Epicurean Narrative

A gluten-free journey

Summer

Mini Gluten-Free Zucchini Lasagna

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Mini Gluten-Free Zucchini Lasagna This yummy Mini Gluten-Free Zucchini Lasagna dish is one of my favorite healthy recipes that I LOVE making for my entire family and my friends. Zucchini is an excellent gluten-free alternative to pasta.  The layers of zucchini, ooey-gooey blend of melted cheese, and chunks of delicious meat sauce sings comfort food with nutritious yum. My little-one can eat two or three of these mini lasagnas-no problem. I love knowing that my family is eating nourishing food like this. It makes my heart sing.  This dish is easy to make and even easier to serve. Just prep, sauté, assemble, and bake. Bam! A tin of a dozen TASTY and adorable Mini Gluten-Free Zucchini Lasagnas at your fingertips. You can make it for lunch, dinner, or a soiree! And... I always double this recipe and freeze the leftovers.  Buon appetito! 
Mini Gluten-Free Zucchini Lasagna

Mini Gluten Free Zucchini Lasagna

Mini Gluten Free Zucchini Lasagna Here are the ingredients for the Mini Gluten-Free Zucchini Lasagna. I substitute ricotta for cottage cheese and parmesan in this dish. Mini Gluten-Free Zucchini Lasagna A tin full of Mini Gluten-Free Zucchini Lasagna A bite-size Mini Gluten-Free Zucchini Lasagna. Buono Appetito!
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Gluten Free Mini Zucchini Lasagna Cups
Author: 
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 12
 
This Mini Gluten-Free Zucchini Lasagna recipe is nutritious and tasty and a great alternative to pasta!
Ingredients
  • 1 zucchini, spiralized or sliced
  • 1 carrot, shredded
  • 1 tsp. of olive oil
  • 1 tsp. of salt
  • 1 onion, diced
  • pepper to taste
  • 1 lb. ground beef
  • 2 cups of cottage cheese
  • ½ cup of parmesan cheese
  • 1 cup of mozzarella cheese
  • 1 25 oz jar of your favorite pasta sauce
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees and grease the muffin tin with olive oil.
  2. Heat a skillet on medium heat, add olive oil, reduce heat and sauté onion for two minutes.
  3. Add garlic, and continue to sauté until onion is translucent.
  4. Brown the ground beef, add sauce and carrots and cook for 10 minutes.
  5. Meanwhile, In a mixing bowl, add cottage cheese and parmesan cheese.
  6. Sauté the zucchini, add a pinch of salt to taste.
  7. Layer the tin with zucchini, meat sauce, cottage cheese mixture, mozzarella, and repeat two more times.
  8. Bake for 30 minutes.
  9. Cool for 10 minutes.
  10. Serve!

 

Santa Barbara Cookbook-ish Club: Moosewood

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Last month I attended this fabulous Santa Barbara Cookbook-ish Club potluck event that featured delicious vegetarian dishes from the 40th Anniversary Edition of Moosewood Cookbook. The Cookbook-ish Club is a local Santa Barbara cookbook club created by the talented Viktoriya Filippova. Viktoriya Filippova is a local designer, maker, stylist, and founder of FOLD, a textile studio specializing in hand-crafted table linens fusing traditional craft and textile treatments with modern design. Victoria’s linens can be purchased or rented for events. Each month Viktoria selects the cookbook and venue that appropriately fits the cookbook’s theme and creates a menu from her guests’ top choices.

The cookbook theme that Viktoriya chose for this particular event was inspired by Mollie Katzen’s Moosewood Cookbook and the location was in our local neighborhood Clubhouse in Santa Barbara which fit the 70’s theme perfectly along with her linens, styling, and decor. She even created a vertical garden installation for the event. There was a lot of attention to detail that gave this fun event a lot of depth. Did I mention I am lucky enough to happen to be neighbors with Viktoria? That is one degree of separation.

Why is this cookbook so special? In the 70’s when the American diet was still stuck in the 50’s and 60’s  Moosewood Restaurant was founded by a group of visionaries who happened to be friends in Ithaca, New York. The menu features dishes that are healthy plant based dishes, vegetarian dishes, and world  cuisine. Moosewood Restaurant won a James Beard Foundation Award for American “Classic” in 2000. The Moosewood Cookbook was first published not long after the restaurant opened and is now somewhat of a cult classic amongst home-cooks and chefs alike. The first print was spiral-bound with beautifully hand drawn illustrations and very neatly hand written recipes created by Mollie Katzen who was one of the original founders of the Moosewood Restaurant in New York.

