Do you know all those Marcona almonds you find in stores that are roasted with sunflower or canola oil? What a waste of Marcona almonds! I finally ordered one pound of blanched Marcona almonds and decided to make my own roasted Marcona almonds. The result, deliciously addictive.
You obviously need naked, blanched Marcona almonds, which are impossible to find in stores, at least where I am, in Dallas. So I finally ordered one pound from Nuts.com (this is not a sponsored post). The same day I had received my new order of my favorite organic, extra virgin olive oil, Kasandrinos (use code ‘creativeinmykitchen‘ for 10% off your entire order), and I had lots of fresh herbs at home, so it was the perfect moment to give this treat a try. For best result and nutritional value, use a good quality salt, like Redmond sea salt.
I will cut this story short, because it is an easy one, so here it is the recipe. I hope you love it. One word about eating and storing though: Let them cool complelty before you enjoy, they’ll get crunchy. Also, they are the crunchiest and most delicious when kept in the fridge, in an air tight glass container.
*This post contains affiliated links, which means I get a small commission if you choose to purchase something via one of my links, at no extra cost to you.
Roasted Marcona Almonds with Olive oil and Fresh Herbs
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By Claudia Curici–Serves: 4-6
Prep Time: 5 minutes–Cooking Time: 15 minutes
A healthy, delicious snack that you or your guests will love.
Ingredients
1 heaping cup blanched (naked) Marcona almonds
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
few sprigs of fresh herbs: rosemary, oregano, thyme
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
Instructions
1
Preheat the oven to 300F.
2
Transfer the almonds to a baking sheet (I use a stainless steel so no parchment paper).
3
Add the oils, herbs and salt and toss well until the almonds get coated with the oil, salt and rubbed with the fresh herbs.
4
Roast for 10 minutes. Take out and toss them well again and put back in the oven for another 5 minutes. Keep an eye on them in case your oven runs hotter.
5
Take them out, toss them some more and let them on the sheet pan to cool. At this point, the herbs should be dried out and easily breakable, and the almonds are still a little chewy, but they'll get crunchy when they cool down. At this point you can also add more salt if you want a saltier bite.
6
When they are cool transfer them to a serving bowl or an air thight container, making sure you get as much of the herbs (discarting the sticks) and store in the fridge.
Dear friends, I am so happy to share this simple but delicious lectin-free recipe with you. Crepes were my childhood favorite treat. My mom made (and still makes) the best crepes, and I missed them so much. Crepes are my “madeleines”.
My first “culinary” memory is me, around the age of nine, trying to surprise my mom with crepes. She was making the best crepes and I wanted to make them as good as hers. She came back from work while I was just finishing the batter, and she was so surprised, she said, referring to the batter I had shown her “It looks even better than mine!”. And I knew she meant it because my mom was not the type to sugar coat things. I still feel the pride and happiness I felt in the moment.
Look at that roll of goodness 🙂
I made those crepes – I even knew how to flip them witout a spatula, just throwing them in the air, all learned by watching my mom – and they were delicious. So when I discovered chestnut flour in my recent trip to Denmark and serched some ways to use it, I learned Italians use chestnut flour to make crepes, they call them “necci” or Tuscan chestnut crepes. While in Denmark, I also created this new recipe and shared it here, on the website: Chestnut Pie With Root Vegetables.
The thing is, chestnut flour is not as popular in the US, but I did find one place that sells it: Nuts.com. This post is not sponsored by or affiliated with them, but I am grateful for all the good stuff they sell and their adorable packaging. So, the first thing I wanted to try were the crepes. And since I am very familiar with making crepes, I just tried the “traditional” way we make them with wheat flour, even used one of my mom’s tricks: carbonated water for more fluffiness. And it worked and OMG they were the most delicious thing I had in a while!
I rolled them like my mom does, but I didn’t fill them inside. They are delicious as they are, but you can get creative with the way you serve them. I added a mix of pecan and coconut butter on top, as well as some warm wild blueberries and rose petals. You can add yacon syrup, honey, home made compliant jam, fresh fruits, coconut cream, whipping cream if you eat dairy, chocolate etc. You can even make them savory.
