Despite the limited audience the title might imply, The 100 Best Gluten-Free Recipes for Your Vegan Kitchen is far more than just another cookbook. Combining two powerful buzzwords—gluten-free and vegan—this softcover book is positively filled with a balance of both cooked and raw recipes that make use of whole foods and alternative ingredients to give a rounded approach in the kitchen.


Author, chef and TV host Kelly Keough has dedicated herself to educating people about sugar-free, gluten-free alternatives and superfoods and to showing families how easy it is to be healthy. Her philosophy is to love food and love what you eat, which is possible to achieve when you have a balanced, healthy lifestyle that incorporates great vegan, gluten-free and sugar-friendly recipes, shopping for the best local, whole foods, and setting aside time to cook—and that's what this cookbook is all about.

One thing that sticks out most about this book is its variety. It covers all the standards like breakfast, entrees, soups, veggies, desserts and drinks. Yet some of the recipes make use of French techniques to transform classic favourites into healthful dishes like cashew alfredo sauce, gourmet garden burgers and sweet truth pizza, while others follow raw food methods of soaking, sprouting and dehydrating and often call for superfoods like goji berries, coconut aminos and sea vegetables, like Kelly's kelp noodle salad, racy ricotta and raw vegan tiramisu cookies.

After spending a few weeks playing with some of the simpler recipes in Kelly's book, I realized I must be on a goji berry kick. Let me tempt you with a few of the recipes this book has to offer:





The goji berry truffles, made with tahini, carob and cacao, are a simple treat you can whip together in mere minutes. The chunky peanut butter cookies were my first taste experience with erythritol, a zero-calorie, zero-glycemic sweetener, which seemed to be the contributing factor to the unusual, soft texture that resulted. (If you've used erythritol before, I'd like to hear your thoughts.)

The next chapter I will be diving into involves juicing greens and fruit to make detoxifying, alcohol-free cocktails like pina nada colada, fruity tooty sangria and green apple martini. Please send me a note if you'd like to join me for a cocktail party.

To learn more about Kelly and to try some of her healthy recipes, visit her blog.

I'm starting to gear up for the first-ever Vida Vegan Blogger Conference happening in a little over a week. Words can't describe how excited I am. When I heard about it almost a year ago, I immediately bought a ticket and started planning a vegan girls' getaway, which will include three days in Portland and five days in San Francisco. On my way home, I will also be making a three-day stop in British Columbia for my good friend Anita's wedding.

For the crust:
3/4 cup unbleached AP flour
1/3 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 cup ground peanuts (or other nuts)
1/8 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp sea salt
1/4 cup sunflower or canola oil
1/4 cup pure maple syrup
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 cup peanuts, toasted

1. In a large bowl, whisk together the unbleached flour, whole wheat flour, ground peanuts, baking soda and salt.
2. In small bowl, whisk together the oil, maple syrup and vanilla. Add the liquid mixture to the dry mixture and mix until a dough forms.
3. Press the dough into a flat disk shape and wrap tightly in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for about 30 minutes. While the dough is chilling, proceed with the filling (recipe below).
4. Remove the dough from the fridge and roll it out between 2 pieces of parchment paper, working from the middle out, until it is large enough to fit into a 7- or 8-inch tart pan with a removable bottom.
5. Carefully transfer the dough to the tart pan and gently press it down to fit, filling cracks where needed. Be sure the dough is not thicker where the sides and bottom meet. Trim any excess dough on the rim. Refrigerate for 15 minutes.
6. Evenly spread the toasted peanuts over the bottom of the tart and spoon the filling over top, making sure all the peanuts are covered in the filling.
7. Bake the tart at 300 degrees on the bottom rack of the oven for about 25 minutes, or until the filling starts to bubble and the crust is light golden. Remove the tart from the oven and allow it to cool completely. Return the tart to the fridge for 2 to 3 hours to firm up before topping with chocolate ganache (recipe below). Place the tart back in the fridge to allow the chocolate to firm up before serving. Store leftovers in the fridge or freezer, covered with plastic wrap.

For the filling:
1/2 cup brown rice syrup
1/4 cup smooth, natural peanut butter
1 tbsp agave nectar
2 tbsp flax meal
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 tsp arrowroot
1/4 cup unsweetened almond milk

1. In a medium bowl, stir together the brown rice syrup, peanut butter, agave nectar, flax meal and vanilla until smooth.
2. In a small bowl, whisk together the arrowroot and almond milk until the arrowroot is dissolved. Add the mixture to the brown rice syrup mixture and stir until well combined and smooth.


