With its bright, sprightly flavors, this is a wonderful springtime dish. But there’s nothing to say you can’t serve it with a green salad in summer or roasted vegetables in winter. To make the sunflower seeds more easily digestible, soak them overnight beforehand.
3 3/4 cups water
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
2 1/2 cups quinoa, rinsed
1 cup raw sunflower seeds, presoaked if you like
3/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Bring the water and salt to a boil in a medium-size saucepan. Add the quinoa, then lower the heat, cover, and simmer for about 15 minutes, until all of the water is absorbed. Transfer the quinoa to a large bowl and let it cool to room temperature.
Meanwhile, toast the sunflower seeds in a dry skillet over medium heat, stirring often, for 3 to 5 minutes, until they are aromatic and start to pop. Add the sunflower seeds to the quinoa, along with the lemon juice and oil, and stir until well combined. Taste and adjust the seasonings if desired.
Variations
Quinoa with Herbs and Toasted Sunflower Seeds: Increase the amount of sunflower seeds to 1 1/4 cups. Omit the lemon juice and increase the amount of olive oil to 7 tablespoons. Add 1/2 cup of chopped marjoram or oregano leaves when you stir everything together. Taste and adjust the seasonings; you may want more salt.
Quinoa Tabouli: Add 1 cup of chopped parsley and 1 cup of chopped scallions when you stir everything together.
Swap pumpkin seeds for the sunflower seeds.
Forgo toasting the sunflower seeds; instead, add them to the saucepan when you add the quinoa.
Anti-oxidant rich and tasty, this smoothie is quick and easy to make. Try it for a snack or breakfast. Feel free to swap your favorite (pasture raised cow or sheep yogurt are also good choices. Other flavors of juice would also be fine. Feel free to use other berries: raspberries, and strawberries are great, too.
Serves 1 for a very hearty breakfast
1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries ¾ cup plain goat yogurt ¾ cup tart cherry juice 2 Tablespoons Navitas Naturals Palm Sugar 1 Tablespoon Navitas Naturals Acai Powder 1 Tablespoon Navitas Naturals Maqui Powder 1 teaspoon Simply Organic vanilla extract
Combine all the ingredients in a blender and process until smooth. Taste, and if desired, add additional palm sugar for a sweeter flavor.
For 15% off all Navitasnatural.com products, please enter the code leslie15 at navitasnaturals.com
Oh my goodness! I am like a kid at the candy store at the Northampton Farmers Market: Pink and white salad turnips, watercress, morel mushrooms, radishes, kale, salad greens galore! Different veggies and different day from my Amherst Farmers Market, which I also love to support and feast from.
Farmers Markets are the best place to shop for local, seasonal, wild and organic produce. Unless, of course you can grow your own or belong to a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture).
Everyone can benefit from eating a wide range of gluten-free whole grains. Gluten-free cooking and baking goes beyond just replacing the few popular gluten grains wheat, barley, triticale, and rye in favorite recipes. It is a celebration of the earth’s bounty.
There are more whole grains that do not have gluten. This means more choices, more whole grains and whole grain flours to mix and match with local, seasonal produce for an endless variety of daily meals. Doing so isn’t as hard as it seems if you follow some basic tips:
Create Gluten-Free Makeovers.
You can make pasta dishes, pastries—just about everything that can be made with gluten—into delicious, nutritious, gorgeous dishes with a wide gluten-free whole grains and flours.
Go Beyond Toast.
Start your day with nutritional powerhouses: gluten-free grains such as millet, rolled oats, teff, quinoa, and amaranth make tasty porridges cooked in water or coconut milk with a variety spices like ginger and cinnamon, and dried fruits. Top with your favorite yogurt, milk, fruit, or maple syrup for a great breakfast.
Pancakes and waffles are delicious and super nutritious made with one or a combination of gluten-free flours: teff, sorghum, quinoa, brown rice, corn, buckwheat, maca, and coconut flour.
It is easy to make grain loaves, polenta, and croquettes with corn grits, millet, and teff. Once cooked and cooled, you can cut them like a brownie. Slice and serve or refry; the possibilities are endless.
Cook Like An Artist.
You can make beautiful dishes mixing and matching grains with nuts, seeds, and colorful vegetables. Decorate finished dishes with edible flowers, springs of herbs, and sauces.
