If there is one kind of food that I love more than anything in the world, it’s easy food, and there is no easier food to make than plantains.

The other day, I walked past Flor de Mayo and recalled my love of fried, sweet plantains.  Sometimes I forget and eat a french fry from a restaurant, but nasty rashes have reminded me in the past that eating food that comes out of the same oil that the breaded chicken fingers and the battered onion rings were cooked in isn’t the kindest thing to do to my body.  Thus, I haven’t had too many plantains in restaurants over the past six years. Luckily for me, I live in a neighborhood that still has a couple of good, old-fashioned Spanish bodegas tucked away here and there, which means that I can make the easiest street food in the world in my kitchen.  It literally takes 6-9 minutes depending on how much I am cooking.

I know that this isn’t the healthiest fare, but even one so-ripe-that-it-is-almost-entirely-black plantain fried up and split between a family is such a delicious treat from time to time.  They are best served with a juicy roasted chicken straight from the oven, some rice made with shallots and turmeric and a big, old spoonful of black beans.  This is how they are best served.  I like to eat them on a plate, all alone, and I have to make more than one for the family, because I don’t like to share.

Fried Plantains

4 really ripe sweet plantains (almost entirely black)

canola oil for frying

In a large, heavy skillet, heat the canola oil to 375 degrees.  While the oil is heating, slice off the ends of each plantain and remove the peel.  Cut the plantains into 1/8-1/4″ slices.  When the oil is hot enough begin cooking the plantain slices in batches.  Cook each batch until golden, making sure to turn the slices so both sides brown.  Remove the slices with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels.  Sprinkle with salt and serve immediately.

Remember back in the early 90’s when everyone flipped for all things fat-free?  My friends and I drenched everything in fat-free ranch dressing and polished off a package of Snackwells for dessert (if every store within a 30 mile radius wasn’t sold out, that is).  Well, unfortunately for all of us with food allergies, much of the fat-free food contains modified food starch, which is usually made from wheat.  Fortunately, I was not allergic back then.  I digress.

Before the advent of fat-free ranch phenomenon, I was not much of a salad eater, and if you follow my Tweets, you probably know that it still isn’t my favorite food.  However, raw vegetables are  filling, nutritious and, let’s face it, I have to set an example for my two small children who refuse all vegetables beyond carrots.  So, I find myself eating salads quite frequently these days.  I always make my own vinaigrettes, but when I am out in a restaurant, I often eat my salad dry, rather than risk eating something that make the rash return.  So, when we went to a restaurant a few days ago and the above came out to the table, I was intrigued.  I mean, come on, first the Frubik’s Cube and now this?!  It was almost too much to handle in one week!

Basically, the olive oil and balsamic were in little perfume spritzers, and I loved the idea.  By misting my salad, I managed to achieve the perfect balance of acidity and oil, and by not dumping the oil and vinegar, I even managed to save a few calories.  So, now I am hunting for the perfect set of atomizers so that I can develop my own, at home, misting kit.  The best part is that they are small enough to drop in my purse and take with me everywhere.  I love to taste new things and go new places, but sometimes I most appreciate innovation.  I never would have thought on this one my own.  Chef, I applaud you!

That wasn’t a misspelling.  Really.

As you know, I am always looking for the next best thing, and I get especially excited when the next best thing has to do with dessert.  Limited by my food allergies, and now, the need to lose a little weight after repeatedly testing (and loving) all of the recipes in my cookbook, Allergy-Free Desserts, I didn’t think that a good dessert could possibly be on the horizon.  But then, out of nowhere, came the Frubik’s Cube, or at least that’s what my husband I are calling it.

I had just forgotten about my diet and polished off a giant, juicy, bun-free burger, when the waiter came to take our dessert order the other day.  Naturally, I demured but the waiter pressed on: “But wouldn’t you like at least some fruit?” he prodded.  ”Oh no, I just couldn’t,” I shook my head.  ”But we have a gorgeous cube,” he pressed.  ”A cube?  What kind of cube?!” I asked, totally intrigued, just as he had hoped.  I could see him tabulating his tip in his head as we talked.  ”You should get it.  Be surprised.  You won’t be sorry”.

A sucker for peer pressure, I ordered the cube.

When it arrived, I was not disappointed.  In fact, I was amazed.  Here on a plate sat a real, live, Rubik’s cube made from perfectly measured, perfectly uniform, slices of tropical fruits.  It was beautiful, and so much so that I really didn’t want to ruin it by eating it.  But let’s face it, I have little self-control when it comes to dessert, so I ate the whole thing.

