• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 Tablespoon olive oil
• 2 cups pumpkin puree- fresh or canned
• 6 cups vegetable stock or water+veg bouillon
• 2 cups water
• 1/2 cup canned crushed tomato
• 1 cup dried lentils (soak 1 hour beforehand)
• 1 Tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 Teaspoons curry paste
• 2 teaspoons curry powder
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 2 teaspoons salt, or to taste
• 3 cups chopped kale

When I went gluten free it was a cold turkey kind of deal. It was easy in the sense that I don’t enjoy being sick, of spending a day doubled over with knife-jabbing stomach cramps, of the constant fogginess and fatigue that so often accompany gluten intolerance. However, I still miss the ease of baking sourdough bread with three or four ingredients; the enjoyment of punching down pizza dough between rises; the purchasing of pasta that doesn’t cost a small fortune. When I make something for my daughter that contains the spelt or wheat flours I still have in the pantry, I miss being able to lick batter off the spatula. I miss the p-l-i-a-b-i-l-i-t-y of gluten. I miss the silkiness of spelt flour. I miss, I miss, I miss.

But what I miss most of all are those damned vital wheat gluten-based chickpea cutlets.

Yeah, you know the ones.

In a fit of anger I decided that enough was enough, already! If I’m going to mope around and bitch about how much I miss those cutlets, then I should at least attempt to make them gluten free. And then after failing miserably, I can have a proper bitch session.

Thankfully, things did not go according to plan.

[MoFo theme disclaimer: In case you’re wondering, I did not owlize these in any way. If that bums you out, sorry, but there are still a few days to go so fingers crossed that I get another chance to post something. Besides, I figure I’ve missed so much of this year’s MoFo that my theme has defaulted from Owlowe’en to Holy Crap I Actually Participated!]

right out of the skillet, still piping hot

Gluten Free Chickpea Cutlets

Yields 24 small cutlets

{wet ingredients}
3 C cooked chickpeas, rinsed and drained
4 T toasted sesame oil
Juice of 1 small lemon, or ½ of a medium or large lemon
4 large cloves garlic, minced
3 T gluten-free tamari
…………….
{dry ingredients}
1 C brown rice flour (may sub another gf flour, see note)
1-2 tsp xanthan gum (see note)
2 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp rubbed sage
½-1 tsp smoked paprika, to taste
¼ tsp chipotle powder (optional, no need to up the smoked paprika if you omit this)

If baking – do ahead: preheat oven to 375 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Mixing the wet ingredients: Coarsely mash the chickpeas in a large mixing bowl. Add the oil, lemon juice, garlic and tamari. Mash again a couple of times to mix in the liquids. Chickpeas should be broken up; some smooth, some still partially whole.

And it would follow, the dry: In a small bowl, combine the dry ingredients and stir with a fork until thoroughly blended.

Cutlet making: Add dry ingredients to wet, and stir until fully incorporated. The mixture will be thick – sort of like cookie dough, but not as sticky. If too wet, add a bit more flour; if too dry, add a bit of water. The density will be similar to bread dough, but the consistency will be lighter. Basically, the mixture will resemble bread dough, minus the stretchy strands of gluten. RESIST the urge to add additional xanthan gum – 2 tsp is already more than enough! Also, there is not enough smoked paprika in the world to mask the flavor of xanthan gum if you use too much. Consider yourself warned.

Wet your hands and shape into cutlets, nuggets, or whatever size/shape you desire. They should be about ½ inch thick; these won’t puff up like the gluten-based cutlets do. We prefer ours to be the size of little breakfast patties – about the size of a smooshed falafel ball. This makes them easy for snacking, easy for pita- or tortilla-stuffing, easy to pack into one’s lunch.

If baking – do now: Line your cutlets up with half an inch or so of space in between them. Bake for 15 minutes on one side; flip; bake for an additional 15 minutes. These cutlets don’t brown much while they’re in the oven, but seem to darken a little once they’ve cooled. Feel free to brush them lightly with oil before baking, if that’s your thing. I don’t do this (it sort of defeats the purpose of baking them), so I’m not sure if they brown much more with the oil.

If pan frying: Lightly oil a cast iron skillet and put over medium (not high) heat. Use one that has a lid, because these are going to be covered. Instead of sizzling these poor cutlets to death in an oil bath, we’re going to use the heat trapped under the lid to cook them through while they’re browning. So. When skillet is heated, arrange cutlets so that there is about an inch of space between them. Cover partially with a lid and check them in 5 minutes. When cutlets are lightly browned, give ‘em a flip, re-cover skillet, and set your timer for another 3 minutes or so.

Use a lid, and I promise you won’t be disappointed.

Notes

• Just like their glutenous counterparts, gluten free flours all have their own attributes like density and absorption. I imagine almost any gluten free flour or combination of flours would work in this recipe, as long as you add a little more flour or liquid if needed.
• Xanthan gum is used in these primarily for moisture retention, secondarily for texture. If you’re going to gobble these up in 24 hours or less, then 1 tsp of xanthan gum should be enough. If you plan on making a big batch and snacking on these all the live long week, then you might want to up your gum to 2 tsp. My snack-a-lacking family prefers the latter, and despite my hatred aversion for gums it really does make a difference if you want them to last a week without turning into crumbly clods of dried up chickpeas.
• I am POSITIVE that chia or flax goop would work in place of the xanthan gum, but I’m actually out of both right now! As soon as I make these without a gum, I’ll post an update. Again, I don’t think it will affect texture, but it may shorten the time you have to eat these before they turn into clods.

xGFx kalamata olive boule teaser – recipe is in the final stages of tweaking!

