This month, I'm baking for power

In this month's column, I introduce you to my world of baking without flour and sugar. What?! Blasphemy, you might be thinking. This is tricky terrain, no doubt about it. Don't think that I haven't had my fair share of bitter chocolate cupcakes and unsalvageable cookies by trying to make them more virtuous than they are by nature. This has surely been the case! 

However, I've slowly learned my way around the flour-free kitchen and I have some tricks to share. My reason for bending the baking rules? I love a good breakfast treat. Who doesn't? But when the usual suspects are laden with refined grains and tons of sugar, they don't help us out nutritionally – and that also means mentally, physically and spiritually, if you ask me.

TRICK #1: ALMOND FLOUR.

Elana's Pantry is my go-to resource for all things almond flour, closely followed by Caitlin of Roost. Both of these ladies make do wonderfully on a grain-free diet, and every single recipe is an inspiration. I've learned to really love the texture and flavor almond flour brings to baked goods and pancakes, but I've found in my own kitchen that it works best when used in combination with other flours. Therefore....

TRICK #2: MILLED FLAXSEED.

Flaxseed meal! Who would've thought? I first discovered the magic of flax in these pancakes, where the little pulverized nutritional powerhouses turned into fluffy, cakey goodness on a hot griddle. My guess is that because ground flax absorbs so much liquid and reacts especially well with beaten eggs, there's almost no need for flour at all. Make sure to buy milled flaxseed, rather than just ground flaxseed – the finer consistency will give you more of a flour-like texture. I bought a small coffee grinder just for this purpose, and it makes the perfect flax for baking.

TRICK #3: DATES INSTEAD OF SUGAR.

Don't get me wrong – I love sugar. I just hate what it does to my body and mind. The solution? Dates! Dates are incredible. They are packed with vitamins and minerals, fiber, and a carmely, toasty sweetness that reminds me of brown sugar and molasses. The best way to use them is soaked in warm water, pitted, chopped, and blended in with the liquid ingredients. You could also eat them with a smear of peanut butter. Delish!

These three tricks are what helped me create the following recipe for DATE & ORANGE POWER MUFFINS. You can forget ginormous cafe muffins and sugary pastries that leave you hungry an hour later, because just one of these muffins has a crazy amount of protein, healthy fat, fiber, vitamins, and deliciousness that will keep you satisfied in every sense of the word. Please make these, and don't forget to head on over to the column for more fun tidbits!

DATE & ORANGE POWER MUFFINS :: MAKES 10

1 cup almond flour
1/2 cup flaxseed meal
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. sea salt
6 dates, pitted and chopped
3 eggs
2 Tbsp melted coconut oil or butter
1/4 cup orange juice
1/4 cup sunflower seeds
1/4 cup pumpkin seeds (Pepitas)
1 Tbsp chia seeds

• Preheat oven to 350’ and line 10-12 muffin cups with paper liners.
• In a large bowl, mix almond flour, flaxseed meal, baking soda and sea salt.
• In a blender, mix dates, eggs, oil and orange juice on medium speed until smooth.
• Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and stir until thoroughly combined. Fold in sunflower, pumpkin and chia seeds.
• Divide batter among muffin cups and bake for about 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Allow to cool for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack. Serve, or let cool completely and store in an airtight container in the refrigerator. 

Autumn Medley Salad

I eat a salad every single day, usually for lunch and sometimes for dinner. This ritual is part of who I am, and I cannot live without it. My day just doesn't feel complete without some dark, leafy greens.

When we eat a variation of the same thing every day, things can get boring pretty quickly. Many people ask me, Don't you get tired of lettuce all the time? Oh, how I wish they could see the kinds of salads I prepare for myself! The thing is, though, I do have to keep it interesting in order to keep wanting salad every day. It's a darn good thing I'm so passionate about what can be done with lettuce.

This medley is a tangible representation of everything I love about where we are right now. The last few figs are turning violet, our pear tree is wildly abundant, fresh sage literally tastes like warm colors, and, well, goat cheese goes with everything (I like to think). In short, this salad = Autumn. Enjoy it while it lasts.

