Recipe Review 7/2/07

Okay! I’m caught back up on my posts now and can resume a more leisurely pace. The weather has cooled off a bit allowing me to do a bit of baking this past week, that and I’ve had a bit more time around the house.

Here’s what we made this past week:

Granola (Gluten Free Gourmet Ckbk) 9
A co-worker was recently diagnosed with a gluten allergy and his wife is frantically trying to learn new ways of cooking. I saw him munching on homemade granola bars (made from this recipe) and I simply had to try them myself. This recipe was really good! It is puffed rice, sunflower seeds, soybeans, raisins and toasted unsweetened coconut tossed with a bit of canola oil and slowly toasted in the oven for about two hours. This was simply delicious (even though I forgot the raisins...)!

Granola Bars (Gluten Free Gourmet Ckbk) 8
Using the recipe for the granola above, first it’s pulverized a bit in the food processor, then mixed with brown rice syrup (a substitute for high fructose corn syrup), brown sugar, butter, vanilla and I added some cinnamon. Then everything is combined and baked for 20 minutes. Baking time should have been about 15 for my oven as the bars got a tich overcooked. Still, these turned out really good (a bit hard on the teeth, but as I mentioned, that was my fault).

I love how very versatile both recipes can be. Can’t have soy? Substitute a different nut. Don’t want raisins? Use cranberries or other dried fruit or leave them out completely. I will be making these again.

Chocolate Chip Cookies (Ckng Lght, June 07, pg 252) 9
This is me eating these cookies: mmfph, smack! yum! I'll have just one more...

This was a reader recipe from 1998 that I actually can remember making. These were really good at first publication, but they had HFCS as part of the ingredients. Well, Ckng Lght must have also thought they were really good because they revisited the recipe and re-worked it to eliminate the HFCS. I have to say they are even better! These were awesome. Nestle Toll House, I am sad to say you’ve now been replaced. I did make one addition, I added some chopped walnuts as part of my attempts to increase nuts in my diet (makes them healthy ya know!).

BLT Salad (Eating Well, July/Aug 07, pg 34) 9!
Oh my oh my! This was divine! A grated tomato (sans skin) is combined with mayo, vinegar and pepper. A couple of slices of bacon fried. Either make your own croutons or use store bought (I made my own following the recipe). Combine over romaine lettuce. Absolutely FANTASTIC! The dressing is what really pulls this recipe together. I even think some chopped avocado added to the rest of the salad would be just smashing. It was really like eating a BLT, but in a bowl.

Cashew Chicken Salad (The New Ckng Lght Complete, pg 431) 7
I was in the mood for a chicken salad sandwich, but I wanted it to be on croissants, so the flavor had to be just so. This is a very simple recipe: shredded chicken, mayo, sour cream, curry powder, green onion, and cashews. I thought the curry would be a nice contrast to the sweetness usually found in a croissant. I have left the cashews off until I eat the sandwich, I’m not wild about soggy nuts. I also doubled the mayo sauce - it just wasn’t going to be enough to cover the two chicken breasts they called for. I grilled the chicken after topping with salt, pepper and smoked Spanish paprika. This made enough for lunches all week.