Fresh Blueberry Pie, Yup No Oil, No Gluten

I've been picking blueberries from our little patch, one berry at a time for the past couple weeks. Just in the last three days the production has risen to a pint a day. This doesn't last long among our 4 tall and 2 low bushes, but it is the one moment all summer when I can even think about using berries by cupfuls. A rare occasional dinner with both our kids home prompted me to look up fresh blueberry pie ideas, the crust being the challenge. How to make a pie crust with no oil? Here's one way!

THE CRUST:

 

2 Tablespoons ground flax seeds
1/4 cup almond meal
1/2 cup potato starch
1/2 cup brown rice flour
2 pinches salt
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp "Truvia" - 9a stevia based sweetener with sugar) or other sweetener
1/4 cup +1 Tablespoon Plain Almond milk

Mix the dry ingredients well. Pour the milk into the middle and stir until it globs together, then take it in your hands and model it like playdough, until it forms a coherent ball of dough.

Put parchment paper into a 9" glass pie plate (use a nonstick if you have one, I don't). Press the dough ball into the center of the pan, working slowly pressing from the center to each edge, then pinching up the sides to form a pie plate shape. Cut off the extra floppy edges of the parchment paper, and bake at 350-375F for 20-25 minutes. The crust will be flecked and a bit crumbly but holds together fine. Let it cool, and then lifting it carefully by the parchment paper, slip it off the parchment and into a 2nd clean glass pie plate (or the same one if you can manage that).

THE FILLING:

2 pints of blueberries (or 5 cups)
2.5  Tablespoons cornstarch
3/4 cup sugar equivalent (I used 1/4 cup Truvia +2 Tblsps)
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cinnamon
2/3 cup water
2tsp-+ 1 tsp lemon zest OR 2 Tblsp lemon juice (depending upon how you like it)
1 tsp vanilla extract
(non-vegans can add a dab of butter)


In a medium saucepan mix dry ingredients: cornstarch, sugar, salt, cinnamon. Add the water and about 1-1.5 cups of blueberries, smashing some of the berries with a potato masher. Heat on medium high heat, stirring, until it comes to a boil. Stir constantly for about a minute until it gets very thick. It will keep changing color which is lovely to watch.

Remove from heat, add lemon juice, lemon zest (if you want) and vanilla. Let cool. You can cool it faster by setting the pot in a bowl or pan of cold water.
Once cool. Add another 1.5 cups of berries (or more) and stir them into the gloopy mix.

Spoon this gloopy filling into the baked crust. Cover the top with a layer of fresh blueberries and let this chill. Decorate this pie with anything you like -- a sprinkle of confectioner's sugar goes a long way. Serve with a dab of vanilla coconut yogurt or anything that tickles your blueberry pie fancy!

Veggie Black Bean Burgers

I've found a burger I really like - we ate them wrapped in lettuce after we covered them in dill pickle slices, ketchup, (relish on my husband's), onion slices and fresh summer tomato. Sorry I didn't photograph the process, but I was just not thinking that it would turn out as well as it did. So I'm posting the recipe, and next time I promise I'll add the way things looked as I go along. This started with a can of black beans (organic, low salt) drained and dumped in a bowl. It would need more salt if you cook your own black beans. I ended up with 7 burgers .. but you could fix that by making them all just a little smaller and get 8 out of it. We ate 3 between the two of us, and froze 4. (I'm so excited about that!)

