Slow Cooker Borscht

With getting back into the busy work routine, I often use my slow cooker to make meals simpler.  Soups work well in the slow cooker because it does not matter if the vegetables get mushy.  Puree the soup at the end of the cooking time to improve the texture.

My daughter really likes Borscht, so I often use vegetarian beef flavoured bouillon cubes when I am making it for her.  If I am making Borscht for just my husband and myself, I prefer to use homemade beef stock.

I have adapted one of the best Borscht recipes so it can be made in the crockpot.  The original recipe is from the cookbook "Slice - Health Inspired Food" by Barb Davies & Jennifer Rallison.

Ingredients

1 tablespoon of butter or coconut oil

1 medium onion, diced

4 to 6 small to medium beets, peeled and cut into (1-cm) cubes

2 medium potatoes, peeled and diced

2 medium carrots, peeled and diced

5 cups gluten-free beef stock (I use homemade beef stock or water and 2 beef bouillon cubes that are gluten-free and vegetarian)

3 cups cabbage, shredded (I use a coleslaw mix that is already shredded)

6 oz can pure tomato paste

1 teaspoon sea salt 

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

1 teaspoon each: caraway seeds and dill

Directions

1.  Grease the slow cooker with the butter or oil.  Combine the onions, beets, potatoes, carrots, stock, cabbage, tomato paste and salt in the slow cooker (I like to prepare this the night before and refrigerate it until the morning).

2.  Cover and cook on low for 8 to 10 hours or on high for 4 to 5 hours, until vegetables are tender.

3.  Add vinegar, caraway seeds and dill.  Let simmer for an additional 15 minutes.  Puree with a hand blender or in batches in a blender.

4.  When ready to serve, spoon into individual bowls and top with sour cream or dairy free sour cream. Once it has cooled, I freeze the borscht in individual portions for quick lunches or dinners.

Dill Pickles

Making pickles every year is a tradition in our family.  Here is our tried-and-true recipe for dill pickles.

Ingredients

8 Mason jars (quart-size)

small cucumbers (about 64-72 cucumbers)

8 stalks of fresh dill (seeds and all)

16 garlic cloves

3/4 cup pickling salt (not iodized, it must be a special salt for pickling)

4 cups white pickling vinegar (it must be pickling vinegar as it has more acetic acid than regular white vinegar)

12 cups water (we use bottled water as tap water can turn cloudy later in pickle jars)

Directions

1.  Clean your kitchen sink with a natural cleaner like baking soda to make sure it is very clean.

2.  Place cucumbers in the sink and fill the sink with cool water.  Swish them around with your hands to wash them well.  Drain the sink a couple of times and keep adding fresh water.  Let the pickles soak overnight in cold water in the sink.

3.  In the morning, drain the water out of the sink.  Put the jars in the dishwasher and turn it on for a cycle to make sure they are clean and hot when it is time to fill them.  Put the lids in a pan of water to boil (make sure they are new lids each time you make pickles).

4.  Combine salt, vinegar and water in a large pot.  Bring to a boil.

5.  While you are waiting for the pot to boil, wash the dill and peel the garlic.  Cut the tough bottom ends off the dill stalks.

6.  Using clean rubber gloves take a hot jar out of the dishwasher.  Place one whole stalk of dill in the jar.  Add two cloves of sliced garlic.  Pack the cucumbers into jars (putting the large ones on the bottom and the little ones near the top).  Sometimes shaking the jar helps to move them down.

7.  Using a liquid glass measuring cup, pour hot liquid over the cucumbers in the jar until the cucumbers are completely covered.  Seal with a hot lid.

8.  Repeat with the remaining jars.

9.  Let the hot jars sit on a kitchen towel until they are cool.  Then store them in a cool place.  I store my jars of pickles in an extra refrigerator because I do not have a cold room.  Let stand at least 6 weeks before using them.

Recipe Ideas for Garden Vegetables

I have been enjoying all of the produce that is available this time of year.  Garden zucchinis have been a part of every dinner lately!  One of my favourite recipes is Zucchini-Almond Fritters.  Although recently I am finding it much simpler to make zucchini noodles with a tomato sauce for a quick dinner.  Steaming the zucchini noodles for a few minutes improves the texture.  I steam them in batches using a large pot with a small amount of water in it.

I make my own pasta sauce because it tastes so much better than the pasta sauces from jars.  Start by sautéing onion and garlic in a large sauté pan.  Then add some chopped garden carrots, beans, fresh basil and some gluten-free tomato sauce.  Simmer until the vegetables are tender.  You can get fancy and add a bit of balsamic vinegar or pesto.

