Sweet, Savory & Free: Insanely Delicious Plant-Based Recipes without Any of the Top 8 Food Allergens

Debbie Adler Carl Kravats

BenBella Books
June 6, 2017
$19.95/Paperback
ISBN-13: 978-1944648046

Debbie Adler is the owner and biggest nosher at Sweet Debbie’s Organic Cupcakes. Whenever you meet her, she is quick to offer you a Chocoholic Cupcake or any one of her allergen- and sugar-free desserts that happens to be exiting the oven. Since it gives her especially great pleasure to see children gobble up her healthy baked goods, her goal is to teach all mammas, by hook or by cookbook, how to bake up batches in their own kitchens.

Debbie’s son was born with multiple food allergies. Without any ambitions of Food Network stardom, Debbie was inspired to become her son’s allergen-free Iron Chef as well as create a bakery so that children like her son, as well as those with diabetes, celiac disease, and autism, could safely enjoy mouth-watering and nutritious desserts.

Debbie is a life-long student of nutrition and eating sweets, and has combined the two things she loves most into her unique bakery and cookbook, SWEET DEBBIE’S ORGANIC TREATS (Harlequin, 2013).

In 2013, Debbie Adler’s Sweet Debbie’s Organic Treats: Allergy-Free and Vegan Recipes From the Famous Los Angeles Bakery proved that cooking for those with allergies and food sensitivities doesn’t mean giving up dessert.

Now Sweet Debbie goes savory with more than 100 plant-based recipes free of the top eight food allergens—dairy, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts, soy, wheat, fish, and shellfish—plus free of refined sugar and oils.

Motivated by her own son’s life-threatening allergies, Adler has spent the last six years creating meals to nourish and delight her entire family—meals that are both savory and safe—including:

Lemon Basil Blueberry Muffins
Sweet Miso Forbidden Rice Ramen Noodle Bowl
Roasted Butternut Squash Enchilada Rounds
Yam Gnocchi with Sriracha Pesto
Mediterranean Quinoa Burgers
Spanakopita Enchiladas with Roasted Red Pepper Cream Sauce
Cinnamon Raisin Bread
Cafe Macchiato Sandwich Cookies

Debbie’s super satiating, divinely delicious, and accessibly easy-to-prepare recipes show just how incredible, versatile, and flavorful allergy-free, plant-based cooking can be! Her entrees, pastas, soups, sides, breads, and sweets are a guaranteed—and guaranteed safe—hit for school, kids’ parties, work events, and more.

Pumpkin Ravioli

MAKES 18 RAVIOLI

I love ravioli. No matter its shape or size, I am helplessly under its spell. So, similar to building your picture-perfect house, I tailor-make my ravioli. I take everything I love about food and pack it into this billowy dough and filling. As I’m known to do, I let pumpkin mingle with the dough boys while the paraphernalia inside is padded with hearty mushrooms and sweet Vidalia. I hope your spouse is not the jealous type because when you bring these guys into your home, your sweetie will have some tough competition for your love.

Must Have

DOUGH

1 cup quinoa flour
1 cup chickpea flour
1 cup sweet white rice flour
1 cup tapioca flour
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 cup pumpkin puree
2 tablespoons applesauce
9–10 tablespoons green tea or water, at room temperature

FILLING

1/2 cup chopped Vidalia onion
2 tablespoons coconut aminos
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 cup chopped cremini mushrooms

GLAZE

3 tablespoons coconut milk

PEPITA PESTO SAUCE

2 cups fresh basil leaves
1/4 cup roasted unsalted pepitas (pumpkin seeds)
3 tablespoons nutritional yeast
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon stevia powder
1/4 cup coconut milk

TOPPING

1/4 cup roasted unsalted pepitas, roughly chopped

Must Do

Preheat the oven to 375° Line a 15 X 13-inch baking sheet with parchment paper.

To make the dough: Whisk together the quinoa flour, chickpea flour, sweet white rice flour, tapioca flour, salt, and nutmeg in a large bowl. Make a well in the middle.

Add the pumpkin puree and applesauce, and stir to combine. Add the green tea, 1 tablespoon at a time, until a dough forms but is not sticky. Shape the dough into a ball. Divide the dough into 4 equal pieces by cutting it in half, and then cut the halves in half. Press each piece into the shape of a disk.

Place each disk in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 10 minutes.

To make the filling: Heat the onion in a medium sauté pan over medium heat and stir until fragrant, about 1 minute.

Add the coconut aminos, salt, smoked paprika, and cremini mushrooms and cook, stirring occasionally, until the spices are fragrant and the mushrooms are tender, about 4 minutes.

Take out the disks from the fridge. Place one disk on a lightly floured piece of parchment paper with another piece of parchment on top of the disk, and roll it out until it is a 9 X 9-inch square. Remove the top piece of parchment.

