Oatmeal cookies – hypoallergenic, vegan, dairy free, nut free, wheat free, oil free, sugar free (and magically still so tasty!)

I’ve been having some crazy allergic reactions to …something… it’s unclear what. So I’m on a hypoallergenic diet at the moment, which means no dairy, no wheat, no nuts (basically, all that good stuff). This makes finding allergy friendly cookies a bit tricky.

Looking online for “hypoallergenic cookies” I didn’t find much. A lot of the vegan recipes call for butter substitutes, which I’m trying to avoid; or nuts or wheat, which aren’t hypoallergenic. So I decided to repurpose my favorite oatmeal cookies recipe (the Cook’s Illustrated oatmeal chocolate chip recipe) with some adjustments to switch out the problem stuff, and make my own allergy friendly version.

They turned out great! Crunchy on the outside and moist and chewy on the inside, with a really comforting oatmeal cookie flavor.

I haven’t tried making them “big cookie” size; if you want to give that a go you might want to reduce the oven temp to 325⁰F. My significant other says these are the cookie version of a bowl of oatmeal, so they might be good with an added 1/2 c raisins too if you feel comfortable adding those.

Note on allergies: Theoretically it’s possible to develop an allergy to anything, so if you aren’t sure what you are allergic to, ask your doctor about the ingredients you see below before eating them.

• These DO contain garbanzo beans, and rarely some people may be allergic to beans. As long as you don’t have a true bean allergy, even for those whose stomachs are sensitive to most beans, garbanzo beans tend to be very tummy-friendly.
• The sugar I used, lakanto, does have xylitol in it, which may make some people a bit gassy. If you’re sensitive to that you may want the reduce it to 1 cup and avoid eating a very large amount of cookies at one sitting.
• If you are cooking for someone who has an allergy, check with them first if these ingredients are OK. Many people with a general gluten allergy are fine with oats, but people who have celiac disease may not be.
• The term “oil free” is widely misused to mean the same thing as “no added oil” or even “lots of oil but from whole foods only.” Technically these cookies do contain a bit of oil from the garbanzo beans, but it is a very small amount and not very likely to pose problems for people who are having trouble processing fats.

Hypoallergenic Oatmeal Cookies (vegan, dairy free, sugar free, oil free, nut free)

Ingredients:

• 1 1/4 c oat flour (from old fashioned oats — see instructions)
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp allspice
• Pinch of ground ginger
• Pinch of ground clove
• 1/3 cup garbanzo beans, reserve the water from the can separately
• 2 c summer squash, diced
• 1 1/4 c lakanto monkfruit sweetener brown sugar style (if you’re using another sugar replacement you may need to use less)
• 2 1/4 c old fashioned oats

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350⁰F. Put parchment paper on 2 baking sheets and set aside.
2. To make oat flour, measure out old fashioned oats to the desired amount you want to have as flour, plus 1-2 Tbsp. Run these oats in food processor until flourlike.
3. Thoroughly mix oat flour with other dry ingredients except actual oats, in a bowl. Set aside. Rinse food processor.
4. Put beans, squash, and 1/4 to 1/3 c of bean water into food processor (1/3 c is better if you are at a higher altitude). Process until it is smooth and about the same wetness as apple sauce. Put wet ingredients mix in a medium or large mixing bowl.
5. Mix dry ingredients into wet. Now mix in oats. Mix should be only a bit more crumbly than normal oatmeal cookies dough, and should hold together well if you squeeze it into a ball. If it’s too dry, add more bean water.
6. Squish 1-2 Tbsp of mix into a ball in your hand or using a measuring spoon, and place on parchment-paper-lined cookie sheet. If doing 2 Tbsp size cookies (1st photo below), flatten them into thick discs and then flatten sides so each cookie is a sort of small hockey puck shape. If doing 1 Tbsp tea-cookie size (2nd photo below), you can use a round tablespoon measuring spoon to scoop them out. You can space these (either size) about an inch apart, they will puff upward a bit but not really outward.
7. Bake about 12 minutes or until toasted a light brown around the tops. If you like a more doughy cookie, cook only until just barely toasted on tips of tops (like in 2nd photo below)
8. Remove from oven, and take cookies off of sheet to cool for at least 5min before eating. Store in an airtight containers about a week. These would probably also freeze well.