It is rare for whole grains to be complete proteins; however quinoa, amaranth, buckwheat and oats are complete proteins making them ideal for main course entrees, and side dishes.
Employ a Variety of Textures.
You can create dishes with many different textures: running the gamut from dense, smooth dishes like polenta to chewy wild rice to crispy granola. In the realm of desserts alone, grains and their flours can be used to create textures ranging from creamy rice pudding, to dense and chewy hazelnut brownies, to crispy cookies made with teff flour.
Create Great Pastries Everyone will Love.
Bake delicious cookies, piecrusts, fruit crisps, muffins, and brownies with a great variety of gluten-free flours: teff, oat, brown rice, quinoa, coconut, ground nut and seed flours (hazelnut, almond, and flax seeds, etc).
Photo: Tracey Eller
Roll Some Sushi.
Vegetarian sushi, also known as nori rice rolls, are delicious and easy to prepare with a wide variety of rice: Bhutanese Red Rice, Forbidden Rice, brown rice, Jade Pearl Rice, sweet brown rice, among others. Mix and match fresh and sautéed seasonal vegetables (cucumbers, carrots, beets, salad greens, etc) with avocado, pickles, sprouts, seasoned tofu and ginger tempeh, and more.
Stake Out a Variety of Shapes.
Gluten-free pasta comes in many shapes and sizes and made from a variety of grains: rice, quinoa, corn, amaranth, and buckwheat. All are great topped with savory sauces: tomato, peanut, pesto, mushroom, among others.
Expand your Repertoire.
Say yes to abundance of choices: enhance your nutrition by including high fiber, whole grains in your diet. You can make pilafs, soups, stews, porridge, and marinated salads and more with gluten-free grains.
Enjoy Being Environmentally Friendly.
Going gluten-free can help you decrease your carbon footprint. Huge monocultures of wheat and other common grains have damaging impacts on the earth, especially when grown commercially using petroleum-based fertilizers, herbicides, and pesticides.
Because many varieties of gluten-free grains are more closely related to their wild cousins than the hybrids we’ve come to rely on, they can often be grown more easily, using less intensive methods. Some gluten-free grains are drought resistant, requiring less land and less water to produce high yields. Others grow in harsh conditions, arid uplands to moist tropical settings.
As a bonus, many of them offer superior nutrition and higher-quality protein than wheat and other common grains. That means more net nutrition from the same amount of land. And best of all, this approach to easing our impact on the planet offers a delicious culinary adventure.
Worldwide, gluten-Free whole grains truly are the foundation of a healthful diet—healthful not just for us humans, but also for our planet.
You’ve probably heard about the devastation of rainforests to create grazing land, water pollution from feedlots, and the problems with methane from cattle. And chances are, at some point you’ve read or heard that eating lower on the food chain is more sustainable, so I’ll just offer the reminder that it’s far more efficient to eat grain than to feed it to animals and then use those animals for food. As food resources grow scarce for an ever-increasing human population, it becomes more important to eat less meat, or avoid it altogether.
All of that said, I do believe that there’s a place for organic eggs and dairy products, especially when the animals that produce them are allowed to range freely and fed a diet that’s more natural for them (for dairy cows, that means grass-fed).
Leslie Cerier, “The Organic Gourmet,” is a national authority on gluten-free cooking and baking specializing in local, seasonal, whole foods and organic cuisine with 20 + years experience: Chef, Educator, and Author of 5 cookbooks including Gluten-Free Recipes for the Conscious Cook (2010), and Going Wild in the Kitchen (2005). Leslie teaches exciting “hands-on” vegetarian cooking classes in some of the most prestigious centers of holistic evolution and organic lifestyle. She will be co-teaching a special workshop with 10.5 CEC; Thriving Gluten-Free July 6-8 2012 with Celiac Expert and Dietician Melinda Dennis at the Omega Institute in Rhinebeck, NY. Check out more at http://lesliecerier.com/blog/class-schedule/.
Teaching Improvisational Cooking for Health and Vitality at Esalen Institute
Thanks to Tracey Eller for the Great Photos of my Hands On, Garden to Table, Gourmet Vegetarian, Cooking Classes for Health and Vitality at Esalen Institute March 2012
Teaching Great Meals with Great Grains Hand On Cooking Class at Esalen Institute
Mediterranean Sorghum Salad with fresh Oregano, Mint and Chives
Mediterranean Sorghum Salad with Mint and Chives
This was a big hit in the Great Meals with Great Grains workshop at Esalen Institute March 2012. Fresh oregano, chives and mint make a tasty dressing for this marinated grain salad. Serve on a bed of lettuce, topped with goat or sheep feta for an beautiful lunch treat!
