1. Most Americans would shudder at the idea  of eating beans on a regular basis and thus, do not know how to cook beans.

2. Beans have a bad reputation and are oft involved in third-grade humor.

3. Beans can taste really good and are really good for us.

In my mind, the third fact outweighs the first two so I will proceed.

Three Ways to Use Bean Flours:

Just a guess, but I bet there’s not much demand for bean flours outside of the gluten free community.  Unfortunately, that also means that there is not a tremendous amount of information on the internet about how to use bean flours.  I’ve spent a few hours wandering the web and have compiled this information for your reference and mine. I haven’t tested all of these ideas; this is just a jumping off point. A place to start experimenting.  If you’ve been cooking and baking with bean flours, please feel free to share your knowledge in the comments!

• Baking: Use up to 25% bean flour in you gluten free flour mix to add protein, fiber, and iron. I just checked some of the flours that I have in the refrigerator and for each 1/4 c. serving garbanzo/fava flour has 3.5 g more protein and 4 g. more fiber than sorghum flour. The garbanzo/fava flour also provides 10% of the RDA for iron, while the sorghum flour provides 0%.

• Thickener: Use bean flour to thicken or cream soups and stews. This is a great way to reduce the fat content of creamy soups. White bean flour has a neutral taste and a creamy flavor that could replace some of the heavy cream in vegetable soups. You can also use bean flour to make white sauce, as long as you use a mild-flavored flour.

• Dip or Filling: Reconstitute the bean flours to make creamy dips and fillings for other recipes. I have used a white bean puree for a dairy-free lasagna filling, and I’ve seen many recipes around the blogosphere for black bean dip and bean purees that look divine.

Some Suggested Uses: To get you started, here are a few thoughts on  how you might use some of these bean flours

• Black Bean Flour: Use as part of your baking mix for chocolate cakes and brownies; try adding a small amount to bread recipes to get that dark whole-wheat look; the Bob’s Red Mill site has recipes for a black bean dip and black bean tortillas

• Fava Four: I haven’t been able to find any recipes that use fava flour by itself, but it is commonly used in gluten free flour mixes along with other bean and grain flours.

• Garbanzo Flour:Garbanzo beans are also known as besan, gram, chana, and chickpeas. Garbanzo flour is frequently used in Indian and Southern European cuisines and does not have to be combined with other flours (although it can). Try a French socca, and Indian Besan Puda, or a Sicilian panelle.

• Garfava Flour: A mixture of garbanzo and fava flour, garfava flour frequently appears in gluten free baking mixes. I often substitute it for the soy flour in my all-purpose mix.  (The light bean flour in the Bette Hagman cookbooks is garfava flour)

• Green Pea Flour: Add reconstituted grean pea flour to guacamole to lower the fat content and add extra nutriens; use as part of your baking mix for chocolate cakes and brownies; use to thicken soups and stews.

• Soy Flour: Soy flour is one of my favorite flours for baking mainly because it is so inexpensive.

• White Bean Flour: The mild-flavor of white beans makes this flour ideal for sauces and gravies. It can also be used to thicken soups.  Add herbs and spices to reconstituted white bean flour for a flavorful white bean puree.

Beans Are Good For You:

Beans are a great source of dietary fiber, protein, iron, and many other essential nutrients. Since our family eats a vegetarian and gluten free diet, I use bean flours in my all purpose flour mix to add an additional source of iron to our diet. However, not every bean provides the same mix of nutrients. If you have particular dietary concerns, check out the nutritional information below to see which bean flour best meets your needs.  (The serving size for this data is 1/4 cup.)

• Black Bean Flour: 120 calories, 0 g fat, 22 g carbohydrates, 5 g dietary fiber, 1 g sugar, 8 g protein

• Fava Four: 110 calories, 0.5 g fat, 19 g carbohydrates, 8 g dietary fiber, 1 g sugar, 9 g protein

• Garbanzo Flour :110 calories, 2 g fat, 5 g sodium, 18 g carbohydrates, 5 g dietary fiber, 3 g sugar, 6 g protein

• Garfava Flour: 110 calories, 1.5 g fat, 5 g sodium, 18 g carbohydrates, 6 g dietary fiber, 3 g sugar, 6 g protein
• Green Pea Flour: 50 calories, 0 g fat, 2 g sodium, 9 g carbohydrates, 4 g dietary fiber, 1 g sugar, 4 g protein
• Soy Flour: 120calories, 6 g fat, 1 g saturated fat, 0g sodium, 8 g carbohydrates, 3 g dietary fiber, 2 g sugar, 10 g protein
• White Bean Flour: 110 calories, 0 g fat, 20 g carbohydrates, 8 g dietary fiber, 2 g sugar, 7 g protein

The Gluten Free Menu Swap is hosted this week by Cheryl at Gluten Free Goodness. Stop by her site to see the roundup of everyone’s menus.

