Friday Eye Candy: Farmers' Market, Strawberries, and a Peek at My Beach Path

Organic strawberries make gluten-free luscious and beautiful.

I have been sitting here in my chair, as bone quiet still as a nun in a pew at midnight, with nary a poetic turn of phrase in sight. I am trying to conjure words for strawberries. And summer. And the newly minted sensation of actually, finally, living by the sea. I keep thinking about breathing- because the ionized ocean air is so sexy gorgeous you could eat it with a spoon. And because for the first time in a long, long time I can feel myself uncoil a bit and allow a long, soft exhale to trail into the stream of salty wind that whistles through the crack of an open window above my bed as I blink awake to the whoop of a sunrise surfer ripping his way down a foamy curl. His joy is infectious. And I smile. And yawn.

The word gratitude comes to mind.

Not to mention, abundance. This week's farmers market was indeed abundant, tumbling wild with the jewels of summer. Boxes and boxes of fragrant strawberries. Buckets of cherries. Crates of plums. Potted herbs and June blooms- peonies and Japanese iris. So I offer you eye candy today. The gift of color. And ten gluten-free strawberry recipes to inspire your weekend and get you in the mood to whoop.

It's summer. Live a little. Get juicy.


Continue reading

Gluten-Free Strawberry Rhubarb Crumble

Warm from the oven gluten-free crumble with quinoa flakes.

We've been blessed with fecund weather here in West Hollywood. Love is in the air. House finches are singing. Mourning doves coo. Roses are unfolding their velvet petals. Jacaranda trees are bursting with violet-blue corollas. In other words, picnic perfect.

I've been messing around with crisp and crumble dessert recipes this week, intent on creating an easy summertime dessert for backyard get togethers and grill side dining. So although I have featured a strawberry rhubarb crisp in the past (kissed with a hint of balsamic vinegar) I decided to play around with an alternative topping to the classic pairing of tart rhubarb and sweet ripe strawberries. And I grabbed a secret ingredient from my pantry.

Can you guess what it is?

Continue reading

Gluten-Free Strawberry Rhubarb Muffins with Cinnamon Streusel Topping

Strawberry rhubarb muffins with streusel- gluten-free and vegan.

Just in case you have a few sticks of rhubarb still kicking around, I'm reprising this wonderful recipe for strawberry rhubarb muffins. And did I mention- streusel topping? Yes, please. ~Karina

Can't get enough of the classic spring pairing of strawberries and rhubarb? Me neither. So I baked a batch of muffins, dressed up to party with cinnamon streusel topping. These easy to toss together treats are tender pull-apart bites of grainy buckwheat sweetness studded with bits of tart rhubarb. A recipe perfect for brunch or afternoon tea.

Continue reading

Strawberry Chocolate Chip Muffins

Gluten-free muffins with strawberries and chocolate chips.

The moon rose almost full last night, hanging gold and low above the palm and ficus trees, urging the local beauty factor to give up its pretense of reality and meld with dreamland. The sky was a deep shade of violet with a wash of strawberry pink at the ocean's edge. Santa Monica continues to hold me in her sway. I am in love with her- and deeply grateful to be here, celebrating my first spring in California since the late seventies. I drink the friendly March sea air in gulps. I wander the alleys and sidewalks in a state bordering on bliss, photographing details and eye candy with my iPhone. It is a visual feast.

And I am savoring every bite.

Continue reading

Blueberry-Strawberry Cobbler

A vegan berry cobbler. Two berries are better than one.

Baking at sea level- in an unfamiliar oven- has been a challenge that has humbled your intrepid gluten-shunning goddess at large. My mojo is askew. All my old tricks and tweaks for high altitude baking are no longer required. It's like losing a third of your favorite play list. Or half your shoes. All the left ones. I have to realign my route. I must toss out all my assumptions (a favorite mid-life goal, anyway, so I may as well practice it).

Continue reading

Strawberry Cobbler Cake

Dear Gluten-Free Goddess,

Not another strawberry recipe! Please. And a cake recipe at that? Pfffft. I've had it with all your so called strawberry deliciousness. Will you just get over it already? What do you think this is, strawberry season? I'm totally bored with the whole strawberry thing. Good Gracious Lord In Heaven. Where the bleep are the broccolini recipes? The watercress and sardine tarts? The marinated scapes, head cheese and tripe? Where's your squid ink linguini recipe? I can't find it anywhere.

And must I mention, boutique beans? You of all people- living in your precious New Mexico desert. Or have you moved to Hollyweird now? (that figures). I want boutique heirloom bean recipes. I need my daily fiber, if you get my drift.

What? None of the above?

Continue reading

Gluten-Free Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp

Gluten-free strawberry rhubarb crisp with a tangy twist.

When I was a little girl my favorite way to eat rhubarb was to snap off a stick in the back yard, run into the kitchen and dip the end into the sugar bowl, repeating the dipping process as needed to coat each tart and chewy bite with granular sweetness. In a post Seinfeld world I risk being labeled a dreaded double dipper. And I admit up front, it's true.

I double dipped and triple dipped and lived to tell the tale.

Beyond childhood I never bothered much with rhubarb, except for tasting the occasional strawberry rhubarb crisp at someone else's family picnic. I was never much a fan of it cooked. Stewing and baking seemed to rob it of its charms, mocking my memory of those sugar coated crisp and sour stalks. The mush in the bottom of all those Pyrex baking pans was a sorry excuse for rhubarb, I thought. So recreating a rhubarb crisp recipe for living gluten-free was never glowing brightly on my cooking radar screen. It was never even the faintest of blips. I've been blogging for four rhubarb seasons now and haven't felt inspired to develop a recipe. Until now.

