The kitchen is the last place that I have wanted to be for the past thee months. I have no complaints, I will take whatever this little one dishes up, but the morning sickness has been strong and cooking is not something that I have been able to handle.
Over the past four days, however, I have started to feel my taste buds coming back, and my stomach begin to churn for a home cooked meal by my own hands (thank you mama for helping to keep us fed over these last few months). For the first time all season, I ventured to the Farmer’s Market yesterday. All alone, I simply peered at all the goodness that most people have been enjoying for weeks, but that we are just now putting our hands to. The tomatoes, corn, melons, green beans, and peaches, plums and pears. It was a true feast for the senses. Although I only took home a small bag, I still felt giddy at the idea of cooking for my family.
A few weeks back, my friend Sheryl had a birthday party for her son Everest, who turned six. I was not up for eating, and I believe that the only thing I kept down was Sheryl’s incredible black bean gluten free chocolate cake (OK, it may not sound like a good combo, but it rocked!). However, my husband and children raved about the raw green bean dip that was served. Jacob and Joel love green beans, and normally just eat them raw as a snack. After picking up a basket at the market yesterday, I tried to recreate the dip that my husband described. Admittedly it was a bit hard, since the only thing Joel could identify were green beans and olive oil, but I did my best.
The result is quick, simple and perfect with bread, crackers or veggies. The sweeter the green bean the better!
Raw Green Bean Dip
Green Beans (I used about 60 beans, but simply adjust the rest of the ingredients accordingly to use less or more)
1 Tbsp Olive oil
Pinch of Kosher Salt
Pinch of Pepper
Parmesan Cheese (to taste)
Place all ingredients in the bowl of a food processor and pulse until well combined and the green beans are chopped into fine pieces.
Serve with fresh bread, crackers, and veggies.
Perhaps my most prized possession yesterday was the bag of fresh ripe Colorado peaches that were perfectly juicy and ready to eat.
There is nothing of Summer that I love more than fresh fruit. Fruit pies, breads, cobblers, crisps, and eaten plain are just a few of my favorite ways to enjoy summer fruit.
Selecting the perfect peach and a gathering or fresh raspberries, I set out to create a peach pound cake for the boys and I. This recipe really was a bit of a test, but I like the texture of the pound cake set against the tartness of the raspberry glaze. It was a good way to introduce the little one inside me to the joys of summer fruit.
Peach Pound Cake with Raspberry Glaze
For the Cake:
1 cup of butter at room temperature
1/2 cup Honey
1 Cup of brown rice flour
1/2 cup of white rice flour
2 teaspoons baking powder (GF)
4 eggs
The puree of one peach
For the glaze
1 Tbsp heavy cream (if you are allergic to dairy, you can use almond, soy or coconut milk easily)
12 raspberries
3/4 cup of powdered sugar
For the cake:
Preheat the oven to 350 and grease your loaf pan. Place all of the ingredients in a mixing bowl and stir until well combined (this can be down in a free standing mixer, in a food processor, or by hand).
Pour the batter into your loaf pan and bake for 40-50 minutes (since there is peace puree and honey, this cake tends to be moist. You can use a tooth pick to test for readiness, as well as placing a finger in the center to make sure that the cake bounces back when ready). Remove from oven and set aside to cool.
To make the glaze: Combine all ingredients in a food processor or by hand (you really want the raspberries to be pureed) and combine. Remove the cake from the pan and allow to cool for 15 minutes on a wire rack. While still warm, drizzle the glaze on the top and sides of your pound cake, and allow to cool completely.
Please note that this glaze in not the traditional type that will harden after cooling.
It may not be much, but eating these two dishes yesterday felt like pure heaven.
What are you eating that is bringing you joy today?
{ 23 comments… read them below or add one }
yum, those both look delicious. I have some colorado peaches on my counter right now, they are the best.
Ok…I am headed in the kitchen now to whip up that delicious pound cake! So glad your morning sickness is easing off. As a recent graduate of the pregnancy nausea club, I can totally identify. Its just plain aweful.
Happy Monday to you~ have a great week!
Blessings from Lexington~
I hear you!
Thanks for the pound cake recipe. Looks delicious!
Your cake looks delicious!
It's pretty cool here today so I'm going to be cooking up a chickpea curry and some flatbread.