Autumn Medley Salad // serves 1

mixed greens

1 ripe pear, cored and chopped

3-4 ripe figs, quartered

1/2 cup cooked chickpeas

4 kalamata olives, sliced

1/4 cup shelled pistachios

goat cheese to taste

2 leaves fresh sage, chopped (to make about 1 teaspoon)

freshly ground black pepper

To prepare: Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl. Toss with your favorite dijon-balsamic vinaigrette. To make mine, whisk two parts olive oil with one part balsamic vinegar, a bit of honey, and one teaspoon of dijon mustard. Season with salt and pepper if desired.

Cooking with Yogurt

This past Wednesday, I was fortunate enough to meet Kate Geagan, author of Go Green Get Lean, and hear her talk about cooking with yogurt. Not only am I obsessed with yogurt and making healthy substitutions in baking and cooking, but I have read Kate's book and I'm a huge fan of her approach. I was really excited to learn about the diverse ways to incorporate yogurt into everyday cooking.

The event did not disappoint! Hosted by Stonyfield*, it was held at the Greens restaurant at Fort Mason in the city, and we were served several appetizers that featured yogurt in some way. As always, everything was outstanding! I was so intrigued by the different ways the chef prepared the yogurt. It added such a unique flavor and texture to each dish.

Roasted Red Pepper Soup with a yogurt and basil garnish. Once the soup is done simmering, it is taken off the heat and the low-fat plain yogurt is stirred in.

The ingredients list for this soup is so simple, yet the flavors are so complex! I tasted sweet notes, a subtle spice, and an irresistible creaminess from the yogurt. It tasted exactly like a bisque, and I would never have questioned the absence of cream. I learned that yogurts with a higher fat content hold up better to heat, so when cooking with nonfat yogurt, it's necessary to remove the soup from the flame first to prevent curdling.

Chilled cucumber, heirloom tomato and yogurt salad on toast- cool and refreshing.

Corn Cakes with Chipotle Yogurt Sauce- the perfect contrast between sweet corn and spicy chipotle.

Spinach and Chard Spread with Greek Yogurt on toast- perfectly tart, luxuriously creamy, surprisingly healthy.

Orzo Salad with Zucchini, Mint and Yogurt Cheese

The cheesiness in the orzo salad reminded me exactly of Ricotta! In this unique process, yogurt is strained for 5 hours or overnight and develops a new texture and taste all its own.

After tasting to our hearts' content,we listened as Kate gave us the lowdown on making yogurt part of our daily cooking. She said that yogurt can replace half the fat content of any recipe, providing you with probiotics, B vitamins, protein, and many other important nutrients. She also said that buying organic yogurt is extremely important. If you have limited organic dollars, spend them on meat and dairy. I thought this was a great piece of advice. These days, we have no idea what kinds of hormones and viruses contaminate our animal products. Better to be safe than sorry!

Stay tuned for upcoming posts on more ways to cook with yogurt! For now, here are a few of my favorites:

• Mediterranean Frittata with Greek Yogurt


• Carrot Cake with Greek Yogurt Frosting


• Apple Crisp Topping with Greek Yogurt


• Yogurt and Dill Dipping Sauce for Zucchini Cakes

Other ways I like to use yogurt:

• As a topping for oatmeal, along with fruit and nuts


• Mixed with a little honey as a fondue for strawberries


• As a topping for Buckwheat Blueberry Pancakes

In other news, voting for Project Food Blog is now OPEN! If you enjoy my posts, think I deserve a shot at becoming The Next Food Blog Star, or you're just looking for something to keep you busy on a Monday morning, I would LOVE your support! Click HERE to go to the voting page!

*Please note that I attended this event for free. I am not under contract with Stonyfield nor am I obligated to endorse the product or event in any way. See here for more information.