I purchased my own copy of the 40th Anniversary Edition Moosewood Cookbook several weeks before the event and I am happy to say that the publisher has kept the neatly hand written recipes and illustrations which was part of the charm of the original publications. I haven’t had the pleasure to dine at the restaurant, yet, however, I definitely experienced the essence of Moosewood in a different light with the vision and attention to detail of Viktoria’s Moosewood Cookbook-ish themed potluck dinner with the 70’s decor, linens, and styling.

The guests who joined us were a talented group of foodies ranging from foodie enthusiasts, talented business owners, and fellow food bloggers. Everyone brought their delicious and carefully selected dish to the potluck and enjoyed an evening of great conversations sipping shrubs or a Paloma, the signature cocktail, while being transported back into time to forty years ago.

To be around like-minded ladies (and gents) to discuss all things food including the history and culture behind the recipes was nothing less than inspiring. Life has an interesting way of giving you what you want if you ask for it. I have been putting more intention into evolving my food world, connecting more with what I eat, and connecting with our local foodie community. How does it get any better than this?

Here is what everyone brought to the table (all pun intended). Drum roll, please.

DRINKS
Paloma Cocktail: The Paloma a citrisy signature drink that was concocted by Viktoriya Filipova from FOLD and served in lovely vintage cocktail glasses. The ingredients were hand written on a chalk board and guests made their own cocktail to their liking.

Shrub Bar: Emma Moore, who is one of three founders of WomensHeritage.com and HeritageGoodsandSupply.com, provided the refreshing shrub bar and also one of the delicious curry’s.  Shrub drinks are an American Colonial vinegar drink that is making it’s way back into the social consciousness and it’s also great alternative to artificial soda drinks. I have a new appreciation for shrub drinks and I am now hooked! The different sized translucent plain bottles showed off the beautiful natural coloring of the fruit sweetened vinegar. Loved it. It said 70’s all the way.

APPETIZERS
Guacamole and Chips: Margaret with www.MargaretJoanFlorals.com made the yummy Guacamole which is hands down one of my favorite appetizers in the whole wide world! So happy it made it on this menu. She designed all the beautiful florals and foliage that were laid out beautifully on the napkins and the centerpieces. She shared with us her philosophy of why she chose a single flower which was to not overpower the bold tablecloth print. It worked. Simple yet elegant.

Tabouli: Lea made the Tabouli. Everyone loved it!

Pita Bread: The homemade Pita Bread was also made by Viktoriya. Everyone raved over Viktoriya’s Pita Bread and it went very well with the Feta Walnut Dip.

Feta Walnut Dip: Claire made the delicious Feta Walnut Spread. It was tasty and had a great consistency.

MAIN DISHES
Fresh Berry Soup: The evening would not have been the same without the Fresh Berry Soup which added a nice twist to the evenings cuisine. I was not sure what to expect but the Berry Soup had a nice flavor and very refreshing to have on a warm evening.

Alsatian Cheese Salad: Meredith made this tasty cheese salad. I don’t think I ever had cheese salad and the recipe included generous portions. This paired well with the Multi-Bean Salad.

Multi-Bean Salad: Ingrid made this delicious Multi-Bean Salad and it was perfect.

Sattyama’s Famous Cauliflower Curry: Emma Moore made the  Sattyamma’s Famous Cauliflower Curry with brown and I made Sattyamma’s Famous Cauliflower Curry with white rice. They both tasted delicious. I substituted the sesame seeds with sesame powder and used a very bright organic turmeric which made it robust in color which I later discovered after some research in my cupboard. I found three bottles of organic tumeric all ranging in colors from deep yellow to a bright yellow. I really the shredded coconut in the recipe which gave it a nutty flavor. The overall taste of each dish was delicious. I will definitely make this again. And again.

Samosas: The samosas were a hit at the event! They were made by Irene Hoffman who also created the event poster. Irene Hoffman with www.IreneHoffman.com is an award winning designer. The criteria was to create the poster by hand without any assistance of  computer software programs much like a graphic artist would have created a poster back in the 70’s. My favorite part? The hand drawn and cut-outs of the lemon, lime, and orange wedges.

DESSERT

Sour Cream Orange Cake: The Sour Cream Orange Cake was an absolute dream! It was fluffy and moist. The dish was made by Robin, a local Santa Barbara food blogger from CaliGirlCooking.com. Her website is now one of my favorites!

Coffee and Tea was also provided by Viktoriya and was a delightful way to finish off the evening.

The Moosewood Cookbook-ish Potluck was nothing short of sensational. It was interesting to see how each guest interpreted their own recipe with their final dish. There were conversations about each dish and we talked about what we would do differently and noted recipes and ingredients that were indicative of the time. It was a very enriching experience.

