Gluten Free Feeds

A certain individual here living by the mesa is more than ready for Fall recipes. I'm sick of salads for dinner because it's too damn hot to cook. I mean, I love my baby greens as much as the next former vegetarian, but I'm no longer craving arugula (actually, did I ever crave arugula?). I'm tired of iceberg wedges. I'm dreaming up soups and layered casseroles and slow cooked stews. Which

In late July, we took a family vacation to Canada. Back in March, I had read that the Canadian pizza chain Pizza Pizza was now selling a gluten-free pizza crust at their stores. Imagine my surprise...

Don't just settle into living a boring gluten-free life. Let's talk gluten-free fun... food, restaurants, recipes, and more

I'm recently back from a breaak in the Highlands of Scotland. I've fiund a few new places to eat gluten free and a hotel that cater totally to the needs of a gluten free guest. Inspirational or what. I've successfully eaten gluten free meals in many restaurants across the globe, but unfortunately hotels have continued to be a bit more of a problem

I ate loads of seafood while I was away ... well I was staying predominantly in Coastal regions. This picture is of King scallops wrapped in bacon which I ate in a tiny inn sat right on a loch. They were pretty good. So good, I'm going to try and replicate this meal!



Happy days! :)

The latest episode of my Hold The Gluten Podcast is now live!

Episode 7 “Gluten Free Buns of Steel” Features:

• Weight gain after celiac disease diagnosis.
• Gluten free foods - awareness and consumption.
• Summer Olympics 2008 - Amy Yoder Begley, distance runner and Celiac.
• GF food options that are workout friendly:
• Bumble Bar, Lara Bar, PureFit, Think Products, Hammer Products (bars & gels), Zing Bars, Sharkies Sports Chews, & Gu Rocktain Energy Products (Vanilla Orange gel)
• Get blood work done regularly to monitor any need for nutritional supplements.
• Dietitian/Nutritionist can assess your gluten free diet and make necessary recommendations.

Read the blog. Listen to the podcast. Educate yourself.

Rock on Celiacs!

Click the player below to listen to the show! Subscribe to the podcast using iTunes (or whatever media player you use) at http://feeds.feedburner.com/htgpodcast

Download audio file (007_HoldTheGluten-04Sep2008.mp3)

1. Gluten-Free breakfast spread, 2. Howie and the gluten-free ice cream sandwiches, 3. GF onion bread, 4. Gluten-Free Bagels!!!, 5. Gluten-Free cookies, 6. Gluten-Free English Muffins, 7. GLUTEN-FREE...

Don't just settle into living a boring gluten-free life. Let's talk gluten-free fun... food, restaurants, recipes, and more

Cucumber talk. And a recipe. It started with a visit from a fellow food blogger. And ended up as a side dish. No wait. That doesn't sound right. Because it's more than just a side dish. And the food blogger? Well. She's more than just a food blogger. She's Alanna! And a certain individual got to make her dinner. Talk about nerve wracking. Cooking for a second-generation food columnist? It's

Don't feel like cooking? Keep some wild caught salmon on hand and you almost won't have to. Got limes and agave? Smile. Salmon recipes don't get any easier than this. This is almost not cooking- which makes it a perfect recipe for a lazy summer supper. We served our salmon with grilled veggie kebabs- another one of my easy summer staples. I grill my vegetable skewers on our handy Grilleration

I was seriously jonesing for a crunchy coffee treat this week. But what could I make? Eating lower carb and lower glycemic means I'm eating no sugar, white flour or starches. The sweetest thing I've eaten in a month was the half of a frozen banana I tossed yesterday into a berry breakfast smoothie. Tasty, yes. But not exactly the chocolaty crisp indulgence I was daydreaming about. As a side

I used to love the game of tag as a kid.  Freeze Tag, Cartoon Tag, Flashlight Tag; you name it and we probably played it!  The lovely Rachel (creator of the very delish Blueberry Pizza recipe) at The Crispy Cook tagged little ol’ me for a fun meme on my Five Favorite Kitchen Tools. I am not only a celiac but kitchen-aphobic (ok, not really a word), so my five favs are a bit of a long stretch. Tiffany at Make Mine Gluten Free had two hysterical favs - a fork and her microwave… My kind of cook!