Place 1 tablespoon of the filling on the dough 3 times across, evenly spaced. Make 3 rows of filling, so that you have 9 little mounds sitting on the dough.

Roll another disk into another 9 X 9-inch square and place it on top of the dough with the filling mounds.

With a pizza cutter, cut the dough into 3 strips, 3 inches apart, and then do the same widthwise, to make 9 ravioli. It should look like a tic-tac-toe board. Press down the edges all around the perimeter of each ravioli with the prongs of a fork. Dip the fork in warm water as you do this so the dough sticks together and seals properly.

Repeat these steps with the other 2 disks of dough so that you wind up with 18 ravioli.

To cook the ravioli, fill a medium-size pot with water, place over medium heat, and bring to a boil. Add 3 ravioli at a time and remove with a slotted spoon when they float to the top, about 3 minutes.

To make the glaze: Place the ravioli on the prepared pan and brush the tops with the coconut milk.

Bake the ravioli until they turn a light golden brown, about 15 minutes.

Transfer the baking sheet from the oven to a wire rack, and let it sit for 5 minutes before removing the ravioli.

To make the sauce: Add the basil, pepitas, nutritional yeast, garlic, lemon juice, black pepper, and stevia to a food processor. Pulse to combine. While the machine is running, add the coconut milk, 1 tablespoon at a time, until the sauce is smooth and not too thick.

Serve the ravioli warm with the sauce and top with the roasted pepitas.

SERVING SIZE: 3 RAVIOLI, 1/4 CUP PESTO SAUCE

Calories 300; Total Fat 6.1g; Protein 12.6g; Cholesterol 0.0g; Sodium 190mg; Fiber 6.7g; Sugars 1.2g; Total Carbohydrate 65.3g

Chocolate Pudding Pie with Seed Crust

MAKES 12 MINI PIES

I don’t know if you remember this, but many years ago, I’m talking the ’70s, I think every mom in America was required to make her children chocolate pudding in a graham cracker crust and slather it with whipped cream. This was actually something I really loved to eat. Of course, I had to figure out a healthy, allergy-free version of it for my son (and for myself, who am I kidding?). The best part is there is no need to bake it. Just assemble the parts and put it in the freezer. The avocado hiding out in the chocolate pudding adds a boost of potassium, a rich creaminess, and a smooth texture that makes it taste like custard.

Must Have

CRUST

3/4 cup sunflower seeds
1/4 cup pumpkin seeds
2 tablespoons hemp seeds
6 Medjool dates, pitted and soaked in water for 20 minutes, then drained

PUDDING

3/4 cup green tea or water, at room temperature
10 Medjool dates, pitted and soaked in water for 20 minutes, then drained
1/4 cup cacao powder
1/4 cup Sunflower Seed Butter
1/4 cup mashed avocado

WHIPPED CREAM TOPPING

1 1/2 cups coconut cream or any nondairy whipped cream
1 tablespoon maple syrup

Must Do

Line a standard 12-cup muffin tin with paper baking cups.

To make the crust: Add the sunflower and pumpkin seeds to a medium sauté pan over low heat and toast, stirring occasionally, until the seeds turn a light golden brown, about 5 minutes.

Add the toasted sunflower seeds, toasted pumpkin seeds, hemp seeds, and drained dates to a food processor. Pulse until the mixture comes together but retains some texture.

Add about 1 1/2 tablespoons of the crust mixture to each of the prepared cupcake wells. Press down to make an even layer. You don’t need to go up the sides.

To make the pudding: Add the green tea, drained dates, cacao powder, sunflower seed butter, and avocado to a food processor. Pulse until the mixture comes together and is very smooth.

Spoon about 3 tablespoons of the pie mixture on top of the crust mixture, dividing it evenly among the tins.

To make the whipped cream topping: Whisk together the coconut cream and maple syrup in a small bowl. Place in the refrigerator.

Place the pudding pies in the freezer for 2 hours or overnight. Peel off the cupcake liners and top each pie with the whipped cream. Serve immediately.

Keep in an airtight container for up to 3 months in the freezer.

SERVING SIZE: 1 PIE

Calories 180; Total Fat 10.1g; Protein 5.7g; Cholesterol 0.0g; Sodium 2mg; Fiber 3.7g; Sugars 9.0g; Total Carbohydrate 15.1g

Recipe excerpted with permission from SWEET, SAVORY, & FREE: Insanely Delicious Plant-Based Recipes Without Any of the Top 8 Food Allergens by Debbie Adler. Copyright 2017 by Debbie Adler. Photos by Carl Kravats. Published by BenBella Books.

Contact: Heather Butterfield
heather@benbellabooks.com
207-944-8447