The moral of the story is that there is always a dessert option, even when we suffer from food allergies, and the options can be (and often are) so beautiful that we don’t have to feel on the fringes in a restaurant.  The Frubik’s cube was not only beautiful, but safe, and low in calories.  I ate it and swore to myself to work on my knife skills so that I could make one for my next party.  We’ll see how that goes.

Three years ago, when my friend Sarah turned to me and said: “You know, you really should turn your compulsive baking into a cookbook,” I never thought it would happen.  But then, one thing led to another (namely the fact that I just couldn’t stop baking and eating allergy-free desserts and couldn’t figure out what to do with all of the recipes), and so here I am.

Today, I logged onto Amazon to see what was happening with the book and nearly fell over.  Really, I was standing at the computer and went weak in the knees.  The book was at number one in the food allergies category and number three in both baking and gluten-free.  Never in my wildest dreams did I envision being here, and I am well aware of the fact that it was not me who put my book here but you.

So, thank you a million times over for your support, your encouragement, your excitement over new recipes that I post to the blog.  I know that these numbers could be fleeting but they are validating, and I truly appreciate it and love hearing from you.  I hope that all of you like the book as much as I loved working on it and testing it.

It happens every year, and I’m not telling you this as a braggart:  we go on vacation.

This should be a happy time.  It’s February in New York, and a blizzard swept up the Northeastern seaboard the night that we left.  I, on the other hand, am on a beach in a beautiful place, getting sunburned and craving black beans that are nowhere to be found.  I know that this sounds as though I am whining, as if I am the loud, obnoxious American that Europeans complain about.  I am not.  I am, instead, a hungry person with food allergies in a foreign country.

I’m also a frustrated cook.  Have you ever wanted to cook or eat something so badly that you dream about it at night?  Worse, have you ever craved something so badly that you dreamed about it but were then thwarted by lack of key ingredients?  It’s Hell.  I feel like Rapunzel’s mother, ready to give up her first born for a bite of black bean doused in lime juice and topped with a sprig of cilantro.

Bien sur, I can go to a beautiful restaurant down the beach and find a divine menu that would surely satisfy the snobbiest of food snobs, provided those food snobs aren’t allergic to pretty much everything under the sun.  The grilled chicken salad is mouthwatering, but it is, of course, marinated in soy sauce for days.  The club sandwich.  Oh  Le Sandwiche Club!  Well, let’s face it.  It’s all wrong for me what with the freshly emulsified mayo made of eggs and oil, the delicately toasted, gluten and egg-laced brioche, and the hard boiled eggs sandwiched between the layers and layers of charcuterie.  The Pad Thai is killing me with its delicate aroma, but the noodles, sauce and scrambled eggs would put me into a coma.

So, I eat fish and salad.  Admittedly, this is a fresh, low-fat, delicious meal, but it is getting old.  I started grilling for myself at night, so I have ventured out and gotten to know the butcher on the island.  Going to the supermarket at the end of the day is fun.  It is like going on an interesting treasure hunt, unsure of whether the treasure (in my case dinner) will be at X marks the spot.  To date, I have found no cilantro, but this is better than the year that I couldn’t find a drop of yogurt on the island (which is equally as important for eating as it is for taking the sting out of my sunburn).

I like to look for the silver lining.  Of course, I am on the beach, and that it is the biggest one.  I’m grateful for paradise.  But, the other happy by-product of this trip is that I am being forced out of my safe, little allergy-free food box.  I am looking at the fabulous menus at the fabulous restaurants and considering how I might alter the ingredients to suit my needs.  Yes, I found tripe in a can (yuck) and no, I still haven’t found black beans or cilantro, but I have thought about Christophine for the first time in my life.

So, as my stomach sits empty, my mind sits full of brain candy, and I really can’t complain about that.  Not to mention that I may be the only person in our party who comes back thinner than when I left, and, let’s face it, that is really the most glittery silver lining of them all.

I’m all for traveling.  Or at least I was before I was diagnosed with food allergies.  Now, if I am traveling in the US, then I feel confident that I will not have a problem finding things to eat wherever I go.  However, when I leave the country, all bets are off.  I feel anxiety and begin eating three weeks in advance just to be sure that I have an extra fat reserve in case I can’t eat anything on my trip.  As you can imagine, countries such as France or Germany are daunting– all of those delicious breads and the bevy of rich sauces, all of which are off limits.  Between the eggs and the flour, and the language barrier, all hope sometimes seems lost.  However, I have devised a plan to help you travel safely and reaction-free no matter where your adventures take you.

