Potato, Spinach and Olive Pizza

This pizza sounds weird but is absolutely delicious. A restaurant in town makes a pizza like this but it's full of garlic and covered in cheese both of which are high fodmap. Well it tastes just fine without those things. It's a little bit of work cooking the potatoes but it's worth it. 

INGREDIENTS

1 package of Udi's frozen pizza crusts (2 crusts)

1 bunch of spinach
1 medium-large yellow potato
olive tapenade ("recipe" follows)
olive oil
salt

Start by preheating the oven to 400 degrees. While preheating slice the potato on a mandoline and pat off excess moisture with paper towels. On a sheet pan lined with parchment, lightly oil potato slices and arrange so they don't overlap. Sprinkle with salt and cook in the oven for about 15-17 minutes.

While potatoes are cooking, heat a skillet with a little olive oil (or water) and wilt the spinach. Salt and cook out all the moisture. This only takes a couple minutes. Since I needed to make the tapenade myself I also did that while the potatoes were cooking.

When the potatoes are golden and starting to get dark, take them out of the oven and then prepare the pizzas. Scatter the cooked spinach and olive tapenade and then arrange potato slices on top. Lightly drizzle pizzas with olive oil and then cook following the instructions on the package. (I cook mine at 400 instead of 375 and from frozen for about 11-12 minutes)

Tapenade "Recipe" (everything is estimated, add more or less to your tastes)

~1/2 cup kalamata olives

~1/2 cup manzanilla olives (make sure they are garlic free)

~1 Tbsp capers

~1 Tbsp olive oil

~1/4th tsp dried oregano

Put everything in the food processor and pulse until it's mostly minced and starts to hold together. This makes at least twice as much tapenade as you'll need for the recipe above.

Bento Boxes!

I made these bentos for my mom's birthday! We were going to go on a drive through the national park but since it's closed we just ate them in the back yard.

They contain Tamagoyaki, sesame spinach, daigakuimo, and shiso flavored cucumber pickles. In the future I'll make a blog post about how to cook all these dishes!

Also a picture of the "princess cake" cupcakes I made for tonight. I used Bob's red mill's "easy gluten free vanilla cupcakes" recipe and just replaced the dairy for nondairy ingredients. I'm not used to making baked goods with eggs but I thought I'd give it a shot for once. (Even though we eat eggs usually we do all baked goods vegan). They're filled with raspberry jam and topped off with marzipan I colored green. Pom's doesn't have any marzipan because she's had mild allergic reactions to it in the past.  They will be topped with coconut whipped cream tonight!

-Rabbit

What We're Having: Christmas 2018

Merry Christmas everyone!

Tonight for Christmas Eve dinner the girls and I are having Chirashizushi! Then I'll be prepping food for our big christmas celebration tomorrow.

First I'll be making deviled eggs, I don't use a recipe, I just mash up the yolks with mayo, salt and mustard until they look smooth enough to pipe into the egg whites.

Second, Pom will be making a cheese ball! She uses daiya cream cheese, green olives and walnuts.

The last thing for our Christmas bunch is going to be Monkey Bread! I'm using this recipe from Allergylicious. I'm excited to try it!


For Dinner we'll be having Miso Salmon Hot Pot! I'll post a recipe for this in the future. We're going to put, potatoes, daikon, turnips, shimeji and bushimeji mushrooms, mochi and dandelion greens in along with the salmon.

I hope everyone has a beautiful holiday!

-Rabbit

Japanese Style Potato Salad

I started making this potato salad when I got into making kyara-ben (character bentos) now I just make it whenever the craving hits. The main way that Japanese potato salad differs from american potato salad is that you crush or mash some of the potatoes. I love it because you can end up using less mayonnaise and it tastes great. My potato salad is very basic, other recipes add stuff like onion, corn or ham. If you can eat it, I recommend using Japanese style mayonnaise. We don't use it in the house though because all the ones I can find contain "spices" which is a no for fodmap (it's too likely there's onion or garlic powder in it)

INGREDIENTS
3 large or 4 medium russet potatoes
1 carrot
1/2 english cucumber
3-4 tbsp vegannaise
1-2 tbsp seasoned rice vinegar
sprinkle of sugar
salt to taste

First you want to start by prepping the cucumber. I peel it so it's striped and then cut in half lengthwise. Cut into thin half circles, toss with salt and then place into a plastic bag with the air pressed out. Let these sit in the fridge while you cook everything else.

Peel potatoes and carrot. Cut the potatoes into 1/2 to 3/4 in cubes and then cut the carrot into thin slices. You want the carrot and the potato to be done at the same time. Place in a pot of salted water and bring to a boil. I simmer the potatoes until they can be easily pierced with a fork. Make sure they are soft enough because you need to be able to mash them and the carrots.

