Sweet and Nutty Quinoa Parfait

One of my clients told me she used quinoa in place of granola in her yogurt parfaits.  I LOVE this idea! So I whipped up a recipe to share with you!

Check out this yumminess. Berry & Quinoa Parfait

Russ and I love to add quinoa to our hot breakfast cereals.  We toss in steel cut oats and oat bran. Add some chia seeds, strawberries and a few pepitas (shelled pumpkin seeds).  Maybe a little bit of maple sugar too if I need a little extra hint of sweetness.   Have you tried quinoa for breakfast yet?  Or better yet, have you tried quinoa yet?

Although I do enjoy a nice quinoa salad, I love quinoa sweetened up too!

Today, I cooked up some red quinoa.  Added some shredded sweetened coconut, a few sliced almonds and a hefty dash of cinnamon.Sweeetened quinoa

What a delicious looking mix.Mixed quinoa

Then I layered this amazing quinoa mixture with some Greek yogurt (FODMAPer can substitute in lactose free yogurt as necessary) and some fresh berries.  I am a fan of Chobani but Green Valley lactose free yogurt is good too.yogurts

My crazy chocolate lab, Lucy and I enjoy Greek yogurt.  We usually share a container….and this morning she not only enjoyed some Greek yogurt but is proudly wearing some on her chin. :)

I do love to add a few raspberries to pretty much anything when I get a chance.  Our neighbor, Mr. Hubbard grew BEAUTIFUL raspberry bushes that creeped over onto our property. Fresh sweet raspberries fondly remind me of our sweet neighbor, his tasty berries and my childhood.raspberries

So delicious!

After our wonderful parfait, Lucy and I went on a nice run.  A perfect start to a beautiful sunny day!Quinoa Parfait blog.katescarlata.com

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Sweet and Nutty Quinoa Parfait

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup cooked quinoa
  • 1 Tablespoon sliced almonds
  • 1 Tablespoon sweetened shredded coconut
  • Generous dash of cinnamon
  • 8 ounces Lactose vanilla or plain yogurt (such as Green Valley)
  • 1/2 cup washed fresh berries (strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries)

Instructions

  1. Blend quinoa with sliced almonds, shredded coconut and cinnamon. Set aside.
  2. Layer yogurt followed by 1/2 of quinoa and top again with remaining yogurt.
  3. Finish parfait with the rest of the quinoa mixture and add the berries as the final topping.
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Orange Cranberry Sorghum Salad with Pecans

One of my favorite Whole Foods Market’s salads is their Israeli Couscous salad.  Couscous is a source of wheat and so is not tolerated by everyone…so…

I thought I might create a similar salad with sorghum.  Sorghum is a high fiber gluten free grain.  Since I bought a big bag of it, I wanted to use it up and create a summer-y salad with it.

Did you see my posting on popping sorghum like popcorn? Here it is!

Here is what I came up with.  Not too shabby, right?sorghum salad with spoon

Sorghum is a chewy round grain.

sorghum

I found a version of the Whole Foods couscous salad on line here, and so tweaked it a bit for my sorghum salad keeping it pretty similar.

I added some pecans. Gotta love pecans, right?pecans

And some cranberries too.  FODMAPers 1 Tablespoon of dried cranberries is an appropriate serving size.

I whipped up a dressing made with thyme, tarragon and tumeric.  Tumeric has powerful anti inflammatory properties.  We could all use a little anti-inflammation, right? :)    It is found in curry dishes, added in stir-fry recipes and often used in Indian cuisine.ingredients in mason

I tossed the mixture together and garnished with a bit of green scallion and parsley.

When I make this again, I would consider using a mix of grains for even more texture such as rice, red quinoa and sorghum.

sorghum salad

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Orange Cranberry Sorghum Salad with Pecans

Ingredients

  • Serves ~6
  • 3 cups COOKED sorghum (OR mix brown rice, sorghum & red quinoa) Wheat tolerant folks can substitute Israeli couscous, if desired
  • 1/3 cup chopped dried cranberries
  • 1/2 cup chopped pecans
  • 1 scallion, chopped (FODMAPers use green part only)
  • 2 Tablespoons fresh chopped parsley
  • Dressing:
  • 1 1/2 Tablespoons rice wine vinegar
  • 2 Tablespoons olive oil
  • 1/4 cup fresh squeezed orange juice
  • 1 Tablespoon orange zest, if desired
  • 1/2 teaspoon tumeric
  • 1/2 teaspoon tarragon
  • 1/2 teaspoon thyme
  • dash sea salt

Instructions

  1. In medium bowl, add cooked sorghum, chopped pecans and cranberries.
  2. Whisk dressing ingredients together and toss with sorghum mixture.
  3. Garnish with scallion and parsley.
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Shakin’ Up The Kitchen with Shakshuka

This is a guest post by Lauren Adler Dear, a dietetic intern, and very soon to be registered dietitian!  Who’s tried Shakshuka before?  READ on and learn more…

This past Sunday, my dad and I made a wonderful brunch for mom for Mother’s Day. On the menu: Shakshuka, a middle eastern dish of baked eggs in a tomato sauce. Shakshuka is traditionally made with peppers, onions, garlic, and tomatoes, but we decided to make one FODMAP friendly version and one non-FODMAP friendly version.

