Recipe: Adventures in Allergen-Free Baked Falafel!

At a wedding this weekend, I had the most delicious falafel. I have to admit that I have never had it before! However, later that night, I felt the effects of my food allergies. I was surprised that chickpeas would cause me allergy issues, but upon further investigation, I discovered raw garlic, wheat flour and canola oil in the ingredients! Dagnabbit. So, I prepared my own version of baked, allergen-free falafel. It turned out pretty well! See below for my recipe:

Ingredients:
• One 15 oz can chickpeas, drained
• 1/2 small red onion, diced
• One clove of garlic, minced (or a few shakes of garlic powder if you're sensitive to it, like me!)
• 1 tablespoons of fresh or dried parsley
• 2 tablespoons coconut or almond flour
• 2 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 teaspoon coriander
• 1 teaspoon cumin or chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder (for those sensitive to corn, I make my own blend of baking powder using a 2:1 ratio of Cream of Tartar and Baking Soda)
• Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Combine all of your ingredients into a food processor or high-powered blender. Purée ingredients until you have a smooth, paste. On a cookie sheet, spread parchment paper or drizzle olive oil to create a non-stick surface. Spoon small, cookie-dough sized balls (about the size of a ping pong ball) onto the sheet. Bake for 10-15 minutes. Flip the falafels, then bake for 10-15 more minutes on the other side. Serve with Paleo Tzaziki sauce (see below for recipe)! Yummm.

Ingredients for Paleo Tzaziki sauce:
• 1 cup cucumber, seeded and shredded
• 1/2 cup minced red onion
• 1/2 cup full-fat coconut milk or cream (canned)
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed (or a few shakes of garlic powder if you are sensitive to it)
• 2 Tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon dried dill
• 1/8 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/8 teaspoon black pepper

Allergen-Free Coconut Banana Bread: Free of Gluten, Sugar, Grains, Dairy, Eggs, Nuts and Soy

I will never stop craving the beauty that is wheat artisan bread, dipped in salty olive oil with a side of cheese. Oh my. In the meantime, while I'm still chained to this allergen diet, I found a way to make an egg-free, gluten-free, grain-free, dairy-free, nut-free, AND soy-free bread. Phew. That is a mouthful. I adjusted a recipe that I found here on Gutsy to be dairy and egg free. Here's how to follow my version:


Ingredients:
• 1 Cup sifted Coconut Flour
• 3 very ripe bananas
• 4 flax eggs (or regular eggs if you aren't avoiding them) I detail this process below.
• 6 tablespoons of melted coconut oil (or butter if you aren't avoiding it)
• 5 tablespoons raw honey
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 tablespoon vanilla

Smash up your riped bananas until they are a smooth consistency.
Add your liquid ingredients: coconut oil, flax eggs, raw honey and vanilla and stir minimally.
In a separate bowl, add your dry ingredients together: sifted coconut flour, baking
soda, cinnamon, and salt. Stir gently together, then add the dry ingredients to the wet.
With a wooden spoon, stir all ingredients together until nicely blended. Don't over-stir.
Spread your mixture into a greased or parchment-lined bread pan and bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes at 300°. After removing from the oven, let the bread sit in the pan on the stove for 15 additional minutes.
Serve with your favorite spread or salted olive oil.
The reason my bread is so flat is because of the flax eggs in a wide bread pan. A mini bread pan would probably have been a better choice if I had had one. Here's how to make a flax egg:

Ingredients:
• One small mixing bowl
• A small whisk
• 1 tablespoon of Flaxseed Meal seed to 3 tablespoons of water. So for 4 flax eggs, you will need 4 tablespoons of Flaxseed meal and 3/4 cup of water (that's 12 tablespoons).


One mistake I made in this recipe was not grinding my flax meal. I used the Bob's Red Mill Flaxseed Meal in a hurry which should be further ground into a powder in a coffee grinder or grain mill.

Instructions: After measuring your tablespoons of flax meal, add the water slowly while stirring with the whisk gently. Put your bowl of "eggs" in the refrigerator for at least 15 minutes. It should set nicely to create an egg-like consistency, which will act as your binder. Enjoy!

