Gluten Free Sweet Potato Tempura

Here is gluten free, vegan sweet potato tempura. It came out light and crisp and oh so yummy.

Tempura, a Japanese dish of deep fried vegetables, fish and shrimp in a crispy wheat and egg based batter, has long been a kind of holy grail for me. When I was living in Japan, long before giving up gluten, tempura was one of my favorite foods. But I never tried to make it at home.

Having to give up gluten and egg changed that for me. Suddenly I craved tempura all the time. And if couldn't get gluten free tempura at a restaurant, I'd have to figure out how to make it myself.

The epiphany for me came while I was reading one of my Indian cookbooks. In it was a recipe for onion bhaji, onions coated in thick chick pea flour batter and spices and deep fried, served with a spicy sauce.

I made a slightly thinner batter using chick pea flour and it worked ! The batter works well with any vegetables or fish. I've had good success with julienned vegetables such as sweet potato, carrots, string beans and onions mixed together and coated with batter to make a kind of 'nest.' Here I served the sweet potatoes with a wedge of lime. Sometimes I make a dipping sauce using grated daikon and gluten free soy sauce.

Here's the recipe:

2 cups chickpea flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 cup cold water
vegetables, fish and/or shrimp
vegetable oil to fry, such as canola or rice bran

In a bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Gradually mix in cold water to make a batter.

Heat enough oil in a wok or deep pan to deep fry. Test the temperature by dropping small bits of batter into the oil. When the turn golden brown, the oil is ready.

Lightly dip vegetables, fish or shrimp into the batter and immediately drop into the oil. Turn over once. They are down when golden brown and crispy. Drain on paper towels and serve immediately with dipping sauce.

Chia-Flax Seed Crackers with Hummus and Avocado

Snack time !

These are dehydrated crackers made from flax, sesame, chia and sunflower seeds.

Chia seeds (remember the Chia Pet?) are exceptionally rich in essential fatty acids, the seeds contain up to 60% omega 3 fatty acids, comparing favorably to flax seeds, another seed rich in essential fatty acids. Another 20% of the chia seed is comprised of protein, and the chia seed contains many important and rare nutrients such as calcium, zinc, vitamin B-6, magnesium, vitamin C, iron, thiamin, niacin, folate, phosphorus, and boron.

I discovered chia seeds about a year ago as a treatment for constipation. At the time, my younger son had infrequent bowel movements and we were looking for some possibilities to speed things up. Chia seeds really did the trick. Chia seeds are unique in their ability to absorb more than 10 times their weight in water, promoting hydration in the gastrointestinal tract and stimilating elimination.

Dehydrated crackers are a great way to try chia seeds as they have a pleasant nutty flavor and crunch. These crackers are great with homemade hummus and slices of avocado. It is one of my favorite snacks.

1 cup flax seeds
1/4 cup chia seeds
1 cup sesame seeds
3/4 cup sunflower seeds
1 teaspoon celtic sea salt
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder

Pour flax and chia seeds into a medium sized bowl and add 2 cups of filtered water. The seeds will become very gooey. Pour sesame and sunflower seeds into a second medium sized bowl and add 2 cups of filtered water. Soak seeds for 6 to 12 hours. Drain and rinse the sesame and sunflower seeds and add to the flax and chia seeds. Do not drain the flax and chia seed mixture. Add the sea salt, garlic powder and onion powder.

Spread on a dehydrator tray and dehydrate at 105 degrees for 8 to 12 hours or overnight. Flip over onto a mesh tray and dry for another 4 to 6 hours or until completely crisp.

Store in an airtight container.

Furikake

... a better title for this post is "How to Get Your Kids to Eat Seaweed."

Furikake is a Japanese condiment used as a seasoning for rice. It is made from ingredients such as seaweed, sesame seeds, dried bonito flakes, salt and sugar. Sprinkled on top of a bowl of rice or added to rice balls, furikake adds color, flavor and nutrition to plain rice.

Here I've made a gluten free version using nori seaweed, white sesame seeds and celtic sea salt. I've toasted the nori and the sesame seeds to intensify the flavor. My kids love it, in part because it's so silly to say 'furikake,' in part because it's fun to shake it out of the container onto their rice, and in part because it just tastes great.

Here's the recipe:

1/3 cup nori
1/8 cup white sesame seeds
1 teaspoon sea salt (or to taste)

Heat oven to 250 degrees.