I served mine with pecan and coconut butter and warm wild blueberries
For oil I used pecan oil, but you can use any compliant oil that doesn’t have a strong flavor, such as avocado oil. For carbonated mineral water, I use St. Pellegrino, but any would work. As per the pan I cooked them in, I have an All-Clad non-stick crepes pan, is the only non stick pan I own and it’s only used for crepes. As long as you don’t use it often and stick to medium heat, you should be safe. I used coconut milk, but any milk would work. I think is better to use a milk that is not very thick. Usually the canned coconut milks have guar gum and get super thick, so I would rather use one that doesn’t have gum, they are much thinner. Hemp or almond would work too. That’s the one I used.
But let’s not make this longer than it needs to be, this is the recipe, please let me know if you make it and love it as much as I did.
*This post contains affiliated links, which means I get a small commission if you choose to purchase something via one of my links, at no extra cost to you.
Chestnut Crepes with Rose Water and Wild Blueberries
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By Claudia Curici–Serves: 6
Prep Time: 10 minutes–Cooking Time: 15 minutes
A classic recipe turned gluten and lectin free.
Ingredients
2 pastured eggs
1 cup coconut milk (or the milk of your choice)
1 cup chestnut flour
1 tablespoon rose water or more (you can skip or add less or more to your preference)
optional: lemon zest, vanilla (especially if you don't use rose water)
1 tablespoon pecan / avocado oil
2 tablespoons carbonated mineral water
pinch of salt
For filling or topping: warm wild blueberries, nut butter (pecan + coconut), rose petals, etc
Instructions
1
Beat the eggs, add the milk and beat well until foamy.
2
Add the chestnut flour bit by bit, through a sieve, as chestnut flour tends to get clumpy. Beat vigorously making sure there are no clumps. If you have clumps you can blend it in a blender.
3
Add the rose water or any flavorings you want, the pinch of salt and the water and mix well.
4
Warm a crepes pan on medium heat and start cooking the crepes by adding a little less than 1/4 cup batter to the pan, making sure the batter cover the entire pan as quickly as possible.
5
Cook about 2 minutes on each side (no need for additional oil as the one in the batter is enough). When the edges are cooked and the batter is no longer liquid on top, is time to turn it. I used a spatula to carefully peel the edges off and turn the crepe.
6
Repeat with each crepe, and when all are ready, roll them and add a filling if you wish, and serve. You might need to adjust the heat as the pan gets heated. I turn mine from medium to lower heat.
Notes
This quantity makes 6 crepes (3 servings if you have 2 per person). For toppings or filling I used a mix of pecan and coconut butter, warm wild blueberries (they were froze and I heated them in a pan). You can also use any seasonal fruits, coconut cream, whipping cream, chocolate, any nut butter, Yacon syrup, the sky is the limit.
I’ve been away from our Dallas home, traveling in Europe, for more than three weeks, and I’m still away while I’m writing this. One of the highlights of this trip were chestnuts. First freshly boiled chestnuts in Romania, then discovering chestnut flour in Denmark. So I’ve been making this lectin free pie with seasonal root vegetables and a mix of chestnut and tigernut flour and I loved it so much I couldn’t wait to share it.
This lectin free pie is a super simple, unpretentious treat to make, and one of my favorite parts about it, it does not need any sweetener. The carrots and parsnip are sweet enough, and both the chestnut and tigernut flour are naturally sweet.
You will see that the flour amount you add will depend on your consistency preference. For more of a pie texture, creamy and more dense, add less flour, for more of a cake consistency, more dry and fluffy, add more flour. The batter will be similar to a pancake batter, and will still be runny even if you add 350 grams of flour.
In Denmark, chestnut flour is pretty easy to find in supermarkets (the brand is Biogan.dk if you are in Denmark or Europe) but I found this Organic Chestnut Flour on Amazon for us in the USA. Where ever you are in the world, do a search online, I’m sure there will be options. Tigernut flour is much easier to find in the USA, there are several brands available online and in stores.
I made this pie in a ceramic pie dish, but you can use any baking dish you’d like. Just don’t forget to grease it – I did once – it will stick to the bottom. Also careful with the baking time, if you use less flour, a moist cake will take longer to bake, but if you use more flour, it might be ready quicker. Check it often after the 30 minutes mark. Also, ovens are so different and I feel ovens here in Europe run hotter, at least hotter than mine in Dallas, so consider that too. Usually a sign your pie / cake is done is the goldern brown color on top, the smell and the the cake should be hard / settled when you press with your finger on top.
I loved to eat mine with warm wild blueberries. I buy them frozen and just warm them before serving. If you have a sweeter tooth, add some yacon syrup or some honey on top, or mix a sweetener with the berries. Can also be served with a nut butter.
