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!

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

15 mins

Cook time

20 mins

Total time

35 mins

 

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.

Banana Waffles (nut free, grain free)

I love this recipe! but then again I love most any recipe and that's why it's on my blog :)  

Here is the link to the original recipe. 
http://eatthecookie.wordpress.com/2012/11/12/banana-waffles-nut-free

After reading some great info on nuts, I too have been trying to limit my consumption of them. (apparently heating them up can make them inflammatory to the body when we consume them)

Excerpt from the "eatthecookie" blog:  If the finished batter seems a little thin, you can add an extra tsp or so of either flour. if it seems very thick, it can be thinned out with a little milk or yogurt. it should be similar to a slightly thin cake batter. 

these have the perfect banana flavor, aroma, and sweetness. fluffy and light banana waffles like these deserve lots and lots of butter. 

serves 2

ingredients:

1 super ripe banana, worked over in the food processor or otherwise pureed

2 eggs, beaten

1 tbsp oil (i have used both coconut or extra light olive oil)

1 tsp vanilla

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking soda

3 tbsp coconut flour or whey protein powder

4 tbsp tapioca starch

2 tbsp flax meal

method: plug  your waffle iron in and allow it to heat properly. generally, 5 minutes or so does the trick. it must be piping hot before you pour the batter in. brush it with oil.

Combine all dry ingredients together. Separately, combine all wet ingredients together.

Combine wet with dry. whisk well. Allow batter to rest for 5 minutes before using. this allows the flours to soak up the liquid, and the flax to expand and get spongy.

Pour batter into hot waffle maker. cook for 2-3 minutes. no peeking. opening the waffle maker while the magic is happening makes for a sloppy mess. 

Remove cooked waffles from waffle maker, serve while hot and crispy with melty butter, peanut butter, and buckwheat honey.. or whatever your pleasure! (i like homemade jams or pure maple syrup!)

Easy Banana Bread (no sugar, no grains)

Sometimes I want bread....a good banana bread. This one hit the spot. Here the link to the original recipe

http://www.primallyinspired.com/no-sugar-no-grains-easy-and-amazing-banana-bread/

-Here is the finished product. Again, this does NOT make a normal sized loaf. I used my Magic Loaf pan which is about 7.5 x 3.5 inches.  This bread was moist and very tasty.  I did add some chopped pecans that I had but only wish I had added the chocolate chips!

Makes 1 loaf

Ingredients:

4 very ripe bananas, mashed

1/3 cup coconut oil or grass-fed butter, melted

4 free-range eggs

1tsp vanilla

1 ½ tsp cinnamon

½ cup organic coconut flour (do not substitute another flour – it will not work)

1 heaping tsp baking soda

¼ tsp salt

optional add-ins: 1/3 cup dark chocolate chips, walnuts, pecans, slivered almonds, raisins, etc.

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Throw everything together in a medium bowl and mix until combined. Pour into a lightly greased (use coconut oil or butter for greasing) bread pan and bake for about 45 minutes or until center is set and top is golden. Enjoy! (I had to cook mine for 60 mins and after 45 min I put tinfoil over the top to stop it from browning too much)

 *Your bananas should be extremely brown, almost to the point when you would throw them away or freeze them. If they are not overly ripe, your bread will not be as sweet and probably not taste as good. If you are using non-ripe bananas, you should add about a 1/3 cup of maple syrup to the batter.

NOTE: my bananas were pretty big so i only used 3 of them and only 3 eggs. I still found it a little "wet" so I added another Tbsp of coconut flour.

Banana Bread

This is from the website "civilized caveman cooking"...here is the actual link.  

http://civilizedcavemancooking.com/grain-free-goodies/paleo-banana-bread/

This was REALLY good, fast and easy and it rose like a real banana bread. As the site suggested, i made mine into 12 big muffins and slathered them in butter when they were still a tiny bit warm! divine!!!   This is the website picture. my muffins of course were dark as i added the suggested cocoa powder :)

Ingredients

• 4 bananas, yellow (they do not need to be overly ripe but you can if you want)
• 4 eggs
• 1/2 cup almond butter (or any nut butter, i.e. macadamia, pecan, etc)
• 4 tablespoons grass-fed butter, melted (can substitute coconut oil)
• 1/2 cup coconut flour
• 1 tablespoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• pinch of sea salt

Instructions

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees
2. Combine your bananas, eggs, and nut butter, and grass-fed butter in a blender, food processor, or mixing bowl and mix well (if using a mixing bowl you need a good hand-mixer)
3. Once all of your ingredients are blended, add in your coconut flour, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, vanilla, and sea salt and mix well
4. Grease a 9×5 glass (see notes) loaf pan with a fat of your choice. If you use a metal pan it will probably bake in 35-40 minutes so start checking at 35 to ensure the middle stays moist
5. Pour in your batter and spread it evenly throughout
6. Place in your preheated oven and bake for 55-60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean
7. Remove from oven and flip your bread out onto a cooling rack
8. Slice and serve

Variations

1. Cranberry Orange – Only use 3 tablespoons of butter. Add zest of one whole orange diced, juice of one whole orange, and1 cup dried cranberries or fresh if you want
2. Chocolate Blueberry – Add 1 cup of fresh blueberries and ½ cup of cocoa powder
3. Pumpkin Pecan – Reduce the almond butter to ¼ cup and add ½ cup of pumpkin puree and 1 cup of roughly chopped pecan pieces

Notes

If you want to make these into muffins, use the same recipe and for mini muffins bake approximately 25 mins and normal size muffins 30-35 minutes.

Paleo Banana Spice Coffee Cake

This was pretty good but I think next time, I will try and find a way to incorporate some coffee flavour, either with instant coffee or actual brewed coffee...maybe instead of the vanilla extract? not sure but i would really like to have it with some coffee flavour.  I think it would be great with coconut whipped cream on top!!  

Here is the link to the original recipe. (the picture is mine )

http://www.multiplydelicious.com/thefood/2012/08/banana-spice-coffee-cake/

1 cup ripe banana, mashed
5 eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 tablespoon maple syrup (optional)
1/2 cup coconut flour
1 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup coconut oil, melted (plus more for greasing pan)


Topping:
1/2 cup almond meal (almonds blended down to flour consistency)
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1 1/2 tablespoons coconut oil

Instructions:Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease a glass Pyrex 8×8 dish with coconut oil, set aside.In a large bowl mix together mashed banana, eggs, vanilla extract and maple syrup (if using) with a hand mixer until all the wet ingredients is incorporated.

In a small bowl, whisk together coconut flour, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, salt, and baking soda.  Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and using hand mixer mix until a batter forms.  Stir in melted coconut oil into batter until well incorporated.

For topping:  In a small bowl using a form blend together almond meal, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, and coconut oil.  Blend until the mixture forms a crumb like texture.  Add more coconut oil if the crumb mixture does not form.  Only about 1/2 a tablespoon.

Pour batter into prepared glass 8×8 dish and sprinkle topping evenly across the top.  Bake in preheated 350 degree oven for 45 to 50 minutes or until golden and a toothpick inserted into center comes out clean.

Allow to cool for 5 to 10 minutes and then cut into squares and serve.