Vermont Acupuncture

Category: Recipes

  • Cabbage Slaw

    IMG_6057Healthy and delicious – my favorite combination.

    So many people have asked me for this slaw recipe. In this slaw, the key is to steam the cabbage and carrots a little bit, which doesn’t change the texture or flavor much compared with a raw cabbage salad, but increases the health benefits.

    Eating raw cruciferous vegetables, such as cabbage, in large amounts can suppress thyroid function. Also, the anti-oxidant properties of carrots are stronger when cooked. Cabbage and carrots are both great cancer preventing foods.

    Another tip is to let the cabbage sit for 5-10 minutes after chopping and before cooking to enhance its health-promoting qualities.

    read about cruciferous cooking tips

    Make a big batch and eat some every day. It keeps well for about a week.

    • 6 or so cups cabbage – two or three different kinds of cabbage if available – finely chopped, grated, or sliced with a mandolin
    • 2 or so carrots, grated or peeled to make ribbons.

    Steam for a couple minutes, until warm.

    • ½ red onion, finely chopped (optional)
    • half bunch cilantro, chopped (alternatively, use parsley)
    • 1/2 – 1 t sea salt
    • 2 t – 1 T olive oil
    • 2 t – 1 T apple cider vinegar (with the mother)

    Combine and serve. This will keep well in the fridge for 5 or more days.
    Modifications:

    • 1 t turmeric powder

    or

    • 1 t thyme leaves, crushed with your fingers

     

    Want more cabbage recipes? Here you go.

    Indonesian Greens in Peanut Oil with Garlic

    Red Cabbage with Apples & Raisins

    Sautéed Cabbage

    Vietnamese Chicken and Cabbage Salad (Ga Xe Phai)

    You can also use the steaming idea in the Vietnamese Chicken and Cabbage Salad above. That one can be made without chicken for a simple Asian slaw. I have to say, though it really kicks butt with the chicken. It’s also traditionally served with rice soup.

  • Blueberry Banana Muffins

    Vegan, Gluten-FreeIMG_6097

    Makes 8- 10

    These are the best muffins I’ve made to date. They are super healthy and super delicious.

    Ingredients

    • 1 1/2 cup gluten-free flour blend – 1/2 cup oat flour, 1/2 cup buck wheat, 1/4 cup coconut flour, 1/4 cup tapioca*
    • 1/4 cup palm sugar (any sugar is OK)
    • 1 t baking soda
    • pinch salt
    • 2 eggs
    • 2 T coconut oil, melted
    • 1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk or rice milk (any milk will work)
    • 1 t vanilla extract
    • 1 ½ T maple syrup
    • 1/2 cup blueberries
    • 1 smashed very ripe banana

    * You can substitute almond flour, garbanzo flour, or whatever you have – I mix it up according to what I have on hand. The oat flour I have is not totally gluten-free, so if you are gluten-intolerant, make sure you get GF oat flour or grind GF oats.

    Instructions

    1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F and lightly grease 12 muffin tins or line with paper baking cups.
    2. In a small bowl combine flour blend, brown sugar, baking soda, and salt. Whisk together.
    3. Beat eggs, either by mixer or by hand. Add almond milk, vanilla, coconut oil, and mix. Add dry ingredients and mix until combined.
    4. Add well-smashed banana and mix well.
    5. Fold in 1/4 cup blueberries (fresh or frozen).
    6. Divide batter evenly into the muffin tins: about 2/3 – 3/4 full.
    7. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until the tops are golden brown and a toothpick or knife inserted comes out clean.
    8. Let cool for a few minutes, then serve warm.

    Will keep in an airtight container for a couple days. Freeze to keep longer.

  • Chocolate Latte for Kids (dairy free)

    IMG_7155 This hot beverage is nutritious and satisfying. The warming spices are great for kids whose digestion could use a little spark. No dairy, maple sweetened and if feels like a total treat. Great for the whole family!

    Mix together:
    1 cup of India Spice herbal tea (alternatively ginger, cinnamon, herbal chai), HOT
    1 t unsweetened cocoa

    Stir in:
    1 t maple syrup
    1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk

    Serve it up and watch them smile!
    Two thumbs up, actually 10 thumbs up, is the report over here!

  • Gingerbread men, Kelly’s Delicious Gluten-free, Dairy-free version

    IMG_7096Makes about 32 cookies.