Day 5, and still not dried out. I think xanthan gum was in an X Files episode, right? That stuff seriously freaks me out.

Recipe adapted from Isa Chandra Moskowitz’s legendary recipe found in Veganonicon and at the Post Punk Kitchen

It wasn’t often but every now and again I would get a craving for them. Like, an insatiable type of craving. You know, the kind that doesn’t quench until you eat them.

But the funny thing is that the moment I ate one, I would completely regret it.

The grease would make my stomach turn and I couldn’t eat anymore. But of course, I did…

I ate them until I was sweating grease from my pores. It was as if I was personally punishing myself with every bite.

So I really wanted to figure out an onion ring recipe that not only tasted just like the real thing but didn’t leave that regretful feeling in the belly.

Baked Onion Rings Recipes

Serves 4 (depending on how many you eat before you serve them)

INGREDIENTS

1 onion, sliced into 1/4-1/2″ rings

Batter Mix Ingredients:

1 c. GF all-purpose flour blend of your choice (I use:

1. 4 cups superfine brown rice flour [Authentic Foods brand]
2. 1 1/3 c. potato starch
3. 2/3 c. tapioca starch/flour

Makes 6 cups. I place it in a ziplock freeze bag, shake it up, refrigerate and use when needed).  

• 1/2 c. soda water (or gluten-free beer if you have some on hand! lucky…)
• 1 1/2 c. gluten free bread crumbs OR homemade crumbs (see recipe below)
• 2 Tb oil
• 2 shallow dishes
• 2 forks

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
2. In 1 shallow dish, combine the flour and soda water together and whisk until it makes almost like pancake batter. You can add more soda water 1 Tb at a time to ensure you get the right consistency if it looks too thick.
3. Place the bread crumbs and oil in the other dish and mix together. The oil should give the crumbs a texture like wet sand.

THE ASSEMBLY LINE:

1. Dip the onions, batches at a time, into the wet mixture. With a fork, raise one ring at a time, so all the excess mix drips off, then place into crumb mixture.
2. With the dry fork, fluff the crumb mixture so it fully coats the rings. This will get easier and quicker the more you do.
3. Place onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper (or coated with cooking spray) until all rings have been assembled.

• Bake for 10 minutes and then flip them over to bake the other side. (Yes, you heard me correctly. Welcome the heat bath!)
• Bake another 10 minutes or until beautifully golden brown.
• Sprinkle with salt once out of the oven and while still piping hot.
• Resist the temptation to not eat ALL of them. Go ahead. I double dog dare you.

*Homemade Bread Crumbs Recipe** (aka: Making it work, like Tim Gunn says, with all that you got in the house because you are too lazy to go to the store so you rely on your creativity and cross your fingers that it works and wouldn’t you know it, Tim was right–not only did you try it but you actually made it work!)  ← world’s longest run-on sentence known to man.

I have a waffle recipe that I like to make every Sunday. It usually yields about 6 waffles so I like to freeze the remainder and then heat them up during the week. *These are the waffles I used*

• 2 gluten-free (pre-made and frozen) waffles, heated in toaster oven to a brown crisp (not burnt though)–This should yield approx 1 1/2 c. when blended
• 1 pinch dried basil **(optional)
• 1 pinch dried thyme **(optional)
• 1 pinch dried oregano **(optional)
• 1 pinch salt

(Yes “pinch” is a technical term. I learned it on The Cooking Channel…)

DIRECTIONS

1. Break waffles into bit size pieces and place inside blender/food processor. Blend until you pulverize those suckers into crumbs (I had to do it in batches).
2. Place crumbs in bowl.  Stir in salt and herbs.
3. Wa-la! Bread crumbs!!!
   Enjoy!
   Love, Cara

• 2 cups garbanzo bean flour
• ½ cup tapioca or arrowroot starch
• ½ cup brown rice flour
•  1 teaspoon baking soda
• Optional: sweetener (stevia, sugar, agave, etc.)
•  1 ½ – 2 cups water, more if needed
• ½ cup applesauce
•  1 tablespoon vinegar
• Optional add-ins: dried fruit, chocolate chips, berries, nuts, etc.

Begin heating one or more cooking pans over low to medium heat. Meanwhile, whisk together the garbanzo, arrowroot/tapioca, and rice flour, in addition to the baking soda and optional sweetener. Combine dry together well, then incorporate the water—the more water, the thinner the pancake. Add optional add-ins to this almost-completed batter.

Depending on what pan you use, grease the pan if you wish. Just before cooking, stir the vinegar into the batter to activate the baking soda’s leavening properties. Ladle approximately a ¼ cup (more or less depending on you desired pancake size), and allow the heat to make bubbles form throughout the pancake. Flip and cook through on the other side. I can’t give a definite time for each side to be cooked, since different sizes and thickness determine that. Check the middle of the pancake for the first few to get the feel for your particular batch.

Serving and storage:

Great served hot plain or with sides and toppings (nut butter is highly recommended). Leftovers can be stored at room temperature for up to a day, and any leftovers put in the freezer inside an airtight bag or container. These can be made ahead and frozen, to be toasted or microwave for quick breakfasts!

From Veganizzm.com

• 1 cup uncooked quinoa
• 1 Tablespoon olive oil
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 large carrots, chopped
• 2 Tablespoons vegetable broth or water
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 medium apple, diced [the tarter, the better]
• 1/2 cup slivered almonds
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries
• 2 Tablespoons pure maple syrup
• salt and pepper to taste