Dairy-Free Diet-Milkshake Recipe : Chocolate Pumpkin Spice and Gluten-Free

In my prior blog about Using Chia-Seed Slurry in Gluten-Free Recipes, I mentioned some of the applications of this wheat-free / gluten-free food creation technique including the above-pictured Dairy-Free Chocolate Pumpkin Spice Diet-Milkshake Recipe (this recipe uses a FROZEN chia slurry, in ice-cube form).

A "Diet Milkshake?"

Sure, why not? Healthy Desserts and snacks do exist. This recipe features all sorts of healthful ingredients, and essentially eliminates any less healthy ingredients. The result is an especially low-calorie, low-bad-fat / high-good-fat, diabetes / diabetic-friendly dairy-free "milkshake" that features a wonderful and flavorful blend of chocolate, pumpkin, and pumpkin-pie spices in a frozen treat that will pass the taste and texture test of most people (even children). Even though my target audience is persons with Celiac Disease and/or gluten-free diets or wheat-free diets, this recipe will also fit dairy-free / vegan diets and low-carb diets too.

The milkshake maintains a rather low glycemic index while introducing healthful Omega-3's (specifically the α-linolenic acid (ALA) via the Chia Seed, aka Salvia hispanica), fiber, minerals, antioxidants and vitamins! The pumpkin adds all sorts of nutrition too: fiber, vitamin-A, and more. Cocoa powder brings a pile of antioxidants and fiber into the mix too. And, using Agave Nectar, the glycemic index remains rather low.

This recipe makes use of our Gluten-Free Chia Slurry Recipe (and ice-cubes) featured on our Gluten-Free Foods Recipe Library to make the "chia ice cubes".

Ingredients

7 or 8 Frozen Chia Cubes
(see instructions-link above, or prior blog for how to make)
3/4 Cup Pumpkin Puree
1 Cup Vanilla Soymilk or Almond Milk

TO TASTE:
1-2 Tsp Cinammon
Pinch of Clove
1/4 - 1/2 Tsp Fresh Ground Nutmeg
1 Tsp Vanilla
1-2 Tsp Cocoa
1-2 TBSP Agave Nectar

NOTE: All main ingredients (cubes, pumpkin, and soymilk) were *COLD* when I prepared this to make sure I had the optimal low-temp milkshake for thickest results :)

Directions

It does not get too much easier than this... simply combine all ingredients in your Blender / VitaMixer. Grind and blend until chia cubes are fully disintegrated and resulting mixture is smooth and creamy texture as you would expect from any milkshake.

The result is a Gluten-Free Dairy-Free Chocolate Pumpkin Spice Diet-Milkshake that is a dairy-free, creamy smooth "diet milkshake" using healthy chia seed and other diet-friendly ingredients.

Hope you enjoy it. I really wish I had posted this recipe while the weather was a bit warmer, but I don't mind a good milkshake ANY time of year. And, milkshakes need not be just for dessert!

Gluten-Free Recipes using Chia Seed Slurry

Finally, I have gotten back to my blog and writing more about Chia Seed in Gluten-Free / Wheat-Free recipes! I love the Fall season, though I have been distracted lately by things that come with Fall this year, like Politics, the Stock Market mess, and the constant raking of leaves (constant, since I do not believe in leaf-blowers, as I rather enjoy the exercise of raking and the absence of mechanical noise). So, as my excuses for not blogging wind down, here comes a long-planned followup discussion on Chia Recipes...

In June, I wrote a Gluten-Free Blog entry entitled Gluten-Free Chia Seeds : SuperFood Status (follow that link for prior discussion and where to acquire the product). Last time I introduced Chia Seed basics - like nutritional / diet information, and the texture and look and feel that should be expected. I also mentioned in my previous blog that Chia Seed is an amazing gluten-free recipe addition / ingredient, and I have used the Chia Seed to create some wheat-free / gluten-free baked goods and other food products that are convincingly like the "real" thing, if not better. Pancakes with such alterations are one of my regular favorites, but I have also gone much further with Chia in gluten-free recipes through a new approach I developed for incorporating the Chia with great success.