What is a meme, you ask?  So did I (I thought Rachel was calling me a dirty word), but found that a meme is basically series of questions that a blogger answers to share some personal perspective or experience on random topics.

FYI, Rachel’s kitchen favs are her aloe plant, measuring glass, swivel peeler, orange frying pan, and wooden spoon.

Maureen’s Five Favorite Kitchen Tools

Fav #1:  My Avocado Pitter/Slicer.  Yes, a knife and spoon do work just as well, but I LOVE this tool!  I consume a lot of avocados, so my pitter/slicer comes in very handy.

Fav #2:  My Cuisinart Waffle Maker.  Oooh, this contraption rocks!  I use it to make my yummy Pumpkin Waffles.

Fav #3:  My collection of Depression Glass Reamers.  Ok, I admit this is not a tool that I actually use, but someone juiced something on these reamers.  Probably back in 1910, but it counts!

Fav #4:  My Peppercorn Cracker Thing.  Don’t you just love going to a restaurant where the waiter comes to your table and asks you (in a snooty voice), “Fresh ground pepper?”.  I rarely ever use salt, but pepper pretty much goes on everything.

Fav #5:  Clorox Wipes.  I have a sick, twisted perchance for cleaning.  Cleaning is my therapy.  When the going gets tough, I enjoy a good Clorox wiping of anything that is not nailed down.  Enough said

To keep this lovely meme a-goin’, I am tagging Gluten Free Gwen, Ellen at I Am Gluten Free, and Gluten Free Steve.

After over four years of living with Celiac Disease, I've found that eating out still isn't easy, and often it isn't very satisfying. Tonight I went to a Japanese steak house, Kabuto Japanese Steak House and Sushi Bar in Greensboro, NC. I used to enjoy going to Japanese restaurants, but this is the first time I've been to a Japanese steak house since being on the gluten-free diet, because everything cooked in front of you on the table gets a good dousing of soy sauce (which is brewed with wheat and is not gluten-free). I made all of the usual preparations before leaving the house; including calling ahead to ask if they could accommodate a gluten-free diet, coming up with a cursory plan of what to eat based on their menu, snacking heavily before going to avoid feeling starved while watching everyone else eat, and bringing my own wheat-free soy sauce. You would think that after all of this preparation, and carefully ordering sushi and steamed rice I would have a nice meal with no issues, but unfortunately that wasn't what happened. The chef at out table was entertaining with his flashing knives, onion volcano and spinning a raw egg on his spatula for an impossibly long time, but it was frustrating for me to watch as heaps of delicious looking food was tossed (literally) on to everyone's plate. On my plate was a heap on steamed white rice. I used my soy sauce to flavor the rice, along with a dash of Chinese style hot sauce.
My sushi arrived when the main course was served. I ordered a tray of sashimi tuna wrapped in rice and seaweed, and I ate it with the wasabi sauce, pickled ginger and my soy sauce. The tuna was fresh, but the sushi wasn't rolled to well. Nonetheless, I was content with my simple meal, that is until about 45 minutes after leaving the restaurant. Some times I have stomach irritations that I can't precisely attribute to a gluten reaction, but this wasn't one of those times. I had acute sharp pains in my gut that lasted for about a half hour, pretty much the typical good dosing of gluten reaction for me. Once again I don't know exactly where the gluten came from, it had to be either the wasabi, pickled ginger, Chinese hot sauce, (all of which I've had before) or the raw tuna (unlikely due to my type of reaction) or was it some unknown and unseen culprit?
All in all my advice would be: if your on a gluten-free diet, pass on the Japanese Steak house experience. Dining out shouldn't be this hard!

This gluten free chocolate cake recipe continues to impress. I made it for the first time here, but looking back I realized that I never posted the recipe. I adapted it from the Chocolate Cake recipe by Carol Fenster, Ph.D in her book "Special Diet Solutions". I have made it for a health fair that I worked at, and also a 40th Anniversary cake I did where only 2 people in the bunch were GF. Everyone there loved the cake and could not believe it was GF. It is so moist that the texture is almost fudge-like, but still springy and light. It is sweet enough that it does not have to be frosted.