Recipe: Sweet Potato Chips

Chips and guacamole is my favorite snack of all time. I don't think I can really live without it, so that was my first priority on this crazy allergen-free diet. How can I solve this debaucle if I can't eat corn, tomato, wheat or white potato? Sweet potato chips! With tomato-free guacamole. Yessss. Here's what you'll need:


Ingredients:
• 2 sweet potatoes (not yams--they really are different, I just learned)
• Olive oil, canola or coconut oil cooking spray (you can drizzle as well, but I found that the spray works to evenly and lightly distribute)
• Salt & pepper


Start by slicing the sweet potatoes into thin slices, about 1/8 inch thick. If you have a mandolin, you can use that or you can use a really sharp knife. Watch your fingers!


Spread the slices out onto a sheet on parchment paper. You definitely don't want these to stick to the pan. Spray the slices with the oil of your choice (try to make sure that there isn't too much overlapping, or they won't bake correctly) and sprinkle with salt and pepper.


Bake at 375° for 12 minutes, then flip. Bake for 12 more minutes, until edges are crispy, and you're done! As for the guacamole, follow my Easy Peasy Quickie Guacamole recipe! I've added red onion and lime in the tomato's absence. Enjoy!

Goodbye Delicious Food: Andie's Last Meal

Recently, I was diagnosed with some pretty severe allergies. To make a long story short, in fear of boring the pants off of you: I have had dermatographism (aka "skin writing") since I was 11 years old. It's not as bad as it sounds! In short, any touch, scratch, bump, etc., to my skin leaves an itchy welt as the histamines in my skin overreact to the stimulus. However, with antihistamines I'm usually good to go!


For my birthday, I got myself Gwyneth Paltrow's new book, It's All Good, and made a recipe that just happened to be free of most of the allergens I am affected by (I now know). I woke up feeling way better than I ever have before. Hmm...maybe I'm onto something!

The short list after a naturopathic allergy blood panel revealed allergies to: grains, gluten, soy, dairy, eggs, chicken, corn, grape, some nightshades, beef and a host of other weird little tidbits. Yay! I win the high score! Not to worry: I've been told that after some diet healing, I may be able to add some of those things back into my diet (please, let it be wine!) In the meantime, my recipes on the Assemble blog may look a bit different--and ridiculously allergen free.

However, a last treat was in order. The sous chef at Tulio downtown, (4.2 stars!) invited Christian and I to come and sit at the chef's counter and be treated to a delicious "last" meal. It's a rare occasion that we get to go to super nice restaurants, so we jumped at the chance and absolutely loved being Tulio's guests. Here's what I got to partake in for my last meal:

Two glasses of an absolutely heavenly Chianti, Tenuta Santedame, '08. Focaccia and prosciutto with Truffle oil and Bel Paese cheese, and I believe a French Onion soup of some kind--I was too busy shoving spoonfuls into my mouth to remember. Second, a little antipasti plate that I again wasn't listening to. Here's what I think it was: awesome meat, awesome cheese and awesome, salty bread.

Next up (I remember this one, for sure) was a Risotto with morel mushrooms, bone marrow butter and parmesan. Followed by the Sweet Potato Gnocchi with sage butter and mascarpone (I think this was my favorite) with the Panzoti: taleggio, mascarpone, ricotta, corn, padron peppers, leeks, and butter. And yes, I even ate that pepper.

Last, but absolutely not least, we shared the Ribeye (yes, that's HALF of it) with wood oven roasted mushrooms panzanella, sweet onion, rosemary oil and sea salt. Then a quick Lemon sorbet, because I could honestly not fit anything else in.

Oh my, yes that happened. If you're up for some seriously fine dining, I highly recommend checking it out. I'll even come with you, and eat lettuce leaves. Make sure to grab some of that sweet potato gnocchi--I think that was definitely the favorite. However, I think I'm set for quite a while. Thanks, Tulio!