I have found that the results I can achieve through a particular use of Chia Seed in gluten-free recipes is nothing short of spectacular, and I want to share the approach with others here, hoping that perhaps it can make your gluten-free baking even better. I am not guaranteeing it will make *everything* better, but it has really helped quite a few of my recipes - even recipes that were already quite good - rise to an extraordinary level on the texture / mouth-feel scale, and on the health-scale too. It has worked wonders in gluten-free breads, gluten-free desserts, and all sorts of things.

Get ready to use a "chia slurry" in recipes...

Chia Slurry Formulation
Creating a "chia slurry" is the key to using chia as an easy addition / substitution / alteration / modification ingredient in many recipes. This slurry will end up providing a gluten-like (i.e., "glue like") binding power to recipes while introducing additional moisture and "bounce", elasticity, sponginess, and the like, that you would otherwise associate with Gluten-containing products.

A slurry is quite simply a highly fluid mixture of water and finely divided material - in this case, that material is chia.

Pre-Hydrate the Chia Seed
We start by pre-hydrating our Chia Seed. I simply use between 1.5 and 2 TBSP (Tablespoons) Chia Seed per cup of water. The concentration can be varied, and will alter the recipe outcomes accordingly. Sometimes I want a thicker mixture, other times thinner. The amount of slurry I prepare depends on what I am baking, but for now, let's just say I have a few cups of water, and the corresponding proportion of Chia I mentioned...

Place the chia seed in a bowl, add water, and stir constantly for a while to make sure all seeds submerge in the water. Then, stir every few minutes for a while to make sure the seeds are evenly absorbing water as they expand like little pearl tapioca balls. Within 15-30 minutes, this hydration process is complete, resulting in the following:



Or, a bit closer look at the resulting hydrated Chia Seed mixture:


Now, place this hydrated Chia in a blender. I have my trusty VitaMixer for this task, which does a fine job of creating a slurry from the seeds. Here is the before and after look:



...yielding...

That is pretty much it! You have just created the Chia Slurry to be used in gluten-free recipes where you would otherwise use water, milk, or other liquids (note: some dry-ingredient amount-adjustments may be necessary to achieve optimal substitution and outcome results).

I process (i.e., grind / chop / pulverize) the hydrated Chia into a slurry immediately before I am going to use it in a recipe. I have found this keeps the suspension of particles most consistent, and also it tends to add another important baking element: a bit of air volume (quite useful in breads for example).

You can allow the pre-hydrated Chia Seed to sit around for hours, or days, if you desire, but wait until you are ready to use it in a recipe before mixing it into a slurry. In fact, if you use a lot of Chia in baking your gluten-free recipes, it is a good idea to keep a container of pre-hydrated chia seed in the fridge all ready to go (saves on hydration time later).

My next Gluten-Free Blog postings will discuss some particular recipe alterations using this Chia Slurry. If you can't wait, feel free to go for it and experiment with some recipe alterations yourself.

In the mean time, here's another use for the Chia Slurry that may inspire some inventive recipe creations too...

Frozen Chia Seed / Slurry Ice Cubes!

Another use I have for my slurry concoction that I created on a whim is chia-seed-ice-cubes. Just take that freshly-blended Chia-Seed Slurry and pour it into ice cube trays and immediately freeze.

These frozen chia-mix cubes have proven incredible in making smoother, creamier, dairy-free "shakes" or "smoothies" or slushies, or whatever. They add an amazing texture-smoothing / gelling quality that thickens up a drink without adding anything unhealthy to the recipe; giving frozen drinks some "creaminess" without any cream.

The reason I make the chia ice cubes (instead of just adding regular water-only ice cubes to a blender with pre-hydrated chia seed) is a simple one: achieving optimal coldness and lowest temperature for best shakes, smoothies, and frozen drinks. If you don't freeze the chia like this first, do not expect the same results :)

Have you ever heard of a "diet milkshake"?


