
At this point, pay close attention with your nose and eyes, for the point when the milk solids will start to smell like roasting hazelnuts and small brown bits will appear at the bottom of the pan.
Continuously swirl the butter in the pan so you can see the color changing.
Trust your nose before you trust your eyes! This happens very fast and to avoid burning, you’ll want to err on the side of caution to pull the pan off the heat once you see the amber color brown bits in the butter.
Add chopped sage to the sauce after you’ve pulled it off the heat and swirl in the pan.

Assemble Pasta

Drain cooked pasta, place it in a big bowl with the roasted squash and cooked chicken apple sausage, and pour brown butter sage sauce on top. Mix together with 1 teaspoon salt.
We love this dish served warm with some shredded Parmesan cheese on top. Enjoy!

JoyFoodly http://www.joyfoodly.com/

The 52 New Foods Challenge

Oct 24 by Chef Hollie Greene 2 Comments

With Sweet Potato and Crunchy Kool Kohlrabi Fritters

What if I told you that with only one hour a week you could make big changes in the way your family eats–AND you would have fun in the process?

With a family food approach like cooking recipes, “easy enough for a five-year-old to make,” I knew something great came across my desk the day I received an email from Jennifer Tyler Lee about her new book, The 52 New Foods Challenge.

Like so many other parents, Jennifer was faced with a challenge of how to get her kids to eat healthy meals, and she took that challenge and made it a fun game, Crunch a Color®, that her kids not only embraced but mastered. Jennifer’s philosophy was that for change to stick, it had to be simple. And that’s exactly how The 52 New Foods Challenge came to be. In helping her own family take the positive changes they’d already begun to the next level, Jennifer created a yearlong challenge. Every week of the year, they’d take one hour a week to discover and cook together one new food–with every delicious brussel sprout, sweet potato, and persimmon they’d discover along the way.

When Jennifer asked me to be a part of her 52 New Foods blogger challenge and create a recipe that embraced her seven Core Principles, my taste for a fun food adventure was ignited! Through my Sweet Potato and Crunchy Kool Kohlrabi Fritters I’d love to share with you just a few of the principles I adore in her book and how you can embrace them, too, in your own kitchen.

Gateway Foods

I adore and use this principle often in my own teachings–those favorite foods that create safety when trying to branch out and try something new!

What’s an example of a gateway food?

In my fritter, the gateway food is a potato, in this case sweet potatoes. Other times I’ll make fritters with carrots and beets. The carrots are the gateway food, and the yellow beets are the new food we’re exploring.

How do you use gateway foods in your own home?

Jennifer suggests you pick those six Gateway Foods that will become your “culinary keystones” when you plan your meals and cook those gateway foods along with the new food your family tries each week.

Principle #7: Let Kids Lead

You know it’s true–the changes that last are those that we initiate ourselves. Kids are no different!

What does letting Kids Lead look like?

It all starts with discovery. Jennifer shares a wonderful story in the book of how a basket of figs and a desire to make a fig bar recipe, but with no scale, led her son to use his own creativity to come up with a solution that was both playful and effective.
Encouraging kids to explore food with all their senses: smelling, touching, and tasting each ingredient in the recipe creates positive experiences for kids with fresh foods. It’s not just the final taste of the dish that matters!
Kids come up with wild and wonderful recipes when they are left to explore on their own. In the case of these fritters, I’d let them decide whether they want to add both the brussel sprouts and the kohlrabi to the sweet potato fritter or just one or the other. Maybe they’d rather choose another green option, like green onions instead of brussels sprouts!

Principle #2: Cook Together

As Mark Bittman recently said in a talk I attended, “maybe the most radical thing you can do to help a person improve their health through food is to teach them to cook.”

But how?!!