Well, I needed something fun to take to a party Friday night and decided to make mini-cupcakes out of this recipe. That way people can take "just a bite" and not feel bad for eating an entire slice of cake. The only problem is when you forget just how many you have eaten.

The original recipe is for a 1 layer cake with an 8" or 9" pan. I am going to leave those instructions as is and then put some notes afterwards for using the mini cupcake pan. I have also tried different kinds of sugars and it always comes out fine. So if you need to substitute another sugar go ahead. When I use sucanat I put it through a coffee grinder first to make it finer as I find the sugar crystals are a little large and I want to make sure they dissolve with the rest of the ingredients.

Ingredients:
½ cup brown rice flour
¼ cup millet or sorghum flour
¼ cup potato starch
¼ cup tapioca flour
½ cup + 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon xanthan gum
1¼ teaspoons baking soda
1 cup maple crystals, sucanat or regular sugar
¾ teaspoon sea salt
1 tablespoon vanilla
½ cup almond, rice or soy milk
½ cup butter, room temperature
1 egg, lightly beaten
¾ cup coffee, room temp

Procedure:
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 8 inch round cake pan with butter or coconut oil. If your pans tend to stick, cut a round piece of parchment paper and place in the bottom of the pan and then grease that as well.

Put all dry ingredients in a large bowl and stir to mix. Add vanilla, milk, butter and egg and mix on low speed with a hand mixer until smooth, about 1 minute. Add coffee and blend for another minute until coffee has been completely mixed in. Batter will be thicker than non-gluten-free batters.

Pour batter into cake pan and smooth out the top with a rubber spatula. Place in oven and bake for 30 to 35 minutes, turning pan half way through baking time. Remove from oven when a toothpick comes out clean from the center of the cake. Let cool in pan for 5 minutes and then remove and set on a rack to cool completely. Finish with your favorite frosting.

Mini Cupcakes

This recipe makes 50 mini cupcakes. Fill holes halfway with batter. Reduce baking time to 11 minutes, turning halfway through cooking time if your oven heats unevenly. I topped mine with some cocoa butter cream frosting and then a single coffee bean at the peak of the frosting.



Regular Cupcakes
I have also made regular-sized cupcakes, but I don't remember how many the recipe yielded. The best part about them was the cracked Souffle look some of them had when they came out of the oven. I left those ones unfrosted.

This is a recipe that I made over a year ago and keep meaning to finish writing out the procedure for. At this point it would be safe to say the details may be a bit fuzzy. It is zucchini season here in Southern New Jersey so this recipe is great for all those squashes that are ready to pick but you dont know what to do with. I adapted this one from "small bites" a fun cookbook I picked up on a whim. There is something about attractively arranged small foods that just appeals to me. Perhaps that is what is behind the Tapas trend in restaurants. They are best eaten immediately after frying as they lose some crispyness after sitting. Serve these with Yogurt Dill Sauce.

Ingredients:
1 large zucchini 1 tbsp salt1 1/2 cups breadcrumbs*6 green onions2 eggs, lightly beaten
2/3 cup feta cheese, crumbled*1/4 cup mint leaves, finely chopped1/4 tsp ground nutmegsalt and ground pepper to taste1/2 cup rice flourabout 2 cups coconut oil
Procedure:
Grate zucchini, place in a colander and sprinkle with the salt to remove excess moisture. Let sit for 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Set aside 8 tbsp of breadcrumbs and spread the remaining on a baking sheet covered in parchment paper. Bake for 5 minutes, stir and then bake for another 5 minutes until golden and crisp. Let cool.

Rinse zucchini and squeeze out excess liquid with your hands. Pat dry with a towel. Mix zucchini with onions, eggs, feta, reserved 8 tbsp breadcrumbs, mint and nutmeg. Season with salt and pepper.

Dust hands with rice flour and then form round 2-inch wide patties with the zucchini mix. Roll patties in toasted breadcrumbs making sure they are completely coated and lay on a cookie sheet.

