pecans – Page 2 – Backdoor Hospitality

I lived in a house in college where I lived with 9 of my best friends. Well, no, they weren’t my best friends, but I did live in a house full of girls (10 of us total) for two years. The second year I lived there, one of my housemates had a gluten & lactose sensitivity. I remember thinking, “well that’s not fair that she can’t enjoy baked goods!” (at that time gluten-free products were not nearly as common as they are now). Part of my make up is creating food that people like, enjoy & can eat without irritability.

I have since become acquainted with words, xanthan gum, teff, quinoa, buckwheat, millet & so many more sources for gluten-free living. I find that this is a way I can contribute a portion of my hospitality to my non-gluten loving friends. They need some baked yummies–dontcha think! Well, tonight I made these cookies from my new cookbook The Whole Life Nutrition Cookbook. I wanted a something sweet like chocolate chip cookies, but I didn’t have any eggs and I didn’t want to have cookies leftover in my house. So, I had the ingredients to make them, I could eat a couple and give the rest to my friends Laura (gluten, egg & lactose intolerant) & Tina (gluten intolerant).

Vegan Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies (printable recipe)

These are gluten-free, egg-free and if you use coconut oil than they’re also lactose free. And as for a non-allergic individual, I find them to be pretty darn good. Note: I wouldn’t call these chewy, but still good.

Makes about 1 1/2 dozen cookies

1 cup medjool dates, pitted

1 cup boiling water

1/2 cup melted virgin coconut oil or organic butter

1/4 cup whole cane sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla

2 cups brown rice flour

1/2 cup tapioca flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon xantham gum (I used 1 teaspoon agar agar)

1/4 teaspoon sea salt

1/2 cup (or more–I used 1 cup) organic chocolate chips

I also added 1/2 cup chopped, toasted pecans

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Place pitted medjool dates into a small bowl, cover with boiling water. Let sit for about 15 minutes. Then place soaked dates and water into a blender and puree.

3. Scoop out date puree with a rubber spatula and place into a bowl. Add melted coconut oil, whole cane sugar, and vanilla; whisk together.

4. In a separate bowl, mix together the brown rice flour, tapioca flour, baking powder, baking soda, xanthan gum, and sea salt. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix together with a fork or wooden spoon. Fold in chocolate chips.

5. Drop by the spoonful onto a greased cookie sheet. Gently flatten each cookie with the back of a spoon. You don’t want to flatten them too much, only slightly.

6. Bake for 10 to 14 minutes. Baking time will depend on what size the cookies are. Larger cookies need a little extra time and smaller cookies a little less. Let cool slightly then enjoy! Store in an airtight container for up to 5 days.

I made this very yummy salad from this wonderful blog. Now if you were to tell me that I would like kale years ago I would think you were crazy. I remember tasting it many moons ago thinking, “This is rabbit food, except worst!” Well, I have changed my mind since and I plead with you to do the same if you are one who thinks eating rabbit food sounds pretty crummy.

I was originally going to serve this along side roasted chicken, but thought to myself, “there’s carbs and protein in it–why do I need to defrost chicken? Plus, it’s a wonderful sunny day and eating this salad just makes me feel healthy (we won’t talk about the two chocolate ganache cupcakes I ate though–will we).”

Plus, I’m always trying to find ways to incorporate the grain world with the vegetable world outside of a pasta salad. So if you’re simply wanting to make dinner, or make a side dish for guests coming over, or going to a celebration–this is a great summer salad (or not summer) to make.

**Plus the great thing about kale is it doesn’t wilt if you put dressing on it and store it in the fridge to eat the next day.

Birthday Barley Salad Recipe from www.inpraiseofleftovers.com

Salad Ingredients:
2 cups barley
1 head curly kale, washed, ribbed, and finely chopped
1 c. roasted pecans
1/2 c. dried cherries, roughly chopped
1/2 c. crumbled Danish blue cheese (or other firm blue cheese)
zest from one lemon

Dressing:
1 minced garlic clove
salt and pepper to taste (don’t be shy with your salt!)
1/2 ts. smoked paprika
4 Tb. apple cider vinegar
2 Tb. honey
1/2 c. extra virgin olive oil
1/2 red onion, cut into thin rings

For dressing: Mix the first five ingredients in a large measuring cup. Whisk in olive oil until emulsified. Season to taste. Drop in onions and let them marinate for at least 20 minutes.

For salad: Cook barley in lots of boiling water for about 45 minutes. There needs to be plenty of water so it won’t stick together–you want the grains to be separate. After it’s done (grains will be soft, but still a little chewy), drain it and run cold water over it. You can do this one day ahead if you want.

Toss barley with kale and most of the pecans, blue cheese, dried cherries, and dressing. I use my hands to do this. Scatter some of the remaining ingredients, the lemon zest, and a few marinated onions from the dressing over the top. I always like my audience to know exactly what’s in the salad just by looking at it. Grind a bit more pepper if you like.

Barley-Kale Salad