Beet Hummus

Time spent in the kitchen is what makes the holidays.  The wonderful food we prepare to share with family and friends over laughter and love.

Tonight, Christmas Eve will be spent following the tradition of the past few years of going to my sister's house where everyone brings appetizers, desserts and drinks.  The kids all look forward to this evening as do we.

This year, I was going to make two dips.  Well, two turned into many.  I made fruit salsa, guacamole, baked eggplant dip, sundried tomato hummus and last but not least, beet hummus.  This is simply a beautiful dip and if you love beets, you will love this dip!

beet hummus

2 cups chickpeas (if using canned, drain and rinse)
3 medium beets, roasted 
    - To roast, wrap unpeeled beets in tinfoil.  Place on baking sheet in 400 deg oven for one hour.       
      Remove from oven and let sit until cool.  Remove from foil, peel will slide of very easily.
1/4 cup tahini
5 cloves roasted garlic
    - Put a whole garlic bulb in the oven with your beets, unwrapped.  Take them out when soft, 30-40    
      minutes.
3 tablespoons olive oil
juice of 1 lemon
1/4 teaspoon salt

1. Put all ingredients in food processor and pulse until desired consistency.
2. Serve with chips, crackers, rice cakes or as a side to mashed potatoes...yum!

Thank you to all who read this blog in 2012, last week marked the 1000th view,  and that was very exciting for me!  I love seeing how people from all over the world can come across this site: Canada, USA, Russia, Australia, Germany, Poland, UK, France, Ukraine and Israel.  From my kitchen to yours,  Happy and Safe Holidays to you and yours....Monique xox

Butter Chicken with Chickpea Flatbread

I'm surprised I haven't posted this recipe yet.  It has been a family favourite for a few years now.  I've made it in Mexico, Guatemala, Nicaragua and Costa Rica.  I've made it for many friends and it's always a big hit.  Gluten-free, very healthy, hearty, what more can you ask for? 

This whole recipe freezes very well.  Double the recipe and store some in the freezer!  I put it in individual containers with rice on the bottom and sauce on top.  The flatbread freezes very well also, I put them in ziplock bags, separated by parchment paper.

butter chicken

3 tablespoons butter
1 onion, chopped
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons ginger, freshly grated
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
2 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon crushed chilies (optional for heat)
2 tablespoons cilantro, chopped
1 pound skinless, boneless chicken (thighs or breasts), cubed
1/3 cup almond flour (you can also use almond meal)
1 1/2 cup tomato puree (or 10 oz can tomato sauce or crushed tomatoes)
1 cup tomato, chopped
curry powder, and salt to taste

1. Heat a large saucepan and melt butter until frothy.
2. Fry onions and cinnamon for 5 minutes, until onions turn soft
3. Add garlic, ginger, turmeric, chili powder, crushed chilies and cilantro.  Stir for a couple of minutes.
4. Add the chicken and cook until the chicken turns white
5. Add ground almonds and tomatoes.  Mix well, cover and simmer for 20-30 minutes.
6. Taste, and add curry powder and salt to taste.

Yield: 5-6 servings

The best way to prepare this recipe is to get all the ingredients measured and combined in bowls in the order they are added to the recipe (garlic, ginger, turmeric, chilli powder, crushed chillies and cilantro in one bowl, etc.)
This tastes even better the next day.  If you're having friends over, make this the day before, then store in the fridge.  Come the next day, cook your rice and flatbread and re-heat the butter chicken.  More time for drinking wine with your friends!


chickpea flatbread

3/4 cup chickpea (gram) flour
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 cup water
small handful fresh coriander, chopped
zest of 1 lemon
juice of 1 lemon

1. Put the flour in a bowl and pour olive oil into a well in the middle.  While whisking, add the water. 
2. While still mixing, add the lemon zest, lemon juice and coriander.
3. Drop by spoonfulls onto a oiled frying pan on medium high and cook a couple of minutes per side.

If on Candida diet or Wild Rose Detox program, you might want to omit the flatbread until you've reintroduced flour.

Celery Storage

Well the Christmas tree is up, the outside lights are on, shopping almost done, and  I haven't been cooking up anything fancy these past couple of weeks.  I've been eating lots of salads, fruit and smoothies.  Keeping it simple during this busy time of year.

Celery has always been one of these vegetables that I put in the drawer, used whatever I needed for a certain recipe, and the rest would go soft so quick.  I knew about this trick, but never really bothered with it.  Now that I buy organic veggies, I'm more attached to the coins that I've spent if we don't eat it, so no more of that!  If the celery is washed, cut and ready to eat, I don't end up throwing any out.  So easy to put on our plates as a side with some baby carrots, and I always pack some for my snack at work.

1. Wash celeri.
2. Cut into preferred serving size
3. Place in container and cover with cold water
4. Put in fridge and it they will keep well over a week and remain nice and crunchy!

