coconut oil – GUTSy Performance Nutrition

Tart Cherry + Fig Granola

June 13, 2015October 12, 2015by Rebecca3 Comments

A few weeks ago, I volunteered at a fun run organized by a student association on campus. It was the lowest-key race I’ve helped or taken part in and there were only a handful of runners participating. On the course, I stood amidst a bunch of trees in the park, pointing the way for runners and offering my cheers.

I am the lamest of cheerleaders. I feel inadequate at motivating and lifting up. The words that come easily in print are the hardest to voice.

The course was three laps so I watched the runners progress through each mile. Because there were so few participants I got to know each of their fun-running styles, and consequently felt the need to up my cheering game each time they came around, from the first confident runner to the last couple walk/jogging together.

At the end of the evening, one of the runners thanked me for being encouraging. You were really helpful; you motivated me to keep going, she said.

I swiveled around dramatically, making sure there was no one else she could be talking to before answering, Really!?!?

I was astonished.

I spent the better part of winter reading Matthew Kelly’s book. In it he shares about figuring out how best to reach people. At the end of the day, it really is quite simple: People need to be encouraged, he says.

I had underlined, ear-marked, and post-it noted that section, thinking how I wanted to practice encouragement in the ensuing months.

The funny thing about that runner thanking me for my invisible pompoms is that her words were equally encouraging.

Lifting each other up is a little gift that simply keeps on giving.

Tart Cherry + Fig Granola

This granola is a little gift too. I don’t make granola often because I find the sweet flavors and crunchy textures mildly addicting and if I don’t practice some restraint, the whole batch will be eaten in one go. Numerous studies have shown that tart cherries are good for runners because they aid in reducing inflammation and increasing muscle recovery. While the amount of tart cherries in this granola are no where near the amount necessary to show real results, I am firm believer in the “every bit helps” philosophy, plus they taste good. We have a local business just up the road, Oregon Cherry Country, that grows and processes their own cherries and I usually purchase from them. Realistically, all the nuts, seeds, fruit, and even spices can be interchanged here. I really like the balance of the puffed cereal (like arrowhead mills or nature’s path brands, not rice krispies) with the oats, and the seeds, nuts, and fruits showcased here are among my favorites–change them up based on what you like or have!

2 cups thick-rolled oats, gluten-free if necessary

2 cups puffed rice cereal

1/2 cup toasted hazelnuts, chopped

1/2 cup raw almonds, chopped

1/4 cup raw sunflower seeds

1/4 cup raw pumpkin seeds

3/4 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 tsp. ground ginger

1/16 tsp. (a large pinch) cardamom

1/16 tsp. (a large pinch) cloves

1/16 tsp. (a large pinch) nutmeg

1/3 cup dried tart cherries

1/3 cup dried figs, chopped

1/4 cup coconut oil, melted

1/4 cup maple syrup

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Combine the dry ingredients, save the fruit, in a large bowl. Pour the liquids over the dry and use your hands to coat them all evenly. Spread the granola mixture on the baking sheet, press down gently, and roast in the oven for 25-30 minutes, rotating pan halfway through.
Remove from the oven and leave to cool before adding the dried fruit.

Summertime

Coconut Mint Raspberry Panzanella

July 2, 2014by Rebecca6 Comments

We had a raspberry patch growing up that stretched down the fenceline in our backyard. My siblings and I would spend a good amount of our summers wedged between the barbed wire cattle fence and the berry bushes, grazing. Though we often were given chores that included picking green beans or weeding in the garden, picking raspberries never made the list. We spent so much time picking and eating each red jewel one by one that I can recall only once or twice having a bowl of berries big enough to make their way into the house. Even then, there were usually no more than a small handful reserved for my dad, who didn’t have time to stand around in the backyard and eat berries all day.

If we were lucky enough to have an abundance of berries that made their way inside, they were eaten for breakfast, simply, swimming in a bowl of milk.

These past few years, I have avoided purchasing raspberries, not because I don’t love them, but because I have a tough time justifying shelling out so much for a small punnet that I could have picked and gobbled by the red-stained-handful in a matter of minutes. I always tell myself that as soon as William and I live in a place that is ours, berries will be the first green thing we put into the ground.

I tend to spend a lot of time waiting though, in many areas of my life, and I’ve finally come to the realization that what I sometimes consider to be patience is actually avoidance. Waiting is not always the answer. If not now, when?

Even though we are not yet in a place to plant our own berries, the time to eat them is now, when they’re fresh, in season, and local. By the handful. In salads. Because raspberries can do more than liven up sweet things; more too than liven up a bowl of milk.

Coconut-Mint Raspberry Panzanella, serves 3-4

This salad was inspired by all the ingredients I had on hand, and when allowed to sit out at room temperature for an hour or so before eating, the raspberries ooze their flavor into the dressing and bread. Of the bread, you can use any hearty day-old loaf. I have been making variations of loaves from Jennifer Katzinger’s Gluten-Free and Vegan Bread. All the recipes I’ve tried are splendid. The lettuce in this is a mix of gentle leaves, though if you’re in the mood for something heartier, any type of mild-flavored green should do the trick.

