SRC: Making Miracle’s Mushroom Sausage Ragu

For this month’s Secret Recipe Club, I was paired with Rebekah of Making Miracles. Rebekah is a surrogate mother (which is awesome!) and has two kids of her own. Unfortunately, her 17 year old son recently had a stroke and so I ask you to spare a moment to pray for his recovery! She focuses on making food that is “quick, easy and family friendly!”

Rebekah has tons of delicious recipes, many of which Mr. Bean asked me to make: BBQ Chicken Salad with Cornbread Croutons, Crockpot Shredded Beef, Party Beans, Gourmet Mushroom Risotto and Perfect Summer Sandwich.

She has a large selection of baked goods, but I was visiting Mr. Bean in Red Deer for the weekend, so I had no access to my usual baking and gluten free flour supplies. I chose her Mushroom Sausage Ragu and it did not disappoint! It was fairly simple and very delicious, making it a perfect dinner. We ended up making about double her original recipe, which made excellent left overs.

Mushroom Sausage Ragu

1 lb gluten free mild Italian sausages
2 tbsp. Olive oil
1 large onion, finely diced
4 c. Chopped fresh mushrooms
2 – 3 large cloves of garlic, minced
1 – 798 mL can of diced tomatoes, partially drained with juice reserved
3 tsp. Italian seasonings
Salt and pepper to taste
Fresh parsley, finely chopped
16 oz. pasta (I used gluten free penne)

1. Remove sausages from skins, break into pieces and fry up until browned in a large skillet.
2. Remove from skillet into a paper towel lined bowl. Wipe out skillet.
3. Add oil to skillet and sauté onions and mushrooms until onions are soft and mushrooms are cooked through. Add garlic and sauté for a minute.
4. Add diced tomatoes, Italian seasonings and salt and pepper. Simmer until most liquid starts thickening up. Add more liquid if desired.
5. Meanwhile, cook pasta according to instructions.
6. Serve Ragu over pasta and sprinkle with chopped parsley.
7. Enjoy!

Please check out the rest of Group D’s recipes by clicking the link below!

SRC: Palatable Pastime’s Avocado Bacon Pancakes with Maple Syrup

For August’s Secret Recipe Club, I was paired with Sue of Palatable Pastime! Sue has tons of amazing recipes like her Autumn Apple Nog, Lebanese Red Cabbage Salad, Asparagus with Crispy Garlic Proscuitto and Bubble and Squeak.

I chose to make her Avocado Bacon Pancakes with Maple Syrup! She has a few different recipes with the avocado/maple/bacon flavour combination, like her maple bacon guacamole, all inspired by some avocado toast with bacon and maple syrup!

I was a bit skeptical at first, but the flavour combination worked out pretty well! I made a few modifications – I made the pancakes gluten and dairy free to make them more “me friendly”. My avocado wasn’t as ripe as I would have liked, but it still worked.

This recipe makes 6 pretty thick pancakes. They had good texture and weren’t dry at all!

Gluten and Dairy Free Avocado Bacon Pancakes with Maple Syrup

Makes 6 pancakes

3/4 c. almond milk
1/2 tsp. apple cider vinegar or lemon juice
2 tbsp. olive oil
1 large egg
1 1/2 tbsp. sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 c. cooked, crumbled bacon bits
1 c. GF Flour (I used 1/4 c. each of tapioca, white rice, sorghum, 2 tbsp. of sweet white rice and 1 tbsp each of millet and cornmeal)
1/2 tsp. xanthan gum
1 ripe avocado, diced

1. Preheat griddle to 350F and lightly oil (A bit of oil on paper towel).
2. Measure out almond milk and add vinegar to create buttermilk. Stir and let sit for a few minutes.
3. In a small bowl, whisk together flour and xanthan gum.
4. In a separate bowl, whisk together “buttermilk”, oil and egg.
5. Add sugar, baking powder and salt and whisk until combined.
6. Add flour and bacon bits and stir until batter is smooth.
7. Fold in avocado pieces, being careful not to mash them.
8. Scoop out 1/2 c. batter onto griddle for each pancake. (Sue recommends to lower griddle temperature at this point, but I didn’t and they still worked out fine.) If pancakes need to be sculpted on the griddle, add more milk so the batter is thin enough to flatten out slightly itself.
9. When pancake forms bubbles on top and you can get a spatula beneath without trouble, flip the pancake and brown the other side until the pancake is springy but firm to the touch.
10. Enjoy warm with dairy free margarine (butter) and lots of maple syrup!