Well, get ready for one..., and here is a preview picture of it, my Chocolate Pumpkin Spice Dairy-Free "Diet Milkshake", that I will also post the very simple recipe for quite soon. The funny thing was that, although this recipe seemed timely just a few days ago (when it was 70-degrees out!), it is now near freezing outdoors. Well, either way, I still enjoy my frozen drinks year round :)

I do not mean to tease people by not posting additional recipes this time with the above slurry-making-recipe and discussion, but rather I wanted to keep the baked-goods and frozen-products recipes cleanly apart from the slurry-recipe for organization purposes here on my Gluten-Free Blog (as I will be referencing this blog again for sure). Recipes will be forthcoming quite soon.

Stay tuned, and in the meantime, check out my prior blog about Gluten-Free Chia Seed for some background information on this ingredient and where to acquire it if you do not already have a supplier.

Obama / McCain: Gluten-Free Politics

I rarely allow my Gluten-Free Blog entries to stray from recipes, product reviews, and the like, but with the United States Presidential election tomorrow, I want to present my take (from purely the standpoint of the concerns of a Gluten-Free / Celiac person) on the high-profile race between Barack Obama and John McCain.

If I had to choose just ONE issue that was important to anyone with Coeliac Disease, it would have to be that of Health Insurance and especially being able to obtain health insurance that includes mandatory and guaranteed Preexisting Conditions Coverage. Celiac Disease IS a pre-existing "condition", and one that is known to also increase the likelihood of a variety of other diseases, like Diabetes, Hypothyroidism, Primary Biliary Cirrhosis, Colitis, and others. As such, you can be certain that Insurance companies are fully aware of these correlations, and if you are ever without insurance and then need to obtain it, do not be surprised if you are disqualified or rated as higher-risk (either immediately, or retroactively should anything negative occur with regards to your health).

If you would choose to argue that Celiac Disease would not be considered a pre-exiting condition for health insurance reasons, I recommend watching the PBS "Point Of View (P.O.V.)" episode entitled "Critical Condition" about the state of health-care and health-insurance in America and seeing the insanely long list of "conditions" that insurance companies screen for in order to weed out any excess "risk" (i.e., their need to actually pay) among those applying for insurance. Also, Michael Moore's "Sicko" covers the topic well, though he is a bit more controversial perhaps, and he explores how insurance companies will do nearly anything to find "pre-existing conditions" to deny payment even when you think you are "covered". I would also recommend watching "Sick Around the World" (PBS Frontline) to see how the USA compares to other countries for health care in general (hint: the USA ranking is not good).

Where does that leave me with regards to Senators Obama and McCain? Clearly I have to favor Obama's call for guaranteed health-insurance coverage for pre-existing condiditons. I do not EVER want to find myself in a situation where I think I am "covered" or othewise "insurable", only to find out that instead I have been denied insurance or retroactively denied payment for services rendered, leaving me stuck with tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars in bills.

Of course, this has become one of those divisive issues in America, though I do not understand why. We are the only major industrialized country to not offer national health care, and we are not even talking about that... we are just talking of mandating that insurance companies must take *anyone*, and such talk in the USA is enough to set off all sorts of argument in this country. Well, regardless, I would like to know I can always get coverage.

Next, Gluten-Free Product Labeling laws. I really have no idea where either candidate stands on this issue. I know that in the past, Republicans generally stand up for business interests that oppose any further labeling laws, though I do not know that Democrats have done any better at pushing for stricter labeling of allergens (gluten being just one of many). Food allergies are a major problem for a wide range of citizens, and something needs to be done to represent OUR (citizen interests) against any opposition from industry.

I realize there are all sorts of issues here with regards to cost and product liability and all that. As a business owner, I do not want additional regulations imposed on me, and I understand that product labeling laws could be an undue burden for smaller manufacturers especially. So, I do not know what the right answer is. Fact is, it seems that more and more products are improving their Gluten-Free labeling on their own, as companies see this as in their own best interest for marketing.