Chocolate Chip Cookies



Chocolate chip cookies made with almond flour


I've been making these cookies for a at least a couiple of years now, and the feedback from tasters is always very positive.  Most times, I hear that these are the best chocolate chip cookies they've ever had.  I have to agree.  When I make a batch of these gluten-free chocolate chip cookies, I usually put half of the baked cookies in the freezer and half in the refrigerator.  They freeze really well.

I've tried to make them with a few different almond flours and have to say that not all almond flours are created equal.  For baking, I use JK Gourmet almond flour, which I order on-line.  I use enough of it to buy in bulk and it is much more cost effective and is delivered to my front door!  I've tried Bob's Red Mill Almond Flour and ended up with a flat cookie pie, although it was still delicious!

As usual, this is quite a large batch as this is how I do my cooking, love love love to make enough to freeze!  If trying almond flour for the first time, you're probably not going to buy a large amount.  You can find it at health food stores, although it can be quite pricey for smaller amounts.  If needed, just cut the recipe in 1/2 or 1/3.


chocolate chip cookies

5 cups blanched almond flour (at room temperature)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup dark chocolate chips
3/4 cup grapeseed oil
3/4 cup agave or raw honey
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 egg

1. With metal whisk, mix all dry ingredients in a large bowl.
2. With metal whisk, mix wet ingredients in smaller bowl.
3. Mix wet ingredients into the dry with wooden spoon.
4. Form 1 inch balls and press down on parchment paper-lined baking sheet (kids are a great help with this part!)
5. Bake at 350 degrees for  13 minutes, or until golden
6. Remove from oven, let sit in baking sheet for 5 minutes
7. Place cookies on rack to cool completely.

Vegan: These cookies can easily be made vegan by omiting the egg.  The cookies will still have a nice texture and will not crumble.

Cranberry Sauce



Sugar-Free Cranberry Sauce



Oh how I love the holidays!  Spending time with the people we love, and most certainly surrounded by delicious food! 

For people with dietary restrictions, the holidays can sometimes be a little daunting because we are around so much food and in general, they're not the types of foods that people like us eat.  I have found it much easier year after year to simply bypass the flour and sugar treats and just stick with the things I know won't make me feel sick.  I'm always the happier for it when I feel well at the end of the day.

That being said, I still enjoy some indulgences and just have to make them " my style"!  I've got a few tricks up my sleeve this year and this Cranberry Sauce is one of them!  I made a turkey dinner last Sunday, I called it my Pre-Christmas Christmas Dinner and had my in-laws over to share this delicious meal.  So many components of a traditional turkey dinner are naturally gluten-free, the turkey, vegetables, gravy(thicken with something other than wheat flour) and cranberry sauce.  Now the stuffing, I haven't converted over to gluten-free yet.  I'm so attached to the good ol' family recipe.  It's one of the very few things that I will cook that's not gluten-free. 

Now let's talk about that cranberry sauce:  I love cranberry sauce.  The canned stuff, I'll eat it, but it's no match for the home-made cranberry sauce.  Since I started cooking Christmas dinner, I've always bought a bag of fresh cranberries and followed the instructions on the bag: one cup water and one cup sugar, add cranberries.  This year, I was thinking, there's no way that I can possibly make this recipe anymore!  It seems so wrong to add a cup of sugar when there are so many alternatives!  So this is my recipe for sugar-free cranberry sauce. I made it, we ALL loved it, and agreed that we would prefer to eat this over any other cranberry sauces we've had in the past as it is sweet but kept some of the tartness of the fruit, which is really lovely!

cranberry sauce

3 cups fresh cranberries (I would imagine that frozen cranberries, thawed, would yield the same result)
1/2 cup orange juice, freshly squeezed (appx 2 oranges)
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup agave syrup (or use raw honey)

1. In a medium saucepan, bring water and orange juice to a boil. 
2. Add cranberries and agave syrup.
3. Bring up to boil again and stir occasionally for 5 minutes.
4. Remove from heat and let sit to cool.
5. Once cool, put in refrigerator.
6. Take it out about an hour before serving to get it to room temperature.

Tips to a successful Christmas dinner:

I remember the first Christmas dinner I cooked for family.  I was in the kitchen all day, completely stressed out and didn't get to do any visiting.  I felt jipped!  Over the years, I've become much more organized and I keep it simple.  Here is some of the pre-work you can do the day before:

1. Make cranberry sauce, put in fridge
2. Peel and chop potatoes, put in pot of cold water, ready to cook, put in fridge
3. Peel and chop carrots, put in pot of cold water, ready too cook, put in fridge

If your vegetables are organic, no need to peel them!  Except for potatoes if you want to make velvety mashed potatoes!

***HAPPY HOLIDAYS AND ENJOY YOUR TIME WITH FAMILY AND FRIENDS!***