Veggie Black Bean Burgers (makes 7-8)

Mash together in a medium sized bowl:
1 can black beans
1/2 cup finely chopped onions
1/4 cup roasted corn
1/4 cup chick pea flour
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp thyme
1/3 tsp salt

CHOP & THEN STEAM IN A STEAMER BASKET
Small bits but not too finely chopped:
1 small golden zucchini
1 medium-small carrot
1 small stalk of broccoli (1/2 cup?)
2/3 of a small sweet potato
(you could add a little mushroom... or red pepper ... or hot pepper)

Once this is softened, add it to the beans, and combine well.
ADD: 1/4 - 1/3 cup masa harina (flour made from roasted corn - Bob's Red Mill makes a nice one)

Spread about 1/2 cup masa harina on a plate, form patties and gently place one side and then the other in the corn meal. Cook in a non-stick saute or fry pan for about 10 minutes, turning gently. Cook less if you are going to freeze and reheat ... OH YUM!  I promise I'll show you how beautiful these were all wrapped in fresh lettuce and dressed up the way a burger should be!!

Veggie Black Bean Burger Nutrition Facts Serving Size: 1 Serving (118g) Amount Per Serving % Daily Value* Calories 96 5% Total Fat 1g 1% Saturated Fat 0g 1% Trans Fat 0g Cholesterol 0% Sodium 381mg 16% Total Carbohydrate 19g 6% Dietary Fiber 5g 21% Sugars 3g 0% Protein 5g 10% Vitamin A 11% • Vitamin C 20% Calcium 4% • Iron 10% * Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calories needs. courtesy of cronometer.com using my data.

New Pasta! Black Bean "Spaghetti Shape"

I recently discovered a new way to eat black beans, and a new way to enjoy pasta all in the same bite. It's a little out of the ordinary for me to talk up a particular product, but I'm loving this one and hope it sticks around a while.  This is a "spaghetti shape" that is made entirely of black beans, yes, organic and yes, gluten free.

What could be nicer than sauteed broccoli rabe and garlic on black bean spaghetti shapes? We ate them with grilled red peppers, yellow summer squash and oyster mushrooms, and a cucumber salad, but you could really put anything on these and be thrilled. The texture is wonderful! Flavor great! Protein content terrific! Calories from carbohydrates low! WOW!

I'm loving these new possibilities with "black bean spaghetti shape!"

We roasted some onion slices, button mushrooms, poblano peppers, grape tomatoes and yellow summer squash; tore up some fresh basil, and it was an instant delicious dinner with these noodles.

Since originally posting this, we made black beans and rice in noodle form! Rice sticks and black bean spaghetti shapes cook similarly in boiling water a few minutes, then rinse. You can do anything you want with this -- salsa and guacamole or fresh tomato, basil and fried onions -- but we had an amazing success by stirring in kimchee! What a marvelous dish!

Where to find them?  Well, I bought my first one at the Park Slope Food Coop in Brooklyn, New York but I bought a case of them from this link:  Plum Market!

Black Bean Spaghetti Shape (Noodle) Nutrition Facts Serving Size: 1 Serving (56g) Amount Per Serving % Daily Value* Calories 180 9% Total Fat 2g 3% Saturated Fat 1g 5% Trans Fat Cholesterol 0% Sodium 4mg 0% Total Carbohydrate 17g 6% Dietary Fiber 12g 48% Sugars 5g 0% Protein 25g 50% Vitamin A 0% • Vitamin C 1% Calcium 13% • Iron 36% * Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calories needs.courtesy of cronometer.com using my data.

July 4th Blueberry Breakfast Bakes

We have a small bunch of blueberry bushes on our North facing slope, encased in a small pavilion of netting. Birds and chipmunks, even rabbits find their way in anyway, but usually by the first week of July we also get a few ripe berries. They can be tart, no doubt, but they are a thrill to pick a half pint to a pint on a daily basis. Towards the end of July, we can't keep up, and I throw them right into the freezer to pull out the taste of summer in the middle of winter. July 4th is usually a celebration that the berries are starting to come and in days before vegan, no oil eating, I used to make amazing blueberry muffins. So I don't want to give up that celebratory feeling when the berries start to ripen! It is hard to bake a muffin texture without wheat gluten or eggs, so I decided to try NEW INGREDIENTS: Xanthan gum and Potato Starch, both of which are available through Bob's Red Mill in some fairly "normal" grocery stores.
These came out nicely in scone-like shapes on a silicone baking sheet. If I had only had a few strawberries, I would have sliced them on top for a red-white-n-blue feeling.  I cannot say that these are truly gluten free -- using oats and Emmer wheat (also known as farro in its grain format), but there are those with some gluten sensitivities who do not react to farro, by any name. I haven't tried this combination with rice flour, but you could... and let me know how it goes if you do!