Gluten-free sorghum, also known as Milo, is a small round grain, with a texture of pearled barley. Sorghum is good source of iron, potassium and fiber. A half cup serving has 11.3 grains of protein, higher than corn and almost as high as wheat. Sorghum is not a complete protein, but served here with feta completes the protein. Serving a grain with a bean also completes its protein profile.
2/3 cup sorghum grain soaked at least 6 hours, rinsed and drained
2 cups water
Pinch of Celtic Sea Salt
1 cup sliced radishes
2/3 cup chopped parsley
1/2 cup coarsely chopped fresh chives, tightly packed
1/2 cup coarsely chopped fresh mint, tightly packed
7 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
5 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons coarsely chopped fresh oregano
1/2 teaspoon Celtic Sea Salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper, or to taste
6 cups lettuce
2 cups crumbled goat feta loosely packed
Optional: 2 Nasturtium flowers
1. Bring the water and sea salt to boil in a medium saucepan, then add sorghum.
2. Simmer for about an hour or until water is absorbed and sorghum is somewhat soft, similar to cooked rice.
3. Cool sorghum to room temperature, fluffing with a fork occasionally.
4. In a large bowl, combine sorghum with all the remaining ingredients, EXCEPT the lettuce, feta and nasturtium flowers. Adjust salt and pepper to taste.
5. Place lettuce on a platter or serving bowl. Add the sorghum salad. Decorate with crumbled feta and nasturtium flowers.
Celebrated cookbook authors Leslie Cerier and Robin Asbell suggest great ways to cook with cornmeal
BY Mary Margaret Chappell
Yellow, White, and Blue
Regional preferences for white versus yellow cornmeal can be as intensely debated as politics or sports—but it really boils down to a matter of taste, says Robin Asbell, author of The New Whole Grains Cookbook. Raised north of the Mason-Dixon Line, Asbell confesses to a preference for yellow cornmeal, and enjoys making pancakes (sweet or savory), cornbread, and certain cookies and biscuits with it. “The taste and texture are familiar,” she explains.
White cornmeal is traditionally used in authentic Southern-style cornbread, so Asbell uses it in all kinds of Southern-influenced dishes. For instance, in a red beans and rice pie, she’ll opt for a white cornmeal crust. By the same token, she’d make Southern biscuits and spoon bread from white cornmeal. And she’d top off a Southern-style meal with a coconut cake made with white cornmeal.
Leslie Cerier, author of Gluten-Free Recipes for the Conscious Cook: A Seasonal, Vegetarian Cookbook, believes that everything goes with either yellow or white cornmeal and cooks and bakes with both interchangeably. That said, Cerier does confess to relying on visual appeal to help her choose one over the other. For instance, if she has kale and leeks or onions on hand, she’ll make cornmeal fritters with yellow cornmeal because of the ingredients’ contrasting colors. “It’s about novelty, versatility, and being playful,” she says.
Cerier recommends making corn fritters with white cornmeal, carrots, and butternut squash, and savory pancakes with white cornmeal and quinoa or brown teff flour because of the way the colors play off the white meal. She also especially enjoys sweet pancakes and waffles made with corn flour.
Blue corn is a traditional Hopi Indian food, so Asbell recommends incorporating it into dishes that have a native American influence, including “three sisters”–inspired dishes such as squash-and-bean soup with blue cornmeal croutons and a casserole or tamale pie with squash, pinto beans, and blue cornmeal. Blue cornmeal’s heartier and cornier (than white and yellow cornmeal) taste is also great in savory muffins with chiles and sun-dried tomatoes as well as with apples and blueberries in sweet muffins, she adds.
Match the Grind to the Menu
Corn flour or fine cornmeal sops up excess moisture so batters stick. Make a batter with yellow corn flour and egg, then use it to coat and bake tofu, tempeh, or firmer vegetables, such as cauliflower and potato sticks, suggests Asbell. If you make pancakes or waffles with cornmeal it will have a crunchy texture; for smoother-textured corn pancakes, waffles, or muffins, corn flour is the way to go, says Cerier.
