Summer Fruits

I love the fresh produce this time of year. Last weekend we went blueberry picking, which is one of my favorite summer time activities, and then afterwards we called in at the Farmers Market. In addition to the six pounds of blueberries we picked, we also came home with a CSA box from Delvin Farms and four pounds of peaches.

  

At the moment there's both a baked oatmeal and a blueberry pie in the refrigerator, but I doubt they'll last long. Now I need to figure out something to do with these peaches. I've already made raw peach cobbler once, so I'd like to expand my horizons a bit more. I welcome any suggestions, as long as they're gluten-free or can be easily made without any ingredients containing gluten.

In the CSA box were some jalapeno peppers, which was lucky because I was wanting to try this recipe for Crispy Jalapeno-Lime Chicken. I only had boneless, skinless chicken breasts on hand, so I used those instead of chicken thighs, but it was still yummy. This dish is a bit spicy, but the lime juice does a great job of taking the edge off. I also made soup with all the yellow squash, and we ate the last of the corn for dinner last night. We still have a plenty of tomatoes left, as I'm really the only one in the house who eats them, and there were a lot in there, as well as a few cucumbers, a zucchini, and some bell peppers. I gave away the two cantaloupes because I'm not really a fan of them. I love honeydew and watermelon, but not cantaloupes for some reason.

Unfortunately, I don't have photos of any of this so you'll just have to take my word for it. But I do have some exciting news to share! I hope you haven't forgotten about Gluten Free Week over at The Sugar Turntable, because today my Banana Ganache Tart with Peanut Butter Cookie Crust is featured as a guest post. Even though you may have already seen that recipe, it's still a good excuse to check out what else has already posted this week. I quite like the look of the Coconut Cake with Key Lime Frosting from yesterday. It's already on my "must try" list.

My Five for 2010

Here's a list of my top 5 favorite recipes I've posted this year. I really wanted to do a top 10 of 2010, but I didn't feel that was being selective enough since I lagged most of the year and only shared 23 recipes. These are favorites because they're gluten-free, delicious, and easy to make or worth the effort. If they're somewhat healthier that also counts to their advantage.

Narrowing it down to 10 was no problem, and picking out my top 4 was easy enough, but I really struggled with number 5. I couldn't decide between Chocolate Torte Dressed in Berries, Gluten-Free Peanut Butter Cookies, or Gluten-Free Shortbread. I finally settled on the peanut butter cookies, since they're so easy to make and can be considered somewhat healthy. Also, the dough can double as a pie crust.

I really liked the Mini Lemon Tarts I made last week, even if nobody else did. They are a bit time consuming to make if you use a mini muffin pan, but that just means they're more of a special occasion type treat as opposed to a snack to keep on hand. I think they'll get better as I make them more and figure out why my filling didn't set up. I'm putting them in at number 4 since I thought they were yummy, and I see potential for playing around with different fillings.

Number 3 would have to be the Chocolate Raspberry Truffle Tarts. Again, these require a bit of time and effort, but they are so delicious.

The blueberry pie I made (several times) is my second favorite. I love the almond crust, and just thinking about the filling is making my mouth water. I'm looking forward to next summer now.

My top favorite recipe for 2010 is the Fresh Peach Cobbler. By far. This was a recipe I just kept making while there was an endless supply of Farmers Market peaches.

My top 5 favorite recipes for this year:

1. Fresh Peach Cobbler

 

2. Blueberry Pie

 

3. Chocolate Raspberry Truffle Tarts

4. Mini Lemon Tarts 

5. Gluten-Free Peanut Butter Cookies

Baked Oatmeal Redux

Sometime last year, I posted a recipe for vegan baked oatmeal. This is easily one of my favorite things to have on hand because it's so versatile and can be enjoyed year-round. I make it in the summer when we have freshly picked blueberries, but it works equally well with frozen.

The only trouble is that the original recipe was rather long and involved--not that I wasn't well rewarded for my efforts, but it's nice to have some quick and easy recipes for things I find myself making on a regular basis. Well! Recently I saw a revamped version of the baked oatmeal recipe that's also vegan, dairy-free, and can be made gluten free, only this recipe is much easier and replaces the sugar with maple syrup. Also, the original recipe calls for 1/2 cup of peaches and 1/2 cup blueberries, but I use a cup of blueberries because I typically have other plans for my peaches. This version is a bit sweeter than the original recipe, so you may want to scale back the amount of maple syrup.

Baked Oatmeal Redux:

3 cups quick-cooking oats
3 tablespoons finely ground almonds
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup maple syrup
1 2/3 cup almond milk
1 cup blueberries (I used frozen this time because that's what I had)

Before you do anything, preheat the oven to 350 degrees, spray a 9-inch square baking dish with nonstick spray, and assemble the ingredients. Mise en place, s'il vous plait.

In a large bowl, combine oats, ground almonds, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, and salt. I also added some freshly grated nutmeg. I love freshly grated nutmeg.

In a separate bowl mix the almond milk and maple syrup together, then add to dry ingredients.

Stir until just combined, and then fold in the blueberries.

Pour it all into the baking dish--don't worry if it looks a bit soupy.

Bake at 350 for around 40 minutes or so, and this is what you get. 

A yummy snack.

Warm with almond milk.

Along with the cooler weather comes my desire for comfort foods, and this one tops my list of favorites. I like to eat it warm with some almond milk for breakfast, I can have it cold as quick snack, and it makes a yummy dessert when topped with vanilla coconut milk ice cream.

Blueberry Picking Time

Probably one of my favorite things to do in summer is to get fresh local berries. This morning we went to the pick-your-own blueberry farm and brought home just over 6 pounds of yummy summer goodness. Want to see our bounty?

Actually, that's only about half of our haul. I had to use two colanders to wash them all. So then I just needed to decide what to do with all those berries, while enjoying some as a snack, of course. I really wanted to try a gluten-free almond pie crust recipe I stumbled across several months ago, and the blueberry farm gave me a recipe for "Double Good Blueberry Pie" so I used that recipe for the filling.

All nut crumb crust (from my Whole Foods Recipe iPhone app):

2 1/4 cups finely ground blanched almonds

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/3 cup melted butter

2 TBSP pure maple syrup

All you do is mix everything together well and then press into a 9-inch pie plate. 

This pie required a pre-baked shell, so I baked it at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes. I don't know exactly how long because I forgot to set the oven timer when I first put the pie in, but it was more than 15 and less than 20. Once the shell is cool, then add the pie filling.

For the filling:

1/2 cup sugar (the recipe called for 3/4 cup, but these berries are plump and sweet)

3 TBSP cornstarch

1/8 tsp salt

4 cups blueberries (1 1/2 pounds), divided

1/4 cup water

1 TBSP butter

1 TBSP lemon juice

Combine sugar, cornstarch, and salt in saucepan. Add water and 2 cups of the blueberries. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until the mixture comes to a boil and thickens. Remove from heat and stir in lemon juice and butter. Set aside to cool.

To assemble pie, Place remaining 2 cups of berries in cooled pie shell. 

Top with cooled cooked berries. Chill. Eat and rejoice!

Oh, and I also made some gluten-free blueberry mini muffins, but I'm not at all happy with how those came out. That recipe is going to need a bit more work, or perhaps I should just look for a better one.

Don't worry, I have plans for raw, or at least slightly more healthy, blueberry treats to share!

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