Monday, May 23, 2011

Wheat free Coconut Strawberry Chocolate Chip Pie or Bar


I was at my mom's house for a family dinner and everyone was talking about what they wanted for dessert.  I decided to combine everyone's favorite flavors into one dessert!  This is delicious strawberry chocolate coconut dessert recipe is the result.   It looks like a pie but it is a little more like a bar, my mom just didn't have a small enough baking pan for this recipe so I put it in a pie pan.  You can make this strawberry coconut chocolate dessert recipe gluten free simply by using certified gluten free oats.

Everyone loved it and the whole dessert was gone in a matter of minutes!  The combination of flavors in this strawberry chocolate dessert recipe worked really well!    The crust is more like a cookie bar bottom, the filling can be firm or a little more like pudding depending on how you make it but it is a delicious dessert that satisfies those who need a little chocolate in their dessert.

Wheat free Chocolate Chip Coconut Cream Bar

  
These are delicious wheat free chocolate chip cookie bars!  They can be gluten free chocolate chip cookie bars by simply using certified gluten free oats.  I wanted to come up with a fun Sunday dessert and I found whatever ingredients were hanging around in my kitchen and this is what came out!  It is a rich dessert, however, if you are used to highly sugared normal desserts this wheat free chocolate chip cookie bar recipe may not be sugary enough for you.

I use about 1/3 or less sugar in my dessert recipes than most, I can't handle the high amount of sugar in most desserts, it is sickening to me.  So be aware that this is a delicious dessert but it does have a low sugar content.  Another tip **Do not overcook or the cookie bar will dry out!

If I were to properly name this dessert it would be wheat free, dairy free, vegan, oil free, low sugar chocolate chip coconut cream cookie bar recipe.  This is a low sugar cookie bar recipe but it certainly does not sacrifice any flavor.  It is also an oil free dessert recipe, but again it is very rich and decadent.  Enjoy!


Homestyle Breakfast Potatoes


To the left side of my famous Tofu Scramble are these yummy Homestyle Breakfast Potatoes.  These potatoes were seasoned with complimentary flavors so they feature chili powder and cumin for a litle southwestern flair.  If you prefer more traditional potatoes you can leave out the chili and cumin and use parsley or rosemary would make a delicious flavor as well.

These homestyle potatoes are a little tricky to make mainly because you have to watch them, stir them frequently and make sure they have enough vegetable broth to prevent burning until they soften but when the potatoes are done all liquid should be absorbed so if the homestyle potato recipe doesn't work out for you the first time don't give up on it.

Tofu Scramble


Tofu scramble is extremely versatile, you can add chili powder or cayenne for some added heat, you can leave out the salsa and add in some sunburger crumbles, add some spinach or cheese sauce, whatever sounds good to you.

I prefer to add veggies in my tofu scramble, this recipe features broccoli but you can add spinach, kale, cabbage or any other veggie that may sound good.   Tofu scramble in our house is an easy dinner but you can certainly serve it as a heavy breakfast on a cold winter morning.  This tofu scramble is a crowd pleaser so if you want to impress your family with a delicious, hearty breakfast this is your go to recipe!



Italian Pasta Casserole with Vegan White Cheese Sauce


This is a very simple, easy to prepare gluten free Italian pasta dish.   You can substitute your favorite pasta, I would prefer to use rigatoni or penne pasta for this dish but we only had spaghetti.   Feel free to experiment with various pastas.  This dish is gluten free but can certainly be made with whole wheat pasta as well.

The vegan white cheese sauce recipe is also very simple and gives an amazing texture and flavor to this italian pasta recipe.  Make sure you pour on a generous amount of the vegan white cheese sauce recipe on the pasta because it is a critical flavor in this dish.  It gives a delicious creamy flavor so pour on to your hearts content.
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Saturday, May 14, 2011

Vegan Creamy Rice Casserole Recipe

Creamy Rice Casserole by The Peaceful Kitchen

My parents were coming to dinner, I had no idea what to make.  I spend hours pouring over recipes and trying to find something I could make with the few ingredients in my bare kitchen.  Finally I decided I was going to have to get my creative thinking cap on and come up with something that would taste delicious with whatever I had on hand.  Viola, the Sunburger creamy rice casserole recipe!

