Mango Salsa

I don't have any pictures of this one, but it's worth it.

It is also quite a bit of work, but it's worth it.

2 mangoes
1/4 cup fresh cilantro
1/4 cup fresh mint
fresh ginger to taste
1/4 cup white onion
1 lime

Peel and dice mangoes (this takes a while). Place in a large mixing bowl.

Roughly chop cilantro, mint and white onion, then add to mangoes. Juice lime and pour over mixture, stir.

Peel and grate ginger. Start with a nice sized chunk of the root, stir into salsa, then add small amounts until desired zing has been reached.

Let sit, covered, in the fridge. Overnight is best.

Some notes about the ginger- This recipe makes quite a lot of salsa, so you can be generous with the ginger. It is also a different kind of spicy than many people are used to. Also, consider the recipe amounts more like guidelines- a little bit more or less isn't going to hurt a thing. Enjoy.

Vegan and Gluten-Free Banana nut Muffins

Banana nut muffins hold up really well as vegan and gluten free because the bananas already help replace the eggs. Here's my version.

• 3 or 4 ripe bananas (as usual, the riper the better)
• 1/2 cup applesauce
• 3/4 cup sugar (sometimes I use brown sugar, and you can always use a bit less)
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla
• 1 tablespoon espresso (optional)
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• pinch of salt
• 200g (or about 1 1/2 cups) of gluten free flour
• 1 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees (F). Mash the bananas and applesauce together first. Then mix in sugar, espresso (if you are using it), and vanilla. Sprinkle baking soda and salt over mixture and incorporate.

Add flour, mix. Fold in walnuts. 

I find that if you sprinkle a small amount of sugar and cinnamon on the tops of the muffins before baking, the muffin tops are delicious and crunchy and amazing.

Pour mixture into prepared muffin tins. As you can see, I prefer Halloween themed tin liners. 

Bake for 25-30 minutes. 

Enjoy!

Why rice cookers are the greatest invention ever.

My parents have each given me a gift that I could not (relatively speaking) live without. When I left home for college, my father gave me a jump start kit that I've never yet had to use. I totally drive around on a 3/4 dead batter because heck, why not?

My mother gave me a stainless steel rice cooker when I left for college, and it has seen much more use. It comes in super handy for this dish I make all of the time (I plan to make it tonight).

Eating with allergies is difficult, and eating fried things with allergies is even harder. I love this meal because the tofu is a bit crunchy, but it still feels healthy to eat it- there are vegetables, right?

You'll need:

• 1 package of cubed firm or extra firm tofu, with a drained weight of about 8 oz. (I like the Nasoya brand- it's organic and not GMO)
• 4 tablespoons of rice or gluten free flour mix
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• olive oil for pan
• approx. 2 cups rice
• a vegetable. I like using asparagus or broccoli or green beans
• soy salt (I use gluten free tamari, but all of San-J's sauces are great)
• optional but awesome: Sesame seeds

Keep in mind that I've never once measured out spices when I make this.

First I put the rice on. I usually make about 1 1/2 cups of white rice for two people, or about 2 cups of brown. They expand differently. However much you want to make, in my rice cooker you can just double the water, push the button, and you're good to go. If you don't have a rice cooker, I'm sorry. There are other ways to make rice, I just don't bother with them.

Prep your veggies, and set aside. When the rice starts steaming I put them in the steaming tray and add to the cooker then. If you are using one of those steam-able bags, you'll want to wait until later.

Cut into the plastic top of the tofu container, and drain into the sink. When the water is gone, dump into your shaker vessel. You can either use a gallon zip lock bag, or lately I've been doing this in a largish leftovers container. Add gluten free flour, ginger, paprika and sesame seeds if you have them. Feel free to ad-lib here, if you like it spicy go crazy. Do a little dance and shake it!

I usually put enough olive oil in my big pan to cover the bottom, but not much more (trust me on this, use olive oil. Vegetable oil doesn't taste the same). Turn it up to about medium. Add the prepped tofu to hot oil, and cook until tofu crust is light brown and a little crusty.

If you timed it right, the rice and vegetable will be done pretty quickly after the tofu- if not, just turn the tofu down super low. It can take it.

Layer rice, vegetables, tofu and sauce on a plate. Consume.

Food

I had a beautiful breakfast this morning (a relative term, I assure you). Green seedless grades still wet from a cold rinse, a firm plum cut in quarters with the stone removed, half an orange leftover from a marinade I made last night, a white peach dripping with flavor, and a handful of raspberries and black berries.

Free entirely of dairy, egg and gluten, just like everything else I will eat from now on. Today's breakfast was wonderful, but I'll admit I'm having trouble seeing equal beauty in all of my allergy free options.

I have known that I shouldn't eat dairy for all of my life, I am no stranger to dairy substitutes, milk with no animal fat that refuses to foam, cheese that won't melt. Sometimes I was good, and I went long enough without the real thing that even these substitutes were good enough.

Sometimes I was bad. Sometimes, I made pumpkin pie with real, sweetened condensed milk. I made cheesecake with a graham cracker crumb crust, held together by good old butter. Lots of butter. I relished the sweet creamy goodness of ice cream, of those pastry puffs. The world was full of delicious dairy and I loved it. My body didn't, and I've always known that.

Recently, in a quest to quell the headaches that keep me diffused and uncomfortable the majority of my conscious hours, I started seeing a naturopath. He suggested a blood allergy test. A few weeks later, and just a few days ago, I got the results. I am so severely reactive to dairy (surprise surprise) and eggs (that one was actually a surprise) that I can't eat them at all. I was only slightly less reactive to gluten. Do you know what is in almost everything? Dairy, egg or gluten. Often two or all three of the above. The doc dangled a wispy hope before me, perhaps, in time, I can reintroduce them, I can eat a small amount again.

I can't think that way. I can't live that way; Living on the precipice, just getting along until I am "allowed" to eat my favorite things again. For me to stick with this, for it to work, I have to make this a lifestyle change. I need to find the beauty and the flavor in the foods that my body can gain nourishment from. I need to enjoy these foods for what they are, not despise them because they are not cheesecake, pumpkin pie, or cream puffs. A peach will never be a cream puff.

Blogs like Gluten Free Girl and the Chef are inspiring- but at the same time, a little depressing. She can't have gluten, and has found a world of delicious flavor. The vast majority of her recipes include eggs or dairy. As they should, she can eat them. In the little research I've done, I've found that to be pretty true. Most things, if they are free of one of my allergens, include one of the others.

It is amazing how the resources for gluten free food abound- Triumph Dining sells stickers to label your food, restaurant and grocery guides, and even dining cards so you can communicate with servers despite language barriers about your gluten free needs. That's great, it's really awesome. Can I have one that talks about my diary and egg free needs too? Can I buy a book that talks about what restaurants and companies serve and sell food without dairy, egg or gluten? It would be nice, but I guess that would make it less of an adventure.

I'm really going to be okay, and like I keep telling myself, if this rids me of my headaches, it is more than worth it. I'll do it for the rest of my life, no questions asked. DONE. After a while of fruit and vegetables and meat, I will regain my spark of adventure. I'll try a batch of muffins with alternative flour, soy butter, and applesauce instead of eggs. I'll eat more salads, which really was never a strength of mine.

I'll buy cookbooks, and try things, and I think with time the appreciation of my body feeling better will make it easier to see how good this change is for me. Maybe I'll share some of my recipes here. I can't be the only one who isn't eating dairy, egg or gluten.

Incidentally, I wouldn't think there would be egg or gluten in imitation crab, would you? Yeah, we'd both be wrong. Days without dairy, egg or gluten: 0