Fourth of July Blueberry Breakfast Bakes

1/3 cup oats
2 Tblsp flax seeds
2 Tblsp potato starch
1/4 tsp xanthan gum
2/3 c Emmer Wheat Flour
2 tsp almond meal
1 Tblsp nutritional yeast
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup walnuts

Blueberries - 10 smashed and nearly 1 cup more
1/8 cup or 2 Tbsp maple syrup
1/2 cup unsweetened soy milk

MIX the first 10 dry ingredients together in a medium large bowl.
COMBINE the moist ingredients with the berries (you can use a 2 cup measuring cup for this).

ADD the wet to the dry, mixing gently until it forms one gooey batter.

Add caption

PLOP in scone size splats on a silicone baking sheet and bake at 350F for about 25 minutes. Cool a couple minutes so that you don't scald yourself on molten blueberries in that first bite and ruin a yummy breakfast!

Blueberry Walnut July Muffins Nutrition Facts Serving Size: 1 Serving (80g) Amount Per Serving % Daily Value* Calories 182 9% Total Fat 5g 8% Saturated Fat 1g 3% Trans Fat Cholesterol 0% Sodium 127mg 5% Total Carbohydrate 28g 9% Dietary Fiber 4g 15% Sugars 5g 0% Protein 7g 13% Vitamin A 1% • Vitamin C 3% Calcium 11% • Iron 7% * Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calories needs. courtesy of cronometer.com using my data.

Multigrain Millet Veggie Loaf

Every July my husband is invited to go pick chanterelle mushrooms in the woods in preparation for our friend's annual party and the classic cream-of-chanterelle soup he likes to make for that occasion. Usually we can tell by the weather that the call will come soon, but sometimes it is just that the date of the party is approaching and mushrooms must be found.  This year there was a lot of rain, and the mushrooms were plentiful, but some were too soggy and many if not most had already been inhabited by other little organisms that love them too.  Coincidentally, errands had taken us into Woodstock, NY where we had chanced upon The Garden Cafe and a lovely polenta-like "millet veggie loaf." When I saw the small quantity of beautiful mushrooms that would not keep well, I thought they would add a golden color to a millet loaf. Then I discovered I only had about a half cup of millet. For one more day I kept the mushrooms in the fridge and sought out millet from the nearby town grocery stores and even a large grocery in Cobbleskill. No go. So multi-grain the loaf became. It was delicious!! One of our new favorites.

Multi-grain Millet Quinoa Veggie Loaf  
(6 reasonable, 4 huge servings)

GRAINS
1/2 cup millet
1/2 cup red quinoa (pretty, but pale would do too)
1/3 cup red lentils
1/4 cup corn meal
1/8 tsp salt
1/4 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp tumeric
approximately 4 cups water

1) Cook this slowly in a pot for about half an hour, stirring occasionally. Meanwhile...

2) Chop & then saute about 15 minutes in a large non-stick saute pan until softening:

VEGGIES

1 medium carrot
1 cup vidalia or other sweet onion
1 medium zucchini
1/2 cup fresh corn (cooked & cut from cob)
1/2 a red pepper
2 tsp Bragg's Liquid Amino
1-2 tsp fresh dried thyme or fresh thyme or something else you like

THEN ADD: 1 cup of chanterelles (I know, I know, use what you have -- regular button mushrooms would be lovely too, or chopped shiitakes...)
And saute another 5 minutes.

