The most delicious and clean tacos ever! Sweet Potato with Greens and Plantain Tortillas, Paleo, Vegan and Awesome

Today is Cinco de Mayo (yay!) it is also the middle of a strict springtime vegan-paleo goal for me. So what to do. I looooove Mexican foods, it will be one of my favorite cuisines ever and always. My eyes were first opened to mind blowing vegan Mexican food at Gracias Madre in SF. I was lucky to eat there many times, but it was a taco plate when I first fell in love. There were piles of cooked leafy greens, spiced sweet potatoes, and all the crunchy toppings. I think there were beans and loads of their wonderful freshly made tortillas. This today is my homage to them.  The tortilla making is easy as pie, but if you love corn tortillas-by all means use those!

Paleo Plantain Tortillas 
with
Chili Sweet Potato, Leafy Greens, and Avocado

Tortillas:
Makes about 14 tortillas (taco "corn-tortilla" sized)

• 4 green plantains
• 1/4 cup hot water (or more)

Leafy Greens:

• 1 bunch collards, swiss chard, or kale
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• salt

Sweet Potatoes:

• 4 sweet potatoes
• 1-2 teaspoon chili powder
• 1  teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• salt

Also: 

• Avocado
• Cabbage
• Raddishes
• Cilantro
• Salsa

For these tortillas I want a savory or neutral sort of flavor so we use the unripe or green plantains. Peeling them can be a little bit of a chore, here is a link to my earlier instructions how to do this quickly. The plantains need to be peeled and sliced into chunks before boiling for 20 minutes. You will see the raw plantain is a very pale yellow color, once it has cooked in the boiling water there's a much deeper yellow color to the flesh. 

When the plantains are fork tender drain into a colander in the sink. Wait 5 minutes so they cool a bit. Place plantains in the bowl of a standing mixer, mix on low for about 5-8 minutes. If you have the plastic guard that keeps things from jumping out the sides of the bowl now is the time to use it. If not you can hold a tea towel around the top of the bowl until pieces stop trying to jump out. 

At first it may seem very dry and crumbly, but there is a nice point when everything comes dough like. Depending on your plantains and how ripe and cooked they are this may take more time than you expect just keep the mixer on. If everything is looking very dry, which happens due to moisture escaping through the steam, add a splash of hot water until you have a consistency like cookie dough. 

With our plantain massa ready we can move onto shaping and cooking the tortillas:

You will need a tortilla press or two rigid cutting boards. Parchment paper folded in half or a plastic bag cut into two pieces.Some coconut oil or other oil of your choice. A hot griddle or frypan. 

1. Heat the griddle.
2. Apply a tiny bit of coconut oil to the inside spots of the full department where you will flatten the dough. 
3. Roll a ball of the dough in your hands.
4. Place in between the two sheets of parchment or plastic
5. Position this parchment sandwich in between your two cutting board or tortilla press. 
6. Press straight down, with all your bodyweight. 
7. Remove the top cutting board and check your tortilla. 
8. Peel off the parchment carefully, this is easier than you imagine.
9. Move the tortilla in hand directly to the griddle.
10. Cook on each side for about 5 minutes. They will look dry, pale, with not much color. The edges will turn out just a bit. 

Repeat until the dough is all used up! 

Cut a bunch of collards or Swiss chard into thin ribbons. Cook on the stove with two cloves of minced garlic, salt, a teaspoon of cumin, and a 1/2 cup of water. Simmer and sauté until the water has about braided and your greens are tender and bright. 

Cube your sweet potatoes into roughly half inch pieces. Toss to coat with olive oil  and 1 to 2 teaspoons of chili powder, 1 teaspoon of cumin and 1 teaspoon of garlic powder. Spread on a sheet pan in one layer. Bake roast at 350° for about 30 minutes, until they're tender. There is no need to stir the sweet potatoes while they are roasting see you can just forget about them until the timer beeps!

Clearly, tacos should be assembled right as you are going to eat them. Place a small bed of greens as a base on the tortilla, followed by sweet potatoes, then topped off with thin slices of avocado, radish, cabbage and cilantro. salsa or hot sauce is always a good idea in my book.

