Tortillas & turkey taco filling

In the past, I've made buckwheat tortillas with moderate success. I've both fried them and baked them. I think the baking turned out the best, I think, but I was totally winging it. I had just mixed buckwheat flour, oil and water together and went for it. That's the basic recipe, I do believe for genuine tortillas. I did find this link for authentic corn tortillas and I'm going to follow it with buckwheat flour (or possibly a half and half of buckwheat and sorghum).

I will try them this afternoon and then post an update this evening or tomorrow. Wish me luck.

UPDATE: I used Bob's Red Mill buckwheat flour - it's dark and very finely ground. It is not my favorite buckwheat flour, but it was what we have available to us, since we are trying to avoid bulk-bins (i.e. gluten contamination). I've heard there is a pre-packaged "light" buckwheat flour, so I will have to look into it. My point is, when I started making the dough based on the corn recipe, the dough was way too sticky. I added probably another cup of flour and it was still too sticky. So, I added some tapioca flour. That helped at first, but then it made it sticky in a different way. Good for holding the tortillas together; bad for allowing them to transfer from wax paper to frying pan easily. Adding even more buckwheat flour as I was flatening then (with my hands and fingers, not a roller) seemed to help. I fried them on high heat in palm oil shortening. The dash of baking soda I added to the flour helped them bubble and rise.

They were chewy and fabulous. But also very time consuming. I think it took me an hour to make a dozen. [Dave had 4; I had 4; Aevryn had 1; Lily had 3. That alone tells you how good they were.] I knew it was going to take awhile, so I had pre-chopped my veggies so I was able to just let the filling simmer while I did the tortillas. I'm not sure how these would be if I made them ahead of time, put them in the fridge or freezer and then warmed them for dinner. I wonder if I'd lose a lot of the flexibility these had.

For the sake of completeness, here is what we had for dinner last night, to go with our tortillas.

Turkey Taco Filling:

• 1 lb ground turkey
• 1/2 large onion
• 1 green pepper
• 4-5 tomatoes
• 1 lg zucchini
• bone broth
• fresh cilantro
• juice of 1 lime
• sea salt, pepper, cumin, paprika, coriander, allspice, clove
  

1. Brown turkey.
2. Add 1 cup bone broth & spices. Let simmer for a few minutes.
3. Add finely chopped veggies. Simmer some more until veggies are soft.
   

Yield: enough filling for 12 small tortillas, plus lettuce cups. roughly 6-8 servings.

Taco Toppings:

• avocado
• green salsa
• lettuce
• black olives

Tortilla Strata

Our brown rice tortillas fill a nice niche. They allow us to have taco-esque meals with a modicum of normality. Just a scootch, however, since they will. not. roll. At least, not without breaking. As stated before, Dave just gives up and eats them with a fork. Lily rips them up and makes "mini tacos." I somehow hold them together at the perfect tension until the last few bites when they fall apart spectacularly.

I like the ease of having a "convenience" food available to us (there are so few), so that I'm not stuck cooking every single ingredient from scratch every single night. In theory, I'd love to do that. In practice, some evenings, the kids just are just glued to me and every second spent in the kitchen is torture to them. Or so one would assume from the constant, blood-curdling screams. Or that could just be my kids.

So, while I like their convenience, I do not like their uncooperative nature. The enchiladas helped by softening the tortillas, but I still had to roll them first (which, of course, resulted in breakage). Also, I think I would like to make a better enchilada sauce next time. In the mean time, I thought I would work with the round shape of the tortillas instead of trying to convince them to bend smoothly. I decided that layering tortillas and filling in a round cake pan would do just the trick. And it worked!

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 package (6 count) brown rice tortillas
• 1/2 cup bone broth or water
  
• onion, diced
• 2-3 bunches kolrabi greens (from my garden!)
• 1 large zucchini, diced
• 2 large tomatoes, peeled & seeded
• cilantro
• olive oil
• sea salt & pepper to taste
  
• handful of paprika
• handful of cumin
  
• large pinch of coriander
• small pinch of allspice
  
• small pinch of clove
• black olives
• 1 avocado
• shredded (raw) cabbage
  

DIRECTIONS:

1. Saute onions in olive oil, with sea salt.
   
2. Add tomatoes, zucchini, broth & spices, including cilantro.
   
3. Simmer for a few minutes, until tomatoes & zucchini are soft.
   
4. Add kolrabi greens, simmer until they turn bright green and soften.
   
5. Blend everything in a blender or food processor until smooth.
   
6. Pour a little olive oil in the bottom of a round cake pan (or square casserole dish larger than the tortillas).
   
7. Place the first tortilla in the pan.
   
8. Add 2 or 3 spoonfuls of sauce and spread around to edges.
   
9. Repeat, layering tortillas and sauce.
   
10. The last tortilla will set on top. Spread with a little bit of olive oil.
    
11. Garnish with olives & cilantro leaves.
    
12. Bake at 350*F for 15 or so minutes.

We ate ours with shredded raw cabbage, diced avocado, and black olives. If we'd had fresh salsa ready, we would have eaten that, too.

Yield: 8 slices. Enough for our family of four. If there was another side, it would easily serve four adults.

ALTERNATIVES:

• Add meat or grains or beans or potatoes.
  
• Try different greens.
  
• Add mushrooms.
  
• Add broccoli or peppers or other vegetables.
  
• Serve with shredded lettuce instead of cabbage.
  
• Serve with salsa.
  

Avocado-Banana-Coconut-Zucchini Bread*

* Not as gross as it sounds. And isn't THAT an apetizing way to begin a yummy breakfast bread recipe. Ha!

This recipe was born in response to a Dave-issued challenged. I was lamenting that we don't have any good egg replacers for baking. We can't do eggs anymore, apparently. Xanthan gum comes from corn, so we're avoiding that for now. Flax seed meal gel is out because we are avoiding all seeds and nuts for the now. Bananas are our only option really, and even then it's not always an appropriate or complementary flavor. So, Dave suggested avocados. And I scoffed. So he googled (avocados and baking to prove that other people do it) and here we are. I am only brave enough to try it mixed with bananas right now. Another time, perhaps I'll try just avocados.

I admit that it is still in the oven, so I will have to update when we've actually tasted it. However, I did taste the batter (of course) and that was super good. It had the consistency of cake batter, so I'm very interested to see the texture of the bread when it's ready.

EDITED TO ADD:
Okay it's out of the oven and cooled. It is GREAT. Very creamy. Pretty much half way between traditional banana bread & cake. It puffed up quite nicely and the edges are golden and perfect. I think I'll take a picture before we eat it all. The girls love it. It's very rich, so next time I might take out most of the coconut oil - avocados are pretty fatty, I forgot just how much. It's pretty sweet, too, so perhaps only 1/4 cup brown rice syrup... Also, I might make it as two thinner cakes, or perhaps as small muffins (so it will hold together a bit better). I also recommend letting it cool completely before cutting into it, or it will just tear apart.

INGREDIENTS:

• 2/3 cup brown rice flour
• 2/3 cup sorghum flour
• 2/3 cup tapioca flour (AKA tapioca starch)
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1 med banana
• 1 med avocado
• 2 small (or 1 med) zucchini, peeled & grated
  
• 1/2 cup coconut oil*
  
• 1/2 cup brown rice syrup**
• 1/2 cup coconut milk

[This time, I really did measure everything out, just for this blog. Also, in case it was a disaster, then I would have a starting point from which to add or subtract ingredient amounts. There's nothing like pubicly experimenting with baking.]

* Next time I would omit most of this oil - maybe a half TBSP just for flavor.
** Reduce to 1/4 cup sweetener

DIRECTIONS:

1. Mix flours, soda & salt. Set aside.
   
2. In a separate bowl, mash banana & avocado.
   
3. Add grated zucchini. Blend with a hand blender or in a food processor.
   
4. Blend in coconut oil, brown rice syrup & coconut milk, one ingredient at a time.
   
5. Slowly add avocado mixture to flour mixture, gently stirring.
   
6. Pour batter into a round cake pan.
   
7. Bake at 350*F for 30-45 minutes. You will know it's done when the edges are golden brown and a knife tip comes back clean after you poke it in the center.
   

Yield: 1 single-layer cake. Theoretically, it should serve 8. In our house, it will be gone by breakfast tomorrow.

ALTERNATIVES:

• Use honey or maple syrup instead of brown rice syrup.
  
• Use a different oil - say palm oil shortening - instead of coconut oil.
• Use rice milk instead of coconut milk.
  
