RECIPES Redux: Chicken Adobo from Everyday Paleo

Looks yummy and no refined carbs-focused.

http://everydaypaleo.com/2012/06/05/too-easy-chicken-adobo-and-roasted-greens-with-beets-and-garlic/

PRODUCT of the Week: La Victoria Enchilada Sauce

La Victoria Enchilada Sauce (red, mild). No sugar, no flour--a great condiment for Latin dishes you can throw easily throw together. Yummy ladled over stuffed peppers, rice and beans--you name it.

Recipes REAL: Making Stuffed Peppers

http://tastykitchen.com/recipes/special-dietary-needs/vegetarian/stuffed-pasilla-peppers/

Making this right now....

Easy Grilled Stuffed Pasilla Peppers

Easy Grilled Stuffed Pasilla Peppers 

These look incredible, and I hope to make them tomorrow.....

Recipes REDUX: Amazing Oat Risotto

Amazing risotto without the rice! Can't wait to try this Oat Risotto, featured in the Wall Street Journal this week. It's a recipe from chef Sean Brock of Charleston, S.C., who works some magic at locavore/heritage-focused eateries Husk and McGrady's.

Recipes REDUX: It's Still Cold Out! Sugarless, Flourless Cookies

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It's still chilly enough in some parts of the northern hemisphere to consider making a warm batch of cookies. Blisstree published a great sugarless, flourless list of cookie recipes a while back, and you can find that list here. Upon closer inspection, there's sugar in them thar recipes--well, some of them--BUT, you can sub in agave, honey, rice syrup or liquid stevia for the sugar. The Almond Macaroons, in particular, can be adapted--as can the Triple Whammy Chocolate cookies (substitute sweetened chocolate chips with carob chips or crushed, unsweetened chocolate).

Recipes REDUX: A French 75 Cocktail Without the Sugar

Finally, a sweet cocktail that does NOT use simple syrup--basically liquified white-sugar. This recipe, for a version of a French 75, dubbed a "Santa Cruz 75," featured in Southwest Airline's Spirit Magazine, was created by Jeff Bareilles, of Manresa, in Los Gatos, Calif., near San Jose. His recipe for the champagne and brandy (normally gin) drink uses honey....

AltSweet THEME: Peet's Sells Corn Syrup-Sweetened Berkeley Farms Yogurt

Not sure how a coffee chain known for high quality and purity of product allows itself to sell yogurt with corn syrup in it, but Peet's does sell Berkeley Farms yogurt in its refrigerated in-store cases. There are so many other brands of yogurt that are, at least, using slightly less terrible evaporated cane juice. I don't get it.

AltSweet THEME: Tricks and Tips for Cooking With Agave Syrup

Agave is my go-to for sugary-sweet flavoring in baking. BUT, I need to remember several things: first, bake at lower temperature, for a little less time--otherwise, whatever you are baking, tends to dry out, burn and taste over-done. Equivalency is also important: about 3/4 of sugar, but you can find translation measurements all over the web (see below). An earlier attempt at Chocolate Walnut Pie went great--then, I got careless, and the next attempt was dry.

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There are lots of tips about using agave on the web:

--Chowhound has a nice discussion thread on the subject.
--VegFamily offers tips AND some recipes.
--Eating Well has some good advice, too.
--French for Foodies blogger highlighted her agave cookery attempts.
--Foodista has an assortment of agave-centric recipes.

AltSweet THEME: Nix Wheat Entirely...

Interesting new book on cutting out wheat, mentioned on Jimmy Moore's Livin' La Vida Low-Carb blog. I'm not endorsing it, just offering it as another perspective.

AltSweet THEME: Evaporated Cane Juice Not So Juicy

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So, lots of companies have switched from high fructose corn syrup or white sugar to something called 'evaporated cane juice' (EVJ). It sounds nutritive, but...it ain't. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration considers the word 'juice' to be mis-used in this way, but has never--to my knowledge--issued a directive forbidding companies from using the word.

Meanwhile, EVJ is really no better than white sugar, according to many sources. And, it's pretty high on the glycemic index, meaning it has a dramatic effect on blood sugar, which makes controlling appetite, food intake and weight, difficult. Look for 'unsweetened' products, wherever you can find them. Almond milk and soy milk usually come in 'unsweetened' varieties, although the big sellers have evaporated cane juice--check the labels. Because it is less processed than bleached, white, crystalline, sugar, some insist it's a healthy alternative; it's really not, once you dig deeper.