Place nori and sesame seeds on a baking tray for 5 minutes or until the nori is crispy and sesame seeds are toasted. Take out the nori before it starts to brown. It may be necessary to toast the sesame seeds longer than the nori.

Add sea salt to a suribachi, a Japanese mortar and pestle, or to your food processor. Grind the sea salt slightly, then add half the sesame seeds. Grind until the sesame seeds are smashed and mixed with the salt. Crumble the nori into the mixture. Mix in the remaining sesame seeds.

Sprinkle on rice as desired. Or use instead of salt to season potatoes, vegetables, fish or chicken.

You can find furikake at Japanese supermarkets and on the internet. Please be sure to read the labels carefully if you have allergies or are on a gluten free diet. Many of the commercial brands contain soy sauce as a seasoning, which can contain wheat. Some brands also contain allergens such as dried egg, fish and shrimp. And some contain monosodium glutamate.

Sprouted Brown Rice

If you haven't seen it yet, you will soon. Sprouted brown rice is all the rage.

What is it? Sprouted brown rice, known as hatsuga genmai in Japanese, is brown rice that is allowed to germinate by soaking the rice before cooking.

The process of germination enhances the bio-availability of nutrients by neutralizing phytic acid, the enzyme inhibitor in all grains, seeds and beans, that bind nutrients within the grain until the conditions are right for the grain to sprout. Consumption of unsprouted grains can lead to poor absorption of the nutrients in the grain. The incompletely digested proteins can irritate the intestines, leading to inflammation and allergic reactions. Neutralizing the phytic acid, releases the protein, vitamins and enzymes, allowing these important nutrients to be absorbed during digestion.

Traditionally, grains have almost always been soaked, sprouted or fermented before eaten. In Europe, bread was carefully cultured and fermented over a long period of time before being baked. In Africa, the staple grain millet has traditionally been soaked and fermented before being cooked into a porridge. In Scotland and Ireland, whole oats were always soaked overnight before cooking into a breakfast porridge, although we have lost that tradition in modern times with our instant oatmeal. In Asia, brown rice and millet traditionally were rinsed, then soaked overnight before cooking. Even today, the typical Japanese housewife knows to soak her rice before cooking.

In Japan there has recently been renewed interest in sprouted rice thanks to a number of recent scientific studies done on gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), a naturally occurring amino acid created during the germination process. The consumption of GABA is credited with important health benefits that range from lowering cholesterol and blood pressure, boosting the immune system, improving sleep, and inhibition of cancer cells.

So it makes good sense to soak and sprout your rice. Both from the perspective of tradition and science.

And it is easy to do. Any kind of brown rice will work (white rice won't work because the part of the rice that germinates has been removed). In the picture above, I have sprouted basmati brown rice (you can see the tiny sprouts in the picture). Here is the process:

1. Rinse 1 1/2 cups (or more if desired) brown rice several times until the water is clear.

2. Place the rice in a bowl and cover well with filtered water.

3. Let stand 12 hours or overnight.

4. Pour rice into a strainer and rinse well.

5. Set the strainer over a bowl to drain out of direct sunlight. Cover with a clean dishtowel.

6. Every 12 hours, rinse the rice well.

7. After 24 to 48 hours, small sprouts will appear. Use or refrigerate the rice until ready to use.

8. Cook as you would cook unsprouted brown rice, using slightly less water (for the 1 1/2 cups of rice in this recipe, use 2 cups water). The cooking time will also be shorter.

Sprouted brown rice has a pleasant nutty taste, and is less heavy and noticeably more digestible compared to unsprouted rice.

If you don't want to spout your own, you can find germinated brown rice at some natural foods markets and on-line. DHC, a Japanese health and beauty company, sells germinated brown rice on their website. Also, Zojirushi, a Japanese appliance manufacturer, sells several rice cookers with a built in 'GABA' feature that sprouts the rice for you during the cooking process.

I'm on the Radio !

I am this week's guest on Global Healing Radio, an internet radio station dedicated to education and awareness of issues related to healing.

I'll be talking about the connection between food allergies and nutrition, as well as my quest to heal my son's allergies by changing what and how we eat.

The hour long interview will broadcast on Live365.com Tuesday May 6 and Thursday May 8 at 7:00 am and 7:00 pm EST. Click here to listen.

If you miss the show, you can download the podcast here, which will be uploaded after the show airs on Tuesday.

Also, you can check out my story on the Global Healing Vision blog.