According to Asbell, medium-grind yellow cornmeal is key to hush puppies with just the right amount of crunch: a fine grind would make a mushy or hard fritter, and the coarse-grind’s little bits would probably be too hard, she says. Cerier likes to make cornbread with organic medium-grind cornmeal.
Coarse-grind cornmeal doubles as a release agent that adds a satisfying crunch to pizza and bread, she Asbell. To get the effect, dust the pan/stone with coarse cornmeal before getting to work. She also suggests a coarse-grind if making a piecrust and quiche because of the pleasing contrast to the soft, melted cheese and sautéed veggies.
Teff, peanut butter, and cookies, oh my! Teff adds a subtle hazelnut/chocolate flavor to these peanut butter cookies, and just so happens to be gluten free and high in dietary fiber, protein, iron, and calcium. With this easy six ingredient recipe starring the super nutritious teff flour, you can almost convince yourself that you are eating these cookies for health, and not pleasure! Almost…
We found this recipe conveniently located on the back of our bag of teff flour from Bob’s Red Mill. It is by Leslie Cerier, who just so happens to be the author of one of our favorite cookbooks: Going Wild in the Kitchen.
1 1/2 cups Teff Flour 1/2 tsp sea salt 1/2 cup maple syrup 1/2 cup canola oil 1 tsp vanilla 1 cup peanut butter
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Combine the dry ingredients together in a big bowl. In your favorite food processor blend the maple syrup, canola oil, vanilla, and peanut butter well. Mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, incorporating well. Form little balls of dough onto an ungreased cookie sheat. To get that classic criss-cross look that peanut butter cookies are famous for, get your criss-cross action going with a fork. Bake for about thirteen to fifteen minutes. Allow them to cool all of the way, and then gobble them up!
Leslie Cerier, who calls herself “The Organic Gourmet,” combines a holistic lifestyle with hands-on vegetarian cooking for health and vitality, as well as writing cookbooks and articles focusing on eating local, seasonal, organic foods. As Leslie will tell you, gluten-free cooking is not just for celiacs or people with wheat-allergies, but can inspire beneficial mood and health changes.
I recently had the opportunity to chat with Leslie about her newest cookbook, “Gluten-Free Recipes for the Conscious Cook” and the benefits of a gluten-free diet, and the importance of eating sustainably for both the mind and body.
Alyssa Berkowitz: Did you always want to be a chef? Any stories of cooking as a child?
Leslie Cerier: I didn’t plan to be a chef. I always loved to cook. In high school I asked my grandmother Ethel how to make her strudel dough. She said, “You take some flour and water and it should look like this.” And I said, “Grandma, how much?” She showed me again and repeated that you take some flour and water and it should look like this. She knew what texture she was looking for. Now when I teach hands-on cooking classes, I encourage people to follow their senses: taste, touch, smell, see, listen, and make it a total sensory experience.
How do you derive influences for your recipes? How does your Jewish background shape your recipes?
I get my inspiration from the local, organic harvest: the fruits, vegetables and herbs of the season; then mix and match a variety of whole foods: grains, beans, grass raised dairy and eggs, nuts and seeds to create globally inspired meals. My Jewish roots inspire me to create healthy twists on classic recipes. For example in my “Kasha Varnishkes” recipe in “Gluten-Free Recipes for the Conscious Cook,” I swapped Quinoa Corn spiral pasta for the classic white wheat bowties; also added sunflower seeds and even collard greens for a colorful and nutrient dense gourmet dish. Top it off with pesto for a yummy meal.
My Jewish influences are more about how to be creative and think out of the box. I guess thinking out of the box is a Jewish thing.
How do you see the relationship between a holistic lifestyle and the eating of whole grains and organic food?
I see it all as one really. I sleep on organic sateen sheets, use natural and organic soaps and cleaning products. I don’t use a microwave. I prefer to cook in cast iron, stainless steel, lead-free enamel and glass. I tune into the natural rhythms and the changing seasons. In cold weather, I cook long simmering soups and bake; in hot weather I make quick sautés and marinated salads I look at the interconnectedness of everything. Years ago, I gave up a promising career as a photographer to avoid toxic, chemicals in the dark room. I now print my photos on 100% cotton canvas. Even my artwork is about sustainability. My latest series, “Photographing the Jewels in the Water” is about sunlight on shallow streams that create natural jewel like patterns, like impressionistic paintings. I’m trying to connect all the dots, inside and out with my deep love of nature.