Unprocessed sweeteners, like agave and honey, remain better glycemic choices. Those choices are expertly discussed, along with helpful info about refined and unrefined carbs at The Franklin Institute. These natural sweeteners will always be more expensive, at least in the U.S., where corn and sugar cane growers are subsidized in a number of ways through the tax code, legislation and federal agriculture policy. There's always fresh fruit in season, for a dose of complex carbs...

Recipes REDUX: Family Circle's Apple, Beat and White Bean Salad

This is a completely sugarless, flourless salad that looks awfully easy to make. Family Circle posted this incredible Apple, Beet and White Bean Salad. Fantastic. No croutons, no sugary dressing. I never thought I'd be a Family Circle reader, but maybe I should be giving them a glance. The kale in this salad makes it even healthier--could survive weeks on this.

THEMATIC Thursdays: Not a Sweet Dream--Salad Dressings Full of Sugar

The amount of sugar in prepared sauces used on American tables is astounding.

A great example is a mid-to-high-priced mainstream salad dressing line, Ken's Steak House. To Ken's credit, the company puts its ingredient labels online. I came across a dressing sale at Safeway, and found sugar 'above-the-line' of  "2% or less" in a number of their products, e.g. Caesar Lite Dressing. And, corn syrup in a couple of them, too! Ditto Buttermilk Ranch  A few had sugar 'below-the-line'...still, why?

This goes for mayonnaise and pasta sauces, as well. Read labels...

Recipes REAL: Pumpkin & Chickpea Fritters Need Work (Mine)

I went ahead Tuesday night, and made Pumpkin and Chickpea Fritters, but without the breadcrumbs...initially it didn't work out too well, partly because I used an equal amount of pumpkin to chickpea--when the recipe says you half as much pumpkin as chickpea.

I fixed it by dumping in about 2/3 cup of rolled oats, and then, yes...I had to, I rolled the patties in light dusting of whole wheat flour. Mea culpa. If I had to do this again, I would cut down the pumpkin, increase the spices--these can be pretty bland without..., and then make a side dipping lemon or mint dipping sauce with yogurt or sour cream.

Thematic THURSDAYS: Which Grains are Healthy?

What grains can you eat if you're not eating refined carbs? And, what about gluten? Generally, 'low-gluten' and 'low carbohydrate' go together, but not always.

 There's a lot of debate, but you could try sticking with low-gluten grains like quinoa, farro, millet and buckwheat. The Livestrong site contains some information on cereal grains and their gluten levels. Whole Foods offers a basic refresher on the grains. And, a primer on Wikipedia offers further guidance.

The question of whether the solution to eating healthier is a low-gluten, low-carbohydrate, or low-glycemic index/load diet remains a thorny one. More research is needed.

Thematic THURSDAYS: Sugar Substitutions

So how much agave do you use in a recipe that calls for 2 cups of corn syrup? How much honey in a recipe that calls for 1 cup of brown sugar?

There are some great sugar substitutions websites: AllRecipes does an admirable job comprehensively reviewing all the calculations, but it's not perfect - there's not a whole lot on Stevia subs and some of the non-nutritive sweeteners. OCChef offers some additional information about weights and relative moisture. The 'nons' are dealt with very well by the About.com folks.Still more information here. And a honey substitution primer can be found here.

Original RECIPE: Sugarless, Flourless Chocolate Walnut Pie

My sugarless, flourless version of Chocolate Walnut pie won the dessert category at the multi-event local potluck. Here's the recipe:

Filling:
1 1/2 cups agave syrup

Not much left! Picture by DNS

3 squares unsweetened baking chocolate
3 tbs butter
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups walnut pieces
2 eggs
1 tsp baking powder

Crust: 
1 1/3 cups rolled oats
1/2 cup almond meal
1/2 cup oat bran
4 tbs melted butter
2 tbs canola oil
1 egg

Melt chocolate and butter in a saucepan and let cool for a few minutes. Mix all other filling ingredients in a big mixing bowl, then add the chocolate mixture and stir in vigorously. Mix all the crust ingredients together, then press the crust mixture into a crust shape around the inside of a pie tin until the whole inside is covered. Add the filling mixture. Bake at 325 degrees for 50 minutes, with a convection setting. Without convection, bake at a slightly higher temperature for a little longer--test it to see if done. Let cool, once baked.

Recipes REDUX: Pumpkin & Chickpea Fritters from Healthy Happy...

Now these look scrumptious, and I still have a can of pumpkin puree left over from Thanksgiving--this will happen. These fritters, from Healthy, Happy Life and the LunchBox Bunch,  look incredibly easy to make; ignore the suggestion to use panko as a binder...you can use an egg instead, or if vegan, some olive oil and almond meal. No flour, no sugar.

