Red Lentil Soup with Pesto Biscuits

(Confession: these savory biscuits were not a hit with the wee folk. Nor with the HBB himself, who claims he has trouble getting past the garbanzo-flour taste. But I liked them fine...and they're oat-free!)


Red Lentil Soup

1 large onion, chopped
1 sweet potato, peeled and chopped
2 carrots, peeled and chopped

Fry above ingredients in two tablespoons of oil until soft.

Add:

1 cup red lentils
1 cup buckwheat groats
8 cups water
1 teaspoon cumin

Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer for 30-45 minutes, uncovering halfway through. Add salt and pepper to taste.


Pesto Biscuits

3/4 cup garbanzo bean flour
1/2 cup rice flour
1/2 cup quinoa flour
1/4 cup tapioca flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder

Mix dry ingredients together.

Mix together the following "pesto" ingredients:

1/4 cup almond butter
1/4 cup olive oil
4 cloves of garlic, crushed
3-4 stems' worth of basil leaves, chopped fine
2/3 cup milk (soy, rice, hemp, etc.)

Combine dry and wet ingredients, mixing quickly. Scoop onto baking sheet to make 8-10 biscuits. Top each biscuit with a few pine nuts, if desired. Bake at 425 degrees for 12-15 minutes.

Pesto With A Twist

(For this vegan pesto, the Happy Belly Baker had the brilliant idea to use nut butters to make up for the missing parmesan cheese. I loved it so much that I demanded a recipe, pronto. HBB regrets that because he wasn't expecting this one to end up on the blog, he wasn't too precise with his measurements. He wishes you luck.)

Bunch of fresh basil (as much as your hands can hold)
Small package of fresh spinach (ours was 4 ounces)
1/2 cup pine nuts
4 cloves of garlic
olive oil (HBB says 3 glubs, as in glub glub glub from the bottle)

Blend all ingredients in a food processor. Add the following:

2 tablespoons almond butter
2 tablespoons macadamia butter

Blend and enjoy on rice pasta!

Marinated Tofu and Summer Vegetables with Rosemary

(I almost didn't post this recipe because my photos made it look sort of grotesque. You'll have to trust me when I say we all found it delicious! The HB Baker suggests that you might want to grill the tofu and veggies; he chose the quick and easy frying route instead.)

1 package firm tofu
wheat-free tamari (or Bragg's)

Drain tofu, then slice into small slabs. Place flat in a single layer on pan and shake tamari to coat (flip and coat other side, too). Refrigerate and marinate for several hours, flipping once or twice. Sprinkle on more tamari if all is absorbed.

Heat skillet and coat with oil. Fry tofu pieces, turning them when crisp and brown. Drain on paper towel and set aside.

Chop the following:

1 onion
1/2 red pepper
1 yellow summer squash

Combine and fry until soft. Add a few shakes of tamari and some fresh rosemary (needles stripped from two six-inch stems and chopped fine).

Place tofu on a platter and cover with the veggies.

(We enjoyed ours with fresh sweet corn and potato salad -- see below.)

Simple Summer Pasta

Moving away from baked goods for a moment...

Doing without wheat doesn't have to mean doing without pasta. Here we have a bit of rice rotini topped with sautéed yellow squash, red pepper, spinach, fresh basil and toasted sunflower seeds. Yum!