Gluten Free Menu: Asian Week
Day One: Sesame Chicken (Tofu) by Gluten Free Mommy
Day Two: Vegetable Chicken Peanut Soup (Chickpeas)  from World Soups
Day Three: Veggie Fried Rice by Me
Day Four: Sweet and Sour Chicken (Eggplant) by Mrs. G.F.
Day Five: Veggie Sushi by Me
Day Six: Homemade Egg Rolls by Gluten Free Gobsmacked
Day Seven: Leftovers or Pantry Meal

Update: I did my grocery shopping for the week and spent $113.91. I hit Whole Foods first for soy milk, tofu and any veggies under $1.99/lb and then stopped by a local chain grocery store for most of the dry goods and the remaining veggies. I try to check my grocery receipts as soon as I get in the car and today that paid off big time. The Whole Foods cashier has rung up 3 items incorrectly!  I took the receipt back into the store and the help desk gave me the correct price on one item and then gave me the other two items for free. The total refund ended up being $13.33.

If you’d like to read more about my gluten free grocery budgeting efforts, try these two articles:

“10 Strategies to Lower My Grocery Bill - Part 1”
“10 Strategies to Lower My Grocery Bill - Part 2”

Grocery List:
4 containers extra-firm tofu
6 cartons soy milk
eggs
orange juice
2 six-packs of Redbridge Gluten Free Beer

cornstarch
grits
canola oil
10 oz. can tomatoes
brown sugar
canned pineapple
peanut butter
rice (brown and white)
2 32oz cartons veggie broth
dried hot peppers

1 bunch of celery
1 onion
2 green bell peppers
1 head broccoli
1 baking potato
2 lbs. carrots
2 zuchinni
1 avocado
1 cabbage
1 cucumber
1 bunch green onions
1 bunch bananas

Kate at Gluten Free Gobsmacked is hosting a virtual Gluten Free BBQ and I’m invited! The menu goes from A to Z, and in a moment of uncertainty I used a random number generator to pick “D” for my contribution. Days later as I racked my brain for BBQ appropriate recipes starting in D, I came to the somewhat disappointing conclusion that I was going to have to do Deviled Eggs. Disappointing because Deviled Eggs are so old hat (at least to me) and I don’t always like them. Nevertheless I simply could not think of anything else to make.

Late one night I was drifting off to sleep when a thought suddenly came to the forefront of my mind. “Cheese, put cheese in the deviled eggs. Pimento cheese!”. This was my intuition speaking and since my intuition rarely fails me in the kitchen I went with it. I also researched the cooking term “deviled” and found that it means to “to chop food finely and mix with hot seasoning or sauce, usually after cooking”. That doesn’t sound like any deviled egg I’ve ever eaten. It was time to kick things up a notch =)

Diabolically Deviled Eggs
4 eggs, boiled
1/2 c. pimento cheese spread
1/2 jalepeno, diced
1/4 tsp. prepared horseradish
lemon juice, to taste
salt, to taste
paprika

Directions: Slice the boiled eggs in half and remove the yolks. Blend the yolks and pimento cheese spread in a food processor or blender until the mixture is smooth and almost fluffy. Stir in the diced jalepeno, horseradish, lemon juice, and salt. Using a small spoon, scoop the mixture back into the egg halves. Sprinkle the eggs with paprika.

Now, in all honesty I didn’t think the eggs were that great. I’m going through an anti-egg phase, and these just didn’t do it for me. Too much egg white. However, the affirmed egg-hater in the household thought these were quite good and ate two!  The little man wouldn’t even touch them.

1. First, pat the dough into a round that is approximately 3/4″ thick.

2. Then, cut the dough into 6 - 8 wedges.

3. Separate the wedges and place them about an inch apart on a greased baking sheet.

4. Brush milk or butter over the tops of the scones and sprinkle with sugar.

I’ll be submitting my menu to the Gluten Free Menu Swap which is hosted this week by M-Elle at Cooking & UNcooking. She already has the round-up post started and I’ll be headed over there to check out some of the menus this evening since some of the descriptions are quite intriguing . . . I’ve definitely got to find out what Jezebel Chili is!