 Enjoy!
***The tortillas will keep for a few days in the fridge kept sealed up in a bag. Very good just microwaved for 20 seconds to warm them up again. Or even better, throw on a hot dry pan till warm.

Chocolate Lovers Ganache Tart / Vegan and Paleo

This may be the most simple decadent chocolate dessert. Chocolate ganache in a chocolate nut crust, serve it with whipped coconut cream and berries (or whipped cream for you milk lovers). Bring it along to a pot luck, or if you are like me, cut thin slivers off the leftover piece in the fridge, eating them standing up in the kitchen. Somehow it all disappeared too quickly.

cocoa and coconut syrup for the crust.

I needed to whip up a dessert to bring to a girlfriends dinner party over the weekend. I was late, as usual I had overbooked my day, and had not left much time to bake. Rifling through my recipe box the ganache stared at me. It had been staring at me for a few weeks. I used to make it often, but it had been ages. It would be fast, simple, and with minimal baking time of about 10 minutes. Perfect! 

Flax seed hydrating in water.

I whipped it up, no problem, and threw it in the fridge to set. But, I needed to be getting on my way over to the party and it hadn't quite set yet...really not much at all...it was still jell-O jiggling. So I fitted a basked with ice packs and my chocolate tart and crossed my fingers that any chocolate flood would stay off the car carpet. Miraculously not a drop was spilled, we stuck it in her fridge when I arrived. By the time for dessert it was well set and ready to slice with a sharp knife. 

Serve small pieces, it is quite rich and depending on the chocolate you use, can be on the bitter side. Better to see who really loves chocolate and wants to come back for more. 

If you have even a moderately stocked kitchen, you can probably throw this together from things in your panty. Usually I make one large tart in a fluted pan with a removable bottom. A very elegant, shinny, solid chocolate presentation. This time I used a throw away aluminum pan because I misplaced my tart pan. And sometimes, I make small personal tarts, they are easy and adorable. The crust to ganache ratio is different, but with some berries would be quite balanced. 

Chocolate Lovers Ganache Tart / Vegan and Paleo

• 1 Tablespoon ground flax seed
• 3 Tablespoons water
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder (sifted makes your life easier)
• 1.5 Tablespoon coconut syrup (honey, or maple syrup)
• 2 cups almond meal
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 can coconut milk (full fat)
• 1 lb (16 ounces) bittersweet chocolate (Taza or other vegan chocolate)
• 1 Tablespoon dark rum

Preheat oven to 350°. (makes a 9" or 10" tart pan, a 9" pie plate, or about 10 small tartlets)

Mix flax seed and water in a bowl. Let sit to hydrate for 5 minutes. 

Add cocoa powder and coconut syrup to the flax seed. Mix together with a rubber spatula. If you wisely sifted the cocoa powder this will go easily. If you are absent minded, like me, and didn't sift, you will now need to mush up many of the cocoa clumps. Sing something good, it goes by faster.

Add the almond meal and salt to the chocolate mixture. Mix everything together using the spatula. It will be dry and difficult at first, mix for about 1 minute and you will find it becomes more like a moist dough. 

Lightly grease your pan. Using your fingers, press the chocolate dough into a crust in your tart pan. Go up and sides and make sure there are no holes. If your hands get sticky, rinse them under cool water and return to crust making. 

Blind bake the crust for about 10 minutes in the 350° oven. Looking for it to puff slightly and smell a little toasted. There is nothing which needs to be cooked out, the flax will set and the almonds will be toasted. You can't mess it up, is what i'm saying. Just don't forget it and burn it. 

You can do this next step while the tart is baking. Open a can of full fat coconut milk, put in a saucepan and put on a medium low heat. Weigh out 1 pound of chocolate bits. If you have a chocolate bar, cut it into pieces. With a spatula, stir the coconut milk so it warms up but does not scorch. Heat it to just less than a simmer, just a few bubbles around the edge of the pan.