First we gathered all the ingredients. My dad is an incredible cook and he always lays out his mise en place before he begins. I, on the other hand tend to gather things as I go.

Ingredients

We sautéed the peppers over medium-low heat for about 25 minutes until they were nice and soft.peppers cookingNext in the pan were the spices: cumin, sweet paprika, and turmeric. Then we added chopped canned tomatoes, salt, and pepper. We cooked down the saucy tomatoes for about 10 minutes, added some feta cheese, cracked in some eggs and popped the pans into the oven for about 15 minutes.

Here are both versions….delicious!Lauren's recipe done!Shakshuka can be served with pita bread for the wheat tolerant or a side of quinoa, brown rice, or FODMAP friendly bread for the non-wheat tolerant.

Thanks Lauren for this great recipe and post! I, for one, had never heard of Shakshuka before I read this post!  I love getting great recipe inspirations from my talented colleagues.  I hope you all give Shakshuka a try! Sounds like a great brunch recipe!

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Shakin’ Up The Kitchen with Shakshuka

Ingredients

  • Serves 2-3
  • 2 Tablespoons olive oil
  • A few slices of onion for infusing (or use oil you have already infused)
  • 1 large red bell pepper, sliced
  • 1 teaspoon cumin
  • 1 teaspoon sweet paprika
  • ¼ teaspoon turmeric
  • 1 28-ounce can chopped tomatoes
  • 1 cup feta cheese, crumbled
  • 5 eggs
  • Chopped cilantro or parsley for garnish.

Instructions

  1. Heat oven to 375 degrees.
  2. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-low head. Add onion, cook for 5 minutes, then remove.
  3. Add red pepper and cook over medium-low head for 20-25 minutes. Add cumin, paprika, and turmeric and cook 1-2 minutes.
  4. Pour in tomatoes and season to taste. Simmer until tomatoes have thickend, about 10 minutes. Stir in feta.
  5. Make 5 wells in the mixture and crack the eggs into the wells. Cover the skillet with foil and transfer to the oven and bake for 5 minutes. Remove the foil and bake another 4-5 minutes, or until the eggs are set.
  6. Sprinkle with cilantro or parsley and serve with quinoa or FODMAP friendly bread.
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Happy Mom’s Day.

I found this quote online and it made me smile.

Mother [muhther] noun:  A person that does the work of twenty.  For free.

It’s true, Mom’s are very busy people.  And most, wouldn’t want it any other way.

I hope all you Mom’s out there are having a happy day.  What makes one Mom happy may not make another Mom happy so it is so important to find your own happiness.

I started my day with a nice warm baked croissant and some fruit salad…followed by a nice run and a Starbucks iced coffee.  A perfect day.

The flowers are exquisite this time of year.  The wisteria is flowering so I just had to take a few pictures.  Purple flowers make me happy. Wisteria fence

Wisteria seems like it belongs dangling off a castle, don’t you think?

WisteriaLast night, I felt like creating something sweet in the kitchen.  I didn’t want to create a complete mess like usual so I decided to make some little chocolate dipped bananas topped with this AMAZING almond butter I just bought at Whole Foods Market.

How good does this almond butter look?!  It makes me want to dive right in! almond butter

I just put about a teaspoon or two of this luscious almond butter on a slice of banana.bananas w- almnd butter

I melted some dark chocolate chips with a little coconut oil.  The coconut oil infused just a light coconut flavor–perfection!

I found it helpful to press the almond butter a bit firmly on the banana before dipping in the melted chocolate.

Then I froze these little banana treats and had one after my run today.  Pure yumminess.banana chocolate

This of course, was a Pinterest inspiration.  So easy, yummy and healthy. Here’s the original recipe which I of course messed around with a bit.!