I hope your morning sickness is on the way out. I remember feeling like I had a new lease of life once that part was out of the way!
Oh, so glad you're feeling a little more hungry. Do you eat more your second tri?
I just made some peach quick bread for a play date this morning.
Oh so glad you are starting to feel a bit better but I just love your attitude! Those pictures are beautiful and the recipes sound great!
Nothing much? It looks like a delicious treasure trove to me! I am glad you are feeling a little better. Thanks for sharing those glorious recipes. Peace, Angela
This looks amazing, Heather. So glad your stomach is coming back. Food is so much apart of how we enjoy life– and I remember having that part back in pregnancy made everything better.
Hugs, dear friend!
Ooo, I may just have to whip up that pound cake for SnB tonight… We'll see if I overcome my current homebody inertia to hit the store for a couple of the ingredients.
We got some yellow beans in our CSA this week (a lot of them). I wonder if DH would eat them made a pesto-like dip/sauce? Might be worth a try!
Like a green bean pesto – that does sound delicious.
I'm so glad to hear all is going well and that you are taking things ever so slowly – as frustrating as it sometimes seems your body (and growing little one) will always tell you what it needs.
take care and much love,
Nina xxx
The pound cake looks SO good, I can't wait to make it!
I'm running into more and more friends who are using gluten free diets so am glad to have this recipe – sounds delicious! One of my friends and I even went looking for a gluten free bakery TuLus' I think, in NYC, where she had the first experience of totally delicious red velvet cake, gluten free.
I've been totally smitten by tomatillos this summer – making oven roasted salsa every week when I come home with our produce from the CSA we belong to. I've made salsa other summers, but the roasting has been especially successful. And I love my cilantro pesto, too. Will try green bean pesto like yours this week – I have a dip with cooked green beans but this looks wonderful!
Well, I had no idea the green beans were a hit with your husband! They're called Chopped String Beans and it's an old family recipe, passed down through the female line from my great-grandmother. My grandparents had a huge organic garden in their Los Angeles backyard and they always grew loads of string beans so they'd have plenty to freeze for the winter months. My grandmother would be thrilled to know that I'm passing it on (she's probably watching from somewhere right now), so here's the recipe:
1 pound green beans, steamed
1 onion, stewed
1 hard boiled egg
handful of almonds
salt to tase
Blend almonds in food processor. Add the remaining ingredients and blend.
As the gluten-free black bean cake, it's really quite good and was passed on to me from our dear friend, Lisa, who connected me with Heather. The recipe can be found here:
http://healthyindulgences.blogspot.com/2009/05/he…
I am super excited for these – esp. the green beans – we just put in our fall crop a couple of weeks ago. I've never grown them this time of year and I am so excited for the recipes. Hooray! Thank you!
It all looks amazing! The green bean dip looked like pesto at first glance. I'll have to try that one. Thanks, Heather!
Oooh, the green bean dip is like nothing I've ever seen/tried before – I'm all over that!
I've been devouring gazpacho and peaches and basil pesto like nobody's business over here… starting to cross over to Fall (if only in the kitchen) with a Tomato and Kale soup (blogged the recipe today).
Are green beans, string green beans? Or something else? Thanks (australian q's!)
So glad you're getting over morning sickness Heather!
Oh my goodness…is there a better *green-ness* than that Heather! Oh my how you have made me miss my annual winter harvest of beans! I can only hope the mini peaches growing on my tree turn out to be delicious enough to try your peachy recipe here. yum. So nice to cathc up and see you are so well! Love to you.
It's so good to see you back in the kitchen. I can hardly wait to try the green bean dip. I have a lot of green bean eaters over here.
seriously? oh that is oh, so easy! I'm on it!
thanks for the recipe
I think raw green beans are poisonous.
Hi Ann,
Thank you for your email.
I have done a lot of research on raw green beans, and though there is a lot of talk on the subject on the internet, there is no evidence of green beans being toxic raw. I have also talked to our naturopath and our physician, and neither of have ever heard of a case where someone became sick from eating raw green beans.
If you have a good source of information about this, I would really love to read it, as I would never want to give my family anything that made them sick or post a recipe that was not something that should be eatenn.
Warmly,
Heather
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