The Nourishing Gourmet

Nourishing. Satisfying. Gourmet.

Dairy Free

Autumn Beef Stew (Tomato Free)

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Stew has to be one of the most delicious and versatile one pot meals. And with cold winds blowing and rain falling around here, it’s certainly the right time of year to pull out my stew recipes! This one utilizes many of the delicious flavors in season right now, such as sweet squash and earthy mushrooms. I gave a basic beef stew in my ecourse that is a favorite. For this stew, I challenged myself to make a great tasting tomato free version. Because many of us didn’t get to can our own tomatoes this year (at least I didn’t) and all canned tomato product (excepting a few in glass jars) have BPA in it, I thought it would be a good thing to have in my stew repertoire. I also know that many avoid nightshades, so this is a great stew for you too. However, to make this nightshade-free you will also need to replace the potatoes. Popular chocies are radishes, quartered, or cauliflower pieces. To make it high in flavor without the acidic tomatoes, I’ve added red wine and rich balsamic vinegar. Love it. It’s going to be my new recipe to turn too.

Beef stews often have very high amounts of beef in it, making it a not very frugal choice. I’ve found with a little experimenting that one doesn’t need 5 pounds of beef to make a pot of stew. 1-2 pounds does fine when you’ve added plenty of vegetables to the mix. Just remember that stews, like soups, are very versatile. You can easily play around with the ingredients and amounts to make it fit your preference.

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Fall Essential: Roasted Delicata Squash Slices ( or “Fries”)

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One of the quintessential fall produce items is winter squash, and I am loving it! However, I wasn’t always a squash fan. I remember once going over to a friend’s house in high school and they served huge halves of acorn squash with brown sugar as the sole dinner item. I liked the flavor fine, but after eating such a large amount of it, the texture started getting to me. Now I happily eat squash and can truthfully say that I love it!

Delicata squash played an important role in helping me learn to love squash. This sweet squash is absolutely delicious. We typically cut it in half, seed it and roast it slathered in butter, and sometimes just a touch of maple syrup. Delicious. But my now four year old seems to have a bit of a hard time with the texture, just like I used to. But when I made these delicata squash “fries”  (as she named them), she loved them, and Joel and I did too. We like butternut squash fries, but they do tend to be pretty soft and you have to be really careful not to overcrowd the pan otherwise they will get soggy. These stay firm and have a much closer texture to potatoes. And with their natural sweetness, they are a great treat. I think that a lot of young children could like these.

We loved them simply roasted, but they would also be delicious with a little Mexican flare with cumin and garlic, or you could highlight it’s natural sweetness with a bit of maple syrup or honey too. I think that squash carries many flavors well (I think that a curry version could be good too!).

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Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream (Coconut Milk Decadence)

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Mint Chocolate Ice Cream (made with coconut milk!) - This is egg-free AND dairy-free!Creamy coconut milk is naturally sweetened, flavored with mint, and studded with dark chocolate chunks for an AMAZING dairy free and egg free ice cream! A beloved ice cream flavor, that’s paleo and vegan too!

Our daughter Elena just turned four yesterday. We will be having her birthday party on Saturday, but we wanted her actual b-day to be special, so among our activities of the day, we had her “birthday soup” and she got to pick out an ice cream flavor to make. Being her mother’s child, she picked out Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream ( one of my favorites!). This dairy free ice cream uses full fat coconut milk or cream for a delicious creamy texture. It’s sweetened with honey, spiked with peppermint extract and chocolate flakes, and frozen into a super delicious treat.

And it’s extremely easy to throw together too! I love how simple and easy making ice cream is. I love owning an ice cream maker. It’s so nice to have a delicious and healthy treat only minutes away. We also love coconut milk ice creams. They are so creamy and delicious. A very easy way to consume all of those healthy coconut fats!

Notes on Ingredients and Equipment:

OTHER COCONUT MILK ICE CREAM RECIPES:

Creamy coconut milk is naturally sweetened, flavored with mint, and studded with dark chocolate chunks for an AMAZING dairy free and egg free ice cream! A beloved favorite ice cream flavor, that's paleo and vegan too! --- The Nourishing Gourmet

Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream (Dairy-free, Egg-free)

I am labeling this recipe as gluten free, but please make sure you use gluten free extracts and chocolate if making this for a gluten free crowd. Elena found that the 1/3 cup of honey sweet enough for her, so that’s where we kept it, but you may be happier with the 1/2 cup, or even up to 3/4 cup. You could also certainly experiment with other sweeteners, such as maple syrup, whole cane sugar, coconut sugar, etc, but they will flavor this ice cream a little differently.

Ingredients:

  • 2 14 ounce cans or 3 1/2 cups of full fat coconut milk or cream
  • 1/3 to 1/2 cup of honey
  • 1 teaspoon organic vanilla extract, optional
  • 2 teaspoon organic peppermint extract
  • 3 ounces of dark chocolate

1. In a medium size bowl, whisk together the coconut milk, honey, and extracts. Freeze in ice cream maker according to instructions. (For me, that means adding the mixture to the machine while it is running, and letting it churn for 20-25 minutes.)

2. Meanwhile, finely chop the dark chocolate and add to the ice cream maker in the last 30 seconds or so. Freeze to “ripen” or eat right away, soft serve style.

3. If you leave in the freezer for more than a few hours, let it sit at room temperature for about 10-15 minutes to soften before serving. Enjoy!

Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream (Coconut Milk Decadence)
 
Serves: 6
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Ingredients
  • 2 14 ounce cans or 3½ cups of coconut milk or cream
  • ⅓ to ½ cup of honey
  • 1 teaspoon organic vanilla extract, optional
  • 2 teaspoon organic peppermint extract
  • 3 ounces of dark chocolate
Instructions
  1. In a medium size bowl, whisk together the coconut milk, honey, and extracts. Freeze in ice cream maker according to instructions. (For me, that means adding the mixture to the machine while it is running, and letting it churn for 20-25 minutes.)
  2. Meanwhile, finely chop the dark chocolate and add to the ice cream maker in the last 30 seconds or so. Freeze to "ripen" or eat right away, soft serve style.
  3. If you leave in the freezer for more than a few hours, let it sit at room temperature for about 10-15 minutes to soften before serving. Enjoy!

 

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Apple Cinnamon Nut Granola

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Spiced and lightly sweetened, this high protein all nut granola is delish! The first time I made it, Elena and I kept going back for taste tests before it was all the way done in the dehydrator! It’s also super easy to play around with the ingredients. This granola sticks together in delightful “clumps”, just perfect for snacking on or sprinkling over yogurt.

It’s made a great snack for a hungry pregnant women and a growing three year old. It’s so easy to throw some in a little bag on the way out the door- a perfect snack for after my daughter’s ballet class. She just has her first class yesterday and was extremely excited about it and had a great time. With tippy toes, bunny hops, “picking cherries” and jumping over a mud hole, she thought the class was just about the funnest thing she ever did. Joel and I loved her joy. It just brings you so much happiness to see your kids enjoying and experiencing new exciting things. But it was also a little sad for us. Joel’s mom, who so recently passed away, was a professional ballet dancer. She had mentioned wanting to do some kid fitness with Elena. We were sad that she never got the opportunity. So it was a bittersweet moment for us.

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