Perhaps market forces will take care of most of gluten-free product-labeling needs without further government intervention, but it just seems like we are moving at a snail's pace. I admit: I am anxious and just want to be able to go to the store, pick up ANY food product, and see a clear indication of whether it is GF or not. Any "kick start" from the government (that doesn't hurt businesses) is quite welcome... perhaps just the threat of regulation is enough (as, there is currently some pending gluten-free labeling law stuff in motion).

Well, we will all soon know the outcome of the election. I personally just hope and pray that we (as a country) maintain civility regardless of the election outcome. I can not help being concerned where this country is headed though, as I have personally witnessed some nearly unbelievable hatred and verbal attacks being exchanged during this campaign, with some even being directed at my wife and I when just out for a walk the other day. We had no idea why this stranger started verbal hostilities and aggression toward us (including using his 100 pound snarling rottweiler to intimidate us from 10 feet away - thank god it was leased), at a public park, until after a few paragraphs of ranting about imposing regulations on him and other such seemingly random banter, something about "you and Obama..." came out; at which point I realized the connection... I had worn a jacket that had an Obama sticker on the lapel. wow! Is this what America is coming to?

I can not help thinking that this constant 50-50 split of America (over the past 3 Presidential election cycles) is engineered by those that run this Country in order to distract our focus from all the real challenges we face. All the so-called "wedge issues" have been designed to ensure a 50-50 outcome it seems. It all just reminds me of the professional sports-team mentality where, in the audience, it is "my team" vs. "your team", when in fact the only really "winners" are the few that have orchestrated the competition while collecting their fat paychecks, sweetheart media / endorsement deals, and getting their stadiums or other venues financed and built with public taxpayer funds. In the case of our government, the few that really make out regardless of which "team" wins is anyone that is part of the revolving door between corporations, lobbyist, and our elected officials. Unless you are in that small group of well-connected and well-positioned people, the outcome is always the same: you continue to have the right to pay taxes for these political engineers to do with as they choose.

And, to think, all I want is to be sure I have life-long health-care coverage regardless of the fact I have Celiac Disease. Seems like a simple request, but thanks to political engineering, I fear my hopes for obtaining guaranteed coverage will be lost in that never ending fray of "wedge issues" that have been designed to ensure that we never see any real change. But, I will at least cast a vote for my "team" this year and try to remain encouraged that someone will deliver something I and others with Celiac Disease could certainly benefit from.

Gluten-Free Pumpkin Recipes 2008

2008 Gluten-Free and Wheat-Free
Pumpkin Recipes Summary

Just in time for Halloween, here's a consolidated summary of some of the gluten-free and wheat-free pumpkin-featuring recipes that I have made available on this blog and on our online gluten-free recipes library. These gluten-free recipes include everything from main-courses to side dishes to desserts, with pumpkin as the Celiac-safe ingredient of inspiration for each creation - all in time for Halloween or Thanksgiving.

I also have some NEW recipes coming soon that feature pumpkin as well, and I should have them online over the coming days and weeks here too. But, this list will certainly get you thinking of Halloween and pumpin-themed dishes, if you are not already.

Note: the hyperlinks (underscored text) within the text below link to the page(s) with the actual recipes. I didn't repeat the full recipe text for each of these here, since it is just a click away already.

Being no surprise that I am a huge fan of home-baked gluten-free desserts, whether there is a nearby Holiday to provide an excuse to bake some extra treats or not, I will begin with dessert recipes.

Dessert Recipes

Gluten-Free & Wheat-Free Pumpkin Roll
A perennial favorite this time of year is the Gluten-Free Pumpkin Roll recipe. This particular pumpkin roll has that flavorful pumpkin spice-cake rolled around a layer of sweetened cream cheese filling. The whole creation is dusted with a bit of powdered sugar, and served chilled. What a fantastic way to enjoy that pumpkin!



Gluten-Free & Wheat-Free Pumpkin Crème Brulée
I certainly enjoy one of the ultimate rich desserts - Crème Brulée! And in this case it is an incredible Crème Brulée featuring Pumpkin accents. I sure hope your diet allows you to still enjoy the dairy richness of this recipe, as it is just wonderful, and not only for Thanksgiving or Halloween. This gluten-free Gluten-Free Pumpkin Crème Brulée Recipe features a full-cream Crème Brulée that has a subtle, yet flavorful, pumpkin flavor throughout the rich custard. Creme Brulee can optionally be topped with a caramelized sugar layer if you prefer the traditional burnt-sugar top.