Pureeing or dicing the vegetables into smaller pieces before adding them to the tomato sauce is a good way to disguise the vegetables for picky eaters.  Many years ago, I saw Jamie Oliver recommend this type of pasta sauce on a television show about improving school lunches for children.  In his recipe for "The Best Tomato Sauce Ever" he grates the zucchini right into the sauce.  Check out his recipe if you would like a sauce that is kid-friendly.

I had a bunch of ripe B.C. peaches, so I looked for a healthy dessert recipe to make with them.  I made a lovely Peach Cobbler recipe from the Spunky Coconut blog.  It uses nuts and coconut sugar for the topping.  Coconut sugar is somewhat more nutritious and lower on the glycemic index than regular sugar.

The fruit topping would probably be great with other fruits that are available this time of year.  Next time I would like to try it with apples and apricots.  I may add some honey and tapioca starch to the fruit base if it needs to be sweeter and thicker.

This cobbler/crisp dessert recipe is healthy enough to eat for breakfast with vanilla yogurt.  That is definately my favourite way to enjoy it!

Road Trip

We just returned from a 2 week road trip along the Oregon coast.  We enjoyed the beautiful rocky shores and the dramatic change of scenery from the prairies.  It was amazing to see how different the coast can look on a foggy day compared to a sunny day.  We enjoyed activities like walking on the beach, dune buggy rides and watching the surfers.  I took photographs of lighthouses, flowers, wildlife and of course, food!

At times, it was a challenge to eat gluten-free and healthy while travelling.  I brought nuts, fruit, vegetables and eggs in our cooler that plugs into our car's cigarette lighter.  We cooked in some of the rental houses that we stayed in, but they often had limited equipment.  I bought my own "Green Pan" for eggs, as many of the pans were scratched Teflon.  We brought our juicer along so we could juice some of the fresh local fruit and vegetables.

We started off in B.C. before going down to the States.  We always get spoiled when we stay at my bother's place in Kelowna, B.C.  They barbecued salmon, zucchini strips and served them with peach salsa, salad and corn on the cob.  My brother's wife makes wonderful salads.  She made a salad with fresh local cherries, walnuts and feta cheese.  She was also telling me about how to roast corn on the cob in the oven if you don't have room on the barbecue.  She wraps the corn in foil with some butter and puts them in a roasting pan.  Then she roasts the corn at 450 degrees for about 20-25 minutes.  I look forward to trying to roast corn this way.

We ate out at a few restaurants along the way down the Oregon coast.  Some of them had gluten-free menus and some just had a few gluten-free menu items.  Although restaurants are getting better at preparing gluten-free dishes, there are still many improvements to be made.  I did become ill a couple of times after eating in restaurants, so I did end up cooking more in our rental houses.  I even resorted to buying a couple of Amy's gluten-free frozen meals.  I try not to eat packaged foods, but on vacation I was thankful to have these as an option!  I found them more reliable than eating out in restaurants.

One of the highlights of our trip was going to Pike Place Market in Seattle.

We saw the fish market and watched them toss the fish.  

It was a busy holiday, but we really enjoyed the views and the Seattle area.  We hope to go back to Seattle someday to tour some of the islands and go off-the-beaten-path a bit more.  

Farewell summer holidays!

Zucchini Noodles and Creamy Thai Sauce

What do you do when you have hundreds of zucchini in your garden?  In the past, I often used to bake zucchini loaves and cakes.  I try not to do as much baking anymore and I pay more attention to having healthier main dishes and snacks.  Every year I make zucchini salsa because that is something I add to chili and mexican dishes.  A newer option for using zucchinis is to make low-carb zucchini noodles.  They are a healthy alternative to pasta, and you can eat more of them!  All you need is a vegetable peeler or mandoline slicer.  I recently bought a turning slicer to speed up the process of making zucchini noodles. 

There are many sauces that I like to use on top of zucchini noodles: italian tomato, pesto and asian-style sauces.  This Thai sauce is based on a recipe from Eat, Shrink & Be Merry by Janet and Greta Podleski.  Before I had a turning slicer, I used to make this sauce with stir-fried vegetables and chicken breast pieces.  I would often use garden zucchini and green beans, as well as red pepper and mushrooms.  This time, I made this zucchini noodle recipe vegetarian for a "Meatless Monday" meal.  Stir-fried chicken breast pieces would be a nice addition to this dish.

Creamy Thai Sauce

1 can Thai Kitchen coconut milk

1/3 cup gluten-free hoisin sauce (available at health food stores)

2 tbsp gluten-free tamari sauce

3 tbsp almond butter

1 tbsp grated ginger root

zest from a lemon

1/8 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

In a deep skillet, whisk together the sauce ingredients over medium-high heat until the sauce boils.  Reduce heat to low-medium and simmer for about 3 minutes until the sauce thickens slightly.  Add the zucchini noodles, meatballs or stir-fried vegetables to the sauce and mix well.  Serve hot.