GLOW

Kim and Ricki's SOS Challenge for the month of October is almost over, and I've been tweaking this recipe for you all over the last week in order to slip it in at the last moment. It is a wonderfully savory snack that could serve well as either a light lunch or an hors d'oeuvre.

These lovely crisps are adapted from a recipe found over at Book of Yum, and for any of you that have unsuccessfully warmed to the flavor of amaranth flour, I feel confident that these deliciously buttery-tasting crisps will win you over. Toasted sesame oil rounds out the earthy kick of the flour, and helps give it a full flavor that tastes rich and satisfying even without the toppings. For anyone new to the gluten-free diet, amaranth flour is an exceptionally nutritious flour to add to your arsenal. It can be pretty pricey at stores if you buy it pre-packaged; I purchase mine in bulk at our local co-op instead for under $3/lb.

The seed "goat cheese" is extremely forgiving, and I make various versions of it weekly. This was the first time that I added sesame oil to it, and I was blown away by the flavor! I'm so excited for you to try it!

Burdock root is a fascinating ingredient that I've only recently introduced into my diet. For over a year, I have been avoiding fructose and fructans, as they exacerbate a great number of my symptoms (see Fructose Malabsorption), but for the sake of diversity and curiosity, I've tried a few vegetables and roots lately that I've previously outlawed. Burdock has a very high level of inulin in it, which is excellent for most bodies, and is consequently added to many foods and supplements to increase their benefits, and to sweeten without the negative effects of sugar. It also encourages healthy intestinal bacteria, which is why most probiotics also include inulin. (For those who have to avoid it, it can be a real pain to find ones without. I take these.) Aside from the fantastic health benefits that many of you can enjoy, the flavor is incredible, too. I've heard it compared to artichoke hearts; I find it has the kick of lightly fermented veggies, and when shaved in this way, the natural bitterness of the root is tempered somehow.

Your challenge here is to not eat the whole recipe single-handedly. Best of luck to you!

YOU NEED:

9”X 12” BAKING SHEET

PARCHMENT PAPER

A FLEXIBLE SPATULA

COOLING RACK

CRISPS

½ CUP AMARANTH FLOUR

½ TSP SEA SALT

¼ TSP FENNEL POWDER

½ CUP WATER

½ TBS SESAME OIL

½ TBS TOASTED SESAME OIL

SEED “GOAT CHEESE”

¼ CUP RAW PUMPKIN SEEDS (PEPITAS)

¼ CUP RAW SUNFLOWER SEEDS

½ TSP FENNEL POWDER

½ TSP SEA SALT

¼ CUP WATER

1 TBS FRESH SQUEEZED LEMON JUICE (ABOUT 1 WEDGE)

1 TSP SESAME OIL

SHAVED BURDOCK TOPPING

1 MEDIUM TO LARGE BURDOCK ROOT

2 TSP TOASTED SESAME OIL

JUICE OF ONE LEMON WEDGE

¼ TSP BLACK SESAME SEEDS

PREHEAT OVEN TO 400 DEGREES FARENHEIT*.

PUT ALL DRY INGREDIENTS FOR THE CHEESE IN A FOOD PROCESSOR FITTED WITH AN “S” BLADE, AND TURN ON. (MINE HAS ONE SETTING…MED/HIGH?) OCCASIONALLY STOP, SCRAPE SIDES OF BOWL WITH A SPOON AND START AGAIN. WHILE GRINDING, PUT 2 TSP OF TOASTED SESAME OIL AND LEMON JUICE INTO A BOWL. TAKE A VEGETABLE PEELER AND PEEL THE OUTER SKIN OF THE BURDOCK ROOT OFF. NOW LIGHTLY PEEL THE FLESH OF THE ROOT INTO THE BOWL, MIXING THE SHAVINGS IN WITH THE OIL AND LEMON TO MARINATE AND TO PREVENT BROWNING. SHAVE AS MUCH AS YOU CAN; AFTER A POINT IT BECOMES TOO AWKWARD TO PEEL ANY FURTHER. ADD ¼ TSP BLACK SESAME SEEDS, MIX AND SET ASIDE. CONTINUE TO GRIND THE SEEDS. IN ANOTHER BOWL, MIX THE AMARANTH FLOUR, SEA SALT AND FENNEL POWDER, ADD THE WATER AND OIL, MIXING THOROUGHLY, AND SET ASIDE. THE SEEDS SHOULD BE GROUND AS WELL AS CAN BE (SEE PICTURE FOR REFERENCE), AND CAN BE ADDED TO A BOWL WITH THE WATER, LEMON JUICE AND OIL. MIXTURE WILL BECOME MORE GELATINOUS AS YOU MIX.