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Dark chocolate banana almond butter bites

Ingredients

  • 1 large banana
  • 3-4 Tablespoons almond butter (can sub in peanut butter)
  • 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
  • 1-2 teaspoons coconut oil

Instructions

  1. Peel and slice banana into 1 1/2 inch rounds.
  2. Top with 1-2 teaspoons almond butter, pressing butter firmly onto banana
  3. Carefully melt chocolate chips with coconut oil (I did this in microwave heating for 30 seconds, stirring and returning into microwave for about another 15 seconds.--microwaves vary so keep an eye on your chocolate being careful not to burn)
  4. Using a fork or toothpick, dip banana into melted chocolate and return onto plate lined with parchment paper.
  5. Put in freezer overnight and enjoy 1-2 bites as a snack or dessert.
  6. FODMAPers: limit almond butter intake to about 3/4 -1 Tablespoon per sitting
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Enjoy!

Popped Sorghum

I bought some sorghum today.  I don’t say that phrase too often.  In fact, I have never said that before!

Have you heard of sorghum?  Sorghum is a gluten free grain that originated in Africa.  It’s a hearty grain, somewhat chewy, that can be made into a grainy salad mixture.meet sorghum

When I first laid my eyes on sorghum it was at a gluten conference and the vendor was selling popped sorghum.  In fact, sorghum can be popped like popcorn. Today, I chose to cook it in a brown paper bag 1/4 cup for about 1 1/2 minutes in the microwave. (timing varies depending on your microwave) sorghum into bag

Popped sorghum tastes just like popcorn but it’s much smaller. Actually, it’s quite cute. :) popped sorghum

Here it is, next to popped corn!popcorn vs sorghum

Since corn allergies are not so uncommon these days….sorghum makes a nice alternative to traditionally made popcorn.

So in addition to popping sorghum today (sounds like maybe I have too much time on my hands, huh?), I whipped up a sorghum salad too.  Hey, what the heck.

This is based on the recipe right on the Bob’s Red Mill bag a curried sorghum salad.curried sorghum

As usual, I did play around with a few ingredients, but really not too many.  I really like the texture of the salad, but honestly was not a big fan of the curry mixture.  I definitely will try sorghum again, and I hope you will give it a go too.

Sorghum is lower in FODMAPs than spelt but has more FODMAPs than quinoa–so enjoy but don’t eat a huge amount at one sitting. The texture reminds me a bit of  Israeli Couscous- so if you have a favorite couscous recipe trying substituting sorghum.

So stand by, I will try my hands at sorghum salad again….and will most definitely have a recipe to share for you!

 

Chocolate Coconut Cookies

Happy Saturday!  I don’t know about you but this week was super busy.  I am looking forward to this gorgeous sunny day in New England.

Russ and I got in a GREAT run this morning and of course, Lucy, our crazy chocolate lab joined us-’cause dogs need exercise too! :)

Here’s Lucy taking in some sun post run…lucy

Speaking of chocolate…

I love chocolate and coconut combos…not like globs of gooey excess coconut and chocolate but rather chocolate with a hint of coconut.  So I decided to make some 60% cacao chocolate gluten free cookies with a smattering of coconut.  I think I might try using a bit of coconut oil next time to infuse a bit more coconut flavor.  {These can easily be made with all-purpose flour or favorite whole grain flour for the wheat tolerant!}chocolate coconut cookies

I blended up a bit of melted 60% cacao chocolate chips, shredded coconut, butter, some granulated sugar and a mixture of gluten free flours…and of course an egg, baking soda and vanilla.

cookie dough

I rolled the dough in parchment paper and refrigerated it for about 2 hours so that I could simply slice the cookie dough into as a many cookies as a I want and return the rest of the dough to the freezer for later in the week.cutting the dough

Then I popped them on a cookie sheet. You can see the little bits of coconut. Mmmmmready to bake

And then I ate them. :) cookies done

 

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Chocolate Coconut Cookies

Ingredients

  • 1 stick of butter, room temperature
  • 1/3 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1/2 cup 60% cacao chocolate chips, melted and slightly cooled
  • 1 cup gluten free flour blend (I used Trader Joe's gluten free flour)
  • 1/2 cup whole grain brown rice flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/4 cup chopped shredded sweetened coconut

Instructions

  1. In medium bowl, blend butter and sugar.
  2. Add in egg and vanilla.
  3. Fold in chocolate.
  4. Blend in flours and baking soda.
  5. Blend in coconut.
  6. Remove dough and place on wax paper or parchment paper and roll into long log about 2 1/2 inch diameter.
  7. Roll log up with parchment paper and refrigerate for at least 2-3 hours or until very firm.
  8. Cut dough into 1/3 inch thick circle and place on cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for about 6-8 minutes.
  9. FOR the wheat tolerant: Substitute 1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour or white wheat flour for the 2 flours in this recipe.
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Lentil Pilaf

Look what I made today!  It’s Lentil Pilaf!  lentil pilaf

Honestly, growing up I can’t remember a lentil ever coming across my plate but raising my own kids I have been known to slip in a few lentils every now and again. :)

My first introduction to lentils came in the form of Near East Lentil Pilaf.  I made it and the kids ate it.  It was a proud nutritionist moment.

