Creative paleo and gluten-free recipes
This cantaloupe, corn, and zucchini salad with lemony pesto is a perfect no-cook recipe for hot summer nights. It’s vegan, gluten free, and dairy free.
What’s fresh, fast, raw, and super delicious?
Cantaloupe, corn, and zucchini salad with lemony pesto, that’s what!
This cherry pico de gallo is an easy, sweet twist on your favorite fresh salsa. It’s great with chips or on top of grilled meats!
Cherry season! It’s my favorite time of the year. This is your moment to make this simple cherry pico de gallo, which goes well with pretty much everything and will disappear faster than anything else at your Fourth of July cookout.
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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.
These vanilla bean cheesecakes with figs and raspberries require no grains, dairy, eggs, or cooking! They’re the ideal cold sweet treat for the end of summer. Thank you to Rodelle for providing products for this recipe!
I’m back, and I brought mini cheesecakes! Vanilla bean mini cheesecakes made with cashews and topped with fresh figs and raspberries, that is. And you don’t even need to cook or bake anything! These little cheesecakes are so satisfying on a summer evening. The no-bake crust is just sweet enough, with a hint of chocolate and an almondy crunch, and the cheesecake layer is super-smooth and studded with vanilla bean seeds. On top are fresh raspberries and figs sitting like frosted jewels. The combination is so addictive that I know these will vanish from your freezer just as fast as they did from mine!
Here’s how these vanilla bean cheesecakes come together. First, you need to soak your cashews in hot water for an hour and soak the pitted dates in hot water for at least fifteen minutes. (Want to soak all your stuff the same amount of time? A little extra won’t hurt the dates!) Then, you’re going to pulse dates, almonds, and a little bit of cocoa in the food processor to make the crust. The chocolate isn’t a dominant flavor, but gives the crust a little extra something. I don’t like it when my desserts taste too much like dates, and the cocoa also helps mask that flavor a bit. You grease a muffin tin, line the cups with a little parchment paper handle like in the photo below, and pat a dollop of crust right into each cup.
This show-stopping ice cream loaf is easy to put together with fresh strawberries, blueberries, and cherries and store-bought ice cream.
Happy Fourth of July! I realize I’m getting this dessert idea out to you at the very last possible minute, but this is so easy and elegant that I just had to share. Plus, it doesn’t have to be patriotic. You can swap in whatever fruits and whatever flavors your prefer and enjoy this ice cream loaf technique all summer long.
Here I used vanilla bean and lemon ice creams. The lemon ice cream is super refreshing, and plays really well with the fresh summer fruit. The blueberries, strawberries, and cherries were so beautiful that I couldn’t bring myself to cook them as I had originally planned, but using raw fruit makes this ice cream cake taste fresh and almost light, plus it cuts down on the prep time.
Happy fourth of July weekend! I made you a healthy dessert packed with superfoods: chia seeds, cacao nibs, honey, and cashews. Well, I am not totally sure that honey and cashews are superfoods, but they’re not bad, right? I think this pudding would be a welcome change on a weekend when desserts are often pumped full of artificial colors and flavors. (Although, if you do need something naturally red, white, and blue, may I suggest my pico de gallo de frutas? Just use blueberries instead of kiwis.)
Since this pudding is a make-ahead dessert, it’s perfect for having guests over. While you’re out grilling lamb burgers and mixing drinks (agua fresca, perhaps?) these perfectly-sized treats will just be gelling in the fridge.
books by Arnold Lobel. In one of the stories, around this time of year, Frog’s father tells him that spring is just around the corner. Taking his father’s statement literally, Frog goes peeking around all sorts of actual corners in search of spring, to no avail. Finally, he pokes his head around the corner of his own house to find his parents planting their garden, birds chirping, and the sun peering out from behind the clouds. In February and March, I feel like Frog in that story. Spring may be just around the corner, but it’s really hard to see.
Here’s how to make your own almond milk at home. It’s paleo, vegan, and easy to make–and the results are way more delicious than store-bought versions!
Do you drink coffee? How do you take yours? Have you ever had to switch the way you make your morning coffee?
One of the hardest parts about the whole30 for me has been adjusting what I put in my coffee. I used to put lots of 2% milk and a little agave or stevia, plus sometimes a few drops of vanilla. It wasn’t that hard eliminating the sweetener, because I love the simple synergy of milk and coffee. Since I also love coconut milk, I thought that might be a great choice for my morning cup. But coconut milk is terrible in coffee. It’s too thick. Even light coconut milk in a carton is too thick (and has icky things like carageenan added to it). Coffee shouldn’t be viscous, so coconut milk is out.
The next thing I tried was almond milk. It’s hard to find unsweetened almond milk without too many additives, but the Whole Foods brand wasn’t too bad. And when I put that almond milk in my coffee, it was fine. I had to put a lot more almond milk than regular milk, because you can pour in a lot of almond milk before your coffee stops looking (and tasting) totally black. Anyway, coffee with store-bought almond milk is okay, but I figured I could do better.
This homemade almond milk is easy, and you can add a little whole30-friendly sweetness by putting in a few dried apricots (or dates). The ingredients list is short and wholesome, and the result is much more delicious than what you find at the store. Creamy and subtly sweet, this homemade almond milk is by far the best nondairy milk I’ve found to go with my morning coffee. Of course, it’s also great on its own or blended into smoothies.
This recipe makes lightly sweetened vanilla almond milk; just omit the vanilla and dried fruit if you would like to make plain almond milk.
Ingredients (makes about 2 and 1/2 cups; adapted from Choosing Raw):
1 cup raw almonds
Water for soaking
3 cups water
Pinch of salt
2-4 dried apricots or dates, pitted and soaked in hot water (optional)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (optional, omit for Whole30)
Equipment:
Cheesecloth or a nut milk bag
Soak the almonds in water to cover for at least two hours, or up to eight. Drain and rinse the almonds and discard the soaking water. Place the almonds, 3 cups of water, salt, apricots or dates, and vanilla in a blender. Blend on high speed for a minute or so until smooth.
Line a sieve with cheesecloth and place over a large bowl, or place a nut milk bag over a large jar, securing it with a rubber band. Pour the almond milk into the sieve or nut milk bag. Allow it to drain for up to an hour (or if you are impatient like me, squeeze the cheesecloth or bag to remove as much liquid as possible). Discard pulp, or save to use in smoothies. Store almond milk in the refrigerator for 2-3 days, and shake before using.
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