Gluten Free Fried Green Tomatoes

As often as I can, I purchase my produce from local or state farmer's markets. You always know it is fresh and at the same time support our local farmers. They have wonderful life stories and are genuinely happy when you want to buy their products. We are lucky enough to have a farmers market every single day. However, my favorite market is only Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. I try to hit that one as often as I can, but of course I don't always make it there. I am very thankful for my backup framer's market!

This week I came across some beautiful green tomatoes and I knew they had to go home with me.

I decided right away that we would turn these beauties into fried green tomatoes. I have all of the ingredients on hand so it was super easy to throw together. Also, I was able to use another one of my farm fresh eggs because of course they make everything better!

Lets get to frying!

Gluten Free, Fried Green Tomatoes

Ingredients:

2 large green tomatoes
1 /2 cups almond flour
1 t salt, divided
1/2 t freshly ground pepper
1 fresh egg
2 T cold water
canola oil for frying (or coconut oil if you prefer)

What to do:

Slice your tomatoes about 1/4 of an inch thick.

Lay out on a paper towel and sprinkle with salt.

Lay another paper towel on top. This process removes some of the excess water so the batter will stick better. Don't skip this step!!

Add oil into a skillet, I prefer cast iron for frying. Pour about 1/8 inch of oil into the pan. Heat the oil to 375°.

While your oil is heating up, add almond flour, 1/2 t salt, and pepper, into a shallow baking dish.

Mix together.

In another small dish, add your egg and cold water and scramble together.

Once your oil is ready to fry, dredge your tomato one slice at a time into the egg wash.

Straight from the egg wash, transfer the tomato into the almond flour mixture and completely cover the tomato.

Place right into the hot oil.

Fry for about 3 minutes per side, or until golden brown.

Remove from the oil and place on a paper towel covered plate to drain the extra oil.

That's it!! Hope you love them!

Thanks Y'all!
-Wise Wife 

Coconut "Cream" Pie

Remember my friends with the amazing garden? Well, they have chickens too! They sent me a dozen farm fresh eggs this weekend and I was so excited!! I love knowing my farm fresh eggs came from just down the road and were from chickens raised with love.

How gorgeous are these eggs!

Don't they just make your creative juices run wild?

I couldn't wait to get the eggs home to start cooking with them.

When I started thinking about what to make with my farm fresh eggs, right away my mind went to custard.  It isn't necessarily the healthiest of desserts, but hey, Hubs loves it! So then I started thinking, what type of custard should I go for? I always go for desserts that I typically enjoy, so this time I decided I would opt for something Hubs loves, Coconut! I enjoy the flavor of coconut but coconut pieces give me the creepies. It is something about the texture when I bite down on it. I try over and over, but it just isn't my thing.

Lets make some custard pie shall we?

Custard Cream Pie
GF/DF

Ingredients:

4 farm fresh egg
1/4 cup buttery spread, plus more for greasing
1 cup GF all purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1/4 t baking powder
1/4 t salt
1 can coconut milk
1 t almond extract
1 cup coconut flakes

What to do:

Preheat your oven to 350°.

Grab a baking dish or pie dish. Using your fingers, grease the inside go your dish with your buttery spread.

Shake the can of coconut milk well.

Add all of your ingredients into a blender or food processor.

Blend on medium until smooth, about 1 1/2 minutes.

Pour your coconut mixture into your greased dish.

Bake for one hour. It will rise, but will fall a bit once you remove it from the oven.

Allow the pie to cool completely before you enjoy!

Thanks Y'all!
-Wise Wife

Kale Pesto!

Okay, let me preface this post by saying I have HATED kale for a while now.  I just couldn't stand the taste or texture of it. I have tried it over and over hoping to enjoy it because of the healthy benefits it brings along with it. It is great to include in your diet if you are trying to loose weight, it has amazing antioxidants, give your metabolism a boost, and among other things is awesome for your immune system. See? We should all be eating it right? Well, I have finally figured out a way that I can actually ENJOY eating Kale. I made it into a pesto! I jar pesto every summer, so I think I may trade a few jars our for this kale pesto. It is a wonderful thing to have on hand in the freezer for a go to meal. 

I did keep this recipe dairy free by using nutritional yeast, but by all means, grab 1/4 cup shredded parmesan cheese and toss it in instead. 

This pesto can be used on top of baked chicken, as a sauce with a pound of pasta, or even as a spread on your favorite bread. I can't wait to see everywhere I can use this recipe! I made my pesto into a quick skillet meal that was super delicious! 

Okay so do you want to know how I made kale into pesto? Well grab a food processor or blender and lets get to work!

printable recipe here!! 

Kale Pesto

GF/DF

Ingredients:

1 bunch fresh kale

1/2 cup fresh basil

1/2 t red pepper flakes 

3 cloves garlic

1 1/2 T nutritional yeast 

1 T fresh lemon juice

pinch of salt

1/2 cup walnuts 

1/2 cup olive oil

What to do:

Start by trimming the tough stems out of your kale so all you are left with is the leafy part.

Rinse your kale leaves very well. I like to use a strainer in the sink to make this step super simple.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil.

Add your rinsed kale in and allow to cook for about 1 minute. You will see the beautiful green color really start to pop. 

Quickly remove the leaves and transfer back to your strainer. Rinse cold water over the leaves to stop the cooking process. 

Rinse your basil leaves.

Add kale, basil, garlic, red pepper flakes, nutritional yeast, lemon juice, and salt into your food processor.

Process for about 1 minute.

Add in your walnuts and scrape down the sides of the food processor. Process for about 45 seconds.

While the food processor is still running, slowly pour in your olive oil and allow to process for another minute. 

Taste for salt levels, and there is your pesto!! 

So here is what I did with my pesto. I cooked 1 cup of millet according to the package directions (you could easily use rice here). While that was cooking, I cut up some chicken and sautéed it in 1 tablespoon of olive oil. I sprinkled the chicken with a little salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes. Once the chicken was cooked, I added the millet and pesto into the skillet and gave it all a stir. That is it!! 

Hubs sprinkled his with a little parmesan cheese and said it was delicious!

Thanks Y'all!

-Wise Wife