2 Tbsp size hypoallergenic oatmeal cookies, shaped and ready to pop into the oven

More oatmeal cookies, still allergy friendly, these are 1 Tbsp size and just-baked.

Fast & Elegant Gnocchi with Pesto and Warm Balsamic Kale

Fast, yet oh so classy. Just like me. OK, I don’t know what I mean by that; but seriously, this meal combines an old-school, judicious avoidance of overkill with a flavor combination that really pops. Toast a batch of walnuts ahead of time to up that ‘wow’ factor with a simple, fast prep time around 30min.

Feeds: 2

• 1 14-oz package of gnocchi
• ~ 2 Tbsp good pesto that’s largely good oil (I use Mt Olive)
• 1 bunch young kale, de-spined and cut with kitchen scissors to 2-or-3″-square pieces (you can also use a mix of spinach and mild arugula, and omit the microwave step)
• 1/4 tsp Italian Traditions salt-free Italian spice mix (I highly recommend this mix specifically due to the freshness and depth of flavor)
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 1/8 tsp garlic powder (NOT garlic salt – just ground dried garlic)
• 1/3 c: 2 parts mirin, 1 part balsamic vinegar of Modena
• scant 1/4 cup toasted walnuts
• Parmesan Reggiano, shaved with a potato peeler, ~3 Tbsp
• 1 1/2 twists fresh cracked black pepper per plate

Important: Toasting walnuts takes ~11 to 45 minutes, but you get better results taking the longer approach and toasting entirely on low to medium-low. The hot-and-fast approach tends to turn things from pale to burned too fast for me to save them in time, and the slower option creates a fuller flavor. I keep these on hand and do this in batches of 1/2 cup of finely chopped walnut, stirring every 3 minutes or so.

Note: the spice mix can go either onto the kale or in the sauce. The mix I use lacks the dusty, strawlike consistency of cheaper mixes, but if your mix is tougher and dryer, put it in the sauce with the honey.

Prep:

1. If you don’t have any toasted walnuts on hand, start with this step first. Raw may be alright but will lack most of the richness and depth of flavor of toasted.
2. Combine olive oil, garlic powder, mirin and balsamic vinegar in small saucepan on low, and let it warm up. Add honey. Let it sit and reduce by 1/2, stirring or swirling every now and then to prevent the honey from crystallizing and burning. Meanwhile; wash, spin, and scissor kale and place it in a big glass bowl.
3. When walnuts are toasted, set aside and get water boiling for gnocchi.
4. When gnocchi is done, sprinkle italian spice on chopped and microwave for about 1min (you want it to reduce volume just slightly and take on a brighter hue, but stay just slightly crunchy and not quite “wilted.”)
5. Pour warm, reduced balsamic mix into kale, separate into 2 bowls, and top each with matching portion of walnuts and parm. Toss gnocchi with pesto and spoon into sides of bowls. Twist pepper on top and serve!

Frittata, Frittata, Frittata, Je T’aime

For the frittata-uninitiated, these are basically quiches without crusts — firm, cakelike omelets cooked slowly over low heat. My first efforts at these resulted in scrambled eggs, but a good frittata actually can be super simple and surprisingly classy for something so packed full of good things. Tips to simplify:

• The right hardware: A big, cured skillet is best for this recipe since the frittata turns out particularly attractive if you sit it under the broiler for a minute or two, and I don’t trust teflon or the “wrap the plastic handle in foil” method not to do nasty things in the oven.
• Butter is better: If your skillet isn’t (or is) well cured, barely-browning some butter in the bottom of the pan right before you pour in the egg mix will help it stay loose and come out a little easier.
• Implements that help: A big, flexible pancake spatula is also a plus here, as is one of those knives that looks like a soft-cheese knife but has very good, small serrations on the bottom for astoundingly excellent julienne-slicing.
• Shortcut: For the faint of heart or accident-prone [me], the baking method also works: butter a deep pie dish, do whatever stovetop prep is necessary to get the veggies where you want them, and pop the whole thing, uncovered, into a 350° oven for, say, 30min.

