Sounds appealing, doesn't it? 😊 I'm actually not making snacky recipes for a Superbowl event. I don’t really do football---too much of it in my youth, for one, and no good music involved, for another. But I love to feed people, especially crowds, and Superbowl weekend is when people gather to eat non-holiday foods. I made these last month instead, for post-holiday visits and such. But you feel free to use them for football-y things all you want. I don't need to know! I’ve been experimenting (sometimes out of desperation) with dinner and snack ideas that don’t include wheat, yeast, poultry, many legumes, and the usual host of food allergens in our house. One thing I’ve wanted to make for a long time is a vegan spinach artichoke dip. To make my gluten-free crackers more palatable, I finally dove into this goal. I started off with this recipe from Forks Over Knives. We get a lot of soy already in our house, so a recipe that doesn’t use tofu is a winner for me. Reviewers suggested that this was somewhat bland, more of a jumping off recipe. I took one suggestion in particular: to use pureed cannellini beans. This safe-for-us option added the creaminess (and some hidden protein for the bean averse) that I love. I didn’t even bother to use a blender, just my well-loved potato (really, applesauce and berry jam) hand masher. I also used artichokes from a glass jar (nickel allergy!); spinach that I’d pre-frozen, partially thawed, and chopped; and a combination of water and chickpea+sweet rice flours to thicken and flavor instead of a plant milk (no one in my house agrees on a favorite). And, of course, I went my own way with seasonings: In addition to the traditional and garlic and pepper, I threw in Green Goddess spices and hot sauce. The result was scoop-able and tasty warm or cold, lasted for days in the fridge, and didn’t make me miss gooey cheese—too much. Check it out: BONUS: Free-From Veggie Dinnertime Nachos After a late (that’s 8:30 pm, by the way) night out with the girls, I realized that I had no dinner options---they had chicken dumplings---and nothing defrosted or ready-made. But I did have corn tortillas and lots of fresh veggies, so…nachos! Because I was making and eating these while the kids were already upstairs and asleep, I added all of my favorite cheeses. If you’re dairy free and have a favorite vegan cheese, go ahead with that. We aren’t in love with the typical vegan cheese options, but I’ve recently come across Follow Your Heart vegan cheese, which John’s of 12th Street in NYC uses. If it can stand up to an old Italian family, it’s worth a shot for mine, too! I’ll be sure to update the post if I succeed in making kid-safe nachos one day. Until then, here’s a Superbowl-ready recipe for nachos made with your own baked tortilla chips. Perhaps as healthy as a nacho can get? For starter ideas, I used the Paula Deen Macho Nachos recipe, which gave me ideas about warming the nachos and alternating crunchy and wet layers, and a great article (even if you aren't geeky about food) about nachos from The Guardian. I had some personal inspiration, too: A well-loved, favorite indulgence with my mom on evenings during my middle- and high-school years was a bag of tortilla chips spread out, covered with shredded mozzarella, and nuked until the cheese became stretchy and delicious. For my version, I planned to bake my chips as usual, on parchment at 350 degrees F. I use any type of corn tortilla rounds, quarter them, line them slightly overlapping, and lightly spray them with oil before baking. I put a tiny bit of salt on at this stage, only, too.
To top them, I used just what I had on hand, putting together ideas to cover dinner nutrition as best as I could: crumbled beets, dried bell peppers, diced onions, chopped romas, quartered artichokes, and torn up fresh spinach. After the chips were just lightly brown (not as much as if I weren't topping them), I added a bit of cheese [pick your vegan replacement here as desired], liberally poured on Arizona Dreaming spices from Penzys, and started layering, big to small: artichokes, romas, onions, crumbly items. Then I topped it all with...more cheese. :) Last, I returned this tray to the oven just long enough to melt the cheese but not brown it (something like 5 minutes or so). Try it and enjoy!
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Hi, I'm Nicole. ABOUT THE BLOG An apothecary is a person or a place. Either one implies healing and relates to pharmacy in its truest sense, as a source of treatment and advice. This blog is my way of uniting my pharmacy training with my efforts to provide a healthy and safe lifestyle for my family. In true apothecary form, I research and prescribe alternative ingredients that work just right in each specific recipe, and I would like to share the results with anyone who needs help making their own family’s kitchen allergy safe and heart healthy. Categories
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I made the 2017 Top-40 Food Allergy blogs!
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