Gluten-Free and Dairy-Free Pumpkin Bundt Cake
Here is a quick and easy pumpkin-accent cake that will fit the season well: Gluten-Free Dairy-Free Pumpkin Bundt Cake recipe. A nice blend of spices - clove, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger (and even a bit of cocoa!) - give this cake much of the same overall flavor as a pumpkin pie would enjoy. And, it is quick and simple to prepare.


Main Courses and Side-Dishes
Are pancakes a main course?

Gluten-Free Pumpkin Pancakes
I don't know about you, but for me, Pancakes do count as a main course on more than a few occasions. So, here is one type of Gluten-Free Pumpkin Spice Pancake Recipe that I enjoy on occasion. I say "one type" because I tend to regularly vary the ingredients, especially the flours that I use, on a rather ad-hoc basis.

Some days I'll use some Millet flour, other days will include Sorghum, and still others the Teff and Buckwheat (which IS safe for Celiac sufferers in its pure form - it is NOT a wheat, though it sounds like it). I also have a tendency to throw a few chocolate chips into the mix and turn the whole pancake into a giant cookie of sorts :)



Pumpkin as Pasta
I wrote a blog about using pumpkin as a "pasta" of sorts. As such, this dish works well as both a main course or a side dish - take your pick. Quite often, it is a wonderful low-calorie and healthy feature item for my dinner. It is simple to prepare, mild in flavor (primarily taking on the flavor of whatever pasta sauce you choose), and starts using pumpkin in its most basic form, without the usual pumpkin-pie spices many are accustomed to. This recipe relies on the basic baked-pumpkin recipe.


Standard Baked Pumpkin Recipe
I wrote this gluten-free blog entry a while back, about how to prepare a small pumpkin-pie type pumpkin as a baked pumpkin for eating as you would any other baked squash. It is quite simple to take a pumpkin, "gut it", place it in the oven, and produce a healthy and satisfying dish (or foundation for other recipes). And, speaking of a foundation for other recipes, I'll move on to another recipe which features this baked pumpkin...



Gluten-Free & Wheat-Free Pumpkin Risotto
And now, for a wonderful pumpkin-accent side dish for the season, do not forget the Gluten-Free Pumpkin Risotto Recipe. It has a mild, pleasant flavor, with just a hint of cinnamon to go along with the very subtle pumpkin undertones. It relies on the baked pumpkin recipe again, though you could probably just as easily use canned pumpkin if you choose.


Happy Halloween and Pumpkin Eating
These recipes should make for some great Gluten-Free Thanksgiving Recipes as well, so keep them close at hand for any of those leftover pumpkins you may have sitting around in next month. As in prior years, I have already cooked my pile of pumpkins and have frozen their cooked pulp for later. And, just in time... my 2007 bounty JUST ran out a few weeks before the new pumpkin season started here in Ohio.

Happy Halloween everyone, and happy pumpkin eating too!

Gluten-Free Snack Bars Roundup

You have probably noticed the proliferation of gluten-free snack bars that have hit the market in the past year. The current selection goes well beyond the days of when the Larabar was nearly the only gluten-free snack bar on the market, and there is an incredible variety of formulations available now that target particular sub-sectors of the gluten-free diet market.

I snapped a picture of some of the latest incarnations of these diet / snack bars above (there are many more), which each have their own particular features (the features vary by bar, so read the label and make sure you find the one that fits your particular needs the best):

• Gluten-Free, Wheat-Free (an obvious requirement!)
  
