Keto Pannacotta with Roasted Strawberry Rhubarb Topping

I've been a bad blogger of late, and offer heartfelt apologies for not sharing many recipes over the past while. I've been on a bit of a ...digestive journey?... for lack of a better way to put it! With the help of my naturopath, I feel like I am making some headway in my digestive health, but it has definitely changed the way I have been eating, as well as my creation of new recipes. 

It has been a journey...I've been off dairy, back on dairy, and now off  all soy, cane sugar, and potatoes, (which includes arrowroot and tapioca starch...for those that have followed my baking in the past...you will understand the lack of baking!!) But...I am feeling much better digestively, so I am more than willing to keep following this path! One major thing that I have noticed is my almost complete lack of sweet tooth now. The only sweetener I have used lately is the Lakanto Monkfruit sweetener , but very sparingly. I  find I am not missing sugar at all!!

So, here's were we enter the Keto craze! Being very similar to the way I've already been eating lately, I decided to give it a go, and see if I could budge some of the weight I have slowly and steadily put on over the past few years. After figuring out my Macros (thanks to my son...lol) and using a tracker to log my meals, I am making progress! But...you all know me well...my creative cook side has been dying to come up with some Keto friendly treats...which leads us here today! I love pannacotta, it is such an easy but elegant dessert for hot summer days. I used my regular pannacotta recipe from this blog as a guide, and created this one, that is both Keto friendly and delicious!! 

This is the very first Keto recipe I have posted, but if you follow me on Instagram, I have posted pic's of many meals over the past few weeks. If there is anything posted there you would like to see written out, let me know!! 

Keto Pannacotta (non dairy)

Makes 6 servings , approx 56 calories each, with 5g carbs, 4 g fat, 1 g protein per serving)

4 tsp gelatin

½ cup water

1 can evaporated coconut milk (see pic at the bottom of this post for the brands I used)

Sweetener of choice (completely optional…I didn’t include any as this coconut milk already has a bit of coconut sugar in it, and I find it perfectly sweet enough for me)

Measure your water into a small pot. Sprinkle the gelatin evenly over the water and let sit for about 8 minutes. After the 8 minutes, place over low heat and stir until gelatin is dissolved. Don’t boil!!

When it is completely dissolved, add the can of evaporated coconut milk and stir well. Add additional sweetener of choice here if using!) Stir well.

Pour into 6 small containers (I use small mason jars with lids. Great for storage and my lunch bag!, but small ramekins would work as well. )

Chill for a minimum of 2 hrs before serving to give it time to set well, especially if you are going to unmold it to plate!

To unmold: run a sharp NON SERRATED knife (a serrated blade will leave funky patterns on the edge of your pannacotta…not so pretty!!) around the edge of the jar or ramekin, turn upside down, and with a gentle shake, unmold your panna cotta onto serving plate.

Alternatively, place topping on top of panna cotta in serving container and serve as is! (see picture below of a regular panna cotta with a mango topping for inspiration!)

Top with topping of choice and serve!

Keto Roasted Strawberry Rhubarb Topping

(makes approx 2 cups, I use about 1.5 tbsp as a serving size...approx 17 calories, 3 net carbs, 1 g protein and 1 g fat)

200 g of rhubarb, cut in smallish pieces (I used approx 5 stalks that were about 12 inches long, they were about finger sized in diameter, for an easy reference)

½  lb strawberries (I used ½ of the clamshell container!)cut in ½ or ¼’s, depending on the size of your berries. You want the chunks to be smaller, just a bit bigger than the rhubarb.

2 tsp Lakanto Monkfruit sweetener (or sweetener of choice)

½ cup water

1 tbsp chia seeds

Preheat oven to 375F

In a glass 8x8 baking dish, place your chopped fruit. Pour in the water and sprinkle sweetener evenly over the fruit. Bake for approx 25 minutes, or until your rhubarb is softened up nicely. Remove from oven and set aside to cool slightly( 10-15 min). Stir in the chia seeds and let stand for approx 20 minutes, stirring often. This will thicken up the liquids and give a loose jam like consistency to your fruit.

When fruit is room temperature, transfer to serving dish or storage container for future use. (2 cup mason jar is perfect!) Keep refrigerated! (should last 4-5 days in the fridge)

used these in the recipe!

this is a regular pannacotta that I made a while back,
with a pureed mango topping, but it gives you an idea
for presentation...I used stemless wine glasses...pretty!!

