KarmaFree Cooking

Agave Nectar

I learned about Agave nectar when I attended the Conscious Gourmet cooking seminar this past April. I am sure I walked past it a million times in many health food stores, but I usually consume honey or brown sugar to sweeten things and have not had the need to use anything else…

At the seminar we discussed refined sugars and all the potential health conditions it’s associated with, such as:

Candida

Depression

Crohn’s Disease/Colitis

Ulcers

Hypertension

Gallstones

Kidney-stones

Even, Cancer

So based on this information, why not use and consume a more natural and non-processed form of sweetener?

Agave nectar is made from the same plant Tequila is made. Cool, huh? So because it’s a plant-based sweetener, it’s also vegan. Another cool thing about agave nectar is it has a very low glycemic index. This means that when you consume it, it will barely increase the glucose levels in your blood, therefore not increasing the production of insulin nor activating the fat storage system. Hey, I learned this from my sister who is a diabetic from the age of 15 and an endocrinologist.

Just to give you an idea of the glycemic index of different foods:

Corn Flakes         119

White Bread       112

Rice                        83

Honey                   83

Apple                    54

Peas                      32

Agave nectar     27

Agave nectar then is great for those people who are diabetic, are watching their carbohydrate intake or blood glucose levels or even watching their weight. You can see how my friend Kathleen lost about 45lbs. this last year and agave nectar is one of the few sweeteners she now uses.

And don’t underestimate its sweetness. Agave nectar is sweeter than table sugar, but it’s not processed or contains any chemicals. Actually, you should use about ¼ to 1/3 less amount of agave than you would sugar or honey. You use it the same way you would use honey – to sweeten beverages, desserts, hot cereals, smoothies, yogurts, etc. I even use it to sweeten my Spinach Crepes recipe.

Check out agave nectar the next time you go to your local health food store. Try it, you’ll not be disappointed…

Tags: agave nectar, low glycemic index, natural sweetener, Vegan

Comments 8 Comments
Categories basics, MY EDITORIAL

Vanilla Maple Carrots

21 Jan

Believe it or not… this is one of the recipes that started it all. I found this recipe in the November 2007 issue of Martha Stewart Living, did it and was sooooo easy and tasty that I shared it with my friend Kathleen. She made it, liked it and posted it on her blog Kathleen’s Vegetarian Kitchen. The rest… is blogosphere history.

So far, I have made this about 3 times at the Yoga Center I attend and I always get requests to make it again. I know my pictures are not yet to Martha’s standards, but with practice, I hope to get there one day… at least the flavors are already there.

Again, the times I have done this, I have done 5 lbs. of carrots at a time. So I will follow the original recipe’s quantities to adapt to the regular household amounts.

VANILLA MAPLE CARROTS

1 pound carrots, peeled and cut diagonally into 1/2-inch-thick slices

1 cup water

1 vanilla bean, halved lengthwise

3 tbsp pure maple syrup

1-2 tbsp honey

2 tbsp butter

Salt and Pepper to taste

Combine carrots and water in a large skillet or saucepan. Season the water with salt and scrape the insides of the vanilla pod and mix in with the water. Throw in the vanilla pod left as well.
Bring to a simmer and cook carrots until they’re tender, about 10-13 minutes. Martha’s recipe says the water evaporates, mine never does evaporate a lot. So….
Drain all the water from the carrots.
Add syrup, honey, pepper and toss to combine. Be careful not to break up any carrots.

This makes a great side dish on any night, but would also work particularly well for Thanksgiving or for any potluck dinner.

Tags: carrots, honey, maple syrup, vanilla bean

Comments 3 Comments
Categories side dishes, Thanksgiving

Stuffed Mushrooms

21 Jan

I realized last night, I made this recipe a few months ago and forgot to post it…

I love mushrooms. I salivate when I travel to visit my sister in Indiana or to New York and go to any regular supermarket and see the wide variety of fresh mushrooms available. Here we get mostly white button mushrooms and with luck, sometimes we can find portobellos, creminis or oysters… but they’re usually old soggy-looking, so I never buy them like that.

