gluten free Archives - Page 19 of 30

Tahini-Glazed Chicken Wings

January 30, 2015 By Becky 12 Comments

This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Tahini-Glazed Chicken Wings (Gluten free, Paleo) | acalculatedwhisk.com

These twice-baked tahini-glazed chicken wings are my favorite paleo appetizer. They’re crispy and juicy, and the glaze has a perfect mix of sweet and savory flavors.

My only appreciation for winter comes from the fact that it’s pretty much a prerequisite for spring, at least in this part of the world. And, in my optimistic opinion, we’re on the road to spring beginning on December 22nd, when we start getting an additional minute or two of light each day. Spotting a vestige of light in the sky after 5 pm gives me hope.

Even when a blizzard comes through, dumping two feet of snow on my city and leaving my street virtually impassable for days afterward, I know that we are on the up and up, the unstoppable vector leading to spring.

In the meantime, let’s eat some chicken wings! Read More…

Cinnamon Hazelnut Date Cake

January 26, 2015 By Becky 30 Comments

The humble date is much more delicious and versatile than one might guess based on its appearance. Dates are appealingly sticky and sweet, and their complex flavor makes you think a few aromatic spices like cinnamon and allspice may already be inside the fruit.

For this month’s Secret Recipe Club, I had the pleasure of perusing Ros’ blog, The more than occasional baker. As someone who also tends to fire up the oven more than occasionally, I was excited to see all the fabulous baked goods on her site. From classics like chocolate peanut butter squares to innovative treats like parsnip cake, her blog has it all.

As soon as I spotted this cinnamon date cake, though, my mind was made up. A beautiful Bundt cake sweetened with dates and flavored with cinnamon sounded like just the thing for a snowy January weekend, and it was!

For this recipe, you pit a bunch of dates and soak them in very hot water. (The pitted dates look just like hearts, so I had to stop and take a few photos. Looks like I’m in a valentine’s mindset already!) The soaked dates and then blended into a paste in the food processor so they can permeate the batter with moisture and flavor.

Pesto Frittata

January 12, 2015 By Becky 10 Comments

I’m finished with the first week of my Whole30, and feeling pretty great. You can see almost every delicious thing I’ve eaten over on Instagram–I’ve been having so much fun trying out new recipes and revisiting old favorites. Doing a challenge like this really gets the creativity flowing!

So far I’m breezing through each day without craving any off-plan foods–I even survived a friend’s birthday party last night without any serious yearnings for the cake, cookies, booze, or tortilla chips that everyone else was enjoying. I sipped on seltzer with lime, snacked on mixed nuts, and felt pretty darn virtuous.

Top 14 Paleo Recipes of 2014

January 1, 2015 By Becky 10 Comments

Happy New Year! I hope you enjoy a 2015 full of love, happiness, and real food. I’m starting a Whole30 tomorrow and gearing up to share a lot of squeaky clean recipes this month, but for today, I’m sharing a roundup of my most popular paleo recipes from 2014. In case you’re already in Whole30 mode, I’ve marked the recipes that are compliant with the program.

Here’s to another year of cooking delicious and healthy food together!

Chewy Molasses Cookies

December 25, 2014 By Becky 5 Comments

Is it too late for a Christmas cookie?

If it is, I understand. I hope you’ll consider this as you’re choosing a Boxing Day, New Year’s Eve, or random January afternoon cookie. Chewy grain-free molasses cookies work anytime.

Normally I don’t love cookies unless there’s chocolate or caramel involved, but I’ve made an exception here. There’s something about the rich flavor of molasses in a chewy cookie with a hint of crunch from a coating of sparkling sugar that I can really get into.

Roasted Jerk Chicken with Carrots and Potatoes

December 4, 2014 By Becky 6 Comments

This paleo roasted jerk chicken with carrots and potatoes is just the thing to warm you up on a winter evening.

As winter settles in, I’m trying to remain focused on the few cold-weather activities I actually enjoy– namely, roasting things, making hot drinks, and baking cookies. (Don’t even try to get me excited about skiing, snowboarding, or sledding. I’ll just meet up with you in the lodge for some hot chocolate when you’re done freezing your nose and toes on the frigid slopes.)