ONCE THE OVEN IS PREHEATED, CUT SOME PARCHMENT PAPER TO FIT YOUR BAKING SHEET, AND FOLD THE EDGES SO THAT IT SITS FLUSH WITH THE BOTTOM. USING A SPOON, DROP THE BATTER ONTO THE PARCHMENT PAPER AND THIN OUT IN A CIRCLE WITH THE BACK OF THE SPOON, SO THAT EACH ROUND IS ABOUT 3 INCHES WIDE. PLACE IN THE OVEN. ONCE THE EDGES ARE LIGHTLY BROWNED, REMOVE FROM THE OVEN. GENTLY WORK THE SPATULA UNDER EACH ROUND AND FLIP. SPOON A DOLLOP OF THE CHEESE ONTO EACH ROUND, AND SPREAD IT A BIT. PLACE BACK IN THE OVEN, AND REMOVE ONCE THE BOTTOMS ARE SLIGHTLY BROWNED. IMMEDIATELY REMOVE THEM FROM THE PAN, AND PLACE THEM ON A COOLING RACK, OR THEY WILL LOSE THEIR CRISPINESS.

PLACE SHAVED BURDOCK ON EACH ROUND, AND SOME RADISH SLICES FOR EXTRA FLAVOR AND COLOR.

*MY POOR ANTIQUE OVEN IS ON ITS LAST LEGS, SO DESPITE SETTING IT AT A LOW TEMPERATURE, THESE WERE MADE AT ABOVE 500 DEGREES FARENHEIT. FOR THAT REASON, I’M UNABLE TO GIVE YOU EXACT TIMES AND TEMPS. MY APOLOGIES! JUST STAY CLOSE; THESE ARE SMALL AND THIN, SO THEY DON’T TAKE LONG!

Now that Autumn has arrived, so too has the season of turning-on-the-oven-just-to-stay-warm. One of my favorite excuses to do so is to roast nuts. Soaking and roasting nuts yourself ensures that there aren't any harmful oils or seasonings, plus blesses your mouth with incredible flavor, and your home with incredible aromas.

I was introduced last year to the concept of soaking nuts prior to roasting them. There is a great deal of information on the net regarding the benefits of soaking nuts, seeds, grains and beans.  I find the description on this website particularly helpful. Besides the nutritional benefits of soaking your nuts, I find that it also helps to get a more even roast, as they don't dry out as quickly in the oven. For this reason, I always soak cashews prior to roasting, despite the debate over whether or not it makes a difference nutritionally.

Nuts are naturally so flavorful, that I typically roast them without oils, salt or spices. After roasting, I store the nuts in glass jars to snack from, or use them to make homemade pestos that I can use to quickly season veggies, grains, pizzas, and wraps.

 I was never the biggest fan of omelets, although more likely because of the adverse symptoms that would inevitably accompany my consumption of them than their flavor. Like many foods, I've always found the idea of an omelet to be superior to its reality. Protein breakfast packed with savory veggies, cheese and herbs? Fantastic. Migraine headaches, sinus congestion, muscle aches and strange brain fog that prevents me from formulating simple sentences? Unless I'm feeling particularly masochistic, I'll pass.