• organic ingredients
• low GI (Glycemic Index)
• Nutrition Bars with various "Super Foods" in them - typically antioxidants, immune-boosters, and vitamins and minerals
• High-Protein bars - typically achieving their high-protein status with one or both of whey protein and/or soy protein isolates
• Vegan, dairy-free
  
• Allergen-Free (free of all common allergens)
• Wonderful Flavor Combinations
  

As you will notice in that picure above, there are all sorts of different approaches to gluten-free treats now. My personal favorite of recent is the Kind Brand Sesame bar with chocolate drizzle. Excellent! Some of the other "Kind" brand bar varieties are quite enjoyable too, like the various fruit-nut bars. Kind has a nice selection of bars available now, and at last count I think it was 6 or more.

The Think Green, Think Thin, Think Organic, etc... serve their purpose too. The Think Thin type is all about high-protein (soy generally) and low GI impact, and as such I would not qualify these bars as a "gluten-free dessert" (which, I would consider some of the other sweeter varieties of snack bars on the market - especially the ones with chocolate and other dessert-like qualities). The "Think..." brand offerings have expanded rapidly, and there seem to be dozens of different ones to choose from.

The ever-popular LaraBar has now grown into a brand offering a huge selection of flavor combinations (though, they all still feature that Date-based formula, so an appreciation of Dates will sure help if you want to try these). The newer "Jocalat" varieties bring cocoa into what I regard as their "base formula", which makes them much more appealing to me (I love cocoa and chocolate). Again, there are quite a few flavors to choose from.

I didn't care for the original Larabars anywhere near as much as I do the new Jocalat varieties. The cocoa (in each of these new formulas) takes the edge off the overwhelming date-flavor the originals had. These new ones are quite nice. I personally LOVE the chocolate-mint one, and the chocolate and chocolate-coffee types are rather tasty too.

The only Jocolat variety I complete detested was the chocolate-orange (it tasted so strongly of orange peel or oil that I could not deal with it... I might as well been chewing on an orange rind). I like the flavors of chocolate and orange, but only when orange is used in a subtle manner. Perhaps they will update the formula if sales are slow for that variety - if so, I would try it again, otherwise I will never eat the chocolate-orange variety unless I am starving. :)

So, things have certainly changed for the better with the rather wide-ranging selection of gluten-free diet snack bars on the market. These treats are great for keeping handy when out on the road, or at a lengthy meeting, or otherwise away from easy access to your normal gluten-free diet items.

These bars give me a quick and easy SAFE (gluten-free) source of calories if I am finding myself hungry and stuck somewhere that otherwise only offers questionable (or definitely off limits) food options due to obvious gluten exposure possibilities. The bars fit easily in that cup-holder in my car, or in a jacket pocket or shorts pocket (note: I don't carry around any types that would *melt* in a pocket).

As for where to locate these gluten-free snack bars. I have found that I can get most of them at either Whole Foods or mail order via Amazon.com's grocery section, and other grocers carry some too. Amazon didn't have all the varieties, but for the varieties Amazon carries, their prices were rather decent. NOTE: Amazon has items they themselves sell and stock - which are usually a great deal and even include Free Super Saver shipping many times - but they also have many other vendors that sell items via Amazon.com that may not be such a good deal and will cost you shipping most of the time; so, if ordering from Amazon, take time to look around on there and make sure you get a good deal which most often applies to items "shipped and sold by Amazon.com" or such.

Happy snacking everyone!

Miniature Watermelon - Tiny but Tasty

I had to include the above picture just to give a sense for scale when I discuss the miniature watermelon that we raised in our gluten-free garden this year. On the left is a honeydew melon that we also grew, and trust me, it is not even as large as many of the ones I see at the grocery store - perhaps commercial growers have the advantage of being in a State where the growing season is longer.

But, regardless, the two melons to the right of the honeydew are actually "watermelon", or so they were supposed to be according to the seeds we selected and purchased online. Nothing in the watermelon-seed advertisement or description said anything about size, which as you can see = TINY. We anxiously watched these fruit grow, and as they took off quickly I had high hopes... first they reached golf-ball size... then baseball... then maybe just about softball size...then... nothing more! I couldn't believe it.