This creamy rice casserole recipe is dairy free, it can be soy free if you add more cashews and take out the silken tofu if you prefer it that way.  Cashew cream thickens as it heats so it would work beautifully as well.    This had a fairly mild, yet creamy flavor but you like to spice things up go ahead and throw in a dash of cayenne!

The beauty of this dairy free creamy rice casserole is its simplicity.  I always have my famous sunburgers in the freezer so I can pull them out and throw them in just about anything.  Thank goodness for the quick cooking boxed brown rice you can cook up in a pinch if you need to! 

Tropical Jicama Salad


Tropical Jicama Salad by The Peaceful Kitchen

This salad may not look like anything fancy, but the flavors are divine!  This was another recipe created out of whatever I had on hand.  I needed to use the Jicama we received in our bountiful basket, the pineapple on the counter was ripe and ready and I had a lot of oranges!

The flavors in the dressing mix beautifully with this salad.  My parents raved over and over about how amazing this simple salad was!  The salad is topped with an oil free salad dressing recipe.  I make all of my salad dressings oil free and use nuts or seeds as a fat source.  I try to avoid refined oil in my diet as much as possible unless I am creating a delicious dessert recipe for a special occasion.  I hope you enjoy this delicious tropical salad with oil free salad dressing.  My parents LOVED this salad, it is delicious!!

Monday, May 9, 2011

Vegan Black Bean Burger Recipe

Vegan, Gluten Free Black Bean Burger Recipe


This vegan black bean cheeseburger recipe was a hit with my family.  I wanted to create a delicious black bean burger with some texture.  Many black bean burger recipes end up being either crumbly or pastey.  The secret ingredient in this black bean burger recipe is brown rice crisp or corn flake cereal.  It gives an amazing texture to bean burgers that no other ingredient provides.

The second secret to making delicious bean burger recipes is.....do not over process the beans.  If you process the beans until they are pastey, you will end up with a horrible texture.  It will be more like eating a bean dip on your bun than a bean burger.  DO NOT over process your bean burger recipes!

This recipe combines several ingredients that offer a delicious flavor combination in this bean burger recipe.  Tamari, vegan worcestershire sauce and miso provide a rich flavor.  I know you will enjoy this bean burger recipe. 

My husband loves my vegan cheese sauce recipe.  We dip everything in the cheese sauce, broccoli, cauliflower, fries, crackers, you name it, it gets dipped in the cheese sauce recipe.  I decided to get creative and make a delicious vegan cheeseburger out of my famous cheese sauce recipe.  The result was a smashing success!

Try topping these amazing burgers with our famous Cheesey Sauce and adding a side of Ranch-style French Fries to go with this delicious burger!

Mother's Day Chocolate Chip Cookie, Hot Fudge Sundae Dessert


Describing this recipe is a mouthful!  It is a low fat, vegan, gluten free, homemade soy free, dairy free vanilla ice cream chocolate chip cookie hot fudge sundae recipe!  How is that for a name?   

I used my usual gluten free chocolate chip cookie recipe and pressed the dough into a hamburger bun  mold to create very large cookies for the sundaes.    It took an extra 4-5 minutes of baking time for the cookies at this size so if you make this recipe take this into account. 
I wanted to create a delicious ice cream recipe for all mom's to enjoy. 

I decided to create a dairy free as well as soy free ice cream recipe.  This turn out very firm and delicious, my family LOVED this ice cream.  ** You have to BLEND this recipe for a long time or it will end up being gritty.  A high speed blender is highly recommended!  If you do not blend enough it will not be creamy. This dairy free soy free ice cream recipe is simple to make and so delicious.


Ranch-style French Fries

These go great on the side of my famous Black Bean Burger or with any meal.  This is a low fat french fry recipe!  It is oil free, vegan, gluten free and amazingly delicious!  It adds a little extra kick to your low fat homemade french fries.
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Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Health Benefits of Legumes

The Health Benefits of Legumes
The Peaceful Kitchen's Vegan Taco Salad

I would like to highlight the significant benefits of a healthy plant based diet in a series of articles.  I believe it is important to understand the reasoning behind a healthy plant based diet. I create delicious recipes that I share freely but I would like to also provide information as to why I teach and promote a plant based diet.