I learned this recipe from my other good friend, Giada De Laurentiis. And until now, I haven’t realized my photo resembled so much the photo in the Food Network website. I usually make this by “eye-balling” the proportion of the ingredients… so we’ll just use Giada’s proportions as a guide this time.

STUFFED MUSHROOMS

1/2 cup whole-wheat bread crumbs – I grind ww breadsticks or leftover bread in the food processor
1/2 cup shredded Pecorino Romano or Parmesan cheese
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley leaves
Salt and Black pepper to taste

Garlic & Herb Seasoning or Italian Seasonings
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
28 large white or cremini mushrooms, stemmed

Save about 1/2 the mushroom stems

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees F.
Prepare the stuffing by mixing in a bowl the breadcrumbs, cheese, garlic, parsley, seasonings, salt and pepper. Add olive oil until the mixture is damp and holds somewhat together when you press it between your fingers.
Take about 1/2 the mushrooms stems you took off and chop them very finely. Add them to the breadcrumb mix and combine.
Fill each mushroom cap – not too tightly because they might break.
Drizzle olive oil on a baking sheet, place mushroom caps on sheet and drizzle additional olive oil on top of the mushrooms.

6. Bake for about 30 minutes until mushrooms are soft and the top of the filling is golden brown.

7. Serve warm.

These are great as an appetizer or as a side dish. I once made a “stuffed night” and served these mushrooms with my Stuffed Peppers and worked great.

Tags: breadcrumbs, cheese, cremini, mushrooms

Comments 1 Comment
Categories appetizers, side dishes

Clementines – My favorite winter citrus

20 Jan

Citrus are mainly in season during winter-time. I read somewhere the season starts in November. I know we have lemons here all year round… but when I visit Costco, it’s near the December/January time-frame where I see and can purchase one of my favorite citrus fruits… CLEMENTINES!!!!!!!

I learned about these delicious and cute Clementines about 10 years ago, but was not able to get them here in PR… and when Costco opened their doors about 6 years ago, they started bringing them. I love them because they’re petite, mostly seedless, super sweet and their membranes are really thin, so they’re easy to eat in segments.

I regularly do not eat regular oranges in segments… I learned this when I was in school in Chicago and we had to do a project about the introduction to market of an Orange. People would talk about eating them without a knife and I was – hello!!! speak for yourself!!! I have to peel an orange with a knife and cut them in half … just like you would if you were using a juicer to make fresh squeezed juice. I eat oranges like this because i can’t stand the bitterness of the membranes around the segments.

So for those of us who do not like orange membranes, Clementines are the perfect orange for you… as they are for me. And the cute wooden crate is just an added plus.

Try some soon and tell me all about it…

http://www.producepete.com/shows/clementines.html

Tags: clementines, orange

Comments 4 Comments
Categories basics, MY EDITORIAL

Freezing Berries

20 Jan

I guess I am in a very fruity mode these days… but I indeed mentioned that one of my new year’s resolutions were to eat more fruit and vegetables. I am taking you along for the ride…

I love making myself fruit smoothies in the mornings. Particularly, I LOOOOOVE adding fresh berries to them. Unfortunately, in a way, is that berries are pretty expensive… I am paying these days between $7 and $8 for a pound of strawberries. I guess they’re not in season in the US and they’re bringing them from God-knows-where. And there’s little I can do to reduce my carbon footprint in regards to this… because we don’t grow berries in Puerto Rico, I either buy them imported, frozen, or not eat them at all.

What I want to share with you is about freezing berries… this is a trick I learned, again, from my good friend Martha Stewart (she does not know how good friends we are…) With the price I pay for berries, I can’t eat them all at once and they’re prone to spoil fast. To avoid this when I purchase these beautiful strawberries, raspberries, blueberries or any other berry… is to freeze them individually on a baking sheet and then store them.

I wash the berries, remove any stems, dry them as well as I can and place them without touching on a baking sheet. Place the baking sheet on the freezer overnight and then store the berries in a freezer plastic storage bag. Never freeze them all clumped up in a bag, because then you’ll have a tough time separating them if you need just a small amount at a time.