    1 cup buckwheat flour *
    ½ cup rice flour *
    1 cup almond meal *
    1 cup coconut flour *
    1 tablespoon ground ginger
    1 ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
    1 teaspoon baking soda
    ¾ teaspoon sea salt
    ½ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
    ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
    ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

    ¾ cup vegetable/palm shortening
    ¼ cup palm sugar
    ¼ cup barley malt syrup (or molasses)
    ¼ cup maple syrup
    1 egg, at room temperature
    2 teaspoons vanilla extract
    ¾ teaspoon freshly grated orange zest
    ¾ teaspoon finely grated fresh ginger root

    * or any flour combination that you have or like

    Combining the dry ingredients. Combine the flours, ground ginger, ground cinnamon, baking soda, sea salt, nutmeg, cloves, and black pepper in a large bowl. Whisk them all together to combine and aerate.

    Combining the wet ingredients. In the bowl of a stand mixer (if you have one), mix the shortening and sugar together until they are well combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, then add the egg and mix for a minute before adding the maple syrup, malt/molasses, vanilla, orange zest, and fresh ginger. Scrape down the sides of the bowl again and run the mixer on low speed until everything is combined thoroughly, about 2 minutes.

    Finishing the dough. With the stand mixer running on low, add the dry ingredients, about ¼ of it at a time, mixing in between until the flour has disappeared entirely into the dough. Continue this until all the dry ingredients have been added. The dough will be a little sticky to the touch. Don’t worry.

    Refrigerating the dough. Divide the dough into four pieces. Wrap each in plastic wrap and put them in the refrigerator. Chill the discs in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour or up to 3 days. Or just refrigerate it all in a covered bowl and use a knife to cut into four manageable pieces for rolling.

    Baking the cookies. When you are ready to bake the cookies, preheat the oven to 350°. Roll out the dough, to about 1/4-inch thick. You can either toss a little buckwheat flour on your rolling pin and counter/Silpac or roll between 2 pieces of parchment. Cut out the cookies using your favorite gingerbread man cookie cutter. Gather up all the scraps into a ball and roll out with the next batch of dough. After the last gingerbread men are cut out, throw the random shapes onto the baking sheet and cook them up.

    Decorating the cookies Before putting them in the over, decorate the cookies with raisins, chocolate chips (I cut them in quarters so they would be better sizes for eyes), nuts, dried fruit or anything you like.

    Bake the cookies until the centers are firm to the touch, about 15 minutes.

    Cool on a wire rack.

    Yum!

    Adapted from Gluten-Free-Girl’s recipe:
    http://glutenfreegirl.com/2010/12/gluten-free-gingerbread-men/

  • Cornmeal and Buckwheat Pancakes

    IMG_6954This is one of those gluten-free recipes that doesn’t taste like a gluten-free recipe. It is just plain good. My family loves ‘em.

    I like to make a big batch of this pancake mix and keep it in the fridge so when Saturday morning all I have to do is mix up the eggs and liquid and toss in the dry mix.

    Beat together:
    4 eggs
    1 cup almond milk (or any milk, buttermilk, yoghurt, kefir)

    Whisk in:
    ½ pancake mix (see below)

    Adjust with more water or more mix if too dry or too wet.

    Add:
    ½ – 1 cup chopped fruit and/or nuts (either mix into the batter now, or drop in when you put the batter in the pan) (more…)

  • Latkes, Not Like Bubbe Used to Make

    Serves 4-6IMG_2636

    These are a favorite around my house and neighborhood.
    I hope you like them, too!

    4 large or 6 medium potatoes
    1 large sweet potato
    1 medium beet

    1 large onion, thinly sliced

    4-6 eggs
    ½ – ¾ cup all purpose flour (buckwheat if gluten-free)
    2 t sea salt
    light vegetable oil (sunflower is my favorite) for fryingIMG_6924

    Peel and coarsely grate the potatoes, sweet potatoes and beets. The key to this recipe is the coarse grind – I use a mandolin with the coarsest setting and I try to get most of the slices pretty long (1 ½ – 2 inches). Soak all of the grated potatoes and beets in water for 10 or more minutes to draw out the starch. Then lift the potatoes out of the water and put them in a colander to drain. Some people wrap the potatoes in cheesecloth and squeeze out the water or at least dry the potatoes with a clean dish cloth. I don’t always do this but water will accumulate in the bottom of the bowl once everything is mixed together. I just keep banking the latke batter up on the side of the bowl and use the drier parts.