COMBINE the grains into the saute pan and mix well until the whole thing is one textured beautiful melange. Let cool about 5 minutes and then EITHER mold into a loaf shape in the same pan if it can go in the oven, OR dump this onto parchment paper on a baking sheet or wide baking pan, and gently push in from all sides until this is about 1.5 inches deep (or thick)... loaf- like! You can store it in this format until about 20 minutes before you need to serve it.

FINALLY: Bake at 350F for about 20 minutes. Let stand a couple minutes and then cut and serve with any sauce you like -- marinara, or plum/mushroom sauce or spicy onions and peppers  or grilled tempeh ... oh my, it's good with so many other flavors!

By accident we had some leftover poblano-tomatillo-plum sauce and I added chopped portobellos and chopped red onion to that.

ADDENDUM: It just happened that I created a quick successful little sauce the last time I made this. It added moisture and a nice touch - tahini (1/4 c) plus tamari (1.5 TBLSP) plus a little honey (1+tsp) and water (to the consistency you want) ... yum.

Millet Quinoa Veggie Loaf Nutrition Facts Serving Size: 1 Serving (305g) Amount Per Serving % Daily Value* Calories 206 10% Total Fat 2g 4% Saturated Fat 0g 2% Trans Fat Cholesterol 0% Sodium 198mg 8% Total Carbohydrate 39g 13% Dietary Fiber 6g 23% Sugars 4g 0% Protein 8g 17% Vitamin A 7% • Vitamin C 36% Calcium 3% • Iron 15% * Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calories needs. courtesy of cronometer.com using my data.

COLD Spicy Thai Watermelon Soup

My husband and I bought a watermelon at a farm stand. Upon opening it, we discovered the interior was nearly in gelatinous format, deeply red, and profoundly sweet. We looked at each other and said, "this would make an amazing soup!" So the search began. The original of this was a cold watermelon crab soup -- and you know by now that we wouldn't be using the crab! This is how it turned out -- using a fraction of the melon -- and we were so grateful after hot mornings of heavy yard work, to come in and start lunch with this!

Cold Spicy Thai Watermelon Soup

(2 quarts)

5 cups chopped watermelon
1 stalk finely chopped lemongrass -- or 1 Tblsp grated lemon zest (which is what I did)
3 Tablespoons finely chopped onion (or shallot if you have it)
1.5 Tablespoon fresh grated or finely chopped ginger
1 small green chile (with or without seeds) finely chopped (I used half a jalapeno)
1 Tablespoon garlic finely chopped
2 Tablespoons fresh lime juice (at least)
Salt to taste

1) Puree watermelon, using a hand held blender is fine.
2) Cook lemongrass (or lemon zest) with onion, ginger & garlic for about 5 minutes medium low heat. Add about 2 cups of the watermelon and simmer 5 more minutes.
3) Blend the chili and lime juice in a big bowl, and add the hot mixture to it.
4) Add the rest of the watermelon puree, and pour it through a sieve it there are lumps in it -- otherwise you can just blend lightly with the hand blender.

5) CHILL and serve.

ADDITIONS: We had leftover tiny bits of sauteed spicy tofu from the night before that were perfect as a decorative central chewiness to stir in. Easy to make with little cubes of tofu, saute in a bit of Bragg Liquid Amino and a squirt of Sriracha with added garlic bits.   You could definitely use crunchy bits of onion or garlic, a dab of coconut yogurt, chopped chives and mango or ANYTHING that pleases you, including mint leaves.

Thai Spicy Watermelon Soup Nutrition Facts Serving Size: 1 Serving (190g) Amount Per Serving % Daily Value* Calories 82 4% Total Fat 2g 3% Saturated Fat 0g 2% Trans Fat Cholesterol 0% Sodium 236mg 10% Total Carbohydrate 14g 5% Dietary Fiber 1g 4% Sugars 10g 0% Protein 4g 8% Vitamin A 3% • Vitamin C 29% Calcium 4% • Iron 7% * Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calories needs. courtesy of cronometer.com using my data.