FOOD FOTO: A Berry Peachy Endeavor

I wrestled with myself over whether to actually leave that title, but I had to.  The truth is, I've made a few fruit crisps in my day - an easily gluten free, widely appealing and adaptable dessert - but I think this combination of strawberries, peaches, and nectarines might be my favorite of all time.

One of the best fruit stands in the neighborhood had a 2-pound assortment of ripe nectarines and yellow peaches for 79 cents TOTAL, so I peeled and diced those along with about a cup of strawberries, and added a tablespoon of honey and the juice of half a lime.  I let this little concoction rest in the fridge overnight, not because I was feeling fancy, but because I simply didn't have time to do anything with it.  So last night around my lunchtime (which, for night shift people is generally just before midnight), I made a mixture of brown sugar, quinoa flakes, gf baking mix, and cut in about 1/3 stick of softened butter for the crisp.  I also made a small slurry (cornstarch mixed with water) so that the accumulated fruit juices would thicken while baking.

Assembly is as easy as spreading half the crisp mixture in the bottom of a prepared souffle (or, deep pie dish if that's what you have), pouring in the fruit, then adding the remainder of the crisp mixture.  Forty minutes in the oven produced a deliciously sweet-tart dessert that I will absolutely make again, and next time I'll take pictures to post with a recipe.  Hello, summer dessert stand-by.

FOOD FOTO: Eggcellent

Lady Gaga said it best: We're all born superstars.  After a night of hail storms and freezing temps with the heat conspicuously absent from my apartment, I was feeling a little less like a superstar this morning.  So I made a star-shaped egg, natch.

Making shapes out of food is probably the simplest way to put a smile on your face or the faces of those who are lucky enough to have your cooking at their disposal.  Use your favorite metal cookie cutter, spray the inside generously with cooking spray (make sure it's flour-free spray, gluten free friends) or brush it with a little light-tasting olive oil, place in a prepared pan, and crack an egg or pour some pancake batter in.  And have a better day!

FOOD FOTO: Crock Pot Love

 

Not feeling fabulous, yet again, creates a genuine need for uncomplicated cooking.  My eyes shift to the Crock Pot, my $18 little (not really that little, actually) dream investment.  I read a comment on a cooking site the other day, that referred to the Crock Pot as something in which to cook things like Velveeta and Hamburger Helper, natch.  Well, I know mine has never seen either of those, mostly because I can't eat them, but also because of the wealth of wonderful possibilities of this quite laissez-faire method of cooking.  Many refer to this fabulous machine as a slow cooker, which it is, but mine is actually a Crock Pot - not a fancy new space age one, though it is programmable (time by the half hour and high - low - warm), and never gets too hot.

Two things I had yet to cook in Baron Crock Pot: apple butter, which I've never cooked at all, and steel cut oats.  I'd heard chatter over the internets about an overnight oatmeal of sorts, which sounded amazing.  In short, both were cooked over two nights - the apple butter on low for 15 hours then finished in the food processor, and the oats for 9 hours on low.  On the advice of many, rather than cooking the oats directly in the stoneware, I used the Baron instead as a bain-marie, or waterbath, with the oats and liquid in an ovenproof glass bowl.  I added some dried fruit, nuts, and honey to the oats when I woke up, and cooked on high for another hour.  Both were delicious - I'm fine-tuning the recipes, and I'll post next time I give them a go.

Food Foto: Alterna-lunch

I haven't had to pack a work or clinical shift lunch since last August.  While that's generally a glorious piece of fortune, it doesn't mean that lunch at home is always exciting, either.  Especially if I've cooked breakfast and will be cooking dinner in a handful of hours.  So occasionally, I'll throw together a nice selection of various items around the kitchen, with little preparation, that does not involve two slices of bread.

While homemade hummus is delicious, the next best thing is doctored plain hummus - my local grocery store sells a can of literally just pureed garbanzos, nothing added, for about 99 cents.  I add a couple teaspoons of sesame tahini, olive oil, pepper, lemon juice, and garlic powder.  The chips you see were originally soft corn tortillas who got bent in half under something in the My-First-Refrigerator.  Brushed with olive oil, cut into pieces, sprinkled with garlic powder (I told you, I love garlic), rosemary, and ground flax, and baked.  Accompanied by raw almonds, roma tomato slices, celery sticks, and some cheese for a lunch with tons of flavor, fiber, healthy fat, vitamins, and with zero added sugar.

Food Foto: Superbowl Dinner

Q:  What are your Superbowl must-haves?

I threw dinner together instead of watching Halftime, and from what Facebook updates have told me, that was a wise decision.  Because I wasn't particularly interested in either team this year yet felt compelled to watch the Bowl anyway, I opted for a snacky dinner - fries, chips, and a melt.

Yes, all of those things are pictured: herbed yam fries with ketchup, crunchy kale chips (a new addiction), and a turkey/provolone/tomato/dijon mustard melt on homemade gluten free multigrain bread.  Very simple, relatively healthy compared to what one might otherwise eat on this day of competition, and easily made without gluten ingredients.  Look for the recipes at a later date.