Gabrielle Myers Writer, Chef, and Teacher
  • Home
  • About Me
  • Too Many Seeds, A New Poetry Collection
  • Hive-Mind, a memoir
  • Farm to Fork Column Articles in Inside Sacramento
  • Photographs for Sale
  • YouTube Channel
  • Gluten and Dairy Free Recipe Blog
  • "A Sensory Journey," Learn About My Farm-to-Fork and Writing Journey
  • Video Poem "Lidded," from Too Many Seeds
  • "Live as the Tomatillo Reaches for Life on a Hot July Day," in Edible East Bay, Fall 2022
  • Two Poems in Edible East Bay, Spring 2022
  • A Review of Too Many Seeds!
  • Interview on Too Many Seeds on The Spark with Stephanie James
  • A Review of Too Many Seeds, Tweetspeak Poetry
  • "Food for Thought," a Q & A on Too Many Seeds
  • October Farm-to-Fork Column: Good Eats for All: There's Nothing Elitist About Farm-to-Fork Nutrition
  • "Dried Bits," in Borderlands, Texas Poetry Review
  • "Vessels" and "Lost Amantes Saltan" in pacificREVIEW, Spring 2020
  • Farm to Fork Column: December 2023: Lots of Potential
  • Farm to Fork, Inside Sacramento, November 2022: "Color It Delicious"
  • Video Poem: On Ayako's Pa Amb Tomaquet
  • Video Poem: Quality Control
  • A Review of Hive-Mind and a Recipe
  • Farm-to-Fork Column: "Well Oiled," March 2022
  • Farm-to-Fork Column, April 2022: "Mission Filled," on Judith Redmond of Fully Belly Farm
  • Farm-to-Fork Column: Inside Sacramento, Feb. 2022
  • Interview on Dr. Andy's Poetry and Technology Hour!
  • An Interview on Too Many Seeds, Author2Author
  • Farm-to-Fork Column, Inside Sacramento, "Sweet Nectar," September
  • Farm-to-Fork Column, June: Mighty Mights: How Organic Farmers Capitalize on Bugs' Life
  • An Interview on Too Many Seeds, BITEradiome
  • Video Poem: Sonnet #69
  • A Video Reading from Hive-Mind
  • Video: On Poetry and Cooking
  • An Interview on Shirleymaclaine.com
  • Selection from Hive-Mind
  • Selection from Hive-Mind
  • "Early Fall's Failed Elegy," in Catamaran, Summer 2018
  • After Grass Against Sea, by Edward Weston, in Catamaran Fall 2020
  • "For Girls Who Walk Alone to the Bus Stop," in Connecticut River Review, Fall 2018
  • "Lover" & "We're There and Here," in Koan, Paragon Press, Summer 2018
  • "Fall," in The Adirondack Review
  • "The First Rain of Fall," in Fourteen Hills, 2010
  • The Art of Tomato Breeding
  • An Interview with Wendy from WINA in Charlottesville
  • Paul Canales: Building Community
  • Interview on Intuitive Ink Radio Show
  • Eat with Health in Mind
  • On Radio MD
  • An Interview with Allison Dunne from 51%
  • An Interview
  • “AN OCTOROON”: A DARING COMEDY ON SLAVERY, AT BERKELEY REP
  • An Interview with Robert Sharpe of BITEradio.me
  • Amazon Author Page
  • How to Use Your Daily Commute to Flourish
  • Raspberry, Almond, and Quinoa Bars
  • "Sonnet #69" in MadHat Lit
  • "I Am a Figure of Speech," Wallace Stevens Journal, Spring 2015
  • Spinach Salad with Spiced Chicken, Currents, Pistachios, Lemon Vinaigrette
  • Lemon White Bean Puree
  • ‘Spread Like a Veil Upon a Rock’: Septimus and the Trench Poets of World War I in English
  • "Lament for My Sister at Harvest" in Damselfly Press
  • "Woman," "Pleasant Valley," and "Laura" in the Solitary Plover
  • Parsley and Olive Sauce
  • "Prom Night" in Work Literary Magazine
  • The New Prostate Cancer Nutrition Book
  • "To Bukowski" in The Evergreen Review
  • YouTube Video of "The First Rain of Fall" (published in Fourteen Hills, Fall 2009)
  • YouTube Video of "Sonnet #69"
  • YouTube Video of "Bird"
  • YouTube Video of "Last Night in the Castro"
  • Linktree Page
  • Contact