And speaking of nut butter, if you want to make this cake nut free (except for the chestnuts), you can replace the hazelnut butter with olive oil, avocado oil or softened coconut oil or butter. Or, if you don’t have hazelnut butter, any nut butter will work. Hazelnuts have a great taste though.
Enjoy!
*This post contains affiliated links, which means I get a small commission if you choose to purchase something via one of my links, at no extra cost to you.
A healthy and delicious lectin free and gluten free pie made with chestnut and tigernut flour.
Ingredients
1 tablespoon coconut oil
4 pastured eggs
pinch of sea salt
300 ml coconut cream OR full fat coconut milk
150 grams hazelnut butter (softened and well mixed)
2 inch vanilla pod, seeds scraped OR 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon baking powder
250 to 350 grams of chestnut + tigernut flour (mixed, equal parts)
2 medium carrots, grated
1 medium parsnip, grated
1 small apple, cut in small cubes
optional, 1 teaspoon cinnamon or other fall flavor spices
Instructions
1
Preheat oven to 350F.
2
Prepare a 9 inch pie dish by greasing it well with coconut oil (you can also use parchment paper on bottom for easier release).
3
In a big bowl, beat the eggs, vanilla and salt. Add the coconut cream and hazelnut butter and beat until all combined and creamy.
4
Start adding the flour mixed with the baking powder and continue to mix. If you add 250 grams, the consistency will be more that of a pie (more moist and dense), if you add more flour the consistency will be more that of a cake (more dry and fluffy). Both are delicious. The batter will be runny, like a pancake, or a little thicker, but still runny. Add the cubed apple and cinnamon if using and mix with a spatula.
5
Pour the batter into the prepared pie dish (you can use any baking dish though).
6
Bake for 35 - 40 minutes or until the top is golden brown, no longer soft to touch.
Notes
I love it best after one day in the fridge. You can also freeze it. Serve with warm wild blueberries, nut butter or yacon syrup.
It’s here my friends, a little earlier this year, but time goes so fast and it’s time to make a plan for our gift giving this season! Gift giving is very special to me, I love making thoughtful gifts as much as I love receiving them and I had so much fun compiling this Plant Paradox approved gift guide. My husband and I are very thoughtful when choosing gifts, and never buy things just for the sake of buying. We try to feed each other’s passions and give gifts that keep on giving.
I’m finally falling in love with my Instant Pot. I love it for the convenince when having to cook this type of meal. A steak cooks unattended until super soft while I prepare the rest of the ingredients. And since I’m not a planner, a fast cooking device suits me much better than a slow cooker. We rarely can decide what we are going to eat a few hours in advance. This taco bowl is delicious, healthy, lectin-free and with few modifications, low-histamine.
With the arrival of the cold season and shorter days, I felt the need for more warming and grounding meals. It’s still summer in Dallas, but I can smell fall in the air and I think my body is in tune with the change of seasons, regardless the temperatures in Dallas. This is a simple lectin-free and low histamine meal made in an Instant Pot, ready in one hour from start to finish, and we all know that the Instant Pot cooking time is time you can use to do something else.
Fall is here and so my desire to eat more grounding, earthy foods. And even though Dallas weather doesn’t show many signs of fall yet, days are shorter and more inviting to baking. And so my three lonely parsnips I had in the fridge and the small organic fuji apples I bought few days ago found their way to my heart through this super delicious and warming parsnip cake.
This article is a continuation of my first lectin-free lunch box feature (Part 1), which is linked below. I started this feature because I always get requests from parents for ideas of meals for their children. I also know that is hard to come up with new meals every day, and keep it healthy and nutritious at the same time. These lunch boxes are lectin-free because that happens to be the lifestyle I follow, but beyond the labeling they are just ideas of healthy food choices for your kids (and for you too).
When I’m out of ideas of what to cook, I ask my husband, and he usually has some random, but inspired requests. This time he said chicken drumsticks and cold potato salad. I had everything I needed so I was happy to comply. This was a great lectin-free dinner, healthy, and easy to make.
Preparing healthy lunches for your family all year round not only requires time and incredible dedication to keeping your family healthy, but it might put your creativity to the test. I remember my mom, who always cooked food at home, from scratch (and still does), asking us all the time: ‘What do you want me to cook? I’m out of ideas.’ Unfortunately we were not of much help, we knew she will come up with something good. That’s why I’m starting a regular feature where I’ll share with you healthy, lectin-free lunch box ideas that will make our lives a little easier.
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