Turn off the heat. Pour in all the chocolate bits. Nudge them with your spatula to submerge them. But don't stir. (Double check the flame is turned off!) Give it a moment to melt all on its own.

About now you can remember to remove the tart crust from the oven to cool a bit.

Give the melting chocolate a stir or two. It will melt with no more heat, just stir with the spatula, it likes that. Once it is all velvety and smooth, you are home free. Stir the rum into the chocolate, stir to combine, and pour all the amazing melty chocolate into the chocolate crust. Dab the spatula on the top to flatten out the ripples. Place in the fridge to chill. This should happen in an hour or two, depending on how thick your tart pan is. 

Chermoula Chicken Boulettes AKA Paleo Chicken Balls on Sticks with Magic Sauce

Chermoula sauce is like fairy dust of the kitchen, it turns all it touches into magic food. Chermoula is a North African blend of warm spices, citrus and herbs in oil which is drizzled on everything from fish to meat and veggies. It can be used as a marinade, or a dressing. And I always wish I made a double batch, so I can drizzle its magical powers on everything. 

The chicken meatballs are so simple it is almost primitive cooking, two ingredients. Without the chermoula sauce they are almost unremarkable. Organic turkey or chicken is a good choice for all the reasons we know, environmental, health,  antibiotics, nutrition and animal rights. But also know that the flavors of the poultry are highlighted here, and it is a good time to choose the most happy organic chicken. 

This is a great dish if you are feeding friends who may or may not be gluten free, egg free or dairy free, or paleo! Obviously not a dish for vegetarians, but if you were doing a big party, I would stick some mushrooms or tofu on other skewers and let the vegetarians get some chermoula loving too.

Ground turkey is easy to find where I live, ground chicken less so. Both work. A butcher will often grind it for you, or in a pinch use a food processor to mince larger pieces of meat.

Anyway, now you have your ground or minced chicken. Mix it with the salt and form compact 1.5 inch balls of the chicken mixture. Thread them on metal or soaked wooden skewers. Place them to rest on a foil lined baking tray to rest while the chermoula sauce is made.

Place garlic, cilantro or parsley, lemon zest, paprika, chili powder, cumin, and olive oil into a blender. A blender really does a better job here than a food processor. If you live an electronics free life, do it old school with a mortar and pestle, adding oil in bit by bit as the herbs get bashed up. The sauce is not an emulsion, spices and herbs will settle out to the bottom giving it a chunky look. The flavors will blossom over time.

Drizzle just a bit of the chermoula on the uncooked meatballs. 

If your outdoor grill is covered in a snowy glacier, cook them under the broiler in your stove. With the broiler on high, line up the chicken skewers. Turning as they brown, keep a close eye on them. If your wooden skewers begin to char, cover them with some foil. 

The balls take about 10 to 12 minutes to cook through. Baste them occasionally with more sauce, or scoop up the pan drippings and use that. A thermometer at the interior should read 170° when the balls are throughly cooked.  

Remove to a plate and drizzle that chermoula sauce over them like crazy. 

Note: For individual appetizers, these can be cooked under a broiler in the same manner without the skewers. After the balls are cooked, plate up with some toothpicks. 

Chermoula Chicken Boulettes

16 medium meatballs, 4-5 servings

For the chermoula sauce:

4 cloves garlic

1/2 cup cilantro or parsley

zest of 1 lemon

2 teaspoons paprika

1 teaspoon chili powder

3/4 teaspoon ground cumin

1/2 cup olive oil

pinch of salt

For the chicken balls:

1 pound ground or minced chicken

1 teaspoon salt

4-5 skewers (soak if wooden)

Find this and 101 other meatball recipes in my new book Global Meatballs! I know, that is seriously a lot of meatballs. 

Paleo Chocolate Chip Cookies (egg free & nut free)

Paleo chocolate chip cookies that taste like soft Chips Ahoy? Made from plantains? You bet!

For all of you trying to stick to your healthy January plans, getting back to those good habits we gleefully forgot about over the holidays, this is what you should make when you are craving sweets and cookies. Because they taste sinful but are made of fruit!