Spinach, Red Pepper, Onion, and Feta Frittata:

• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 2 medium yellow onions, halved vertically and thinly sliced
• 2 red bell pepper, quartered lengthwise and sliced very thinly
• 10 oz frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed out (I up it to 15oz)
• 5 large eggs
• 1/4 to 1/2 c crumbled feta
• optional: 1 Tbsp pre-grated parmesan
• optional: 1/4 c to 1/2 c chopped fresh parsley, or 1-2 Tbsp dried (I omit this)
• 1 tsp italian seasoning (I used 1 heaping tsp)
• Pepper to taste or a pinch of crushed chili pepper (the egg can handle it)
• 1 Tbsp unsalted butter

Preparation:

1. Pop the spinach in a bowl in the microwave on half-power to start it thawing. Meanwhile, chop everything.

Summer Italian Soup with Soup-Bean Mix & Leftover “Steak”

Bean soup always takes a little while due to the overnight soaking (the 1- or 2-hour “quick soak in hot water method seems to curse the results somehow, so I avoid it).  However, this one’s worth it. A nice soup mix in smaller beans / peas / lentils makes it hearty but not too beany, and the carrot and tomato brighten it up. Plus, it’s got spinach in it and manages to pull that off without reminding you of grand-maman’s cabbage soup.

• Timing: Count on an overnight soak, 8-20 min prep (depending on how snazzy you are with chopping stuff), then just under 2 hours of “sit and wait while it cooks” time.
• Results: 10 servings. Very filling. Low calorie (roughly 200 calories per serving)

Summer Italian Soup with 16-Bean Soup Mix, Tomatoes, Carrot, Parsnip, and Leftover “Steak”

Ingredients:

• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 1/4 tsp hot chili oil
• 1 medium yellow onion, chopped
• 5-6 garlic cloves, minced (or chopped then smashed)
• 4 carrots, sliced pretty thin & diced
• 1 medium parsnip, handled just like the carrots
• 1 container Low Sodium Vegetable Broth + 4 c water (or 8 c water and 2-4 vegetable bouillon cubes)
• 1/4 c lentils
• 1 (28 ounce) can or 2 1/2 c diced tomatoes (italian seasoning or plain)
• 1 (10 ounce) box frozen chopped spinach, thawed out and squeezed of water
• 1 tsp ground red pepper (seems like a lot, but the beans handle it)
• 2 tsp dried oregano, or 1 1/2 loose Tbsp fresh
• 1 c dry lentils, sorted and rinsed (optional)
• 1 1/2 Tbsp dried basil
• 1/2 to 1/3 c Fry’s Vegan Steak Strips (or leftover cooked meatballs or other lean beefish item), thawed and chopped to 1/2″ cubes
• Salt to taste
• 1 Tbsp lemon juice (optional)

Preparation:

Soak beans (1 night):

• Sort (to remove stones / sand) beans, rinse, and then in a large bowl soak (overnight – you can also soak them in HOT water for about 2 hours but the overnight is better).

Before you turn the heat on (~10min):

• Set the spinach out in the sun or in someplace else it can thaw (or microwave it – see note below)
• Drain the beans. While you chop things, let them sit with the vegetable broth in their bowl.
• Chop the carrot & parsnip and set aside; chop & smash the garlic.

Deal with the carroty stuff (~10min):

• In a stock pot on medium heat, saute the onion and garlic until the onion starts to turn translucent on the edges; dump in the carrot and parsnip and toss around for about another 5min.
• Add in soaked beans, vegetable broth, and water.

Cook beans (1.5 to 2 hours):

• Bring to a boil, then lower heat when beans are ABOVE a simmer (at a “good boil” but not rolling).
• Cook, covered, for 1.5 to 2 hours.

Add & cook other ingredients (~20min):

• When beans are just about done, add in tomatoes, spinach, red pepper, oregano, basil, steak strips & optional lentils (if necessary, chop can tomatoes with kitchen scissors or spoon before mixing)
• Cook 20 min more or until all bean items are done
• Add salt, lemon, & additional red pepper to taste

Serve

Tips & Notes:

• Thawing spinach: put in cardboard, in bowl in microwave and cook on 4% power for 2-4 minutes. Squeeze spinach in cardboard so water goes into same bowl (you can use water for part of broth water if you feel like maximizing your nutrient intake here)
• Oregano: if you don’t do the chili oil and go easy on the pepper, you can bump this up to 2 tsp dry / up to 2 Tbsp fresh
• Serving: Plain water crackers are awesome crumbled up in this
• Based on this recipe