So, we finally picked one after the stem indicated that it was ripe (the stem will start turning yellow and/or brown). And, here's what the fruit looked like inside:


Yes, it rather appears to be a watermelon. And, it sure did have a lot of seeds. Whatever variety or species this thing is, it is definitely different. I expect is still offers the usual healthy qualities of watermelon: fiber, lycopene, Vitamin-C, etc. Now, how about taste?

Well, it actually tastes just like any "normal" watermelon I have had. It was quite nice in fact. And, aside from the proliferation and abundance of seeds for such a tiny watermelon, this miniature fruit had one neat thing going for it: you could eat the center all the way out to within an 1/8" of the "rind", since the lighter-colored rind-region still tasted fine and was still of a nice texture too.

So, given the yield these "watermelon" plants produced this year - i.e., a few of these Miniature Watermelons per vine - and given the space the vines take up in the garden, I think we will forgo the small watermelon next year and plant more honeydew melon in their place (those were the star performer this year - outperforming the mini-watermelon and the cantaloupe plants too).

My wife and I like to joke about how these tiny watermelon, if you could purchase them in the store, would be some type of "rare" or "select" or "specialty" variety that would cost $20.00/each because of this. he he he. If you have seen the exotic fruits in the markets priced a bit ridiculous, you will know the source of our amusement. It is sorta like how "heirloom" tomatoes are $5.00/pound or something, and they grow just as easily as any others from our experience. Well, enough of the miniature watermelon discussion for now - I could have eaten 4 of them in the time it took to type this Gluten-Free Blog entry :)

Fresh Peppermint and Recipe Ideas

I love the flavor of mint: peppermint, spearmint, tea mint... it's all good. In addition to tasting great, it sure does look spectacular this time of year when it is in full bloom! And, the bees absolutely love the stuff too, which is great for attracting those ever-necessary pollinators to our garden area, and it also makes a great addition to simply enhance the biodiversity of our yard in general.

In addition to using peppermint in very simple gluten-free recipes, like peppermint tea from scratch, I like to incorporate mint, as an accent flavor, into a variety of recipes - particularly dessert recipes.

There are a few easy ways to go about incorporating fresh mint into recipes. First, you can brew unsweetened mint tea using the mint, and then use that resulting tea as a 1:1 substitution for water in some recipes (if you have a recipe that already uses water, this is a very simple substitution) - or, use it in perhaps a more diluted ratio depending on your personal preference. Next, you can always just mince, chop, or finely shred the fresh mint and measure it into a recipe; or perhaps you will prefer completely drying the mint and then grinding or powdering it for a very fine texture that is less detectable in recipes. And, sure, you could use the purified mint-oils, but extracting the oil is a bit too much trouble for me personally, as I would just purchase it that way if I needed it.

Now, if you too like the flavor of mint coupled with chocolate (as I do!), one of my favorite things to do is mix mint into things like decadent chocolate tortes and create a "French Mint" type torte. I have a chocolate (well, mocha to be exact) torte recipe in my book that lends itself to such modification, by simply substituting the brewed mint-tea for brewed coffee. The result of a mint-substitution here is quite nice, as it makes for a simple variation for anyone that may not enjoy mocha / coffee (I also perform substitutions using orange peel and berry-flavors in that recipe too, with or without coffee.)

Note: The recipe I am referring to is on page 100 - here's a link to the gluten-free mocha tart picture from the book that uses a sponge-cake base, though the picture is rather annoyingly watermarked in that online version. :)

Some of the gluten-free chocolate cake recipes or brownie recipes allow for nice chocolate-mint variations too. Depending on the recipe, I may simply add finely minced fresh mint with no other alterations required; others take a bit more work, but usually it is rather easy coming up with a winning flavor combo. I'm sure you can experiment and discover some favorite gluten-free recipes of your own that feature fresh mint.

You are certainly not limited to combining mint with chocolate, as there are quite a few other combinations that work well and produce a nice refreshing flavor. I have enjoyed mint with berry flavors quite a bit if kept subtle, and mint with other fruits too. And, though my focus has been desserts here, mint also comes into play nicely in some tasty Asian dishes. All I know is that the fresh-mint season is coming to a close soon, and it is time to use some of this season's crop while it is here and I can enjoy it.