Category: Gluten-Free Products


Oct
2018

Cooking Invention Week: The Amazing Tiger Nut! (4/7)

categories: Eating In, Food Allergy Tips, Gluten-Free Products, International, Recipes

Hello My People!

Today I’d like to share with you an amazing new discovery I made: the superfood Tigernut! Tigernut or Earth Almond (English) or Chufa (Spanish) or Erdmandel (German) is very high in fiber, good fats, and magnesium, and therefore very healthy! More importantly, it’s got a slightly sweet taste, kind of like the cashew, so it’s delicious to eat!

You can read more about its benefits in this Forbes (yes, Forbes!) article.

One can use it instead of oatmeal or flour in a pie base or crumble. One can even make it into “milk,” just as one would do with cashew milk or almond milk. It’s a fantastic switch-up for the usual grains or nuts you use in your cooking.

The Tiger Nut!
The Tiger Nut! In Germany, one common brand of ground tigernut is Govinda. 
Use it as a base for pies or crumbles... or instead of regular oatmeal!
Use it as a base for pies or crumbles… or instead of regular oatmeal!

So this week’s recipe idea is just that: a tigernut base apple crumble!

Ingredients for Filling

  • 3-4 large apples (please buy organic), chopped up or sliced
  • 5 tablespoons of apple sauce (or any fruit puree really, but please go for “no sugar added” versions)
  • Optional: bananas or frozen berries (for texture and flavour)
  • Optional: Nuts and/or raisin

Ingredients for Crust/Base

  • 2 cups of tigernut meal (you can mix it with oatmeal – final quantity should be the same, i.e. 2 cups)
  • 1/4 cup of olive oil
  • 1/4 cup of water (or any nut milk)

Method

1. Mix the tigernuts with the olive oil and water. You don’t need to over-mix it – just ensure that the liquid is more or less equally spread out over the grains.

2. If you’re using it as a base, spread it on the botton of your 21cm x 15cm pan. If you’re using it as a crumble topping, sprinkle on top of the filling when you’re done assembling the filling.

3. Mix the chopped apples with the other ingredients and spread in your pan.

4. If you’re making a crumble, spread the mixture on top. If you just really like tigernuts or oats, make two batches and have both a base and a crumble top! This is all about you, babe! 🙂

Enjoy a sugar-free, gluten-free, vegan. super-delicious dessert! No added sugar at all, unless of course, you’re gonna eat this with some yummy vegan ice-cream!

Peace,

Daisy


Oct
2018

All about Jackfruit!

categories: Eating In, Eating Out, Food Allergy Tips, Gluten-Free Products, International, Uncategorized

Hello Lieblings!

Today I want to write about a new trend in health food – the jackfruit! Now, growing up in Malaysia, I knew it as sweet, yellow, sticky-but-waxy “inner fruit” from a large fruit with tough skin… like the durian but without the thorny exterior! The inner fruit had large seeds, which you could boil and eat as a healthy snack, by the way!.

Jackfruit: Truly a one-of-a-kind produce. Native to the tropics.
Jackfruit: Truly a one-of-a-kind produce. Native to the tropics.

 

The jackfruit tree bore very large fruit!
The jackfruit tree bears very large fruit!
The sweet, addictive "inner fruit" of the jackfruit...
The sweet, addictive “inner fruit” of the jackfruit…
What I loved eating growing up - and the boilable seed!
What I loved eating growing up – and the boilable seed!

However, recently (and especially in the West), there’s been a trend of cooking the outer flesh of the massive jackfruit, as a meat alternative!

The new trend seems to be to eat the other fleshy parts of the fruit (beige areas in photo. Also, this is precisely NOT how to cut a jackfruit! :)
The new trend seems to be to eat the other fleshy parts of the fruit (beige areas in photo. Also, this is precisely NOT how to cut a jackfruit! 🙂

It doesn’t quite taste like much on its own, but it has an interesting “meat-like” texture which chefs are enjoying experimenting with. It’s been used in curries, as a fried food, and in burgers! Best of all, it has been found to contain many nutrients!

To demonstrate, may I call your attention to my recent finding… Behold: the jackfruit burger – more or less a meatless “pulled pork” cooked in a tangy barbeque sauce!

Shredded jackfruit flesh, cooked in a barbeque sauce as though it were pulled pork!
Shredded jackfruit flesh, cooked in a barbeque sauce as though it were pulled pork!
Ta-daaaa! The jackfruit burger!
Ta-daaaa! The jackfruit burger!

Jackfruit meat is all health-conscious land! You can even buy it pre-packaged for cooking at home.

Example of pre-packaged jackfruit "meat"
Example of pre-packaged jackfruit “meat”

 

However, I’d strongly suggest you get the fresh version, if you’re in parts of the world that grow jackfruit. Don’t get me wrong though! I’m digging what some chefs are doing with this new material, and as always, I’m always up for a good meat alternative!

This particular burger was found at Eugen’s in Konstanz (read my post on it here). I pretty much could eat this every. single. day. No joke. Till next time… 

 

Peace,

Daisy

N.B.: Many thanks to Google Images for the photos of the jackfruit!