Call Me Jelly Because I'm on a Roll - I Mean Gluten Free Waffle

I've been experimenting for a while with a new waffle maker.  Our most recent recipe is a gluten free one which goes along nicely with a topping of Trader Joe's or other high quality raspberry jam.  Batter ingredients: 2 cups of buckwheat flour, 4 teaspoons of baking power, 2 eggs, 4 teaspoons of cocoa powder, 1 tablespoon of agave or honey, 1 table spoon of vanilla extract, 1 1/3 cups of milk (goat milk works very well), and 1/3 cup of canola oil.  Mix the wet ingredients first, then stir in the dry ingredients.  Add to waffle iron and proportion as needed.  These come out crispy on the outside and soft on the inside without too much density.  They also heat up very well in a toaster oven or regular pop-up toaster.  Kids love 'em.

These are pretty easy to make.  I can generally prepare them from start to finish in about 1/2 an hour including cooking time.  Enjoy!

I'm back

 Well, it's been a while.  Our Indian food adventure formally concluded in June, but we still like to eat good stuff.  I will be posting Indian and non-Indian inspired things.  Things such as this Chia Seed Delight.   An oxymoron, you say?  Well, the picture of our daughter the picky eater doesn't lie.  This is a sweet treat that you can feel good about giving the kids and yourself.  Made with chia seeds, raisins, walnuts, orange juice and coco powder, and covered in a thin layer of vegan chocolate.  So easy.  Lots of omega fatty acids, iron, protein, vitamin C, etc.   The texture inside is like Turkish Delight, kind of gummy and soft.  I am thinking this could be done with lemon or lime juice, eliminate the coco powder, use cashews or almonds or any kind of nut.  Lots of variations.  Let me know if you make a variation.

This is slightly adapted from this recipe I saw at Gone Raw, my go-to raw foods website. I'll blog some about doing raw foods in the near future.

So, we are going Gluten Free here.  Just got a new Zojirushi breadmaker and a GF loaf is cooking right now. I'll let you know in the next post how it turned out.  Meanwhile enjoy the:

Chia Seed Delight

4 T of ground chia seeds (I used Salba brand already ground, but you can grind your own in a coffee or spice mill)
Enough orange juice to make a thick sludge when added to the seeds.  I juiced four mandarins, but one orange should do it.
Zest of the aforementioned orange.

3/4 - 1 cup of walnuts
1/2 cup raisins

1/2 cup of vegan chocolate chips (I used the Enjoy Life brand, allergen free) with just a splash of soy or nut milk.

Place the ground seeds in a bowl and add the zest and juice.  Mix well and let stand for about half an hour until the seeds absorb all the juice and become jelly-like. 

In a food processor, grind the walnuts until they are a coarse meal.  Add the raisins and process until all is combined into a paste.  Add the chia jell and process further until all ingredients are thoroughly mixed.  At this point, it does not look appetizing and you will begin to doubt whether this will turn out.

Wet your hands and roll the mix into bon-bon sized balls.  Place in a container and refrigerate for an hour or so.  Then melt the chocolate chips.  I just pop them in a Pyrex measuring cup with a splash of soy milk and microwave for 20 seconds.  Stir until smooth.  Then use this to coat the chilled bon-bons.  Put back in the fridge for the coating to harden up.