For this recipe you want ripe yellow plantains. The ones I used are yellow but were not fully ripe. Its up to you, for a sweeter cookie, but more sugars, go for really ripe ones that are almost black. 

Peel the plantains, chop the fruit into smaller chunks and put 7 ounces into your food processor. (I started with a blender but it didn't work well with my semi-ripe plantains. So you will see I scooped it all into my food processor.) A vitamix would be awesome here. 

Measure various flours and sugars and baking things on top of the plantains. We have arrowroot, coconut flour, vanilla, cinnamon (optional), baking soda, coconut oil and coconut sugar. And chocolate chips, seriously. 

 

If you dont have arrowroot powder, tapioca powder or cornstarch will work in a similar way. 

Coconut sugar is one of those things, so delicious and good for you as sugars go. I love to bake with it and these days you can find it at most grocery stores. Maple syrup, honey, or cane sugar can all be substituted in the event you have eaten all the coconut sugar in your kitchen. It happens!

I love to use the mini chocolate chips I feel you get more chocolate in each bite that way. These vegan Enjoy Life ones are tasty. When I don't have those I use a bar of really dark chocolate, one that is so minimally processed, like 80% cocoa solids. The bar can be chopped up easily with a knife to get the 3 tablespoons of chips.  (Wait to add the chocolate until after all the blending, ok!

So there is the big mess of baking stuff.

(it got too messy to show in the middle here, so it was moved to the food processor.)

Now we are happily blending the life out of everything. We want it smooth. 

*Note: if it looks really dry during blending add some almond milk or something like that. start at 1 Tablespoon and add no more than a 1/4 cup. 

We are looking good! It is thick but without chunks. 

Sprinkle and fold in the glorious chocolate. (Seriously, what did humans live for before we got our hands on chocolate?) I wont tell if you put in even more chocolate. 

Prepare your baking sheets with parchment paper or a silpat. 

A small ice cream scooper for cookies is perfect here! This one scoops 1 and a half tablespoons. Use one of these or two spoons to make dollops of cookie dough on the paper. Keep them a consistent size so they cook at the same rate, I think 1 to 1.5 tablespoons if perfect. 

Press down the scoops to flatten the cookies. They don't melt much in the oven.

Dampen two fingers with water, to avoid cookie dough sticking, and press on the top of each cookie to flatten it, somewhere between 1/4 and 1/2 of an inch. So it is short. 

Bake at 375° for 10 - 12 minutes. 

The cookies with soften, puff and then sink. They have pretty cracks and the centers will set. 

Let cool on the hot pans for some minutes. When the cookies are warm you can sort of taste the plantain flavor. Once they cool, the same plantain flavor is all gone.

Soft Paleo Plantain Chocolate Chip Cookies

makes 14 cookies

7 oz peeled ripe plantain

2 Tablespoons arrowroot powder

2 Tablespoons coconut flour

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon (optional)

3 Tablespoons coconut sugar

3 Tablespoons coconut oil

3 Tablespoons chocolate chips (or more!)

(up to 1/4 cup milk if necessary for mixing)

Note: I always regret it if I don't make a double batch of these! 

Tostones & Mojo Sauce. Best Snack Ever. Paleo peeps and fried food lovers unite.

Tostones, like most fried food are best eaten hot right away. If you don't know them already, meet tostones, twice fried green plantains, with mojo (pronounced mo-ho) a salty citrus and garlic dipping sauce.

I learned to make tostones about 10 years ago from an amazing woman. This is the way her mother from Puerto Rico made them. No need to go purchase a special press or any contraptions. All you need is hard green plantains, oil, and salt. A few other things for the mojo sauce.  You will see from the pictures, we use the peels of the plantain to press the tostones flat. I know there is no better way than this. The natural cracks and inconsistencies in the peel when it is flattened create ridges in the finished chips that add to the crispy possibilities of the snack. It is the best.