• Call the Airline:  If you are severely nut allergic and concerned about boarding a plane on which the only snack for six hours will be a pouch of peanuts, call the airline and express your concerns.  It is possible that they can provide an alternate snack and that they can alert the flight attendants to your allergy
• Make sure you have single-serve Benadryl:  This is helpful as the doses are 2 ounces or less, so you can bring them in your purse for yourself or your child, just in course you have a reaction in the air.  Of course, if you or your child is anaphylactic, it goes without saying that you should have an epi-pen on board, too.
• Pack Safe Snacks: Ziplocs of cut vegetables, apples, gluten-free pretzels, whatever will get you through, make sure you have enough on hand to survive the flight.
• Upon Arrival:  Ask the hotel concierge for the closest super market.  Settle in and then make sure that you know where the safe food is.   I always think it’s fun to check out the culture of the foreign supermarket, anyway.  I love to see what other countries consider “healthy” and to see how differently we eat from country to country.
• Bring a Dictionary and Learn Some Important phrases: Make sure that you can tell a waiter that you are allergic to wheat, to eggs, to _____________.
• Remember That No Matter where we go, there is almost always something that we can eat:  if all else fails, raw fruits and vegetables are almost always the answer (at least temporarily)
• Finally, Don’t Be Afraid to Pack Some Non-Perishable Food in Your Suitcase: I always bring some canned salmon, soup, gluten-free oats.  Just some staples in case worse comes to worse.

After a weekend filled with allergy-free cookies and lots of hot chocolate, I really feel like I need to slow down on the sweets.  But, hey, a girl’s gotta eat, right?  So, I got to work in the kitchen this morning to cook up a light, vegetarian lunch that also happens to be gluten, dairy (casein), soy, nut and egg-free.  I combined many of my favorite flavors to yield a delicious salad that is colorful, flavorful and high in fiber.  I love that I can eat this for lunch by myself, or portion it out for four people as a side at dinner.  If you’re serving it as a side dish, this salad pairs well with a grilled pork tenderloin or a roasted chicken and rice.

1/2 tsp olive oil

1/2 medium red onion(s), cut into thin wedges

2 medium garlic clove(s), finely chopped

1/4 tsp ground cumin

1/2 cup canned black beans, rinsed and drained

1/2 cube cubed, cooked yam

2 Tbsp cilantro, fresh, chopped

2 tsp lime juice

1/4 tsp sea salt, or to taste

1/8 tsp black pepper, or to taste

pinch cayenne pepper (optional)

In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat and add the onions and garlic.  Sautee for 2-3 minutes or until soft and translucent.  Add the cumin, black beans and cubed yams and cook just until heated through.

Transfer the mixture to a large serving bowl.  Add the cilantro, lime juice, salt, pepper and dash of cayenne (if using) and combine well.  Serve warm or cold.

Serves 1 as a main course, or makes 4- 1/2 cup servings.

There is nothing that makes me happier than a happy customer. Here’s a little friend enjoying a gluten, casein, soy, nut and egg-free treat. I think his reaction says it all!

I know that this has nothing to do with allergy-free living.

Or actually, maybe it does.  After all, isn’t laughter an important part of any kind of living?  My husband found this hilarious blog about children’s books, so I just had to share it with you.  Look through it and forget about the fact that you can’t have gluten, dairy, soy, nuts or eggs or whatever else.  Just take 5 minutes and laugh out loud.  There is no better medicine for what ails you.

http://curiouspages.blogspot.com/

The other day I stood before my closet, poised to do the impossible: I wanted to clean it out.

Sadly, I was so overwhelmed that I walked away and ate a cookie (a gluten, dairy, soy, nut and egg-free cookie, of course).  Normally, I’m not so into cleaning, but a thought the previous day spurred me to action.  It occurred to me that despite an enormous wardrobe and ambitious hopes of wearing  it despite the fact that I bake for a living and have two children with perpetually and adorably sticky fingers, that I really only ever wear 6 things.  It’s true.  I need two shirts, a pair of jeans, a pair of leggings, a dress and one layering piece like a sweater or vest.  That’s it.  That’s all I wear, just in different combinations.

So, instead of cleaning out my clothing closet, I decided to clean out my baking closet.  Again, I really only need 6 things to successfully bake any gluten-free, casein-free, nut-free, egg-free and soy-free dessert: gluten-free flours, sugar, xanthan, powdered rice milk, shortening, some sort of leavening agent and cider vinegar.  OK, so I use other things, too, like vanilla extract or confectioner’s sugar or ground flaxseed, but those feel like accessories.  I always have lots of accessories (much to my husband’s chagrin) lying around.

So that’s it.  Now, go out and stock your cabinet and start baking!