Wednesday 18 September 2013

Crispy Zucchini fries with Bloomin' Onion Dipping Sauce

Here is a delicious recipe to use up those leftover zucchini from the garden. the dipping sauce was AMAZING!!!



Here is a link to the original recipe. To the sauce, I did add 2 tsp of horseradish as after tasting it, I felt it needed it.

http://www.primallyinspired.com/baked-zucchini-fries-bloomin-onion-dipping-sauce-grain-free-gluten-free/

Ingredients


For the Zucchini Fries:

  • 2 medium sized zucchini
  • 2 eggs
  • ⅓ cup coconut flour
  • ⅓ cup arrowroot flour/powder
  • 3 tablespoons Parmesan or Romano cheese (omit for a dairy free)
  • 1½ teaspoon dried Italian seasoning
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • sea salt and pepper, to taste
  • 1-2 tablespoons coconut oil or other oil/fat of choice

For the Bloomin’ Onion Sauce:


  • ½ onion, sliced
  • ½ teaspoon sea salt
  • 1 tablespoon coconut oil or butter/ghee (or other fat of choice)
  • 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon pure honey (optional)
  • 1 teaspoon dijon mustard
  • ½ cup mayonnaise (or sour cream or Greek yogurt)
  • 2 tsp horseradish (my addition)

Instructions


Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

Cut the zucchini in thirds so that each “chunk” is about 3-4 inches long. Then cut each chunk into 9 fries like this:
Whisk the eggs in a bowl until well mixed.

In a separate bowl, combine the coconut flour, arrowroot flour, Parmesan or Romano, and spices.

Pour melted coconut oil (or oil/fat of choice) onto a cookie sheet.  Dip the zucchini into the egg and then into the flour mixture.

Put the coated zucchini fries onto the cookie sheet

Bake for 15 minutes. Flip. Bake 15-20 more minutes or until golden brown.

Serve with the bloomin’ onion sauce and enjoy!

For the Bloomin’ Onion Sauce:

Place the onion, salt, and oil into a skillet over medium low heat.


Cook for 20-25 minutes stirring occasionally until the onions turn golden brown and caramelize.


Blend the caramelized onions, vinegar, honey and dijon with a hand blender (or food processor) until fairly smooth.


Stir in the mayonnaise (and horseradish if using).
Enjoy!

Monday 9 September 2013

Chocolate Zucchini Bread/cake/brownie




This delicious recipe comes from the  following site: http://comfybelly.com/2013/07/chocolate-zucchini-bread-simple-chocolate-frosting/#.Ui3xfMbry6M


This recipe is quite flexible, so feel free to bake it in a bread pan, a square baking pan so you have cake squares, or make muffins/cupcakes using the batter. The cupcakes will bake a bit faster than the bread or cake. It works well in a loaf pan at least 7.5 inches x 3.5 inches (19 cm x 8.9 cm), or an 8-inch x 8-inch (20.3 cm x 20.3 cm) baking pan. (I made mine in an 8x8 pan to cut into brownie bites)
If your zucchini is wet, place it in a towel and wring out the excess moisture, or place it in a strainer and press out the excess moisture.

Ingredients

  •  2 cups (200 g) grated or finely shredded zucchini (about 1 zucchini)
  • 4 large eggs
  • 2 tablespoons (30 ml) olive oil (or unsalted butter, ghee, or coconut oil)
  • 1/3 cup (90 ml) maple syrup or honey
  • 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
  • 1/3 cup (35 g) coconut flour
  • 1/4 cup (12 g) unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/3 cup (56 g) chocolate chips (i didn't add this as I forgot but they were still moist and chewy)
NOTE:  i also added a bit of cinnamon as well as cayene pepper

 Method

  1. Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C).
  2. Grease your baking pan and line the bottom with parchment paper. Dust the sides with coconut flour. If you’re after easy release, line the entire pan with parchment paper.
  3. In a food processor or mixer, blend the zucchini, eggs, oil, maple syrup, and vanilla. A food processor will further break up the zucchini so you won’t see any zucchini in the baked bread.
  4. Blend the flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt into the wet batter and let the batter sit for a few minutes.
  5. Mix in the chocolate chips and pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 45 to 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
  6. Cool and serve. Store covered at room temperature for several days or in the refrigerator for a few weeks.
Makes one loaf


Zucchini Muffins (Grain Free)


These come from the site: Meaningful Eats.  Here is the link: http://blog.meaningfuleats.com/zucchini-muffins-grain-free-dairy-free/

I have a bit of extra zucchini so made these today along with a zucchini chocolate cake/brownie.  Both were very good so they are posted here :)

Here is the recipe.

 
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
 
Moist grain-free zucchini muffins sweetened with banana.
Grain-Free, Dairy-Free, Paleo
Serves: 10 muffins
Ingredients

  • ½ cup coconut flour
  • ¼ cup almond flour
  • 2 teaspoons cinnamon
  • ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 4 eggs
  • ⅓ cup honey
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 2 tablespoons coconut oil
  • ½ teaspoon apple cider vinegar
  • 1 banana, mashed
  • 1 cup unpeeled, finely shredded zucchini (about 2 small zucchini) - i did squeeze out the excess water from my zucchini
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350F. Fill a standard muffin pan with liners.

Combine the coconut flour, almond flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, and salt in a bowl. In the bowl of a food processor, pulse together the eggs, honey, vanilla, and coconut oil until well combined. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and pulse to combine.

Allow the mixture to sit for 3-5 minutes for the coconut flour to absorb the liquids. Add the apple cider vinegar, banana, and zucchini and pulse to combine.

Scoop the batter into the lined muffin pan. Bake for 20-25 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the center of each muffin comes out clean. Cool and enjoy! Keep leftover muffins in the refrigerator.