I made these carrots for thanksgiving. The recipe came from the New York times. We enjoyed the flavor a lot, but the cooking times and proportions were off. The recipe says to halve larger carrots, which I did. But all the carrots still ended up undercooked. I would suggest not using large carrots, halving all carrots, and cooking for 40-45 minutes instead of the 30 minutes called for. I also halved the sauce recipe. Looking at it, it was very clear to me that this was way too much sauce for the amount of carrots. The halved sauce recipe made the right amount. I also find the sauce just a tad too sweet. Next time I’d use 2 tbsp instead of 3 tbsp maple syrup.
This recipe was inspired by a recipe from New York times, but I made a lot of changes to the flavor profile and the greens and also made it low fodmap. This was possibly the best rice dish I have ever made. So so good, super easy, and all in one pot. A great weeknight dish. It also keeps really well for leftovers. Here’s the recipe:
2 cups long-grain rice, such as jasmine or basmati (I used white basmati)
½ cup unsweetened coconut flakes
1 tablespoon sesame seeds
2 tablespoons coconut oil
1 bunch wild onion or scallion, thinly sliced, white and green parts separated (I used the wild onion that grows in my yard)
1 inch piece of ginger, peeled and thinly sliced
2-3 cloves garlic, peeled
1 teaspoon ground dry turmeric
1/4-1/2 tsp grated fresh tumeric
1/4 tsp black pepper (or more to taste)
1(14-ounce) can full-fat coconut milk
3 strands of saffron
2 tsp kosher salt
2 bunches collard greens
1 lime, zested and juiced (keep zest and juice separate)
Rinse rice until water runs clear. Drain and set aside.
In a medium pot or Dutch oven, toast the coconut and sesame seeds over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until fragrant, 3 to 5 minutes. (Adjust heat as needed to prevent burning.) Transfer to a small bowl.
In the same pot, melt the coconut oil over medium-low. Add the scallion whites and garlic. Cook, stirring occasionally, until as dark as possible without being burned (4-8 minutes)
Use a slotted spoon to remove the garlic and scallions (If you don’t need this to be low fodmap you can skip steps 3 and 4 and just add the scallions and garlic in with the coconut oil in step 5)
Add the ginger and fresh tumeric to the oil. Cook for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally.
While the ginger is cooking, bloom the saffron in small bowl of very hot water.
Add the dry tumeric and black pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, for another 1-2 minutes
Add the rice and stir together. Cook for about 3 minutes.
Add the coconut milk, saffron with its water, and 1/2 tsp salt. Fill the empty can of coconut milk with water and add it to the pot. Give the mixture a good stir to separate any lumps and bring to a boil over medium-high.
Once boiling, cover, turn the heat to low, and simmer for 10 minutes.
As rice cooks, remove and discard the tough stems of the collards. Cut or tear the leaves into bite-size pieces.
When the rice has cooked for 10 minutes, arrange the greens on top of the rice in an even layer and add final 1/2 tsp salt.
Cover, and cook until the rice is tender, 5 more minutes. In the last minute of cooking, stir in the lime zest.
Remove from heat and let sit, covered, 5 minutes.
Stir in lime juice, coconut-sesame mixture, and the scallion greens.
Last month I was experimenting with adding soluble fiber to my diet. I overdid it and ended up with a week of stomach aches. But during that period I tried several recipes that use oats in interesting ways. This vegan burger recipe is one of them. Since I haven’t been eating beans, I haven’t made veggie burgers in a while. I was intrigued by this bean-less burger recipe, which uses squash as the binder and pecans as the protein source.
I made some modifications to make them low fodmap and increase the protein. I chopped up the cranberries and used half what was called for (since I wasn’t positive how they’d digest). I also doubled the flax seeds and added some extra walnuts (maybe 1.3x what was called for?). I fried the onion in the oil and then removed it. I then added about a cup combined of shredded carrot and zucchini to the oil and fried for another two minutes.
I was a little unsure how an oat-based burger would come out. But I was really surprised by how much I liked them. The flavor was really good and I enjoyed the texture as well. These were festive for fall, easy, and tasty. I’d make them again.
I’ve been sick so much of the time lately, I haven’t felt like cooking. But one thing I have been playing with is experimenting with ways to increase the soluble fiber in my diet. Since barley is one of the few low fodmap high soluble fiber foods, I was intrigued when I saw this recipe on a list saying it was good with barley instead of rice. The recipe is rather unusual for something calling itself “tabbouleh”. It uses a pickle juice base and incorporates a raw herb sauce instead of the standard chopped herbs and veggies you’d find in tabbouleh.
I wasn’t crazy about the dish overall. I found the pickle juice flavor weird and I didn’t love the barley in it. I also really missed the usual tabbouleh veggies. I added some cherry tomatoes and found they really enhanced it.
But oh my gosh, this toasted pumpkin seed sauce…it’s like nothing I’ve ever made before. And jeeze is it good. I won’t be making this dish again but I’ll definitely incorporate this sauce into some other dishes. Plus, pumpkin seeds are also high in soluble fiber. So win win!
Sprouted mung beans are one of the few forms of legume I can currently consume, but I don’t have much to do with them. I was excited to find a recipe for spiced mung beans in the Indian Vegetarian Cookbook. The recipe does contain lots of spices, but still wasn’t super flavorful. I left out the dried coconut to avoid the fructose, so maybe it would have been more flavorful with the coconut. However, since it is at least a somewhat interesting way to eat low fodmap sprouted beans, I’d make this again, possibly doubling the spices and adding something creamy at the end.