    Combine the potatoes with the sliced onion, flour, eggs and salt. Mix it all up. I usually start with the smaller amount of eggs and flour but if the potatoes don’t look well coated or if the latkes fall apart in the pan, add more eggs and/or flour. Depending upon the size of the potatoes that you use, you might need even more than this recipe calls for. (more…)

  • Buckwheat Crepes

    IMG_6767

    We love these crepes. They are made with 100% buckwheat flour and no dairy. They can be served with savory ingredients for dinner, or enjoyed for breakfast with fruit and maple syrup, or with cottage cheese or yoghurt. They are pictured here with a drizzle of kefir and warmed frozen berries. When we are finished making the crepes, we pour the frozen berries right into the warm cast iron pan for a few minutes.

    This recipe makes about a dozen crepes.

    3 eggs
    1/4 cup olive oil (or melted butter)
    1 1/2 cups almond milk (or any milk)
    1/2 cup water
    1 t almond extract

    1 1/4 cups buckwheat flour
    1/4 t salt

    Beat the eggs and mix in the rest of the liquids. Then whisk in the flour and salt slowly to avoid clumps. (more…)

  • Cornbread

    IMG_6818

    I have not had the best luck with cornbread recipes in the past. I decided to try one last night and I modified it to make it gluten-free and dairy-free. It turned out to be super delicious and very easy. We were so happy with this one that there is hardly any left, less than 24 hours later.

    1 egg
    3/4 cup almond milk (or any milk)
    2 T maple syrup
    2/3 cup cornmeal (Butterworks from the bulk department at City Market is the best)
    2/3 cup buckwheat flour
    1 T baking powder
    1/2 t salt
    14 cup olive oil

    Mix it all up, pour into 8×8 pan (not greased) and bake for about 20 minutes, until knife comes out clean.

  • Pumpkin Muffins

    Yields about 8-9 muffins.

    Recipe adapted from the Realistic NutritionalistIMG_6748
    Prep time: 10-20 minutes
    Cook time: About 20 – 22 minutes

    Ingredients:

    • 1/4 cup coconut flour (or sorghum or garbanzo flour)
    • 1/4 cup buckwheat flour (or rice flour)
    • 1/4 cup tapioca flour (alternatively use 3/4 cup gluten free flour mix in place of first three ingredients)
    • 1 T almond meal
    • 1 t cinnamon
    • 1/2 t ginger
    • 1/4 t nutmeg
    • 1/4 t allspice
    • 1/8 t clove (or 2 t pumpkin pie spice mix in place of spices)
    • Dash of salt
    • 1 teaspoon baking soda
    • 1/2 cup palm sugar
    • 2 eggs
    • 1/4 cup olive oil
    • 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce (or 1/2 cup each apple sauce and squash puree)
    • 3/4 cup pumpkin or squash puree*
    • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

    *I bake the pumpkin or squash, scoop it out, let it cool, then use a Foley food mill to get it nice and smooth. This is totally optional. You can use the unsmoothed pumpkin or squash or canned pumpkin puree. (more…)

  • Pork & Cabbage Dumplings

    This is the classic Chinese dumpling, loosely based on the recipe of Ben Wang – Burlington’s own master dumpling maker. Unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture. I guess I will have to make them again soon so I can. Oh, too bad!

    Makes 50 or so

    2 cups Napa cabbage, sliced finely and chopped coarsely

    1 t salt

    ½ t baking soda

    bring 2 quarts of water to a boil

    boil cabbage, rinse with cold water, drain and gently press

    1 lb ground pork

    3 shallots, minced

    1 egg

    1 t salt

    1 T sugar

    1 T ginger, minced

    1 T rice wine

    1 T soy sauce

    1 T sesame oil

    combine all and stir

    The filling can be prepared the day before and kept in the refrigerator.

    Take 1 package round wonton wrappers out of the freezer at least one hour before you are ready to start making the dumplings.

    To make the dumplings:

    Shortly before you are ready to steam them, make the dumplings. Hold the dumpling wrapper in the palm of your hand and place one rounded teaspoon of filling in the center. Wet the edges of the wrapper with water and fold in half, pressing the two sides together – making a half circle. There are many fancier ways to wrap these, but difficult to explain without pictures. Google “how to wrap pork dumplings” and look at images.

    You can put wax paper between layers if you want to stack them.

    Fill the pan under the steamer with enough water to almost reach the bottom of the steamer basket and begin heating. Lightly oil your steamer basket and place dumplings in basket ½ inch apart. When the water is getting close to boiling lower steamer into pan, cover and steam until the dumplings are cooked through, about 10 minutes.

    Serve with Ginger-Soy Dipping Sauce.