Green plantains are more like a potato than a fruit. Starchy, and terribly hard, they need to be cooked to become edible. The first fry softens the plantain. Then it can be pressed. The second fry completes the cooking, and creates the delectable crispiness we are after. The thicker areas of the chips puff and the meaty plantain is one with the golden brown crackled edges.  I find peanut oil gives the best fry, but any neutral flavored vegetable oil will work.

If you are new to plantains, the only trick is in the third photo. Slice through the peel but not the fruit on opposing sides. Use your knife as leverage in the cut to lift up the peel as much as you can. Put down the knife and finish the job with your thumb, running it under the peel, until it pops off. Simple. (If you are doing a lot of plantains, wear gloves or coat your hands with oil, as something in the peel can stain skin temporarily. When I do one or two plantains I don't bother with gloves, soap and water work fine.)

Put on some good tunes and you will soon find an assembly line rhythm. If you are making tostones for a crowd, change to new peels after the first ones become worn down.

Tostones, Fried Green Plantains with Mojo Sauce

• 1 cup of oil (more or less)
• Green plantains, about 1 per person
• salt

• 2 cloves garlic (garlic powder is not as good, only useful in mojo emergencies!)
• salt
• Juice of 1 orange (or lemon in a pinch)
• Juice of 1 lime (or lemon in a pinch)
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• cilantro if you have it (I didn't today)

Peel plantains. Save the peels to the side. Cut into 1/2" slices on the diagonal. Heat 1/2 inch of oil until shimmering hot in a heavy bottomed pan. Test a piece to check it sizzles immediately upon contact. Fry plantain slices until lightly golden, the color will change, but don't look for brown yet. Remove to paper towels. 

Lay a plantain peel, inside up on the counter. Place a fried slice on it. Use the other peel (inside down) to cover the slice. Press down with the palm of your hand smashing the fried plantain inside. Gently lift off the top peel. It should not stick. Use a spoon to lift it from the lower peel. Repeat, working in batches. Return flattened plantains to the frying oil. Fry until golden brown on the edges. Remove to drain. Sprinkle with salt. 

Make the mojo sauce in a bowl. Mash garlic cloves in whichever way suits you. Add the salt, juices, olive oil, and cilantro if you have it. Whisk, taste, add more salt or juice to your taste.

Serve them together, dipping the tostones into the sauce as you eat them. The acidic citrus and garlic wake up all the flavors like your mouth is dancing. 

Enjoy!

The Brussels Sprouts Recipe Everyone Wants

I have had many requests for this recipe, from people who ate the brussels sprouts, ones who heard about it, and some who read by thanksgiving post.  December is here, and we all return to work, but know that the holiday season has really started, and wish we could make cookies and play with ribbon all day long. Or more to the point, as a British friend said yesterday, December is all about alcoholic fruit and booze and cake. I think she included cake on the list, the Brits would need something to absorb all the boozy fruit. (Note: upcoming post, I will figure out what British boozy fruit is.)

December is here and brussels sprouts are among the few things still in season. These are incredibly savory and briny. A welcome change to the palate. The dressing is incredibly different than our usual heavy holiday season flavors or spice and sweetness.

It went around and around out holiday table, so that is worth something. People were like, "please pass the brussels sprouts" and "where did those amazing brussels sprouts go?" and "oh YES! There are still some left!" (Read thanksgiving Part1 and Part2.)

Simple enough to make up part of an every day dinner. Be sure to make extra because you will want the leftovers!

Notes on anchovies: many people are scared of the poor little fish. (Like my husband, who thinks he doesn't like them, but when I put them in food and does not tell him, he loves it!) They are super salty and little mashed fish is...whatever they are delicious. If you don't like them much, buy the European type in a tube, it is a paste and so easy to work with in the kitchen. Unscrew the top, squeeze into a dressing, screw back on the top, and back into the fridge for very easy storage. Don't skip them, they really make this dish sing.