Please check out the rest of Group D’s recipes by clicking the link below!

SRC: A Calculated Whisk’s Avocado Pesto Pasta Salad

For July’s Secret Recipe Club, I was paired with Becky of A Calculated Whisk. She also cooks gluten free (and paleo), so I was was spoiled in my options and with the eye candy of her beautiful photos!

Becky also loves putting avocados in smoothies, Salted chocolate hazelnut cookies, Mexican almond pulp brownies, Vietnamese caramelized pork meatballs vermicelli bowls and Pico de gallo de frutas.

I had a few avocadoes on my counter and some fresh basil that needed using up, so I ended up making her  avocado cilantro pesto pasta salad.

I did modify the recipe as I had basil to use up, so I replaced the cilantro in my version. I added garlic because what pesto is complete without garlic? I used my single serve blender instead of a food processor as it’s much easier to clean. I think pestos are supposed to be chunkier, but I blended mine smooth. I used hemp hearts instead of the feta as I had it on hand and I try not to eat a lot of cheese.

I tried it both warm and cold and I prefer the cold version of it. It goes very well with barbecued meat, making this the perfect healthy summer side dish! Mr. Bean and I liked it so much we are definitely adding it into our repertoire!

Avocado Pesto Pasta Salad

2 avocados
1 clove of garlic
1 c. Fresh basil
3 Tbsp. olive oil
1/2 c. Hemp hearts, divided
Juice of 1 lime
Salt
Pepper
Green onions, sliced
Peas (optional)
1 lb. pasta (I used go go quinoa circle pasta, but feel free to use whatever kind of pasta you want.)

1. Cook pasta to Al Dente. Drain and set aside.
2. In a food processor or blender, blend together avocados, lime juice, olive oil, garlic and basil. Once smooth/to the desired degree of blendedness, add 1/4 c. of hemp hearts and blend.
3. Pour pesto over pasta, adding green onions, peas and remainder of the hemp hearts.
4. Salt and pepper to taste.
5. Enjoy!

What’s your favourite summer pasta? 

For the rest of Group D’s recipes, please click below!

SRC: A Kitchen Hoor’s Bean and Basil Pesto Penne

For May’s Secret Recipe Club, I was paired with Christie of A Kitchen Hoor’s Adventures. She likes to cook healthy and low fat – and has lost ~100 lbs, which is quite the accomplishment! Christie is definitely an example of how healthy recipes don’t have to be bland or boring!

Christie has tons (and I mean tons – I’m so impressed with how regularly she posts!) of delicious looking recipes like her Orange Beef Stir Fry, One Pot Paprika Chicken with Spinach, Poutine for Dessert and her Banana Waffles with PB Syrup (I totally need a waffle maker!) She also makes macarons. So much talent and delicious food! It was so hard to choose!

I ended up choosing her Bean and Basil Pesto Penne and I was definitely pleasantly surprised with the results! I’ve always wanted to try pesto, but it seemed really complicated or full of dairy. Fortunately, Christie’s version is simple (2 steps!), vegan and delicious! Mr Bean liked it so much that he had huge amounts of seconds! I upped the recipe a bit so that I would use the entire 398mL (14 oz) can of beans.