2-3 cups cubed hearty bread

1 Tbs. + 1 tsp. coconut oil, divided

2 cups cooked garbanzo beans

1 medium onion, chopped

1-2 cloves garlic

2-3 green onions, chopped

3-4 cups lettuce

1 cup raspberries

1/4-1/2 cup sprouts

Dressing:

~ 1/2 cup mint leaves, chopped

3 Tbs. orange juice

2 Tbs. rice vinegar

2 Tbs. coconut oil

salt and pepper, to taste

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.On on a baking pan, toss the cubed bread with 1 tablespoon of the oil and season with salt and pepper. Once all of the bread is coated, bake for 10-15 minutes or until bread pieces are deep golden brown. Remove from the pan into a large serving bowl.In the same pan used for the bread cubes, toss the onion and whole garlic cloves. Toss them with the remaining teaspoon of oil and some more salt and pepper. Roast for 10-20 minutes or until the onions are golden and getting tender. Remove from the oven, remove the garlic cloves from its skin, and mash. Toss the onions and garlic over the bread cubes. At the same time add in the garbanzo beans.

While the onions are roasting/cooling, make the dressing: Combine all of the ingredients in a food processor. Pulse until the mint is broken into a puree and it becomes a creamy, coconutty mixture. Taste it for seasoning, and adjust if necessary.

In the serving bowl, gently toss in the lettuce, raspberries, and green onions. Spoon the dressing on top and stop when it has as much as you desire (you might have a bit left over). Toss everything together to combine and season to taste with more salt and pepper.

Spring

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie {Recipe Redux}

April 21, 2014November 26, 2014by Rebecca9 Comments

My first year in college, after a long winter of heavy snow and hibernation in semi-remote Eastern Oregon, I trekked home for my first annual Easter weekend visit. I brought my roommate, Christine, and my mom made Strawberry-Rhubarb Pie. After months of food hall meals, it was the best pie I had tasted.

Every pie since has been held to the standard of that memory of tart, sweet, vibrant spring-ness. Nothing compares to the picture in my mind of being home, surrounded by family and a friend, and slowly savoring each bite.

When asked about her strawberry rhubarb pies, and any others for that matter, my mom answers exactly as I would expect and as I expect my grandma would also have answered: “I don’t ever follow the recipe, I just add ingredients until the pan is full and add sugar as needed.” While I concede her reasoning, I’m slightly more type A, and I foolishly think that if only I had that recipe, I could better relive the memory.

Though I was left to my own devices as to the amounts and types of ingredients, my tiny apartment kitchen happens to have a couple pie-baking essentials thanks to my mom and grandma. Like a good luck charm, I always use this pie dish, which mom had the forsight to know I was going to need waaay back when I was in high school. Grandma Neah’s old copy of The Fannie Farmer Cookbook is also a regular kitchen fixture for pie making inspiration, though I’m a bit too much like these ladies to actually follow the recipes. Even so, I’m glad Neah made sure I received it before she passed. With these feel-good implements to boost my confidence in measuring up to that pie, I began.

This year, a full eight years after that first annual Easter weekend trek, I made it home again. Though this pie was decidedly missing from our Sunday table, strawberries were bought and ate, and like firewood, mom loaded me up with a couple armfuls of rhubarb for the road.

The important thing and what I keep holding on to in this sort of strawberry rhubarb tradition, is that family was gathered around, more family than before, and we lived a spring day to rival my memory.

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie with Streusal Topping

Pastry, adapted from Gluten-Free and Vegan Pie

1 cup brown rice flour

1/2 cup millet flour

1/2 cup sorghum flour

1/3 cup tapioca flour

1/3 cup arrowroot starch

2/3 cup potato starch

1 1/2 Tbs. sugar

1/2 tsp. salt

1 cup + 2 Tbs. refined coconut oil

2 Tbs. water

1 tsp. vanilla

3/4 cup oats

2 Tbs. honey

3/4 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 tsp. ground ginger

Filling

4 cups rhubarb, chopped

2 cups strawberries, chopped

3/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup honey

1/3 cup brown rice flour

2 Tbs. tapioca flour

1 Tbs. lemon juice

dash of ground ginger

To make the crust, measure flours, sugar, and salt into a food processor. Pulse a couple times until they are mixed. Measure in coconut oil and pulse until the mixture is crumbly. Then add in water and vanilla until the mixture just comes together. Turn out onto a piece of parchment paper and split the dough into a larger piece (about 2/3 of dough), and a smaller piece.

Roll out the larger piece and fit it into the bottom of a pie pan. If it falls apart in the process, gently piece it back together and flute the edges. Using the tines of a fork, make several stabs into the crust, and then put it into the freezer for about 45 minutes. Meanwhile, put the remaining 1/3 crust back into the food processor, along with the honey, oats, cinnamon and ginger. Pulse until they come together and set aside for the streusal topping.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

To make the filling, stir together the rhubarb, strawberries, sugar, honey, flours, lemon juice and ginger. Once the bottom crust has chilled, turn the filling into the pan. Evenly spread the streusal topping over the filling and bake for about 50-60 minutes, or until the filling is bubbling properly. During the bake time, you may need to cover the pie with foil, to prevent excessive browing.

If the filling seems a little liquidy at this point, don’t worry. It will set up nicely once it cools!