I’ve been sick a lot lately, so last week I decided just to make some simple carb dishes that would be easy on my digestion. The weather has been so weird this fall that I still had tomatoes ripening into mid October. I found this recipe for a raw tomato sauce on page 86 of Nonna’s Italian Kitchen. This was a really interesting concept and super easy. You just put all the ingredients in the blender and then add the sauce to the still hot pasta.
In order to make this low fodmap, I use wild garlic instead of fresh garlic, so the taste was definitely different than it would have been otherwise. But it wasn’t bad. The main issue with the sauce was that it was too liquidy. But after I refrigerated the dish, the issue was resolved. So this was much better the second day. I liked this but didn’t love it. Might try making it again once (if) I can eat garlic again.
I found a recipe for roasted broccoli and mushroom bowls in the New York Times, which gave me the idea for this recipe. I adapted it to be vegan, low fodmap, and gluten free and made it for Ian. We both loved it! Ian had thirds. I’d definitely make this again, but next time I’d add a third (and 4th?) veggie to reduce the fodmap content, since this ended up being too much broccoli and mushroom for me to tolerate.
For the bowls:
2 cups cooked rice
Prepare the tofu:
2 blocks tofu
1 tbsp canola or olive oil
1/2 tsp salt
Preheat the oven to 425
Drain and press the tofu
Cut the tofu into 1/2 inch squares
Use half the oil to oil a cookie sheet
Spread the tofu out on the cookie sheet
Brush the rest of the oil on the tofu and sprinkle the salt
Cook for 30-40 minutes, flipping half way through
Prepare the veggies:
1.5 lbs broccoli, chopped into bite sized pieces
1 lb mushrooms (I used baby bella), cut into thick slices
3-4 tbsp olive oil
3/4 to 1.5 tsp salt
Mix half the olive oil and salt into the broccoli and spread it onto a cookie sheet
Mix the second half of the olive oil and salt into the mushrooms and spread them out onto a second cookie sheet
Put in the oven to cook for 20-25 minutes
While the veggies are cooking, make the dressing (I didn’t measure so this is approximate)
Combine together and blend:
3-4 tbsp tahini
1/2-3/4 tsp salt
3 sprigs fresh rosemary
1 sprig fresh sage
1 tbsp wine vinegar
2 tbsp olive oil
water or broth as needed to reach dressing consistency (I think I used 4 tbsp)
I hadn’t made Indian food in a while, since I can’t eat beans or spicy food at the moment. But I’d read that sprouted mung beans were low fodmap and found a recipe for spiced sprouted mung beans in the Indian Vegetarian Cookbook. I wanted to make a vegetable to go with them, so I made this eggplant dish. This is an unusual preparation, as you first steam the eggplant before incorporating it into the rest of the dish. I didn’t like the result. The eggplant tasted watery and didn’t incorporate the flavor of the rest of the dish. I ended up adding some half and half, which improved the taste, but I wouldn’t make this again.
On the harrowing quest to cook things that both Ian and I can eat, I found this salad, which could be made low fodmap and would use up my summer squash. I couldn’t find red rice so I used regular jasmine rice. I think I either mismeasured the dry rice or the picture for this recipe is quite dishonest. The picture shows a dish of mostly squash with a sprinkling of rice. As you can see from my photo, my dish was mostly rice with a smattering of squash. Despite this and my failure to find red rice, we enjoyed this recipe. It was super easy to make and would make a good weeknight dish when you already have summer squash or zucchini in the fridge.
I left out the garlic since Ian isn’t eating garlic. It only called for one clove so I can’t imagine it would have changed the dish a ton. I thought the 1/4 cup of olive oil called for was absurd and halve it. Without knowing this, Ian complained that the dish needed more olive oil and added more. I’m sure it would have tasted better with more, but I didn’t mind it as is. He also thought it needed more pine nuts. I would probably use 3 tbsp instead of 2 tbsp as called for, but I suspect he would still end up adding more. My main issue with the dish was that I thought it needed more dill and chives. I’d double those next time.
As the weather has begun to cool down at last in North Carolina, I’m finally ready for soups and stews again. Time to try Isa Chandra Moskowitz’ vegan take on clam chowder from Isa Does It. I’ve never had clam chowder, so I really have nothing to compare the recipe to. But I suspect this does not taste like clam chowder. Isa uses mushrooms and seaweed to add an umami and fishy flavor. I’m not sure I got enough of that though, as the flavor was a bit on the dull side. I suspect the seaweed and mushrooms weren’t in the broth long enough to give all their flavor. On the other hand though, I thought the potatoes were too soft, so I wouldn’t want to cook for any longer. I did use kombu instead of nori. I’m not sure if nori wouldn’t have given a lot more flavor since my seaweed knowledge is on the lighter side.
The recipe does have the requisite creaminess, thanks to cashew cream. But I found that the broth to veggie ratio was off. I ended up adding 2 cups of extra liquid, which seemed about right.
I’m non the fence about whether I will make this again. But if I do, I’ll tweak several things:
I’ll make special vegetable broth for the dish that includes sewaeed and dried mushrooms in it to up the sea flavor factor without overcooking the veggies.
I’d use 4 cups of vegetable broth when I put in the potatoes instead of 2.
I’d only cook the potatoes for 7 minutes instead of the 10-15 called for in the recipe. I prefer my potatoes to still have some bite to them.
Nimble Veggies 