Drain and then place into a bowl. While the carrots and potatoes are still hot, sprinkle with a little sugar and the 1-2 tablespoons of seasoned rice vinegar (depending on how sour you want it).

Continuing while it's still hot, take a large fork and mash the carrots and potatoes in the bowl. Make sure to leave some chunks, you don't want mashed potatoes. When you're done drain and squeeze out the excess moisture from the cucumbers and then add them to the salad. Next add the 3-4 tablespoons of vegannaise and mix everything to combine. Taste and add more salt if needed. 

Great next to veggie burgers, in bento boxes or just on it's own. Potato salad lasts for about 3 to 4 days refrigerated.

Enjoy!

-Rabbit

What We're Having: Thanksgiving 2018

Below is a list of what we'll be cooking for thanksgiving! We're also going to have a Fieldroast brand tofurky and my brother will be making stuffing and cranberry sauce. But everything else is going to be made vegan, gluten free, IC and Fodmap friendly!

Tofu Loaf Genius Kitchen: Comfort tofu loaf

I haven't tried this one out yet, but I am excited. I'm going to be changing up the recipe quite a bit so wish me luck! Tofu can be an IC flare so we eat it sparingly in the house.

Mashed Potatoes Isa Chandra: Fluffy mashed potatoes

I make mashed potatoes so much that i don't really use a recipe. The one above is great if you're looking for one.

Wild Rice Salad Avocado Pesto: Wild rice salad

We made this last year! I'm excited to have it again!

Braised Kale

Like the mashed potatoes I don't have a recipe, It's just sautéed kale with a splash of red wine vinegar at the end.

Roasted Greenbeans

Never roasted them before but I don't think it'll be hard! I might make a light lemon dijon vinaigrette for them, I haven't decided yet.

Cheezy Biscuits The Allergy Free Cook Bakes Bread

Pom will be making these, yeay!

Pumpkin Pudding Tabi Eats: Vegan pumpkin pudding

Kabocha is my favorite so I'm excited to try this!

Pecan Pie Vanilla and Bean: Vegan bourbon pecan pie

Pom and Deer have never had a pecan pie, I hope this becomes a new fav. Pecans can be an IC trigger to some people so Pom will only be having a little piece to see how she reacts.

If you're celebrating Thanksgiving today please consider donating to a charity such as the Native America Food Sovereignty Alliance 

-Rabbit

Frozen Blueberries

Photo by Rabbit

Blueberries are kinda a big deal in this house. Both Pom and Deer are from Michigan, and before we moved to the desert, we lived somewhere where we could pick all the wild blueberries we could fit in our freezer. They're also a big deal because they are now the only safe fruit Pom can eat. 

So now that we moved away from blueberry heaven, here is our review of all the frozen blueberries we've been able to buy. Keeping in mind, Pom has very high standards.

The Duds

 

These blueberries all were tasteless. Some had hints of sweet or sour, but in the end, they just didn't taste like blueberries should.

The Okays

These are the ones we would get if our first choice were unavailable. They are still, mostly tasteless, but at least had more flavor than the duds

The Winner

We found these at our local Co-op and they are the only frozen blueberry that pom truly likes. If you have to resort to buying blueberries instead of picking your own, these are the ones you want to get! 

Thanks for reading!

-Rabbit

Brown Rice Cereal

Hi everyone, another product review here. This one is for one of our breakfast staples, brown rice cereal. Or grits, or farina. Whatever you'd like to call it, there's a lot of names. It's basically a hot breakfast porridge made out of chopped up brown rice. We're basing our reviews on flavor and how well it cooks in the microwave.

We love to eat it with a little bit of earth balance butter, maple syrup and frozen blueberries

Trader Joes brand Organic Rice and Quinoa cereal. This cereal cooks well but has a very strong quinoa flavor to it. If you love quinoa give this cereal a try! Pom wasn't a huge fan of it. I personally just like the brown rice as well.

Arrowhead Mills Organic Rice & Shine. Please Avoid this cereal like the plague. The only way to get it to cook in the microwave is to cook it 3 times as long as the instructions, adding more water as you go. Even with the additional cooking the cereal still has an almost moldy, raw taste to it. Please do not buy this stuff! I had to throw out our bag, and I rarely throw away food.

Our favorite, Bob's Red Mill Brown Rice Farina. This cereal cooks really well in the microwave, rarely exploding (unlike the other two cereals). It has a lovely texture and taste. This is a breakfast staple for Pom! 

Have you tried any other cereals and have recommendations? Let me know! Thanks for reading!

-Rabbit

5 Ingredient Tuna Pasta

Hi everyone! This is my go to recipe when I want to cook something easy, comforting and super fast. We all love kalamata olives in this house, which this recipe is packed with. This recipe is an alteration of a recipe that my mom altered from a magazine. I think the original had linguine, bacon, clams and black olives, who knows. Anyway, this recipe works for us. We eat it as is, but you can also eat it on a bed of fresh lettuce greens if you have them in the house!