When I was happily living my days as a strict vegan, I could solve (I thought) this conundrum by fixing up a faux-egg dish with tofu. Mmm! Once I isolated soy as a trigger for nerve inflammation, though, I was stuck. God bless Kim at Affairs of Living for figuring out a solution to the soy-free egg scramble. She posted a recipe here that got the wheels in my brain working. In her post, she mentioned her goal of figuring out how to use a similar formula to make an omelet. The concept intrigued me, so I started experimenting myself. It didn't take long for me to work the recipe out to my liking, and since then I've made countless variations of it. The version I'm sharing with you here is Japanese-inspired, and appropriately, is also an entry for Kim and Ricki's (of Diet, Dessert & Dogs) Sweet or Savory Kitchen Challenge this month, where the featured ingredient is the sesame seed.

This recipe includes ingredients that you may not recognize. Mugwort powder is used in Japanese cuisine to flavor mochi, dumplings and soups. Any witches or mystics out there may also recognize it, as it is purported to aid psychic powers, and to cleanse divination tools. My books on herbalism say that it aids in digestion, is soothing to the nervous system, stimulates the liver, and is anti-parasitic. It has an earthy flavor reminiscent of green tea.  (Here is an interesting synopsis of its medicinal and metaphysical properties.)

Perilla seeds, or shiso, along with sesame seeds, are an excellent source of omega-3 fatty acids, which are also necessary for the health of the nervous system. Both of these ingredients were purchased at a local asian market, Reliable Market in Somerville's Union Square. The ground kelp, which has countless health benefits, can be purchased from the bulk spice and herb section at Harvest Coop in Central Square, Cambridge.

1/2 cup chickpea/garbanzo bean flour

1/2 tsp sea salt

1/4 tsp kelp granules (finely ground kelp)

1/4 tsp mugwort powder (aka sagebrush powder)

3/4 cup water

1 tbs fresh-squeezed lemon juice (about one lemon wedge)

1/2 tbs tahini

1/2 tbs green perilla seed (aka shiso)

1 tbs sesame oil

sesame seeds (or Seaweed Gomasio if you're a salt hound like me) for sprinkling

Mix the dry ingredients together in a bowl, and add the water a 1/4 cup at a time to work out the lumps. Add lemon juice, tahini, and then the perilla seeds. Pour the tablespoon of sesame oil into a heated (medium heat) 10-inch non-stick pan, and turn to coat. Pour the batter into the pan. It should settle fully into the base of the pan, but help it with the back of a spoon if it doesn't. Sprinkle the sesame seeds on the batter immediately, before the batter starts to set. Cook this way until the edges start to look slightly crisp, and the bottom is golden brown in spots. Carefully work a large, flexible spatula (like this) around the edges of the omelet until it is loose. Work the spatula under, and quickly flip. Cook until bottom is golden brown.

Transfer to a plate and serve with salad greens and tahini, sauteed greens (mizuna! mustard greens! chard!), homemade seed cheese, or whatever else suits your fancy.

Sharing food with others is one of the most wonderful experiences, isn't it? For those of us with food intolerances or allergies, it can be a rare occurrence! About two years ago, my health problems, which I had had for a number of years, had almost completely taken over my life. I started to notice that my symptoms seemed to increase after eating certain foods. This intuition led me to do personal research, and to work with a physician and a nutritionist to start to isolate my triggers. I learned quite a bit...the only problem being that my list of triggers seemed to take up an entire college-ruled notebook page. I desperately searched online for others with similar profiles. These searches helped me find my way to some of the great food blogs out there, most notably Affairs of Living, whose author, Kim, has a daunting list of foods she must avoid as well. The only problem? Every body is its own universe, so no one has the exact same profile. Despite the enormous wealth of talented bloggers with restricted diets, I was still left feeling overwhelmed, and at a loss for how to give my body what it needed.

Two years later, after countless hours of research and experimentation, I feel that I am on the road to recovery, and feel a strong sense of obligation to help others who might find themselves in similar predicaments. What can you eat? Where can you find it? How do you prepare it? I'm still looking for the answers, but my hope is that this may be a forum where we can help each other on our respective searches, and reclaim the irreplaceable human experience of sharing our labors of love at the kitchen table.