Savory Brussels Sprouts with Capers and Walnuts

ROASTING:
3 lbs brussels sprouts, quartered
1/4 cup olive oil
salt
1 cup walnuts

DRESSING:
2 garlic cloves
2 shallots
1/2 cup olive oil
1/8 cup red wine vinegar
1/8 cup cider vinegar
1 Tablespoon grainy mustard
2 Tablespoons honey
3 Tablespoons capers (rinsed if in salt)
1/2 - 1 Tablespoon anchovy paste (or one 2 oz tin, drained and minced)
salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 425°. Quarter each brussels sprout into 4 wedges. Place on 2 baking sheets, toss with olive oil and salt. Roast in the oven for 20 to 40 minutes. (Sprouts and ovens vary so.) Stir or shake once midway. The sprouts should have some charred black spots and crispy bits. The insides will be tender. Remove from the oven and transfer into a large bowl.

Toast the walnuts, spread them in an oven proof pan, roast in the oven for  about 8 minutes. The walnuts will be a warm brown and smell toasty and fragrant.

Make the dressing. If you have a food processor, fit it with the chopping blade. Peel garlic and shallots, chop into bits in the food processor. (Or mince with a knife.) The entire dressing can be made in the food processor, or a mason jar with a tight fitting lid works very well. Add the vinegars, olive oil, mustard, honey, capers, pepper, and some or all of the anchovy paste. Blend or shake the dressing well. Taste the dressing on a brussels sprout, add additional salt only if needed.

Pour the dressing over the still warm brussels sprouts (they absorb more flavor this way.) Serve warm or at room temperature.  Keeps for 4 days in the fridge.

*Adapted from Food and Wine, Brussels Sprouts with Walnuts, Capers and Anchovies (2011).

Thanksgiving Turkey, what happened that day. Not Quick or Easy, but still Fun!

Last I left you it was the early hours of Thanksgiving morning, when people go for Turkey Trots and road races. The 41 pound turkey was in the oven, we with fingers crossed. (Read here if you missed it.) We were soon distracted by the making of stuffing, sweet potatoes, brussels sprouts, potatoes and biscuits. The turkey continued to cook. Slowly.

Here we are in the midst of making 4 cups of dressing for these roasted brussels sprouts with walnuts and capers. 

The plan was to eat at 2:30.  My aunt had sworn the bird would take 7 long hours. We had planned to have it finish up around 1:30 so it could "rest".  

1:30- it was not close to done. 

2:00- it was not close to done.

3:00- it was still not done. 

3:05- My grandfather declared he was hungry and ready to eat. 

3:15- My sister brilliantly proposes that we invite people to sit, and serve the lasagna my mother-in-law made. The lasagna was a top notch first course. And bought us some time.

3:30- Not enough time. We propose some entertainment and when nobody steps up to the plate, we take turns sharing something we are thankful for this year. Aww, such nice feelings. 

3:45- Finally! Turkey reaches temperature.

3:47- Turkey is out of oven. Problem: we cannot remove it from the pan. The usual pair of long forks and spoons are not working. A third enormous spoon is added. Nope. The turkey has a beautiful crusty skin and everything is cracking it. 

3:50- We try pulling the turkey out. Nope. We try pulling the pan off the turkey. Nope. Can we turn it upsidown? Note: there are 7 brains around the bird working on this problem. It is snug in the pan.

4:00- What really happened will be know only to those who where there. It involved my awesome husband, some cross fit training, and two oven mitts (one of which did not survive).

Requisite photos were taken to show scale. The table ohhed and ahhed, unaware of the hilarity which had gone on in the kitchen.

The majestic bird was soon carved up and dismantled. Despite 10 hours in the oven, it was juicy, flavorful and by far the most delicious turkey anyone had eaten. 

True to Thanksgiving style, it was quickly overshadowed by biscuits and brussels sprouts that were the biggest favorite of the day. 

  

Stuffed to the gills, we mellowed over the dog show before tucking into pie. You would have thought nobody would have room for pie. But as always, they slowly disappeared over a few hours. Leaving some for breakfast, and another breakfast. Apple, mince, pumpkin and chocolate...50 shades of brown. 

(The darkest pies are the pumpkin, not chocolate, because the amount of dark black molasses in them.)