INGREDIENTS makes 4 big servings

12 oz brown rice pasta (we use fusilli)
2 cans tuna
1 8.5 oz jar of kalamata olives
Olive Oil
Lemon Juice
Salt + Pepper

First boil a pot of water for the pasta, make sure to salt your water. Don't over-do it though because the olives are already very salty and it's easy to over-salt this dish.

While the pasta is cooking drain and slice the kalamata olives. Drain the cans of tuna and pour about 1 tablespoon of lemon juice onto the drained tuna. NOTE: Lemon juice is an IC trigger! But you can still use it in small amounts. What I usually do is put out extra lemon slices for those on unrestricted diets eating the pasta but limit the actual amount of lemon juice in the dish itself, that way it's safe for Pom.

When the pasta is done, drain it, put it in a bowl (or back into the pot if you're lazy like me) and drizzle it with oilve oil. I use about 2-3 tablespoons. Toss the pasta with the oilve oil and then add the olives and the tuna with the lemon juice. While mixing break up the tuna into small pieces. At this point you can add salt and pepper to taste. While I do add pepper to the dish I make sure to add just a little as too much is an IC trigger.

Serve as is or on a bed of lettuce. Let others add more Black pepper or lemon juice if they wish. This dish is best at room temperature!

Enjoy!
-Rabbit

Rabbit's Chirashizushi

Chirashizushi! We sometimes call this scattered sushi or lazy sushi, and mostly make it for special dinners. I'm deeming today as a special day because we had just visited the asian market and got special ingredients. Today is a long recipe. I promise it's not that complicated, and only takes about 30-40 minutes to cook. Traditionally this dish has different kinds of fish on it, especially shrimp and salmon roe, however this is the way I make it!

The star of today's dish is the shimeji mushrooms! But if you can't find them or not a fan of them you can exchange it for smoked salmon. Hot smoked salmon is the best if you can find it, but lox will work too! Make sure to try this dish both ways as they are both very delicious.

I use a rice cooker and a hangiri (the sushi tub seen in the picture above) but you can cook rice however you like and use a large mixing bowl and serve it in a shallow bowl, platter or casserole dish. If you are gluten free or just eat a lot of rice I DO recommend buying a rice cooker, you can get them for as cheap as $20 and they more than pay for themselves.

INGREDIENTS  serves 4-5 people
3 rice cooker cups of uncooked Japanese rice (480ml /  2¼cups)

1 large american cucumber (or 3/4ths english cucumber)
1 package of shimeji mushrooms
1 large bamboo shoot (optional)
1/2 package of lotus root slices (also optional)

3 eggs
1/2 tsp sea salt plus more for cooking
1 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp water
1/3th cup sushi vinegar (you can either buy already made or find a recipe online)
2 tsp toasted sesame seed oil, divided
2 tsp neutral cooking oil (we use grapeseed), divided

sesame seeds
3+ nori sheets
beni shouga (red pickled ginger)

Note: I love beni shouga, it's a great condiment and doesn't have any artificial sweeteners, which gari (the pickled ginger you eat with sushi) does often contain. If you can't find it, try using some sliced gari, but just make sure to check the ingredients before purchasing. Also make note if you have IC make sure not to eat too much ginger as it can upset your bladder if you over-do it.  A little bit seems to work out fine for Pom though!


You want to start cooking the rice first. Even if it finishes before you're done preparing the other ingredients you can just let it sit in the turned off rice cooker. Because this is sushi rice make sure to rinse the rice really well. I wash it at least 4-5 times. You wash rice by putting it in a bowl or the rice cooker insert, fill it with water, swirl with your hand, strain off the cloudy water and repeat until the water is no longer cloudy. If you have a Hangiri now is the time to start letting it soak.

First you slice your cucumber. I am using an american cucumber so I mostly peel it, when using an english, japanese or persian cucumber I tend to leave a little more of the peel on. We always peel at least part of the outside though, because too much can irritate Pom's guts.

 

Scoop out the seeds (if using an english cucumber you can leave the seeds in) and slice into thin half moons. Sprinkle salt onto the cucumbers, mix, and then toss them into a sandwich bag. Make sure to get all the air out and then let them chill in the fridge.

Next, sauté the shimeji mushrooms in 1 tsp of toasted sesame oil. Sauté on low as to not scorch the oil. I like to separate the mushrooms completely so there's more to spread throughout the dish. Always sprinkle a little salt on food you sauté, it helps bring out moisture and seasons the dish. When lightly browned, put in a bowl and set aside

Now to make the kinshi tamago (shredded egg). Add 1 tbsp of sugar, 1/2 tsp salt and 2 tbsp of water to a small bowl. Mix to dissolve a little and then mix in 3 eggs. Sugar and eggs is very commonly used in Japanese cooking, if this is your first time adding sugar to your eggs and you are unsure if you'll like it, try cutting the sugar down to 1/2 tbsp.