I love reading Jennifer’s pre and post accounts of how she approached cooking with her kids: the former way was tidy and barely involved them in the prep, just the assembly. But her 52 New Foods way was about getting them involved in every step–not worrying about messes or perfection–just good old fashioned learning.
Measuring out ingredients, cracking eggs, or even stirring counts when it comes to cooking with kids. In my experience, kids love to grate veggies, which is why I love making fritters.
As Jennifer wisely outlines in this chapter about cooking together, start and end with safety and set rules, just like you would if teaching your child the safe way to use scissors for the first time!

Cooking really is a team sport!

I love that Jennifer suggests finding time the whole family can cook together. When I taught kids in the New York Housing Authority for six weeks at a time, often what I’d find was that there were so many other things the kids learned besides the skill of cooking. They learned teamwork, respect, time management, math, science, and the joy of preparing a beautiful and tasty dish that was good for them. What could be a better family activity than that?!

If you can’t already tell, I’m sold on The 52 New Foods Challenge. Jennifer wrote such a beautiful line in her intro that I’d love to share to hopefully inspire your family to take her challenge, purchase the book, and and begin to allow healthy habits to sink in and take root in your own family–one new food at a time.

The 52 New Foods Challenge planted the seeds of change at our family table. It has the power to seed change at your table, too.
-Jennifer Tyler Lee

Sweet Potato and Crunchy Kool Kohlrabi Fritters

2014-10-23 10:12:53

Serves 4

Save Recipe

Prep Time

20 min

Cook Time

15 min

Total Time

35 min

Prep Time

20 min

Cook Time

15 min

Total Time

35 min

Ingredients

sweet potato, 1
kohlrabi, 1 (green or purple)
brussels sprouts, 1 big handful (about 1 cup)
eggs, 2
all purpose gluten free flour, ½ cup
salt, ½ tsp
chinese five spice, ½ tsp
coconut oil, 2-3 TBS (divided)
sour cream with chives or organic unsweetened apple sauce (optional)

Prep

Take 5 minutes to get out all your ingredients, measuring and cooking equipment needed, and place them on a cookie sheet within easy reach.
Wash all ingredients.
Preheat oven to 300F and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
Peel kohlrabi and sweet potato.
Grate all the veggies on the large holes of a cheese grater into a bowl. Then, put vegetables in a colander and press with your hands to drain out any excess moisture. The kohlrabi is naturally quite moist!
Beat eggs in a bowl.

Cook

Mix together the grated vegetables, eggs, chinese five spice, salt and flour in a bowl.
Use a soup spoon to scoop out a fritter into your hand, smash it down to a flat circle and then transfer to the pan, using the spatula you used to mix the batter together.
Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a non-stick pan on medium high heat. You'll cook the fritters in batches (2-3 fritters at a time).
Cook fritters in pan for 2-3 minutes on medium high heat and then flip. Cook another 2-3 minutes on the other side.
Transfer finished batches to the lined cookie sheet, sprinkle a pinch of salt on the hot fritters and keep warm in the oven while you cook the rest of the batter in batches. Note: each time you're finished cooking a batch, turn the heat down while you're getting ready to scoop out the next batch so your pan won't smoke. Also add a little more oil to your pan before you cook the next batch and before you turn the heat back up to medium high. With each batch, the fritters will absorb some of the oil from cooking.
Enjoy with a dollop of sour cream or applesauce and top with cut chives.

JoyFoodly http://www.joyfoodly.com/

Abundance of Apples with a Nutty Chocolate Dipping Sauce

Oct 22 by Chef Hollie Greene Leave a Comment

JoyFoodly is delighted to create recipes each month for Whole Foods Market’s ‘Now in Season’ program. Be sure to look for our recipe cards in your Northern California stores, and don’t forget to speak with your Whole Foods Market produce person when picking out your fall apples. They always have the best tips and easy recipes—and often offer tasty samples.

Apples are amazing. In our country alone, there are over 2,500 varieties grown from New York, to Washington, to California. They are at their absolute most sweet, crisp deliciousness during fall, when they are in season, and just in time for some of our favorite food centric holidays.