Fresh Tomato, Eggplant and Almond Gratin with Basil

8/20/2015

1 Comment

 
Picture
Diary and gluten free
Serves 4-5

            Juicy tomato, eggplant’s meaty texture that absorbs garlic, oregano, and ancho, and almond’s deep flavor combine in this baked vegetable side dish. Here I’ve taken the traditional cheese and breadcrumb crust packed with saturated fat and replaced it with a nutrient-rich topping high in monounsaturated fat, a fat that contributes to a balanced cholesterol profile and heart health (Ipatenco; “Nuts and Your Heart”). Lycopene, the carotenoid that gives tomatoes and other fruits their reddish-orange color and helps lower cancer and stroke risk, releases as the tomatoes cook (Karppi; Godman; "Q&A: Lycopene in Cooked Tomatoes?"). When you consider these health benefits as you devour the scrumptious toasted almond, garlic, Ancho, and olive oil crust, you won’t miss cheesy breadcrumbs.
            While best if consumed within an hour or so of baking, you can enjoy the gratin the next day by baking a portion in a toaster oven to heat the base and crisp the crust.

4 early girl tomatoes (or another medium-sized red tomato variety), skinned*
1 medium-sized eggplant*
¼ teaspoon fresh oregano leaves, chopped
¼ cup chopped almonds
¼ cup almond flour
1-tablespoon olive oil
2 medium garlic gloves, crushed or finely chopped
Salt, to taste (a generous sprinkle over the tomatoes, and in the almond topping)
¼ teaspoon Ancho chili powder
1-2 pinches of ground black pepper
4-5 fresh basil leaves, torn

1. Preheat oven to 380 degrees Fahrenheit.

2. Wash, dry, and slice the tomatoes and eggplant into a ¼ inch thick slices.

3. Spread olive oil around a medium-sized baking dish.

4. Place the tomato and eggplant slices in a fan across the baking dish (see the picture).

5. Sprinkle the chopped oregano leaves and a generous pinch of salt over the top of the tomatoes and eggplant.

6. Mix the chopped almonds, almond flour, 1 tablespoon of olive oil, crushed garlic, Ancho chili powder, and ground black pepper together in a bowl. A crumb topping will form as you mix these ingredients.

7. Spread the almond mixture on top of the tomatoes.

8. Place the dish on the top rack of the oven and bake for about 20-25 minutes.

9. Let the gratin cool for about 8 minutes before dividing it into portions, garnishing with torn basil leaves, and serving.

*To skin the tomatoes, bring a pot of salted water to boil. Make on X on the bottom of the tomatoes with your knife (just enough to pierce the skin) and cut the cores out. Submerge the tomatoes in the hot water for just under a minute, and then pull out of the hot water to shock them in salted ice-cold water. In about one-two minutes, the tomatoes should be cool enough to handle. Pull the skin off and place the tomatoes on a cutting board to slice.

*With its soft skin, Rosa Bianca is the variety I prefer, but any smaller, thin-skinned eggplant variety will do. Usually the globe eggplant is too thick-skinned and large in diameter for this recipe.

                                                Works Cited

Godman, Heidi. "Lycopene-rich Tomatoes Linked to Lower Stroke Risk." Harvard Health Blog RSS. Harvard Medical School, 10 Oct. 2012. Web. 16 Aug. 2015.