Menu for this Week:

Day One: Oven Fried Sesame Chicken (Tofu)

Day Two: Vegetable Gumbo

Day Three: Pineapple Chicken (Tofu) Bake

Day Four: Black Bean Enchiladas

Day Five: Parmesan Fish (???) with Easy Summer Coleslaw

Day Six: Mexican Cornbread Casserole

Update: We just finished our grocery shopping for the week and I was pleasantly surpised to see that we got out of the store for $111.65. That includes the ingredients for the suppers listed above, as well as side dishes, breakfasts, lunches, and snacks!

Since this site is about learning to cook gluten free foods, I am going to write up a guide for good cookbooks for the gluten free diet. There’s no way that I can test all the gluten free cookbooks or even all of the regular cookbooks that have great naturally gluten free recipes. And that’s where I need your help.

If you’d like to help your fellow gluten-free eaters, please leave a comment listing your favorite cookbook for the gluten free diet. It doesn’t have to be a “gluten-free” cookbook, it just has to be one that works for you as you cook gluten free. After a few weeks, I’ll close the comments on this post and compile a list of your (my readers’) favorite cookbooks.

By the way, even if someone has already listed your favorite cookbook please leave a comment too. If a cookbook keeps appearing in the comments, then we’ll know that it is a good one!

P.S. I haven’t done a Monday Mommy brag in a while. Here’s David newest hiding place.

Dear Readers,

There are so many things that I should tell you about this gluten free Red Velvet Cake.  I should tell you about how I baked it this morning while wearing a wrap dress, floral apron, high heels and pearls and looked like I had stepped right out of the 1950s. I should tell you how much my co-workers enjoyed this third cake that I could not bring myself to eat even though it is so delicious. (I am sugared out!). I should tell you how tender, moist and perfect this cake was and how no one could tell that it was gluten free.  I should…but it’s 11:00 PM and it’s time for this gluten free cook to head to bed.  Enjoy the recipe, especially those of you who are planning on making it for your birthdays!

Southern Red Velvet Cake

Cake Ingredients:
1 3/4 c. canola oil
1 1/2 c. sugar
2 eggs, beaten (room temp)

1 c. brown rice flour
3/4 c. sorghum flour
3/4 c. tapioca starch
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. xanthan gum
1/4 tsp. salt

1 c. buttermilk (or 1 Tbsp cider vinegar and 1 c. milk substitute)

1 tsp. vanilla
1 oz. red food coloring (this is one of the McCormick’s bottles)
1 Tbsp. cocoa

Frosting Ingredients:
1 box confectioner’s sugar
8 oz. cream cheese (can sub vegan cream cheese)
1 stick butter (room temp)
1 c. chopped nuts (optional)
1 tsp vanilla

Cake Instructions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Use a mixer to cream oil and sugar. With the mixer still going, add one egg at a time and beat until the eggs are thoroughly incorporated. (This step creates an emulsion that holds the batter together)

3. Mix all of the dry ingredients together in a separate bowl. Make sure they are well mixed, either by sifting the flours or whisking them.

4. Add the flour to the oil and sugar mixture in four parts. Alternate the flour with the buttermilk. You should begin and end with dry ingredients and each part should be mixed in completely before you add the next. (If you were to start with the liquids the emulsion would break.)

5. Make a paste of the cocoa, red food coloring, and vanilla and gently stir it into the batter.

6. Pour the batter into two greased and floured round cake pans. Bake at 350 degrees F for approximately 25 minutes. (A toothpick stuck into the middle of the cake should come out clean when the cake is done)

7. When the cakes have completely cooled, frost with Cream Cheese Frosting.

Frosting Instructions:
1. Cream the confectioner’s sugar, cream cheese, and butter.

2. Mix in the vanilla and chopped nuts.

3. Spread over cooled cake.

If you haven’t guessed by now, most gluten free bread recipes are a bit scarce in the nutrients we’re accustomed to seeing in wheat bread. One reason is that wheat breads are usually fortified with vitamins and minerals during the manufacturing process, and the other is that gluten free breads depend heavily on starch flours to achieve a (somewhat) normal taste and texture.

For years I assumed that there was no way around this, but recent requests from readers nudged me into a series of experiments with the Flat Bread that is ubiquitous in our household. Our usual Flat Bread recipe is based on the Gluten Free Wraps that Kate posted at Gluten Free Gobsmacked. I say “based” because John recently read the recipe, which we keep posted on the refrigerator, and realized that we don’t follow the instructions at all. Those of you who’ve been reading my blog for a while will not be surprised that I completely skip the 40 minutes rise and the 30 minute cool down.

The Wrap recipe is delicious but the brown rice flour and corn starch are not high in fiber or iron, two of the measures that I’m most concerned with. I decided to reduce the brown rice flour and completely eliminate the tapioca starch. In it’s place I added Garbanzo/Fava Flour and Teff Flour, both of which are high in fiber, protein, and iron. And while I was at it, I made the recipe yeast-free and egg-free.