I highly recommend trying out these recipes. I found my copy of the 40th Anniversary Edition Moosewood Cookbook locally at Chaucer’s Bookstore. I am sure you can find a cookbook online, but there was something really nice about walking into my local bookstore and buying this book. I am a fan of bookstores and this one had the nice bookstore smell. It’s one of my favorite scents besides food. A cookbook club is a great way to discover and try out new recipes that you otherwise would not find the time to make. I have to admit that I was more than delighted to be a part of this Cookbook-ish narrative.

Here are some of the food and decor photos that I snapped at the event.

Floral Design by Margaret Joan Florals

Event Design by Viktoriya with FOLD

 

 

 

 

Superfood Breakfast Smoothie

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There’s nothing like having a nourishing and refreshing Superfood Breakfast Smoothie on a hot summer day. A week ago my hubby wanted to take us out for breakfast which normally I am all about especially on a Saturday morning. But after having a record high of 100 degrees in Santa Barbara we decided to keep our breakfast choice healthy & cool. So we stayed inside!

So here is my concoction I created last week from what I foraged in our kitchen. This lovely Superfood Breakfast Smoothie is made with all organic ingredients including blueberries, bananas, raspberries, coconut milk, strawberries, chia seeds, and maca powder. And a whole lot-a-love! I added the chia seeds to add extra protein to the smoothie to help sustain my little son and my hubby at least ’til snack time.

It was so delicious that we are now making this Superfood Breakfast Smoothie a new family favorite.


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Superfood Breakfast Smoothie
Author: 
Prep time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 4
 
This is a delicious Superfood Breakfast Smoothie that will cool you down on a hot summer day!
Ingredients
  • 2 cups of blueberries (fresh or frozen)
  • 1 banana (I prefer frozen bananas)
  • 1 cup of raspberries
  • 1 cup of blackberries
  • 1 cup of strawberries
  • 2 tsp. of chia seeds
  • 1 tsp. of maca powder
  • 3 cups of coconut milk
Instructions
  1. Combine all the ingredients in a blender
  2. Blend all the ingredients until frothy
  3. Serve immediately

 

Microgreens & Baby Kale Salad

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Micro Green and Baby Kale Salad

I LOVE this tasty Microgreen and Baby Kale Salad! First of all, it’s bright, cheery, and full of nutritious superfoods. Channeling love and happiness when making this dish was so worth it because my happy-love light glowed whilst eating this dish with my hubby & Sky Bear (my toddler). They are my official recipe testers and my hubby concluded that this salad was the best salad he has ever eaten. I seconded it.

This Microgreen and Baby Salad is a delicious blend of supergreens, superfruits, nuts, seeds and granola. I added pumpkin seeds, pistachios, blueberries, grapes, strawberries, gluten free granola, sprouted broccoli, baby kale, micro broccoli greens, and micro kale greens and each bite has the perfect amount of crunch and flavor.  The mandarin & apple cider vinaigrette dressing has a a nice blend of citrus and tang.

Every time I eat a delicious salad I am reminded of how easy it is to add more superfoods in our family’s everyday diet. Not only are these superfoods good for you but they taste amazing too. How does it get any better than this?

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Micro Greens & Baby Kale Salad
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 4
 
Ingredients
  • 1 cup Baby Kale
  • ½ cup Kale Micro Greens
  • ½ cup Broccoli Micro Greens
  • ½ cup Sprouted Broccoli
  • ¼ cup of pistachios
  • ¼ cup of pumpkin seeds
  • 1 cup of strawberries
  • 1 cup of halved grapes
  • ½ cup of blueberries
  • 1 cup of gluten free granola
  • ¼ cup of fresh mandarin juice
  • 2 TBSP Apple cider vinaigrette
  • 1 TBSP of Honey
  • Salt
  • Pepper
Instructions
  1. Measure all the ingredients
  2. Rinse all the greens separately and set aside.
  3. Rinse and cut the grapes and strawberres in half and set aside in separate bowls.
  4. Rinse the blueberries and set aside
  5. In a 1 large serving bowl or 4 smaller serving bowls divide the first 10 ingredients in each dish as desired.
  6. In a small bowl, add the freshly squeezed mandarin juice apple cider vinaigrette, honey, salt, and pepper.
  7. Drizzle the vinaigrette dressing evenly over each salad.
  8. Enjoy your creation!
  9. Tips: You can substitute mandarin for freshly squeezed oranges or orange juice.

