The Gluten-Free Dom

Socca is a flat bread or crepe made from chickpea flour. It’s a little dense but simple and delicious. I made a sundried tomato, basil pizza sauce and a Brazil nut, sage “cheez” (I got the idea for the Brazil nut cheez from www.anjasfood4thought.com -she’s got some great recipes) . That with Sangria and chorizo and the spread was ready for my visiting family.

The next day we went to The Vancouver Aquarium. It was incredible.

I have been training in Muay Thai for over a year now and recently I have dreamed of going for a few weeks to a training camp in Thailand. I have friends that have done it, some serious, some there to train a little and then drink a lot but everyone has said good things. Anyways, the closest I could get was go to MT training here in Vancouver and make a Thai inspired bowl of veggies. Okay, it wasn’t completely Thai (I used Tahini and Tamari) but my heart was in it. I recently got an app on my phone for raw food recipes and this was a take on the Raw Macro Bowl.

I decided to try out Kelp Noodles. They are considered raw apparently and are made from Kelp. They actually taste like, well, nothing and are crunchy. I thought sauce would slide right off these suckers but they actually softened when sauced up and held onto the goodness.

The Veggies

For the mix of veggies, I first threw down a base of the kelp noodles, julienned (or tried to) carrots and zucchini, chopped up some pea shoots, a little seaweed because I love it not because I think it’s used in Thai food, green onions, red peppers and brown mushrooms.

The Sauce

-half clove of garlic, chopped

-1-2 tsp ginger, chopped

-2 tbsp Gluten Free Tamari

-1 tbsp nutritional yeast

-1 tbsp Tahini

-1-2 key limes

-honey or maple syrup to sweeten

-almond milk to thin out

(I’m not gonna lie, I just made up all of these measurements because I sort of made it up as I went a long.. throw it all in, taste as you go along, adjust)

My lovely friend, Tatjana Lazar, lives in Toronto and sent me a text immediately after finding the ultimate gluten-free pancake atFreshrestaurant. She has a killer palate so I always trust her judgement when it comes to food and since I can’t be there to enjoy the ‘cakes for myself, I had her write me a piece on the place post-haste (alliteration!!). Enjoy the read and a big thanks to Tal-Tal.

Okay, it’s not a myth. Gluten-free can be just as tasty, and sometimes even better than regular flour-based foods.

If you happen to be in Toronto, and are looking for some super healthy, vegan, gluten-free cuisine, it would be almost criminal for you not to check one of the three Fresh restaurants, at any of the Crawford, Bloor, or Spadina locations.  

When I moved to Toronto a few months ago, I went on the hunt for all the best places in the city to get my health-food mania on. The name Fresh kept popping up, but I didn’t have the chance to stop by until the Canada Day weekend, when my friend from Montreal came to visit. We wanted to load up on some delicious and energizing food before hitting the pool on this sweltering summer day, so we stopped in at Fresh, and boy-oh-boy were we glad we did.

We started by ordering a couple of smoothies. I had the Fruity Green, a tropical tasting green smoothie bursting with mango, banana, orange, pineapple, broccoli, spinach, and greens+. And my buddy had the Lucky Charm: raspberry, blueberry, strawberry, and mango. Both smoothies were sweet, tangy, and delicious, but I prefer my smoothies made with frozen fruits, since it makes them thicker and colder. These were good, but not life changing. What was life changing however, were the blueberry almond pancakes. Fresh only serves these as part of the brunch menu on weekends and holidays from 10-3, which is a shame, cause I would literally eat them at every meal for the rest of my life. Okay, maybe that’s an exaggeration, but they were hella-good. Thick, and super filling, with crunchy almond slivers on

top and loaded with sweet blueberries, but still light and fluffy on the inside, and served with pure, unprocessed, dark maple syrup. Seriously, best pancakes I’ve ever eaten. Oh, and did I mention gluten-free?!  

If you’re not a fan of pancakes (and shame on you if you aren’t!), have no fear! The menu at Fresh is pretty extensive, with everything from soups and salads, to veggie-burgers, quinoa battered onion rings, and carrot cake. Everything is made with wholesome, Fresh (hem-hem) ingredients, and there are tons of gluten-free and vegan options. Trust me, it’s worth a visit.