PRODUCT of the WEEK: Indian Fare's Shelf-Stable Madras Lentil

This is a great, simply, affordable dish; Trader Joe's sells it for $1.99 (may vary by area), and I've seen it offered for more at Ralph's, a southern California chain. All natural ingredients--no chemicals, no sugar, no flour. Just tomatoes, onions, lentils, kidney beans, cream, salt, butter, cumin, sunflower oil and red chilies.

It's a little spicy, and you have to like Indian food--but even if you don't, it's great warmed up in the microwave. Delectable!

Recipes REDUX: About.com's Delectable Beef & Tomato Concoction

About Foods' Southern Foods page offers a great, warm mid-winter stew; if you don't have a crock-pot, trying using a Dutch oven or large saucepan on the stove-top--adjust times accordingly.

You can leave out the 'thickener' or flour/cornstarch from this, and most stew recipes. Try diced tempeh, mushrooms, or almond meal as a (kind of) thickener.

RECIPE REDUX: Cauliflower, Sprouts & Beans in 'vinaigrette' (NYT)

You can use that wok for meals other than Asian-themed ones, if you like...sugar-less and flour-less skillet supper: cruciferous veggies and beans in an intriguing sauce, done in Wok, from The New York Times.

This recipe woks cauliflower, brussels sprouts and red beans in a mustard 'vinaigrette' -- minus the vinegar. The 'vinaigrette' consists of lemon juice, olive oil and Dijon mustard, whisked with a little water or vegetable stock.

MENU Mondays: Unbreaded Poppers

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I had some delicious crab-and-cheese-filled jalapeno poppers at a local bar, on Super Bowl Sunday, and it reminded me that there's really no need to bread or batter poppers; you can add hard cheeses, like cheddar or parmesan, or diced mushrooms, and fried, crumbled tempeh, to firm up the filling--usually created with cream cheese or queso fresco base.

Here's a low-fat version from a Spark Recipes contributor, which uses bread crumbs--omit those, and firm up the filling as you like...kitchen almost done for testing of these!

THEMATIC Thursdays: Protein-Filled Salads

I did not enter into the potluck's Asian event last night, but I did try an entrant's Vietnamese Salad; here's a version of the salad from the U.K.'s Telegraph --you can add mushrooms, as the entrant did.

Here are some other healthy salads (here's a good guide for healthy salads and some more tips):
-This Arugula and Lentil salad sounds great; I'd replace the couscous with quinoa or tempeh to reduce the gluten/glycemic load.

-Here's another one--Thai Beef and Melon--from Eating Well; scan reader comments adaptation pointers.

-Black Bean, Tomato and Corn seems like a tasty combo.

TERRIBLE TUESDAYS: Kraft Rates Poorly With Sugar-Filled Fat-Free Dressing

Still waiting for the kitchen to finish...it's disappointing to see much-heralded fat-free salad dressing containing refined carbs, like corn syrup. Subway offers a great deal, with any sandwich as a salad for five bucks--thereby removing bread from the menu--but then throws it all to hell by offering salad dressing with sugar in it. Boo.

Product of the Week: Almond Breeze Unsweetened Almond Milk

Delicious, nutritious Almond Breeze Unsweetened Almond Milk, Original Flavor, from Blue Diamond, gets my vote. In Northern California, I've found it at Safeway and Raley's--check out the website, with its product locator, to find some near you.

THEMATIC THURSDAYS: Diabetes and Cheeseburgers

Food Network celeb chef and restaurateur Paula Deen has made headlines with her disclosure of Type 2 diabetes. Now, TMZ via ABC News at Yahoo, has showed her, allegedly, flouting her diabetes by eating a cheeseburger. Although I'm not a doctor, I wonder if the bigger problem isn't the cheeseburger itself, but the accompanying bun and French Fries, examples of refined and simple carbs, respectively, that tinker with blood sugar levels.

The best way to find out about your own risk for diabetes is to have your own blood glucose levels checked; there is a lot of discussion about getting Hba1C tests done as well. The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention offer a helpful guide.

CORNBREAD: ...with Honey and Real Corn

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Generally, I eschew the use of corn meal, but you could substitute oats and/or almond meal for the corn meal. Meanwhile, the use of actual corn kernels, and the absence of white sugar in this great recipe for wheat-flour-less (and sugar-less) cornbread, attracted me to it--I'm putting this on my list to adapt, when my kitchen is done. Try using agave in place of the honey...