For some, gluten-free might seem like the next big health-fad. Why do you think eating a gluten-free diet should be something everyone is doing?
Gluten-free whole grains have been around for centuries — they’re not fad foods. They are delicious, loaded with vitamins and minerals, great for energy and stamina. I’m not gluten-free myself, but often prefer to eat gluten-free grains and flours for their taste and nutrition. Also since there is genetically modified wheat on the market, it might be that folks are really intolerant of the petrochemicals used to grow common wheat, which contributes to health problems. A diet rich in gluten-free whole grains can enhance everyone’s health and vitality; expand your cooking repertoire and celebrate the earth’s bounty.
Some people think that gluten-free dishes don’t taste as good. What would you say in response?
When I teach, I introduce people to many tasty gluten-free grains like teff, amaranth, rice, and quinoa. My recipes are simple, and when you use fresh seasonal and organic ingredients, they’re going to taste great. It’s like any kind of cooking: you have to understand how to use herbs and spices to create tasty dishes. My daughters aren’t gluten free either, but they prefer the Cinnamon Banana Pancakes made with teff flour instead of wheat. This isn’t about depravation. I’m using real foods, not processed food. Gluten-free grains are full of life and flavor.
While reading through your cookbook, I was surprised at how many ingredients seemed new or unusual to me, which makes gluten-free cooking seem like a challenge. What advice can you give to people looking to start cooking gluten-free who might be scared by the ingredients?
My suggestion: stay out of the supermarket. For the more rare ingredients in the cookbook, there is a mail-order section in the back of “Gluten-Free Recipes for the Conscious Cook.” Also, my mother taught me to ask for what you want. Ask stores to stock the ingredients you want. Make the products available. Start the real food revolution.
I taught my sorghum salad (one of the lesser known grains) in a recent class. I cooked it like a Mediterranean couscous salad, and everyone was like, “Wow.” I’m introducing people to different textures, flavors, and the fun of eating really well. Yeah it’s challenging if you’re just thinking of the challah you normally eat every Friday night, but if you’re thinking of variety you’re really going to have fun and thrive.
In addition to writing cookbooks and catering, you also teach classes. Do you have any exciting classes coming up?
I’m teaching a “Thriving Gluten-Free” class at the Omega Institute in Rhinebeck, NY July 6-8. The class includes continuing education credits and I’ll be co-teaching with celiac expert, dietician and author, Melinda Dennis. In addition to culinary nutrition and hands-on cooking classes, I offer telephone consultations. I also have an online course, “Wraps and Rolls.”
What’s an ingredient you think everyone should have in his or her pantry? Why?
Flexibility. But aside from that, I think everyone should stock a variety of whole grains. At least four to six different whole grains and most whole grains are gluten-free.
Any last things you want our readers to know?
Whether you’re gluten free or not, including a wide variety of gluten-free grains in your diet is good for you and good for the planet. Ecologically, gluten-free grains could be part of the solution for our changing climate: some can grow in drier climates; others in flooded areas; some use less seed for higher yields and all offer great nutrition. Eating gluten-free isn’t just about personal health; it could be part of the solution for feeding the masses during climate change.
Quinoa and Shiitake Pilaf Serves 6 to 8
Leeks, celery, and mushrooms enliven this pilaf and give it a flavor reminiscent of a Thanksgiving stuffing. If you like, you can substitute other types of mushrooms for the shiitakes. White button mushrooms, criminis, or portobellos would all be great choices.
1 1/2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 1/2 cups chopped leeks (white and tender green parts)
2 cups chopped celery
1 1/2 cups stemmed and sliced shiitake mushrooms
1 3/4 cups quinoa, rinsed
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
3 1/2 cups boiling water
Heat the oil in a medium-size saucepan or skillet (one with a tight-fitting lid) over medium heat. Add the leeks, celery, and mushrooms and sauté, stirring continuously for about 5 minutes, until vegetables become fragrant and their colors brighten. Stir in the quinoa and salt. Lower the heat, then slowly pour in the water. Cover and simmer for about 15 minutes, until all of the water is absorbed.
Many of Leslie’s recipes can be adapted for Passover, but most of the gluten-free grains are considered kitnyot so those of Ashkenazic background may choose not to eat them.
Alyssa Berkowitz is a senior in the Joint Program between Columbia University and the Jewish Theological Seminary. She is currently the Food Programs Intern at Hazon.