• Add corn-free vanilla extract (1 tsp).
  
• Sprinkle coconut on top before baking.
• Add allergy-friendly chocolate chips.
  
• Try different flour mixtures and ratios.
• Add spices - cinnamon, clove, allspice, nutmeg... to get a spiced zucchini bread taste.
  

Fried Zucchini Slices

So, it's late summer. That means: zucchini. And lots of it. Creative, allergy-friendly, non-boring zucchini dishes are always welcome in our repertoire. Since I found an allergy-friendly bread crumb at the co-op the other day, I thought I'd try my hand at fried zucchini & pattypan squash slices. They were a hit!

INGREDIENTS:

• a few medium-sized zucchini
• several pattypan squash
• 1/2 cup (ish) palm oil shortening
  
• a few pinches of sea salt
• a few handfuls of bread crumbs
• a few handfuls of nutritional yeast

DIRECTIONS:

1. In a large bowl mix sliced zucchini & squash with bread crumbs, salt & nutritional yeast.
   
2. Heat up a skillet of shortening (you can pretty much use any frying oil you want - we made it last night with palm oil shortening, but this afternoon we used rendered chicken fat).
   
3. Pour bowl of zucchini into the skillet. Let it fry for a few minutes and then stir while frying a few more. The bread crumbs and yeast will brown and the zucchini & squash will get tender. Don't over cook, or your veggies will get soggy & mushy.

Yield: easily serves four as a side dish.

ALTERNATIVES:

• Add spices to the bread crumbs: basil, oregano, rosemary
  
• Add some aromatics: onions, garlic, ginger
• Serve with some chicken and/or baked potato wedges for a full meal
  

Turkey Tacos with Brown Rice Tortillas

I blanked on dinner tonight, so I just browned some frozen turkey and made do with what we had in the house. Luckily I had bought brown rice tortillas last time I was at the store. Also, we always have avocados and green salsa around. Easy as pie. Or tacos, as it were.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1lb free-range ground turkey
• 1 cup chicken stock (or water)
  
• 1 medium tomato, peeled, seeded & chopped
  
• 1 large zucchini, diced very small
• fresh cilantro
• green onions or chives
• 1/4 cup (or more) nutritional yeast
  
• spices: 1 Tbsp cumin, 1 Tbsp paprika, 1/4 tsp clove, 1tsp sea salt, 1/2 tsp pepper, 1/2 tsp oregano
• juice of 1 lemon
  
• 1 cup shredded raw cabbage or lettuce or other greens
• 1 can of Green Salsa - or make your own with jalapenos, tomatillos, onions & salt
• 1 avocado
• 1 package Brown Rice Tortillas
• 1 -2 Tbsp safflower oil
  

DIRECTIONS:

1. Brown turkey. Add stock a little at a time to help turkey thaw. [If you are using fresh turkey, add the stock with spices after turkey has browned.]
2. Add water, green onions, nutritional yeast & spices. Simmer for a few minutes, stirring.
3. Add zucchini, chopped cilantro, and tomato. Simmer on low-medium with lid on while preparing the next ingredients.
4. Finely slice/shred greens. Set aside.
5. Cut avocado in half, scoop out pit with spoon. Scoop out flesh from skin with spoon. Cut up into chunks.
   
6. Prepare tortillas - rub the surface of each tortilla with safflower oil and nuke in microwave for 10-15 seconds. Alternatively, have oven preheated on warm/low and toss them in the oven for a few minutes.
   
7. Check meat/zucchini - the water should be mostly absorbed. Allow to sit for 5 minutes or so.
8. Stir in lemon juice and throw some fresh cilantro on for garnish.
   

We eat ours by putting a line of the turkey filling down the middle of the tortilla. Then add avocado and fresh cabbage (and spicy green salsa down the middle if you are Dave or I). Last we attempt to roll the tortillas up. Even with the warming and the oiling they are a bit... brittle, shall we say. Lily likes to rip up the tortillas and make mini tacos. Dave likes to eat them with a fork. I manage to hold mine together long enough to eat it like a burrito. Aevryn kind of just goes for it and eats with her fists - inelegant yet effective. You could also toast the tortillas and make nachos or taco salad. The possibilities are endless.

Serves 6, if everybody eats just one (large) taco/burrito.