I love helping kids discover the joy of exploring an abundance of apple varieties. Just because only fifteen varieties account for 90% of production, it doesn’t mean you and your child can’t go on an apple adventure–discovering local varieties like Gravenstein, Cameo, or Cinnamon Spice on your next trip to the market. Whether at the farmers market or my local Whole Foods Market in San Francisco, I always find new varieties that are local to my area that are the freshest, most flavorful, and often the most affordable to purchase.

One of the best ways to really taste the difference between apple varieties is by trying them raw, side-by-side. It’s a great way to teach kids taste vocabulary and make trying new foods fun. In this Huffington Post Cheat Sheet: Apple Variety Tasting Guide, they go through twenty-two varieties, using words like sweet, tart, perfectly crisp, bursting with juice, earthy, and great for baking to decipher all the delicious flavor profiles within this one fruit variety.

This fall, I’m having fun with my favorite snack by taking it up to a whole new level, with my homemade nutty chocolate dip. Whether you’re exploring apples for a new fruit dessert or just an almond butter sandwich, I’ve got a few tips on how to prep those apples with ease.

How to Prep Apples from JoyFoodly on Vimeo.

So the next time you’re buying apples for your family, branch out and try a new variety and see how delicious and fun eating local, in-season, produce can be. Thomas Jefferson may have brought the Fuji apple variety to America, but I bet he’d gladly try the 2,400 other varieties grown across this great nation today–and maybe even have an apple cider to wash ‘em down!

Abundance of Apples with a Nutty Chocolate Dip

2014-10-21 13:50:27

Serves 4

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Prep Time

5 min

Cook Time

20 min

Total Time

25 min

Prep Time

5 min

Cook Time

20 min

Total Time

25 min

Ingredients

apple, 3 (try a variety)
almonds (raw unsalted), 1 cup
chocolate chips (semisweet), 1 cup
sea salt (or finishing salt), 1 tsp

Prep

Take 5 minutes to get out all your ingredients, measuring and cooking equipment needed, and place them on a cookie sheet within easy reach.
Wash all produce.
Preheat oven to 375F.

Cook

Place nuts on a baking sheet. Roast nuts for 10 minutes in the oven. You can check around 8 minutes to make sure they are roasting (they will have a nice aroma) but not burning, as some ovens vary in heat strength.
Place roasted almonds in a blender. Pulse nuts, stopping periodically to scrape down the sides, until they are creamy. This will take up to five minutes. You’ll notice the nuts going from dry to creamy.
Add chocolate chips and pulse until combined, with a creamy consistency.
Add salt and pulse to combine.
Cut apples just before ready to eat and serve with a side of this amazingly rich and good for you homemade chocolate nutty dip.

Notes

Note on substitutions: any type of apple works for this yummy snack or dessert. Mix up different varieties and have fun with your kids to see which one is their favorite dipped in the chocolate dip. I am using a Maldon Salt I always have on hand, but a regular sea salt or whatever salt you have in your home will work! It really brings out the flavors in the dip and does not make it salty.

By Chef Hollie

JoyFoodly http://www.joyfoodly.com/

Crazy Cool Celery Root and Fall Apple Salad

Sep 25 by Chef Hollie Greene Leave a Comment

In my kitchen, vegetables rule. Take celery root for example. It’s gnarly, hairy, and by all appearances unattractive. But when you peel off it’s crazy exterior, you find the coolest, creamiest flesh underneath that’s divine in fall salads, veggie roasts, or hearty soups. When I get the chance to turn kids and adults onto fun new vegetable finds, like this past Wednesday at Whole Foods Market® San Mateo, where we made our Crazy Cool Celery Root Salad, I jump for joy.

Kids are natural explorers. When you set the right environment for exploration of fresh foods, kids will go there with you every time. I’m not saying they’ll love the taste of every last bite, but the sensory journey of smelling, touching, and hands-on preparation of the dish is totally something they are up for. At JoyFoodly®, we love partnering with like minded organizations who know this too, and who make it possible for kids to have positive experiences with vegetables and fruits to grow good eaters for the future. That’s why I was especially excited to teach our recent class to benefit Whole Kids Foundation. They are not only helping schools across the country build school gardens and fund salad bars in the cafeteria, but they are also inspiring and helping families back at home make the learning keep on going!