Ode to Spinach

According to Healthy Eats newsletter, today is National Spinach Day! I'm glad somebody's taken initiative to spread awareness. Spinach is one of Mother Nature's super-duper foods. I personally eat spinach every single day, and I think you should too. Not only is it delicious a multitude of ways, I believe it has been sent from the fitness gods. Remember Popeye? There you have it. In addition to fueling and healing your internal organs, skin, eyes, teeth, muscles and brain, spinach can be easily included in your breakfast, lunch, dinner AND snacks! You basically have no excuses when it comes to not eating spinach. Like eggs? Toss it in a veggie omelet for breakfast. Like sandwiches (who doesn't...)? Instead of iceberg lettuce, wedge it between your other fave ingredients and toast it for a delicious panini at lunch. This can also be done ahead of time (read: the night before) for those of you strapped for actual lunchtime. For snack, include a handful in any kind of smoothie- I promise you won't even taste it! And at dinner, saute with garlic and sesame oil and serve under a sesame-crusted salmon fillet. Or, layer it into your lasagna or eggplant parmesan. As always, though, a simple spinach salad works just as well/easily. I've included my go-to spinach salad recipe at the end of this post. But for now, here are some more reasons from trusted sources on why you should get your hands on this leafy green gem:

Elizabeth Somer, M.A., R.D., has named spinach one of her top 12 Super Mood Foods. She says that leafy greens, like spinach, are the very best sources of the B vitamin folate (otherwise known as folic acid). Poor intake of folate increases the risk for depression, fatigue, poor memory, and possibly schizophrenia [birth defects for your unborn child too, as I've read elsewhere]. What's more, people who are clinically depressed only respond to antidepressants if their blood levels of folate are high (What?!). She also says that just one serving of dark leafy greens supplies an entire day's requirement for vitamin A, more than 3 milligrams of iron, almost 1/3 your daily need for folate, and lots of calcium and other B vitamins. This is all for about 20 calories (WHAT?!). Oh, one more thing: leafy greens contain a lot of magnesium, which can curb symptoms of PMS. Awesome. Thanks, Elizabeth.

Next up: Stephanie Tourles, raw food guru extraordinaire. Her take on spinach is this: Spinach is loaded with antioxidants such as lutein, beta-carotene, several anti-inflammatory flavonoids, vitamin C and K, folic acid, iron, calcium, potassium, and magnesium. She likes to mince it up and add it to vegetable dips. Yum!

So, if you haven't jumped out of your seat by this point to buy yourself some spinach, I don't know what your problem is. If you're sticking around to hear what else I have to say, I'll entertain you. But promise you'll go to the store as soon as I'm done.

As I'm researching all these spinach facts this morning, I've come up with some thoughts. Let's go back to the birth defect thing. We've all heard that pregnant women are supposed to take a prenatal vitamin with lots of folic acid, right? Maybe you've been there yourself and have had this advice given to you. Regardless, I'm starting to wonder why we as a culture place so much value on supplements. Is it out of laziness? Do we think to ourselves, Oh, no need to drink my milk today, I took a calcium pill...? Is it because we crave a sense of security? We'd rather overdose on vitamins than underdose? (That's definitely not a real word, but I don't care.) Well, I've got some news for you. It is entirely possible to get all the nutrients you need from food alone. In fact, overdosing on certain vitamins and minerals, especially some of the B vitamins, can become toxic and detrimental to your health. Yes, something we believe is good for us can actually become bad for us. But this little philosophy is not new to you- you already know that too much of anything can become a bad thing (you thought it only applied to molten chocolate cake!). So here is my non-certified-but-heavily-supplemented-by-research-and-reading opinion: PROCEED WITH CAUTION. I'm certainly not going to tell you to not take a multivitamin, because that would be hypocritical. But if we all did a little research of our own, we may discover that other rich sources of B vitamins include beans/legumes (like chickpeas, kidney beans, lentils, peanuts), yogurt and milk products, whole grains (brown rice, quinoa, barley), and wheat germ. We may discover that we don't have to depend quite as heavily on nutritional supplements if we can include more of these foods in our daily diets. This applies to any nutrient you'd like to get more of or think you're deficient in. My favorite formula: Awareness + Action = Awesomely Healthy. Be aware. Act accordingly. Improve your health.

I said earlier that I'd include a recipe in this post to give you a way to use the spinach you just bought. Here's my absolute favorite way to do spinach:
Toss it raw with toasted pecans, roasted red bell peppers, halved cherry tomatoes, avaocado, goat cheese, and basil. Drizzle with a simple dressing of olive oil, balsamic and/or red wine vinegar, black pepper, raw garlic, and a little dijon mustard. Delish!


Now, EAT YOUR SPINACH. Or else.