One of the meal's I posted on Instagram, soooo yummy!!

Gluten Free Rhubarb Crisp

I love rhubarb. It has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. My Grandma Pringle had a large lovely row of rhubarb growing in her garden every spring (along with a cherry tree that grew two kinds of cherries, gooseberries, and the most wonderful black raspberries ever!!) Their house in the summer was the best place to visit… my brother and I spent many an hour pilfering whatever was ripe and in season at the time.  My love of both food and gardening definitely had its start in that lovely backyard of delights, and for that, I am thankful.  

This crisp is delicious. The topping has a delightfully crisp texture, and if you decide to add the pecans, they add a lovely crunch. (my eldest son prefers the version without…but he isn’t much of a nuts-in-baked-goods fan. If you like pecans, throw them in…they won’t disappoint!) Made with maple syrup, it is refined sugar free as well as gluten free!

The strawberry version is every bit as good as the straight rhubarb version. Try them both out…let me know which your favourite is!  We served ours with a nice scoop of good quality vanilla ice cream (look for one with ingredients you can pronounce!!)

Gluten Free Rhubarb Crisp

Fruit base:

8 Cups washed and chopped rhubarb (or 6 cups rhubarb and 2 cups sliced organic strawberries)

3 Tbsp arrowroot flour

¼ cup maple syrup

Topping:

½ cup rice flour

1 ½ cup large flake oats

¼ cup arrowroot flour

½ tsp salt (if your butter is unsalted increase to 1 tsp)

½ cup butter (1 stick, cold!)

½ cup maple syrup

Optional: 1 cup chopped pecans (really good addition!)     

 

Preheat oven to 350F

Toss rhubarb (and strawberries if using) with the maple syrup and arrowroot (the first measurement) in a large 9X13 glass baking dish. Set aside.

In a medium mixing bowl, stir together all of the dry topping ingredients. 

Using a box grater, grate the stick of cold butter into the bowl, and then rub into the dry ingredients with your fingertips until it is well combined. 

Stir in maple syrup and mix again until it makes a nice thick batter. Drop by spoonful evenly across the top of the prepared fruit. 

Bake in preheated oven for 35-40 minutes, or until fruit is bubbly and topping is starting to brown and get crispy.

Remove from oven and cool slightly before serving.

Store leftovers, covered, at room temperature for a day or two, if they last that long!

When the temperatures outside soar, I love to use
my bbq as a second oven, to keep the heat
out of my kitchen!  Bricks help to
keep the heat more even,and The oven
thermometer is great for keeping an eye
on the temperature. 

Kale and Quinoa Salad with Strawberries, Pecans and Avocado

When I plant my garden in the spring, I tend to be an over planter, which is all fine and dandy, until later in the season...when the plants go wild and you cannot even begin to wade thru the greenery without stepping on something. But, in the early summer, when everything is behaving well, my garden is a lovely calm place to while away the time pulling weeds,  and thinning the rows of beautiful greens. Which leads us to this salad. Instead of thinning and tossing, I like to use the thinning in salads like this, kind of a waste-not-want-not kind of thing. It makes me feel less guilty about pulling out perfectly good plants :)

Baby Kale against a backdrop
of carrots, that need to be thinned
as well!

Kale and Quinoa Salad with Strawberries, Pecans and Avocado

6 cups chopped baby Kale (packaged or picked from your garden!)

2 cups cooked quinoa, cooled

2 avocados, diced

2 cups strawberries, hulls removed and sliced

1 cup chopped toasted pecans

Dressing:

1/3 cup olive oil

1/3 cup apple cider vinegar or white balsamic

Zest and juice of one organic lemon

1 tsp sea salt or herbamare

1 Tbsp honey

Fresh ground black pepper to taste

½ cup chopped garlic chives (optional, you can sub regular chives if desired)

Toss the salad ingredients in a large bowl.

Combine the dressing ingredients into a 2c mason jar. Place lid on snuggly and shake well to combine.

Toss together well and serve immediately, or chill in refrigerator for up to a day if desired.

Squeeze lemon into your jar

use rasp to grate the zest BEFORE
squeezing the lemons...much easier!

to cool your quinoa quickly,
spread on a large plate and
set in the freezer for 10 minutes.

Perfect side dish for BBQ Chicken 

Strawberry Brownie Kabob's (Grain Free!)

