ginger Archives - A Calculated Whisk

No-Bake Gingerbread Buche de Noel

December 19, 2016 By Becky 5 Comments

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This gluten-free, no-bake gingerbread buche de noel is an icebox cake yule log that’s beyond easy to make and tastes amazing. No one will guess you didn’t even turn on your oven!

A few years ago when I spent my first Christmas with Ben’s family in Chattanooga, we started a tradition of making a yule log cake. These cakes are the modern-day version of an actual yule log, a giant piece of wood that for centuries was placed on the hearth and burned for all of the 12 days of Christmas in many European households. Since we don’t have a hearth or even a fireplace and since I really like cake, I’m glad this tradition went the way it did.

Every year for the past three years we’ve made this Chocolate Peppermint Roll from Joy the Baker, but this year I laid eyes on her Chocolate Peppermint Icebox Yule Log Cake. My ears perked up, because “icebox cake” means no baking is involved. I like to make Christmas cakes with my three nieces and while they all love baking, it’s a lot of work to bake both the cake and the meringue mushrooms while making sure everyone gets a turn to do everything at each stage of the process. I wanted to roll with the icebox idea but change up the flavor profile, so I created this no-bake gingerbread buche de noel.

Strawberry Orange Ginger Fizz

March 28, 2016 By Becky 10 Comments

This strawberry orange ginger fizz is the perfect spring mocktail or cocktail. It’s sweetened with honey, so it’s paleo friendly and free of refined sugar.

I love a good pink drink, and this strawberry orange ginger fizz is the one I can’t stop sipping on at the moment. It’s a mix of wintry citrus and springy strawberries, so it’s the perfect way to toast the bridge between the seasons, and the ginger gives the drink just the right amount of bite.

I’ve gotten to the point where I find a cocktail boring if just tastes sweet and has no other flavors. The ginger cuts through the fruit and honey here to create a taste that’s not only sweet and delicious, but also intriguing. And of course, the bubbles help with that, too.

The syrup for this drink takes less than 15 minutes to make and keeps for a week or so in the fridge. So if you make the syrup ahead of time, all you need to do when you’re ready to serve is spend two minutes chopping an orange and some strawberries and one minute mixing the ginger fizz itself. It’s so easy, and so good! Why not invite a few friends over for an impromptu drink to celebrate spring?

Orange Peach Raspberry Smoothie

March 9, 2015 By Becky 4 Comments

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Orange Peach Raspberry Smoothie (Paleo, Vegan)

This orange peach raspberry smoothie is bright, easy, tasty, and full of antioxidants. Avocado and a bit of turmeric give this smoothie great depth of flavor.

When I’m sick, I crave smoothies. Just thinking about blending together a bunch of vitamin-packed produce makes me feel a tad better, and my outlook only improves once I’m actually drinking it. Smoothies, especially ones that look like sunshine in a glass, also help me momentarily forget about winter. For me, they’re are an important aspect of self-care.

I wanted this smoothie to have plenty of Vitamin C, so I used oranges, peaches, and raspberries. Also, like I almost always do, I added an avocado. It makes the smoothie really creamy, but you won’t taste it. The healthy fat from the avocado also makes this nice and filling.

To make the smoothie pack even more of a punch, I added some turmeric and fresh ginger. In addition to providing more potential health benefits, these rhizomes add depth of flavor, and the turmeric deepens the golden color.

The cara cara oranges I used also contributed to the hue of this drink. I bet using blood oranges would make the color pop even more!

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.

Choco-Ginger Truffles

June 27, 2014 By Becky 10 Comments

The chocolates pictured here are survivors of a kitchen disaster.

Truffles are easy and fun to make, and I find the process comforting. To make these ones, I peeled a chunk of ginger with a spoon (like this), grated it with a microplane, and dropped it into a saucepan with almond milk, vanilla, and a pinch of salt. Once the mixture had come to a robust simmer, I poured it over a bowl of chocolate chips. I whisked the mixture into shiny perfection: truffle batter.

So far, so good. I let the batter chill in the freezer, compartment of choice for impatient truffle-makers. When it was firm, I formed the truffles with a melon baller, a method I learned from watching Ina Garten. If you don’t have a melon baller, you can approximate one with a teaspoon measure; just make sure you dip the utensil in hot water in between truffles, and don’t be afraid to scoop forcefully.

After a quick roll in some cocoa powder, the truffles were almost ready. I ate one, consumed the equivalent of another by scraping the bowl with a spoon so that no gingery chocolate would go to waste, and stashed the tray with the twenty remaining truffles in the fridge to chill.

Vanilla Chai Spiced Ghee + Chai Ghee “Latte” (Whole30 Day 26)

January 27, 2014 By Becky 8 Comments

I am so obsessed with ghee. Ever since I followed Nom Nom Paleo’s instructions and made my first batch, it’s been a staple in my kitchen. First of all, it smells amazing. Second, it’s easy to make. Third, it has a high smoke point, which means it won’t burn like butter does during high-heat cooking. Fourth, it tastes great with everything. And bonus–it’s lactose and casein free.

I’ve even been putting a teaspoon or so of ghee and coconut oil in my morning coffee (inspired by Stupid Easy Paleo). After a short blitz with the immersion blender, it’s foamy like a latte. Delicious. Basically, ghee is saving my Whole30 life.

Orange Ginger Squash Soup

January 1, 2014 By Becky 6 Comments

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Orange Ginger Squash Soup (Paleo, Gluten free, Whole30)

This orange ginger squash soup is easy to make, super comforting, and Whole30-compliant. A sprinkling of pomegranate seeds on top makes it worthy of a festive occasion, too!

It’s Whole30 time! In addition to eating right all month, I’ve committed to posting everyday as part of Blogher’s January NaBloPoMo. The theme is pressure, which seems fitting–I’m putting a lot of pressure on myself to eat clean food and blog about it every single day for a month! I probably won’t be able to share 31 new recipes, but instead will sometimes blog about how I’m feeling and what resources I’m using. I’ll be sharing lots of simple recipes, which will hopefully inspire you to get in the kitchen and whip up something healthy even if you aren’t committing to a whole Whole30.

Orange Ginger Chicken Thighs & Yu Hsiang Eggplant

August 22, 2013 By Becky Leave a Comment

Chicken thighs are my new favorite dinner. They are easy to make, not very expensive, and very hard to overcook. Since I’m paranoid about undercooking chicken, I like a cut that can stand up to my tendency to cook things a little bit too long. Chicken thighs are also delicious, and the perfect size–not huge and dry like chicken breasts often are.