The first experimental batch was amazing! The bread was more tender and fluffy than I would have ever imagined possible for a bread that has no starch, and it had a great whole-grain taste. I’ve posted the nutritional data for the Multi-Grain Flat Bread and whole-wheat bread below for comparison. The Flat Bread definitely wins out if you’re concerned with adding more fiber, calcium and iron to your diet.

Two Slices of Multi-Grain Flat Bread:
Calories 276, Calories from fat 76, Total Fat 9g, Saturated Fat 1 g, Cholesterol 0, Sodium 294 mg, Total Carbohydrates 41g, Dietary Fiber 9g, Sugars 5g, Protein 8g. Calcium 10% RDA, Iron 17% RDA

Two Slices of commercially prepared whole wheat bread:
Calories 138, Calories from fat 8, Total Fat 2g, Saturated Fat 0 g, Cholesterol 0, Sodium 264 mg, Total Carbohydrates 24g, Dietary Fiber 4g, Sugars 4g, Protein 8g. Calcium 3% RDA, Iron 4% RDA

(P.S. I am working on a low-fat version of the bread. I was shocked at how much more fat my recipe had! Once I lower the fat, the calories will decrease too.)

(P.P.S The recipe does make 8 slices of bread. The picture above only has six because I snagged two slices for a tomato sandwich as soon as the bread came out of the oven.)

Multi-Grain Flat Bread

(Gluten Free, Soy Free, Yeast Free, Dairy Free, Egg Free)

1/2 c. brown rice flour
1/2 c. teff flour
1/2 c. garfava flour
1 Tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. xanthan gum
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda

1 c. water
5 Tbsp. ground flax seed
1 Tbsp. canola oil
1 tsp. cidar vinegar

Instructions:
1. Mix all dry ingredients together in a medium sized mixing bowl.
2. Add the wet ingredients (water, oil, flax seed) to the dry ingredients and stir until well combined.
3. Divide the dough into two parts and place each one in the middle of an 8″ x 8″ square cake pan that has been lightly greased and floured.
4. Wet the back of a large spoon and use that to spread the dough evenly across the pan.
5. Bake the bread at 350 degrees F for 15 minutes.
6. Allow the bread to cool for a few minutes and then slice each pan into fourths to serve.

Starting later this summer, I will be offering Gluten Free Coaching (by phone). Until then I’d like to do a few practice runs to work out the kinks. If you’d like to be a guinea pig, send me an email (using the link at the bottom of the post with your desired time slot. Depending on the demand, I may have to draw straws to determine who gets the first round of open time slots. But, I’ll probably do another round of calls the following week and those who missed out will get first shot at the time slots for the second week.

How Does It Work
I’m still thinking through how this will work, but this is what I’d like to try for the first week:

1. You can sign up for a thirty minute time slot on June 16 or 18th at:
- 7:30 P.M. CST (June 16th slot taken)
- 8:15 P.M. CST (all slots taken)
- 9:00 P.M. CST (all slots taken)
- 9:45 P.M. CST (June 16th slot taken)

2. Make a list of questions that you’d like to ask or have a general idea of what you’d like to discuss. If you want you can email me the questions beforehand.

3. Be near a phone (I’ll get the number confidentially beforehand) so that I can call you at the appointed time.

4. We’ll talk about whatever you’d like for approximately 30 minutes.

Have you ever seen the pineapple mango salsa at Whole Foods? In the store near our house, it’s almost always out for sample in the produce aisle and we almost always make sure we stop for a bit. We never bought it, though, until I decided that I needed a treat before starting Eat to Live.

I grabbed it out of the bag as soon as I got home, called John into the kitchen and we eagerly dug in with our tortilla chips. Ten minutes later, we had finished the half cup of salsa off and were somewhat disappointed that $4.76 of salsa had gone that quickly. I decided that I needed to make this myself.

This weekend I found some ripe mangoes at Target and whipped this up for a quick appetizer for us and our houseguests. Everyone loved the salsa and the salsa loved my pocketbook.

Pineapple Mango Salsa
(makes 2 1/3 cups)

2 mangos, diced
20 oz. can crushed pineapple, drained
2 jalepeno peppers, minced
1/2 c. cilantro, minced
juice of 1/4 lemon
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. cumin
1/8 tsp. white pepper

Add all ingredients to a blender, and pulse on the lowest setting until the salsa is a consistency that you like. So easy!

Makes 7 servings. Per serving: 34 Calories (kcal); 0g Total Fat; 9g Carbohydrate; 0mg Cholesterol; 85mg Sodium; 1g Fiber