The Smiling Onion

Vegetarian and Gluten-free Cooking

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Cold Cucumber Soup

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My goal was to get at least one summer post out before September. I failed, of course. But at least it’s still summer for another eighteen days. I’m gonna call that a win.

If the humidity is getting to you, I highly suggest this cucumber soup. It hits all the right notes: fresh, sweet, tangy, spicy, nutty, and creamy. If you’re a fan of the green chutney often served in Indian restaurants, you’ll love this. The flavor profile is quite similar…but presented in a less intense, drinkable form, with some gazpacho-y notes thrown in. In fact, I guess you could say this soup is kind of a cross between gazpacho and green chutney. Except that doesn’t sound very good. And it’s actually incredibly delicious! Oh, and also there’s no mint.  Hm. I may be a bit out of practice with this whole blogging thing. Let me just get right to the point: Make. This. Soup.

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White Gazpacho

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Have you ever tried ajo blanco? Popular in Spain, it’s a white gazpacho made with blanched almonds and lots of garlic, thickened with bread. Even though I visited Spain before going gluten-free, I sadly never came across it.

If I had, I would probably be better able to describe to you whether my pecan gazpacho is indeed similar to ajo blanco. I can venture a guess that it is – it’s creamy, nutty, tart, and refreshing – and certainly resembles that classic Spanish white gazpacho visually. But there are several differences between this recipe and a traditional ajo blanco, which I’ll enumerate for my fellow cooking nerds below. For the rest of you, all you need to know is that this pecan-based version of white gazpacho is one of the best cold soups I’ve ever had.

So, how does this recipe differ from a traditional Spanish white gazpacho? Well, as I alluded to above, I’ve used pecans instead of almonds, soaked overnight for a smooth texture. Additionally, while ajo blanco does often feature green grapes, they aren’t typically blended into the soup, like I do here. Finally, there’s no bread at all in my recipe (don’t worry, the soup is still the proper texture without it!), I’ve used garlic-infused oil instead of raw garlic, and I’ve added a secret ingredient to top it all off: fennel. Blending in some fennel bulb with the pecans and grapes really creates a luscious, complex flavor that you probably won’t even be able to place right away. You’ll just know that you want to keep eating it.

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3-Ingredient Creamy Coconut Porridge

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It’s been a while since I’ve posted a breakfast recipe. And that’s a pity, because it’s one of my favorite meals! Since breakfast has a unique ability to set the tone for the entire day, I like to try to eat something yummy, nourishing, and easy to make/clean up! (Weekends, I get a bit more ambitious. Check out my Savory Waffles, Baked Eggs with Lambsquarters and Harissa, and Maple-Teff Muffins for some favorite weekend breakfast recipes.)

In any case, this 3-ingredient creamy coconut porridge hits all the criteria above. The three ingredients are gluten-free rolled oats, coconut milk, and water. Can you beat that for simplicity? And yet, the finished product is really all you could ask for in a porridge. It’s creamy and nourishing without being heavy. The oats have plenty of fuel and fiber to keep you going until lunch. And no extra sweetener is really necessary here: the natural sweetness of the coconut milk does the job, especially when you top it with the salted maple pecans (recipe included below!) and some fresh fruit.

Let’s get our porridge on!

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Raw Hamantaschen Cookies (Sugar-Free, Grain-Free, and Vegan!)

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Food blogging has definitely made me a lot more aware of the plethora of special occasions that seem to pop up almost every other week! Somehow, I would feel remiss if I didn’t celebrate at least a few of them with a delicious special-occasion-appropriate recipe.

After the Super Bowl, for which I created this delicious superfood bowl, I was thinking the next special occasion recipe would be a gluten-free matzoh ball soup for Passover. Yup, I had completely forgotten about Valentine’s Day (luckily I squeaked by with these amazing grain-free sandwich cookies), St. Patty’s Day (last week’s Irish Flag Skillet), and Purim, which brings me to today. Who knew there were so many holidays in late winter/early spring? And I’m not even counting those of the “national cookie day” variety.

Anyway, the Jewish holiday of Purim begins tonight. Growing up, this holiday was always one of my favorites – it involved the telling of the Purim story (often re-enacted in a play) and the vanquishing of the story’s villain, Haman. It also involved cookie making and cookie eating, probably a big part of why this holiday is such a big hit with kids (that and the obligatory noise making whenever the name of the villain is mentioned during the Purim story!)

Hamantaschen cookies, pictured above, get their name and shape from said villain, who was reputed to wear a three-cornered hat. Growing up, my family would always make these cookies and it took forever! First, we’d have to make the dough. Then, we’d have to roll it up into logs, wrap it, and freeze it. Next, we’d have to let it soften slightly. Then, we’d have to form the cookies, which was not an easy process. It didn’t help that the dough had a severe Goldilocks complex – it was always either too cold or too warm to work with! We were constantly refreezing, resoftening, etc. And, to add insult to injury, the dough itself wasn’t even that great once it was baked into cookie form. Hamantaschen are definitely all about the filling.

Jam, poppy seeds, nuts, apricots…so many delicious fillings! The favorite, though, was always the date filling that my mother made. In fact, never mind the cookies –  we were happy eating the filling by the spoonful!

That’s why I’m so excited about the raw hamantaschen I created this year. The cookies themselves are made out of traditional filling ingredients like dates, coconut, and nuts, which in my opinion is an improvement in taste over commonly made hamantaschen doughs. They are also sooo much quicker and easier to make! There is no dough rolling, freezing, or softening. The dough comes together in the food processor. And the whole process (including measuring, pitting the dates, shaping the cookies, etc.) takes about 15 minutes. The best part? These cookies are gluten-free, fruit-sweetened, grain-free, raw, and vegan! How’s that for some Purim love?

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