There is one other winter activity I enjoy, though, and that is going on Caribbean vacations. I don’t have the money for a trip anywhere warm this year, but Ben and I had an amazing time in Jamaica year before last. Today we relived some of those good times by eating this paleo roasted jerk chicken with carrots and potatoes. It’s no trip to the islands, but it does taste really good.

Ginger Thyme Tea

November 30, 2014 By Becky 15 Comments

This caffeine-free ginger thyme tea is easy to make at home
and perfect for when you’re feeling under the weather.

I woke up Thanksgiving morning with the beginnings of a cold. Black Friday was even worse, with the irrepressible urge to nap setting in a mere three hours after I woke up. Yesterday, after getting over ten hours of sleep the night before, I spent the hours between six and eight pm dozing off on the couch with a purring cat on my stomach and a scarf wrapped around my head. I’ve gone through two pocket packs of tissues and finally had to cave and buy a full-size box.

Since I know a lot of people get sick around the holidays, I thought I’d share my favorite homemade remedy: a simple ginger thyme tea.

Grain-free Cranberry Orange Bread

November 21, 2014 By Becky 10 Comments

My family doesn’t have a well-defined set of Thanksgiving traditions. Growing up with divorced parents, I often divided my time between two Thanksgiving dinners, having the main meal at one house and dessert at another. Things always felt briefly desolate as I was shuttled between the two under the cover of early nightfall, but a slice of pie (or three) put an end to that pretty fast. And I wouldn’t have wanted to miss out on spending time with either of my families.

My mom and I usually had dinner at a friends’ house, and didn’t have to do much of the cooking. (I don’t think either of us has ever roasted a whole turkey, unless she did a bunch of turkey-roasting before I was born and neglected to tell me about it.)

Paleo Pumpkin Pancakes

November 17, 2014 By Becky 15 Comments

I’m a little late to the pumpkin party this year. I bought a couple of cartons of pumpkin puree over a month ago because I knew the pumpkin cravings would eventually hit, but wasn’t sure when.

I made it through all of October and the first half of November without making a batch of my paleo pumpkin spice ice cream, a pumpkin and pecorino soufflé, or a pumpkin caramel cheesecake pie. I didn’t just not make any of those things–I didn’t even want them. It was like I was over pumpkin.

Kratiem Prik Thai Short Ribs with Quick-Pickled Carrots

November 10, 2014 By Becky 8 Comments

Wintry weather has already made an appearance in Boston; we had our first snow, albeit a small one, last weekend. I hate being cold outside and abhor feeling cold indoors even more, but I also, like a true New Englander, am always reluctant to turn on the heat.

My best solution for cold days at home is to have something in the oven pretty much at all times. And since I can’t always be making and eating desserts, my favorite thing to do is braise meat or chicken. The cooking time is nice and long, so it will really warm up your house (or at least your kitchen). The bonus effect of this heating strategy is that you will also be really well fed.

Almond Butter Thumbprints with Salted Caramel

October 27, 2014 By Becky 44 Comments

My mom, my boyfriend, and I are really grateful to Karen of Karen’s Kitchen Stories for introducing us to these amazing cookies. I know it’s a bit hard to believe because this was a pretty big batch, but we ate them all between the three of us. I was not interested in sharing with anyone else because they were too good.

Even though they’re paleo cookies made with almond butter, they taste very similar to traditional peanut butter cookies, and the crumbly, buttery cookie and creamy salted caramel are an unbeatable team.

Maple Apple Spice Cake

October 20, 2014 By Becky 16 Comments

My boyfriend doesn’t like things made with apples, pumpkin, or squash, so fall is kind of a hard time for us. I’m all like, “It’s time to apple-pumpkin-squashify all the things!” and he’s all like, “Oh, it looks like there’s some bread over there for toast.” Literally, he had toast for lunch the other day. I could not even get him to try a bite of this butternut squash soup with fried garlic and chili oil.

I’ve been a paleo food blogger for long enough that I feel like a little bit of a failure when my boyfriend has toast for lunch.

Things are going a little bit better on the apple front, though, because Ben really liked this cake. Unless you’re the one to stir the grated apple into the batter, which would be a pretty major tipoff, you probably won’t know that there’s any apple in it. It does help make the batter extra moist, though, kind of like the zucchini in zucchini bread, and also adds a little more sweetness.