Peanut caramel before adding the chocolate topping

For the chocolate topping:
4 oz. dark chocolate
2 tbsp almond milk

One year ago today, this wee little blog was born. Since then, with the gentle encouragement of a few kind readers and friends, what started as a tiny, modest blog has evolved to become what it is today.

When I started A Dash of Compassion last year, I wanted to celebrate vegan baking (and unbaking) in all its glory, and show the world that vegan food is delicious, creative and fun! But this long-time hobby has also become an art to be mastered. Now, I'm a little bolder in the kitchen, developing a sincere passion for experimenting with new ingredients and processes, and learning from my successes and failures along the way.


This blog has also helped me rediscover my love for photography and develop my own voice in the world, and was the catalyst for vegan outreach endeavours. More importantly, I have become part of a compassionate community of individuals, locally and worldwide, who not only share a passion for delicious food, but also genuinely care for each other, who lend an ear, encourage one another, speak up, and have helped me create a space where I feel safe and accepted, willing to log my recipes and put my work on public display.

Of course, this isn't a proper birthday party unless there are gifts, and so I'd like to give you one! Just for fun, one lucky reader will receive a Wilton mini doughnut pan because I love mine. If you'd like one, just leave a comment before Monday, August 8 at midnight, and tell me what you want to see in the coming year on A Dash of Compassion. More reviews? More raw recipes? More giveaways? Don't be afraid to tell me your thoughts.

Now that we're at the peak of the summer season, the abundance of fresh produce gives us reason to create new recipes that don't involve turning on the oven. With that in mind, Lisa and I have a new recipe challenge for you: raw mini pies!


Raw foodies will agree that raw pies are much easier to make than traditional baked versions, and we're hoping you can come up with a winning recipe. Flavours can range from old-fashioned classics like apple or pumpkin pie to unique results of your own creation, utilizing local, seasonal ingredients or other delicious flavours. From fruity to chocolaty, nutty to creamy, the sky is the limit when it comes to formulating your perfect pie recipe. Luscious toppings and sauces can also make your pie a showstopper.

Just in case you missed the last two recipe challenges, they have resulted in a collection of sensational sweets that may inspire you to join the fun. (Did we mention there are prizes, too?) A quick look around the web will show that some pretty fantastic pies have already been discovered: Lisa's OMG applie pie, Susan's strawberry cream pie, Heathy's pumpkin mousse pie, and Lori's California mud pie. So are you ready to get started?

Just like our previous challenges, we're asking that you use only raw ingredients that have not been heated beyond 118 degrees. Nothing that comes in a can, no soy, no store-bought coconut milks, almond milk, oat milk or rice milk sold in tetra packs will be allowed. Instead, look for raw nuts, fresh or dried coconut, seeds and dried fruits that can be turned into milks or flours. You can use coconut sugar, stevia, raw agave, lucuma, dates, raisins or maple syrup (an allowable exception to the raw rule) to sweeten your mini pies. Feel free to play with fresh fruit, raw cacao or dried spices and have fun inventing new flavour combinations.

How to enter:

1. Create your own version of a mini pie, using only raw, vegan ingredients. Your mini pies should include a crust and filling. The "mini" sizes and number of pies are up to you, and you're welcome to submit more than one recipe.

2. Blog about your mini pie creation, including the full recipe and photos, and then come back and let me know via the comment section below. Remember to leave a link back to your post, which Lisa and I will check out and judge. We will also grab one of your photos to include in the entries roundup post at the end of the challenge.

3. To be entered in the challenge you need to post your entry by Friday, September 2, 2011 at midnight. Lisa and I will look through all the entries and narrow them down, using the criteria below, to three finalists. We will recreate the three finalist recipes, host a tasting party with friends and select a winner.

Judging criteria:

• Enticing flavour profile
• Use of local, seasonal ingredients 
• Overall presentation

Prizes:

• The three finalists will be in a feature post on my blog and Lisa's (we will recreate the recipes and photograph them).
• First Place winner will receive a one-year subscription to VegNews magazine.
• Second Place winner will receive a $25 gift card for Vegan Essentials.
• Third Place winner will receive a copy of Rawmazing's gorgeous, full-colour Rawmazing Desserts e-book.

We can't wait to see what you create. Have fun and good luck!