Why now, I've no idea. Perhaps it's because we're stuck out here in the desert, with nary a garden or bursting rhubarb patch in sight. Just rolling hills of crusty earth studded with brittle pinon and juniper trees, the oddball cholla, or tuft of tenacious sage. The words green and leafy don't exactly come to mind when you walk the dirt road to the arroyo.

So when I spotted a few lonely stalks of rhubarb in a basket at Whole Foods in Santa Fe- ruby red and sexy in their glistening rhubarb goodness- I thought, Why not attempt a strawberry rhubarb crisp recipe?

And because I'd asked myself out loud my husband said, You do realize you just asked three stalks of rhubarb if you should make them into a crisp?

Well, yeah, I shrugged back. I talk to my fruit.

Don't you?

Continue reading

Strawberry Banana Muffins

Summer strawberries make sweet and tender muffins.

My latest vegan muffin recipe is a tender, fragrant strawberry banana treat. And they just so happen to be wheat-free, dairy-free and egg-free.

June is sexy gorgeous here in northern New Mexico. The sun is just the right amount of hot. The sky is flawless cobalt blue. The morning shade is deliciously cool. The mockingbirds sing their magic in the junipers. And the strawberries at the market are drop dead ripe. If fruit is love, it must be a strawberry- red and juicy and flirtatious.

And if I was so inclined I would wax voluptuous, like a cheap romance novel. I would detail every lip licking moment in my big strawberry love. How I crush and whip them into smoothies. Churn them into dairy-free sherbet. Bake them into golden scones. Macerate them in orange infused liqueur. And stir them slowly into sticky banana muffin batter.

In fact, I would flaunt my muffins.
 

Continue reading

Strawberry Chocolate Chip Sherbet- A Dairy-Free Vegan Recipe

Ripe strawberries make delicious non-dairy sherbet

Now is the perfect time for a sherbet recipe. Why? Because June is lush and abundant in strawberries. And how do I love these sweet ruby gems? Any way I can get 'em. Popped into my mouth straight from the colander. Rolled in brown sugar and nibbled. Baked into scones (have you tried my Strawberry Chocolate Chip Scones recipe?) and berry studded banana muffins. Nestled into Balsamic Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp. Macerated in Patron Citronge. 

And this week- transformed into a bliss inducing non-dairy frozen confection.

Sherbet- berry pink and creamy and just sweet enough. Studded with semi-sweet chocolate chips. (All right, I confess. I love strawberries and chocolate and I commingle the two every chance I get.)

I hope you dig it.

Continue reading

Strawberry Chocolate Chip Scones- Gluten-Free Recipe

Easy gluten-free scone deliciousness.

Today was a good day. A strawberry and chocolate laced crusty on the outside tender on the inside kind of day. That's right. I got sconed. And the best part (aside from the fresh organic berry goodness, that is)? These golden biscuity morsels are vegan. That's right. No eggs. No milk. No butter (sorry, moo-cow fans).

On a whim yesterday (I am often prone to whims Dear Reader, especially after a sun dappled picnic on the Santa Fe plaza, perched on a bench beneath a flowering cherry tree across from a red robed Buddhist monk eating Chinese take-out. We devoured pesto slathered smoked turkey rolled in brown rice tortillas and I didn't drip a single green drop of cilantro infused olive oil on my ironed boot cut jeans) I picked up a Gluten-Free Pantry Muffin and Scone Mix at Whole Foods (long time readers know I miss my old favorite Pamela's Ultimate Baking Mix, and I've yet to find an all-purpose replacement mix that's half as good).

I was in such an expansive mood post my double espresso at the nearby Starbucks that I thought I might try baking something fun and slightly indulgent for the weekend. The organic strawberries smelled beyond heavenly in their ripe and ruby lusciousness. Yes, I smell all my fruit and veggies before I buy. Don't you? The woman with the amber handled cane you see standing in the Whole Foods produce aisle sniffing tomatoes and berries and anything else she can get her one free hand on, Darling?

That would be me.

Continue reading

Strawberries Citronge

With strawberries still so sexy and luscious I couldn't help myself. I had to buy a quart and slice them up for a cool dessert to offer our dashingly handsome new neighbor and friend Joey. After all, what beats fresh, ripe fruit in season, especially after a late and lazy August afternoon spent under the portal, sipping [um, several of] Joey's fabulously limey pucker-your-lips margaritas, and tasting a variety of sliced heirloom tomatoes (picked fresh that very day in a Taos garden) topped with thin dabs of marinated mozzarella (so creamy and basil-y and garlicky)?

I mean, what do you give a guest who brings such treasures? And what do you serve after all the heat and sparkle of smart and insightful conversation, and all the peachy glow of new friendship and discovery. The flutter of synchronicity. And I forgot to mention, the dinner itself [which I'll blog about soon, and share the recipes]. Nothing.

Nothing beats luscious summer strawberries. Especially when you macerate the ruby gems in a local favorite- Patron Citronge Orange Liqueur- and spoon them gently on melty scoops of dark chocolate sorbet served in Mexican stemmed Margarita glasses and share them under the stars.

As Bogart famously said, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

Strawberries Citronge Recipe

Gently hand wash and drain a quart of ripe fresh strawberries. Slice them into a bowl (removing the green tops). 

Toss lightly in a sprinkling of organic cane sugar [or raw agave, if you're not into the whole sugar thing]. 

Drizzle with Patron Citronge Orange Liqueur.

Toss lovingly. Cover and chill for a couple of hours.

Serve spooned over slightly softened dark chocolate sorbet. Sigh audibly.

Serves four.