ALTERNATIVES:

• Additions: raw onions, raw tomatoes, salsa, sauteed peppers & onions, mushrooms - whatever you have in the house
  
• Make avocado into guacamole and spread onto tortillas first
• (VEGETARIAN): swap meat for quinoa or beans & rice

zucchini fritters

I'm getting a little "grained-out" in the morning, so those soaked pancakes will have to wait another day.

We went to the farmer's market on Wednesday and got some amazingly delicious (and large) zucchini. They were so beautiful (and cheap) that I got a bit more than we could use in a week. Thus a zucchini brainstorm yielded this easy and nutritious meal/snack.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 large zucchini, grated
  
• 1 egg
• approx 1/4 cup rice milk
• approx 1/2 cup sorghum flour
• sea salt
• safflower oil

DIRECTIONS:

1. Grate zucchini, sprinkle with sea salt
   
2. mix egg, sorghum flour, rice milk and grated zucchini
3. drop by small spoonfuls into heated safflower oil
4. turn them over when you can see the edges getting golden
5. put on wax or parchment paper to cook. sprinkle liberally with salt.
   

Lily liked to dip hers in basalmic vinegar. Aevryn just ate bits and pieces as she ran around the living room. I thought they were fairly good - I admit I'm not a huge zucchini fan, so my recipes tend to be along the lines of "how can I hide this wonderful veggie so I don't have to taste it so much?" I think they would be fantastic dipped in homemade spicy mayo.

Yield: 16 small-medium sized fritters

ALTERNATIVES:

• (Vegan): use flax meal gel instead of egg (1 Tbsp flax meal to 3 Tbsp water, whisked & heated in microwave, per egg)
  
• add grated onions or chives
• add carrots and bean sprouts and an extra egg and you get egg foo young
• add fresh herbs - cilantro or parsely or basil

Grain-free Turkey Chili with Guacamole

We are big fans of Tex-Mex influenced cuisine. (We are fans of many cuisines, as you will learn.) This Chili is easy, fast and filling.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1lb free-range ground turkey
• 1 small onion, diced
• 1 small green pepper, diced
• handful of mushrooms, diced
  
• 4 medium tomatoes, peeled, seeded & diced
• 1 large zucchini, diced (Apparently, I like dicing things!)
  
• homemade chicken bone broth (you can use water instead)
• spices: sea salt; pepper; ground cumin; clove; allspice; ground coriander; paprika; oregano
• fresh cilantro leaves, whole & diced
  
• lemon
  
• olive oil
• nutritional yeast
• medium avocado

DIRECTIONS:

1. Saute onions, peppers, mushrooms, zucchini in olive oil, sprinkled with salt. Set aside.
2. Brown ground turkey. Add bone broth as needed to keep meat from sticking to pan. Once meat is cooked, add reserved onion mixture. Stir.
3. Add diced tomatoes, chopped fresh cilantro and more bone broth. Simmer.
4. Add spices. I used: handful (well, a palmful, really) each of paprika & cumin. Liberal pinches of sea salt & pepper. Small pinch each of oregano & ground coriander. Dash each of clove and allspice. Stir well. Continue to simmer.
5. Add a couple handfuls of nutritional yeast. Stir well and continue to simmer bone broth down.
6. Once you've reached desired thickness, stir in the juice of most of one lemon, cover and let sit.
7. For guacamole, I just mash up avocado with oil oil, sea salt & lemon (or lime) juice, fresh squeezed (squeeze a bit of the lemon into the guac and then squeeze the remainder into the chili).
   

Serve the chili in a bowl with a dollop of guacamole in the middle, garnished with fresh, whole cilantro leaves.

The yield is hard to guess. This recipe easily fed all four of us for dinner with plenty left over for the girls and I for lunch the next day (and me for breakfast the following morning).

We like to make enough to have left overs. For lunch tomorrow, I will put the chili (sans gauc, because 1. it doesn't keep well & 2. my kids devour it so there's never any left) in on leafy greens - kale, lettuce, steamed cabbage - and eat like a taco. Yum!

Alternatives:

• instead of ground turkey, use free-range ground beef, buffalo, chicken, fish, whatever.

Vegetarian Alternative:

• The meat can be swapped for quinoa, millet, or rice & beans.
• Instead of swapping meat for grains, use as a meatless taco stuffing and put on brown rice tortillas - brushed with oil and nuked in the microwave or heated in the oven to soften.