Put about 1 tsp of cooking oil into the pan on low heat and then wipe with a folded up paper towel to evenly spread the oil in the nonstick pan. Keep the paper towl because you will use this to wipe in between egg sheets. Pour about 1/3 of the egg mixture into the pan and swirl around until you have a thin sheet of egg. Don't walk away from the egg because it cooks very quickly

 

When the top of the egg looks almost dry flip it over, cook for 10-15 seconds and then put aside. Wipe the pan with the oiled paper towel and then repeat 2 more times. My 3rd egg sheet turned out a little wonky, don't worry about it because we shred them later.

Cook the lotus root next. Strain and rise the sliced lotus root, dry with paper towel and then cook in the frying pan with the 1tsp of sesame and 1 tsp of cooking oil. Spread the lotus root out in a single layer with no overlapping. Sprinkle with salt and cook on medium heat. These guys take a while to turn golden brown so go ahead and prep the other ingredients while they cook.  After about 5 minutes check them and flip them over with a spatula or chopsticks to let them brown up on the other side. 

 

While the lotus root is cooking I shred the egg sheets. Do this by cutting them in half, placing all 6 halves on top of each other and then cut into thin strips. Next I julienne the bamboo shoot and prepare the nori. You can either break the nori into fourths to make temaki (hand sushi) size sheets or shred it with scissors to sprinkle on top. Pom and Deer like putting the chirashizushi into nori and eating them like temaki sushi. 

Now is also the time to get the cucumber out of the fridge. Place the cucumber slices into a strainer and squeeze out the excess moisture. You can rinse the excess salt out of them first, but since I only used a little I didn't rinse them. By now the rice should be done!

 

Place the whole pot of rice in your mixing bowl, add the julienned bamboo shoots (if using) and then sprinkle on the 1/3th cup of sushi vinegar. Mix the sushi vinegar into the rice by make cutting motions with your rice paddle. Becareful not to crush or mash the rice. In between every couple of mixes, fan the rice to cool it down. Continue mixing and fanning the rice until the vinegar is absorbed and the rice is glossy.

Now it's time to put on the toppings! I like to put them on in rings. Cucumber on the outside, eggs in the middle and mushrooms in the center. However you can just sprinkle the ingredients all over too.  Put the fried lotus root around the edge and then sprinkle on the beni shouga and sesame seeds!

I love to eat this family style. Just give everyone little bowls or plates and dig in. Eating multiple servings is recommended >:)

Thank you for reading! <3

-Rabbit

Vegan Cheeses: Part 1

Hi Everyone!
I thought I'd start off this blog with something I plan to do regularly, product review.  The goal of these reviews is to inform people of options that may be available to them, what our family thought about them, and what uses they are good for!

First one to start is a staple we keep in the house, vegan cheese.

Most people are probably familiar with Daiya. If you're not, and you are thinking of going dairy free for whatever reason, they are one of the best vegan cheeses out there.

Daiya has a lot of different options now, they first started with just shredded cheddar and mozzarella. Now they have blocks of cheese, sliced cheese and cream cheeses. They even have frozen cheesecakes, pizzas and mac and cheese.

In our house we mostly use the cheddar cheese, either as slices for grilled cheese sandwiches or shredded in breakfast quesadillas. Daiya is the only vegan cheese I've encountered that truly melts.

My recommendation with Daiya cheese (and most vegan cheeses, lets be real), is to use it gingerly. Daiya has a very strong flavor and gooey consistency when heated and it can be overpowering when using it the same way you use dairy cheese.

Daiya's cream cheese, just like the cheddar, has a very strong flavor. I personally don't like using it on toast or bagels because of it. Pom and Deer both enjoy it well enough, so it's possible you might like it too. What I love using Daiya cream cheese for is BAKING! It makes amazing cream cheese frosting! If you're going to make carrot cake cupcakes you gotta get some of this stuff, it's a must.

Last but not least is Trader Joes brand vegan cream cheese. This cream cheese is fantastic. It has a mellow flavor and soft constancy. One downside is that you want to let your toast or bagel to cool down a little before spreading this cheese on because it does melt very easily. Otherwise this cream cheese is perfect for bagels and cucumber or cress sandwiches.

Pesto Grilled Cheese, it's especially good if you get 

the provolone style daiya slices.

Allergen warning: There is coconut in both of the cream cheese alternatives. If you are sensitive to coconut I would reccomend making your own cream cheese with firm tofu or using homemade fodmap friendly hummus on your bagels.

Thanks for reading <3
-Rabbit