Heat oil in large frying pan with high sides over medium-high heat. Use enough oil so that each patty is submerged half way. Fry the patties for about 3 minutes, then flip over and fry on the other side, until crisp and golden color. Remove from oil and drain on paper towels.

Serve immediately with Yogurt Dill Sauce (recipe below).



Dill Yogurt Sauce
1 14 oz container plain, whole yogurt
2 tbsp fresh dill
1/2 tsp salt1/2 tsp freshly cracked pepper

Place a piece of cheesecloth over a mesh strainer and then place strainer over a bowl. Pour the yogurt into the strainer on top of the cheesecloth and let sit a couple hours or overnight in the refrigerator so that excess moisture drips through. This will help to make the sauce thicker.

Pour yogurt into a small bowl and stir until smooth. Chop dill into small pieces and then add to yogurt along with the salt and pepper. Stir to mix and then place into serving bowl. Serve.


Notes:
*For the cheese in the cake mixture I used a raw goat's milk feta I found at Bonterra Market in EHT.
*The breadcrumbs are made of Berlin Natural Bakery's Whole Grain Spelt. I can tolerate spelt in moderation and I think these taste as close to wheat as possible, which is a nice transition for people who are not gluten-free.

The August Daring Baker's Challenge

This month's challenge is hosted by Meeta and Tony. They choose the the Chocolate Eclair recipe from Pierre Herme. The recipe is from Chocolate Desserts by Pierre Herme written by Dorie Greenspan. The complete recipe can be found on either Tony or Meeta's blog.

This recipe is composed of three parts: pate a choux or cream puff dough, pastry cream and chocolate glaze. I used a blend of chestnut flour and almond meal for the cream puff dough. While my eclairs puffed up beautifully, although the interior cavity didn't run the length of the eclair. I simply slit the side of the eclair, so I could fill it. For the pastry cream, I added a minced apricot and nectarine. It was a delicious and addictive cream, with most of it eaten before we stopped and filled a few of the eclairs. Lastly, I topped the eclair off with the chocolate glaze.

This is a great recipe and one my family thoroughly enjoyed. My daughter's favorite part was eating little scoops of the glaze, once it had cooled in the refrigerator. My husband preferred the complete eclair and my son liked the plain eclair without chocolate of cream filling. I found my caloric downfall in the apricot nectarine filling.

Happy Labor Day!

Found this poll while perusing food blogs today, and it peaked my curiosity. The Omnivore's Hundred was started by Andrew Wheeler, of the British food blog "Very Good Taste" two weeks ago. It has been so popular that he has 672 responses on his original posting alone. Wonder how many additional posts are on all those other blogs that posted their copy of his list?

Many other bloggers have jumped in for the challenge and have posted their results on their webpages, I found lists at: The Food of Love, Antics of a cycling cook, BitterSweet (who changed it to the "Vegan's Hundred", which I think was a nice touch), Chocolate and Zucchini and many more. Check out Andrew's FAQs about the list here if you want to know more.

So, on to the list..... Andrew says he was inspired to create a list of foods that he thinks every omnivore should try at least once in their life and then has invited all those out in cyberspace to take on the challenge of seeing how they rate against his list.

The rules are:

1) Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
3) Cross out (or mark in red) any items that you would never consider eating.
4) Optional extra: Post a comment at http://www.verygoodtaste.co.uk/ linking to your results.

If you need to look something up, you can use Wikipedia.
1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile (does alligator count?)
6. Black pudding (also called Blood Pudding)
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba Ghanoush
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses (stinky cheese)
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie gras
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn, or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche (how about Hagen Daas Dulce de Leche ice cream?)
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl (more points for doing it at Fisherman's Wharf in SF!)
33. Salted Lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar (had them both separately)
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O (oh yeah, jello shots!)
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects
43. Phaal (not sure I could handle the heat...)
44. Goat’s milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Fugu
47. Chicken Tikka Masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut (ate it while still warm from the takeout window)
50. Sea urchin (yes, I ate it, but didnt like it)
51. Prickly pear/Nopales
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine60. Carob chips61. S’mores62. Sweetbreads63. Kaolin64. Currywurst
65. Durian66. Frogs’ legs67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette (eh, I'd rather not)
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. Roadkill
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare/Rabbit
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate (I am assuming this is damn good chocolate, I may not have had this kind, but I have had really good, expensive, amazing chocolate)
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake

My number is 65. #3 and #82 pictured above, enjoyed at Fred's Restaurant in New York City earlier this year. What is your number? I would love to hear what other's reactions to this list are, and what items you think are missing, My list would include:

Glass of expensive, reserve red wine enjoyed with chocolate truffles
Fresh Coconut Water
Scrapple (if Spam made the list then this East Coast gem should be on there too)
Cherry Tomatoes picked fresh from the vine
Warm Brie with a hazlenut or berry glaze

Please leave me a comment if you do the survey. If you don't have a blog, then you can paste the list into an email and then make your edits and send it back.

I have two posts in the making, but must finish this one first as the end of the month is looming and I want to get my “seasonal foods for August” piece published before September shoves its way into my life. What’s the deal with these pushy months, anyway? How could September and Labor Day be upon us already? I’ll follow this post in a few days with one wrapping up my wilderness journey along the Colorado Trail.

But first, I’m still in a tizzy over Denver being showcased during the Democratic National Convention.

Don’t believe half of what you read about protesters taking over the city. Things were mellow. Recreate ‘68 fizzled out and never left the ground. Much like the protesters’ attempts at levitating the Denver Mint. Armed with magic mojo (their words, not mine), a small group of protesters joined mental forces, held hands, and collectively tried to levitate the mint, shake that money-maker, and liberate the $50 million dollars it held hostage. Wizard-attired spokesman, Yippie Pie Man, who came in from out of town (whew, glad he’s not a local), lead the mint-raising rally and encouraged bystanders to contribute their personal energies in redistributing the loose change garnered from the shake down.

Needless to say, their mass brain power was tenuous at best, the mojo wasn’t magic, and the Mint never budged.

Enough of that — on to what’s in season. Fruits and veggies, not politics, however entertaining the political scene may be right now. In my next blog life, I’m going to be a political wonkette. Middle of the road and unbiased, of course. Just the facts.

For now I’ll stick to food.

tomatoes
I’ve focused on tomatoes before, so rather than repeat myself, please go here for relevant nutritional information. Aside from being versatile, luscious, juicy, and colorful, tomatoes promote healthy immune function and have anti-inflammatory properties — both of which are important if you have celiac disease. Or, any other health issues for that matter. Or, if you’re perfectly healthy and you simply want to stay that way.

tomato tip — Carotenoids are the source of vitamin A activity in tomatoes and are also responsible for the red-hot color. Beta-carotene and lycopene are the most talked-about carotenoids in tomatoes. They are also fat-soluble plant chemicals, so you’ll get more bang for your carotenoid buck if you add a touch of olive oil to the mix.

peaches
Oh my gosh, Colorado peaches are the best! Hopefully no one from Georgia is reading this blog. I imagine they would beg to differ, but if you’ve ever tasted a Palisade Peach, you’ll understand what I mean. As some of you know, I belong to a local, organic CSA and have been reaping the veggie benefits all summer long. Last week the farm started shipping out the fruit shares as well. Nine plump, ripe and absolutely gorgeous peaches were included in my box. I made fresh peach cobbler, which was so good I ate what was leftover the next morning for breakfast. Here’s my recipe for gluten-free strawberry/rhubarb crumble tart (or something like that). All I did was substitute the nine peaches for the strawberries and rhubarb, baked it, put a big glob of warm cobbler on my plate, and topped it off with some vanilla ice cream. Well, you’ll just have to experience this bit of food heaven for yourself. It’s too good to describe, so give the recipe a try — this time with peaches. Yum!