 It took 3 of us to pick the bird clean of meat for leftovers. All the bones went into a stock pot except these ones, which did not fit. Ive saved them for another time in the freezer. It went into the fridge to make stock on Saturday for soup. Here, I am quite proud to have broken down such an enormous bird...and all without ruining my rather new sweater dress which I didn't even bother to put an apron over. What a day.

Pumpkin Paleo Pancakes with Cranberries and Apples

Ok, so I have been on hiatus from writing for a week or two. Life got busy and between running from jobs to projects, getting to the gym and back, and lets be honest- Netflix, the blogging lost out. I have been cooking a lot, things like soups which turn out well, but I took no photos of the process because...its just a soup and I was hungry. So I am back, and here is a weekend pancake recipe to kick off the Thanksgiving week with ingredients like cranberries, pumpkin and spices. Happy weekend before thanksgiving, which means menu planning and planning all the planning ahead we can do. Like, what day should I make my pie crust? As of now, still undecided. 

It is paleo, and thus low sugar. Wanting more sweetness in the pancakes, but not having any sort of sweet juice in the house I used an unusual technique of soaking dried fruit to extract some of the sugary flavors. Prunes, figs, or dates work well as they have a high sugar content. I used prunes here. So take about a 1/4 cup of dried fruit (9 prunes) cover with boiling water, let steep for 5-10 minutes, while you whip together the rest of the pancakes. You will want 1/4 cup of this fruit juice to put into the pancakes, the now soft dried fruit can be eaten or used on oatmeal tomorrow, or chopped up and put into quickbread, stuffing, or whatever!

So grab a can of pumpkin, some coconut oil, eggs, and your favorite "milk" product and lets go. Melt your coconut oil, I throw the jar into the microwave for 30 seconds and that does the trick. Whisk the eggs, pumpkin, "milk", and oil together.

Measure the arrowroot and almond meal into a bowl, break up any lumps before adding it into the wet ingredients. Add the spices and other dry ingredients into the pumpkin mixture. (spices from top, clockwise are: cinnamon, allspice, ginger, nutmeg and clove.)

Then add anything we missed, like maple syrup, prune juice, vanilla and apple cider vinegar. The batter is thick and custard-like.

Fresh cranberries are easily run over with a knife for chunks and bits which cook quickly in the batter. I always have some fresh cranberries in my freezer, which can easily be sliced up while still frozen. Stir the beautiful red berries into the batter and away we go.

I find success in a medium low heat, number 3 on my stove. And in my cast iron griddle pan which takes up two burners. I use coconut oil to grease the pan, since there is already coconut oil in the pancakes themselves. And because it is tasty and makes pancakes brown nicely. (Yes, butter is awesome too, I'll leave this choice up to you.)

Pour batter onto the griddle in 2"-3" rounds. If it does not flow easily, add more "milk". Cook slowly, bubbles will appear across the surface of the pancake when it is ready to flip. These can be delicate and my favorite tool is a fish spatula, it has an angled tip and is very thin, so it slides right under the pancakes. 

Once flipped over, they PUFF up, and when the pancakes reaches a puffy stage which is at the maximum puffyness and just before it begins to deflate...this is when it is done. Remove the pancakes from the griddle and begin to pile them up. Pour, cook, flip, cook, pile up. Repeat until done. 

Call everyone to the table and serve pancakes with maple syrup and cut apples.  

Pumpkin Paleo Pancakes with Cranberries and Apples

Serves 3-4

Wet ingredients: 
4 eggs
1 can pumpkin
2.5 T coconut oil
1 tablespoon maple syrup (or 1 packet stevia)
1 t vanilla
1/3 cup fig juice (something sweet)
1/2 cup hemp or almond milk (more as needed)
1 tsp apple cider vinegar

Dry ingredients:
1/2 cup arrowroot flour (or potato starch)
1 cup almond meal (or quinoa flour)
1/2 t baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon clove
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1/2 t salt

Fruit:
1/2 cup of fresh cranberries
Sliced apple for serving
maple syrup for serving


Enjoy! ;)