The next time I made lentil pilaf, I didn’t rinse my saucepan enough and the  pilaf came out soapy tasting. Oops.

My kids will never let me forget it. Ha!

Lentils are a great source of fiber, 9 grams in just 1/2 cup serving! WOW!!

Near East mixes are fine in a pinch but moving away from ‘boxed foods’ and into more whole foods, I thought I might just try my own lentil pilaf sans soapy-taste.

I started my recipe with a little garlic infused oil and added a red bell pepper.  Look at this beauty!pepper

So for my FODMAPers, lentils get the ‘green light’ especially canned lentils, 1/2 cup serving (without onion and garlic).  Westbrae makes an appropriate product. (Shout out to Lisa, my client, for finding these!)lentils

I drained and rinsed the lentils to lower the FODMAP content even more.lentils draining

Today, I cooked up some garlic infused oil (FODMAPers, of course, remove garlic after flavor infused), tossed in some chopped red bell pepper, added some cooked brown rice, some drained and rinsed canned lentils and garnished with fresh basil, scallion (green part only FODMAPers) and some sea salt and pepper.  I ate 2 large servings for lunch.  Deeeeelllish!pilaf

Now, on this beautiful sunny day, I have to haul my butt outside and take a run.  I make it sound like a chore, don’t I?  But, really, I do love every minute of it.

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Lentil Pilaf

Ingredients

  • 1 Tablespoon olive oil
  • 1-2 garlic cloves, sliced
  • 1 red bell pepper, deseeded and chopped into bite size pieces
  • 2 cups cooked brown rice (can use Trader Joe's pre-cooked, frozen brown rice)
  • 1 15 ounce can Westbrae lentils or about (1 1/2 cup cooked lentils), drained and rinsed
  • 2 scallions, sliced (green part only FODMAPers)
  • 1/4 cup fresh basil, sliced
  • sea salt and pepper, to taste

Instructions

  1. Saute garlic in oil over medium heat in medium size skillet (FODMAPers remove garlic once flavor infused)
  2. Add in chopped red pepper and cook until fork tender.
  3. Fold in rice and lentils.
  4. Garnish with scallions and basil.
  5. Season with sea salt and pepper.
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Maple Peanut Sesame Chicken

Did I mention that I LOVE Pinterest!  It’s such a fun website to find new recipe inspirations.  Click here to follow my pinterest boards (I have a couple dedicated to low FODMAP recipes)  I ‘pin’ mostly healthy foods but of course, some recipes I pin because they just look fun and tasty.

I found this Thai Chicken recipe on Pinterest that looked so easy and I just so happened to have all the ingredients on hand. But, of course, I changed up the ingredients a bit (because that is what I do!)

It’s was a bit of a cold, rainy and grey day yesterday so running around outside was not too appealing.  But…cooking and eating, well, that’s another story! So, I stayed in most of the day and did a bit of cooking.

I am proud of myself though because I did take a nice long walk with my friend Sara and my other friend, Lucy (my crazy chocolate lab).  It was cold and kinda spitting out but I am so glad I got in some exercise!  And, the impact on Lucy…priceless.  She was pretty much zonked on the couch beside me while I worked on some writing projects.  Is there anything greater than snuggling with a sleepy dog?  I think not. :) (Well, maybe a few things are greater but it certainly is pretty relaxing)Lucy exhausted

Seriously, how cute is my girl Lucy?Lucy running w: ball

I am working on a new writing project. So…I will be locked up in writing mode for the next few months.  It’s all good, ’cause I do like to write.

So back to this quick recipe.  I whisked some peanut butter, reduced sodium soy sauce, ginger, maple syrup, sesame oil and some sesame seeds.  Add some raw chicken tenders. Marinate.  Bake. Eat.  (Yup, it’s low FODMAP)maple chicken

Toss over salad or with a side of rice and your favorite veggie or serve over some rice vermicelli. I adjusted the recipe a bit, so have provided the recipe as I made it.  I enjoyed my Maple Peanut Sesame Chicken with a side of kale salad. maple peanut chicken Have you seen the Olivia Organic Baby Kale?  I LOVE it!