I whipped up these adorable little desserts for our Fathers Day Picnic in the Park today, and they were delicious! Perfect picnic food on a stick! The recipe makes a lot of mini brownies, but they do freeze beautifully.  I used one clam-shell package of organic strawberries, and made a dozen kabobs with two berries each. The rest of the brownies are in the freezer for the next time!

Grain Free Brownies

1 1/2 cups almond flour (I like JK Gourmet!)

½ cup coconut flour

2 tbsp chick pea flour 

½ cup cocoa powder

½  cup coconut sugar

1 tsp salt

1 ½ tsp baking soda

6 eggs

½ cup coconut oil

1 tbsp Apple Cider vinegar

¼ cup yogurt, kefir or milk of choice

------------

Fresh organic strawberries (I used two per kabob, so buy according!)

------------

1/2 cup enjoy life Chocolate chips, melted together with 1 tsp coconut oil.

Line 2 mini muffin tins or grease well. (this recipe will make 40-48 mini brownies, I cooked them in two batches!) Set aside. 

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Place all ingredients in a large mixing bowl and mix well with an immersion blender or hand blender until well incorporated and there are no lumps. Scoop into prepared mini muffin tins, filling about 2/3 full. 

Bake at 350 for 8 min or until just firm. Don't overbake or they will dry out!

Let cool, peel from wrappers, thread on skewers with strawberries and set on a waxed paper lined tray. Drizzle with melted chocolate.  Chill to set the chocolate drizzle and enjoy!

Strawberry Rhubarb Custard

My Grandma Pringle made the best rhubarb pie EVER. Seriously. Of anything I remember her cooking for us, that is the one thing that conjures up memories of her kitchen (there was also an unfortunate chicken liver incident, but we won’t talk about that one, ‘K?) Back to the pie. Whenever I asked for the recipe, her answer was always , and I think I quote, “oh, a little of this, and a bit of that” but never a full recipe to work with. At the time I always thought it was a closely guarded secret recipe, but I now have my suspicions that she, like me, wasn't much of a recipe follower. Sometimes great food just happens, and I think that was the case with the pie.  I tried to recreate that elusive pie over the years, and although some came close, nothing ever quite captured the essence of her pie.  Now that I am grain free, I have sadly  put thoughts of pies out to the proverbial pasture, as grain free pastry is proving to be a very tricky thing, and although I am trying, I have yet to perfect a blog worthy version.  Now perfected!! follow this link for my Grain Free Pie Pastry!

Fast forward to this past Saturday. I was out shopping and just could not resist buying a bag of beautiful organic rhubarb from the Scotscraig Farm Veggie stand that is at Fenwoods during  the vegetable garden season. I have rhubarb in my garden, but due to a last minute transplant, it has been too small to do anything with. Buying my first real rhubarb of the season made me sadly nostalgic for my grandmas pie all over again, and it was relegated to the fridge while I sulked. 

 Driving home from work tonight though, I had one of those kitchen epiphany moments. The best part of Grandma's pie was not the pastry. Although it was good, the creamy rhubarb studded custard was always the shining star of the pie. So, why not just recreate the filling?  Pastry is just a vehicle for the interior of the pie anyway. Home to the kitchen I flew, to rescue the rhubarb from my fridge.  I added some organic strawberries, which sometimes made an appearance in Grandmas’ pies, and I think I hit the nostalgia nail right on the head.  If I close my eyes and take myself back 30 years, I can almost imagine sitting at her big wooden dining room table, surrounded by family after a big dinner, sinking a fork into a piece of her pie. I think she would like my crust-less version, and I know she would be proud that her cooking techniques are alive and well in me.

Strawberry Rhubarb Custard

4 cups rhubarb, chopped

2 cups sliced strawberries

3 Tbsp arrowroot starch

6 eggs

1/3 cup coconut sugar

2 cups whole milk

1 tsp vanilla powder** or 2 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 375F

Place chopped fruit in a 9 x 13 glass baking dish. Sprinkle the arrowroot on top of the fruit, and stir to coat the fruit.

In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs, and add the coconut sugar, milk and vanilla. Mix well to incorporate.

Pour over fruit mixture and bake in preheated oven for 40-45 minutes or until the custard is set in the middle. Let cool slightly and serve warm, or chill thoroughly and serve cold.

**Organic Traditions has an organic vanilla bean powder that I love to use in baking. Substitute an organic vanilla extract if you wish!