So when you make this Crazy Cool Celery Root Salad for your family, be sure to make it an adventure. Here are my tips for how to engage your kids to love exploring this cool fall vegetable and fruit salad back at home:

Touch, hold, and look at the ingredients

What do you notice? The celery root and apples are a cream color, so what other colors are we using to brighten up our dish? Dried cranberries!
How about any green? Yep–the tarragon and the chives.
Feel the hairy celery root–super cool or kinda weird? What about after we peel it?

Taste the ingredients separately

Have your kids smell things before they taste them. Smell the tarragon! What about the other ingredients? Does the apple smell? What about the celery root? Can you smell the nuts toasting in the pan?
Taste one of the ingredients your kids already know like an apple; then let them try a dried cranberry. Which is sweeter? Which is crunchy? Which is tangy?

Let your children help with the prep

Letting kids measure out and make the salad dressing is a great way to get them involved. Grab a mason jar and let them start shaking!
Kids can also tear herbs with their hands or sprinkle nuts and cranberries over the salad to decorate. Any involvement will build positive food experiences–regardless of whether they love the taste of the final dish.

Never prepared a celery root at home? Have no fear! In just under two minutes, I’ll teach you how to master this crazy cool vegetable.

How to Prep Celeriac from JoyFoodly on Vimeo.

Crazy Cool Celery Root and Fall Apple Salad

2014-09-23 14:17:12

Serves 6

Save Recipe

Prep Time

30 min

Cook Time

10 min

Total Time

40 min

Prep Time

30 min

Cook Time

10 min

Total Time

40 min

Ingredients

Celeriac (celery root), 2 small (or 1 large)
Apples (or can use pears), 2
Dried cranberries, ¼ cup
Walnuts, ½ cup
Chives, 1 bunch

Tarragon Yogurt Dressing

Plain Greek yogurt, 1 cup
Rice wine vinegar, 1 TBS
Dijon mustard, 1 TBS
Lemon, ½ (plus its zest)
Fresh tarragon, 2 TBS loosely packed (or dried, 1 TBS)
Honey (or agave), 1 TBS
Salt, ¾ tsp.
Pepper, ¼ tsp.

Prep

Take 5 minutes to get out all your ingredients, measuring and cooking equipment needed, and place them on a cookie sheet within easy reach.
Wash all produce. Celery roots are especially dirty. Be sure to wash them well and when removing their outer skin with a knife, you may need to rinse again after peeling off their dirty outer skin.
First make the tarragon yogurt dressing: combine all the ingredients for the dressing in a food processor or blender and pulse. Pour into a medium sized bowl.
Cut either end off the celeriac to create a flat surface. Use a knife to cut off the hard rind all around. Rinse before cutting further. Cut into med size pieces and grate on a cheese grater or for a quick grating using a food processor.
Place the celeriac in the bowl where you poured the dressing. It’s best if the celeriac can sit in the dressing for 15-30 minutes before serving.
Dice pears. You can leave the skin on or peel it.

Cook

In a dry pan over med high heat, toast the walnuts until they are lightly brown, about 3-4 minutes.
Add the diced pears and cranberries to the bowl of celeriac and toss together.
Crumble toasted walnuts with your hands once they are cool and add to the salad.
Cut and garnish the salad with some chives on top.

By Chef Hollie

JoyFoodly http://www.joyfoodly.com/

If you’re looking for more ways to cook simple, yet nourishing meals for your family, join my Joyful 12 Kitchen Learning Lab. It’s a members only course for busy parents and adults. We cook nine veggies and three fruits together each season with other families that are looking for time saving ways to cook great food for their loved ones. Join the Joyful 12.