Ipatenco, Sara. "Monounsaturated Fat Vs. Polyunsaturated Fat." Healthy Eating: SFGate, n.d. Web. 16 Aug. 2015.

Karppi, Jouni, et al. "Serum Lycopene Decreases the Risk of Stroke in Men." Neurology, 9 Oct. 2012. Web. 16 Aug. 2015.

“Nuts and Your Heart: Eating Nuts for Heart Health.” Mayo Clinic, n.d. Web. 16   Aug. 2015.

"Q&A: Lycopene in Cooked Tomatoes?" Consumer Reports News, 4 Sept. 2009. Web. 16 Aug. 2015.

1 Comment

Summer Berry Chocolate Almond Crisp

8/13/2015

0 Comments

 
Picture
Picture
Picture
Dairy and Gluten Free
Serves 5-6
          Heavy cream, butter, refined sugar, white flour, and egg yolks are the building blocks for most desserts. When consumed in moderation and sourced from responsible producers these ingredients aren’t harmful, but often riding this line can be hard, and why eat a dessert that might increase our LDL cholesterol and cancer risk? Why not enjoy a dessert that nourishes us in all the ways that good food should?
            The sweet tang of strawberries and raspberries combines with luscious dark chocolate and roasted almonds in this antioxidant-heavy dessert. While the base can be composed of a mixture of fresh summer fruit—blueberries, blackberries, figs, peaches, or plums—strawberries and raspberries are often the most accessible summer fruits. Packed with anthocyanins and phytonutrients, this berry, almond, chocolate mixture will leave you feeling as if you’ve indulged in a sinful dessert while it has a positive impact on your overall health.
            If you follow a gluten or dairy free diet, in most restaurants and dining situations, if you are lucky you might find the rare sorbet or fresh fruit cup; in other words, dessert becomes a boring dining experience or you must abstain altogether. The following recipe uses almonds, coconut, and neutral oil to create a crisp topping that actually tastes better than the diary and gluten packed traditional topping.  

Base:
2 cups strawberries, sliced
1 cup raspberries
¼ teaspoon ginger
½ cup dark chocolate, chopped (check for no cream or milk)

Topping:
½ cup roasted almonds, chopped
½ cup almond flour
½ cup finely shredded coconut
1½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon honey
2 teaspoons light olive, almond, or avocado oil

1. Preheat an oven to 380 degrees Fahrenheit.

2. Wash, dry, and slice the strawberries.

3. Wash and dry the raspberries and place them in a bowl with the strawberries.

4. Add ¼ teaspoon ginger and a pinch of salt to the berries and lightly fold them so that the ginger and salt are evenly distributed.

5. Place the berries in an oven safe dishpan.

6. Chop the dark chocolate and sprinkle it on top of the berry mixture.

7. Prepare the topping: Place the roasted chopped almonds, almond flour, shredded coconut, vanilla extract, pinch of salt and olive oil in a bowl. With a spoon, mix the ingredients together and break up the little balls that form.

8. Sprinkle the topping over the chocolate-berry base.

9. Bake the crisp for 20 minutes, or until the crust turns golden brown and the berries are slightly cooked (don’t cook the crisp until the berries are mush—they should still have some firmness).

10. Cool for 20 minutes or more before serving.


                                                            Works Cited

Lewin, Jo. "The Health Benefits of Strawberries." BBC Good Food. BBC, n.d.     Web. 09 Aug. 2015.


Mazza, GJ. "Anthocyanins and Heart Health." National Center for Biotechnology Information. U.S. National Library of Medicine, n.d. Web. 09 Aug. 2015.
0 Comments

    Author l

    Gabrielle Myers

    RSS Feed

    RSS Feed

    Archives

    September 2020
    July 2020
    May 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    April 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    November 2018
    October 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    November 2014
    October 2014
    July 2014

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly
Photos used under Creative Commons from quinn.anya, ConstantinWied