 

 

Breakfast Fruit Smoothie

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Smoothies. When you just want a quick, healthy, and tasty breakfast. This Breakfast Fruit Smoothie is a perfect breakfast in a cup. Every time I eat or in this case, drink something I love I want to make it part of my daily or weekly ritual. So today, in true form, I am declaring that I am going to make a weekly smoothie from now on. Why? Because I love smoothies so much and I can drink them everyday! This smoothie has orange juice, raspberries, strawberries, frozen mangos, and blueberries. I hope you enjoy this as much as I did! It will truly wake up your senses. Who needs coffee when you have these fine ingredients surging through your cells! Breakfast Fruit Smoothie  
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Breakfast Fruit Smoothie
Prep time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 4
 
Ingredients
  • 2 cups of orange juice
  • ½ cup of frozen mangos
  • ½ cup of strawberries
  • ¼ cup of rasberries
  • ¼ cup of blueberries
Instructions
  1. In a blender, add the mangos.
  2. Rinse the strawberries, raspberries, and blueberries.
  3. Cut off the stem of the strawberries.
  4. Add all of the fruit to the blender with the orange juice and blend for 30 seconds on high or until smooth.
  5. Pour and enjoy!

 

Blueberry Orange Juice Smoothie

Summer Superfood Spinach Salad

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There are times when I just want to eat a huge healthy salad for lunch. Especially when the weather is on the warmer side, as it has been lately.

I recently foraged in our fridge and ended up empty so I decided to go on an adventure to our local market and pick some up my favorite organic ingredients to make a salad. As one would expect I got carried away because I went on an empty stomach. After buying way more then I had planned, I did manage to successfully gather the perfect ingredients for this incredibly healthy Summer Superfood Spinach Salad. This summer dish has become my go-to salad this week and besides being easy to make it’s also super healthy with all of the amazing superfood ingredients.

There’s so much flavor and crunch packed into this bowl of summery greens. It includes baby spinach, cabbage, berries, granola, and nuts. The granola and nut blend is just granola, pumpkin seeds and almond slivers. Easy peazy. It’s sweet, savory, crunchy, and oh so good for you. The dressing I use for this salad has a nice blend of sweet & spicy. I added cayenne, turmeric, fresh lemon juice, spanish olive oil and a generous dollop of honey, and of course the star, Apple Cider Vinegrette.

So next time you’re thinking of making a salad I suggest this yummy Summer Superfood Spinach Salad.


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Summer Superfood Spinach Salad
Cuisine: Vegan, Salads
Prep time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 4-6
 
Vegan Berry Superfood Spinach Salad
Ingredients
  • 2 cups of Rinsed Baby Spinach
  • ¼ cup of Sliced Strawberries
  • ½ cup of Whole Raspberries
  • ¼ cup of Fresh Blueberries
  • ¼ cup of sliced grapes
  • ½ cup of Shredded Cabbage
  • 2 TBS of Pumpkin Seeds
  • 2 TBS of Almond Slivers
  • 2 TBS of Granola
  • ¼ of Olive Oil
  • 1 Tbs. of Apple Cider Vinegrette
  • 1 Lemon
  • ⅛ tsp of Cayenne
  • ⅛ of tsp of Tumeric
  • 1 Tbs. of honey
Instructions
  1. In a large bowl add cleaned baby spinach.
  2. Toss in all the fruit and cabbage.
  3. Divide into 4-6 bowls.
  4. Blend together all the nuts, seeds, and granola in a bowl.
  5. Sprinkle over the salads evenly.
  6. In a small bowl add the apple cider vinegarette, lemon, olive oil, cayenne, turmeric, and honey and mix with a fork very well.
  7. Drizzle over the salad to your taste.
  8. Then enjoy a yummy crunch healthy salad.

SuperFood SaladSuper Food Salad

Mango Orange Paletas

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The warm breeze, salty air, my child’s laughter, chirping birds, ocean waves lapping against the shore, and floral scented Mango Orange Paletas, are some of the ingredients for a wonderful summer day. Mango Orange Paletas are one of my favorite go-to summer treats that I like making for my family.

Here in Santa Barbara, you can easily find delicious paletas in any Mexican grocery store and most taqueria’s. And, if you know where and when to look, you can find vendors selling paletas at nearby parks and neighborhoods. My little Sky Bear loves these sweet cooling treats especially on hot summer days.

Traditional Paletas are either fruit based or milk based ice-cream. The original Paleta recipe, includes a simple syrup, however, too much sugar for my 2 1/2 year old is a recipe for pure fussiness. I attempt to make a conscious effort in our family to really limit sugar intake in our diets. Sky Bear LOVES his ice-cream, as any kid would, or most adults for that matter, and I have given in to his oh-so-sweet plea for “just one more” ice-cream and have witnessed him spiral out. And it is no bueno. With paletas, he can have as many as he would like and I don’t have to worry about excess sugar, since the recipe is mango and diluted orange juice. It was fun playing a food alchemist, turning these mangos into healthy and yummy Mango Orange Paletas. Disfruta!