Plant Based Diet and Protection Against Colon Cancer


The majority of Americans believe that cancer is some unavoidable disease that befalls unsuspecting victims.  It is also commonly believed that the only treatment is to cut, burn or poison the cancer away.  Unfortunately much of the research on cancer prevention and nutritional treatment are largely ignored and supressed.  Obviously, treatment that rakes in over $100,000 per patient is going to take precedence over simple lifestyle changes.   It is more about money, and less about the health and wellbeing of the patient.  It is hard for the average person to accept this fact, but it is in reality, fact!

Legume Protection against Colon Cancer



Recent research has highlighted the powerful benefit of legume consumption in the prevention of colon cancer.  Legumes contain what is termed, resistant starch.  When the resistant starch enters the colon and bacterial fermentation of the starch begins a substance called butyrate is produced in the lumen of the colon. 

Researchers have conducted in vitro studies that have shown butyrate to have a wide range of chemo-preventative properties including a reduction in the proliferation of cancer cells and blood vessels that feed tumors. It also enhances immune system functions and has anti-inflammatory effects in colo-rectal cancer cells. 

This powerful chemo-preventative action of butyrate has shown promising results in recent studies.   A study published in the Journal of Nutrition compared subjects with the lowest legume intake to those with the highest legume intake and found that those with the highest legume intake had a highly significant 65% reduction in the recurrence of advanced colon polyps.

Phytic Acid offers protection against various forms of cancer

Butyrate is only one cancer protective aspect of legume consumption. Legumes also contain a substance called phytic acid.  Phytic acid is sold in supplement form as IP6.   Phytic acid has been researched and has displayed significant anti-neoplastic action against breast, liver, leukemia, colon, prostate, sarcomas and even skin cancer.  

 In a systematic review published in Complementary Therapies in Medicine researchers came to the conclusion,  "There is a large body of animal evidence to show that phytic acid may have a role in both the prevention and treatment of many forms of cancer."

The popular Nurses Health study found that women who consumed 4 or more servings of legumes per week had 35% fewer bowel polyps than women who consumed less than 1 serving per week.

Legumes have powerful anti-cancer properties, however, many individuals have concerns that phytic acid may bind with minerals and lead to nutritional deficiencies.  The frightening claims being made about phytic acid get attention and make article writers a lot of money but they are completely unfounded.

Research published in the Journal of Medicinal Food actually found increased bone density with higher consumption of foods containing phytate, such as legumes.  The Journal of Trace Elements in Medicine and Biology published an article that concluded that IP6 or phytic acid has no negative effects on minerals status and adequate amounts in the diet are "remarkable and must be favorably considered."

Legumes are nutrition powerhouses, they contain healthy protein, fiber, iron, zinc, antioxidants and they offer signifcant protection against cancer.  Legumes help stabilize blood sugar and should comprise a significant part of a healthy, plant based diet.



Nutritional Profile of Legumes


1 cup of Lentils

Calories     229
Protein       18g
Fat              .8g
Omega 3's   7%
Vitamin A   1%
Folate        90%
B1              30%
B2              13%
B3              15%
B5              25%
B6              27%
Vitamin C     4%
Vitamin E      1%
Vitamin K      4%
Calcium         4%
Iron               37%
Magnesium    22%
Manganese    54%
Phosphorus    51%
Potassium       16%
Selenium         10%
Zinc                 31%

1 c. of Garbanzo Beans
Calories      268
Protein       14.5g
Fat             4.2g
Vitamin A     2%
Folate          71%
B1              17%
B2               9%
B3               6%
B5               9%
B6               18%
Vitamin C      3%
Vitamin E      4%
Vitamin K      7%
Calcium         8%
Iron              26%
Magnesium    25%
Manganese    94%
Phosphorus    39%
Potassium     10%
Selenium       11%
Zinc              31%

Legumes have an excellent nutritional profile!  Add legumes to your meals and enjoy the amazing flavor, texture and health benefits!