Gluten Free and Vegan Bean and Basil Pesto Penne

1 – 14 oz can of white beans, drained and rinsed (I used navy as I’ve never been able to find Cannellini)
3/4 c. fresh basil
1 oz almonds
1/2+ c. vegetable broth
2 -3 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 tbsp. olive oil
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ground pepper
1 box of Catelli gluten free Penne (or whatever kind of pasta you want), cooked to al dente

1. Add beans, basil, almonds, broth, garlic, oil, salt and pepper to food processor and process until smooth, adding more broth if required.
2. Pour over hot pasta and toss to coat.
3. Enjoy!

Christie, it was a treat looking through your blog! 🙂

Please check out the rest of Group D’s recipes by clicking below!

SRC: Fantastical Sharing’s Peanut Butter Chocolate Cookie Bars

For March’s Secret Recipe Club, I was paired with Sarah of Fantastical Sharing. Sarah also happens to be the powerhouse behind Secret Recipe Club, plus she has a newborn and manages to post multiple times each week. Say what? (I have none of those things and struggle greatly with posting on a regular basis. haha) Not only is she a champion at life, she has tons of delicious recipes *and* is going to school to become a teacher (did I mention she has three kids!?). Sarah, you truly are an amazing, talented person!

Sarah has tons (and tons!) of delicious recipes like her: Fruit Nachos, Strawberry Coconut Baked Oatmeal, Cookie Dough Billionare Bars, and Peanut Butter Lover’s Rice Krispie Treats.

I really had a difficult time choosing what to make, but I ended up making a version of her Reese’s Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookie Bars. I made them gluten & egg free, mostly dairy free (I couldn’t find any dairy-free peanut butter cups) and reduced the sugar to 1 c.

I don’t like the Reese’s peanut butter baking chips (I find them too sweet and they sit weird in my stomach), so I wanted to substitute them with something else peanut butter-y. I thought that if I froze peanut butter in small chunks then it would stick together and not mix into the dough, but that totally did not work. Just an FYI – don’t expect peanut butter to freeze and stay as chunks. It literally melts two seconds after it was removed from the freezer. Perhaps non-natural peanut butter would have worked better? In the end I used extra chocolate chips.

The original recipe also said to use a 9″x13″ dish, but I think my dough was too stiff to try to spread it out that much, so I made it in a 9″ x 9″ pan. It turned out almost more like a cookie-cake instead of a bar, but it was still definitely tasty. Or should I say amazing? I had to keep them out of sight to prevent myself from eating them all!

Gluten & Egg Free Chocolate Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookie Bars

3/4 c. Margarine (I used Fleischman’s Dairy Free)
1 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. peanut butter + and extra spoonful (I used crunchy natural peanut butter)
2 eggs/egg replacers
1 tbsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. lemon juice
3/4 c. each of tapioca starch and sorghum flour
1/2 c. white rice flour
1 c. oatmeal
1 tsp. xanthan gum
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tbsp. baking powder
1 c. chocolate chips (I used Camino Bittersweet)
2 c. chopped peanut butter chocolates  (I used a mixture of chopped peanut butter chocolate bars & more chocolate chips, but feel free to use chopped Reese’s Peanut Butter cups)

1.  Line a 9″ x 9″ pan with parchment paper and preheat oven to 350F.
   
2. In a large bowl, whisk together flours, xathan gum, oatmeal, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
3. Cream butter and sugar together until fluffy. Cream in peanut butter.
4. Add egg replacer (or eggs one at a time) and beat until incorporated. Beat in vanilla extract and lemon juice
5. Mix in flour mixture on low speed. Add ~2/3 of chocolate chips.
6. Spread 2/3 of dough into the pan. Top with peanut butter chocolate/peanut butter cups.
7. Spread remainder of batter on top and smooth out. Sprinkle remainder of chocolate chips on top.
8. Bake for ~40 – 45 minutes until the edges are brown and the bars feel firm to the touch.
9. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack.
10. Cool completely before cutting. (I put mine in the freezer for a bit).
11. Enjoy!

Thanks for all your recipes and all you do for the SRC Sarah!!

Please check out the rest of Group D’s recipes by clicking below!