Paletas

 

 

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Mango Paletas
Author: 
Cuisine: Mexican
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 6
 
Ingredients
  • 3 cups of mango chunks
  • ¼ cup of orange juice
  • ½ cup of water
Instructions
  1. In a blender, add mango chunks
  2. Blend for 30 seconds-1 minute
  3. Add blended fruit to your popcicle mold
  4. Chill for 6 hours
  5. Remove the Paletas from mold and serve!

 

 

Watermelon and Feta Salad with Citrus Dressing

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Watermelon and Feta Salad with Citrus Dressing is a delicious recipe to kick-start the summer with Memorial Day weekend. This dish is truly summer in a bowl. It’s refreshing and tasty with citrus dressing dancing on your palette. Arugula is naturally spicy, however, I added a pinch of cayenne to the dressing for some extra kick. There is a nice balance of sweet and spicy flavors in this dish.

The dressing is really simple and very delicious. It only takes 5 ingredients to make this yummy dressing: freshly squeezed orange juice, olive oil, cayenne, salt, and pepper. This is my all time favorite dressing that I make most of the time.

My photo shoot was cut a little short with my little Sky Bear spotting the watermelon in this dish. The watermelon slowly started to disappear and I decided it was wrap!

Watermelon-Feta-Arugula Salad

Serves 4 (including energetic toddlers)

Ingredients:
16 oz. of arugula
3 tbsp. of fresh mint, chopped
1 cup feta
3 cups of watermelon
1/4 cup of cranberries
1 bundle of mint leaves for garnish

Dressing:
2  oranges, juiced (or 1/2 cup of orange juice
1/4 cup of olive oil
Cayenne
Salt
Pepper

In small bowl mix the orange juice and olive oil until well blended. Sprinkle cayenne, salt, and pepper to taste. Rinse the arugula. Place the arugula into a separate bowl. Toss in the mint, watermelon, and cranberries. Sprinkle the feta over the salad.

Mix the dressing into the salad and toss and garnish with a mint leaf. Bon appetite!

Yogurt & Honey with Raspberries

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Have you ever had freshly picked raspberries? My husband, son, and I went on a day-trip to our first family raspberry picking adventure and we were able to have endless amount of freshly picked raspberries right of the raspberry bushes. There is this adorable little stand, Santa Barbara Blueberry Farm, in Santa Ynez Valley, right off of HWY 101 in between Buellton and Santa Barbara, where you pick your own berries. Blueberry season had just ended and we went in the middle of raspberry season which is from mid August to the end of September.

My son, Skyler loved the experience. Big open field with raspberries for days!  It was a dream to watch him run as fast as he could and pick any raspberry he wanted. It was pure freedom for his little spirit.

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We picked a whole pail of raspberries in about 1 hour.

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After my recent raspberry picking adventure with my family, I wanted to make something super simple and healthy for breakfast. Inspired by raspberry picking, I made yogurt, honey, with fresh organic raspberries. We LOVED it!

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Yogurt & Honey with Raspberries
Author: 
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 4
 
Treat yourself to a simple yogurt, honey, and raspberries.
Ingredients
  • 2 cups Yogurt
  • 2 TBSP's of Honey
  • 1 cup of Raspberries
Instructions
  1. Rinse Raspberries and pat dry.
  2. In a bowl, mix yogurt and honey. I used a food processor to make it silky smooth.
  3. Spoon yogurt into serving bowls and top with a generous amount of raspberries.

 

Chiles en Nogada

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Chiles en Nogada

Traveling does something amazing to you. When you see a place for the first time, meet new people, taste new flavors, and learn a language, there is something beautiful inside that awakens through this experience that comes with travel. There is a real sense of euphoria that stirs within.

The first time I tasted Chiles en Nogada was September 2002 in Tepotzlan, Morelos, Mexico and it was a taste sensation. I had been on a 3 month personal journey through Mexico and I was studying abroad at a language school, Experiencia in Cuernavaca, Mexico for about 6 weeks.

During my language journey,  I traveled to a nearby town, Tepoztlan, with my friends from Experiencia. We went on a morning hike to Tepozteco, an archaeological site where there is a small temple, called Tepotzclatle, named after the Aztec god of the alcoholic beverage pulque. After the 2 hour hike to the pyramid we went to a beautiful bohemian style restaurant and ordered a special dish, Chiles en Nogada….

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