Swiss chard
This nutrient-dense plant should probably be called Greek chard as it was Aristotle who in the 4th century BC wrote about its health-promoting benefits. How did he know all that stuff back then? The guy had a very diverse resume. Although there are several different varieties of chard, all are basically tall, green, leafy plants with crunchy stems. All versions are low in calories, high in nutritional value, and full of hearty taste. Some people find this full-bodied flavor a bit much, but I like the taste and the texture. Similar to spinach, kale, and collard greens, chard is rich in vitamins A, C, E, and K and an excellent source of magnesium, potassium, iron and fiber. It is also a good source of osteocalin, which promotes bone health. And yes, we all want strong bones!

summer squash
Related to both the melon and the cucumber, summer squash has a tender center, lots of seeds, and edible flowers called squash blossoms. Like chard, there are several different varieties, but most have similar cooking qualities and all are fairly mellow in flavor. Squash is an excellent source of vitamin C and A, manganese, magnesium, potassium, and fiber. Plus, you can do anything with squash — from basic steaming to bread making. Those great big, overly mature squashes (the kind people try to pawn off on you) have stringy centers and aren’t nearly as tasty as the smaller versions. I like using chunks of squash in garden enchiladas with blue corn tortillas.

Although corn, cantaloupe, and eggplants are in season right now as well, I’ll spare you more nutritional talk. For now, anyway.

Enjoy!
In good health,
Melissa

Is it Labor Day Weekend already? Seriously? Does that mean I can finally stash the window fans and sunscreen? Here in the high desert- not likely. But there is a subtle shimmer of gold in the younger cottonwoods along the Chama River. And mornings here in the shadow of the mesa are deliciously chilly. I walk bare armed and goose-bumped just to feel the coolness. It's invigorating after the weeks

A few of my readers and NYC Celiac Disease Meetup members have recently asked me about cooking classes in NYC. I took a great cooking class with the Gluten-Free Girl at Whole Foods Bowery last...

Don't just settle into living a boring gluten-free life. Let's talk gluten-free fun... food, restaurants, recipes, and more

Have I mentioned that I LOVE peanut butter?!  From kindergarten through the twelfth grade I ate a peanut butter sandwich every single day at school (over 2,000 PB sandwiches consumed!). Recently, I discovered an amazing site which pays homage to one of my favorite delicacies.  I truly think the Peanut Butter Boy is my long lost brother (hey, in my family, you never know what other siblings are out there!).

Ahem, moving on…

So, Peanut Butter Boy is hosting “The Great Peanut Butter Exhibition #4 - No Bake”. Oh yeah! No baking AND peanut butter - I am totally feeling this challenge. I immediately thought of a recipe my mom and I used to make when I was little. It’s no-bake, kid-friendly, and is a healthy treat. The original recipe called for wheat germ, however, I’ve substituted flax seed since “wheat is dead to me”. I must also note that I used to call these concoctions Peanut Butter Balls, but I decided to rename the recipe as it just didn’t sound very, uh, nice.

Peanut Butter & Honey Truffles

1 cup DRY milk (I used non-fat)
1/2 cup peanut butter (Crazy Richards Chunky)
1/3 cup honey (local)
1/4 cup ground flax seed (Bob’s Red Mill)

Mix all ingredients together. Form into small balls. Roll balls in coconut, cinnamon & sugar, or cocoa mix.  Refrigerate for 15 minutes and enjoy!

I humbly submit this recipe to my long lost brother’s Peanut Butter Exhibition #4

My Favorite Italian Recipes Our Favorite Basil Pesto Winter Pesto Fast & Easy Little Garlic Shrimp Pizzas Pomegranate Glazed Green Beans & Portobellos Mediterranean Chicken Soup for the Soul Pesto Zucchini Tomato Gratin An Easy Savory Ragout- Vegetarian Sexy Spring Pasta with Roasted Asparagus Gluten-Free Spaghetti & Meatballs Joey & Karina's Fall Spinach & Rice Bake with Chicken Alex's

Summer fresh organic yellow tomatoes topped with mint, thyme and scallions, then drizzled with extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar. What more could you ask for? A low glycemic snack with my favorite Mediterranean flavors. And no b-word. I'm deep into my first week on the South Beach Diet, whittling down my waist a half pound at a time. I am seeing a difference already. And what's really