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Maple Peanut Sesame Chicken

Ingredients

  • 1 pound chicken tenders (boneless, skinless)
  • 2 Tablespoons all natural peanut butter
  • 1 Tablespoon sesame oil
  • 3 Tablespoons reduced sodium tamari (soy sauce)
  • 1 Tablespoon sesame seeds
  • 1 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1 1/2 Tablespoons pure maple syrup

Instructions

  1. Wash and pat dry chicken.
  2. In medium casserole dish, add peanut butter, sesame oil, soy sauce, sesame seeds, ginger and maple syrup whisking to blend.
  3. Add chicken and toss to coat with mixture.
  4. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes-several hours.
  5. Keep chicken in 'marinade' and place casserole uncovered in oven.
  6. Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 30 minutes or until chicken is cooked through. Serve over rice vermicelli noodles or baby salad greens.
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enjoy!

Road Trip: Nashville, TN & Asheville, NC

Russ, Brennan and I are exploring another part of the country.  It’s school vacation week and we are ready to relax!

First stop, Nashville, Tennessee!  music row

Now, when I say relax….I should say, ‘our way to relax’ because we tend to be very active on vacation.  Day 1 involved renting bikes and exploring parts of the city we may not have seen walking on foot….including a trip to the ‘American Picker’s’ television show’s store, Antique Archaeology.

We love this show….so we were quite excited to see the store.American pickers

Bike rentals are new to Nashville and I think it’s a great way to get exercise and view the city.

biking: pickers

We also roamed around the streets and checked out all the ‘honky tonk’ bars, shops, old store fronts…lots of cow boy boots and hats!Shoes shops

Lots of old buildings too, like this one…Acme farm

The food in Tennessee was seriously rich and often fried…so we fit in a few runs and included some stairs to work off our dietary indiscretions. running stairs

Then we road tripped –about a 5 hour drive to Asheville, North Carolina.Asheville collageAsheville is known for the Biltmore estate, great cultural vibe and breweries.  We of course, did a little beer tasting.  The little red door above was a little mouse door just randomly placed on a brick wall …how cute is that?

But the highlight of our trip was our zip lining excursion. We visited Navitat, a great zip lining adventure located right in the mountains.boys zipping We completed 11 zip lines and walked across some wobbly bridges. bridge Yes, I am afraid of heights…but somehow like I like these ‘out of the box’ activities.

Here I am repelling off the platform.  kate repelling

It’s been a great week away.  No recipes to share this post as I am away from my kitchen!

But as we have tried to stay focused on our vacation and time together, it has been extremely difficult in the aftermath of our home city of Boston’s recent devastating events.  I was born in Boston, attended college in Boston, and did my hospital training at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital, one of the many Boston hospitals that cared for many of the bombing victims.  

Please pray for the city that I am proud to call home.Image 6

 

Crunchy Peanut Butter Cookies with Bittersweet Chocolate

With my recent peanut butter give-a-way, I can’t get peanut-y treats out of my mind.fresh peanuts

So…I whipped up some flourless peanut butter cookies today and threw in some roughly chopped peanuts fresh from the shell…and some 60% cacao bittersweet chocolate chips.  Woooooo….Yes!crunchy peanut butter cookies

So very yum.  I ate 3 right out of the oven. oops!

I am not recommending you do that….but…I sure did!

This recipe really is pretty fail proof.  Toss some all natural peanut butter with brown and granulated sugar, a dash of vanilla, baking soda and an egg.  Toss in your favorite mix-ins. {yes, FODMAP friendly if you don’t eat them all!}cookie mixture

 I do think a little orange zest and a splash of fresh orange juice would be pretty awesome too…but I didn’t have an orange at my house today. :( cookies

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Crunchy Peanut Butter Cookies with Bittersweet Chocolate Chips

Ingredients

  • 1 cup all natural peanut butter (I used Teddie peanut butter with flaxseed)
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla or vanilla paste
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (I used 60% cacao bittersweet chocolate)
  • 3/4 cup chopped peanuts
  • (option: add 1 Tablespoon orange zest and 2 teaspoons orange juice)

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
  2. Line cookie sheet with parchment.
  3. In medium bowl, blend peanut butter, sugars, egg, vanilla and baking soda.
  4. Fold in chocolate chips and peanuts
  5. Drop tablespoon of cookie dough onto cookie sheet, flatten tops slightly with back of spoon.
  6. Bake for 6 minutes.
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And, just because….I thought I would share a couple pictures I took last weekend when Russ and I strolled around Cambridge, Massachusetts.  Pussy willows and tulips make me smile…:)

pussywillows

tulips

 And thanks to all who entered the peanut-give-away.  The lucky winners: Logan, Christi and Robin!  

Loved all the GREAT comments,  you guys all rock.  I think I need to do more give-a-ways because I LOVE hearing from you!